Jackson Free Press

Bill Adds Teeth to Stalking Law

Sitting on Gov. Haley Barbour's desk this morning awaiting his signature is a bill designed to give Mississippi's stalking laws some bite. House bill 1309 revises and strengthens the definition …

Medical Examiner Bill Sent To Barbour

The Mississippi Legislature has passed a bill that would require state medical examiners to be certified forensic pathologists. The House of Representatives today approved Senate changes to House Bill 1456, …

Strangulation, Security and Suffrage

Both chambers of the state Legislature spent the past week considering bills from the opposite chamber. The House amended Senate Bill 2923—a bill that expands domestic assault to include strangulation …

Revenue Estimates Down, Barbour to Announce Budget Cuts

With newly revised revenue estimates projecting a slow recovery for the state economy, Gov. Haley Barbour is preparing to cut an additional $41 million from the state budget for this …

Barbour Signs Strip Club Bill

Gov. Haley Barbour signed a bill on March 15 giving rural counties authority to regulate strip clubs. House Bill 170 demands supervisors publish and post notice of any proposed ordinance …

Baria: Barbour's Wind Pool Veto Raises Rates

Sen. David Baria, D-Bay St. Louis, successfully added an amendment to a bill by voice vote yesterday that continues the state's annual $20 million payment to the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting …

Silver Alert Legislation Awaits Barbour's Signature

Keeping our parents and grandparents safe is the goal of a Mississippi House bill creating a Silver Alert system. The system, based on Amber Alerts for children, will allow family …

Community Events and Public Meetings

8:30 a.m., Stimulus Funding Opportunities Conference, at River Room Conference Center (100 Ridge Drive, Flowood). The Mississippi Development Authority will host a conference to explain opportunities for Mississippi-based certified minority …

Luckett Touts Bio-Fuels, Education at Jackson Forum

Investments in early childhood education and alternative energy can spur Mississippi's economy, Clarksdale attorney and 2011 candidate for governor Bill Luckett said during a speech at Koinonia Coffee House in …

Clarion-Ledger Drops Stringfellow Column After First Lady Flap

Eric Stringfellow, who has worked with The Clarion-Ledger as a writer or editor since 1982, revealed today that the executive editor of the paper, Ronnie Agnew, has dropped his column. …

Gov. and Dems Play Blame Game

Gov. Haley Barbour and House Democrats are blaming each other for the Legislature's failure to re-authorize the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, an agency that provides workforce services and dispenses …

[Ladd] Ain't That Something

Not long ago, Todd and I were downtown to see "Groovaloo" at Thalia Mara. As we walked to the car, an obviously homeless man walked up and respectfully asked us …

Appropriations and Pole-Dancing

The House and Senate agreed on a major appropriation bill last week, when negotiators came to terms on appropriations bill SB 2495, which restores $82 million to the Fiscal Year …

Wins, Losses for School Appropriations

The House and Senate agreed to restore about $37 million to K-12 education in a this week following Gov. Haley Barbour's veto of a budget reconciliation bill that would have …

Lawmakers Attempt to Restore $82 Million to 2010 Budget

The Mississippi Legislature has sent a second budget reconciliation compromise to Gov. Haley Barbour, this time restoring $82 million of the cuts the governor has made this fiscal year. Barbour …

Obama Energizes Students

For several hours the students at Brinkley Middle School waited anxiously inside their school's auditorium for First Lady Michelle Obama to enter the building this afternoon. When Obama arrived, along …

Happiness Worth Celebrating

In my own relationship with an abusive man, "You're the best" turned fairly quickly into "I'm the only one who loves you," along with overt attempts to demonize my friends …

Nursing Homes and Overrides

Last week was all about passing budget bills, with the House and Senate considering a huge list of appropriation legislation funding various state agencies.

Barbour Blames Media for Toyota Woes

In 2007—before the economy tanked—Mississippi lawmakers and Gov. Haley Barbour approved a $293.9 million incentive package to persuade Toyota Motor Corp. to build a factory in Blue Springs, Miss., near …

Lessons of the 1979 Easter Flood

Part 3 in a series

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recommended last week that FEMA re-certify the levees protecting the Hinds and Rankin County edges bordering the Pearl River, despite the fact that the …