News

Neighborhood Grill to Replace Tye's

For the past two years, Tye's Restaurant and Bar in the Plaza Building on Congress street served as an after-work meeting place for professionals and fine-dining favorite among locals.

Jackson Kicks Off the Great American Cleanup

Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr., and representatives from Keep Jackson Beautiful and Transformation Jackson kick off a campaign to beautify the city this morning. Great American Cleanup volunteers will meet tomorrow at Jackson State University to participate in day one of the three-month event.

Fondren Crime Meeting Turns to ‘Healing'

A standing-room-only crowd gathered at Sneaky Beans coffee shop on Tuesday evening to voice concerns about crime in the Fondren neighborhood and to hear crime-prevention tips from law enforcement officials. The community meeting, sparked by fears of crime, has morphed into an effort to organize the surrounding community.

Wins, Losses for School Appropriations

The House and Senate agreed to restore about $37 million to K-12 education in a this week following Gov. Haley Barbour's veto of a budget reconciliation bill that would have restored $79 million in cuts to the Mississippi Adequate Education Program and district attorney's offices.

Mary Hill

When Mary Hill found out first lady Michelle Obama was coming to Jackson, she rolled up her sleeves and started getting ready.

Lawmakers Attempt to Restore $82 Million to 2010 Budget

The Mississippi Legislature has sent a second budget reconciliation compromise to Gov. Haley Barbour, this time restoring $82 million of the cuts the governor has made this fiscal year. Barbour vetoed a previous attempt to reconcile $79 million, saying the proposal took too much from the state's savings and restored too little to the Department of Corrections.

Obama Energizes Students

For several hours the students at Brinkley Middle School waited anxiously inside their school's auditorium for First Lady Michelle Obama to enter the building this afternoon. When Obama arrived, along with Gov. Haley Barbour and his wife Marsha, the students--many waving handmade signs--cheered widely.

Nursing Homes and Overrides

Last week was all about passing budget bills, with the House and Senate considering a huge list of appropriation legislation funding various state agencies.

Barbour Blames Media for Toyota Woes

In 2007—before the economy tanked—Mississippi lawmakers and Gov. Haley Barbour approved a $293.9 million incentive package to persuade Toyota Motor Corp. to build a factory in Blue Springs, Miss., near Tupelo. Proposed improvements to the 1,700-acre site plan include infrastructure upgrades to water and sewer lines, and new roads.

Lessons of the 1979 Easter Flood

Part 3 in a series

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recommended last week that FEMA re-certify the levees protecting the Hinds and Rankin County edges bordering the Pearl River, despite the fact that the levees cannot stop a 200-year flood event similar to the 1979 Pearl River flood.

Target: Dating Violence

When Brittany started dating Jack (not their real names), she was involved in her high school's athletic program, spent time with a large group of male and female friends, and had a personality that radiated happiness.

Hate Groups Up by 244 Percent

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which has documented extremist groups in the United States for decades, yesterday released its annual report on the number of active hate groups in the country. Calling the figures "alarming," Morris Dees, founder of the Montgomery, Ala.-based organization, says it has documented a 244 percent increase in just the past year.

Jason Goree

At first sight, Jason Goree looks as if he is all about business. As he flops in his brown executive chair, a picture of his wife, Khylah, and 3-year-old son Isaiah rattles on his desk. Goree, a real estate and business developer for 3G Management and Development Group, is involved in several projects to improve the city of Jackson.

Fondren Shooting Spurs Community Meeting

A recent armed robbery and shooting in Fondren has some area residents up in arms. A community meeting, advertised on Facebook as "Take Back Our Neighborhoods," is scheduled for 6 p.m. today at Sneaky Beans coffee shop on North State Street.

Johnson Attending Obama Visit

City of Jackson Spokesman Chris Mims confirmed today that Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr., was invited to attend first lady Michelle Obama's personal visit to the city on Wednesday. Obama is visiting the city tomorrow as part of her "Let's Move" campaign, which emphasizes healthy diet and exercise for youth.

Helen LaKelly Hunt

Women's activist Dr. Helen LaKelly Hunt believes that Christianity and feminism go hand in hand, and is using that idea to advance women's rights.

Animal Cruelty Bill to Die

Today is the last day committees in the Mississippi Legislature can act on bills presented by their colleagues across the hall. Effectively, that means any bills stuck in committees not scheduled to meet today are dead. That includes SB 2623, a bill proposing to make torturing or maiming cats or dogs a felony.

BREAKING: Writer Barry Hannah Dies of Heart Attack

The Jackson Free Press has learned from sources in Oxford, Miss., that author Barry Hannah, 67, died of a sudden heart attack in his home there today. He was working with a graduate student, sources say. Hannah was born in Meridian, Miss., and raised in Clinton. He is the acclaimed author of eight novels and currently directed Ole Miss' MFA program in creative writing.

Fisher: Hinds Supes ‘Hiding' In Executive Session

Hinds County Supervisor Phil Fisher accused his fellow supervisors today of evading public scrutiny by relegating two potentially inflammatory decisions to executive session. In a closed session during its meeting this morning, the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to fire County Administrator Vern Gavin. Supervisors also rejected a proposal from Fisher to dissolve the county's agreement with the Mississippi Youth Justice Project, a juvenile-justice watchdog group.

Obama Appoints Mason to Federal HBCU Board

President Barack Obama announced Friday that he wants Jackson State University President Ronald Mason Jr. on the President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The board exists to strengthen the nation's list of HBCUs, many of which suffered financial cutbacks as the economy tanked and attendance declined. Even prestigious Spelman College in Atlanta cut more than 30 staff members and announced plans to restructure its Education Department last year.

Community Events and Public Meetings

"Support Haiti Relief" Show at Bryant Galleries (3010 Lakeland Cove): 50 percent of all sales from the Haitian collection will go to the American Red Cross Haitian Relief Fund. Free admission; call 601-932-5099.

Bill Ellison

Bill Ellison remembers the excitement and energy he felt when he played trombone in the band at Bailey Junior High School. That passion propelled him to spend his career performing and broadcasting music.

First Lady to Visit Jackson

Earlier this month, first lady Michelle Obama announced a campaign to solve childhood obesity in America. It only makes sense, then, that she would visit the capitol of Mississippi—the most obese state in the nation—as part of her "Let's Move" campaign.

JPS to Cut Jobs, Fill Classrooms

State budget cuts this year and next will force the Jackson Public School District to cut teacher positions and increase class sizes, a district official said today. Michael Thomas, the district's Deputy Superintendent for Operations, told an audience at the Koinonia Coffee House Friday Forum this morning that the district is running out of options for budget cuts.

Nightclub Has Big Plans for Jackson

Located on the corner of Gallatin and West Capitol street, Dreamz Jxn is a three-story club and entertainment complex in downtown Jackson. Inside the club are sophisticated features that include 25 plasma screens, VIP rooms, three bars and three dance floors.

Hal White

When Hal White was a child, the kitchen served as a gathering place for his family. After watching his aunt cook large pots of red beans and rice or gumbo, White remembers spending the day boating on Mary Walker Bayou in Gautier, Miss., with his family.

Convicted Former Klansman Sues FBI

Convicted former Ku Klux Klansman Edgar Ray Killen is suing the FBI for millions, claiming violations of his civil rights, reports The Los Angeles Times. Killen, 85, convicted in 2005 of manslaughter in the 1964 slayings of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Miss., says the FBI hired mafia hit man "The Grim Reaper" to pistol whip witnesses into providing information in the case.

Veto Override Fails: Legislators Return to Negotiation

The Senate failed to override Gov. Haley Barbour's veto of budget reconciliation act this morning, and opponents of the veto now argue that the state should put to use $36 million from savings accrued through a federal stimulus program.

Andrew Young

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, Jackson State University today hosted Andrew Young, one of King's closest advisers during the civil-rights movement of the 1960s. Young 77, has a long career of public service, including terms as a U.S. Congressman from Georgia and as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under President Jimmy Carter. Young was with King on the night of his assassination, April 4, 1968, in Memphis.

$2.8 Million Trade-in Program Announced

Starting this spring, federal stimulus funds will become available for you to upgrade your appliances. Under the American Recover and Reinvestment Act, the federal government has allocated $2.8 million to Mississippi for a residential appliance trade-in program with a tentative start date of April 2010.

Ellington