Some of the top stories discussed on "Gulf Coast Mornings with Kelly Bennett and Uncle Henry" this Feb 27th:
Before we get there, I (Kelly Bennett) may have gone on a rant about elected officials giving their approval to plans that involve things like RAISING TAXES....without knowing the details of said plan. It drives me batty when I hear this kind of stuff, as you may witness into the video at 1:05...
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There seems to be a growing movement to change "Buffett Beach" in Pascagoula back to Pascagoula Beach. Some residents believe the honor should not have been bestowed upon the singer/songwriter to begin with. We discuss the possibility at about 2:10 in the video.
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3 years after Amtrak crossed South MS on a tour to promote the return of passenger RR service, word that our coast could see trains carrying passengers from New Orleans to Mobile in as little as 2 years. There would be 4 stops: Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula. Apparently, there's the possibility of specialty stops for things like the Peter Anderson Festival in Ocean Springs...where they could make arrangements for a weekend. The Biloxi Council has given the green light to apply for a grant from the Southern Rail Commission, and match funding from the grant to make improvements on the track.
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The House is scheduled to vote today on major gun control legislation for the first time in a quarter-century. Two bills due for votes would strengthen background checks for gun purchases. The Democratic-controlled House is expected to pass the bills that would bring about the biggest expansion of the system since background checks first became law 25 years ago. While the bills are expected to pass in the House, they are unlikely to even be considered in the Senate, where Republicans are in control.
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The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation says a Detroit, Michigan man is jailed in Hinds County without bond after allegedly threatening the life of Governor Phil Bryant. The agency announced yesterday that 48-year-old Harold Joseph Collins was arrested Monday and charged with five counts of cyberstalking. He faces up to ten years in prison if convicted. A statement released by MBI Director Lee Morrison did not elaborate on the specifics included in the threats but says they were very serious.
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So-called "revenge porn" legislation no longer poses a threat that minors could be penalized for the sharing of intimate visual material meant to be private. Such language was stripped from Senate Bill 2528 yesterday by the Judiciary A Committee of the Mississippi House. As amended, adults could still face a fine of up to one-thousand-dollars for each violation of a court injunction prohibiting the transmission of nude photos and the like for the purpose of damaging a person's reputation. In cases of extortion, a maximum penalty of a year in jail could be imposed.
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Forty counties across Mississippi are now reporting damage from last week's flash floods and tornadoes. The storms affected almost 600 homes and damaged more than 400 roads and bridges. That should be enough to qualify for another federal disaster declaration but Mississippi Emergency Management director Greg Michel says it'll take some time to finalize those damage assessments, especially in areas that were flooded. He says they're waiting for the water to recede.
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Leaders of Mississippi's community colleges will be at the State Capitol today making their annual appeal for additional money. They've been saying for years that the 15 two-year schools don't get their fair share of higher education funding. The community colleges say they need money to continue workforce training and to offer new career and technical programs.
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President Trump is tweeting against a U.S. Democrat during his trip to Vietnam. Trump is in Hanoi for a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and took time out overnight to take a swipe at Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. Blumenthal served in the Marine Corps Reserve during the Vietnam War, and has apologized for implying in 2008 that he served in Vietnam. Trump slammed the senator today, tweeting, "I have now spent more time in Vietnam than Da Nang Dick Blumenthal," and added, "His war stories of his heroism in Vietnam were a total fraud - he was never even there." Last month, Senator Blumenthal introduced a bill that would force a release of the Mueller Report, about possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
An elderly New Jersey man says he was attacked at the supermarket for wearing a red Trump hat. The "Make America Great Again" hat has become a lightning rod since Trump became president. The 81-year-old shopper says he was attacked Monday afternoon at a grocery store in Somerset. He suffered only minor injuries and declined treatment at the scene.
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A new study says a long handshake can spread your DNA to things you didn't touch. New DNA research was revealed last week at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. In handshaking experiments, researchers found that people who never picked up a knife became the major source of DNA on the knife about seven percent of the time. The study found the person's DNA was transferred to the knife by someone they shook hands with.
Some men who smoke marijuana have a higher sperm count. According to a new study by Harvard researchers, men who have smoked more than two joints in their lifetime had a higher sperm concentration than men who never smoked. The lead author of the study says the data could counter arguments of weed being bad for sperm count, but warned people not to use this as a reason to start smoking.