Supes OK Jackson Road ProjectsThe Hinds County Board of Supervisors gave advance approval today for county public-works crews to do routine maintenance work in the city of Jackson. The board passed Supervisor Peggy Calhoun's motion to let the county Public Works Department do any …
Medicaid Boots KidsDeborah Edmonson, a parent attending a Nov. 4 legislative hearing on Medicaid, said the state rejected her Down syndrome daughter for aid, even though the U.S. Department of Disability Services guidelines say she qualifies.
It's About Jobs, Not ‘Obamacare'Republicans managed to snag a U.S. House of Representatives majority last week, and many consider this a "mandate" to repeal health-care reform meant to hold insurance companies accountable and provide more people with health-care options.
[Stiggers] Winter in AmericaBig Roscoe: "Welcome to the post-daylight-saving time edition of ‘Clubb Chicken Wing's Def Poetry Jam with Hot Sauce.' We have a virgin about to recite something to you. And he told me that he also brought a big ol' hot …
Johnson Pushes For New Hwy 80 ZoningJackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. said he will propose a zoning change and improved code enforcement for the Highway 80 corridor to promote new development in the city.
Republican Agenda Likely to Create Gridlock?Republicans, who opposed much of President Barack Obama's agenda throughout the administration's first year, took control of the U.S. House of Representatives Nov. 2 and appear to consider their success a referendum upon the president's policies.
Teachers Fire Back at FilmIn "Waiting for 'Superman,'" the provocative new documentary on America's education system, the trick is that the titular superhero doesn't exist. It argues that no single force will rescue the children who public schools, in their current state, are largely …
[Balko] The Media Aren't LiberalFor the last few months, my colleague Matt Welch has been tracking the positions of California's newspapers on Proposition 19, the ballot measure that would have legalized marijuana for recreational use. At last count, 26 of the state's 30 largest …
Fairview Hearing, UMMC ResearchThe city's Planning Board will hold a hearing Wednesday, Nov. 17, on a permit application that would allow the Fairview Inn to apply for a permit to operate a public restaurant. The bed-and-breakfast located on North State Street includes a …
New Levee Board Chairman, Finance CommitteeThe Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District Levee Board voted to elect Flowood Mayor Gary Rhoads chairman of the board and created a financing committee to fund flood control during today's meeting.
West Jackson Program Pushes for ResidentsAn underused federal lending program could bring new life to west Jackson. Jackson State University's Center for University-Based Development is throwing its support behind a push by Jackson-based mortgage lender Cornerstone Home Lending called the "WESToration Initiative."
Rev. Barron BanksWhen Barron Banks was 18, federal marshals had to accompany him to the polling precinct in Tchula, Miss., so he could vote without getting harassed or beaten. Nearly five decades later, Banks says his position as Jackson's Ward 6 election …
JPD Officer Involved in ShootingThe Jackson Police Department is investigating a Sunday shooting that involved a Jackson Police Department officer, WAPT reported yesterday.
Ward 1 Candidates Seek Weill's SeatWard 1 Councilman Jeff Weill's election to a Hinds County Circuit Court judge seat means a second mid-term vacancy for Jackson's Ward 1 council seat. Former Councilman Ben Allen abandoned the seat in 2007 for health reasons, he said then, …
State Denying Care for Disabled Children?The Mississippi Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities says the state Division of Medicaid is illegally cutting off children from the state's Disabled Children Living at Home program.
Runoff Scheduled for Priester-Southern RaceHinds County residents in the county's first judicial sub-district have a second decision to make in their judicial election. Special Circuit Court Judge Melvin Priester and attorney Brent Southern will face each other in a run-off Nov. 23.
Loving The SinnerWhen I was about 9 years old, my cousin Kim and I got into a fight. I don't remember what we were fighting about, but I got so angry I picked up a vase and hit her in the mouth …
PEER Questions FundingThe Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review is warning against the likelihood of the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District Levee Board funding a lake or similar impoundment for flood control in the Pearl River.
Lessons From Texas?The Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District can take a lesson from Fort Worth, Texas, Waggoner Engineering owner Joe Waggoner said at the Oct. 27 Levee Board meeting.
Convention Hotel Waits on FinancingIt's been a little over a month since the Jackson Redevelopment Authority passed a resolution to issue up to $95 million in bonds for the proposed convention center hotel complex, but the project's developers are still trying to get a …
Free the Scott SistersGov. Haley Barbour should pardon Jamie and Gladys Scott—and not because we believe beyond a shadow of doubt that they are innocent. He should pardon them because they have done the time for the crime they are accused of committing.
Remember SanityWhen I was given the opportunity to go to Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity this past weekend, I jumped at the chance. I went to school in the Washington, D.C., area, and cut my activist teeth on Vietnam War …
[Head] Don't Tread on HerWhatever political ideology the Rand Paul supporters who attacked Lauren Valle last week might have claimed to have, they became fascists the moment they held her down and stomped her in the head.
The Tragic Case of the Scott SistersJamie and Gladys Scott arrived at the Mini Mart gas station on Highway 35 in Forest, Miss., sometime between 10:30 and 11 p.m. on Christmas Eve 1993. It was just after Johnny Ray Hayes and Mitchell Duckworth had stopped in …
Design Competition; New Jobs; Biz WorkshopsMississippi State University's Jackson Community Design Center hosts "FORMcities: Urban/Divide Design Competition and Symposium" Nov. 4 through Nov. 6 in downtown Jackson. During the design competition, participants will select a site in Jackson and create a model of what that …
[Balko] More Democracy, More IncarcerationLast year the U.S. prison population declined for the first time in a generation. That's good news, but it doesn't begin to offset the damage done by a 30-year incarceration binge that has made America far and away the democratic …