State
COSTCO’S LEGAL BATTLES CONTINUE IN NEW YEAR
Northside Sun
The new year means continued legal wrangling over the Ridgeland Costco.
Contractors were doing site prep work last week on the Costco Wholesale, which will be located on Highland Colony Parkway in Ridgeland.
...Last week, opposition appeared in Madison County Chancery Court to overturn a permit issued to developers by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).
Rawls Springs Utility District withdraws opposition to Hattiesburg's annexation attempt
Hattiesburg American
One group previously opposed to Hattiesburg annexing parts of Rawls Springs has decided it will no longer object to the annexation attempt.
Free radon test kits available while supplies last
WLBT
The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) Radon Program is partnering with Mississippi Public Library System next week to offer free radon home tests kids as part of Radon Action Month.
Entergy hiring 320 for Mississippi nuclear operations
AP
Entergy Corp. says it's adding jobs at its nuclear power division headquarters in Jackson, as well as at its Mississippi nuclear plant at Grand Gulf.
State Government
Mississippi agencies: Shutdown could spark worker furloughs
AP
Mississippi's welfare and child protection agencies could have to begin furloughing state employees without pay because federal welfare money has been interrupted by the federal government shutdown.
Mississippi: $27M from contractors in prison bribery case
AP
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said Thursday that his office is collecting nearly $27 million from contractors involved in bribing a former head of the state prison system.
Longtime Mississippi Sen. Burton has stroke, Reeves says
AP
A longtime Mississippi lawmaker who recently stepped down from a leadership post has had a stroke.
Regional
Mobile County could get new park on Escatawpa River
Al.com
A private campground on the Mississippi line may soon become a county-owned site with potential to join Chickasabogue Park as a crown jewel of the county’s recreational and environmental assets.
Navy to deny thousands of civil claims in NC drinking water case
The Hill
The Navy is reportedly denying the remaining thousands of civil claims related to contaminated drinking at water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
Alligators 'frozen' in North Carolina swamp exhibit bizarre survival tactic
Fox News
In a bizarre and instinctual survival tactic, alligators that normally lurk in a swamp in eastern North Carolina are now "frozen" beneath the murky water. Every inch of the reptiles’ bodies stay underwater — except for their snout.
National
Civil penalties for polluters dropped dramatically in Trump’s first two years, analysis shows
Washington Post
Civil penalties for polluters under the Trump administration plummeted during the past fiscal year to the lowest average level since 1994, according to a new analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data.
Government shutdown delays, disrupts environmental studies
AP
The rainwater collection system is broken at the environmental research station on a remote, rocky Pacific island off the California coast. So is a crane used to hoist small boats in and out of the water. A two-year supply of diesel fuel for the power generators is almost gone.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel ordinarily would help with such problems. But they haven't been around since the partial federal government shutdown began a month ago, forcing researchers with the nonprofit Point Blue Conservation Science to rely on volunteers to haul bottled water and 5-gallon (18-liter) jugs of diesel to the Farallon Islands National Refuge, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from San Francisco.
Cigarette filters are the No.1 plastic pollutant ... and don't prevent cancer
CNN
Plastic straws and bags have received widespread attention as pollutants. But another, even bigger, plastic problem has been slipping under the radar -- cigarette filters.
The 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill: An environmental 'shot heard around the world'
FTY YEARS AGO, SANTA BARBARA WOKE UP TO ITS COAST COATED IN STICKY, PUNGE OIL. WHAT CAME NEXT CHANGED ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY FOR THE NATION.
Ventura County Star
A blowout off the coast of Santa Barbara 50 years ago not only galvanized the community and state but led to a wave of environmental laws nationwide.
Opinion
SOLAR GAINS TRACTION
Northside Sun
The Delta will be getting its second large-scale solar panel electricity power plant, according to Entergy, one of the state’s largest regulated power companies. Entergy provides electricity to 449,000 customers in 45 counties. The 1,000-acre site will be in Sunflower County and will produce 100 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 16,000 homes.
