Author: Associated Press

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - A 56-year-old Mississippi doctor has been sentenced to prison and fined $10,000 for his role in a prescription-pill ring at a Waveland clinic. The Sun Herald reports Dr. Steve Morris III was sentenced to 37 months…

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - A total of 193 students registered to vote after Harrison County's new circuit clerk spoke to nearly 300 seniors at Harrison Central High School. Connie Ladner tells The Sun Herald it was her second visit on…

LIBERTY, Miss. (AP) - Fire investigators are trying to determine what caused a fire that destroyed a Pentecostal church in Liberty. Liberty Rural Volunteer Fire Department Chief Murry Toney, who is also the Amite County arson investigator, says there was…

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama federal judge has sentenced a man to about a year behind bars for stealing roughly $72,000 from Target stores across nine states. The Montgomery Advertiser reports Chavito Ferguson was sentenced Thursday to 12 months…

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A Jackson County couple is thanking two sheriff's deputies who helped save their 8-day-old girl's life. The Jackson County Sheriff's Office says in a statement that deputies Nathan Fisher and Chris Pitalo rushed to Larry and…

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Fisheries officials say the fall shrimp season will close on Monday in state waters close to shore. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced that the shrimp season will close in remaining state inside…

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) - Three Williamson County ministers are seeking to invalidate portions of Tennessee's marriage statute. A lawsuit filed Thursday notes Tennessee law requires marriage license applicants to be male and female. Last year's U.S. Supreme Court decision struck…

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky officials say the state's unemployment rate increased at the end of last year. The state Office of Employment and Training said Thursday that the preliminary jobless rate in December rose to 5.3 percent from a…

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Bourbon tourism is on a record-setting pace in Kentucky as more people visit the state's distilleries. The Kentucky Distillers' Association says nearly 900,000 guests visited the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour in…

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky's new education commissioner says the statewide system of assessing student achievement remains "a work in progress." Commissioner Stephen Pruitt also revealed some changes to state standards. He says calculus will be added to math standards,…

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr will face a different Democratic challenger in November from the one who ran in 2014, but the strategy appears to be the same. Nancy Jo Kemper, a United Church of Christ…

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - The Kentucky state legislature has cancelled its Friday session because of the threat of winter weather. The National Weather Service is predicting as much as 14 inches of snow could fall on Kentucky's capital city on…

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - State Sen. Josh Harkins plans to introduce a bill to remove the current board that operates Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport. Harkins, a Republican from Flowood, tells The Clarion-Ledger he first became concerned with airport operations…

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (AP) - The University of Southern Mississippi saw an increase in research funding last year. The Sun Herald reports the university received nearly $73 million in external funding for research during fiscal year 2015 - a 24.1…

BILOX, Miss. (AP) - The first phase of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources' emergency oyster recovery program has ended with 40,000 sacks of oysters successfully relocated within three days. DMR Executive Director Jamie Miller said in a news release…

STANFORD, Ky. (AP) - The daughter of a man who was fatally hit by a Stanford police cruiser last year has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the officer, the police chief, the mayor and the city of Stanford. The…

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Authorities say a body found in Oldham County has been identified as a missing UPS pilot who was last seen alive in May. Lt. Todd Kessinger of the Louisville Metro Police homicide unit tells local media…

PURVIS, Miss. (AP) - The future of Baxterville School's grades 6-8 will be decided during the Lamar County School Board's next meeting. The Hattiesburg American reports the school board will vote on a proposal to transfer Baxterville sixth- through eighth-graders…

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Clarksville man is accused of raping two women after he caught them shoplifting from a Dollar General store. The Clarksville Police Department said in a news release Wednesday that 38-year-old Robert Lindlau caught two women…

BILOXI, Miss. (AP) - Biloxi City Councilman Paul Tisdale says he needs more time to review the proposed increase to water and sewer rates to determine how they will affect residents. The Sun Herald reports (http://bit.ly/1OI6fPW) the city council unanimously…

D'IBERVILLE, Miss. (AP) - The Dec. 9 opening of Scarlet Pearl Casino in D'Iberville helped push the Mississippi coast casinos to $1.14 billion in gross casino revenue for the year, squeaking revenue past the 2009 total of $1.11 billion. It…

D'IBERVILLE, Miss. (AP) - Nearly a year after city officials agreed to sell the Ocean Expo site along Interstate 10 back to Ramco Real Estate, the deal still hasn't closed. The Sun Herald reports (http://bit.ly/1PGHvqZ) the city council on Tuesday…

BOLTON, Miss. (AP) - The City of Durant has been approved for a $1.7 million loan and a $3.8 million grant to help rehabilitate its sewer system. U.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, in a news release Wednesday, said the funds…

VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) - Police in Vicksburg are searching for teenagers who they say have been vandalizing neighborhoods across the city. Vicksburg police Lt. Troy Kimble tells WLBT-TV (http://bit.ly/1JZiHOg) the city has had 30 acts of vandalism through the past…

COLUMBUS, Miss. (AP) - Columbus has a new police chief. The city council voted 3-2 this week to name current Waynesboro Police Chief Oscar Lewis III as the new chief of the Columbus Police Department. The council chose Lewis over…

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The number of people who have enrolled for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act stands at 97,909 with less than 11 days before the final deadline to get 2016 coverage. Jan. 31 is the deadline…

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky's state parks are offering assistance during the winter storm to people who may be stranded or otherwise need lodging. The Department of Parks said in a news release Wednesday that lodge rooms are available at…

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky's attorney general would be empowered to join the fight against human trafficking if a bill approved by a state House committee becomes law. New Attorney General Andy Beshear told the House Judiciary Committee that he's…

PROVIDENCE, Ky. (AP) - A coal miner has died after being pinned against a wall by a mobile digging machine in an underground western Kentucky mine. State mining officials say 36-year-old Nathan G. Phillips was taken to a nearby hospital…

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - A judge has ruled that a Sequatchie County man accused of planning an assault on a small Muslim community in New York has to report for mental health testing. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that…

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The faculty of the University of Louisville's Brandeis School of Law has voted to adopt a resolution saying the school will "champion the cause of compassion." The Courier-Journal reports the resolution was passed 26-2 Tuesday after…

FORT KNOX, Ky. (AP) - Fort Knox is expected to gain 223 employees this year as a result of the reorganization of the 4th Cavalry Brigade and addition of the U.S. Army Reserve Careers Division headquarters News outlets report that…

CHARLOTTE, Tenn. (AP) - Dickson County commissioners have unanimously approved a resolution to disagree with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage. WTVF-TV reports Tuesday night's decision made Dickson the sixth county in the state to approve a resolution…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Country music Hall of Famer Kris Kristofferson will be honored at a special tribute concert in Nashville, Tennessee, featuring performances by Willie Nelson, Rosanne Cash, Eric Church and Lady Antebellum. The singer-songwriter will also perform at…

PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. (AP) - A 2-year-old female dolphin has been released back into the Mississippi Sound after it was found stranded three weeks ago in Pass Christian. Local media outlets report that federal, state and local agencies recued the…

NEWPORT, Ky. (AP) - A northern Kentucky woman convicted of murder in her boyfriend's slaying is asking a judge to either declare mistrial or grant a new trial because one of the jurors on the case was a convicted felon.…

AP-MS--Oyster Relocation-Boats Capsize 2 boats capsize in Bayou Caddy during oyster relocation Eds: APNewsNow. GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - Officials say two boats capsized in Bayou Caddy while participating in an oyster relocation program. The Sun Herald reports the incident happened…

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) - A western Kentucky man has admitted to killing his wife and setting their home ablaze. Multiple media outlets report that 56-year-old Keith Griffith was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges…

OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (AP) - Officials in Ocean Springs are looking into bringing Uber service into their city. The Sun Herald reports Mayor Connie Moran put the issue on the agenda for discussion at Tuesday night's Mayor and Board of…

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - State health regulators are reopening an oyster area on the east side of the Mississippi River. The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals says area 5 will be reopened effective at one-half hour before sunrise…

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A federal judge has sentenced a 42-year-old man to 18 months in prison for tampering with a consumer product. U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis, in a news release Tuesday, said U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan…

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The University of Louisville is displaying a collection of black-and-white photographs that were taken nearly 40 years ago to document the living and working conditions of coal miners. Louisville photographer Ted Wathen worked as principal photographer…

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky State Police have some advice for people traveling during winter weather conditions. The agency says don't travel at all unless it's necessary when winter weather is in your area. If it's necessary, check road conditions…

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Tennessee Board of Regents is meeting by telephone on Thursday to appoint an acting chancellor for the State University and Community College System. The current chancellor, John Morgan, announced earlier this month he will retire…