Jackson Free Press

City In Recovery

A spring storm went overboard last Friday, spawning about five tornados in the Jackson area and leaving a large portion of the city and some adjoining communities without power well …

Barbour Declares State of Emergency, Includes Jackson

2:45 p.m.—(JACKSON, Mississippi) - Governor Haley Barbour today declared a State of Emergency for 12 Mississippi counties following a severe weather system and tornadoes which hit parts of Central Mississippi, …

Legislative Update: Back Door to Abortion Restriction?

The House and Senate spent all of March firing bills at one another, waiting to see what the other side was going to do with them. It's that time of …

Republicans Singing the Blues?

A New York Times Magazine piece chronicles the depression that is setting in for Republicans now that the strategies that gave them temporary power are starting to turn off new …

The Rev. Wright Controversy: More Than Meets the Eye?

"Dear Jodi: Thank you for engaging in one of the biggest misrepresentations of the truth I have ever seen in sixty-five years." This is how Rev. Jeremiah Wright begins a …

Rebirth of a King

What a long, strange, trip it's been. The co-developers of the King Edward Hotel are holding a groundbreaking on March 27, at 11 a.m., after years of the project languishing …

Legislature: Subtle Casualities

Deadlines both made and spayed bills last week. Many bills passed in the two chambers of the Mississippi Legislature, but now face conference committee to bang out their differences.

Medicaid on Hold?

Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, said he wants the Mississippi Senate to belly up and help the House fund Medicaid.

[Kamikaze] Let the Chickens Roost

It appears that the chickens did indeed come home to roost. No, not in the Rev. Jeremiah Wright sense. Not even the Malcolm X sense. These "chickens" are a direct …

Legislative Update: Medicaid and Marriage

This week marked either the victory cheer or the death knell for a round of money bills seeking approval. Tuesday, specifically, marked the deadline for the House or Senate to …

Immigration Bill a Reality

Well, he signed it. Gov. Haley Barbour caved in to the screaming fury of conservative talk radio and the raging rant of phone calls and signed into law SB 2988, …

The Emerging Mississippi: Are New Voters Changing State Politics?

Photos by Kenya Hudson

When presidential hopeful Barack Obama entered the Rose Embley McCoy building at Jackson State University on March 10, he flowed easily into the hungry arms of the crowd. At least …

Mississippi GOP Politicizes Scruggs Plea

The head of the Mississippi Republican Party is using the guilty plea of Richard "Dickie" Scruggs to try to focus the scandal spotlight away from Republicans and put it squarely …

Civil Rights Museum Part of Tougaloo ‘Master Plan'

Tougaloo College President Beverly Hogan told The Clarion-Ledger today that a civil rights museum has been part of the college's "master plan" for years:

SNL Slams Mississippi

"Saturday Night Live"

"This week Barack Obama won Mississippi with 90% of the black vote and a quarter of the white vote with Mississippi's one Asian guy still hiding indoors afraid to go …

Are ‘HillPublicans' True Dumba$$es?

Just ponderin'. (See Alternet article).

OK, if all these desperate Republicans are going to follow Rush Limbaugh's advice and turn out to vote for Hillary Clinton in order to try to keep Obama (and his …

Undocumented Workers, Felons and Fines

Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin warned that legislators had better be ready to back up Senate Bill 2988 with more funding if they intend for local law enforcement and jails …

Legislative Update: It's About Money, Stupid!

The Mississippi House of Representatives deeply involved itself in appropriation bills last week. The House is up against a March 12 deadline to weigh in on "money bills" originating in …

Tougaloo Site a 'Done Deal'

A Civil Rights Museum commission appointed by Gov. Haley Barbour approved the location of a planned National Civil Rights Museum, March 11, with a 22-to-9 vote in favor of a …

Barbour: Reset Museum Decision

This week, the commission appointed by Gov. Haley Barbour to choose a location for Mississippi's Civil Rights Museum voted 22-9 in support of its location committee's recommendation that the museum …