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The U.S. Department of the Interior will offer offshore Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida for oil and gas exploration and development //snipp// This will be the largest such lease sale in the country's history, it will include almost 77 million acres of federal waters in the Gulf. The lease sale will be live streamed online from New Orleans.

An inmate who escaped in George County, Mississippi, was captured after being shot after allegedly carjacking a vehicle from a concealed carry permit holder. The Clarion Ledger reports that the inmate, 37-year-old Eugene Robinson, escaped George County Regional Correctional Facility on Saturday “after tying up an officer and stealing the officer’s truck.” WCBI indicates Robinson allegedly carjacked a vehicle from a concealed permit holder on Wednesday at North Lake Circle and Highway 9 and was shot while trying to drive away. He was struck at least once and was later located and taken to a hospital in Starkville. Robinson was...

Former Mississippi Republican governor Haley Barbour was arrested last week for trying to bring a loaded gun through the airport in Jackson, Mississippi. The Hattiesburg Patriot broke the story Tuesday, confirming that Barbour was caught by airport police but still boarded his flight after he posted bond for his crime. The former governor was arrested by airport police, posted bond, and was able to catch his flight. ".38 caliber revolver loaded with five bullets"

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear two cases challenging a Mississippi law that allows businesses and government employees to deny services to LGBT people based on their religious beliefs. The court’s refusal to hear the case leaves intact the law, known as H.B. 1523, that says the state government will not take any discriminatory action against persons who don’t believe in same-sex marriage, homosexuality and transgenderism. LGBT rights groups called the law the “worst in the nation” and the Supreme Court’s decision a “missed opportunity.” “The Court’s inaction today means that LGBTQ Mississippians will continue to face harassment...

Relativity Space, a Los Angeles orbital launch startup, has just released a short video showing its innovative Aeon 1 3D printed rocket engine in action. The impressive piece of equipment consists of just three 3D printed parts and is capable of reaching full thrust force in milliseconds. We’ve known for awhile that Relativity Space was working on some pretty cool stuff. This past October, for instance, the company announced the development of the Stargate 3D printer, which it says it the largest metal 3D printing system in the world. The machine, which consists of multiple laser-equipped Kuka robotic arms and...

A Mississippi mother of two has been arrested for allegedly sending text messages claiming that she choked her baby with a phone charger and left her in a wooded area. Deputies arrested Santangela Turner, 26, of Laurel, after she allegedly sent photos of herself using a white cord to strangle her three-month-old daughter’s neck and of the infant with a knife aimed at her neck, the Daily Mail reported. The woman threatened to harm the infant in one of the text messages and added a photo of the baby with a cord wrapped around her neck, according to the Jones...

Back in November, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, the 83-year-old Republican from Utah, was at the helm when the Senate's massive tax bill came through the Finance Committee. But Hatch also deputized four younger Republicans on the panel to serve as de facto co-chairmen over various parts of the legislation. This week, with a compromise bill marching toward final passage in both chambers, the House will take the unusual step of voting first - because a pair of senators, Thad Cochran, R-Miss., and John McCain, R-Ariz., are recuperating from, respectively, non-melanoma skin surgery and the side effects of cancer treatments. Hatch's...

The Mississippi Supreme Court heard arguments last week about whether a boy born to a lesbian couple should be legally considered the biological son of his mother's female partner. Because of the nature of the child’s conception and the relationship of the adults in his life, the story is complicated. The two women who were “married” chose to have a child that would be conceived in one of them via anonymous sperm donation. The boy is now six years old. His mother’s “ex-spouse,” who helped raise the child from birth, sought to be recognized as a biological parent when the...

Chris McDaniel is keeping a close eye on the U.S. Senate race in neighboring Alabama as he mulls whether to mount his own Trump-style bid to challenge Sen. Roger F. Wicker in the Republican primary in Mississippi next year. Since then, Donald Trump’s stunning presidential victory and Alabama Republican Roy Moore’s bid for a Senate seat have told Mr. McDaniel that the Washington establishment is still missing what the voters are saying. “Naturally, the people of Mississippi, the people of Alabama, we have never been extraordinarily trustful of D.C., but now we look at it almost with a degree of...

Reps. John Lewis (D-GA) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS) announced they will no longer be attending the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum on Saturday because President Trump will be there. The two African American congressmen issued a joint statement about their decision, arguing Trump’s presence ‘disrespects’ the efforts of Mississippi’s black civil rights leaders. "Trump’s attendance and his hurtful policies are an insult to the people portrayed in this civil rights museum. The struggles represented in this museum exemplify the truth of what really happened in Mississippi. President Trump’s disparaging comments about women, the disabled, immigrants and National Football...

The NAACP on Tuesday announced opposition to President Trump attending the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum this weekend, saying he has created a "racially hostile climate." [Snip] Amos Brown, an NAACP board member and Jackson native, called Trump’s planned appearance "an insult." Trump has repeatedly faced backlash for making inflammatory statements about minority groups and sparked controversy after the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., for saying that "both sides" were to blame. He has been harshly critical of NFL players who kneel during the national anthem to protest racial inequality, and feuded with the father of...

Republican Judge Roy Moore regained his lead over ultra-liberal Democrat Doug Jones in the Alabama senate race this week after weeks of liberal media attacks and allegations from 38 years ago. Roy Moore leads the race by 6 points in Alabama. And so it should come as no surprise that Democrats are urging out of state voters to cheat for them. Democrat activists are calling on black voters in Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina to travel to Alabama to vote for the far left candidate Doug Jones. Via Big League Politics: Democratic activists are making a last-minute push to get...

Onslow County, N.C. (WLOS) — Onslow County Sheriff Hans Miller is asking local residents who want to help in the search for a missing 3-year-old girl to check their own property. A statewide Amber Alert was issued for Mariah Woods after she was reported missing from her home outside of Jacksonville early Monday morning. Sheriff Miller said in a press conference Wednesday that property owners should look around their homes for any clues that might help find Mariah Woods. The FBI joined the search Tuesday. Mariah's biological father is questioning the reporting kidnapping, saying it's hard to believe no one...

A school in Mississippi is dropping its connection to the American Confederacy's only president, Jefferson Davis, and renaming itself after President Barack Obama. Davis International Baccalaureate Elementary School in Jackson will be renamed Barack Obama Magnet IB following a vote. The move, which when approved will come into force in the next academic year, was proposed by parents and approved by a majority of students, parents, faculty and staff members. Ninety-eight percent of the students who attend the school are African-American.

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"I can assure you this is not a house cat," Sluder said in a Facebook post. "It looks to be the same size as a medium to large dog." Wildlife officials have said that big cats like panthers or cougars have been extinct in Mississippi for 100 years due to habitat changes and hunting, but people claim to have spotted the animals over the past 30 years . "Most biologists credit these sightings to misidentification, released exotic pets or (rarely) animals passing through from places like Texas where lions still live," the Mississippi State University Extension Service says. No word...

The Biloxi School District got complaints about the wording in “To Kill A Mockingbird” — an American classic being taught in 8th grade English Language Arts classes — and pulled it from the curriculum. It was an administrative and department decision, a member of the school board said, and not something that the school board voted on. It happened Wednesday or Thursday. Kenny Holloway, vice president of the Biloxi School Board said, “There were complaints about it. There is some language in the book that makes people uncomfortable, and we can teach the same lesson with other books. “It’s still...

After a brief pause in tropical activity, another system formed Wednesday in the Caribbean and will likely become Tropical Storm Nate, according to the National Hurricane Center. Tropical Depression 16 is located about 210 miles south-southeast of Cabo Gracias a Dios on the border of Nicaragua and Honduras, the weather service said in its 11 a.m. ET advisory. The system has sustained winds of about 35 mph, moving northwest at 7 mph, and "is expected to become a tropical storm later today or tonight." Meteorologist Adam Klotz has more Video NOAA predicts most active hurricane season since 2010 "On the...

Video at the link. Full title: Wow | River gauges/pics show the Mighty Mississippi River going dry! - NEW Tropical Storms The vlogger received photos from some truckers who pass by the Mississippi River frequently. They said it's lower than they've ever seen it before. The vlogger accesses NOAA water level information that indicates water levels too low (or absent) in some stretches of the river to permit shipping.

JACKSON, Miss. — The Jackson chapter of the NAACP plans to ask local high school and college football players to take a knee at their next game, leaders said Tuesday. President Donald Trump on Sunday called for fans to boycott NFL games unless the league takes action against players who choose to kneel during the national anthem. Advertisement Following a weekend of kneeling and protesting across the NFL, the Cowboys and their owner displayed their own version of unity Monday night by kneeling on the field before rising as a group before the playing of the national anthem. Jackson State...