Thursday, February 6, 2020

News Clippings February 6, 2020

State

More rain could impact dam at Oktibbeha County Lake
WTVA

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WTVA) - More rain could impact the Oktibbeha County Lake and its dam this week. 

Dam break prompts flash flood warning
WLBT

TAYLORSVILLE, Miss. (WLBT) - A dam break prompted a flash flood warning Wednesday afternoon.

Greenville City Council Allocating Funds To Waste Water Treatment Plant
Delta News TV

The Greenville City Council met last night and one of the agenda items was the allocation of funds for updates to the Waste Water Treatment Plant.

Hernando West sewer vote set
DeSoto Times-Tribune

We should know more about the future of the Hernando West development early next month when city aldermen hold a public hearing with the expectation of an “up-or-down” vote to follow on a sewer connection to Hernando West. 
“We can’t continue to do nothing,” Brown responded.

Fourth Coast child dies of rare brain cancer called DIPG. She was 3 years old.
Sun Herald

Three-year-old Brooklyn Willis of Pascagoula was surrounded by family when she died Wednesday at at Mobile hospital after nearly a seven-month fight with a rare and incurable brain tumor called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG.

Top 3 ways irrigation systems can be more efficient
Delta Farm Press

Looking ahead at the coming growing season, Drew Gholson, irrigation specialist at the new National Center for Alluvial Aquifer Research (NCAAR) and Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville, Miss., gave a few key ways farmers can improve efficiency in irrigation.


State Government

Ex-welfare chief, wrestler charged in Mississippi fraud case
AP

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The former director of Mississippi’s welfare agency and four other people embezzled millions in federal money meant for the poor and instead channeled some of it to pay for a luxury drug rehabilitation program for a former pro wrestler, the state auditor said Wednesday.


Oil Spill

Conservationists buy Florida's Lake Wimico with Gulf of Mexico oil spill funds
AP

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - The Nature Conservancy has acquired a 20,161-acre piece of land in the Florida Panhandle, calling it one of the largest conservation wins in over a decade.

Escambia County to kick off Carpenters Creek and Bayou Texar revitalization initiative
WEAR

Carpenters creek is nestled right in the middle of Pensacola and Escambia County.
It starts off at E Olive Road and generally flows all the way into Bayou Texar.


Regional

Environmental regulators enter new proposed settlement with Georgia-Pacific in south Arkansas
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

State and federal regulators have entered a new proposed settlement with a south Arkansas company long accused of contributing to the area's poor air quality.

Among U.S. refineries, Chalmette Refining is No. 8 emitter of carcinogen: report
NOLA.com

Chalmette Refining ranked eighth on a list of the nation's refineries in the level of cancer-causing benzene emissions measured at fenceline monitors, according to a report released Thursday by the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Integrity Project, the New Orleans-based Louisiana Bucket Brigade and other environmental groups.

Feds: Gulf states to keep managing recreational red snapper
AP

States on the Gulf of Mexico can keep setting seasons and bag limits for anglers going after red snapper in federal waters when a two-year experiment becomes permanent Thursday.
The rule will take effect with publication in the Federal Register, the U.S. Commerce Department said.

15-foot shark from North Atlantic pops up along Florida Panhandle, surprising experts
Sun Herald

One of the largest great white sharks being tracked by researchers in the North Atlantic has popped up in the Gulf of Mexico, off Florida spring break hot spots Destin and Panama City.
That is unusual, researchers say.


National

Report finds 10 oil refineries with benzene above EPA's 'action level'
The Hill

Ten oil refineries had levels of the pollutant benzene that were above the government’s “action level” at their fence lines as of September of last year, according to a new report. 

Pesticide Police, Overwhelmed By Dicamba Complaints, Ask EPA For Help
NPR

Every summer for the past three years, the phones have been ringing like crazy in the Office of the Indiana State Chemist. Farmers and homeowners were calling, complaining that their soybean fields or tomato plants looked sick, with curled-up leaves. They suspected pesticides from nearby farms — a kind of chemical hit-and-run.

Trump’s regional EPA chief in California is suddenly removed from his job
LA Times

The Environmental Protection Agency’s top official in California was abruptly removed from office Wednesday.


Press releases

Mississippi’s recreational Red Snapper season will open Friday, May 22
MDMR
February 5, 2020

BILOXI, Miss. – The Executive Director for the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) and the Commission on Marine Resources announced today that Mississippi’s Red Snapper season will open for private recreational anglers and state for-hire vessels on Friday, May 22, 2020, in state and federal waters.