News

What's Next for Voter ID?

With her hand pressed to the side of her face in a sign of frustrated concentration, Valencia Robinson, founder and executive director of Mississippi in Action, sat at a table in the front of the room and riffled through brochures and printouts from the ACLU, the Department of Public Safety and the Secretary of State's office.

The Cycle of Hate

Just when we think we've moved beyond Emmett Till, history gives us James Craig Anderson.

Make a Big Difference on Small Business Saturday

<i>Verbatim from the U.S. Small Business Administration</i>

As a proud supporter of Small Business Saturday, a day dedicated to supporting small businesses on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year, the U.S. Small Business Administration is encouraging every American to support small businesses by doing some of their holiday shopping on the Saturday after Thanksgiving at small businesses.

Our Poverty and Thanksgiving

My parents filed bankruptcy when I was in the fifth grade. My father filed a second time with his second wife years later.

How to Host Out-of-Town Guests (Without Going Insane)

Aunt Jean is coming to town. You've known about it for months, but you're days away from her camping out in your guest room with a plethora of denture accessories. And she knows just how to cook your turkey. Face reality and get a game plan, because compensating with bourbon refills can get pricey.

City Can't Afford to Divorce TCI

Plans are in motion to fund a convention center hotel downtown, with developers and city officials hoping to get everything togehter in time to get Gulf Opportunity Zone Bonds for the project before they expire at the end of the year.

Grassroots Mamas Tell All

'This is How We Do It!'

Lori Gregory-Garrott opened her front door suddenly and looked at her sleepy Fondren neighborhood with anticipation. It was just before 10 p.m. Nov. 8, Election Day.

Personhood's Next Move

Religious fervor illuminated much of the dialogue at a Yes on 26 event just moments after voters refused to pass a constitutional amendment to declare that people with legal rights exist at the moment of fertilization. Supporters of the initiative aligned themselves with the abolitionist movement and people fighting genocide akin to the Jewish Holocaust. They took a long-term view of their defeat.

Lorenda Cheeks

As the local mailman could attest, Lorenda Cheeks has taught kids since she was a little girl herself, setting up school in the front lawn with her neighborhood friends.

Feds to Draw Congress Map

From the looks of it, it'll be federal judges, and not the Mississippi Legislature, who will redraw the state's map of congressional districts.

AG Hood Still Wants BP Claim Records

A dispute between Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood and the administrator of BP's $20 billion oil-spill fund will be settled in state, not federal, court.

Shop Local

The Small Business Association encourages Americans to shop at small businesses the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Small Business Saturday, Nov. 26, is part of an effort to get people to support community businesses on the year's biggest shopping weekend.

William D. Lamson

William D. Lamson was not a particularly famous man, but the quiet Mississippi cartographer and demographer became a sought-after school-desegregation expert across the nation. He died in 1992 in a car wreck, but his massive collection of research will live on at Jackson State University.

Hinds County Wants Blank Check for Project

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors will ask the Legislature to issue bonds to aid development in the Clinton-Byram corridor; they just don't know how much funding they will request quite yet. The Hinds County Board of Supervisors this morning voted down Calhoun's request to ask the Mississippi Legislature to issue $50 million in bonds for the proposed project.

Council Moves Occupy Jackson Permit to Planning Committee

The future of Occupy Jackson is still up in the air. The City Council voted this morning to discuss the group's request for a special-events permit during a Planning Committee meeting tomorrow afternoon.

Kathy Buntin

The Mississippi Library Association recently awarded the 2011 Peggy May Award to Kathy Buntin of the Mississippi Library Commission at its annual conference. Buntin is the senior library consultant in the Development Services Division of the MLC.

Community Events and Public Meetings

6 p.m., Jackson Touchdown Club Meeting, at River Hills Country Club (3600 Ridgewood Road). Members of the athletic organization meet weekly at 6 p.m. during the football season. This week's speaker is former NFL kicker Tom Dempsey. $30 non-members; call 601-506-3186.

DA Smith: Don't Set Booby Traps

Contrary to popular belief, the district attorney's office doesn't spring into action the instant a crime occurs, Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith explained this morning.

Casey Therriault

Update: Casey Therriault threw for four touchdowns Saturday to lead Jackson State's pounding of Alcorn State 51-7. He also became JSU's single-season leader in passes completed (372 yards), passing yards (3,808) and in total offense (3,911). Go, Tigers.

Voter ID Planning Begins

Valencia Robinson, founder and executive director of Mississippi in Action, an advocacy group, sat at a table in the front of the room and riffled through brochures and printouts from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety and the Mississippi Secretary of State's office, trying to sort out the requirements of the voter identification initiative that passed last week.

Crime Down Overall; JPD Out in Force This Weekend

Read the report.

Arbor Day, brought to you by Toyota

Gov. Haley Barbour announces Toyota Arbor Day.

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Jesmyn Ward didn't intend to be in southern Mississippi when Katrina hit in late August 2005. In fact, she was just on her way back to grad school in Michigan as the storm approached. "I just thought, 'Oh, well, I'll just stay until the hurricane passes, and I'll go back home,'" she told the Jackson Free Press in September.

The Ole Switcheroo

Flanked by Gov. Haley Barbour and incoming Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, state Sen. Gray Tollison announced that his becoming a member of the Republican Party was the best thing for his constituents.

State Wants NCLB Relief

The Mississippi Board of Education voted last month to apply for a waiver in hopes of getting relief from some of the requirements of No Child Left Behind.

Lots of Mouths to Feed

Last week, the Farish Street Group became the latest developers to ask for public funds to finance high-priced downtown Jackson developments.

Dems Lick Wounds, Prep for Battle

Mississippi Republicans are still painting the state red in celebration of the party's recent electoral successes. The GOP is maintaining control of the governor's mansion, the lieutenant governorship, the state Senate and every statewide constitutional office except one.

Measuring the Democratic Mess

Once again, election night last week revealed a grim reality for Mississippi Democrats and the Mississippi Democratic Party.

The Lone Democrat

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood celebrated a large victory last Tuesday when he won his third re-election term against Republican challenger Steve Simpson, winning 60 percent of the vote. But Hood's real uphill battle may lie in next year's legislative session with Gov.-elect Phil Bryant and a Republican-controlled House and Senate.

Thomas Roots

From the time he was elected Mr. Best Dressed in both middle and high school, Thomas Wayne Roots knew he had a future in fashion and design. "I've always liked clothing, design and all-around beautiful things," Roots says. "(In school) I gravitated to that kind of thing, and it eventually turned to the design aspect."

Ellington