Education
Mississippi Special Education Bill Passes that Opponents Say Will Create 'Puppy Mills for Children'
A controversial bill that would use taxpayer funds to send students with disabilities to private schools advanced in the Mississippi legislature Wednesday.
Education
Mississippi Legislature Creates a New Hurdle for Common Core Standards
Mississippi became the latest state that could replace the controversial Common Core State Standards after the Mississippi House passed a bill Wednesday that will assemble a commission to examine the …
City & County
Troubled Water, Part I: Explaining Jackson's $91 Million Siemens Contract
It's almost impossible to turn on the nightly local television news without coming across a story of a Jackson resident who was shocked to open an astronomically high City of …
Politics
Kill Bill Vol. 3: Education, Entertainment, Elections
On the Feb. 3 bill deadline in the Mississippi Legislature, committee chairmen—like the katana-wielding Uma Thurman—swiftly killed several bills aimed at helping educate Mississippi children, creating a music industry in …
Jacksonian
Olivia Coté
Olivia Coté, a 9th grade English teacher at Murrah High School, grew up watching her mother, Anne Karges, hard at work at her craft.
Education
Are Schools Still Pushing Kids Out?
Krystal Polk's 13-year-old daughter, Krystin, has been arrested twice this school year. The first time, the eighth-grader spent the night in a juvenile detention center.
State
‘Little Birds’: Families Sex Trafficking Own Kids
Most reported child sex trafficking in central Mississippi happens within families. In a report filled with difficult realities, this was the most shocking finding for researcher Wendy Bradford.
Biz Roundup
Rolling Records, Master Gardeners and Tulane Workshops
Like the man himself, Jack White's Nashville-based label and record store, Third Man Records, has become an institution.
Person of the Day
Adria Walker
I am writing to enthusiastically support Adria Walker for the honor of MSPA Journalist of the Year. I have never worked with a high-school journalist who deserves such an honor …
Justice
Judge: State Must Produce Execution Drug Records
On Friday, watchdogs of the state's execution procedures got a victory from a local judge who ordered the Mississippi Department of Corrections to produce unredacted documents about lethal injection drugs …
Person of the Day
Willenham Castilla
Jackson State University's longtime director of choral activities, Willenham Cortez Castilla, died Feb. 28. His funeral took place Friday, March 6, at Christ Temple Church of Christ Holiness (845 N. …
National
Solar Lights a Healthy—and Empowering—Path in Disasters.
When disaster strikes, survivors have a few basic needs: food, water, shelter, blankets. But energy quickly becomes just as fundamental a need—and that is often lacking, or very dirty.
City & County
City Launching Investigation of Water Dept. Finances
"The largest municipal investigation, maybe in the history of the state" is how Jackson City Council President De'Keither Stamps described the announcement he and other city officials plan to make …
Person of the Day
Tobias Singleton
One of the more interesting names that should be at the Jackson State Pro Day is former Madison Central High School star Tobias Singleton.
City & County
City Invites Input on 1% Sales Tax Plan
Starting Friday, March 6, members of the public will be able to offer input on the 1 percent sales tax master plan.
Cover
Excerpts from Judge Carlton Reeves’ Ruling
Even an abbreviated history shows that millions of Americans were once deemed ineligible for full Fourteenth Amendment protection.
Cover
‘Justice, Justice, Thou Shalt Pursue’: The JFP Interview with Roberta Kaplan
Like many LGBTQ couples, New York attorney Roberta Kaplan and her wife, Rachel Lavine, have enjoyed federal marriage rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal restrictions against same-sex marriage …
City & County
Funking Up Jackson, Targeting Crime
Fred McAfee was on a study committee that the Mississippi Legislature created last year to determine the feasibility of creating incentives to facilitate an entertainment industry for the state.
Business
Building LGBT Teen, Business Alliances
When a Magnolia Junior High School teacher conducted a math exercise by dividing the classroom into two teams based on gender, Destin Holmes was forced to sit in the middle …
City & County
The Challenge of Paying for ‘One Lake’
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will give its final "yay" or "nay" on a long-awaited and long-overdue plan to ease flooding along the Pearl River.
