Business Blog » Politics

Port restoration in key phase with $55.8 million award for wharf work

Ted Carter — Fri, 24 May 2013 20:11:22 +0000

GULFPORT, Mississippi — Work is set to begin June 6 on building a new wharf face for the west pier of the Port of Gulfport, a project that marks a key phase in restoring the port nearly destroyed almost a decade ago by hurricane Katrina. The Mississippi State Port Authority awarded Hattiesburg-based L&A Contracting a [...]

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 [...]

Stabenow, Cochran brace for full Senate vote on Farm Bill

Ted Carter — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:56:37 +0000

The Senate Agriculture Committee’s 2013 Farm Bill is encountering a critical test this week on the Senate floor, where the $955billion measure is expected to draw opposition from lawmakers who wanted more money taken from farm subsidies and less from the nation’s food stamp program. However, the Senate’s bill has stirred much less regional conflict [...]

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 [...]

Cochran helps forge compromise on farm legislation

Ross Reily — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:19:21 +0000

STONEVILLE, Mississippi — After a stormy regional conflict over Farm Bill debate in 2012, U.S. Senator Thad Cochran worked cooperatively with Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (Michigan) to forge a compromise piece of farm legislation that garnered a 15-5 vote in the Senate Agriculture Committee today. ” (Tuesday) was one more example of Sen Cochran’s ability to [...]

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 [...]

Drillers in Tuscaloosa Marine Shale region expect big savings from state tax cut

Ted Carter — Fri, 10 May 2013 22:05:51 +0000

JACKSON — Canadian energy company Encana estimates a new 80 percent state tax cut will save it up to $800,000 a year in oil and natural gas extraction taxes on wells it puts into production after July 1 in Southwest Mississippi’s Tuscaloosa Marine Shale development. Encana has six deep ground horizontal wells in the Tuscaloosa [...]

(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 [...]

MCDILL: Mississippi needs me

Stephen McDill — Thu, 02 May 2013 06:30:01 +0000

No one in my family is actually from Mississippi. While my father grew up in Jackson, he was born in Alaska thanks to my grandfather’s Army posting there. My mother is from Atlanta. I was born in New Orleans. My brother was born in Virginia. Like so many others, I’m one of those “not from [...]