OK NOW LADIES
Perhaps the biggest headline involving Mississippi news this week is the story surrounding Mississippian Sarah Thomas. Thomas, of Pascagoula, was named the first full-time female official for the NFL Wednesday. According to the Washington Post, Thomas has been officiating since 1996 and has played sports since she could walk. She was a softball star in high school and a college basketball player at the University of Mobile. She started her officiating career at high school games and then moved to the college level. She was the first woman to officiate at a Bowl game and in a Big Ten stadium.
“Football is thought of as probably the most, quote, ‘manly’ of sports,” sports writer Jack Cleveland said. “But it’s like Jack Vaughn told me a long time ago, ‘You don’t have to be a man to tell whether somebody jumped offsides or not.’ And you don’t have to be a man to learn the rules of football.”
Thomas has gained some serious girl power points. Even Beyoncé would be envious.
LELAND LIVIN’
According to WMC Action News, residents of Leland who are 18 years and younger have been issued a curfew. The city’s Board of Aldermen approved the curfew on Monday, which requires underage citizens to be off the streets by 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and by 10:30 on the weekends. The curfew is supposed to last until the end of the school year, but Police Chief Billy Barber said the dates of the curfew have not yet been decided. Those who do not abide by this law will face fines up to $500. This law will make parental curfew enforcement a whole lot easier, that’s for sure.
I FEEL NICE
Maybe like sugar, but not like spice. Over the weekend, more than 30 people were put in the emergency room in the Jackson metro area for overdosing on spice, or synthetic marijuana. Officials from the Mississippi Department of Health said that this is the highest number of overdoses they’ve seen in recent years. According to The Clarion-Ledger, other cases have been seen in Meridian, Philadelphia and Monticello. The patients ranged from ages 14 to late 60s, but all showed signs of hallucination, sweating and agitation. The particular form of spice to which these patients exposed themselves is causing kidney issues and muscle breakdown. The Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics director, Sam Owens, believes that these cases are all connected in some way.
“While we don’t know for sure, it really seems like they almost have to be,” Owens said.
NO PAIN, NO GAIN
WTVA News reported that five Leflore County residents were arrested this week for forging prescriptions of painkillers. They were indicted by a local grand jury. No trial has been announced, but the five citizens have each been charged with various counts of acquiring a controlled substance by fraud. The five allegedly attempted to forge prescriptions for oxycodone and hydrocodone. In fact, they forged prescriptions in an attempt to attain about 3,000 dosage units of the painkillers. These charges are a result of an 18-month investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.
