Mississippi became more diverse during the past decade, but it is also one of only three states that lost population, according to 2020 Census numbers released Monday. The population loss was not large enough to cost Mississippi a congressional seat this time. The state dropped from five U.S. House seats to four after the 2000 … Read more
Tennessee will keep its nine U.S. House seats after its population grew nearly 9% from 2010 to 2020. According to initial numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Monday, Tennessee had 6.9 million residents in the latest one-a-decade population count. That’s up from the 6.3 million reported in 2010. Republicans hold seven of the … Read more
Tennessee lawmakers have passed legislation designed to prevent death row inmates with an intellectual disability from being executed. The GOP-supermajority House and Senate passed the bill by wide margins Monday. Advocates point to inmate Pervis Payne, who attorneys call intellectually disabled as he awaits an execution date. Payne was sentenced to death in the 1987 … Read more
A federal appeals court has reinstated a 48-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions in Tennessee as the state appeals a judge’s ruling in the case. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued its ruling Friday in a case that stems from a challenge to a 2015 law in Tennessee. The law required women … Read more
A group of Tennessee Medicaid recipients has filed a lawsuit seeking to halt a plan that would make contentious changes to the state’s program designed to provide medical coverage to the poor. According to the federal lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Tennessee Justice Center claims the … Read more
Bloody clashes that brought Mississippi’s prison system under federal scrutiny last year were part of a dramatic increase in reported cases of violence behind bars. The Mississippi Department of Corrections logged 853 incidents of inmate-on-inmate assaults during the 2020 state budget year, which ended June 30. That was a 29% increase from the previous year. … Read more
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the new Snowden Grove Park soccer complex in Southaven. Mayor Darren Musselwhite led the ceremony. Things get underweay quickly, as the city prepares to host the 36 team SpringFest Cup tournament at the new 5-million dollar complex. The city has also recently invested millions of dollars in baseball … Read more
Federal officials have approved a major disaster declaration for Tennessee’s February winter storms. State officials say the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s declaration will help 13 counties impacted by severe winter weather from Feb. 11-19. The declaration by President Joe Biden’s administration lets the counties seek reimbursement for emergency work and repair or replacement of disaster-damaged … Read more
Former Tennessee senator Thelma Harper, who became the first African-American woman elected to the state Senate, has died. She was 80. The longtime Nashville lawmaker’s daughter, Linda Harper, said in a statement that her mother died “peacefully and unexpectedly” Thursday while holding her hand. Harper became a senator in 1989 and was first elected to … Read more
A new Mississippi law will make more inmates eligible for the possibility of parole in a state with one of the highest incarceration rates in the nation. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves on Thursday signed Senate Bill 2795, and it will become law July 1. “Criminal Justice reform. It means a lot of different things to … Read more