Jackson library to be razed for green space near history museums
A public library that fell into disrepair will be torn down to make way for a new green space near two history museums that have become one of the top tourist attractions in Mississippi’s capital city.
Legislative panels will consider restoring some Mississippians’ voting rights
The two legislative committee leaders responsible for criminal justice measures say they will move bills forward to restore suffrage for individuals, raising the prospect that some Mississippians will have their voting rights restored.
Mississippi legislators won’t smooth the path this year to restore voting rights after some felonies
Kenneth Almons says he began a 23-year sentence in a Mississippi prison just two weeks after graduating from high school, and one of his felony convictions — for armed robbery — stripped away voting rights that he still has not regained decades later.
Civil rights attorney demands footage in fatal police chase, but city lawyer says none exists
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump demanded Tuesday that police in a small town in Mississippi release camera footage of a chase that ended in the death of a Black teenager, but the city attorney said the police department does not use cameras.
Advocates push for full Medicaid expansion as Mississippi legislators enter negotiations
A coalition of advocates rallied for full Medicaid expansion Tuesday at the Mississippi Capitol as lawmakers prepare to negotiate a final plan that could extend health care coverage to tens of thousands of residents in one of the poorest states in the U.S.
Mississippi bill would dictate where transgender people can use bathrooms in public buildings
Mississippi’s Republican-controlled House voted Wednesday in favor of a measure that would restrict transgender people’s use of bathrooms and locker rooms in public buildings, including university dormitories.
Storms bring floods and damaging winds to states across the South; 1 dead in Mississippi
Severe storms blamed for a death in Mississippi spawned tornado-strength winds that demolished buildings in a south Louisiana city Wednesday while inundating streets in low-lying New Orleans with hours of steady rain that snarled traffic and strained the city’s antiquated drainage system.
6 former Mississippi law officers sentenced in state court for torture of 2 Black men
Already sentenced to many years in federal prison, six white former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges for torturing two Black men were sentenced Wednesday in state court.
Mississippi Senate blocks House proposal to revise school funding formula
Mississippi legislators are unlikely to create a new funding formula for public schools this year, after senators blocked a House proposal Tuesday.
Mississippi state budget is expected to grow slightly in the coming year
Budget writers in the Mississippi Legislature will have slightly more money to spend during the coming year than they did in the current one.
As a Mississippi town reels from a devastating tornado, a displaced family finds its way home
As a deadly tornado barreled toward their home in the Mississippi Delta, Ida Cartlidge only had time to scoop up her 1-year-old son, Nolan, and hold him close.
2 Mississippi catfish farms settle suit alleging immigrants were paid more than local Black workers
Two Mississippi catfish farms have settled a lawsuit alleging that they brought workers from Mexico to the U.S. and paid them significantly more than they previously paid local Black farmworkers for the same type of labor, plaintiffs’ attorneys said Tuesday.
Federal officials send resources to Mississippi capital to curb gun violence
Mississippi’s capital city, which has nation-leading rates of gun violence, will receive additional federal resources to investigate crimes committed with firearms, federal officials announced Wednesday.
Mississippi capital to revamp how it notifies next of kin about deaths with Justice Department help
After men near Mississippi’s capital were buried in a pauper’s cemetery without their relatives’ knowledge, the U.S. Justice Department will help the city’s police revamp policies for performing next-of-kin death notifications.
Medicaid expansion plans and school funding changes still alive in Mississippi Legislature
Bills to expand Medicaid and rewrite the funding formula for public schools are among measures still alive in the Mississippi Legislature.
Eller wins Republican runoff in Mississippi 2nd District, will face Democratic Rep. Thompson
Ron Eller won a Republican primary runoff Tuesday in Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District and will face longtime Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson in the Nov. 5 general election.
Mother says she wants justice after teen son is killed during police chase in Mississippi
A mother says she wants justice for her 17-year-old son who died when a police SUV ran over him in the small Mississippi Delta town where he lived.
Mississippi Senate passes trimmed Medicaid expansion and sends bill back to the House
Mississippi lawmakers will try to negotiate on expanding Medicaid in one of the poorest states in the U.S. after the Senate voted Thursday for a vastly different plan than one proposed by the House.
Mississippi Senate Republicans push Medicaid expansion ‘lite’ proposal that would cover fewer people
A proposal to expand Medicaid to tens of thousands of residents in one of the poorest states in the U.S. is still alive in the Mississippi Legislature. But Senate Republicans changed the plan Wednesday so it would cover far fewer people and bring less federal money to the state.
Quick death for Mississippi bill that sought casino site in capital city of Jackson
A Mississippi House leader said Tuesday that he won’t move forward with a bill to allow a casino in the capital city of Jackson — a proposal that would have been a dramatic change in a decades-old a state law that limits casinos to areas along the Gulf Coast and the Mississippi River.