Jackson Free Press

Higher Ground

Amid all the bellowing anger and finger-pointing and insults and threats to shove tennis balls you-know-where, last week I was fortunate enough to participate in something remarkable in downtown Jackson.

Dems Lick Wounds, Prep for Battle

Mississippi Republicans are still painting the state red in celebration of the party's recent electoral successes. The GOP is maintaining control of the governor's mansion, the lieutenant governorship, the state …

Self Defense or Murder?

Edna Mae Sanders first met former Navy Seal Sherman Sanders at a Baton Rouge party in March 2005. She gave him her phone number, and it wasn't long before he …

No Laughing Matter

Fat is funny, right? John Candy, John Belushi, Rodney Dangerfield, John Goodman—all funny fat guys.

[Mott] The Cost of Executions

Quitman County, Miss., population 10,500, raised taxes for three years and borrowed $150,000 to provide legal counsel to Robert Simon and Anthony Carr, sentenced to death for the 1990 murders …

Copy-Cat Immigrant Law Costly

Jackson City Attorney Pieter Teeuwissen said he was confident that the city could be exposed to considerable legal liability if legislators pass a bill mimicking a controversial Arizona law, which …

No Favoritism Here

Mayor Frank Melton's home street of Riverwood Drive, in north Jackson, is getting repaved this week, just a few weeks after a reporter pointed out a pothole to the mayor …

Hood Says Power Companies Forced PSC Shutdown

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood and power industry watchdogs suspect power companies shut down a state regulating agency expressly to remove a new means of regulation from the table.

Childers on GOP Hit List

The National Republican Congressional Committee is campaigning early this season. The NRCC identified 70 Democrats to target for the 2010 election, according to an email obtained by Washington political periodical …

Republicans Choose Sides In Bailout

The Jackson NAACP, the Mississippi AFL-CIO and supporting organizations protested Mississippi Republican senators' opposition to a bailout bill for General Motors and Chrysler at the State Capitol on Tuesday.

Feds to Slash School Funding?

Federal mandates connected to the "No Child Left Behind Act," signed by President George Bush in 2002, demand that Mississippi improve its school test scores or face losing federal money …

Week 3: Schools, Dialysis and Unions

Education Appropriations Responding quickly to dire news about Mississippi's school districts, House lawmakers approved a bill Jan. 21 that would appropriate $68 million for the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, the …

U.S. Official Cheers Stimulus Jobs

Robert Peck, U.S. general services administration's commissioner of public buildings touted 48 new jobs created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, during a press conference at the …

Is Mississippi Rushing Executions?

The state of Mississippi is set to execute Joseph Daniel Burns on July 21, making Burns the third inmate executed this year. Attorney General Jim Hood asked the Mississippi Supreme …

Long Live The King

As attorney David Watkins stands beneath the 12-story façade of the dilapidated King Edward Hotel, he's got a glimmer on his face. He's exchanging pleasantries with James Guinn, general foreman …

AP Reports on Columbia Training School Abuse

This isn't exactly a new story–see the JFP story from January 2005–but it is good to see the Associated Press taking our training-school horrors to a national stage. The story, …

Are ‘HillPublicans' True Dumba$$es?

Just ponderin'. (See Alternet article).

OK, if all these desperate Republicans are going to follow Rush Limbaugh's advice and turn out to vote for Hillary Clinton in order to try to keep Obama (and his …

Wicker on Roe v. Wade Anniversary

Sen. Roger Wicker released the following statement today:

WASHINGTON - On the 36th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., reaffirmed his belief that no one should be denied the right to life. …

[City Buzz] The Jury is Out, Way Out

Watchin' It

The delicious aroma of oatmeal raisin cookies greets me as I push open the office door. I attempt to rebel against the evil forces pulling me toward the scent. In …