Story
Cochran Campaigns Calmly Amid Senate-Race Photo Scandal
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran is in the fight of his political life in a brutal, too-personal Republican primary that has drawn his bedridden wife into the …
Story
Texas' Top Prosecutor: Drug Source Can Be Secret
Texas can keep secret the name of its supplier for its execution drugs, the state attorney general determined after law enforcement argued that suppliers face serious danger.
Story
Obama Plans 'Serious Conversation' With Shinseki
President Barack Obama said Friday he plans to have a "serious conversation" with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki about whether he can stay in his job as the agency head …
Story
Stinker Quote of the Week: 'Blatant Disregard'
Mayor Yarber is right to be mad about the senseless loss of life in the capital city. Later, WLBT paraphrases Yarber saying the Jackson Police Department, which he oversees, would …
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City & County
Jatran Natural Gas Conversion May Cool ‘Heated’ Bus Riders
Due to ongoing issues with air-conditioning units on several JATRAN buses, passengers might have to find an alternative solution to their traveling needs this summer.
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City & County
Police, Experts Say Youth Programs Help Cut Crime
With Jackson Public Schools now out for the summer, many people are worried that the students' newly found freedom will lead to kids getting bored or giving in to peer …
Story
Books
John Currence's Big Bad Cookbook
Chef John Currence spells out his cooking manifesto before we get to the first recipe. It includes advice such as make your own bread, buy quality ingredients, cut the "low-fat" …
Story
Visa, MasterCard Renew Push for Chip Cards
Visa and MasterCard are renewing a push to speed the adoption of microchips into U.S. credit and debit cards in the wake of recent high-profile data breaches, including this week's …
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Health Care
Gaps in Kids' Dental Coverage a Trouble Spot
No one wants to go to the dentist, but kids need to. A small cavity left to fester can grow into a big health problem. That's why the government made …
Story
Tennessee Brings Back the Electric Chair
As the rest of the nation debates the feasibility and humanity of lethal injections against a backdrop of scarce drugs and botched executions, Tennessee has come up with an alternative: …
Story
Defense of Pennsylvania's Gay Marriage Ban Dropped
Hundreds, if not thousands, of same-sex couples who live in Pennsylvania are rushing to get marriage licenses or celebrate the sudden recognition of their out-of-state marriages in their home state.
Story
The Slate
Jackson State's baseball team went from seeing nearly all their equipment and luggage burn in a bus fire May 5 to winning the SWAC Baseball Championship May 18. That is …
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Cover
JXN Scavenge
This summer, let's recreate that fun with a Jackson-centric scavenger hunt that you can do one weekend.
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Business
Casinos, LGBTs Still Allied in Face of SB 2681
To say that Mississippi, where citizens passed a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage in 2004, has been slow to cash in on the economic potential of embracing LGBT people and …
Story
China Signs 30-Year Deal for Russian Natural Gas
China signed a landmark deal Wednesday to buy Russian natural gas worth about $400 billion, giving a boost to diplomatically isolated President Vladimir Putin and expanding Moscow's ties with Asia.
Story
25 Years for Miss. Man in Poisoned Letters Case
A Mississippi man who pleaded guilty to sending letters dusted with the poison ricin to President Barack Obama and other officials was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison.
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Politics
Cochran, McDaniel Spar Over Wife Photo Scandal
A longtime incumbent and a firebrand startup vying for the Republican nomination to U.S. Senate continue sparring over a scandal that broke over the weekend and shows no sign of …
Story
Events
Community Meetings and Events
A Memorial Day Parade will be held in downtown Vicksburg on Monday, May 26
Story
GM is Fined $35 Million Over Deadly Defect
Federal safety regulators slapped General Motors with a record $35 million fine Friday for taking more than a decade to disclose an ignition-switch defect in millions of cars that has …
Entry
Pro LGBT Businesses Request AFA to Retract 'Reckless' Statements
By HaleyFerrettiThree Mississippi businesses that are participating in the If You're Buying, We're Selling sticker campaign are currently demanding that the American Family Association retract statements that accused them of discriminating against Christians. The three businesses include The Golden Growler, The Keg and Barrel, and La Finestra.
The AFA issued a news release on its website Monday that stated:
"Ironically, this sticker represents the very promotion of discrimination…against freedom of religious convictions. Businesses that display this sticker believe Christians should be forced, by law, to embrace homosexuality and deny their faith in personal business practices."
The entire news release can be read on the AFA's website: http://action.afa.net/item.aspx?id=2147545307.
Attorney Alexander Ignatiev of Hattiesburg, who represents the three businesses, issued the following statements in a cease and desist letter to AFA President Timony Wildmon on Wednesday:
"These statements are defamatory and actionable per se under the laws of the State of Mississippi, because they accuse my clients of unlawfully discriminating against persons in violating of the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1965, a felony . . . subjecting my clients to a penalty of up to ten years in prison. They are also materially false, and provably so, in connection with my clients, The Golden Growler, The Keg and Barrel, and La Finestra. These statements have been published with actual malice, which means that they have been published with reckless disregard for truthfulness, or with actual knowledge of their falsity, which removes any First Amendment protection from those statements."
Ignatiev is demanding that AFA remove the "materially false, reckless, unprotected statements" from the release within 7 days.
