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3 months ago
Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion
By Magnolia Tribune Staff on
3 months ago
In January 2016, the 50th anniversary of the 1966 killing of Vernon Dahmer Sr., the Mississippi Legislature honored him and his family in the Senate chamber. Afterward then-Sen. John Horhn, who introduced the measure, posed with the family and others, including Hollis Watkins, a civil rights activist who stayed with the family in 1961 and worked on voting rights. Credit: Jerry Mitchell/Mississippi Today
Mafia hitman Gregory Scarpa Sr. pocketed millions from drug dealing, donned a seven-carat pinky ring and shot to death so many people that he stopped counting at 50.
Oh, and he helped the FBI solve who killed Mississippi NAACP leader Vernon Dahmer Sr.
Hollywood plans to release a movie next year on Scarpa’s role in the Dahmer case, “By Any Means,” starring Mark Wahlberg as the mobster.
By Jerry Mitchell - Mississippi Today on
3 months ago
Mississippi’s vaccination rate has thus far been keeping pace with or exceeding national averages. The U.S. is at risk of losing its measles elimination status if transmissions continue into next year.
As a new year begins, healthcare officials are advising residents to get vaccinated against preventable ailments including influenza and measles, especially in at-risk populations.
By Jeremy Pittari - Magnolia Tribune on
3 months ago
Notes and quotes from the Sugar Bowl:
The biggest news of Sugar Bowl Media Day Tuesday was splendid news for Ole Miss football fans.
All American running back Kewan Lacy pronounced himself “ready to go” for Thursday’s Sugar Bowl match with Georgia, and his coach, Pete Golding, confirmed Lacy’s status, saying, “I couldn’t agree with him more!”
“I am excited to watch (Lacy) got out and play and play really well,” Golding said.
By Rick Cleveland - Mississippi Today on
3 months ago
The similarities of these two Sugar Bowl head coaches are many. Georgia football coach Kirby Smart’s dad was a high school football coach. So is Ole Miss coach Pete Golding’s daddy.
Smart played defensive back, safety to be exact. So did Golding.
When both Smart and Golding finished their playing days, they hired on as graduate assistant coaches at their alma maters.
Following those apprenticeships both Smart and Golding cut their coaching teeth in the Division II Gulf South Conference, Kirby at Valdosta State and Pete at his alma mater, Delta State.
By Rick Cleveland - Mississippi Today on
3 months ago
Below is an opinion column by Sid Salter:
Columnist Sid Salter says in both eras, Mississippi benefited from a senator who understood defense not just as policy, but as economic reality.
Mississippi has enjoyed an outsized role in national defense for most of the modern era. From World War II airfields to Cold War shipyards to today’s cyber, space, and naval missions, the Magnolia State has long punched above its weight in the Pentagon’s ledger.
By Sid Salter - Contributing Columnist on
3 months ago
“People think they have to go far to experience something new, but Mississippi has incredible stories to share, too.”
Jane Halbert Jones once invited three strangers to join her at a packed Parisian café, guided by an instinct she learned in Mississippi, where hospitality isn’t simply performative. It’s personal.
“I’m constantly showing our Mississippi hospitality,” says Jones.
By Richelle Putnam - Magnolia Tribune on
3 months ago
Below is an opinion column by Russ Latino:
Americans have become a nation of perpetual whiners that imagine themselves as cosmic victims, despite being alive in the softest, most opulent time in human history. We should knock that crap off. Happy New Year.
By Russ Latino - Magnolia Tribune on
3 months ago
Nancy Carpenter poses for a portrait during the Our American Story event at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, Miss., on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. The national tour, organized by America250, aims to collect stories from people across the country as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
For the next year, Mississippi will take part in America250, a variety of projects, initiatives and programming aimed at unifying Americans while venerating the country’s history, culture and ideas in celebration of the country’s upcoming 250th birthday.
Nancy Carpenter, America250 Mississippi’s development director, said that these celebrations are open to every American, regardless of their background or beliefs.
By Simeon Gates - Mississippi Today on
3 months ago
When the Mississippi Legislature reconvenes in the Capitol’s marbled halls in January, one voice will scarcely be heard: constituents’.
Citizens and advocates are occasionally invited by lawmakers to speak at the Capitol. But unlike some other statehouses in the U.S., there are no formal opportunities for constituents in Mississippi to provide public comment or testimony in committee hearings, remotely or in writing.
By Gwen Dilworth - Mississippi Today on
3 months ago
Eating healthy requires an intentional effort, and without much effort, it’s easy to find resources and initiatives around the state to help consumers make informed choices about their food and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
By Susan Marquez - Magnolia Tribune on
3 months ago
Members of the House Select Committee on Voting Rights listen as Samantha Buckley, director of policy for the Secure Democracy Foundation, presents during the committee’s first meeting at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Miss., on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. The committee will consider restoring voting rights for people with felony convictions, reinstating the ballot initiative and no excuse early voting ahead of the next legislative session. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
For the fifth straight year, lawmakers will debate restoring Mississippi’s ballot initiative when they convene at the Capitol in January.
House Constitution Chairman Price Wallace, a Republican from Mendenhall, and Senate Elections Chairman Jeremy England, a Republican from Vancleave, told Mississippi Today that they will likely file bills to give Mississippians a way to circumvent the Legislature and place issues on a statewide ballot.
By Taylor Vance - Mississippi Today on
3 months ago
If 76-year-old Archie Manning was listed on the College Football Playoffs injury report for the Sugar Bowl it would say: Ole Miss quarterback Manning (lower back) extremely doubtful.
“My back has just been giving me fits lately. I can hardly get around,” Manning said Tuesday from the St. Charles Avenue condo where he and wife Olivia live. “I could get on the elevator to a suite in the Superdome. It’s just getting to the elevator that’s the problem. But I’ll be watching. You better believe I’ll be watching.”
By Rick Cleveland - Mississippi Today on
3 months ago
After more than five years in office, Gov. Tate Reeves first exercised his power to grant executive clemency earlier this month when he ordered the release of Marcus Taylor, who had been wrongly sentenced to five years longer than the maximum sentence for his charge.
Now, he has exercised that constitutional authority again, this time to free Taylor’s twin brother Maurice.
By Mukta Joshi - Mississippi Today on
3 months ago
The order directs the Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections to release Taylor within five days.
Governor Tate Reeves announced Wednesday that he has signed an Executive Order granting clemency to Maurice Taylor, who he said was illegally sentenced to 20 years in prison, with five years suspended.
Reeves’ order directs the Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections to release Taylor within five days.
By Frank Corder - Magnolia Tribune on
3 months ago
Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion
By Magnolia Tribune Staff on
3 months ago
Oh, come now. That’s only one out. Patrick Taylor has a whole batting order to face. He claims Trump is out with three strikes. (“Trump Has Not Met Expectations of His Supporters,” Northside Sun 12/12/26). OK, but we’re in only the second inning. I’m more than pleased with Trump’s performance after months and it’s a lot better than I thought it would be. There are inaccuracies coming out of Taylor’s hand and sloppy conflation of fact with fiction. Now Taylor is out of strikes and is beginning to throw only balls. My diagnosis: a debilitating case of TDS.
By Robert Penny on
3 months ago
On Wednesday, November 12th, 2025, I attended a breakfast at the Hilton Hotel on County Line Road. It was sponsored by the Jackson Greater Chamber with Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde Smith being the keynote speaker.
By Camille Wright on
3 months ago
After a parent dies, children commonly wish they had asked more questions about their family’s history. Anyone who has ever had that wish would find Christine Kuehn’s new book, Family of Spies, more than just interesting.
In her case the questions came late in her father’s life. And, as it turned out, they were not just about her father’s fighting on Okinawa, the Japanese island where, at age 19, he survived a 1945 battle in which 12,000 Americans were killed. All he would say about that was that he was glad he survived.
By Luther Munford on
3 months ago
Just recently I learned of a Mississippi float in the Tournament of Roses Parade.
That was exciting news, for all of us and especially for me.
I was fortunate to be a volunteer in Pat Frascogna’s project of a float in the parade on
By Al Underwood on
