2/3: Food hardship report: Poverty up in South

Examiner: Food hardship report shows increase in poverty in South

Ten of the eleven states the ThinkSouth blog covers are suffering the highest rates of hunger in America -- Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and Georgia.

Mississippi, the state with the highest incidence of food hardships report, saw their numbers increase when children under the age of 18 were factored into the statistics. Mississippi households without children held a hunger rating of 22.5 percent while Mississippi households with children held a hunger rating of 33.8 percent.

Also in the South:

ALABAMA: State Senate fails to pass $1 billion road construction bill

ARKANSAS: Counselors see increase in gambling addictions in Arkansas

FLORIDA: Including illegal immigrants in census count becomes an issue in Senate race

GEORGIA: PSC wants refund for taxpayers from abandoned Yucca Mtn. nuclear waste project

KENTUCKY: State highway plan could cost $11 billion from 2010-2016

LOUISIANA: Coastal restoration funds in President Obama's proposed 2011 budget

MISSISSIPPI: Commentary: Odds stacked against state lottery

NORTH CAROLINA: State has exhausted ability to borrow money according to new report

SOUTH CAROLINA: Study links port expansion to health problems

TENNESSEE: Nursing home care in state ranks very low

VIRGINIA: Under Gov. McDonnell, death penalty likely to expand

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