Tag Archives: Mississippi

The Mississippi Free Press reports: Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has declared April 2025 as Confederate Heritage Month in Mississippi, keeping alive a 32-year-old tradition that began in 1993.  A member of the Rankin Greys, a Sons of Confederate Veterans camp based in Florence, Mississippi, announced the proclamation in a post in the organization’s Facebook group on April 18. The SCV …

The Mississippi Clarion-Ledger reports: A Mississippi Gulf Coast restaurant came under fire after posting a video offering a free food deal to straight people only. The LGBTQ community is boycotting the business, and the owners’ stances on the matter have been erratic, swinging from backing the decision to apologizing before once again justifying their actions. Now, they’re defending the move. …

The Biloxi Sun-Herald reports: A federal judge sentenced a former South Mississippi minister to 20 years in prison for sexual conduct with a young boy in a bathtub while video chatting with a resident of the United Kingdom. Tyler Selby’s supporters, including family and church members, lined more than two benches in the courtroom at the sentencing hearing in U.S. …

Jackson’s NBC affiliate reports: A Jefferson County pastor and former school bus driver is being accused of sexually exploiting children. On Wednesday, Elvis Colenberg turned himself in to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department. He’s being charged with one count of exploitation of children. Investigators said Colenberg forced a 14-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl to have sex with each other …

Jackson’s NBC affiliate reports: Crystal Springs pastor is behind bars Thursday after he was arrested for statutory rape. Crystal Springs Police Chief Robert Thomas said Christopher Willett is facing multiple charges after the victim came to the police station with a psychologist detailing the abuse. Willett is a pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Crystal Springs. He is charged with …

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports: Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann collapsed Wednesday morning while the Mississippi Senate was in session. Before he collapsed, Hosemann was standing at his podium. He was seen leaning forward and then onto the ground before several Senate staffers and senators rushed to his aid and requested emergency services. A Capitol staffer could be seen on the live …

The Tupelo Daily Journal reports: A former east Tupelo youth pastor will spend the next decade in prison after admitting in court that he had sex multiple times with a 16-year-old church member. Alexander Ryan Blackwelder, 28, was the youth pastor at East Main Street Church of Christ in early 2023 when authorities received a tip that he was having …

The Mississippi Clarion-Ledger reports: A new bill in Mississippi, if passed, would create a bounty hunting program to hunt down undocumented migrants. DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton announced the proposed legislation in a news release. House Bill 1484 would create the Mississippi Illegal Alien Certified Bounty Hunter Program if the state passes it into law. State Rep. Justin Keen …

The Daily Mail reports: Brett Favre has blasted the decision not to air the moment of silence or the national anthem on ESPN in the moments leading up to the Sugar Bowl due to the terrorist attack in New Orleans less than 24 hours prior. ESPN came under fire earlier in the week for not including it as part of …

The Washington Post reports: A panel of federal judges heard arguments Tuesday in a case that could upend the rules for counting a sliver of mail ballots in Mississippi just weeks before Election Day, with possible ramifications for all states. At issue is a Mississippi law that allows mail ballots to be counted if they arrive up to five days …

NBC News reports: Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre said he’s been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, a stunning disclosure made to Congress on Tuesday while testifying about his potential misuse of taxpayer money. Favre, appearing before the House Ways and Means Committee, has been accused of improperly using political connections to redirect public money to his alma mater and his …

The Hill reports: Brett Favre is set to testify Tuesday at a hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee examining welfare reform, the panel confirmed to The Hill, an appearance that comes after the former NFL star faced allegations of using Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) state funds for corporate gains. A Mississippi state audit found that some …

Jackson’s ABC affiliate reports: A Meridian Police Department officer has been arrested on a charge of statutory rape involving a 12-year-old girl in Kemper County. Lt. Kevin Michael Boyd surrendered at the Kemper County Sheriff’s Department Tuesday in connection to the charge, which was based on a complaint filed with Child Protective Service May 16. According to the Meridian Police …

Reuters reports: A federal judge on Monday blocked Mississippi from enforcing a new law that requires users of social media platforms to verify their ages and restricts access by minors to their sites if they lack parental consent, saying it was likely unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Halil Suleyman Ozerden in Gulfport, Mississippi, sided with tech industry trade group NetChoice in …

NBC News reports: The University of Mississippi has opened at least one student conduct investigation after videos of pro-Palestinian protesters surrounded by counterprotesters circulated online, including one that many have singled out as racist. Chancellor Glenn F. Boyce sent a letter to students and staff on Friday noting that Ole Miss leaders were aware of behaviors that were “offensive, hurtful, …

Los Angeles Magazine reports: A video was posted on X Thursday of a group of counter-protestors at the University of Mississippi — or Ole Miss — shouting and making monkey noises towards a Black woman who was part of a group protesting the war in Gaza. Another bystander at the university uploaded a video of the students shouting “Lizzo! Lizzo! …

The Mississippi Free Press reports: Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves declared April 2024 as Confederate Heritage Month in Mississippi, keeping alive a 31-year-old tradition that began in 1993. Beauvoir, the Biloxi museum and historic home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, announced the proclamation in a Facebook post on Friday. Beauvoir is owned and operated by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a …

Mississippi Today reports: Mississippians would be prevented from placing an initiative on the ballot to change the state’s strict anti-abortion laws under a proposal passed Wednesday by the House of Representatives. House Concurrent Resolution 11, which is still several legislative steps from becoming law, would give citizens the ability to gather signatures to propose new state laws or change existing …

The Biloxi Sun-Herald reports: A retired software developer and former media minister at an Ocean Springs church pleaded guilty Monday to a federal charge of possessing child pornography. Cameron “Cam” Cotrill, 66, of Vancleave, entered the plea Monday in federal court in Gulfport. In exchange for the plea, federal prosecutors dismissed a second charge of distribution of child pornography. U.S. …

The Mississippi Press reports: Samuel Lamar Taylor, 52, has been sentenced to life without parole after he was convicted by a Rankin County jury on September 20, 2023, of one count of sexual battery and one count of gratification of lust. Taylor served as a music teacher for over 25 years at schools across Mississippi, retiring from Richland Upper Elementary …