LONG BEACH, Miss. (WLOX) – The city of Long Beach and the Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain celebrated a $1.9 million purchase for 32 acres of undeveloped beachfront property.

“Very excited to manage this property as an urban forest that is open to the public. So it’s going to be open from dawn to dusk for residents’ quiet enjoyment of nature. We will be doing a little bit of restoration work, getting rid of the invasions later in 2025.” said Sara Guice, Executive Director of the Mississippi Land Trust.

The purchase was made possible through financial support from the Angela J. Bowen Conservancy Foundation.

Mayor Bass says he’s thankful for the private landowner who worked with the MS Coastal Plain Land Trust to bring this to fruition.

Developers and owners say they are adding the signage on Monday, July 29th, along Highway 90 and the trails are open to the public.

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Copyright 2024 WLOX. All rights reserved.

Who is Mississippi’s best wide receiver entering the 2024 high school football season? MHSAA and MAIS football fans can decide which high school wide receiver is the best in Mississippi. Now it’s your turn to vote.

Fans can vote once per hour per device. The poll closes at noon on Saturday.

Tyree Barnett, Hattiesburg: Barnett, a recent transfer from Harrison Central, had 1,005 receiving yards with 63 receptions and nine touchdowns, including 197 return yards. He has offers from Central Arkansas, UT Martin and Northeast College.

Jermarj Bell, Northside: The Central Arkansas commit had 1,775 all-purpose yards with 981 receiving yards on 56 receptions, 14 total touchdowns and two punt returns for scores.

Trent Buckley, Columbia Academy: The tight end had 29 receptions for 403 yards with three touchdowns, along with five tackles and two sacks last season.

Jeremiah Cole, McComb: Cole had 46 receptions with 1,012 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns last season, including 210 kick return yards.

TOP MISSISSIPPI WR: Best Mississippi receivers in 2024 MHSAA, MAIS seasons? See our ranking

Zayion Cotton, Grenada: Cotton, a three-star recruit according to 247Sports, had 36 receptions for 636 yards with five touchdowns in 2023. He has offers from Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

Caleb Cunningham, Choctaw County: The Alabama commit is the No. 1 prospect in Mississippi and the No. 2 wide receiver in the country. Last season he set Choctaw’s season records for receptions (48) and yards receiving (1,138) and scored 14 touchdowns.

Deshawn Dillon, Northwest Rankin: The Cougars’ leading receiver had 44 receptions for 660 yards with nine touchdowns. Dillon has offers from Ole Miss, Tennessee and Mississippi State.

Sheldon Isaac, McComb: Isaac had 15 receptions for 307 yards with five touchdowns in eight games last season. Isaac has offers from Grambling and Florida A&M.

Zechariah Jenkins, Laurel: The three-star recruit produced 36 receptions for 603 yards with three touchdowns last season.

O’Mari Johnson, Wesson: The four-star recruit had 43 receptions for 807 yards and 465 rushing yards on 55 carries with 21 total touchdowns. Johnson has offers from LSU, Florida State, Mississippi State and Arkansas.

Micah Jones, Madison Central: Jones, a Florida commit, is the No. 15 prospect in Mississippi and the No. 28 tight end nationally for the Class of 2025. Last season, Jones recorded 168 receiving yards with a touchdown and helped Madison Central go 8-5.

Tristen Keys, Hattiesburg: Keys, a four-star recruit and the No. 6 overall prospect in Mississippi, has offers from Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Miami.

Aiden Knox, Clinton: The three-star recruit had 178 receiving yards with a touchdown in seven games last season. Knox has offers from Penn State and Toledo.

Anson Lewis, Oak Grove: Lewis is a four-star wideout and No. 12 recruit in the state. His offers include Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Missouri. Lewis has transferred to Oak Grove after spending the past two seasons at Columbia.

Jase Mathews, Greene County: In nine games, the three-star recruit had 25 receptions for 484 yards with two touchdowns and 673 all-purpose yards. Mathews has an offer from Ole Miss.

Xavier McDonald, Morton: McDonald, a four-star recruit and the No. 2 overall prospect in the state, had 56 receptions for 1,166 yards with 16 touchdowns. McDonald has offers from Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Florida State, Auburn and UCF.

Matthew Nowell, Leake Academy: Nowell recorded 1,129 receiving yards with 62 receptions and 13 touchdowns last season and had five games over 100 receiving yards.

Quincy Phillips Jr., Brandon: Phillips had 87 receptions for 1,027 yards with six touchdowns in 2023. His receptions broke the school’s season record held by NFL player Jonathan Mingo.

John Austin Sterling, Centreville Academy: Thomas had 58 receptions for 1,120 yards and 22 touchdowns, as well as 219 return yards. Sterling has an offer from Toledo.

Case Thomas, Madison-Ridgeland Academy: Last season, Thomas produced 59 catches for 1,296 yards, which led MAIS, and recorded 17 touchdowns.

Michael Chavez covers high school sports, among others, for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at mchavez@gannett.com or reach out to him on X, formerly Twitter @MikeSChavez.

(AP) – A judge dismissed a lawsuit by the Republican National Committee that sought to block Mississippi from counting absentee ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but received up to five days after it.

U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. handed down his ruling Sunday, becoming the second federal judge in recent weeks to dismiss such a lawsuit.

“Mississippi’s statutory procedure for counting lawfully cast absentee ballots, postmarked on or before election day, and received no more than five business days after election day is consistent with federal law and does not conflict with the Elections Clause, the Electors’ Clause, or the election-day statutes,” Guirola wrote.

Another federal judge recently dismissed a similar lawsuit in Nevada, rejecting Republicans’ assertions that counting absentee ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but received days later was unconstitutional and violated federal law.

The Republican National Committee, the Mississippi Republican Party, a member of the state Republican Executive Committee and an election commissioner filed the Mississippi lawsuit in January against Republican Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson and six local election officials. The Libertarian Party of Mississippi later filed a similar lawsuit, and the judge consolidated it with the one filed by the Republican groups.

The suits argued that Mississippi improperly extends the federal election beyond the election date set by Congress and that, as a result, “timely, valid ballots are diluted by untimely, invalid ballots.”

In dismissing the suits, Guirola wrote that “no ‘final selection’ is made after the federal election day under Mississippi’s law. All that occurs after election day is the delivery and counting of ballots cast on or before election day.”

Mississippi is one of several states that allow mailed ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The list includes swing states such as Nevada and states such as Colorado, Oregon and Utah that rely heavily on mail voting.

Trump for years falsely claimed voting by mail was riddled with fraud, but his 2024 campaign is encouraging the practice if it’s convenient for people.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.