Emily Wagster Pettus

Stay informed with Emily Wagster Pettus’s coverage and analysis.

  • A portion of the gangway which collapsed Saturday afternoon remains visible on Sapelo Island in McIntosh county, Ga., Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Lewis Levine)Lifestyle

    Georgia islanders rush to rescue survivors as dock walkway collapse kills 7 after annual Gullah festival

    By Russ Bynum, Emily Wagster Pettus, and others
  • Brett Favre testifies in front of a House committeeHealth

    Brett Favre reveals Parkinson’s diagnosis during hearing on welfare funds scandal

    By Dave Smith, Emily Wagster Pettus, and others
  • Programmer pressing button on tabletTech

    Mississippi law requiring websites to verify users’ age blocked by federal judge

    By Emily Wagster Pettus and The Associated Press
  • MississippiHealth

    One of the poorest and unhealthiest states in America just spiked a Medicaid opposition amid widespread Republican opposition

    By Emily Wagster Pettus and The Associated Press
  • Brett FavrePolitics

    Mississippi is still trying to get Brett Favre to repay nearly $730,000 in welfare funds that he used on a volleyball arena

    By Emily Wagster Pettus and The Associated Press
  • D'Monterrio Gibson speaking at a news conferenceSuccess

    A Black former FedEx delivery driver is suing for $5M, saying two white men shot into his van and pursued him in a high-speed chase

    By Emily Wagster Pettus and The Associated Press
  • FILE – Young cotton plants cover acres on a farm in Bolton, Miss., July 13, 2018. The U.S. Labor Department announced Wednesday, June 28, 2023, that it had completed an investigation that found 44 Mississippi farms exploited Black workers in the state by paying higher wages to immigrants. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)Finance

    Mississippi farms pay $850,000 in back wages and fines for paying local Black workers less than immigrants

    By Emily Wagster Pettus and The Associated Press
  • FILE – Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre speaks to the media in Jackson, Miss., Oct. 17, 2018. Favre is asking the Mississippi Supreme Court to remove him as a defendant in a civil lawsuit that seeks to recover millions of dollars of misspent welfare money that was supposed to help some of the neediest people in the United States. In papers filed late Monday, May, 15, 2023, Favre’s attorneys argue the Mississippi Department of Human Services is making “utterly meritless” legal arguments in suing Favre. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)Lifestyle

    Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre would like to be removed as a defendant in a civil trial over millions of misspent welfare money

    By Emily Wagster Pettus and The Associated Press
  • Brett FavrePolitics

    Brett Favre just dropped his lawsuit against Pat McAfee for saying he was ‘stealing from poor people in Mississippi’

    By Emily Wagster Pettus and The Associated Press
  • FILE – Former Indianapolis Colts player Pat McAfee announces the Colts’ third round pick at the NFL football draft, April 26, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn. Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre is dismissing his lawsuit against McAfee after McAfee publicly apologized for his previous on-air statements that Favre had been “stealing from poor people in Mississippi” in a welfare misspending case. Favre and McAfee both announced the settlement Thursday, May 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan, File)Finance

    Brett Favre dropped his lawsuit against a sportscaster who said he was ‘stealing from poor people in Mississippi’ after the man apologized

    By Emily Wagster Pettus and The Associated Press
  • Damage is seen on properties in Rolling Fork, Miss., where three days earlier a tornado ripped through the town, Monday, March 27, 2023, in Rolling Fork, Miss. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)Finance

    The Mississippi tornado that killed 25 and injured dozens destroyed one of the poorest parts of the state: ‘It’s going to be a long road to recovery’

    By Emily Wagster Pettus and The Associated Press
  • Debris covers a damaged structure in Rolling Fork, Miss,. on Saturday, March 25, 2023. Powerful tornadoes tore through the Deep South on Friday night, killing several people in Mississippi, obliterating dozens of buildings. (AP Photo/Rogelio Solis)Environment

    ‘My city is gone’: Mississippi tornadoes kill at least 23, injure dozens overnight

    By Emily Wagster Pettus, Rogelio Solis, and others
  • Brett FavreSuccess

    Mississippi lawyers urge judge to ignore Brett Favre’s ‘diatribe’ over his multimillion-dollar welfare fraud scandal

    By Emily Wagster Pettus and The Associated Press
  • Brett FavrePolitics

    ‘It’s shameful and disgusting’: Mississippi cuts welfare to the poor nearly 90% while sending it to Brett Favre and other connected players

    By Emily Wagster Pettus and The Associated Press
  • Brett FavreLifestyle

    Mississippi to Brett Favre: Forget the $1.1 million, we want up to $5 million instead

    By Emily Wagster Pettus and The Associated Press