State
County ends curb recycling
Madison County Journal
Madison County is ceasing its curbside recycling efforts beginning in 2017 due to the cost associated with the service, supervisors said.
http://onlinemadison.com/Content/Default/News/Article/County-ends-curb-recycling/-3/592/39052
Several options available to dispose of old electronics, household items
Picayune Item
Now that Christmas has ended, some presents might replace old items, like phones or televisions, and although there are no electronic recycling facilities for these items in the county, there are safe ways to recycle them.
http://www.picayuneitem.com/2016/12/curbside-debris-removal-guidelines-to-follow/
Recycling live Christmas trees urged
Oxford Eagle
With all of the gift wrappings and other trash accumulated over the Christmas weekend already picked up by Oxford’s Environmental Services garbage collection teams, there’s one more item that needs to be hauled down the street.
http://www.oxfordeagle.com/2016/12/28/recycling-live-christmas-trees-urged/
Warnock billed CMU $1.15M for four months of invoices
Madison County Journal
Since being named sole engineer for Canton Municipal Utilities in mid-August, Rudy Warnock’s firm has billed nearly $1.2 million, ranging from emergency sewer repairs to a five-point plan to address future needs.
http://onlinemadison.com/Content/Default/News/Article/Warnock-billed-CMU-1-15M-for-four-months-of-invoices/-3/592/39057
Year in Review
Northside Sun
Costco, TIFs, controversial contracts, roads headlined 2017
In the words of the great, late ball player and linguist Yogi Berra, 2016 was like 2015 all over again.
http://northsidesun.com/front-page-slideshow-news/year-review#sthash.jp0lLh3y.dpbs
Vicksburg leaders move closer to demolishing abandoned hospital
WLBT
VICKSBURG, MS (Mississippi News Now) -The city of Vicksburg is moving closer to tearing down the old Kuhn Memorial Hospital building.
Legislators may revise change in Mississippi budget process
AP
JACKSON, MISS.
Mississippi lawmakers could spend part of their 2017 session revising a change they made to the state budget in 2016.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/state/mississippi/article123280444.html
Oil Spill
Deep Oil Spill Study Released
‘Deepwater Horizon’ Blowout’s Environmental Consequences Probed
Santa Barbara Independent
David Valentine has been studying the aftermath of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil blowout ever since the disaster killed 11 Macondo well workers and sent about 4.1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. A recognized expert in subsea oil, during 2015’s Refugio Oil Spill in Santa Barbara, the UCSB Earth Sciences and Marine Institute professor would often return calls and emails to reporters from his ship’s berth along the Gulf.
http://www.independent.com/news/2016/dec/28/deep-oil-spill-study-released/
Regional
Environmental Groups Re-Focus on States after Federal Court Deals Them a Blow
IPR
A federal court has sided with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a case that environmental groups had hoped would hasten water clean-up efforts.
National
Dems question EPA nominee's ties to Koch-backed group
The Hill
Senate Democrats are asking President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to explain his ties to a conservative advocacy group that’s received funding from the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch.
Rep. Cramer to Trump: Combine EPA, Energy Into One Agency
Bloomberg
The U.S. Department of Energy and Environment. That is the name of an agency combining the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Department that Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) is advising President-elect Donald Trump to create.
https://www.bna.com/rep-cramer-trump-n73014449163/
EPA to Deny Farm Groups' Bid to Postpone Worker Rules
Bloomberg
The Environmental Protection Agency will deny a petition by two large agriculture organizations to push back implementation of a new farmworker safety standard, less than two weeks before the regulation is set to take effect.
https://www.bna.com/epa-deny-farm-n73014449120/
Obama names Utah, Nevada monuments despite opposition
AP
SALT LAKE CITY – President Barack Obama expanded his environmental legacy in the final days of his presidency with national monument designations on lands in Utah and Nevada that have become flashpoints over use of public land in the U.S. West.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/12/29/obama-names-utah-nevada-monuments-despite-opposition.html
Opinion
Sid Salter: Public pension issue will grow into crisis
Clarion Ledger
STARKVILLE — As we saw earlier this month, it’s rather difficult in December to escape the life lessons from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” — nor should we.
