Crime
Natchez Prison Riot Fallout Mounts
Three more men have been indicted for their alleged participation in a May 2012 riot at a federal prison in Adams County.
City & County
Water Meters Still Worry Council Members
The Siemens deal has made council members and citizens wary since May 2012, when Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. presented a deal for council approval.
Editor's Note
Silencing Our Fear of Youth
This issue is all about uplifting black boys, but it's hard to empower black boys when we are so invested in constantly tearing them down.
Civil Rights
Freedom Summer to Empower Youth
Albert Sykes grew up in west Jackson the next block over from the street where Medgar and Myrlie Evers lived, but says he never had a real connection to the …
Business
Casinos, LGBTs Still Allied in Face of SB 2681
To say that Mississippi, where citizens passed a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage in 2004, has been slow to cash in on the economic potential of embracing LGBT people and …
Politics
Cochran, McDaniel Spar Over Wife Photo Scandal
A longtime incumbent and a firebrand startup vying for the Republican nomination to U.S. Senate continue sparring over a scandal that broke over the weekend and shows no sign of …
City & County
Yarber Signals Shakeup with Crisler Pick
The appointment of former Ward 6 Councilman Marshand Crisler as public-safety commissioner marks the start of Mayor Tony Yarber's vow to overhaul the city's organizational chart.
City & County
Jailhouse Blues: Is Help on the Way for the Raymond Detention Center?
In 2006, the U.S. Justice Department estimated that more than 50 percent of all prisoners have some type of mental health issue. For incarcerated women, the percentage is closer to …
City & County
SPLC Blasts Henley-Young Plan
After receiving a reprimand for its management of the Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center, Hinds County officials have come up with a solution to the ongoing legal problems, one that has …
City & County
County Reviewing Emergency System Blackout
Officials in Hinds County are investigating the cause of a recent failure of its emergency-operations system.
Education
Inside Charter School Funding
On May 8, Mississippi's Charter School Authorizer Board will play the role of a university dissertation committee as groups hoping to start the state's first charter schools "defend" their applications.
Politics
Miss. Politics: Where the Sun Don’t Shine
Comparatively speaking, Mississippi does a poor job regulating political spending and granting access to government, national watchdog groups say.
City & County
Lumumba ‘Disappointed’ in Officials
Chokwe A. Lumumba, the son of Jackson's late mayor and the second-place finisher in the recent mayor's race, said he's disappointed the city pulled its support for the Jackson Rising …
Person of the Day
Excell Butler
The winds of change were blowing through most of Mississippi in 1967. At Jackson's mass-transit authority, JATRAN, things were no different. It was that year that then-30-year-old Excell Butler applied …
Jackson Men Rally in Response to Killings
Zachery Robinson was killed on Tuesday evening; Christopher Kyles the following morning.
City & County
City Almost Grounds 'Jackson Rising' Conference
A keystone of late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba's economic agenda, the Jackson Rising: New Economies Conference, which starts today, was almost derailed this week when the city of Jackson pulled its …
City & County
State Law Weak on City Elections
In the waning days of the April 22 special-election runoff for Jackson mayor, third parties, surrogates and political-action committees took control of the political discourse and broadcast airwaves to become …
City & County
Jackson Charter School to Make its Case
"Schools are the next frontier for community organizing," said Ravi Gupta, who took a leave of absence from law school to help Barack Obama be elected president the first time, …
Civil Rights
Hosemann's Voter ID Ads Win National Awards
If politics doesn't work out, Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann could always go into advertising.
City & County
Report: Youth Jail Schools Still Bad
Most states require kids to go to school through the first year or two of high school, but when it comes to juvenile-justice facilities, education is almost an afterthought for …
Politics
Party Switchers Cause Rifts
It might not contain all of the melodrama now playing out between Mississippi Republicans, but the Mississippi Democratic Party is having to deal with its own, smaller, civil war—and all …
Editor's Note
The Amazing Toughness of Kids
All kids need is love and attention, and they'll grow into amazing people; just look at the roster of our Amazing Teens, which includes National Honor Society members, community volunteers, …
Politics
Yarber Eclipsing Lumumba on Paid Campaign Staff
Ward 6 Councilman Tony Yarber is spending a lot more on campaign payroll than attorney Chokwe Lumumba, including to himself.
City & County
Supes: Jack Up Jail Rates on Jackson
Hinds County officials say it's time for the county to start charging the city of Jackson more to house prisoners in the Raymond Detention Center. It's also time for the …
City & County
Raff, Lumumba Honored This Weekend
The people—it's a current that ran through the career of late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba and continues in the work of Michael Raff.
Person of the Day
Zechariah Brice
Zechariah Brice builds. Zechariah Brice fights. The Latin phrase "construimus, batuimus" (translation: "We build. We fight") is the motto of the U.S. Navy Construction Battalion, otherwise known as the Seabees …
City & County
Lumumba Holds Money Edge Over Yarber
Chokwe A. Lumumba's fundraising committee remains in the money lead, the latest information from the Jackson city clerk's office shows.
City & County
Mayor-elect Tony Yarber: Risk Leads to Reward
Mayoral hopeful Tony Yarber bounces from person to person, hugging matronly women, receiving firm handshakes of support from old men and listening as people talk about their connections to him.
City & County
Rains Highlight Need for Sewer Fixes, Flood Reduction
Recent flooding has highlighted the urgency to address Jackson's longstanding problems with flooding as well as its aging sewer system that led to a roughly $400 million EPA consent decree.
City & County
Documents Shed More Light on Lumumba Mural Removal
The city received "numerous, relevant telephone calls," related to a painted tribute to late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba before its removal a week ago.
Civil Rights
Jackson: An LGBT Sanctuary?
Chokwe Lumumba, the late mayor of Jackson, once described Jackson as a new justice frontier, one that acknowledges that the city's diversity is its strength.
City & County
Mayoral Hopefuls Respond to Mural Flap, Plus Four Questions for #JxnMayor Special Election
Ever since the removal of a mural painted in tribute to late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba last Thursday, wide speculation has swirled about who pulled the trigger to have the painting …
Justice
Stokes: Hinds Jail a 'Public Safety Nightmare'
Markuieze Bennett, 21, should have been in court April 8, standing trial for strong armed robbery. The odds a jury would have found him innocent were good.
City & County
Stamps: 'Dadgum Low' to Complain About Lumumba Mural
The removal of a mural in Jackson's Monument Park that honors the late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, inscribed with Lumumba's portrait and the phrases "Peace & Unity in the Streets" and …
Person of the Day
Ian Hanson
It took Ian Hanson 20 thumbnail sketches to come up with "Dutch the Horse," his painting that will go to the winner of the Ruma Award, which honors Mississippi's most …
LGBT
Rhetoric Muddles Effects of 'Anti-Gay' 'Religious Rights' Bill
Does Senate Bill 2681, which the Mississippi Legislature approved, protect religious freedoms or open the door to legal discrimination?
City & County
Candidate Profile: Regina Quinn
Attorney Regina Quinn, former general counsel for Jackson State University, is running again for mayor after making a good showing in last year's election.
City & County
Candidate Profile: Harvey Johnson Jr.
The first African American mayor Jackson voters ever selected, Harvey Johnson Jr. likes to say that although Jackson said no to electing him twice, people said yes to his leadership …
City & County
Candidate Profile: Tony Yarber
A councilman representing south Jackson since 2009, Yarber gave high praise to late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, whom Yarber said helped citizens have a place and voice in city government.
City & County
Candidate Profile: Chokwe Antar Lumumba
A little over a year ago, when then-Councilman Chokwe Lumumba decided to run for mayor of Jackson, he and some of his close advisers floated the idea of Lumumba's son, …
City & County
Candidate Profile: Margaret Barrett-Simon
"I was busy" and "Why not?" are the two top reasons Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon, a 29-year veteran of the council and mother of five, gave the Jackson Free …
City & County
Big Questions in the Home Stretch
A Republican-sponsored bill could clear the way for economic-development projects in downtown Jackson, including around Farish Street and for a convention-center hotel.
City & County
How to Save a Zoo
De'Keither Stamps picked the zoo over the circus—of the Jackson mayor's race.
City & County
Repayment of HUD Funds Emerges as Election Issue
An agreement between the city of Jackson and a federal housing agency over the apparent mishandling of $2 million in community-development block grant money could hamstring small development in the …
City & County
Jackson Could Get $30 Million Boost From Lawmakers
A lot of the city of Jackson's legislative agenda has died. In fact, none of the 10 proposals that contain the phrase "city of Jackson" in the bill title survived …
City & County
Hopefuls Stick to Talking Points
Ten days out from the special election that will determine the next mayor of Jackson, the top candidates are honing in on the key ideas they'll sell to capital city …
Cover
No Hate
"The Campaign," directed and produced by Christie Herring, introduces us to the people working to stop California's Proposition 8, which would have eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry …
Politics
Piling on the Poor
Before the session started, fiscally conservative budget writers vowed to keep state spending to a minimum unless the economy improved and projected revenues went up.
City & County
A #JXNMayor Confessional
The three members of the Jackson City Council who are running for mayor got ahead of the rumor-mill in interviews with the Jackson Free Press last week.
Justice
Byrom Execution This Week Unlikely
With the Mississippi State Supreme Court considering appeals from death-row prisoner Michelle Byrom, it's unlikely that the state could schedule the woman's execution in time for the date Attorney General …
