JPS School Closures and Consolidations Raise Concerns in JacksonEarlier this week, the Jackson Public Schools' board of trustees voted to close and consolidate several schools as part of the district's ongoing efforts to address decreasing student enrollment, teacher shortages and funding woes.
DOSSIER: Shame on WLBT for Dishonoring Past with Empty Crime RhetoricWLBT, the NBC affiliate of the Atlanta-based Gray Television, climbed fully on board with U.S. Attorney Hurst's false rhetoric that Jackson leaders and other locals are somehow "denying" gun violence in the capital city.
Mississippi, Lacking Guards, Sends Inmates to Private PrisonMississippi's prison system signed a 90-day contract to shift 375 inmates from the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman to a nearby private lockup, saying it doesn't have the guards to safely keep the inmates in state custody in the wake …
Azia’s Picks 1-10-20Mark my words: Jackson is the new mecca for innovation and forward progress and will be an example to follow for cities nation-wide with similar backstories. Let me help you be a loyal fan of our Capital City by sharing …
Facebook Again Refuses to Ban Political Ads, Even False OnesDespite escalating pressure ahead of the 2020 presidential election, Facebook reaffirmed its freewheeling policy on political ads Thursday, saying it won’t ban them, won’t fact-check them and won’t limit how they can be targeted to specific groups of people.
Trump Proposes Sweeping Rollback of Environmental OversightIn a dramatic rollback of environmental oversight, President Donald Trump took action Thursday to clear the way and speed up development of a wide range of commercial projects by cutting back federal review of their impact on the environment.
Iran Downed Ukrainian Jetliner, US, Canadian Officials SayEvidence indicates it is “highly likely” that an Iranian anti-aircraft missile downed a Ukrainian jetliner near Tehran late Tuesday, U.S. and Canadian officials said Thursday.
Lawmaker Who Called for Lynching of Confederate Statue Foes ElevatedIn 2017, Mississippi House Rep. Karl Oliver wrote that Louisiana leaders ought to be "LYNCHED" for removing Confederate monuments. On Jan. 8, House Speaker Philip Gunn made him vice chair of the powerful appropriations committee.
JSU MLK Convocation, UM MLK Day of Service and MSU Veterinary CampConstance Slaughter-Harvey, former Mississippi assistant secretary of state and general counsel, will deliver the keynote address at Jackson State University's annual Martin Luther King Jr. convocation on Friday, Jan. 17.
Mississippi Working to Cover Full Cost of Teacher Pay RaiseMississippi lawmakers are working on funding the final portion of a pay raise that teachers started receiving this school year. The $1,500 raise was approved during the 2019 legislative session, but officials later discovered a bureaucratic error.
Iran Retaliates with Missiles in 'Slap' at US Bases in IraqIran struck back at the United States early Wednesday for killing its most powerful military commander, firing a barrage of ballistic missiles at two Iraqi military bases that house American troops in what the Iranian supreme leader said was a …
Police Task Forces ‘Waste of Time’ for Violence Prevention?Law-enforcement efforts to combat violent crime in Jackson in recent years have increasingly focused on the creation of multi-agency task forces, which identify high-crime regions or criminal activity, gather intelligence, and serve subpoenas, warrants and indictments related to those crimes.
MDOC Hits ‘Breaking Point’Inmate deaths are not a new phenomenon in Mississippi. Some family members and activist organizations, like the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, have pointed to a lack of funding to explain rising prison violence.
OPINION: Educator; What About Us? Who Will Help the Helpers?"I am one of four daughters who descends from a very long line of ancestral educators. They instilled in me that education is the rudiment to a forward-thinking life of exploration, self-discovery and financial stability."
2020 Legislative Preview: GOP In Charge, But Conflict Ahead?The GOP's newfound dominance in Mississippi does not mean a pacified Legislature, outgoing House Minority Leader Rep. David Baria, D-Bay St. Louis, says. Baria believes that real political daylight exists between the two men now inheriting the most powerful positions …
Local United Methodist Churches Face Schism Over LGBTQ InclusionThe future of Mississippi's United Methodist churches and institutions is in question after a group of influential United Methodist Church leaders announced a preliminary agreement to split the church in two on Jan. 3, due to irreconcilable disagreements over LGBTQ …
Jeff McCutchenCapt. Jeff McCutchen will be officially sworn in Monday as the Oxford Police Department's new police chief. McCutchen has been running the 100-person department for the last 11 months as interim chief when former chief Joey East took leave to …
The Dapper Doughnut, The Lost Cajun and La Brioche RenovationsGabe Jackson, a Liberty, Miss., native and a guard for the Oakland Raiders football team, opened the first Mississippi location of The Dapper Doughnut, a Las Vegas-based donut franchise with 21 locations, together with his wife Eryn Jackson in Flowood …
Legal Group Seeks Federal Inquiry into Mississippi PrisonsPrisoner advocates are calling on the federal government to investigate Mississippi’s prison system for possible civil rights violations, saying the violence of recent days highlights deliberate violations of inmates’ constitutional right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.
Weinstein Charged with Sex Crimes in LA on Eve of NY TrialLos Angeles prosecutors charged Harvey Weinstein on Monday with sexually assaulting two women on successive nights during Oscars week in 2013, bringing the new case against the disgraced Hollywood mogul on the eve of jury selection for his New York …
Hyde-Smith, Wicker 'Gunning to End Roe': Ask High Court to OverturnMississippi's two U.S. senators, Republicans Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith, are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider overturning its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which legalized abortion nationwide.
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.
Addressing reporters last Friday in the wake of high end-of-year homicide rates, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba highlighted his administration's efforts to curb violence in the city through a variety of mechanisms.
Visit Jackson opened the JXN Welcome Center, first full-service welcome center in Jackson on Friday, Jan. 10, inside the Electric Building at the corner of East Pearl and West Streets.
Earlier this week, the Jackson Public Schools' board of trustees voted to close and consolidate several schools as part of the district's ongoing efforts to address decreasing student enrollment, teacher shortages and funding woes.
WLBT, the NBC affiliate of the Atlanta-based Gray Television, climbed fully on board with U.S. Attorney Hurst's false rhetoric that Jackson leaders and other locals are somehow "denying" gun violence in the capital city.
Mississippi's new Republican lieutenant governor is putting together a bipartisan leadership team in the state Senate for the new four-year term.
Mississippi's prison system signed a 90-day contract to shift 375 inmates from the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman to a nearby private lockup, saying it doesn't have the guards to safely keep the inmates in state custody in the wake …
Mark my words: Jackson is the new mecca for innovation and forward progress and will be an example to follow for cities nation-wide with similar backstories. Let me help you be a loyal fan of our Capital City by sharing …
Despite escalating pressure ahead of the 2020 presidential election, Facebook reaffirmed its freewheeling policy on political ads Thursday, saying it won’t ban them, won’t fact-check them and won’t limit how they can be targeted to specific groups of people.
In a dramatic rollback of environmental oversight, President Donald Trump took action Thursday to clear the way and speed up development of a wide range of commercial projects by cutting back federal review of their impact on the environment.
Evidence indicates it is “highly likely” that an Iranian anti-aircraft missile downed a Ukrainian jetliner near Tehran late Tuesday, U.S. and Canadian officials said Thursday.
In 2017, Mississippi House Rep. Karl Oliver wrote that Louisiana leaders ought to be "LYNCHED" for removing Confederate monuments. On Jan. 8, House Speaker Philip Gunn made him vice chair of the powerful appropriations committee.
Constance Slaughter-Harvey, former Mississippi assistant secretary of state and general counsel, will deliver the keynote address at Jackson State University's annual Martin Luther King Jr. convocation on Friday, Jan. 17.
Mississippi lawmakers are working on funding the final portion of a pay raise that teachers started receiving this school year. The $1,500 raise was approved during the 2019 legislative session, but officials later discovered a bureaucratic error.
Trustees over the second-largest school district in Mississippi have voted to close an elementary school and consolidate two middle schools.
Iran struck back at the United States early Wednesday for killing its most powerful military commander, firing a barrage of ballistic missiles at two Iraqi military bases that house American troops in what the Iranian supreme leader said was a …
Law-enforcement efforts to combat violent crime in Jackson in recent years have increasingly focused on the creation of multi-agency task forces, which identify high-crime regions or criminal activity, gather intelligence, and serve subpoenas, warrants and indictments related to those crimes.
Inmate deaths are not a new phenomenon in Mississippi. Some family members and activist organizations, like the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, have pointed to a lack of funding to explain rising prison violence.
"I am one of four daughters who descends from a very long line of ancestral educators. They instilled in me that education is the rudiment to a forward-thinking life of exploration, self-discovery and financial stability."
The GOP's newfound dominance in Mississippi does not mean a pacified Legislature, outgoing House Minority Leader Rep. David Baria, D-Bay St. Louis, says. Baria believes that real political daylight exists between the two men now inheriting the most powerful positions …
The future of Mississippi's United Methodist churches and institutions is in question after a group of influential United Methodist Church leaders announced a preliminary agreement to split the church in two on Jan. 3, due to irreconcilable disagreements over LGBTQ …
"Mississippi leaders have historically created and encouraged incarceration as an intentional pathway for a segment of Mississippi's society, disproportionately the African American community."
Legislators are taking their oath of office Tuesday in Mississippi, and they will set the direction of state government for the next four years.
Outgoing Gov. Phil Bryant has issued a proclamation declaring Jan. 26-Feb. 1 Mississippi School Choice Week.
Capt. Jeff McCutchen will be officially sworn in Monday as the Oxford Police Department's new police chief. McCutchen has been running the 100-person department for the last 11 months as interim chief when former chief Joey East took leave to …
Gabe Jackson, a Liberty, Miss., native and a guard for the Oakland Raiders football team, opened the first Mississippi location of The Dapper Doughnut, a Las Vegas-based donut franchise with 21 locations, together with his wife Eryn Jackson in Flowood …
Prisoner advocates are calling on the federal government to investigate Mississippi’s prison system for possible civil rights violations, saying the violence of recent days highlights deliberate violations of inmates’ constitutional right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.
Los Angeles prosecutors charged Harvey Weinstein on Monday with sexually assaulting two women on successive nights during Oscars week in 2013, bringing the new case against the disgraced Hollywood mogul on the eve of jury selection for his New York …
Mississippi's two U.S. senators, Republicans Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith, are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider overturning its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, which legalized abortion nationwide.
One of two prisoners believed to have escaped from one of several Mississippi prisons recently rocked by violence is back in custody, authorities said early Sunday.
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.