Top Stories – Page 69 – The Mississippi Link

Drew Brees tosses 5 TDs as Saints cruise past Bills, 35-17

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The stern message from Sean Payton and Drew Brees left little doubt about the postseason aspirations of the New Orleans Saints.

There are few other ways to interpret how critical they were of themselves after Brees struck for five touchdowns a 35-17 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

“It’s good when you can not play your best and make certain mistakes and still win like we did,” Brees said, referring to a handful of pre-snap penalties, a pair of missed scoring chances and two instances when only 10 Saints were on the field… […]

Declining revenue batters many Mississippi casinos

admin 0

JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — Month after month, Mississippi’s casinos are winning less from gamblers.

Some months, such as August, see a blip, and revenue rises a little. But those are exceptions. After hitting nearly $2.9 billion in 2007, revenue fell 22 percent to $2.25 billion in 2012. And the take is on track to dip another $100 million in 2013, state figures show… […]

No opponent, no problem: Jackson State celebrates homecoming after Grambling forfeits

admin 0

JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — Grambling’s decision not to travel to Jackson State for Saturday’s football game did not stop the homecoming festivities on the Mississippi campus.

The music was blaring, the barbecue roasting and there were good times all around outside of Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium. It looked like a typical JSU homecoming celebration, complete with 70-degree weather, a parade and — of course — a performance by the school’s popular marching band, the Sonic Boom of the South.

There was everything except a football game… […]

USM’s ROTC military training program among 13 on Army’s chopping block

admin 0

HATTIESBURG, Mississippi (AP) — The University of Southern Mississippi is one of 13 schools nationally losing its Army Reserve Officer Training Corp. program at the end of the 2014-2015.

And Gov. Phil Bryant and University of Southern Mississippi President Rodney Bennett want to know why… […]

State Court of Appeals upholds conviction of man in Isle of Capri casino shooting death

admin 0

JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — The state Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a Louisiana man in the shooting death of an Arkansas businessman at the Isle of Capri casino in 2007.

Weldon Leagea was sentenced to life in prison when he was convicted of capital murder in Harrison County in 2011… […]

Former Klansman Edgar Ray Killen seeks OK from Supreme Court for new trial in 1964 slayings

admin 0

JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court is considering arguments from a former Ku Klux Klansman convicted in the 1964 slayings of three civil rights workers.

Edgar Ray Killen says he was denied constitutional rights in his Mississippi trial.

Killen made the same arguments to a federal judge in Mississippi in 2012 and before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans earlier this year. He lost in both courts… […]

Police arrest 17-year-old in Jackson motel slaying of bass fisherman

admin 0

JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — Jackson police have arrested a teenager in the slaying of 56-year-old bass fisherman James “Jimmy” Johnson on Sunday at a local motel.

Police say in a news release Wednesday that the 17-year-old was arrested Tuesday and charged with capital murder. The teenager is being held in jail pending an initial court appearance…. […]

AP analysis: Former warden Donald Cabana, who died last week, believed Parchman camps had uses

admin 0

JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — The Parchman penitentiary Donald Cabana returned to in 2004 when he again became warden looked little like what it had been 13 years before.

He told the story many times of how he didn’t like what he saw — steel and concrete buildings each with 500-600 inmates. The changes had been coming since 1972, when a federal judge took control of a prison system wracked with overcrowding, forced labor and segregation… […]

News Around Mississippi: Trooper runs over horse and flips, fatal motel shooting, fatal wreck

admin 0

The Associated Press
News Briefs From Around The State

Here is a roundup of news and notes from around Mississippi this morning:

In Meridian, the Mississippi Highway Patrol says a trooper’s car hit a horse and overturned — as the officer was answering a report that another driver had hit a horse.
WJTV reports that officials did not identify the trooper, but say he was released after being checked at a hospital in Meridian.

The accident occurred Saturday night on Highway 15 in Jasper County. Officials say another horse ran into the road in front of the squad car… […]

Body found in burned SUV identified as McComb man

admin 0

MAGNOLIA, Mississippi (AP) — Authorities in Pike County have identified a body was found Oct. 1 in a burned SUV.

Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Steve Rushing tells the Enterprise-Journal that the state Crime Lab used DNA to identify the victim was 44-year-old Janice Blackwell Brown of McComb, the vehicle’s owner… […]