Shamir Muhammad

Nearly 200,000 power outages were reported in North Mississippi.

Snow and heavy ice caused severe damage throughout the region.

Casey Grist, the executive director of the North Mississippi chapter of the American Red Cross, says her organization is still trying to access communities blocked off by fallen trees, ice, and fallen power lines.

Two deaths related to Fern have been reported in the state.

For NPR News, I'm Shamir Mohamed in Jackson.

I think the important thing to keep at the forefront is that there are real victims, people who are still incarcerated in Mississippi Department of Corrections custody, or people who are living with the consequences of criminal convictions.

They deserve some level of transparency.

DiBiase is accused of using the funds to enrich himself, buying private real estate and even a boat through six sham contracts.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy, embezzlement and wire fraud.

A former internal auditor of Mississippi's Department of Human Services has testified that DiBiase received an agency corner office, a state email address, and a phone, even though he was not a state employee or contractor.

Agency witnesses from the U.S.

Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services also testified.

This is the only criminal case to go to trial in Mississippi's $77 million welfare fraud scandal.

For NPR News, I'm Shamir Mohamed in Jackson.