EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS | The Greenwood Commonwealth

Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn, of Clinton, speaks to the business leaders at the Mississippi Economic Council's annual "Hobnob Mississippi" in Jackson, Miss., on Oct. 27, 2022. Gunn and other members of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee met Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, and adopted initial budget recommendations that lawmakers will consider during the 2023 session. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

AP
premium content - for subscribers only
Click to subscribe

Mississippi budget blueprint has slight spending increases
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS - Associated Press
Tue,12/06/22-4:13PM , 253 Reads
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Top legislators are recommending only a slight increase in Mississippi state government spending for the coming year, even as Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn renews his push to eliminate the state income tax.

Mississippi's 2023 budget year ends June 30, and the the 2024 budget year begins July 1.
READ MORE

Brett Favre

premium content - for subscribers only
Click to subscribe

State revises demands on Favre in welfare suit
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS - Associated Press
Tue,12/06/22-2:00AM , 572 Reads
JACKSON — The Mississippi Department of Human Services on Monday changed its demands against retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre in a lawsuit that seeks repayment of misspent welfare money that was intended to help some of the poorest people in the U.S.
READ MORE

Former NFL football quarterback Brett Favre speaks with reporters prior to his induction to the Mississippi Hall of Fame in Jackson, Miss., on Aug. 1, 2015. Favre is asking to be removed from a civil lawsuit in Mississippi that seeks to recover millions of dollars in misspent welfare money that was intended to help some of the poorest people in the U.S. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

AP
premium content - for subscribers only
Click to subscribe

Mississippi revises demands on Favre in welfare lawsuit
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS - Associated Press
Mon,12/05/22-12:31PM , 911 Reads
JACKSON, Miss.
READ MORE

Wanda Farris, the mother of slain teenager Leesa Gray, second from right, is surrounded by supporters as she leaves the federal courthouse in Jackson, Miss., on Monday, Nov. 28, 2022, after they listened to several hours of arguments about Mississippi's three-drug protocol for executions. Thomas Edwin Loden Jr. pleaded guilty in 2001 to capital murder, rape and four counts of sexual battery in the 2000 death of Gray, a 16-year-old waitress from north Mississippi. Loden is a plaintiff in the lawsuit. The Mississippi Supreme Court has scheduled his execution for Dec. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

AP
free content

Judge mulls arguments in Mississippi death penalty protocol
By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS - Associated Press
Mon,11/28/22-7:37PM , 379 Reads
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal judge will decide whether to block Mississippi from using three drugs when it puts inmates to death, and his ruling could determine whether the state carries out its next execution in about two weeks.
READ MORE

Subscribe to EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS

The E-Edition

Weekend, February 28-01, 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