Time for a Full AccountingAs the full truth of the city's considerable budget crisis has emerged, one additional thing about Mayor Frank Melton has come into full reliefhe's doesn't know how to run the city. Couple this with the crime statistics that show Melton …
Metro Chamber: Disavow Attorney AttacksAs part of our association with other city newsweeklies around the country, we run "BlogAds" on our website. The BlogAds system enables companies or organizations to make national ad buys and then, in some cases, target locales with specialized messages.
Don't Let Stokes Stop ProgressLivingston Village rode in on the violent tendrils of Hurricane Katrina. It's one of those once-in-a-century opportunities made possible through astounding tax credits from the federal government, but the federal GO-Zone legislation that makes it possible comes with a deadline. …
Barbour: What's In a Name?This week, with the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaching, it's worth noting that the storm is still trying to knock down one more person as it blows its way into the history booksHaley Barbour.
Delay Political?Last week, four city council members voted to delay a zoning change for a major development initiative near the Jackson Medical Mall, with Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes leading the vote. His concern is drainagewhich, it seems, the city has …
This Election, Demand Real AnswersEvery election season, in the few weeks leading up to a major vote, the Jackson Free Press gets a front-row seat for the way candidates tend to run for office in this state. We hear very little from the candidates …
C-L: This Political Cycle, Try Actual ReportingWe know that asking The Clarion-Ledger not to cover the upcoming primary like it was going to be held in Louisiana Downs is like asking a Palmetto bug to stay off the porch on a warm, rainy Mississippi night. But …
The 50-State Strategy Should Include UsA poll recently conducted by the New York Times, CBS and MTV showed that Americans aged 17-29 lean toward the political left. The poll found that 54 percent of young Americans plan to vote for a Democrat for president in …
Cold Cases Bill Must PassLast week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act. That legislation would authorize $10 million a year over the next decade to create a unit at the Department of Justice that would pursue …
Southwick Must GoLast week, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a confirmation vote on Leslie Southwick when it became clear that the committee would reject his nomination. This is at least the third delay since President George W. Bush nominated Southwick last …
Close Columbia Training SchoolThis Tuesday, the Juvenile Justice Committee of the Mississippi House of Representatives heard testimony from families and experts about abuse at Columbia Training School, where eight girls were allegedly shackled at the ankles, some of them for more than a …
Melton Mismanagement Hits the 'Bottom LineThis week, city officials finally handed in their budget revisions to the City Council, detailing cuts that will be made to city departments in order to reconcile a nearly $4 million deficit. Those cuts represent a sad state of affairsthe …
Seale the 'Last' Case? We Doubt It.To fill space this weekend in The Clarion-Ledger's package on the James Ford Seale case, reporter Jerry Mitchell returned to a well from which he has drunk in the past with a story headlined "Seale Case Could Be Last of …
Proposed Work Program a BustThis week, the U.S. Senate is considering comprehensive immigration reform that includes the creation of a new temporary worker program.
Step Up, LedgerIf you read the JFP's account of the Mayor Melton's "open" meeting with department heads this week (page 6), and then you read the Clarion-Ledger's online account posted Monday, you would have thought our reporters were at two different meetings.
Get the Mayor to 'Do His JobA common refrain during the build-up to Mayor Frank Melton's felony trials this past month was that "people should just let the mayor do his job.
Ronni's Wild Ride<i>"Have you ever noticed? Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac."
What Will It Take, Council?The Jackson City Council shirked its duties—and certain council members betrayed their oath of office—Tuesday when a majority decided against investigating whether Mayor Frank Melton took the JPD Mobile Command Center and a group of young men to Ridgeway Street …
The Bottom LineFrank Melton cannot solve Jackson's crime. That is simply a statement of fact, not a criticism or a denouncement or even a denouement. It is also true that former Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. could not solve crime. Neither could former …
Call Him IrresponsibleMayor Frank Melton's stated desire to take a leave of absence from his job as mayor to become a vigilante lawman and "bring in" a former gang member and alleged murderer was disturbing to us here at the Jackson Free …
Blowin' In The WindLast week Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff, I. "Scooter" Libby, was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice in an investigation into how the identity of a covert CIA operative was leaked to the press. This scandal comes …
Focus On The ‘Mayor Stuff'It wasn't until Friday, five days after Katrina had blown through Jackson, that a visibly uncomfortable Mayor Melton fielded questions about city response from what was a visibly frustrated, angry even, Jackson City Council.
If Melton's ‘Pro-Jackson' ...We realized late in the production cycle for this issue that the Jackson Free Press is publishing its 100th issue this week. It may only be fitting that we reached such a milestone at the same time that the city …
Cochran and Lott: Sign On NowIn the wake of the Edgar Ray Killen trial and the media spotlight on Mississippi, another tumult over race and politics boiled to the surface last week when the U.S. Senate passed a non-binding resolution apologizing for years of the …
The Mayor's Race That Wasn'tThe JFP started out the election season in January determined to learn as much as possible about both the character and the specific plans of the candidates for mayor of Jackson. Because of the nature of the job of mayor—part …
Mr. Barbour: It's Time to Start GoverningIt is telling that Haley Barbour was not in the state of Mississippi when he decided to call a special session this past weekend in a gambit to force the Mississippi House to pass Barbour's favored fix for Medicaid's 2005 …
Barbour: Heed The Will of The PeopleWe feel it's important to ask a serious question of Gov. Haley Barbour—has he returned to Mississippi to govern the state, or just to test his pet ideological theories about what wins elections?
Standing Up for the PeopleDuring the special session called by Gov. Haley Barbour to pass certain economic-development bonds, Mississippians have been told incessantly by Barbour's office and the state's media that the House of Representatives has been "obstructionist." The drumbeat has been that the …
The Governor Sacrifices His RookOne burning question from our past two weeks of reporting at the Capitol on the governor's special session is a simple, if surprising, one. Does Haley Barbour really want tort reform?
Calm the 'Runaway' Rhetoric; Do the HomeworkAs we go to press, it seems likely that Gov. Haley Barbour will call a special session this year to try and push through more "tort reform" measures after failing to reach a compromise with Democratic leadership in the House. …