State
Money on the way for new tram between Jones Park and the Mississippi Aquarium
Sun Herald
A grant for $7 million for a tramway from Jones Park to the new Mississippi Aquarium is one of six projects being funded through GOMESA, Gov. Phil Bryant announced Wednesday.
Gov. Bryant announces millions in funding for projects impacting Gulf Coast
WLOX
Gov. Phil Bryant announced six projects set to benefit the Mississippi Gulf Coast have been funded through the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act.
How will Mississippi spend $23 million in Gulf oil and gas money?
Clarion Ledger
Good news for Pelahatchie Bay residents on fight against giant salvinia
WLBT
Good news for residents in the Pelahatchie Bay area. Officials say the giant salvinia is 90 percent eradicated, but the work isn’t over.
...“So we have purchased and it’ll be here next week, a cleaning station. Which has vacuums and wash waters, and pumps. And it’s solar powered, it’s self reporting, it’s pretty nice. And we actually got two more coming through a grant from DEQ," said Sigman.
Prospective aquaculture farm discussed for area
Natchez Democrat
NATCHEZ — A prospective aquaculture farm could generate a boost in jobs and economic growth in the Miss-Lou community by producing and distributing high-value ocean fish in Natchez.
City eyes up to $1 million for sewer repairs
Daily Times Leader
Sometime this year, West Point likely will have to borrow money to make an estimated $900,000 in repairs to one of its main sewer lines, city leaders agreed this week.
But while it sounds expensive, a simple analogy helps make the choice clear, according to Water and Light Manager Boodro Marsac.
...That could run the city afoul of state environmental regulations, which could lead to fines by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.
PREACHER ASKS HELP WITH CITY SEWER PROBLEM
Simpson County News
The Mendenhall Mayor and Board of Aldermen held their regularly scheduled meeting on March 5.
Holly Bluff community meeting aired out frustration with flooding
WLBT
The First baptist church in Holly Bluff was loud and full of voices, like a Sunday sermon. But Tuesday afternoon, most of the voices weren’t praising the powers at be, instead they were questioning their flood issues.
New flood maps will be shown March 18
Panolian
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will make public its preliminary countywide Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) at an opening meeting in Panola County March 18.
Oxford amends sanitation bill for trash-only customers
Oxford Eagle
Last year’s annexation of 10 square miles by the City of Oxford brought change for people who had not been living inside the city limits before. During last week’s monthly Board of Aldermen meeting there was another change for the new Oxford residents.
County purchases 1,000 additional garbage carts
Itawamba County Times
An oversight in the number of homes serviced by the Itawamba County Solid Waste Department has forced county officials to purchase more than 1,000 additional 96-gallon garbage carts.
Volunteers sought for March 23 cleanup effort
New Albany Gazette
The Historic North Side Garden Club and Main Street groups are calling on community members, civic organizations, churches and schools to come to the Union County Heritage Museum at 114 Cleveland Street at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 23 for the 2019 Great American Clean Up.
Gipson discusses hemp farming in Mississippi
NewsMS
A bill that could allow hemp farming in Mississippi is making its way through the legislature. The bill has been amended to create a task force to study how hemp would be grown in Mississippi if it is legalized.
Vicksburg native Richard Rula honored as MSU National Alumnus of the Year
Vicksburg Post
For five decades, Richard Rula has bled maroon and white.
Now, the Vicksburg native holds the honor as Mississippi State University’s National Alumnus of the Year.
State Government
House halts bill for state employee pay raise
WJTV
JACKSON, Miss (WJTV) - As we approach the deadline for the state House and Senate to vote on bills from opposite chambers one catching heat on the floor is a pay raise for state employees.
Regional
Lake Pontchartrain filling up with fresh water from Mississippi River
WWL
NEW ORLEANS — Water from the swollen Mississippi River is rushing through the Bonnet Carre Spillway toward Lake Pontchartrain at a rate of about 1.5 million gallons per second.
The Army Corps of Engineers has opened 206 out of the 350 bays on the spillway structure to take the pressure off levees down river.
LDWF to reopen oyster season for bedding purposes
Daily Comet
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries will reopen the oyster season in designated portions of the Public Oyster Seed Grounds for bedding purposes only on Thursday and it will close on Saturday.
Scientists are dropping dead alligators into the darkest depths of the Gulf to see what bites
Times-Picayune
What happens when you drop a dead alligator in the darkest depths of the Gulf of Mexico?
Congress Members Want Protection For Gulf Whales
WUSF
3 small quakes shake coast near Alabama-Florida line
AP
FLOMATON, Ala. (AP) - A small earthquake has hit the Gulf Coast for the third time in a week.
National
Where Will Your Plastic Trash Go Now That China Doesn't Want It?
NPR
Plastic garbage from Trader Joe's and an AARP card are peeking out of hillocks of plastic trash piling up in Indonesia.
Coca-Cola promised to help fix recycling. Here's how it plans to deliver
CNN
Early last year, Coca-Cola set an ambitious goal for itself: Collect and recycle the equivalent of every bottle or can it sells by 2030.
Fiat Chrysler recalls more than 860,000 cars
CBS
The Environmental Protection Agency announced that Fiat Chrysler is voluntarily recalling 862,520 cars after emissions investigations conducted by the agency and the company.
North America’s most endangered bird faces a new threat: feuding wildlife managers
Sun Herald
North America’s most endangered bird, the grasshopper sparrow that inhabits Central Florida’s shrinking prairie, is facing a new threat: a feud among wildlife managers and scientists.
US moves to lift remaining gray wolf protections
AP
BILLINGS, MONT.
Gray wolves in the U.S. would be stripped of federal protection and subjected to hunting and trapping in more states under a proposal released Thursday that declares the predators recovered following a decades-long restoration effort.
Opinion
‘A cultural gumbo.’ How a grassroots effort to unify the Coast became a movement.
Sun Herald
“A rising tide lifts all boats.”
It’s hard to believe we are on the doorstep of 2020.
Six years ago, an informal grass roots ideal began, focusing on how we tell our story, how we interact with one another, and most importantly, assessing how we are viewed by the outside world.
Press Releases
Gov. Phil Bryant announces GOMESA projects
JACKSON – Gov. Phil Bryant announced today six projects totaling more than $23 million that will be funded through the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA). The federal passage in 2006 of GOMESA created revenue sharing provisions for the four Gulf oil and gas producing States of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and their coastal political subdivisions.
EPA's Hazardous Waste e-Manifest System Receives One Millionth Manifest: Saving Industry and States Significant Time and Money
03/13/2019
WASHINGTON (March 13, 2019) — Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a significant achievement in modernizing the nation’s cradle-to-grave hazardous waste tracking process, saving valuable time, resources and dollars for industry and states.
EPA Announces 2018 ENERGY STAR ® Certified Manufacturing Plants
03/13/2019
WASHINGTON —The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that 100 manufacturing plants earned ENERGY STAR certification for their superior energy performance in 2018. Together, these plants reduced their energy bills by more than $400 million, saved more than 70 trillion British thermal units (TBtu) of energy, and achieved broad emissions reductions, including 4.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. The energy savings are enough to meet the annual energy needs of nearly 440,000 American households.
