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State Workers Forced to Furlough?

Mississippi Sen. Alice Harden, D-Jackson, said she will submit a bill this legislative session forcing all state employees not directly connected to essential services, like hospital care, to accept a …

Education

Bounds: Universities Will Have To Cut Programs

State Higher Education Commissioner Hank Bounds told legislators Tuesday that funding cuts will force Mississippi's eight public universities to eliminate programs and consider raising tuition. Speaking to the House Universities …

Commission Denies Allstate 65 Percent Hike

Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney sent a letter yesterday denying a request from Allstate Property and Insurance Co. to more than double rates for 51,000 residents state-wide, reports the Associated …

Business

Net-Metering Advocates Push for Support

Advocates for net metering pressed legislators this morning to submit and pass laws during this legislative session making the consumer-based electricity policy a reality in Mississippi.

Crime

Jackson Sees Sharp Drop in Major Crimes

Major crimes in Jackson decreased 18.1 percent last week, according to statistics (PDF) released at a Jackson Police Department command staff meeting this morning. Officers reported a 14.2 percent decrease …

JFP Giraffe of the Day: Ruby

Dec. 8, 2009, was a banner day for the Jackson Zoo and for its resident reticulated giraffes, Diamond and Casper. On that Tuesday, Diamond gave birth to her seventh calf, …

Jackson Prepped for Frigid Temps

The Jackson area will see temperatures drop below freezing by around 6 p.m. today, according to the National Weather Service, and won't see anything above 32 degrees until Sunday. With …

Development

The Billion-Dollar Levee Question

Downtown Jackson Partners President Ben Allen came out last week as an avid opponent of a levee expansion, saying it is too expensive. His choice, Two Lakes, is also expensive, …

Jacksonian

James C. Thompson

James C. Thompson is the co-founder of the Jackson political consulting firm Blue Dot Group, which he says was named because the group's political affiliations make them "a little blue …

Running the Blues

The third annual Mississippi Blues Marathon will start and end at the intersection of Capitol and State streets in downtown Jackson this Saturday, Jan. 9. Event organizer John Sewell said …

Health Care

City Attorney: More Accountability, Less Drama

Jackson City Attorney Pieter Teeuwissen officially adopted his job in October, although in truth he had been filling the role in some capacity for more than five years. Teeuwissen, 43, …

Diy Guides

Mental Health Ripe for Cuts?

Reform and belt-tightening will collide when state lawmakers consider mental-health services in the 2010 legislative session.

Tease photo Capitol

Mississippi Legislature Faces a Dire Task

Mississippi legislators skulked back into the state capitol Jan. 5, keeping their body movements at a minimum and their heads low in case somebody noticed them and asked them questions …

Hood Offers Census Cautions and Tips

Attorney General Jim Hood is cautioning Mississippians to take care when revealing information in the upcoming 2010 census. Although he urges everyone to cooperate with census takers—the census determines levels …

Politics

Barbour/Palin Ticket Could Carry 2012 GOP Primary

Mississippi State University political science professor Marty Wiseman predicted that a Sarah Palin/Haley Barbour ticket could easily win the Republican presidential primary in 2012, if the two came together long …

Scalia Defends Gay, Abortion, Gun Rulings at First Baptist

The United States should not look to other countries when interpreting its own Constitution, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said yesterday in a speech at First Baptist Church of …

Person of the Day

‘Chopper Bob' Rall

"Chopper Bob" Rall, Mississippi's only helicopter traffic reporter, and the "Skycopter" have been staples in the Jackson skies since 1997. Rall was 12 when he moved to Jackson in 1954 …

Business

German Manufacturer Coming to Tunica

At a press conference yesterday, Gov. Haley Barbour announced that German company, Wilh. Schulz GMBH, has selected Tunica, Miss., just south of Memphis, for a new pipe manufacturing facility. The …

Politics

Money to Dominate Legislative Session

Money is on the mind of every legislator entering the state Capitol tomorrow for the start of this year's Mississippi legislative session. Officials predict a shortfall of about $360 million …

Politics

Supervisors Push Forward on Byram-Clinton Corridor

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors today approved taking another early step forward in the Byram-Clinton corridor road-construction project. Supervisors voted unanimously to advertise for engineering consulting services on the …