City & County
City Prodding State on ‘Bandos’
The City of Jackson took steps last week to prod Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann's office to include some of the more than 3,000 properties under its control to the ...
Business
City May Lease More Buses
The Jackson City Council deliberated handing the mayor the authority to terminate the contract with the company that maintains the JATRAN fleet during its last regular meeting on July 12, ...
State
Court May Decide if Judge Can Bar District Attorney from Duties
It is up to the highest court in Mississippi to decide whether Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith will be able to continue the duties of his position while ...
City & County
DA Smith Asks High Court for Reinstatement
Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shueler Smith filed a motion for the Mississippi Supreme Court to overturn an order barring him from participating in any of the duties of his ...
City & County
Resident, City Celebrate Rehabbed 'Gateway' Home in West Jackson
Mayor Tony Yarber explained that the Gateway project, with a $4.1-million total budget, was an effort between the City of Jackson Department of Housing and Community Development, the U.S. Department ...
City & County
Trump Supporter Announces Republican Jackson Mayoral Candidacy
Jason Wells has a history of running for office, and now sets his sights on the Jackson mayoral office as a staunch Republican in a field dominated by Democrats.
City & County
UPDATED: City of Jackson Seeks to Close Doors on Fondren Garage
The City of Jackson has issued a warrant for the arrest of the owner of Fondren Garage, and more likely than not, the establishment will soon be shut down.
City & County
‘Pay or Stay’: Bonding Agents v. Poor Defendants
The settlement between the City of Jackson and a number of poor citizens recently dismantled not just the "pay or stay" policy of the Municipal Court but also the practice ...
Business
Gov. Bryant Claims Immunity to Dodge Testifying in Airport 'Takeover' Case
Gov. Phil Bryant has filed a motion to quash a subpoena for his appearance in the airport takeover lawsuit, claiming "legislative immunity."
City & County
Furloughs for City Employees Here to Stay
The City of Jackson must cut all across the board to balance the budget for the next fiscal year, which means that the furloughs for City employees are here to ...
City & County
Water Main Replacement Project on Eastover Begins
Over the last year, the Eastover Drive water main has busted more than 20 times, leading to water loss, boil-water notices and repeated trips by city crews to mend the ...
Business
A Million for JATRAN, Fireworks, and 'Capacity' at City Council
Even as fireworks are banned in many cities across the country, the Jackson City Council could not pass an ordinance to ban fireworks in the city before the July 4 ...
Development
Court Upholds Developer David Watkins' Securities Violations
After years of appeals, the local developer tasked with renovating the Belk building in Metrocenter Mall must pay over $600,000 in restitution and fines.
City & County
City Leaders Ally Against Airport ‘Takeover’ Move
The saga of who controls the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers Airport moves into the federal courthouse, and complex legal mechanizations are now paramount to the question of who owns the land ...
State
Jones to Remain on JRA Board Despite Indictment
Jackson Redevelopment Authority Chairman McKinley Alexander said he would not pursue any action to replace or oust board member Andria Jones, amid questions about her pending legal charges.
City & County
JPS Dismisses Defamation Lawsuit Against BOTEC, Alleged 'Cruelly False Assertions'
Jackson Public Schools ended its legal wrangling with Los Angeles-based research firm BOTEC Analysis over results it published in a Mississippi attorney general-funded study about the relationship between school discipline ...
City & County
Fight for Jackson Airport: City, JMAA Join Stallworth's Lawsuit Against State
The City of Jackson and the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority announced Thursday afternoon that they would be filing a joint motion to intervene in the ongoing lawsuit filed by former ...
City & County
UPDATE: Bomb Threat Clears Hinds County Courthouse
Moments after the Hinds County Circuit Clerk explained that he could not produce documents supporting Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith's counter-accusations against Attorney General Jim Hood'ss office, deputies ...
City & County
Hinds District Attorney Arrested by AG, Sheriff
An arrest warrant was served and executed on Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith Wednesday morning for six counts of what court documents state was assisting criminal defendants during ...
City & County
Councilman Stokes: Ban Confederate Flags and Decrease the Reserve Fund
Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes proposed an order last week revising the required reserve fund in the budget from the ordinance-mandated 7 percent to a lower number that the City ...
City & County
Uneasy Riders: People with Disabilities Face ‘Layers of Discrimination’
On Sundays, Dr. Scott Crawford rides his power wheelchair down Meadowbrook Road to church, usually in the road and against the flow of traffic. The city's public-transit service, JATRAN, does ...
City & County
Mayor Yarber on Crime: Saw ‘7 or 8 Dead Bodies’ Before Age 13, All Must 'Get Out of Our Bubble'
Mayor Tony Yarber sat down to discuss crime with Jackson Free Press Editor-in-chief Donna Ladd on June 20 at Millsaps, sharing stories that showed that for him that the consequences ...
City & County
Jackson Police Purchase 39 Tasers: 'Intended to Save Lives'
The Jackson City Council gave the Jackson Police Department week the go-ahead last to purchase 39 "conducted electricity weapons," or Tasers.
Business
Koinonia Coffee House Closes But Will Return
Koinonia Coffee House closes at the end of the month, owner Lee Harper announced this morning during the weekly Friday Forum, promising that in its place a whole new stage ...
City & County
‘Landmark’: ‘Coolest, Sexiest Building in Mississippi’?
Ben Allen, president of Downtown Jackson Partners, said that the development of the Landmark building was crucial to downtown, not just for residential space but for its financial independence from ...
City & County
Fondren’s TIGER Total Makeover
For Bill Wilson of Fondren, like many others, the memory of city infrastructure projects from years past haunts the current endeavor to rip up and reconstruct sections of North State ...
City & County
Jackson Airport Fate Left to Courts After Feds Alter Policy
The Federal Aviation Administration, through policy changes, has side-stepped its role in the battle for the Jackson municipal airport, leaving the decision up to a federal court instead.
City & County
Working Together Jackson to Hold Monday Mayor Meeting
Working Together Jackson, a religious and community mega-group comprised of the heads of around 40 Jackson-area organizations, will sit down with Mayor Yarber on Monday to ask him about issues ...
City & County
Yarber Running into Council Wall on Contracts
During a June 3 gathering at Koinonia Coffee House, Mayor Tony Yarber lamented the lack of progress the City has made on infrastructure issues and blamed it on poor confidence ...
Crime
Henley-Young Must Release Kids After 21 Days; Some Disappearing?
Out of three children released under the Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center's recent policy of not detaining young people after 21 days, one is missing, one is back in custody, and ...
City & County
Council Deals Mayor a Blow, Rejects Proposals to Respond to EPA Mandates
Ward 6 Council Tyrone Hendrix helped block the mayor's effort to give a $2.5 million contract to a Los Angeles-based company yesterday, citing the budget's dire condition.
City & County
Yarber 'Running Hard' Again in 2017, Lee Says He Isn't Running
Mayor Tony Yarber announced his campaign for another term for the first time publicly at the weekly Friday Forum at Koinonia Coffee House, urged on to make the statement from ...
City & County
Mayor, Stamps At Odds Over Sludge Dumping
Disagreements about where to dump sludge byproduct from the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment plant ended in a stalemate between the two branches of the city government during Tuesday's meeting of ...
City & County
JRA Selects EDT Proposal, Nixes Deal with Comer Capital
The Jackson Redevelopment Authority moved forward last Wednesday to develop a deal to build a new hotel downtown near the Jackson Convention Complex by notifying the City of Jackson of ...
Crime
Hinds Youth Center Director: Major ‘Gaps’ in Juvenile Justice Feed Cycle of Crime
Johnnie McDaniels, the executive director of the Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center, spoke softly to the assembled Justice Reform Task Force in Jackson's police headquarters about how in a decade as ...
City & County
MAC Construction Files Lawsuit Against Siemens
MAC Construction LLC, one of the principal subcontractors for the City of Jackson’s notorious $90-million contract with Siemens, filed a suit against the large company for damages
City & County
UPDATED: Kishia Powell: Did Not Come to Jackson 'to Be a Figurehead,' New Atlanta Watershed Director
After almost two years on the job, Jackson's Director of Public Works Kishia Powell tendered her resignation to Mayor Tony Yarber's office this weekend, but the specific reasons are still ...
City & County
More City Transparency: Council Posts Agenda Packets Online, Finally
In a step toward compliance with state law, and the latest in a series of steps to generate transparency in local government, the Jackson City Council posted its agenda packet ...
City & County
Stokes to Circulate Police-chase Petition in Response to DOJ Letter
During a community meeting at Cornerstone Baptist Church Wednesday night, Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes and citizens decided to circulate a petition in response to a letter from the U.S. ...
City & County
A Very, Very Full Plate: An Interview with Department of Public Works Director Kishia Powell
Kishia Powell, director of the department of public works, sat down with the Jackson Free Press on May 4 to clear the air about her constant struggle against the problems ...
Cover
JPD Targets ‘Bandos’: A Different Kind of ‘Broken Windows’ Policing
JPD Chief Lee Vance is frustrated at the State for owning so much crumbling housing in Jackson but is glad that his department is helping to bring it down.
Business
National Airport Board Names Jackson's Carl Newman Chairman
The executive director of Jackson's airport now chairs the largest association of accredited airport professionals in the world.
City & County
'Pay or Stay' Lawsuit Against City Part of Larger Trend of Challenges
Municipal-court systems that practice "pay or stay" policies, jailing people who cannot afford fines, are facing legal objections across the South from groups like the American Civil Liberties Union. In ...
City & County
Chokwe A. Lumumba Promises Mayoral Campaign Built on His Father’s Foundation
Promising to build on the work of his father, Chokwe A. Lumumba announced his second mayoral bid this afternoon to more than a hundred supporters gathered on the steps in ...
City & County
UPDATE: Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Robert Graham Running for Mayor
Chokwe Antar Lumumba, the son of the former mayor who died while in office, is offering his candidacy for mayor this week. He ran against now-Mayor Tony Yarber in the ...
City & County
‘Debtor’s Prison’: City to Settle in ‘Pay or Stay’ Lawsuit
For more than 20 days in 2015, disabled 58-year-old Jerome Bell slept on the concrete floor of a cell with no cushion or mattress in a crowded Hinds County jail. ...
City & County
‘External Threats’: City Takeover Talk Complicates Budget Skirmish
The Jackson City Council and Mayor Tony Yarber sparred last week over the newest revelations about the small amount of reserve funds that remain in City coffers and the potential ...
City & County
Protests at City Hall over 'Secrecy and Division' Amid Budget Deficits, Huge Water Bills
A small group of concerned citizens gathered in the light rain Tuesday morning on the steps of Jackson City Hall to protest the "secrecy and division" of the city government, ...
City & County
UPDATED: City of Jackson's Fund Reserve Down to $1.3 Million, Core Services Under Knife
The Jackson City Council finally heard Thursday what some members had already surmised in earlier meetings: The City administration has pulled from the ordinance-mandated fund reserves, leaving a little more ...
City & County
Kishia Powell: ‘I Don’t Steer’ Contracts; City Loan Debate; Guns, Payday Ordinances
Documents, including emails, released to the Jackson Free Press indicate that despite protestation from Mayor Tony Yarber and his administration, the City has been dipping into the ordinance-protected reserve fund ...
