Mississippi

This week in politics: Lawmakers looking at suffrage bills

Published

11 months ago

March 30, 2025

Press Room

This week in politics: Lawmakers looking at suffrage bills

Updates on governor vetoes, bills becoming law

As the 2025 session draws near to its April 6 conclusion, lawmakers will have dozens of opportunities to restore voting rights to some of Mississippi’s citizens.

As of March 28, about 60 or so bills had been filed with the Legislature requesting restoration of individual voting rights.

The process to file such bills with the Legislature is tedious and often unknown to many people who want to have their voting rights restored after being disenfranchised for committing certain felonies.

First, a disenfranchised person must request a lawmaker, typically from their district, to file a bill with the Legislature. Then, if approved, that bill would be put through the legislative process, including passing several committees, both chambers and by the governor, who has the option to veto a restoration bill.

There was effort early in the session to restore voting rights to certain nonviolent felony holders who had served their sentencing terms, but it died on the House calendar after House Constitution Chairman Price Wallace, R-Mendenhall, said he was given no indication the Senate would take the idea seriously.

Disenfranchisement has its roots deep in the soil of Jim Crow. During the 1890 constitutional convention in Mississippi, the practice was adopted to prevent Black voters from reaching the polls, according to Clarion Ledger records and reporting.

“There is no use to equivocate or lie about the matter. Mississippi’s constitutional convention of 1890 was held for no other purpose than to eliminate the (explicative) from politics,” Former Gov. James K. Vardaman said of the decision years later. Other Southern states soon followed with similar laws, as reported by the Clarion Ledger.

Today, about 68,000 people are disenfranchised in Mississippi, according to the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit. Of them, more than 50,000 committed nonviolent felonies, which would have been the primary focus of the disenfranchisement legislation.

Governor vetoes Medicaid tech bill

Last week, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves vetoed his second bill of the legislative session, a piece of legislation meant to make changes mostly to a supplemental payment program for hospitals participating in the state’s Medicaid program.

Referred to as the Medicaid Tech bill, it typically addresses making changes to the state’s Medicaid program and also makes sure the state’s Medicaid program falls in compliance with federal guidelines.

This year’s bill would, among other things, have expanded some funding for hospitals in that program, Reeves said, and allowed for some out-of-state hospitals to participate in the program, which he said was impossible.

After the veto was read to the Senate on Friday, Senate Medicaid Chairman Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, recommitted the bill to committee for further work, which gives lawmaker an opportunity to send the bill back to Reeves with various amendments.

Happenings at the legislature last week

While Reeves has now vetoed two bills this session, plenty of others have made it past his desk and onto the books as new law.

This week alone, Reeves allowed a bill to establish presumed Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women pass without his signature. Reeves also signed a bill into law that established paid parental leave for primary care givers working in government.

Reeves also signed the Safe Solicitation Act, a bill that requires panhandlers to obtain a $25 permit to solicit donations at specific locations from 9 a.m. to sundown.

The bill had seen some debate in the legislature between Republicans and Democrats. Advocates of the bill have said the legislation would help to address safety concerns with homeless people soliciting donations on roadways.

Opponents have said the bill would do nothing to address helping people who are homeless but only punish them for being so.

If anyone who panhandles violated the provisions in the law, they could be convicted of a misdemeanor that carries a fine of up to $500 or be imprisoned at a county jail for no longer than six weeks.

Grant McLaughlin covers the Legislature and state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.

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Mississippi

Renowned New York dance instructor visits Mississippi to recruit for summer program

Published

10 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Renowned New York dance instructor visits Mississippi to recruit for summer program

LAUREL, Miss. (WDAM) – A world-renowned dance instructor from New York visited Laurel Thursday to conduct a special class and do some recruiting for a prestigious summer dance program in the Big Apple.

Melanie Person, who is co-director of the Ailey School in New York, taught a master ballet class Thursday morning at Laurel Middle School.

It’s part of a three-day residency in the Magnolia State, organized by the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience in Meridian.

She’ll teach two other classes Friday in Meridian before hosting an audition Saturday for a prestigious summer dance program at the Ailey School.

“I typically tour in about six to eight cities in the U.S., and I recruit dancers to come to our summer intensive, so part of this weekend, in one of the classes, I will be accepting students to come to New York for our five-week summer intensive,” Person said.

“We accept the dancers we like, and we see if they are able to come. The decision to come to New York for the summer is a big undertaking for families, so we just hope that they can do it.”

Registration is required for that audition, which will be held at the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience.

To do that, click HERE.

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Mississippi

No. 12 Mississippi State’s Balance Shows Again in Road Win at Georgia Tech

Published

22 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

No. 12 Mississippi State’s Balance Shows Again in Road Win at Georgia Tech

Mississippi State has won plenty of different ways during this 15-1 start, but Wednesday night in Atlanta felt like one of those games where the Bulldogs reminded everyone why they’ve looked so steady all month.

It wasn’t perfect, and it wasn’t stress‑free, but the 8-3 win over Georgia Tech was the kind of road win that shows a team knows exactly who it is and what buttons to push when things get a little weird.

Alyssa Faircloth set the tone again, even on a night when she didn’t have her cleanest beginning. She gave up a game‑tying homer in the second, shrugged, and then basically disappeared Georgia Tech’s lineup for the next three innings.

Eight strikeouts in nine batters the second time through the order, back‑to‑back innings striking out the side. The only real hiccup came on another leadoff homer in the sixth, and by then she’d already done the heavy lifting.

And while Faircloth was settling in, the lineup did what it’s been doing all year: spreading the damage around.

Des Rivera wasted no time, jumping on the first pitch of the second inning and sending it out. When Georgia Tech tied it, Nadia Barbary answered immediately with a solo shot of her own. It wasn’t loud or flashy, but it was the kind of response good teams make without thinking.

The middle innings were more about pressure than power. Barbary worked a walk, Kiarra Sells split the gap for an RBI double, and Anna Carder did her job with a sac fly. Suddenly it was 4-1, and Mississippi State had the game exactly where it wanted it with Faircloth cruising, the lineup stacking quality at‑bats, and the defense staying clean.

The seventh inning, though, is where the Bulldogs turned a solid win into a comfortable one. Sells homered again, and then Rivera and Tatum Silva kept the inning alive long enough for Morgan Bernardini to drop the hammer. Her three‑run shot to center didn’t just put the game away; it capped off the kind of night she’s been stringing together for a week now. She’s 7‑for‑11 during her four‑game hitting streak and looks like a hitter who’s seeing everything in slow motion.

Peja Goold handled the final outs, picking up her second save and slamming the door on a Georgia Tech team that kept trying to make things interesting late.

What stands out most about this win isn’t the four homers or the 11 strikeouts or even the 15-1 record. It’s how routine it all felt.

Mississippi State went on the road, took a couple of punches, and never looked rattled. Rivera homered. Barbary homered. Sells homered. Bernardini homered. Faircloth dominated. Goold closed. It was the same formula, just in a different ballpark.

Now the Bulldogs head to Clemson for a weekend that should tell us even more about who they are. But if Wednesday night is any indication, they’re traveling with a lineup that can hurt you anywhere and a pitching staff that doesn’t mind carrying the load when needed.

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Mississippi Lottery Mississippi Match 5, Cash 3 results for Feb. 25, 2026

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Mississippi Lottery Mississippi Match 5, Cash 3 results for Feb. 25, 2026

The Mississippi Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at Feb. 25, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Mississippi Match 5 numbers from Feb. 25 drawing

02-06-09-16-17

Check Mississippi Match 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Cash 3 numbers from Feb. 25 drawing

Midday: 4-6-6, FB: 6

Evening: 4-3-5, FB: 9

Check Cash 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Cash 4 numbers from Feb. 25 drawing

Midday: 0-7-2-8, FB: 6

Evening: 6-3-6-1, FB: 9

Check Cash 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Cash Pop numbers from Feb. 25 drawing

Midday: 10

Evening: 12

Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Story continues below gallery.

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize

Winnings of $599 or less can be claimed at any authorized Mississippi Lottery retailer.

Prizes between $600 and $99,999, may be claimed at the Mississippi Lottery Headquarters or by mail. Mississippi Lottery Winner Claim form, proper identification (ID) and the original ticket must be provided for all claims of $600 or more. If mailing, send required documentation to:

Mississippi Lottery Corporation

P.O. Box 321462

Flowood, MS

39232

If your prize is $100,000 or more, the claim must be made in person at the Mississippi Lottery headquarters. Please bring identification, such as a government-issued photo ID and a Social Security card to verify your identity. Winners of large prizes may also have the option of setting up electronic funds transfer (EFT) for direct deposits into a bank account.

Mississippi Lottery Headquarters

1080 River Oaks Drive, Bldg. B-100

Flowood, MS

39232

Mississippi Lottery prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing date. For detailed instructions and necessary forms, please visit the Mississippi Lottery claim page.

When are the Mississippi Lottery drawings held?

Cash 3: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
Cash 4: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
Match 5: Daily at 9:30 p.m. CT.
Cash Pop: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Mississippi editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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