C Spire signs contract extension with NBA’s Grizzlies

RIDGELAND — The Memphis Grizzlies and C Spire Wireless have entered into a multi-year extension of an agreement involving the NBA Western Conference team and FedExForum. Terms were not disclosed. As part of the agreement, the Memphis Grizzlies will continue its relationship with C Spire Wireless as the official wireless partner of the professional basketball…

• C Spire unveiled new retail store prototype on Coast
• Bomgar lands IT provider in hospitality industry
• AT&T brings 4G LTE network in to more of Central Miss.
• Hood: Google seems to be yanking drug how-to videos
• New-look ms.gov launches, goes mobile
• Supreme Court to start e-filing in July; Appeals to follow

Whitney closing eight branches in three La. cities

GULFPORT — Eight Whitney Bank branches in Louisiana are set to close at the end of August. Hancock Holding Co., the Gulfport-based parent company of Whitney Bank, announced it would close the Baton Rouge branches at 9800 Airline Highway, 2600 Citiplace Drive and 11659 Plank Road, along with a branch in Algiers, and one in…

• More than 200 employees take early retirement from BancorpSouth
• Bank earns five stars for 94th consecutive quarter
• Deadline approaching for post-tornado loans from SBA
• Bank opens new Texas office, expands Houston footprint

Ingalls lands another, $76.8M Coast Guard cutter

PASCAGOULA — The U.S. Coast Guard is exercising a $76.8 million contract option for another cutter to be built by Huntington Ingalls in Pascagoula. The $76.8 million will allow Huntington Ingalls to purchase material and components to support construction of the new cutter at its shipyard in Pascagoula, according to a news release Friday from…

• Chaney: Recalled gas cylinders can be deadly
• Supervisors move to buy warehouse for Genesis Energy project
• PROFILE plant operates for one million hours without lost-time accident
• Cooper Tire selling to Indian company for $2.22B

With tar balls still common, some question end of oil spill cleanup

GULF OF MEXICO — Finding tar balls linked to the BP oil spill isn’t difficult on some Gulf Coast beaches, but the company and the government say it isn’t common enough to keep sending out the crews that patrolled the sand for three years in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi. Tourist John Henson of Atlanta disagrees,…

• Supervisors move to buy warehouse for Genesis Energy project
• County wants Entergy customer records; utility says it’s ‘fishing’
• Power back on along Casino Strip after weekend storm
• BP oil spill cleanup ends, but MDEQ still monitoring beaches

Woman charged with murder in second buttocks-enhancement case

JACKSON — A Mississippi woman has been charged in a second case of causing a death by giving buttocks-enhancing silicone injections without being trained or licensed to do the procedure, authorities said Monday. Tracey Lynn Garner, 53, of Jackson, formerly known as Morris Garner, was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of depraved heart…

• VA adds to staff as part of White House initiative
• Ethics Commission: GOP lawmakers can vote on Medicaid
• Doctor appeals Medicaid, Medicare fraud conviction
• Nonprofit health center in Delta to close when funds are exhausted

South’s oldest casino to reopen as Golden Nugget

BILOXI — Although its hotel is still in the middle of a $100 million makeover, the oldest casino in the South will reopen at 1 p.m. Friday with a new look as the Golden Nugget Casino Biloxi. Changes range from new windows and fewer walls to new carpet and new nametags, The Sun Herald reported.…

• With tar balls still common, some question end of oil spill cleanup
• Bomgar lands IT provider in hospitality industry
• Diamondhead exploring zoning change to allow for casino
• Power back on along Casino Strip after weekend storm

County wants Entergy customer records; utility says it’s ‘fishing’

MADISON COUNTY — County officials are seeking customer information on 25,000 Madison County residents from Entergy Mississippi in an ongoing investigation of homestead exemption fraud, but the utility is fighting what it calls “a fishing expedition” in a case before the Mississippi Supreme Court. “The only thing we’re asking from Entergy are regularly kept business…

• Diamondhead exploring zoning change to allow for casino
• City given tobacco warehouse seized by FBI
• Ex-housing director pleading guilty to conspiracy to embezzle
• Senators introduce bill aimed at keeping down flood insurance costs

Most two-year schools asking more tuition this fall

JACKSON — Tuition will rise at 11 of Mississippi’s 15 public community colleges this fall, with average tuition for two semesters (fall and spring) rising about 6 percent to $2,376. Here are the rates that each college has approved or has projected to the state Community College Board, as well as the percentage change from…

• Scientists studying cancer in dogs; could lead to new treatments humans
• Officials to break ground tomorrow for Grammy Museum
• Ex-MSU president to steer hiring for Yokohama Tire plant
• Board extends contract of consultant to board president’s daughter

Late soybean planting leaves crop vulnerable to storms

ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Heavy rains in early April delayed soybean planting in Mississippi and Louisiana. Farmers said the optimal time to plant soybeans is early to mid-April, but excess rain caused area farmers to plant in late April and May. “We had to wait for our fields to dry up,” local farmer Noble Guedon told…

• USDA releases disaster recovery funding for Isaac, floods
• Senate passes Farm Bill; Cochran touts $4B in savings
• Late cotton planting could boost pest species
• Program rewards growers for safe food-handling practices