State
Jackson County beaches to reopen, but governor still encourages residents to ‘stay at home’
Mississippi Press
The governor had allowed public beaches to open last Monday, but left the decision on Mississippi coast beaches to the local county governments which maintain and oversee those beaches.
Visitors flock to open Biloxi beach in high numbers
WLOX
With the Harrison County beaches the only ones open on the Coast at this time, beachgoers took to the beach in Biloxi near the Coliseum in big numbers on Saturday.
GULFPORT PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT ASSISTING WASTE PRO WITH INCREASING DEMAND FOR YARD DEBRIS PICKUP
WXXV
Over the past few weeks, WastePro has received over 1,000 calls for yard debris pickup. This is seven times the number of calls received last year during the same time frame.
Winds fuel Harrison County wildfire, threatening homes and sending smoke into 2 cities
Sun Herald
A wildfire burning near the Canal Road Exist of Interstate 10 sent clouds of smoke over much of Harrison County on Sunday and threatened homes.
EFFORTS TO CONTROL REBAR AND SALVINIA STYMIED BY LIMITED WORKERS
Northside Sun
The Barnett Reservoir has been plagued by a few different nuisances over the past few years, including the repeated placement of rebar in the water and giant salvinia, an invasive aquatic plant that has proved difficult to treat.
Stinging buck moth caterpillars active in some states
AP
It’s stinging caterpillar season in Mississippi and Louisiana — spiny buck moth caterpillars are out and about. The Mississippi State University Extension Service put out a statement Tuesday about buck moth caterpillars, which the LSU AgCenter says can be found from east Texas to Florida and up the East Coast to Maine.
Nature Conservancy offers global curriculum, videos and virtual field trips
Vicksburg Post
As parents become teachers and teachers learn new ways of instruction, during the COVID-19 sheltering in place orders, assistance from outside sources can be helpful. In an effort to support those in this endeavor, The Nature Conservancy, which is a global environmental nonprot that works to create a world where people and nature can thrive, has created a website that will educate and interest audiences of all ages.
State Government
Mississippi prepares to ease some coronavirus restrictions
AP
Some Mississippi shopkeepers will start reopening their retail businesses on Monday as Gov. Tate Reeves begins easing restrictions imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Oil Spill
The environmental healing process 10 years after the BP oil spill
APR
Today marks 10 years since the Gulf oil spill. Over the past four months, the APR news team has been following up on issues related to this disaster. That effort includes our reporters along the Alabama Gulf coast. We’ve outlined concerns about the ongoing impact the spill may be having on the health of coastal residents and the seafood industry. But, there’s another issue.
Officials look to restoration of Rabbit Island
AP
Louisiana is moving toward restoration of an island so low that high tides often drown the eggs and chicks of the pelicans and other birds that nest there.
National
Supreme Court decision will still allow for water pollution, but possibly less
The Hill
Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling on the Clean Water Act will require permits and limits for polluters, but will ultimately still allow them to discharge pollution into streams that are connected to major U.S. waterways.
A study of New Castle County poop suggests more people have or already had COVID-19
Delaware News Journal
New Castle County government is dipping into local sewers for new estimates of how prevalent COVID-19 is in Delaware's most populous county.
EPA announces new tool for soybean growers
Journal-Courier
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has registered the use of isoxaflutole on genetically engineered soybeans, providing soybean farmers with a new tool they can use to control weeds that have become resistant to many other herbicides.
Press Releases
Kelly Announces FARM Corps
WASHINGTON - Today, Representative Trent Kelly (R-Miss.) has launched the FARM Corps program in partnership with Mississippi Farm Bureau, Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, Mississippi National Guard, Mississippi State University Extension Service, Mississippi Veterans Affairs and other agricultural and veterans organizations. The Farm and Ranch Mission (FARM) Corps will connect willing guardsmen who are struggling due to job loss with local farmers and ranchers who are suffering labor shortages caused by COVID-19 and the lack of H-2A labor supply.
