EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS | The Greenwood Commonwealth

Mississippi Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn of Clinton, left, fist bumps Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann at the Mississippi Economic Council's annual "Hobnob Mississippi" in Jackson, Miss., Oct. 27, 2022. Gunn says he wants legislators to eliminate the Mississippi income tax during the 2023 session. Hosemann, who is also a Republican, says he favors an income tax rebate. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

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Mississippi legislators could debate tax cuts again in 2023
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS - Associated Press
Mon,01/02/23-2:08PM , 565 Reads
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi legislators return to the Capitol on Tuesday, and their three-month session could be dominated by debates over taxes.
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A trickle of water comes out of the faucet at Mary Gaines' Golden Keys Senior Living apartment in Jackson, Miss., Sept. 1, 2022. The federal government will put $600 million toward repairing the troubled water system in Mississippi's capital city...a project that the mayor has said could cost billions of dollars. Funding for Jackson, Miss., water is included in a $1.7 trillion federal spending bill that passed the Senate on Thursday, Dec. 22, and the House on Friday, Dec. 23. President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

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$600M designated for struggling water system in Mississippi
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS - Associated Press
Fri,12/23/22-5:42PM , 1062 Reads
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The federal government will put $600 million toward repairing the troubled water system in Mississippi's capital city — a project that the mayor has said could cost billions of dollars.
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Mississippi state Sens. Rod Hickman, D-Macon, left, Michael McLendon, R-Hernando, second from left, Albert Butler, D-Port Gibson, and David Jordan, D-Greenwood, review an alternate Senate redistricting map during debate on the floor of the Senate at the Mississippi state Capitol in Jackson, Miss., March 29, 2022. The Mississippi NAACP filed a lawsuit Tuesday, Dec. 20, challenging the state House and Senate redistricting plans adopted by lawmakers in 2022 for use beginning in 2023 elections. The suit states that the plans dilute Black voting strength. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

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NAACP sues Mississippi over legislative redistricting plan
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS - Associated Press
Tue,12/20/22-4:30PM , 690 Reads
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi is perpetuating a legacy of racial discrimination because lawmakers failed to draw enough majority-Black districts for the state House and Senate, civil rights advocates say in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
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Wanda Farris sits beside a picture of her daughter, 16-year-old Leesa Gray, that hangs inside Comer's Restaurant in Dorsey Miss., Thursday Dec. 8, 2022. Gray was kidnapped, raped and murdered by death row inmate Eddie Loden in the summer of 2000. Loden will be put to death by the state of Mississippi on Wednesday. (Thomas Wells/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP)

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Slain teen 'loved life,' mom says before killer's execution
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS - Associated Press
Mon,12/12/22-8:24AM , 480 Reads
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Leesa Gray was a 16-year-old girl who found joy in her church youth group, sang in the school chorus and quietly stood up for teenagers who were bullied by their peers, according to friends and family.
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