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[Lynch] Two-Ton Kill Machines

Traffic light cameras caught a lot of hell this legislative session. The cameras sit not-too-stealthily at about eight intersections throughout Jackson, including spots in West Jackson, the corner of Lakeland Drive and Old Canton Road and the corner of Pearl and State streets.

Now We Begin Again

Like many Americans, the lead-up to the 2008 election was not the healthiest time period for me. It was an anxiety-filled time; at one point, I even woke up in the middle of the night thinking about something awful Sarah Palin had said, my heart pounding.

[Stiggers] Rewriting Ghetto History

Welcome to another reader's guide to Ken Stiggers. My last reader's guide (published April 22, 2009) explained the term "Ghetto Science Team."

[Stiggers] What About the Milk?

Dear Diary: I have a serious concern about how I am serving my community. I am ashamed about how I've enabled my financially challenged customers to consume processed foods from my Pork-N-Piggly supermarkets.

Stimulus Starts At Home

This week we're proud—and perhaps a little surprised—to be publishing one of our largest issues of the Jackson Free Press so far in Volume 7; and one of the most ad-packed issues ever.

[O'Keefe] Giving Up Prejudices

While waiting for a high-school football game to begin, a group of fans from the community gathered at the park across the street. From a distance, I could see a large truck, displaying two Confederate flags with oddly shaped crosses in the center, slowly approach.

[Chandler] Protect Workers' Rights

On Jan. 21, House Labor Committee Chairman Rep. Rufus Straughter, D-Belzoni, read House Concurrent Resolution 25 to the Mississippi House of Representatives. HCR 25—which Rep. Jim Evans, D-Jackson, authored—would "commemorate Workers' Memorial Day on April 28, 2009."

[Parks] Fear of Stigma, Here and There

The Central African Republic was a long cry from the Gulf Coast, but looking into the eyes of the Africans I met, I saw something familiar each time. When New York Times columnist Nick Kristof and I found ourselves stuck for a few hours on a red clay Cameroonian road at the end of the rainy season behind a logging truck that had flipped over, I pulled out my camera. Everyone wanted his or her picture taken. Teenage boys put on their toughest faces. Teenage girls grimaced because they didn't feel pretty enough. Young kids hammed, putting bunny ears over each others' heads. Older couples smiled sweetly.

[Balko] Scenes From a Crackdown

Police overkill, such as that displayed at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, is becoming more common every day.

[Balko] Failing His Way to Higher Office

Bumbling Prince George's County, Maryland Sheriff Michael Jackson wants a promotion.

We the Job Creators

When I was asked to go to the White House in early March to talk about business in Jackson, I didn't know what to expect. I just said "yes!" and headed to Washington, D.C.

14 Cents To The Promised Land

"We must not let anything interfere with the ability of the youth of this region to secure here in the region as good an education as is available anywhere in the country, and this opportunity must be available to all of the bright young men and women and not just to the chosen few. Only in this way can the South be true to its promise."

[Broadus] The Gift of Faith

It's the holiday season. It's the holiday season? It's the holiday season! I'm always amazed at the different reactions that come along with this time of year. Some react with general malaise, some with disbelief, and others can barely contain the excitement.

Now, Go Produce a Record!

Last week's Best of Jackson issue was followed, as always, by the Best of Jackson party, and this year's party was an amazing blowout—hundreds of our closest friends joined us for a sneak peak at the new Auditorium in the old Duling School in Fondren for what has been pretty roundly praised as a good time on a Sunday night.

The Great Compromise

After a failed attempt at filling the Medicaid budget shortfall last year, Mississippi lawmakers left the capitol city and returned home with a $10,000 salary and no solution. The prior three months had been hellish as countless pieces of legislation—some of which had the support of one legislative body but not the other—failed.

[Stiggers] Eating Like Kings

Mr. Announcer: "Ghetto Science Public Television presents 'Cooking with Grandpa Pookie!' Tonight's guest is Brotha Hustle, the Ghetto Science Team's roving and mobile entrepreneur. On this segment of the program, Grandpa Pookie and Brotha Hustle will show you how to eat well on a recession budget."

[Folayan] A Clear Path for the Journey

I recently experienced what I like to call my very own voyage to Mecca. Like one of my lifelong heroes, Malcolm X, I've encountered a brand new world, a new ideal and a new revelation.

[Queen] My Kwanzaa

As far back as my memory will take me, Kwanzaa has consistently been the best time of my life minus the early years when the horrors of the day prior (Dec. 25) invoked a spirit of deprivation because all my friends had new toys for Christmas.

[Tucker] The Bigger Question

By now, everybody has heard about syndicated-radio personality Don Imus and his comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team. While almost everyone acknowledges that Imus' comments—calling the members of the Scarlet Knights "nappy-headed hos"—were out of line, there are those who wonder, "Why the fuss now?"

Vote ‘Yes' on the Tollison-Bell Amendment

The worst dirty trick we saw this last election wasn't a campaign ad, a robo-call or an "astroturf" campaign from a shadowy coalition of instigators and carpetbaggers. (Of course, all three happened.) In fact, this dirty trick didn't happen in the lead-up to the election at all.