Jackson Free Press

Engineering Whimsy

Betsy Bradley stepped into the construction zone in high heels, looking back at a group of curious art lovers. Behind her, more than 30 adults holding wine glasses and beer …

Prison System 'Like Chattel Slavery': Activists Rally for Mississippi Reform

Behind the granite back of a high-perched Confederate soldier and a Mississippi state flag, a multi-racial crowd sang freedom songs as mothers held signs, pleading for help for their incarcerated …

GOP Insider: Foster to Endorse Ex-Opponent Waller in Runoff for Primary Nod for Gov

Mississippi House Rep. Robert Foster plans to endorse former Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller in the Republican runoff for governor, a GOP insider told the Jackson Free Press …

Inside JPD’s Use-of-Force Policy: Public Trust vs. Officer Safety

Lately Tetrina Blalock has been reconnecting with family members she has not seen in a while. Losing her cousin brought them together.

Will the People Have a Say in 2018 Budget?

With the tax deadline not too far in the rearview mirror, finances are still at the foreground of many people's minds, including Jackson officials as they work on the budget …

Jackson Zoo: Pulled from Two Directions

Jackson City Council President Charles Tillman of Ward 5 asked the members to use diplomacy during a conversation about the Jackson Zoo at last week's meeting. Not everyone took that …

Solar Lights a Healthy—and Empowering—Path in Disasters.

When disaster strikes, survivors have a few basic needs: food, water, shelter, blankets. But energy quickly becomes just as fundamental a need—and that is often lacking, or very dirty.

Hyde-Smith Demanded No Audience, No Press for Tonight’s Debate

U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith demanded there be no audience or outside press allowed at tonight’s U.S. Senate debate and requested other restrictions, a source familiar with the debate negotiations told …

City Wants State’s Help Recouping Funds

Jackson City Council Vice President Virgi Lindsay knows that although Jackson desperately needs legislative assistance with recouping uncollected funds, the 2019 session might be fairly stagnant.

School Safety Act Includes Mental Health, School Surveillance Provisions

Mississippi's children go to school in places "of potential violence," Gov. Phil Bryant lamented in his State of the State address last month, as he called on lawmakers to craft …

Joe Biden's Praise for Segregationists Spans Decades

As a liberal Democratic senator before segregationists switched to the GOP, Joe Biden's friendships extended to not only conservatives, but notorious racist Dixiecrats like former Sen. Strom Thurmond of South …

Bomp, Bomp: Law & Order and the Race for Hinds County District Attorney

It's hard to tell whether Robert Shuler Smith, the top prosecutor in Hinds County, is confident he'll coast to a third term as district attorney—or if he's scared out of …

Short Political Quiz

...and I do mean SHORT. Check it out.

My results:

[Hightower] Seven Seconds in Hell

You've got to give Mancow credit. He did it. Erich "Mancow" Muller manned up and rode "the liquid pony," as waterboarding is euphemistically called.

Trial Date Set for Melton, Bodyguards

The Associated Press is reporting that Frank Melton, Michael Recio and Marcus Wright are headed to trial on April 23 for the demolition of the Ridgeway Street duplex and instructing …

State Wants NCLB Relief

The Mississippi Board of Education voted last month to apply for a waiver in hopes of getting relief from some of the requirements of No Child Left Behind.

New Year, New Start

Recently, the Jackson Redevelopment Authority decided to stop and breathe rather than be bulldozed into making a decision without having all the information they needed for the proposed convention-center hotel. …

[Talk] Musical Education

"A significant part of our mission is education," explains Malcolm White, executive direction of the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame. "Both getting Mississippi music education in the public schools and …

New Year, New Start

Recently, the Jackson Redevelopment Authority decided to stop and breathe rather than be bulldozed into making a decision without having all the information they needed for the proposed convention-center hotel. …

Serendipitous Art

If you mat it, they will come. That could be the theme for the Serendipity Art Show and Silent Auction at the Mississippi State Hospital on Sept. 2. It's the …