Jackson Free Press

Third Graders Who Failed Reading Test Eligible for Free Eye Exam

Every third grader in Mississippi must pass the third-grade reading exam to be promoted to fourth grade. When a student fails the third-grade reading exam, it could mean they are …

Sprint, T-Mobile Have to Sell $26.5B Deal to Antitrust Cops

To gain approval for their $26.5 billion merger agreement, T-Mobile and Sprint aim to convince antitrust regulators that there is plenty of competition for wireless service beyond Verizon and AT&T.

A Cheesy Good Time

The Belhaven Grilled Cheese Fest is on Sunday, April 29, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Lawsuit: Inmates Have the Right to Free, Secular Books in Prison

Big House Books, a nonprofit that sends free books by request to inmates, filed a lawsuit against the South Mississippi Correctional Institution this week because inmates there cannot receive books …

The Mississippi Department of Corrections conducted a second shakedown at South Mississippi Correctional Institution in …

• April 27, 2018

Christopher Evans

The Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership named Christopher Evans, a math teacher at Callaway High School, as a 2018 Metro Teacher of the Year.

Bill Cosby Convicted of Drugging and Molesting a Woman

Bill Cosby was convicted Thursday of drugging and molesting a woman in the first big celebrity trial of the #MeToo era, completing the spectacular late-life downfall of a comedian who …

Mayor Commits to Zoo, West Jackson Development Projects

Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba publicly agreed and committed to several upcoming and ongoing projects designed to revitalize west Jackson during a luncheon on Wednesday, April 25, at New Horizon Church …

Matt Maher

Singer-songwriter Matt Maher has been a significant presence in the world of contemporary Christian music since the early 2000s, but before he was introduced to religion, he says that he …

OPINION: Anti-Abortion Laws Won’t Stop Abortions. Eradicating Poverty Could.

"Making it more difficult for residents to access abortions won’t stop women from doing so. ... We must first address the No. 1 factor that appears to drive the demand …

Midnight Siemens Vote Designed to Recoup Millions, Correct Water Billing

The Jackson City Council voted just before midnight last night to accept Public Works Director Bob Miller's proposal to overhaul the Siemens Inc. contract and recoup millions in missing water …

Jackson Director of Public Works Bob Miller is giving Siemens Inc. six months to get …

• April 25, 2018

Amazing Teens 2018

In the current political climate in the U.S., teens have shown that they are a force to be reckoned with, and that they are pretty amazing. Each year the Jackson …

OPINION: Racists Can Change After All

By the time I got to middle school, I'd come to terms with the world we live in. I was aware that people weren't always welcoming and that racists ruled …

Kennedy Owens

When St. Andrew's Episcopal School senior Kennedy Owens saw that many of Jackson Public School's third-graders did not pass the Third Grade Reading Gate Reading test in 2015, he knew …

EDITOR'S NOTE: Simple Ideas for Effecting Change

A study from the Journal of the American Art Therapy Association shows that 45 minutes of visual art-making can lower stress levels in adults, and other studies show that for …

Inside Jackson’s Officer-Involved Shooting Task Force

Last month, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba had prepared to make an executive decision about how the Jackson Police Department would handle transparency following officer-involved shootings.

Debtors’ Prisons Out, Parole For More People

Criminal-justice reform is and has been a bipartisan issue in the Mississippi Legislature in recent years, and 2018 is no exception.

What Jacksonians Want in a New JPS Supe

Dozens of applicants are interested in being the next leader of the second-largest school district in Mississippi.

Mississippi Defendants Spend Months in Jail Awaiting Trial

Jerry Sanders has been sitting in a jail cell on a relatively minor charge of methamphetamine possession for more than a year — longer than the sentence he could get …