Ex-Nonprofit head pleads guilty in Mississippi welfare fraud
The former director of a Mississippi nonprofit organization pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to stealing government funds intended to help needy families in one of the poorest states in the U.S., court documents show. Christi Webb, who stepped down this week as director of the north Mississippi-based Family Resource Center, appeared before U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves in Jackson. The federal charges stem from a welfare scandal that has ensnared high-profile figures, including retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre, who lives in Mississippi.
news.yahoo.comBill restricting electric car stores now law in Mississippi
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill Tuesday restricting electric car manufacturers from selling vehicles in person unless they open franchised dealerships. Defying calls from some fellow Republicans in the Legislature to veto the measure, Reeves enacted into law House Bill 401, introduced by Republican Rep. Trey Lamar of Senatobia. The law will force electric car companies such as Tesla and Rivian to sell vehicles through franchises rather than company-owned stores, which is how they currently operate.
news.yahoo.comMississippi man gets 42 years in prison for cross burning
A Mississippi man who burned a cross in his front yard to intimidate his Black neighbors was sentenced Thursday to 42 years in prison. U.S. Southern District of Mississippi Judge Sul Ozerden handed down the sentence after Axel Cox, 24, pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime in December. Cox, of Gulfport, was charged with violating the Fair Housing Act over a December 2020 incident in which he put together a wooden cross in his front yard and propped it up so his Black neighbors could see it.
news.yahoo.comSlain man's mother decries plan to expand Mississippi police
The mother of a 25-year-old Black man who was shot to death by Mississippi Capitol Police last year is telling state lawmakers that she strongly opposes giving the state-run police department wider territory to patrol inside the majority-Black capital city of Jackson.
DC conflict reflects wider efforts undermining local control
The expected move next week in Congress to overturn District of Columbia laws dealing with criminal justice and voting has created a political tempest in the nation’s capital, with local activists decrying it as the latest effort to undermine the city’s ability to determine its own future.
Ex-wrestler pleads guilty again in Mississippi welfare fraud
A former pro wrestler pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal charge related to misspending of welfare money that was supposed to help needy families in Mississippi, one of the poorest states in the U.S. Brett DiBiase faces up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine for his plea to conspiracy to defraud the federal government. State sentencing was delayed, and DiBiase has been cooperating with state and federal investigators looking at others in the case, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens said.
news.yahoo.comMississippi passes bill restricting electric car dealerships
The Mississippi Senate gave final approval Thursday to a bill to restrict electric car manufacturers from opening new brick-and-mortar dealerships in the state unless they comply with the same laws traditional carmakers follow. On the Senate floor Thursday, the bill sparked an intraparty debate among GOP lawmakers. Proponents said the law would ensure all car manufacturers, regardless of their business model, play by the same rules.
news.yahoo.comMississippi GOP governor now backs longer Medicaid for moms
Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves did an abrupt about-face Sunday on an issue for which Democrats have been sharply criticizing him this election year, saying for the first time that he wants the state to allow a full year of Medicaid coverage to women after they give birth. Reeves said on social media that if the Republican-controlled state House and Senate send him a bill to allow a year of postpartum Medicaid coverage, “I will sign it into law.” Reeves said he is willing to do so “as part of our new pro-life agenda."
news.yahoo.comMississippi Senate passes limit on transgender health care
The Republican-controlled Mississippi Senate gave final approval Tuesday to a bill that would ban gender-affirming care in the state for anyone younger than 18. House Bill 1125 will go to Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who is running for reelection and has indicated he will sign it into law. In 2021, Reeves signed a law to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls’ or women’s sports.
news.yahoo.comSub-zero windchills expected Tuesday and Wednesday, weather officials say
National Weather Service officials posted a Hazardous Weather Outlook Tuesday morning warning of windchills of at least negative 15 to 20 degrees for portions of. north central and northeast Illinois, and northwest Indiana.
chicagotribune.comDeep freeze breaks pipes, creates water crisis across South
Days of freezing temperatures in Deep South areas that usually freeze for only hours are threatening dozens of water systems as burst pipes leak millions of gallons of water. The problems were happening Monday in large, troubled water systems like Jackson, Mississippi, where residents were required over Christmas to boil water months after most lost service because of a cascade of problems from years of poor maintenance. In Selma, Alabama, the mayor declared a state of emergency because they city worried it would run out of water.
news.yahoo.comLengthy prison terms for 3 who aided Whitmer kidnap plotter
A judge on Thursday handed down the longest prison terms so far in the plot to kidnap Michigan's governor, sentencing three men who forged an early alliance with a leader of the scheme before the FBI broke it up in 2020. Joe Morrison, Pete Musico and Paul Bellar were not charged with having a direct role in the conspiracy but were members of a paramilitary group that trained with Adam Fox, who separately faces a possible life sentence on Dec. 27 for his federal conviction. Musico was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years in prison, followed by his son-in-law Morrison at 10 years and Bellar at seven.
news.yahoo.comFederal jury finds against fired Lincoln Park High School principal in defamation suit
A federal jury Monday found against a former Lincoln Park High School principal who claimed he was unfairly fired and defamed by Chicago Public Schools amid a student sex scandal nearly three years ago.
chicagotribune.comMississippi State's Mike Leach listed in critical condition
Mississippi State coach Mike Leach was hospitalized in critical condition Monday, the day after what the university called “a personal health issue” at his home in Starkville forced him to be airlifted to a medical facility in Jackson. Leach was admitted Sunday to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) from the Mississippi State campus. UMMC spokesman Marc Rolph said Monday in a text message to AP that Leach's condition was listed in critical condition.
news.yahoo.comJudge allows Mississippi execution amid inmates’ lawsuit
A federal judge has ruled that he will not block Mississippi from carrying out with next week’s scheduled execution of an inmate who is suing the state over its use of three drugs for lethal injections. Thomas Edwin Loden Jr., 58, faces a Dec. 14 execution date, which was recently set by the Mississippi Supreme Court. U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate handed down a ruling late Wednesday, saying Loden’s execution can happen even while the lawsuit is pending.
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