Do you find yourself worried about the issue of trash in and around Hinds County? If so, we invite you to participate in an important community meeting with Supervisor Anthony Smith and WM Waste Management. Date: February 15th Time: 6:00 PM Location: Mt. Olive M.B. Church Address: 6449 W. Northside Drive, Bolton, MS Pastor: Wayne Moore, Jr. This meeting presents a valuable opportunity to address concerns about trash management and discuss potential solutions together. Your presence and input are highly appreciated as we work towards a cleaner and more sustainable community. We look forward to seeing you there!

Students across Mississippi are invited to get outdoors and participate in the 2024 Bob Tyler Fish Hatchery Youth Art Contest, sponsored by the Foundation for Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks. The contest is open to youth who are enrolled in public, private and parochial schools, as well as those in accredited home schools, after school programs or scouts. To enter, each student must submit a portfolio including entry form and artwork depicting a Mississippi native fish or wildlife species. Artwork must be the original work of the student and may be any medium or mixture of medium. Chalk and lead creations must be sealed with adhesive. Entries must be sent or delivered to the Visitor Education Center (VEC) in Enid, Mississippi, by May 10 and are limited to one piece per youth. Winners in four age categories will have their work published in the Mississippi Outdoors magazine and will receive a complimentary copy of the magazine displaying their work. First, second and third place winners will be chosen. Winners will also receive gift cards and have their work posted on the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks’ website. For more information and entry details, visit MDWFP.com, or call the VEC at 662-563-8688.

By Kara Kimbrough There’s a good chance you’re reading this on Valentine’s Day or maybe the weekend following the day when a special meal of some kind is required with your significant other. Even if it’s too late to make a restaurant reservation, there are still a few options left to create a special meal. First, if you’re on a strict budget, you can always go to Sonic (yes, you read that right). Supposedly Reba McIntire’s post that Sonic’s #1 Cheeseburger would be her last meal on earth if given the chance caused the chain to create a special Sweetheart Meal at a reduced price for this week. Included are a cheeseburger, tater tots and strawberry shake. McIntire has even announced she and her boyfriend will celebrate Valentine’s Day at the fast-food place. I’m not sure if I believe that, but it does make for a great story. If a fast-food burger and fried tots is not your idea of a special meal, there are still quite a few options from which to choose to create a memorable dinner, even at this late date. If you’re newly-married, do what one of my friends did and recreate a romantic dinner enjoyed during your honeymoon. When all else fails, throw a juicy steak on the grill, bake a potato (a fancy one) and pick up a heart-shaped cake from the local bakery or supermarket. Not only it is easy to pull off a special dinner in no time, but there’s less stress and usually a significant cost savings over dining out on one of the most expensive nights (or weekends) of the year. Here are three of my favorite “special occasion” recipes for a steak dinner that won’t disappoint…and who knows, it may become the requested meal of your special person when Valentine’s Day rolls around next year. Valentine’s Night Steaks for Two Marinate two thick cuts of sirloin (or your favorite cut) steak for several hours (or shorter if you wait until last minute) in the refrigerator with: 1 medium bottle of teriyaki steak sauce Juice of 2-3 lemons Salt and pepper to taste Remove from refrigerator and top with 1-2 tablespoons of butter. Grill or broil to desired level of doneness. Let meat rest before slicing. Recipe doubles easily. Twice-Baked Potatoes for Two Bake two large baking potatoes. Scoop out inside, leaving a small border of potato around edges. Add to the potato filling: Small container of French Onion Dip 1-2 tablespoons of butter 2 tablespoons of bacon bits ¼-1/2 cup shredded cheese Stir well and return to potato skins; top with cheese. Place under the broiler for a few minutes until insides are heated through; don't overcook. Air Fryer Mini Chocolate Pudding Cakes 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons sugar 1-1/2 teaspoons baking cocoa 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/8 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons milk 1-1/2 teaspoons butter, melted 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract Topping: 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1-1/2 teaspoons baking cocoa Whipped topping, optional Preheat air fryer to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Stir in the milk, butter and vanilla until smooth. Spoon into 2 lightly greased 4-ounce ramekins. Combine brown sugar and cocoa; sprinkle over batter. Place ramekins on tray in air-fryer basket. Cook until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 15-20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature, with whipped topping if desired. Kara Kimbrough is a food and travel writer and travel agent from Mississippi. Email her at kkprco@yahoo.com.

More than 1,400 Mississippians used the Life Insurance Policy Locator to find lost life insurance policies valued at more than $41 million in 2023. The Life Insurance Policy Locator is a free tool, maintained by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Since it’s inception in 2016, the program has found more than $94 million for Mississippians. “I think Valentine’s Day is a good reminder to show your loved ones that you care by purchasing life insurance,” said Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney. “Life insurance protects your family financially.” Each year, millions of dollars in life insurance benefits go unclaimed by beneficiaries who can’t find their loved ones’ policies or in some cases may not even know the policies exist. That’s where the Life Insurance Policy Locator comes in. To locate a lost policy, go to https://eapps.naic.org/life-policy-locator/#/welcome or if you need assistance in locating a lost policy, you can contact the Mississippi Insurance Department at 601-359-2453 or email consumer@mid.ms.gov

A combination of labor market deregulation, inward investment and tax cuts seems to be transforming Mississippi for the better.  Our state is no longer a place that people leave, but somewhere people move to in search of new opportunities.  What can we do to ensure that more people in Mississippi take full advantage of those job opportunities? It is not enough to merely talk about opportunities.  With 80,000 job vacancies right here, right now, there are opportunities to work all around us.  The issue is why some folk aren’t taking the opportunities that are there.  Some have suggested that we hire more career counsellors in high schools.  I am certain that career counsellors do a wonderful job, but if that is the only policy solution, I suspect labor force participation will remain low.  If we are going to increase workforce participation, we need to ask difficult questions about welfare.  Does welfare create disincentives against work? Mississippi has a population of 2.95 million.  Approximately one in five (19 percent) live below the poverty line (calculated as the minimum income needed to get by with the bare essentials.) The way in which the myriad of assistance programs impacts the half a million plus people below the poverty line matters, and needs to be properly understood if we are to improve workforce participation. Welfare programs can have unintended consequences, and one of them is the creation of so-called ‘benefit cliffs’.  A benefit cliff is what happens when someone loses benefits if their income increases, but the benefits they lose outweigh the additional income gained. Given the maximum income thresholds allowed, we know, for example, that if someone’s monthly income went from $400 a month to $410 a month, they would no longer qualify for some Temporary Assistance programs. If your income rose above $1,215 a month, you could lose the right to claim Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).  When your income per person goes over $19,392 a year, you may no longer qualify for Medicaid (although the ‘cliff’ cut-off is not always as abrupt as is sometimes supposed).  Take into account the different benefit cliffs, and you could have a powerful range of disincentives. Even if a person was notionally better off when holding down a 35 hour week job, the time and effort it would take for a relatively modest increase in income might leave some feeling having a job was not worth it. It has been suggested that benefits do not create a problem of ‘cliffs’, but of straight forward dependency.  They point out, for example, that those on food stamps are not those hovering on the edge of the labor market, but full-time welfare dependents.  There may be some truth in that, too. So, what is the solution? The answer to benefit ‘cliffs’ is not to increase welfare payments in order to remove disincentives, but to institute more stringent work requirements for those on welfare programs. In Arkansas under Sarah Huckabee Sanders, anyone that fails to accept a suitable job within five days of being offered one, or who fails to show up for job interviews without notice, can now lose their benefits. If we are serious about increasing workforce participation, we may well need to implement something similar. Douglas Carswell is the President & CEO of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy.

The Mississippi Secretary of State's Office (SOS) is seeking high school seniors with a passion for leadership and state government to apply for the agency's 2024-25 Student Ambassador Program. The program aims to increase voter education and registration among youth and encourages students to engage in Mississippi civics. “Our Student Ambassador program remains one of the most rewarding and impactful programs we have instituted since taking office. While it serves as an opportunity for students to cultivate affinity for public service and expand leadership skills, more importantly, it provides us an opportunity to invest in and mentor the next generation of Mississippi leaders," said Secretary of State Michael Watson. Components of the program include a fall summit in Jackson focused on the state's elections process; a spring summit in Jackson focused on the state's legislative process; two regional summits with locations to be determined; and monthly virtual trainings and educational sessions with SOS representatives and various government officials. To be considered for the SOS Student Ambassador Program, students must be a high school senior during the 2024-25 academic year; have a grade point average of 3.0 or above; prove satisfactory behavioral conduct; and have a strong interest in state government and service. The deadline to submit an application is March 31, 2024. Applications, available at www.SoS.MS.gov include an online form, two references, and a 300- to 600-word essay response on the topic of the Mississippi Brain Drain. For more information, contact the SOS External Affairs Division at ExternalAffairs@sos.ms.gov or 601-359-6383.

Kameron Jeffreys and Ginny Mae Purvis represented Central Hinds Academy at the state capital this week. They had a great experience serving as pages in the House of Representatives during the legislative session.

By Bob Garver As much as I enjoyed the fun, exciting trailers for “Argylle” that made excellent use of the film’s eclectic cast, there was one element that told me the movie was in serious trouble. Amongst shots of the cat belonging to spy novelist Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard), onscreen text insisted that, “Once you know the secret, don’t let the cat out of the bag.” In other words, there’s a big twist in this movie. It’s not worrying that this spy movie has a big twist, given the genre it would be weird if it didn’t. It’s worrying that the movie needs to advertise itself like that, putting so much emphasis on the twist that it can’t possibly live up to the hype. Aside from the fact that announcing the twist ahead of time kills the element of surprise, the film is also basically saying that what you see in early stages is untrustworthy, since the twist is going to turn everything on its head eventually. Sure enough, the twist is laughable and killed the investment I had in the movie up to that point. I won’t go into spoilers, but nothing made me regret my questioning of the advertising tactics. Elly Conway writes spy novels about Agent Argylle (Henry Cavill). Other characters include his sidekick (John Cena), his techie (Ariana DeBose), and his nemesis (Dua Lipa). The trailers made no secret that these characters are all fictional(ish), but they did exaggerate how much the four actors are in the movie. Elly soon finds out, via real spy Aiden (Sam Rockwell), that what she has written corresponds to actual events in the world of international espianoge. She has written about things that have actually happened, and may be able to write about things that are going to happen. Some powerful people want to know what Elly’s going to write next, including Aiden’s boss (Samuel L. Jackson) and evil agency-runner Ritter (Bryan Cranston). Even Elly’s mother (Catherine O’Hara) is dying to know, but that’s probably just gentle motherly goading, or is it? Either way, this is a lousy time for Elly to develop a sudden case of writer’s block. The confusing nature of the movie’s reality makes for a confused tone, which makes for confused actors and confused performances. Cranston, in particular, doesn’t seem to know when to play things straight or over the top, so he settles for an off-putting middle ground. Howard, to her credit, is giving a proper blockbuster performance, it’s just a shame this movie is doing so poorly that it will never achieve blockbuster status. I liked some of the action scenes. The hot opener, set within the world of Argylle, is quite crisp. Two late-in-the-movie shootouts, one with bright colors, one covered in black, indicate that this movie isn’t entirely ruined by its script. But those sequences are maybe 19 combined minutes in a movie with a 139-minute runtime. The other two hours are devoted to a convoluted story that made me squirm with impatience. Not to get to a big reveal, mind you, just for the movie to be over. There’s a better movie out right now where the protagonist is an author and the action occasionally blends their writing with reality. “American Fiction” is enjoying a nice little bump at the box office thanks to its recent Best Picture Oscar nomination. That movie follows a Black writer (Jeffrey Wright) who, in the margins between drama in his personal life, sarcastically submits a racially-degrading manuscript that turns into a surprise bestseller. The jokes about well-meaning-but-insensitive white people get stale eventually, but it’s still a much smarter and more engaging movie than “Argylle.” “Argylle”: C- “American Fiction”: B- “Argylle” is rated PG-13 for strong violence and action and some strong language. Its running time is 139 minutes. Contact Bob Garver at rrg251@nyu.edu.

You probably woke that fateful morning, assuming everything would probably run along on the accustomed track. Never dreaming – or nightmaring – that particular day would be so much different than you expected. After all, even with all of life’s up and downs, usually a person can know what to reasonably expect. You eat, sleep, communicate with loved ones, work your job and attempt to find pleasure in hobbies or with your friends as much as possible.  Oh sure, there are the really bad times. Everybody knows those come along, and you just muddle through them the best you can. But basically, life runs along fairly consistently. Notice I didn’t write that it runs wonderfully. Yours may be boring you of out your skull. Or you may have a life that has a lot of heartache and turmoil threading through it on a consistent basis. But still, it’s yours and you pretty much know what to expect. But then, the horrible day happened. At some point an explosion erupted in your life that changed everything. Someone deliberately told vicious future-destroying lies about you, and now you may be living with a badly damaged reputation. Or, someone looked you in the eye and smiled while they quietly worked to ruin your life. Maybe you have actually suffered at the hands of an enemy who had your death in mind – and nearly accomplished their goal. In any case, now you are left with the results of the horrible pain. And trying to find a way to do one of two options: A) Feed your anger and find a way to get revenge, even if it takes the rest of your life. B) Or, find a way out of the pain and anger, and go on to live a successful and happy life. The first choice has you constantly reliving your hurt, and that is exactly what they want. But folks, that person who deliberately hurt you isn’t worth two minutes spent concentrating on their memory. That is time subtracted from simply enjoying your life. The other option is by far the best one. It’s great revenge. Remember, their goal was to hurt you badly, and destroy who and what you are. So, finding ways to laugh while you go on successfully with your life is great revenge. Because they lose. Despite everything that was done to you, you found a way to win. Even if it means living with permanent damage done to your dreams, finding a way to enjoy your life is still the better choice over spending your time plotting a way to exact revenge. That will only cause you more obsessive, bitter hurt. Means they win. Commit to letting go, and let God exact His revenge. Because He promises He will. Whether He uses our country’s justice system or through an act of God Himself – that is His business. But He WILL give you revenge - one way or another.

MDWFP's Mississippi Museum of Natural Science will celebrate Mississippi Arbor Day during the "S.T.E.M., Leaves, and Trees" event on Friday, February 9, 2024, from 9 a.m. – Noon. Visitors will experience S.T.E.M. crafts, games, and displays focused on Mississippi trees and their past and present roles in our environment. Live trees will also be given away while supplies last. "Our visitors will enjoy fun, hands-on activities like identifying leaves, dissecting logs, walking through a giant soil tunnel, and taking a guided nature trail hike with our Museum Conservation Educators," explains MMNS Director Charles Knight. Visitors can also explore the Museum's permanent events, aquariums, Dinosaur Trail, and the "Attack of the Bloodsuckers" special exhibit. The Rebecca Cravat Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) will dedicate a Live Oak tree and marker recognizing the Chapter's 60th Anniversary and commemorating the 250th Anniversary of the United States of America. The marker will recognize Choctaw Revolutionary War Scouts who fought for American independence. The dedication will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Museum's auditorium. After their Museum visit, guests can take Spotter's Adventure Trail to the LeFleur's Bluff Playground and see Maggie – a black bear sculpture carved from a tree on the Playground by award-winning chainsaw artist, Dayton Scoggins. The Museum is located at 2148 Riverside Drive in Jackson, Mississippi in LeFleur's Bluff State Park. This event is included with Museum admission or with Mississippi Museum of Natural Science Foundation Membership. For Field Trip or Group Reservations, please contact Yolanda.hawkins@mmns.ms.gov. Museum admission is: $8 for adults, $6 for youth ages 3-18, and $7 for senior citizens ages 60 and up. Visitors can get more details about the Museum and plan their visit at www.mdwfp.com/museum or by calling 601-576-6000. Connect with us at: www.facebook.com/msnaturalscience, www.instagram.com/MSScienceMuseum, and www.twitter.com/MSScienceMuseum.

Governor Reeves declared February 11-17, 2024, Spring Severe Weather Preparedness Week in Mississippi. Last year, Mississippi had 61 confirmed tornadoes, including one EF-4 and two EF-3 tornadoes that touched down during the March 24th outbreak. That storm system moved across the state, claiming the lives of 22 Mississippians. “We have seen just how important it is to prepare for severe weather and how having a plan before a disaster can be lifesaving,” said Governor Tate Reeves. “I encourage all Mississippians to review their severe weather preparedness plan, especially as we approach Spring.” “So many lives were lost last year due to severe weather. All families should have a plan of action when severe weather warnings are issued. It’s important for everyone to have multiple ways to receive alerts and have a pre-identified safe place to go,” says MEMA Executive Director Stephen McCraney. “I encourage all Mississippians to use this week to prepare for the upcoming spring severe weather season.” Topics for Spring Severe Weather Preparedness Week: The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency is partnering with the National Weather Service to highlight different types of severe weather and ways to prepare for the upcoming spring severe weather season. MEMA urges all Mississippians to have a disaster supply kit stocked with food and water year-round. Knowing a safe place to seek shelter when severe weather is in your area is also essential. Each day of Spring Severe Weather Preparedness Week, MEMA will use informational graphics, videos, and engaging content on these topics. Keep up with Spring Severe Weather Preparedness Week by visiting MEMA’s Facebook and Twitter pages and MEMA’s YouTube page. Your local National Weather Service offices will also share additional severe weather information. Four National Weather Service offices cover Mississippi: Jackson, Memphis, New Orleans, and Mobile. MEMA’s Disaster Guide also has additional severe weather preparedness tips: click here.