The Clay Edwards Show

Clay is joined by Andrew Gasser for a deeper dive into data centers. They examine heat output claims, water and cooling systems, environmental and quality-of-life impacts, the Brandon project near Highway 18, and the longer-term risk of obsolescence versus orbital alternatives. The hour also covers fresh developments in the Nolan Wells case, including the NAACP joining the legal team and the family’s readiness for a joint forensic phone inspection, along with broader questions about transparency and investigation integrity.

Zach Service and Creston Birch continue with Clay as the focus shifts to the stalled BioCrete/Metro Center project and the larger question of why major economic development so often dies in Jackson. The bulk of the hour centers on the proposed data-center hub at Lake Hico (16th-section land), competing proposals, private equity interests, political hypocrisy between sites, and whether the city risks missing a rare large-scale opportunity while neighboring communities capture the benefits. Free-speech accountability and local government resistance remain major themes.

Clay is joined by Zach Service (former Jackson mayoral candidate) and Creston Birch (recently retired 30-year Clinton Police officer). Zach recounts the events that led to his First Amendment lawsuit against the City of Jackson after being escorted from a council meeting for wearing a campaign T-shirt and later restricted during public comment. Creston shares a law-enforcement perspective on medical marijuana, DUI enforcement, and probable cause. The conversation also touches on selective enforcement, free speech standards, and early discussion of development challenges in Jackson.

**Episode 1275 – Clay Edwards Show**
Clay celebrates his 49th birthday with a packed three-hour conversation featuring returning guest Zach Service (former Jackson mayoral candidate and community activist), Creston Birch (recently retired 30-year Clinton Police officer), and Andrew Gasser.
**Hours 1 & 2 with Zach Service and Creston Birch**
Zach details his newly filed First Amendment lawsuit against the City of Jackson. He was escorted out of a city council meeting while wearing a campaign T-shirt after absentee polls had closed, then later interrupted and restricted during public comment for criticizing a city employee. The discussion covers selective enforcement of rules, viewpoint discrimination, and relevant case law including *New York Times Co. v. Sullivan*.
Creston weighs in from a law-enforcement perspective on medical marijuana, DUI enforcement, probable cause, and the realities of impaired driving. The conversation expands into broader accountability issues in Jackson, including the stalled BioCrete/Metro Center workforce project, nonprofit and government friction, and the challenge of getting meaningful development done.
A major focus is the proposed data-center hub at Lake Hico (16th-section land). Zach and Clay examine the politics surrounding the site, private equity interests, the contrast with opposition to the nearby Forest Avenue proposal, infrastructure realities, and whether Jackson risks missing a rare large-scale economic opportunity while neighboring communities capture the benefits.
**Hour 3 with Andrew Gasser**
Clay and Andrew dig deeper into data centers—heat output, water use, cooling systems, long-term obsolescence risks, and the possibility of orbital alternatives. They discuss local impacts (including the Brandon project near Highway 18), community concerns, and the broader trade-offs between tax revenue, jobs, environmental effects, and quality of life.
The hour also covers fresh developments in the Nolan Wells case, including the NAACP joining the legal team and the family’s readiness for a joint forensic phone inspection, plus related questions about transparency and the investigation.
Raw, wide-ranging talk on free speech, local government accountability, economic development, and the future of Jackson.

Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner and gubernatorial candidate Andy Gipson joins the show for a hard-hitting conversation on his day-one commitment to ban Sharia law and its influence in Mississippi by executive order or special session. Gipson doesn’t mince words about the threat he sees already present in the state, including a Muslim cultural center in Jackson, and draws clear distinctions between religious freedom and a competing legal system that he argues undermines the Constitution, women’s rights, and American values. The discussion covers foreign financing, taxpayer dollars, enforcement of existing laws against mutilation, polygamy, and related practices, plus Gipson’s broader vision for real economic development—including new sawmills and bringing jobs back to Mississippi.

**Podcast Description – Episode 1,274**
Clay Edwards and Creston Berch bring another unfiltered dose of reality radio in Episode 1274 of the Clay Edwards Show.
Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner and gubernatorial candidate Andy Gipson joins the show for a hard-hitting conversation on his day-one commitment to ban Sharia law and its influence in Mississippi by executive order or special session. Gipson doesn’t mince words about the threat he sees already present in the state, including a Muslim cultural center in Jackson, and draws clear distinctions between religious freedom and a competing legal system that he argues undermines the Constitution, women’s rights, and American values. The discussion covers foreign financing, taxpayer dollars, enforcement of existing laws against mutilation, polygamy, and related practices, plus Gipson’s broader vision for real economic development—including new sawmills and bringing jobs back to Mississippi.
Clay also tears into the “entrepreneur” job-title crowd, lays out the personal lifestyle commitments required if you’re truly anti-data center, and breaks down the latest Southern Poverty Law Center scandal involving former CFO Heidi Beirich—secret payments to white supremacist informants and a reported affair with a neo-Nazi leader. The show digs into the definition of culture rot, Jackson’s current homicide pace tracking toward another high year, the $8 million bond in a child sexual battery case, free-speech standards in the live chat, and the ongoing media and activist rush to judgment in the Nolan Wells case.
No sugar added. No positive-solutions theater. Just the issues most people still won’t touch.
Tune in for the full conversation.

**Clay Edwards Show – Episode 1,273 with Creston Burch**
Clay opens by addressing a viral claim that his “brother” was involved in a Rankin County home invasion and standoff. He sets the record straight: he has no brother (half, step, or otherwise), calls out the usual online crew for running with the false story, and notes the irony of people eager to talk about someone else’s family when their own records tell a different tale.
The conversation shifts into a music-heavy stretch marking two milestones. Clay looks back 25 years to the Crazy 8 college nights and the old flyers that packed the place, then marks the 15th anniversary of Warrant frontman Jani Lane’s death. He shares personal memories of seeing Warrant open for Motley Crue, the Blood, Sweat & Beers tour at the Coliseum, and promoting them years later. That sparks a rundown of hair-metal history—how labels manufactured some of the late-era bands, the rise of copycat acts, Autograph’s unlikely shot opening for Van Halen after a jogging-buddy connection with David Lee Roth, Skid Row’s success during the Nirvana wave, Tesla, and more.
From there the show turns to the WNBA. Clay and Creston dig into the Sophie Cunningham incident, the Indiana Fever coach’s postgame comments, and the broader pattern of on-court physicality and off-court rhetoric. Clay questions the high rate of openly lesbian and “stud” identities in women’s basketball and softball compared with other sports, asks what is happening inside those locker rooms and programs, and ties it to larger cultural pressure around transgender athletes in women’s sports and the refusal to define basic terms.
The episode also covers the appointment of a Muslim municipal judge in Mississippi. Clay discusses the strong public reaction (including from people who usually stay quiet), questions how and why the selection happened, notes the limited power of a municipal bench, and points listeners toward a planned interview with the judge on another show for a closer look.
Throughout, the tone stays unfiltered: accountability, cultural double standards, free speech, and skepticism of narratives that ignore root causes or basic reality. Classic Clay Edwards Show territory—music nostalgia mixed with sharp takes on sports, crime, identity politics, and local power.

WHAT IS SHARIA LAW & IS IT COMING TO MISSISSIPPI? (Ep #1,272) With Assma Ali being the first Muslim judge appointed to the bench in the history of Mississippi we're forced to ask the question, who is Assma Ali and will she attempt to usher in Sharia law? Let's discuss and see what exactly Sharia Law is.

**Mississippi Appoints First Muslim Woman as Municipal Judge | Assma Ali Sworn In – Benoit, Not Ridgeland**
Breaking news: Mississippi has appointed its first Muslim female municipal judge (and possibly its first Muslim judge period). Assma Ali, a Ridgeland-based immigration attorney, was sworn in as municipal court judge for the tiny Delta town of Benoit on August 5, 2026.
The story exploded over the weekend with viral claims she had been named judge in Ridgeland. That turned out to be false. Ridgeland’s official page quickly denied any appointment. Ali’s own vague Facebook posts fueled the confusion before she deleted them and later posted the actual oath of office and town agenda confirming Benoit.
In this video I walk through:- Exactly how the rumor started and spread- The screenshots, posts, and documents- Where I was half-wrong in my earlier reporting and how I corrected it- Why an immigration attorney + Muslim judge in Mississippi has people raising red flags- The bigger questions about Sharia, culture, and “just getting a foot in the door”
This is the full breakdown with receipts.
I’m Clay Edwards, host of *The Clay Edwards Show*  Monday–Friday 7–9 AM Central on 103.9 WYAB  Streaming live on YouTube, X, Rumble & Twitch  
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**Clay Edwards Show with Creston Burch – Episode Description**
Big updates on the Nolan Wells case dominate this episode. Sources indicate the Wells family and Ben Crump have not turned over Nolan’s cell phone to the Jackson County DA’s office despite requests, and they have declined or ignored an invitation to sit down and review the state crime lab autopsy and toxicology reports. The toxicology is said to show high alcohol levels, no cocaine, and likely THC. The autopsy is expected to list drowning or undetermined as the cause, with the manner of death remaining undetermined — a finding that does not equal homicide. Discussion covers the condition of the body after roughly 36 hours at sea and the ongoing narrative push around deleted messages and foul play.
Also covered: neighbors in Pascagoula have sued Judge Ashley Cole and Dr. Hudson over a permitted fence that allegedly blocks their harbor view, adding another layer of pressure on the family amid the broader case. Locally, the death of Taseya Fortune, found hanging behind an abandoned house on Road of Remembrance in Jackson, draws scrutiny of lynching claims. A person of interest living with her had already been arrested on an unrelated charge, with reports of a prior quarrel. Speculation about white supremacist involvement is examined against the emerging facts.
Additional segments touch on a widely circulated but false claim that a Yemeni immigration attorney was appointed municipal judge in Ridgeland (denied by both the individual and the city), plus ongoing WNBA drama involving Sophie Cunningham and former NBA players seeking to enter the women’s league.
Straightforward discussion of the facts as they stand, the incentives driving public narratives, and why some stories refuse to die quietly.