Jackson Free Press

Barbour Reacts to Race to the Top

The Obama administration announced the recipients of this year's Race to the Top grants, and Mississippi was not on the list.

Old Fights, New Bruises

House Speaker Billy McCoy, Senate leader Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant and Gov. Haley Barbour will address some very old fights this year as the Legislature convenes. Many of these are …

Capitol Report: Will They Or Won't They?

The Legislature only has until Jan. 31 to decide whether it will reinstate the Medicaid benefits taken from 50,000 people characterized as Poverty Level, Aged and Disabled (PLADs) last session. …

Justice, Hope and Hurricane Katrina

Re-housing residents along the Mississippi coast became the most daunting problem of the post-Katrina recovery—logistically and politically speaking.

Of Sin and Politics

I remember being surprised when I got old enough to realize that not everyone had a yearly "giant house party" in their home county. In fact, the Neshoba County Fair …

MDOC Scandal Highlights Privatization Problems

With the nation's largest private prison operators earning more than $3 billion in revenue, private-prison and government watchdogs say the opportunity for the brand of corruption alleged against Epps and …

Surprise, Surprise: Supreme Court Backs Barbour

Gov. Haley Barbour told us all that the Mississippi Supreme Court would overturn the lower court decision requiring him to follow statute in scheduling the special election to replace Sen. …

Who's Fooling Whom?

No one likes to be fooled.

Protect Private Property

During trips to my mother's hometown of Oxford, it was customary for her to point out the areas of land, now heavily developed, that blacks owned when she was growing …

Are ‘Workers' All We Want?

As we move into the fourth or fifth year of the Great Recession (depending on whose measurement you use), it's more and more difficult to divorce anything from its ability …

A ‘Crucial' Tax

To help the city fund a convention center, the Jackson City Council has approved Mayor Harvey Johnson's proposal for a 1-percent optional sales tax increase, and other proposals that will …

Bryant Announces Govt. Reorganization Plan

State legislators will consider reform and reorganization of state government in January, Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant said today. At a news conference this morning, Bryant released a report detailing recommendations …

Two-Way Capitol St., Water Line Repairs Closer

A massive state bonds bill, providing $2 million for converting Jackson's Capitol Street and up to $6 million for upgrading city water lines, cleared a major legislative hurdle yesterday and …

Hinds Signs Old Capitol Green Support Agreement

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors approved a tentative agreement today with the City of Jackson and New York City-based developers Full Spectrum Inc. establishing financial support for infrastructure related …

Jackson Unveils Blues Marker Honoring Ace Records

Jackson will unveil its seventh Mississippi Blues Trail marker this afternoon, honoring Ace Records and its founder, Johnny Vincent Imbragulio (1925-2000). Known simply as "Johnny Vincent," he founded Ace Records …

Stop Wasting Our Time

Here we go again.

Up In Smoke

A sure-to-be contentious campaign to raise Mississippi's cigarette tax kicked off Nov. 18 in the rotunda of the state Capitol. A coalition of about 40 county and state groups calling …

Show Us That Clinton is Better for DOR

The Department of Finance and Administration has finally made its long-awaited recommendation for a new permanent home for the Department of Revenue, which is now housed in a Quonset hut …

'Parent-Trigger Law' Important

In their push for a more expansive charter-school law in Mississippi, charter proponents have attempted to repeal our existing charter-school law.

Zac Harmon Blues

<b>UPDATE: Ticket price for the event now $15.</b>

Voted Best New Blues Artist by XM Radio, Jackson native Zac Harmon certainly gets back to his roots in his music. Harmon's cool blues sound is reminiscent of blues giants …