Jackson Free Press

Melton Came Within Two Votes of Conviction

Within days of coming within two votes of going to federal prison, Mayor Frank Melton revealed to the Jackson Free Press last Thursday for the first time publicly that he …

Tune Up, Mississippi

For a long time, I've lived uneasily with the disturbing assumption that most of the people I know who love music (and I know a lot of them) either don't …

Who Is WLBT Kidding?

Yarber Shelves $15M Sludge-Hauling Contract

With the Jackson City Council’s vote last week against a proposal for federal government-mandated hauling of biosolids from a city wastewater treatment plant, Mayor Tony Yarber is asking government regulators …

Advocates Gear up For Personhood Battle

Anti-abortion advocates celebrated a Mississippi Supreme Court ruling last week that OK'd a Nov. 8 ballot initiative asking voters whether the state Constitution should define when life begins, but the …

Scruggs Pleads Guilty

The Sun-Herald is reporting that attorney Dickie Scruggs has pled guilty:

Bill Banning Red-Light Cameras Signed into Law

Among the bills signed into law by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on Friday is House Bill 1568, which bans the use of cameras to catch motorists running red lights.

Lawmakers Vow to Block Stem Cell Research

Mississippi Rep. Tommy Reynolds, D-Charleston, spoke for the University of Mississippi Medical Center yesterday, saying the teaching hospital has never and never plans to do stem cell research, according to …

Redefining Pregnancy

You're a woman who has been raped, and you're terrified that your rapist made you pregnant. You ask your doctor for emergency contraception, but she refuses to give it to …

5 Questions to Ask President Bush

Joe Conasan at Salon outlines 5 questions he'd like to ask the president. I'd love to hear the answer to these, too.

[Kamikaze] Eliminate Vulnerability

Sports fans, the NFL Draft is upon us. If you're like me, you anxiously wait to see which college players will become millionaires on the next level. Of course, I'm …

Lessons of the 1979 Easter Flood

Part 3 in a series

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recommended last week that FEMA re-certify the levees protecting the Hinds and Rankin County edges bordering the Pearl River, despite the fact that the …

Folo Exposes Shocking Hinds County Case

The Folo folks are still doing a great job digging out documents related to Dickie Scruggs controversy, and most compelling and relevant to us here in Hinds County, cases related …

Middleman Addresses Citizens for Decency's 'Duck Lips' Attack Ad on Yarber

The man who placed the "attack ad" on Tony Yarber says Chokwe A. Lumumba had nothing to do with it.

• 7 comments

Christopher Walker Charged Again

Christopher "Smiley" Walker, once Mayor Frank Melton's star witness against Albert "Batman" Donelson, pleaded not guilty to possession of contraband in prison Monday, and will stay with his mother Lolethia …

Budget Woes Overshadow City's Needs at Low-Turnout Confab

State budget woes cast a pall over the Jackson Convention Center yesterday, when city leaders solicited the support of state lawmakers over lunch. Hosted by the city's state legislative delegation …

The Progressive Morality

Professor George Lakoff writes in The Nation:

Predatory Mortgage Lending to Minority Homebuyers

Let's say you want a better life for yourself and your children if you have any. Even though you work two or three jobs to pay the bills and have …

Frank Melton to North Jackson: "It's Over!"

Mayoral hopeful Frank Melton has called his race against Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. before it ever began. "It's over!" he exclaimed to 35 wealthy women gathered at a breakfast meet-and-greet-and-fund-raise …

Barbour Joins Health Care Suit

Despite Attorney General Jim Hood's advice, Gov. Haley Barbour announced today that he will join a multi-state lawsuit against national health-care legislation President Barack Obama signed last month.