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Tony Bahou

It was a no-brainer for former TV sports anchor Tony Bahou when the position for president and CEO of Special Olympics Mississippi opened up in July 2014.

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Senate Doozies: Big Votes on Common Core, Special Needs, Car Stickers

In the Senate, over six hours of debate resulted in lawmakers moving to repeal the Motor Vehicle Safety Inspection Law, ask the federal government to balance their budget, enact the Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs and create a commission to replace Common Core standards.

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Report: Miss. No. 2 in Lynchings Per Capita

A chilling new report revealed this week reveals that racial terror lynching in the U.S. was much worse than previously believed.

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Revving Up for the Big Fights

The Mississippi Legislature is preparing for the big fights that come later in the session, now that the Senate and House cleared most routine, non-controversial items off their calendars in this fifth week of the session.

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Prison Reform Target of Rollback

In March 2014, in an uncommon show of unity, the state's three top Republican leaders celebrated the passage of game-changing legislation.

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Development Catches Fondren Residents Off Guard

Fondren residents started noticing several rundown houses in January with siding missing and a big, red "X" painted across their doors. Each day, more homes became vacant and began to disappear.

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Jackson: New Rankin County Wastewater Plant is Unlawful

Although City of Jackson officials are doing their best to appear collegial to entities they fear are attempting to force Jackson into a new regional wastewater authority, the city seems poised to play a little hardball of its own.

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Pamela Shaw

As a senior manager, entrepreneur and public-policy analyst, Pamela Shaw is the seasoned and outspoken president and founder of P3 Strategies, a company that specializes in government relations, lobbying, management consulting and other services.

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New Civil Rights Museum on Track For Completion

In former Gov. Haley Barbour's address Tuesday morning about the progress of the state's new civil rights museum, he stressed the importance of not only recognizing Mississippi's history, but improving the city of Jackson.

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Jesse Harris

The murders of Mack Charles Parker and Emmett Till in Money were the catalysts for Jesse Harris' lifetime of working for voting rights and social justice across the South.

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Jackson: A Great Place for Art, Food and Black Businesses

Flowood native Sean Alexander will open Zeek'z House of Gyros (132 Lakeland Heights Blvd., 601-919-9832) Monday, Feb. 16, next to the Flowood Walmart.

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It's Official: Kenny Stokes is Back on City Council

"He's back," a man shouted from the back corner of Jackson's crammed city council chamber this morning upon newly re-elected Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes's completion of the oath of office.

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Jackson Fights Takeover of Sewer System

The City of Jackson is fighting what its officials call an all-out assault from a Rankin County utility to take control of Jackson's profitable water-treatment facilities.

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Malcolm Butler

It only seems fitting that former Vicksburg and Hinds Community College star Malcolm Butler made the game-winning play in the Super Bowl.

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Lethal Rejection: Will the Supreme Court's Lethal Injection Review Kill the Death Penalty?

If the nation's top court strikes down Oklahoma's lethal injection procedure, what would it mean for the death penalty? We've asked the experts what you need to know.

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50 Years of #BlackLivesMatter: Freedom Summer to Ferguson

Recently, Jackson activists along with the Veterans of Mississippi Civil Rights Movement Inc., the Tougaloo College National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Gamma Upsilon chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha met at Tougaloo's historic Woodworth Chapel for a panel discussion titled "From Freedom Summer to Ferguson: The Value of Black life in 'Post Racial America.'"

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Chung-Fan Chang

Growing up, paintings and decorations from western and eastern masters surrounded Jackson artist Chung-Fan Chang in her home in Taiwan.

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Sketching a Plan for Jackson: The JFP Interview with Mayor Tony Yarber

Mayor Tony Yarber recently invited the Jackson Free Press to the ceremonial mayor's office on City Hall's first floor to discuss his views on napkining, infrastructure financing, his trip to the nation's capital, the political rumor mill and how not to get racially profiled in Walmart.

Legislature Status: Bills We're Watching

Lawmakers had a Feb. 3 deadline. Here's what made it and what didn't.

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No Legislation Is Dead Until It’s Dead

It's election year in Mississippi, and that means that state legislators will go for the controversial jugular if it might translate into votes back in the home district.

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Farish Street Still in the Balance

During the day, little is happening on Farish Street. As most people know, plans to redevelop the historic street, which once stood as the central-business-district for Jackson's African American community, lagged for years only before new hope met a legal morass in 2012.

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Despite Henley-Young Report, Frank Bluntson Says ‘I’m Calling the Shots’

On Oct. 18, 2014, a teenage boy was booked into the Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center. The boy has bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and the facility's medical staff did not believe he should be admitted because the jail lacked the resources to treat the young man's mental illness.

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Special Ed: ‘It’s Been a Rollercoaster’

Many educators, disability advocate Mandy Rogers said, don't know the procedures regarding students with special needs, such as what kinds of disabilities, like dyslexia, are covered under disability law.

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Trish Hammons

Custom Optical has been in Fondren for 26 years, and though the store has only been in owner Trish Hammons' hands since 2006, she's made it an eyewear staple in the Jackson area, especially if you want something a little out of the ordinary.

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South Jackson Kroger Closure Causes Alarm

Residents in south Jackson are working feverishly to make sure their neighborhood doesn't become a food desert when the Kroger on Terry Road closes later this month.

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Rep. Deborah Dixon

Rep. Deborah Dixon's personal experience led her to work on a bill over the last few years that would revise Mississippi's hate-crime law.

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State Might Sell Hal & Mal's Property

A legislative proposal would allow for the sale or lease of state-owned property that now houses Hal & Mal's, a restaurant and music venue.

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Aunjanue Ellis

Mississippi actress Aunjanue Ellis, who has previously played important roles in works such as "The Help" and "Men of Honor," is now playing the main character Aminata Diallo in the six-part television miniseries "The Book of Negroes."

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A 50th Anniversary Few Remember: LBJ's Warning on Carbon Dioxide

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the first presidential mention of the environmental risk of carbon dioxide pollution from fossil fuels.

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Ben Allen: Downtown Faces Setbacks, Hope

Briefing a small community gathering about downtown Jackson, including the Capitol Street two-way project, Ben Allen talked about regret.