Chamber hosts legislative briefing on 2022 session
Six Coast legislators were at the Golden Nugget in Biloxi on Tuesday morning to talk to South Mississippi business leaders about the 2022 legislative session. Members of the Gulf Coast Chamber…
Mississippi State News
Police: Ski mask and toy gun pranks leads to killing of teen
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A teen in Mississippi shot and killed another teen who approached his home with a toy gun that looked like an assault rifle while wearing a ski mask, authorities said. The teen killed was one of…
Ex-Mississippi auditor resigns from state Veterans Affairs
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Veterans Affairs Board is being run by an interim leader as the executive director and his chief of staff are both resigning. The agency said in news release Friday that executive director Stacey Pickering…
Mississippi revises eviction law that judge called ‘absurd’
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi has revised its landlord-tenant law to give renters time to gather their belongings from a home before being forced to leave, after a federal judge ruled that the previous law was unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Michael…
Former assistant principal heads to court to reverse firing over 'New Butt' book
BYRAM, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi educator who was fired for reading a children’s book called “I Need a New Butt!” to second graders says he will go to court to try to get his job back. Toby Price told the Clarion Ledger he…
Former leader of Black Caucus leaving Mississippi House
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi lawmaker who was a longtime leader in working to remove a Confederate symbol from the state flag said Monday she is stepping down to take a job with an advocacy group. Democratic…
Autopsy backlog plagues Mississippi, with worst delays in US
By LEAH WILLINGHAM JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — After Truitt Pace admitted to law enforcement that he beat and shot his wife, her family expected a swift conviction. The 34-year-old mother of three’s tiny frame was so bruised and traumatized that…
Reeves vetoes money for golf courses and other projects
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Thursday that he has vetoed spending for several projects, including more than $13 million to revive a golf course and create an adventure trail at LeFleur’s Bluff State Park in Jackson.…
Education company leaders plead guilty to federal charges
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A mother and son who ran a for-profit education company have pleaded guilty to improperly obtaining millions of dollars from the Mississippi Department of Education by submitting false documents about schools they operated. Federal…
Mississippi welfare agency ex-director faces new charges
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A former Mississippi Department of Human Services director has been indicted on 20 additional felony charges tied to allegations that he participated in misusing money that was supposed to help some of…
Federal probe finds severe problems in Mississippi prison
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi prison violated inmates’ constitutional rights by failing to protect them from violence, meet their mental health needs or take adequate steps for suicide prevention, and by relying too much on prolonged solitary…
Feds find 'severe, systemic' problems in Mississippi prison
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The U.S. Justice Department has released the findings of its two-year investigation of a Mississippi prison. The department says Wednesday that the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman violated inmates' constitutional…
Mississippi gov again proclaims Confederate Heritage Month
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves is defending his decision to again name April as Confederate Heritage Month, nearly two years after he signed a law retiring the last state flag in the U.S. that featured…
Eudora Welty letters released 2 decades after author’s death
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Department of Archives and History is allowing the public to have access to additional papers from the late author Eudora Welty, including letters written by members of her family. The release came Wednesday on the…
Inmate reverses request for execution, says he wants appeal
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi death row inmate has told a judge under oath that he wants to continue appealing his case, months after saying he wanted to give up his appeals and request an…
Scott Hamilton to cycle 444 miles in cancer fundraiser
By BARRY WILNER Scott Hamilton is back in action. No, the figure skating icon won’t be lacing up. He’ll be sitting atop a bike and cycling 444 miles Erase the Trace, a five-day ride along the Natchez Trace Parkway. The…
Mississippi joins states limiting outside election funding
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi is the latest Republican-led state to ban election offices from accepting donations from private groups for voting operations — a movement fueled by conservatives’ suspicion of donations by Facebook founder Mark…
Mississippi lawmakers aim to finish budget and end session
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi legislators are returning to the Capitol on Monday with hopes of finishing their 2022 session. They still need to finish passing a state budget for the year that begins July 1.…
Mississippi governor signs largest teacher raise in years
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill Wednesday authorizing the largest pay raise in a generation for the state’s public school teachers, long among the lowest-paid in the nation. House Bill 530 becomes…
Mississippi House and Senate approve own redistricting
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi House and Senate voted by wide margins Tuesday to approve plans to redraw legislative districts to account for population changes revealed by the 2020 Census. The House has 122 districts, and the Senate has…
Mississippi reveals redistricting plan for state House and Senate
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi legislators on Sunday unveiled plans to redraw the state House and Senate districts to account for population changes revealed by the 2020 Census. The House has 122 districts, and the Senate has 52. Republicans hold…
Mississippi lawmakers pass largest-ever state income tax cut
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi, one of the poorest states in the nation with perpetually underfunded schools and struggling rural hospitals, had its largest-ever tax cut passed by lawmakers Sunday. The Republican-controlled state House and Senate…
Mississippi increases budget estimates; tax cuts unresolved
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Top Mississippi lawmakers on Friday increased estimates of how much tax money the state will collect this budget year and next. The current year’s general fund estimate climbed from $5.8 billion to…
Mississippi leaders spar over tax cuts as deadlines approach
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi House leaders offered a revised proposal Wednesday to phase out the state income tax, sending it to Senate leaders as legislators approach big deadlines to set taxes and spending. The new…