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Wildfire: Colo. Town Sees Long Evacuation

Tourists and business owners forced to flee a popular summer retreat in the southwestern Colorado mountains resigned themselves to a long wait as fire officials declined to speculate when they might be able to reign in an unprecedented and erratic blaze raging through the Rio Grande National Forest.

Violent Protests as Kurds Seek Help Against IS

Kurdish protesters clashed Tuesday with police in Turkey and forced their way into the European Parliament in Brussels, part of Europe-wide demonstrations against the Islamic State group's advance on a town on the Syrian-Turkish border.

Mississippi House Votes for Small Town Revitalization Fund

Small towns could borrow money from the state to revitalize historic downtown areas under a bill passed Tuesday by the House.

Rankin’s First Black Mayor Faces Setbacks

Pelahatchie Mayor Ryshonda Harper Beechem became Rankin County's first black mayor in July 2017. A couple of months into her tenure, she raised questions about checks that seemed off to her and reached out to the state auditor's office for clarity.

'Home Town' Stars Back Mississippi City's Tourism Tax Effort

The Mississippi House honored the stars of HGTV's “Home Town" at the state Capitol on Tuesday, and married couple Ben and Erin Napier used the visit to help lobby for a possible increase in a local tourism tax for their community.

Iraq's Forces Drive IS Militants from Key Town

Iraqi forces drove Islamic State militants out of a strategic oil refinery town north of Baghdad on Friday, scoring their biggest battlefield victory since they melted away in the face of the terror group's stunning summer offensive that captured much of northern and western Iraq.

True Stories

You need to meet C.P. Ellis, a Klansman turned civil-rights activist. And Emma Knight, a jaded, feminist Miss USA. ("The only beauty queen in history that didn't cry when she won.") And a certain wise Puerto Rican bellhop. And a young black woman returning to college to make a better life for her family.

Second Line Time

The festivities for the St. Paddy's Parade don't start with the parades on Saturday. Friday night is the second annual Marching MALfunction & Second Line Stomp.

[Mimi] Hurl Rice, Not Brimstone

One day a guy wakes up and says, "You know what, today I am deciding to be gay. It will be so much fun. I'll tell my parents so they will shut me out of their lives and take away their financial support. Then the kids at school can beat me daily and scrawl death threats on my locker. And when I get older, I can look forward to an ostracized life from family, friends and church. Then there is job discrimination to contend with, unless I land that part on 'Will and Grace' or join the 'Queer Eye' guys, which kind of narrows my stereotypical career choices. And if I'm lucky enough to find love, I may be harassed on the street and in public places for expressing that love with the simple gesture of holding a hand."

Local Love

My favorite love song is Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life." The song is a constant reminder of how lucky I am to have a wife who loves and needs me as much as I love and need her. But the great thing about love songs is that there are so many, and each can mean different things to different folks.

Going-Away Dance Party for Casey TONIGHT

The Jackson Free Press is sending Casey Parks off to grad school with style in the Red Room with a "Please Don't Go" Going-Away Dance Party. Starts at 9 p.m., no cover, 18+. DJs Stephen Barnette and Donna Ladd will help you dance your butts off. Casey Parks Look-alike Contest at 11 p.m. Be there! You're welcome even if aren't yet lucky enough to know Casey personally.

Optimisme Bienvenu

I admit it: I'm a snob. I can hear the slightly superior voice in my head: "One really should see works in their true context to fully understand them. One really should travel." (Funny how that voice always begins sentences with the word "One.") Traveling exhibits of precious objects and art always remind me of the hapless polar bear who found himself in the hot, humid Jackson Zoo: As a child, I was fascinated and drawn to him out of his sheer improbability, yet also miserable on his behalf.

I Got A Right To Sing The Blues

"Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill" (written by Lanie Robertson, musical arrangement by Danny Holgate) opened at New Stage Theatre last week, and I was lucky enough to catch the opening-night performance. The show, directed by Patrick Benton, depicts Billie Holiday late in her career, when she has returned to Philadelphia to perform at one of her old haunts. Throughout the course of the revue-style show, Holiday sings some of her most famous songs and comments on the often stormy experiences of her life as an artist, a drug addict and a woman in love.

UN Warns of Massacre if Militants Take Syrian Town

In a dramatic appeal, a U.N. official warned that hundreds of civilians who remain trapped in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani near the border with Turkey were likely to be "massacred" by advancing extremists and called on Ankara to help prevent a catastrophe.

Real Life

As I start this column, I'm in a hotel room in Baltimore, Md., just outside of BWI airport, having had my flight back to Jackson canceled repeatedly for the past two days because the airport had no power and water. I'm watching the Weather Channel and CNN and checking in to post things on the JFP Web site, because I'm the only member of the staff with Internet access. Or power. The devastation on the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans is heartbreaking and, seemingly, getting worse by the hour.

Cause of Fla. Gas Plant Blast Being Investigated

Equipment malfunction and human error are among the possible causes of a series of explosions that spawned a 20-by-20 foot fireball at a central Florida propane plant and left eight injured, authorities said.

You’ve Got Mail

Rather than being disheartened that so much slips under the radar, it's a relief to learn just how wrong people are when they say, "There's nothing to do in Jackson."

Oxford Residents Sharing Homes, Volunteering, Spending ... for Nothing?

This is about more than you.

To put John McCain's bailout on Mississippi in perspective, recall that Oxford homeowners have been bending over backward to both rent and share their homes with visiting journalists and others in town for the debates. You see, Sen. McCain, Oxford is a small town without a ton of hotel rooms. People have planned for months for this event. Many have volunteered for months. People have spent a lot of money. Ole Miss itself has spent $5.5 million; small businesses have stocked up in ways they cannot afford to lose.

Instant Replay: College Football, Nov. 17

Instant replay: Jackson State 31, Alcorn State 19: The Tigers win the SWAC East and their first trip to the championship game since 1999. Out-of-town papers: Vicksburg, Biloxi

Small Towns, Big Football

“Gridiron Gold” documents the history of football in Mississippi’s high-schools.

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