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A4 U.S. NEWS
Friday 16 September 2022
Governor: Mississippi capital's water is again safe to drink

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS in water tanks and caused
Associated Press a precipitous drop in pres-
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Af- sure.
ter nearly two months of When water pressure drops,
being forced to boil their there's a possibility that un-
water before drinking it or treated groundwater can
using it to brush teeth, peo- enter the water system
ple in Mississippi's largest through cracked pipes,
city were told Thursday that so customers are told to
water from the tap is safe to boil water to kill potentially
consume — but Jackson's harmful bacteria.
water system still needs But even before the rain-
big repairs that the mayor fall, officials said some wa-
says the cash-strapped city ter pumps had failed and a
cannot afford on its own. treatment plant was using
Gov. Tate Reeves and backup pumps. Jackson
Jackson officials said in had already been under
separate announcements a boil-water notice for a
that the state health de- month because the state
partment lifted a boil-water health department had
notice that had been in found cloudy water that
place nearly seven weeks could make people ill.
in the city of 150,000. The National Guard and
"We have restored clean volunteer groups have dis-
water to the city of Jack- Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), center, tributed millions of bottles
son ," Reeves said during a Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, right, confer with Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, following of drinking water in Jack-
a tour the City of Jackson's O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Facility in Ridgeland, Miss., Friday, Sept.
news conference. 2, 2022. son since late August.
But a state health depart- Associated Press Jackson is the largest city
ment official, Jim Craig, in one of the poorest states
said households with preg- els" set by the EPA, people August and early Septem- such a broken system in the in the U.S. The city has a
nant women or young should continue to avoid ber. future." shrinking tax base that re-
children should take pre- using city water to prepare Reeves said the water sys- Problems started days after sulted from white flight,
cautions because of lead baby formula. tem remains "imperfect." torrential rain fell in cen- which began about a de-
levels previously found in Emergency repairs are still "It is possible, although I tral Mississippi, altering the cade after public schools
some homes on the Jack- underway after problems pray not inevitable, that quality of the raw water en- were integrated in 1970.
son water system. Craig at Jackson's main water there will be further inter- tering Jackson's treatment Jackson's population is
said although recent test- treatment plant caused ruptions," Reeves said. "We plants. more than 80% Black, and
ing showed "no lead or most customers to lose ser- cannot perfectly predict That slowed the treatment about 25% of its residents
lead below the action lev- vice for several days in late what may go wrong with process, depleted supplies live in poverty.q

White House holds summit on ending hate-fueled violence

Thursday on how stop the Law enforcement offi- violence.
violence. Among the at- cials across the country Brandon Wolf, an LGBTQ
tendees were Sarah Col- are warning and being activist, recounted from
lins Rudolph, who lost an warned about an increase the lectern at the "United
eye and still has pieces of in threats and the potential We Stand Summit" about
glass inside her body from for violent attacks on feder- being inside Pulse night-
a Ku Klux Klan bombing al agents or buildings in the club in 2016 in Florida when
that killed her sister and wake of the FBI's search of a shooter opened fire. He
three other Black girls at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home. was in the bathroom at the
a Birmingham, Alabama, "We must stand together time the shooting started,
church 59 years ago. She and we must clearly say and he said he remem-
was also expected to meet that a harm against any bers how cold the water
with President Joe Biden. one of us is a harm against was from the faucet in the
In 2020, hate crimes in the all of us," Vice President Ka- split seconds before gunfire
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the United Against Hate U.S. were the highest in mala Harris said in her open- erupted.
Summit, Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, in the East Room of the White more than a decade and ing remarks Thursday. "We "I remember panic, a sprint
House in Washington. the Justice Department are at an inflection point for the emergency exit," he
Associated Press has said it would step up in our history, and indeed, said. "I remember willing
efforts to counter it. And our democracy. Years from myself to put one foot in
By COLLEEN LONG ber symbols of a problem political violence fueled by now, our children and our front of other, eyes locked
Associated Press that haunts the nation and lies about the 2020 election grandchildren, they're go- on a sliver of light from a
WASHINGTON (AP) — A must be rooted out, Biden is overlapping with hate ing to ask us what did you door left ajar."
grocery store in Buffalo. administration officials said crimes — a growing num- do in that moment?" Wolf survived, but the
A nightclub in Orlando. A Thursday. ber of ardent Donald Trump The president was expect- shooter killed 49 people
Walmart in El Paso: All sites The administration gath- supporters seem ready to ed to announce new steps who were mostly LGBTQ
of hate-fueled violence ered educators, faith lead- strike back against the FBI to help schools, local law and people of color. He
against Black, Hispanic or ers and others who have or others who they believe enforcement agencies told the crowd he knows
LGBTQ Americans over the experienced violence go too far in investigating and cultural institutions pre- firsthand how important it is
past five years. And all som- firsthand for a discussion the former president. vent and respond to such to counter hate.q