Jackson Free Press

Mitchell Staying at Clarion-Ledger

Award-winning journalist Jerry Mitchell is not among a dozen Clarion-Ledger employees facing an early retirement buyout choice. Speaking at this morning's Friday Forum at Koinonia Coffee House, Mitchell addressed the …

No Room for Doubt

For aspiring college bands, the arduous choice between school and a professional music career is a common one. But few people ever face that crossroads with a future music legend. …

Exit Polls: Netanyahu Narrowly Wins Israel Vote

In a stunning setback, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line bloc fared worse than expected in a parliamentary election Tuesday, exit polls showed, possibly forcing the incumbent Israeli leader to invite …

Taking Back Valentine's Day

For many of us, a number of things can hinder us from engaging in these celebratory acts of love--distance, prior commitments or just the lack a person to share this …

Rep. Ryan Tried to Scrap Obama-Backed Disaster Aid System

Rep. Paul Ryan's House budget would have cut $10 billion in disaster help; party elders told him no way, at least for now.

Bard Of The Barstool

You can't always tell an unrecognized genius from a deluded would-be artist. In the bleak but amusing film "Factotum," Matt Dillon plays Henry Chinaski, an aspiring writer, indifferent laborer and …

Saved by the Light

"The Blind Side" may be an atypical sports movie, but this film about Ole Miss Rebel and Baltimore Raven offensive tackle Michael Oher has plenty of quality for everyone.

‘We Were Brothers'

In the opening paragraphs of Matthew Aaron Goodman's debut novel "Hold Love Strong" (Simon and Schuster, 2010, $24.99), Abraham, the novel's protagonist, tells the story of his birth. His mother, …

Obama's Welfare Waiver: Gutting Rules or Tweaking?

Welfare is causing a ruckus in the presidential campaign. But the program is a shadow of its old self from the 1970s, when Ronald Reagan used the image of "welfare …

Country's Queen

Tammy Wynette once said, "I believe you have to live your songs," but too often the life of this country-music superstar takes a backseat to her hit, "Stand By Your …

Proposing a New Model

The Internet provides a plethora of information, making it easier to find sources of unprejudiced information about any number of subjects, and sometimes making it more difficult for those who …

Cheers to Gailya Porter!

Last week, we learned that Smith Elementary has ranked as a Level 5 school. We featured principal Gailya Porter as "Jacksonian" a month ago in our education issue. Here's an …

EDITOR'S NOTE: Mississippi, Stop Stacking the Deck. Listen to Your Constituents.

Last fall, approximately 766,000 Mississippians voted to pass Initiative 65, which would have called for the Health Department to launch a medical-marijuana program in the Magnolia State by August 2021.

The Great Divide

The few of us still in the practice of keeping straight the interchangeable Meineke Car Cares and Micron PCs of the ever-inflating college football bowl season—postseason rewards for the game's …

Workers Anxious As Cuts Set to Take Effect

Five hundred miles from Capitol Hill, the men and women of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard are worrying about paying rent, searching for new jobs and caring for sick loved ones.

Campaigning Dems Careful Not to Overplay Shutdown

Outside a state-of-the-art grain elevator, Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley talks of how Republicans and Democrats in Congress need to overcome differences that scuttled farm legislation last summer.

What's in a Rose?

Photo courtsey of Georgia O'Keeffe Exhibit

If you are at all familiar with Georgia O'Keeffe's work, you've seen at least one meticulously painted flower, cow skull or landscape. A close look at O'Keeffe's paintings, however, causes …

Council Passes $502.5 Million Budget

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba is aware that his controversial budget, which the city council passed Sept. 12 with a 5-2 vote, would ruffle some feathers. But he's OK with that. …

Jackson Zoo Keeping Options Open

Jackson Zoo Director Beth Poff said the organization and its board of directors are keeping all options open as the zoo continues to adapt and change to meet the needs …

Obama's Fiscal Cliff Strategy is Tricky Balance

Playing both sides, President Barack Obama is trying to balance his public pressure campaign on Republicans over the looming "fiscal cliff" with his private negotiations with GOP leaders.