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KiOR Heats Up
Biofuels company KiOR has yet to produce any of its vaunted crude oil substitute in Mississippi, but the startup is making big moves on financing.
Today is Confederate Memorial Day
State offices in Mississippi are closed today in recognition of Confederate Memorial Day, honoring Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. The state House of Representatives passed a bill this year that would have also established a "Civil Rights Memorial Day" on the last Monday in April, but the measure died in the Senate. Earlier this month, the white-separatist Council of Conservative Citizens claimed credit, with the state chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, for killing the bill.
Tougaloo Opens Civil-Rights Center
Tougaloo College leaders and elected officials gathered Saturday to celebrate the completion of Bennie G. Thompson Academic and Civil Rights Research Center, a project eight years in the making.
City Wants More Say in Tax Spending
Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. wants the city to have more power to spend its own money.
Latinos and Loans
Mississippi could be headed for a courtroom showdown if the full state Legislature passes an anti-immigrant bill mirroring an Arizona law that forces law-enforcement to profile people they suspect to be undocumented residents.
Edwards Fights for JPS Job Today
Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Lonnie Edwards makes his case today for an extension of his contract. The JPS Board of Trustees voted Dec. 7 not to renew Edwards' contract, which started in 2008. Under state law, superintendents can appeal initial decisions on their contracts and request a hearing before the board.
Barbour Proposes to End MPB Funding
Gov. Haley Barbour has proposed to end all state funding for Mississippi Public Broadcasting by 2016.
Beer Legislation Dead on Arrival?
Despite a grassroots effort to modernize state laws on beer and beer brewing, the Mississippi Legislature is unlikely to pass any bills this session to change the status quo.
Bills to Protect Domestic Abuse Victims
After her husband physically and mentally abused her for nearly a decade, Joy Jones* realized her situation was only going to get worse. She gathered up enough courage to seek a divorce and secretly obtained a lawyer, who encouraged her to close her and her spouse's joint checking account. Jones says earning the majority of the family's income gave her a financial advantage in being able to afford the proceedings.
Stolen Car Sat in Impound Lot, Owner Says
A Jackson restaurant manager says the Jackson Police Department's poor interdepartmental communication cost her more than $1,000.
Parchman's Past, Prison's Future
It's a strange month when the Parchman Farm comes out looking better than a county jail. On March 10, a federal judge finally dismissed the bulk of Gates v. Collier. A 1972 decision on this longstanding court case mandated a slew of reforms at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, then the only state prison in Mississippi. Federal Magistrate Judge Jerry Davis dismissed all portions of the case dealing with state institutions but not the portions regarding Mississippi counties' correctional systems.
Tonja Murphy
Approximately 2 million children in the United States have a parent who is in prison, and with the national incarceration rate increasing 6 percent each year, Lutheran Episcopal Services Director of Mentoring Tonja Murphy understands importance of a mentor.
Barbour's Bad Education Math
If Gov. Haley Barbour gets his way, Mississippi public schools may end up short-changed by $65 million because of a vanishing pot of federal money.
Is Age the Problem?
Fans of fall and winter sports might enjoy the current NFL and NBA seasons, but next year that all could come to an end. Both leagues face potential lockouts after the current seasons end.
Amnesty Today and Tomorrow
Save money today and tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. with the city of Jackson's Municipal Court Services annual amnesty program.
Cutting Out The Pigs
The University of Mississippi Medical Center is one of only seven medical schools in the United States that still uses live animals to teach medical students basic physiology, pharmacology or surgery.
Henry Lee "Trey" Mangum
AIDS activist Henry "Trey" Mangum died Friday in New Orleans, leaving behind a particularly heartfelt legacy of hope.
Personhood on Trial Today
Jackson Attorneys Robert McDuff and J. Cliff Johnson will stand before the full Mississippi Supreme Court today at 1:30 p.m. and explain why a ballot initiative giving rights to microscopic human eggs amounts to an illegal modification of the state constitution.
Finding Foul Play
The Mississippi NAACP isn't using the "L-word," yet, but the civil-rights group has its doubts about the Dec. 2, 2010, hanging death of a Greenwood man.
Detaining Disabled Kids: Who Decides?
The day after the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit against a Hinds County-run youth detention center, the county denied SPLC and its clients access to the children detained there.