Latest Mississippi Headlines

All the headlines from our Mississippi Topic Page, ordered by recency.

2 Mississippi Communities Declared Ineligible for Federal Flood Aid

Aug 26 2016 // As thousands of south Louisiana flood victims apply for disaster assistance, residents of two Mississippi communities have been told they are not eligible for assistance.Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokes tells...

FEMA Claims Mississippi Misused $30M in Funds to Retrofit Homes After Katrina

Aug 23 2016 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it won’t repay Mississippi for nearly $30 million spent to retrofit homes after Hurricane Katrina unless the state can prove the money was well spent.The state failed to...

Families of 3 Exonerated Men Settle for $16.5M with Mississippi Counties, Insurers

Aug 22 2016 // A $16.5 million settlement has been reached in a lawsuit that claims three Mississippi men were imprisoned for decades for a crime they did not commit, lawyers said.According to The Hattiesburg American, a settlement...

Texas Lawyer Accused of Fraud in BP Oil Spill Case Acquitted in Mississippi

Aug 19 2016 // A prominent Texas lawyer was acquitted on Thursday of charges he made up thousands of fake clients to sue BP Plc for damages that the oil company caused in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill, court records show.Mikal Watts was...

Mississippi Counties, Insurers Settle for $16.5M with Families of 3 Exonerated Men

Aug 9 2016 // A $16.5 million settlement has been reached in a lawsuit that claims three men were imprisoned for decades because they were forced to confess to a crime they did not commit, lawyers said.The Hattiesburg American reports...

Louisiana Politicians Join Suits Blaming Big Oil for Coastal Ruin

Aug 9 2016 // The oil industry has left a big footprint along the Gulf Coast, where a Delaware-sized stretch of Louisiana has disappeared.But few politicians would blame Big Oil for ecosystem abuse in a state where the industry employs...

Golf Cart Thefts Reported in 3 Mississippi Counties

Aug 4 2016 // A man in Kiln, Miss., is accused of possessing a golf cart stolen from a state park there, and Hancock County Sheriff Ricky Adam says police in at least two neighboring counties also report recent golf cart thefts.Adam...

University of Mississippi Medical Center Pays $2.75M Penalty for Lost Laptop

Jul 28 2016 // Officials at the University of Mississippi Medical Center said they have paid a $2.75 million penalty to the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of an agreement to resolve...

Mississippi Nissan Plant Fined for Safety Violations

Jul 26 2016 // The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi, for two violations.WLBT-TV reports a complaint inspection in March had one serious violation and one repeat...

Mississippi Study: Most Residents Ignore Wireless Emergency Weather Alerts

Jul 19 2016 // A study by two University of Southern Mississippi researchers on the effectiveness of emergency alerts has revealed some surprising results.David Cochran and Bandana Kar, associate professors in the Department of Geography...

SBA Sets August Deadline for Mississippi Disaster Loans From Spring Floods

Jul 18 2016 // People whose south Mississippi homes or businesses flooded in late April or early May have until Aug. 8 to apply for Small Business Administration disaster loans.The low-interest loans are available in Harrison, Hancock,...

Climate Change Exposes U.S. Infrastructure to Natural Hazards, Rand Corp. Says

Jul 14 2016 // Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part column. A follow up column will focus on how catastrophe modelers are being asked to create products that take into account potential climate change impacts.A report out...

Jury Award Against Mississippi School District Results in Higher Insurance Rates

Jul 7 2016 // After a $660,000 lawsuit, the Natchez-Adams School District will pay more for liability insurance in the coming school year.The Natchez Democrat reports the district will spend nearly $306,000 on insurance compared to...

No Injuries Reported From Explosion at Southern Mississippi BP Plant

Jun 30 2016 // A late-night explosion and fire broke out at a natural gas plant in southern Mississippi, but there were no injuries or fatalities reported, police said early Tuesday.Pascagoula Police Capt. Shannon Broom said authorities...

Mississippi Tractor Wheel Factory Gutted by Fire

Jun 27 2016 // A fire at a factory in Tupelo, Miss., that makes lawn tractor wheels may have caused millions in damage.Local media report no one was injured by the fire at Custom Engineered Wheels, which broke out late Thursday....

Bodies of Mississippi Workers Recovered From Gravel Pit

Jun 14 2016 // Rescuers have recovered the body of a second man who disappeared in a landslide at a gravel pit in southern Mississippi earlier this month.The second body was found around 9:50 p.m. Friday and removed Saturday morning,...

SBA Approves Disaster Loans for Southern Mississippi After Spring Floods

Jun 13 2016 // The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved disaster assistance for South Mississippi counties that saw torrential rains and flash flooding April 28 through May 2.The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency...

Mississippi High Court Allows Negligence Suit Against State DOT to Proceed

Jun 7 2016 // The Mississippi Supreme Court has decided not to throw out a negligence lawsuit against the Mississippi Department of Transportation over the death of a Gulfport Bandidos Chapter officer when he crashed his motorcycle in a...

Search Ongoing For 2 Mississippi Workers Trapped In Gravel Pit Landslide

Jun 7 2016 // A search for two workers who went missing after a landslide at a gravel pit in southern Mississippi is underway, according to a spokeswoman for the Mine Safety and Health Administration.Amy Louviere said Monday the search...

Mississippi Business Owner Sentenced to 5 Years for Arson

Jun 3 2016 // The owner of a construction company in Pascagoula has been sentenced to five years in prison for conspiring to set fire to his business.The Sun Herald reports a judge also fined 53-year-old Michael Eugene Slater and...