BRANDON, Miss. (AP) - The Mississippi Department of Corrections is investigating the death of an inmate. The Clarion-Ledger reports 27-year-old Deonte Bennett was found unresponsive inside his cell at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County Tuesday morning. He…
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - An evaluation of school performance finds that Mississippi's academic achievement gains have outstripped gains nationwide from 2003 to 2015, but gives the state's public schools a "D'' overall, ranking it second-to-last. The evaluation by Education Week's…
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Gov. Matt Bevin's administration says the wife of Senate President Robert Stivers has been hired as a deputy cabinet secretary. Bevin spokeswoman Jessica Ditto said Thursday that Regina Stivers will serve as deputy secretary of the…
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) - Authorities say deputy U.S. marshals shot and killed a man on railroad tracks in Johnson City after they tried to serve a warrant. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokesman Josh DeVine said in a statement that…
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - The Marine recruiter who was shot in the leg during a deadly attack in Chattanooga will accept a Purple Heart during a ceremony later this month. A…
PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A 17-year-old Letcher County boy has entered a plea deal in which he admitted to killing an infant. WYMT-TV (http://bit.ly/1mFClV2 ) reports that Keaston Taylor pleaded guilty Tuesday in Pike County Circuit Court to an amended…
COLUMBUS, Miss. (AP) - The Columbus City Council has officially approved the creation of a public relations director position for the city. The Commercial Dispatch reports councilmen voted unanimously on the matter Tuesday evening, after a brief discussion. Mayor Robert…
PEARL, Miss. (AP) - The tail cone of a Mississippi Army National Guard aircraft fell off during a training mission, landing in the yard of a home in Pearl. Officials say no one on the ground was injured and the…
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - Seven Head Start centers in Harrison County previously run by the Gulf Coast Community Action Agency are reopening Thursday, two days after students were scheduled to return to Head Start classes after winter break. The centers…
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - A Gulfport bar owner will serve seven years and three months in prison for buying and selling cocaine and China White heroin out of the Ice Daiquiri Lounge. The Sun Herald reports Chief U.S. District Judge…
COLUMBUS, Miss. (AP) - Officials say the state investigation into the shooting death of a 26-year-old man by Columbus police is making progress. The Commercial Dispatch reports Columbus Police Department Interim Chief Fred Shelton provided an update on Ricky Ball's…
LONG BEACH, Miss. (AP) - Officials say a fire that destroyed a home in Long Beach was accidentally caused by a 3-year-old child. Harrison County Fire Chief Pat Sullivan tells The Sun Herald that the child was playing with lighter…
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee high school has canceled its basketball season after three players were charged with raping a teammate in an apparent hazing incident. Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Rick Smith said Wednesday he was taking this "very…
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A former Lafayette County worker will serve two years in prison after pleading guilty to embezzlement. State Auditor Stacey Pickering, in a news release Wednesday, said Heather Thomas Peters, of Oxford, had five years of her…
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - National political analyst Juan Williams is scheduled to speak at a civil-rights event in Mississippi's capital city. The Jan. 15 convocation at Jackson State University is to mark the birthday of the late Rev. Martin Luther…
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee family's tragedy has given an Illinois toddler a chance at life. WKRN-TV reports that 2-year-old William Heard of Brentwood died in December after choking on food. His parents, Jamie and Daniel Heard, made the…
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Students, faculty and staff returning to the University of Kentucky for the spring semester can leave the hoverboards they got over the holidays at home. The university says it has temporarily banned the use, possession or…
MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) - Some students in western Kentucky will be trying out a new program that allows them to study from home as an alternative to missing school. Graves County is having a wet-dry election on Jan. 26, and…
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Authorities say a Byrdstown man has been charged with stealing thousands of dollars from a Disabled American Veterans fund. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says 65-year-old Glen Williams has been indicted by a Pickett County grand…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The National Weather Service says 2015 featured the worst Cumberland Plateau ice storm in state history and the fewest Tennessee tornadoes since 2007. Thousands of trees and power lines were knocked down in the February storms,…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Tennessee Titans have wrapped up an interview with former Lions general manager Martin Mayhew in their search for a new GM. The Titans said Wednesday night the interview had concluded. Mayhew had been executive vice…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Nashville Predators traded defenseman Seth Jones to the Columbus Blue Jackets for center Ryan Johansen on Wednesday. Nashville general manager David Poile said in a statement that Johansen is a big, young center whot can…
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Thunder forward Kevin Durant will play Wednesday night against Memphis after sitting out Oklahoma City's game Monday night against Sacramento with a sprained right big toe. Thunder coach Billy Donovan said Durant was injured when he…
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee high school has called off the rest of its basketball season after three of its players were arrested on charges of raping a teammate in an apparent hazing incident. Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Rick…
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - John Jancek won't be back as Tennessee's defensive coordinator next season. Tennessee coach Butch Jones announced Wednesday that he and Jancek "have mutually agreed to part ways."…
VERSAILLES, Ky. (AP) - An Indiana man has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges in the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Kentucky boy during a burglary. Media outlets report that Ronald Exantus waived formal arraignment and entered…
GREENVILLE, Miss. (AP) - The state flag of Mississippi will no longer fly on Washington County properties. The Delta Democrat-Times reports the Washington County Board of Supervisors voted Monday 3-2 in favor of removing the flag, which features a Confederate…
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Oxford planning officials have been tweaking the city's sign ordinance, and more tweaks could be coming. The Oxford Eagle reports the Oxford planning department presented proposed changes to the sign ordinance to the Courthouse Square Historic…
WEST LIBERTY, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky State Police say two people have died in a residential blaze in eastern Kentucky. A statement from police says first responders were called to the scene in West Liberty on Tuesday afternoon. The identities…
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A man has been jailed after he shouted a racial slur at a judge as he was being taken into custody. The Courier-Journal reports that Jefferson Circuit Juge Olu Stevens sentenced Adam Satterly to 60 days…
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) - The Hattiesburg Police Department will be allowed to auction off several seized and abandoned surplus items, including 761 weapons in the evidence department. During Tuesday's meeting of Hattiesburg City Council, council members voted 4-1 to allow…
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - The Mississippi Department of Human Services pulled funding from the Gulf Coast Community Action Agency because, by Dec. 17, it had spent only 63 percent of the money it received this year to help poor people…
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - Some services at the state Health Department's County Health Department clinic in Biloxi have been moved to the clinic in Gulfport. Liz Sharlot, director of the department's Office of Communications, tells The Sun Herald the Biloxi…
PEARL, Miss. (AP) - Homeowners, renters and business owners affected by recent severe storms, tornadoes and flooding in Mississippi are urged to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster assistance. A presidential disaster declaration for the severe weather…
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Master distiller Chris Morris of Brown-Forman has been selected as chairman of the Kentucky Distillers' Association - the 136-year-old group that promotes the state's bourbon and distilled spirits industry. Morris is marking his 40th year in…
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky now has a special license plate for siblings of people who died while serving in the military. The addition came as a result of legislation passed last year. Previously, only parents and spouses of the…
FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) - A Franklin man is planning a Republican primary challenge to embattled state Rep. Jeremy Durham. Retired Army Col. Sam Whitson tells The Tennessean newspaper that he has assembled a team for the planned challenge. Whitson says…
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory says it is celebrating a record number of visitors. In a statement, museum officials said 314,149 people visited the museum and factory in 2015. That number eclipsed the former record…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A state official is announcing the launch of an assessment of broadband access and usage in Tennessee. Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd said the assessment is an impartial survey of broadband access,…
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - A former Mississippi college administrator has pleaded guilty to a meth-trafficking charge that carries a penalty range of 10 years to life in prison. The Sun Herald reports (http://bit.ly/1IQjHUP) 41-year-old Morris Etheredge, former academic dean of…
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Emergency responders have visited about 110 homes and businesses in the Memphis area to warn people about rising water in the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Authorities in Shelby County have closely monitored water levels in…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - One of Tennessee's most troubled prisons is due to be split into a male facility and female facility. According to a Tuesday memo by Department of Correction Commissioner Derrick Schofield obtained by The Tennessean (http://tnne.ws/1RaoNxH ),…
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - A 36-year-old Texas man is facing up to three years in prison for failing to report to authorities his knowledge of a conspiracy to steal checks from mailboxes in Mississippi. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Golden says…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Nashville company will pay as much as $7.8 million in a settlement related to accusations that it charged Medicare and TennCare for medications for dead patients. The Tennessean (http://tnne.ws/1MSqyYO ) reports U.S. Attorney for the…
OOLTEWAH, Tenn. (AP) - Pressure is mounting for Hamilton County school officials to publicly show action is underway to handle the assault of a 15-year-old student. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports an Ooltewah High School freshman was hospitalized on…
PAINTSVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A man has been sentenced to 30 years behind bars in connection with a murder case involving of two people. WYMT-TV reports Orie Spence Jr. was sentenced Monday morning following the 2013 killings of Edger and…
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - The Kentucky state legislature has gaveled in to begin work on a two-year state spending plan under a new Republican governor. The state House and Senate both convened about noon Tuesday. It will likely be a…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - An effort to have state Senate committees meet on an additional day is leading to grumbling among some Republicans in the upper chamber who say the change would allow less time for legislative receptions and to…
OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (AP) - Ocean Springs city aldermen have accepted the resignation of three of the city's firefighters. Fire Chief Jeff Ponson tells the Mississippi Press the resignations are effective Friday, and says all three firefighters left for higher…
MUNFORDVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says an overnight blaze has caused major damage to a rest area along southbound Interstate 65. Cabinet spokesman Chris Jessie said in a statement that the fire was reported about 2 a.m.…
