Local Headlines

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – If you love to eat, cook or watch other people do both, tune into the Food Network tonight to see a familiar face off in a Food Network kitchen.

Jackson’s own Enrika Williams is ready, saying online, “We got action! Tune in tonight at 8 p.m. to Food Network to watch if I beat Bobby Flay or naw.”

It’s Season 29. Episode 8.

Food Network also shared the announcement saying, “Things heat up in this summertime battle as chefs Phelix Gardner and Enrika Williams try to make a splash with a win in Bobby Flay’s kitchen. Bobby uses his chef knives to try and slash the summer fun for Food Network’s Eddie Jackson and Ted Allen.”

Williams is chef and owner of Fauna Foodworks, a culinary food lab that produces thoughtful, ingredient-driven, bohemian-chic cuisine.

Flay is a celebrity chef and owner of several restaurants including Amalfi in Las Vega, Gato in New York, and Bobby Flay Steak in Atlantic City.

We’re rooting for you, Enrika!

Copyright 2021 WLBT. All rights reserved.

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Members of the Jackson City Council are seeking a declaratory judgment before Friday, to ensure trash pickup continues for Jackson residents.

Tuesday, the council filed a motion seeking a speedy hearing in a case it filed Monday in Hinds County Chancery Court.

Monday, the council filed suit against the city of Jackson and Waste Management, asking the court to determine whether its action to enter into an emergency garbage collection contract without the mayor’s consent was legal.

Hours before the suit was filed, the council declared a state of emergency over its garbage collections and approved a 30-day pickup contract with Waste Management.

The city’s current contract with the firm runs out on September 30. If the court does not uphold the council’s action, the city will not have residential garbage collection services beginning October 1.

“This action is an urgent matter of public policy, deserving priority on the court’s docket,” attorneys for the council write. “Holding a speedy hearing will expedite the resolution of the controversy and remove uncertainty as to the proper legal powers, rights, status and relations of the parties and of the respective branches of municipal government in which they serve.”

At the center of the suit is whether the city council, a legislative body, can enter into a contract that was not negotiated or presented by the mayor.

The council claims it has to act after the mayor has “abdicated” his responsibility. Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, meanwhile, says he has attempted to act, but the council has thwarted his efforts.

Attorneys for the council, meanwhile, say they believe they are in the right, but have sought a judge’s opinion to be clear.

“The RFP process is the legally proscribed process for, among other things, selecting garbage services,” said attorney Roy Campbell, who spoke at the Monday council meeting. “What has happened now is that the city of Jackson is now under a local emergency. This is not the normal course of events… so the normal requirements that would adhere, including the requirements of publishing an RFP, are not required.”

“That is why the council has the authority to consider… the proposal from Waste Management or the proposal from National Waste.”

RFPs are requests for proposals. The city issued a request in the spring, and three firms responded: FCC Environmental Services, Waste Management and Richard’s Disposal.

FCC received the highest score during the evaluation process, despite having the highest cost for trash pickup.

According to the lawsuit, the mayor “had not presented any further requests to the city council for authority to execute a contract for solid waste collection and hauling services” since August 19.

That month, the council twice voted down the mayor’s first proposal to bring on FCC.

Following those votes, the mayor entered into talks with Waste Management, the firm that scored the second-highest during the RFP evaluation process.

However, on August 30, the administration ended talks with the company after Waste Management refused to offer the city a one-year deal.

Weeks later, on September 17, the mayor issued a state of emergency over garbage collections and signed a contract with National Waste United LLC, a firm of local and out-of-state businesses, to pick up rubbish during the emergency.

The council rescinded the emergency on September 22, nullifying National Waste’s deal. That same day, Waste Management offered to continue collections in the city through the month of October for a $10.56 per residential unit.

Lumumba never brought the National Waste contract to the council, nor did he inform the council that he was accepting the Waste Management deal.

In fact, in a statement, he said it was on the council to determine how waste would be picked up.

“Mayor Lumumba’s conduct at and since the September 22, 2021 City Council meeting demonstrates an abdication of his responsibility to provide for the collection and disposal of garbage and rubbish.”

Copyright 2021 WLBT. All rights reserved.

BRYAM, Miss. (WLBT) – On a hot summer day, a random act of kindness was enough for a stranger to snap a picture and share it online.

The man kneeling is Bryam Police Sargeant Terris Thomas.

Just before this, police were directing traffic at Davis Road and Gary Road on September 3.

An unidentified woman had a blowout before she could get through the crossing.

Without hesitation, Thomas helped the woman change her tire and be about her way.

As it turns out, the sergeant worked for Jackson police eight years before serving to Byram, but Byram Chief David Errington said the officer has always put others before himself.

Copyright 2021 WLBT. All rights reserved.

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Days after the mayor released a statement saying garbage pickup was now in the city council’s hands, the council has approved its own state of emergency and is looking to bring on a contractor to pick it up.

At a special called meeting Monday, the council declared a state of emergency over the city’s garbage collections, only days after it rescinded a previous order issued by the mayor.

The measure was approved on a 4-2 vote, with Councilmembers Brian Grizzell and Angelique Lee voting against it.

Meanwhile, the council postponed votes until early Monday afternoon on two emergency contracts to continue collections during that emergency.

Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba asked why the city all of a sudden needed a state of emergency when just a few days ago, it did not.

“It wasn’t established three days ago that (there) was a legitimate reason to declare an emergency, but we’re establishing at this moment, now that Waste Management has offered an alternative, that there is an emergency? Is that what we’re establishing?” he asked. “I know this is illegal.”

The council made the decision partly because they say the mayor has abdicated his duties.

In a statement last week, Lumumba outlined his efforts to bring on a collections contract and ended it by saying, “the ball is now in their hands.”

Banks attempted to clarify whether the council could declare the state of emergency and hire a firm, based on the council’s independent legal team.

“Now, because there has been no action on behalf of the administration, that in order to make sure there is pick up and there is service… the council has to choose one of the (contractors) that want to take a stab at this?” he asked.

Roy Campbell, an attorney with Bradley Arant, said that was “absolutely right,” and that the council did have the authority to hire a firm to ensure that a “finger is in the dike.”

“The RFP process is the legally proscribed process for, among other things, selecting garbage services. What has happened now is that the city of Jackson is now under a local emergency. This is not the normal course of events… so the normal requirements that would adhere, including the requirements of publishing an RFP, are not required,” Campbell said. “That’s why the council has the authority to consider… the proposal from Waste Management or the proposal from National Waste.”

“Are we 100 percent sure we’re right? If we were 100 percent sure, we wouldn’t be asking for a declaratory judgment.”

Monday, the council filed suit in Hinds County Chancery Court to seek a ruling on whether it can issue a state of emergency and whether it can bring on a firm without the mayor bringing it forward, citing numerous instances of the mayor’s inaction.

According to court records, the council claims they held a special meeting on September 21 to discuss the mayor’s proclamation and his plans for ensuring garbage collections continued. However, “during the meeting, Mayor Lumumba did not present or identify a proposed contract with National Waste.”

At a meeting a day later, the council points to a quote in local media that the mayor said “I want to make it clear to the residents of Jackson that it is on the council to determine how trash is picked up.”

“Consistent with that pronouncement, Mayor Lumumba has made no further meaningful efforts to ensure solid waste collection and hauling services will continue… Upon that information and belief, the Mayor has not continued negotiations on the city’s behalf for a contract and related documents for solid waste collection and hauling services consistent with the RFP. Nor has he considered other, more competitive proposals…”

Campbell said he hopes to get a ruling this week before the garbage contract runs out Friday.

The mayor, meanwhile, said he has never given up the duties he was elected to carry out. “The residents voted me in to have those executive powers,” he said. “And I wouldn’t transfer them to anyone to have them in that way.”

He also pointed to the fact that he twice presented a contract with FCC Environmental Services, which was twice voted down by the council. The mayor said he then entered into talks with Waste Management but ended those negotiations after he said the firm attempted to “strong-arm” the city into taking a bad contract.

A letter obtained by WLBT reveals that the Waste Management agreement would have been cheaper than FCC’s negotiated costs. It also was cheaper than the contract the mayor was hoping to issue to National Waste to pick up garbage during the state of emergency.

Lumumba said he, too, was bringing on independent counsel to represent him in this matter.

Others also questioned whether the council’s declaration was legal. “The fact that you have to go to court to get the legal authority to do what you’re trying to do states on the fact that what you are doing is illegal as a city council,” Chief of Staff Safiya Omari said.

“I stated last week this is a complete overreach,” said Ward 4 Councilman Brian Grizzell. “The citizens of Jackson are being put in the middle of a game. They don’t deserve that. We need our garbage collected, but we need to make sure everything is on the up and up.”

“We can do better as a council. Our constituents deserve better from us and this is absolutely ridiculous.”

The mayor, along with Omari, believes the council is attempting to push through the emergency to steer the pickup contract to the city’s current contractor, Waste Management.

Last week, the council voted to rescind the mayor’s state of emergency, saying that Waste Management had offered to continue collections through at least the month of October.

The firm’s current contract with the city expires on September 30. However, company officials offered to extend the service at the current rate for around $10.56 per home for at least one month.

The mayor said he never saw the proposal and learned about it from the media.

Lumumba was hoping to bring on National Waste United to provide waste pickup for a period of six months.

National Waste is a consortium of firms that include Socrates Garrett Enterprises, SRS Inc., Kingdom Transportation & Trucking LLC, Cooper & Associates LLC, and Enviromax Recycling.

The administration signed off on a contract with the firm on September 17, the same day Lumumba issued his state of emergency. Filings in the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office show the firm was not formed until September 20.

Under the terms of that agreement, the city would be charged $15 per home and would have to pay a $750,000 mobilization fee within the first 30 days the contract was executed.

Waste Management’s contract does not include a mobilization fee, because the firm is already in place.

Ward One Councilman Ashby Foote asked where that $750,000 would come from and was not given an answer.

Other council members also asked for details about the National Waste agreement, which the mayor refused to provide.

He said items about solid waste were added to the agenda a day earlier and that he was not prepared to address them.

The special meeting was initially called to confirm the mayor’s choices for various department heads. Items regarding the state of emergency. A new agenda including garbage-related items was released Sunday morning.

“This is your show,” Lumumba said. “I’m going to let you have it.”

Click through the images below to read the state of emergency.

Copyright 2021 WLBT. All rights reserved.

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba will not say whether he’ll veto the Jackson City Council’s decision to approve a temporary garbage collection contract with Waste Management, even as he and his staff maintain the decision itself is unlawful because the mayor’s office never presented the contract to the council in the first place.

Lumumba, speaking briefly after a 90-minute town hall on garbage issues Monday night, said he has not fully weighed that out or contemplated the possibility of striking down the council’s decision.

“One of the things that I have to do, just so you’re aware, I’m really in a position of not doing anything until I get legal counsel, conflict counsel for myself,” Lumumba said. “Even if I wanted to negotiate a contract, I can’t do it without legal representation, and the city attorney’s office is not able to represent any of us now.”

Last week, the city council voted to hire conflict counsel to help it navigate the garbage contract issue, utilizing the Bradley Arant law firm instead of the Office of City Attorney for legal advice and resources.

One of the firm’s attorneys, Roy Campbell, spoke for the council when introducing various last-minute items added to Monday morning’s council agenda, one of which was the decision to approve the Waste Management contract the mayor had not put forth to the council.

Campbell told councilmembers he would have to seek a declaratory judgment from a judge because he couldn’t guarantee that decision was 100 percent legally sound.

“The fact that you have to go to a court to get legal authority to do what you are trying to do…states on its face, that what you are doing is illegal as a city council,” said Safiya Omari, Lumumba’s chief of staff.

Hours later, Lumumba spoke to more than a hundred residents about the administration’s attempts — and subsequent failures — at getting garbage collection vendors passed by the council.

The mayor said after a request for proposals was issued months ago, FCC scored highest according to an independent firm and the council still voted it down twice — in part — because of once-weekly trash pickup being considered.

Lumumba told the crowd there were options for twice-weekly trash pickup but claimed the council was deadset on getting FCC out of the picture because of alleged ties between council members and Waste Management.

“There have been a lot of misrepresentations in this process, saying that we did an illegal bid process. What was illegal about it, saying we chose a company? We didn’t know FCC,” Lumumba said. “And so I just want those facts to be on the table. I want you to be informed. I serve you. So if I’m wrong, tell me I’m wrong.”

Resident Patricia Stamps, when given the chance to ask questions during the town hall, instead said the mayor tried to push contracts on the city that would benefit him financially.

“Lyin’ Lumumba trying to have his way. It’s all about money. Lumumba does not care about the city of Jackson,” Stamps said, at one point getting into a disagreement with Omari after her tirade.

Security guards for the mayor helped escort her away from Omari before the argument became heated.

Some residents said they had no problem with Waste Management, sharing stories of reliable service with the officials in attendance.

Pastor Dwayne Pickett said his concerns with Waste Management go back to employees breaking their back for a company that doesn’t appreciate their work, offering temporary employment and few benefits.

Pickett is listed as the registered agent for National Waste United, LLC, the company Lumumba tried to approve during a state of emergency to provide six months of garbage collection.

Records with the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office show National Waste United, LLC was formed on September 20, three days after an agreement between the company and the city was already drawn up and filed with the municipal clerk’s office.

The agreement shows that in its first month, National Waste United would have cost taxpayers more than $1.5 million dollars, half of which went to a “mobilization fee.”

By contrast, the one-month extension from Waste Management costs almost a million dollars less.

Pickett likened his work in trying to improve worker benefits to efforts by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who fought for better working conditions for Memphis sanitation employees.

“We gotta take the courage to stop having to be the subs to these companies that are major conglomerates,” said Pickett. “Their money does not stay in your community. They don’t stay in your community. They don’t spend in your community. They don’t invest in your community, but yet they walk away laughing all the way to the bank.”

Copyright 2021 WLBT. All rights reserved.

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – James Davis will serve another four years as police chief, following a narrow vote from the Jackson City Council.

Monday, the council voted 4-3 to confirm Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba’s choice to his second term.

Voting in favor of the measure were councilmembers Ashby Foote, Angelique Lee, Kenneth Stokes and Brian Grizzell. Those opposed included Council President Virgi Lindsay and council members Vernon Hartley and Aaron Banks.

Lindsay said her decision was not personal, and that she agreed with the mayor that Davis was a “very good and kind man.”

“But we have had so much crime in my ward. We had another carjacking Saturday night, two of them. Young people getting in their cars held up at gunpoint,” she said. “Many of the people in my ward are asking for a leadership change.”

She then addressed the mayor. “Mr. Mayor, I do think a change in leadership is what I must vote for. And I’m really sad about that.”

Foote asked Davis if he would make a commitment to seek help from other agencies to make up for staffing shortages and to “get this crime under control.”

“We had a bad incident in Northeast Jackson on the 15th of September… a carjacking in a residential neighborhood. People showed up, held a gun to the head of the lady driving the car. Fifteen to 20 rounds were fired, rounds in the car, rounds into the door of a residence,” he said. “Fortunately, the victims weren’t hit by any of the rounds.”

He said the victims were told that they would be contacted by the department’s Mobile Crime Lab. However, no one with the lab showed up.

“I talked to them last night and they said they had still not been contacted by JPD since the initial conversation,” Foote said. “What really worries me is we’re understaffed in personnel and sworn officers and also in detectives. We don’t have enough detectives to cover the crime epidemic.”

WLBT figures show Jackson is on track to have its deadliest year on record in terms of homicides.

Ward Three Councilman Kenneth Stokes asked Davis what he was going to do to stop police chases into the capital city.

“A blind man called me last night, hungry… I was trying to take some chicken to him when I come upon Gallatin (Street) and cars were everywhere. I thought it was a roadblock, then I saw Pearl Police doing all of this,” he said. “Somebody’s going to get killed.”

Lumumba highlighted a number of the chief’s accomplishments, including his work to help set up the Real-Time Command Center and his efforts to recruit new officers.

Jackson resident Shikeera Redmond said her daughter, Priddy Jackson, was killed in the city’s 82nd homicide.

“She just turned 19 two weeks before she was murdered,” Redmond said. “She didn’t have a chance. She just enrolled in college, she had a job, she just bought her first car. It’s a shame they just took my daughter away from me in the most brutal way.”

Redmond said she was hoping city council would’ve voted against Davis’ reappointment. Since her daughter’s murder, there have been 27 additional homicides.

“If it’s on the track to be more than it was last year, then what has he done for the past couple of years?,” she said. “What kind of system has he set up to show us that things have changed since last year?”

She said she’s constantly living in fear and would feel better if there was more communication between JPD and Jackson residents on what’s being done to combat gun violence.

“It’s scary to just go to the gas station,” Redmond said. “People are getting shot at the red lights.”

Davis, for his part, thanked the council for approving raises for officers, saying that the decision already is paying off.

He said he will continue to rely on faith to do the best job he can do. “I give glory and honor to God for giving me a heart for service… for the stamina to be the chief,” he said. “We deal with the good and the bad and the ugly of life, from all walks of life.”

Other appointments approved at the meeting include:

• Rickey Jones – Jackson Municipal Airport Authority commissioner
• Onetta S. Whitley – Jackson Civil Service Commission
• Toya Martin – director of the Department of Human Resources
• Adriane Dorsey-Kidd – director of Human and Cultural Services
• Ison Harris – Director of Parks and Recreation
• Angela Harris – Municipal Clerk

Copyright 2021 WLBT. All rights reserved.

MONDAY: After a cool start to Monday – expect temperatures to quickly climb through the afternoon amid a mostly to partly sunny sky. From the morning 60s to the afternoon 80s, we’ll top out in the 80s to near 90. Gradually through the day, you may notice humidity levels creeping upward again as the shades of mid-October continue to fade. We’ll drop back into the 60s to near 70 overnight with a partly clear sky and a few showers developing late moving from southwest to northeast.

TUESDAY: The pattern will continue to filter in muggier air that will be more akin to late September for central and southwest Mississippi – leading up to a mix of clouds and sun and a risk for scattered downpours to develop through the latter parts of the day. Expect highs in the middle to upper 80s, generally, with most of the storm potential fading after sunset. Lows will fall back to the upper 60s and lower 70s.

EXTENDED PERIOD: After several days of high pressure holding on over the region – the pattern switch comes with the ridge pulling farther east and an upper low swirling to our west with the Gulf States being stuck in the middle. This will bring more clouds, opportunities for showers and storms through mid-late parts of the week. Highs will be in the middle 80s, still standard for late September and early October. The pattern looks break a bit by the weekend with a mix of clouds and sun, lower rain chances and highs in the in the lower to middle 80s.

TALKIN’ TROPICS: Formidable, yet small, Hurricane Sam continue to churn through the Atlantic this morning – outside of churning the surf, it will likely remain away from any land areas through this week but Bermuda may be something watch for through the weekend into next next week. Elsewhere, three other disturbances are vying for attention and potential organization. One – east of Bermuda are the remnants of Peter and could briefly become a depression again this week. A tropical wave rolled off western Africa this weekend – and has a ‘HIGH’ chance of development along with another wave that will emerge into the Atlantic and has a ‘HIGH’ chance for development in the next few days.

Patrick Ellis

WLBT/FOX 40 First Alert Meteorologist

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram: @PatrickEllisWx

Copyright 2021 WLBT. All rights reserved.

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – A fresh group of recruits started training today with the Jackson Police Department.

This is the beginning of a two-month program to help put more police on the streets to combat Jackson’s crime problems.

It’s JPD’s fifth recruitment class this year. With JPD 68 officers short and the homicide number at 109 so far this year, the department is actively working to hire more officers to help curb crime.

This current class has eleven recruits that could help do just that.

JPD Chief James Davis said the next eight weeks will test their mental and physical limits.

Davis said this class is critical as JPD works to control increasing gun violence in the Capital City. So far this year, there have been nearly 110 homicides, which is 16 more than this time last year.

“I’m committed to giving the public what they want,” Davis said. “They want police officers, and I want to fill every vacancy.”

Davis believes the pandemic and stress of the job has contributed to the shortage.

“You have a lot of people shying away from this profession,” he said. “But still in all, we have people committed to want to sign up and serve.”

Parents like Bo Green were flooded with mixed emotions as they watched their kids start the journey of earning a JPD badge.

“Watching him get drilled like this, [it’s] pretty hard,” Green said. “But knowing when he gets out in the real world, he’s got to have it.”

Green said his son grew up with two grandparents in the law enforcement community, and he’s dreamed of following in their footsteps since he was eight.

“He always wanted to wear his papa’s badge,” Green said.

Natchez Police Chief Joseph Daughtry said he has three recruits in the current class. He knows the level of training JPD’s academy provides after going through it himself twenty years ago.

“They don’t understand it now,” Daughtry said. “But when they get closer to graduation, they’ll understand why they have to get up and get down. They understand why they got to roll and why they got to duck and get up and get down fast. Because if someone starts shooting at you, you’ve got to be able to get down and take cover.”

Chief Davis said JPD is screening applicants to start another class in December — almost immediately after the current one graduates.

Copyright 2021 WLBT. All rights reserved.

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – A manhunt is underway after suspects shot five rounds at an officer in Jackson.

Pearl Chief of Police Dean Scott says a vehicle was driving erratically in Pearl when an officer attempted to pull the vehicle over. However, the driver continued to drive into Jackson.

The vehicle then crashed into a pole on Bailey Avenue. The four people in the vehicle were not injured.

Once the officer attempted to arrest the people in the vehicle, Chief Scott says individuals in the vicinity of the arrest — whom he believes knows the people in the vehicle — began to shoot at the officer.

Luckily, the officer was not harmed and called for backup. The four people in the vehicle have been arrested.

According to Chief Scott, officers are searching between Bailey Avenue and Mill Street for the suspects.

Copyright 2021 WLBT. All rights reserved.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Many living rooms were converted into makeshift classrooms after COVID-19 hit. Rather than meeting in-person, several students took on a new challenge – virtual learning.

While the pandemic did affect Montgomery 16-year-old Mariannah Harding, who could no longer attend her ballet classes, her school life remained relatively similar. Harding had already been homeschooled for years.

“During a regular day, we weren’t necessarily all together,” Harding said on studying alongside her siblings. “We might be in the same room or we we’re working on different subjects at a time.”

Unlike most, she graduated high school in 2016 at the age of 11, before virtually pursuing a bachelor’s degree in health science from Bellevue University. She just graduated this August.

Harding is number eight in a line of 10 siblings who all started college around age 12. They are known as the “Brainy Bunch.” But mother Mona Lisa Harding said it’s less about brains and more about drive.

“My kids are not any smarter than anybody else’s – they’re really motivated and they’re very hard working – but really feel like anyone can get these kinds of results,” the mother said.

She said the option to homeschool has been a “blessing.” The mother also believes it is important to allow each child to pursue their interests.

“Figuring out what their passions are when they’re young is key,” she added.

Mariannah Harding is passionate about plants. Whether she is harvesting tomatoes, picking okra or watching her loofah plant grow day-by-day, having a green thumb brings her joy.

She has learned a thing or two over the past six years of gardening and through watching educational videos. Now that she has a degree, she is interested in another.

The teen is applying to attend Auburn University to study horticulture.

“So, I hope to learn more about gardening, and plants, and all of the benefits that come with that because obviously agriculture plays such a big role in our society,” Mariannah Harding said.

She wants to use her skills to make the world a better place, and has been toying with the idea of establishing community gardens in downtown Montgomery.

For now, the 16-year-old college graduate is tending to the gardens outside her home, with dreams that could one day become yet another remarkable reality.

Mariannah Harding and her siblings have attended a plethora of different colleges and universities:

· Hannah – Auburn University at Montgomery & Tuskegee University

· Rosannah – Auburn University

· Serennah – Huntingdon College

· Heath – Troy University – Montgomery Campus

· Keith – Faulkner University

· Seth – The University of Alabama

· Katrinnah – Faulkner University

· Mariannah – Bellevue University

· Lorennah – Bellevue University

· Thunder – Bellevue University

The family encourages those with questions to reach out through collegebytwelve@gmail.com. You can also see more from the Hardings on their YouTube channel.

Copyright 2021 WSFA 12 News. All rights reserved.