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Category: In-Depth

In-Depth

Boondoggle in Kemper County: Powerful Ignored Red Flags of ‘Clean Coal’ Flop

Mississippi Power executives and political backers and lobbyists pushed a huge moonshot of an idea back in 2006 to turn low-grade lignite into “clean coal” to provide electricity from its Kemper County plant in east Mississippi. They also used new legislation to force ratepayers to fund the experiment in advance—funds they later had to repay before imploding part of the facility on Oct. 9, 2021, 15 years after hatching the plan.

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Culture

‘My Hometown Too’: Laurel’s Downtown Blossoms Despite City’s Complicated History 

Nearly three decades ago, most of the once-bustling businesses in downtown Laurel, Miss., had shuttered their windows, and the brick streets that criss-crossed the Pine Belt town’s center were void of pedestrians and drivers alike. Today, downtown Laurel is enjoying a resurgence thanks to locals and outside assistance. As always throughout its history, like that of other Mississippi towns, it’s complicated.

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4-County Electric building exterior
BWC

Co-ops Stepping In to Solve Rural Internet Inequity in Noxubee, Nearby Counties

FASTnet, a for-profit subsidiary of the not-for-profit 4-County Electric Power Association, is providing broadband service to rural areas around the Golden Triangle area of Mississippi. COVID-19 magnified the disparities many Black families faced with little or no reliable internet access as they tried to continue their children’s education from home. Federal dollars should now boost the cooperative solution across Mississippi, barring roadblocks.

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a photo of activists holding pro-abortion rights signs near a street preacher who holds a sign saying "Heaven or Hell?"
In-Depth

10 Years After Mississippians Rejected ‘Personhood,’ Federal ‘Life at Conception’ Efforts Underway

When Magnolia State state residents rejected the Personhood Amendment ten years ago this week by a 58%-to-42% vote, they defied national expectations. The Personhood Amendment, also known as Amendment 26, would have enshrined a definition of the word “person” in the state constitution that would have included even fertilized human eggs, theoretically banning all abortions.

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