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Analysis: Leaders Say Reducing State Budget Meets GOP Goal

There has been plenty of hand-wringing about the Mississippi budget the past several months, with Republican Gov. Phil Bryant making multiple rounds of cuts because tax collections fell short of expectations.

Noah Barbieri

Millsaps College says one of its students has been named a Truman Scholar.

10 Local Stories of the Week

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.

Seatbelts Now Required for All in Cars, Bryant Signs Trooper School Funding

Starting in July if you're riding in a car in Mississippi, seatbelts are required for everyone in the vehicle. But previously, state law only required those passengers in the front seat to wear seatbelts.

George Bey

Millsaps College professor of anthropology George Bey excitedly points to his computer screen as he explains the intricacies of a recent advancement in archeological technology called Light Detection and Ranging, or LiDAR.

Mississippi High Court: Execution Plans Can be Kept Secret

Mississippi does not have to publicly disclose details of how it carries out executions, the state's highest court ruled Thursday.

U.S. Sen. Wicker Says 1,500 Syrians Died from Chemical Attacks During War, More from Barrel Bombs

Mississippi's junior U.S. senator, Roger Wicker, says President Donald Trump acted in accordance with the Constitution when he ordered missile air strikes on a Syrian air base last Thursday—but that hundreds of thousands of Syrians have died from chemical and barrel-bomb attacks in recent years in a conflict he calls "complicated."

Amy Carroll-Denley

Soon, the Gulf South Conference will honor one of the greatest women's basketball players in Delta State University history, Amy Carroll-Denley, who is among five new inductees in the 2017 GSC Hall of Fame class.

Russia Vetoes UN Resolution to Condemn Syria Chemical Attack

Russia vetoed a Western-backed U.N. resolution Wednesday that would have condemned the reported use of chemical weapons in a town in northern Syria and demanded a speedy investigation into the attack that killed nearly 90 people.

Judge Cuts Fine to $20,000 for Man Convicted in Bribery Case

A businessman who bribed Mississippi's former prisons chief will only have to pay a $20,000 fine, not the $150,000 originally imposed, after he testified Wednesday that his debts outweigh his assets.

Hopping Down the Local Food Trail

If you don't want to cook Easter lunch or dinner this year (or if you need treats), why not eat and shop local? Here is your guide to Easter Sunday on April 16.

‘One Lake’ Can’t Outsmart Nature

A new Pearl River dam and lake raise huge concerns for the short and long term: lots of lights and lots of traffic; new flooding downstream in Mississippi and Louisiana; and negative impacts to industry, wildlife, air and water quality, Gulf fisheries, recreation and public health.

State Testing Presents Bigger Equity Question

The Third Grade Reading Gate certainly serves a statewide purpose: to weed out and ideally save those kids who never learn how to read. But what if catching them isn't enough?

The Myth of the Welfare Queen

I am old enough to remember the promise of welfare reform in the '90s. I recall quite well the nasty rhetoric used to shred our social safety net.

The Revolving Third-grade Gate

Thousands of Mississippi's third graders will sit in front of computers later this month to take the statewide reading test, but the eyes of teachers and administrators at Finch Elementary School will be intensely focused on a dozen students at this Wilkinson County school.

Ellington