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Justice
Judge Promises Same-Sex Marriage Ruling Quickly
While a federal district judge in Mississippi may rule same-sex marriage is a constitutional right as soon as this week, the legalization of same-sex marriage in the state is in …
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Biz Roundup
While Stores Prepare for the Holidays, UMMC Prepares for Ebola
With the holiday season approaching, the Outlets of Mississippi (200 Bass Pro Drive, Pearl) is preparing a number of events to celebrate the season beginning this weekend.
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Obama Stakes Final 2 Years on Climate Change
With limited time still in power, President Barack Obama is staking his final two years on climate change, pushing the issue to the front of his agenda as he seeks …
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National Guard Prepares for More Ferguson Unrest
As a grand jury weighs possible criminal charges against the police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown, Missouri's governor has again activated the National Guard in an effort to avoid …
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House Democrats Re-Elect Pelosi as Minority Leader
Democrats re-elected Rep. Nancy Pelosi to another two-year term as House minority leader on Tuesday, two weeks after elections in which the party lost at least a dozen seats in …
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Palestinians Kill 4 in Jerusalem Synagogue Attack
Two Palestinian cousins armed with meat cleavers and a gun stormed a Jerusalem synagogue during morning prayers Tuesday, killing four people in the city's bloodiest attack in years. Police killed …
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GOP Vows to Pass Keystone Later if Bill Fails Now
Republican leaders vowed Tuesday to take up and pass a bill approving the Keystone XL pipeline in Congress again next year if the Senate fails to advance the measure, or …
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European Jihadis Take Lead Roles in Killing Video
Three young Europeans are believed to be among the cold-eyed fighters on a propaganda video showing a beheaded American aid worker and the deaths of Syrian soldiers, as the extremist …
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Nebraska Hospital: Surgeon with Ebola Has Died
A surgeon who contracted Ebola in his native Sierra Leone died Monday while being treated in a biocontainment unit at a Nebraska hospital, the facility said.
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Gay Marriage Issue Squarely Before High Court
A same-sex couple from Michigan is putting the question of the right to marry nationwide squarely before the Supreme Court.
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US Nuclear Woes: Pentagon Chief Orders a Shakeup
The Pentagon will spend an additional $10 billion to correct deep problems of neglect and mismanagement within the nation's nuclear forces, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel declared Friday, pledging firm action …
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Iraq's Forces Drive IS Militants from Key Town
Iraqi forces drove Islamic State militants out of a strategic oil refinery town north of Baghdad on Friday, scoring their biggest battlefield victory since they melted away in the face …
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City & County
No Deaths in Fire at Miss. Agriculture Museum
State and local fire investigators began work Friday to determine the cause of a two-alarm fire at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum in Jackson.
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Person of the Day
John Doar
John Doar, who as a top Justice Department civil rights lawyer in the 1960s fought to protect the rights of black voters and worked against segregation in the South, died …
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Challenge to Obamacare on Contraceptives Rejected
A federal appeals court on Friday rejected a challenge to Obamacare that would have enabled non-profit religious organizations to avoid government-approved contraception programs.
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Trooper Ambush Suspect Charged with Terrorism
Authorities have added terrorism charges against a man accused of ambushing a Pennsylvania State Police barracks and killing a trooper, and they say he told them he wanted to "wake …
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Person of the Day
W.C. Gorden
Jackson State University has seen some great football coaches, but the greatest, without question, is W.C. Gorden, who coached the Tigers from 1977 to 1991.
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Roger Wicker to Lead NRSC, but For How Long?
By R.L. NaveU.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, the junior senator from Mississippi, will now be in charge of keeping the Republican's newly won majority in the upper chamber of Congress.
Senate Republicans, who will hold a majority for the first time since 2006, picked Wicker over Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada, the home state of the outgoing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, to lead the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
“I am thankful for the confidence and the support of my colleagues,” Wicker said in a statement released Thursday from his office. “I intend to roll up my sleeves immediately to ensure that we have the resources available to preserve our Republican majority. This Senate Republican leadership team is ready to go to bat for the American people, and I am proud to be a part of it.”
The role of the NRSC came into play during the Republican Senate primary in Mississippi this year. A media-buying firm that placed racially charged ads for a pro-Thad Cochran super PAC, All Citizens for Mississippi, was also used by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Some members of the Republican party, including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, cried foul arguing that the NRSC should remain neutral in primary contests. Cochran went on to defeat his opponent, state Sen. Chris McDaniel of Laurel, in a run off and went on to win a seventh term in the general election.
By all accounts, Wicker will have his work cut out for him to keep the Senate from slipping back into the hands of Democrats in 2016 when several Republican seats are up for grabs in states where President Obama has done well the past two cycles.
If Democrats field a strong presidential candidate who can excite the base, Wicker's chairmanship could be short-lived.
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Liberia Lifts Emergency Amid Progress on Ebola
Liberia's president is lifting a state of emergency imposed to control an Ebola outbreak that has ravaged the country and two other West African nations.
