State
No trash collection as garbage and frustrations mount
WLBT
YAZOO CITY, MS (Mississippi News Now) -Garbage, garbage everywhere, that's the complaint in Yazoo City where trash bags are becoming a front yard fixture. As garbage goes uncollected, frustrations are mounting.
http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/34629770/no-trash-collection-as-garbage-and-frustrations-mount
Trainer: Wet N Wild deal unlikely until lake repairs are made
Commercial Dispatch
Supervisors are unlikely to pursue an offer for the Oktibbeha County Lake-based Starkville Wet N Wild waterpark until the lake's structural integrity is shored up, District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer said Monday.
http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=56589
MRC to hold Anuual Recycling Awareness Day
Hattiesburg American
JACKSON - The Mississippi Recycling Coalition will hold its annual Mississippi Recycling Awareness Day from 12:30-4 p.m. March 2 at the Mississippi State Capitol.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/story/news/2017/02/28/mrc-hold-anuual-recycling-awareness-day/98534040/
Metro restaurants, businesses prepare for water outage
WLBT
JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) -Right now, steps are being taken to lessen the impact from an impending water outage in the capital city. The city is going to have to turn off the water to a large portion of the city to fix a broken 48-inch line.
http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/34628300/metro-restaurants-businesses-prepare-for-water-outage
Drill showcases response to chemical explosion
WTOK
MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) - Ivy Hall at Meridian Community College was transformed into an active scene on Tuesday morning.
http://www.wtok.com/content/news/Drill-showcases-response-to-chemical-explosion-415003633.html
Dead or alive: Bills in the Mississippi Legislature
AP
JACKSON - Tuesday marked the latest deadline during the three-month session of the Mississippi Legislature. It was the final day for the House and Senate to act on general bills that had first passed the opposite chamber.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/28/dead-alive-bills-mississippi-legislature/98553078/
Capitol Complex on track, most city bills dead
Clarion Ledger
A plan to divert over $20 million a year in sales tax revenue for Jackson infrastructure remained alive past a major legislative deadline Tuesday but faces tough hurdles in coming weeks.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/28/legislature-capitol-complex-track-most-city-bills-dead/98524242/
Senate tables bill removing civil service protection
Clarion Ledger
A House bill that would have made it easier for agency heads in Mississippi to fire and shift around workers, amid lagging tax collections that have led to tightened state spending, was tabled by the Senate Appropriations Committee Tuesday.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/28/senate-tables-bill-removing-civil-service-protectio/98541146/
Oil Spill
Senator requests special session after BP bill dies in House
Sun Herald
Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, said he would ask Gov. Phil Bryant to call a special legislative session to direct BP economic damages money to be appropriated to the Coast after a bill he had authored died in the House on Tuesday.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/politics-government/article135506888.html
House balks at plan for BP oil spill money
AP
Mississippi lawmakers may be unable to decide this year how to spend $750 million in oil spill damage payments, with sniping between House and Senate members after a bill died at a Tuesday deadline for action when the House Appropriations Committee didn’t bring it up.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/28/house-balks-plan-bp-oil-spill-money/98555068/
House, Senate clash after death of BP bill
Mississippi Today
House and Senate leaders traded barbs at each other Tuesday after a House committee killed a Senate bill that would have moved millions in BP oil spill settlement funds into a separate account for “projects benefiting the Gulf Coast.”
http://mississippitoday.org/2017/02/28/house-senate-clash-after-death-of-bp-bill/
National
Trump directs EPA to begin dismantling clean water rule
LA Times
President Trump stepped up his attack on federal environmental protections Tuesday, issuing an order directing his administration to begin the long process of rolling back sweeping clean water rules that were enacted by his predecessor.
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-water-20170228-story.html
EPA chief: ‘Help is on the way’ for farmers
The Hill
The new head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sought to assure the agriculture industry that the agency will start operating in a way more favorable to them and the business community as a whole.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/321637-epa-head-to-farmers-help-is-on-the-way
EPA Chief Applauds Trump Executive Order Ending Gov't 'Power Grab'
Fox News
Video
http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/02/28/epa-admin-scott-pruitt-waters-united-states-donald-trump-power-grab
Trump takes hatchet to EPA
The Hill
President Trump has launched the opening salvo in his assault on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/321684-trump-takes-hatchet-to-epa
Proposed Trump EPA cuts divide GOP appropriators
The Hill
Key Republicans were cautious Tuesday about reports of the Trump administration’s proposal to deeply cut the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) budget.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/321548-proposed-trump-epa-cuts-divide-gop-appropriators
How Exactly Will Pruitt Kill Clean Power Plan?
Bloomberg
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has sentenced the Clean Power Plan to death. Now it’s only a matter of determining the method of execution.
https://www.bna.com/exactly-pruitt-kill-n57982084542/
Fiat Chrysler Says SEC, U.S. States Join EPA Diesel-Car Probe
Bloomberg
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and states’ attorneys general are investigating its diesel models, as scrutiny escalates of vehicles that environmental regulators have said violate pollution laws.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-28/fiat-chrysler-says-sec-states-join-epa-probing-diesel-emissions
In California, a Move to Ease the Pressures on Aging Dams
NY Times
WALNUT GROVE, Calif. — Until a few weeks ago, the McCormack-Williamson Tract in the California Delta was an island of low-lying farmland, more than two square miles protected from the surrounding rivers and sloughs by earthen levees.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/science/california-aging-dams.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fearth&action=click&contentCollection=earth®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0
Opinion
Trump’s Clean Watershed
He orders the EPA to review Obama’s illegal waterways regulation.
WSJ
Speaking of deregulation (see nearby), President Trump on Tuesday ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider an Obama Administration rule that seized control over tens of millions of acres of private land under the pretext of protecting the nation’s waterways. EPA chief Scott Pruitt will now follow due process to rescind one of his predecessor’s lawless rule-makings.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-clean-watershed-1488328077
The geography of American climate confusion: a visual guide
John D. Sutter is a columnist for CNN Opinion who focuses on climate change and social justice. Follow him on Snapchat, Twitter and Facebook or subscribe to his email newsletter.
(CNN)Climate change may seem like a complicated issue, but it's actually simple if you understand five key facts, according to Edward Maibach, director of the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/28/us/sutter-climate-opinion-maps/index.html
Press Releases
Ole Miss’ School of Engineering teams with tech firm
Published 10:25 am Tuesday, February 28, 2017
By Edwin Smith
The University of Mississippi School of Engineering and two technology companies are working together to create a program aimed at attracting more underrepresented youth into science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, fields.
http://www.oxfordeagle.com/2017/02/28/ole-miss-school-of-engineering-teams-with-tech-firm/
