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Hattiesburg Club Owner: State Pressure to Cancel Big Freedia Like 'Footloose'

“I thought to myself that if Miley Cyrus can imitate Freedia at the Emmys, and Freedia can play Jazzfest with hundreds of thousands of people, and have a nationally syndicated cable-reality show, why is it OK in the rest of country, but not in Hattiesburg?”

Bad Business or Bad Math?

In a column published June 3 ("Payday Lending: Bad Business" by Scott Colom), JFP readers met a man named Mike (an alias for a supposed payday loan customer.) I'd like for you to meet a real payday loan customer: Gracie.

Mayor Having Negative Influence on Troubled Teens?

Two of Mayor Melton's young housemates are back in jail. Last week, Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Swan Yerger revoked the bond of 17-year-old Michael Taylor for a 2005 armed robbery after the teen allegedly stole a woman's car at gunpoint on Nov. 16, 2006, a story first reported by the Jackson Free Press. This week, WAPT broke the story that a Copiah-Lincoln Junior College student who lives at Melton's house when he's not at college, Jeremy Bibbs, 19, is sitting in a Copiah County jail after allegedly getting caught with a gun on campus.

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Whiskey River Take Me Home

Lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice are having no part of Mayor Frank Melton's attempt to defend his attack on a Ridgeway Street duplex by claiming that the building itself had a history of drug sales. It seems that the law still requires a warrant. There was no lawful basis for the destruction of the home at 1305 Ridgeway Street; a point which is essentially conceded by Melton in his public statements and in his public failure to make even a token effort to rebut the arguments in the government's Motion," the prosecution wrote in an Oct. 20, 2008, motion in U.S. District Court.

May 14 Mayoral Debate at JSU: Crisler v. Johnson

Send your questions now for the May 14 mayoral debate between Democratic nominees Councilman Marshand Crisler and former Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. at the Rose McCoy Auditorium on the Jackson State University campus. The one-hour debate starts at 7 p.m. and lasts one hour, followed by a 30-minute debate analysis moderated by Bishop Ronnie Crudup. Scott Simmons of 16 WAPT News, Eric Stringfellow of Tougaloo College and Donna Ladd of the Jackson Free Press will moderate the debate and ask questions of the candidates, who will be allowed to rebut. The debate will be simulcast on TV 23 (which reaches the local area without cable on Channel 23) and Comcast Channel 14; WAPT's digital channel 16-2, WJSU 88.5 FM, and on three Web sites: wapt.com, jacksonfreepress.com and jsums.edu.

Insurance ‘Bait And Switch'

State Attorney General Jim Hood said he would be willing to settle a multi-million dollar lawsuit against insurance companies like State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide, Farm Bureau and USAA if they would come to the table, but blamed the companies for sticking to the courts and delaying a judgment.

The State Of JPD

Photos by Adam Lynch, Brian Johnson, Ronni Mott, and Kate Medley

Precinct 2 Patrolman Michael Braxton was on an evening shift in July when he got a vague call from dispatch telling him to head to Deer Park and Dalton Streets "to transport subjects from this location to an unknown location.

The Real Test of Katrina

John Kerry in a speech at Brown University:

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Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves' 2003 Victory over Gary Anderson 'All About Race,' Critics Say

In his successful 2003 bid for state treasurer, critics accused current-Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves of running ads designed to remind voters that his Democratic opponent, Gary Anderson was black. Reeves denied the allegations.

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Guys We Love 2020

June is the month we all show appreciation to the fathers in our lives who have shown us support and love over the years. In celebration of Father's Day, the Jackson Free Press honors men, many of whom are dads themselves, in the metro area who have done noteworthy things or who are active within their communities.

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The MFP Interview: Dr. Eric Topol Speaks On Realities, Dangers of Delta Variant

For much of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, CA has been a leading voice for a unified, swift response to the virus.

Madison Plans For Residents-Only Festival

Officials from Franklin, Tenn., a city Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler cited last week as a model for keeping outsiders from attending a Madison festival, claim their city has never followed such a practice.

[Stauffer] Facts, Damn Facts and Opinions

The Jackson Free Press publisher explains why the newspaper does not support Two Lakes or the 1996 Levee Plan. Instead, we need to put politics aside and seek a basin-wide solution.

Crossroads Film 2011 Reviews

The Crossroads Film Festival is screening dozens of movies April 1-3 at Malco Grandview Theatre in Madison, in addition to holding workshops, after-parties and other related events all over town. The Jackson Free Press reviewed a few films to give you a sampling of what you'll find at the festival. For a full schedule of screenings and other festival events, go to http://www.crossroadsfilmfestival.com.

Scott Sisters Face Health Barrier to Transplant

Also see: The Tragic Case of the Scott Sisters

Crisler Leads In Funds On Election Eve

Councilman Marshand Crisler has a substantial edge in fundraising over former Mayor Harvey Johnson going into tomorrow's mayoral run-off election. Crisler raised $140,470 from April 26 through May 9, according to his latest campaign finance report, while Johnson raised $28,814.

Trash Talk: Kim Wade Disses the JFP

"Last week the Jackson Free Press had an interesting article in there where the editor was lamenting the fact that 'hey, you know Lefties are religious, too,' and she was going on and on, and this is Donna Ladd was going on and on about how she was religious and how she respects Buddha and all these other folks, well that's fine and good—and we as Christians, we respect those other religions, too, that's how they were able to flourish here in America.

Net-Metering Advocates Push for Support

Advocates for net metering pressed legislators this morning to submit and pass laws during this legislative session making the consumer-based electricity policy a reality in Mississippi.

Pickering and Coach Come to Blows

Former Rep. Chip Pickering showed the city of Madison that soccer apparently stirs up the same kind of emotions here as it does in Europe. Madison Police Sgt. Robert Sanders told the Jackson Free Press today that Pickering and youth soccer coach Christopher Hester filed complaints against each other for assault after the two duked it out at Madison's Liberty Park Sunday.

[Dickerson] Can You Handle the Truth?

For a long time, I wanted to ask President Bush why, if the Dixie Chicks knew there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, he couldn't figure it out for himself.