Free Republic

<p>JACKSON, Miss.-- University of Mississippi football fans who refuse to stop chanting "the South will rise again" are on the verge of losing one of their favorite fight songs, the school's chancellor said Monday.</p> <p>Ole Miss Chancellor Dan Jones said "From Dixie With Love" will no longer be played at games if fans continue the racially offensive chant.</p>

Hundreds of people have been arrested in Texas and around the country what officials say is the largest single strike at a Mexican drug cartel in the U.S WASHINGTON (October 22, 2009)—U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder calls the arrests of more than 300 people in a series of drug raids in Texas and across the country the largest single strike at a Mexican drug cartel operating here. Holder said at a news conference Thursday that the arrests over the past two days were aimed at the U.S. operations of the La Familia cartel. Click here to find out more! Holder...

Obama makes stop in N.O., bypasses Miss.Posted: 10/16/09 - 12:10:33 pm CDT NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Supporters of President Barack Obama lined the streets leading to a town hall meeting at the University of New Orleans and erupted in cheers as the president’s motorcade arrived Thursday. Even before Air Force One landed, hundreds were lined up at UNO for the town hall at the school’s 1,500-seat fitness center. About 150 demonstrators were ushered behind barricades about 400 yards away. Some were Obama supporters, others were there to protest the president’s health care proposals. “I’m a small business owner and the...

A Coast family made sure a bugle was placed aboard the soon-to-be USS New York before she sailed from a shipyard in Louisiana this week. Even though Navy ships don’t use buglers anymore, this one was a piece of history. It had been blown to rally crews aboard the battleship USS New York during World Wars I and II and wound up in the care of a mariner from Mississippi, H.R. “Shorty” Reynolds, who died in 2003. His children — Raymond Jr., Carol and Mickey Reynolds — took the bugle that had hung in their father’s office for more...

Topping Torts by: Allie Winegar Duzett, October 14, 2009 When Haley Barbour was first elected governor there, he said at the recent Heritage Foundation event, Tort Reform in the States: Protecting Consumers and Enhancing Economic Growth, Mississippi was the worst place for tort abuse. The state had been dealing with bad state Supreme Court decisions, extreme lawsuit abuse, and campaigns to stop lawsuit reform. So Barbour decided to run for governor on a platform of tort reform. This was vital, Barbour said, to getting tort reform passed at all. According to Barbour, state tort reform can never pass without the...

Litigation: The Founding Fathers envisioned the states as laboratories for ideas and choices. If the administration needs a demonstration project for successful tort reform, it need look no further than Mississippi. When President Obama said during his health care speech to Congress that he would "look into" malpractice reform and support "demonstration projects" at the state level, Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, a Republican, responded: "If they want a demonstration project, come down to Mississippi. I'll show you a demonstration project." Mississippi enacted tort reform in 2004, including caps on medical malpractice awards. As a result, the number of medical...

FOREST, Miss. — Officers had to use a stun gun and handcuffs to capture an emu running loose on Interstate 20 in central Mississippi on Sunday. Police Officer Kiley Culpepper told WLBT-TV in Jackson that motorists had been calling 911 since Friday to report sightings of two emus on I-20 and nearby U.S. Highway 80.

Been a Freeper for over 10 years and this is my first post. Here goes nothing.......lolCAN THIS BE DEFINED AS AN O-X-Y-M-O-R-O-N ??

Angela McGlowan will be on Bill O'Reilly at 7pm.

PASS CHRISTIAN — Gail Nicholson chokes back tears talking about how close to death her stepson came while serving in Iraq. “I can’t think about it without even crying,” she said. “The specifics are a little bit more than I can accept without getting upset.” Sgt. 1st Class Jesse Nicholson, a 1992 graduate of Pass Christian High, received the Bronze Star on Saturday in Jackson for saving as many as 20 troops on Feb. 16, 2005. On that day in Iraq, the Mississippi National Guardsman volunteered to walk in front of patrol units and search for explosive devices. He and...

Three months after Hurricane Katrina, the Sun Herald described in a front-page editorial “Mississippi’s Invisible Coast.” It spoke of the fact that the further removed in time we were from Katrina, the less attention outside news reports paid to the plight of our region and its people, and the more it seemed history was being rewritten in a way that would render South Mississippi no more than a postscript to the greatest natural disaster to befall the nation. Already the trend had begun for the national media to cover South Mississippi’s part of the story with an add-on phrase...

Does anybody know if there is any effort going on to reverse the open primary system that gave us John McCain? According to Wikipedia the following states have open primaries: * Alabama * Arkansas * Georgia * Idaho * Indiana * Michigan * Minnesota * Mississippi * Missouri * North Dakota * South Carolina * Tennessee * Texas * Vermont * Virginia * Wisconsin I've run a google news search and come up with blanks.

U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) received two standing ovations Tuesday from the Laurel Rotary Club as he voiced criticism of President Obama’s drive to reform health care. “The Blue Dogs (Democrats who often vote Republican) have done America a great favor by delaying the vote,” said Taylor, a member of the group, who noted he is voting against the bill. “I don’t think we have the money for that. I’ve always thought something worth doing is worth paying for.” Taylor said the health care debate is a timely issue, adding that Americans must realize there is cost involved. “We all...

Pilot Lee Taylor of Eagle’s Nest Ventures of Diamondhead gives flying instructions to Sean Peneguy, 13, before their flight Friday. Sean was excited and a little nervous before his first airplane ride last Friday. He had a chance to take the controls during mid-flight. After spending most of last year checking in and out of hospitals battling cancer, one middle school student got a thrill of a lifetime. Sean Peneguy, a 13-year-old from Bay St. Louis, was diagnosed with bone cancer a year ago. Since then, he has been in chemotherapy and had surgery to remove a tumor from...

A Jones County inventor has filed a lawsuit against two Internet server companies. John Ishmel Henry of Soso, in May, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. In his suit, Henry claims that “he was called and depicted as a n----r on two of the Internet service provider search engines, AOL and Google.” Henry, the original inventor of the vibrating toilet seat, was featured on the Jay Leno Show in November, 2008. “Needless to say that my invention garnered a lot of attention,” he said. “I was completely humiliated and horrified...

MOSS POINT — U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor answered questions Monday night on health care, defense and tax issues from conservatives, Republicans, Democrats and others during a heated town hall meeting. About 1,000 poured into the Pelican Landing Conference Center, while many more were turned away when the building was filled to capacity for the highly anticipated talk. Groups opposed to high taxes and big government are directing people to attend their representatives’ meetings to grill them about President Barack Obama’s health care plans, the economy and other issues. A good number of local Democrats were also at the meeting...

RON ELIAS/SUN HERALD ARCHIVES/1996 Downtown Pass Christain, on the morning of Aug. 18, was a pile of rubble, as proven in this Daily Herald photograph. Some of the remaining buildings would later be destroyed in Katrina, for Pass Christian once again got the high-water mark. “Hurricane Watch Posted” warned the front page of The Daily Herald on Aug. 16, 1969. In a classic twist of irony, the Mississippi Coast newspaper advertised Pass Christian’s Moonlite Drive-In would, in a few days, show the film classic “Gone with the Wind.” That was Saturday. Hurricane Camille struck Sunday night — 40 years...

South Central Extended Care Unit in Ellisville will close its doors on September 30 and shift the resources it provides to outpatient and other services at South Central Regional Medical Center in Laurel. The Extended Care facility, often called “The Swing Bed,” is a victim of the government’s continued cuts to reimbursement for health care services. Starting October 1, patients who are now admitted to the Extended Care Facility will transition into other types of care based upon patient need.

GULFPORT — A man accused of being a sexual predator, who was released from a hospital Tuesday, had been beaten in the head with his own rifle by a male victim who fought back, authorities said. The unnamed victim, who was kidnapped last week with a female acquaintance, took the rifle away from Vincent Goff and used it to hit Goff repeatedly on the head, said Sheriff’s Maj. Ron Pullen. Once the stock broke off the rifle, the victim kept hitting Goff until Goff managed to escape and drive off, Pullen said. “I don’t know if he’s lucky, but...

The Victim - Xavier Cortez Seales PASCAGOULA — Xavier Cortez Seales was shot to death at his Biloxi apartment just three days before he was to testify in a capital murder trial in Jackson County. Court records show that Seales, 38, signed for the subpoena from the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office on July 13 and was scheduled to appear in Jackson County Circuit Court on Monday to testify in the capital murder trial of Christopher Coleman. But Seales never made it to court. On Friday, a friend found Seales dead of a single gunshot wound to the head at...

GULFPORT — The Patriot Guard Riders are preparing to honor Army Staff. Sgt. Johnny Roosevelt Polk as a hero when he is returned to Gulfport for burial. The Department of Defense Monday said Polk, 39, who grew up in North Gulfport, died July 25 at a German hospital from wounds he suffered when his vehicle was struck by an anti-tank grenade on July 23 in Kirkuk, Iraq. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, at Fort Hood, Texas, and died supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Funeral arrangements are incomplete....

STENNIS SPACE CENTER — History will be made here again Wednesday when the last scheduled main engine test of NASA’s space shuttle program occurs. Provided conditions are right, NASA engineers and others will gather on the testing grounds for the 2 p.m. event. The test is scheduled to run for 520 seconds, bringing a close to 34 years of testing space shuttle engines in South Mississippi. The first space shuttle mission was launched in 1981, but years of preparations came first. The first space shuttle main engine test occurred at Stennis in 1975. Since 1981, NASA has flown 126...

The keel for the new National Security Cutter Stratton — which will be a sister ship of theCutter Berthoff, seen here on her builder’s trials — was laid Monday at Northrop GrummanShipbuilding in Pascagoula. PASCAGOULA — First lady Michelle Obama will serve as the sponsor of the third National Security Cutter, Stratton. Officials celebrated the ship’s construction Monday as the U.S. Coast Guard and Northrop Grumman laid the ship’s keel at the Pascagoula shipyard. Rear Adm. Ronald J. Rábago announced at the ceremony that Obama will serve as the Stratton’s sponsor and she will attend the christening ceremony at...

STENNIS SPACE CENTER — Forty years ago today, millions of Americans huddled in front of television screens to watch two U.S. astronauts walk on the moon, after getting there courtesy of a rocket engine that would become part of South Mississippi history. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to reach the moon’s surface — a feat that, even in these high-tech times, seems incredible. America listened as Eagle, the Apollo 11 lunar module, settled down on the moon and Armstrong made his announcement: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” Memories of that late-night event, and...

Link only, due to copyright restrictions: http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20090716/NEWS/90716027/-1/Nletter03/Ex-Miss.-politician-s-wife-sues-alleged-mistress?source=nletter-news

ELLISVILLE (AP) — Newton Knight still haunts the Piney Woods and swamps of southern Mississippi, 140 years after the Civil War. --------------------- snip Knight eventually took a former slave who helped him during the war as his second wife and started another family, siring white children with his legal wife, Serena, and children of mixed ancestry with Rachel. He lived with his black family much of his life after the war. “He’s in this hostile environment, across the color line — the worst sin imaginable — living openly and having children, posing in pictures with his African-American children and...

JACKSON, Miss. -- A federal appeals court has thrown out a $70 million settlement brokered by convicted former lawyer Richard "Dickie" Scruggs. The settlement involved a dispute between the Republic of Venezuela and Northrop Grumman Ship Systems. Scruggs, a chief architect of the multibillion-dollar tobacco settlements of the 1990s, is serving a seven-year prison sentence for conspiracy in one bribery case and mail fraud in another. In a July 9 ruling, a three-member panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that a district court in Mississippi erred when it declined Venezuela's appeal of the...

ELLISVILLE, Miss. — Newton Knight still haunts the Piney Woods and swamps of southern Mississippi, 140 years after the Civil War. Knight, subject of the new book "The State of Jones" by journalist Sally Jenkins and Harvard University historian John Stauffer, remains an obscure Civil War figure. To the authors and some in Jones County, where Knight led a campaign against the Confederacy, he's an American hero.

A tiny Mississippi delta town has elected its first black mayor after the white incumbent, unopposed for 30 years, faced a young challenger inspired by President Barack Obama's feat in winning the White House. In a shock result in Alligator (population 220), Tommie “Tomaso” Brown, 38, defeated Robert Fava, the mayor since 1979, owner of the general store and once his opponent’s boss, by 37 votes to 27. Mr Brown’s surprise victory was a milestone for Alligator, which is named after the curving lake nearby rather than the alligators that once occupied it. Although the only three businesses in the...

About a month ago, I talked about the prospect of Haley Barbour breaking the Mississippi legislature. Mission accomplished. You don't believe me? OK, let's ask David Hampton and Jere Nash. Certainly, they'll have a different spin on events. Hampton's July 12 column stated . . . It was apparent Barbour called the shots throughout, to the point that House negotiators were complaining that struck deals and compromises with senators didn't mean anything without daddy Barbour's approval. That's pretty harsh. But certainly my friend Jere Nash will come to the Democrat rescue in this PR and governing nightmare that Haley Barbour...

A tiny Mississippi delta town has elected its first black mayor after the white incumbent, unopposed for 30 years, faced a young challenger inspired by President Barack Obama's feat in winning the White House. In a shock result in Alligator (population 220), Tommie “Tomaso” Brown, 38, defeated Robert Fava, the mayor since 1979, owner of the general store and once his opponent’s boss, by 37 votes to 27.

BILOXI — President Barack Obama and two big name governors — one involved in a recent sex scandal and another who announced her resignation — may not attend the National Governors Association meetings here this week. But as several states are still without a 2010 budget, many will come seeking strategies for infrastructure, education, energy and information about the federal stimulus funds, emergency management and other issues, all of which will be highlighted at the conference. The convention begins Friday, but at the end of last week, NGA officials said they weren’t expecting Obama to attend. The commander-in-chief is always...

Haley Barbour emerged victorious this past week. While states nationwide were issuing IOUs, the Mississippi legislature actually passed a balanced budget albeit kicking and screaming from the pressure levied on them by Governor Barbour. This may be viewed historically as Governor Barbour's second greatest accomplishment of his term (the first being of course the response to Katrina). It will likely further serve to raise his stock among conservatives in the 2012 Presidential conversation. Remember where we came from before the Special Session. The Billy McCoy-led House wanted $0 hospital assessment on Medicaid. Governor Barbour got $60M that will increase to...

Councilwoman Arrested, Car Confiscated MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons announced Wednesday that a state grand jury had indicted Memphis City Councilwoman Janis Fullilove-Chalmers on charges related to allegedly submitting false information to receive a duplicate Tennessee driver license and allegedly driving while her license is revoked. The grand jury returned an indictment for unlawfully using a state issued driver license and fraudulently obtaining a driver license. Both are misdemeanor offenses. The Tennessee Highway Patrol filed these charges against Fullilove-Chalmers last October. A judge in general sessions criminal court sent the case to the grand jury following...

HURLEY — The Cochran quadruplets have more than quadrupled in size. And they’re nearing their first birthday in a new house, where each eventually will have his and her own bedrooms. Mom Sandra and Dad Matt have been scrimping and saving since pregnancy to build the new home on a high school coach’s salary. They got it finished just in the nick of time, Sandra said, because the Cochran family, with a 4-year-old and four 10-month-olds, has outgrown the house trailer. The quads were born in August, and since they arrived home in the fall, they have slept in...

Lawsuit reveals plan for Tunica County hybrid auto plant By Wayne Risher (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal Thursday, June 25, 2009 Plans for a mammoth hybrid electric car plant in Tunica County are at the center of a convoluted federal court dispute between principals in the development. The plant would cost Chinese investors $6.5 billion to build. It would occupy a 3,500-acre site in Tunica County and employ 25,000 at full production in 2015, according to a lawsuit and hundreds of pages of supporting documentation. Details surfaced after Chief U.S. Dist. Judge Michael Mills unsealed the March 27 lawsuit, saying Mississippi...

Southern barbecue is a must-have item on the set of “Live with Regis and Kelly” — after Brad Orrison finished taping his segment for today’s morning show, two smoked pork shoulders disappeared off the set. Orrison, his sister, Brooke Orrison Lewis and brother, Brett, were in New York for the taping of the show’s grilling contest, “Live’s Ultimate Hometown Grill Off” Wednesday and showed host Regis Philbin and his wife, Joy, (subbing for a vacationing Kelly Ripa) how he makes pulled pork sandwiches at The Shed BBQ and Blues Joint near Ocean Springs. “After it was over and the...

OCEAN SPRINGS — Little is known about whale sharks or why they come to the northern part of the Gulf by the hundreds in June and July, within 30 miles of the Coast. But they do. And biologists from USM’s Gulf Coast Research Lab took what they do know about the giant, docile animals from the data they have collected and went whale shark hunting last week. They were successful beyond their wildest expectations, placing satellite tags on three and measuring and documenting several more. Shark biologist Eric Hoffmayer and research assistant Jennifer McKinney, along with a German videographer...

I'm not sure about posting Fox/AP, so I'll leave this blank.

Error gives Miss. Medicaid coverage to thousandsPublished: June 11, 2009 11:12 pm JACKSON (AP) — The Mississippi Medicaid program has been erroneously paying the Part B Medicare premiums for about 9,300 people who are no longer on Medicaid, and officials are still trying to determine how much money the mistake has cost the state, a spokesman said Thursday. Medicaid spokesman Francis Rullan said a software glitch was discovered in the past week, and the state government told the federal government about the problem. Rullan said the recipients will have to start paying the monthly premiums. The recipients are being notified...

BILOXI — A VH1 reality show contestant was arrested in Biloxi over the weekend while at the Beau Rivage for its monthly Fan Jam. “Tough Love” contestant Taylor Royce, aka Kelly Jean Stasilli of Scottsdale, Ariz., was booked Saturday on charges of resisting arrest and disturbing the peace at the casino resort. Assistant Police Chief Rodney McGilvary said police were called around 4:30 a.m. after a man complained he had loaned her his cell phone and she wouldn’t give it back. “She acted like a fool and was intoxicated and resisting arrest,” McGilvary said. Police didn’t charge her with...

STENNIS SPACE CENTER — A massive steel structure jutting into the sky not far from Interstate 10 is sending the world a message: NASA is taking the next step in hurtling humans back to the moon. Structural work was recently finished on the giant A-3 test stand. Now, things are moving further along in the construction phase. In April, Steel Erector Inc., of Lafayette, La., put the final steel beam on top of the towering test stand and bolted the beam in place, bearing the signatures of project team members. “We’re now 235 feet closer to going back to...

This is a proposed ballot initiative. The WST group is working with a couple of state legislators to get this on the ballot in the next state wide election. There will be a petition drive required. I'm sure all of you will be more than happy to pass the petition around for signatures. --------------------South Mississippi We Surround ThemWe, the People, of the State of Mississippi, being citizens of the United States, having witnessed the usurpation of our rights by the Federal Government, which were endowed to us by our Creator and the diminishment of the freedoms guaranteed to us by...

Antonio Adams (left) and Walter Pruitt, who rescued two young girls from a partially submerged vehicle Tuesday. Eye-witnesses say a 12-year-old was driving the vehicle when it plunged into a canal on Bartlett Street in Laurel. Thirty-seven-year-old Jermaine Broach of Laurel was arrested and charged with public drunkenness, hit and run, no insurance and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in relation to Tuesday’s automobile accident involving two minors. Broach was a passenger in a vehicle that was driven by Shante Nicole Wilson, 12, before it plunged over an embankment and flipped into a canal with swift flowing...

A group of people in Mississippi saw bright lights in the sky, stopped to take some video footage - and then watched a large group of helicopters move into the area, according to witness testimony filed today at the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) database. Their video from May 20 was posted May 21 at YouTube under the screen name jim20201. Are these flares dropped by the military during a training operation with helicopters? Or something more? From the YouTube page: "Around 10:30 a formation of lights sit in the sky as helicopters head for it. And towards the end watch...

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - The first African-American Navy Admiral had a very fitting tribute Saturday. He had a ship named in his honor. The USS Gravely, a guided missile destroyer, was christened Saturday morning in Pascagoula. With one swing the U.S.S. Gravely entered the service of the U.S. Navy. His widow, Alma Bernice Gravely described the moment. " You use two hands and you go right where you're said to hit it." Alma Gravely acted as sponsor for the christening. Her husband, Vice Admiral Samuel Lee Gravely , broke through every color barrier as he rose in the ranks of...

Jason Talley and his two traveling companions had no plans of making a stop in Jones County when they were arrested by Jones County Sheriff deputies on May 14. Now Talley and his friends are going to make a planned trip to the area. This time, Talley and other crew members of motorhomediaries.com, are coming to the area to film a documentary. No date has been set for the week-long visit. “We have been traveling now for six weeks,” Talley said in a phone interview. “We have 60 videos on YouTube that documents our experiences. “It’s ironic to have these...

JACKSON, Miss. -- Seven cases of swine flu have been confirmed in Mississippi. Health officials say the new cases are in Lamar and Jackson counties. Through Wednesday there have been four cases reported in Harrison County, two in Lamar County and one in Jackson County. Health officials say an earlier reported case in Forrest County actually was in Lamar County.

JACKSON, Miss. -- Former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus has been confirmed as secretary of the U.S. Navy. A spokesman for U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin says the Senate voted unanimously Monday night in Washington to confirm Mabus to the Navy's top civilian job. Mabus succeeds Donald C. Winter.

Brazilian students transit during training at the Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School. STENNIS SPACE CENTER — Twenty members of the Brazilian Federal Police have been training at the Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School in Hancock County for the past nine weeks. The school trains international security forces in high-level riverine and littoral-craft operations and small-craft maintenance. Officials said the school usually runs 10 courses simultaneously for international security forces of up to 20 countries but focused all of its attention on the waterborne instructor course for the Brazilians. “The reason NAVSCIATTS exists is...