Latest Mississippi news, sports, business and entertainment

JACKSON FATAL SHOOTING

3 arrested in Jackson slaying

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) Jackson police say three men have been charged in a fatal shooting.

Police Department spokeswoman Colendula Green says 24-year-old Patrick Rodgers, 23-year-old Michael Rodgers and 26-years Eric Rodgers are charged with capital murder. Eric Rodgers is also charged with aggravated assault.

Investigators say 26-year-old Joe Evans Jr., was found fatally shot in the head inside a home Wednesday. Another man in the home was wounded.

Police say the shooting apparently stemmed from an argument over $10.

Green says a fourth suspect is being sought.

INSURANCE FRAUD

Miss. man loses appeal in insurance scam case

(Information in the following story is from: The Commercial Appeal, http://www.commercialappeal.com )

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) A federal appeals court has upheld the 37-month sentence handed to Robert Rainey, a Mississippi man convicted of defrauding a Memphis insurance company.

Robert Rainey and his wife, Elizabeth, both of Southaven, Miss., were sentenced earlier this year on charges stemming from a scam involving insurance checks totaling nearly $700,000. Elizabeth Rainey was sentenced to four years.

They admitted to siphoning money from her employer, Direct General Insurance Corp. of Memphis, by creating fraudulent checks on insurance claims. Prosecutors say Elizabeth Rainey was a claims adjustor at Direct General whose job was to issue claims checks for legitimate claims.

The Commercial Appeal reports that Robert Rainey received 224 of the bogus checks.

TUPELO-SEX EDUCATION

Tupelo chooses abstinence-only sex education class

(Information in the following story is from: Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, http://djournal.com )

TUPELO, Miss. (AP) The Tupelo Public School District has updated its sex-education policy to keep it in line with a new state law.

The law, signed by then-Gov. Haley Barbour in 2011, requires all districts in the state to teach either abstinence-only or abstinence-plus sex education courses. Districts have until June 30 to decide.

Tupelo's School Board voted at Tuesday's regular meeting to continue teaching abstinence-only sexual education, as it has been doing since at least 2000. The board adopted a few minor changes in the existing policy to match the language in House Bill 999.

Interim Superintendent David Meadows tells the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal the reason Tupelo chose the abstinence-only route is that it allows greater flexibility.

CLINTON SCHOOLS

Clinton School District to seek millage hike

(Information in the following story is from: The Clarion-Ledger, http://www.clarionledger.com )

CLINTON, Miss. (AP) On the heels of a millage increase last year to cover construction of another school, the Clinton district is asking taxpayers to come up with a total $720,000 more for the coming school year.

The Clarion-Ledger reports the district will be underfunded 12.6 percent this year, more than $2.3 million short of what the state considers adequate.

Leaders of the district say more funding is critical to maintaining its level of excellence.

The district's millage stands at 58.57 mills. Of that, 46.47 mills are dedicated to school operations.

How many mills will be needed to generate $720,000 depends on Hinds County's property reappraisal, which should be completed July 1. Finance director Sandy Halliwell says depending on those values, the request to the city should be two or more mills.

STOLEN TRUCK-FATAL CRASH

Man killed after crashing truck he allegedly stole

(Information in the following story is from: The Clarion-Ledger, http://www.clarionledger.com )

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) Jackson police say a 19-year-old was killed after he wrecked a pickup he allegedly had stolen moments earlier.

The Clarion-Ledger reports County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart told police a relative identified the driver as Joshua Deshun Russell.

Police spokeswoman Colendula Green says the truck was taken from in front of an apartment office Wednesday morning. She says the truck's owner had left it running at a work site while talking to a co-worker.

Green says Russell jumped into the truck and fled. A short time later Russell ran a stop sign, lost control of the truck, hit two trees and went airborne, hitting a tree with the roof of the cab. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

NEW BUSES

Laurel to buy 5 new school buses

(Information in the following story is from: The Hattiesburg American, http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com )

LAUREL, Miss. (AP) The Laurel School District will purchase five new air-conditioned 2013 school buses.

The Hattiesburg American reports the Board of Directors of the Laurel City School District recently approved purchasing the five buses at a cost of about $416,000 to replenish the fleet of 30 buses.

School Transportation Director Keith Ridgeway had advised the board at an earlier meeting of the need to replace some older buses immediately.

The money will come from the building/buses funds from the 2012 school budget, which had a balance of $639,000.

PORT-ENTERTAINMENT VENUE

Entertainment venue proposed for port property

(Information in the following story is from: The Sun Herald, http://www.sunherald.com )

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) A family entertainment venue that would include a baseball stadium, theater, bowling alley, restaurants and shops is being proposed for the state port in Gulfport.

The Sun Herald reports Tim Bennett, a partner in relocating the Atlanta Braves AA Mississippi Braves team to Pearl, has been looking for eight years for the right Coast location for a baseball stadium.

Many details must be worked out, including an agreement with the state to build on port property. Bennett was not prepared Wednesday, to discuss an exact location or whether the development would be a public-private partnership.

The newspaper reports the complex would be somewhere on the northern portion of the property located off U.S. 90 next to the newly renovated city harbor.

SEC-AUBURN-GEORGIA

Auburn survives 3-2 SEC tourney win over Georgia

HOOVER, Ala. (AP) Justin Bryant hit a solo home run and threw 1-1/3 scoreless innings of late relief to help Auburn beat Georgia 3-2 Wednesday in the second round of the Southeastern Conference baseball tournament.

Georgia trailed 3-0 in the eighth before scoring twice on RBI singles by Nelson Ward and Conor Welton.

Bryant, Auburn's designated hitter, came in to pitch and struck out Joey Delmonico to end the eighth. Then in the ninth he got Colby May to line out to end the game with the bases loaded.

The Tigers (31-27) play South Carolina or Vanderbilt in Thursday's third round. The loss knocked Georgia (31-26) out of the double-elimination tournament.

Auburn took a 1-0 lead in the first on a single by Patrick Savage that scored Jay Gonzalez.

Gonzalez scored again in the third on a groundout by Creede Simpson, followed by Bryant's fourth homer of the season.