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Art
Universal Earth
Kristen Tordella-Williams has an affinity for dirt. Not the stuff that gathers under the couch, but the blacky-brown soil that gets under your nails, and the mound scraped away to …
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City & County
Yarber Gala Raised, Spent $86K
Mayor Tony Yarber's inaugural gala committee spent almost $85,670—raised from a mostly new crew of donors than those who publicly backed his candidacy.
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Education
Singing Christmas Tree at Belhaven, 'Lighting the Way' at USM and MSU Holiday Open House
Belhaven University will host its 86th annual Singing Christmas Tree event on Friday, Nov. 30, and Saturday, Dec. 1.
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Civil Rights
OPINION: Cindy Hyde-Smith's Words Are Unacceptable
When Cindy Hyde-Smith made the statement that she would attend a “public hanging,” her statements should have been universally condemned.
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Music
The Wonders of 'Wonderland'
Thalia Mara Hall in downtown Jackson has featured plenty of orchestral events over the years, but the latest concert from touring act Cirque Musica plans to do something a little …
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Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves: DeVos Will Bring 'Sense of Urgency' to Public Ed
By adreherLt. Gov. Tate Reeves wrote the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions a letter this week, to put his support for Trump's Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos in writing. In his Jan. 10 letter, Reeves wrote to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) that DeVos represents a change that "our students so desperately need."
"As Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi, I know the importance of ensuring that every student has access to a truly revolutionary education, regardless of the zipcode in which they live or the income level of their parents," Reeves writes. "Mrs. DeVos's continued commitment to ensuring that every student has access to a school that best serves their needs -regardless of the delivery model or the school governance structure-gives me utmost confidence in her nomination and subsequent position."
DeVos's confirmation hearing was pushed back and is now scheduled for next Tuesday, largely due to the fact that the Office of Government Ethics had not completed a review of "DeVos's financial holdings and potential conflicts of interest," the Washington Post reported.
DeVos, known for her work as the Republican Party Chairwoman in Michigan and for using her political and monetary influence to support the school-choice movement there, is a big advocate of voucher programs, charter schools and lobbying for those efforts, reporting from the Detroit Free Press over the years show.
One editor in Detroit writes in an op-ed that DeVos is not qualified for her role because she has very little practical education experience. Indeed, DeVos hold a bachelor's degree in business administration and political science from Calvin College and has worked as a businesswoman at the Windquest Group and a principle actor in how the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation spends its money. Her political experience is evident, and her involvement in Michigan's Republican Party and lobbying for school-choice reforms are well-documented.
"She is, in essence, a lobbyist — someone who has used her extraordinary wealth to influence the conversation about education reform, and to bend that conversation to her ideological convictions despite the dearth of evidence supporting them," Detroit Free Press editor Stephen Henderson writes. "For 20 years, the lobby her family bankrolls has propped up the billion-dollar charter school industry and insulated it from commonsense oversight, even as charter schools repeatedly failed to deliver on their promises to parents and children."
DeVos and her husband, a billionaire businessman, were influential in how Michigan's charter school law was written back in 1993, Chalkbeat reports, and continues to be involved with ed policy decisions there.
"When Michigan lawmakers this year were considering a measure that would have added oversight for charter schools in Detroit, members of the DeVos family poured $1.45 million into legislators’ campaign coffers — an average of $25,000 a day for seven weeks. Oversight was not included in the final legislation," a 2016 Chalkbeat report says.
Consequently, the majority of Michigan's charter schools are run by private companies, …
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Your Vote Counts Here
Imagine a state where moderates have as loud a voice as extreme conservatives. Imagine a state where it's considered cool to be progressive. A state where young people are drawn …
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Politics
Justice For Sale
Almost immediately after his appointment to U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi in late 2001, Dunnica Lampton began to investigate key Mississippi Democrats.
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Mayor Walks Out On Citizens
Community policing took a body blow last week when Mayor Frank Melton and Jackson Police Chief Shirlene Anderson—a man and a woman put there to be anti-crime crusaders—suddenly dumped the …
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Response to an Irrelevant Blogger
This week, John Yargo writes in the JFP about The Ole Miss Rebels and their Irregular Season. You can follow him at The Irregular Season Blog. As you can see, …
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Art
Best of Jackson 2016: Community & Culture
Religious ministry takes many forms. The company members of Ballet Magnificat! wish to bring Christian gospel teachings to a wide range of people through "dance, dance/drama and personal witness."
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Education
Under Pressure: Some Mississippi Educators Silenced on School-Funding Battle
Advocates of Initiative 42 complain that warnings to educators are designed to divide higher education and K-12 education communities, while also silencing them on an issue close to many of …
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[Kamikaze] Shut Out by the Queen
Housewives all over America are waiting with bated breath. Will she or won't she respond to these scathing allegations? How long will she tolerate the name-calling?
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A Soldier's Story: The JFP Interview with James Meredith
James Meredith talks to the Jackson Free Press about identity education, Barack Obama, Sean Hannity and Sarah Palin.
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Bleak House: City Budget Goes From Bad To…Cuts
Jackson Chief Financial Officer Peyton Prospere painted a bleak picture for Jackson at the April 6 budget meeting.
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Barbour Proposes 8 Percent Budget Cut in 2012
Gov. Haley Barbour outlined his 2012 budget proposal at a press conference this afternoon, calling for an average of 8 percent cuts to state agencies next year. Barbour's $5.47 billion …
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City & County
War Against Potholes: The City Battles Nature, Resources
To people in Jackson, who have to battle blown tires, crooked front-end alignments and nearly drowned children, the distinction between potholes, sinkholes and utility cuts are meaningless.
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Stand By Your Man
This issue is full of men-folk: men we love and those we like, guys we've known for a while and those who are coming through town for the first time, …
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A Letter to Caller Number One
"Why don't y'all just leave him alone?" The passion in the caller's voice was alarming. "He's an old man. Just leave him be. Let sleeping dogs lie." When I heard …
