Story
Trump Travels to Louisiana to Survey Flood Damage
Donald Trump and his running mate Mike Pence were in Louisiana Friday to survey the flood damage that killed at least 13 people and displaced thousands more.
Story
Board Seeks Middle Ground on A-to-F School Grading Scale
State Board of Education members are backing a plan that would assign A grades to fewer Mississippi schools and districts than an administrator task force recommended, but more than Department …
Story
National
Trump Advisers Waged Covert Lobbying Campaign for Russia-Backed Ukraine
WASHINGTON (AP) — A firm run by Donald Trump's campaign chairman directly orchestrated a covert Washington lobbying operation on behalf of Ukraine's ruling political party, attempting to sway American public …
Story
Chicago Police Recommend Firing of 7 Cops for False Reports
Seven Chicago police officers should be fired for filing false reports in the fatal shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald in 2014, the police superintendent said Thursday, in a move …
Story
Volunteers Sought as Race to Develop a Zika Vaccine Heats Up
Wanted: Volunteers willing to be infected with the Zika virus for science. It may sound bizarre, but researchers are planning just such a study — this winter, when mosquitoes aren't …
Story
2 Lochte Teammates in Robbery Probe Pulled Off Plane
Two Olympic swimmers were taken off their flight from Brazil to the U.S. on Wednesday by local authorities amid an investigation into a reported robbery targeting Ryan Lochte and his …
Story
Uber to Use Autonomous Cars to Haul People in Next Few Weeks
Uber passengers in Pittsburgh will be able to summon rides in self-driving cars with the touch of a smartphone button in the next several weeks.
Story
City & County
DA’s Attorney Looking for Tapes, Informant; Says AG Hiding Him
Defense counsel James Waide III may have revealed the name of the confidential informant who taped Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith and then provided tapes to the Mississippi …
Entry
Saints Lose First Round Pick to Broken Leg
By bryanflynnThe New Orleans Saints are trying to fix a defense that was terrible last season. It was one of the worst in the history of the NFL, but this preseason was a chance to improve the unit.
The defense wasn’t completely horrible in the first preseason game against the New England Patriots, but four turnovers by the offense put it in bad spots. In all, the defense gave up 18 of the Patriots’ 34 points, but New England’s two touchdown drives needed just seven plays total.
Big plays hurt the defense, including a 44-yard run and a 56-yard pass in the loss. New Orleans failed to force a turnover and only had two sacks that night.
As New Orleans tries to rebuild the defense, some bad luck hit the unit on Monday, Aug. 15. During goal-line drills, first-round pick and 12th pick overall Sheldon Rankins went down with a broken fibula.
The injury will cause the potential star defensive tackle to miss six to eight weeks. Rankins had surgery to repair the injury on Tuesday, Aug. 16, and could return before the midpoint of the regular season.
Drafted out of the University of Louisville, Rankins had already shown the athleticism that made him a top-15 pick. He even intercepted Tom Brady during joint practices with the Patriots.
He was working with the first-team defense and had shown the normal growth of a rookie with good days and plays and bad days and plays during the early portion of training camp. Rankins was expected to play a big part in the rebirth of the Saints defense this season.
Now, New Orleans will need to get even better play from free agent pickup Nick Fairley. So far in camp, Fairley has been a bright spot and was expected to rotate behind Rankins.
The defensive tackle isn’t the only injury to the Saints defense this preseason. Second-year pass rusher Hau’oli Kikaha suffered a knee injury earlier this summer that could keep him off the field all season.
Linebacker Stephone Anthony injured his leg last week but is expected to return for week one of the regular season. The secondary has banged up players such as Keenan Lewis, who has a hip injury.
The worst part of Rankins’ injury is that he will miss valuable practice time to develop as a rookie. He can watch film and practice, but there is nothing like learning during practice, drills and preseason games.
New Orleans isn’t the only club to have its first-round pick lose time this preseason. So far, 10 of the 32 first-round picks have missed time dealing with some sort of injury.
Four of the top five picks have been hit with the injury bug at some point, and so has former University of Mississippi defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche.
Injuries are a part of football, and everyone else on the Saints defense will have to step up …
Story
AP Sources: Manafort Tied to Undisclosed Foreign Lobbying
Donald Trump's campaign chairman helped a pro-Russian governing party in Ukraine secretly route at least $2.2 million in payments to two prominent Washington lobbying firms in 2012, and did so …
Story
Trump Campaign Shakes Up Leadership in Latest Sign of Tumult
Donald Trump announced a shake-up of his campaign leadership Wednesday, the latest sign of tumult for his struggling White House bid less than three months from his Election Day faceoff …
Story
Music
Brandon Announces 8,000-Plus Capacity Amphitheater
A major addition to the Jackson metro’s music offerings is coming in spring 2018, but this time, it won’t be in Jackson. The City of Brandon held a press conference …
Story
Civil Rights
Within Our Lifetime
I recently spent three days in St. Louis with 10 brilliant people from the Within Our Lifetime Network strategizing on how to end racism. While we had planned this gathering …
Story
JFP Interviews
Kennedy: ‘Caring, Capable, Committed’ to District 72
Theresa G. Kennedy can't go far for long before coming home to Mississippi. She has never lived out of the state for more than a year, on purpose, she says.
Story
State
Twists, Turns, Rats and Secret Tapes
Who's ratting out the district attorney? That's just one of many questions swirling around Attorney General Jim Hood's arrest and investigation of Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith.
Story
State
Youth Judge Now Adhering to Fed Regs
For the last two years, the Hinds County Youth Court handcuffed children while they waited their turn to appear before Judge William Skinner II in direct violation of a federal …
Story
Crime
Jackson Teens Need Mentors, Opportunity
If Reeves and other state GOP officials really want to see crime come down in the capital city, are they ready to allocate resources to both academic education, early-education and …
Story
Food
A Family Affair
Raymond Kennedy and Natasha Cayson, two Jackson natives, are the co-owners of Ray's Smokehouse and Grill.
Story
Immigration
Walls or Unity? GOTV for Mississippi Latinos Underway
Bill Chandler, the executive director of Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance in Jackson, says electing a president who is sympathetic to immigrants is the next step for families left in limbo …
Story
Cover
Beyond Detention: Exploring Smarter, Cheaper Alternatives to Locking Kids Up
"He's out on the street. He comes home sometimes. He has that little anklet, he doesn't care. It makes no difference to him. He's afraid of nothing." The mother of …
