[Infrastructure] - States of emergency in Mississippi's capital - Water Crisis (1 Viewer)

[urbanhack]

States of emergency in Mississippi's capital due to low water pressure after heavy rains

Heavy rains caused problems at a water treatment plant, leading to low pressure and concerns about firefighting and people's ability to take showers and flush toilets.

www.cbsnews.com

Flooding exacerbates Jackson's water crisis, raises calls for state intervention

Pearl River flooding is exacerbating Jackson's drinking water crisis, prompting some leaders to call for the state to take action over the city's troubled system.

mississippitoday.org

Pearl River flooding is exacerbating Jackson’s drinking water crisis, bringing warnings of a system-wide outage, causing some businesses and schools to close Monday and prompting some leaders to call for the state to take action.

“Our understanding is the water and sewer system serving 250,000 citizens of the state and numerous businesses is at the brink of collapsing,” Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said. “We have grave concerns for citizens’ health and safety … I believe it is time for the state to take an active role in finding a solution — both short term and long term.”

House Speaker Philip Gunn said: “I’ve been contacted by hospitals, businesses and schools pleading that something be done to address the water crisis in Jackson. Unfortunately, the city leadership has not presented a permanent solution or a comprehensive plan. These groups have turned to the state for help, and it seems we will have to evaluate what options might be available.”

https://twitter.com/TorenBallard/status/1564415601883451392

Mississippi received $429 million last year in federal infrastructure funds specifically for water lines & pipes and I’m wondering what we did with all that?

 

[FairWarning]

I’m surprised this hasn’t happened in low-lying places like New Orleans.

 

[Sand]

I’m surprised this hasn’t happened in low-lying places like New Orleans.

This got cleaned up a bit after Katrina and the levee board fiasco at the time. That said, given these water boards tend to be municipal there is a ton of corruption and waste associated with them. Just this week in Birmingham we had the whole purchasing department "retire" en masse when it became clear that there was improper spending, kickbacks, etc. going on.

Sources: Most of Birmingham Water Works Dept. ‘retires’ in 1 day because of improper purchasing, alleged kickbacks

Sources tell WBRC several Birmingham Water Works Board employees are suddenly gone in the wake of improper purchasing activities and alleged kickbacks in the purchasing department.

www.wbrc.com

 

[Shula-holic]

I’m surprised this hasn’t happened in low-lying places like New Orleans.

This got cleaned up a bit after Katrina and the levee board fiasco at the time. That said, given these water boards tend to be municipal there is a ton of corruption and waste associated with them. Just this week in Birmingham we had the whole purchasing department "retire" en masse when it became clear that there was improper spending, kickbacks, etc. going on.

Sources: Most of Birmingham Water Works Dept. ‘retires’ in 1 day because of improper purchasing, alleged kickbacks

Sources tell WBRC several Birmingham Water Works Board employees are suddenly gone in the wake of improper purchasing activities and alleged kickbacks in the purchasing department.

www.wbrc.com

That place is full of criminals. It’s one incident after another down there.

We are on their system where my house is. When I moved in I installed a separate meter for outdoor water usage so as to avoid their sewer charges. After I spent all that and had some resulting plumbing issues they did away with the private meter credits and now you just pay a flat rate and what you use is applied as usage at the sewer rate regardless of if you’re flushing a toilet or watering a plant in the yard.

 

[Shula-holic]

Jackson is dangerous enough on a normal day right now. I worked downtown over 20 years ago. It wasn’t exactly safe but nothing like now from what I understand. Most people who could leave the city have moved long ago. Used to be some old money in north Jackson and I guess north Jackson is still way better off but most people just left.

But the city lies down in that river bed. In the summer wearing a suit down there with the humidity led to some pretty hot days. Being there without water would be brutal.

 

[Sabertooth]

Always the Red states begging the hardest for federal funds.

 

[timschochet]

Always the Red states begging the hardest for federal funds.

And as someone from a rich blue state (the richest) Im happy to send it. That’s what federal funds are supposed to be for.

 

[Stealthycat]

Always the Red states begging the hardest for federal funds.

Flint MI says hold me beer

he state provided more than $350 million to Flint, in addition to the $100 million from the federal government - all of which is helping with water quality improvements, pipe replacement, healthcare, food resources, educational resources, job training and creation, and more.

Taking Action on Flint Water - State of Michigan​

Feds update City of Flint grant amount to $94.7M; residents ...​

https://www.cityofflint.com › feds-update-city-of-flint-...



May 11, 2021 — FLINT, Michigan—The U.S. Treasury released final allocation numbers for the American Rescue Plan, outlining $94.7 million for the City of Flint.

 

[The General]

This is no bueno. Good luck Mississipians, let’s get them some help ASAP.

Very depressing this is happening in the US. Let’s get this fixed and then figure out what went wrong…and get your **** together.

Flooding and natural disasters is one thing. This seems a failure of leadership and expertise.

 

[Sabertooth]

Always the Red states begging the hardest for federal funds.

Flint MI says hold me beer

he state provided more than $350 million to Flint, in addition to the $100 million from the federal government - all of which is helping with water quality improvements, pipe replacement, healthcare, food resources, educational resources, job training and creation, and more.

Taking Action on Flint Water - State of Michigan​

Feds update City of Flint grant amount to $94.7M; residents ...​

https://www.cityofflint.com › feds-update-city-of-flint-...



May 11, 2021 — FLINT, Michigan—The U.S. Treasury released final allocation numbers for the American Rescue Plan, outlining $94.7 million for the City of Flint.

Republican governor Rick Snyder literally caused the Flint fiasco to save money. Get your facts together man, you are embarrassing yourself.

 

[Amused to Death]

No politician ever wants to invest in infrastructure, until there's a disaster. Emergencies can be handled, but action happens after a disaster.

 

[BladeRunner]

Always the Red states begging the hardest for federal funds.

You realize the city of Jackson is run by Democrats, right? Just like a lot of big cities with issues. No doubt I figured you'd be in here spouting this nonsense and ignoring who is running Jackson at the lowest levels. The only one missing so far is @massraider , but I'm sure he'll be in here shortly parroting the same shtick.

I'm not going to ignore that Mississippi has a GOP governor and there appears to be fault at all levels here, but your partisan nonsense with your blinders is absurd. Stop being a sheep.

 

[BladeRunner]

Always the Red states begging the hardest for federal funds.

Flint MI says hold me beer

he state provided more than $350 million to Flint, in addition to the $100 million from the federal government - all of which is helping with water quality improvements, pipe replacement, healthcare, food resources, educational resources, job training and creation, and more.

Taking Action on Flint Water - State of Michigan​

Feds update City of Flint grant amount to $94.7M; residents ...​

https://www.cityofflint.com › feds-update-city-of-flint-...



May 11, 2021 — FLINT, Michigan—The U.S. Treasury released final allocation numbers for the American Rescue Plan, outlining $94.7 million for the City of Flint.

Republican governor Rick Snyder literally caused the Flint fiasco to save money. Get your facts together man, you are embarrassing yourself.

yeah, okay.

 

[FairWarning]

Always the Red states begging the hardest for federal funds.

Flint MI says hold me beer

he state provided more than $350 million to Flint, in addition to the $100 million from the federal government - all of which is helping with water quality improvements, pipe replacement, healthcare, food resources, educational resources, job training and creation, and more.

Taking Action on Flint Water - State of Michigan​

Feds update City of Flint grant amount to $94.7M; residents ...​

https://www.cityofflint.com › feds-update-city-of-flint-...



May 11, 2021 — FLINT, Michigan—The U.S. Treasury released final allocation numbers for the American Rescue Plan, outlining $94.7 million for the City of Flint.

A town by me, Benton Harbor, MI is just as bad if not worse with their water crisis. Kalamazoo has had water issues also. Of course there is corruption in these cities that really hurts this issue.

 

[Sabertooth]

Always the Red states begging the hardest for federal funds.

You realize the city of Jackson is run by Democrats, right? Just like a lot of big cities with issues. No doubt I figured you'd be in here spouting this nonsense and ignoring who is running Jackson at the lowest levels. The only one missing so far is @massraider , but I'm sure he'll be in here shortly parroting the same shtick.

I'm not going to ignore that Mississippi has a GOP governor and there appears to be fault at all levels here, but your partisan nonsense with your blinders is absurd. Stop being a sheep.

Be better.

 

[BladeRunner]

Always the Red states begging the hardest for federal funds.

You realize the city of Jackson is run by Democrats, right? Just like a lot of big cities with issues. No doubt I figured you'd be in here spouting this nonsense and ignoring who is running Jackson at the lowest levels. The only one missing so far is @massraider , but I'm sure he'll be in here shortly parroting the same shtick.

I'm not going to ignore that Mississippi has a GOP governor and there appears to be fault at all levels here, but your partisan nonsense with your blinders is absurd. Stop being a sheep.

Be better.

You should follow your own advice. You don't completely ignore the fact that Jackson is run by Democrats to blame it on someone else and then turn around and ask others to "be better".

Here's the thing: I know you knew that too. You looked it up, found out that Jackson was run by Democrats then immediately went up the ladder to find the first GOP person you could find. We're on to your game.

 

[Sabertooth]

You told me not to be a sheep dude. Be better. Your spinning out of control.

 

[Caveman33]

They sure could have used some of that Brett Favre/Governor Bryant money that was supposed to help poor people.

The nation's poorest state used welfare money to pay Brett Favre for speeches he never made

Mississippi's auditor says $70 million in federal welfare funds went to Brett Favre, a sports complex and an ex-wrestler in a scandal that has rocked the poorest state.

www.yahoo.com

$70 million in TANF welfare funds was doled out to a multimillionaire athlete, a professional wrestler, a horse farm and a volleyball complex

The saga, which has been boiling at low grade for 2½ years, drew new attention in July, when the state welfare agency fired a lawyer who had been hired to claw back some of the money, just after he issued a subpoena seeking more information about the roles of Favre and the former governor, Phil Bryant, a Republican.

The speeches aren’t the only welfare grants tied to Favre. Text messages obtained by Mississippi Today and authenticated by Pigott show that Favre sought a $3.2 million grant for a drug company in which he was a shareholder and a $5 million award that built a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi, where his daughter played the sport and where he played football.
The drug company, Prevacus, was touting treatments to mitigate the effects of concussions, although none were approved by the Food and Drug Administration. In some texts, Favre suggested awarding shares in the drug company to Bryant while he was governor.

“Don’t know if legal or not but we need cut him in,” Favre texted a company official in November 2018, referring to Bryant. Following up three days later, Favre wrote, “Also if legal I’ll give some of my shares to the Governor.”

The former head of the state welfare agency, John Davis, has pleaded not guilty to state charges of bribery and conspiracy, and law enforcement officials say the investigations continue.

The auditor said Davis directed one contract to Austin Smith, his nephew, who was paid more than $400,000 to provide “coding skills” classes even though prosecutors allege he had no such skills “and did not know how to teach.”

According to state figures, Mississippi rejects more than 90% of those who apply for the federal welfare benefit known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF.

Advocates and state legislators say Mississippi’s welfare agency, under years of conservative Republican state governments, has a history of questionable spending and a lack of transparency.

 

[NorvilleBarnes]

Maybe they should identify as Ukranian.

 

[massraider]

They sure could have used some of that Brett Favre/Governor Bryant money that was supposed to help poor people.

Get out of that state people. What are you still doing there?

 

[Juxtatarot]

They sure could have used some of that Brett Favre/Governor Bryant money that was supposed to help poor people.

The nation's poorest state used welfare money to pay Brett Favre for speeches he never made

Mississippi's auditor says $70 million in federal welfare funds went to Brett Favre, a sports complex and an ex-wrestler in a scandal that has rocked the poorest state.

www.yahoo.com

$70 million in TANF welfare funds was doled out to a multimillionaire athlete, a professional wrestler, a horse farm and a volleyball complex

The saga, which has been boiling at low grade for 2½ years, drew new attention in July, when the state welfare agency fired a lawyer who had been hired to claw back some of the money, just after he issued a subpoena seeking more information about the roles of Favre and the former governor, Phil Bryant, a Republican.

The speeches aren’t the only welfare grants tied to Favre. Text messages obtained by Mississippi Today and authenticated by Pigott show that Favre sought a $3.2 million grant for a drug company in which he was a shareholder and a $5 million award that built a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi, where his daughter played the sport and where he played football.
The drug company, Prevacus, was touting treatments to mitigate the effects of concussions, although none were approved by the Food and Drug Administration. In some texts, Favre suggested awarding shares in the drug company to Bryant while he was governor.

“Don’t know if legal or not but we need cut him in,” Favre texted a company official in November 2018, referring to Bryant. Following up three days later, Favre wrote, “Also if legal I’ll give some of my shares to the Governor.”

The former head of the state welfare agency, John Davis, has pleaded not guilty to state charges of bribery and conspiracy, and law enforcement officials say the investigations continue.

The auditor said Davis directed one contract to Austin Smith, his nephew, who was paid more than $400,000 to provide “coding skills” classes even though prosecutors allege he had no such skills “and did not know how to teach.”

According to state figures, Mississippi rejects more than 90% of those who apply for the federal welfare benefit known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF.

Advocates and state legislators say Mississippi’s welfare agency, under years of conservative Republican state governments, has a history of questionable spending and a lack of transparency.

Wow.

 

[Mile High]

They sure could have used some of that Brett Favre/Governor Bryant money that was supposed to help poor people.

Get out of that state people. What are you still doing there?

We already have 6 states with 7 House of Representatives members between them and 12 Senators. We don't need more of that type of government.