Mississippi Edition

The Governor announces the ReSkill Mississippi campaign, and speaks out about a lawsuit from legislative leaders over his July vetoes.

Then, in an excerpt from our AT ISSUE special, Dr. Thomas Dobbs gets candid about school openings in Mississippi.

Plus, in our Book Club, a young teenager accidentally finds himself in the midst of the civil rights movement and takes up the cause despite arrest after arrest after arrest.

Segment 1:

In early July, on the heels of the historic flag bill, an outbreak occurred in the capital that resulted in at least 40 capitol personnel contracting COVID-19. Now, after a month-long hiatus, the legislature wants to return to address CARES Act needs and deal with a number of vetoes the Governor made last month. In addition, legislative leaders are planning to file suit over the vetoes including the controversial education budget bill veto - questioning their constitutionality. Reeves, in return, questions the leaders' motives.

To address the economic challenges of the pandemic, Reeves is also launching a new workforce program to address skills training. Reeves says the Re-Skill Mississippi initiative will help those out of work find new avenues to financial stability. Patrick Sullivan leads the State Workforce Investment Board. He says the Re-Skill brand will be one Mississippians will quickly recognize.

Segment 2:

The question of when and how to return to school is a question many communities are grappling with during this unsure period of high virus transmission. Despite only issuing a limited order to delay the start of class for 7th through 12th grade students in 8 counties, Governor Reeves says, if he were leading a local school district, he would delay. In a special edition of @ISSUE, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs talked one-on-one with our Desare Frazier about how the state is faring with coronavirus crisis and what it means for schools.

Segment 3:

In May, 1961, Hezekiah Watkins was thirteen years-old. He and a friend, curious about buses of freedom riders arriving in Jackson, went down to the bus station to see what it was all about. In a matter of minutes Watkins was under arrest and sent to the state penitentiary at Parchman. It was the inauspicious start to activism as we learn in Watkins' book, "Pushing Forward."