Tag Archives: Mississippi

Mississippi Advances Ban On Abortion Ballot Measures

Mississippi Today reports: Mississippians would be prevented from placing an initiative on the ballot to change the state’s strict anti-abortion laws under a proposal passed Wednesday by the House of Representatives. House Concurrent Resolution 11, which is still several legislative steps from becoming law, would give citizens the ability to gather signatures to propose new state laws or change existing …

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Mississippi Minister Pleads Guilty To Child Porn Charges

The Biloxi Sun-Herald reports: A retired software developer and former media minister at an Ocean Springs church pleaded guilty Monday to a federal charge of possessing child pornography. Cameron “Cam” Cotrill, 66, of Vancleave, entered the plea Monday in federal court in Gulfport. In exchange for the plea, federal prosecutors dismissed a second charge of distribution of child pornography. U.S. …

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Pastor Gets Life W/O Parole For Molesting Autistic Child

The Mississippi Press reports: Samuel Lamar Taylor, 52, has been sentenced to life without parole after he was convicted by a Rankin County jury on September 20, 2023, of one count of sexual battery and one count of gratification of lust. Taylor served as a music teacher for over 25 years at schools across Mississippi, retiring from Richland Upper Elementary …

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GOP Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves Wins Reelection

Axios reports: Republican Gov. Tate Reeves won re-election on Tuesday in Mississippi, staving off a challenge from Democratic candidate Brandon Presley. Reeves faced an unexpectedly serious challenge from Presley in the deep-red state that has not had a Democratic governor in almost two decades. Reeves, 49, was state treasurer for two terms and lieutenant governor for two terms. He was …

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Donors To MS Gov Got $1.4 Billion In State Contracts

Mississippi Today reports: Gov. Tate Reeves’ top campaign contributors netted $1.4 billion in state contracts or grants from agencies the governor oversees, a Mississippi Today investigation found. Of the 88 individual or corporate donors who have given Reeves’ campaigns at least $50,000, Mississippi Today identified 15 donors whose companies received a total of $1.4 billion in state contracts or grants …

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MS “Media Minister” Arrested On Child Porn Charges

The Mississippi Sun-Herald reports: A computer software developer and “Media Ministry” member at a Mississippi Coast church faces federal charges for distributing and possessing child pornography, court papers say. Cameron “Cam” Cotrill, 66, of Vancleave, is jailed without bond pending trial in January. Federal authorities allege he had accessed 9,900 sexually explicit images of children engaged in sex acts on …

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MS Pastor Guilty Of Sex Crimes Against Autistic Child

Jackson’s NBC affiliate reports: A former longtime music teacher and preacher from Rankin County has been convicted of a sex crime. District Attorney Bubba Bramlett announced Thursday that Samuel Lamar Taylor, 52, was convicted of one count of sexual battery and one count of gratification of lust. On August 23, 2022, the Richland Police Department received a call from Richland …

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MS Baptist Leader Charged With Producing Child Porn

Gulfport’s Fox affiliate reports: A worship leader from Saucier has arrested on federal charges of producing child pornography. 33-year-old Tyler Selby appeared in U.S. District Court in Gulfport on Tuesday before Judge Robert Myers for an initial hearing. Selby was identified by the National Crime Agency in the United Kingdom as a person who produced child porn. Selby was identified …

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Brett Favre Loses Appeal In Mississippi Welfare Lawsuit

The Associated Press reports: The Mississippi Supreme Court says it will not remove former NFL quarterback Brett Favre as a defendant in a civil lawsuit that seeks to recover millions of dollars of misspent welfare money meant to help some of the poorest people in the United States. A panel of three justices issued a brief ruling Wednesday, denying an …

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19 Republican AGs Demand Info On Patients Who Obtain Abortions Or Transgender Care In Other States

The Mississippi Free Press reports: Mississippi authorities need access to information about residents who obtain abortions or gender-affirming care in other states, Attorney General Lynn Fitch told the Biden administration in a June 16 letter. Attorneys general from 18 other states attorneys general signed onto the letter. Fitch’s letter calls on U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier …

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Desegregation Order Issued For Mississippi Schools

The Associated Press reports: Federal courts have issued desegregation orders for 32 school districts in Mississippi, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division’s assistant attorney general said Thursday. The desegregation orders fit into a broader body of civil rights work launched in Mississippi that is examining jails, police departments and hate crimes in the state, according to Assistant Attorney …

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Atheists Win, Mississippi Ends “In God We Trust” Plates

Via press release from American Atheists: Today, the church-state separation watchdog American Atheists claimed victory in its goal to remove mandatory “In God We Trust” language from Mississippi’s official license plate. In June 2021, American Atheists filed a lawsuit against the state of Mississippi on behalf of the Mississippi Humanist Association and three nonreligious Mississippi residents, accusing Mississippi officials of …

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Report Calls Brett Favre “Ringleader” Of Welfare Scam

Sports Illustrated reports: Brett Favre has portrayed himself as an unknowing and tangential participant in the welfare-embezzlement scheme. But it appears nobody benefited more. Interviews and an analysis of legal filings and records, which include dozens of text conversations — some of which have not previously been public — paint Favre as a ringleader from start to finish. Favre had …

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Accused Welfare Scammer: Boycott Fox Over Carlson

Mediaite reports: Hall-of-fame quarterback Brett Favre has joined the calls to boycott Fox News in support of the recently-fired Tucker Carlson. On Monday, Favre tweeted a clip from The Megyn Kelly Show. In the clip, Kelly urges viewers to refrain from watching Fox News after the network “silenced” Carlson with his sudden firing. “I’m with Tucker,” Favre said in the …

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Church School Teacher Arrested On Child Sex Charges

Memphis’s CBS affiliate reports: A Mississippi educator was arrested and charged Thursday with two counts of molestation – touching a child for lustful purposes, two counts of sexual battery and one count of unnatural intercourse. Daniel Paul Harris, 44, of Olive Branch was given a bond of $950,000 on the charges, according to DeSoto County Jail records. Harris and his …

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MS Gov Proclaims April As Confederate Heritage Month

The Mississippi Free Press reports: For the fourth year in a row, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has signed a proclamation declaring April as Confederate Heritage Month in Mississippi, keeping alive a 30-year-old tradition that former Republican Gov. Kirk Fordice first began. Black people make up 38% of Mississippi’s population, which is the highest for any state. A branch of the …

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Biden Declares Emergency After Deadly MS Tornado

CBS News reports: President Joe Biden early Sunday issued an emergency declaration for Mississippi, making federal funding available to Carroll, Humphreys, Monroe and Sharkey counties, the areas hardest hit Friday night by a deadly tornado that ripped through the Mississippi Delta, one of the poorest regions of the U.S. CBS News has confirmed at least 26 people were killed in …

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At Least 23 Dead, Dozens Hurt In Mississippi Tornado

The Washington Post reports:  A devastating tornado swept through parts of Mississippi overnight, killing at least 23 people, injuring dozens more and wreaking severe damage after wind gusts of up to 80 mph and hail the size of golf balls swept through the state. The severe weather has pummeled homes and caused widespread power outages early Saturday. The towns of …

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Mississippi Gov Signs Bill Restricting Electric Car Sales

The Associate Press reports: Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill Tuesday restricting electric car manufacturers from selling vehicles in person unless they open franchised dealerships. Defying calls from some fellow Republicans in the Legislature to veto the measure, Reeves enacted into law House Bill 401, introduced by Republican Rep. Trey Lamar of Senatobia. The law will force electric car …

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MS Gov Signs Anti-Trans Bill As Hate Activist Looks On

NBC News report: Mississippi on Tuesday became the seventh state to enact a restriction on certain transition-related health care for minors. Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, said he signed the bill, which bars puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery for minors, because “there is a dangerous movement spreading across America today.” “It’s advancing under the guise of a false ideology, …

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