After nearly 3 decades as executive director of Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, Dr. Sam Polles is retiring this month. MDWFP is one of a very few agencies that touches the lives of citizens across this state every…
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — One of Mississippi’s Republican U.S. senators said that if President Joe Biden nominates a Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court, that nominee would be the beneficiary of a “quota.” Sen. Roger Wicker spoke…
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi hospital association is sounding the alarm over nursing vacancies. There are nearly 3,000 registered nurse vacancies in Mississippi, The Clarion Ledger reported. The exodus of nurses is adding further strain on hospitals striving to find care…
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi government entities could not withhold services or refuse jobs to people who choose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 under a bill that passed the Republican-controlled state House on Thursday. That…
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Black lawmakers walked out in protest Friday and withheld their votes as the Mississippi Senate passed a bill that would ban schools from teaching critical race theory. The state superintendent of education has…
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Authorities are investigating a shooting near Mississippi State University that injured two people. The university said in an alert Thursday evening that the suspected shooter was seen running toward the campus after gunshots were fired at…
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi employers would be required to pay women and men the same amount of money for the same work, under a bill that passed the state House on Thursday. But an advocate…
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi Senate committee on Thursday advanced a bill that would ban schools from teaching critical race theory, even though the state superintendent of education has said the theory is not being taught…
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A bill to create a medical marijuana program is headed for debate in the Mississippi Senate in coming days. Senate Bill 2095 passed the Senate Public Health Committee on Wednesday. It would allow a person with a…
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Republican-controlled Mississippi Senate on Wednesday passed a plan to redraw the state’s four congressional districts, sending it to Gov. Tate Reeves for his expected approval. The NAACP or other opponents could…
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Senate on Wednesday is expected to approve a plan to redraw the state’s four congressional districts. The plan passed the House last week mostly along party lines, with Republicans and…
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi House is working on a proposal to phase out the state income tax, reduce the sales tax on groceries and increase the sales tax on many other items. The House Ways and Means Committee…
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi House and Senate are pushing forward with separate plans to give pay raises to teachers. The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday passed House Bill 530, and the whole House could debate the bill in…
The Mississippi State Department of Health issued a statewide order making participation in Mississippi COVID System of Care Plan mandatory for all licensed hospitals effective at noon today. The order will continue until January 23, 2022, unless revoked before then.…
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi government collected more money during the first half of this budget year than it did during the same period a year earlier. State budget years begin July 1. New figures from the Legislative Budget Office…
Cash 4, the newest daily draw-style game with a top prize of $5,000, begins today with tickets available at Mississippi Lottery Corporation retailers throughout the state. “Cash 4 operates very similarly to our draw-style game Cash 3,” said MLC President…
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Republican-controlled Mississippi House on Thursday approved a plan to redraw the state’s four congressional districts. The 76-42 vote was mostly along party lines, with Republicans and one independent in favor and…
IUKA, Miss. (AP) — A former social worker with the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services has received eight years in prison for sex crimes involving two teenage boys under her care. Lauren Rose Cavness, 27, of Tishomingo, appeared Wednesday…
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS and LEAH WILLINGHAM JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann has tested positive for COVID-19 after the opening day of a legislative session when Hosemann and many other people were walking around the Capitol…
MOSS POINT, Miss. (AP) — Authorities have used a DNA test to identify the skeletal remains of a man found nearly two months ago near the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Jackson County Coroner Bruce Lynd Jr. said Tuesday that the person was…
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi legislators began their three-month session Tuesday, and the mother of a man with chronic medical problems implored them to create a medical marijuana program, despite objections from Gov. Tate Reeves. The…
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Hospitalizations for COVID-19 continue rising rapidly in Mississippi as new cases proliferate. The state Health Department reported Monday that 695 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were hospitalized Sunday. That is up from 265 hospitalized two weeks earlier, on Dec.…
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi legislators begin their three-month session on Tuesday with a clear idea of several issues that will come up for debate. One of the first orders of business will be adopting a plan to redraw the state’s four…
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi is receiving $543 million from the federal government to implement health measures to keep K-12 schools open during the ongoing pandemic and provide internet access, tutoring and mental health support to students. The money is…