The Mississippi Arts Commission is accepting nominations for the 2022 Governor’s Arts Awards. The annual awards recognize people and organizations that have made noteworthy contributions to the arts in the state of Mississippi. Nominations must be submitted to the art’s commission website by August 6. Sarah Story, executive director of MAC, said the ceremony will … Read more
Lawyers for the only woman on Tennessee’s death row are asking the state Supreme Court to recommend that Gov. Bill Lee commute her sentence to life after prosecutors sought an execution date. The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office asked the high court to set an execution date for Christa Gail Pike, contending she has exhausted her … Read more
A prosecutor says a hearing has been set to discuss a plea deal for a Tennessee prison inmate charged with killing a corrections administrator during a 2019 escape attempt. Lauderdale County District Attorney Mark Davidson told The Associated Press that a hearing has been scheduled for Monday in the case of Curtis Ray Watson. Davidson … Read more
Heavy rainfall this week has flooded homes, businesses and farmland in north Mississippi, washing out some roads and making travel dangerous. The National Weather Service said more than 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain fell in Tallahatchie County from Tuesday to Thursday. It also said Thursday that 7.8 inches (19.8 centimeters) of rain had fallen … Read more
A prosecutor says a hearing has been set to discuss a plea deal for a Tennessee prison inmate charged with killing a corrections administrator during a 2019 escape attempt. Lauderdale County District Attorney Mark Davidson told The Associated Press that a hearing has been scheduled for Monday in the case of Curtis Ray Watson. Davidson … Read more
The state of Mississippi has approved its first wind turbine facility to generate electricity in the Mississippi Delta, the Mississippi Public Service Commission announced Wednesday. The electricity generation facility will be built on 13,000 acres in Tunica County and will consist of up to 100 turbines, according to a press release. The facility will generate … Read more
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has announced that the state will pour $52 million into building a complicated wastewater discharge pipeline at the Memphis Regional Megasite. Lee said Tuesday the project is designed to help attract potential tenants. State officials have long warned that more money is needed to make the nearly 6.5 square miles (17 … Read more
A judge has reset a hearing to address a request by the ex-wife of slain NBA player Lorenzen Wright to throw out her guilty plea in his 2010 killing in Memphis, Tennessee. Sherra Wright filed a petition for relief of conviction or sentence after her surprise guilty plea to facilitation of murder in July 2019. … Read more
A Black woman, for the first time, will become a chief federal judge in Mississippi. Court officials said in a news release Monday that U.S. District Judge Debra M. Brown will become the chief judge of the state’s northern judicial district during a ceremony Friday in Greenville. She will receive the gavel from U.S. District … Read more
A judge in Memphis has ruled that an expert hired by a state prosecutors’ office can conduct a mental evaluation of a Tennessee death row inmate who claims he is intellectually disabled and should not be executed. Lawyers for Pervis Payne filed a petition in May asking a judge to declare that he cannot be … Read more