State
Jackson leaders discuss illegal dumping in city
WJTV
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – During a Jackson City Council meeting, leaders and the Solid Waste Division spoke about illegal dumping in the city. Solid Waste manager Lakesha Weathers said crews are working to pick up trash, but neighbors are not helping keep the roads clean.
Mississippi lawmakers say more research of state parks privatization needed
Daily Journal
Lawmakers halted legislation to partially privatize and overhaul Mississippi’s state parks system this year, but one Northeast Mississippi lawmaker warned his colleagues and the public on Friday that such a drastic step is likely still coming.
NOAA partners with USM on uncrewed systems
WDAM
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and the University of Southern Mississippi signed a 10-year agreement Thursday to partner on ways to improve how uncrewed systems are used to collect important ocean observation data and augment NOAA’s operational capabilities.
Mississippi Moment: Fossils in Mississippi
WJTV
NEW ALBANY, Miss. (WJTV) – Fossils are under the hills of not only northeast Mississippi, but pretty much the rest of the state to one degree or another. They seem to be easier to get to in some of the creek beds in northeast Mississippi.
Focused on Mississippi: Emerald Mound
WJTV
ADAMS COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – Just north of Natchez, well marked just off the Natchez Trace is Emerald Mound. Now, Mississippi is chock-full of Indian Mounds, but Emerald is special.
Science lovers visit INFINITY Science Center pop-up event
WLOX
PEARLINGTON, Miss. (WLOX) - The INFINITY Science Center hosted its first event since it closed in March of 2020. Administrators said the science center has held virtual activities since then, but people wanted in-person interaction.
State Government
Revenue reports stay high at 14.31% over sine die estimates in January 2021
Y’all Politics
Despite worries from lawmakers that the first months of the year would be low, collections are way up for FY 2021 and January.
First round of demolition wrapped up at historic Sun-n-Sand site
WLBT
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - The initial round of demolition has wrapped up at the Sun-n-Sand Motor Hotel, a historic downtown facility that used to be a home away from home for state powerbrokers.
Oil Spill
Undisclosed location: New 98-acre Lynn Haven Bayou Park & Preserve to open in March
News Herald
LYNN HAVEN — Lynn Haven is set to open its largest park in March after almost a year of construction.
Regional
Saltwater bodies like Shem Creek must meet stricter bacteria standards with new regulation
Post and Courier
Leslie Lenhardt, staff attorney for the South Carolina Environmental Law Project, said the different standards masked the pollution problems. For example, Shem Creek’s high bacteria levels didn’t violate the low standards that were in place.
Oyster harvesting to be banned on these four new reefs east of Mississippi River
NOLA.com
To increase the number of oysters spawning on public water bottoms, Louisiana plans to forbid harvesting on four artificial reefs east of the Mississippi River in St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes.
A $32 million effort begins to rebuild more than 300 acres of Louisiana marsh
NOLA.com
Just northwest of Holly Beach, the once lush marsh of Cameron Meadows has been severely degraded over the past two decades by the combined forces of oil and gas exploration and hurricanes.
https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_e50e687e-67e4-11eb-8026-2fb5d5380bd0.html
National
DOJ to let companies pay for environmental projects again to reduce fines
The Hill
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has eliminated nine Trump-era directives on environmental law enforcement, including one that ended polluters’ ability to reduce fines by paying for environmental projects.
Complaint filed against IEPA prompts federal discrimination investigation
State Journal-Register
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched an investigation into the Illinois EPA over whether the planned relocation of an industrial scrap shredder on Chicago’s southeast side unfairly discriminates against communities of color.
Near Coasts, Rising Seas Could Also Push Up Long-Buried Toxic Contamination
NPR
Marquita Price grew up spending lots of time at her grandmother's one-story lavender house in Deep East Oakland. It's a place she's always considered home, and where her grandmother still lives. So Price, an urban planner, was upset to learn about a lesser-known aspect of climate change fueled by sea level rise: it could cause the groundwater beneath this formerly-industrial community to rise, and wreak slow-motion havoc in the process.
Invasive Asian carp is getting a new name and a public makeover to draw more eaters
Detroit Free Press
DETROIT – Care for a plate of slimehead? How about some orange roughy?
It's the same fish, but one sounds much more palatable than the other. The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service gave the slimehead a rebranding in the late 1970s in an effort to make the underused fish more marketable.
Bird deaths fuel push for Minnesota lead tackle ban
Star Tribune
The open water channels around Sucker Lake in northern Ramsey County make it a popular winter spot for dozens of majestic trumpeter swans and other waterfowl.
Ford says agencies have ended mileage, pollution test probes
AP
The U.S. Justice Department and state of California have ended investigations into Ford Motor Co.’s gas mileage and emissions certification processes.
Press Releases
USACE Vicksburg District announces Clear Creek recreation closures
Feb. 5, 2021
VICKSBURG, Miss. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District has closed Sardis Lake’s Clear Creek Campground, including restroom buildings in the day use area, ahead of upcoming waste-water treatment facility maintenance.
