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Poll: Jacksonians give Lumumba and Reeves low marks handling water crisis

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Poll: Jacksonians give Lumumba and Reeves low marks handling water crisis

Jackson generally believe Democratic Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba is doing a better job than Republican Gov. Tate Reeves dealing with the city's failing system, according to a poll conducted Thursday and Friday — but both received low marks.

Of the poll respondents, 34.8% found Reeves' handling of the crisis totally unacceptable while 21.6% found it poor. Meanwhile, 31.3% found Lumumba's efforts totally unacceptable while 15.2% rated it as poor. The poll found 35.6% gave Lumumba great or good marks while only 22.6% said the same for Reeves.

The survey was conducted by Blueprint Polling, a sister company of Chism Strategies – a Mississippi-based firm that has long done political and public policy surveys.

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Blueprint polled 491 Jackson voters on landlines and cell phones this week. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4% and was weighted in an attempt to match the demographics of Jackson voters – heavily African American and Democratic. African Americans made up 84% of the respondents.

Jackson residents, based on poll results, were split on the long-term issue of how to fix the water system. Estimates put that fix at more than $1 billion, according to the city. The poll found 30.6% of respondents favored the state providing funds for the fix with the city continuing to operate the system, while 30.1% favored the creation of a regional water board. Another 20.6% favor a state takeover.

More white voters (40%) favor a state takeover while 24.2% of Black voters do. Black voters are not keen on the city continuing to the system with only 32.1% supporting that option to only 21.4% of white voters.

The water system has been in a state of disrepair for years, but the problems intensified in recent days. On Monday night, the governor declared a state of emergency, citing the lack of water pressure throughout the city for many of the more than 170,000 customers on the system and the lack of safe drinking water for all the customers. President Joe Biden issued a federal emergency order later in the week, deploying federal personnel and resources to state and local deal with the immediate problems, but not the long-term fix.

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Jackson has been under a boil water notice since late June. The problems grew in recent days because of Pearl River flooding impacting the reservoir, which is the city's primary source of water, and the inability of city officials to adequately staff the system's water treatment plants.

The pollsters surmised that “we expect opinions to continue to evolve as voters learn more about the city's recent management history over the Jackson water system.”

In addition, the pollsters pointed out the survey was conducted before U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, who represents most of Jackson, weighed in on the problems facing the system. Thompson said on 's “” podcast that the state had not lived up to its obligations in helping maintain the system, but by the same token he would not favor the city sole authority of the system unless it could demonstrate an ability to adequately do so.

Because of Thompson's position as the only Democrat in the congressional delegation and because of his relationship with the president and his high ranking position in Congress, “ it is doubtful that any lasting solution will be reached without Congressman Thompson's approval.”

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This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi News

Warming trend for Easter weekend – Home – WCBI TV

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www.wcbi.com – Isaac Williams – 2024-03-28 04:08:29

SUMMARY: The weather in Columbus, Mississippi will be cold in the mornings but warm up in the afternoons for the Easter . Thursday will be sunny with highs in the 60s, dropping to the 30s at night with patchy frost. Friday will have highs in the 70s, and the weekend will be even warmer with temperatures in the 80s and no rain expected. Next will see warm and humid with the possibility of scattered showers and thunderstorms on Tuesday. It is still unsure if the storms will be severe.

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Two Rankin County teens arrested for shooting death of 14-year-old in Jackson

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www.wjtv.com – Kaitlin Howell – 2024-03-27 19:16:28

SUMMARY: Two teenagers from Rankin County, Maxle Mooneyham, 16, and John Foote, 17, were in connection to the shooting of 14-year-old Cameron Horne-Crook in . The suspects were charged with murder and were assisted in their arrest by Rankin County deputies and Pearl . Horne-Crook was shot multiple times on March 25 in the 3500 block of Ridgecrest . He was a student at Northwest Rankin Middle School. The names of the suspects were corrected by Jackson police in an updated announcement.

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Mississippi News

Blending past, future: Redeveloping Burns Bottom

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www.wcbi.com – Shawanda Jones – 2024-03-27 19:01:33

SUMMARY: The Burns Bottom neighborhood in Columbus, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is being considered for by the Columbus Redevelopment Authority. The plan is to develop the area into a mix of commercial buildings, residential homes, and apartment spaces to meet the needs of the community, workers from the base and industrial sectors. The aims to tie together different parts of Columbus, including the Riverwalk and area. A public meeting will be held on March 28 to discuss for the project. The CRA believes this redevelopment will bring new to the neighborhood and benefit the entire community.

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