Jackson Free Press

Mason: No Plans for Public Input on Merger

As Jackson State University President Ronald Mason Jr. shook hands at a forum last Friday at Koinonia Coffee House in Jackson, he sought to quell concerns about a possible HBCU …

Eminent Domain: A Lawsuit Waiting to Happen?

The Mississippi Constitution is a tough thing to change. While state law allows voters to amend the Constitution by approving a ballot initiative, it also prohibits ballot initiatives from changing …

Commission Readies School Consolidation Report

A governor-appointed panel is set to issue its final recommendations on school district consolidation in the next month. The Commission on Education Structure met at the state Capitol today to …

Board Approves University Tuition Hikes

The state College Board approved tuition increases for Mississippi's eight public universities at a meeting this morning. The increases, which will take place over two years, are necessary to offset …

MEMA Reports 12-Hour Shifts; Tankers of Water from Coast

The following is a list of actions being made by state and voluntary agencies:

[Verbatim statement] PEARL –The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency continues to help cities and counties with the ongoing water emergency. The State Emergency Operations Center in Pearl is under partial activation, …

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 …

Anna Lee Dillon

Anna Lee Dillon, 25, knows that perseverance is key to making a change. When her father, Sherman Lee Dillon, founded Jackson's Earth Day festival 15 years ago, it was a …

Louie Miller

Mississippi Sierra Club Director Louie Miller, 50, is nothing if not a pit fighter. He might smile for his pictures, but don't be fooled. Miller can be foul-mouthed and irascible, …

Bad Deeds Unpunished

January 3, 2007 Hurricane Katrina brought out the best in many Americans, who braved treacherous conditions to help neighbors and who gave generously to help those in need. When it …

AG Settles Meat Plant Beef

Mississippi taxpayers will receive the meaty sum of $4 million from a settlement in a case against the owners of a failed beef plant built with state-backed loans, Attorney General …

EEOC: Discriminating Against Felon Illegal?

Have you ever been convicted of a felony? The question, which is standard on most job applications, often spells heartbreak for many people who know that checking yes means their …

Eminent Domain: ‘Taking' Too Much?

In 2001, Nissan was preparing to come to Canton, and Lonzo Archie's home stood in the way of a new factory. The state, eager to bring in the factory's jobs …

Week 7–Butt Tax and Task Force

Two tricky bills survived their respective sides of the Legislature, most likely to be stoned to death or ignored into oblivion by the opposing chamber in the upcoming weeks.

[Balko] The Year in Clemency

It was a strange year for clemency, the often misunderstood and generally misused power that allows the president and governors to grant pardons (which overturn convictions) and commutations (which reduce …

Come All Ye Faithful

In his column last week, The Clarion-Ledger's Sid Salter quoted the fifth chapter of Matthew to justify Gov. Haley Barbour diverting federal money away from low-income Katrina re-housing and into …

[Balko] Progress and Challenges in Mississippi

Last week Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour signed House Bill 1456, which would require anyone conducting autopsies in the state to be certified in forensic pathology by the American Board of …

Bill to Hamstring AG Office?

Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant and the Mississippi Senate are pressing for a new law that would force a competitive bidding process on plaintiff lawyers looking to contract with the Mississippi …

Gaming Chairman: Lottery Effort ‘Swimming Upstream'

House Gaming Committee Chairman Bobby Moak, D-Bogue Chitto, had a difficult time making a decision on a bill paving the way for a state-run lottery to support education. House Bill …

Election Post-Mortem

Well, all, there weren't a lot of surprises Tuesday night, and a lot of our prayers about the state rising above the race game went unanswered ... for now. But …

The Truth About Barbour's ‘Blind Trust'

Bloomberg News is still hot on Barbour's trail. Today, they reveal much more about his so-called "blind trust" in the lobbying firm that lobbied the state for Katrina-related contracts—it pays …