Faculty staff and students at Delta State are joining together to help the Haiti relief effort.

The Center for Community and Economic Development has partnered with AmeriCorp VISTA and the division of social sciences at Delta State.

Roughly $300 have been collected from students so far.

One hundred percent of the proceeds collected will be sent to Haiti through Oxfam International

School officials in Mound Bayou are trying to figure out why one elementary school is without much needed textbooks.

Several teachers at I.T. Montgomery have been without textbooks since August.

The school is already labeled under academic watch, and without those books, administrators say it will be hard to study for state testing.

Board members say they are very serious about the academic welfare of the district’s students.

Members of the Bolivar County Board of Supervisors will be touring county roads next month to make sure they are up to par.

Board president Andrew Williams says they will make the trips on February 2 and 3 to find troubled spots and damaged roads including potholes and ditches.

Roads within county that are maintained by the state require different materials than used on county-owned roads. Repairs may be delayed due to several issues including bad weather.

A Cleveland man has been arrested for attempted arson. Police arrested Cleo Taylor after he allegedly tried to set a woman’s car on fire Wednesday afternoon.

The case is still under investigation.

A federal judge dismissed a discrimination lawsuit Thursday against Greenwood Leflore Hospital and Leflore County Supervisor Robert Moore.

A U.S. District Judge said there was not enough evidence to connect Moore to the hospital board’s decision to fire George Dulin, the longtime white attorney for the hospital.

Moore advocated in 2005 to replace Dulin with a black attorney. A year later, Dulin was fired and eventually replaced by a black attorney.

Power provider Entergy Corp. says that it expects fourth-quarter earnings to jump sharply on improved utility performance and easily exceed analysts’ forecasts.

New Orleans-based Entergy said it expects to report earnings of about $1.63 per share, compared with fourth-quarter earnings in 2008 of 89 cents per share.

Officials say they still expect the 2010 profit to range between $6.15 and $6.95 per share.

Norris Edney, the former president of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, has been named interim president at Alcorn State University.

Edney will succeed George Ross, who will step down Feb. 5 to become president of Central Michigan University.

He served as the SWAC president from 1979-1984.

Mississippi Higher Education Commissioner Hank Bounds says the state's universities have presented plans to address anticipated funding losses over the next few years.

The state College Board met Thursday. University leaders say they'll have to cut or lay off personnel, eliminate some programs and raise tuition to offset declining state funds.

The board will meet Monday via teleconference to vote on proposed tuition increases ranging from 4.5 to 9 percent. The elimination of degree programs also would require approval.

Open-government advocates say a bill filed in the Mississippi House could make bureaucracy less responsive to the public.

The bill would ban businesses and government agencies from sharing personal information about employees, including their work telephone numbers or e-mail addresses.

The bill appears unlikely to pass.

Sunday beer sales will become legal March 1 in unincorporated areas of Panola County.

The board of supervisors this past week made Sunday sales legal from 12 p.m. until 10 p.m.

The action amended a county ordinance, passed in 1972, that forbids Sunday beer sales.

Testing will begin in the next few weeks to help collect data for the 2010 census here in Bolivar County and throughout the nation.

Dorothy Wall a partnership specialist with the Dallas Regional Census Center talked to the county board of supervisors about what to expect.

Starting in March, residents should anticipate surveys through the phone, in the mail or in person. She warned that financial information will not be needed, and people need to be on the lookout for scam artists posing as census takers. Information must be received by April 1.

(courtesy of US Census)

Details are slowing in the works for Cleveland’s new heritage park. The city received a $10,000 grant to create a literary, culture or heritage attraction.

A consultant was hired to come up with an idea that best depicts the culture of Cleveland. One of the suggestions was statues placed downtown.

Judson Thigpen, executive director Cleveland-Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce said the concept was good, but they decided to advertise for more ideas. Thigpen says despite the high price tag, the project is something really good for the city.

A new program will help Bolivar County children start their own library.

The Delta Health Alliance and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library will launch the project within the next six to eight weeks just in time for spring.

A child receives a book once a month until they turn five with books getting them ready for kindergarten.

Several children in other Delta counties have already received their books. For more information contact the Delta Health Alliance at 662-686-3520.

A federal grand jury has indicted a man allegedly recruited by two Shelby police officers to burn cars owned by two city aldermen last summer.

The indictment said one officer, Barry Smith, provided the gasoline to Michael Guyton and his accomplices. Smith had already been indicted in the case and pleaded not guilty.

Another officer, who wasn't identified in court papers, allegedly drove Guyton in a police car to the homes of Aldermen Dan Harris and Harold Billings to show him what cars to burn.

Three suspects appeared in a Belzoni courtroom this week, facing murder charges.

Larry Chapman, Antonio Wright and Melissa Brooks have been charged with murder in the shooting death of Raymond Holmes, who was gunned down in a local alley last week. 

In addition to murder, Chapman has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, conspiracy and felony possession of a gun by a convicted felon.  Wright and Brooks have also been charged with two counts of aggravated assault and conspiracy.

Mississippi casinos reported December 2009 revenues of $185 million, down slightly from November.

The new numbers released Wednesday by the State Tax Commission, showed a $470,000 drop from November and an $8.5 million drop from October.

Casinos along the Mississippi River - including Tunica, Vicksburg and Natchez - won $101.4 million in December, up $3.2 million from November.

City officials in Greenville have proposed a review of procedures for reappointing department heads. The new plan would call for evaluations every six months.

Council members say they are trying to avoid the problem of reappointing all 16 department heads at the same time like earlier this year.

Several positions were questioned including the police chief and public works director.

Mississippi lawmakers are working to name the state Public Health Laboratory in Jackson after the late Dr. Ed Thompson.

Thompson, who was the state health officer, died Dec. 1 after a long battle with cancer. He was 62.

The state Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to rename the health lab for Thompson. The bill moves to the House, where it is expected to pass.

Attorney Jim Greenlee says he will retire at the end of January. Greenlee made the announcement late Wednesday.

He was sworn in as U.S. attorney for the northern district of Mississippi in October 2001. Prior to that, he was an assistant U.S. attorney since 1987.

His most notable cases involved the successful prosecution of some of the most influential lawyers in the state, including Richard "Dickie" Scruggs and former Hinds County Judge Bobby DeLaughter.

Planning is underway for Cleveland’s latest fire station. The new project, announced in September will be on the west side of the city, on land donated by the airport.

Initial funding for the new station was created through the Institutions of Higher Learning with the help of Rep. David Norquist and Delta State University.

The city’s fourth station will include four truck bays, a classroom and conference space.

Students at Shaw High School and McEvans Elementary School are starting a relief drive for Haiti.

They are asking for non perishable food items, water and clothes. Medical supplies, sheets and blankets are also needed. Those items can be dropped off at any school.

The deadline for the drive is January 23.

A 20 percent pay cut was just the start of rebuilding Indianola according newly elected mayor Steve Rosenthal.

Two weeks into his term, Rosenthal, along with the board of alderman, slashed their salaries.

He says every city employee is being evaluated as managers work to make all departments run more efficiently and correct any problems.

The body of a Hollandale man was found in a yard Tuesday morning.

51-year old Willie Cotton had been shot once in the head.

Police say the shooting appears to be accidental but the body will be sent to Jackson for an autopsy.

Mississippi House leaders say they want to limit how much can be cut from the state budget and they're trying to force Gov. Haley Barbour to dip into financial reserves.

The House passed a bill Tuesday saying Barbour could cut no more than $347 million from the $6 billion budget this year.

The House plan says Barbour would have to take $50 million from the state's $231 million rainy day fund and that he'd have to use $61 million in federal stimulus money.

City leaders in Grenada are trying to stop a bid that would move mail processing operations to Jackson.

Representatives with the U.S. Postal Service met last week with a plan that would consolidate expenses and save money because of the drop in mail volume.

No final decision has been made on the issue.

A new report shows 22 percent more Mississippi residents and businesses ere force to file bankruptcy because of the recession.

According to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, over 14,000 individual and business bankruptcies were filed in the state between Oct. 1, 2008 and Sept. 30, 2009.

Nationally, total bankruptcies rose 34 percent over the same time.

The 37th Annual Delta Ag Expo will be held today and Wednesday at the Bolivar County Expo Center in Cleveland.

Seminars throughout the day will address the major crops grown in the Mississippi Delta including soybeans, rice, cotton and corn. Over 100 exhibits will also be on display.

The two-day event kicks off at 8:30 each day.

The seventh annual Wildlife Jamboree will be held later this month at the Bolivar County Agriculture Center.

Guest speaker Justin Thayer, a youth outreach and recruiting coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks will be looking at the decline of hunters and the long term effects.

There will also be a chili cook-off for youth and adults. Admission is free for the January 28^th event but those attending are encouraged to bring two dishes for a pot luck dinner.

A house fire in Greenville has taken the life of a grandmother and her great-granddaughter.

72-year old Louise Mays 3-year-old and Jasmine Thompson were killed by what authorities believe was smoke inhalation when their home caught on fire Sunday night.

Fire officials say the blaze appeared to have started in the kitchen, but the cause was under investigation. Authorities don’t know if the two were asleep or if they were unable to escape.

Gov. Haley Barbour promoted job creation and urged lawmakers to be cautious with state spending during his State of the State address Monday.

Barbour thanked lawmakers for passing incentives to bring a German pipe manufacturer to Tunica County and said the state needs more high-tech jobs so it will be ready to emerge from the global recession.

A Greenwood lawmaker is pushing a bill that would require owners of all-terrain vehicles to pay a registration fee and have that information listed on a public log.

Rep. Willie J. Perkins Sr., says his voters have complained about people on ATVs using county roads and sometimes causing disturbances. He says there is no way of identifying those riders.

A national consulting firm will help develop recommendations for the possible merger of some school districts in Mississippi.

A commission appointed by Gov. Haley Barbour met Monday and voted to spend about $72,000 in private funds to hire a Denver-based firm that helped develop a school funding formula put into law in the late 1990s.

Barbour says Mississippi should go from 152 school districts to 100 to save money.

In honor of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, several government offices and banks will be closed.

City halls throughout Bolivar and Sunflower Counties will be closed today and will open tomorrow.

Federal offices, including the postal service will also be closed.

Despite the announcement last week of consolidating some schools, the Cleveland School Board has yet to make any official comment regarding the 1989 Consent Decree.

In 2008, the department of justice toured the facilities and spoke with students, parents, teachers, administrators about their plan to desegregate the schools.

Several parents have grown concerned that nothing has been done adding they should have an input on their child’s education.

Some of the changes made included combining Margaret Green Junior with Cleveland High School and sending nearly 200 students from D.M. Middle to East Side High School.

In just two days, a Delta high school raised over $2,000 for Haiti relief efforts.

Students and advisors at Leland High School raised over $100 Thursday during school hours, and spent several hours lining Third Street asking for more donations. By Friday afternoon, they raised over $2,400 in collections.

The money was sent to the Bill Clinton Foundation, which is providing direct aid to Haiti.

Officials say two men who escaped from a Kansas prison on Thanksgiving made it to Mississippi on a four-wheeler stolen in Arkansas.

Police in Batesville stopped Scott Dwyer and Wayne Purdy after seeing them on the four-wheeler at 3 a.m. Monday. They fled after an officer became suspicious of their story.

The four-wheeler was reported stolen in northern Arkansas. Dwyer was arrested Wednesday in Batesville, and Purdy was arrested Thursday in Grenada.

Officials say two men who escaped from a Kansas prison on Thanksgiving made it to Mississippi on a four-wheeler stolen in Arkansas.

Police in Batesville stopped Scott Dwyer and Wayne Purdy after seeing them on the four-wheeler at 3 a.m. Monday. They fled after an officer became suspicious of their story.

The four-wheeler was reported stolen in northern Arkansas. Dwyer was arrested Wednesday in Batesville, and Purdy was arrested Thursday in Grenada.

The Mississippi Department of Mental Health has added anonymous texting and e-mail to its mental health and suicide help line.

Officials say that some young adults are ashamed or intimidated by the idea of calling and speaking directly to a staff member.

The new program called "Talk About it" will let teenagers discuss mental health issues anonymously.

It can be accessed online by visiting www.dmh.ms.gov.