All results / Stories / Arielle Dreher
Person of the Day
Dee Smith-Smathers
Although Dee Smith-Smathers did not get to celebrate her 74th birthday, she did live to see her marriage to her partner of 29 years, Charlene Smith-Smathers, recognized in her home …
LGBT
HB 1523 Opponents Fight Back, Say Law Gives 'Special Rights'
LGBT rights proponents are pushing back on Gov. Phil Bryant's effect to bring House Bill 1523 back to life today, saying that it endorses and gives special treatment "to certain …
Crime
Re-Entry Reforms Still Alive in Legislature
Mississippi can begin to look at justice reinvestment, and it should be a priority, Andre de Gruy, the state public defender who is also on the state's Corrections and Criminal …
Health Care
Task Force Meeting in Secret in Wake of Mental Health Litigation
Under legal pressure from the U.S. Department of Justice to repair Mississippi's system of mental-health care, Attorney General Jim Hood last month announced a mental-health task force of state practitioners …
Politics
Democrats to State Leadership: 'Return to Fiscal Sanity'
Legislative Democratic leaders decried budget cuts to the state health department on Wednesday outside agency offices, calling on Gov. Phil Bryant to take action and call a special session to …
National
Gov. Phil Bryant: Unite Behind Trump 'in Civility and in Trust'
Leaders from the Mississippi Republican Party called on the state's citizens to unite as Donald Trump won enough states Tuesday night to be the next president of the United States, …
Politics
Off to the Races ... and the Chopping Block
Money was front of mind over the last week in the Mississippi Legislature as Senate and House appropriations committees began budget hearings for state agencies last week.
Business
Continental: Conservation, Excavation and New Hires
Zach Morrow was born and raised in Ackerman, Miss., and has been doing construction work since he was 18 years old. He has worked in and out of the state …
Civil Rights
Disenfranchised for Life? No Changes, Yet
Stanley Barnes of Claiborne County was convicted of murder in 1990 and received a life sentence, but was paroled in 2000. He is still on unsupervised parole. Sen. Albert Butler, …
Business
Local Wine Sellers Push Back on Chain Effort
Victor Pittman is not pleased with a lobbying effort to lift the restriction on wine and liquor sales in grocery stores in Mississippi's wet counties.
Education
‘Hand-in-hand’: Poverty + Education Keep State in Last Place
The problem with Mississippi coming in last place in the Kids Count child well-being survey is largely that perception has a big impact on the children experiencing poverty or a …
LGBT
USDA Promotes Gender-Inclusivity in Jackson
Ashlee Davis wants members of the LGBT community to know that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will not discriminate against them.
LGBT
A Long, Long LGBT Road
Cameron Stewart and Amber Cameron have been together five and a half years. About a year ago, the couple had a backyard wedding ceremony with vows and commitments—but because they …
Civil Rights
How Integration Failed in Jackson’s Public Schools from 1969 to 2017
Jackson's public schools, like the majority in the state, remained solidly separate and unequal in the 1950s and 1960s despite the ruling in the Brown v. Topeka Board of Education …
Education
What’s in ‘UPS’ Ed Formula, What’s Not?
The Mississippi House Education Chairman, Rep. Richard Bennett, R-Long Beach, repeatedly told House members that the Mississippi Adequate Education Program is too complicated to understand and not reliable for school …
Health Care
How to Improve Pregnancy Care in Mississippi
From Facebook communities to groups that meet in person, many Mississippi mothers are tired of inadequate maternity care.
City & County
Farish Street Affordable Housing Hits Snags
Not everyone is supportive of expanding the pastel-painted affordable housing units in the Farish Street Historic District.
Cover
MAEP Formula Explained
MAEP funding (theoretically) covers teacher and district employee salaries, retirement and insurance, instruction materials, operational costs, transportation, and special, vocational, gifted and alternative education.
Development
One Lake Project One Step Closer to Public Input
The 2007 map of the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District includes just a sliver of Jackson, predominantly along the Pearl as well as a piece of downtown, …
Education
Funding the ‘School Choice’ Lobby
In just one year, the Mississippi Legislature has gone from slightly tweaking its voucher program for students with dyslexia to a push to allow any public-school student to apply for …
