Jackson Free Press

The number of Mississippians without health insurance has grown over the past year. Over 16 percent of Mississippians don't have health insurance in all but six counties, according to data from Enroll America and Civis Analytics. This number supersedes 2014 numbers and can be seen visually on the New York Times' Upshot blog.

Mississippi's Republican leadership has opted to not expand Medicaid, and Medicaid enrollment numbers have leveled out in 2015, and are on the decline according to the state division's report. In July, 737,854 Mississippians were enrolled in Medicaid; now, 730,354 Mississippians are enrolled.

The Upshot reported that the decision to not expand Medicaid in states with large numbers of uninsured constituents puts people in the "Medicaid gap," since they are unable to qualify for Affordable Care Act services due to their low incomes. Medicaid expansion will likely be reconsidered in the 2016 Legislative session.

Grenada-based attorney Carlos Moore, who sued Gov. Phil Bryant alleging that the Mississippi state flag is not constitutional, has appealed his case to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Last week U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves dismissed Moore's lawsuit but left the door open to potential legal action in the future.

Moore alleged that the Confederate battle emblem in the canton of the Mississippi state flag violates the 13th and 14th Amendments. He brought his federal lawsuit against Gov. Phil Bryant, who has the authority to ensure that state laws are followed.

Reeves did not find Moore to have standing in his case. Moore had to prove that the injury he had suffered (seeing the state flag over courthouses where he practices law) had a causal connection to Gov. Bryant and the state of Mississippi displaying the Confederate emblem.

To read all of Judge Reeves' opinion in the dismissal of Moore's case, click here.

Gov. Phil Bryant called out Congress today, saying that the American Health Care Act resembles Obamacare too closely.

In a Facebook post, Bryant cited the Heritage Foundation's concerns on the new American Health Care Act, which support his stance that the new plan is "Obamacare Lite." (The Heritage Foundation gave Gov. Bryant an award last year for passing House Bill 1523, which was blocked in court before it went into affect.) Bryant's post says he will be working with Mississippi's congressmen in the coming days to ensure that Republicans "end Obamacare once and for all."

"Republican voters who gave majorities to both chambers and delivered the White House do not want Obamacare Lite," Bryant's Facebook post says. "I know it takes tremendous courage to turn back an entitlement once it is in place. But with $20 trillion in national debt, we best start making some tough decisions."

Read his full statement here.

WAPT just released Mason-Dixon poll results that show that mayoral candidate Jonathan Lee's lead has shrunk three points since Friday, and Chokwe Lumumba's support has increased seven points. Lee leads 46 percent to 42 percent going into tomorrow's pivotal run-off face. The poll showed 12 percent still undecided. Lee led 49 percent to 35 percent in poll results released Friday.

The poll shows that Lumumba leads with black voters 46 percent to 36 percent with 18 percent undecided. Lee leads Lumumba 87 percent to 4 percent with white voters with 9 percent undecided.

The newest poll results come after several controversial campaign days, which included an anti-Lumumba TV ad using what Lee called "sound bites" to question Lumumba's religious faith, strength as a Democrat and like for police officers. The same day, news hit that Lumumba was also running a controversial ad, featuring Rep. Bennie Thompson endorsing Lumumba and questioning Lee's Democratic credentials.

Today, campaign controversy increased further with news of controversial flyers left on cars during church services, but any fallout from that is not likely reflected in the polls, yet.

The poll showed that 46 percent believe that Lumumba defeated Lee in a pivotal debate Friday night with 31 percent saying Lee won. The poll shows the debate had a huge impact: Lee led by 47 percent among debate watchers before the debate with only 38 percent of them supporting him afterward. Lumumba's support among debate waters jumped from 33 percent to 50 percent after the debate.

The poll has a +/- 4.5 margin of error.

Romenesko got a hold of an undated screenshot of a Gulf Coast-based news anchor's Facebook status that advises same-sex-loving folks to take a "gaycation" because the anchor thinks they've been in the news too much.

"I'm all for the LGBT community's ongoing fight for equality. I support their fight in every way," wrote Dave Elliot, an anchor for WLOX-TV. "But it seems like they've been in the news too much lately. Maybe they should take a short break. Go on gaycation, just for the weekend."

Indeed LGBT issues have been in a lot of headlines recently, especially here in Mississippi. This week, a number of LGBT groups rallied to demand human rights. Earlier this year, a handful of conservative lawmakers tried to sneak through a so-called religious freedom bill that would have turned the clock on civil rights back to Jim Crow times.

When LGBT advocates got wind of the bill, reaction was swift enough to slow the bill down. The House removed the most worrisome language, but the Senate wants to negotiate more, which means by Monday, the discriminatory language could end up back in the proposal and send it to the governor.

If that happens, it could put Elliot in the awkward position of having to read even more gay news, assuming he still has his job. Romesko reported that WLOX wrote on its Facebook page that “we are not happy at all with the post" or any "free publicity" that the station may be getting from the post.

Interestingly, Dave Elliot's Facebook page indicates that a couple hours ago shows that he was visiting Little River Canyon National Preserve's Eberhart Point Overlook in Alabama. So it is unclear whether WLOX— an ABC- and CBS-affiliated station—will send Elliot on a permanent vacation.