Mississippi Edition

The Governor announces his nominees for Corrections and Public Safety leadership.

Then, casinos reopen their doors today. We look at how the two month shutdown impacted Mississippi’s gaming industry and what patrons can expect when they return.

Plus, in our Book Club, the photographs of a Neshoba county woman that illuminate the galvanizing events of the Jim Crow era in Mississippi.

Segment 1:

Governor Tate Reeves is nominating new chiefs for the state’s Corrections and Public Safety agencies. Reeves announced the nominations during his daily press briefing yesterday. The first term Governor inherited a prison crisis that came to a fever pitch late last year as violence spread through the system. Reeves addressed the crisis, saying the it highlighted the systemic problems within the department of corrections. Before introducing his pick for the new Commissioner of Corrections, Reeves suggested that many of the department's problems were the result of poor leadership. Reeves is nominating Burl Cain, formally of Angola State Prison in Louisiana to be the new commissioner.

Governor Reeves is also nominating Mississippi Court of Appeals Judge Sean Tindell of Gulfport as the new public safety commissioner. Tindell says his first 90 days in office will help him lay the foundation for the direction of the department.

Segment 2:

Mississippi casinos on the Gulf Coast and along the Mississippi River from Natchez to Tunica have been shuttered for two months, dealing an economic blow to casino workers and associated businesses. Over 20,000 workers state wide have been furloughed, and the shuttered gambling halls have cost the state valued tax revenue. But, that could change today as casinos reopen their doors. Larry Gregory is the Executive Director of the Mississippi Gaming and Hospitality Association. He joins us to explain the impact of the shutdown on the gaming industry, and what patrons can expect when they return. 

Segment 3:

Few may remember Florence Mars, a white woman in Mississippi who picked up a camera to depict the Jim Crow era. It was the murder of three civil rights workers in Neshoba county, her county, that motivated her. A hundred of her photographs, most taken in the decade between 1954 and 1964 are included in the book: “Mississippi Witness: The Photographs of Florence Mars.” Co-editor, James Campbell tells us about his conversations with Mars who died in 2006.