Jackson Free Press

State Board Sends JPS Takeover to Governor for Stamp of Approval

The fate of Jackson Public Schools is now in the hands of Republican Gov. Phil Bryant after the Mississippi Board of Education declared an “extreme emergency situation” in the district …

The Egg Bowl is Anyone's Game

Bragging rights will be up for the taking this weekend in a showdown to cap off the greatest season of Mississippi college football in recent memory.

School Safety Act Includes Mental Health, School Surveillance Provisions

Mississippi's children go to school in places "of potential violence," Gov. Phil Bryant lamented in his State of the State address last month, as he called on lawmakers to craft …

WJTV Defends Web Poll Focusing on Obama's Race

Two polls on the Web site of Jackson CBS affiliate WJTV reveal an inordinate focus on Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's race. The first poll deals with Republican presidential nominee …

Summer of ‘64: A Mississippi Freedom Fighter Remembers the Struggle

with JoAnne Prichard Morris

You never know when something's going to happen that will change your life completely. If I had stayed in Florida canning tomatoes, I wouldn't have been here when the civil …

Ballad of Charlie Moore and Henry Dee

We found Marla Moore's freshly penned lyrics in honor of Charles Moore and Henry Dee on her "Punk Rasta" myspace page this week and asked to publish them. The JFP …

As School Looms, Confusion Reigns

Erica Lowell waits for her students to return, and her anxiety waits with her. She is a public-school teacher in Rankin County, speaking to the Jackson Free Press under a …

Coal's Slipping Grip: New England, Virtually Coal-Free, Leads the Way

Last week President Obama launched a major drive to limit carbon pollution from power plants in a bid to stem climate change.

JFP 2014 College Basketball Preview

As the college game becomes more micromanaged, especially at the end of game, a good coach becomes even more important. Our state might be starting to amass a nice collection …

Coming Out

Telling people that I'm gay isn't a big deal for me anymore. I mention it when it's relevant, and if someone's shocked or offended, the most I usually tell him …

DOSSIER: From Bashing 'Boys of Spring' to Unpacking a Mississippi-Brexit Love Affair

"TV networks may live and die on ratings and people screaming opinions at each other from two "sides," but our democracy really can't take much more of this kind of …

The Fight for Family Goes On

After the Obergefell decision, Mississippi’s leaders "made sure to let us know we are still beneath the religious elite," Rev. Brandiilyne Mangum-Dear said. "We may have acquired marriage that day …

DA Smith Trial: Tales of Affairs, Fighting, Hiding in the Closet

An all-white jury of eight women and six men settled in to listen to the state's case against Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith on Tuesday, Sept. 11, in …

Mal Tiempo, Buenas Caras (Bad Times, Good Faces)

Photos by Cheree Franco and Matt Saldaña

José Bacallao stares into a boarded-up restaurant on the edge of a Highway 90 strip mall in Waveland, a tiny town in southwestern Mississippi that was the epicenter of one …

Tale of Two Charter Schools in Mississippi

Charter schools weren't legal in Mississippi until 2013, when the Legislature passed the Mississippi Charter School Law, allowing nonprofit charter schools to enter the state for the first time.

Matador Records News

Matador signs Love Of Diagrams. Matador is happier than Donald Rumsfeld holding the Aspartame patent to announce the signing of a worldwide deal with the Australian trio LOVE

Council Blocks Pay Raises for Bodyguards

On Monday, the Jackson City Council halted Mayor Frank Melton's scheme to use drug-seizure money to fund recent police salary raises. The administration proposed taking $192,101 from the $400,000 drug-forfeiture …

Tracks Of Their Tears

Velma Berry lives in a brick house seven miles due west of the Mantee exit off the Natchez Trace in Northeast Mississippi. The well-kept lawn, thriving tomato plants and orange …

Melton's Lies Cost Taxpayers

Jackson Mayor Frank Melton admitted to lying in legal documents for more than two years on Aug. 22, saying he had been confused, as he stood before a judge in …

[Balko] How Drug Cops Go Bad

If you browse the website of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), you will notice a conspicuous theme: The war on drugs is corrupting America's cops.