Ron Brown

  • Mississippi Special Session Roundup

    Mississippi lawmakers met in special session Friday and said yes to two major items.
    They quickly approved a 75 million dollar loan package for a company that plans to convert timber products into a crude oil substitute

    There's no other company like it and some were concerned that it might be too good to be true, that the state was financing experimental technology. But Senator Terry Brown of Columbus said it's a risk worth taking.

    "We never would have discovered America if we hadn't took a risk. So, you know, I don't think it's a big risk but I think it'll go well."

  • Nesting Yellow Jackets Creating A Buzz

    They're fast. They're defensive. And they sting like the dickens if you disturb their nests. As MPB's Ron Brown reports, a new batch of yellow jackets are nesting this fall.

  • Enrollment Increase Could Lead to Student Caps

    Business is booming at community colleges across the state. A record numbers of students are signing up for classes. But as MPB’s Ron Brown reports, the high enrollment rate will force legislators to make some crucial decisions come budget time.

  • Record Highs Can't Stop Football Practice

    Two things happen in Mississippi every year at about this time. It gets very hot, and summer football practice begins. As MPB’s Ron Brown reports the two have coexisted in the state for decades, even during record high spells, like this week.

  • Michelle Obama Makes Military History

    Mississippi has launched a new ship in the U.S. Coast Guard arsenal. As MPB's Ron Brown reports, it was an historic event because of the help from first lady Michelle Obama.

  • Biloxi Hosts Antiques Road Show

    The threat of bad weather from Tropical Storm Bonnie did little to keep thousands of people from emptying their attics and streaming into Biloxi on Saturday. MPB’s Ron Brown reports the threatening storm was no match for a chance to be on the popular PBS hit program Antiques Roadshow.

  • Storm Evacuates Oil Cleanup Workers

    That tropical storm approaching the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico forced BP to evacuate oil cleanup operations and efforts to seal the well. But as MPB's Ron Brown reports, the storm is not expected to bring much if any oil ashore.

  • Marty Stuart Brings Country Music History Home

    Country music history began in Mississippi with a man named Jimmie Rodgers in Meridian. Now, another Mississippian, country music star, preservationist and historian Marty Stuart is bringing his flashy collection of country music history back to the place where it all started. MPB's Ron Brown has the story.

  • Injured Oil Spill Pelicans To Teach

    Several victims of the BP oil spill are recovering today at the Jackson Zoo. As MPB’s Ron Brown tells us, it’s a temporary home for 11 injured white pelicans.

  • Young Stars Shine at USA International Ballet Competition

    Jackson, Mississippi is playing host to some of the most talented young ballet dancers in the world. They’re in the Magnolia state for the 2010 International Ballet Competition. MPB Arts reporter Ron Brown has the story.

  • USA IBC Keeps Jackson Businesses On Their Toes

    Many of the world’s best young ballet dancers can be found in one city during the next few weeks; Jackson, Mississippi.
    MPB’s Ron Brown tells us every four years the USA International Ballet Competition provides Jackson with an international spotlight, prestige, and millions of dollars.

  • Howlin' Wolf Hometown Preserving Old Juke Joints

    This year the blues world is celebrating Howlin’ Wolf, one of the giants of the blues who would have celebrated his 100th birthday this week. In today’s arts report, MPB’s Ron Brown tells us how his Mississippi hometown is trying to preserve memories of the man they call The Wolf.

  • Mississippi's Blues Detective

    The history of the blues in Mississippi is not a completed story. There are still many overlooked blues musicians to discover. In today’s arts report, MPB’s Ron Brown has the story of the man most likely to track down them down.

  • Lessons From A Caribbean Island

    Few instruments are as identified with one type of music or one region as the steel drum. As MPB's Ron Brown tell us in today's arts report, a Jackson man is helping kids understand the origins of this unusual instrument from his native land.

  • Mississippi Arts Commission Tangos With Health

    Not every child is an athlete but they all need some sort of physical education in school. The Mississippi Arts Commission recently took on this problem and as MPB arts reporter Ron Brown tells us, they succeeded in a very choreographed way.

  • Blues Train Creates Smokestack Lightnin'

    The blues were created in Mississippi, but they grew up in Chicago. As MPB arts reporter Ron Brown tells us this weekend two famous sons of the blues are celebrating how the blues forever changed modern music, by taking a train north.

  • Turning Disaster Into Art

    When one of the worst the tornadoes in Mississippi history hit Yazoo City and several other areas April 24, help came in different forms. MPB’s arts reporter Ron Brown tells us artists were one of the many different groups who responded.

  • Prison Performers Inspire

    Some of the goals of art are to teach, inspire, enlighten, inform, and educate. MPB arts reporter Ron Brown tells us about an artistic group that is reaching all of those goals for a captive audience.

  • Natchez Commemorates 70th Anniversary of Historic Rhythm Club Fire

    Seventy years ago today a nightclub fire in Natchez, Mississippi shocked the country with it’s devastation. As MPB’s Ron Brown reports, the effects can still be felt today, in Natchez and in public buildings throughout the nation.

  • Mississippi Business Leaders To Get In Tune

    Mississippi music means money and as MPB's Ron Brown tells us, Mississippi business leaders will look to the state’s musical heritage to spur economic growth.