Jackson Free Press

APAC's Impact: Shining Bright

As a boy in a school uniform gets off the bus on tree-lined Riverside Drive early one fall morning, faculty and staff inside the Power Academic and Performing Arts Complex …

[Balko] The Continuing Saga of Steven Hayne

Last week the Mississippi Supreme Court granted a new trial to Cory Maye, who is serving a life sentence for shooting and killing Prentiss, Miss., police officer Ron Jones during …

BP Claims Ignoring Fishing and Casino Workers?

Despite the fact that Gov. Haley Barbour announced last week that the BP has paid $181 million in Mississippi oil spill claims as of Dec. 1, Mississippi Gulf Coast fishing …

Community Events and Public Meetings

6 p.m., Jackson Arts Collective Monthly Meeting, at The Commons at Eudora Welty's Birthplace (719 N. Congress St.). The Collective Steering Committee meets to discuss business of the previous month …

State Agency Finds JPS Violating Disability Law

Jackson Public Schools has one month to improve the way it educates special-education students, according to a Mississippi Department of Education's Nov. 22 decision. The decision states that JPS fails …

Judge Throws Out Edmonds' Suit

Read Judge Biggers' decision (PDF).

Rush to Judgment: Trying Kids As Adults

Tyler Wayne Edmonds took his last seventh-grade exam at Fifth Street Junior High School in West Point on a Thursday and was confident he had done well. So far, 2003 …

Scott Sisters' Clemency Momentum Growing

Support for imprisoned sisters Jamie and Gladys Scott is growing as an anticipated deadline for their clemency petition nears. The sisters, who are in the 17th year of their double …

Advocacy Groups Address JPS Disability Violations

Verbatim Statement from the Mississippi Youth Justice Project:

Last week, the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) issued a major decision that declared the Jackson Public School District (JPS) in violation of major components of the Individuals with Disabilities …

[Balko] Vanishingly Rare Misconduct Citations

In 2007, a court tried Sonya and Joseph Smith for felony murder in connection with the 2003 death of their 8-year-old son, Josef, who medical examiners said was beaten and …

Plaintiffs Seek Removal of Diaz in Minor Suit

The USF&G Insurance Company, from which former attorney Paul Minor won a large settlement in 2001, wants former state Supreme Court Judge Oliver Diaz removed from Minor's civil defense team.

Hood Cautions Black Friday Shoppers

Verbatim statement : As two of the year's busiest shopping days approach, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood is cautioning consumers to be prepared.

Private Youth Prison Under Fire

By corporate standards, the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility has been a success. Since opening in 2001, the private prison has generated roughly $100 million for the companies that have …

Egg Bowl 2010 Has Reverse 2009 Deja Vu

The next couple of weeks are probably my favorite time to be a college football fan. Starting Thursday (Thanksgiving) and ending next Saturday it is rivalry week in college football.

Business News: Renovations and Closings

Eley Guild Hardy Architects celebrated the opening of its downtown Jackson office Nov. 18. The firm moved into the former Union Planters Bank building at 329 E. Capitol St. this …

Kids Having Kids

Ollie Jackson's baby, Lauryn, sleepily rubs her eyes as she sits on her 19-year-old father's lap during a football game at Newell Field in Jackson.

Flaggs: Keep Check Cashers Act

Mississippi House of Representatives Banking Committee Chairman George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, says he wants to extend the life of the 1998 Mississippi Check Cashers Act, which allows short-term lenders a special …

Katrina Victims to Receive $132 million

The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development settled a $132 million lawsuit last week allowing individual Gulf Coast renters to claim up to $75,000 for Katrina-related destruction.

Murrah Whipping Makes National Headlines

Read the Complaint

Medicaid Boots Kids

Deborah Edmonson, a parent attending a Nov. 4 legislative hearing on Medicaid, said the state rejected her Down syndrome daughter for aid, even though the U.S. Department of Disability Services …