Houston News

Despite the cloudy skies and an occasional bolt of lightning, a good crowd came to pay their respects at the Petals for Patriots event which was held at the Pontotoc County Airport this past Saturday, June 14, ...

Discussions by the aldermen Tuesday moved the town closer to ordinances governing loose and vicious dogs and cleanliness of property.

BY PATSY R. BRUMFIELD Daily Journal TUPELO - Mississippi's next legalized execution could be Dale Leo Bishop, convicted of capital murder in the 1998 death of Mark Gentry in Saltillo.

Attorney General Jim Hood and Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps are of a single mind: more executions are better for Mississippi.

By Ellen Gregory Errolyn Gray, a junior at West Point High School, was honored by the United States Achievement Academy as an All-American Scholar.

“We had cleared the gate when they got the call over the radio”

BY ERROL CASTENS Daily Journal Oxford Bureau HOUSTON - Nearly seven months ago, Jena Watson was in a van at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, headed for Unit 17 to witness the execution of her mother's ... via Djournal.com

The total attendance to the Offshore technology Conference in Houston counted over 75,000. More than 2,500 companies were registered exhibitors, of which almost 60 Norwegian companies. via Norway

“I did it. The only thing that matters is I did what I did.”

The Supreme Court on Monday turned away appeals from 11 death row prisoners in seven states, including one who killed his adoptive parents and continued to live in their home as their bodies decomposed, then ... via New York Times

A NeMiss business owner was killed in a one-vehicle wreck Saturday afternoon in Pontotoc County. via Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

“God gives us soldiers to protect our freedom”

To honor his fallen brother - his best friend - Lorenzo Brown vowed Wednesday to light two candles each year, one on his brother's birthday, and the second on the day the National Guard sergeant died in Iraq.

'This is not a goodbye,' he said Wednesday, gazing at his brother's casket draped in Old Glory. 'This is a good day for your next journey.'

A roaring applause and dozens of shouts of 'Amen' followed, filling Harts Chapel Baptist Church where 200 people - family members choking through tears, officers in full military regalia, among others - paid final respects to Lerando Brown. Read more

Services will be held at noon Wednesday at Harts Chapel Baptist Church for Lerando Junior Brown, 27, of Poplarville, who died March 15, 2008, in Balad, Iraq. via Hattiesburg American

Sgt. Lerando Brown, an Army National Guard soldier from Poplarville who was killed while serving in Iraq, is to be buried Wednesday. via The South Mississippi Sun Herald

“When the Army put it out, that's what they said: 'Non-hostile,'”

Federal officials are investigating the death of a National Guard sergeant from Gulfport found dead in Iraq last week.

Candice Brown, widow of Sgt. Lerando Brown Jr., said she was told her 27-year-old husband died in Balad, Iraq, on Friday of a gunshot wound to his chest, and knows no other information about his death.

The Defense Department lists the soldier's death as non-hostile - not by enemy force - and that the circumstances surrounding his death are under investigation.

But on Thursday, Shari Lawrence, deputy public affairs officer for Army human resources, said the soldier's death should have been listed as 'pending' because it was not conclusive that his death was non-hostile. Read more

As of Wednesday, March 19, 2008, at least 3,992 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. via Oregonlive.com

“The military was something that he loved, that he wanted to really do.”

SOLDIER KILLED

Candice Brown won't forget the silly faces her husband made to make her laugh, the 25 Christmas letters he sent from Iraq to first-graders at her school, the constant reminders through phone calls and e-mail that he loved her, that she was his Cinderella.

'There is a part in my heart that is gone because that part of my heart... was him,' the 27-year-old said. 'The biggest part of it is gone because he's not here.'

Sgt. Lerando Brown Jr., 27, a Gulfport native, was killed in Balad, Iraq, on Friday, the National Guard solider succumbing to a gunshot wound to his chest. He was with the 288th Sapper Co., based in Houston, Miss., and his wife knows no other details about his death or whether he was on a mission. Read more

“My client has reached no agreement with you”

By Patsy R. Brumfield Daily Journal HOUSTON - The recently settled case between State Farm and Attorney General Jim Hood isn't the first time he has been accused of improperly threatening criminal action in a ... via Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

CHICKASAW COUNTY Key board positions filled HOUSTON - The Houston Board of Aldermen filled two local board positions at a recent meeting. via Djournal.com

“Whether they'll give us full funding this year is anyone's political guess”

By Mack Spencer Monitor-Herald Most of the Twin Counties' school districts will see more money coming in from the state, if the Legislature fully funds the Mississippi Adequate Education Program. via The Monitor-Herald

“Thanks to the generosity of conference sponsors, the Texas Conference for Women has awarded more than 30 Texas women with $5,000 scholarships in the last five years, bringing them one step closer to achieving their academic and professional goals”

The Texas Conference for Women is now accepting 2008 scholarship applications to honor outstanding college females who embody academic excellence, leadership and a passion for others, program spokesperson ... via Tyler Morning Telegraph

“Oh, yeah, that is Ricky Taylor.”

The state Court of Appeals Has rejected arguments from Sam Henry Williams that a Scott County judge disallowed testimony that would have cleared him of charges in the 2005 shooting death of a woman at his home. via The Clarion-Ledger