Jackson Free Press

BREAKING: Second Bodyguard Pleads Guilty

Also see: Full JFP Melton Blog/Archive/Trial

Former mayoral bodyguard Michael Recio has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for his role in the 2006 demolition of a Ridgeway Street duplex, according to WAPT and a federal attorney …

Appeals Allege Federal Tampering

In 2007, a federal jury convicted Mississippi attorney Paul Minor, who had made a name for himself in tobacco and asbestos litigation, of corruption. Last month Minor's lawyers appealed that …

Mississippi Chrysler Dealerships Closing

Chrysler is closing almost 800 dealerships across the country as part of their bankruptcy agreement, including six in Mississippi. The Magnolia State dealerships on the closure list are:

Hinds Election Feud Heats Up

A spat between Hinds County Election Commissioners spilled over into a county Board of Supervisors meeting today, with suggestions of voting machine tampering and possibly compromised elections. With elections scheduled …

Roger Wicker

Passed by a 68-to-30 Senate vote, an amendment authored by Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, mandates that Amtrak allow passengers to carry handguns in their checked baggage. The amendment is an …

Part-Time Justice

<b>Poor State Prisoners Shorted on Legal Help</b>

A recent town meeting in Jackson highlighting prisoner abuse in the state's penal system offered a peek at another legal issue plaguing many Mississippians who find themselves on the wrong …

Wal-Mart's Welfare: How The Taxpayers Subsidize Goliath

Wal-Mart, the Alpha Dog of discount stores, has also become the Alpha Hog at the public trough. In many states, taxpayers are supporting the phenomenal growth of the world's largest …

Fixin' the Burbs

We hear and read a lot about the hidden costs of sprawl, for example that the average American now spends 443 hours behind the wheel every year, the equivalent of …

JFP Lists: Signs of Life, Rest in Peace, Wish List

A creative boom, of sorts, has hit the city over the last couple years—not to mention a renewed interest in supporting locally owned businesses over dull national chain stores (what …

Republicans Singing the Blues?

A New York Times Magazine piece chronicles the depression that is setting in for Republicans now that the strategies that gave them temporary power are starting to turn off new …

The Dawn of a New ‘Daily'

This past week we flipped the switch on a new "product" that's been brewing in the JFP labs for the better part of six months: JFP Daily.

Pill of Religious Satire on South Park too hard for Issac Hayes to Swallow

Hayes, who has played the ladies' man/school cook in the animated Comedy Central satire since 1997, said in a statement Monday that he feels a line has been crossed.

My Big Fat Problem

At 6 every morning I awake to the sound of the alarm. Most days I groggily get out of bed and go about the daily routine of getting my son …

News in Brief

Immigrants a boon to private prisons; the fight in Syria; the Olympics; more

Scared of Xenophobes?

A great number of the bills pushing through the Legislature this session—more than in most years previously—deal with immigration and immigrants.

OPINION: An Open Letter to Governor Tate Reeves and MDOC

We write this open letter to demand accountability for neglecting the urgent crisis in Mississippi's prisons. We see your response, or lack thereof, as nothing more than the abuse of …

Experts Fear The Worst As School Districts Return to Classrooms

Though many RCSD teachers reached out to share their stories, many more from other districts and counties expressed a powerful sense of dread before the return to in-person classes.

Massive Fires Show Weakness of 911 in Jackson

Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote said that the inefficiencies in the running of the 911 system in the city might be due to staffing issues, and decried the "excessive time …

Striving For Magic

"I was trying to enter the adult society. After that happened, I realized if that was what it was all about then I didn't want to be (an adult) after …

[Melton] Highway 80–The Forgotten Commercial Corridor