Latest Mississippi Headlines
All the headlines from our Mississippi Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Memphis Battles Rising Mississippi River
May 10 2011 // The Mississippi rose toward the highest level ever in the river city of Memphis, flooding pockets of low-lying neighborhoods and forcing more than 1,000 people from their homes, though the water was not threatening the...
Louisiana Prepares for Higher Water Levels Than Expected
May 5 2011 // Emergency officials in Louisiana are preparing for even higher Mississippi River water levels than had previously been estimated, after additional rain fell in the lower Ohio River Valley, according to Gov. Bobby...
Missouri Farmers Sue Over Levee Breach; Feds Say Help Available
May 5 2011 // The dramatic, late-night demolition of a huge earthen levee sent chocolate-colored floodwaters pouring onto thousands of acres of Missouri farmland on May 3, easing the threat to a tiny Illinois town being menaced by the...
Mayor Orders Flood-Threatened Illinois City Evacuated
May 2 2011 // Authorities in a southern Illinois city menaced by two dangerously swollen rivers said on May 1 that most of the city’s remaining residents have heeded a mandatory evacuation order, prompted by river water seeping up...
BP Claims Fund Faces Critics, Legal Challenges
May 2 2011 // One year after the Gulf oil spill, BP Plc is facing challenges to its effort to contain another kind of disaster: mass litigation. The oil giant last June established a $20 billion compensation fund for victims such as...
Obama, Cabinet Vow Urgent Aid for Storm-Battered Southern States
May 1 2011 // Federal officials vowed urgent support Sunday for a region devastated by the deadliest U.S. natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina, even as they acknowledged recovery would not be quick or easy. President Barack...
Tornadoes, Storms Rip South, at Least 228 Dead
Apr 28 2011 // Tornadoes and violent storms ripped through seven southern U.S. states, killing at least 228 people as they flattened neighborhoods, flipped cars and toppled trees and power lines. In the deadliest series of tornadoes in...
Mississippi River Nears Highest Levels Since 1937
Apr 27 2011 // The National Weather Service has forecast that the Mississippi River will crest at Vicksburg and Natchez at the highest levels since 1937. Forecasts are the river will crest at 52.5 feet in Vicksburg on May 13 and at 60...
FEMA Approves $22 Million for Mississippi Homeowners’ Storm Mitigation
Apr 21 2011 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved a $22 million grant program to strengthen homes on the Mississippi Coast against destructive winds, according to U.S. Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker. Homeowners...
Feinberg: BP Gulf Claims Fund ‘Working As Intended’
Apr 21 2011 // On the one-year anniversary of the Gulf oil spill, BP Plc is facing challenges to its effort to contain another kind of disaster: mass litigation. The oil giant last June established a $20 billion compensation fund for...
Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Insurers Must File Safety Plans
Apr 19 2011 // All carriers licensed to offer workers’ compensation in Mississippi must file a summary or copy of any safety plans they offer their policyholders with state regulators under a new regulation. The Mississippi...
Mississippi Toughens Parental Social Host Liability
Apr 18 2011 // Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has signed into law a bill that supporters say will make it easier to prosecute parents who host drinking parties for teenagers. The “social host” bill makes adults liable for...
Mississippi AG Hood, Feinberg Spat Over BP Oil Spill Claims
Apr 15 2011 // The administrator of BP’s $20 billion oil spill fund says Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood could undermine the claims process by urging a court to intervene and by making allegations that border on...
One Year Later, Gulf States Still Grappling with BP Oil Disaster
Apr 15 2011 // When a BP oil rig exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico last April, killing 11 workers, authorities first reported that no crude was leaking into the ocean. They were wrong. The disaster that captivated the world’s...
Allstate Agrees to Reduced Rate Hike, Policy Drops in Mississippi
Apr 13 2011 // Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney has agreed to let Allstate Property and Casualty Co. increase homeowner insurance rates 19.4 percent in the state. Chaney said that Allstate was threatening to drop 18,000...
Gulf Coast Officials Enjoy Spending Spree at BP’s Expense
Apr 12 2011 // In the year since the Gulf oil spill, officials along the coast have gone on a spending spree with BP money, dropping tens of millions of dollars on gadgets, vehicles and gear — much of which had little to do with the...
‘Katrina’ Federal Judge Senter of Mississippi Retiring
Apr 8 2011 // U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr., who presided over hundreds of Hurricane Katrina insurance cases, is retiring Friday. The Sun Herald reported that Senter and his staff have spent the week packing up his offices on the...
Mississippi Governor Signs School Bus Safety Bill
Apr 7 2011 // Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has signed into law a school bus safety bill drafted in response to a Jones County child’s death. The bill, known as Nathan’s Law, would require motorists to stay at least 10 feet...
Mississippi Gov. Barbour Vetoes Insurance Verification Bill, Seeks Fix
Apr 6 2011 // Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour has vetoed a bill to set up an electronic system to verify that drivers have auto insurance, a program intended to reduce the number of uninsured drivers on the state’s roads. In...
Mississippi Toughens Parental Social Host Liquor Liability Law
Apr 5 2011 // Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has signed into law a bill that supporters say will make it easier to prosecute parents who host drinking parties for teenagers. The “social host” bill makes adults liable for...
