A traffic alert for you, as MDOT is opening the newly built I-269 Interchange in DeSoto County today. The new interchange is at McIngvale Road and was geared toward increasing mobility and commerce to DeSoto and surrounding counties. The nearly 8-million dollar project included new paving, extensive earthwork, soil cement stabilization, and new drainage improvements. … Read more
The Interstate 40 bridge linking Arkansas and Tennessee that was closed after a crack was found in the span will begin reopening next week. Transportation officials said Wednesday that the eastbound lanes of the Hernando DeSoto Bridge over the Mississippi River will reopen to limited traffic Monday morning. The I-40 bridge was shut down May … Read more
Another child in Mississippi has died of complications related to the coronavirus, marking the fourth pediatric death since the start of the pandemic, health officials said Wednesday. The death occurred in a teenager who had a common underlying health condition, State Health Officer Dr. Dobbs said. The Department of Health would not release more information, … Read more
Mississippi senators will hold hearings this fall to examine how to make health care more accessible and affordable, and all options could be considered, Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said Wednesday. “The time for simply saying ‘no’ to our options for working Mississippians has passed,” Hosemann said in a speech prepared for delivery at the … Read more
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves does not plan to issue a mask mandate for schools, even as COVID-19 cases are proliferating in a state with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation. A few Mississippi school districts have already started classes, and others are starting by mid-August. Some parents have raised concerns about the … Read more
Tennessee’s top health official has dialed back claims by lawmakers that state health clinicians won’t follow a decades-old policy letting providers vaccinate certain minors without parental consent. Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey told reporters Friday the Mature Minor Doctrine is used in “very nuanced and fringe situations.” She said she met Thursday with Sen. Kerry Roberts … Read more
A decades-long fight has been resolved in Tennessee, over the bust of a Confederate general and early Ku Klux Klan leader that stood in a place of honor inside the state’s Capitol. The image of Nathan Bedford Forrest has sparked protests since the bust was installed in 1978. Republican Gov. Bill Lee joined the effort … Read more
A decadeslong effort to remove a bust of a Confederate general and early Ku Klux Klan leader from the Tennessee Capitol has cleared its final hurdle. State leaders on Thursday approved the final vote needed to allow the statue to come down over the next few days. The seven-member State Building Commission voted 5-2 to … Read more
Two Mississippi lawmakers say they’re continuing to work on proposals to create a medical marijuana program, two months after the state Supreme Court invalidated one that voters had approved. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported that Republican Sen. Kevin Blackwell of Southaven and Republican Rep. Lee Yancey of Brandon are the lead negotiators. Yancey said … Read more
Lagging vaccination rates among nursing home staff are being linked to a national increase in COVID-19 infections and deaths at senior facilities, and are at the center of a federal investigation in a hard-hit Colorado location where disease detectives found many workers were not inoculated. The investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention … Read more