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URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 296 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 335 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2008 THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ARKANSAS NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 335 PM UNTIL 1000 PM CDT. ...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION... DESTRUCTIVE TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 2.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER... THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 65 MILES...

Tornado blows vehicles off highway in N. Carolina, kills 1 By JAY REEVES – 3 hours ago A damaged vehicle sits in the Mississippi Department of Transportation parking lot surrounded by twisted metal after a line of sever weather moved through the area Thursday, May 8, 2008, in Tupelo Miss. A number of northeast Mississippi counties and portions of northwest Alabama were under tornado watches or warnings until midafternoon Thursday. (AP Photo/Ryan Moore) Mississippi Department of Transportation road crews work to clear downed trees and power lines from streets in Tupelo Miss. after a line of sever weather moved through...

A tornado has hit Tupelo, MS. If anyone on the ground has more info, please share. Thx... MM

REDWOOD, Miss. (AP) - A county sheriff says an explosion at a paper mill has killed two people and left nearly a dozen missing. Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace confirmed the deaths Saturday at the International Paper mill in Redwood. He told WJTV in Jackson that nearly a dozen people are missing and nearly 20 others are injured. The mill employs about 300 people in and around Warren County. The county is west of Jackson.

Cheney to appear in 'get out the vote' rally at the Desoto Civic Center SOUTHAVEN - White House officials confirmed Friday that U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney will make a campaign stop on behalf of 1st U.S. Congressional candidate Greg Davis May 12, the eve of the run-off election with Democrat Travis Childers. "We can confirm the vice president will be attending a get out the vote rally for Greg Davis," Jamie Breland, spokesperson in the White House Press Office of Vice President Dick Cheney, said Friday. Tentative arrangements call for Cheney to appear with Davis in an afternoon rally...

The U.S. Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command suspended all T-38C Talon jet trainer flights on May 1 after a second fatal crash in as many weeks. Two pilots were killed on the morning of May 1 when their aircraft assigned to the 80th Flying Training Wing at Sheppard Air Force Base crashed. Names of the victims of the latest accident have not been released. The other crash occurred during takeoff of a T-38 at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi on April 23. Instructor pilot Major Blair Faulkner of the 43rd Flying Training Squadron and student pilot 2nd Lt....

May 1, 2008– Former Presidential candidate and Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee will be attending a “Meet and Greet” for Greg Davis, candidate for Congress in Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District. Governor Huckabee is in town to endorse Greg Davis and to ensure that the residents of the district come out and support Davis’ bid for Congress. With the special election runoff on May 13, Governor Huckabee will meet with Greg Davis and his supporters this Saturday, May 3rd at 9:45AM at Joe Joe’s Espresso & Café in Tupelo, MS. Davis stated “I’m honored to welcome Governor Huckabee to Mississippi. He...

Video link of the new ad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCdgQBGnhHw Is Barack Obama Really THIS Unpopular? I wrote yesterday about Travis Childers, the Democratic candidate for Congress in Mississippi's first Congressional District. Childer's Republican opponent has been airing an ad that points out that Childers has received support from Barack Obama. In what seems a desperate attempt to preserve his general election chances, Childers has cut a stunning new ad: Childers describes the association with Barack Obama as an attack. Is that what's in store for the likely Democratic presidential candidate from other Democrats in targeted districts? It's going to make for an...

Watch this news report on MS-1 special election, it's hilarious. Obama is rapidly becoming democratic candidates' nightmare. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE1oN4bYjyg

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour yesterday said that he is too conservative to be John McCain's running mate but that the Arizona senator's maverick reputation will help him in an election in which moderates and independents will be more important than in recent years. Mr. Barbour also urged Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, not to name his pick for vice president until after the Democrats' convention, when he can draw the sharpest distinction between the parties. Mr. McCain will depend on "persuasion" to snare independents and disgruntled Democrats on Nov. 4, unlike George W. Bush in the 2000 and...

The crash of a T-38 training aircraft on a runway at Columbus Air Force Base at about 12:30 p.m. today killed two pilots, according to Air Force spokespersons. Witnesses reported seeing a large plume of smoke coming from the sprawling base complex and at least two ambulances going to the scene. The base runways were closed and by 2 p.m., eight T-6 aircraft from CAFB that were out on training missions had been diverted to Golden Triangle Regional Airport. Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant said he was on the scene but could not release any details. But in a press...

In the first two advertisements of their kind, Republicans seeking an advantage in a Mississippi special election are invoking Barack Obama in arguing that a Democratic Congressional candidate is too liberal for his district. That flies in the face of what has been conventional wisdom for months among national Democratic strategists who have not publicly taken sides in the presidential contest; many privately express more hope in Obama's potential coattails than in rival Hillary Clinton's. But while Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have made appearances in Republican advertisements before, the GOP is now taking on Obama, reflecting both...

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sPeQ2mKRro The Republican candidate in a special election to fill an unexpectedly contested seat in a conservative Mississippi congressional district is using recent controversies surrounding Senator Barack Obama to tar his Democratic rival. A television ad from Southaven Mayor Greg Davis tells viewers that his Democratic rival, Travis Childers, a realtor and Prentiss County official, has accepted the endorsement of "liberal Barack Obama." Then, with Childers' face beside footage of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, it says, "When Obama's pastor cursed America, blaming us for 9/11, Childers said nothing." Then: "When Obama ridiculed rural folks for clinging to guns and...

JACKSON, Miss. - A mentally disabled man who was given a fake lie detector test is still waiting for a settlement after six years. Pearl police admitted that officers put a lampshade on Huey Granger's head in June 2002. Granger had filed a police report claiming that his daughter was attacked by her boyfriend in their Pearl home. While at the police station, officers Keith Peterson and Jeff Thames gave him a "fake lie detector test." Granger is adamant that two former Pearl police officers should pay for his pain and humiliation. He is asking for $2 million in a...

U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-OH, blamed labor unions and partisan politics for a U.S. House vote this week rejecting an amendment that could have kept the Delta Queen riverboat from having to phase out its overnight cruise packages. The historic riverboat has been operating with a special Congressional exemption from the federal Safety at Sea Act since 1968, an exemption that has been renewed eight times. The safety act bans the use of wooden vessels for overnight cruises. Backers of the exemption claim the Delta Queen deserves special treatment because of its historical significance and recently upgraded fire-safety systems. With...

In yet another alarming sign for the GOP's prospect's this fall, last night Democrats came within an inch of stealing one of the most Republican districts in the Deep South. In the special election to replace now-Senator Roger Wicker in Mississippi's 1st Congressional District, Democrat Travis Childers fell just 400 votes short of the 50% plus one mark, which would have avoided a run-off and won the seat outright. Still, Democrats are ecstatic that their candidate won 2,000 more votes overall than the Republican candidate, Southaven Mayor Greg Davis. With 100% of precincts reporting, Childers won 49.4% to Davis' 46.3%....

Democrat Travis W. Childers led the field and just narrowly missed the majority vote he needed for an outright victory in a special election held Tuesday in Mississippi’s 1st District. Childers now moves on to a May 13 runoff with Republican Greg Davis, the mayor of Southaven, in a district that has a conservative lean and usually votes strongly Republican in contests for federal office. Childers received 49.4 percent, just short of the 50 percent threshold, according to complete but unofficial returns. Davis received 46.3 percent of the vote and trailed Childers by more than 2,000 votes, staving off elimination...

Colonel Raymond and Chief Master Sgt. Timothy Omdal, 21st SW command chief, visited the detachment, based at Moron Air Base, Spain, to get a first-hand look at how the unit contributes to U.S. Strategic Command’s space control mission of detecting, tracking and identifying all manmade deep-space objects.

My local board of supervisors donated $10K to the Red Cross, very generous with my tax money i suspect. Here is my letter to the editor: BOARD DONATES TO RED CROSS Let's see now 5 supervisors on the board donated a total of $10,000. that is a very generous donation of an average of $2000 each. I commend them for their generosity, assuming they personally made the donation and didn't use my taxes to make a donation in their name. If I was forced to participate in that donation against my will, I demand to know the specific law that...

GULFPORT, Miss. — After the federal government announced in February that it would no longer use travel trailers to house the victims of future disasters, there was an initial sense of relief along the hurricane-scarred Gulf Coast. The flimsy little white boxes are unpleasant to live in and tainted with toxic formaldehyde fumes. And they cost the federal government billions of dollars. But that relief quickly turned to exasperation when it became clear that the government did not have an immediate backup plan. Without the trailers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has no reliable way to rush immediate shelter to...

DETROIT, April 7 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co on Monday outlined plans to enter the U.S. market for light work trucks and said it planned a $118-million expansion to its Canton, Mississippi, plant to roll out three new models. Nissan <7201.T> said it had forged partnerships with Cummins Inc to supply diesel engines and ZF Friedrichshafen AG for automatic transmissions. The components will be used to power a line of yet-to-be announced work trucks Nissan said it will launch starting in 2010, a move that takes aim at a steady market now dominated by General Motors Corp and Ford Motor...

Nissan Motor Co. plans to break into the U.S. market for light commercial vehicles, and the move means more work for Cummins Inc. The Columbus company will make diesel engines for the three new offerings, Nissan said. Nissan wouldn't discuss specifics, but officials said the vehicles will range from pickup trucks to buses and that they'll hit the market in the first half of 2010, according to the Associated Press. Nissan officials made the announcement at a Monday press conference in Detroit. Nissan will spend $118 million to expand a Canton, Miss., production plant to build the vehicles, and German-based...

9-month-old spent night trapped HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss. -- A baby girl who spent a rainy night trapped in rubble after a house caught fire and exploded was pulled alive from the wreckage late Friday morning. The girl, identified by neighbors as Olandrea Chanelle Elliott, 9 months, was in stable condition at Alliance HealthCare in Holly Springs on Friday afternoon before being transferred to North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo. Three adults in the home were burned and were being treated at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis. Rescue workers searched for the girl throughout the night after the explosion at...

Could Rush Limbaugh be responsible for tipping the election outcome in a key Republican primary to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Roger Wicker in Mississippi? That’s what some Republican operatives in the state are suggesting. As part of his self-described “Operation Chaos,” the conservative talk-show host urged his listeners to vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primary in order to draw out the presidential nomination process as long as possible. But in Mississippi, those party-switchers may not have realized the implications of their decision: The Republicans who voted in last month’s Democratic primary now are not...

Black Democrats are voting largely along racial lines. With few policy differences between the candidates, Obama won 92 percent of the black vote in Mississippi, 91 percent in Wisconsin, 87 percent in Ohio, 84 percent in Maryland, and 84 percent in Texas. White Democrats are voting significantly less along racial lines, but there are still divisions. There seems to be no chance Clinton can win more black votes against Obama, so her only hope is to encourage more whites to vote along racial lines. No one in the campaign would ever say such a thing — they certainly haven't to...

Thank you. It's good to be back in Meridian. As you might know, I was once a flight instructor here at the air field named for my grandfather during my long past and misspent youth. And it's always good to be in Mississippi, which you could call my ancestral home. Generations of McCains were born and raised in Carroll County, on land that had been in our family since 1848. The last McCain to live on the property, which the family called Teoc, was my grandfather's brother, Joe McCain. I spent a couple summers here as a young boy, and...

Richard F. "Dickie" Scruggs has a gentlemanly demeanor seemingly at odds with his profession as a take-no-prisoners trial litigator. A decade ago, the Mississippi native was riding high. Nobody in the plaintiffs' bar struck as much fear in the hearts of the nation's tobacco manufacturers as he. Now his career appears over, a casualty of scandal, though not of the sort that recently felled securities-industry scourge William Lerach. This March 14, Scruggs, along with his Oxford, Miss. law firm partner, Sidney Backstrom, pleaded guilty in federal court to bribery charges. According to the indictment, the pair, along with three other...

A disabled Biloxi Air Force veteran was one of two men arrested Tuesday on charges of lying about receiving military medals, including the Purple Heart. The Department of Veterans Affairs filed criminal complaints against Christopher Billeaud, 52, of Biloxi and John Wayne Lebo, 57, of Tylertown. Both men were released on unsecured bonds of $25,000 and $5,000, respectively. Both face a year in prison and $100,000 fines for each violation. Billeaud is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm and the Gulf Coast chapter president of the National Defense Transportation Association. He is accused of altering his discharge papers to indicate...

JACKSON – Legislation designed to crack down on illegal immigrants and the businesses that hire them was signed into law Monday by Gov. Haley Barbour, but not without reservations. In signing the legislation late Monday, Barbour released a statement asking the Legislature to modify the law he had just signed. Under the bill and now law, employers are required to check with the federal Electronic-Verification system to ensure potential employees are legal. Failure to do so could result in a business losing its license to operate in the state. Barbour said there are possible flaws in the e-verify system. "Mississippi's...

JACKSON, Miss. --Mississippi's Republican governor campaigned last year on minimizing government regulation of business, but he signed bill Monday that he said will require employers to use an unproven federal system to check immigrants' status. Haley Barbour said he has "serious concerns about specific provisions of the bill that could have unintended negative consequences." The bill becomes law Jan. 1. It will require employers to use the U.S. Homeland Security electronic verification system to check whether new hires are legal residents. Employers who hire illegal immigrants could lose their business license for a year and any state contract work for...

Northrop Grumman Corp. hired the lobbying firm of former U.S. Senator Trent Lott to help protect its newly won $35 billion Air Force tanker contract from challenges by losing bidder Boeing Co. and some lawmakers. Los Angeles-based Northrop and partner European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co., the owner of Airbus SAS, won the contract on Feb. 29. Boeing, which has built aerial refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force since 1956, appealed the decision last week and the leader of the U.S. House panel that controls military spending has threatened to cut funds for the program. Boeing's March 11 protest...

Tell Gov. Barbour to sign immigration enforcement bill! This is a special message for NumbersUSA members in Mississippi. Dear Mississippi friends, Last week, the Mississippi state legislature passed SB 2988, a bill requiring all employers in the state to use E-Verify to determine their employees’ eligibility to work in the United States. The bill, which passed the Senate 52-0 and passed the House 112-8, was sent to Governor Hayley Barbour (R) for signature. Today is the deadline for signing the bill. While campaigning for reelection in 2007, Governor Barbour ran on a platform that advocated cracking down on illegal immigration....

Scruggs Was Charged With Conspiring to Pay a State Judge $40,000 in Cash in Exchange for a Favorable Ruling Attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, famous for winning billions of dollars from the big tobacco companies, has pleaded guilty to charges of trying to bribe a Mississippi judge, according the Associated Press.

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation on Wednesday announced it will close a chicken processing complex and six of its 13 distribution centers in the United States. None of the impacted facilities are in Texas. Company officials said the action was in response to what they deemed a crisis facing the U.S. chicken industry from soaring feed-ingredient costs resulting from corn-based ethanol production."Our Company and industry are struggling to cope with unprecedented increases in feed-ingredient costs this year due largely to the U.S. government's ill-advised policy of providing generous federal subsidies to corn-based ethanol blenders," said Clint Rivers, president and chief executive officer....

As expected, Illinois Senator Barack Obama has won the Mississippi Democratic primary over New York Senator Hillary Clinton, according to the Associated Press. The A.P.'s numbers show Obama coasting to victory over Clinton, who on Monday had already turned her attention to the battleground state of Pennsylvania. Heading into Tuesday's primary, Obama led Clinton in the overall delegate count, 1,591-1,467, with 33 delegates up for grabs in Mississippi. Obama spent the first half of the day in Mississippi before also moving on to Pennsylvania. On Tuesday he asked Clinton to drop Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro from her campaign for saying the...

Barack Obama won the Mississippi Democratic primary Tuesday, FOX News projects, giving him an expected but vital victory as he tries to fracture the momentum Hillary Clinton picked up with her wins one week earlier. John McCain won on the GOP side, but the Arizona senator has already locked down the nomination and faced no major rivals Tuesday. Polls consistently showed that Obama was favored to win in Mississippi. The state’s sizable black electorate was poised to give him a big boost, as it has in other southern states like Georgia and South Carolina. Mississippi offers 33 delegates.

In case anyone cares -- nobody has started this yet.

Mississippi goes to the primary polls today, and the question will be whether Barack Obama can regain his momentum after three losses last week. He has already begun his effort to find his footing, accusing Hillary Clinton of the heinous crime of acting Republican. Republicans who have been on the receiving end of the Clinton machine will have a laugh at that assertion: Barack Obama continued to go after Hillary Clinton this evening, accusing her of using “Republican tactics” against him.“When in the midst of a campaign you decide to throw the kitchen sink at your opponent because you’re behind,”...

Barack Obama has overwhelming support in the few polls conducted in Mississippi. The latest, by InsiderAdvantage, puts him at +17% and suggests that he will have "a solid win" today. This poll and all of Mississippi's polls were weighted to reflect the expected demographics of voters in the state as a whole. That is, the pollsters adjusted the numbers to account for age, race, and gender. All three categories are important predictors of voting behavior, particularly in this primary contest. But the pollsters forgot one important thing: not all districts are demographically equal. That omission may cause Obama to lose...

Obama Campaign's Negative Tactics in Stark Contrast to Real Solutions Presented by Hillary in Visits with Mississippians Jackson, MS - Mississippi for Hillary campaign co-chairs State Representative George Flaggs and former State Senator Gloria Williamson today decried the negative tone of Sen. Obama’s campaign in Mississippi, in contrast to the real solutions Hillary has offered the people of Mississippi in her visits to the state. "I'm supporting Hillary because her campaign is based on providing solutions to the many challenges facing the working men and women of Mississippi," said State Representative George Flaggs, Mississippi for Hillary campaign co-chair. "This is...

If Hillary Clinton's latest gambit--floating Obama as her VP--had been a play rather than a ploy, and the Today crew the theater critics, they would have left at intermission to begin penning a blistering pan. Interviewing Tim Russert, Matt Lauer kicked off the kicking around of Hillary's idea. MATT LAUER: Let's talk about this idea. Is it being floated seriously? Is this light-hearted, and who's behind it? TIM RUSSERT: Well the Clintons are behind it, and New York Daily News columnist Michael Goodwin said today that he talked to a Clintonista who said it's an attempt to belittle Barack Obama,...

Okay people, I'm open for suggestions. Here's what the ballot will probably look like. Who would y'all suggest we elect? Mississippi Voter Guide All Races  Presidential Race Democrats: • Hillary Clinton • Mike Gravel • Barack Obama Republicans: • Mike Huckabee • Alan Keyes • John McCain • Ron Paul Other: • Jesse Johnson (Green) • Cynthia McKinney (Green) • Kent Mesplay (Green) • Kat Swift (Green) Independents: • Ralph Nader (i) = incumbent  U.S. Senate, MS Democrats: • Erik Fleming • Ronnie Musgrove • Shawn O'Hara Republicans: • Thad Cochran ( i ) • Roger Wicker ( i )...

Democratic presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton tried to backpedal Friday from comments she made in October suggesting Mississippi was a backward place for women's progress. Speaking to radio station WJZD-FM in Gulfport, Miss., the former first lady said the comments she made about the state in the run up to the Iowa caucuses "were not exactly what I said," even though they came directly from an interview she gave to the Des Moines Register in October. Clinton was on a campaign swing through Mississippi before Tuesday's Democratic presidential primary. The newspaper quoted the New York senator discussing Iowa and Mississippi...

CAMP SHELBY JOINT FORCES TRAINING CENTER, Miss., March 4, 2008 – Fourteen soldiers with the Arkansas National Guard's 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team were injured last night when severe weather passed through Camp Shelby. Army Lt. Col. James Treece, commander of 217th Brigade Support Battalion, stands next to wreckage of a barracks at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, Miss., March 3, 2008. Severe weather damaged the barracks and injured 14 soldiers with the Arkansas National Guard's 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Photo by Maj. Craig Heathscott, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Injuries were mainly limited to...

REFUGIO, Texas - With an abandoned Wild West-vintage town of storefronts slumbering just a block from old US 77, tiny Refugio is a place where myth and reality coexist in a ghostly silence. more stories like this Obama faces heat over aide's NAFTA remarks to Canadians Texas, Ohio could decide Dem nomination Canada says didn't misrepresent Obama over NAFTA McCain tags Dems on trade treaty NAFTA seen differently in Ohio, Texas And now this South Texas outpost is swept up in one of the more intriguing tests of myth vs. reality in today's political life: the battle over the so-called...

(CNN) -- A possible tornado touched down late Monday in southern Mississippi, slashing through a National Guard barracks and injuring 14 guardsmen, according to a sheriff and a military spokesman. Lt. Col. Doril Sanders, a spokesman for Camp Shelby, said severe weather hit the facility around 11:25 p.m. CT. The barracks housed guardsmen from Mena, Arkansas, who are training at Shelby. They were taken to Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg with injuries that aren't life-threatening, Sanders said. The Forrest County Sheriff's Department said a tornado was reported, with the most significant damage at the camp. Camp Shelby is a Joint...

Robert Beasley says he is “training young adults to be professional” — and he approaches his job with all the enthusiasm of an evangelist. Beasley, 48, is a career specialist with Arbor Education and Training located at the Greenwood WIN Job Center. The program teaches young adults how to act during an interview, complete a job application, assemble a resume and cover letter and perform other related tasks. “Basically, we’re giving them the skills to find a job, to get a job and to keep that job,” said Beasley, a Greenwood native and Jackson State University graduate. Arbor Education and...

Soybean seed shortage to increase production risks By Robert H. Wells Delta Research and Extension Center STONEVILLE -- With soybean seed in short supply in 2008, Mississippi soybean growers are facing increased production risks including unproven varieties and poor-quality seed. Mississippi State University Extension Service specialists recommend producers research available varieties to minimize these risks. “We’re not going to have replant options this year because of the seed shortage,” said Trey Koger, MSU Extension soybean specialist. “Most likely we are going to have one shot at getting a stand, and we don’t need to plant too early when conditions are...

Harrison County Democrats held a caucus on Saturday, and nobody showed up. The good weather, said party chairman Andrew "FoFo" Gilich, was partly to blame. "It was a nice day. It was probably hard to break away," he said, referring to family activities. The caucus is held every four years, he said, and has two goals: to elect delegates for the county's Executive Committee, which oversees elections for a four year term, and to elect county delegates for conventions. Local delegates help select national delegates for the Democratic National Convention, set for August in Denver.

Help us convince the GOP nominee to pick Haley Barbour as his vice-presidential running mate; and help convince Haley to say, “YES!” Our goal is to deliver a petition signed by 50,000 GOP supporters to the presumptive GOP nominee and to Governor Barbour by March 1, 2008.