Author: Associated Press

Ali Center hosting film festival in February

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The Muhammad Ali Center is celebrating African-American History Month with a film festival. Officials with the Louisville center say the series includes five film screenings in February. Each showing will be followed by discussions of social…

Officials strip Mount Carmel mayor of hiring, firing power

MOUNT CARMEL, Tenn. (AP) - Mount Carmel officials have eliminated the mayor's power to hire, fire, promote or discipline city employees. News outlets report that the Mount Carmel Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Tuesday approved the second and final…

Tennessee police: 1 person dead in officer-involved shooting

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Memphis police are at the scene of a fatal shooting Wednesday involving a police officer near a church south of downtown Memphis. Dozens of people gathered near St. Andrew AME Church, some screaming expletives at police.…

4 correction officers, 1 inmate charged in 2 jail incidents

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says four Middle Tennessee correction officers and one inmate have been charged in connection with two separate incidents at the Morgan County Jail. A TBI statement says a grand jury returned…

Miss. attorney general seeks alternative form of execution

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood says he will ask legislators to set an alternative form of execution in case the state is blocked from doing lethal injections. He says that could include use of nitrogen gas,…

Bill offers lease protections for domestic violence victims

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Domestic violence victims could break their rental lease agreements without fear of financial penalties under a bill that has cleared a Kentucky House committee. Supporters say the measure seeks to provide more safety for victims who…

2 teenagers dead, 2 sickened from drinking racing fuel, soda

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A poison control official says two Tennessee teens are dead after drinking a mixture of racing fuel and Mountain Dew, and two others were sickened by the mixture they called "Dewshine." Tennessee Poison Center Medical Director…

USM begins construction on new pedestrian pathway

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) - Construction began Monday on a multi-use pathway at the University of Southern Mississippi that will provide a connection for pedestrians traveling between Pride Field and Scianna Hall on the Hattiesburg campus. University spokesman Chris Crenshaw tells…

Kentucky communities decide whether to alcohol sales

LONDON, Ky. (AP) - People throughout Kentucky voted in local option elections, deciding whether to allow the sale of alcohol in their communities. Multiple news outlets report that nearly 60 percent of citizens in the city of London voted in…

Woman sentenced for knowing about husband’s drug trafficking

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - The wife of an Army National Guard member and former Marine has been sentenced to five years' probation for knowing about her husband's drug-trafficking trade but not reporting it. The Sun Herald reports Judge Sul Ozerden…

Survey results on sexual assault in Vanderbilt released

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Surveys taken by Vanderbilt University students reveal new information about sexual assaults on campus. The Tennessean reports the university asked students in spring 2015 to take one of two surveys on sexual assault. The results were…

Durham removes self from House GOP caucus amid investigation

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - State Rep. Jeremy Durham has withdrawn from the Tennessee House Republican Caucus amid an investigation into sexual harassment allegations. Durham told his colleagues Wednesday that he would step away so he wouldn't be a distraction to…

Teenager who died at juvenile facility was recorded

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (AP) - A Shelbyville teenager who died a day after being admitted to a juvenile detention center was videotaped during her stay at the facility. The News-Enterprise reports that a camera inside the room of the 16-year-old recorded…

School voucher bill headed for floor vote in Tennessee House

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - An effort to create a school voucher program in Tennessee has cleared its last major committee before a full House vote. The House Finance Committee voted 11-10 Tuesday in favor of the measure sponsored by Republican…

George man gets prison after mail, identities stolen

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - A 47-year-old Georgia man has admitted his role in the theft of mail in Mississippi and the use of stolen identities to make counterfeit checks for purchases at Wal-Mart stores while he lived in Gulfport. The…

Man gets 10 years in theft of 52 firearms from pawn shop

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - A 34-year-old Gulfport man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the theft of 52 firearms stolen from Friendly Pawn and Auto in Saucier. The Sun Herald reports (http://bit.ly/1nnngYx) Tyson Lee…

Biloxi City Council establishes tree committee

BILOXI, Miss. (AP) - The Biloxi City Council has voted to establish a tree committee. The Sun Herald reports Mayor FoFo Gilich said Wednesday he will appoint seven tree committee members, one from each ward, subject to council approval. The…

Man, woman from New York die in crash on I-95 in Florida

PALM COAST, Fla. (AP) - The Florida Highway Patrol says two people from Brooklyn, New York, died in a crash on Interstate 95. Troopers say a Ford Escort driven by 85-year-old Luigi Camporeale was on the shoulder of I-95 near…

2 found dead after Pike County house fire

ELKHORN CITY, Ky. (AP) - Two bodies have been found after a fire at an eastern Kentucky home. Pike County Deputy Coroner Denver Bailey tells local news outlets that an older couple lived in the home on U.S. 460 in…

Hawkins County approves anti-gay marriage resolution

ROGERSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Despite last week's defeat of a proposed General Assembly bill that sought to defy the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, two Tennessee counties have attempted to vote on resolutions against the ruling. The Kingsport…

UofL law school celebrating its namesake’s court appointment

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The University of Louisville's Louis D. Brandeis School of Law is planning a celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of its namesake's appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. Brandeis, who was born in Louisville in 1856,…

10 West Tennessee projects get disaster recovery funding

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Ten western Tennessee projects are receiving $44 million in federal money to support disaster recovery and resiliency in response to flooding in 2011. The grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will be…

Chefs to help prepare meals in some Kentucky schools

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Chefs will help schools in eight Kentucky counties start preparing meals using fresh, local foods as part of two farm-to-school pilot projects. The Kentucky Department of Agriculture says the projects will begin in February and last…

Memphis postal worker now facing federal assault charge

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Prosecutors say a Memphis postal worker now faces federal charges after he punched his supervisor and hit her with a chair. The U.S. attorney's office in Memphis says 59-year-old Richard Martin has been indicted on one…

Fiber Ready designation may attract more jobs to Corinth

CORINTH, Miss. (AP) - The Corinth/Alcorn Industrial Park has been certified as AT&T Fiber Ready, which officials say could help attract jobs. AT&T Mississippi President Mayo Flynt tells local media that the designation, announced Monday, allows local economic development officials…

Memphis police body camera rollout suspended indefinitely

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Memphis officials have come under scrutiny after the suspension of the rollout of about 2,000 body cameras that police say were expected to be in use by October. News outlets report Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland announced…

Kentucky won’t fight tax break ruling for Noah’s Ark project

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky officials say they won't fight a federal court ruling that supports a tax incentive for a religious theme park featuring a 510-foot long Noah's Ark. A spokeswoman for Kentucky Republican Gov. Matt Bevin says Tuesday…

Knox County honors teenager who died protecting friends

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Knox County officials have declared Jan. 24 as "Zaevion Dobson Day" in honor of a high school football player who died while shielding his friends from gunfire. Multiple news outlets…

Mississippi jobless rate jumps as more people seeking work

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi's unemployment rate jumped in December as the economy didn't generate enough jobs to absorb more people looking for work. The jobless rate rose to 6.4 percent from 6 percent in November, as the increasing number…

Clayton McWhorter, Nashville health care pioneer, dies at 82

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - R. Clayton McWhorter, a businessman and philanthropist who helped pioneer health care in Nashville, has died at the age of 82. Courtney Hise with Mount Olivet Funeral Home in Nashville said McWhorter died Saturday. According to…

Paper company Verso files for bankruptcy

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Paper company Verso Corp. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, though the company says the move will have virtually no impact on its daily business. Memphis-based Verso said Tuesday the bankruptcy filing is intended to…

Haslam: Will be ‘hard’ for GOP Rep. Durham to be effective

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Republican Gov. Bill Haslam says it will be difficult for state Rep. Jeremy Durham to be an effective lawmaker after GOP leaders called for him to resign his seat amid sexual harassment allegations. While Haslam did…

Appeals court: District legally ended agreement with union

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Tennessee Court of Appeals has determined that Nashville's former director of schools legally suspended an agreement with a union in 2011. The Tennessean reports that an opinion filed Dec. 21 by Court of Appeals Judge…

2 state officials depart from Bevin Administration

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - There have been two departures from Governor Matt Bevin's administration: John Rittenhouse from the Kentucky Department of Parks and Arnita Gadson from the Kentucky Environmental Quality Commission. Media outlets report Rittenhouse submitted his resignation on Friday,…

Columbus Municipal School Board reviews its performance

COLUMBUS, Miss. (AP) - The Columbus Municipal School District board of Trustees has evaluated its performance, setting goals that include emphasizing better meeting decorum and promoting greater involvement from the public. The Commercial Dispatch reports the purpose of the Saturday…

Vicksburg’s 15th annual Mardi Gras parade seeks participants

VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) - Vicksburg officials are looking for volunteers to participate in the city's 15th annual downtown Mardi Gras Parade. The Vicksburg Post reports that all area clubs, churches, organizations, schools, drill teams and businesses are invited to take…

Graves residents voting on alcohol sales

MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) - Voters in a western Kentucky county are deciding whether to allow packaged alcohol sales. The Paducah Sun reports that Graves County residents are voting today in a local option election. The election comes about two months…

Ex-Louisville police officer pleads guilty to beating wife

WINCHESTER, Ky. (AP) - A former Louisville Metro police officer has pleaded guilty to beating his wife last winter as she drove home from a Super Bowl party. News outlets report Clark County Circuit Judge Andrew Adams sentenced Jonathan Osborne…

Ingalls funds STEM grants for Gulf Coast schools

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) - Ingalls Shipbuilding division has awarded nearly $100,000 in grants to 25 projects at schools and educational organizations in Mississippi and Alabama. The grants, which were requested by the organizations, will be used for projects associated with…

Court records: Woman impaired by drugs in fatal accident

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) - Court records show a Mississippi woman was under the influence of prescription drugs when she swerved into another lane and hit a pickup truck head-on, killing a 4-year-old Louisiana boy and seriously injuring four others. The…

Stennis employees face layoffs as new contractor takes over

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. (AP) - Hundreds of employees at Stennis Space Center are hoping to keep their jobs after the contract to support the operations and maintenance of Stennis Space Center changes Feb. 1. The Sun Herald reports layoff…

Lee County man accused of molesting 2 girls

SHANNON, Miss. (AP) - Authorities say a Lee County man accused of molesting two girls has been charged. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports 33-year-old Bennie Hill of Shannon was arrested Friday. He's charged with two counts of child molestation.…

Police release more details in Jackson fatal shooting deaths

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Police have identified the second of two women who were fatally shot in Jackson over the weekend. Local media outlets report that Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart says 29-year-old Stephanie D. Mejia was killed Sunday. Twentey-three-year-old…

Gander memorial at Fort Campbell to grow

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) - A Fort Campbell spokesman says Gander Memorial Park is set for expansion. Bob Jenkins told The Leaf-Chronicle that the memorial is undergoing renovations that will enlarge the park and allow easier access for visitors. The…

Memphis postal worker arrested in attack on supervisor

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Police say a post office worker has been arrested on charges that he punched his supervisor and hit her with a chair. Memphis police spokesman Louis Brownlee said Shelby County sheriff's deputies arrested 59-year-old Richard Martin…

Police: Child accidentally shoots 7-year-old boy inside car

CROSSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Police say a 7-year-old boy has died after being shot by another child inside a parked car in Crossville. The Crossville Police Department said in a news release that four children were left alone inside a…

Survey shows continued drop in food prices in Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The Kentucky Farm Bureau says retail food prices across the state were down again at the end of 2015. The Farm Bureau says its Marketbasket Survey showed that during the final quarter of 2015, the average…

Lawmaker who accused Haslam of ‘treason’ to GOP to retire

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) - Republican state Rep. Rick Womick, who once accused Gov. Bill Haslam of "treason" to the GOP, is announcing plans to retire this year. The Daily News Journal of Murfreesboro reports that Womick said he wants to…

Mississippi governor giving State of the State on Tuesday

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant will give details of his 2016 legislative agenda during his annual State of the State address. The Republican governor is scheduled to speak to a joint session of the House and Senate…