News

Gov. Bryant Declares April 'Unity Month,' Not 'Confederate Heritage Month'

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant declared that April is the "Month of Unity" in Mississippi, departing from past years when he declared April "Confederate Heritage Month."

Mississippi Man's Viral Beating Draws Probe of Possible Hate Crime

When Trevor Gray left a local bar to go to an after party in the early hours of April 13, the Wayne County, Miss., native could not have known that he would leave with his jaw broken in two places, nor that a video of a man beating him would go viral on social media and draw national attention.

Poetry Out Loud, LeFleur Museum District and Silhouettes at the Art Museum

Mississippi Public Broadcasting will air its footage of the 2019 Poetry Out Loud competition statewide on MPB Television at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 26, with a second airing scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 28.

10 Local Stories of the Week

There's never a slow news week in Jackson, Miss., and last week was no exception. Here are the local stories JFP reporters brought you in case you missed them.

Jackson Zoo Reopening Saturday

The Jackson Zoo will re-open as scheduled at 9 am on Saturday, April 20th, following cleanup from Thursday's storms.

Hood Takes Heat for Blackface Photos, Says Leave Trans Rights Up to Schools

A Hattiesburg woman confronted Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood on Tuesday over yearbook photos from the 1980s that show members of his college fraternity wearing blackface.

Terrence Hunter

Terrence Hunter, a second-year student at the University of Mississippi School of Law, will travel to New York City this summer to work as an intern with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

JSU MADDRAMA Wins Art Awards, Pan-Hellenic Council Gala at USM and UMMC Doctor Honored

Members of Jackson State University's MADDRAMA performance group received top honors during the 2019 National Association of Dramatic and Speech Arts Conference in Baltimore from April 2-6.

A Dream Continued in the Mississippi Delta

To date, no political prowess has organized the force necessary to eliminate the Mississippi Delta region's systemic poverty and economic blight. Some, however, fought harder than others.

The Pink House Deals With ‘Heartbeat Bill’ Fallout

"Jesus loves you, mommy. Mommy, please don't kill me," a child's voice pleads from a large speaker system outside Mississippi's last abortion clinic, which is known among its defenders as "The Pink House."

Brandie Wigley

One of the reasons Brandie Wigley decided to do the Jackson Public Schools Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps Cadet of the Year contest was because she found out that a Provine High School student has not won the title in 36 years.

Mississippi AG Candidate Vows to Defend Six-Week Abortion Ban

State Rep. Mark Baker, a Republican candidate for Mississippi attorney general, is pledging to take the state's recently passed abortion ban all the way to the Supreme Court.

D.K. Metcalf

Former University of Mississippi wide receiver D.K. Metcalf is one of the players who will be at the 2019 NFL Draft on Thursday, April 25, waiting to learn where his football career takes him next.

Man Pleads Guilty to Burning Cross in Black Mississippi Neighborhood

A Mississippi man who burned a cross in a predominantly African American neighborhood in Covington County pled guilty to federal charges on Friday.

Garver Chain Reaction Challenge, Godfrey's, Jackson Youth Fish Tales Rodeo and Good Problems at Offbeat

Germantown Middle School in Madison was the first school in Mississippi to participate in the Garver Chain Reaction Challenge on Thursday, April 11.

Millsaps Student Fulbright Grant, JSU Receives AP Awards and Jackson Heart Study Graduate Program

Millsaps College senior DJ Hawkins recently received a Fulbright grant to teach and study in Russia as an English teaching assistant.

AG Candidate Vows to Defend State Funding for Anti-LGBT Adoption Agencies

If Mississippians make state Rep. Mark Baker their next attorney general, he vows to fight so that religiously affiliated adoption agencies that accept state funds can continue to legally discriminate against LGBT families.

Amelia Key

Amelia Key calls her art-making a "process of discovery." She does not really know what the piece is going to look like at the beginning, she says.

MSU Digitizes Endangered Citizens Council Radio Tapes

Stephanie Rolph was a graduate student at Mississippi State University in the mid-2000s when she found a collection of reel-to-reel audio recordings of the Citizens Forum, a broadcast once helmed by the segregationist Citizens Council.

Doug Nikhazy

The University of Mississippi used a strong start from freshman pitcher Doug Nikhazy to facilitate a sweep over the University of Florida over the past weekend.

Mississippi Speaker Touts Rural Broadband Law, But Questions Remain

When Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn began looking at ways to solve the lack of high-speed broadband access that plagues much of rural Mississippi last summer, he turned to utility companies to understand the problem.

Edward Watson

Mississippi Business Journal recently named Edward Watson, general counsel at Jackson State University, as one of the top 40 attorneys in the state as part of its 2018 Leaders in the Law awards.

Jackson Unveils 'Data Portal' to Increase Transparency

Jackson residents can now use an online data portal to see how the city is spending their money and planning to change Jackson.

Ben Hubbard

Mississippi Coding Academies, a program that Innovate Mississippi launched in Jackson in 2017, named Ben Hubbard as its statewide director of development and outreach on March 21.

Early Easter Events, and Van's CCG and Names & Faces Lounge Opening

Repeat Street and Dogwood Festival are both celebrating Easter early on Saturday, April 13, with an outdoor Easter market and Easter Bunny Festival.

Mississippi Reps Vote 'Nay' on Violence Against Women Act

All three Republicans in Mississippi's Congressional delegation voted against renewing the Violence Against Women Act on Thursday.

Moguls in the Making, USM Online Teacher Program and Belhaven Spring Dance Concert

Five Jackson State University students traveled to Detroit from Friday, March 29, through Saturday, March 31, to take part in an entrepreneurial program called "Moguls in the Making."

Living in Virtual Reality with Lobaki

Vince Jordan and his son, Josiah, began experimenting with developer kits for software to use in virtual reality in 2014. In 2016, the two decided to form Lobaki while engaged in an online virtual-reality session.

Paige Taylor

Pitcher Paige Taylor led Alcorn State University to five victories in a recent eight-game winning streak before finally losing in a midweek double-header against the University of Memphis on Tuesday, April 2.

Fifty-Four Hours to Startup Launch

While some people got off work and headed into a typical Friday night on March 1, about 45 people gathered at Coalesce for an event that would give them an insight into entrepreneurship: Startup Weekend Jackson.

Ellington