Latest Mississippi Headlines
All the headlines from our Mississippi Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Mississippi Jury Returns Verdict in Favor of Pascagoula Couple
Jul 1 2008 // A Jackson County, Mississippi jury returned a $900,000 verdict for a Pascagoula couple who sued their insurer for unpaid Hurricane Katrina damages. Retired Navy Admiral James Lisanby and his wife sued USAA insurance for...
Mississippi Supreme Court Won’t Hear Funeral Home Owner’s Appeal
Jul 1 2008 // The Mississippi Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the embezzlement convictions of the former owners of Salts Funeral Home in Booneville, Miss. A Lee County jury in 2005 convicted Michael I. Salts and Alice Marie...
Mississippi Judge Rejects Punitive Damages Bid by Pascagoula Couple
Jul 1 2008 // A Jackson County judge won’t let a jury consider punitive damages in the case of a Pascagoula couple who sued their insurer for unpaid Hurricane Katrina damages. USAA had paid the Lisanbys $46,000 for their wind...
High-Profile U.S. Trial Lawyer Scruggs Sentenced to 5 Years
Jun 30 2008 // A high-profile Mississippi lawyer, who became unpopular on Wall Street for battling powerful companies, was sentenced to five years in prison Friday after pleading guilty to conspiring to bribe a judge. Richard...
Midwest Flood Losses Sink In as Mississippi River Water Levels Recede
Jun 30 2008 // Farmhouses appear to float on lakes, and farmers use boats to get to their barns. Businesses are shuttered as flooded roadways cut off customers. Rail lines, factories, river locks are shut down. Homeowners, who watched...
N.Y. Governor Supports Easing Rules for Foreign Reinsurers
Jun 27 2008 // New York will hire more minority- and women-owned debt underwriters, lawyers and risk managers and ease regulatory barriers that are “openly discriminating” against foreign reinsurers, Democratic Gov. David...
Fire Hydrant Vandals in Mississippi Pose Threat to Property, Lives
Jun 27 2008 // Officials with the Laurel, Mississippi Fire Department are concerned that some recent vandalism to the city’s fire hydrants could pose problems when its time to save property or someone’s life. Fire Chief David...
Friends Seek Leniency for Well-known Mississippi Attorney
Jun 27 2008 // Some high-profile friends are seeking leniency for a well-known Mississippi attorney who took on tobacco, asbestos and insurance companies before he pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a state judge. Attorney Richard...
Hydrologist: No Flood Danger for Lower Mississippi
Jun 27 2008 // While the Midwest continues its struggles with Mississippi River flooding and its aftermath, residents to the south along the Lower Mississippi have little to fear from the high water. The Lower Mississippi, which begins...
Mississippi Plans Storm Evacuation Drill on Interstate 59
Jun 24 2008 // The Mississippi Department of Transportation plans to conduct a hurricane evacuation drill on Interstate 59 in south Mississippi on July 1. The contraflow or lane reversal drill is part of MDOT’s hurricane...
Levees Hold Back Cresting Mississippi River; Aid Requests Mount
Jun 23 2008 // Walls and levees held back the cresting Mississippi River Sunday as requests for government aid poured in from homeowners and businesses swamped by the worst Midwest flooding in 15 years. Across from St. Louis, where the...
Judge Dismissed Mississippi Pastor’s $200M Countersuit in Sex Case
Jun 20 2008 // After a woman filed a $10 million lawsuit claiming she was sexually assaulted by the Rev. Jeffery Stallworth, the Jackson, Miss. pastor turned around and sued her for $200 million. Hinds County Circuit Judge William...
Illinois, Missouri Residents Prepare for Floods with Sandbags, Sweat
Jun 19 2008 // Hundreds of volunteers stacked sandbags atop a levee in small Missouri towns on the evening of June 18, hoping the extra few feet of protection would save the town from record-level flood crests expected to hit this week....
Feds Open Loan Office for Mississippi Flood Victims In Yazoo County
Jun 16 2008 // The U.S. Small Business Administration will open a disaster outreach loan center in Mississippi for Yazoo County flood victims. The SBA announced a disaster declaration for the county June 12. It’s in response to...
Update: 2 Insurers to Pick up State Farm’s Non-renewals
Jun 16 2008 // Nationwide and Allstate will insure homes along the Mississippi coast where the current insurer decided not to renew policies, officials said. The State Farm Insurance action involves 892 policies within 1,000 feet of...
Mississippi Couple’s Katrina Suit against USAA Goes to Trial
Jun 16 2008 // Jackson County, Mississippi’s first Hurricane Katrina insurance lawsuit headed to the courtroom Monday. Admiral James W. Lisanby and his wife, Gladys Kemp Lisanby, are suing their insurance company, USAA, over damage...
Former Mississippi Risk Consultant to Repay $380K
Jun 16 2008 // The Mississippi Supreme Court has upheld a ruling that a former Hinds County risk management consultant must repay the county $380,000. Hinds County sued Shappley Harris for making changes in invoices from the Mississippi...
Federal Judge: Mississippi AG Hood Conspired with Scruggs
Jun 16 2008 // Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood wrongly conspired with prominent trial attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs to skirt a court order in a case involving Hurricane Katrina insurance claims, a federal judge...
Feds Propose $193K in Fines for Mississippi Manufacturer
Jun 13 2008 // The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is proposing fines of $193,000 for 54 violations of federal safety laws at two Howard Industries locations in Laurel, Mississippi. OSHA officials cited the electrical power...
4 Men Face Katrina Fraud Charges in Mississippi
Jun 13 2008 // Mississippi officials arrested four more people in Hurricane Katrina fraud cases. Auditor Stacey Pickering says James Hodge of Wiggins, 45, of Mississippi, is facing a felony charge of home repair fraud. Pickering says...
