Mississippi Today (https://mississippitoday.org/author/mstoday/)
The Mississippi Department of Revenue will begin collecting Mississippi sales taxes and local tourism taxes on rentals made through companies that allow people to advertise their private property for short-term lodging, The Daily Journal reported. Read the story here.
The Mississippi Department of Revenue was scheduled to release new license plates in October — as it does every five years. But the Legislature did not issue funds for the re-issue, The Sun Herald reported. Read the story here.
As part of a push to strengthen U.K.-U.S. ties and trade post-Brexit, The Clarion-Ledger and British news agencies report that Great Britain plans to open a U.S. branch of the Royal Commonwealth Society in Mississippi. Read the story here.
Lucy Janoush, instrumental in bringing GRAMMY Museum Mississippi to Cleveland, died Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017, at her home. Read her obituary in The Bolivar Bullet. Janoush received the Governor’s Arts Award Arts Patron in 2016. Read about her recent accomplishment on Mississippi Today:
Kathleen Wickham and Jerry Mitchell will engage in conversation about Wickham’s “We Believed We Were Immortal: Twelve Reporters Who Covered the 1962 Integration Crisis at Ole Miss” at Lemuria bookstore Sept. 21 at 5 p.m.
Read the Story from The Oxford Eagle Here. Read Mississippi Today’s coverage of the Mississippi Book Festival, where Wickham discussed her book on the Mississippi History panel:
Heritage and history afford Mississippi unique place in literary landscape
Down in Mississippi (Up to No Good), the fourth and final single from the album Twice the Speed of Life, was written and recorded by country music group Sugarland in 2006. It was Sugarland’s only album as a trio, including Kristian Bush, Jennifer Nettles and Kristen Hall. Hall departed the group after Twice the Speed of Life. Sugarland performed Down in Mississippi at the 2006 CMT Music Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards. The song spent 20 weeks on the Hot Country Songs chart and peaked at No.
The University of Mississippi School of Business Administration kicked off its centennial celebration Sept. 8 with a reception for faculty, staff and alumni at Holman Hall. In honor of the centennial, the UM Foundation has created the 1917 Order, a fund-raising effort to recruit faculty, provide scholarships and increase class offerings, among other initiatives. Membership begins with a gift of $25,000 or greater, with pledges scheduled over five years. Two additional events will continue the centennial celebration throughout the fall.
Thelma Houston, a singer and actress born in Leland, scored a massive international hit in 1977 with her Motown cover of Don’t Leave Me This Way. The song topped the soul singles chart and the Billboard Hot 100. More reflective of mid-’70s pop culture, Don’t Leave Me This Way was on a continuous audio loop in discos around the world. It was featured on the soundtrack of the movie Looking for Mr. Goodbar, starring Diane Keaton and Richard Gere, in 1977, and in the following year, Don’t Leave Me This Way won the award for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female at the 20th Annual Grammy Awards. Houston continued to record music in the 1980s and ’90s.
13 Days by Mississippi soul singer Dave Mack of Mendenhall was released in 2005 on Mack’s first and only album, also titled 13 Days. The song is a slow tempo version of Smokey Robinson’s Tracks of My Tears. Mack, who hasn’t recorded or toured much since his album release, is still considered a staple on the Jackson soul scene.
Chris LeDoux was a country music singer-songwriter, bronze sculptor and hall of fame rodeo champion born in Biloxi. His song, Born in Mississippi, is a thank you letter to his home state, where he lived until he was 12 years old. LeDoux, who moved to Texas and Tennessee and later to Wyoming to pursue his rodeo dreams, recorded 36 albums, many of which were self-released, and sold more than 6 million units in the United States. He was awarded two gold and one platinum album certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), was nominated for a Grammy Award and was honored with the Academy of Country Music Music Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award. LeDoux died in 2005 from liver disease.
The Supreme Court set a Sept. 28 deadline for a filing by attorneys for Gov. Phil Bryant to defend Mississippi’s position on the state flag and The Washington Post has weighed in with a report. Read the story here. Read Mississippi Today’s state flag coverage:
Memo to GOP: Changing state flag would put party on right side of history
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History is erecting temporary metal fencing around the historic Windsor Ruins site in Claiborne County to protect visitors from falling debris. More than a century of exposure to the elements has caused erosion to the 45-foot-tall masonry columns and fracturing of the cast iron capitals. “Windsor Ruins is iconic, and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History is committed to preserving the site’s integrity,” said MDAH director Katie Blount. MDAH’s improvements at Windsor include cutting back trees and foliage that were encroaching on the columns, clearing the overgrown area between the site and the road, and the installation of new signage. A study commissioned by MDAH includes plans to repair and conserve the 23 columns and five partial columns.
Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker could come under attack in an anti-incumbent effort led by Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, according to a Politico report. Read the Article Here.
Now, Mississippi voters can verify registration status and find polling places online on Y’all Vote, Mississippi’s online voter information center, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann announced. This new feature prompts registered voters who have moved within the state to update mailing addresses. Visit Y’all Vote Here
Philadelphia-based W.G. Yates & Sons Construction Company was among four companies selected to each build prototypes of President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall, The Meridian Star reported. Read the story here. Read Mississippi Today’s coverage of Trump’s proposed U.S.-Mexico wall:
Lawmaker: Mississippi should give $1 million for U.S.-Mexico wall