Jackson Free Press

[Chick] ‘Rocky' For The Single Girl

I swear I have some intellectual rights as someone clearly stole my hang-ups when creating the Ally McBeal character. You may remember back in her day when she searched for …

‘Gone Weekly'

If there's one JFP-related question I've heard more than any other from folks around Jackson in the past few weeks and months, it's been this one: "Are y'all going weekly?"

City Moves Forward with Redistricting Contract

After a polarized discussion about the city's ward-redistricting hire, Jackson City Council Rules Committee Chairman Quentin Whitwell decided Thursday to move forward with the Council's December decision to hire D.L. …

Playing Disaster Politics

Mississippi Secretary of State Mike Chaney is disputing that Attorney General Jim Hood does not deserve credit for the recent State Farm settlement with Mississippi. Hood announced last week that …

Mason: ‘I'm Basically an Introvert'

Outgoing Jackson State University President Ronald Mason Jr. said at a Tuesday press luncheon that he did not expect his university to deviate from progress and growth in his absence.

Sweet Potato Queens Move Parade to Fondren

The annual Sweet Potato Queens Homecoming will take place in the Fondren neighborhood of Jackson, not Ridgeland, author and founder Jill Conner Browne told the Jackson Free Press today. Following …

The Changing Faces of Jackson

When Shawna Davie came to the capital city from St. Louis to attend Jackson State University, like many college students, she didn't know what she'd do with her life.

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JFP Bowl Schedule: Week 3

The third week of the bowl schedule features the majority of the games including Mississippi State. As always, my picks are included. By now, I am sure to have been …

America Remembers 9/11, 11 Years Later

Americans paused again Tuesday to mark the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks with familiar ceremony, but also a sense that it's time to move forward after …

U.S. House to Consider FISA Bill Sans Telco Immunity

The bill is coming out of committee in the House and should get a floor vote this afternoon. It grants the president many of the powers he wants for roving …

‘Think Local' Elections

As the city primaries approach on May 6, 2009, I turn again and again to the thought of how local business will fare in these elections.

Scouts Considering Retreat from No-Gays Policy

The Boy Scouts of America may soon give sponsors of troops the authority to decide whether to accept gays as scouts and leaders—a potentially dramatic retreat from an exclusionary nationwide …

Obama Proposals Face Quick Opposition in Congress

President Barack Obama set up high-stakes clashes with Republicans over guns, immigration, taxes and climate change in his State of the Union address.

Eclipsing Slave History

America's economy was built largely on the backs of slaves, and the South's "peculiar institution" affected America's cultural development for decades. So, the story of the generation of black Americans …

Both Sides Condemn Convicted Pa. Abortion Doctor

Dr. Kermit Gosnell considered himself a pioneering inner-city doctor who helped desperate women get late-term abortions, but a Philadelphia jury called him a murderer who killed three babies after they …

World Looks to Bernanke to Clarify Stimulus Plans

Is the era of ultra-low interest rates nearing an end? That's the question—and the fear—Chairman Ben Bernanke will face this week when he takes questions after a Federal Reserve policy …

Bucolic 300-Year-Old 'Newtown' Rocked By Tragic Shooting

Along streets where every window twinkles with holiday candles, police sirens wailed Friday. Over horse pastures in what was until fairly recently a rural town, helicopters' rotors thudded. In shops, …

Hot Rhetoric and 'Small' Numbers Separate Obama and Boehner on Fiscal Cliff Negotiation

WASHINGTON (AP) — In their "fiscal cliff" standoff, President Barack Obama wants to raise taxes by about $20 billion a year more than House Speaker John Boehner. The president wants …

Farish Street, Round Two (or Eight?)

Much has changed around the capital city in the last several years, but Farish Street is not one of them.

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McQuirter: Planting the Seeds

Darrel McQuirter, a Hinds County department head who took a leave of absence to run for the District 2 supervisor's seat, is putting his job on the line because he …