Politicians' superpower is that we, members of the voting public, often do not understand how elected officials' actions can impact issues such as healthcare costs.

Thousands of book lovers swarmed the grounds of the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson for the 11th annual Mississippi Book Festival. The festival’s offerings ranged from the whimsical to the weighty, featuring celebrity authors and emerging writers whose work spanned many genres.

The Stone County Correctional Facility re-entry program, called Pathway Home 5 that provides employment and re-entry training before and after release, has a waitlist as officials prepare to select the next group of participants.

During a preliminary hearing, a Jackson police detective testified that Tasia Fortune, 29, was hung from a tree in west Jackson after she was killed because of a dispute over drugs.

Marshall Ramsey's editorial cartoon shows a mule pulling a modern tractor, with a farmer on the cellphone saying, "Yes, I know how expensive diesel is!!"

Mississippi school districts have until Nov. 1 to adopt new attendance policies required by state law.

An ex-Capitol Police officer's testimony in his manslaughter trial varies from the original statement he gave after the fatal shooting of Jaylen Lewis in 2022.

Five candidates took part in their first forum ahead of a Nov. 3 special election to serve out the term of former Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, who left office earlier this summer after pleading guilty in a federal bribery case.

The Sierra Club gave an "F" grade to Entergy and a "C" to Mississippi Power Co. in its latest analysis of how electric utilities across the country are transitioning to clean energy sources.

U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly, a Republican representing Mississippi, hopes to become the highest-ranking GOP member on the House Armed Services Committee next year.

Priest urges Mississippi to repeal nitrogen hypoxia as a form of execution after witnessing a death row inmate suffocate for 19 minutes before dying.

A handful of recipients accounted for a substantial share of the first round of federal awards to boost rural health in Mississippi, according to an analysis of funding conducted by Mississippi Today.

While artificial intelligence and data centers have come up in midterm elections in other states, and have already become an issue for Mississippi's statewide elections next year, they have not been a driving issues in Mississippi's congressional races to date.

Steven Frederick Jr. and Michael Lamar Rhinewalt told investigators that on Sept. 25, 2022, they stopped a Jeep Grand Cherokee that matched the general description of a car suspected in auto burglaries after the Cherokee ran two red lights.

A drug task force is urging people to avoid kratom after authorities found packages of the substance while investigating the deaths of two University of Mississippi students.

Digital forensic experts hired by Nolan Wells’ family examined his phone, including images, videos and social media apps to create a timeline providing more information about what led to his death on Horn Island.

The Mississippi college board paid $330,000 to settle a lawsuit Debra Mays-Jackson filed in 2023 alleging trustees denied her an interview before selecting Marcus Thompson to lead JSU. Thompson resigned in 2025.

The annual Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson draws more than 8,000 book lovers and provides a counter-narrative to negative stereotypes, as well as year-round programs to develop the state's next generation of writers.

John Grisham will speak at Mississippi Today's 10th anniversary celebration on Oct. 7.

More than half of Mississippi children under age 5 live in rural areas, according to MS LIFT’s 2025 Needs Assessment and Strategic Plan. MS LIFT’s mobile units allow families to borrow toys, books and learning materials for children up to age 12 at no cost for up to 14 days.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington is getting a chillier reception on Capitol Hill than at the White House. Lawmakers from both parties, including Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, are using Xi's visit to denounce China’s actions on the world stage.

Mississippi colleges and universities, like others across the country, are offering food pantries and clothes closets to help students offset higher living costs.

Mississippi’s government said health and safety problems in the foster care system are not being intentionally ignored as the state’s attorneys continue their efforts to dismiss federal oversight over its child welfare system.  In a Tuesday court filing, lawyers from Mississippi’s Attorney General’s Office and the private law firm Baker Donelson said the issues that a court-appointed monitor identified in a recent report do not violate the U.S. Constitution.

The Jackson Police Department is asking help from the U.S. Marshals Service in arresting at least one other suspect in the death of Tasia Fortune, the 29-year-old woman found hanging from a tree last month in west Jackson. Authorities have now arrested two men in connection with the killing.

Steven Frederick Jr. and Michael Lamar Rhinewalt, who are both white, were part of the crime suppression Flex Unit of the Capitol Police involved in the death of a Black man, Jaylen Lewis, on Sept. 25, 2022.

The complaint focuses on the Chouest family, which owns shipbuilding company Edison Chouest Offshore. Family members donated to Ezell, who chairs the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation. Congress awarded the company a $950-million contract. 

Mississippi State and Ole Miss were among the top-ranked teams for part of the 2014 football season. Both teams are strong this year, with outstanding quarterbacks.

In Tupelo, the annual Northeast Mississippi Mental Health & Substance Use Recovery Summit provides local counselors, social workers and teachers a way to fulfill their mandatory continuing education requirements without having to drive three hours to Jackson. 

Authorities said they haven't confirmed the deaths are related, or that drugs were a factor, but said packaged kratom was found during both investigations.

State Rep. Jeffrey Hulum III, who's represented Harrison County in the state House since 2022, says his experience as a 22-year Army combat veteran, and years of helping feed the neediest Mississippians has taught him about leadership and how to bring communities together. Hulum is the Democratic nominee for the 4th District U.S. House seat in Mississippi, running against incumbent Republican Mike Ezell.

No ransoms were paid to hackers during the cyberattacks that hit the University of Mississippi Medical Center or Institutes of Higher Learning this year, officials confirmed to Mississippi Today.

A former U.S. merchant mariner opened Woodside Wildlife Rescue in 2019 after she helped rehabilitate a baby raccoon found aboard her ship. The rescue in the coastal city of Pass Christian typically raises dozens of kits each year, 76 so far this year, alongside other indigenous wildlife.

While the grand jury heard evidence that he likely drowned, both the state medical examiner and a pathologist who completed an independent autopsy ruled Nolan Wells’ death as undetermined.

The United Nations' historic resolution recognizing safe drinking water as a human right was ignored by the 5th Circuit in Jackson water case, advocate writes.

Of the 98 state government entities that responded to a survey mandated by Gov. Tate Reeves of AI use, a little over half were using or planning to use artificial intelligence.

A grand jury on the Mississippi Gulf Coast has declined to issue any indictments in the death of Nolan Xavier Wells, a Black teenager whose body was found off of a barrier island two days after he went missing on the Fourth of July.

If Tameshia Shelton's murder indictment is dismissed, as Colom requested, it could put an end to a case that has followed her the last 17 years.

Gulf Coast Connection Services, founded by Vanessa Welch, helps residents at Gulfport Care Center and other facilities overcome barriers to using phones, tablets, and computers.

The litigation began in 2020 when John Rash, a University of Mississippi film professor, applied for a permit to project art onto the exterior of the county’s courthouse. The county denied the application because it had a nighttime curfew and only allowed access during the day.

The Workers Circle, a New York-based national social justice organization, coordinated a news conference. with immigration detainees at Adams County Detention Center and family members.

Thompson says the DSCC is failing to seize an opportunity in Mississippi.

Ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms, Mississippi Today asked voters what issues were top of mind as they prepared Election Day nears.

In August, the Mississippi Supreme Court dismissed a case of alleged obstetric violence. Experts say that decision set a precedent that could make litigating similar cases harder and more costly.

Marshall Ramsey's editorial cartoon depicts the head of META telling an employee to make sure the algorithm buries the words "Lynn Fitch for Governor."

The race has attracted millions in spending from political action committees and outside groups supporting Hyde-Smith and Colom. Some national Senate Democrats see the race as a long-shot opportunity to net an additional seat as the party aims to ride a backlash to President Donald Trump’s administration and reclaim a majority in the upper chamber.

Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss found "Houdini plays" to win the big rivalry game over LSU and Lane Kiffin.

In 2020, Mississippi joined Georgia as the only other state that mandated runoff elections when statewide candidates did not garner a majority in a general election.

Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss passed for 363 yards and two touchdowns.

Ole Miss and LSU fans packed tailgate parties Saturday before their big rivalry game in Oxford. It was the first for Lane Kiffin to appear on the Ole Miss campus since he left there as head coach before the end of the 2025 season to take over at LSU.

he plane is expected to fly over the Ole Miss campus starting at 10 a.m., then over Vaught-Hemingway Stadium from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. as more than 68,000 fans arrive for the 6:30 p.m. kickoff.