Wyatt Emmerich

Jan 23, 2025 | cdispatch.com | Wyatt Emmerich

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann was full of optimism speaking recently before a packed crowd at the Stennis Press Forum at Hal & Mal’s restaurant in downtown Jackson. “The future’s so bright here,” Hosemann told the crowd of journalists, lobbyists and movers and shakers. “The things we are doing are so positive here. Mississippi is in its best financial condition it’s ever been in.

Oct 11, 2024 | cdispatch.com | Wyatt Emmerich

“Paddleways of Mississippi,” written by my dear friend and journalism colleague Ernest Herndon, is a wonderful new book, published by University Press of Mississippi. Ernest for decades has been the outdoors editor for the McComb Enterprise-Journal, commanding a huge loyal following. He represents the best of American journalism and has written thousands of articles over the years. Ernest is the foremost authority on canoeing in Mississippi.

Sep 26, 2024 | cdispatch.com | Wyatt Emmerich

I just returned from Washington D.C. where I was trying to save journalism. The United States has lost a third of its local newspapers and local websites over the last ten years. Another third are predicted to disappear over the next three years. This is the result of powerful monopolies such as Google and Facebook altering the media landscape. This summer a federal judge declared Google to be an illegal monopoly. Ninety-eight percent of searches occur on Google.

Sep 19, 2024 | cdispatch.com | Wyatt Emmerich

It brought me no joy to read that Jackson city councilor Angelique Lee resigned and admitted to conspiracy to commit bribery. We are all sinners. Greed is a powerful force. There but for the grace of God go I. There were other warning signs. Lee had been arrested for a DUI. Her paycheck was garnished for unpaid campaign debts. She was struggling. That laid the groundwork for her giving in to temptation. Court documents refer to other unindicted co-conspirators.

Sep 5, 2024 | cdispatch.com | Wyatt Emmerich

The Census Bureau reports that cities did not grow in population from 2010 to 2020. That is especially true in Mississippi, where numerous small rural cities lost population. Take Winona for example. Its population was 5,043 in 2010. Ten years later in 2020, it was 4,505 — a drop of 10.7%. Montgomery County, in which Winona resides, did not fare much better, going from 10,925 in 2010 to 9,822 in 2020, a drop of 10.1%. Kosciusko is another example. Its population was 7,402 in 2010.