Eric Irvin, a veteran teacher of 35 years in Jackson, Mississippi, said the state's low salaries for educators make him wish he never chose to teach here. “It’s like these people don’t care about us and what we’re doing,” he said at a campaign event for U.S. Senate candidate Scott Colom.

New tattoo!!! Definitely in my top three favorites and top three most painful lol but it’s sooooo worth it! Can’t wait to see it healed and for all that redness to go away🍒

It’s always a disco in our dining room! My favorite part of our house 🪩✨💜🕺🏼⚡️

Finished our Barbie hot pink half bathroom!!! I painted and decorated it all by myself!!!💖🌷🪩

I miss my dad. I wish he could see the woman I became. Ugh it’s not fair.

“It is my sincere hope that the United States Supreme Court will reaffirm the animating principle that all Americans are created equal" and strike down Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, said Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, who last week proclaimed April as Confederate Heritage Month.

Drives me crazy when Mississippi lawmakers write/say “the Democrat Party” instead of “the Democratic Party.” Adding the “ic” to the end won’t turn you liberal. It’s just correct grammar.

Does anyone know why my 2021 MacBook Pro no longer has the launchpad icon for me to look at all my apps, yet my 2021 iMac still has it? Left is iMac and right is MacBook. I don’t know how to look at all my apps that aren’t on my MacBook’s toolbar since I don’t have the launchpad icon.

LATEST: The Mississippi Supreme Court unanimously revived former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant’s defamation lawsuit against nonprofit news site Mississippi Today over its welfare scandal reporting, putting the case on track to go before a Madison County jury. @heatherharrison.bsky.social reports:

It gets on my every last nerve to hear people at events I cover say “the liberal news media.” Telling the truth is neither liberal nor is it conservative: it’s fundamental for democracy. This isn’t a joke to me.

Mike Watkins, a Mississippi medical-cannabis patient and consultant, rallied protesters Monday morning after Gov. Tate Reeves vetoed two medical-cannabis bills. “This is a worthy cause, an easy win, and I believe we can get the votes, but you got to put in the work," Watkins said. buff.ly/JU2GHeg

Got on the elevator with a couple of legislators. One said, (paraphrasing), "I'm ready to go home. We're at the point in the session where we're just irritating each other." And ain't that the truth. Sine Die is on Sunday, but I'm doubtful we'll be here that long. Hopefully tomorrow is the last day.

The official portrait of former Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn was unveiled on Wednesday at the Mississippi Capitol Building.  Read Heather's story: buff.ly/h7HmXKx

Let conference weekend begin.

Philip Gunn served in the Mississippi House for nearly two decades and spent more than half of his tenure as speaker. His portrait in the Mississippi Capitol Building joined those who preceded him in the role. buff.ly/h7HmXKx

Mississippi Republicans are pushing to verify the U.S. citizenship of every voter on the state’s rollbooks annually under the SHIELD Act. The bill is headed to Gov. Tate Reeves for his signature. buff.ly/N5vlzEj

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves accused the Senate clerk's office of removing language from the Winter Storm Fern recovery bill after its contents had already been approved by the Legislature. He said it "calls into question the validity of every bill that I have signed into law this session."

Follow reporter @heatherharrison.bsky.social as she continues to report on the ongoings at the Mississippi Legislature, keeping power in check and reporting the facts. Also, follow @mississippifreepress.org and please consider donating to support our non-profit, paywall-free journalism!

The Mississippi Legislature has passed several medical-cannabis bills that have the support of patients and caregivers, including ‘right-to-try’ and removing the concentrate potency cap. They now head to Gov. Tate Reeves’ desk for consideration. buff.ly/T4vq3IG

Mississippians who do not qualify for the state's medical cannabis program may be able to try the program under the sole approval of the state health officer under a bill that may soon become law.

The Mississippi Legislature confuses me because the House has an electronic voting board on the floor but doesn't livestream committee meetings, while the Senate livestreams meetings but votes on the Senate floor via roll-call with senators having to vocalize their position when their name is called

I was tanning on a boat in 80° sunny weather yesterday. Today I’m wearing a sweater and winter coat while watching snow flurries fall in 38° weather. Only in Mississippi.

Follow @heatherharrison.bsky.social for more Mississippi Legislature updates.

The Mississippi Senate has passed a teacher pay raise with $6,000 for most K-12 teachers, $9,000 for special education teachers, $2,000 for assistant teachers and $2,000 for college educators. www.mississippifreepress.org/6000-teacher...

Well, I guess I’m officially old. A high-school page said, “Excuse me, ma’am” as we passed each other on the Mississippi Senate’s secret stairs. At least he was polite!

NEW: A Mississippi bill criminalizing mail-order abortion pills as "drug trafficking" is headed to the Missisisppi governor's desk after passing both the House and Senate. @heatherharrison.bsky.social reports: www.mississippifreepress.org/bill-crimina...

A teacher pay raise is back in the realm of possibility in the Mississippi Legislature, as the Mississippi House—in a surprise move—revived the effort by amending a bill that was originally about replacing federal ethics requirements with state requirements for school counselors.

Rep. Shanda Yates: “If you’re a candidate running for office, you need to learn how to use the damn internet!” Read @heatherharrison.bsky.social's latest report for @mississippifreepress.org on the bills that died at the Mississippi Legislature this week:

Mississippi was on the verge of finally requiring political candidates to file campaign finance reports online in a searchable database—instead of on paper. The Mississippi House killed it. Rep. Becky Currie: "I have filed on paper for 19 years and I don’t want to do (it) online. I just don’t."

People often ask me if I drew the “short end of the stick” since I cover the Legislature. HELL. NO. This is my dream job, even if some of the rhetoric in this building causes me to lose my sanity. I wouldn’t have left the best small town in the South (Starkville) if I didn’t love my job.

Y'all I'm laughing so hard. Mississippi Sen. Daniel Sparks, R-Belmont, rose for an announcement on the Mississippi Senate floor and said, "I'd like to announce my disappointment." Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann replied, "It's shared by all." 👀

Legislators ask me where I’m from and my default response is “Mississippi Free Press” as if I was born in our office on South Congress Street 😂 And then I’m like “Oh, you wanna know where I’m FROM from. I was raised in Hazlehurst and now live in Brandon.”

It Only Tuesday https://theonion.com/it-only-tuesday-1819569397/

Hopes for legislative action on banning cellphones in classrooms, providing health insurance for school board members and increasing funding for gifted students appear dead in the Miss. House. House Education Committee Chair Rob Roberson says the committee has had its last meeting of this year.

Mississippi may soon criminalize illegal immigration under State law, with felony prison sentences for undocumented immigrants entering the state. www.mississippifreepress.org/undocumented...

Mississippi won’t expand Medicaid this year because of federal Medicaid funding cuts under Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. www.mississippifreepress.org/medicaid-exp...

Mississippi public schools may soon have to set aside time for students to pray and read the Bible and other religious texts under the Mississippi Open to Religion Act, which the Mississippi House passed on Feb. 11. buff.ly/n6z7CxW

A mail-order abortion pill ban passed the Mississippi House, defining it as felony drug trafficking that would carry one to 10 year prison sentences for providers. buff.ly/I52iD4M

Hopes for legislative action on banning cellphones in classrooms, providing health insurance for school board members and increasing funding for gifted students appear dead in the Miss. House. House Education Committee Chair Rob Roberson says the committee has had its last meeting of this year.

Pro tip: Read this fantastic explainer by @heatherharrison.bsky.social and @ashtonpittman.bsky.social to get up to speed on Phil Bryant’s attempt to keep his defamation lawsuit against Mississippi Today alive. It’s not easily understood via one-liners on social media.

One major national org said they weren't aware of the bill, others didn't respond or had no comment. And she was asking as recently as today, 6 days later. 5 years ago, all of them would've had statements out within an hour of passage.

One concern with this bill: It bans the mailing of "abortion-inducing drugs." But it doesn't specify which drugs that includes (typically mifepristone and misoprostol). One Democrat suggested it could ban Plan B. The bill's author, Celeste Hurst, said it won't ban Plan B, but the wording is fuzzy.

Here's what's surprising: This bill passed last Wednesday. We are only the second news organization to report on it other than Magnolia Tribune. No abortion rights organization has commented on it. And @heatherharrison.bsky.social couldn't get any major pro-abortion rights groups to comment.

NEW: Providers who mail abortion pills to Mississippi could soon be prosecuted as felony drug traffickers under an amendment Mississippi House Republicans added to a drug trafficking bill at the last minute. The amended bill passed amid loud dissent from outraged Democrats.

Just before Biden left office in January 2025, he honored Fannie Lou Hamer, who died in 1977, with a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom. That medal now sits in a glass display case at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Hamer’s family donated the medal to the museum last October.

Mississippi is one step closer to having internet access in “every area of the state that still lacks access to high-speed internet” after the federal government approved the state’s broadband expansion plan, Gov. Tate Reeves announced Tuesday.

Mississippi may soon criminalize illegal immigration under State law and allow the Mississippi Department of Public Service to collect identifying information about any undocumented immigrants in the state.

Medicaid expansion isn't going to happen in Mississippi this year because of Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Senate Medicaid Committee Chairman Sen. Kevin Blackwell, a Republican, told me last week.

Well, my Starkville Public Library card expired. We had a good five year run, even after I stopped living there 😅 I guess it’s time to finally get a Brandon Public Library card!

Thanks for the blue check, @bsky.app! Please verify my Mississippi Free Press colleagues too: @donnerkay.bsky.social @trjackson.bsky.social @kimberlygriffin.bsky.social @heatherharrison.bsky.social @nickjudin.bsky.social @illanireland11.bsky.social