Analysis: Mississippi Legislators Ease into New 4-Year TermAmbitious new lawmakers who want to zip into the Mississippi Capitol and rapidly change public policy are getting their first tough lesson: Nothing happens quickly at the beginning of a term.
10 Local Stories of the WeekThere's never a slow news week in Jackson, Miss., and last week was no exception. Here are the local stories JFP reporters brought you in case you missed them.
Mississippi Schools Ranked Second-to-Last in National RatingAn evaluation of school performance finds that Mississippi's academic achievement gains have outstripped gains nationwide from 2003 to 2015, but gives the state's public schools a D overall, ranking them second-to-last.
Working for Working Families?Budgets are often called moral documents. That means that advocates for working families will be watching spending closely to make sure Mississippi's heart, and money, is in the right place.
Jackson’s AgendaJackson's legislative agenda for the 2015 session had 17 items. Worth Thomas, of WT Consulting, will again head up Jackson's lobbying efforts.
Negotiations Over in Troupe v. BarbourMississippi's short-term inpatient care and special-treatment facilities served about 542 adolescents in fiscal-year 2015, Mississippi Department of Mental Health data show.
Advocates: Man’s Death Affirms Need for ADA LawsuitAround 9 p.m. on Christmas, near the intersection of Grand Avenue and Prentiss Street, a car struck 49-year-old Timothy Ward, who was riding his wheelchair in the street. He later died from his injuries.
Local Wine Sellers Push Back on Chain EffortVictor Pittman is not pleased with a lobbying effort to lift the restriction on wine and liquor sales in grocery stores in Mississippi's wet counties.
Jimmy D. GilesJimmy D. Giles kicked off Mississippi's federal campaign races by challenging fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper for the 3rd Congressional District.
Seeing Hope in Hard TimesSeeing voters in Louisiana and workers in Mississippi and Tennessee finally stand up to the political and corporate fog machine and assert their rights gives me hope for 2016.
Show Leadership, Not ‘Randomness’Every session, it seems, something President Barack Obama has said or didn't say whips Republicans under our dome into a froth.
How Many Hotels Can Downtown Support?For close to eight hours every day, a tower crane soaring above Jackson swivels and pivots like the minute hand of a clock gone a little haywire.
Proposed Budgets Slashed Even Without 42’s PassageCurrently proposed budget cuts are even greater than those that Rep. Herb Frierson, a key Republican budget writer from Poplarville, warned would be necessary if the school-funding amendment Initiative 42 passed.
Groups Blasts Pre-K Program Report as 'Ill-Conceived'Education policy groups backed up the Mississippi Department of Education and its state superintendent by lambasting a recent report on the state's new pre-kindergarten pilot program.
Phil Bryant was at the front of the room Thursday before the Mississippi Economic Council, relishing being governor again.
There's never a slow news week in Jackson, Miss., and last week was no exception. Here are the local stories JFP reporters brought you in case you missed them.
The Mississippi Legislature honored civil-rights activist Vernon Dahmer, who the Klu Klux Klan murdered half a century ago, by declaring Jan. 10, 2016, "Vernon Dahmer Legacy Day."
Budgets are often called moral documents. That means that advocates for working families will be watching spending closely to make sure Mississippi's heart, and money, is in the right place.
As legislators return to the capital city and the 2016 session begins, tax cuts are high on the lieutenant governor's—and Mississippi Republicans'—agendas.
Mississippi's short-term inpatient care and special-treatment facilities served about 542 adolescents in fiscal-year 2015, Mississippi Department of Mental Health data show.
Around 9 p.m. on Christmas, near the intersection of Grand Avenue and Prentiss Street, a car struck 49-year-old Timothy Ward, who was riding his wheelchair in the street. He later died from his injuries.
It's not exactly Tom Cruise's Maverick flipping off a Russian fighter pilot in "Top Gun," but a dogfight is shaping up over control of the Jackson airport.
Victor Pittman is not pleased with a lobbying effort to lift the restriction on wine and liquor sales in grocery stores in Mississippi's wet counties.
Those sad to see the Deville Plaza YMCA go can take solace in the promise of new things under way at the downtown location.
Jimmy D. Giles kicked off Mississippi's federal campaign races by challenging fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper for the 3rd Congressional District.
For close to eight hours every day, a tower crane soaring above Jackson swivels and pivots like the minute hand of a clock gone a little haywire.
Before 2016 is finished, every major instrument of the Mississippi Democratic establishment will have new leadership.
Currently proposed budget cuts are even greater than those that Rep. Herb Frierson, a key Republican budget writer from Poplarville, warned would be necessary if the school-funding amendment Initiative 42 passed.
Whitney Place, a long-dormant and previously controversial development project slated for Fondren, is back in the spotlight.
Underground 119 temporarily closed Dec. 26 as owner Mike McRee began preparations to revamp his venue with a whole new concept.
Education policy groups backed up the Mississippi Department of Education and its state superintendent by lambasting a recent report on the state's new pre-kindergarten pilot program.
In a few weeks, the Mississippi Legislature will work itself into a lather about something.
The Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance wants the state supreme court to remove from office and fine a white judge for physically assaulting and using a racial slur against an African American man.