Jackson Free Press

Kenneth Grigsby

Young Democrats of Mississippi President Kenneth Grigsby, 32, is an attorney at Phelps Dunbar who's been living in the Jackson area for five and a half years. The Tupelo native …

JRA Moving on Farish, Slowly

The history of Farish Street's renovation efforts, which Jackson architect Steven Horn first proposed in 1983, is as shameful as the area is illustrious.

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Coming Soon: 1-Percent Sales Tax Increase?

Faced with steep spending increases to meet the challenges of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's consent decree and Jackson's crumbling roads, Mayor Chokwe Lumumba says he is moving ahead with …

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State's Payments to CoreCivic for Housing Inmates at Private Prison May Exceed Legal Limits

Mississippi's emergency contract with a private prison corporation to house 375 inmates could exceed legal limits even more than previously known.

Downtown Civil Rights Museum Supporters Gathering at 1 p.m.

Council President Leslie McLemore is leading a diverse group of Jacksonians who want to see the new Civil Rights Museum located in downtown Jackson, rather than then the suggested locale …

Bill Minor Rips Sid Salter, The Chipper, et al

Columnist Bill Minor rips the Ledge's Sid Salter a well-deserved new one over his playing into the partisan Mississippi-vs.-Louisiana rhetoric. This has been one of the toughest political games to …

[Balko] Justice Stevens' Mixed Record on Civil Liberties

Many hail retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens as a champion of the accused. Stevens, The New York Times editorial board opined, has a "record of being on the …

To Live and Die in Dixie

Sometimes the light comes from unexpected places. Last week, I sat down in front of my monitor and my e-mail blooped in. There was one from Jill Conner Browne, the …

This Is My Fault

Since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and thrust her spotlight on the abhorrent conditions of the poorest Americans, I have been pondering poverty. First, I got angry.

Voter ID, Abortion, Eminent Domain, Oh My

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann will deliver three voter-referendum initiatives to the state Legislature this morning that could require voters to bring photo identification to polls, restrict the state's use …

Desperation Descends

The Jackson City Council enters the month of November under a cloud of desperation. The city racked up its first $266,000 monthly deficit in October as a result of Jackson …

Why Foreign Businesses Dig Mississippi

The state of Mississippi currently has 30,231 businesses that count as foreign-owned, or are owned by corporations, LLCs, unlimited liability partners or other business organizations. The list includes companies such …

Ramsey Cartoon Shades of Schwindaman

We appreciate the compliment, Marshall, but a note of appreciation would have sufficed.

Well, I guess this is a compliment to the JFP's editorial cartoonist, Darren Schwindaman. Today's Marshall Ramsey cartoon copies Darren's cartoon of two weeks ago almost directly, except using Joe …

Pat Fordice has died.

I'm waiting for more info, but I just saw the announcement on WJTV. I'll get back to you.

UPDATE: WJTV Link

Lunacy: Tea Party Wants to Scrub Slavery History from Textbooks

It was bad enough when Gov. Haley Barbour tried to pretend the Citizens Council were the good guys. It's bad enough when people go around saying that the Civil War …

Horse Race Politics—Whose Fault?

OK, here's a riddle: Why would political candidates talk about issues when the medium reporting them (the media) won't report them in any detail? The Clarion-Ledger today had a report …

Calling Out the Guard

Note: The print edition erroneously lists Donna Ladd as the author of this piece.

Sheriff: Rankin County Work-Release Program Is Not ‘Convict Leasing,’ A Vestige of Slavery

ACLU-MS Deputy Director Alicia N. Netterville said that the first iteration of House Bill 747 effectively functioned as convict-leasing by another name.

Bold New Party?

<b>New Dem Head Wayne Dowdy on Faux Elephants and Young Voters

It's hard to get past Wayne Dowdy's name. Through no fault of his own, the new head of the Mississippi Democratic Party—a Millsaps grad, a grandfather and a U.S. congressman …

‘Confederacy of Dunces'

Salon's Joan Walsh reports that Howard Dean's critics have it wrong: "Does anyone really believe that former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean was borrowing a playbook from the GOP and telegraphing …