Jackson Free Press

Americans may now claim two orders of COVID-19 test kits per residential address for a …

• March 10, 2022

Additional Free COVID-19 Tests Available As Virus Declines Across State

As COVID-19 continues its decline across both Mississippi and the United States, the Biden administration has made additional COVID-19 test kits available for free home delivery to every household in …

Mississippi Advances Bill Against COVID Vaccine Mandates

Anyone in Mississippi could cite “a sincerely held religious objection” to avoid a public or private employer's COVID-19 vaccination mandate, under a bill that advanced Wednesday at the state Capitol.

Mississippi Moves Toward Reviving an Initiative Process

Mississippi legislators are working to revive a way for people to petition to put issues on the statewide ballot. This is happening months after the state Supreme Court found the …

Republicans Approve ‘CRT’ Bill Despite Opposition From All Black House Members

For six hours on Thursday, Black Mississippi House representatives argued against a bill that would set limits on discussions of race in classrooms. Once their arguments wrapped up, though, the …

Shakira Austin

The University of Mississippi women’s basketball team finished fourth in the conference standings during the regular season. That finish allows the Rebels to earn a double-bye in the 2022 SEC …

Mississippi Teacher Pay Raise Bill Heading to Negotiations

Mississippi lawmakers will negotiate a final version of a bill to increase some of the lowest teacher salaries in the nation.

‘Babies in the Hospital’: Mississippi Drastically Lags in Child and Pediatric Vaccinations

As COVID-19 continues its decline across Mississippi and the country, state health leadership warns that hospitals are still seeing pediatric patients, while vaccinations in children are lagging far behind the …

Mississippi Senate OKs Pay Bill 'By Teachers, for Teachers'

Mississippi senators acted quickly Wednesday to unanimously pass a teacher pay raise bill, sending it back to the House for possible debate within the next three weeks.

Mississippi County OKs Contracts for Emmett Till Statue

A Mississippi county has approved contracts for a sculptor to make and install a bronze statue of Emmett Till, the Black teenager whose 1955 lynching became a catalyst for the …

Mississippi Teacher Pay Survives Legislators' Political Spat

Proposals to increase some of the lowest teacher salaries in the U.S. were in danger Tuesday as Mississippi legislators engaged in a political showdown. Hours before a big deadline, Senate …

Mayor Lumumba Alleges City-Council Corruption Amid Garbage-Disposal Lawsuit

Amid an ongoing dispute between Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba and the Jackson City Council over garbage-disposal contracts, the mayor said that he believes certain members of the council have accepted …

Mississippi Remapping Diminishes Black Voices, NAACP Says

Mississippi legislators drew a congressional redistricting plan that diminished Black voters' influence in the state's three majority-white districts, attorneys for the NAACP and two other groups argue in federal court …

Analysis: Legislative Deadline Will Whittle List of Issues

Mississippi legislators completed two big items several weeks ago when they adopted a congressional redistricting plan and enacted a medical marijuana law.

Danny Lynch

The University of Southern Mississippi has been picked as the preseason favorite to win the baseball crown in Conference USA. The league coaches gave the Golden Eagles six first-place votes, …

'My Baby is Dead,' Mom Says in Call for End to Violence

A Mississippi woman says local officials need to take immediate steps end senseless violence like the drive-by shooting that killed her 6-year-old son while he was playing with friends at …

City of Jackson To Resume Community Cleanup Program

Jackson’s Community Cleanup Program—meant to help support residents in clearing trash from their neighborhoods—is set to resume on the first weekend of March, after city officials put the program on …

Mississippi Senate Panel: Reduce Income Tax, Don't Erase It

“If lawmakers truly want Mississippi to be a place where people want to start families, small businesses, and where national corporations want to expand, it needs to prioritize investments that …

Gangs Control Who Eats at Mississippi Jail, Monitor Says

Elizabeth Simpson testified Tuesday that staffing shortages are so severe at Hinds County's Raymond Detention Center that gangs and “inmate committees” control certain aspects of life, including whether some inmates …

Mississippi Senate Committee OKs Bill to Cut Some Taxes

A Mississippi Senate committee on Tuesday passed a bill that would phase out part of the state income tax and reduce the sales tax on groceries.