Jackson Free Press

Barbour Leads Anti-Health Reform Rhetoric

Gov. Haley Barbour and other opponents of health-care reform are making final efforts to derail an upcoming House vote on the Senate health-care package this Sunday.

Reaching Agreement

The Civil Rights Museum and a Mississippi history museum live on after all. On Monday, legislators approved $20 million for construction of a proposed civil-rights museum and another $18 million …

PERS Commission Recommends Cuts

After a four-month wait and much speculation, a commission studying the Public Employees Retirement System has recommended freezing the cost-of-living adjustment paid to retirees for three years.

Bond Proposal Triumphs

To the astonishment of naysayers (and some supporters), an overwhelming majority of Jackson voters approved the recent $150 million Jackson Public Schools bond issue. Like the Convention Center bond proposal …

Bashing Sodas and Saving Schools

The 90-day legislative session will creep past the halfway mark this week, and the clock ticks on plenty of legislative efforts, including the deadline to except or trash fiscal-year 2011 …

Judge Malcolm Harrison: A New Man

Newly appointed Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Malcolm Harrison is a careful man when it comes to talking politics about Mississippi's judicial system.

Education Under Attack

Anticipation stalked the halls of the Mississippi State Capitol. Agency heads showed up, educators camped out, advocates for children and families rallied. It was clearly crunch time. Lawmakers had only …

Fewer Profs, High Tuition

If current state budget cuts stand, Mississippi's eight public universities will have to shed 1,000 jobs and raise tuition over the next two years.

Supremes Question Kemper

In all the pages of court records regarding a dispute between environmentalists and an electric utility company--pages that one Mississippi Supreme Court justice characterized as the most voluminous he has …

The Elephant In The Classroom

The governor and his loyal cabal of "Stepford senators" seem to believe that Mississippians are stupid. And they sure want to keep us that way.

Did State Mismanage Stimulus Funds?

A Jackson company is alleging in Hinds County Chancery Court that the state mismanaged $3.75 million in federal stimulus funds by passing over the lowest and best bidder for a …

GOP Rhetoric About Hood ‘Corruption' Reprehensible

Todd and I made the mistake of watching the evening news last night. The attack ads were just plain horrifying. The one that disgusted me the most was Al and …

House Faces ‘Pointless' Abortion Bill, More

The Mississippi House of Representatives return to Jackson tomorrow to deal with the last remaining items of business in its 2010 legislative session, after a fierce battle over what several …

Hood Takes Gloves Off Over Barbour Ballot Scheme

[Verbatim from Attorney General Jim Hood] Jackson, MS-Gov. Haley Barbour's ill-conceived attempt to gain a partisan political advantage for his party and violate state law is an embarrassment for both …

UPDATED: Barbour Helps Domestic Killers

At least three of six criminals getting relief from Gov. Haley Barbour killed their former or current wife or girlfriend.

Barbour Overblowing Katrina Progress Claims

Read JFP's KatrinaBlog

Bill Minor takes Gov. Haley Barbour to task this week over the myth that the Coast is in such better shape a year after Katrina:

Haley Barbour Recalls Reagan in Neshoba County Fair Speech

Neshoba County Fair/July 30, 2009/Verbatim

Thank you. It's great to be back at the Fair; there's no place like it. A little mud on your boots never should bother anybody over here. This is my …

Hurricane Recovery, Barbour - Style

Photos by David Rae Morris,

As residents of Mississippi's Gulf Coast gathered to commemorate the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, they recalled a cataclysmic storm that spared no one, rich or poor, from its destruction. …

NAACP Joins Redistricting Fray

The Mississippi NAACP today asked a federal court to stop state legislators from running in their current districts in August because they are not representative of black voters.

Senate Flubs Redistricting

The Mississippi Senate voted to end the session yesterday without taking up a new redistricted map.