Page 18 - Florida Sentinel 1-31-20

National
Mississippi's Governor Is Shutting Down A Unit Inside The Prison Where 9 Inmates Have Died
Mississippi's newly sworn- in governor vowed Monday to help "turn the page" for the state's prison system follow- ing the deaths of multiple in- mates within the past month and a lawsuit filed on behalf of inmates over prison condi- tions.
"All Mississippians must be able to trust that the peo- ple in charge of the system are acting with competence to keep them safe," Gov. Tate Reeves said during his state of the state speech. "We must be able to trust that the corrections officers operating these prisons have the tools that they need to do their jobs and that they are compen- sated fairly."
The governor said he re- cently visited the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parch- man, where nine prisoner deaths have taken place in the past month, some by hanging and some following altercations within the facil- ity.
Parchman holds about
Amid concerns about vio- lence and infrastructure, Mis- sissippi's Parchman prison reports two more inmate deaths.
3,600 of the state's 19,000 inmates.
"The problems were infu- riating, there is no excuse," Reeves said. "We can do bet- ter."
On Sunday, the prison an- nounced the death of 26- year-old inmate Joshua Norman, who was found hanging in his one-man cell in the prison's Unit 29. At least two other inmates were found hanging in the same
unit.
Reeves said Monday he
has instructed the Mississippi Department of Corrections to shut down Unit 29, which he called "the most notorious unit."
He said while there are still many "logistical ques- tions" about what that process will look like, the change was necessary in order for the state to begin moving in the right direction. In June, state Department of Health environmental ad- ministrator Rayford Hor- ton issued a lengthy report about the conditions at Parchman and highlighted several serious issues within Unit 29.
The unit's kitchen, for in- stance, had a missing soap dispenser, stopped-up garbage disposal, milk and food with no expiration dates, a fly trap "covered with flies," a ceiling leaking above a dish- washer and food that needed to be removed from a moldy, 75-degree cooler.
5 New Cases Reported In Arizona And California As Chinese Virus Hits U. S.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The U. S. has five confirmed cases of the new virus from China, all among people who traveled to the city at the cen- ter of the outbreak, health of- ficials said Sunday.
Two new cases were re- ported Sunday — one in Los Angeles County in California and the other in Maricopa County, Arizona. The latter case was someone with ties to Arizona State University who did not live in school housing and had a history of travel to Wuhan, China, state health officials said.
Officials with the Arizona Department of Health Serv- ices said the Maricopa County patient wasn’t se- verely ill and was in isolation at home to keep the illness from spreading. The depart-
ment said it would not re- lease potentially identifying information on the person, including the gender and age, and declined to say whether the person was a student or faculty member.
The LA patient alerted au- thorities that he wasn’t feel- ing well upon arriving at Los
Angeles International Air- port. The patient was taken by ambulance to a hospital, health officials said at a Sun- day news conference.
“Everything worked as it should,” said Dr. Sharon Balter with the LA County Department of Public Health. “The patient presented for care, the patient was immedi- ately transported to a hospi- tal, the patient has remained in the hospital.”
Officials did not provide details about the patient, ex- cept to say that the individual was a traveler from Wuhan, China.
The three previously re- ported cases were a patient in Orange County, California; a man in his 30s in Washing- ton state; and a woman in her 60s from Chicago.
PAGE 6-B FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2020