Jackson Free Press

Health Law Bars Opting Out Of Maternity Coverage; Long Term Care Insurance Is Guaranteed If Company Goes Out Of Business

This week, I am answering readers' questions about maternity coverage requirements in the new health insurance exchanges, long-term-care insurance and switching employer health plans.

My Hero the Gyro

My affair with the gyro sandwich (pronounced YEER-oh, not JI-roh) began as a small child. I remember my father taking me to a small family-owned storefront inside a shopping mall …

C-Bone Jones

Note that in the print edition, the author says in this story that C-Bone Jones will appear May 28. That is an error; he will be at Santiago's Thursday, May …

The Sneaky Way to (Not) Diet

The problem with dieting is that it really only works when you have total control over what you are eating. And seriously, who has the time to count, measure and …

Test Drive: Room in a VUE

"It's too big," says Ms. D, with clear-eyed disdain. We were driving up to the Saturn dealership on I-55 and High Street, looking at a row of nearly identical Saturn …

Back In The USSR

In 1972, Arkadi and Boris Strugatsky, brothers who were celebrated Russian science-fiction writers, published a short novella called "Roadside Picnic." It chronicled a man's journey into "The Zone," a quarantined …

You Can't Even Call Me Shallow for It

Youth Media Project

Though I bet some of you are going to try. This is a true recount of my weekend in New Orleans, a city whose vibe I really feel. And had …

Heaven's Kitchen

The air in St. Andrew's kitchen is filled with the heady aroma of garlic and roasting chicken as a dozen volunteers prepare meals for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina's devastation.

AVANT GARDENS: Gardening for Dummies

Jerry Palmer won our immediate respect when he pointed up at the 100-foot pine tree in our yard, and a good-sized limb from the top cracked and landed with a …

EYES ON LONDON: Music time, damaged Ukraine pride

Around the 2012 Olympics and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of the games to you.

JPS Mulls Lake Hico’s Future, Proposes Advisory Committee

As Entergy's lease of Lake Hico as a cooling pond for its electricity plant located between Northside Drive and Watkins Drive ends Sept. 30, it presents an excellent opportunity for …

Slow-Moving Hurricane Sally Carrying a Deluge to Gulf Coast

Hurricane Sally, one of a record-tying five storms churning simultaneously in the Atlantic, closed in on the Gulf Coast on Monday with rapidly strengthening winds of at least 100 mph …

Of Rucks and Scrums

As I traveled to the Jackson Rugby Football Club practice on a hot and humid Tuesday afternoon, I had no clue what to expect, but I attempted to visualize how …

Income-Tax Phaseout Up for Debate in Long-Poor Mississippi

Mississippi is accustomed to being first in worsts: It's one of the poorest, unhealthiest states in the nation, with public schools that are chronically underfunded. Some Republican leaders say a …

For Wash. Government Bean-Counter, a Pot Education

Mike Steenhout knows spreadsheets, statistics and bean-counting. He has worked as a budget assistant to the governor, managed local operations for the U.S. Census Bureau and analyzed juvenile crime databases.

Wash. and Colo. 'Potrepreneurs' See Opportunity

Kim Ridgway and her wife, Kimberly Bliss, can well envision the shop they plan to open—where they'll put the accessories, the baked goods and the shelves stacked with their valuable …

Business Leaders: Education Top Economic Priority

A report on Mississippi's economy lists education, work-force development, and strengthening and expanding the economy at the top of a list of goals for the state's future.

GOP Governors Endure Early Trials, Gird for 2014

Republican governors took over statehouses across the country after the 2010 elections and immediately acted on promises to usher in a new era of budget cutting and conservative labor policies.

Syria: U.S. Chemical Weapons Charges 'Full of Lies'

The Syrian government on Friday dismissed U.S. charges that it used chemical weapons as "full of lies," accusing President Barack Obama of resorting to fabrications to justify his decision to …

Sex Trafficking: It’s Not About Sex

Heather Wagner, assistant attorney general in charge of the domestic violence unit in the state attorney general's office, says it's unclear just how big the sex trafficking problem is in …