Shareholders approve Renasant buying First M&F
Shareholders overwhelmingly approved Renasant Corp.’s purchase of fellow Mississippi bank First M&F Corp. Tuesday.
Snowden mystery deepens: All eyes on Russian airport
Moscow’s main airport swarmed with journalists from around the globe Wednesday, but the man they were looking for, National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, was nowhere to be seen.
Trayvon Martin’s friend describes final phone call
SANFORD, Fla. — A friend who was on the phone with 17-year-old Trayvon Martin moments before he was fatally shot by George Zimmerman testified that
Couple lets coffee drinkers choose baby name
WEST HAVEN, Conn. — A Connecticut couple has named its baby with help from customers at a Starbucks coffee shop. Twenty-five-year-old Jennifer James and 24-year-old
New rules aim to rid schools of junk foods
WASHINGTON — High-calorie sports drinks and candy bars will be removed from school vending machines and cafeteria lines as soon as next year, replaced with
Grisham’s ‘A Time To Kill’ heading to Broadway
John Grisham’s first novel, which was made into a star-filled film, is now heading to a Broadway stage.
Custodian foils rape attempt at Leigh Mall
A career felon faces charges of attempted sexual battery after he allegedly attacked a woman in a restroom in Leigh Mall Saturday.
Sammie Lee Smith, Jr., 50, of 158 Community Road, was arrested Saturday night by officers with the Columbus Police Department after police say he attacked a woman in the mall’s public restroom.
CMSD board hires accountant to work on budget
The Columbus Municipal School Board has hired an accountant to help construct the district’s budget for the 2013-2014 Fiscal Year.
The board originally made a motion to hire CPA Frances Goldmon during a special meeting Tuesday morning but then tabled the issue until a rate of pay could be determined. The board met again this morning and approved the motion by a 3-0 vote. Board members Currie Fisher and Angela Verdell did not attend today’s meeting.
Voter ID law expected to be used by 2014
JACKSON — Mississippi voters could have to start showing photo identification at the polls by the June 2014 federal primaries, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann
Sheriffs laud MDOT’s litter control program
Local sheriffs participating in the Mississippi Department of Transportation’s Inmate Litter Control Program agree that being proactive and using the program to its fullest potential yields noticeable results and keeps their state highways clean.
Two Columbus men arrested on meth charges
Two Columbus men were arrested this weekend on methamphetamine charges.
Rickey Lamar Harrison, 56, and David Ray Keating, 37, were arrested Friday night after agents with the Lowndes County Narcotics Unit conducted a traffic stop near North Lehmburg Road.
Arrest report: 6-26-13
The following arrests were reported by the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department and the Columbus Police Department: Fred Arthur Jennings Sr., 65, of 1201 Sixth St.
Democrats remove Isaac, Neal from executive committee
Oktibbeha County Democratic Party Executive Committee members Dorothy Isaac and Kennedy Neal were removed from the board in separate votes Tuesday after they were found in violation of the state party’s constitution and bylaws by their peers.
Is Paula Deen toast in N-word controversy?
NEW YORK — Will Paula Deen go the way of Michael Richards or Charlie Sheen? One unleashed a bigoted tirade and is no longer a
Texas woman set to be 500th execution in state
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Texas, the nation’s busiest death penalty state, is set to mark a solemn moment in criminal justice Wednesday with the execution of
GOP divided on immigration
Senate Republicans are split over the immigration bill steaming toward approval at week’s end, a divide that renders the ultimate fate of White House-backed legislation unpredictable in the House and complicates the party’s ability to broaden its appeal among Hispanic voters.
UN sounds alarm on designer drug use
VIENNA — The U.N. drug control agency on Wednesday sounded the alarm on the spread of designer drugs, which are sold openly and legally and
Oil price falls below $95 a barrel
BANGKOK — The price of oil fell below $95 a barrel today as traders awaited the latest U.S. government report on energy supplies. Benchmark oil
Gay rights groups claim victory in Supreme Court decisions
In significant but incomplete victories for gay rights, the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a provision of a federal law denying federal benefits to married gay couples and cleared the way for the resumption of same-sex marriage in California.
U.S. tones down demands that Russia expel NSA leaker
WASHINGTON — Rebuffed by Russia’s president, the Obama administration toned down demands Tuesday that fugitive National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden be expelled from a