Top Stories – Page 110 – The Mississippi Link

Escaped inmate caught in Wal-Mart parking lot in Ark.

A state inmate who escaped from a community work center in Yazoo City was arrested Monday in Pine Bluff, Ark.

Tara Booth, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Department of Corrections, said in a news release that authorities had been looking for the 27-year-old Bryan Owens since he went missing from the Yazoo County Community Work Center on Sunday.

Owens was serving a 12-year sentence for burglary, vehicle theft and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon from Harrison County. […]

Feds, Miss. school reach deal over punishment

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) The U.S. Justice Department said Friday that it has reached a deal with a Mississippi school district to end discriminatory disciplinary practices in which black students face harsher punishment than whites for similar misbehavior.

The agreement comes after a lengthy federal investigation that found that black public school students in Meridian are five times more likely than whites to be suspended from classes and often got longer suspensions for comparable misbehavior. […]

State Rep. Jessica Upshaw dead of apparent suicide

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Simpson County Coroner Terry Tutor said state Rep. Jessica Upshaw has died.

Tutor said the Diamondhead Republican died Sunday.

Mississippi Bureau of Investigation spokesman Warren Strain says the crime scene unit is at a home in Mendenhall, investigating her death.

Simpson County Sheriff Kenneth Lewis told WLOX that Upshaw appeared to have shot herself in the head in an apparent suicide.

“It appeared she had a gunshot wound to her head; it appeared to be self-inflicted,” he said. […]

Brandon Middle School teacher suspended

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A Brandon Middle School teacher is on suspension after what school district officials are referring to as a “disciplinary issue.”

Angela Smith told The Clarion-Ledger her eighth grade son was shoved on March 19 by information and communication technology teacher Terry Williams after he was caught tossing a piece of candy across the room.

Smith said Williams told her son to go to the principal’s office. She said her son stopped at the water fountain on the way to the principal’s office, and the teacher came out and started yelling at him. The teacher then grabbed him by the shirt and bumped him with his chest. […]

Coroner identifies pedestrian killed in Biloxi

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The pedestrian killed by an alleged hit-and-run driver in Biloxi over the weekend has been identified as 70-year-old David Honarka, of Greenback, Tenn.

The Sun Herald reported that Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove released his name Monday after locating his relatives.

Hargrove says Honarka would often visit Biloxi casinos while his wife was visiting with relatives. […]

300 Mississippi girls to enter SEEK – a free Summer Engineering Experience for Kids

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By Ayesha K. Mustafaa

Editor

Females only – third and fifth graders, students of color, from Jackson Public Schools and surrounding area have a friend in the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).

While the NSBE acknowledges that a significant disparity persists in the STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – participation rates among African Americans, it has not taken this bleak assessment lying down…. […]

The Black Press and the Black Pulpit

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“Pleading the cause for black America”

NNPA Newswire

With a history of 186 years, the Black Press continues to carry the torch to “Plead the Cause” of Black America. Members of The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) also known as “The Black Press of America” celebrated its annual Black Press Week in the Nation’s Capital…. […]

Mississippi Alliance for Fairness at Nissan welcomes Brazilian trade unionists

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By Artaymis Ma’at

Contributing Writer

Brazilian trade unionists were welcomed at a reception hosted by Congressman Bennie Thompson at Rosemont Missionary Baptist Church in support of the Mississippi Alliance for Fairness at Nissan (MAFFAN), held Sunday night, March 17, 2013. Pastor Jimmie L. Edwards opened the meeting with a warm welcome…. […]

East Mississippi police chief killed in accident

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Authorities said a police chief in east Mississippi was killed after being struck by a car while directing traffic Tuesday.

Clarke County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Barry White said Enterprise Police Chief Randy Boykin died while being flown to the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) in Jackson.

Boykin had been chief for 12 years and also worked as a part-time deputy. White said Boykin directed traffic at the main intersection in town every weekday morning to help with school traffic. […]

MEMA: Weather causes damage in numerous counties

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The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency says severe weather caused damage in at least 10 counties as storms moved through parts of the state Monday afternoon.

MEMA said damage was reported to homes in Grenada, Itawamba, Lowndes, Tallahatchie and Union counties. There were reports of downed trees in several other counties.

There were also reports of high winds lifting at least two semi-tractor trailers into the air, with one left dangling over a highway in Lee County. […]