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[McInnis] Tiger Woods and Selective Naivete

I never understood the significance of Jackie Robinson breaking the color line in baseball, and baseball is the favorite sport in my household. Robinson's accomplishments in the integrated major leagues means no more to me than his accomplishments in the Negro League because I do not need whites to validate the genius of African people.

[Balko] The El Paso Miracle

By conventional wisdom, El Paso, Texas, should be one of the scariest cities in America. Surprisingly, it's actually one of the safest.

[Stiggers] Imus Be Dreaming

Readin' Rain-Bro: "Will bicycles become the transportation alternative for the financially challenged individual who cannot afford to pay $3 for a gallon of gas? I might not have the answer to this question, but I do know critical thoughts regarding certain events will become hot topics this summer."

Step Outside the Mall Box

Last year's skyrocketing gas prices, combined with the housing bust, unemployment and a general economic malaise, is enough to make many suburbanites rethink their commutes and McMansions in favor of a return to an urban, mixed-use environment.

[Balko] Is Texas About to Execute Another Innocent Man?

Henry Watkins "Hank" Skinner was supposed to be executed tomorrow, but last Tuesday a Gray County, Texas, district court judge pushed the date back one month, to March 24. Skinner has been on Death Row in Texas since 1993, awaiting execution for the murder of his girlfriend and her two sons. He has maintained his innocence since his arrest, and investigators from the Northwestern University Journalism School's Medill Innocence Project have shot numerous holes in the prosecution's case. But Texas officials refuse to conduct a simple DNA test that could point to the condemned man's innocence or cement his guilt.

Start Moving

It's hard to describe the freedom that comes with not relying on a car for transportation, because for many people this means just the opposite. Last week a group of about 25 progressive Jacksonians participated in an experiment called carLESS week.

[Stiggers] Broken, Busted, and Disgusted

Pookie Peterz: "Greetings members of the Ghetto Science Team Business and Economic Association! The lack of money has quenched the desires of broken, busted and disgusted individuals who sit and daydream on front porches. Fellow entrepreneurs, it's time to break the cycles of poverty and complacency.

[Stiggers] It's A Mad Crunchie World

Mr. Announcement: "Gasoline climbs to $3 per gallon. American soldiers remain in limbo and at war. Frustrated males go on shooting rampages. The chemical called melamine contaminates our food supply of pork, chicken and fish. Amidst all of this uncertainty, American consumers still make routine midday pilgrimages to fast-food restaurants.

Frank Melton is No Barack Obama

It's déjà vu all over again. Four years ago this week, I was writing a column calling for—no, begging—Jacksonians not to vote for Frank Melton as mayor in the Democratic primary.

[Stiggers] One Giant Leap For Ghettokind

Dr. Silas P. Rathbone III: "It's a defining moment in Ghetto Science history. Two of our finest will embark on a journey where very few in the ghetto have gone before.

[Stiggers] Work It, Miss Wanda

Bonqweesha Jones: "Welcome to 'Lookin' Good in the 'Hood Ghetto Make Over' television show, brought to you by the Hair Did University School of Cosmetology. Tonight my H.D.U. students will transform a plain Crunchie Burga World employee into a well-dressed individual.

Youth Curfew A Bad Idea

Mayor Melton's state of emergency is over, but a youth curfew ordinance still remains on the books in Jackson. If the City Council is serious about combating juvenile crime, it will get rid of the curfew and concentrate on creating crime-fighting programs proven to reduce crime in the capital city.

[Outlaw] The Act of Creativity

I found myself neck deep in a community serious about its art.

Signs of Hope

A coworker of time was standing at her window looking over the head of the stone Eudora Welty who looks just past the statues of William Faulkner and Richard Wright on the corner of Lamar and Capitol streets. It occurred to her that the traffic should not be stopped at a green light, so she studied the scene more carefully.

no. 50 September 6 - 13

<b>Leave Them Shops Alone</b>

What if I said in an opinion in the Jackson Free Press that all black people were crooks, or all Islamic people were murderers? In his "Don't Feed the Natives" (July 26, 2006) article, Ken Stiggers did just that to my industry. He made a blanket statement about something he obviously knows little, if anything, about: the pawn shop industry. "One block away is the pawn shop where burglars could receive cash for their stolen items," Stiggers wrote.

Walk the Local Talk

Here at the Jackson Free Press, we know well how hard it can be for a small, locally owned business to stand up to a corporation that wants to stamp out as much competition as possible in order to please shareholders far from Jackson.

[Balko] The Anti-Cop Trend That Isn't

Between Jan. 20 and Jan. 25, 13 police officers were shot in the U.S., five of them fatally. Two officers in St. Petersburg, Fla., were killed while trying to arrest a suspect accused of aggravated battery. Two more were killed in Miami while trying to arrest a suspected murderer. An officer in Oregon was seriously wounded, and another in Indiana was killed after they were shot during routine traffic stops. The Indiana assailant had a long and violent criminal record. The suspect in Oregon is still at large. In another incident, four officers were injured in Detroit when a man about to be charged in a murder investigation walked into a police station and opened fire.

[Gregory] Lori Ponders Mamahood

I've never felt more prepared to write a "chick" column than now as I'm currently checking yet another "womanly" role off my list. Daughter? Check. Wife? Check. Mother? Check.

Ronni's Wild Ride

"Have you ever noticed? Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac."

[Outlaw] Home on the Ranch

Feel free to judge, but I've lived in eight different places since 2004. Yes, I'm aware that makes me sound like a Gypsy, but I can defend myself. Justin and I talked about home ownership the way some heterosexual couples talk about having kids—one day, just not today.

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