EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS | The Greenwood Commonwealth

Mississippi University for Women President Nora Miller, center, stands with alumni on the steps of the Mississippi State Capitol, Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in Jackson, to address reporters. The group gathered at the statehouse in recognition of the Columbus, Miss., based school's 140th anniversary of the school's charter -- and to oppose a bill to merge the university with Mississippi State University. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

AP
registered content - login required to view
Click to register / login

Mississippi University for Women urges legislators to keep the school open
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS - Associated Press
Tue,03/12/24-6:39PM , 131 Reads
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Leaders and alumni of Mississippi University for Women rallied Tuesday at the state Capitol, urging legislators to kill a bill that would make the school a branch of nearby Mississippi State University.
READ MORE

The shadow of a voter entering the precinct at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Gluckstadt, Miss., is cast on a privacy divider for people filling out ballots at Precinct 205 at during the primary election Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

AP
registered content - login required to view
Click to register / login

Mississippi Republican Sen. Wicker advances to general election. State also holds 4 House primaries
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS - Associated Press
Mon,03/11/24-11:04PM , 257 Reads
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippians voted in party primaries Tuesday for all four of the state's U.S. House seats and one U.S. Senate seat.

The general election is Nov. 5.
READ MORE

Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala.,, speaks during a news conference on the border, Feb. 15, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Britt gave the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday, March 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

AP
premium content - for subscribers only
Click to subscribe

Katie Britt used decades-old example of rapes in Mexico as Republican attack on Biden border policy
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS - Associated Press
Sat,03/09/24-4:30PM , 520 Reads
The Republican senator who gave the party’s response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union address used a harrowing account o
READ MORE

Mississippi House Education Committee Chairman Rep. Loyd Roberson II, R-Starkville, left, speaks to committee Vice Chairman Rep. Kenneth McCarty, R-Hattiesburg, as he explains a bill that would replace the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) during debate in the chamber, Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson. The Mississippi House of Representatives passed the funding alternative to MAEP, called the Inspire Act, that proponents say is a simpler funding formula and more equitable to the school districts as compared to MAEP. The bill now goes to the Senate. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

AP
registered content - login required to view
Click to register / login

Mississippi House votes to change school funding formula, but plan faces hurdles in the Senate
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS - Associated Press
Wed,03/06/24-5:44PM , 335 Reads
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi House voted Wednesday to set a new formula to calculate how much money the state will spend on public schools — a step toward abandoning a formula that has put generations of legislators under political pressure because they have fully funded it only two years since it was put into law in 1997.
READ MORE

Subscribe to EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS

The E-Edition

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Join Those Who Support Local News

Local news matters to Greenwood. It keeps the people informed and connected. It asks the questions they want answered. It elevates what’s good, and it exposes what’s not.

To do that work well takes skilled reporters and editors, as many as a community can support through advertising, subscriptions and philanthropy.

The Greenwood Commonwealth expanded its newsroom in 2025 by adding Gerard Edic as a reporter covering public safety and other stories of interest to the community.

His position is partially funded by a two-year grant from Report for America, a national nonprofit. Generous supporters in the community donated the matching funds in the first year. We are now raising funds for Year 2.

Will you join this effort with a tax-deductible contribution?

Donate