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Coal Plant Cost Painful

The Mississippi Public Service Commission is taking its time approving rate increases funding a $2.88 billion coal-burning plant already under construction in Kemper County.

Barbour Taps Leslie King for Supreme Court

Leslie King, a veteran state Court of Appeals judge, will take departing Justice James Graves' place on the Mississippi Supreme Court. Gov. Haley Barbour announced yesterday that he would appoint …

Justice

Scott Sisters Face Health Barrier to Transplant

Also see: The Tragic Case of the Scott Sisters

Domestic Violence

House Stalls on Domestic Violence GPS

Monitoring domestic violence suspects out on bond is apparently a controversial issue in the Mississippi House of Representatives. The House spent most of yesterday tackling an unofficial list of non-controversial …

Watching a Revolution

Hussein Sadek has had the bittersweet experience of watching a revolution in his homeland happen while he's away. Sadek, 23, is a junior at Jackson State University, studying for a …

Justice

Redistricting Fight Comes Home

Hinds County's redistricting woes are not over, yet. One week after the county Board of Supervisors voted to approve new district maps, the board faces a possible lawsuit over its …

Barbour's Ed. Numbers Off-Mark

Mississippi public-education advocates fear that the state Senate may short-change school districts next year by $65 million. On the Senate agenda is a House education-funding bill approved last week; however …

Justice

Former Inmate: Youth Prison Was Hell

The Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility is failing to rehabilitate and is actually endangering the lives of its juvenile inmates, advocates and former inmates told state lawmakers today. Members of …

Ice Leads To Five-Hour Gridlock on the ‘Stack'

On a day that many Jacksonians suffered long commutes, Rodney Cuevas still had an exceptional evening. Cuevas left his job at the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality for his home …

Development

Now Comes the Hard Part, Again

Mississippi's lawmakers may have approved $20 million in bonds for a state civil-rights museum last week, but the project still has major hurdles to clear before becoming a reality. Chief …

Music

Pinetop Perkins

Mississippi native Pinetop Perkins, whose boogie-woogie blues piano playing backed up generations of blues legends before he took a turn in the solo spotlight, died Monday at his home in …

Biz Roundup

Solar Panel Plant To Open; New Downtown Cafe

A California solar panel company plans to build a new production facility in Hattiesburg, Gov. Haley Barbour announced today. The company, Stion, produces high-efficiency thin-film solar panels at its headquarters …

Fair Funds for Kids?

Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., increasingly seems like a holdover from another, kinder era of national politics. Cochran has largely removed himself from the hyper-partisanship of recent years.

Justice

Teaching The Truth

Next year, for the first time, Mississippi will require all social-studies teachers to teach the history of civil rights in the state. The requirement will come more than five years …

Business

Byram Town Center Gets $5.5M TIF Boost

Construction workers have begun a commercial development that will bring new restaurants, shops and offices to the young city of Byram. The Hinds County Board of Supervisors voted today to …

A Mixed Bag for Mississippi Children

By many measures, children in Mississippi are worse off than kids in most other states, but Mississippi shows some bright spots. The Annie E. Casey Foundation's annual "Kids Count" report …

Person of the Day

Shirley Brewer

Shirley Brewer has seen plenty of changes from her perch at the Fondren McDade's Market. Brewer has worked at the grocery store for the past 27 years, seeing the business …

Development

KiOR Heats Up

Biofuels company KiOR has yet to produce any of its vaunted crude oil substitute in Mississippi, but the startup is making big moves on financing.

Today is Confederate Memorial Day

State offices in Mississippi are closed today in recognition of Confederate Memorial Day, honoring Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. The state House of Representatives passed a bill …

Education

Edwards Fights for JPS Job Today

Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Lonnie Edwards makes his case today for an extension of his contract. The JPS Board of Trustees voted Dec. 7 not to renew Edwards' contract, which …