News

‘Babies in the Hospital’: Mississippi Drastically Lags in Child and Pediatric Vaccinations

As COVID-19 continues its decline across Mississippi and the country, state health leadership warns that hospitals are still seeing pediatric patients, while vaccinations in children are lagging far behind the national average.

Mississippi Senate OKs Pay Bill 'By Teachers, for Teachers'

Mississippi senators acted quickly Wednesday to unanimously pass a teacher pay raise bill, sending it back to the House for possible debate within the next three weeks.

JSU Relaunches Institute for Social Justice and Race Relations, Jazz Festival and Camp Kesem at MSU

Jackson State University relaunched its Institute for Social Justice and Race Relations on Thursday, Feb. 24, in the College of Liberal Arts. The original institute opened in 2013, but a lack of funding halted programming four years later.

Mississippi Teacher Pay Survives Legislators' Political Spat

Proposals to increase some of the lowest teacher salaries in the U.S. were in danger Tuesday as Mississippi legislators engaged in a political showdown. Hours before a big deadline, Senate committees voted to keep the issue alive.

Economist: Federal Money Boosted Mississippi Income in 2020

Employment in Mississippi decreased during the first months of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, but personal income in the state increased during that time because of federal payments that were intended to head off a steep decline in the national economy, an expert said Monday.

Mayor Lumumba Alleges City-Council Corruption Amid Garbage-Disposal Lawsuit

Amid an ongoing dispute between Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba and the Jackson City Council over garbage-disposal contracts, the mayor said that he believes certain members of the council have accepted bribes.

Mississippi House Panel OKs Limits on Teaching About Race

A Mississippi House committee divided along lines of race and party Monday in advancing a bill that would limit how race can be discussed in classrooms.

Mississippi Remapping Diminishes Black Voices, NAACP Says

Mississippi legislators drew a congressional redistricting plan that diminished Black voters' influence in the state's three majority-white districts, attorneys for the NAACP and two other groups argue in federal court papers.

Mississippi Senate Passes Income Tax Cut Slashing $446 Million in Revenue

The Mississippi Senate approved legislation to reduce the state income tax by hundreds of millions of dollars Wednesday, despite caution from opponents who questioned the wisdom of doing so while education, roads and other public infrastructure remain critically underfunded.

Analysis: Legislative Deadline Will Whittle List of Issues

Mississippi legislators completed two big items several weeks ago when they adopted a congressional redistricting plan and enacted a medical marijuana law.

Danny Lynch

The University of Southern Mississippi has been picked as the preseason favorite to win the baseball crown in Conference USA. The league coaches gave the Golden Eagles six first-place votes, by far the most of any team.

City of Jackson To Resume Community Cleanup Program

Jackson’s Community Cleanup Program—meant to help support residents in clearing trash from their neighborhoods—is set to resume on the first weekend of March, after city officials put the program on hiatus last November.

USM Economic Outlook Forum, Grants and Online Degree Program at MSU

The University of Southern Mississippi is set to host its annual Economic Outlook Forum on Thursday, March 3, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Thad Cochran Center Grand Ballroom on the university’s Hattiesburg campus.

Mississippi Senate Committee OKs Bill to Cut Some Taxes

A Mississippi Senate committee on Tuesday passed a bill that would phase out part of the state income tax and reduce the sales tax on groceries.

‘Fear the Virus, Not the Vaccine’: Leadership Urges Vaccinations for Pregnant Women

The current wave of COVID-19 is on the decline in Mississippi, but state health leadership is urging residents—especially vulnerable populations like pregnant women—to get vaccinated, and to keep up with booster shots.

‘I Was Shocked’: Ridgeland Aldermen Proposing New Library Contract After Raucous Meeting

Amid pleas against censorship and claims of pornographic “filth,” a Ridgeland Board of Aldermen meeting scheduled to address the city’s library contract quickly morphed into a raucous referendum on LGBTQ+ books and the actions of Mayor Gene McGee.

Income-Tax Phaseout Up for Debate in Long-Poor Mississippi

Mississippi is accustomed to being first in worsts: It's one of the poorest, unhealthiest states in the nation, with public schools that are chronically underfunded. Some Republican leaders say a good way to boost the state's fortunes would be to phase out its income tax.

Mississippi Legislators Push 1st Round of Budget Proposals

Mississippi legislators are working on proposals to fund state government for the year that begins July 1.

Mayor Lumumba Declares Local Emergency Amid Garbage Quarrel

Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba issued an emergency contract with Richard’s Disposal as a temporary measure to fix the City of Jackson’s garbage-distribution woes.

Abortion Rights Funds Brace for Impact Ahead of Court Ruling

Texas has tightened abortion restrictions over the past two decades, leading women there to increasingly seek out-of-state abortions.

JSU Women’s Business Center and FedEx Program, MSU COVID-19 Pandemic Funding

Jackson State University recently hosted an official grand opening for its new Women’s Business Center located in the College of Business Rotunda.

Interior Secretary Tours Civil Rights Sites in Mississippi

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland toured Mississippi civil rights sites Tuesday, seeing the crumbling rural store that's part of the history of the 1955 lynching of Black teenager Emmett Till and touring the home where state NAACP leader Medgar Evers was assassinated in 1963.

Escapee Captured, Some Mississippi Prison Staff Suspended

A Mississippi inmate who escaped from prison over the weekend was captured Tuesday in a county where he had been convicted of murder, and about a dozen prison employees were suspended because the staff waited more than a day to tell the state Department of Corrections he was missing, department officials said.

MSDH Implores Use of Oral COVID-19 Antiviral Pills amid Monoclonal Antibody Shortage

The Mississippi State Department of Health warned that the state’s allocation of COVID-19 antiviral pills are being under-utilized, while previously relied-upon monoclonal antibody treatments are in short supply.

Joshua A. Cable Day Honors Hinds County Farmers for Community Service

This year, Joshua Cable partnered with the Best of Mississippi awards to present certificates of honor to local farmers during a ceremony at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum in Jackson.

Unvaccinated Medical Workers Turn to Religious Exemptions

Religious exemptions are increasingly becoming a workaround for unvaccinated hospital and nursing home workers who want to keep their jobs in the face of federal mandates that are going into effect nationwide this week.

Super Bowl LVI Preview and Prediction

Both teams playing in Super Bowl LVI haven’t fared too well in big games past. The Cincinnati Bengals are 0-2 in the Super Bowl and the Los Angeles Rams are 1-3 moving from two different cities.

Hate Crime Probe Sought in Mississippi Attempted Shooting

Attorneys for a Black delivery driver are calling for a federal hate crimes probe of the attempted shooting of the driver in Mississippi, saying it's another example of Black Americans facing danger simply for going about their daily activities.

First ‘Stealth’ Omicron Subvariant Detected In Mississippi

A new “stealth” subvariant of the omicron COVID-19 variant, designated as BA.2 whereas the original omicron variant was named BA.1, has arrived in Mississippi. The new subvariant lacks a mutation that lets scientists determine which variant the virus belongs to, making detection more difficult.

Statue of Racist Mississippi Ex-Gov. Bilbo Stashed in Closet

Mystery solved: The top administrator in the Mississippi House says he unilaterally made the decision to take a statue of a racist former Gov. Theodore Bilbo off public display and put it into storage.

Ellington