Jackson Free Press

Making Ends Meet: Lawmakers Wrestle with Education, Infrastructure and Shrinking Revenue

Education funding dominated headlines throughout 2016, as lawmakers worked to level-fund and not cut the amount of funding that went to the Mississippi Adequate Education Program in previous budget years, …

MAEP’s Moral Center: Mississippi’s Education Enigma

The quality of education in Mississippi is falling behind the rest of the nation with only 61 percent of students graduating from high school on time and two-thirds of kindergarteners …

Black Women Weigh Hyde-Smith's Win, Say Not 'Senator for All'

While Cindy Hyde-Smith made history as the first woman from Mississippi elected to Congress, it is hard for some black women to celebrate strictly on the basis of gender.

WIGGS: Sweet Potato Power

<i>What one Jackson man gleans from the Sweet Potato madness. </i>

My mother and father each grew up with sisters and started off wanting some boys to balance the genealogical mix a bit. They wound up with four sons. "Be careful …

[Chick] Teaching Monkey the Birds and the Bees

Eight years into it, and I'm still allowed to be a mother. I can't believe it. What kind of decision-maker approves me as a fit mother? Oh, that's right. God. …

[Chick] How Not To Dump A Guy

I feel that writing a "chick" column has not ruined my dating life quite enough, so I have thus pursued the answer to yet another post-divorce dating question: How do …

[Spann] Road-Tested, Mother-Approved

I still remember the day I discovered my first gray hair. I was blow-drying my hair and just as I parted a new section to dry, I saw it in …

[Hughes] Travels with Gary

I didn't know when I called Gary Baldwin the other day that I'd be going on a 25-mile bike ride. I just wanted to talk with him about the newspaper …

No. 36, May 24-31

<b><em>A Bunch of Punks?</b></em>

As a young Jackson voter, I am mad at the black leadership that lets Frank Melton walk all over the city. Our leaders act like a bunch of scared punks, …

[Mott] Nearing Nirvana

I've always been fascinated with how my brain works. Sometimes, it's downright confounding. Take dieting, for example. I know exactly what I should be eating (and not eating), but I …

[Kamikaze] You Got This One Right

I have been a staunch supporter of Ward 6 Councilman Marshand Crisler's "Buy Jackson" campaign. Based on the fact that I helped spearhead a movement to get folks to better …

[Halkias] Love Lost and Gained

On a recent drive home, I started crying, in part because of an argument I had with my mom. I also had a mix of emotions after a weekend trip …

The Best In Sports In 7 Days

Doctor S sez: Enjoy NBA hoops while you can, folks. Your favorite hoopsters are about to be locked out by the owners, too.

Hinds County Gets New District Plan

Hinds County Board of Supervisors picked a new county redistricting plan Monday night, even as critics complained that the board did not make all of the maps under consideration available …

Hopes and Dreams

Last Friday was the first of the weekly Jackson Free Press summer intern workshops. With more than a dozen people stuffed into our classroom around the long stretch of tables, …

Making Joyful Noises

Jackson comes alive when Christmas comes to town. With the Belhaven Singing Christmas Tree, Chimneyville Crafts Festival and several other local traditions, most people seem to get into the holiday …

[Twelve-Bar Blues] Heaven When I Die

In the documentary "M is for Mississippi," James "Son" Thomas says: "Daddy always told a joke. He said, ‘There's lots of ways you can have the blues. If you're broke, …

This Foley Can Jump

I sat in the Mississippi Basketball and Athletics center watching Jackson's new American Basketball Association team hold its first tryouts with a nice turnout of about 18 to 20 players …

Making Peace: First, Love Yourself

Alice cared about her neighborhood and was convinced that her "bad" neighbors across the street were into drugs. She believed that signing an affidavit against them risked her safety; Jackson …

Rep. Andy Gipson

Here's why permitting gay marriage is "horrific social policy," according to Republican Rep. Andy Gipson of Braxton: