McGowan Questions Levee Board's ‘Backbone'Would-be Two Lakes developer John McGowan reacted strongly this week to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers statement that it was not taking seriously his or any other plan to create lakes around the Pearl River, preferring a comprehensive levees …
Take the Next Step on the PearlThis week the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers seemed tofinally and forcefullymake clear its stance on flood management for the Pearl River, repeating what the Jackson Free Press has been reporting for months now.
[Kamikaze] Thinking BigMomentum can be described as the impetus of a non-physical process, a process that could be either an idea or a course of events. Any time you have momentum, there has to be energy, some force behind that momentum.
[Israel] State Needs Health ReformElizabeth, of Jackson, is a single mom and among the roughly 20 percent of Mississippians who are uninsured or 37 percent of Mississippians under age 65. She works at a small business that does not provide health insurance.
House Of Lott"I love your wrap," drawls a genteel lady from the veranda of her Victorian on State Street. "It's a Sami Lott," I say with a smile.
Jackson Crime Stats Continue Downward TrendMajor crimes in Jackson dropped again last week, according to a weekly crime report released this morning at a Jackson Police Department meeting. Violent crime was down 20 percent from the previous week, while property crime droppped 7 percent. For …
Ex-Bodyguards Challenge Ridgeway RestitutionTwo former Jackson police officers are disputing the amount that federal prosecutors say they must pay in restitution for the 2006 demolition of a Ridgeway Street duplex. Marcus Wright and Michael Recio, both former bodyguards to the late Mayor Frank …
Gannett In ‘VIP' Trademark DisputeThe owner of a Jackson-based events promotion company alleges that Gannett River States Publishing Corporation, which publishes The Clarion-Ledger, is trying to muscle him out of a trademark that he rightfully owns. Curtis Lyons, the owner of Jacksons VIP, is …
[Miller] Coal Plant: Unnecessary, Expensive and DirtyThe Mississippi Sierra Club, AFL-CIO and NAACP strongly oppose Mississippi Power Company's proposal to build a $2.4 billion "clean coal" plant and adjoining mine in Kemper County.
Bill LuckettClarksdale attorney Bill Luckett has confirmed that he will run for the Mississippi governor's seat in 2011. Luckett told the Mississippi Business Journal yesterday that he will formally announce his candidacy sometime in the spring, but that he has moved …
Jackson Area Businesses Open, Close and Give AwardsBRAVO! Restaurant in Jackson is asking its patrons for stories of the people who changed their lives. The upscale Italian restaurant is giving away $600 in gift cards for the best story of a life-changing person posted on its Facebook …
Elizabeth CrislerElizabeth Crisler, president and founder of Jackson advertising agency Liquid Creative, will celebrate the company's 10-year anniversary tonight. Crisler opened the agency in 1999 as a branch of Dallas-based Squires & Company, and she bought the company in 2003. Since …
City's Crime Numbers Still Down Despite ShootingYesterday, the Jackson Police Department released ComStat crime figures for the week of Sept. 14 through Sept. 20. The report shows that major crime statistics in Jackson dropped again last week, although violent crimes rose from the previous week. Total …
Barbour: Stop the Lame GamesGov. Haley Barbour butt-thumped a community organization devoted to poor people this week.
[Stiggers] You Lie!Boneqweesha Jones: "Welcome to the motivational portion of Hair Did University's fall semester orientation. Our guest speaker is Smokey 'Robinson' McBride, representative of Ghetto Science Team District No. 1042 and 2/8."
The JFP Interview with Chokwe LumumbaChokwe Lumumba was one child among seven in Detroit's West side public housing projects. His birth name is Edwin Taliaferro, though he abandoned what he considers his slave name in favor of his current, more nationalistic, equivalent.
Manhunt D.A.‘s ‘Guard' DutyWhen Bruce Dunagan heard that Tallahatchie County prosecutor John Whitten III was involved in a vigilante-style manhunt last month, in Sumner, he wasn't surprised. Dunagan, who was Biloxi's police chief during Hurricane Katrina, remembers Whitten testing the limits of the …
Two Lakes Developer Long a 'Green' FoeNorthside Sun Publisher Wyatt Emmerich declared in a recent column that the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District should appoint Jackson oilman John McGowan to head the board's technical advisory committee. The committee will work with the U.S. …
The GOP's Obsession with Tort ReformAs the health-insurance reform debate swirls, Gov. Haley Barbour is claiming that most Americans are actually looking for tort reform, not a government-guaranteed insurance option, to lower their health-care costs.
Power Industry Watchdog Grows Three New TeethThe Mississippi Public Service Commission will be getting $824,901 to better watchdog the power industry. This morning, District 1 Rep. Travis Childers announced the grant award from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, which the PSC applied for earlier this …
Barbour Misses ACORN BandwagonThe day after Gov. Haley Barbour announced he was cutting state funds to ACORN, the JFP broke the news that the state gives no money to the groupwhich no longer exists here.
Roger WickerPassed by a 68-to-30 Senate vote, an amendment authored by Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, mandates that Amtrak allow passengers to carry handguns in their checked baggage. The amendment is an addition to a $122 billion housing and transportation bill, of …
Jackson One of 20 Strongest-Performing MarketsA new report issued by the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., ranks Jackson as one of the nation's strongest-performing metro areas in the country. The MetroMonitor report tracks the recession and its recovery, and examined the 100 largest metropolitan areas …
Future for Clinic UncertainThe future of the Catholic Charities Legal Assistance Clinic in Jackson, which provides legal services for women and children fleeing domestic abuse, is uncertain, as pending upcoming funding decisions. Funding for the clinic from the Mississippi Bar and the U.S. …
Immigrant Rights Alliance Says Enforcement UnbalancedMississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance Executive Director Bill Chandler is charging that the indictment of Jose Humberto Gonzalez in the 2008 Howard Industries immigration-enforcement raid highlights the unbalanced enforcement of federal immigration law. In 1986, the federal Immigration Reform and Control …
BCBS: Domestic Abuse Not Pre-Existing ConditionState Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney has clarified a statement he made to the Jackson Free Press used in a story Wednesday regarding Mississippi being one of the eight remaining states whose laws allow insurance companies to use a history of …
Jackson Crime Down AgainMajor crimes in Jackson decreased slightly last week, according to statistics (PDF) released yesterday at the Jackson Police Department's weekly COMSTAT meeting. For the year to date, violent crime is down roughly 10 percent compared to last year, while property …
Entergy continuing move to JacksonDowntown Jackson Partners President Ben Allen said the city of Jackson will certainly feel the benefit of Entergy's decision to move about 200 transmission workers from New Orleans to the Jackson area.
"I love your wrap," drawls a genteel lady from the veranda of her Victorian on State Street. "It's a Sami Lott," I say with a smile.