Kangaroo decides it’s time to bounce, then hops around town
MADISON, Miss. (AP) — Rocky the kangaroo has been returned to his Mississippi home after a romp around Madison. The 2-year-old — who assists children during therapy sessions — made his…
Author: Associated Press
Woman bites off part of Louisiana officer’s ear in bar fight
HOUMA, La. (AP) — Authorities in southern Louisiana are searching for a woman who bit off part of an officer’s ear. Houma police were trying to break up a fight between several women in a bar’s parking lot just after…
Favre misses payment of $228K in welfare case, auditor says
FILE - In this Oct. 17, 2018, file photo, former NFL quarterback Brett Favre speaks with reporters in Jackson, Miss. Favre has repaid $600,000 in state welfare money he accepted for speeches where he didn't appear,…
Deer runs into hospital, up escalator; later is euthanized
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A deer ran through the front door of a Louisiana hospital and climbed up an escalator Monday before it was captured and later euthanized because of injuries. News outlets reported that surveillance video showed the animal bounding…
AP Analysis: Mississippi faces big decisions on relief money
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi is running behind many other states in deciding how to spend billions of federal dollars for pandemic relief. Congress allocated $1.8 billion for Mississippi through the American Rescue Plan, and the…
Mourning starts as Houston officials probe concert deaths
HOUSTON (AP) — Investigators Sunday worked to determine how eight people died in a crush of fans at a Houston music festival, as families mourned the dead and concertgoers recounted the horror and confusion of being trapped in the crowd.…
Overall enrollment steady at Mississippi public universities
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Overall enrollment in Mississippi’s public universities dropped by less than 1% in the past year, according to figures released Tuesday by the universities’ board of trustees. A total of 76,510 students are studying at Mississippi public universities…
Louisiana lifts mask mandate amid sharp drop in COVID cases
Louisiana is ending its statewide indoor mask mandate after emerging from its latest and worst coronavirus spike of the pandemic and seeing a sharp decline in new COVID-19 infections, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Tuesday. The decision marks one of…
Some workers at Stennis Space Center to protest vaccine rules
BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. (AP) — Some workers at a sprawling space center near the Mississippi-Louisiana line plan to protest federal requirements that they become vaccinated against COVID-19. The John C. Stennis Space Center workers plan a prayer rally Tuesday afternoon in…
Board: Vaccine required for most Mississippi university jobs
By LEAH WILLINGHAM JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Most employees at Mississippi’s eight public universities will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 after a vote from the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning board of trustees Monday. The action came on…
Mississippi surpasses 10,000 coronavirus-related deaths
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The state of Mississippi has surpassed 10,000 coronavirus-related deaths, health officials reported Monday. The Mississippi State Department of Health reported that 10,024 people have died of COVID-19 or its complications in the state, which has a…
FDA OKs mixing COVID vaccines; backs Moderna, J&J boosters
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. regulators are extending COVID-19 boosters to Americans who got the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine. They also said Wednesday anyone eligible for an extra dose can get a brand different from the one they received…
White House details plans to vaccinate 28M children age 5-11
WASHINGTON (AP) — Children age 5 to 11 will soon be able to get a COVID-19 shot at their pediatrician’s office, local pharmacy and potentially even their school, the White House said Wednesday as it detailed plans for the expected…
Hinds County Sheriff: Inmate dies after being attacked by 2 others
RAYMOND, Miss. (AP) — An inmate in a Mississippi jail has died after being assaulted by two other detainees, authorities say. Hinds County Interim Sheriff Marshand Crisler told news outlets Tuesday that Michael Richardson was attacked Monday inside the general…
Police: 3rd man wanted in Mobile, Alabama HS football game shooting
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - Police have released the name of a third man wanted in a shooting that wounded two adults and three teenagers outside a high school football game in Alabama. Mobile police said Monday that they have five…
Man injured after being shot by Mississippi Highway Patrol
WALNUT, Miss. — Police are investigating after a 45-year-old white man was severely injured after he was shot during a weekend exchange of gunfire with Mississippi Highway Patrol officers. The shooting occurred Sunday near the small community of Walnut in…
Toyota to build $1.29B US battery plant employing 1,750
DETROIT (AP) — Toyota plans to build a new $1.29 billion factory in the U.S. to manufacture batteries for gas-electric hybrid and fully electric vehicles. The move comes amid a flurry of global announcements about shoring up production of batteries…
New Orleans picks developer for empty amusement park site
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans has chosen a developer to revitalize the site of a former amusement park that has been vacant since Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. Mayor LaToya Cantrell said a group called Bayou Phoenix is the…
Arrest made following shooting near Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, AL that left 5 injured
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Police in Alabama say a 19-year-old man has been arrested in a shooting that wounded five people near a stadium where a high school football game was being played. Mobile police said Jai Scott of Semmes,…
Mississippi chief justice extends COVID-19 order for courts
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The head of the Mississippi Supreme Court is extending a emergency order that allows judges to postpone jury trials to try to slow the spread of COVID-19. The extended order by Chief Justice Mike Randolph remains in place…
Project could help needy Mississippi families hold onto land
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A nonprofit law firm announced a new project Thursday to help low-income Mississippi families hold onto inherited land, an effort that advocates say would build wealth and preserve biological diversity by promoting…
3 men dead, infant wounded in east Mississippi shooting
MERIDIAN (AP) — Three people are dead and an infant wounded after a shooting in Meridian. The gunfire happened Tuesday afternoon at a home on 17th Street, Meridian police said. Officers found that two of the men had been shot…
Reeves: Work still happening on medical marijuana proposal
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Tuesday that he and legislative leaders are continuing to negotiate changes in a proposal to create a medical marijuana program, including putting tight limits on how much of the medicine one person could…
Mississippi auditor demands payments in human services fraud
JACKSON, Miss — The Mississippi auditor is demanding repayment of $77 million in misspent welfare money in one of the poorest states in the nation. This includes $828,000 the auditor is seeking from retired NFL player Brett Favre and an…
Federal immigration agents to end practice of worksite raids
CHICAGO (AP) — Federal immigration agents will end mass workplace arrests of immigrant employees suspected of living in the U.S. without legal permission, according to a memo issued Tuesday by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorka. Instead, the focus will shift…
Advice shifting on aspirin use for preventing heart attacks
By LINDSEY TANNER Older adults without heart disease shouldn’t take daily low-dose aspirin to prevent a first heart attack or stroke, an influential health guidelines group said in preliminary updated advice released Tuesday. Bleeding risks for adults in their 60s…
Justice Department again presses to halt Texas abortion law
AUSTIN, Texas — The Biden administration urged the courts again to step in and suspend a new Texas law that has banned most abortions since early September, as clinics hundreds of miles away remain busy with Texas patients making long journeys to…
Caskets, vaults still displaced in Louisiana after Hurricane Ida
LAFITTE, La. — Hurricane Ida swept through Louisiana with furious winds that ripped roofs off buildings and storm surge so powerful it moved homes. What it wrought on the living it also wrought on the dead, moving vaults and caskets…
Louisiana: Child, 6, dies in ‘campfire’ started in a play fort
GEISMAR, La. (AP) — Authorities say a 6-year-old boy died after he and two siblings, ages 9 and 4, were playing with fire in a “fort” made from a concrete stairway on a flatbed trailer. The children used a lighter…
Texas governor orders ban on private company vaccine mandate
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order Monday to prohibit any entity, including private business, from enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on workers and called on state lawmakers to pass a similar ban into law.…
Southwest Airlines flight cancellations continue into Monday
DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines canceled hundreds more flights Monday following a weekend of major service disruptions. By late morning Monday, Southwest had canceled about 365 flights — 10% of its schedule for the day — and more than 600 others…
Grants will help students who left school to finish degrees
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi students who left college at least two years ago without a degree can apply for a grant to help them return to — and finish — school. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation recently awarded the Mississippi Institutions of…
Merck asks US FDA to authorize promising anti-COVID pill
WASHINGTON (AP) — Drugmaker Merck asked U.S. regulators Monday to authorize its pill against COVID-19 in what would add an entirely new and easy-to-use weapon to the world’s arsenal against the pandemic. If cleared by the Food and Drug Administration…
Shell warns of possible $500 million hit from Hurricane Ida
(AP) — Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell warned Thursday that it will take an earnings hit of up to $500 million as a result of the disruptions caused by Hurricane Ida, which hit the Gulf of Mexico in late August.…
Lawsuit: LSU brushed off complaints against accused rapist
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana State University officials did little to address allegations of sexual harassment and assault against a French graduate student, enabling his interactions with undergraduate women and high school girls, even after learning he had been arrested…
2008 Mississippi River spill: Barge company to pay $6.6M
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A barge company responsible for a Mississippi River oil spill that significantly damage shoreline habitat in south Louisiana in 2008 has agreed to pay $2.1 million in damages and buy and preserve a wildlife habitat just…
Student taken into custody hours after Texas school shooting
By JAMIE STENGLE and JILL BLEED Associated Press ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Police have arrested a student suspected of opening fire during a fight at his Dallas-area high school, leaving four people injured. Police say 18-year-old Timothy George Simpkins fled…
Mississippi official: Seniors are priority for booster shots
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi health officials say booster shots for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are now available at all county health department clinics, and people over the age of 65 are a priority for the extra jab. Eligibility for…
Congress passes bill to avert partial government shutdown
By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - With only hours to spare, Congress passed legislation that would avoid a partial federal shutdown and keep the government funded through Dec. 3. The bill now goes to President Joe Biden to…
Mississippi seeks disaster declaration for Ida damage
PEARL, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi officials say Hurricane Ida caused roughly $22.5 million in damage in 19 counties in the state. The figure was included in a news release on Wednesday announcing the state had asked President Joe Biden to…
EXPLAINER: Why Facebook is holding off on kids’ Instagram
By BARBARA ORTUTAY Bowing — perhaps only for a moment — to pressure from lawmakers, critics, the media and child development experts, Facebook said Monday it will “pause” its work on a kids' version of its photo and video-oriented Instagram…
State asks to delay order that it create mental health plan
By LEAH WILLINGHAM JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The state of Mississippi intends to appeal a federal judge's ruling that it come up with a plan detailing how it will work to prevent unnecessary institutionalization of people with mental illness. Earlier…
First woman municipal judge named in Gautier, Jackson County
GAUTIER, Miss. (AP) — A former city attorney for a Mississippi city has been appointed as municipal judge. The Gautier City Council named Amy Lassitter St. Pe’ to the bench for Gautier and Jackson County. The move makes her the…
Ink barely dry on budget as Mississippi starts new one
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Less than three months into the current budget year, Mississippi legislators are starting to plan for the next one. The Joint Legislative Budget Committee holds a public hearing Friday as part of the long…
Escaped inmates from Poplarville jail back in custody
POPLARVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Two inmates were back behind bars Wednesday after escaping a Mississippi jail over the weekend. Authorities received a tip late Tuesday that Rodney Wayne Smith and Jonathan Theo Culpepper were hiding out in a home in…
US appeals court to hear Mississippi voting rights case
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal appeals court is set to hear arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit that seeks to overturn Mississippi’s ban on voting rights for people convicted of some felonies — a case that…
New Orleans: Flames shoot up side of Superdome roof, put out
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Smoke and flames shot up the side of the Superdome’s roof on Tuesday after a pressure washer being used to clean the roof of the New Orleans sports and entertainment arena caught fire. The New Orleans…
Toxic gas, new rivers of molten lava endanger Spanish island
EL PASO, Canary Islands (AP) - On the Spanish island of La Palma, a new volcanic vent has blown open and unstoppable rivers of molten rock are flowing toward the sea. Authorities on the island warned Tuesday that more dangers…
Mississippi takes management of prison from private company
HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. (AP) - The Mississippi Department of Corrections is taking over operation of Marshall County Correctional Facility - a prison that has been privately run since it opened 25 years ago. Management & Training Corp. is the private…
Alabama student arrested as part of TikTok crime challenge
ROBERTSDALE, Ala. (AP) — A south Alabama high school student is facing criminal charges after being accused of stealing a fire extinguisher from the school as part of a TikTok challenge that’s been widely spread on the social media platform.…
