MISSISSIPPI (WCBI) – Voter-driven ballot initiative process is still alive in the Mississippi legislature. Currently, voters in the state cannot call for an issue to be placed on the ballot to change or create laws. The state Senate did pass a measure that requires about 240,000 signatures. Today, the House amended the bill to lower that to about 107,000 signers….
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Columbus Mayor Keith Gaskin is weighing in on the dissolution of the Columbus-Lowndes County Drug Task Force. Even though the City Council has not formally addressed the break up of the task force, the mayor spoke on the subject at his press conference today. Last week, Columbus Police Chief Joseph Daughtry announced that he was pulling…
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – A second move to revisit the Columbus Police Department’s purchase of new radios meets with dead air. At Tuesday night’s meeting, an agenda item called for a discussion of rescinding the lease agreement for CPD’s new radios and putting the purchase through a reverse auction process to get radios with similar specifications to those of the…
ALABAMA (WCBI) – Alabama’s state leader is putting emphasis on efforts to keep Alabama on good financial footing. Just one day after the start of the legislative session in Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey called lawmakers into a special session to discuss ARPA and state funds. Governor Ivey touted that Alabama is in good financial standing and should use the one-time…
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The Columbus Crime Lab will soon be doubling down on its testing capacity. At Tuesday night’s meeting, the Columbus City Council approved a crime lab request to lease a second gas mass spectrometer. The device is used to analyze evidence. The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors recently purchased the same type of equipment for the city’s…
Today, host Rachel Hurt talks with Dr. Andy Barlow about Fibromyalgia. Categories: On the Beat
LEE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – There is new information in the kidnapping case of three Lee County children. We now know the charges of those arrested and where they were taken into custody. Douglas Mills will be charged with three counts of kidnapping and one count of burglary. Meanwhile, Vanessa Cox and Shelia Hood will be charged with one count…
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Around the nation, schools are struggling to fill teaching positions and keep them filled. The faculty at Mississippi University for Women recognizes that struggle to keep students in the education field and is working to fill that need. For many, teaching is a calling, but when education students become classroom teachers, many find that there are…
LOUISVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Last month, hundreds of men from Louisville got on their knees and prayed for their families and their city. And just weeks later they are seeing more prayer circles happening within the community and in schools. Loving your neighbor is important especially when you are in a close-knit community. However, in places like Louisville, it seems…
FULTON, Miss. (WCBI) – A local community college is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a major project that is expected to help recruit top-notch athletes. A new $5 million softball and tennis complex is going up between the existing softball field and tennis courts on the Itawamba Community College campus. The 6,000-square-foot building will include locker rooms for men’s and…
LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – One of the largest economic development projects in state history broke ground Tuesday in Lowndes County. SDI Aluminum Dynamics is underway. Business managers and elected leaders said the aluminum mill would create a snowball effect for a better economy and improve education. This is a day that has been a long time coming from planning…
TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – Tupelo police have arrested a man in connection with an early Sunday morning shooting that left one dead. Officers arrested 22-year-old Jaedin Hatchett of Shannon Monday. He’s charged with second-degree murder. He’s being held without bond. Investigators said tips and video provided early in the investigation helped them quickly identify Hatchett as the suspect. The shooting…
VERONA, Miss. (WCBI) – A Verona teenager reported missing is back home. Kamora Pegues was found safe Monday night. Pegues had been missing since Sunday afternoon. The Verona Police Department thanks the public for its help in finding her. For 24/7 news and updates, follow us on Facebook and Twitter Categories: Featured, Local News
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – A court date has been set for a Columbus store owner charged with simple assault. Adel Musa, the owner of United Deli, will be in Columbus Municipal Court on April 6. Musa, known in the community as Mr. John, told police his security camera alerted him to a person at one of his businesses at three…
LEE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) -The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said one suspect is in custody after a kidnapping attempt. Douglas Mills The investigation began earlier Tuesday when a woman in the Shannon area reported that her biological father, 52-year-old Douglas Mills, drove from Kentucky to Mississippi and kidnapped her three children. The woman said he broke into the home, pulled…
WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI) – A West Point man is in the Clay County Jail facing charges of making Terroristic Threats. 58-year-old Christopher Hardy is accused of making specific threats of bodily harm to county employees and visitors at the Clay County Courthouse last week. He was arrested by investigators with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. Hardy is in the…
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Bond was set and more charges were announced for the suspect in a Columbus shooting. 31-year-old Paris Wells is now facing charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of methamphetamine. He is also charged with aggravated assault with manifesting extreme indifference to life. The aggravated assault charge stems from a shooting at 19th and…
LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors is sending notice of intent to end the joint narcotics task force to the Columbus City Council. Last week, Columbus Police Chief Joesph Daughtry announced he would be temporarily pulling his officers from the task force, effective immediately, leaving the unit’s fate in limbo. While each party is able…
JACKSON, Miss. (WCBI) – Jackson State University’s temporary acting president is getting down to business. Elayne Hayes-Anthony was named to the leadership role Thursday after the Board of Trustees of the Institutions of Higher Learning voted to put Thomas K. Hudson on paid administrative leave as JSU president. Hayes-Anthony said that she intends to focus on student success, academic excellence,…
TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI) – Police have detained one person of interest in reference to the shooting death of a Tupelo man over the weekend. It happened around 2 a.m. Sunday morning at Cheers near Crosstown. Officers located a man who had been shot. That man was identified as 30-year-old Montavious Clifton. Clifton was taken to NMMC ER where he died….
LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – A planned public hearing about the sale of Tianeptine, commonly known as ZAZA, will go on as scheduled in Columbus. At their last meeting, Supervisors voted to hold a public hearing about the possibility of a ban on the sale, possession, and use of the unregulated drug in Lowndes County. Last week, the Mississippi Legislature…
SALTILLO, Miss. (WCBI) – A raid in Saltillo leads to thousands of dollars worth of meth seized and felony charges for one suspect. Broderick Jones was arrested on March 1 after the North Mississippi Narcotics Unit, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, and Tupelo PD’s K9 unit searched a home at 163 County Road. Jones was charged with aggravated trafficking of…
ABERDEEN, Miss. (WCBI) – After more than 11 years of detention in the Clay County Jail, the relatives of a murder suspect have agreed to a settlement. Details have not been released. 37-year-old Steven Jessie Harris was arrested in 2005 on charges that he killed his father, and injured police officers. He was also charged with carjacking a woman at…
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – The Habitat for Humanity Collegiate challenge is happening this week in Starkville. Students from Rockford University are using their spring break to build a home for a family that needs it. This year’s house is being built-in Kelly Estates which is the new subdivision created by Habitat for Humanity. The house that you see right now…