Mississippi

Three business organizations joining forces to become the Mississippi Business Alliance

Published

4 weeks ago

October 31, 2025

Three business organizations joining forces to become the Mississippi Business Alliance

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – The state’s top lawmakers and business leaders mingled at the Mississippi Coliseum on Thursday morning – tradition for the annual Hobnob event.

The Mississippi Economic Council played host for the 24th and final time.

If you’re involved with politics or business, you’ve heard of these three organizations and the work they’ve been doing.

The Mississippi Economic Council, the Mississippi Manufacturers Association, and the Business and Industry Political Education Committee.

“Mississippi needed a single authoritative and common voice for business,” explained MEC Chair John Hairston. “Policy makers were asking for clarity when it comes to legislative priorities. Business owners were asking for alignment of our policies, and our members were asking to become more impactful.”

So, these three groups will become one.

“Will represent every sector of Mississippi’s economy under one banner: the Mississippi Business Alliance,” said Scott Waller, MEC President and CEO.

The new rebranding was unveiled in front of the Hobnob crowd.

However, things officially began with the merged efforts on Jan. 1.

“Previously, you had legislators and policymakers trying to look for advice or input and they had three different organizations that were similar and overlapped,” described John McKay, current head of the Mississippi Manufacturers Association.

McKay will lead the Mississippi Business Alliance.

The joint organization will build on the already existing work of the three groups – everything from policy to workforce development and vetting of business-friendly candidates.

According to policymakers, there will be a value in having a singular group for business interests.

“These three organizations are merging not just to consolidate, but to elevate,” Gov. Tate Reeves emphasized.

“To have a unified voice is very helpful to those of us who are supposed to implement public policy,” Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said.

And they’re looking at this as more than a simple merger.

“It’s really a transformation of how we operate and sponsor the business community moving forward,” Hairston continued. “It’s the uniting of our collective strengths into one clear and very decisive force for progress into the future, for the benefit of our grandchildren and those that come after them.”

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Mississippi

Why Jeff Lebby turned to Kamario Taylor, benched Blake Shapen for Egg Bowl

Published

14 hours ago

November 28, 2025

Press Room

Why Jeff Lebby turned to Kamario Taylor, benched Blake Shapen for Egg Bowl

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football coach Jeff Lebby said he thought hard about the team’s quarterback situation the day after its 49-27 loss to Missouri on Nov. 15.

Then he made the decision that many fans had been wanting. He benched quarterback Blake Shapen for freshman Kamario Taylor.

The Bulldogs kept the decision under wraps until Taylor trotted onto the field as the starter in the 2025 Egg Bowl. It was his first career start as MSU (5-7, 1-7 SEC) lost 38-19 to No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1, 7-1) at Davis Wade Stadium on Nov. 28.

Shapen had been Mississippi State’s quarterback in all of the other games.

“Really, really hard decision for me,” Lebby said. “As we got back from Missouri, thought about it nonstop on Sunday. For me, as hard as it was to make, the results hadn’t been what we needed. For us, I felt like things had not been great for us up front. Who’s the guy that has the ability to make a couple of plays when things aren’t perfect?

“(Taylor) had done some good things, and I felt like it was the right time. For me, it was incredibly hard because of my love for Blake, his toughness and how he has led and continued to be exactly who he’s supposed to be. For me, really hard, but beginning of last week we made that decision.”

Taylor, a former four-star recruit from Noxubee County, led MSU on an opening-drive touchdown, but the offense was inconsistent for the rest of the game until a second touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Taylor completed 15 of 31 pass attempts for 178 yards and one interception that tipped off the hands of two players. Where he was most impactful though was as a runner with 173 yards and two touchdowns.

“I was kind of nervous when he announced it,” Taylor said. “He didn’t announce it to the whole team, but he just told me. He asked me if I was nervous, and I told him nah, I wasn’t. But like, I was nervous.

“I knew that God gave me this ability to go showcase the things he allows me to do. I was pretty confident, but I was nervous, especially playing in a big game like that.”

How Blake Shapen handled getting benched for Kamario Taylor

Shapen not playing in the Egg Bowl meant the graduate senior’s career ended with a benching.

He played four seasons at Baylor before transferring to MSU in 2024. Shapen was the starter last season too, until suffering a season-ending fractured shoulder blade in Week 4.

“I’m sure really hard,” Lebby said. “Incredibly hard. Blake’s poured a lot into this and he’s been an unbelievably consistent person inside our building for two years. And he’s been through a lot.

“For him not to have the ability to go do it today is hard for him. And it’s hard for me because of who he’s been, his toughness and how he has absolutely laid it on the line for me and this university. It’s really hard for him and hate that this was the end for him.”

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

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Mississippi

Mississippi Lottery Mississippi Match 5, Cash 3 results for Nov. 27, 2025

Published

1 day ago

November 28, 2025

Press Room

Mississippi Lottery Mississippi Match 5, Cash 3 results for Nov. 27, 2025

The Mississippi Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Nov. 27, 2025, results for each game:

Winning Mississippi Match 5 numbers from Nov. 27 drawing

04-05-29-30-34

Check Mississippi Match 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Cash 3 numbers from Nov. 27 drawing

Midday: 7-7-0, FB: 2

Evening: 2-9-6, FB: 8

Check Cash 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Cash 4 numbers from Nov. 27 drawing

Midday: 4-1-2-6, FB: 2

Evening: 4-1-1-7, FB: 8

Check Cash 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Cash Pop numbers from Nov. 27 drawing

Midday: 02

Evening: 11

Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Story continues below gallery.

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize

Winnings of $599 or less can be claimed at any authorized Mississippi Lottery retailer.

Prizes between $600 and $99,999, may be claimed at the Mississippi Lottery Headquarters or by mail. Mississippi Lottery Winner Claim form, proper identification (ID) and the original ticket must be provided for all claims of $600 or more. If mailing, send required documentation to:

Mississippi Lottery Corporation

P.O. Box 321462

Flowood, MS

39232

If your prize is $100,000 or more, the claim must be made in person at the Mississippi Lottery headquarters. Please bring identification, such as a government-issued photo ID and a Social Security card to verify your identity. Winners of large prizes may also have the option of setting up electronic funds transfer (EFT) for direct deposits into a bank account.

Mississippi Lottery Headquarters

1080 River Oaks Drive, Bldg. B-100

Flowood, MS

39232

Mississippi Lottery prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing date. For detailed instructions and necessary forms, please visit the Mississippi Lottery claim page.

When are the Mississippi Lottery drawings held?

Cash 3: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
Cash 4: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
Match 5: Daily at 9:30 p.m. CT.
Cash Pop: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Mississippi editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Mississippi

Mississippi barn where Emmett Till was killed to open as memorial site

Published

2 days ago

November 27, 2025

Press Room

Mississippi barn where Emmett Till was killed to open as memorial site

The Mississippi Delta barn where 14-year-old Emmett Till was brutally beaten and killed will be open to the public as a “sacred” memorial site by 2030, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center announced.

The barn, located in a rural area outside the city of Drew, was purchased Nov. 18. The Emmett Till Interpretive Center announced the purchase Sunday, Nov. 23 — the birthday of Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley.

The acquisition was aided by a $1.5 million donation from television producer and writer Shonda Rhimes.

The center will reportedly have the barn under 24-hour surveillance, and the property will be equipped with floodlights and security cameras for precautionary measures.

The center plans to open the barn as a memorial by the 75th anniversary of Till’s lynching.

“(The barn) will be preserved not merely as a structure, but as sacred ground — a place where truth can live without fear of being forgotten,” the center wrote in news release. “We did not save this place to dwell in grief. We saved it so that truth could keep shaping us.”

What happened to Emmett Till

Till was 14 when he traveled from his hometown of Chicago to Mississippi to visit relatives in 1955. Till was accused of flirting or whistling at Carolyn Bryant, a white woman working at a grocery store in rural Mississippi. In the overnight hours of Aug. 28, 1955, Till was taken from his uncle’s home at gunpoint and beaten by two vengeful white men, one of whom was the husband of Bryant.

Three days later, a fisherman on the Tallahatchie River discovered the teenager’s bloated and disfigured corpse. Till’s mother, Mamie, demanded that her son’s mutilated remains be taken back to Chicago for a public, open casket funeral that was attended by tens of thousands of people.

Graphic images taken of Till’s remains, sanctioned by his mother, were published by Jet magazine. Since then, Till’s name has become synonymous with the Civil Rights Movement and how the United States has dealt with race relations.

Till’s mother was a civil rights activist in the aftermath of her son’s death and died in 2003.

“To walk through the barn’s doors, one might think of Emmett’s voice calling for his mother in the dark — and of Mamie, hundreds of miles away in Chicago, transforming that cry into a call the world could hear. Her decision to open her son’s casket was not an act of despair but of fierce faith — faith that seeing would lead to understanding, and understanding to change,” the center said.

“That faith still calls to us. The barn carries her same charge: to help the world see.”

Pam Dankins is the breaking news reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Have a tip? Email her at pdankins@gannett.com.

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