Laurel Leader-Call

The Laurel Leader-Call is a newspaper that is published three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. It serves the community of Laurel, Mississippi, and focuses on news and events in Jones County.

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18-year-old charged in shooting near Laurel store

1 day ago | leader-call.com | Sean Murphy

Laurel police expect more arrests in ‘targeted’ violence•The Laurel Police Department is continuing to investigate a shooting at South 13th Avenue and Ellisville Boulevard on Saturday (May 31) that resulted in one arrest so far — and more to come.
WATCH: House Democrats, Republicans spar over high college tuition costs

4 days ago | leader-call.com | Andrew Rice

(The Center Square) – U.S. House Democrats and Republicans shared opposing viewpoints Wednesday on ways to address the rising costs of college tuition in the U.S.In a House subcommittee hearing, Republican and Democrat members questioned a panel of witnesses on antitrust policies of Ivy League institutions. U.S. Rep.
17-year-old dies 4 days after shooting, suspect in jail on $225,000 bond

4 days ago | leader-call.com | Sean Murphy

Suspect’s mother faces charge of accessory after the fact•A 17-year-old is dead and a suspect is jailed in a shooting on Marion Drive in Laurel on May 24. Eric Drummond Jr., 21, is accused of the drive-by shooting of 17-year-old Jamal Pruitt on May 24 at about 10 a.m., according to the LPD incident report. “We don’t like to talk specifics about motive, but this does not appear to be a random shooting,” Laurel police Chief Tommy Cox said.
Toddler in critical condition at UMMC after being caught in drive-by on Ellisville Blvd.

4 days ago | leader-call.com | Sean Murphy

A 2-year-old girl is reportedly fighting for her life after being shot while sitting in a vehicle with two others on Monday evening on Ellisville Boulevard near the South Laurel exit of Interstate 59. At about 6 p.m. Monday, the LPD received a call of a possible vehicle wreck, which was then reported as a shooting. When the LPD arrived, the car in which the victim was in was still on the scene. The girl and the other two passengers were taken by a passerby to South Central Regional Medical Center.
81-19 ground beef?

4 days ago | leader-call.com | Sean Murphy

I went to the grocery store this weekend. It’s a large, regional grocery chain, mostly in Louisiana and on the Gulf Coast. I have no allegiance to a grocery store. It depends on what is on sale — always what is on sale. As a kid, along with my mom doing the family grocery shopping, she’d give me a list of half the store — my half. I would get those items, then meet her in the middle. We never met in the middle.
No Wi-Fi, no problem: 8 family-friendly hike-in lodges for a digital detox

6 days ago | leader-call.com | Amanda Luhn

Americans spend an average of 5 hours and 16 minutes per day on their phones. But there’s no cell service at Charit Creek Lodge in Tennessee, and that’s exactly the point. As more families seek meaningful connections away from screens, slow travel and digital detox vacations become the trend. Hike-in lodges combine both of those. They’re rustic, hard to reach and off the grid. For many families, that’s not a downside; it’s the draw.
The door at the bottom

1 week ago | leader-call.com | Robert St. John

On May 25, 1983, I was 21 years old — lost and heading nowhere fast. That night, I was speeding down 4th Street in my hometown of Hattiesburg, headlights off, 90 mph, foot on the gas. It was 2 a.m. Three police cars chased behind me, blue lights flashing. Reckless. Irresponsible. Dangerous. I don’t remember much else — except the DUI. I was due. And it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Scroll down for pecan pesto rescipeThe next day, I was in rehab in Jackson.
LPD: Man goes berserk in Walmart, threatens to shoot shoppers

1 week ago | leader-call.com | Sean Murphy

A man who is believed to be homeless threatened to shoot fellow customers at Walmart when, police said, they refused to get out of the way of his motorized grocery cart. James Gaitanis, 53, whose last known address was in the county, was facing charges of making terroristic threats, possession of a weapon by a felon, malicious mischief and disturbance of a business. It all unfolded on Tuesday at about 2:40 p.m. when Laurel police were dispatched to Walmart.
Cottonwood Manor shut down by MSDH after ‘reign of terror’

1 week ago | leader-call.com | Kevan Lindsey

2 convicted of felony abuse of a vulnerable person •The “reign of terror” at Cottonwood Manor came to an abrupt end last Wednesday as the Mississippi Department of Health closed the assisted-living facility. A lawsuit in Jones County Circuit Court on behalf of four former residents and their families was filed after an abuse complaint was filed in February 2024.
Special session concludes as lawmakers agree on new state budget

1 week ago | leader-call.com | Daniel Tyson

Mississippi is closer to having a new state budget after the state Senate finalized work on over $7 billion in spending bills Thursday afternoon. The House gaveled out just after midnight having finished their work in the special session. The $7.135 billion Fiscal Year 2026 budget is up slightly from the prior year’s $7.035 billion budget.