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Legislature Back in Session
State lawmakers have returned to Jackson today to hammer out the 2010 budget. The Legislature must agree on the Mississippi budget by the end of June as the new fiscal …
Monday: School District Merger Meeting
Monday, Feb. 1, the Commission on Education Structure will hold its second meeting to discuss how best to achieve school district consolidation in Mississippi. The meeting is scheduled for Room …
Barbour Will Veto Eminent Domain Bill
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour will exercise his veto power today regarding eminent domain, reports WAPT.
Barbour to Testify Against Clean Energy
Today, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee begins major hearings exploring how to reduce global warming and build a clean energy economy. The Waxman-Markey bills and related legislation is …
Oil on Mississippi Beaches
More than two months after the Deepwater Horizon sank in the Gulf of Mexico and millions of gallons of oil began spewing into the waters, on Sunday, Mississippi began to …
Utility Watchdog Employees Furloughed
Among the budget bills that failed to get to the governor's desk earlier this week were appropriations to fund the Public Service Commission and the Public Utilities agency. Without funding, …
Senate Committee to Kill Override Attempt
A resolution passed by the House last month in an attempt to override Gov. Haley Barbour's rejection of $56 million in federal stimulus dollars will likely never get out of …
Health Care
Righting Our Grand Failure
Mississippi's wellness buckets are full of stagnant swamp water. Most of us are familiar with the dismal statistics. Take your pick: teen pregnancy, obesity, diabetes, smoking, heart disease—our rates lead …
Lawmakers Idle Waiting for Budget
The Mississippi Legislature is spending about $19,000 a day with little or nothing to do, for the most part. Lawmakers have finished all of their business for the current session, …
Feinberg: Emergency Payments a Priority
Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press" yesterday, Kenneth Feinberg, appointed by President Barack Obama to administer BP's $20 billion escrow account for claims against the oil giant, said his immediate …
Barbour Furloughs Rapist, Then Retracts
Leslie Bowlin lay in wait for his young victim, watching her roommates leave their shared apartment in the Canterbury Townhouses in Starkville one by one for the Christmas break. When …
Lawmakers Agree on 68 Cent Cigarette Tax
Mississippi legislators have come to a tentative agreement on a new cigarette tax: 68 cents a pack.
Anti-smoking advocates Communities for a Clean Bill of Health called the compromise "a win for Mississippi" in a statement.
House Approves Medicaid Hospital Measure
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journail is reporting that the Mississippi House has approved a $45 million assessment on hospitals in a compromise to cover part of the $90 million shortfall …
Silver Alert Legislation Awaits Barbour's Signature
Keeping our parents and grandparents safe is the goal of a Mississippi House bill creating a Silver Alert system. The system, based on Amber Alerts for children, will allow family …
Oil in MS Sound; Cap Back On
Officials confirmed yesterday that a large patch of oil, about a mile long and two hundred yards wide, came through Dog Keys Pass into the Mississippi Sound, catching oil spotters …
Mississippi Defenseless in Federal Suit
Three-year-old Olivia Y. weighed only 22 pounds—less than half what she should have weighed—when the Mississippi courts took her from her abusive mother and turned her over to the foster-care …
Pardons: ‘The Coward's Way Out'
Also see: JFP investigation of Barbour's 2008 Pardons of Domestic Killers
Barbour Reaffirms Vow to Sue
In response to Attorney General Jim Hood's statement yesterday that his office needed additional time to assess the constitutionality of the health-care reform bill signed by President Barack Obama earlier …
Gusher Twice as Big; BP Grants to Miss. Upped to $65 Million
Yesterday, government scientists announced yet again that the amount of oil gushing from the BP well in the Gulf of Mexico is at least twice as much as previously believed. …
Lawmakers Pass Another Tobacco Tax
After years of not raising taxes on cigarettes, yesterday Mississippi lawmakers approved the second cigarette tax hike this year. Even more surprising, Gov. Haley Barbour, a former tobacco lobbyist who …
