State
MARATHON
Northside Sun
Efforts to renegotiate decree long process officials say
Efforts to renegotiate the city of Jackson’s sewer consent decree are a marathon, not a sprint, according to Chief Administrative Officer Robert Blaine.
HCUA repairing broken sewer line in Long Beach
WLOX
LONG BEACH, MS (WLOX) -The Harrison County Utility Authority is working to make repairs after a 24-inch sewer line broke Wednesday near Espy Ave. and Demorelle Ave.
Geologist enjoys life on the rocks
Tulane Magazine
Photographs taken of David T. Dockery III at 5 years old picking up stray rocks and collecting them in a bucket could have predicted his career as an acclaimed geologist.
Oxford-born company growing
Oxford Eagle
GreenServ, Inc., a medical waste sterilization facility, is in the process of purchasing property in the Industrial Park to build north Mississippi’s first regulated medical waste sterilization facility.
...The facility in Lafayette County will use this same process, which is monitored by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
Vicksburg takes next steps toward new sports complex
Vicksburg Post
VICKSBURG — Mayor George Flaggs Jr. has named a ×ve-member committee to review proposals to design, build and manage the city’s proposed sports complex, the Vicksburg Post reports....In June 2009, the city got a Department of Environmental Quality wetlands permit, paid another penalty of $14,152.61, and extended the contract deadline by 57 more days to April 2010.
Mitchell Appointed to Mississippi Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Surveyors
MBJ
William C. “Bill” Mitchell of Brown, Mitchell and Alexander Inc., has been appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant to the Mississippi Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Surveyors.
Hunter bags 36-point freak-of-nature deer with his crossbow
Clarion Ledger
JACKSON, Miss. — The hunt for a 6-point management buck that spanned four years ended with a Philadelphia, Miss., man taking a rare 36-point giant.
SMW Manufacturing acquires Caterpillar operations in Lafayette County
MBJ
SMW Manufacturing is taking over operations at the former Caterpillar facility in Lafayette County. The company plans to invest in excess of $15 million and hire up to 50 employees, comprised of predominantly former Caterpillar employees, by the end of 2018.
State Government
Gov. Bryant wants Medicaid eligibility under Human Services, alludes to work requirement
Clarion Ledger
Gov. Phil Bryant has instructed officials to develop plans to transfer all Medicaid eligibility verification responsibilities to the Department of Human Services.
Governor advocating for two statewide votes: state flag, transportation tax
Daily Journal
JACKSON – If second-term Gov. Phil Bryant has his way, 2018 could be a busy year for Mississippi voters.
RESERVOIR STUDY
Northside Sun
The Pearl River Valley Water Supply District (PRV) is completing a “manpower study” of the Ross Barnett Reservoir police department.
Stop calling me! Mississippi launches app to report telemarketers
Daily Journal
JACKSON
Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley, whose agency regulates telemarketers, was relaxing on his porch in Nettleton one Saturday afternoon about a year ago when he got an unwanted phone call from a telemarketer.
Oil Spill
MDEQ to host Mississippi Restoration Summit
NewsMS
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) will host the second annual Mississippi Restoration Summit on November 14 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center in Biloxi.
Regional
Louisiana 'dirt farmer' asks Supreme Court's help
AP
Some residents in bayou country deep in southeastern Louisiana raise alligators or crawfish. Some grow turnips. Until a local government stepped in, Chad Jarreau farmed dirt.
To be more precise, he dug up dirt on his property in Cut Off, Louisiana, graded it again and again and sold it for use in construction projects.
National
Now, it’s the New York Times vs. the EPA
Washington Post
Elisabeth Bumiller, the Washington bureau chief of the New York Times, hesitated a bit when asked if she’d ever seen anything like it. “It’s an unusual statement coming out of the EPA, let’s put it that way,” said Bumiller in a Wednesday interview with the Erik Wemple Blog.
State aims lawsuit at Trump administration over smog control rules
Albany Times Union
The state is taking the administration of President Donald J. Trump to court for not taking steps to reduce air pollution from predominantly coal-burning states upwind that is causing chronic smog in metropolitan New York City.
Kentucky engineer picked to head surface mining agency
AP
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Trump administration has nominated the head of a Kentucky engineering firm to run the federal agency that regulates and cleans up former surface mines.
Steve Gardner, president and chief executive officer of Lexington consulting and engineering firm ECSI, has been nominated for the top job at the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.
A Turkey-Sized Dinosaur With a Raccoon-Like Bandit Mask
NY Times
Sinosauropteryx first strutted onto the fossil scene in 1996. With its fuzzy feather coat, it revolutionized paleontology, suggesting that many dinosaurs had feathers.
Opinion
REVERSE AUCTIONS NO PANACEA FOR PURCHASING
Northside Sun
Earlier this year, the state Legislature passed legislation that will require, beginning in January 2018, most governmental agencies to utilize reverse auctions when purchasing goods and services.
Press Releases
EPA Releases Guidance on Reporting Air Emissions of Hazardous Substances from Animal Waste at Farms
10/26/2017
(WASHINGTON) — Today, EPA is releasing guidance to assist farmers in reporting air releases of hazardous substances from animal waste at farms. EPA is making this information available to provide time for farmers to review and prepare for the reporting deadline, currently set for November 15, 2017
