On Season 16 of The Voice, Rod Stokes from Moss Point, MS (currently resides in Grand Bay, AL) secured a spot on Team Blake by singing "To Love Somebody" by Bee Gees.
Rod Stokes
Age: 34
Hometown: Moss Point, MS
Resident: Grand Bay, AL
Rod grew up watching his sister sing in church, but he was too shy to participate. Being a larger kid, he ended up spending most of his time playing football. He continued to play in college, but his football dreams were cut short when he had to drop out to take over the family construction business. Without football in his life, Rod felt inspired to start singing and his family started their own traveling musical ministry. Rod met his wife on the road, and since being married he has lost over 100 lbs. Rod is ready to give his music career a real shot on “The Voice” stage.
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Prosecutors are recommending 20 years in prison for the former Long Beach police officer whose daughter died after being left in a hot car. Cassie Barker will find out next month what her punishment will be after pleading guilty to a manslaughter charge. Three-year-old Cheyenne Hyer was in her mother's patrol car for hours as Barker had sex with another police officer at his home in Hancock County in 2016, then fell asleep.
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Funeral services are now set for former Hattiesburg police chief David Wynn. He died last Friday in Rankin County at the age of 64. He led the Hub City police department from 2001 until 2007 and afterwards served as the federal security director for the Transportation Security Administration at the Jackson airport. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Shady Grove Baptist Church on Warren Mott Parkway in Hattiesburg.
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The former vice-president of Singing River Federal Credit Union is facing up to 30 years in prison after her guilty plea Monday to embezzling funds from her employer. Merrideth McMillian, of Vancleave, has admitted to stealing more than 350-thousand-dollars by accessing the accounts of customers over a one-year period beginning in October 2017. She allegedly manipulated transactions and took out fraudulent loans in the names of family and friends. She was fired from her job and is currently free on 25-thousand-dollars bond until her June sentencing on the federal charge.
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It's the end of the legal road for those who objected to the Singing River Pension Plan Class Action Settlement. The "Sun Herald" reports that the U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal of the case Monday. The decision clears the way for 156-million-dollars to be paid into the retirement plan covering about 32-hundred current and past employees of Singing River Health System over the course of the next 20-plus years. That amount includes seven-million-dollars currently held in escrow that's expected to be deposited almost immediately.
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Most of the men who rape women get away with it. But Mississippi's Center for Violence Prevention says Mississippi now has a new forensic clinic to help the victims of sexual assault. The clinic in Pearl called The Bridge offers 24/7 emergency care and can gather evidence to be used in prosecuting the rapist, which could lead to a higher percentage of those men going to jail. The latest statistics from a six-month period in 2017 show that despite thousands of crimes being reported, fewer than 200 sexual assaults were prosecuted in Mississippi.
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Democratic leaders in Congress want the FBI to investigate an alleged acquaintance of President Trump who is the founder of a Florida massage parlor chain. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, and four other lawmakers made the request in a letter released Monday. They say the chain founded by Cindy Yang is suspected of human trafficking and prostitution by forcing female immigrants to serve as sex workers. The lawmakers also say Yang reportedly created a business that might be selling access to the president for clients from China.
President Trump says he's giving 100-thousand dollars of this year's presidential salary to the Department of Homeland Security. Trump gives his 400-thousand-dollar salary to different agencies throughout the year.