Jackson Free Press

Corporations Dodge Taxes While Schools Suffer

Public education suffers while many of the state's largest corporations pay no state taxes, children's advocates said yesterday.

Truant ‘Sweeps' Obscure Progress

After a setback last Tuesday, Jackson Mayor Frank Melton went through with a campaign promise to attack the Jackson Public School drop-out rate and get school-age children off the street. …

JFP Interview: Mac Speaks Up

Sheriff Malcolm McMillin is not a small person. McMillin stands at 6 feet and weighs in at 250 pounds. He engages in regular fitness training, sports a shaved head, watermelon-sized …

Republican Women Defecting to Kerry

Leigh Flayton writes in Salon about Republican women planning to vote for John Kerry this year due to George W. Bush's extremism: "Judith Allen, longtime Arizonan and lifelong Republican, says …

Do or Die

Vicki Mason says half the battle on the road to a healthy lifestyle is acquiring knowledge by using the resources that are widely available to all of us. She's serious …

The Pink House Deals With ‘Heartbeat Bill’ Fallout

"Jesus loves you, mommy. Mommy, please don't kill me," a child's voice pleads from a large speaker system outside Mississippi's last abortion clinic, which is known among its defenders as …

2011 Mississippi Legislative Preview

The Mississippi Legislature returned Jan. 4, and many legislators are not looking forward to the kind of cuts facing state departments. The Mississippi Department of Mental Health is looking at …

Best of Jackson 2019: Food and Drink

We here at the Jackson Free Press like to keep our focus on local: local people, local business, local food—you get the idea. There’s nothing to us more local than …

Melton's Honeymoon, Part V: Seven Degrees of Separation

Like any governmental body that has to share power, the Jackson City Council is a forum of individuals who can rarely accomplish goals without forming some kind of alliance on …

Tweaking Twiggy

Photos by Jason 'Twiggy' Lott

A week into January, 27-year-old Jason "Twiggy" Lott leans back in his faux-Swedish chair, running his fingers through close-cropped hair and casually tossing one denim-clad leg over the other. In …

Code Blue: Police Pursuits Cost a Life a Day

"All units, Ridgeland PD in pursuit. Gray Crown Victoria on lower (Spillway) Road, request assistance," a voice said over the police scanner from Reservoir Control tower.

2008 Legislative Preview: New Session, Old Problems

Photos by Adam Lynch, Donna Ladd, and Jaro Vacek

The Mississippi legislative session is coming around again Jan. 8, bringing with it some tough decisions. The Legislature took a stroll through roses last year, oddly, thanks to Hurricane Katrina. …

The Regulator: The JFP Interview with Gary Anderson

Photos by Roy Adkins & Adam Lynch

Gary Anderson wants to be Mississippi's insurance commissioner, and he's not pulling any punches in the race. The Byhalia native knows a thing or two about politics: He worked under …

Executives Run Amok

The similarities between Mayor Melton's current woes and President Bush's are striking. George Bush can't boast the kind of mandate Frank Melton had when he was elected. But both men …

[Stiggers] Drop It Like It's Hot For Jesus

Bruh. Sylvester: "Welcome to my art exhibit titled 'Talkin' 'Bout the Ghetto and Other Stuff,' sponsored by the Ghetto Science Team's Museum of Natural History, Science, Art, Urban Mythology and …

JPD Goes Reality TV

Jackson's 14 homicide detectives are about to get a taste of the limelight. As early as next month, field producers for the cop show "The First 48" will begin following …

Investigating The Investigators

Support is growing on Jackson City Council for establishing civilian review of the Jackson Police Department, but the form that review will take is still uncertain.

In a Sentimental Mood

It's Tuesday, and I'm sitting cross-legged on the floor in Baltimore's Southwest terminal after spending several days in Washington at an alternative-newspaper training conference. I love these gatherings: I teach, …

Jackson’s Water Crisis Lingers into March

Robert Sulton has lived in south Jackson since 2007, when he and his wife built their home just north of Byram. They had experienced power outages and boil-water notices before, …

Copiah County Native Honored as First Woman in U.S. to Serve as Federal Trial Judge

Burnita Shelton Matthews' brothers were lawyers, but her father wanted her to be a musician. There were no women lawyers or judges in Copiah County, or in Mississippi 100 years …