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Mississippi Edition
4/9/21 - Conversation with State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs | Migrant Works Pleas for Protection
Overall coronavirus cases are trending down. Vaccine rollout is now in its fifth month. We talk to the State Health Officer about how Mississippi is faring in its year long fight against COVID-19.
Plus, migrant workers profoundly affected by the ICE raid of 2019, are calling on action from the Biden Administration.
Segment 1:
Vaccines for COVID-19 have been available to all Mississippi residents 18 and over for more than three weeks now, but the effort to educate and encourage vaccination has been a five month endeavor for the Department of Health. Still, despite being one of only a few states to offer widen availability, the rate of Mississippians receiving at least one dose is below the national average. About one in every four Mississippi residents have gotten one shot - a rate that falls eight points below the national average of 33 percent.
State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs says hesitancy and access have been the two most significant challenges in getting the state to the roughly 80 percent rate needed to reach a level of herb immunity. In part one of our conversation, we discuss vaccine hesitancy, access, the question of booster shots.
Segment 2:
During the winter wave of coronavirus cases and deaths, residents in long term care facilities were especially hard-hit. The number of outbreaks in those facilities reached their highest points in January, right when vaccine distribution began in the state. Now, three months later, outbreaks and deaths within that group has declined significantly. We pick up our conversation with State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs discussing the vaccine effort in long term care facilities, and how a recent health grant from the CDC can help Mississippi continue it's fight against COVID-19.
Segment 3:
Advocates for immigrant workers in Mississippi are calling on the Biden administration to overturn policies that target undocumented immigrant communities. They say the President can start by protecting those affected by the 2019 ICE raids. Yesterday, those advocates gathered outside the Department of Labor's capital city office to deliver a letter to the Wage and Hour Division, urging the Biden administration to create protections for immigrant workers
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07/11/2025: Tax Free Weekend | Naloxone Vending Machine | Black Women's Equal Pay Day
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07/07/2025: Big Beautiful Bill Passes | Airport Grants | Drug Abuse Policing
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7/3/2025: Road Safety | Jackson Mayor | Stacey Abrams
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07/02/2025: Gas Tax | Medgar Evers at 100
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07/01/2025: School Choice | Kerry Kennedy | Joy Ann Reid
29:21|Mississippi House Speaker Jason White says he's planning a major push next year making it easier for families to change where their kids go to school.Then, the daughter of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, shares her experience growing up during the civil rights movement.Plus, a conversation with former MSNBC Host Joy Ann Reid on her work preserving and promoting the life and legacy of Medgar Wylie Evers.
06/30/2025: Select House Committees | Testing Requirements | Medgar Evers at 100
23:54|Mississippi lawmakers named to select four committees will soon begin holding hearings on issues like the revitalization of the Capital city.Then, Louisiana’s new third-grade reading test is now required by law. Just like in Alabama and Mississippi, if students don’t pass, they may have to repeat the grade.Plus, Medgar Evers would have turned 100 this week. His work in the civil rights movement is being celebrated in Jackson.
06/27/2025: "Daddy Daughters" Panel | Gas Tax Increase | MSDH Medical Director
23:52|Daughters of three civil rights leaders share how their parents shaped their lives while also fighting for racial equality.Then, a new gas tax goes into effect next week. An official with MDOT shares what that means for drivers.Plus, we talk with the new Medical Director for the Mississippi Department of Health.
06/26/2025: Richard Jordan Execution | US History Assessment | Dusti Bongé Exhibit
24:13|Mississippi executes the state's oldest and longest-serving death row inmate Wednesday evening at Parchman Penitentiary.Then, High school seniors in Mississippi no longer have to pass a U.S. History assessment exam to graduate. Plus, a new art exhibit opens today in Ocean Springs. It features influential modernist painter and native Mississippian Dusti Bongé.