A Tennessee death row inmate’s attorneys are asking a court to declare that he cannot be executed because he is intellectually disabled. The petition was filed in Memphis Criminal Court on Wednesday. That’s one day after Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill making Tennessee’s law that prohibits the execution of the intellectually disabled retroactive. At … Read more
A transportation official says repairs to the Interstate 40 bridge linking Arkansas and Tennessee could take months after a crack was found in the span. Thousands of trucks and cars are being forced to detour and shipping on the Mississippi River is shut down in the Memphis area. Both states’ transportation agencies are working to … Read more
The Mississippi Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld a life sentence for a man convicted of a marijuana possession charge because he had previous convictions and those made him a habitual offender. Allen Russell, 38, was sentenced to life in Forrest County in 2019 after a jury found him guilty of possession of more than … Read more
Tennessee will soon become the latest state to require certain medical providers to cremate or bury fetal remains from surgical abortions under legislation recently signed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee. Roughly 10 other Republican-majority states have enacted similar laws across the country despite objections from reproductive rights advocates, who argue such requirements are unnecessary and … Read more
The Interstate 40 bridge over the Mississippi River has been closed after authorities said they found a crack in the span linking Arkansas and Tennessee. The Arkansas Department of Transportation tweeted on Tuesday that it found the crack during a routine inspection of the bridge. The department said it was working with the Tennessee Department … Read more
A lumber company in north Mississippi is expanding its operations by adding a sawmill. Hankins Lumber is investing more than $12 million into the sawmill that will be called Hankins Timbers. The expansion will add 43 jobs at an average salary of about $51,000, according to a news release Tuesday from Gov. Tate Reeves. Mississippi … Read more
Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre has yet to pay back $600,000 he received from the state of Mississippi for multiple speaking events where he never showed up, authorities said Tuesday. He promised to repay the state after an audit released in May 2020 revealed $1.1 million had been paid to Favre’s company, Favre Enterprises. The … Read more
Tennessee’s state veterinarian says two new cases of an illness that could kill horses have been found in Shelby County. State veterinarian Samantha Beaty said in a news release that two horses in Tennessee’s most populous county recently tested positive for equine infectious anemia. She says their stable is under quarantine while other horses get … Read more
Mississippi will stop accepting supplemental unemployment benefits from the federal government next month, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday. Reeves said the weekly supplement of $300 per person was intended to help people “who are unemployed through no fault of their own” because of the coronavirus pandemic. Alabama, Arkansas, Montana and South Carolina are also … Read more
Mississippi legislators are not in session now, so it could be months before they start deciding how to spend $1.8 billion in the latest round of pandemic relief from the federal government. Mississippi will receive part of the money this year and the rest next year. The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday released details about … Read more