news

Sen. Younger: Railroad merger is bad for Mississippi and bad for America

Senate chair: The railroad merger between the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern would harm Mississippi’s agriculture and manufacturing.

Here’s how we verified Senatobia Police Chief Vanderford’s racist text messages

Our team at Mississippi Today, Verite News and The New York Times published an exposé revealing that Chief Harold Vanderford routinely used the N-word in text messages. We didn’t just take our source’s word for it — we took steps to verify.

Senate Corrections Chairman Juan Barnett resigns from Legislature

Barnett in the past pushed for earlier release and shortened sentences for many incarcerated in Mississippi prisons, despite his father being shot to death in the early 1990s while Barnett was in the Army deployed to Iraq.

Group wants biotechnology researcher to lead Mississippi University for Women

The Citizens Coalition for MUW and Mississippi School for Mathematics and Sciences also wants the state college board to be more transparent about the search process for the Mississippi University for Women’s next president.

Mississippi prison band offers a glimpse of freedom in a lifetime of punishment

A concert in May at the GRAMMY Museum Mississippi was the third stop on the Parchman Band’s tour through the state with country singer-songwriter Charlie Worsham.

Marshall Ramsey: Mississippi Agriculture Gored Again

Marshall Ramsey’s editorial cartoon shows a man labeled “Mississippi Beef Farmers” being gored by a bull labeled “Trump Beef Imports.”

Advocates call for further reform to Mississippi tenant laws

A woman in a green shirt with glasses resting on her head holds one hand to her chest while standing outside.

State law in Mississippi generally prohibits tenants from withholding rent for needed repairs and restricts when they can make repairs themselves and seek reimbursement.

Scott Colom has a ‘puncher’s chance’ against Cindy Hyde-Smith in Senate election

Mathematically speaking, Democrat Scott Colom’s chances of defeating U.S. Sen. Cindy-Hyde-Smith in the November midterm might be underestimated.

After decades of overhunting and habitat loss, black bears are slowly recolonizing the lower Mississippi River basin

Decades of habitat destruction and overhunting threatened to wipe out the black bear population in the lower Mississippi River basin, but now it’s making a comeback.

Nigerian extradited in sextortion case leading to teen’s death

In 2022, Walker Montgomery died by suicide after Adebola Festus Adekunle, allegedly posing as another person, convinced him to open a video chat and have a sexual encounter then threatened to send the video out if he didn’t pay $1,000.