Hattiesburg, Miss. (Lamar Times) 

Business owners across Mississippi are coming together to work on two problems: too many high school seniors are waiting until after graduation to figure out a career path, and the businesses themselves aren’t doing a great job of connecting with students to educate them about the workforce.

To help figure out the solutions, local and state officials – including Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann – attended a Pine Belt Partners in Education Summit last week at Hattiesburg High School. The meeting, which was sponsored by the Mississippi Association of Partners in Education, gave employers, education directors, superintendents and community college workforce development coordinators the chance to learn about school/business partnerships that create better opportunities for Mississippi students.

“We’re excited to be partnering with MAPE and the Secretary of State’s office … as we continue to build partnerships and prepare our students for life beyond high school,” said Robert Williams, Superintendent of the Hattiesburg Public School District. “This event directly supports the mission of the Hattiesburg Public School District, which is to educate all students.

“For us, it simply means when students graduate high school, they’re ready to enroll in an institution of higher learning of their choice, enlist in a branch of service or be gainfully employed so they can support themselves or their families.”

In a survey conducted by Hosemann’s office of limited liability companies and corporations throughout the state, 30 to 35 percent of the 2,000 employers who returned the survey said their most important need was an educated workforce. That need was followed by community support, competitor information, consumer information, biographical data, banks and infrastructure.

Rounding out the list was state and local incentives, which placed at No. 11 on the survey.

“We don’t have to give away Mississippi – they have people that want to work here,” Hosemann said. “Because where does that money come from? It comes from education.

“So when we go to look at state and local incentives, we need to remember that it’s the eleventh thing that people are thinking about. If you’ll give me an educated workforce, and your community wants me to be there, that’s 50 percent of being there.”

Katie McCrary, co-owner of McCrary-West Construction in Columbus, said hers and other companies in the area have begun going to local schools to find out how to produce students ready for the workforce.

“We listen to their needs, they listen to our needs,” she said. “We kind of found a common ground.

“We formed relationships with superintendents, we formed relationships with (Career and Technical Education) counselors, we formed relationships with teachers, we formed relationships with students. We spent time, and it takes time – educators have to be patient with industry, and industry has to be patient with educators.”

Paige Roberts, co-founder of Pathways2Possibilities – a Biloxi-based career expo for 8th-graders and at-risk youth – discussed how that program bridges the gap between employers and educators. The initiative’s recent Gold Post event, for example, was divided into 19 career pathways that aligned with the Federal Department of Education and the Mississippi Department of Education.

On hand were professionals from each of the 19 career pathways, who facilitated hands-on activities for the students.

“So number one, it’s three-dimensional career exploration, which means getting all five senses involved in that skill set,” Roberts said. “What does it take to be successful in that job? What is the education? What is the training?

“We had, at just last month’s event, 130 employers who do those activities for our 7,000 8th-graders over a two-day period.”

JACKSON, Miss. (WTOK) – The Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office says it has received multiple complaints from voters who have received text messages about the
Nov. 27 U.S. Senate runoff.

When asked by the voter how the sender obtained the voter’s phone number, the sender has, in many instances, reportedly replied the phone number was obtained pursuant to a public records request to the Secretary of State’s Office or county election officials.

But Delbert Hosemann’s office says phone numbers provided on voter registration forms or maintained on the voter roll, are not public information and are not disseminated by the secretary of state in response to public records requests.

The Secretary of State’s Office has asked for additional training for volunteers engaged in sending text messages to end the spread of inaccurate and misleading information.

 

Original source: WTOK

JACKSON, Miss. —

Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said so far there has been what could be a record turnout for a midterm election.

“I think people are listening to the candidates and to the issues. The president has been here and a whole bunch of others, so we’re encouraged by that turnout,” Hosemann said. “I don’t think we’re going to be at presidential numbers, but we’re going to be above midterm numbers.”

The polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters who are in line at 7 p.m. will still be allowed to cast their ballots. Voters must have a voter ID or a state ID to cast their ballots.

More than 60,000 absentee ballots have been recorded statewide and turnout at the polls was between 10 and 20 percent Tuesday morning, Hosemann said.

In addition to two closely watched U.S. Senate races, there are also congressional seats and several state and county races on the line.

Hosemann said he has about 15 observers in precincts across the state.

Election officials in Jackson County reported that electronic poll votes did not function correctly, Hosemann said. There were a number of issues in Hinds County, including scanner problems and voter errors. A split precinct in Madison County was not synced up because of an error during the setup of the machines, Hosemann said.

 

Original source: WAPT

JACKSON, Miss (WJTV) – One day before Mississippians go to the polls for the midterm election WJTV spoke with Mississippi’s Secretary of State about efforts to protect the state’s election systems.

“There are aggressive attempts to break into our system everyday- literally every minute of every day,” said Delbert Hosemann

Hosemann adds there are tens of thousands of hacking attempts and the leading places are Russia, China, Japan and the Netherlands. 

He said, “It’s not news to me that they’’re attempting this, and yes the numbers of attempts are significant.”

While he says cyber security was the furthest thing from his mind when he took office in 2008 he quickly learned how to keep ballots as secure as possible. 

“We have fire walls, we have protections we have instituted off site, I’ve gone to the level that 2 o’clock every day I download the whole system and I put it in a bank vault,” Hosemann said.

“I think the hacking into the system, in my opinion really is more about getting your information to get your money,” He said. “They want to get the last four digits of your social security number, your date of birth and your address. “

Four and a half million dollars of federal grants will go towards helping counties better protect their elections. 

“Even in an event that someone were to get in I have put stops so you couldn’t get  into another county for example and you couldn’t’ get in an x number and I’m not going to get in the x number but you couldn’t  get in an x number before the whole system shuts down,” the secretary said.

Hosemann says the best way to secure your ballot is to be smart and go vote. 
“The only reason you not gone be able to get your ballot counted is if you don’t get in your truck and go cast it,” said Hosemann. 

HIs office often test its cyber security by getting outside groups including the Mississippi national guard to try and hack in. 

None of the voting machines are connected to the internet and every ballot is audited with a paper trail. 

 

Original source: WJTV

JACKSON COUNTY, Mississippi — With $10 million in Tidelands funds released to the Mississippi coast by the Secretary of State’s office, Jackson County is already set to move forward with some $1.1 million in projects which will be funded with Tidelands proceeds.

In announcing the release of the funds in late October, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann noted the $10 million is the statutory maximum allowed under state law. Total Tidelands revenues for fiscal 2018 were $10,924,573.

Monies going into the Tidelands Trust Fund are generated by leases on lands owned by the State in trust for the public, as well as assessments from onshore gaming operations.

“As public servants, it falls to us to make sure future generations are able to enjoy our beautiful Gulf Coast,” Hosemann said. “The Tidelands Trust Fund and the important projects it fuels help make this possible.”

Jackson County and its four municipalities will all benefit from the infusion of Tidelands monies, which are released to the Mississippi Department of Resources, which in turn selects the project to be funded.

In Gautier, $250,000 will go towards numerous improvements at Shepard State Park.

“The biggest thing will be preliminary engineering for the construction of a boardwalk along the northwest side of the park along the marsh,” said April Havens, Gautier’s Grants Administrator.

“It will be for bird-watchers, nature-lovers, with interpretive signage with some educational materials for park visitors and campers.”

In addition, once the log cabin building currently under construction is ready to be occupied by park personnel as the check-in and visitor’s center, the current park office will be renovated into a laundry and amenity room for overnight campers.

“That’s something they’ve been asking for a long time,” Havens said. “Currently, we have to send them off-site to do their laundry.”

Other improvements for campers will be picnic tables, upgrades to RV site electrical outlets, new firepits and grills.

Also on the City’s list for the park are new playground equipment, walking/jogging trails and the equipment to maintain them, and new targets for the archery range.

Havens noted the Tidelands money may not allow them to complete all of those improvements.

“We write all of it in (to the application) so that we can do them if the money allows,” she said. “The top priorities would definitely be the walking trail along the marsh and the upgrades for campers.”

In Ocean Springs, $240,000 in Tidelands funds has been allocated to help stabilize Front Beach, which has for years suffered from erosion.

Mayor Shea Dobson said the City will spend some of the money on a living shoreline along one section of the beach, then commission a study to determine the best course of action to protect the remainder of the beach.

“There’s considerable erosion going on,” Dobson said. “We are going to do the living shoreline, but we also want the study to make certain we pursue the best option.”

The Jackson County Board of Supervisors, meanwhile, will be the recipients of $275,000 — ostensibly for improvements to the Brittany Avenue boat launch in the St. Martin community.

Supervisor Troy Ross, who represents the St. Martin area, said the biggest issue with the heavily-used boat launch is the lack of adequate parking. Currently, the County is in negotiations with adjoining property owners to expand the parking.

“We’re still in negotiations with them as to whether or not they’re willing to sell,” Ross said. “We’ve got to get that done first. Once that gets done, we’ll be able to expand the parking and make some other improvements.”

Those other improvements would be repair/replacement of awnings, additional water outlets, and bait-cutting stations.

But, Ross said, the key is the parking. He estimated 70 percent of the Tidelands money allocated for the project would go towards purchase of the property and asphalt. If the owners ultimately refuse to sell, he said the money could be diverted elsewhere.

“This isn’t a case where I think forcing the issue is a good idea,” Ross said. “It isn’t a major public need, something we have to do. If they don’t want to sell, I’ll support moving the money to another project.”

Other Tidelands-funded projects approved by the MDMR are $200,000 in amenities for Point Park in Pascagoula, and $150,000 for a Dantzler Street alignment project in Moss Point.

In announcing the release of the Tidelands funds to the coast, Hosemann noted that Tidelands funds sent back to the coast, including the $9.6 anticipated during fiscal 2019, will have totaled more than $100 million since 2008 — a marked increase over the previous decade when the coast received $54.5 million in Tidelands funds.

 

Original source: GulfLive.com

 

Original source: WLBT

 

Original post: WLBT

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann is working with students at Madison Central High School to make sure they’re prepared for next month’s midterms. During today’s lunch period, students cast mock ballots for the U.S. Senate races and for the U.S. House seats in their district.

The Promote The Vote education project is sponsored by the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office and encourages civic responsibility. The program is aimed at increasing student interest in current issues.

But this isn’t their first stop of the season. Earlier this month, they visited Trentt Lott Academy to #PromotetheVote.

 

Original post: WJTV

The Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office joins state charity regulators across the country, the National Association of State Charities Officials (NASCO), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to announce the first annual International Charity Fraud Awareness Week (ICFAW) on October 22-26, 2018.

ICFAW is a coordinated international campaign to help charities and consumers avoid charity fraud and promote wise giving. Follow the action at #CharityFraudOut.

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann and other U.S. partners are joining the Charities Commission for England & Wales, which for many years has hosted its own Charity Fraud Awareness Week, to expand the event to other countries.  In addition to the U.S. participants, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, the New Zealand Charities Service, and the Office of the Scottish Regulator are also joining in the international outreach effort.

“Our number one goal is always to provide information to help citizens ensure the money they are donating is going to those who need it the most—and not a fraudulent entity,” Secretary Hosemann said. “Citizens are encouraged to check charities on our website or call us before they donate if they have a question about charity registration and regulation in Mississippi.”

Throughout International Charity Fraud Awareness Week, the Secretary of State’s Office’s Facebook and Twitter pages will feature tips for consumers.

General tips for consumers considering donating to a charity include:

• Ask for the charity’s name, website, and physical location;
• Ask how much of any donation will go to the charitable program you want to support;
• Check the Secretary of State’s website to see whether the charity is registered in Mississippi;
• Search the charity’s name online with the word “scam” or “complaint.” See what other people say about it;
• Check out the charity’s ratings at the Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Watch, or Charity Navigator;
• Never pay with cash, a gift card, or by wiring money; and
• Consider paying by credit card, but never over the phone, and only after receipt of written information you can verify.

For more information about registered charities in Mississippi, visit www.sos.ms.gov/charities or call (601) 359-1599.

 

Original post: Y’all Politics

This afternoon, Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann presented a 10 million dollar check to the gulf coast.

The Tidelands Turnback trust fund devotes this money strictly to the coast, with half of it going to the Department of Marine Resources.

It’s split among the three coastal counties.

This will fund things like piers, board walks and other things to make the coast attractive for citizens and tourists.

Hosemann tells News 25 this continues to keep the culture of the coast alive by keeping the wetlands and islands in ownership of the people.

“It’s so helpful to your cities and your counties. When they come here and they need that extra 250,000 for a boat launch or whatever, this is where they come to do that. The legislature works really hard on this every year. They pay particular attention to this and the projects. It’s pretty evenly shaped across the Mississippi Gulf Coast.”

Since 2008, the Secretary of State’s office will have turned back more than $100 million to the coast through the trust fund program during Hosemann’s tenure.

 

Original post: WXXV25