News

Mayor Lumumba Signs Executive Order Closing Inside Bar Service and Continuing Limits on Social Gatherings

Citing the need for stronger action to stem the rise of COVID-19, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba issued an executive order closing bars to indoor guests and extending safeguards limiting social gatherings in the City of Jackson.

Fresh Market Summer Cookout, Sunshine for All Program and Green Bean Cafe

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic limiting access to restaurants, The Fresh Market recently announced a special summer cookout meal deal for August.

Amid Record COVID-19 Fatalities and Cases, School Reopenings Loom in Mississippi

Mississippi is suffering from yet another record week of COVID-19 infections as July ends, with Gov. Tate Reeves placing eight more counties under his growing mask order.

‘It Is Your Money’: Hinds Residents Have $26,000 In Unclaimed Money with State Treasury

Hinds County residents have $26,288.73 in unclaimed cash with the Office of the State Treasurer, information on its website reveals.

Governor Reeves Extends Safe Return and County-Specific Orders to Combat Rising Cases of COVID-19

Today, Governor Tate Reeves announced that he is extending the social distancing measures under the Safe Return and county-specific executive orders to continue combating the rising cases of COVID-19 across the state.

USM COVID-19 Oral Histories, Belhaven Online Scholarships and Millsaps Testing Waivers

Students at the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage at the University of Southern Mississippi recently put together a collection of oral histories concerning the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on people in the state.

‘Collective Vision’: Lynch Street Repaving, Multi-Use Path Underway in West Jackson

A resurfaced Lynch Street and a new multi-use path in west Jackson officially got underway this week, Mississippi Central District Transportation Commissioner Willie Simmons and Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba announced at a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday.

Brandon Bolden

In this coronavirus world, nothing is the same, and that goes for sports, too. Most sports have been shut down since March as NCAA sports, NBA, NHL and others stopped playing.

Priscilla Resser

Thirteen different organizations rejected Priscilla Resser before she received three consecutive offers to become Mississippi’s first physician assistant in the field of plastic surgery.

Hinds County Receiving 'Dangerous' Seeds From China, Could Spread Diseases

Hinds County is among 15 counties in the state where people reported receiving unsolicited seeds from China, Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson said yesterday.

OPINION: An Open Letter to Governor Tate Reeves and MDOC

We write this open letter to demand accountability for neglecting the urgent crisis in Mississippi's prisons. We see your response, or lack thereof, as nothing more than the abuse of unchecked power with willful contempt for moral and humane solutions.

Bailey Avenue Up For Repaving As Jackson Paving Season 2020 Continues

Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba yesterday announced the commencement of the re-pavement of Bailey Avenue from Bailey Avenue Bridge to Mayes Street as part of the 2020 paving-season projects.

Mississippi and Nationwide Experts Call For End To COVID-19 Reopenings

As COVID-19 debilitates the nation, experts across both Mississippi and the United States are calling for a full reversal of the openings that have driven mass spread of the virus in the summer months.

Charles Evers Honored, WMPR Street Renamed at Special City Council Session

Charles Evers, who died Wednesday at 97, came to Mississippi from Chicago after a white supremacist killed his brother, Medgar, in 1963. He led protests to champion the civil rights of Black Mississippians.

Malcolm White Retires from MAC, State Opioid Overdose Data to Action Initiative and NAMI Conference

Malcolm White, owner of Hal & Mal’s restaurant in downtown Jackson and founder of the annual Hal’s St. Paddy’s Parade, will retire as executive director of the Mississippi Arts Commission on September 30.

July 25: Mississippi COVID-19 Infections Average 1,322 Per Day

Friday's 1,434 new cases recorded by the Mississippi State Department of Health, or MSDH, brings the seven-day average to 1,322 positive tests per day, up from 918 average daily cases a week ago.

JPS Announces Virtual-Only Fall Semester, Gov. Reeves Expands Executive Order

Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Errick L. Greene announced that JPS students would receive only virtual instruction in the fall semester, citing concerns over the spread of COVID-19 into the classrooms and back to Jackson’s families.

Governor Tate Reeves Announces His Appointments for the Mississippi Flag Commission

Today, Governor Tate Reeves announced his appointees for the Mississippi Flag Commission to redesign the new state flag: a civic leader, a tribal chief, and a business leader.

Governor Tate Reeves Amends Safe Return Order to Combat Rising Cases

Today, Governor Tate Reeves announced his amended Safe Return order, establishing additional measures on social gatherings and events to protect public health as COVID-19 cases rise across the state.

Hinds County Commits $50,000 for 'Reentry Program’ for Formerly Incarcerated

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors on Monday committed $50,000 for what it calls Second Chance Reentry Program for the formerly incarcerated.

Azia’s Picks 7-24-20

Good afternoon, fellow Jacksonians! Despite the heavy losses many of us have had to endure this past week, we are still here to live and love again. For that I am grateful.

SWAC Postpones Fall Sports

The Southwestern Athletic Conference has decided to postpone fall sports for the 2020 school year.

‘Crisis Care,’ Hard Decisions Looming Due to COVID-19 Surge in Mississippi

A week of uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 has elapsed in Mississippi, with case numbers swelling to unprecedented numbers at the same time that the state’s hospital system reports the unbearable stress of earlier infections.

Jackson Zoo May Open in August; City Receives Temporary Exhibitor’s License

The City of Jackson Zoo may open in August after receiving a temporary exhibitor’s licence, Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba informed members of the Jackson City Council Tuesday.

JSU Health Accelerator, USM Doctoral Program Study and MSU Mobile Ticketing

Jackson State University is partnering with the University of Kentucky and national startup accelerator XLerateHealth to launch a program that will help commercialize human health-focused ideas from historically black colleges and universities.

Best of Jackson: Household 2020

This year's Best of Jackson: Household 2020 pop-up ballot lists a number of local resources that can help you maintain your home, whatever your needs.

‘Intrinsic Motivation’ and Jackson Education Support

Educational support professional Jillian Smart, CEO of Jackson Education Support, founded the business in 2012 with the goal of using her passion for teaching to help both children and adults develop as independent learners.

UPDATED: Schools Reopen, Tri-County Battleplan Breakdown

Local school districts are all making their own preparations and putting health, social distancing and other protocols into place to prepare for the attempt to return to in-person learning for students after months of school closures.

Lonely Farewells on the Front Line of Coronavirus

For many Mississippians, coronavirus metrics are numbers on a screen. For the many health care workers who spoke to the Jackson Free Press, it is the cadence of their lives, the increasingly rapid drumbeat forcing the countless decisions they make in any given day.

Mitigating COVID-19 Risk if School Reopens

Albert Sykes, executive director of the Institute for Democratic Education in America, wants to add to the conversation on reopening schools and to draw attention to the problem of educational inequality the pandemic exacerbates and exposes.

Ellington