Take a Stand on Violence
This week, the Center for Violence Prevention will announce a new paradigm for curbing domestic violence in the Jackson area, bringing the Duluth Model to the metropolitan area. Batterer's intervention programs, or BIPs, are a big part of what's coming.
Enforce the Smoking Ban
On Feb. 1, 2009, a smoking ban went into effect for the city's restaurants. After an initial flurry of objections, the air in most of city's restaurants and clubs became noticeably cleaner and clearer.
Support State Watchdog Agencies
Last week, the Mississippi Senate shut down talks with House conferees over the funding of the Mississippi Public Service Commission.
Fend Off the Alligators
When hungry alligators surround you, so the joke goes, you might forget that your objective is to drain the swamp.
Call A Special Session, Barbour
The budget wars between the two chambers of the state Legislature are nothing new.
Transparency Means Transparency
Well, we tried.
Organizers of a event heralded as a unity event for Mayor-elect Johnson barred cameras at the last minute. This was a mistake and a signal to Johnson to ensure transparency.
'First 48': This is Transparency?
Jackson's legal department is putting the finishing touches on a contract with the Arts & Entertainment Network reality cop show, "The First 48." The show, which makes docu-dramas out of murder investigations, shows the inner workings of a city's police department, and has filmed in cities like Miami, Dallas and, most recently, Memphis.
Taxpayers Deserve to See Pearl Study
In 2003, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District agreed to begin a three-year feasibility study to update the cost of a 1996 levee plan originally endorsed by the Corps, and analyze a plan to flood the Pearl River between Hinds and Rankin counties.
Jackson: Unite on June 2
Division in the city heavily affected both the Democratic mayoral primary and the runoff. It is time to put division aside and turn out June 2 to support the presumptive next mayor of Jackson: Harvey Johnson Jr.
Break the Cycle
What is it about elections that turns ordinarily sane people into back-stabbing, devious, scheming liars?
Amend Senate Bill 3268
In March, Mississippi legislators passed Senate Bill 3268, which allows municipalities to raise certain sales taxes by 1 percent to pay for police and fire protection, and road, water and sewage repairs.
Put Jackson First
When the Jackson Free Press editorial board met with mayoral candidates last week, we asked each candidate roughly the same questions based on a list we had compiled beforehand. But when one candidate brought up John McGowan's Two Lakes project and pledged his whole-hearted support, we added the question to our arsenal and called those we were still considering for a comment.
Know Your Limitations
The elections are well underway, and the plate is piling high with campaign promises, in both the council and mayoral races. There are good, noble, smart campaign priorities out there.
Know Your Options
Almost every day, Jackson voters can hear and question the candidates who will be making decisions on their behalf in the upcoming months and years.
Work For Our Votes
Reader reactions to a pair of unpaid, uncommissioned polls by political consulting firm Zata|3 have revealed an unsavory aspect of our political system: Attack the messenger, ignore the message.
Do Your Jobs, Legislators
Mississippi lawmakers didn't even pretend to try to get their jobs done within the parameters set by the state Constitution this year. Instead, a week or so before their 90-day session ends, they passed legislation to extend it. How handy.
Entering Year Seven
The economy has eclipsed almost everything these days, including the fact that last Friday marked the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war, a war this paper opposed since the week it started.
Protect Justice in Mississippi
Gov. Haley Barbour and Mississippi's legislators have several opportunities this session to provide measures of justice to its citizens.
Cap the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Two recent reports, one from the ACLU and one from the Pew Center on the States, highlight and then double-underscore the problem of what experts have dubbed the "school-to-prison" or "cradle-to-prison" pipeline.
Barbour's Ambitious Posturing
Gov. Haley Barbour has been a vociferous opponent of the Obama administration's stimulus package, especially when it comes to accepting the $2.3 billion allocated to Mississippi.
Stop Secrecy in Mississippi Government
One of the ways to keep people ignorant is to control their access to information. Open any newspaper in the country, and you'll see stories about how Muslim fundamentalist clerics and repressive dictators control their people by only allowing them access to the information deemed "appropriate" by extremely narrow standards.
Promote Sexual Health
Mississippians have been riding the "abstinence-only" train right into some of the worst sexual health statistics in the nation.
DA Needs to Get Organized
A growing source of frustration around the Hinds County Courthouse is that the office of Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith is handling case pleadings and motions in a sloppy manner -- much sloppier than his predecessor Faye Peterson. And some of the people complaining now say they supported Smith in his campaign against Peterson.
Enough 'Cheap Thrills'; Time for Action
In 2008, Jackson Free Press readers voted Riverside Drive the best "cheap thrill" in the citya pointed statement about the condition Jackson's streets, and the fact that so little has been done about it.
Unite Against Corruption
In his inaugural address, President Barack Obama spoke of uniting parties, bringing Americans together and working with the world to make a better life for us all. We agree wholeheartedly that we could all use a little unity right now, and we welcome the profound words of the incoming president.
Stop Wasting the City's Time
Jackson City Council President Leslie McLemore said it best in summing up the proposed "Sagging Pants Ordinance," when he described it as "a waste of council time." He's got a point, and the majority of the council agreed with him this week in rejecting the ordinance with a 4-to-2 vote.
Feds Need to Clean Corrupt House
The news that former District Attorney Ed Peters turned in his license to practice law to the Mississippi State Bar Association Tuesday has rekindled chatter about the corruption scandal that rocked the state after feds indicted Richard "Dickie" Scruggs on Nov. 28, 2007.
Of Melton's Health and 'Failures'
Jackson Mayor Frank Melton called his administration's work on lowering the crime rate in the city a "failure" twice during a Dec. 30 press conference, but followed up each confession with a caveat.
Stop Spreading Powers
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann has approached the Senate Elections Committee asking for a statute that would allow his office to subpoena records and evidence relating to state or local elections.
Southern GOP: We're Over Ideology
The national electoral gains that Democrats have made in the 2006 and 2008 elections are nothing short of historic, and at the expense of a devastated GOP. Those gains even include large swaths of voters in the South, including nearly every ZIP code outside of Appalachia and the colder climes of Arkansas.