News

Crime High, Perception Bleak

Recent Jackson Police Department statistics reveal that major crime this year remains stubbornly high compared to last year's figures. Though the May 8-14 ComStat Overview Report reveals that crime is tracking 2 percent lower than the last ComStat figures—which the JFP obtained from an anonymous source and published several weeks ago—it still registers a 14.1 increase in crime over last year's numbers.

[Talk] Thompson's Easy Win Shocks Many

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-2nd District, easily trounced his Democratic opponent Chuck Espy in the June 6 primary. Thompson, who has held his seat for more than a decade, won the election with more than 55,000 votes, or 65 percent, to Espy's 30,000, or 35 percent.

Melton Flies to Phillips

Blog post by Brian Johnson:

Mayor Frank Melton flew to Dallas today with city investment guru Jimmy Heidel and his ever-present body guards. In comments before the flight, Melton told members of the press that he could not disclose the name of the investor he was meeting in Dallas, but that the investor has "billions" of dollars and wants to spend "hundreds of millions" in Jackson. Despite a report from the Jackson Free Press on April 19 identifying that investor as Gene Phillips, the media were all baffled by who the investor could be. And in case there's any doubt that we're talking about the same man, Melton confirmed to the Jackson Free Press last night that he was meeting with Gene Phillips today. Catch up, folks.

Clarion-Ledger Features Casey Parks

The Clarion-Ledger did right by JFP contributing editor Casey Parks today in a delightful feature written by Gary Pettus. (Cheers, Gary. You make our profession proud.) And they flag the story on Page 1 with Casey's photo (taken in our newsroom). Thank you for a good piece, Ledge.

Asymmetrical Warfare

"They are smart, they are creative, they are committed. They have no regard for life, neither ours nor their own. I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us." - Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., commander of the detention center at Guantanamo, on June 10, after three prisoners hanged themselves in their cells.

New ComStat Figures

[Lott] Honesty is the Best Insurance Policy

I have introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to make future insurance policies easier for consumers to understand. The "Honesty is the Best Insurance Policy Act" calls for requiring insurance companies to state in plain English and big letters exactly what their policies do not cover.

David Watkins

David Watkins is an attorney who's been haunting the city of Jackson for the last half-century. Though the Fondren resident has been all over the world, he says he always had to keep coming back to Jackson. "This is home. I've spent a lot of time in Europe. I love California and New York and Washington. I've lived in Cape Cod and Atlanta, but those heartstrings keep tugging away."

Fighting For The American Dream

May 31, 2006 Editor's Note: The following column about Gannett's effort control independent media is also running in the June issue of Metro Christian Living (formerly Jackson Christian Family). My mission in creating a Christian magazine has everything to do with our citizenship in heaven and promoting a hopeful population explosion therein.

Renee Shakespeare

"Everything I learn, I'll share it with you," Renee Shakespeare says, and that is how her radio show, "The Drinking Gourd," began.

Sign an Online Petition Against TDN Scheme Here

NEW Online Petition: Support Local Media Now!

We have just posted an online petition where you can sign on—and choose to have an e-mail sent directly to the management of the Clarion-Ledger, telling them that you value independent media and do not appreciate how they have tried to control our distribution. Thanks for your support!

The Closed City

In November of last year, Jackson Free Press reporter Adam Lynch arrived at City Hall to cover a public meeting. Representatives of the sheriff's department and two county supervisors were meeting with Mayor Frank Melton in a room the mayor calls "the Oval Office," although it's really nothing but a conference room.

Mississippi Business Journal Covers Gannett Scheme

Party for Casey Parks TONIGHT

You've probably all heard by now about the amazing honor that The New York

(if not, click here)

Fantasy Island

Developers are cheering and environmentalists are jeering as the Lefleur Lakes ("Two Lakes") project gains momentum, helped along by political support from men like Mayor Frank Melton and Gov. Haley Barbour, who seem poised to rubberstamp the development despite concerns from residents and environmentalists.

Margaret Cupples

When Natchez native Margaret Cupples graduated from law school at Washington and Lee in 1993, she was offered a year-long position in Jackson with Judge Rhesa Barksdale. After that, she worked at the firm of Lake Tindall, which later merged with Bradley, Arant, Rose and White, where the 37-year-old litigation defense attorney still works. Now, 13 years since her initial arrival in Jackson, Cupples has yet to consider leaving.

Podcast of JFP Publisher on Kim Wade Show

New York Times Honors Casey Parks

The Jackson Free Press is proud to announce that our very dear assistant editor emeritus Casey Parks—who departed in December for graduate school at the University of Missouri—is the one student journalist in the country who has been selected to accompany Times columnist Nicholas Kristof to Africa this fall, to blog about her experiences and write pieces for the Times, and be covered by MTV along the way. This is a breathtaking honor for Casey, a Millsaps graduate who remains our contributing editor from afar and did so much to make the JFP what it is today. We salute Casey, whose application was chosen from 3,800. We are proud of you, Little Miss Ironfist. And thank you for representing Mississippi, and the South, in such a remarkable, dramatic way.

Clarion-Ledger Publisher Responds to Controversy

Clarion-Ledger Publisher John Newhouse has released the following statement to the media about their controversial plan to control free distribution outlets in and around Jackson: The Distribution Network of Central Mississippi (TDN) is a display and delivery network that has been established for the benefit of merchants and free publications in Hinds, Madison and Rankin counties. The growing number of free publications, not just here, but around the country, presents both opportunity and concern for all of us.

Tonyatta Hairston

"The great thing is that I get to help people medically, but then I take them out of that examination room and have the opportunity to glamorize them, to help them find a whole new look," Tonyatta Hairston says. Hairston, 31, is an optometrist who has just opened a new office in Fondren, at 3139 N. State Street.

Gannett v. Local Media; What You Can Do

Extra, extra! The JFP's Goliath Blog launches, as the independent media's battle against the Gannett Corp. is heating up. Jackson media are reporting and analyzing the scheme, and media consumers are weighing in to support local media. Read and view the link WLBT story and video. View results of WLBT poll here (as of May 20, running 76 percent against Gannett).

2006 JFP Interview: Peterson Makes Her Case

<b>The JFP Interview with Faye Peterson</b>

Hinds County District Attorney Faye Peterson is nothing if not confident. It's a stalwart, rocky kind of demeanor that probably helps get her through her day in her office on the top floor of the Hinds County Courthouse.

Transcript of ComStat Comments to Media

Ruth Davis

Sitting on a park bench among automobiles, passersby and wasps buzzing about spring in full force, Ruth Davis fearlessly and passionately pours out her thoughts on life, past, present and future.

JFP EXCLUSIVE: Jackson Crime Surges

Read the story that the city is talking about, based on a report the Jackson Free Press unearthed on Monday. You saw it here first.

Haley Barbour Refuses to Pardon Black Man

Clyde Kennard was convicted of purchasing $25 worth of chicken feed he knew to be stolen. He died in 1963 after being released early due to intestinal cancer. The only witness against him has recanted his story. Barbour agrees that Kennard was wronged but refuses to pardon. Barbour may become the first governor in U.S. history to refuse to pardon someone he has publically proclaimed as innocent. This story is gaining national attention and is being discussed on numerous blogs. It has 4 stars on yahoo. For more info go to http://www.clydekennard.org

Tragedy at Jackson State—May 4, 1970

It's never too late to remember.

Today is the 36th anniversary of the tragic shootings at Jackson State University, as well as Kent State University, where police killed students protesting. Take a few moments to read up on the history of this dark era of American history. Listen to a piece by NPR's Ed Gordon here. Read more on Kent State here. Read a new piece about "Kent State Conspiracies" here.

[In Memory] Florence Mars, 1923-2006

I didn't know Florence Mars growing up in Neshoba County. She was from a different part of town—the side that had old money. I don't have memories of her walking around town in her floppy hat like Sen. Gloria Williamson describes, or driving her little bug around town as former Neshoba Democrat editor Stanley Dearman does. I don't remember seeing her at the Neshoba County Fair. I certainly had no reason to visit the stockyard that she owned, the one that white folks boycotted for awhile.

Pat Chambliss

Pat Chambliss is the perfect spokeswoman for Dress for Success, the international nonprofit organization whose Jackson chapter she helped to found.

Ellington