Ronni Mott | Stories | Jackson Free Press | Jackson, MS

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Ronni Mott

Stories by Ronni

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Sex Trafficking: What Now?

During the last legislative session, Mississippi lawmakers sharpened the teeth of the state's laws addressing human trafficking.

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Johnson: Barns, Zen and the Tax Base

A couple of weeks before the end of Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr.'s third term in office, we sat together for about 45 minutes talking about his accomplishments, the campaign, what …

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Sex Trafficking: The Portable Crime

Sex traffickers frequently move girls around.

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Sex Trafficking: It’s Not About Sex

Heather Wagner, assistant attorney general in charge of the domestic violence unit in the state attorney general's office, says it's unclear just how big the sex trafficking problem is in …

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Making of a Mayor

On the morning of the Democratic primary race on May 7, Jackson's political insiders in the mood for prognosticating might have positioned Ward 2 Councilman Chokwe Lumumba as a long …

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Sex Trafficking: A Local Problem

Trading lives for money, sex, work or drugs—those are just a few of the ways people get used. The money can be huge—for those in control of other lives.

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The Odd Journey of Mills for Schools

Millage rates—property taxes—might sound about as far from "sexy" as any story can be. But the well-being of Jackson Public Schools depends largely on the city allocating enough money to …

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Newton H. James

Those who knew him best say that Newton H. James was a brave man at a time when such bravery came at the risk of life and livelihood in Mississippi. …

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Brendan O'Toole

Brendan O'Toole isn't using lavish fundraisers to raise $2 million to support veterans. Instead, he's using his stamina, endurance and, mostly, his feet on a 3,600-mile, coast-to-coast run.

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Notes from the Fishbowl

Waking up to our biases is like popping the red pill—suddenly, the matrix is everywhere.

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Putting Early Learning First

When it comes to Mississippi's future—economically and socially—we have no better way to ensure success than to provide our youngest citizens with early childhood education, beginning at age 3.

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What Is Lumumba’s ‘Jackson Plan’?

For anyone still on the fence over whom to vote for in the Democratic runoff next Tuesday, it's likely that reading through the Jackson Plan will move his or her …

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The Johnson Legacy

Voters have an interesting choice as they head to polls for the second time May 21 to cast ballots for the Democratic Party runoffs.

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Jim Hood

The office of Mississippi's Attorney General Jim Hood has long been an advocate for victims of crime in the state. As such, Hood and his team of attorneys write and …

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City’s Attorney Details Jackson Lawsuits

During the campaign battles leading up to the primaries Tuesday, mayoral candidate Jonathan Lee, whose family business, Mississippi Products, is embroiled in numerous lawsuits, struck out at incumbent Mayor Harvey …

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City Attorney Details City Lawsuits, JATRAN Controversy

The Jackson city attorney and a lawyer suing the city on behalf of police officers discuss allegations that the city is facing a mountain of lawsuits.

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A Constant Risk

About six months ago, Candace Houston's world went wonky. That's when she learned that her cousin's persistent cough wasn't bronchitis. Instead, the diagnosis was tuberculosis, a highly contagious and potentially …

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Williams: Part of the Solution

Patricia Williams' candidacy for Ward 3 comes from deep concern. As a life-long resident of the ward, she says it has gone downhill in recent years along with its young …

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Jones: Living Up to Potential

John H. Jones Jr. is a highly educated and experienced administrator, and he wants to bring those qualities to the Jackson mayor's office.

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Lee’s Legal Troubles Multiply

The week before the Democratic primary went from bad to worse for mayoral candidate Jonathan Lee when news emerged Monday that a fifth supplier, Diversey Inc., is suing his family …

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Jobie L. Martin Classroom Building

A locally designed building on the campus of Hinds Community College has received a national award for excellence from the American Institute of Architecture.

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‘It’s Not About Me’: The JFP Interview with Mayoral Hopeful Frank Bluntson

Jackson City Councilman Frank Bluntson, 77, is not exactly a newcomer to local politics: He has served almost eight years on the Jackson City Council, and several as council president.

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Remembering Eric Smith

Eric T. Smith was always busy. He was a husband, a father and a man who cared about his neighbors.

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Creative, Historic Space

Take a couple of enthusiastic young Jackson entrepreneurs and put them together with an established urban-development company and what do you get? Well, you might get some fabulous low-cost housing …

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Rachel Jarman Myers

Rachel Jarman Myers brings southern Jewish history into Mississippi classrooms with a special interactive program: a traveling trunk.

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Judge James E. Graves

Fifth Circuit Judge and Clinton native James E. Graves Jr. will receive an award in May honoring a lifetime of work in the Mississippi legal system.

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Det. Eric Smith Remembered

Eric T. Smith was a husband, a father and a man who cared about his neighbors. Like many Mississippians, he was an avid New Orleans Saints fan as evidenced by …

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Move Your Feet

Democracy is people, and the people are us.

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Edward Croom Jr.

If you don't have a clue what an ethnobotanist does, don't feel alone. But if you're curious, you probably won't find a more enthusiastic advocate for the field than Edward …

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Dems: Reprioritize to Fund Schools

The Mississippi Legislature does not lack the money to fully fund education; it lacks political will, Rep. Cecil Brown, D-Jackson, says.

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Erica Michelle

Erica Michelle has known all her life that acting would be her career. Now, at 26, the Jackson State University alumna has completed her first movie role and has several …

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Education Still Inadequately Funded

With no shortage of suggestions about how to fix the conditions and the lagging achievements of public schools during this legislative session, Democrats say that the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, …

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Sit, Jackson

In our rush to meet deadlines, take care of our families and get stuff done, finding the time to do nothing may seem counter-intuitive.

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Wins for Women and Children

Women and children may be a little safer in Mississippi after some successes this past week at the state house.

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Jacksonian Receives New Liver at UMMC

Karen Battle barely had the energy to lift her feet high enough to clear an ordinary street curb just a few weeks ago. Liver disease had ravaged her health and …

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Thomas Mosley

What's good for the heart is also good for the brain. That premise connects the work of Thomas Mosley to traditional medicine, which is concerned with treating ailments of the …

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Mississippians 'Confused' About Personhood?

Not satisfied with taking "no" for an answer from the state's voters, Personhood Mississippi has teamed up with the Christian ultra-conservative American Family Association to take another shot at changing …

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Battle of the Boxes

If there's one thing Mississippians love, it's their discount stores.

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Race Equality Gap Growing

Black families in America have never reached the levels of wealth that American whites enjoy, a new report from Brandeis University finds.

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Sequester to Affect Mississippi's Children

Today marks the deadline for Congress and the president to agree on a plan to avoid the $85 billion in automatic, indiscriminate spending cuts called the sequester.

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Michelle Obama

First lady Michelle Obama made Clinton her first stop on a two-day tour promoting her signature Let's Move anti-obesity program.

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Foster System Remains ‘Unacceptable’

Jamison J. had shuffled through 28 foster homes, mental institutions and temporary shelters, by the time he was 17 years old.

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Blessings for All Unions

More than three years after the Episcopal Church provided for gay union blessings, Mississippi's Bishop Duncan Gray III announced Feb. 1 that he would allow congregations to bless same-sex unions …

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Calden and Alden Hopkins

When Calden and Alden Hopkins talk about their lives, a picture of strong family devoted to service emerges.

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Don’t Look Away from Abuse

Violence isn't something that happens to other people. Every day, sexual violence happens in all neighborhoods, rich and poor.

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From Punishment to Healing: Moving Mental-Health Care Home

Jennifer Michaels traces her mental-health problems back to Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, when she was 12 years old.

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Women Still Under Assault

With Mississippi's only abortion facility facing permanent closure due to a law passed during the 2012 legislative session, other women's reproductive rights may be fairly safe during this year's session.

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HHS Denies Mississippi's Plan for Exchange

Commissioner Mike Chaney said he feels the Obama administration has betrayed him for denying the state's application.

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Nunnelee Reintroduces Akin's Bill

Mississippi's U.S. Rep. Alan Nunnelee is reviving the specter of former Rep. Todd Akin, a fellow Republican from Missouri.

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Tackling Human Trafficking in Mississippi

Trafficking of human beings--for sex or for labor--affects everyday people we all might encounter.