mississippi

Kids' reading scores have soared in Mississippi 'miracle'

By Sharon Lurye, Associated Press

The success has grabbed the attention of educators nationally by showing rapid progress is possible anywhere, even in areas that have struggled for decades with poverty and dismal literacy rates.

Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre asks Mississippi court to remove him from welfare fraud lawsuit

By Emily Wagster Pettus, Associated Press

Millions of federal welfare dollars for low-income Mississippi residents were squandered on projects supported by wealthy or well-connected people from 2016 to 2019, prosecutors say.

NAACP sues Mississippi over 'separate and unequal policing' as state-run patrols expand

By Emily Wagster Pettus, Associated Press

The NAACP warns that “separate and unequal policing” will return to Mississippi’s majority-Black capital under a state-run police department, and the civil rights organization is suing the governor and other officials over it.

Insurance losses from Mississippi tornado nearing $100 million

By Michael Goldberg, Associated Press/Report for America

The Mississippi Insurance Department says insurance losses from the March tornado that carved a path of destruction through parts of Mississippi are approaching $100 million, and uninsured losses will likely exceed that number.

At least 26 dead after tornadoes tear across Midwest and South

By Adrian Sainz, Andrew DeMillo, Associated Press

The White House announced Sunday that it would provide federal resources, including financial assistance, to support recovery efforts after President Joe Biden issued a major disaster declaration.

Midwest and South may be hit with more dangerous storms, tornadoes

By Lisa Baumann, Michael Goldberg, Associated Press

An outbreak of severe thunderstorms has the potential to cause hail, damaging wind gusts and tornadoes that could be strong and move on the ground over long distances, according to the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center.

In small towns of Mississippi, tornado death toll feels like losing family

By Robert Bumsted, Associated Press, Michael Goldberg, Associated Press/Report for America

Friends and neighbors say retirees Lonnie and Melissa Pierce lived a quiet life in the Mississippi Delta before a powerful tornado dropped a semi-truck onto their home like a bomb.

How to help residents in need after the deadly Mississippi tornado

By Hannah Grabenstein

From the Red Cross to a Mississippi animal shelter, here's how to help the survivors of this weekend's deadly southern storms.

Challenging recovery ahead for low-income residents affected by devastating Mississippi tornado

By Emily Wagster Pettus, Associated Press

Poverty is adding to the challenges of recovering from a massive tornado that pushed through Mississippi.

Mississippi residents recount harrowing tales of survival as tornado tore through homes

By Michael Goldberg, Claire Rush, Associated Press/Report for America

Devastating accounts of utter destruction, incredible survival and tragic deaths followed Friday’s twister that killed at least 25 in Mississippi and one in Alabama as it surged nearly 170 miles across the Deep South.