Several Delta State students gave back to the community this week collecting cans for the holidays.

In all, over 1,800 cans were collected by faculty and students with the College of business, Commercial Aviation and Accounting, CIS and Finance.

The College of Business Student Advisory Council, which hosted the event, hopes to make the drive an annual one.

Bolivar County has added another ambulance to its fleet.

The fifth vehicle cost over $68,000 and was paid for with emergency medical grants. It’s expected to hit the road in two weeks.

The ambulance replaced and older model that was severely damaged last October.

The county replaces an ambulance every two years.

A new report shows Vermont as the nation’s healthiest state and Mississippi the least.

The 20^th anniversary edition of America's Health Rankings placed the Green Mountain state at the top because it has low numbers of people lacking health insurance, high public health funding and few children living in poverty.

Mississippi sits on the bottom of the list, known for battling obesity gains.

Authorities in Holcomb say they have a man in custody who they believe is responsible for the double-homicide last weekend.

John Wayne McChriston, 22, was charged with two counts of capital murder. Police say he used to work for one of the victims.

The bodies of James Stauddy, 69, and Martha Stoker, 47, were discovered Sunday afternoon by the minister’s wife. Both victims were stabbed multiple times.

Police declined to release any more information about the case.

The landowner of Cleveland Mobile Park was arrested on embezzlement charges this week by authorities.

Greenwood radiologist Michael Ko was arrested by Leflore County Sheriffs Tuesday and released on bond. He faces 21 counts on embezzlement after turning the water off at the site without notification.

Residents have said they are considering having water meters

Jon Roberson told KIX 92.1 that he had mentioned it in the past as a way to solve the problem

He purchased the property about three years ago, and has since let it go downhill according to tenants.

Things have improved at D.M. Smith Middle school in Cleveland, but there are still concerns among parents.

The bleachers in the gym have been partially fixed, meaning they can roll back against the wall as intended, but there is still graffiti, and several holes in the old boards.

Parents have talked about getting their hands a little dirty and cleaning it themselves.

Other concerns include the carpet in the halls, and the cooling units that went out last spring during testing. The board says they are looking into the issues.

Mound Bayou held an exhibit Thursday to bring awareness about the dangers of smoking.

The Great American Smoke out was set up throughout the day on South Edwards Avenue and featured a casket with chairs to hopefully send awareness across the community about the potential deadly effects of smoking.

The goal of the display was to encourage people to quit.

The two men accused of beating and robbing blues guitar legend Roosevelt “Mickey” Rogers have been captured.

Greenville police arrested 24-year Carey Washington and 22-year old Marcus Rayborn Thursday, after the two allegedly forced into Rogers home were they beat and stabbed him before robbing him.

Initially, police believed that Rogers was attacked by a man and a woman, but police now say that Rayborn was dressed as a woman.

Deliberation is expected to continue today in a murder trial in Washington County.

29-year old Stevenson Ford is charged with murder in the Sept. 7, 2008, shooting of Marvin Stuckett.

The trial began Monday, and after three days of testimony, closing arguments were held Thursday afternoon.

Environmental groups have intervened in a lawsuit filed by a Mississippi levee board over the Environmental Protection Agency's veto of a $220 million flood control project that dates back decades.

The Board of Mississippi Levee Commissioners sued the EPA in August.

The levee board says they want to move forward with the Yazoo Backwater Project, a proposal to build a pump station to drain wetlands, farmland and forests north of Vicksburg when the Mississippi River is high.

Talk of merging Mississippi's three historically black universities has created a tense atmosphere in a state among current students and alumni.

Barbour proposes merging Mississippi Valley State University and Alcorn State into Jackson State.

He also wants to consolidate Mississippi University for Women with nearby Mississippi State. Under his plan, no campuses would close. The governor said the restructuring could save the state $35 million off a nearly $5.5 billion budget.

Delta State student William Holley (at left), a Health, Physical Education and Recreation major of Madison, talks with Child Development students Mia Luciano and Austin Grierson, both of Cleveland, during a Thanksgiving meal prepared in the Ada Swindle Mitchell Food Laboratory in Ewing Hall on the Delta State campus.

The three-year-old class of the Delta State University Child Development Center got a taste of what to expect with a Thanksgiving dinner prepared by the Family and Consumer Sciences Meals for Modern Living. The students in the class, taught by Assistant Professor of Family and Consumer Sciences Dr. Cam McMillen, are child development majors and minors.

(courtesy of Delta State)

Social networking as become a daily habit for millions worldwide. Delta State’s Office of Communications and Marketing was recognized for their efforts.

Delta State’s Twitter stream was recently added to The Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Top Universities & Colleges To Follow” list. To date, only 51 other four year institutions have been added to this list including Mississippi State.

Now anyone can add Delta State as a friend on Facebook or check out their videos on YouTube.

Now that water has been turned off for over a week at Cleveland Mobile Park, many residents are considering water meters.

Cleveland City Clerk Wendy McClain spoke to the landowner Michael Ko and says he has no problem with residents having meters.

Resident John Roberson says he mentioned it to Ko months earlier…

The tenants filed embezzlement charges against the landowner after he turned the water off last week without notification. A hearing has been set for December 17.

School administrators in Drew are hoping a facelift at hunter Middle School will get parents more involved in their child’s education.

Officials say the main goal is building three gazebos on campus, but they are also seeking park benches that are in fair condition.

Right now, they have about 10 plans on the table. The final plan and layout for the project will be chosen by the school board.

Administrators hope to get more parent involvement with mentoring programs that are already in place.

Delta State athletic trainers will be selling pulled pork plates to raise money for their trip to Atlanta in February to learn more about their profession.

Plates will be sold December 3, in the Chadwick Dickson field house parking lot to help send students to the Southeast Athletic Trainers Association Symposium.

Tickets are $10 and include pulled pork, close slaw, baked beans, bread and sweet tea.

A Grenada Police Officer, who also worked as a teacher and assistant coach, has been arrested and charged with sexual battery of a child under the age of 18.

Authorities say Donnie Tenner was arrested Wednesday at the Grenada County jail by investigators with the Attorney General's Office on two separate indictments of sexual battery of a child that occurred in 1998 and 2005.

The crimes occurred while Tenner was working in Charleston, MS

Autopsies have been completed on two people killed this past weekend in Grenada County.

A spokeswoman at the state Medical Examiner's Office says the autopsies on James Stauddy and his caregiver, Martha Stoker, were completed Wednesday.

The 69-year-old Stauddy was a retired Grenada police investigator and had worked in the Greenwood office of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. He had been a minister more than four decades.

The two suspects wanted for the attack of a popular Delta bluesman have been identified.

Roosevelt “Mickey” Rogers spent four days in Greenville hospital after he was beaten, stabbed and then robbed at his home November 7.

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of 24-year Carey Washington and 22-year old Marcus Rayborn.

The initial report said that Rogers was attacked by a man and a woman, but police now say that one suspect was a man dressed as a woman.

The Mississippi Governor's Mansion is getting a small facelift.

The state is spending $49,675 for a private contracting crew to repaint the four front columns and to do other maintenance work on the porch.

Finance records obtained by The Associated Press show McGuffie Painting and Waterproofing Co. of Jackson is doing the work, which should be complete by Dec. 4.

Repairs are not being paid out of the general budget. Instead, the money comes from fees people pay to buy NASCAR specialty car tags.

The mansion was built in 1842.

Five people have been indicted on federal charges related to an alleged conspiracy to steal guns from the Tchula Police Department in the Mississippi Delta.

The indictment doesn't say how many guns were allegedly stolen or what kind they were.

Court records say the conspiracy to steal and sell the guns took place in late April.

The indictment said "several stolen firearms" were taken to Greenwood to be sold April 27.

It also said three suspects were in a police chase the next day while transporting the guns.

Bolivar County officials have the blueprints in place for the juvenile holding facility in Rosedale.

The county received a community facility grant worth $200,000 and said along with other funds, it should be enough for the entire project.

Youth Court Judge Gwendolyn Thomas said the project is moving smoothly, and now they are just waiting to place bids for the project.

The 1,900 square foot facility is expected to be about $2,000 per square foot.

Bonds have been set for two men accused in a weekend homicide in Sunflower.

Lucas Hawthorne and Cedric Williams are charged with murder and aggravated assault. In their first appearance in court on Monday, bonds were set at $250,000 each.

The two are accused of killing 28-year old Jermaine James who was shot once in the head.

Authorities believe the shooting extended from an altercation between the men earlier that day.

The City of Drew dedicated part of Highway 49 to their most famous native. Football legend Archie Manning was born and raised in Drew.

He earned All-American honors at the University of Mississippi before playing in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints.

Manning says he was indebted to the city and all those responsible for creating Manning Boulevard.

Archie also has two sons playing in the NFL, Peyton with the Indianapolis Colts and Eli with the New York Giants.

Indianola police are looking into a weekend shooting. Residents on the 100 block of Galaxie Circle were awaked by the sound of gunfire at 3 a.m. Saturday.

Multiple shots were fired at home leaving one injured. 22-year old Carlos Wills was shot in the buttocks and was sent to a Jackson hospital.

Police said the bullet casings found were from an AK-47. Around 10 people were outside the home when the shooting started.

Authorities say no one had been arrested in the murders of Jimmy Stauddy and his caregiver, Martha Stoker.

The two were found stabbed to death in his home this past weekend.

Stauddy was a retired Grenada police officer and had worked in the Greenwood office of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. In 2002, he became pastor of Minter City United Methodist Church.

The head of the Mississippi Association of School Superintendents says school consolidation should be a local decision.

Executive Director Sam Bounds' comments come in response to Gov. Haley Barbour's proposal to consolidate Mississippi's 152 school districts into 100 to save money.

Bounds says there's already a state law that allows districts to consolidate if there's an agreement between school boards and superintendents. State funding he says still follows the students no matter where they're located

Georgia-Pacific has curtailed operations at a north Mississippi plant and laid off 80 people Monday.

Officials said Tuesday the company hopes the plant in Grenada can reopen in less than six months.

The plant manufactures oriented strand board, which is used in place of plywood in construction. The Atlanta-based company closed the plant because of market conditions.

Farmers took advantage of the drier weather to make headway on their rain-delayed fall harvest.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says cotton farmers in Mississippi had completed at least 85 percent of their harvest by Sunday. On average, the harvest is nearly completed by this time of year.

Wet weather in September and October delayed harvest and deteriorated the condition of cotton, soybeans and other crops.

A Yazoo County man was arrested Tuesday by state agents for possession of child porn.

27-year old Tommy Logan was arrested at his home by state agents with the Attorney General’s office.

If convicted of the one charge, Logan faces up to 40 years behind bars. He is expected to make his first court appearance Wednesday.

(photo courtesy of the Office of the Attorney General)

Entergy Mississippi Inc. says its electricity rates could be 11 percent lower during the first three months of 2010 than they were for the same period this year.

The company said Tuesday it had filed its fuel cost adjustment report with the state Public Service Commission. The regulators are expected to approve the lower rates.

The PSC evaluates fuel purchases by utilities to ensure customers get the least expensive, most reliable fuel available.

Sunflower County authorities have been busy with a growing problem in crystal meth on the streets.

Saturday three people were arrested in connection with a meth lab in Indianola and have been charged with possession, conspiracy to possess and manufacturing crystal meth.

The weekend arrests come just days before two more people were detained on similar charges. In all 12 people have been arrested within the county in the last six weeks.

Groundbreaking for the new jail in Washington County is set for Nov. 24.

Cleveland based Robinson Electric was one of four companies that were awarded contracts which also included Panola Construction of Batesville, Cornerstone Detention Products of Tanner, Ala. and Upchurch Plumbing of Greenwood.

The $13 million facility will house 300 female inmates from the state Department of Corrections. Another 100 beds will be for inmates from Greenville and Washington County.

A juror from the 2008 capital murder trial of Curtis Flowers in Montgomery County has pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury.

Mary Purnell had said during jury selection she didn't know Flowers. But records showed Purnell was on Flowers' jail visitation list. She was sentenced Monday to 10 years on each count with all but 15 months suspended.

Flowers was accused of fatally shooting four people at Tardy Furniture in Winona in 1996. The trial ended with a hung jury and a new trial is scheduled in 2010.

A truck driver escaped death Sunday, jumping out of his tractor trailer moments before it was split in half by a train.

Dewayne Johnson was hauling a little more than 80,000 pounds of soybeans to a grain bin in Sidon, about two miles from the site of the accident.

He said the bottom of his truck became hung up on the elevated railroad crossing. The driver of the train says he was traveling 57 mph.

Grenada County Sheriffs are investigating a double homicide in Holcomb.

Sheriffs say James Stauddy and Martha Stoker were found dead inside his home over the weekend.

Stauddy is a former criminal investigator with the Grenada police Department. Stoker was a healthcare worker hired to help the family.

Authorities said they are seeking a suspect and investigating whether the slayings might have been retaliation for work Jimmy Stauddy had done as a police officer.

Miss. Gov. Haley Barbour said Monday the he supports merging several state colleges to save some money.

He says Mississippi University for Women should merge with nearby Mississippi State and Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State be merged into Jackson State.

Barbour said none of the campuses would close.

The proposed change would leave Mississippi with five public universities rather than the current eight.

He also said he would like the 152 school districts consolidate into 100, which would merge lowering performing school districts with better ones.

Professional football player and Cleveland native Ken Lucas gave back to the community.

Organizers with the Ken Folks Foundation gave away over 1,000 boxes of food, personal care items and Avon products to families in need.

Various churches and agencies that were selected in advance received their holiday boxes first, with the remaining boxes going to those who stood in line at the give-away truck in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

JANTRAN towing services announced the newest addition to their fleet. Saturday family and friends gathered as the MV/Miss Alex was christened at the Port in Rosedale.

The 368 gross ton vessel was named after the granddaughter of JANTRAN President Joe Janoush. Construction began in 2008, but was delayed because of flooding that year.

The 4,000 horsepower towboat can accommodate will make a 10-day trips up and down the Arkansas River from Rosedale to Tulsa.

Water at the Cleland Mobile Park was briefly turned on Thursday. On Friday it was turned off again.

City officials heard news that the water was cut back on, but they didn’t authorize it.

Resident John Roberson said a man who claimed worked for the city turned the water back on for the 29 residents. The city has since taken the meters away.

Last week, landowner Michael Ko asked the city to turn the water off without any notification to the tenants.

Embezzlement charges were filed against Ko last week.

A special election is to be held in the town of Gunnison to fill a seat left open from the June elections.

Mayor Frances Ward says only four candidates ran in the regular June election and that's not enough people to run. It requires five.

In the meantime, Clara Pearson of Gunnison has temporarily held the fifth alderman position since June.

Candidates must fill out a petition with the names of 15 registered voters. Applications are due Nov. 25 at the town hall.

Authorities in Sunflower say one man is dead in the town’s first homicide of the year.

The body of 28-year old Jermaine Jones was found in a ditch by witnesses Sunday night after they heard gunshots. James was shot once in the head.

Two men are in custody in the shooting. Police arrested Lucas Hawthorne and Cedric William’s Jr. in connection with the shooter.

Authorities believe the shooting extended from an altercation between the men earlier that day.

Belhaven College has asked alumni and students their thoughts on adding "university" to the school's name.

Belhaven President Roger Parrott says he is not advocating one position or the other. He says the decision will be made based on comments from alumni and students.

Belhaven College is a 4-year liberal arts college in Jackson.

Two Arkansas companies have announced a joint venture to locate a rice mill in Greenville that will employ 60 people.

Officials with International Silica Technologies of Jonesboro, Ark., and Producers Rice Mill of Stuttgart, Ark., announced this week that they plan to break ground on the plant in early 2010.

The merging companies will convert rice hulls and straw into silica. The plant will also produce energy for the rice mill's parboiling and drying operations.

Authorities are still investigating a weekend accident on Hwy 61 near the Shady Nook gas station that left one passenger injured.

A Texas woman was sent to a Memphis hospital after, according to a witness, the vehicle she was in flipped twice while airborne, and landed on the roof after sliding a few feet.

The driver received minor injuries. The driver of the other vehicle was not injured.

A Clarksdale man was sentenced last week for the murder of his ex-girlfriend and kidnapping of his three-year old son.

Fred Lenard Jr. was sentenced to life without parole for the death of Katrina Dumas. He was also sentenced 60 years for the kidnapping and abuse of his son.

April 2008, the body of 27-year-old Dumas was found in a grassy area surrounding a cemetery.

His son had been found the night before in a wooded area with his hands and feet tied together by wire.

Josh Abide died Sunday morning from complications suffered in an accident last week in Merigold.

Authorities said the vehicle flipped several times after hitting some loose gravel.

Family members said Josh was fighting a lung infection for the past several days.

Visitation will be Tuesday evening from 6-8 at Ray Funeral Home. Services will be held Wednesday morning at 11 at the First Baptist Church in Cleveland.

To leave comments for Josh and his family, visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/joshabide.