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Miss. Black Caucus Opposed to 2016 Tax Cuts
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Members of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus said Wednesday that they will oppose any effort by Republicans to push tax cuts during the 2016 session.
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Wellness
Get a Flu Shot
The Centers for Disease Control recommends that people 6 months of age and older get a yearly flu shot.
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Cover
Give Thanks and Eat Local
Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks and feast, so why not give back to local restaurants by letting them cater your holiday?
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Cover
Deck the Halls
We know, we know. It's not even Thanksgiving, yet. But it's never too early to start making decorations for your Christmas tree.
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Bryan's Rant
The Holy Trinity of Games
Thanksgiving is a time when we get together with family and friends, and give thanks for another year. In between the feasting, naps, leftover turkey, holiday shopping and more naps, …
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Seek and Find Your Purpose
Regardless of what religion you've aligned yourself with or what terminology is used, ultimately, wholeness and completion is what we are aiming for, right?
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World
From France, With Love and Pain
If we chose to live in fear and base our decisions on our own safety instead of the needs of others, the terrorists win.
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Business
The Push to Double the Minimum Wage
Cajania "CoCo" Brown, 24, says that she, her colleagues at Popeye's Lousiana Kitchen, and all other minimum-wage workers are worth more than what their bosses and the State of Mississippi …
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City & County
‘No Excuse’: Where the Sidewalks End
Three people have been killed in the past three years in wheelchair-related accidents in Jackson, and some 100 in the past decade, according to local news clippings included in a …
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Editor's Note
Vote, Shop and Give Thanks ... Locally
Vote with your dollars and your nomination to support local businesses this holiday season.
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Health Care
Abortion Clinic to Offer Contraception, ‘Better Care’
Mississippi's only abortion clinic will become an official health provider for insurance companies within weeks.
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Books
Pitts: The South is Overdue for Reckoning
Leonard Pitts Jr. will sign copies of Grant Park at Lemuria Books on Nov. 18 at 5 p.m. He recently spoke to the Jackson Free Press about race, writing and …
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Art
Master and Apprentice: Sustaining A Tradition
A chef will battle a former trainee in a culinary showdown, and folk-art apprentices and masters' works will be on display side by side at the Mississippi Museum of Art's …
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Music
Garry Burnside’s Blues Lineage
In the blues world, you have families: your biological one and your blues one. Holly Springs-based musician Garry Burnside carries both with him at all times.
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National
Gov. Bryant Denial of Syrian Refugees Could Be 'Discriminatory'
Gov. Phil Bryant joined several governors on Monday in pledging to refuse Syrian refugees should they be sent to Mississippi following the terrorist attacks in Paris that left 129 people …
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City & County
Yarber, Powell Face Water Billing Questions
After more careful review, city officials say that potential causes of exorbitant water bills go deeper and are more complicated than previously thought.
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House Speaker Calls for 'Pause' in Syrian Refugees
House Speaker Paul Ryan called Tuesday for a "pause" in Syrian refugees coming to the U.S. in the wake of the Paris attacks, and assembled a task force to bring …
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Missouri Would Likely Be Alone With 10 Percent Black Faculty
If the University of Missouri succeeds in meeting a student demand for a faculty that's 10 percent black in two years, it will likely be alone among its peers.
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Bryant: Allowing Syrian Refugees in U.S. is 'Extremely Dangerous'
By adreherGov. Phil Bryant joined 15 other governors in pledging to refuse Syrian refugees should they be sent to Mississippi, following the terrorist attacks in Paris over the weekend that left 129 people dead and hundreds wounded in France.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has pledged to accept about 10,000 Syrian refugees and argued Monday that the United States needs to allow them because many are fleeing terrorism, and that they would undergo rigorous security checks before being admitted to the U.S.
"We also have to remember that many of these refugees are the victims of terrorism themselves. That’s what they’re fleeing. Slamming the door in their faces would be a betrayal of our values. Our nations can welcome refugees who are desperately seeking safety. And ensure our own security. We can and must do both," Obama said today at the G20 summit.
Mainly Republican governors from 16 states (including neighboring states Louisiana and Alabama) are responding to heightened concerns that terrorists might use the refugees as cover to sneak across borders after authorities said a Syrian passport was found near one of the attackers on Friday, according to an AP report. The Paris prosecutors' office says fingerprints from the attacker match those of someone who passed through Greece in October.
Bryant said in a statement that he is working with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety and the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security to determine the "current status" of any Syrian refugees that could be coming to Mississippi in the future.
Lavinia Limon, president and CEO of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigration, told the Associated Press that under the Refugee Act of 1980 governors cannot legally block refugees. Each state has a refugee coordinator, a post created as part of that law and funded by the federal government. The refugee coordinator helps with resettlement efforts and directs federal funding for refugees in each state, Limon told the AP.
Gov. Phil Bryant's statement is below:
"I’m currently working with the Mississippi Department of Public Safety and Mississippi Office of Homeland Security to determine the current status of any Syrian refugees that may be brought to our state in the near future. I will do everything humanly possible to stop any plans from the Obama administration to put Syrian refugees in Mississippi. The policy of bringing these individuals into the country is not only misguided, it is extremely dangerous. I’ll be notifying President Obama of my decision today to resist this potential action."
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Person of the Day
Mary Jo McAnally
Mary Jo McAnally, a longtime community leader who served more than 15 years as the associate director of the Fondren Renaissance Foundation, died at her home on Nov. 3.
