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Skilled Labor Jobs Offer Employment Opportunities
The weak job market is prompting many young adults to pursue careers as skilled laborers—jobs that pay well and don't need a four-year degree.
Story
Vicksburg Mayor Shelves Sports Complex Idea
After almost two years of pushing for a sports complex for Vicksburg, Mayor Paul Winfield has shelved the project.
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National
Why the Supreme Court May Rule Against the Voting Rights Act
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Shelby County v. Holder, a case challenging the constitutionality of a key part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
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Events
It's the Weekend!
On Saturday, the JFP sponsors the Jackson 2000 Friendship Ball at 7 p.m. at Hal & Mal's.
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Work Stopped at Fulton Ethanol Plant
Although far behind schedule, Mississippi officials say plans for BlueFire Renewables Inc.'s biofuels plant aren't dead, just dormant.
Story
Person of the Day
Michelle Obama
First lady Michelle Obama made Clinton her first stop on a two-day tour promoting her signature Let's Move anti-obesity program.
Story
Biz Roundup
Nissan, SBA Video Contest and New Legislation
Nissan and employees at the company's vehicle assembly plant in Canton pledged to contribute $354,400 to the United Way in 2013, beginning with a $25,000 donation to United Way of …
Entry
Stewart Mans Up, Apologizes to Molpus
By R.L. NaveIt takes a big man to admit he was wrong.
Last night, that big man was five-foot funnyman and Daily Show host Jon Stewart, who had a little fun at Mississippi's expense last week when the news broke the state never officially ratified the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery.
In the bit, Stewart does what people who've never stepped a toe in Mississippi tend to do when talking about Mississippi, and lampooned the entire lot of state officials who were in charge when the Legislature ratified the amendment in 1995 -- I know, I know; we probably deserve that one -- as slavery-loving racists.
Among those officials was then-Secretary of State Dick Molpus, whose office was to oversee the handling of the official ratification paperwork. For reasons that remain unknown, the paperwork never made it to the federal archivist in Washington, D.C.
Stewart (or, more precisely, his comedy writers) implied that Molpus likely destroyed the documents -- you know, being the scheming white xenophobe that too many folks ignorantly presume every Mississippi politician to be.
But after getting a flurry of pushback from people who know Molpus, Stewart admitted last night that the show erred in using "Dick Molpus...as an avatar for racial bigotry, forgetting, perhaps that Dick Molpus is a real person with a real record on civil rights."
That record, as Stewart notes, includes apologizing in 1989 to the families of the murdered civil-rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. Despite the threats he received against his life, Molpus counts the apology as among his proudest moments.
In doing so, Stewart proved himself to be a class act (it was, after all, a bad week for satirists. See: The Onion debacle). And if any good came out of the whole thing, it's that the rest of America learned a little bit about the classy Dick Molpus and about Mississippi.
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Events
Community Events and Public Meetings
The Jackson State University v. Alabama State University Basketball Games are Feb. 28, in the Lee E. Williams Athletics and Assembly Center.
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Most Miss Higher Ed Has Graduation Rates Below 50%
At most Mississippi colleges and universities, fewer than half the first-time students graduate within six years.
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Politics
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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Health Care
Scientists Clash Over BPA: Do Low Doses Really Harm People?
Are people exposed to doses of bisphenol A in their canned foods and other consumer products that can harm them? Or are the amounts too low to cause any harm?
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Person of the Day
Dr. Edwin Dodd
Dr. Edwin Dodd, director of the Jackson Pain Center and medical director of Physician's Surgery Center, recently received accolades from his patients.
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Events
It's the Weekend!
On Saturday, the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra presents "Bravo IV: Beethoven's Sixth" at 7:30 p.m. at Thalia Mara Hall.
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National
Big Corporations Put Up Seed Funding for Republican Dark Money Group
Some of the nation's biggest corporations donated more than a million dollars to launch a Republican nonprofit that went on to play a key role in recent political fights.
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JIG Garden
The Jackson Inner-city Gardeners (JIG), a local nonprofit, grows and sells produce at the site. JIG will sell the produce fresh from the farm on Saturdays May - August. A portion of the harvest will be donated to local food …
