Senators: Don't Disrespect Jackson
Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, acted shamefully this week in circumventing an attempt to get better funding for Jackson's cops.
Time to Be Responsible, Pet Owners
This issue of the Jackson Free Press, owned and operated by animal lovers, is dedicated to the idea that Jackson, and Mississippi as a whole, can quickly become a whole …
Be Part of the Crime Solution
The town-hall meeting that the local police union and the Jackson Free Press sponsored last week downtown was eye-opening and sobering. Audience members seemed genuinely flummoxed when they saw the …
Kill Two Lakes, Enhance The River
A vote this week by the Rankin-Hinds Pearl Flood and Drainage Control District ("Levee Board") appeared to overturn its decision of last July to support a "Lower Lake" plan based, …
Pandering for Cheap Votes
Senate Bill 2988, a bill making felons out of employed undocumented immigrants and their employers, is now law. Mississippi Building and Construction Trade President David Newell says the law will …
Barbour: Reset Museum Decision
This week, the commission appointed by Gov. Haley Barbour to choose a location for Mississippi's Civil Rights Museum voted 22-9 in support of its location committee's recommendation that the museum …
OurCity: Jackson Belongs to Everyone
Last issue, the Jackson Free Press told you about SafeCity's attempt to make parts of the city into what one JFP reader called on our Web site, "Baghdad by the …
Ask Us Before You Leap
It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Everywhere Jacksonians look, we discover that somebody is trying to slip something by usto benefit themselves in some way that ranges from completely …
Civil Rights Museum Should Be Downtown
Last week, the location sub-committee of the National Civil Rights Museum Commission in Mississippi recommended Tougaloo College as the location of a proposed civil rights museum in Mississippi. While we …
Enact Campaign Finance Reform Now
The recent scandals surrounding political donors like Dickie Scruggs and Joey Langston, former elected officials like Ed Peters and judges like Bobby DeLaughter has brought a chronic problem in Mississippi …
Kill Telco Immunity Clause
It's odd, really, to hear Republicans on Capitol Hill extol the virtues of "original intent" doctrines for interpreting the U.S. Constitution. Especially when they're so busy subverting the original intent …
Stop Removing Kids from School
On Jan. 21, young Mississippi students traveled across the state, converging in front of the state capitol. They arrived carrying their hopes, dreams, passions. They also carried the dreams of …
Dare to Be the Best
This week, under a tribute post to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on jacksonfreepress.com, reader "justjess" shared a story about keeping his dream alive. She told the story of her …
Justice Corrupted
While the state is mesmerized by the Scruggs saga, another type of judicial corruption is begging for attention. Arrested in 1992 for rape, a Sunflower County jury found Arthur Johnson …
Melton: Time to Retire
Mayor Frank Melton's fainting session at Monday's county inaugural event was the latest warning he needs to heed: It is time for him to retire as mayor of Jackson. It …
Chief: Re-Assign the Bodyguards
The events of Dec. 21 make plain what happens when you give power to the undeserving. Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon said Mayor Frank Melton and two of his bodyguards …
Melton, Resolve to Be Mayor
The recent dust-up over the Jackson Public School Board is yet another reminder that Mayor Frank Melton remains focused on petty political maneuvering at the expense of a business-like approach …
Spoon-feeding the FBI?
This week's City Council agenda contained an order confirming Mayor Frank Melton's appointment of Millsaps professor Bill Brister to the Jackson Public School Board of Trustees. If confirmed, Brister will …
Crossing the 'T' In 'Melton
Sheriff Malcolm McMillin was confirmed this week in his new role as part-time chief of police for Jackson. From what we know of McMillin, we like him, and there is …
Words Do Hurt
"Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can never hurt you." Any child who's been the object of hateful, hurtful words knows down deep that it's a lie. …
