Topic: Mississippi Delta

Top galleries, list articles, quizzes

Top 10 senators seeking earmarks

The omnibus spending bill died Thursday in the Senate amid controversy over the practice of earmarking, or inserting funding for pet projects into legislation. Here are the senators who sought the most spending for their states, ranked by the monetary value of proposed earmarks, whether alone or with others.
In Pictures: Space photos of the day 08/10
In Pictures: Sticky mess: The Gulf oil spill's impact on nature
Photos of the Day: Photos of the Day 04/27

All Content

The Chitlin’ Circuit and the Road to Rock ‘n’ Roll, by Preston Lauterbach.

A groundbreaking history of the black juke joints that birthed rock 'n' roll.
Classic review: Bob Dylan in America

Sean Wilentz's study of enigmatic music icon Bob Dylan is at once a time-hopping biography; a catalog of Dylan’s myriad, eclectic influences; and a primer on American music.
Memphis largely spared as Mississippi River floodwaters near historic high

Gawkers gathered beside the Mississippi River to see floodwaters near 48 feet. Most of the flood damage was in low-lying areas outside downtown Memphis.
Mississippi River nears crest in Memphis, but concern shifts south

Mississippi River floodwaters might pose more of a threat to the Delta region south of Memphis than they do to Memphis itself. In the Delta, the flood brings back memories of 1927.
Memphis and Baton Rouge brace for record-breaking Mississippi flood

Residents of the Mississippi River floodplain are sandbagging or evacuating as the flood crest pushes south. It will pass Memphis on Tuesday and hit southern Louisiana on May 23.
Watery week ahead as Mississippi floodwaters hit Memphis, move downriver

Mississippi River at record level in Memphis, Tenn., where some areas are already underwater. It's expected to get higher, with floodwaters to linger for days. Evacuations are under way.
Mississippi floodwaters surge in Memphis, but crest is still days away

Evacuations and closed highways are a taste of what is in store for Memphis, Tenn., as the Mississippi rises. Farther south, Jackson, Miss., residents are already being asked to evacuate.
Stir It Up!
Cathead buttermilk biscuits

Cathead biscuits are a feature of the Mississippi Delta. The name comes from the size of these biscuits – the size of a cat’s head.
Pinetop Perkins was 'one of the last great Mississippi Bluesmen'

Pinetop Perkins, an old school bluesman with the gravelly voice, for years had played the rickety bars among the cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta, and toured far beyond them with rock pioneer Ike Turner in the 1950s.
In Mississippi, snow-plowing tractors no match for latest winter storm

Snow and cold records are falling across the South as another winter storm blankets parts of Mississippi with half a foot of snow. One mayor admits he might have to buy a plow.
Top 10 senators seeking earmarks

The omnibus spending bill died Thursday in the Senate amid controversy over the practice of earmarking, or inserting funding for pet projects into legislation. Here are the senators who sought the most spending for their states, ranked by the monetary value of proposed earmarks, whether alone or with others.
Bob Dylan in America

Bob Dylan was not so much a sponge as an alchemist, taking common materials and creating new art.
Beyond racism: lessons from the South on racial discrimination and prejudice

Seven lessons from the deep South on racism, racial discrimination, and prejudice.
In Pictures: Space photos of the day 08/10
What can save Gulf's fragile coastal wetlands? Salt water, perhaps.

Saltwater marshes on the Gulf Coast are far more resilient than freshwater marshes, new research finds. The results could reframe how scientists work to stop the chronic erosion of coastal wetlands in the Gulf.
Scientists team up to attack Louisiana's Gulf oil spill berm plan

Louisiana is moving ahead with its plan to build 40 miles of berms to protect its coastline from the Gulf oil spill. The problem is, it won't work and might make things worse, scientists say.
Hurricane Alex wreaking havoc on BP Gulf oil spill

Hurricane Alex has pushed oil from the BP Gulf oil spill spill onto Gulf coast beaches, with some tar balls as large as apples.
Hurricane Alex pushes oil onto Gulf coast beaches

Hurricane Alex has made Gulf coast beaches particularly vulnerable. "With this weather, we lost all the progress we made," says scientist.
Hurricane season and Gulf oil pipelines. Trouble ahead?

Hurricane season is upon us and that could mean trouble for the 31,000 miles of Gulf oil pipelines that snake across the floor of the Gulf.
Gulf oil spill: Louisiana's berm plan bold but full of uncertainty

The plan to build 90 miles of sand berms to protect Louisiana wetlands from the Gulf oil spill is now getting under way. But it could take nine months and have unintended consequences.
Louisianans to Obama on BP oil spill: Show us we matter

As President Obama visits Louisiana Friday for the third time for an on-scene update of the BP oil spill, some residents report a nagging feeling that the US response would have been more vigorous if the accident had happened elsewhere.
BP oil spill could make Gulf hurricane season 'devastating'

Forecasters expect an active hurricane season, raising concern that a storm could push more of the BP oil spill ashore. The Gulf's biggest hurricanes are generally later in the season, however.
In Pictures: Sticky mess: The Gulf oil spill's impact on nature
Gulf oil spill at 30 days: frustration mounts along with amount of oil now coming ashore

It's now been 30 days since the Gulf oil spill began after the Deepwater Horizon sank. As oil starts to come ashore on the Louisiana coast, frustration among the local population is mounting.
Gulf oil spill's environmental impact: How long to recover?

What scientists know about how oil spills affect the environment is drawn from a range of past events, no two of which have been alike. Because the blowout occurred 5,000 feet below below the water surface, the Gulf oil spill is unchartered territory.