City & County
WLBT: Quentin Whitwell Stepping Down
Crime Down as Leadership Shifts
Jackson Ward 1 Councilman Quentin Whitwell will retire this fall, WLBT reports.
Politics
'Religious Freedom,' School Voucher, Drug Testing Bills Pass on Big Deadline Day
Despite their best efforts to whip up enough votes for passage, supporters of the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, proposal had to change course late Wednesday, just before ...
City & County
Entry Plan Highlights
Dr. Cedrick Gray's entry plan focuses on engaging the following three groups (JPS's Board of Trustees & superintendent's staff, Community leaders, Legislative (city & state) members with parents, and school ...
City & County
The JFP Interview with JPS Superintendent Dr. Cedrick Gray
The atmosphere at the Jackson State University e-Center on Aug. 2 was more like a wedding reception than a welcoming for a public school superintendent.
Crime
12 Dead in Colo. Shooting
James Holmes, 24, opened fire in an Aurora, Colo. movie theatre overnight, killing 12 people and injuring 39 others.
Art
MAC Doles Out $1.5 Million for the Arts
Artists and programs in 45 counties across the state received $1.5 million in grants from the Mississippi Arts Commission, the agency announced late Monday.
Business
Is Mississippi in 'Play'?
In August 1987, Louisiana State University geologists reported that a rock formation called Tuscaloosa Marine Shale could contain as much as 7 billion barrels of oil.
Justice
Life Without Parole for Kids Ruled Cruel and Unusual
Before a person under 18 can be given a life sentence with no hope of parole, judges must take the defendant's age and the nature of their crime into consideration.
Politics
Cochran Bike Bill On the Ropes
Congressional House Republicans are trying to put the brakes on a provision in the federal transportation bill that could promote more biking and walking in America's cities and towns. But ...
Stern v. Killen: 40 Acres and a Duel
When James Stern arrived at Mississippi State Penitentiary's medical Unit 31, fellow black inmates debriefed him on one of the unit's infamous residents: Edgar Ray Killen.
Justice
40 Acres and a Duel
When James Stern arrived at Mississippi State Penitentiary's medical Unit 31, fellow black inmates debriefed him on one of the unit's infamous residents: Edgar Ray Killen.
Person of the Day
Surina R. Dixon
After three months on the job, and before she coached a single basketball game, Texas State University fired head women's basketball coach Surina Dixon in 2008. Dixon charged that her ...
Crime
Stokes: Shut Jail Down
District 5 Supervisor Kenneth Stokes wants to close the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond following a series of blunders at the jail.
Crime
Stokes: Shut Down Jail, Pull Pants Up
District 5 Supervisor Kenneth Stokes wants to close the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond following a series of blunders at the jail.
MDOC Sticks with Private Prisons
Sometime between the 8:45 p.m. and the 9:15 p.m. staff shift change on July 30, 2010, Tracy Alan Province, John Charles McCluskey and Daniel Kelly Renwick escaped from Arizona State ...
Forum Focuses on Black Health
Just because Congressman Bennie Thompson is a member of the same party as Barack Obama, that doesn't mean he won't criticize the Democratic president's administration.
Death Rower's Reprieve Plea Denied
The Mississippi Supreme Court has denied a stay of execution to a man set to become the third man in as many weeks the state puts to death. Gary Carl ...
A Condemned Man's Last Day…in a Press Release
June 12, 2012 Scheduled Execution of Jan Michael Brawner
In about two hours, Jan Michael Brawner will be executed for the murders of his 3-year-old daughter, ex-wife and former in-laws. The Mississippi Department of Corrections issued the following news ...
Justice
Another Condemned Man Seeks Reprieve
Gary Carl Simmons Jr., scheduled to be the third person Mississippi puts to death this month, wants the State Supreme Court to grant him a stay of execution. Monday evening, ...
Justice
Condemned Man Seeks Reprieve
Gary Carl Simmons Jr., scheduled to be the third person Mississippi puts to death this month, wants the State Supreme Court to grant him a stay of execution. Monday evening, ...
Biz Roundup
Irby, Sameerah's, Mangia Bene
The Stuart C. Irby Company and Sonepar USA's new 8,500-square-foot Jackson facility is open for business. The retail space and distribution center, located at the corner of Silas Brown and ...
Justice
Legal Question Could Delay Execution
On Sunday, Jan Michael Brawner turned 35. Tomorrow, the state could put him to death if he doesn't receive a reprieve. Brawner has asked the Mississippi Supreme Court for a ...
Business
Utah Firm to Manage Three State Prisons
A Utah private-prison firm will take over running the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility and two other Mississippi prisons from The GEO Group. Management & Training Corporation, based in Ogden, ...
Utah Private Prison Firm Picks Up Mississippi Contracts
Management & Training Corporation will take over management of the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility and two other Mississippi prisons, the Associated Press is reporting. MTC will also assume management ...
Business
Private Prison, Public Problems
Gail Tyree exited U.S. Highway 84 onto Hobo Fork Road and drove through the rose-adorned entrance of the sprawling Adams County Correctional Center. A female correctional officer leaving the prison's ...
Business
Nissan Workers Move to Unionize
The United Auto Workers and the Mississippi NAACP are supporting efforts by some workers at the Nissan automotive plant in Canton to form a labor union. A full-blown campaign is ...
Politics
Rep. John Lewis Rallies Dems
Sometimes, Democrats like to feast on red meat, too. At this year's Jefferson Jackson Hamer Dinner, held Friday at the Regency Hotel in Jackson, Georgia U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a ...
County-level Dems Switch to GOP
In light of President Barack Obama's affirmation of same-sex marriage earlier this month, seven former Democrats decided to go play for the other team.
City Acts to De-sludge Lagoons
Three 19-acre lagoons at the Savanna Street Waste Water Treatment Plant have been filling up with sludge for years. But changes to state environmental regulations are forcing the city to ...
Seven Dems Flip to GOP
• Jones County Justice Court Judge David Lyons
At a noon press conference at Mississippi Republican headquarters, the state party took the sheet off its newest additions: Seven county-level officials who were elected as Democrats officially joined the ...
Feds Bust Pair for Hiring Undocumented Workers
RIDGELAND BUSINESS OWNERS PLEAD GUILTY TO EMPLOYING ILLEGAL ALIENS
Paul and Barbara Love of Ridgeland each pleaded guilty to federal charges related to hiring undocumented immigrants, said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi Gregory K. Davis. Sentencing ...
Jackson City Council Talks Crap
Jackson is finally getting its crap together. More specifically, the city is finally addressing the years-long problem of accumulating waste, or sludge, at the Savanna Street Waste Water Treatment Plant.
Person of the Day
Ronnie Agnew
Ronnie Agnew graduated from Ole Miss with a degree in radio/television journalism, then spent the next 27 years working in newspapers, including a nine-year stint as the first black executive ...
Justice
Cause of Private Prison Melee Disputed
What we know about this past weekend's events at the Adams County Correctional Center, a private federal prison in Natchez, is that a group of prisoners briefly took control of ...
Cobby Williams, Young Gun
Cobby Mondale Williams has a classic Washington, D.C., resume. A Jackson resident since age 2, Williams graduated from Murrah High School and Jackson State University. He went to graduate school ...
‘Sunshine Law' Pushes Costs Up
By the time the legislative session ended in early May, lawmakers had passed two controversial bills that are likely to result in expensive legal battles. One requires doctors performing abortions ...
Politics
Catholics Sue Over Birth Control Rule
Jackson's Roman Catholic diocese, along with a dozen other Catholic organizations, have joined in a lawsuit with dozens other dioceses and groups nationwide contesting President Barack Obama's administration's rule to ...
Politics
Gas in, Saggy Pants Out at Supervisor's Meeting
Everybody knows the price of gasoline is too darn high, but Hinds County District 5 Supervisor Kenneth Stokes believes some gas station owners are also "cheating us."
Melton Bodyguard is Sheriff's Internal Affairs Chief
The person in charge of rooting out corruption inside the Hinds County Sheriff's Department is Marcus Wright, a former Jackson police officer and bodyguard to late Jackson Mayor Frank Melton.
Politics
Bryant Signs Voter ID Bill
Despite Gov. Phil Bryant signing the voter-identification bill recently passed in the Legislature, the measure isn't law just yet. The federal government still has to OK the controversial measure before ...
Person of the Day
Rep. Andy Gipson
Here's why permitting gay marriage is "horrific social policy," according to Republican Rep. Andy Gipson of Braxton:
Three Days in June
One spring afternoon in 2001, Jan Michael Brawner slipped into the home of his ex-in-laws, Jane and Carl Craft, in rural Tate County, and stole a .22-caliber rifle.
One Lake Set to ‘Run Pretty Rapid'
The ongoing saga for a lake to control flooding in Jackson and provide economic-development opportunities on the Pearl River will reach a milestone this week.
Gov. Bryant Signs Biz Bills
Let's say a meteorite crashed to Earth and landed on the Jackson Free Press' offices, resulting in a broken pinky toe on my left foot. According to a new state ...
Three Could Face June Execution
Mississippi death-penalty opponents expect that three men will lose key appeals today, and expect each to receive a June execution date.
Bev Perdue
Mississippians are crying foul after North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue, a Democrat, compared her state, which voted to ban same-sex marriage last week, to Mississippi.
Earle Banks to Run for State Supreme Court
Rep. Earle Banks announces candidacy for Mississippi Supreme Court
State Rep. Earle Banks, D-Jackson, just sent out a press release announcing his intention to run for Mississippi Supreme Court Justice in District 1, which Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. ...
GOP Mad at Suggestion Mississippi is Anti-Gay
Some Mississippians are incensed at North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue for comparing her state's recent successful ballot initiative defining marriage as between a man and a woman to Mississippi -- ...
Person of the Day
Leniece T. Davis
If black political and civic engagement was a hospital patient, doctors might say it was in critical but stable condition.
Justice
Mississippi Eyed for Voter Drive
An NAACP voter-registration campaign launched yesterday will target minorities, students and senior citizens in a dozen swing and southern states where voter identification laws have passed, including Mississippi.
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