Top Stories – Page 71 – The Mississippi Link

U.S. gas prices drop 14 cents over past 2 weeks; Mississippi fourth lowest in nation

CAMARILLO, California (AP) — The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has dropped 14 cents over the past two weeks.

The Lundberg Survey of fuel prices released Sunday says the price of a gallon of regular is $3.38. Midgrade costs an average of $3.58 a gallon, and premium is $3.71.

Diesel was down 4 cents at $3.92 gallon.

Mississippi has the fourth-lowest gas prices in the country with an average of $3.11 per gallon for regular… […]

9-year-old boy sneaks on Delta jet for Minneapolis-to-Las Vegas flight

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A 9-year-old Minneapolis boy was able to get through security and onto a plane at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport without a ticket, an airport spokesman said Sunday.

Security officials screened the boy at airport shortly after 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman Patrick Hogan said. The boy then boarded a Delta flight that left for Las Vegas at 11:15 a.m… […]

Ole Miss officials unable to verify athletes disrupted campus play with homophobic slurs

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OXFORD, Mississippi (AP) — The University of Mississippi says it has not been able to verify reports that athletes led the disruption of a campus play with gay slurs and inappropriate laughter. University officials said earlier that some freshman athletes participated.

Nobody gave names or accused specific students of misbehaving during “The Laramie Project,” a play about the beating death of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyo., the six-person Bias Incident Response Team reported Friday… […]

Saints improve to 5-0 as Drew Brees leads 26-18 road victory over Bears

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CHICAGO (AP) — Drew Brees passed to Jimmy Graham along the sideline. He found the tight end over the middle. They hooked up for long plays and short ones, all over the field.

That New Orleans connection was just too much for the Chicago Bears.

Brees threw two touchdown passes, Graham tied an NFL record with another 100-yard game and the Saints beat the Bears 26-18 on Sunday to remain unbeaten… […]

Police say man who set himself on fire at National Mall has died

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A man who set himself on fire on the National Mall in the nation’s capital has died of his injuries, District of Columbia police said Saturday.

Officer Araz Alali, a police spokesman, said the man died Friday night at a Washington hospital.

The man’s name and age were not immediately known, and his burns were so severe that authorities will need to use DNA and dental records to identify him, Alali said… […]

Woman asks Mississippi court to dismiss same-sex divorce case from California wedding

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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A woman is asking a Mississippi court to throw out a divorce petition filed by the wife she married in California, arguing that Mississippi can’t grant a divorce because it doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage.

Lauren Beth Czekala-Chatham and Dana Ann Melancon traveled to California to get married in 2008, but they lived together in Southaven, Miss. Czekala-Chatham still lives in Mississippi. Melancon lives in Arkansas.

Czekala-Chatham filed for divorce in north Mississippi’s DeSoto County Chancery Court… […]

Analysis: Public left in dark about new state superintendent

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JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — If you’d like to know a little something about Mississippi’s next superintendent of schools, Carey Wright, you should thank Des Moines, Iowa.

When Wright interviewed for the superintendent of that local school district in March, she and two other candidates met with members of the community and then gave speeches and brief interviews with the board that were recorded. That 20-minute recording is still online. It gives a much better insight into Wright’s background and professional views than the one-paragraph statement she issued through the Mississippi State Board of Education after it voted in a closed meeting last week to name Wright the leader of the Magnolia State’s 490,000 students and 148 school districts… […]

Hinds County judge blocks state takeover of LeFlore County schools

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JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — Hinds County Circuit Judge Winston Kidd has blocked the state’s takeover of the Leflore County school district.

Kidd ruled Monday that the district is owed a formal hearing before the state can depose the current superintendent and school board.

The state has said it used another section of state law and no formal hearing was required before the governor declared a state of emergency. Gov. Phil Bryant declared an emergency in Leflore County Sept. 17, the same day Kidd first stepped in… […]

4 new West Nile virus cases reported, including 1 in Harrison County

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JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — The Mississippi State Department of Health says four newly confirmed cases of West Nile virus bring the state total to 39 this year. The new cases, reported Monday, include one each in Forrest, Harrison, Hinds, and Madison counties.

Hinds County has had the most reported cases this year at 11, followed by five in Forrest and four… […]

Jackson man who helped video sexual assault of 4-year-old sentenced to 23 years in prison

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JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — A man was sentenced Monday to more than 23 years in prison for a sexual assault on a 4-year-old girl and making a video of the attack with another man who was also convicted in the case.

Jemery Atral Hodges, 26, pleaded guilty in June to two counts. He was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court in Jackson.

The child’s mother wept, describing to the court the harm that came to her daughter… […]