Story
LGBT
House Bill 1523 Becomes Law after 5th Circuit Overturns Injunction
The controversial "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Religious Discrimination Act" is now state law, after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the 2016 injunction that prevented House Bill …
Story
Art
From ‘Archie’ to Space Circus
Lyndsay Simpson traces her love of drawing and art back to one of the more vivid memories from her childhood: When she was younger, her grandmother would take her grocery …
Story
Cover
Still Fighting at Home: Transgender Veterans Caught in the Flux
Some top-down changes coming soon to the VA could help alleviate inadvertent or purposeful discrimination against LGBT veterans. Due to a recent change, all VA medical centers now have the …
Story
City & County
Farish Street Affordable Housing Hits Snags
Not everyone is supportive of expanding the pastel-painted affordable housing units in the Farish Street Historic District.
Story
Civil Rights
Trump, DeVos Allowing Bigotry in Public Schools
In a presidential administration filled with shocking moments, it was a New York Times headline that crystallized the Trump crowd's disdain for children of color for me. "Education Dept. Says …
Story
City & County
UPDATE: Nine-year-old Shot in Head; Two People Arrested and Denied Bond
Richard Kyles, 9, was sleeping in the back of his mother's car Saturday night when a bullet struck him in the head.
Story
Biz Roundup
E&L at the Metrocenter, New District Tenants and Mississippi Film and Video Alliance
E&L Barbeque has partnered with Next Level Experience, an event space located inside the former Belk at the Metrocenter Mall, to open a second E&L location in the venue's restaurant …
Story
Person of the Day
Kenyatta Stewart
Kenyatta Stewart, who is a curator at the Smith Robertson Museum & Cultural Center and a graphic-design professor at Jackson State University, says that he discovered his love for art …
Story
Health Care
Previously Secret Children's Mental Health Report: State Institutionalizes Too Many Kids
After nearly two years of litigation, U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate ordered the State of Mississippi to release a 2015 report on its system of mental-health care for children, referred …
Entry
2017 SWAC Media Day Participants
By bryanflynnYou know college football is right around the corner when the teams get together to face the media.
The SEC has a week of media days because they have to fill up hours on their own network, and C-USA normally does two to three days. On the other hand, the SWAC crams in the whole conference in one day.
All 10 teams will gather at the Birmingham-Marriott Hotel in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday, July 14. Each coach in the SWAC will bring two players with him to talk to the media. SWAC Commissioner Duer Sharp, Coordinator of Football Officials Harold Mitchell Sr. and others will be available to the media upon request.
The 2017 Media Day will be available for fans to stream on the official SWAC website, swac.org, with streams. The order of the coaches and athletes hasn’t been released yet.
Jackson State University head coach Tony Hughes begins his second season at the helm of the Tigers, and senior defensive lineman Keontre Anderson and senior linebacker Andre Lloyd will join him. JSU finished 2016 with a 3-8 overall record in 2016.
Alcorn State University looks to win its fourth-straight SWAC East title and second under head coach Fred McNair, who looks to build on last year’s 5-6 overall record. Senior quarterback Lenorris Footman and senior defensive end Michael Brooks Jr. will join McNair.
Rick Comegy enters his third season at Mississippi Valley State and is still trying to turn around a struggling program that has won just three conference games in three years. Comegy will try to build on last year’s 1-10 record. He will bring senior defensive back Everett Nicholas and senior offensive lineman Alvin Solomon with him to media days.
One other player heading to media days with ties to our state is Grambling State University quarterback Devante Kincade, who also played football at the University of Mississippi. Last season, Kincade led GSU to a victory in the SWAC Football Championship Game and Celebration Bowl.
The 2017 SEC Football Media Days is scheduled from Monday, July 10, to Thursday, July 13. If the tentative schedule doesn’t change, Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen will meet the media on Tuesday, July 11, and UM head coach Hugh Freeze will meet them on July 13. No student-athletes have been named yet for media days.
Conference USA has yet to set its media days dates. Normally, the conference holds its media days toward the end of July. and the last few have been around July 21-23.
Story
City & County
10 Local Stories of the Week
There's never a slow news week in Jackson, Miss., and last week was no exception. Here are the local stories JFP reporters brought you in case you missed them.
Story
Development
How Affordable is Housing in Mississippi?
Rental housing in Mississippi is not very affordable, the new "Out of Reach 2017" report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows.
Story
Music
Caroline Herring
Longtime listeners of "Thacker Mountain Radio Hour" may recognize one voice in particular at the program's latest live taping. Canton-native folk singer Caroline Herring will be a featured guest when …
Story
Civil Rights
Another Mississippi City Furls Confederate-Themed State Flag
A Mississippi city with a history of racial strife is the latest local government to stop flying the state flag, which features a Confederate emblem that critics see as racist.
Story
City & County
New Mayor-elect Lumumba Will Get to Appoint 3 JPS Board Members
The Jackson Public School District will be down three Board of Trustees members by the end of June, meaning Mayor-elect Chokwe Antar Lumumba will be responsible for filling the board …
Story
Books
Darden North
Jackson author Darden North was at a literary conference when the phrase "five manners of death," in reference to natural causes, accident, suicide, undetermined and homicide, truly stuck with him.
Story
City & County
The Curious Case of ‘Those Mothers’
"Did y'all hear about the 6-year-old boy who got kidnapped from Kroger this morning?" It was the first thing I heard from my mother when I stumbled into the kitchen …
Story
Politics
Special Session: Too Little, Too Late?
Gov. Phil Bryant tried to smooth out the state's economic appearance and patch up additional budget holes in the June 5 special session, but Democrats were not too pleased with …
Story
Education
Wrapping Around the Most Vulnerable
Terry Thigpen had been to four residential acute-treatment facilities before he was 10 years old, until his mother, Shavonne, discovered the Wraparound Initiative. It was an alternative to sending Terry …
