TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalCOVID in Appalachia: Misinformation is killing people
An NBC reporter interviewed frontline workers in a number of hospitals in Appalachia about their recent experience with the coronavirus and the people in their area. Bottom line: Misinformation from people the patients trust is resulting in unnecessary illness and death.
https://twitter.com/DashaBurns/status/1332798207911399424
“One nurse told me stories of otherwise healthy 30 year-olds coming in short of breath and not understanding why. She tries showing them chest x-rays and explaining evidence of the disease, but often they don’t believe they have COVID until they’re in critical condition.
“Another nurse told me some come in severely sick with COVID, but when they test positive they blame the hospital for giving it to them. There’s a popular conspiracy theory that hospitals are benefiting financially from COVID. But in fact, many are struggling to stay afloat.
“Ultimately, politicization and misinformation around COVID are having tragic real-world consequences. People are dying because they don’t seek medical care when they begin having symptoms. They don’t believe they’re sick. And by the time they get to the hospital it‘s too late.
Read more: https://forwardky.com/covid-in-appalachia-misinformation-is-killing-people/
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee still not ready to acknowledge Joe Biden as president-elect, despite
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee still not ready to acknowledge Joe Biden as president-elect, despite transition beginningTennessee Gov. Bill Lee is still not ready to acknowledge Joe Biden as president-elect, despite President Donald Trump's administration having now cleared the way for the transition to begin.
Asked during his weekly briefing whether he considered Biden president-elect, Lee declined to answer, saying he is aware that the federal General Services Administration is moving forward with transition plans.
"I've been pretty focused on what's happening right here and not nationally," Lee said.
He said he was waiting on the president's ongoing court battles that challenge election outcomes – litigation the Trump campaign is overwhelmingly losing – and for the transition process to unfold.
Read more: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2020/11/24/tennessee-gov-bill-lee-not-ready-say-biden-president-elect/6414752002/
Derek Mason fired as Vanderbilt football coach
Vanderbilt has fired Derek Mason after seven losing seasons as football coach, the university announced Sunday.
Mason had a 27-55 record, including a 0-8 mark this season against only SEC opponents. The Commodores have lost 12 straight SEC games, their longest conference losing streak since dropped 23 straight from 2000 to 2003 under Woody Widenhofer and Bobby Johnson.
Offensive coordinator Todd Fitch will serve as interim head coach until a replacement for Mason is named, according to a Vanderbilt news release. The search for a new head coach will begin immediately.
Mason did not immediately respond to The Tennessean's request for comment, but he posted a message on Twitter.
Read more: https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/college/vanderbilt/2020/11/29/derek-mason-fired-vanderbilt-football-coach/6383200002/
In Anti-Transparency Move, Tennessee House GOP Caucus Closes Meetings To Press
The Republican Caucus in the Tennessee House of Representatives has decided to close their meetings to the press.
This means that Tennesseans will now be effectively shut out of an important part of the legislative process.
The GOP Caucus voted Tuesday afternoon to shift from what they have traditionally done — allow reporters to attend and report on what takes place in the party meetings. This is important because Republicans are the supermajority, and they could essentially decide whether to kill or support a measure even before they vote on it on the House floor.
Rep. Jeremy Faison, the caucus chairman, says this new rule is standard in legislatures across the country and that leadership will talk to reporters after each meeting to answer questions.
Read more: https://wpln.org/post/in-anti-transparency-move-tennessee-house-gop-caucus-closes-meetings-to-press/
Embattled mental health agency puts message-crafter in charge
The Mississippi Board of Mental Health, which oversees an embattled agency often accused of perpetuating a powerful dynasty, has hired a longtime agency spokesperson and strategist as its top chief.
Former Mississippi Department of Mental Health Director Diana Mikula, who took the helm of the agency in 2014, announced her retirement last week. The same day, the board chose Wendy Bailey, the agency’s deputy director of administration and former communications director, to replace her.
“I just feel like this is a missed opportunity,” Rep. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven, a registered nurse who sat on the state’s Mental Health Task Force, said in a Wednesday interview with Mississippi Today. “For the board of mental health to not put an interim until we could find somebody who is absolutely the correct person professionally, educationally and has actually touched and treated a mentally ill person. You know, I’m just in shock.”
Bailey will assume responsibility for ushering in reforms ordered by a federal judge within an ongoing U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit over Mississippi’s mental health care delivery system, which the judge said contained “major gaps.”
Read more: https://mississippitoday.org/2020/11/25/embattled-mental-health-agency-puts-message-crafter-in-charge/
Gov. Tate Reeves has resisted statewide mask mandate despite warnings from health officials and
On Aug. 4, Gov. Tate Reeves announced a statewide mask mandate — a policy 34 other states including Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana had already put in place.
At the time, COVID-19 numbers in Mississippi had shown slight improvement after a record peak in late July. To that point, Reeves had resisted pressure to implement the statewide mandate as President Donald Trump and other top Republicans leaders continued to publicly question the effectiveness of mask-wearing.
The governor’s main inspiration for issuing the statewide order, he said at the time, was to contain the virus so public schools could reopen safely in person and on time.
“Up to this point, we’ve kept the focus for masks on the counties with the highest spread,” Reeves said at a press briefing at the time. “Now, with a two-week push, I believe we can have the maximum effect and allow for the education of our kids to occur. I have taken a piecemeal approach, I’ve been criticized about it by an awful lot of people. But I’ve taken a piecemeal approach because I firmly believe that that was the best way to get the most amount of people to participate (in wearing masks).”
Read more: https://mississippitoday.org/2020/11/24/gov-tate-reeves-has-resisted-statewide-mask-mandate-despite-warnings-from-health-officials-and-alarming-covid-19-trends/
Gov. Tate Reeves capped federal education grants at $1 million. This Utah-based group received
Gov. Tate Reeves capped federal education grants at $1 million. This Utah-based group received nearly twice that amount.Despite initially capping the award amount at $1 million for a 16-week program serving a minimum of 10,000 Mississippi children, Gov. Tate Reeves gave nearly twice that in federal funds to a Utah-based organization serving only a fraction of the number of kids.
Waterford.org requested and received $1.9 million to provide a virtual, 20-minute-a-day computer program to 2,500 4-year-olds in Mississippi — more than twice the amount received by other schools, child care centers and education organizations that also received grants from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) fund. These are federal relief funds for education distributed to the state through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Reeves has full discretion over the spending of that money.
The organization, in its application for the funds, obtained by Mississippi Today through a public records request, acknowledged its request exceeded the guidelines.
“… our proven pandemic recovery impact, past performance, and ready network of partners justifies this request and positions us to do much more than ust (sic) meet the pandemic moment — we will build capacity for both children and their families for a lifetime!” the application stated.
Read more: https://www.djournal.com/mississippi-today/gov-tate-reeves-capped-federal-education-grants-at-1-million-this-utah-based-group-received/article_93670540-d983-5a8f-bba7-ba9ea16b59ad.html
(Tupelo Daily Journal)
From $53K on golf to meals at Hooters, records show how Palazzo spends campaign funds
As a congressional ethics office investigates U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo’s (R) campaign spending, a deeper look at his campaign finances raises questions of whether he uses his account as a second personal income.
Palazzo spends thousands of dollars a year from his campaign account on meals, from the swankiest restaurants and clubs in Washington, D.C., and Mississippi, to Hooters, Newk’s, pizza and fast food chains, and live music and barbecue joints.
In all, Palazzo has spent more than $115,600 on meals since he took office in 2010 — an average of $11,560 a year — not counting the nearly $188,000 he spent catering events and booking venues for his campaign. By comparison, his colleague Rep. Michael Guest since he took office has spent less than $1,300 a year listed as meals separate from larger catered campaign events.
Palazzo has also spent tens of thousands of dollars on hotel rooms in D.C., Mississippi and beachside Florida resorts, entertainment and golfing — including a $3,100 golf cart. The campaign also has spent nearly $42,000 on “gifts.”
Read more: https://www.sunherald.com/news/politics-government/article247419535.html
(Gulfport Sun Herald)
Gov. Reeves, Denial Ain't a River in Mississippi
If there's one lesson this wretched year has taught us, it's that denial isn't an effective governing strategy. For instance, denying that you lost an election—by tens of thousands of votes in swing states and 6 million votes nationally and then crafting bald lies about voter-fraud claims—hasn't worked.
Deniers have flung denial far and wide this election, and the most likely outcome is a further weakening of democracy in America with thanks, as always, to Donald Trump.
Reeves In Denial: COVID-19 Requires a More Structured Response
Denial is also ineffective against COVID-19. Gov. Tate Reeves has done precisely the wrong things to quell this virus. He could have led his party and supporters in Mississippi instead of sheepishly kowtowing to the extremists. He could have listened to science. He could have told people in no uncertain terms to make some sacrifices, stay out of big groups, and wear a damn mask.
But Reeves didn't do any of those things because he refuses to lead. We're now at nearly record numbers of COVID-19 cases here, with hospitals at capacity. Flu season and the holidays are underway. A lack of discipline, courage and leadership squandered any "virus dividend" we may have had after our summer virus peak.
This week, Dr. LouAnn Woodward of UMMC called for Reeves to reinstate the mask mandate to combat the crisis our health-care workers are once again facing in the state. I hope to hear he has done it before Thanksgiving. Lead, Tate. And stop licking Trump's boots.
Read more: https://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2020/nov/25/publishers-note-gov-reeves-denial-aint-river-missi/
Three Chicken Plants Hit in 2019 Raids Agree to Pay Back Wages
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Three Mississippi chicken processing plants among those targeted in one of the largest workplace immigration raids in the U.S. in the past decade have agreed to pay back wages after federal officials found they failed to pay minimum wage and overtime to their workers.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced Friday that three plants have paid $45,719 in back wages to 129 employees.
The plants targeted in the investigation were a Canton complex owned by Peco Foods of Tuscaloosa, Alabama; a Morton complex owned by Koch Foods of Park Ridge, Illinois; and Pearl River Foods of Carthage, a company headquartered in Gainesville, Georgia.
The Labor Department's Wage and House Division found the employers failed to issue final paychecks to multiple workers. Officials also found that Pearl River Foods deducted so much money for uniforms that employees were illegally paid less than minimum wage. Investigators also determined Koch failed to include production bonuses when calculating overtime, another legal violation.
Read more: https://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2020/nov/23/three-chicken-plants-hit-2019-raids-agree-pay-back/
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