Jackson Free Press

The City Council in Columbus passed an ordinance this week banning sagging pants, the Clarion-Ledger reported.

Who ARE you, and why would you do such a thing, Rep. Nunnelee, considering you come from state where domestic abuse is such an epidemic?

The 8th Annual JFP Chick Ball is raising money to help the Center for Violence Prevention start a rape crisis center.

Let's say a meteorite crashed to Earth and landed on the Jackson Free Press' offices, resulting in a broken pinky toe on my left foot. According to a new state law, it would be up to me to prove to my bosses that I wasn't high as a kite when said celestial projectile descended on Fondren.

State Rep. Earle Banks, D-Jackson, just sent out a press release announcing his intention to run for Mississippi Supreme Court Justice in District 1, which Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. now represents.

Some Mississippians are incensed at North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue for comparing her state's recent successful ballot initiative defining marriage as between a man and a woman to Mississippi -- whose Constitution also defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

Rickey Cole just sent out this call for help. Please do what you can.

There's a new sheriff in town. Well, technically there's a new Honorary Deputy Sheriff Chaplain in town -- and his name is the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. The Hinds County Sheriff's Department posted 30 photos on its Facebook page of the longtime civil rights leader's swearing in as an honorary county cop yesterday.

Ward 2 City Councilman, attorney and community activist Chokwe Lumumba announced today that he will run for mayor of Jackson in 2013.

The official Great American Grump Out is today, May 2, and participants must vow not to be grumpy for the next 24 hours. Can you handle it?

The Mississippi House again debated a bill aimed at rolling back the powers of the state attorney general. And again, it passed.

The wait is over, kids. Mississippi House members finally have a new legislative district map to vote on. The maps, which add two districts in rapidly growing DeSoto County, were unveiled at the Capitol today. Under the plan, several Democrats could lose their seats either by hasquaring off with fellow Democrats or by having to compete in mostly GOP districts.

The latest attempt to pass legislation establishing charter schools met defeat in the Mississippi House moments ago. House members voted to send HB 1152, which had been modified to include language from a Senate charter school bill that didn't even make it out of the House Education Committee, to a conference committee where it will likely die. Lt. Gov. Reeves, who, along with the state's other top Republican leaders, has pushed for a charter bill all session called the House vote disappointing.

In about two months of working the city beat for the Jackson Free Press, the thing I have run into and reported on more than any other is proposed development. And development is something Jackson needs, desperately.

Read and enjoy info about previous Chick Ball, but see the top few posts at http://www.jfpchickball.com for current information!

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves' office just sent out a statement on the controversial anti-undocumented immigrant HB 488. In the release, Reeves states that he's heard the concerns about the bill's potential costs to law enforcement agencies and the state economy. To that end, Reeves assigned HB 488 to the Senate Judiciary B, chaired by Hob Bryan, a Democrat from Amory for further study.

Seventeen weeks of the regular season has reduced the NFL down to 12 teams. Only two of those 12 will play in the Super Bowl.

The road to Indianapolis for the New Orleans Saints begins this weekend. New Orleans would love to get last year’s playoff loss out of their mouth.

NFL Wild Card Weekend proved just how big the NFL is in America. The ratings for last weekend were huge for the NFL and showed how much we love football in this country.

Before the NFL shifted teams around in the 2002 realignment, the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers were in the same division. Many Saints fans remember the old NFC West that featured the Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams with Saints and 49ers.