Business Blog

JACKSON — U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi, says he will oppose the nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel to be defense secretary. Wicker is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which will hold confirmation hearings on Hagel’s nomination. Wicker says in a statement that Hagel has a flawed vision for [...]

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State University officials are investigating claims from a Brazilian computer hacker that he has breached the school’s computers. The claim was first posted Wednesday on a website dedicated to tracking and tracing claims of computer security breaches. The hacker claims to have accessed the usernames, actual names and passwords of 929 students. [...]

NEW ORLEANS — In a sharp rebuke to his successor’s handling of the NFL’s bounty investigation, former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue overturned the suspensions of four current and former New Orleans Saints players in a case that has preoccupied the league for almost a year. Tagliabue, who was appointed by Commissioner Roger Goodell to handle the [...]

T-Mobile will likely start carrying the iPhone next year after its parent company, Deutsche Telekom, said it has reached a new deal with Apple. T-Mobile USA had been the lone iPhone-less carrier among the four national wireless companies in the U.S. Although it has been possible to use iPhones on T-Mobile networks, customers had to [...]

VICKSBURG — Anderson-Tully Company is shutting down a second shift at its Vicksburg sawmill and is laying off 80 employees by Jan. 4. The company tells the Vicksburg Post that the move has been in the works for two months because of a depressed housing market. “This is a core business decision to right-size production to [...]

JACKSON — Current and former Mississippi lawmakers, across party lines, are mourning the death of longtime Democratic Sen. Bennie Turner of West Point, who died Nov. 27. He was 64. Turner, an attorney, was first elected to the Senate in 1992 and took office in January 1993. The most recent configuration of his district included [...]

JACKSON — Economists say growth and employment should increase in Mississippi next year, led by an improved housing market and an increase in home construction. Forecasters discussed their outlook at a Tuesday conference held by the College Board in Jackson. Mississippi’s economy is predicted to grow 1.6 percent in 2013, compared to an expansion of [...]

The Army Corps of Engineers has begun reducing the flow from a Missouri River reservoir, a move expected to worsen low water conditions on the Mississippi River and potentially halt barge traffic at St. Louis within weeks. Monique Farmer of the corps office in Omaha, Neb., confirmed Friday that reduction of outflow from the Gavins [...]

A Mississippi federal court will hear Mississippi’s lawsuit that alleges price fixing by manufacturers of liquid crystal display screens. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a ruling that sent the case to a state court. “Nothing we have said denies the State of Mississippi the right to proceed with [...]

COLUMBUS — Lowndes County officials say they have been told by Silicor that its metal production and purification facility will not meet its Dec. 31 start date. Lowndes County Administrator Ralph Billingsley tells the Commercial Dispatch that the announcement came during a meeting this week. In August, Lowndes County supervisors extended a Sept. 2 starting [...]