Mississippi Infant Mortality Rate at All-Time Low; Still Ranked 50th
Infant mortality rates have decreased by 15 percent in the past five years according to the latest report from the Mississippi Department of Health. The infant mortality rate in 2014 was 8.2 percent compared to 9.7 percent in 2013. Mississippi still has the highest rate in the country, however, and ...
Blue Bell Ice Cream Coming Back to Mississippi Dec. 21
The following delicious news release is printed here verbatim: Brenham, Texas, November 24, 2015 – Blue Bell Ice Cream will be available in Louisiana and Jackson, Miss., and its surrounding areas beginning Dec. 21. This is the second-to-last phase in the company’s five phase market re-entry plan. “We are excited ...
Terry Mayor Nicholson Pleads Guilty, Resigns
From the Mississippi state Auditor Stacey Pickering: JACKSON, Miss. –Roderick Nicholson, Mayor of Terry, pled guilty to five counts of embezzlement, and advised the court he would resign from his position as Mayor of Terry effective immediately. From January 2011 through December 2012, the Mayor made personal credit card payments ...
Moody's Downgrades Jackson's Debt; Outlook Negative
Jackson City Hall
Bryant: Allowing Syrian Refugees in U.S. is 'Extremely Dangerous'
Gov. Phil Bryant joined 15 other governors in pledging to refuse Syrian refugees should they be sent to Mississippi, following the terrorist attacks in Paris over the weekend that left 129 people dead and hundreds wounded in France. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has pledged to accept about 10,000 Syrian refugees ...
Study: Mississippi Has Highest Percentage of "At-Risk" Hospitals in U.S.
A new study found that Mississippi has the highest percentage of at-risk hospitals, mainly rural facilities that are caught in the crunch of rising healthcare costs and less reimbursements while serving at-risk populations that need the care. Researchers from the Center for Mississippi Health Policy, Mississippi State and the University ...
Will Farish Street Have a New Developer Soon?
The Mississippi Business Journal is reporting that Farish Street in downtown Jackson may soon have a new developer with plans to move forward with an entertainment district.
Mississippi Earns D- on State Integrity Investigation
Mississippi has earned a D- grade on the Center for Public Integrity's 2015 investigation of state government transparency and accountability issues. The state's overall rank nationally is 33rd out of 50 states. After this year's election, it should come as no surprise that Mississippi was ranked last in the campaign-finance ...
Mayor Yarber, Public Works to Hold Public Meeting to Address Water Bill Concerns
This is a full, verbatim statement from the City of Jackson: Mayor Tony T. Yarber, Director of Public Works Kishia Powell and other representatives will hold a public meeting to address water billing concerns on Monday, Nov. 16, at Smith Robertson Museum at 6:30 p.m. The City of Jackson recently ...
Mississippi Supreme Court Rules Same-Sex Divorce Legal
The Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled Lauren Czekala-Chatham's divorce legal in concurrence with the ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage in June. Czekala-Chatham filed for divorce from her estranged wife in 2013 in Mississippi, and has been waiting for an order from ...
Initiative 42 Campaign Responds to Defeat
Below is the verbatim press release from 42 For Better Schools sent out today. To the Supporters of Initiative 42 and All Proponents of Public Education: As another school day began this morning, the 500,000 candidates for whom we fought in the campaign for Initiative 42 took their seats in ...
State Office Election Campaign Finance Reports
Candidates running for state office filed their final pre-election campaign finance reports on Oct. 27. Click a candidate's name to view the full report. Governor Phil Bryant (Republican) Amount spent this election: $2.74 million Amount still on-hand: $1.38 million Robert Gray (Democrat) Amount spent on this election: $3,100 Amount still ...
Report: Fewer Mississippians Have Health Insurance Now Than in 2014
The number of Mississippians without health insurance has grown over the past year. Over 16 percent of Mississippians don't have health insurance in all but six counties, according to data from Enroll America and Civis Analytics. This number supersedes 2014 numbers and can be seen visually on the New York ...