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PICAYUNE — An attempt at an armed robbery failed when the suspect met with resistance from the business owner. Investigation into the crime led to the arrest of 28-year-old Stephen Joseph Kendrick after review of business surveillance video, said Capt. Chad Dorn with the Picayune Police Department. Kendrick was charged with attempted armed robbery. Officers with the department received a call on Friday from the owner of a gas station located at the intersection of Beech Street and Jackson Landing Road. Witnesses stated that just after 10 p.m. Friday a man, later identified as Kendrick, entered the store and walked...

The Missouri Supreme Court has thrown out the results of a blood test on an unwilling suspect in a routine drunken-driving stop, ruling the officer should have obtained a judge’s warrant for the test.

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Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said Friday he's "very comfortable" with his decision to grant pardons or other clemency to more than 200 people, including convicted killers, in his last days in office, telling Fox News that Mississippi is predominantly Christian and believes in forgiveness. The pardons have set off outrage among some victims' families and prompted a judge to block the release of some of the pardoned inmates out of concern that proper notification rules were not followed. Barbour told Fox News that any problem with paperwork was an accident on the part of corrections officials, who needed to...

A Mississippi judge has temporarily blocked the release of 21 inmates who'd been given pardons or medical release by Republican Haley Barbour in one of his final acts as governor. Circuit Judge Tomie Green issued an injunction late Wednesday at the request of Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood. Hood said he believes Barbour might've violated the state constitution by pardoning some inmates who failed to give sufficient public notice that they were seeking to have their records cleared.

JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said he is taking legal action in response to pardons issued by outgoing Gov. Haley Barbour. Hood said a court battle is ahead over five inmates Barbour pardoned on Friday. All five men served as trusties at the Governor's Mansion. Four of the five had been convicted of murder. During a news conference on Wednesday, Hood said Barbour violated the state Constitution because the pardon requests from the inmates were not published 30 days in advance, as required. State law requires that before the governor can grant a pardon, sufficient public notice...

Outgoing Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour under fire after pardoning 4 killersmsnbc.com staff and news service reports updated 1 hour 27 minutes ago JACKSON, Miss. — Outgoing Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has pardoned at least four convicted killers who worked at the Governor's Mansion, including a man who was denied parole less than two weeks ago. Relatives of three victims told The Associated Press on Monday that state corrections officials notified them over the weekend that the convicts were to be released this past Sunday. Barbour, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee who weighed a presidential run last year...

STARKVILLE, Miss., Jan 9 (Reuters) - Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour pardoned four convicted murderers who worked at the Governor's Mansion, releasing them from prison in the final days of his term in office, state officials said on Monday.

(CNN) -- In his last days in office, outgoing Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour pardoned four men convicted of murder, a state official said Monday. David Gatlin, Joseph Ozment, Charles Hooker and Anthony McCray received full pardons and were released at 1 p.m. Sunday, said Suzanne Singletary, spokeswoman for the Mississippi Department of Corrections. All four were serving life sentences and worked as trusties at the governor's mansion, she said. "It is at any governor's discretion," said Singletary. Gatlin was convicted of murder, aggravated assault and burglary of a residence, she said. Ozment was convicted of murder, conspiracy and armed robbery...

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's pardon of a convicted murderer who worked as an inmate trusty at the Governor's Mansion came two weeks after the man was denied parole by a state board. A letter to one of the victims in the case said the Mississippi Parole Board turned down 40-year-old David Gatlin on Dec. 27. The letter, dated Jan. 4 and obtained by The Associated Press, did not explain why the Parole Board rejected Gatlin's parole request. It said he was due for another parole hearing in October. Shannon Warnock, chair of the parole board, didn't...

The Republican mayor of a Mississippi city was forced to admit he is gay after he submitted a receipt from a Toronto sex shop that calls itself "your favorite gay store in Canada" to state auditors amid a spending scandal. Greg Davis, the mayor of Southaven, has been under investigation for the expenses he charged to the city on both his city-issued and personal credit cards, the Commercial Appeal newspaper reports. Last week, Davis, 45, submitted his receipts to auditors to try to reduce the roughly $170,000 auditors have demanded he repay the city for improper charges. Among the receipts,...

A conservative Mississippi mayor has said he is gay after an audit showed he had the city pay for a wide range of personal expenses, including a visit to a gay sex store in Canada. Southaven Mayor Greg Davis revealed publicly for the first time Thursday that he is gay, and said he has struggled to keep his sexuality from affecting his public role as mayor of Mississippi’s third-largest city.

SCOOBA – With the national championship of junior college football at stake, the second-ranked Lions of East Mississippi Community College travel to Yuma, Ariz., to meet the home-standing and top-ranked Matadors of Arizona Western College Saturday afternoon in the El Toro Bowl – presented by Time Warner Cable. Kickoff for the 2011 NJCAA Football Championship at AWC’s Veterans Memorial Stadium is slated for 2:30 p.m. MT (3:30 p.m. CT). With video and audio production services provided by Meridian-based Prep Sports Network Now (www.psnnow.com), in conjunction with the NJCAA and Arizona Western College, Saturday’s national championship contest is scheduled to be...

MADISON, Miss. -- A Madison woman will be able to keep her Christmas decorations after all. Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler said on Wednesday that her office was flooded with complaints about the lighted peacocks on Wanda Cheeks' roof. "I'm not going to run from that or hide from that when residents call us. This was a plea from residents asking that something be done," Hawkins-Butler said. Cheeks said the ornaments were special to her. "I love Christmas, and when I first seen them, the first thing I hollered, 'It's different. It's nice. It's lights. It's Christmas. Hey, I've got to have...

Meridian police say a burglar was shot by a homeowner Friday morning. Officials say the resident arrived home between 10:30 and 11 a.m. to find someone in his house in the 2400 block of 37th Avenue. Police spokesman Mike Vick said the homeowner fired once, injuring the suspect in the hand. "There was an additional person of interest outside the home that is being questioned now," said Vick. "And charges are pending on both of those individuals." Vick said he can't release the suspects' names until they are formally charged with burglary.

States of mind On its own, where you live isn't enough to make you depressed. Personal circumstances and genes also play an important role in mental health, so an area that feels like a downer to one person may be home sweet home to another. That said, mental distress is unusually and persistently common in some states, whether due to economic troubles, lack of access to health care, or other factors. Using data from federal health agencies, Health.com has identified the 10 states with the highest rates of depression, psychological distress, and other indicators of poor mental health. Here they...

A strong storm system that produced several suspected tornadoes hit the Southeast on Wednesday, damaging dozens of homes and buildings. At least 15 people were injured in Mississippi. Suspected tornadoes were reported in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Four homes were damaged in western Alabama, about 60 miles southwest of Tuscaloosa. It was the worst bout of weather for that state since about 250 people were killed during a tornado outbreak in April. < SNIP >

JACKSON, Miss. — Republicans will control the Mississippi House of Representatives for the first time since Reconstruction. Though some counties were still counting absentee and affidavit ballots Monday, Republicans will hold at least 63 of the 122 seats when the Legislature convenes Jan. 3. Totals confirmed Monday show Republican Gene Alday defeated incumbent Democrat John Mayo in House District 25, putting the GOP over the top for control of the House. Also Monday, Perry County officials finished counting votes in House District 105, where Republican Dennis DeBar Jr. beat Democrat Dale Kimble and independent Latricia Cornelson in a seat formerly...

JACKSON – The Mississippi Republican Party has issued a statement declaring victory in the race for a majority in the State House and State Senate, as well as the Public Service and Transportation Commissions. “Republicans made history in Mississippi yesterday, electing majorities in the House and Senate for the first time in 140 years,” said Arnie Hederman, Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party. “While some races have yet to be called and our majority could still grow by a few seats, the outstanding ballots cannot change the fact that Republicans will hold a majority of seats in the House and...

The morning after this month's relatively quiet (for most of us) Election Day, story after story arrived celebrating a pro-life defeat. "Mississippi Wins for Women!" The Daily Beast exclaimed. "Birth Control Remains Legal: Mississippi Voters Reject Draconian 'Personhood' Initiative," the National Organization for Women declared. "Our victory in Mississippi has already sent a strong message to extremists who will stop at nothing to outlaw abortion," the American Civil Liberties Union explained. Mississippi's personhood amendment, seeking to amend the state constitution's legal definition of a "person" to "include every human being from the moment of fertilization," lost at the ballot box....