Business Blog » Legal Affairs

Stillbirth a capital crime? Mississippi Supreme Court must decide

Ted Carter — Thu, 23 May 2013 19:39:38 +0000

The cause of any given miscarriage or stillbirth is difficult to determine, and many experts believe there is no conclusive evidence that exposure to drugs in utero can cause a miscarriage or stillbirth. A Lamar County woman whose blood tests showed traces of illegal drug use after she birthed a stillborn child would go to [...]

Congressmen live large on farm supports while fighting federal food safety net

Ted Carter — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:18:20 +0000

In supporting billions of dollars in cuts to federal food assistance, a U.S. House Republican from Tennessee and a fellow GOP member from California insist the government has no business feeding the hungry but themselves receive tens of thousands of dollars annually in farm subsidies. House Agriculture Committee members Reps. Stephen Fincher (R-Tenn.) and Doug [...]

U.S. Supreme Court upholds Mississippi’s new voting district lines

Ted Carter — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:53:22 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court won’t order new legislative elections in Mississippi over complaints about the timing of the state’s redistricting. The Mississippi NAACP had challenged the state’s 2011 state elections because the Legislature did not immediately use the 2010 census to draw new district lines in 2011. The state House and Senate instead [...]

Yazoo City attorney talks about new novel “Just Out of Reach”

Stephen McDill — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:27:11 +0000

“Just Out of Reach” by Mississippi attorney Belinda Stevens tells the story of young love and dark secrets in the turbulent Sixties. Inspired by her own experiences as a Yazoo City High School student, Stevens writes about the impact President Kennedy’s assassination, James Meredith’s integration of the University of Mississippi and the Vietnam War had [...]

APME: Obama administration has chosen to trample the First Amendment

Ross Reily — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:59:10 +0000

The Associated Press Media Editors Association condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the actions of the Justice Department in seizing phone records of The Associated Press. In condemning this action, APME joins the Society of Professional Journalists, the Radio Television Digital News Association and many other journalists across the country. “In a continuing witch hunt [...]

(UPDATED) Bryant gives drillers of horizontal oil & gas wells huge tax break

Ted Carter — Thu, 09 May 2013 20:52:50 +0000

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI — Energy exploration companies that do horizontal drilling in Mississippi will pay 80 percent less in taxes next year on oil and gas they extract. The prospect of an economic bonanza from extracting shale oil from below ground in Mississippi, especially the southwest part of the state, led Gov. Phil Bryant to make [...]

Corps of Engineers putting Yazoo County grazing land up for bid

Ted Carter — Thu, 09 May 2013 20:01:49 +0000

VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District is accepting sealed bids from individuals or groups that are interested in leasing agricultural – grazing land in Yazoo County. The tract consists of exactly 27 acres on the Yazoo River levee system, west of Yazoo City on River Road near Highway 16. The [...]

L.A. Times’ ricin arrest story portrays ‘squabbling tribes, petty vengeances’ in NE Miss.

Ted Carter — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:44:35 +0000

TUPELO, Miss. — Federal agents of all sorts invaded northeast Mississippi several days ago, on a mission: Find the man who sent a poison-laced letter to the president. But the United States government quickly found itself entangled, once again, in a misunderstood land dominated by squabbling tribes and petty vengeances, the L.A. Times reports. Agents [...]

Not an Onion headline: U.S. government to spend $890K on nothing

Ted Carter — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:41:16 +0000

If you are a federal worker on furlough this week — or an airline passenger delayed by federal furloughs — you might save your blood pressure, and go read another story. This one is about all the money the U.S. government spends on . . . nothing. As reported in the Washington Post, it is one of [...]

CARTER: FAA’s tower closing plan (ploy) having intended effect

Ted Carter — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 22:16:56 +0000

Aviation business professionals say it was glaringly obvious what the Federal Aviation Administration was up to with its initiative to cut off funding to “contract” air traffic control towers. If you want to get a politician’s attention, promise to whack contract towers at around 150 regional airports and shut down another 30 or so [...]