Mothers of two Tennessee children with serious illnesses have asked a federal judge to block the governor’s order allowing parents to opt out of coronavirus-related mask requirements in schools. Testifying Monday in support of a lawsuit they filed, the mothers said allowing some kids to go to school without masks endangers children with health conditions. … Read more
Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday that he stands by remarks he made at a political fundraising event last week — that he believes Christians are “a little less scared” of COVID-19 because of their belief in eternal life. Mississippi has the highest per-capita rate of new coronavirus cases and deaths in the United … Read more
Rescuers in boats, helicopters and high-water trucks brought hundreds of people trapped by Hurricane Ida’s floodwaters to safety Monday and utility repair crews rushed in, after the furious storm swamped the Louisiana coast and ravaged the electrical grid in the stifling, late-summer heat. Residents living amid the maze of rivers and bayous along the state’s … Read more
Tennessee’s most populous county has reached the highest number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients since the pandemic started a year and a half ago. Shelby County Health Department Director Michelle Taylor said during a news conference Thursday that hospitals in the county that includes Memphis were treating 701 coronavirus patients, with 515 in acute care and … Read more
A member of the Mississippi National Guard died Thursday while participating in a physical fitness test, officials said. Staff Sgt. Robert Jason Belue, 44, of Iuka, Mississippi, died after experiencing a medical emergency while conducting the Army Combat Fitness Test at the 154th Regiment, Regional Training Institute at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center in … Read more
Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey says children now make up 36% of Tennessee’s reported COVID-19 cases. Piercey’s remarks on Wednesday marked another sobering milestone in the battle against the high contagious delta variant. According to researchers from Johns Hopkins University, Tennessee ranks sixth in the country for new cases per capita. The rolling average of daily … Read more
The body of the final person missing from a devastating weekend flood in Middle Tennessee has been recovered and the search for victims has been suspended. The discovery came around mid-day on Wednesday, shortly before the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee arrived to tour the area. They were … Read more
Some members of the Republican-controlled Mississippi Legislature are renewing an effort to eliminate the state income tax — a proposal that failed earlier this year amid concerns it would drain budgets for schools, roads and other services in one of the nation’s poorest states. Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn is leading the effort, and he … Read more
A new COVID-19 testing facility is available in DeSoto County. The state health department opened the facility on Monday after a plea from DeSoto County leaders to help with the growing surge in cases. As it was, wait times to get a test in DeSoto County had grown to as much as eight hours. The … Read more
A rural Tennessee community was pummeled with up to 17 inches (43 centimeters) of rain in less than 24 hours over the weekend, shattering the state record for one-day rainfall by more than 3 inches and leading to quick-rushing floods that killed at least 22 people and left a trail of destruction. The hardest-hit areas … Read more