1/18/21 - Coronavirus Transmission & Vaccine Roll-out | Stennis Rocket Test | Flonzie Brown Wright Remembers MLK

Mississippi Edition

State health officials expect more doses of vaccine in the coming weeks, but distribution will still be limited.

Then, it was the first rocket test of its kind in decades, but it was shut down after just over a minute. We look at what last weekend’s test at the Stennis Space Center means for project Artemis.

Plus, a local civil rights veteran recalls her experience with Martin Luther King Jr.

Segment 1:

Mississippi's officials are making mass vaccination a goal as the state begins to feel the strain and loss following high transmission during the holiday season. The state is averaging over 40 deaths per day since the new year began, and hospitals continue to operate at capacity. State Health Office Dr. Thomas Dobbs says his office is hopeful a steady decline is on the way.

Governor Tate Reeves says the state is trending in the right direction, but the numbers are still significantly higher than surge last summer that stressed hospital. He agrees the vaccine provides some optimism and believes the state is improving in that regard as well.

Segment 2:

For the first time since in decades, four rockets designed with enough power to launch a shuttle into space were tested at Hancock County's Stennis Space center. For a little over a minute, the four engines generated 1.6-million pounds of thrust. It was the most powerful test at Stennis since the Saturn V stages were tested here in the 1960s. But then one of the engines failed. Gary Benton is director of safety and mission assurance at Stennis Space Center. He talked to us prior to the test about the role the Space Center and the Test plays in Artemis Mission.

Segment 3:

Flonzie Brown Wright was a champion of voting rights in Mississippi during the 1960's and 70's. The first African American female to be elected to Madison County Election Commissioner pre and post-Reconstruction, Mrs. Brown Wright helped register thousands of Mississippians during the Civil Rights Movement. She also worked directly with Dr. Martin Luther King during the Meredith Marches. In observation of this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, she shares her experience fighting for change with the Civil Rights icon.

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