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Biz Roundup
The Kundi Compound, Curious George at the Children's Museum, Stanton Optical and The Hair Factory
Community activists and Jackson Free Press contributors Funmi "Queen" Franklin and Brad "Kamikaze" Franklin held a grand opening for the Kundi Compound, a small-business incubator in midtown, on Monday, May …
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State
Gambling in Mississippi: State in Top 5 for Addiction, First for Related Arrests
Mississippi sees the most gambling-related arrests and is in the top five states in the country for gambling addiction, a recent study from WalletHub found.
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City & County
JFP Q&A: Ward 6 Candidate Ernest E. Slaughter, Sr. (Democrat)
Ernest E. Slaughter, Sr., 50, is running for the open Ward 6 city council seat in 2017.
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Politics
Questions as Mississippi Seeks to Tax Online Lodging Rentals
Mississippi's tax collector wants to make sure people renting rooms or vacation properties online pay sales and lodging taxes.
Entry
The Storms Before the NFL Draft
By bryanflynnThere has been plenty of news before the NFL Draft’s kickoff tomorrow night, Thursday, April 27, that could send players down the draft board. Some is understandable, and some could be considered ridiculous.
Let’s start with the ridiculous and work our way to more serious elements. One thing to remember: the run-up to the draft is one long job interview.
Last week in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, writer Bob McGinn reported the scores of several players who took the Wonderlic intelligence test at the NFL Combine. ESPN’s Darren Rovell pointed out two players who scored an 11 out of 50 on the test and Rovell was roasted on social media. Since then, Rovell took the official test and wrote about taking it and how it changed him.
The leaking of Wonderlic scores has gone on since the NFL began using the test in the 1970s. If you don’t know, the test is 50 questions taken in 12 minutes with just a pencil and scrap paper. The employers use the test to assess the intelligence of prospective employees.
If you follow the NFL Combine, everyone does the same testing. All the players bench-press 225 pounds, run the 40-yard dash, and so forth. Not all the tests really apply to every position, but to get an apples-to-apples comparison, every player does the same tests.
The Wonderlic doesn’t mean a ton for most positions. If any position makes sense, it is the quarterback position, where you have to process a good deal of information and do it quickly.
What other players score on the test really isn’t entirely game-changing but is important. Players have known for years that the NFL gives the test at the combine. Agents have been preparing players for the test for years, as well.
If everything is a test at the combine, the way a player approaches the Wonderlic is a test. Remember, this is a giant job interview. If a player scores low on the test, teams might do more research on the player to find out why.
NFL teams will want to know why a player bombed a test that he knew he had to take. Did the player care enough to even prepare for the test? Is the player bad at taking tests? If the player didn’t care to prepare for the test, teams will wonder if that player will prepare for a NFL career. The test is part of an evolution process and not really about how smart the players are.
No one should be made fun for what he scored on the test. It is simply a way for teams to see whether players are going to put in the work that is needed to be in the NFL.
It also never fails that a player or two will fail the drug test at the NFL Combine. This year, it was University of Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster and University …
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City & County
Out of the Shadows: Ronnie Crudup Jr. Brings Youth, Business to Forefront
Many Jacksonians did not know Ronnie Crudup Jr. before he announced as a candidate for mayor.
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Civil Rights
Vetoing Criminal Reforms Shortsighted, Dangerous
Whether it was due to a "mistake" or a poison pill inserted at the last hour, Gov. Phil Bryant vetoed House Bill 1033 last week after both houses passed the …
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Business
Shifting the Power to Regulate Nurses, Barbers, More
Melony Armstrong did not want to cut hair; she wanted to braid hair in her own shop. She believed that the time and money spent on beauty school would be …
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Jacksonian
Kira Cummings
Artist Kira Cummings pulls out several wire insects with wings made of colorful beads. To make them, she says she takes a big piece of wire and wraps it around …
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City & County
UPDATED: Lumumba Files Campaign Report, Third Behind Horhn, Graham in Donations
On a major campaign filing date, Mississippi Sen. John Horhn leads, so far, in donations with upwards of $200,000 in donations to date, although he has spent much of it.
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City & County
JFP Q&A: Ward 2 candidate Melvin Priester Jr. (incumbent, Democrat)
Read Ward 2 Councilman Melvin Priester Jr.'s answer to the 2017 JFP City Council Questionnaire.
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Politics
Another Mississippi City, Biloxi, Lowers Confederate-Themed Flag
Biloxi, a Gulf Coast city that relies heavily on tourism, is joining several other local governments in abandoning the Mississippi flag because it contains the Confederate battle emblem.
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Health Care
Sexually Transmitted Infection Rates High in Mississippi, Despite Declines
Despite declines in recent years, Mississippi still has some of the highest STI rates in the country, data from the Centers for Disease Control show.
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Music
The Days of Deejays
As an artist who came up in the early-2000s hip-hop scene and still performs today, New York native Sam Zornow, whom fans know as DJ Shiftee, has experienced two different …
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Cover
Through the Keyhole
The keyhole garden is a great option for those of us with small backyards or small budgets.
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Cover
Bottles and Bubbles: 2017 Wine Tasting
It's the 2017 Spring Food issue, which means one thing: JFP staffers gathered together to try some more wine.
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City & County
UPDATED: Teens Quiz Mayor Hopefuls on Crime, Sidewalks and Myths About Youth
Five teenagers of the Mississippi Youth Media Project challenged seven mayoral candidates during Jackson's first Youth Mayoral Forum held at Provine High School Monday evening.
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Politics
Mississippi High Court: Execution Plans Can be Kept Secret
Mississippi does not have to publicly disclose details of how it carries out executions, the state's highest court ruled Thursday.
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City & County
A Mayor's Story: Tony Yarber on His Past Mistakes and Evolving Vision
Mayor Tony Yarber is different this time around. During his first run for the job vacated when Mayor Chokwe Lumumba died in 2014, a bunch of urgent business suits surrounded …
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City & County
What We’re Looking for in a Mayor
With the mayoral primary just a few weeks away, we've been discussing our JFP endorsement possibilities; we haven't yet chosen a candidate, but we've been talking about the criteria.
