Business Blog

  JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi’s proposed health insurance exchange is in limbo because of a dispute between the governor and the insurance commissioner. Gov. Phil Bryant and Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, both Republicans, disagree about which of them has authority to create a plan and submit it for federal approval. An exchange is an [...]

If you’re fond of spending time at the ballpark, the Mississippi Braves are offering you a chance to do just that – and make money while you’re at it. The Jackson-based double A farm club for the Atlanta Braves is looking to fill a part-time roster for the 2013 season that includes everything from mascot [...]

U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker received assignments today to five Senate committees for the 113th Congress. Mississippi’s junior senator remains on the Armed Services Committee and the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. In addition, he will serve on the Budget Committee; the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee; and the Joint Economic Committee (JEC). “These committees [...]

As a lifetime campaigner for public access to government records, I can’t argue with efforts by the Journal News of Putnam County, N.Y., to obtain and publish the names of holders of handgun licenses in their circulation area. The move does, however, bring to mind that unsettling scene in the original Red Dawn movie in [...]

Mississippi farmers are waiting to learn whether the Magnolia State’s senior senator will move to the Senate Agriculture Committee and have a key hand in shaping a new farm bill extension as the ag panel’s Ranking Republican member. AgFax.com reported shortly before Christmas on speculation that Sen. Thad Cochran was mulling a move to become [...]

In a single year, there are 200-300 million cases of malaria and 50-100 million cases of dengue fever worldwide. So: Why haven’t we found a way to effectively kill mosquitos yet? In this TED Talk, Hadyn Parry presents a fascinating solution: genetically engineering male mosquitos to make them sterile, and releasing the insects into the [...]

TUPELO — Cardiologists at North Mississippi Medical Center’s Heart Institute recently implanted the nation’s first absorbable stent as part of a research study. Abbott Vascular received FDA approval in December to begin the ABSORB trial in the United States. Absorb, the world’s first drug eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffold, is a first-of-its-kind device for treating coronary [...]

Maybe being overweight in Mississippi isn’t as terrible as we once thought. In a story appearing on The Daily Beast, the world of public health was knocked off the rails a bit this week with therelease of a study demonstrating that you can, in fact, be too thin. Reviewing 97 studies involving almost 3 million people [...]

Say what you will, but the chances of Viking Range staying in Greenwood long term are very slim. You could almost hear the moving trucks backing up to the docks during the Middleby Corp. conference call last week, explaining why the food service equipment maker had bought the Mississippi-based oven and kitchen appliance maker for [...]