Legislature 2006: A House United?Last year, in the days before the new legislative session, lawmakers were ready to walk into the state capitol with their guns out. Mississippi was, and remains, a state where financial ends are never comfortably met, and legislators with a …
2005 Year In Review, Part 2: To Hell and BackThe second half of 2005 turned out to be the most interesting six months any of us have lived through in a while. On the positive side, the city continued its march toward greatness - with increasing numbers of younger …
2005 Year In Review, Part One: The First Six MonthsNo doubt about it, 2005 was the best of times, and the worst of times in Mississippi. We end the year sorrowful about our state's massive losses due to a wrathful hurricane and thankful that the old girl didn't take …
Crossing The Mighty River: Race, Religion and MississippiAt the climax of the 11 o' clock church service at Galloway Methodist church, the Rev. Ross Olivier assumes the pulpit to deliver his sermon. Olivier's polished demeanor gives no air of being weathered by years of struggle against apartheid …
*Artist In Residence: Rebekah PotterIn the most fortuitous of natural developments, Rebekah Potter's height sealed her fate as an artist. "I wanted to be a horsejockey," the 31-year-old woman says. "But I grew too tall."
Melton's Honeymoon, Part VI: The Mayor and The PoliceMayor Frank Melton swept into the city's mayor office July 4 with a badge and a side arm, determined to take a bite out of crime. During that time, he's taken part in numerous police raids, parading his image of …
Melton's Honeymoon, Part V: Seven Degrees of SeparationLike any governmental body that has to share power, the Jackson City Council is a forum of individuals who can rarely accomplish goals without forming some kind of alliance on issues. A new round of elections, like the one last …
The Day That Emmett DiedTwelve-year-old Simeon Wright lay in his bed in his family's small house near Money, Miss., in the Mississippi Delta. It was Saturday night, Aug. 27, 1955, and Simeon was tired from a busy week. Wright was looking up at the …
JFP Interview: Keith BeauchampKeith Beauchamp, 34, has spent the last 10 years of his life investigating the brutal murder of Emmett Louis Till in Money, Miss., in 1955. Till, 14, was visiting relatives in Mississippi when he was reported to have whistled at …
Twin FailuresWe live in a culture so driven by visual images that our eyes can't take them all in. From pop-up Internet ads to quick-cut TV commercials to high-tech billboards, we witness far more than we can comprehend, wiping most of …
Melton's Honeymoon, Part IV: Getting What We're Paying For?When Frank Melton first became Jackson's mayor, he walked into a virtual black forest of uncertainty. The city had been facing a steady flight of residents to bedroom communities for decades, followed by the departure of many businesses looking to …
JFP Interview: Mac Speaks UpSheriff Malcolm McMillin is not a small person. McMillin stands at 6 feet and weighs in at 250 pounds. He engages in regular fitness training, sports a shaved head, watermelon-sized arms and has a sign in his downtown parking space …
A Gift From GodIt's class time at the Hinds County Detention Center, and Sheriff Malcolm McMillin is taking a reporter to see how it works. The county holding facility is one very lengthy drive down Highway 18, just across the street from the …
Objets D'Espoir: Artists Put It Back Together AgainEvery day after Hurricane Katrina decimated her studio and ripped her home off its foundation, Bay St. Louis artist Lori Gordon picked her way through piles of debris to the slab where her house once stood. All that remained of …