Jackson Free Press

Taking Risks

All risks are not unhealthy ones, like having unprotected sex with a stranger. Risk-taking can be a normal, healthy part of life.

Kaarlon Mann

If you have never seen a stray cat in Belhaven Heights, there's a pretty good chance Kaarlon Mann has something to do with it. She says her neighborhood has been …

Yes, They Can

Last Friday, several interns sat in front of their computers, refreshing their e-mail inboxes. They also had their cell phones at the ready, impatiently waiting for the big text message …

Hood Drops Barbour's Defense

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood says he will not defend Gov. Haley Barbour in a Hinds County Chancery Court case, saying his defense would conflict with other branches of government.

Melton: 'I'm At Peace'

Mayor Frank Melton praised Jackson's economic progress and outlined some of the city's persistent problems in his State of the City address Thursday morning, Aug. 21, at the TelCom Center.

Ban the Paddle?

Minority and special education students are more likely than their peers to receive a paddling, according to a recent report by the Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties …

Start Asking Questions

Community response to the proposed National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Flora brings to mind a question every mother has asked an irresponsible teenager since time immemorial: "If 'everyone' jumped …

[Kamikaze] The Media Fix Is In

Some of you may know that in a former life I was a journalist. Yes, your friendly neighborhood mad-rapper turned concerned-citizen was once an aspiring cub reporter trying to put …

[Rayburn] Time to Enfranchise Youth

The average American citizen has access to more information than ever before. Candidates are waging and winning political campaigns through grass-roots outreach efforts to Joe and Jane Citizen, and few …

[Sue Doh Nem] Rise of the Ghettocratic Party

Nurse Tootie McBride: "Brothers, sisters and ghettocratic delegates, welcome to the first Ghettocratic convention, held at the Clubb Chicken Wing Multi-Purpose Complex."

U.S. Attorney: 595 ‘Illegal Aliens' Arrested

[verbatim from U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton] LAUREL, Miss.— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents executed a federal criminal search warrant yesterday at Howard Industries, Inc., an electric transformer …

Northwest Cool Meets Jackson Soul

West Coast transplant Johnny Bertram, best known as the leader of indie synth-pop band Synthar, came to Jackson to help kids, but stayed to make music.

[FLY] Guys: How to Be ‘Indy'

The Indiana Jones theme has become nearly as iconic as the film's protagonist himself. At the sound of the lively Raider's March cadence, one can't help but conjure images of …

Who Can Read This?

Why is The Clarion-Ledger in so much trouble? Here's a good hint: Top editor Ronnie Agnew's column today starts this way:

UPDATED: Government Ignores Own Bio-Lab Safety Studies

Alert: The government's deadline for comments on the bio-lab facility is Monday, Aug. 25. See below for contact info.

BREAKING: Mississippi Supreme Court Censors Dissenting Opinion

The Mississippi Supreme Court censored the dissenting opinion (PDF, 456 KB) of Justice Oliver Diaz yesterday, a possibly "unprecedented" move "in the history of American jurisprudence," according to Diaz.

"USA Today: Mississippi Edition"? The ‘Nuclear Option'?

Gannett blogger Jim Hopkins writes:

Things are so bad in the Gannett world (including layoffs nationwide, and 5 percent of The Clarion-Ledger staff, and dropping revenue and see-saw stock prices) that rumors are flying about …

Fare thee well, mes amis

Today is my last day here at the Free Press. Tomorrow I have to go back to Oxford for my final year at Ole Miss. I've been in the office …

Melton's ‘State': ‘A Bit Of Hyperbole'?

Mayor Frank Melton praised Jackson's economic progress and outlined some of the city's persistent problems in his State of the City address this morning at the TelCom Center.

Congress Does the Right Thing

From the Environmental Working Group's EnviroBlog (verbatim):