Sentencing hearings this week for six law enforcement officers, some of whom were members of the Goon Squad, revealed a disturbing portrait of a Mississippi sheriff’s department that encouraged deputies to use extreme violence as a policing tool. Prosecutors, along with several of the deputies who were sentenced, described a toxic culture in which senior…
Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi secured a second term, according to The Associated Press, fending off a vigorous challenge from Brandon Presley, a conservative Democrat whom he cast as a far-left acolyte of President Biden, and overcoming concerns about a shortage of excitement among conservatives. Mr. Presley conceded to Mr. Reeves, a Republican, shortly before…
Just three years ago, Mississippi had an election law on its books from an 1890 constitutional convention that was designed to uphold “white supremacy” in the state. The law created a system for electing statewide officials that was similar to the Electoral College — and that drastically reduced the political power of Black voters. Voters…
Drought-like conditions in the Midwest over the summer have created a growing water problem in the New Orleans area this fall. Water levels of the Mississippi River have dropped low enough to make the river less resistant to a mass of saltwater flowing north from the Gulf of Mexico. This circumstance, known as saltwater intrusion,…
In another sign of the deep rift in Mississippi between white state lawmakers and Black residents of its capital, Jackson, the N.A.A.C.P. is suing state leaders over two new laws that it says create a “separate and unequal” structure involving the police and courts in the city. The laws, passed by the overwhelmingly white and…
Terry Grassaree was dogged for years by questions about how he did his job as a law enforcement officer in Macon, Miss., a tiny, rural town near the state’s eastern border. There were allegations of rape inside the jail that Mr. Grassaree supervised, and lawsuits claiming that he covered up the episodes. At least five…
ROLLING FORK, Miss. — President Biden vowed on Friday that the federal government would help Mississippi recover and rebuild from devastation caused by a deadly tornado that ripped through rural parts of the state last week. The storm left at least 26 people dead and injured dozens in Rolling Fork, a town of about 2,000,…
GREENWOOD, Miss. — Since its opening in a converted wood-frame mansion 117 years ago, Greenwood Leflore Hospital had become a medical hub for this part of Mississippi’s fertile but impoverished Delta, with 208 beds, an intensive-care unit, a string of walk-in clinics and a modern brick-and-glass building. But on a recent weekday, it counted just…
ROLLING FORK, Miss. — An ominous wedge appeared in the night sky over one of the poorest regions of the American South late Friday. When it touched down, it nearly obliterated the small Mississippi Delta town of Rolling Fork in one of numerous scenes of destruction and heartbreak across swaths of Mississippi and Alabama. At…
A tornado has touched down in Mississippi, the authorities said on Friday night, as emergency workers began to survey the damage, and thunderstorms moved east through the state toward Alabama. The tornado caused damage in Silver City and Rolling Fork, Miss., the National Weather Service office in Jackson said on Twitter. The agency issued a…