Jackson Free Press

Washing Our Souls

On a balmy night last month, I was walking along Frenchmen Street in New Orleans with heavy thoughts. Life suddenly seemed like a game show with so many different paths …

Fair Funds for Kids?

Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., increasingly seems like a holdover from another, kinder era of national politics. Cochran has largely removed himself from the hyper-partisanship of recent years.

Council Concerned over JPS Superintendent

Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes made a rare visit to the Monday work session yesterday to throw his support behind Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Lonnie Edwards, who is up for …

Get Smart

Yes, Mississippi is the most obese state. We're too sedate, and our diets suck. No news there.

JRA Rejects Two Bids for Convention Hotel

An Austin, Texas, developer publicly threw its hat into the convention-center hotel ring this morning with a presentation to the Jackson Development Authority. TCI, a Dallas-based company that currently owns …

Council Re-Elects Bluntson; Holds off on Finances

Jackson City Council President Frank Bluntson considered putting off the council's required election for president at this morning's meeting but reluctantly went ahead with the vote after the city's legal …

[Balko] Ruining Kids in Order to Save Them

That the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals would even need to hear oral arguments in the case of Miller, et al. v. Skumanick last week is a pretty good …

DeLaughter Pleads Guilty

Former Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Bobby DeLaughter, 55, resigned his job and pleaded guilty to misleading authorities this week. The former judge had five counts against him, all representing …

Hood Settlement Under Suspicion

Attorney General Jim Hood offered no guess as to what media outlets are looking for in a sealed February 2008 settlement between his office and State Farm and Fire and …

Law on Call

Last summer, Jackson attorneys Tim Porter and Rocky Wilkins came up with the idea for "Law Call," a live call-in show that premiered on WLBT Feb. 7.

Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em

Graphic courtesy of The Mellman Group

The Mississippi Legislature made a second attempt at tax reform this year, with the House's approval of Senate Bill 3084 on a 79 to 41 vote. The bill is an …

Sleep Inn Poised for September Opening

After a brief hiatus, construction on the Sleep Inn downtown is set to resume in the next two weeks and finish in time for a Sept. 1 opening. Robert Gibbs, …

Report Finds Struggling Households in Hinds County

Read the report (PDF, 2.1 MB)

JFP People of the Day: John and Margrit Garner

As the Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees has poured over its budget for the upcoming school year in a series of hearings, John and Margrit Garner have been there …

'No Justice, No Peace'

Young people were the majority last week in Jena, La. Amid the vast numbers of media crews and veteran civil-rights activists, the thousands of fists raised to the sky and …

Jane, You Ignorant Snit!

The other day, an e-mail popped up with the subject line, "tired of insults." I grimaced a bit and opened it. The correspondent first told me that she reads my …

What a Difference a Week Makes

May marked the first full year of the Jackson Free Press as a weekly publication, a feat that we were excited to dive into last summer and, now more than …

Capturing Imaginations

If you are ever going to rent a kid, 4-year-old Jackson Andrews is the best deal you could possibly get. He is at the just the right height that I …

Americans Change Faiths at Rising Rate

The New York Times has a story today about a new report surveying how loyal people remain to the church they were raised in:

Stop, In The Name of My Textbook

After nearly two months on the job, I think I've finally decided what is my favorite part of being an editorial intern