Jackson Free Press

Trump Declares Virus Pandemic a National Emergency

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is declaring the coronavirus pandemic a national emergency, as Washington struggles with providing Americans with relief and officials race to slow the spread …

Mississippi Mental Health Lawsuit Poses Concerns for Civil Rights

As a mental-health lawsuit claiming a violation of the civil rights of mentally ill Mississippians moves forward, Joy Hogge has in mind "a young person" who never received the support …

On Pothole Patrol in South Jackson

Hazardous road conditions, many of them routinely unmarked, have caused a number of issues in Jackson, including a Jackson Public School bus getting its tire stuck in a pothole in …

Looking Ahead to 2018 in #MSLeg

With an American flag backdrop the size of a mid-sized swimming pool, Mississippi's top lawmakers took turns running through their track records and outlining where state policy is headed at …

'Judicial Kidnapping’ in Pearl Youth Court?

Youth-court judges in Mississippi preside over all matters involving delinquent juveniles in addition to abused, neglected or abandoned children. Youth-court judges have the power to send children to foster care, …

In the Statehouse and the Courtroom, Mental Health is Embattled

Research in the psychology and psychiatry fields show little to no evidence that hospitals and residential treatment centers are effective in helping a person with mental-health needs.

EdBuild: New Formula in Hands of Few

Mississippi's new education funding formula is in the hands of a few lawmakers and the statehouse leadership—and what it will look like or how much money will go into the …

Mayor-elect Tony Yarber: Risk Leads to Reward

Mayoral hopeful Tony Yarber bounces from person to person, hugging matronly women, receiving firm handshakes of support from old men and listening as people talk about their connections to him.

Jackson Rallies to Save Junaid Hafeez

One of only a handful of NESA scholars, Hafeez came to Mississippi in 2009 to continue his studies at Jackson State University.

Faulty Senate Race Calls for Election Change

The 2014 U.S. Senate race pinned two sides of the Republican Party against each other in a heated primary that presented more possible problems with Mississippi's election law than it …

John McCain's Evolution on Confederate Flag, Family’s Slavery Legacy

Arizona U.S. Sen. John McCain, who died Saturday, Aug. 25, of brain cancer at age 81, once apologized for lying to voters about his position on the Confederate flag. He …

Parents, Educators Call on JPS to Renew Music Program

UPDATED October 26, 2009

Complaints inundated Jackson Public Schools Board members after a tie vote on Oct. 20 failed to renew a music education program that serves elementary students across the district. The roughly …

Itawamba Lesbian Teen: ‘It Was Pretty Bad'

Itawamba County Agricultural High School student Constance McMillen says she is relieved by the Itawamba County School District's offer of $35,000 for damages plus court costs, and adoption of an …

Unions Oppose Kemper County Plant

Unions have sided with the Mississippi Sierra Club and the Mississippi Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities against Mississippi Power's push to build a $2.4 billion lignite-burning plant in Kemper County.

Isaac Byrd

Isaac Byrd, 54, is not the kind of guy who bases his self-assessments on the opinions of others. "One of the great downfalls of black America and Mississippi is that …

How Dark Money Helped Republicans Hold the House and Hurt Voters

In the November election, a million more Americans voted for Democrats seeking election to the U.S. House of Representatives than Republicans. But that popular vote advantage did not result in …

Public Universities Ramp Up Aid for the Wealthy, Leaving the Poor Behind

Many public universities, faced with their own financial shortfalls, are increasingly leaving low-income students behind.

Breaking: Vidal Sullivan Turns Self In

WJTV is reporting that Vidal Sullivan has turned himself in to police and is being held at "an undisclosed location."

Nominees Share History of Slavery, Plantations, Seg Academies in Natchez Senate Race

Republican Melanie Sojourner told the Jackson Free Press on Oct. 24 that she did not know as a young girl that the school she attended had been organized as a …

Council Majority Fears Illegal Transfers

A majority of the City Council held a press conference today explaining their recent votes of no confidence in City Attorney Sarah O'Reilly-Evans and to withhold pay from two city …