Yes on Budget Shift, Electric CarsThe Jackson City Council approved a $3.5 million budget revision this week, funneling budget savings into new shortfalls found halfway into the budget year.
Midtown Market Opens; Biz Support GroupA national nonprofit designed to educate entrepreneurs and support small businesses needs volunteers to help establish a chapter in Jackson.
Council Recalculating BudgetThe Jackson City Council is willing to approve a budget revision next week filling a $4 million budget shortfall, Ward 2 Councilman Chokwe Lumumba believes.
Tax Commission Battles ContinueCity and state leaders are debating whether a 10-member commission will have to oversee a proposed 1-cent sales-tax increase in Jackson. The city's roads, water, sewer and other infrastructure are in need of approximately $76 million in upgrades and major …
Downtown Biz District May Expand; Disaster Jobs AvailableThe Downtown Business Improvement District may expand up to the second block of the Farish Street Entertainment District, which includes Peaches Restaurant and the Alamo Theater.
Chamber, Work With the MayorThe Jackson Free Press has often agreed with Sen. John Horhn over the years, and we're finding that new Ward 1 City Councilman Quentin Whitwell can be a breath of fresh air out of north Jackson on many issues.
[Kamikaze] Trash TalkingLet's put some accurate information onto the turnpike, shall we? Crime in Jackson is down. Dropping. Heading south. It's a slow decline, yes, but a decline, nonetheless. For those of you who liken Jackson to the streets of Medellin, Colombia, …
Jackson's Creative EconomyTracie James-Wade was tired of corporate America. After working in sales and marketing for various corporations in Nashville, Tenn., for nine years, she decided it was time to pursue a career that meant more than a paycheck.
City Launches Summer Reading ProgramThe Jackson Public Schools District and city leaders announced an initiative yesterday to recruit 30,000 young readers across the city to read 100,000 books over the summer.
Un-gifting JPSState budget cuts are forcing Jackson Public Schools to scale back its gifted-education classes to the bare minimum required by state law. With their emphasis on hands-on learning and critical thinking, classes for "gifted" students are among the highlights of …
Out of TimeOnce the drugs started to flow, it took only a minute for Benny Joe Stevens' lips to stop moving. He slipped out of consciousness, and soon his heart stopped.
A Newspaper Is BornNever in the history of journalism, as we know it in the State of Mississippi, has any newspaper from its inception had such bold aims and purity of purpose as the MISSISSIPPI FREE PRESS.
[Stiggers] My Dog Bites Booty"The Crime Watch Report News Brief is your source for information on suspicious individuals and activities in desirable suburban communities. Here's your Crime Watch News Brief reporter, I. M. Scared."
Freedom Rides AgainHank Thomas walked up the steps of the Greyhound bus on a sunny day May 4, 1961. As he calmly surveyed its drab, blue-gray interior, the lanky 19-year-old black student from Howard University had no idea that in about two …
[Balko] How Bin Laden WonIn "The Looming Tower," the Pulitzer Prize-winning history of al-Qaeda and the road to Sept. 11, author Lawrence Wright lays out how Osama bin Laden's motivation for the attacks that he planned in the 1990s, and then the Sept. 11 …
Restaurant MakeoverBelhaven mainstay Keifer's Restaurant is set to move to a new building in late September. Assistant general manager Jeff Stricklin told the Jackson Free Press today that the restaurant is aiming for a Sept. 24 opening at its new location …
KiOR Heats UpBiofuels company KiOR has yet to produce any of its vaunted crude oil substitute in Mississippi, but the startup is making big moves on financing.
McGowan Non-Profit Foots Study BillFlowood Mayor Gary Rhoads says the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District (aka the Levee Board) is working with a non-profit foundation backed by McGowan Working Partners for one reason: cash.
Political Ad Stirs ControversyMany residents of both Hinds and Madison counties spoke out this week against a controversial political ad that played on fears of Jackson's "violent crime" showing prior to feature movies in Malco Grandview Theater in Madison. Malco pulled the ad …
Divisiveness Hurts Kids and FamiliesCue the ominous voice: "Imagine for a moment this road is our county line. This side represents one of the most violent cities in the nation. Over here, on our side, one of the most desirable communities in America to …
[Stiggers] Cootie Creek County SheriffIn the ghetto criminal justice system, the people are represented by members of the Ghetto Science Team: police officer and part-time security guard at the Funky Ghetto Mall; Dudley 'Do-Right' McBride, renegade documentary filmmaker; Kunta 'Rasheed X' Toby; and attorney …
Mississippi Executes Benny Joe StevensThe state of Misssissippi has executed death-row inmate Benny Joe Stevens. Sunflower County Coroner Heather Burton pronounced Stevens dead at 6:22 p.m. Stevens is the first person executed in Mississippi this year.
Arena Study Fundraising; Restaurant MakeoverFormer Bombay Bistro owner Parveen Kapoor has partnered with former Jerusalem Cafe manager Victor Hugo to reopen his Indian bistro as a Mexican restaurant called Tres Amigos.
Johnson Slams CommissionJackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. opposes part of a new state law allowing the city to levy a 1-percent sales tax increase on some businesses' sales. The tax, which would fund infrastructure repair, does not apply to retail sales of …
Capital City's Tough YearThe Jackson Police Department is no stranger to the Capital City Alternative School. The Jackson Public Schools' alternative school, whose students usually have referrals from other schools for discipline reasons, is the subject of allegations that staff have been handcuffing …
GOP May Oppose Court-ordered MapsThe Mississippi Republican Party likely will contest a three-judge panel's decision to impose the Mississippi House of Representatives' redistricting map as the official House election map for 2011.
Tracie James-Wade was tired of corporate America. After working in sales and marketing for various corporations in Nashville, Tenn., for nine years, she decided it was time to pursue a career that meant more than a paycheck.
Hank Thomas walked up the steps of the Greyhound bus on a sunny day May 4, 1961. As he calmly surveyed its drab, blue-gray interior, the lanky 19-year-old black student from Howard University had no idea that in about two …