Updated: 7:48 PM Hundreds of local people will spend the next few days learning more about their heart health.

Posted: 1:54 PM A cigarette tax increase has moved another big step through the Mississippi Legislature.

Updated: 6:22 PM The Mississippi Senate Finance Committee has voted to set the cigarette tax at 49 cents a pack, matching the average of the surrounding states.

Posted: 2:40 PM Officials say four kinds of salmonella have been identified in the growing investigation of tainted peanut products.

Updated: 7:01 PM United Blood Services Tuesday has kicked off a year-long promotional campaign.

Updated: 7:02 PM East Mississippi is being asked to give the gift of life in an unusual way.

Posted: 10:14 AM A bill in the United States Congress would more than double the amount of funds provided for the Children's Health Insurance Program, or CHIP. So why is Gov. Haley Barbour asking Mississippi's senators to vote against it?

Updated: 7:17 PM A salmonella outbreak across the U.S. has many people avoiding a number of products that contain peanut butter. Three cases have been reported in Mississippi and one in Alabama.

Updated: 7:07 PM Officials with the local Girl Scouts say their two brands of peanut butter- flavored cookies have been tested, and did not come from the factory where tainted peanut butter originated.

Posted: 11:57 AM The Mississippi boards of health and education are working together to tackle obesity among the state's children.

Updated: 11:23 AM Health officials say the number of people sickened in a national salmonella outbreak involving peanut butter has grown to 485 cases.

Posted: 2:51 PM The Consumer Product Safety Commission is recalling more than 500,000 Canadian-made Stork Craft baby cribs.

Posted: 4:52 PM Mississippi health officials report the lowest West Nile virus numbers since 2004.

Updated: 7:01 PM United Blood Services said its service area has a critical need for blood donors.

Posted: 2:38 PM A California-based subsidiary of Mylan Inc. has reached a settlement in a lawsuit that claimed the company inflated prescription drug prices and overcharged Mississippi's Medicaid program.

Posted: 10:38 AM A new federal report finds Mississippi now has the nation's highest teen pregnancy rate, displacing Texas and New Mexico.

Posted: 5:26 PM The 2008 WTOK/United Blood Services Mash Bash blood drive, one of the largest of the year, is set for Dec. 30.

Updated: 6:40 PM The Food and Drug Administration is warning against 28 weight-loss products you might be tempted to try after the holidays.

Posted: 11:06 AM Layoffs and hiring freezes at some Mississippi hospitals have health advocates worried.

Posted: 6:47 PM Alabama Gov. Bob Riley had outpatient surgery Wednesday for basal cell carcinoma on his nose.

Updated: 7:21 PM As we continue to promote John Johnson's Run for Cancer, which benefits a local fund to help cancer patients, it's also a good time to share ways physicians are partnering to help each other's patients.

Updated: 7:16 PM John Johnson is running for a very special reason this Saturday in the Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville, Ala. And you may donate to help people in our area.

Updated: 7:20 PM A letter sent home to parents of students in Meridian Public Schools states that a student may have been exposed to MRSA, and advises precautions to stop potential spreading.

Posted: 2:06 PM The Mississippi Department of Health says the state's first laboratory confirmed influenza case of the 2008-2009 season was reported in Covington County.

Updated: 7:24 PM Quitman Lower Elementary School took a walk for health and fitness Thursday. The whole community is invited to join in.