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[Balko] You Can Have Sex With Them; Just Don't Photograph Them

In the spring and summer of 2006, Eric Rinehart, at the time a 34-year-old police officer in the small town of Middletown, Ind., began consensual sexual relationships with two young women, ages 16 and 17. Rinehart was going through a divorce at the time. The relationships came to the attention of local authorities, and then federal authorities, when one of the girls mentioned it to a guidance counselor.

Barbour's Cross to Bear

In 1968 in Yazoo City, Police Chief Ardis Russell Sr. arrested a black mother, LeBertha Owens, for trying to take her young daughter, Gloria, to the public library for materials to complete her school assignments. Her daughter was left behind, as she watched the sheriff take her mother to jail for trying to help her get a decent education.

‘They're Taking Daddies Away'

Colonial Terrace Apartments resident Angella Rector speaks with a slow southern drawl that drips of mobile home and Larry the Cable Guy. The redhead married her husband, Juan Espanoza, two years ago. They lived on a tight family budget with their three children before U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested Espanoza last weekend for being in the country illegally.

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Integrating Yazoo: Race and Change in Haley Barbour's Hometown

Gloria Owens froze with fear as a German shepherd barreled toward her at the entrance of Yazoo City Junior High School on a fall morning in 1968. "Get that n*gger," she heard her classmate command his dog. As the dog jumped on her and brought her to the ground, she cried and called out for help.

Of Fairytales and Drama

Many children (and a few adults) wish their favorite children's story would come to life. Imagination is fun, but sometimes they just want to live the fairytales. Imagine no more, thanks to the Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet's production of "The Princess and the Pea."

Musical Merrymaking

Mother Nature sure has spoiled me these last two weeks with gorgeous weather, and she's made my music-festival fever go into overdrive. I'm sure everyone has their calendars marked March 19 for the Mal's St. Paddy's Parade at 1 p.m., and St. Paddy's Street Party at Hal & Mal's afterward. This year's theme is "Hey, hey, the blues is alright."

Taking the Side of Unions

Some Mississippians are taking sides on Wisconsin state employees who are protesting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget that would eliminate state employee unions' collective bargaining rights.

Michael Barranco

Michael Barranco visited with his friend Sergio Fernandez at River Hills Club last Sunday after a weekend camping trip with his family. Fernandez says Barranco enthusiastically described his recent musical performance at Underground 119, and that people will remember him for his passion--for architecture, for music and for his family.

Come Together

I once had a client who considered himself completely uncreative. An entrepreneur with a thriving small business, Mr. Jones (not his real name) had a peculiar stance about artists: He couldn't understand why they were necessary, couldn't see why anyone would give them the time of day and considered their "sensitive" natures a bunch of malarkey. It is merely social habit, he said, that allows artists to get away with being thin-skinned and quirky.

MAEP and Museums

A showdown may be gearing up between the Mississippi House of Representatives and Gov. Haley Barbour on the use of $65 million in federal funds for public education this year.

[West] More Than A Figment

Communities that don't have vibrant arts scenes aren't healthy communities. Arts are essential.

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Taking The Stage

Katrina Byrd makes it a point to get to the JATRAN bus stop early. The bus is supposed to come by at 3:30 p.m, so she gets there at 3:15 p.m. When the bus shows up late, at 3:40 p.m, it whizzes right by her without slowing down.

Nola Gibson

As the director of continuing education of Millsaps College, Gibson has not only made lifelong learning an important part of her life, but she is constantly working to provide quality educational opportunities to the residents of Jackson and beyond.

Sushi, Tattoos and Redevelopment

The Fondren neighborhood will get a long-awaited sushi restaurant in April, developer Mike Peters says. Peters told the Jackson Free Press that Fatsumo Sushi, an American-style sushi restaurant in Gulfport, will open a location on Duling Avenue April 1. The Fondren location, between Fischer Galleries and the redeveloped Duling School, was originally set to house a different franchise, Fuze Sushi. A number of hiccups, including the death of the restaurant's original chef, delayed the opening indefinitely, however.

And the Oscar Goes To ...

Hollywood rolls out the red carpet Sunday, Feb. 27, to celebrate the achievements of the motion picture industry during the past year. Despite promises of something new and better, devoted Oscar fans know and expect a rather dull, drawn-out ceremony. We have lowered our expectations and fortified ourselves for a long night, as we patiently wait for the unscripted moments that make the show worthwhile. Cue Sally Fields and her misremembered "You like me" speech." Her unrestrained happiness made that year's show.

[Kamikaze] A Jackson Reality Check

It's time for some hard truth. Some Jackson detractors may have taken my ProJack stance as blind love for our fair city. Some have accused me of selling hype over substance. I've refuted crime stats, championed development and screamed "Buy Jackson" at the top of my lungs.

Torn by Time

It's one of the hallmarks of humanity: being torn between hope for the future and the familiarity of the past. The Prozorof family in Anton Chekhov's "The Three Sisters" is especially human.

Paul DeBoy

Paul DeBoy's first stage was the backyard of his Baltimore, Md., home. His older brother wrote plays that DeBoy would star in, and the two would charge admission when DeBoy was just 5 years old.

NAACP Asks Barbour to Condemn Klan Plate

Mississippi NAACP President Derrick Johnson is asking Gov. Haley Barbour to condemn the Mississippi Sons of Confederate Veterans' push to create a commemorative license plate for Confederate General and the Ku Klux Klan's first Grand Wizard, Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Former JSU President Reflects on Shootings

Former Jackson State University President John Peoples, Jr. described with painful detail the 1970 shootings he witnessed at Jackson State University that resulted in the deaths of two students during Koinonia Coffee House's Friday Forum this morning.