News — Investigative/In-depth
Jones County residents to vote on future of segregated water fountains at county courthouse
Outside the Jones County Courthouse in Ellisville, two relics of Mississippi's segregated past have sat on each side of the entrance walkway for nearly 88 years.
Jones County voters decided in November 2020 whether to keep or remove water fountains that once read "colored" and "white."
This series of articles were written by Cam — with contributions by Lici Beveridge — in 2020 while they worked as a photojournalist for the Hattiesburg American.
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July 24, 2020
Residents vote on fate of segregated fountains
Nov. 4, 2020
MS Elections: will segregated fountains stay or go?
Nov. 5, 2020
From Opioids to Heroin, addressing the epidemic in Mississippi
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant created an opioid and heroin task force to address the rising number of deaths caused by addiction in January 2017.
Mississippi amended House Bill 996, its Emergency Response and Overdose Prevention Act, on March 15, 2017, to allow pharmacies to provide life-saving, opioid-related overdose drugs without a prescription. The law took effect July 1.
This article was written by Cam while they were an intern at the Jackson Free Press in Jackson, Miss.
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Aug. 9, 2017
Addressing the opioid epidemic
Sexual assault at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house at USM
At the University of Southern Mississippi, a student was sexually assaulted at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house Oct. 30, 2016. From October to February 2016, the university would not release information regarding actions taken by the university or by the SAE national office. The university would not release information to students regarding the case or punishments being given to SAE fraternity members involved. Through this investigative series, the university admitted that a Title IX investigation was underway, the SAE national office assigned 25 sanctions to various members involved and informed students what the university was doing to ensure their safety.
This investigative series won first place for public service journalism at the South Eastern Journalism Conference 2017, first place in investigative journalism at the Mississippi Press Association's Better Newspaper college competition and received first place from the Mississippi-Lousiana Press Association's Media Editors Awards College Contest for Best Editorial, Best Investigative Piece and Best in Show.
Read first article here >>> Dec. 8, 2016
SAE to undergo chapter development plan
> Feb. 2, 2017
National SAE Office assigns sanctions to 25 Fraternity men
> March 27, 2017
It's on USM, an edition dedicated entirely to the sexual assault, including an editorial from staff, a letter to the editor from students and the university, and the poilce reports from the night of the assault.
Richfield students walkout, then locked out of class
One month after the Parkland, Florida, school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, thousands of students nationwide participated in a school walkout March 14 at 10 a.m., lasting 17 minutes to remember the 17 students killed.
Students and parents received emails from Richfield Public Schools superintendent Steve Unowksy, stating the school will provide two spaces, the cafeteria and the auditorium, for students who wished to participate in the walkout and return to class. However, students who left the building were locked out of class. Students who walked out of class and members of the community who participated in the walkout with the students felt that the school did not allow students to exercise their freedom of speech by providing designated protest areas.
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March 22, 2018
Former Richfield tenants settle in 'first-of-its-kind' fair-housing suit
Former tenants of Crossroads at Penn apartment complex, now The Concierge, settled for $650,000 in a fair housing law suit.
On Feb. 2, 2016, former Crossroads at Penn residents, including Bryant, filed a Class Action Fair Housing lawsuit against Crossroads Apartments LLC and James Soderberg of Soderberg Apartment Specialists. Eric Hauge of HOME Line, a statewide nonprofit tenant advocacy group and plaintiff in the suit, said originally 35 tenants filed in the class-action suit, but they amended the complaint to reduce the number of directly-named plaintiffs.
On Oct. 19, Judge Ann Montgomery signed the order granting a motion for preliminary approval of the settlement in which the owners will pay the plaintiffs and former tenants of the 698-unit apartment building $650,000. The settlement also states the landlords must adhere to less aggressive screening tactics for new tenants, including: the removal of minimum income requirements, changes to household occupancy limits, review of rental history and criminal backgrounds, and alternative options to Social Security numbers and photo IDs.
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Oct. 19, 2017
Richfield: Former tenants settle for $650K in Crossroads suit
Features
New cafe boast turn-of-the-century design
Minneapolis resident and business owner of Mimi's cafe, John Braun, recently revised a downtown Litchfield business in the hopes of spurring other business owners to do the same. The cafe, which sells coffee, bakery goods and sweets, opened Dec. 22. Since Braun purchased the building about a year-and-a-half ago, it has undergone intensive interior and exterior renovations. The building’s construction dates back to 1894, which Braun used to his advantage. He said the renovations reflect turn-of-the-century architecture and design consistently.
Jan. 2, 2019
Read here >>> Mimi's Cafe
First Latina Mayor, Maria Regan Gonzalez
Richfield City Council Member Maria Regan Gonzalez ran for mayor during the 2018 election cycle. Gonzalez became the first Latina mayor in Minnesota history after winning the election. While she ran her campaign for mayor, Gonzalez worked on finishing her master’s degree in public health; worked full-time as Senior Project Manager at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, advancing their Corporate Social Responsibility strategy bridging health interventions at the intersection of business and community needs and interests; and contributed to decision making for the city of Richfield in her role as a city council member.
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Nov. 6, 2018
Darwin Smelt fry is long-standing tradition
For 61 years the Darwin Rod and Gun Club has continued a tradition of serving up baskets of a small species of fish with a unique taste at its annual fish fry.
As the fish fry season gears up during Lent, area clubs, churches and organizations host a plethora of fries around the county. However, Darwin Rod and Gun Club’s one-day fry has a specialty: smelt.
The crunchy, chewy, beer-battered fish, potato salad and coleslaw draw a crowd of more than 1,000 to the annual all-you-can-eat fish fry each year.
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March 13, 2019
Creative Cakes by Charity
Although she’s been making cakes to-order for nearly a decade, Litchfield native Charity Ross recently received her permit from the city to conduct business within her home at 403 E. Fourth St. as Creative Cakes by Charity.
From “Fortnite” to 40th anniversary themed cakes, Ross said her customers always ask for interesting designs, and she’s up for the challenge. Ross makes her own fondant, fillings and icings to make her cakes creative by design and by taste. This single mother comes from a family tradition of bakers. Ross' business has steadily grown over the past year due to her talent for design, execution of challenging cakes and customer's satisfaction.
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March 27, 2019
Local baker gets creative with cakes