2 weeks ago
The Mississippi House looks to increase state community college funding by $100 million while also raising university funding by $53 million above legislative budget requests.
Strike-all amendments were made to two Senate appropriations bills to reflect the House of Representative’s stance on state support for public community colleges and universities.
By Jeremy Pittari - Magnolia Tribune on
2 weeks ago
The Friendship Oak has watched over the Gulf Coast since the late 1400s. It has seen storms, weddings, students, and countless visitors pause beneath its branches.
Have you ever stood beneath something older than America?
On the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Park in Long Beach, you can do exactly that. Rising from the front lawn overlooking the Gulf of Mexico is one of Mississippi’s most beloved living landmarks — a sprawling live oak that has quietly watched more than five centuries of Gulf Coast history unfold.
By Meredith Biesinger - Magnolia Tribune on
2 weeks ago
Below is an opinion column by Russ Latino:
Growing up in Claiborne County, Nancy Disharoon Loome attended a private school. Today, she and her Southern Poverty Law Center-funded advocacy organization, are the leading opponents of other Mississippi families having that same option.
By Russ Latino - Magnolia Tribune on
2 weeks 1 day ago
The clarification came as Magnolia Tribune sought a breakdown of the interest income between special funds and the state’s general fund.
The State Treasurer’s office on Tuesday clarified that Mississippi’s “record-breaking $1 billion in interest income in 2025,” as shared in a release Monday, was in fact a cumulative total over Treasurer David McRae’s tenure “up to 2025, not in 2025 alone.”
By Frank Corder - Magnolia Tribune on
2 weeks 1 day ago
Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion
By Magnolia Tribune Staff on
2 weeks 1 day ago
POPE — Lewis Leslie Doubleday, Jr., age 77, formerly of Charleston, passed away Sunday, March 15, at his home in Pope.
Funeral services will be held 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, at Faith Tabernacle United Pentecostal Church with interment following at Chapel Hill Cemetery near Pope. The family will receive friends 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, at Wells Funeral Home in Batesville.
He was the owner and operate of Charleston Printing until his retirement
Published on
2 weeks 1 day ago
Leflore County consistently leads the nation with one of the highest gun homicide rates
This is the first story in a series about gun violence in the Mississippi Delta.
By GERARD EDIC - The Greenwood Commonwealth/Report for America on
2 weeks 2 days ago
Alena Crear, 5, looks around as state leaders speak during a press conference on affordable child care and tax relief for family necessities Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, at the Capitol in Jackson. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
Advocates say state leaders must address Mississippi’s 11-month child care crisis but warn the $15 million would only alleviate a fraction of roughly 20,000 households on a waitlist.
The Senate voted Thursday to spend $15 million on child care vouchers to help alleviate the pressure on roughly 20,000 low-income Mississippi families waitlisted for subsidies since pandemic-era federal funds ran out in April.
By Sophia Paffenroth - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 2 days ago
Clarksdale Municipal School District students Leah Myles, Jamarick Davis, Khloe Reed and instructor Candace Barron pose for a photograph after their last teacher preparation class before winter break, Dec. 15, 2025. Their district offers a vocational teacher preparation course at the Carl Keen Career and Technical Center. Credit: Leonardo Bevilacqua/Mississippi Today
Clarksdale public schools are cultivating future teachers among their students.
CLARKSDALE — Clarksdale had the second highest teacher shortage in Mississippi last year — 40 posted vacancies in July.
For district administrators, that staffing challenge hits particularly hard each year in late summer when they try to fill vacancies before the new school year begins. The problem affects students, too, when they’re taught by substitute teachers for weeks at a time.
By Leonardo Bevilacqua - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 2 days ago
Cooperation has been in short supply for the last three years, as the Republican leadership of the two chambers has sparred over nearly every major issue, including the budget.
The 2026 Mississippi legislative session is getting down to the short rows, scheduled to wrap by the first week of April.
That means it’s time for lawmakers to bear down on setting an over $7-billion state budget, the main job of a legislature.
By Geoff Pender - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 2 days ago
Governor Tate Reeves said the residents of the state are praying for those deployed in harm’s way in the Middle East.
Members of the Mississippi National Guard have been deployed to support the Trump administration’s Operation Epic Fury that is waging an assault on Iran’s military installations in an effort to ensure the country does not acquire nuclear weapons.
By Frank Corder - Magnolia Tribune on
2 weeks 2 days ago
Amendments to a Senate bill aim to force MDOC to rebid inmate healthcare contract.
The House submitted its position on funding the Mississippi Department of Corrections through a strike-all amendment of a Senate bill this week, which includes efforts to fix issues the Legislature sees within the agency.
By Jeremy Pittari - Magnolia Tribune on
2 weeks 2 days ago
Below is a religious opinion column by Matt Friedeman:
Charles Spurgeon said that “Cheerfulness is next to godliness!” I am beginning to think he was right.
So we laughed and laughed and laughed. Spent the better part of two hours sipping our Cokes and escaping reality.
And it got me to thinking about the vital importance of it all.
I visited Lexington, Kentucky this week. My son wanted to take his dad out for a fun evening and got us tickets for a comedy show.
By Matt Friedeman - Magnolia Tribune on
2 weeks 2 days ago
CHARLESTON — Sue Carol Raney, age 81, passed away Saturday, March 14.
She was a retired customer service representative for Fed X Freight.
She is survived by her husband, Michael W. Raney of Charleston; two sons, Jeff Lawson and Chris Lawson, both of Oakland, Tenn.; a daughter, Kim Stewart of Batesville, Ark.; a brother and sister, 5 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.
Newsom Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.
Published on
2 weeks 2 days ago
Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion
By Magnolia Tribune Staff on
2 weeks 2 days ago
SOUTHAVEN — Ronald House Williams, age 83, passed away Friday, March 13, at his home in Southaven.
Visitation will be held 1-2 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, at Newsom Funeral Home in Charleston. The funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. there with interment following at Bethel Cemetery at Enid.
He served his country in the 82nd Airborne and the 7th Special Forces group as a Green Beret.
He is survived by his wife, Jettie Eastridge Williams; his children, Jill Duncan, Ron Williams and Sy Williams; a sister; 4 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.
Published on
2 weeks 2 days ago
Robert St. John says some bridges get you to the other side while others change the direction of everything.
Two years of planning a year-long trip collapsed in a single sentence at a Volvo dealership in Gothenburg, Sweden.
By Robert St. John on
2 weeks 2 days ago
Rep. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven, speaks during the Prison Oversight Committee meeting at the Carroll Gartin Justice Building in Jackson on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
Senate lawmakers failed to act on a bill that called for more oversight of prison deaths.
On Wednesday, the last day for action on bills originating from the other chamber, House Bill 1739 did not come up for a vote.
By Mina Corpuz - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 2 days ago
A Hinds County Chancery judge on Wednesday ordered the Mississippi Division of Medicaid to temporarily stop collecting money owed by Greenwood Leflore Hospital after the hospital said resuming the recoupments would likely force the Delta hospital to close.
By Gwen Dilworth - Mississippi Today on
2 weeks 2 days ago
A bill cleared the Legislature on Wednesday that would temporarily ease state approval requirements for rural hospitals, allowing them to add new services or make costly upgrades as lawmakers aim to help struggling facilities provide needed care and boost revenue.
By Gwen Dilworth - Mississippi Today on
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3 hours 27 minutes ago
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