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BRAVO! Goes Smoke-Free
The Smokefree Jackson Coalition honored BRAVO! Italian Restaurant Tuesday for voluntarily prohibiting smoking indoors before a citywide ban takes effect Feb. 1, 2009. City Council President Leslie McLemore commended Bravo …
Former Melton Bodyguards to Pay $20K Restitution
by Ward Schaefer January 21, 2010 Michael Recio and Marcus Wright, the former police bodyguards for the late Mayor Frank Melton, must pay $10,000 each in restitution for their roles …
Melton Trial Delayed, 'Evil Intent' Issue Back
A federal judge has postponed the mayor and his bodyguard's trial for two months. What issues are on the table?
Highway 80 Gets Scrutinized, Organized
After declining slowly for decades, the Highway 80 corridor in south Jackson is poised for a rebirth. The Jackson Redevelopment Authority is looking to have the corridor designated an urban …
Business
A Work In Progress
When Ira Murray moved to Jackson from Nashville four years ago, he knew the city was poised for metamorphosis.
Not Without A Fight
Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Lonnie Edwards won't go quietly. Edwards announced Feb. 5 that he would appeal the JPS Board of Trustees' decision to let his three-year contract expire with …
Cover
Give Me Shelter: Protecting Animals, Prosecuting Abusers
The mutt turned up in the Providence Madison subdivision one day in early October 2009 . A black and tan hound mix, around 7 months old, she was skittish around …
Barbour Rejects Medicaid Deal
Gov. Haley Barbour took advantage of his more powerful position in state budget negotiations on Monday by rejecting a tentative budget agreement forged less than 24 hours earlier.
Jackson ‘White Flight' Slows In Last Decade
The release of 2010 Census data earlier this year may have been a gut-check for Jackson's leaders, but the numbers were hardly surprising. News reports, however, were quick to seize …
Jackson No. 3 'Best Bang-for-the-Buck' City
Americans are thinking differently when evaluating cities where they might settle down and raise a family. In the wake of the real-estate bubble and in the midst of major unemployment, …
Budget Woes Overshadow City's Needs at Low-Turnout Confab
State budget woes cast a pall over the Jackson Convention Center yesterday, when city leaders solicited the support of state lawmakers over lunch. Hosted by the city's state legislative delegation …
BREAKING: Second Bodyguard Pleads Guilty
Also see: Full JFP Melton Blog/Archive/Trial
Former mayoral bodyguard Michael Recio has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for his role in the 2006 demolition of a Ridgeway Street duplex, according to WAPT and a federal attorney …
Report Calls for Drug-Law Reform
Reducing Mississippi's incarceration rate, which is the second-highest in the United States, depends on reforming many aspects of the state's criminal justice system, a report released this month says.
Bodyguard Gives Damaging Evidence Against Melton, Recio
On Feb. 10, jurors in the federal civil rights trial of Mayor Frank Melton heard from the government's star witness, former mayoral bodyguard Marcus Wright. Wright, who pled guilty to …
'Criminalizing' Kids
Donte Thompson says he hardly learned anything in alternative school. Forbidden to talk from the moment he stepped on the school bus, Donte did what little work he received using …
Arizona-Style Immigration Bill Advances, In A Hurry
The Mississippi Senate passed a bill modeled after Arizona's anti-immigrant law SB 1070 today, despite protests by some Democrats that the measure was rife with errors carried over from the …
Young Candidates Seize the ‘Urgency of Now'
The same day that he filed his qualifying papers to run for Jackson City Council, Jonathan Jones received a number of calls from strangers.
Fletcher Cox Negotiates with Nature
Fletcher Cox is finishing a pair of doors when I visit his shop on a rainy Wednesday. They're the last in a set of 13 pairs that he's been commissioned …
Manhunt D.A.‘s ‘Guard' Duty
When Bruce Dunagan heard that Tallahatchie County prosecutor John Whitten III was involved in a vigilante-style manhunt last month, in Sumner, he wasn't surprised. Dunagan, who was Biloxi's police chief …
