Take a Stand on ViolenceThis week, the Center for Violence Prevention will announce a new paradigm for curbing domestic violence in the Jackson area, bringing the Duluth Model to the metropolitan area. Batterer's intervention programs, or BIPs, are a big part of what's coming.
Enforce the Smoking BanOn Feb. 1, 2009, a smoking ban went into effect for the city's restaurants. After an initial flurry of objections, the air in most of city's restaurants and clubs became noticeably cleaner and clearer.
Support State Watchdog AgenciesLast week, the Mississippi Senate shut down talks with House conferees over the funding of the Mississippi Public Service Commission.
Fend Off the AlligatorsWhen hungry alligators surround you, so the joke goes, you might forget that your objective is to drain the swamp.
Transparency Means TransparencyOrganizers of a event heralded as a unity event for Mayor-elect Johnson barred cameras at the last minute. This was a mistake and a signal to Johnson to ensure transparency.
'First 48': This is Transparency?Jackson's legal department is putting the finishing touches on a contract with the Arts & Entertainment Network reality cop show, "The First 48." The show, which makes docu-dramas out of murder investigations, shows the inner workings of a city's police …
Taxpayers Deserve to See Pearl StudyIn 2003, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District agreed to begin a three-year feasibility study to update the cost of a 1996 levee plan originally endorsed by the Corps, …
Jackson: Unite on June 2Division in the city heavily affected both the Democratic mayoral primary and the runoff. It is time to put division aside and turn out June 2 to support the presumptive next mayor of Jackson: Harvey Johnson Jr.
Break the CycleWhat is it about elections that turns ordinarily sane people into back-stabbing, devious, scheming liars?
Amend Senate Bill 3268In March, Mississippi legislators passed Senate Bill 3268, which allows municipalities to raise certain sales taxes by 1 percent to pay for police and fire protection, and road, water and sewage repairs.
Put Jackson FirstWhen the Jackson Free Press editorial board met with mayoral candidates last week, we asked each candidate roughly the same questions based on a list we had compiled beforehand. But when one candidate brought up John McGowan's Two Lakes project …
Know Your LimitationsThe elections are well underway, and the plate is piling high with campaign promises, in both the council and mayoral races. There are good, noble, smart campaign priorities out there.
Know Your OptionsAlmost every day, Jackson voters can hear and question the candidates who will be making decisions on their behalf in the upcoming months and years.
Work For Our VotesReader reactions to a pair of unpaid, uncommissioned polls by political consulting firm Zata|3 have revealed an unsavory aspect of our political system: Attack the messenger, ignore the message.
Do Your Jobs, LegislatorsMississippi lawmakers didn't even pretend to try to get their jobs done within the parameters set by the state Constitution this year. Instead, a week or so before their 90-day session ends, they passed legislation to extend it. How handy.
Entering Year SevenThe economy has eclipsed almost everything these days, including the fact that last Friday marked the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war, a war this paper opposed since the week it started.
Protect Justice in MississippiGov. Haley Barbour and Mississippi's legislators have several opportunities this session to provide measures of justice to its citizens.
Cap the School-to-Prison PipelineTwo recent reports, one from the ACLU and one from the Pew Center on the States, highlight and then double-underscore the problem of what experts have dubbed the "school-to-prison" or "cradle-to-prison" pipeline.
Barbour's Ambitious PosturingGov. Haley Barbour has been a vociferous opponent of the Obama administration's stimulus package, especially when it comes to accepting the $2.3 billion allocated to Mississippi.
Stop Secrecy in Mississippi GovernmentOne of the ways to keep people ignorant is to control their access to information. Open any newspaper in the country, and you'll see stories about how Muslim fundamentalist clerics and repressive dictators control their people by only allowing them …
Promote Sexual HealthMississippians have been riding the "abstinence-only" train right into some of the worst sexual health statistics in the nation.
DA Needs to Get OrganizedA growing source of frustration around the Hinds County Courthouse is that the office of Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith is handling case pleadings and motions in a sloppy manner -- much sloppier than his predecessor Faye Peterson. And …
Enough 'Cheap Thrills'; Time for ActionIn 2008, Jackson Free Press readers voted Riverside Drive the best "cheap thrill" in the citya pointed statement about the condition Jackson's streets, and the fact that so little has been done about it.
Unite Against CorruptionIn his inaugural address, President Barack Obama spoke of uniting parties, bringing Americans together and working with the world to make a better life for us all. We agree wholeheartedly that we could all use a little unity right now, …
Stop Wasting the City's TimeJackson City Council President Leslie McLemore said it best in summing up the proposed "Sagging Pants Ordinance," when he described it as "a waste of council time." He's got a point, and the majority of the council agreed with him …
Feds Need to Clean Corrupt HouseThe news that former District Attorney Ed Peters turned in his license to practice law to the Mississippi State Bar Association Tuesday has rekindled chatter about the corruption scandal that rocked the state after feds indicted Richard "Dickie" Scruggs on …
Of Melton's Health and 'Failures'Jackson Mayor Frank Melton called his administration's work on lowering the crime rate in the city a "failure" twice during a Dec. 30 press conference, but followed up each confession with a caveat.
Stop Spreading PowersSecretary of State Delbert Hosemann has approached the Senate Elections Committee asking for a statute that would allow his office to subpoena records and evidence relating to state or local elections.
Southern GOP: We're Over IdeologyThe national electoral gains that Democrats have made in the 2006 and 2008 elections are nothing short of historic, and at the expense of a devastated GOP. Those gains even include large swaths of voters in the South, including nearly …
What is it about elections that turns ordinarily sane people into back-stabbing, devious, scheming liars?
The national electoral gains that Democrats have made in the 2006 and 2008 elections are nothing short of historic, and at the expense of a devastated GOP. Those gains even include large swaths of voters in the South, including nearly …