A new health checkup ranks Mississippi as 50th when compared to the overall health of other states. Smoking and obesity are the top priorities in this state and the nation, according to the 20th Anniversary Edition of America's Health Rankings released Tuesday.

The tax hikes that so many states levied to plug holes in their recession-ravaged budgets this year could endanger a few incumbent governors’ careers in 2010 when 37 gubernatorial contests are at stake.

Facing growing budget constraints, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour wants to save money by cutting the state's public universities from eight to five. On Monday, Barbour proposed combining historically black universities Mississippi Valley State and Alcorn State into Jackson State, also an HBCU.

Mississippi Power Co. says its customers' electric bills will be cheaper next year. The company filed its annual fuel cost adjustment on Monday, and state regulators are expected to approve it.

BILOXI, Miss. -- Voters are headed to the polls to decide whether Patrick Collins or Scott DeLano will replace former Republican state Rep. Michael Janus in the Mississippi House of Representatives.

The March of Dimes says that Vermont and New Hampshire lead the nation with the lowest rates of pre-term births.

Gov. Haley Barbour has announced the site of the next Mississippi Blues Trail marker. Barbour says a ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Woodville in Wilkinson County to honor the town's blues traditions.

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann wants to make sure the givers know where that money goes. Hosemann's office produced its 2009 charities report Monday. Included are total revenues, expenditures and percentages of charitable spending for every registered charity in Mississippi.

A Jackson State University professor is seeking $1 million, arguing she was denied tenure and a related salary increase because of her gender then retaliated against after complaining.

When the state's new accountability plan is fully implemented, students in Mississippi will be able to compete with others across the country, educators say. At the end of this week the state Board of Education will vote to approve school and district classifications, the first to be given under the new model. The results will be released to the public Nov. 23.

Keeping the Mississippi University of Women as one of the state's publicly funded universities is a battle some alumni say they are ready to fight. Recent talk of a possible state-mandated merger with Mississippi State University prompted MUW alumni to begin strategizing to prevent such a move.

Mississippians rank near the top when it comes to charity donations in the country, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann says. But in this upcoming season of giving, Hosemann wants the public to know if the charity is using the money in the way it was intended.

NEW ALBANY, Miss. — Asthma is the No. 1 cause of school absences, said Jennifer Cofer, American Lung Association deputy executive director for Mississippi. And it affects a lot of kids.

When Matt Dilback of Madison was hired by SmartSynch about nine years ago, he wasn't looking for a job that was "green."

Two of the states hit hardest by the Great Recession–California and Michigan–are bracing for an even tougher time making ends meet next year, putting big spending cuts or outright elimination of some services on the table, top budget officials from both states said Friday (Nov. 13).

Mississippi Medicaid officials should have asked the Legislature for approval before tinkering with a law that would change reimbursements for pharmacists, the state Supreme Court has ruled.

The University of Southern Mississippi Faculty Senate has approved a new budget planning group, one that will provide input in which programs should be kept or cut during a time of fiscal belt-tightening.

Mississippi Power Co. has received the first level of regulatory approval in its effort to build a new coal-powered generating plant in the east-central part of the state.