Story
NYC Bomb Plot Details Settle Little in NSA Debate
The Obama administration declassified a handful of details Tuesday that credited its PRISM Internet spying program with intercepting a key email that unraveled a 2009 terrorist plot in New York.
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Police Renew Sweep Through Istanbul Square
Riot police firing tear gas and water cannons re-entered Istanbul's Taksim Square on Tuesday night after defiant protesters swarmed back in by the thousands.
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Immigration Bill Advances in Senate
The Senate voted Tuesday to advance a landmark immigration bill, clearing away the first procedural hurdle in front of legislation opening the door to citizenship for millions.
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Senator Says Intel Chief Was Not Forthcoming
One of the staunchest critics of government surveillance programs said Tuesday that the national intelligence director did not give him a straight answer last March when he asked whether the …
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Levees, Removable Walls Proposed to Protect NYC
Giant removable floodwalls would be erected around lower Manhattan, and levees, gates and other defenses would be built elsewhere around the city under a nearly $20 billion plan proposed Tuesday …
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Biz Roundup
The Apothecary, Grant Awards and Encore Entrepreneurs
This past weekend, Brad Reeves, owner of Brent's Drugs, opened The Apothecary, a 1,000-square-foot "speakeasy" lounge inside the circa-1946 soda fountain.
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Person of the Day
Dr. James N. Martin Jr.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in London elected Dr. James N. Martin Jr., 66, professor of obstetrics and gynecology and director of UMMC's maternal fetal medicine department as …
Story
Anti-Drug Initiative Loses Funding
Washington County has lost funding for its community anti-drug program that has operated for 25 years.
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Cleanup Work After BP Oil Spill End in 3 States
Cleanup work has ended in three of the states affected by BP PLC's massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the company said Monday.
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U.S. Spy Programs Raise Ire Both Home and Abroad
The Obama administration faced fresh anger Monday at home and abroad over U.S. spy programs that track phone and Internet messages around the world in the hope of thwarting terrorist …
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Senate Passes Farm Bill, Moving Debate to House
The last time Congress passed a farm bill, Democrats had control of the House and the food stamp program was about half the size it is today.
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Feds Now Back Morning-After Pills for All Girls
After setting off a storm of criticism from abortion rights groups upset that a Democratic president had sided with social conservatives, the Obama administration said it will comply with a …
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Boehner: Congress Can Do Immigration This Year
With the Senate ready to cast the first floor votes on a landmark immigration bill, House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday he thinks there's a good chance the legislation can …
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Widow Works to Preserve Evers' Civil-Rights Legacy
Myrlie Evers-Williams acknowledges it would be easy to remain mired in bitterness and anger, 50 years after a sniper's bullet made her a widow.
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Mississippi State Bound for 2013 College World Series
The Bulldogs held on for a 6-5 victory against Virginia on Monday in the completion of a suspended game, sweeping the No. 6 national seed. They are Omaha-bound for the …
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Ellsberg: Snowden's Leaks More Important than Pentagon Papers
In 1971, Ellsberg passed the secret Defense Department study of U.S. involvement in Vietnam to The New York Times.
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Medgar Evers Home Reopening After Preservation
The Medgar Evers home was rededicated Monday as a small museum that helps preserve the memory of the Mississippi civil rights leader who was assassinated 50 years ago.
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The Hotel Announcement (No, not THAT one)
By Tyler ClevelandI got my hopes up today when I saw an item on a city council workshop meeting agenda about a tax increment financing (TIF) for a hotel project in downtown Jackson. We've heard rumors for weeks the city is close to a deal with a hotel management group to build and open a much-needed convention center hotel.
Unfortunately, this wasn't it.
The city council meeting didn't happen because there weren't four members present at 4 p.m., but mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. stuck around long enough to fill us in on that item.
"This is not the much-anticipated convention center hotel," Johnson said. "This is another much-anticipated hotel down on West Street at the site of the old Mississippi Valley Title building. ... It's a good project, it's an exciting project, but it's not the convention center hotel."
Westin Hotels has apparently bought the old MS Valley Title building, and plans on tearing it down to put in a hotel at the same location. Details on the plan are not available yet, but the agenda item to be voted on by the city council at tomorrow's regularly-scheduled 10 a.m. meeting calls for the city to provide tax incentives not to exceed $1.75 million to the hotel group.
The mayor added that they are in talks with a hotel group about the convention center hotel project, and that hopefully they would have something to say about that before the end of the month, which is his last day in office before mayor-elect Chokwe Lumumba takes office on July 1.
"We just need to figure out exactly what we need to do to make sure of what the city's portion of the deal would be, and try to get some indication from them that that proposal would be acceptable," Johnson said. "Then they can move ahead with some financing. At that point, we'll pass some kind of resolution of support or something along those lines."
Hopefully the city council will get a quorum tomorrow, because I'd sure like to hear more about the deal.
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Economy
Gas Prices Stay Low in Mississippi
The price of oil is up, year-to-date, around the country, but somehow Mississippi keeps beating the heat of rising gas prices.
