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JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Researchers estimate that 30-40 million Americans are at risk of eviction.

COVID-19 increased the odds for those already struggling to pay their rent. It’s the subject of an exhibit at JSU, where the school is offering programs to offset the plight captured in the images on display.

Eddie Brown is days away from leaving his Vintage Apartment.

“They sent the notice saying they were not renewing any leases after August 4,” said Brown. “So I took that as an eviction notice.”

The 67-year-old is among the 2.3 million Americans who face eviction each year. Stories like his are depicted in the traveling exhibit “Evicted” currently on display at Jackson State University.

It examines the forced removal of families from their homes through non-payment due to job loss or other plans by the owner. The exhibit is based on Matthew Desmond’s Pulitzer Prize winning book of the same name.

The pandemic has amplified the eviction problem among the low income and minorities.

“I’m really having a hard time,” said “Jane,” another Vintage Apartment tenant. “The pandemic just got over but it’s kinda crazy how I have to pay just to live here, and then find me somewhere else to go.”

“Upwards of 50 percent of Mississippi renters may face evictions this year due to the pandemic itself,” said Margaret Walker Center Director Dr. Robert Luckett. “That’s a staggering number”.

The Jackson State University history professor said the pandemic has greatly impacted children who lost the safe space of school during virtual learning.

“The devastation of eviction on top of that is going to create a cycle of poverty for that child that will be incredibly difficult to escape over the person lifetime,” said Luckett.

2016 data, used in the exhibit, documented nearly 35,000 evictions in Mississippi. Cases that often led to an increase in the homeless population. “Evicted” is on display through October 3.

For more information contact the Margaret Walker Center at 601-979-3935 or go to mwa@jsums.org.

JSU plans to offer programs over the next few months to connect those facing eviction or have been evicted with community activists and organizations to provide resources for recovery.

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JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – KLLM hosted their annual college football truck reveal Thursday night.

Fans and alumni gathered to check out the new rides of some of our surrounding schools. This year, even Jackson State University got in on the fun.

For the first time the Tigers will be sporting an 18-wheeler on the road. Athletic director Ashley Robinson commented on how much this is going to up their game.

“KLLM has donated a truck for travel for our football team,” she stated. “Very, very excited. Had an opportunity to look at it. Our fans, alumni, supporters came out. A very, very big deal for us. We’re very appreciative and want to thank KLLM and our alumni, supporters and fans. They’re very excited.

“I think it’s gonna up the game. This is gonna be really good to see that traveling truck every time we travel. I think this is defiantly gonna put us in a whole other level!”

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Published: Jul. 22, 2021 at 10:06 PM CDT|Updated: 7 hours ago

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Jackson police investigated a crime scene on North State Street on Thursday evening.

The crime scene was located at a convenience store known as the S Mart near Sheppard Road.

Officers were seen searching for evidence at the scene.

WLBT has reached out to the Jackson Police Department and are awaiting a response.

This is a developing story.

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WEDNESDAY: Our stalled front will help to kick up yet another risk for scattered downpours, mainly during the afternoon and early evening hours. While it may not rain all day long, where and when it rains, the storms could come down quick, fast and in a hurry again. Highs will top out in the middle to upper 80s; a few spots could tag 90. Lows will drop to the lower to middle 70s with partly clear skies as rain chances taper after sunset.

THURSDAY: Our unsettled pattern finally begins to calm down as an upper ridge starts to nudge in from the south through the latter part of the week. Expect temperatures to quickly rebound into the lower 90s amid a mix of clouds and sun. A few hit and miss storms may catch up with you by the latter part of the day, but coverage will be much less than in recent days.

EXTENDED FORECAST: A stout upper ridge will expand over much of the country through late week. In response, temperatures will gradually begin to heat back up by the upcoming weekend. While occasional disturbances could kick up storms from time to time, coverage will not be as widespread as recent days. Due to antecedent wet ground, heat indices could reach critical levels as heat cranks to the middle 90s by next week.

Patrick Ellis

WLBT/FOX 40 First Alert Meteorologist

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram: @PatrickEllisWx

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JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Major changes and improvements in the works for the Jatran bus system, and it is good news for those who depend on public transportation.

Changes include a new bus network with 10 new and improved routes. Customers gave input on some of the recommendations at an open house Tuesday night in Downtown Jackson.

Connetics Transportation Group has been working on a proposal that will be presented to City Council members. In addition to more bus routes, the proposal includes direct routes to Jackson State University, downtown, UMMC, and Walmart stores on County Line Road and Highway 18.

Dan Nelson with Connetics Transportation Group said, “they can expect faster travel times hopefully. Quicker trips, more direct trips. Maybe fewer transfers in some places like I said there’s that more direct service up to County Line Road. So folks don’t have to transfer to another bus route to get to places like Northpark Mall or the Walmart up on County Line Road.

Nelson added, “Jatran really has not been changed for decades. And a lot of these routes have been in place for years, and it was time to make some changes to respond to changing development patterns and changing community patterns for how people are moving throughout the city.”

Nelson says his group will have plans wrapped up by the fall, and then the proposal will go to the Jackson City Council for approval. He says the changes should be put in place some time next year.

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Published: Jul. 19, 2021 at 11:29 AM CDT|Updated: 6 hours ago

LEAKE CO., Miss. (WLBT) – Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham Stewart says the body of a missing person found in Leake County may be a missing woman from Jackson.

A Silver Alert was issued for 19-year-old Priddy Jackson last week due to her disappearance.

Coroner Stewart says the official identity of the victim will have to be confirmed through medical records or DNA, which may take some time.

Leake County investigators say they made one arrest, and the suspect is linked to a missing person case from May.

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JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Jackson State University’s vaccination clinic was busy Tuesday after Mississippi’s recent spike in COVID-19 cases.

“You got a lot of people dying around here,” JSU freshman Jeremiah Williams said. “We’re just trying to stay alive and go to work and do whatever we need to do in life.”

With the state health department’s recent report of over 2,300 new cases in just a three-day period, some JSU students said they felt it was time to protect themselves against the virus. JSU senior George Graham said he wants to be as safe as possible before the Fall semester gets underway next month.

“With the Delta variant spreading and having all these cases all over the place, it helped to persuade me to go out and get the second dose and have it done so that if I was to be attacked by it, or someone close to me, I would be in a better situation to be ready for it,” Graham said.

JSU graduate student Keonte Hampton said he’s gotten tested for the virus more times than he can count, and he’s tired of cotton swabs going up his nose.

“I’m tired of these COVID tests, and COVID kills a lot of people, and I’m tired of that too. Just ready to get back to normal,” Hampton said.

Hampton said he was hesitant to get the shot after hearing mixed things about it but ultimately decided to face his fears so that the pandemic doesn’t impact his football season.

“We have to take like three to four COVID tests a week,” he said. “If you miss it, you got to miss that game. So I’m like, I might as well get the vaccine. It’ll be a big help for us, a big benefit.”

State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs tweeted a chart Tuesday, showing low vaccinated counties are increasingly likely to have higher case counts.

“I figured that it would at least be better to be amongst the majority of people having the vaccine than being amongst the very few people that don’t,” Graham said.

JSU has not yet decided as to whether they’ll require students to get vaccinated come fall. Classes are set to begin on August 23.

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Published: Jul. 20, 2021 at 6:37 PM CDT|Updated: 10 hours ago

NEWTON, Miss. (WLBT) – An Endangered/Missing Child Alert for a 15-year-old in Newton County has been canceled.

Alexia Kira Henry has been located and is safe.

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JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said Mississippi has a “rough few weeks” ahead when it comes to the fight against COVID-19.

Dobbs and other state health officials discussed the rising number of infections and hospitalization rates during what is now being called the fourth wave of COVID infections.

“It’s bad right now,” he said. “We’re in the middle, if not the start, of the fourth wave. We want to bring as many people to the other side as we can.”

Dobbs said there are currently 13 hospitals in the state that no longer have intensive care units. Meanwhile, he expects deaths to definitely go up in the coming weeks as more and more people come down with the infection.

“We are getting to the point to where we have to fly patients from the Delta to the Pine Belt to get access to care because there’s not that much access to it right now,” he said.

According to Mississippi State Department of Health numbers, 573 new cases were reported, as well as nine new deaths and 47 outbreaks at long-term care facilities.

“When we went through the spring, May going into June, we were doing reasonably well. We were seeing primarily the Alpha variant,” Dobbs explained. “The Delta variant has taken over all the transmission in the state of Mississippi. It’s far more contagious, even more than the Alpha variant.”

He and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Daniel Edney urged people to get vaccinated and those who are 65 and older or who are immuno-compromised to talk to their doctor about getting a booster, adding that the MSDH is talking to doctors to make booster doses available at county health departments.

“Ninety-three percent of the cases in the last month have been (among the) unvaccinated,” he said. “Eighty-nine percent of deaths have been unvaccinated.”

The other 11 percent of deaths occurred among those who had been vaccinated but were 65 or older.

“That’s why we’re focused on doing additional protection for those 65 and older,” Dobbs said. “It’s going to take less exposure, less time, and less opportunity for superspreader events.”

Through July 20, 2,101,123 vaccine doses have been distributed; 1,143,621 people have received at least one dose; and, 1,014,078 have received both doses, according to MSDH numbers.

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Lackey Memorial Hospital in Forest has seen the uptick and they’re hoping the treatments that are now available will keep the number in the hospital down.

“Probably 3/4 if what we’re testing is positive now,” said Lackey Memorial Hospital Administrator Sydney Sawyer. “It’s kind of deja vu. We’re doing a lot of outpatient antibodies right now. Probably at the same level that we were back in February or March.”

Dobbs says the Delta variant essentially doubles the risk of transmission. He says it takes less time and less exposure to catch compared to the original strain.

“We might see two or three transmission cycles within a small group or family,” he explained. “Now, we’re finding extensive webs. We find a case and we can link it to multiple families or multiple exposures because it’s that much more contagious and it’s a lot easier to sort of track it down in these massive outbreaks.”

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JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Hinds County Sheriff’s Office is reporting an outbreak at Raymond Detention Facility and the Work Center in Raymond.

There are 65 positive cases as of Tuesday morning, with 60 detainees and 14 employees who have tested positive at the facilities.

HCSO says more employees have tested positive and are quarantining. That additional number is unknown at this time.

Sheriff Lee Vance says this is the largest outbreak they have had since the onset of the pandemic.

“I think we have to face the fact that the jail population is a reflection of the general community and I think everybody knows that we’re seeing an uptick as it relates to the Delta variant in our area,” he said. “So as a result of that more individuals that are coming into our facility are going to test positive.”

The sheriff’s department is now making their employees either get the vaccine or wear a mask at all times.

They’ve ramped up cleaning protocols also in efforts to keep the virus from spreading. They’ve also suspended visits at the jail.

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