Greene County Democrat

Category: General News

  • Towns of Union, Forkland and Boligee list municipal candidates

    The Towns of Union and Forkland released the official list of candidates who qualified for the August 26, 2025, municipal elections for Mayor and five Town Council positions. The qualifying period, which ran from June 10 to 24, is now closed.

    There are two candidates for Mayor of Union, Incumbent Mayor James Gaines is challenged by Ms. Loydleetta J. Wabbington, retired educator.

    In each of the five Town of Union council districts the current incumbents qualified, and are unopposed in the election. These include Hon. Gene Colvin, Hon. Geraldine Thompson, Hon. Louise Harkness, Hon. Helen Sanford and Hon. Rosie Davis.

    For the Town of Forkland, Incumbent Mayor Charlie McAlpine is challenged by Sharon Renee Washington and Incumbent Councilman Alonzo Thomas is challenged by Preston Davis for District 3 council seat..

    Forkland Districts 1,2,4 and 5 are unopposed, including Hon.Tony Quarles, Hon. Christopher Armstead, Hon. Samitria Gray and Hon. Emma Sugar.

    The Town of Boligee Mayor and council members are running unopposed. These include Hon. Mayor Hattie Samuel, Hon. Harley Vogt, Hon. Michael Gibson, Hon. James Morrow, Hon, Teresa Mack and Hon. Earnestine Wade.

    In each of the town elections, if no candidate wins a majority of the votes for Mayor or in their district for City Council member, there will be a Run-off Election scheduled for September 23, 2025, for the top two vote-getters in each race.

    The election is open to all registered voters who have lived in the city or their respective district for 30 days or more prior to the election. The polls will be open from 7:00 AM until 7:00 PM on election day and for the run-off election, if necessary.

    The last day to register to vote in this election is August 15, 2025, for those who recently moved into the city limits, or never registered to vote or are trying to reclaim their voting rights. The newly elected Mayors and Council Members will take office in November 2025.

  • In 20 years BBCF provided $100 million in grants to Black Belt with Greene County receiving $880,803

    BBCF holds listening sessions in Black Belt counties

    Participants at Greene County Listening Session and L to R: Darlene Robinson, Carol Zippert, Rev. Chris Spencer, Miriam Leftwich and Johnnie Morning.

    The Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) conducted a series of county-wide listening sessions across its 12-county service area in Alabama’s Black Belt Region, including Bullock, Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Perry, Pickens, Sumter, Wilcox.
    The Greene County listening session, chaired by BBCF staff Rev. Christopher Spencer, was held Tuesday evening, June 24, 2025 at the Greene County Baptist Association facility on Finches Ferry Road in Eutaw. Approximately 40 persons participated, including local groups who are recipients of BBCF grants.
    Greetings were brought by Miriam Leftwich, Greene County Community Associates Coordinator and Co-Coordinator and BBCF Greene County Board Member Darlene Robinson.
    These gatherings were designed to provide a vital platform for residents, community leaders, grassroots organizations, and local stakeholders to come together and share their voices on the pressing issues, opportunities, and needs facing their communities.
    The listening sessions created a welcoming, inclusive space where participants could openly discuss challenges related to education, healthcare access, economic development, infrastructure, cultural preservation and much more.
    In each county the gathering separated into small discussion groups to address the following topics: What are our greatest strengths as a community; What would our ideal community look like if we had no limitations; Based on your answer, what is needed to create your ideal community; What are the most important things we need to focus on in the next 1-2 years to grow our community into the place we would like it to be. The small group responses were listed on charts and shared when the larger group re-assembled.
    Feedback gathered from these sessions will directly inform BBCF’s strategic priorities, investments, grant-making initiatives, and collaborative partnerships moving forward.
    These listening sessions were patterned after the initial community gatherings 20 years ago which were the cornerstones giving birth to BBCF. During that organizing period, a volunteer coordinating committee visited each county to hear from the people what they saw as their community assets. This committee envisioned that the best way for the Alabama Black Belt to capitalize on Taking what we have to make what we need was to determine what we really had. These community sessions led to the formation of BBCF.
    The Black Belt Community Foundation reaffirms its commitment to working alongside the people of the Black Belt — amplifying their voices, honoring their experiences, and investing in the dreams and solutions that emerge from within. Since its incorporation, BBCF has deployed nearly $100 million into the Black Belt through partnerships with more that 200 regional nonprofit organizations throughout the Black Belt.
    From 2005 to 2025, Greene County has received a total of $880,803 in BBCF community and arts grants and in support of other projects relating to healthy food provisions, health care information, storm damage assistance and more.
    Ms. Felecia Lucky, who was a member of the organizing committee for BBCF will leave her position as CEO/President in September to assume a similar leadership role with the F.B. Heron Foundation. Rev. Christopher Spencer, who was engaged in the organizing sessions in Sumter County and worked on the BBCF staff since the early years, has been selected by the BBCF board to serve as CEO/President.
    The session adjourned with the participants enthusiastic with the prospects of new approaches for working together to grow Greene County. Refreshments were shared with all in attendance.

     

  • Newswire : Black man is found hanging from a tree in upstate New York

    Earl D. Smith

     

    By Blackmansstreet Today

    Earl D. Smith, 58, a Black man, was found hanging from a tree in the middle of the day in Albany, New York, the capital city of the state of New York. His body was discovered on June 18 around 8 a.m.
    Police removed his body from the tree and ruled his death a suicide, but others question their assessment.
    Several neighborhood residents have posted on TikTok that Mr. Smith had been baptized recently, according to a GoFundMe page organized by Melissa Saunders, who writes that Smith was her uncle.
    Mr. Smith was born on October 17, 1966. He was a husband, father, and grandfather, as stated in his obituary. He worked odd jobs, and one of his favorite songs was “Nuthin’ But a “G” Thang” by Dr. Dre.

    Although police said his death was a suicide, others claimed he may have been lynched, which has been rampant throughout our history. There is considerable history to support that belief.
    From 1882 to 1968, 4,743 lynchings occurred in the U.S., according to records maintained by the NAACP.
    The highest number of lynchings during that period occurred in Mississippi, with 581 recorded. Georgia was second with 531, and Texas was third with 493. Lynchings did not happen in every state. There are no recorded lynchings in Arizona, Idaho, Maine, Nevada, South Dakota, Vermont, or Wisconsin.
    Black people were the primary victims of lynching: 3,446, or about 72 percent of the people lynched, were Black. But they weren’t the only victims of lynching.
    Some White people were lynched for helping Black people or for being anti-lynching. Immigrants from Mexico, China, Australia, and other countries were also lynched.

  • After winning NYC’s Democratic Mayoral Primary, Zohran Mamdani reaffirms support for Reparations

    Zohron Mamdani with his family, celebrate political victor

    By Joe Jurado, NewsOne

    On Tuesday, Zohran Mamdani shocked New York and the country when the early results of New York City’s democratic primary for mayor showed that he took a commanding lead and is expected to beat out former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for the Democratic nomination. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, ran on a progressive platform that focused on affordability and has signaled his support for New York’s Reparations Commission.
    In a statement rereleased to NewsOne after Tuesday’s results, Mamdani reaffirmed his support for reparations and programs that will improve the lives of the city’s Black residents. 
    “As Mayor, I will ensure that my administration meaningfully advances equality for Black New Yorkers, in our steadfast commitment to freedom and dignity for all people. New York City participated actively in the slave trade and furthered its legacy through racist institutions, policies and laws; the City should reconcile and repair this legacy of slavery, stolen wealth, and discrimination,” the statement reads. 
    As an assembly member, Zohran Mamdani supported New Yorkers for Reparations, which is the first phase of a longer saga to repair the harm of anti-Black discrimination from its foundation to make freedom and equality real for all New Yorkers.
    “As Mayor, I will work with our state partners to move those recommendations forward,” Mamdani’s statement read. “I will lead with my core belief that our liberation is bound together; redressing slavery’s harms—past to present—is necessary to achieving freedom and equality for Black New Yorkers, and for us all. I look forward to #MakingEqualityReal with you.”
    Zohran Mamdani’s apparent win can only be described as a stunning upset and seems to have shaken both the GOP and Democratic establishment. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican representing New York’s 21st congressional district, released a statement saying, “A radical, Defund-the-Police, Communist, raging Antisemite will most likely win the New York City Democratic Mayoral primary.” 
    Stefanik has long been a staunch Trump ally. So deporting undocumented folks without due process, spreading election lies, and engaging in an unnecessary trade war that will only raise costs for working-class Americans is fine, but rent freezes and free public transportation are where she draws the line. Got it. 
    Current New York Mayor Eric Adams, who was elected as a Democrat but is currently running for reelection as an independent, called Mamdani a “snake oil salesman” during an appearance on Fox and Friends. Adams has faced sinking approval ratings as a result of his corruption scandal and his subsequent cozying up with the Trump administration after the Justice Department moved to have the case dismissed. 
    Mamdani’s campaign has been noted for its relentless optimism and his willingness to speak to voters on the ground level. His campaign largely focused on affordability in a city that has seen substantial increases in the cost of living. His key campaign issues revolved around creating more affordable housing, city-owned grocery stores to bring down food prices, and making buses free. All of these ideas would be paid for through tax increases on the rich. Should Zohran Mamdani win in November’s election, he will be New York’s first South Asian and Muslim mayor.
    Mamdani’s primary opponent, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, seemed poised to win the Democratic primary. He had millions of dollars in funding, backing from the Democratic establishment, a recognizable last name in New York politics, and had been polling ahead of Mamdani throughout most of the campaign. 
    Cuomo ran on a business-as-usual platform, not really addressing the issues of affordability that have affected working-class New Yorkers. He largely coasted on his name, which was a bizarre move considering he left the governor’s office in disgrace after facing multiple accusations of sexual harassment. Yet that didn’t stop the very same folks who condemned the accusations from endorsing his mayoral campaign. 
    Cuomo conceded to Mamdani on Tuesday night when the early results showed Mamdani had a commanding lead. “Tonight was not our night,” Cuomo told supporters on Tuesday. “Tonight was Assemblyman Mamdani’s night. He put together a great campaign, and he touched young people and inspired them and got them to come out and vote.
    Dan Pfeiffer, a former aide to President Barack Obama, said on X (formerly Twitter) that Democrats “have a lot to learn” from Mamdani. “What’s happening in NYC is a blaringly loud message to those in the Dem establishment who still cling to old politics, recite focus-grouped talking points, and are too afraid to say what needs to be said,” he wrote. 

     

  • Newswire : Favoring Trump, SCOTUS majority undermines Federal Court Judges 

    Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissent

    By Anoa Changa, NewsOne

     

    Closing out another term, the right-wing Supreme Court majority gave the Constitution and the Rule of Law the finger in Trump v. CASA, limiting the ability of federal courts to serve as a check on extreme executive action. In its 6-3 opinion in CASA, the right-wing majority sidesteps the issue of birthright citizenship and positions itself as reigning in the power of the federal courts instead of the increasingly out-of-pocket executive branch. 
    At issue were federal court injunctions that prevented Trump’s January 20 executive order restricting birthright citizenship for babies born in the U.S. to non-citizen parents. The majority in CASA essentially hides behind its interpretation that a federal court does not have the authority to issue a nationwide injunction for arguably unconstitutional actions of the Trump administration that impact the entire country. This would force impacted individuals to sue in every single jurisdiction to have their rights enforced and could create disparate application of the Constitution based on where a person was living. 
    Writing another formidable dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson pulled no punches, rebuking her colleagues and the Trump administration’s erosion of the Constitution. 
    “This perverse burden shifting cannot coexist with the rule of law,” wrote Jackson. “As a result, the Judiciary–the one institution that is solely responsible for ensuring our Republic endures as a Nation of laws–has put both our legal system, and our system of government, in grave jeopardy.”  
    The shrug and wink happening between the right-wing majority on SCOTUS and in the other two branches of the federal government should be alarming. As Elie Mystal wrote for The Nation, SCOTUS just made it difficult for federal courts to stop Trump from exceeding his authority to end constitutionally protected birthright citizenship. 
    “It’s a distinction, one that lawyers will try to exploit for an entire rearguard action to defend citizenship in this country, but one that’s unlikely to make much of a difference if you happen to be born on the Republican side of the tracks,” wrote Mystal. “Once you read the fine print, it becomes clear that this decision is a historic, five-alarm catastrophe.”
    Immigrant Rights’ Coalition Immediately Files Class-Action 
    Testing the limits of the majority’s opinion in CASA, a coalition representing immigrant rights advocates, filed a nationwide class-action lawsuit challenging the executive order restricting birthright citizenship. The legal coalition behind the class-action, including the ACLU and the Legal Defense Fund, still have a separate case making its way through the federal courts that was not considered in Friday’s SCOTUS opinion. 
    “The Constitution guarantees birthright citizenship, and no procedural ruling will stop us from fighting to uphold that promise,” said Tianna Mays, legal director for Democracy Defenders Fund. “Our plaintiffs, and millions of families across this country, deserve clarity, stability, and justice. We look forward to making our case in court again.” 
    On its face, the majority opinion in CASA appears to be a mixed bag. Still, it gave Trump enough leeway to feel vindicated in his erosion of the Constitution, a cornerstone of American democracy. Unambiguously affirmed in the 14th Amendment, Birthright citizenship has been widely recognized for generations.  
    “Citizenship is a right afforded to us by birth, not by privilege,” said Karla McKanders, director of the Legal Defense Fund’s Thurgood Marshall Institute. “The Trump administration’s executive order is an unlawful attempt to entrench racial hierarchies and establish a second class of citizens in the United States. We will continue working to ensure that birthright citizenship — a right granted by the U.S. Constitution — is protected, and that families are not torn apart because of this executive order.”
    As SCOTUS cannot invalidate the amendment itself outright, it distorts legal analysis to help the Trump administration subvert over 150 years of legal precedent. Judith Browne Dianis, executive director of the Advancement Project, called the decision “one of the most dangerous and blatantly unconstitutional attacks on immigrant communities and the rule of law in modern history.” 
    “Through its restrictions on universal injunctions, the Court is placing limits on who could be protected from this executive order, which means to strip U.S.-born children of non-citizen parents of their birthright citizenship in a direct assault on the 14th Amendment,” Dianis said. “As Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson points out, today’s ruling is an existential threat to the rule of law because it allows the Trump Administration to apply the executive order to many newborns who are guaranteed citizenship under the 14th Amendment but have not yet filed a lawsuit in federal court.”
    While this decision may not directly impact Black Americans, the expansion of authoritarian power granted to the Trump administration will certainly find its way to our doorstep. One of three Reconstruction Era amendments, the 14th Amendment has served as a launch pad for ensuring equal protection and due process, and various civil and human rights. 
    “To challenge it erases a core American promise and serves as a calculated step toward authoritarianism,” Dianis said. “This reckless and racially motivated executive action is a transparent attempt to silence and disempower communities of color, particularly Latine, AAPI, African, and Caribbean immigrant families.  And it comes alongside a barrage of executive orders that attempt to dismantle racial equity, voting rights, and immigration protections, each designed to chip away at our collective power.”

  • Newswire : How Ugly Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill”really is

    By Black Press USA Staff

    During Trump’s address to Congress in January, State of the People organizers, activists and journalists stood up a 24 -hour streaming channel. As the Senate and House debate Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” State of the People is broadcasting a marathon on its YouTube channel to fully inform the public on the devastating impact of Trump’s bill. From State of the People, here are some ways in which the legislation will impact our communities:

    Broke: Money, Jobs, Economy
    This bill cuts $1.3 trillion in food assistance and health coverage while giving the wealthy that exact amount in tax breaks.
    It adds $3.25 trillion to the national debt which will weaken our economy at a time we can’t afford it.
    Kills jobs and increases energy costs: Puts 1.75 million construction jobs at risk — with unions warning, “this stands to be the biggest job-killing bill in the history of the country”
    Puts 2 million clean energy jobs at risk and increases energy bills by hundreds of dollars across the country
    Trump and the GOP’s budget is the most regressive tax scheme in at least the last 40 years — possibly ever.  The bill will “actively transfer” money from the poorest Americans into the pockets of the ultra-wealthy
    The impact of the “cuts” they are talking about is really a transfer of wealth reduce incomes among the poorest 20% of Americans by 3.8%, while increasing the incomes of the richest 20% by 3.7%

    Sick: Healthcare, Medicaid, Medicare and the ACA; Veterans
    • Rips away health care from over 16 million Americans through over $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act — including the largest cut to Medicaid in American history.
    • These Medicaid cuts are going to reach down into every corner of our nation’s health care system.
    • Puts over 300 rural hospitals at risk of shutting down, ripping away critical, lifesaving care from hundreds of rural communities across the country.
    Seniors will lose care at home and be left with fewer nursing homes and fewer nurses.
    Kids with disabilities will lose home care.
    And never before has there been legislation so focused on denying care to eligible Americans by adding more red tape, and making it harder for anyone who relies on Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
    More than 37 million children are enrolled in either Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), a federal program that provides affordable health insurance to pregnant mothers and children who live just above Medicaid’s poverty threshold.
    Combined, Medicaid and CHIP protect nearly half of all children in the United States, beginning with important prenatal care, covering over 40% of U.S. births as well as nearly half of all rural births, and continuing to insure millions of vulnerable children into young adulthood.

    Veterans: Over 9 million veterans are enrolled in VA health care, and millions more rely on Medicaid, Medicare, or ACA coverage to fill gaps — these cuts will gut their care and overwhelm an already strained VA system.

    About 1 in 10 veterans rely on Medicaid — especially post-9/11 veterans, low-income veterans, and those living in rural areas where VA facilities are limited.
    Veterans of color, women veterans, and disabled veterans are disproportionately impacted, as they are more likely to be dual-eligible for VA and public health programs now on the chopping block.
    These cuts would force many veterans to delay care, forgo treatment, or drown in medical debt — all while funding more weapons and war.

    Hungry: Taking food assistance away from our kids and communities
    5 million Americans lose food assistance (Congressional Budget Office SNAP projections)
    Work requirements expanded to age 64 (House Republican reconciliation bill text)
    New red tape around the child tax credit, making it harder to qualify for some of the benefits like school lunch programs and SNAP
    According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, SNAP helps pay for groceries for more than 15 million children in the U.S. (USDA)
    Could force some states to end their SNAP programs. Over the last 50 years, SNAP’s nationwide availability has largely eliminated severe hunger and malnutrition throughout the United States. This bill walks away from the long-standing, bipartisan, and national commitment to food assistance that made that possible.

    Additional Impacts:

    Endangers our communities by making it easier to buy dangerous firearms and silencers
    The administration proposes a 43.6% decrease in HUD program funding, from $77.0 billion to $43.5 billion. This includes a $26.7 billion cut from federal rental assistance programs as the responsibility for rental assistance would shift to the states. The proposal also eliminates the $3.3 billion Community Development Block Grant program, designed to support community infrastructure, public facilities, and programming.
    The Department of Health and Human Services budget would be reduced by 26.2%, from $127.0 billion to $93.8 billion. Within this, a new $500 million fund would support the “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, designed to allow HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to address nutrition, medication, and food and drug quality.
    A reform of the National Institutes of Health would reduce its budget by $18.0 million, requiring the closure of the National Institute on Minority and Health Disparities and the National Institute of Nursing Research. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention budget would also drop $3.6 billion.
    Another $4.0 billion would be cut by ending the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program operated by the Administration for Children & Families.
    Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant programs (-$646 million)

  • Map of the City of Eutaw voting districts for municipal elections


    The City of Eutaw released the official list of candidates who qualified for the August 26, 2025, municipal elections for Mayor and five City Council positions. The qualifying period, which ran from June 10 to 24, is now closed.
    There are three candidates for Mayor. Incumbent Mayor Latasha Johnson is challenged by Corey Cockrell, a current County Commissioner for District 3 and Tyrone Atkins.
    In each of the five City Council districts the current incumbents qualified, except for District 3, where incumbent Tracey Hunter is unopposed in the election. In District 1, incumbent Valerie Brewer- Watkins is challenged by Ke’Undra Quintz Cox. In District 2, Jonathan Woodruff, Jr., the incumbent, is opposed by Charles Naylor, Jr., and Quentin Maurice Walton. In District 4, incumbent Larrie Coleman is challenged by Sarah Duncan Brewer and Lorenzo French. In District 5, incumbent Suzette Powell, is challenged by Carrie Logan, Director of the Eutaw Area Chamber of Commerce.
    If no candidate wins a majority of the votes for Mayor or in their district for City Council member, there will be a Run-off Election scheduled for September 23, 2025, for the top two vote-getters in each race.
    The election is open to all registered voters who have lived in the city or their respective district for 30 days or more prior to the election. The polls will be open from 7:00 AM until 7:00 PM on election day and for the run-off election, if necessary.
    The last day to register to vote in this election is August 15, 2025, for those who recently moved into the city limits, or never registered to vote or are trying to reclaim their voting rights. The newly elected Mayor and Council will take office in November 2025.

    Council Meetings on June 10 and 24

    The Eutaw City Council held its two regular monthly meetings on June 10 and 24, at the City Hall. Councilman Woodruff was absent for the June 10 meeting. All council members were in attendance for the June 24th meeting.
    In the June 10th meeting the Council approved purchase of materials to repair potholes in streets and other roadway repairs. The Mayor said she had a long list of streets to be repaired, and the city staff would work on these when the materials and time were available.
    The Council tabled requests from the Mayor to purchase a tractor and a bush hog and a truck mounted sewer jet to clean out sewer pumping stations.
    The Council approved travel for the Chief of Police to attend the annual conference of police chiefs in August ; travel for officer Jaleel Powell to attend a training in August; payment for poll workers in the upcoming municipal elections and approved payment of bills.
    At the June 24th meeting, the Eutaw City Council approved a new employee health plan from Colonial Life Insurance Company which includes dental and vision coverage not available in the current plan.
    The Council approved a Memorandum of Agreement with United Way of Alabama to install a ‘story walk’ in the city’s Memorial Park on Mesopotamia Street. The walk will tell stories to children when the walk through and will be an addition to the playground and tennis courts in the park.
    The Council also approved for Attorney Zane Willingham to write a letter to the Mayor concerning employee overtime. The Council approved payment of bills.
    The Council received a report from the Water Department listing $158,000 in delinquent bills to the city from 2017 to June 2025. Sarah Leavelle, Water Clerk, explained that these balances include water, sewer, garbage and connection fees owed. The Water Department has negotiated a payment plan for these overdue accounts.
    Leavelle explained, “Sometimes people honor their agreements and sometimes they don’t. We do have the right to cut off water services if people do not pay their bills and past due balances. We try to work with people to get their bills paid.” The Council took this information under consideration in terms of their planning and budgetary decision making.
    Council member Valerie Watkins raised several concerns. One was about large trucks parked by the place where the old swimming pool was located. Mayor Johnson asked her to get the names of the truck owners and license plates of violators to help in getting this problem resolved. Watkins said she was reporting the problem but could not be responsible for the requested information. Chief of Police Johnson said the police would monitor the situation and advise the truck owners of the laws.
    Watkins said the city staff should check and identify streetlights that are not working and make sure they are replaced. She also said residents were complaining about a ditch that runs between Roebuck and Edwards Streets. The Mayor responded that this ditch is owned by the residents and not the city and therefore cleaning the ditch was their responsibility.
    In the public comments section of the meetings, Faye Tyree complained that the bathrooms in the City Hall need to be repaired for use by the employees and the public. Alfonzo Morton complained about flooding from the rains and asked the city to help in cleaning the ditch behind his house.

  • Mayor Latasha Johnson announces bid for re-election

    Today, I am officially announcing my campaign for re-election to the Office of Mayor of the City of Eutaw, Alabama. It has been a privilege and honor to hold this position since November of 2020. Following my election, I did my best to put together a team (TEAM EUTAW) of people and citizens, who would work together to continue moving this city forward. While there have been some problems and difficult times there have also been some accomplishments and successes that far exceed difficulties.
    These are some of the challenges that we faced and how Team Eutaw addressed these: Eutaw Water Department’s revenue was down due to the billing system. Over 100 customers were not billed due to meter issues. We were able to correct these issues and tripled our water revenues. The city was in debt with IRS (over) $300.000 lien on the city, and with the help of staff, our financial advisors (Ralph Liverman), CPA (Rob Person), and Sheriff Joe Benison, we were able to resolve these issues.
    Our city suffered through severe weather conditions, including three tornadoes and other strong wind storms. Thankfully, there were no fatalities, but tremendous amounts of property damage to several homes, buildings, and excessive amount of trees and limbs damage throughout the city. FEMA was some help, but a large amount of the expenses fell on the city.
    The City paid off the debt on the former Carver School facility. Partnering with the County and the Industrial Development Authority, we completed Streetscape Project which resulted in new sidewalks with railings, curbs, gutters, and an area for beautification downtown. This project started under former Mayor Raymond Steele. 
 The City installed streetlights on Exit I- 20/59 (Love truck stop exit). We secured a $500,000 loan from Merchant and Farmers Bank to purchase street sweeper, boom debris pickup truck, water/street department work trucks, police cars, a new Fire Truck ($250,000) The last payment of that loan will be in September 2025. The City purchased the former Lon Grubbs building for future police department and storage of records. We partnered with the Town of Boligee and secured over $ 9 million dollars in grant monies from ADEM to fix water lines, lift stations, water tanks and pumping station.
    I am asking citizens of Eutaw to please RE- ELECT me (Latasha Johnson) as Mayor. I will continue my team work to improve roads, bridges, draining ditches, restoring old sidewalks/curbs, demolishing old overgrown houses/buildings. I will also work very hard for recreational activities for our children. As a community, we will continue to work together to grow our City; therefore, I am asking the citizens of Eutaw to please re-elect me (Latasha Johnson) for Mayor of Eutaw for 4 more years and I will continue to build up our city.

  • Newswire : Trump-era cuts, truth bans, fuel growing racial divide in U.S. Education

    By Stacy M. Brown
    Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

    Despite the promise of equal opportunity heralded by the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, a new WalletHub report reveals that America’s educational system remains critically unequal—especially for Black students. The disparities, experts say, have only widened in recent years, worsened by former President Donald Trump’s dismantling of federal education funding and his administration’s attacks on teaching real American history.

    WalletHub’s analysis ranked states by racial equality in education, using key metrics such as gaps in graduation rates, college degree attainment, and standardized test scores between Black and white students. Wyoming, New Mexico, and West Virginia top the list for equity, while Connecticut, Minnesota, and Wisconsin rank lowest. According to the report, school districts with predominantly white students receive $23 billion more in funding per year than districts with majority nonwhite students.
    “Promoting racial equality in education can have a significant impact on promoting equality in the overall economy,” said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. “It is essential to ensure that all school districts receive sufficient funding, the latest technology, and equal opportunities for tutoring and extracurricular activities.”

    But instead of addressing these inequities, Trump and his allies have stripped resources from schools, gutted the Department of Education, and fiercely opposed instruction that addresses America’s history of racism, slavery, and systemic inequality. Their rejection of Critical Race Theory—often a stand-in for broader discussions about race—has sparked book bans, curriculum censorship, and efforts to whitewash the past. Rodney Coates, a WalletHub expert and professor at Miami University, said the system is structurally rigged. “Race and class are both associated with differential school spending. Poor areas—mostly Black, Native American, and Hispanic—have lower per-pupil spending across our country,” Coates said. “Educational opportunity and a commitment to excellence are the only lasting solutions.”
    The report details how states like Connecticut and Wisconsin—among the worst for racial equity—suffer from wide gaps in high school graduation rates and access to advanced coursework. In contrast, states like Hawaii and New Mexico show narrower gaps in test scores and degree attainment. “It’s not just about race, but the effects are highly racialized,” said Shauna Lani Shames, a WalletHub expert and political science professor at Rutgers University. “Schools remain segregated today by geography and class, which are deeply tied to race due to generations of redlining and discriminatory policies.” The pandemic and recent economic downturns have exacerbated the problem. As WalletHub expert Tyrone Howard of UCLA explained, the regression in math and reading scores for Black and Brown students is alarming, and without targeted resources—school counselors, academic support, and mental health services—the gaps will only grow.
    William McCorkle, also a WalletHub expert and an education professor at the College of Charleston, noted structural barriers in South Carolina that perpetuate inequality. “Even at the kindergarten level, some children are divided based on gifted and talented programs, which are almost completely based on parental income.”
    According to experts, solving these inequities requires more than just increased funding. It demands a commitment to truth, accurate teaching of history, and valuing every student regardless of their background. “Every person deserves the finest education we can provide,” said WalletHub Expert Dr. Kim Scipes, a professor emeritus of sociology at Purdue University Northwest. “Despite its wide usage, there is no white race, no black race, no brown race—there is only one race, the human race,” Scipes stated.

  • The Constitution and Immigration Chaos

    By April Ryan, NNPA White House Correspondent

    The nation’s democratic state attorney generals are conferring with one another over these unprecedented tense and escalating migrant raids conducted by ICE agents, the FBI, DEA, and other federal and local authorities. Migrant captures happen in hardware stores, construction sites, immigration courts, farms, vacation resorts, and hotels. The most recent chaos surrounds aggressive ice raids on Mexicans, Brazilians, and others who are said to be illegal in this nation by overstaying a visa or being undocumented.
    As for Los Angeles and the recent tensions stemming from the ICE raids, Democratic ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, New York Congressman Greg Meeks, says President Trump “decided to enflame the situation” by sending in the Marines “for what?” Meeks says the president’s actions on the National Guard and military presence in LA are “overreach” and “unconstitutional.” The Constitution is the standard reference Democratic state attorney generals are leaning on amid this current Trump immigration deportation controversy. Aaron Ford, Democratic Nevada State Attorney General, says the focus is to “uphold the law“ and “if they [ICE and Trump administration] are unconstitutional, we have to stand up against that.”
    Over the weekend in Las Vegas, Black Press USA talked to Ford, who laments, “There is a lot of trepidation and fear.” Among the group of democratic state attorney generals is Keith Ellison of Minnesota, who most recently was on a list of lawmakers targeted by the Trump-supporting, right-wing evangelical preacher 57-year-old Vance Boelter, who allegedly shot and killed a state lawmaker and her husband Saturday and wounded another state lawmaker and their spouse as well.
    The horrific events happened at 2 AM on Saturday, the day the president celebrated his birthday with the military review in front of the White House. Amid this immigration raid chaos, the president’s poll numbers are underwater. A recent NBC News poll shows President Donald Trump’s disapproval rating is 55%.
    One of those who actively disapprove of President Trump’s immigration policy is former CNN Anchor and now independent journalist Jim Acosta, who asked, “Where are the ICE raids at the Trump properties? Could somebody call ICE on the Trump golf course in Virginia? You’re telling me there’s nobody in there that is undocumented or has some kind of squirreliness going on with their paperwork?” He commented Saturday on Substack’s Contrarian program. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to Acosta, calling him “a disgraceful human being.”