News Staff Tennessee labor officials are continuing to offer free online courses to help people without work during the COVID-19 pandemic advance their skills. The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development says the Coursera Workforce Recovery Initiative will run through the end of 2021. Coursera partners with 200 leading university and industry educators to offer courses … Read more
Mississippi legislators imposed no new limits on the election process during their recently ended session, but this state already had some of the strictest voting laws in the U.S. Widespread early voting? Not in Mississippi. This state has a limited number of reasons for people to cast absentee ballots. Some states have drop boxes where … Read more
A Memphis-area rapper was among a caravan of at least two dozen people who were arrested in connection to a highway shooting in Mississippi, authorities said. Big Boogie, whose real name is John Lotts, was taken into custody Thursday along with 20 others who were with the Memphis-based rapper on their way to a performance … Read more
Tennessee has become the latest state to soon allow most adults 21 and older to carry handguns without first clearing a background check and training. Republican Gov. Bill Lee Thursday signed the measure into law on Thursday. The measure applies to handguns that are concealed and ones that are openly carried, but it does not … Read more
The U.S. Supreme Court said Thursday it will not get involved, for now, in a lawsuit that says Mississippi allows grave disparities in funding between predominantly Black and predominantly white schools. Southern Poverty Law Center sued the state in 2017 on behalf of low-income Black women who said their children and other Black children attended … Read more
Election results from Tuesday show Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite will face off against independent candidate Tommy Henley in the June 8th general election. Also, alderman George Payne will get another term after he easily defeated challenger Austin Griffin. Payne moves on to face Democrat Brandy Gull in November. In Ward 1, incumbent alderman Kristian Kelly … Read more
Unofficial results from Tuesday’s election show Horn Lake Ward 6 alderman John Jones has lost to primary challenger Robby Dupree. The results counted last night show 153 votes for Dupree and 113 for Jones in the Republican primary. Two other seats on the Horn Lake board will have to be decided in a runoff contest … Read more
Retired NFL quarterback and Tennessee standout Peyton Manning will receive the Liberty Bowl Distinguished Citizen Award on June 6. Manning called it a “tremendous honor” to be given the award, which his father, Archie Manning, also received in 2016. Officials say they are the first father-son recipients of the award. Manning is the NFL’s only … Read more
A Tennessee phone line that offers callers mental health support during the COVID-19 pandemic has added an option to talk via text messaging. The state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services says the Emotional Support Line for Pandemic Stress now lets people call or text the line at 888-642-7886 from 6 a.m. to … Read more
Tennessee’s Republican-dominant Senate have advanced legislation that would require school districts to alert parents of any instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity. The bill also allows parents or guardians to opt their students out of such instruction. Backers of the bill argued Monday that the measure strengthens parental rights, but critics counter it could … Read more