Politics

Subscribe

Tease photo

Delinquent Water Customers Seeing Turn-offs As City Copes With Deficits

This week the City of Jackson started making good on recent warnings with water shut-offs for approximately 20,000 customers who are late paying their water bills, many resulting from problems with the Siemens contract to improve billing for customers.

Tease photo

Hood: Judge Tate Reeves for 'Rebel Flags,' Not Frat's College Blackface

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood "did all kinds of stupid things in college," but he is "sure" wearing blackface is not one of them, he told a crowd in Jackson on Monday.

Tease photo

'Landowners' Tort Reform Bill Would Mean 'Safe Zones' for Crime, Critics Say

Mississippi senators delighted the business community last week when they passed a bill to cut down on lawsuits against property owners, but strong opposition remains among law enforcement, advocates for victims of domestic violence and lawyers.

Tease photo

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves' Fraternity Wore Black Face, Hurled the N-Word at Black Students

As a college student at Millsaps, Mississippi Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves participated in a fraternity known for blackface, racial epithets and Confederate dances, a Jackson Free Press examination of Millsaps yearbooks and newspapers from his time there shows.

Tease photo

City's Plan for Zoo: Bring in St. Louis Operator, Keep in West Jackson

The Jackson Zoo likely will get a new operator, and one with no intentions to move the facility from its long-time home in west Jackson to eastern edge of Jackson.

Tease photo

Fetal Heartbeat Ban 'A Direct Challenge to Roe,' Activists Warn

Abortion-rights activists are warning that Mississippi's fetal-heartbeat bills, and others like them, are part of an effort to instigate a U.S. Supreme Court case that could overturn constitutional protections for reproductive rights.

Tease photo

OPINION: Ralph Northam: No Second Chance

Today, if a politician is confronted with evidence of their racism, they simply apologize or attempt to deflect blame in order to stay in office, despite having demonstrated that they don't view all of their constituents as fully human or deserving of equal respect.

Tease photo

Beyond Angry Tweets: Robert Foster on Why He is Running for Governor

Mississippi House Rep. Robert Foster is running for governor in the Republican primary, running against current Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican from Florence, Miss., among others.

Tease photo

Behind the Badge: Two JPD Officers Who Shot Multiple People in Jackson

After about a year of asking, the Jackson Free Press learned the names, current status and in eight out of nine cases, the details of officer-involved shootings since Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba took office in July 2017, promising transparency and police reform.

Tease photo

#MSLeg: Broadband, Abortion, Prison Reform

On Jan. 31, legislators in the 
Mississippi House Education Committee advanced to the House floor a bill designed to help prepare schools for the worst: the possibility of gun violence.

Tease photo

OPINION: Hate Crimes Are Still a Problem. Lawmakers Could Help.

Within the past few weeks, hate crimes have been splashed across cable news and newspaper headlines.

Tease photo

School Safety Act Includes Mental Health, School Surveillance Provisions

Mississippi's children go to school in places "of potential violence," Gov. Phil Bryant lamented in his State of the State address last month, as he called on lawmakers to craft legislation to combat those fears.

Tease photo

Mississippi Immigrant Rights Group Calls for Action from Lawmakers

Members and supporters of the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance held a rally to urge lawmakers to pass legislation to make life better for the state's documented and undocumented immigrants.

Tease photo

Bennie Thompson Calls for Evasive Trump Official to Testify to Congress

In a scathing letter, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., called on Homeland Security Secretary Kristjen Nielsen to appear before the congressional Committee on Homeland Security.

Tease photo

EDITORIAL: Mayor Must Repair City's Transparency Related to Policing, Crime

After asking for more than a year, the Jackson Free Press finally received the names and current status of Jackson police officers who shot people in the capital city since Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba became mayor in July 2017.