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Pioneer for Gay Marriage Among Lawyers for High Court Cases
Five lawyers will take turns at the Supreme Court lectern Tuesday for the highly anticipated and extended arguments over same-sex marriage.
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Thousands Expected at Monday's Funeral for Freddie Gray
Thousands were expected Monday at a funeral for a man who died after suffering serious spinal injuries while in the custody of Baltimore police.
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The Latest on Nepal Quake: Stronger Quake May be Yet to Come
An engineer who works on earthquake risks says the 7.8-magnitude temblor that struck on Saturday may not be the Big One for Nepal.
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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.
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Justice
Walnut Grove Warden Defends Staff Training
Walnut Grove has cleaned up its act. That's the message from top officials with the beleaguered privately operated prison and the Mississippi Department of Corrections. It's also the reason the …
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Person of the Day
Naomi Wilson
Naomi Wilson has performed ballet for 13 years, beginning when she was 3, and came to Ballet Mississippi in January 2013.
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Armenians Around the World Mark 1915 Genocide
Around the world on Friday, tens of thousands of people of Armenian descent commemorated the genocide 100 years ago of 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks.
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State
Mississippi Abortion Clinic Seeks to Keep Blocking 2012 Law
Attorneys for Mississippi's only abortion clinic are asking the U.S. Supreme Court not to review a lower court's ruling that is keeping the clinic open.
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DA Dropping Charges Against Willie Jerome Manning in One Set of Murders
Prosecutors will dismiss capital murder charges against Willie Jerome Manning, 46, for the deaths of two Starkville women in 1993 as Manning continues fighting his conviction in a separate case.
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How Did Stephen Gene Davenport Die?
By R.L. NaveIt’s unclear exactly how Stephen Gene Davenport died, but what is clear is that more happened than authorities have publicly disclosed.
Davenport died on April 21 after an apparent scuffle with deputies from the Lauderdale County sheriff's department.
Sheriff Billy Sollie told media outlets two of his deputies were also injured.
"The individual was placed in restraints. The individual became unresponsive," Sollie told WTOK. "Metro Ambulance was contacted, and he was transported to a local hospital where treatment was rendered. But he passed away at a local hospital."
The news station reported that Davenport, 40, and another man were fighting when deputies arrived and tried to intervene.
WTOK also reported that Davenport's mother said he fought with drug addiction and had no ill will toward the police.
Davenport's death came one week after Freddie Gray died while in police custody in Baltimore.
Baltimore Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said Gray died from a severe spinal cord injury.
"What we don't know, and what we need to get to, is how that injury occurred," Rodriguez said in a press conference.
Hopefully, the same is true of the Davenport case.
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Hong Kong Faces Resistance with Beijing-Backed Election Plan
Hong Kong's government unveiled election reform proposals Wednesday, setting the stage for another round of confrontation with pro-democracy activists and lawmakers opposed to Beijing-mandated restrictions on candidates for the city's …
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Privacy Advocates Seek More Openness on NSA Surveillance
As Congress considers whether to extend the life of a program that sweeps up American phone records, privacy advocates and civil liberties groups say too much about government surveillance remains …
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Environment
Resilient, Yet Scarred Five Years After the BP Oil Spill, the Gulf’s Ecology Fights to Bounce Back
The aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon spill is about much more than shimmering blue and emerald water. And it's not as pretty a picture—nor is it as clear.
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Jacksonian
Houston Cottrell
Houston Cottrell has worked toward the honor of being a Gracie jiu-jitsu instructor, one of the most respected names in the martial art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, since childhood.
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Civil Rights
One Drop at a Time
Every day, I hear people calling one another out. Liberals call out conservatives, and the reverse is also true. It’s a game of gotcha, where one side tries to shame …
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Education
Critics Blast ‘Third-Grade Gate’ Tests
Two years ago, at the urging of Gov. Phil Bryant, the Legislature passed the Literacy Based Promotion Act, but to the consternation of Democrats and other education advocates, minimal funding …
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Cover
The Bible Belt by Way of Boston
Comedian Bill Burr has been just about everywhere. Everywhere except for Mississippi, that is. He's looking to correct that on "The Billy Bible Belt Tour" with a performance Monday, April …
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Style
Another Side of Mother Nature
As I made my morning drive to work the other day, I recalled last spring and how I needed to get my car washed because yellow pollen and dust covered …
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Music
Gratis Rockers
Osid Riley helps manage Comic Commander in Ridgeland and assists in various capacities at Martin's Lounge, which happens to be the site of his latest venture: Free the Local Music.
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Obama AG Nominee Loretta Lynch Heads for Vote After 5 Months
President Barack Obama's long-stalled nominee for attorney general, federal prosecutor Loretta Lynch, is on her way to a confirmation vote after senators extricated themselves Tuesday from a partisan dispute over …
