"I work in a small salon. Two women, that is all.
"When the changes came about, we complied. Making sure there were no more than four people in the salon at any time. We are never face to face with anyone. It is called 'behind the chair' for a reason.
"We were closed days later. We closed our doors on March 27th with the lie that we could reopen on the 7th of April. But that was pushed back until the 20th of April. Now we are looking at May 1st, maybe.
"I had been out of work for over a year. This means I do not qualify for unemployment, any type of business loans, or anything at all. I am living off the money I saved to pay my taxes. Which is now gone.
"At least I have until June. Except I still need to pay booth rent and supplies."
Laura Severs
Kay Lynn Salon
Gautier, Mississippi
"My business is my livelihood. I own a hair salon and when I don’t work, I don’t get paid.
"I have two children to provide for as well as monthly bills accumulating even though I have no money coming in.
"Before I closed the salon, we were using every possible measure to protect the customers as well as ourselves. I think that we can provide a safe environment for our clients now as well. We will wear masks, stagger clients so there will be only one at a time as well as sanitizing our equipment and the salon.
"Please consider my plea to reopen my salon."
Julie Dyre
Headquarters Salon
Winona, Mississippi
"We took a leap of faith and began our custom shirt printing business in 2006 in our dining room.
"We purchased a digital garment printer, and my husband Anthony quit his job. A digital garment printer works on the same principle as a deskjet printer. A design can be sent directly from the computer program to the printer, thus just one shirt can be printed without doing lengthy set up as required in screen printing. Also, photos and designs with multiple colors can easily be printed with a digital garment printer. However, with digital print, there is no white ink, so when that was our only printer, we would not print on dark colored shirts at all, and the print colors are affected by the shirt color. However, our photo shirts were very popular, and people loved the fact that, with this process, while the shirt colors are limited, the print colors are not. Photo shirts seemed to really catch on in the community around here, with people buying them for everything from children's birthday parties to birthday parties for the elderly (We did shirts for a 102-year-old lady last year!) to in memory shirts to be worn at the repast after a funeral. Also, the photo shirts are extremely popular for family reunions.
"Since 2006, we've had our ups and downs financially, which I think any small business could say. We sold shirts both locally (customers came to our dining room!) and online. In 2012 we moved to a rental location in Waynesboro, Mississippi, just five minutes from our home. We thought this move would gain us more customers, and also, we needed our dining room back to convert into a bedroom for our ever growing family.
"Business prospered, and we were able to purchase that location which was actually an old house beside a busy street with a huge warehouse behind it.
"In 2015 we took yet another leap of faith and made some renovations to the huge warehouse behind our store and bought screen printing to go there. It was the ideal place for it! Now we could offer a wider variety of shirts to include all shirt colors.
"That same year we also purchased a second location in nearby Laurel. We were extremely busy in those days, so much so that we eventually (in 2018) had to close the Laurel location due to the fact that it was pretty much too much for just Anthony and I to handle. He did most of the printing, and I did all of the design work, bookkeeping, and all the other behind-the-scenes work.
"Our goals in the business were to 'make a living,' of course, flexibility, and also to provide job opportunities for our children (of which we have seven). We have been able do that, with our older daughters, Rosalie and Rebekah, doing a good bit of the printing before they moved on. Our son, Ben, managed our Laurel store for a year or two before he moved on. Our younger children enjoyed “going to work with us” to earn a treat – our business has definitely been a family effort!! We had planned for our 16-year-old Elon to move up to working as sales clerk this spring.
"And then the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and officials began shutting down all 'non-essential' businesses and canceling events. Could our business be considered essential? It is definitely essential to our well-being. How could some bureaucrat or politician demand that we close our business?
"During what is usually our extremely busy time of the year with events, promotions, etc., our business was busted. While we have not been open to the public, we have been able to provide shirts for a couple of essential businesses (a small order for our local hospital and a small order for a logging crew), those are the only two orders we have had (other than a handful of online orders) in the past month. We were working on an order for Relay for Life, but that event got postponed indefinitely. Our income for March of this year was half of what it was in 2019, and our income for April has dwindled to around only 10 percent of what it was this time last year.
"If something is not done, we will have to permanently close our doors. Although the doors are closed, many of our expenses continue (property note, equipment leases, utilities, insurance, property taxes....). And if this 'shut down' continues, it will eventually have a very negative affect on everyone's income."
Pam Powell
Powell Shirts
Waynesboro, Mississippi
Churches in Greenville will be allowed to continue drive-in church services without fear of fines after the city announced they were changing their ordinance banning such services.
Yesterday, the Mississippi Justice Institute (“MJI”), a non-profit constitutional litigation center and the legal arm of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, and First Liberty Institute, the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious liberty for all Americans, announced a challenge to the city’s ban on drive-in church services. They are defending King James Bible Baptist Church. Last Thursday, members of the church were greeted by virtually every member of the Greenville police department and threatened with fines as they arrived for drive-in church services that evening.
“The Mississippi Justice Institute is proud to have stood with this church and Pastor Hamilton, and that so many other groups, individuals, and elected officials stood with them as well,” said MJI Director Aaron Rice. “We are happy that the City of Greenville has recognized the right of all Mississippians to worship in a way that is safe and consistent with their religious beliefs or practical needs.”
As the coronavirus pandemic spread across the country, the church began hosting drive-in services in a manner consistent with Center for Disease Control and Mississippi Department of Health guidance. Members would stay in their cars with their windows closed. Traditional shouts of “Amen” or “Hallelujah” turned into flashing lights or honking horns.
While many churches have opted for live-stream services, this was the best option for many at the church, as several do not have social media accounts or the ability to connect online.
“We have to care about our constitutional rights,” said Rice. “Even during challenging times.”
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.
Last Thursday, members of the King James Bible Baptist Church in Greenville were greeted by virtually every member of the Greenville police department and threatened with fines as they arrived for drive-in church services that evening, even though they followed CDC guidelines by remaining in their vehicles, parking six feet apart, and keeping their windows rolled up while listening to their pastor preach from the parking lot.
The Mississippi Justice Institute (“MJI”), a non-profit constitutional litigation center and the legal arm of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, and First Liberty Institute, the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious liberty for all Americans, have teamed up to represent the church.
Today, attorneys with the Mississippi Justice Institute and First Liberty Institute filed a federal lawsuit challenging Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons’s unconstitutional executive order, which categorically bans all drive-in church services.
“We understand that many safety precautions are necessary during this unprecedented time,” said MJI Director Aaron Rice. “But absurd government orders that single out churches for punishment while doing nothing to protect the public health are simply unconstitutional. Mississippians cannot and will not stand for these kinds of outrageous violations of our religious liberties by our government officials.”
As the coronavirus pandemic spread across the country, the church began hosting “drive-in” services in a manner consistent with Center for Disease Control and Mississippi Department of Health guidance. Members would stay in their cars with their windows closed. Traditional shouts of “Amen” or “Hallelujah” turned into flashing lights or honking horns.
While many churches have opted for live-stream services, this was the best option for many at the church, as several do not have social media accounts or the ability to connect online.
“The Mississippi Justice Institute is proud to stand with King James Bible Baptist Church, and we look forward to vindicating the right of all Mississippians to worship in a way that is safe and consistent with their religious beliefs or practical needs,” said Rice.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.
Video from Pastor Charles Hamilton
A copy of the complaint can be found here.
America was founded on the ideal of individual freedom and liberty, but we often forfeit our rights to the strong arm of government when we’re scared.
“Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
These words from Ben Franklin still ring true, especially in days like these. For long-term safety, we may concede some of our rights. But essential liberties – such as due process and fundamental rights – should not be surrendered for short-term safety.
Still, Americans have long been willing to give up freedoms in exchange for supposed safety during a time of crisis. Much to the delight of government officials, the current coronavirus outbreak has been no different.
We saw this after 9/11. What was the immediate response? The Patriot Act, a new law that vastly expanded the government’s authority to spy on its own citizens. We then thought it was normal for TSA agents to harass granny at the airport. And don’t think about bringing more than 3 ounces of liquid on the plane with you.
But this was after terrorists killed 3,000 Americans on our own soil. We wanted to be protected. Regardless of the Fourth Amendment or any values we previously held.
Enter 2020. An invisible virus from China that we know little about leads to a near total shutdown of the economy. We see the number of positive cases and deaths add up during the non-stop media coverage. We hear projections of 1.7 million deaths in America. Naturally, we get scared. And decide it’s okay to give up freedoms.
Government takes the ball and runs.
Soon, government officials are closing restaurants. Sorry restaurant owners, servers, and bartenders. But okay. We then shut down “non-essential” businesses and act surprised when millions file for unemployment. In between, we enact curfews (for some reason). We’ve fined people for being in too large of a crowd. In Greenville, we prohibit drive-in church services at a church right down the road from a Sonic…Drive-In. The city of Jackson floats the idea of tracking residents.
Perhaps we’re just following other states. Kentucky state police were in church parking lots getting license plate numbers on Easter so they can impose state-mandated quarantines on churchgoers. Utah is requiring a travel declaration for all adults traveling into Utah via car or plane. They are doing so via the federal Wireless Emergency Alert system, which is otherwise used for weather or missing children alerts. But it’s just for people coming into Utah, not Utahans.
But many would probably say this all makes sense.
In Colorado, police handcuffed a man for playing with his wife and six-year-old daughter on a nearly empty “public” softball field. Law enforcement claim he violated an order prohibiting gatherings of five or more. In Washington, D.C., police officers are prohibiting you from sitting on a park bench…alone. In Philadelphia, a man was dragged off a public bus. His offense? Not wearing a mask.
A little too intrusive yet?
Hold my beer. The newest tourism slogan from Michigan. In Michigan, it is illegal to travel from one house to another. A private gathering of any size is prohibited. “Non-essential” sections of grocery stores are closed. You can buy lottery tickets, but not a pack of seeds. You can canoe, paddle boat, or kayak, but can't get in a boat with a motor.
Because, there’s a dangerous virus and that motor in your boat will only make things worse.
There’s a precarious game of politicians trying to one-up each other, to the thunderous applause of many. After all, they did “something.” And that's what we want.
But when you give up a little liberty, your restaurant closure turns into a prohibition on boats with a motor. Those who want to control our lives will simply look for the next excuse to do so, because there will always be a reason. And our response will not soon be forgotten.
As Christians across the globe prepare to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on Sunday, the city of Greenville is doubling down on enforcement of those who worship in their cars in church parking lots.
Police first descended on Temple Baptist Church on Wednesday, issuing $500 fines to about two dozen people attending a “drive-in” prayer service. They were listening to the lesson on the radio, much like you do at a drive-in movie theater.
“The police officer said I might go to jail,” Temple Baptist Church Pastor Arthur Scott said on The Todd Starnes Radio Show. “If it means going to jail and if it takes that for me to keep preaching, I’ll be glad to go to jail…One of the police officers said the mayor wanted to make an example of our church. I told them to get some more tickets ready because we will be preaching Sunday morning and Sunday night.”
Making sure the city got their point across, some 20 police officers stormed King James Baptist Church who was having a drive-in service the following night, again threating citations.
Temple Baptist Church has been holding radio broadcast services for the previous weeks.
Lee Gordon, a longtime member of Temple Baptist, said he the church was doing the right thing by having worshippers stay in their cars with the windows rolled up.
“A lot of our membership is elderly and doesn’t have access (to technology needed to stream the service),” Gordon said. “There’s 25 cars 200 yards away all in the same place at the Sonic Drive-In. What we’re doing endangers nobody.”
An order from the city not only bans in person worship services, as the statewide shelter-in-place order does, it also takes on drive-in services.
“The City of Greenville put in place an Executive Order that orders all church buildings closed for in person and drive-in church services, until the State of Mississippi’s Shelter In Place Executive Order No. 1466 is lifted by Gov. Tate Reeves. Churches are strongly encouraged to hold services via Facebook Live, Zoom, Free Conference Call, and any and all other social media, streaming, and telephonic platforms,” a press release from the city of Greenville reads.
Reeves fired back on Twitter.
“If you send police after worshippers trying to social distance, you are going to have Mississippians revolt. I’ve asked all pastors not to hold these services—but we ordered churches safe from these outrageous actions. Don’t trample the Constitution.”
We will see what Sunday brings.
A growing number of expectant moms are considering home births as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread and to overwhelm hospitals. This is true even in Mississippi, a state with few midwives and among the lowest percentage of home births each year.
“I’ve seen a considerable uptick in the number of women who are now interested in home births,” said Kristina Harper, a midwife in Olive Branch who serves women in Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi.
“We are fielding an extra five-to-ten emails each day, an extra five-to-ten phone calls each day from women who want to deliver at home,” Harper added. “In the last two weeks, I’ve gone from one or two patients to four or five.”
Dr. Delta Stark, a prenatal chiropractor in Madison county and the Board President of Better Birth Mississippi, said this is true statewide.
“We specifically have been receiving an influx of questions and requests to join our consumer discussion page from pregnant women who even into their late third trimester are looking for out-of-hospital birthing options due to fear and concerns with COVID-19,” Stark said.
That's one of the reasons for the newfound interest in midwives, who delivered virtually every baby in the mother’s house at the turn of the 20th century.
Part of the issue is new constraints on hospitals that have become swamped because of coronavirus. Though policies tend to change daily, some hospitals have begun to restrict all visitors, even the father of the baby. And then there is the fear that new moms will contract COVID-19 while at the same hospital as so many patients who have the virus.
“Some are looking specifically for midwives and home birth options,” Stark added. “But some are more concerned with the fear of not having support persons allowed into their birth setting (including family members, doulas, partners, etc.). These are very uncertain times to be birthing due to ever-changing hospital rules and regulations.”
Harper has been a midwife since 2004. She is a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM), which is a private national certification for midwives to establish knowledge, skills, and abilities. It includes training, education, supervised experience, and the successful competition of a skills assessment and written exam. Most CPM’s like Harper practice in homes or birth centers.
The Certified Professional Midwife credential, issued by the North American Registry of Midwives, is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies, the accrediting body of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence.
For those who don’t plan on working in the hospital setting, this is the gold-standard certification.
“Midwives, who receive extensive education and training, are qualified to attend to low risk women who desire a home birth,” Harper says on her website. “Midwives have proven over and over again, that they can and do safely attend to women who are low risk for complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Midwives aren’t there for when everything is going perfectly smoothly. Midwives are there because they are knowledgeable in normal, monitor for normal and are with the laboring mother for the majority of their labors.”
As Harper says, a home birth isn’t for everyone, only low-risk pregnancies.
Harper is licensed in Tennessee and collaborates with a physician in the Volunteer State.
She doesn’t in Mississippi because the state doesn’t license midwives. While a lack of license would generally be a positive, it also contributes to Mississippi having among the fewest home births in the country and no true birthing centers. Part of that is because the low number of midwives in the state. According to Stark, they generally have 10 practicing midwives at a time.
“In Tennessee it is easier to find physicians to work with and to get doctors to call in prescriptions,” Harper said.
But not in Mississippi.
“In my personal experience caring for pregnant moms in central Mississippi for the last three years as a prenatal chiropractor, very few OBs or hospitals are willing to collaborate care with midwives serving clients choosing home births in the area,” Stark said. “There are a few exceptions, but generally speaking there is a lot of push back for families seeking support and backup birth plans in a hospital setting. Again, I feel like this could strongly discourage some moms that may have a positive relationship with their OBs from seeing home births as even an option. The way this system currently works, it is not providing supportive care that honors a mom’s wishes to give birth the way she desires, and I truly think this negatively impacts your home birth rates as a whole.”
In this case, a license based on a private certification such as the CPM would likely lead to an increase in the number of clients using the service. This would make it easier for midwives to consult with physicians, to carry medications, and even for patients to have insurance cover the birth. This, in turn, would benefit insurance companies as the cost of a home birth is generally half to one-third the cost of a birth in a hospital.
But higher number of home births is something that could benefit the state even after the virus passes. In a rural state where many hospitals don’t deliver babies and there is a shortage of OB-GYNs, midwives could serve and expand their role.
“With continued limited access to care in rural areas of Mississippi, families are losing access to quality providers locally,” Stark said. “Due to current travel restrictions they are also being pushed towards an increased amount of birth interventions such as scheduled inductions and C-sections versus allowing labor to begin naturally, and thus increasing unnecessary risk for both moms and babies. By utilizing certified midwifery care to fill in the gaps in these rural areas for low risk births, along with collaboration from other birth professionals for high risk births, we can aim to provide safer, quality care for all Mississippi families.”
For Harper, she is going to continue her work caring for mothers and their babies. As she has always done.
“It’s a calling.”
Mississippi’s shelter in place order begins at 5 p.m. today and runs for two weeks.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t leave your house. Nor will it close all businesses. Under the order, individuals will be allowed to leave their house for health-related reasons, to obtain food and common household supplies, to engage in individual outdoor activity, and to work in an essential business.
“If there’s a pond, creek, or private lake near you where you can safely drop a line while staying away from other anglers I strongly encourage you to do so,” Gov. Tate Reeves recently tweeted.
In a recent news conference, Reeves talked about closing the Barnett Reservoir and other public waterways that people like to congregate. Large crowds – of at least more than 10 – have been gathering at such locations prompting the shut down.
If that continues, would we start to see people being arrested? Probably not. At least at first.
“What I would hope would happen is local or state law enforcement breaks up that group and tells them to go home,” Reeves said. “I don’t think we’re going to see significant arrests initially unless you ignore what you’re supposed to do.”
Essentially, the police aren’t going to pull people over in their car asking for proof that they are traveling to or a from an essential business or activity. And if they do see you violating the order, you’ll likely just be asked to disperse.
Nationwide, we have seen some high-profile arrests for people who are clearing ignoring orders. Preachers in Louisiana and Florida have been arrested for holding church services with upwards of 1,000 people.
But, by and large, that has not been the case to this point. Arrests have generally come after multiple warnings from law enforcement or if the person was engaged in another illegal activity.
What are essential businesses?
Government: Public safety, first responders, law enforcement, fire prevention and response, courts and court personnel, military, emergency management personnel, correction, probation and parole, child protection, child welfare, EMTs, 911 call center employees, all workers and vendors that support law enforcement and emergency management operations and services.
Healthcare: Hospitals, clinics, research and laboratory operations, nursing homes, residential healthcare facilities, congregate care facilities, assisted living facilities, elder care, medical wholesale and distribution, home health workers and aides, medical supply and equipment manufacturers and providers, medical waste disposal, hazardous waste disposal, other ancillary healthcare services.
Infrastructure: Utilities including power generation, nuclear facilities, utility poles and components, fuel and transmission, petroleum producers, suppliers and distributors, supply chain companies, telecommunications, electronic security and life safety services, wireless communication, communications sales and customer support, telecommunications and data centers, cybersecurity operations, flood control, operations of dams, aviation, airports, ports, roads and highways, mass transit, automotive sales and repair, vehicle rental services, taxi and network providers such as Uber and Lyft, freight and passenger rail, pipelines, transportation infrastructure, public water and waste water, hazardous waste disposal, hotels and commercial lodging services.
Manufacturing: Food processing and production, pharmaceuticals, food additives, medical equipment, medical devices and supplies, technology, biotechnology, chemical products, telecommunications products, automotive production and supplies, healthcare, energy, steel and steel products, fuel and petroleum exploration and production, lubricants, greases and engine oils, mining, national defense, sanitary and cleaning products, household products, personal care products, products used by other essential businesses or operations.
Agriculture: Food cultivation, livestock, cattle, poultry and seafood operations, livestock auctions, feedlots, dealers and brokers of livestock, livestock transporters, farmer’s markets, feed stores, repair of agricultural equipment, gas, diesel and petroleum suppliers, aquaculture, horticulture, chemicals including pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, producers and distributors, forest products businesses, including those involved in forestry operations, logging, manufacture of lumber and paper products, meat processing facilities, rendering facilities and transporters, feed processing facilities, veterinary services.
Retail: Supermarkets, food and beverage stores, food providers, convenience stores, pharmacies, hardware and building materials, gas station, restaurants or bars (must comply with limit of 10 people).
Services: Trash collection, mail and shipping services, home repair, automotive sales and repair, warehouse, distribution and fulfilment centers, laundromats/ laundry services.
Media: Newspaper, digital news sites, television, radio, other media services.
Finance: Banks and related institutions, insurance, payroll, accounting, processing financial transactions, services related to financial markets.
Professional: Legal, accounting, insurance, real estate (including appraisal and title) services.
Construction: Building and construction, lumber, building materials and hardware, electricians, plumbers, exterminators, cleaning and janitorial, HVAC and water heating industry, painting, moving and relocating services, other skilled trades and other related construction firms and professionals to maintain essential infrastructure.
Safety, sanitation, and operations of residences and businesses: Law enforcement, fire prevention and response, firearm and ammunition manufacturers and retailers, building code enforcement, security, emergency management and response, building cleaning including disinfection, automotive sales and repair, mortuaries and cemeteries.
This also includes organizations that provide basic necessities to economically disadvantaged populations, defense industrial bases employers and personnel, vendors that provide essential services or products, and religious entities (that adhere to gathering size limitations).