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Property Owners to Vote on Biz District

Now that property owners approved an expansion plan for Jackson's Businesses Improvement District May 26, Downtown Jackson Partners must obtain 70 percent majority vote from property owners to prevent the district from dissolving.

Gene Young

In the last year of his life, Gene Young was a regular at the Eudora Welty Library. The civil rights activist would bring a briefcase full of newspaper clippings and photos showing his arrests, speeches and involvement in the Civil Rights Movement that started when he was a child.

Our Voices Will Be Heard

When Greenwood resident Sandra Stringfellow was diagnosed with HIV 16 years ago, she felt isolated and alone. Her neighbor flagged down Stringfellow's visitors to tell them that Stringfellow was positive and that they shouldn't associate with her.

Wired Closes; Jackson Law Firm Ranks High

After three years in business, Wired Espresso Cafe closed its doors last weekend due to a tough economy for coffee sales.

Did County Know of Abuse at Detention Center?

Juvenile-justice advocates filed a lawsuit last week that raises questions about how much the Hinds County Board of Supervisors knew about alleged abuses at the county's Henley-Young Detention Center.

City Pushes Public-Arts Initiative

The city of Jackson is seeking community partners to support a public-arts initiative that will provide opportunities for artists and youth to create art installations in the city.

Cultural Remodeling

Artist Jennifer Dixon's life-size tree installations fill the interior Bergen Park in Seattle, Wash. The five trees, made of various materials such as clay, metal, fossils and glass, are attached to tall cedar posts that originally served as reference points for the first U.S. land surveys in 1851.

Justice Advocates Sue Hinds Detention Center

Youth detained at Hinds County's Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center may be confined to their cells for 23 hours a day, endure verbal abuse, and many are not provided with educational and counseling services, according to juvenile justice advocates.

Jim Wilkirson

Jim Wilkirson has gone to extreme lengths to ensure that adults stop acting their age. As the special events coordinator for the Mississippi Children's Museum's "Ignite the Night" gala, Wilkirson is helping bring magicians, jugglers, an Elvis impersonator, party favors and 17 door prizes to Saturday's event.

Shaunti Dennis

With the help of the community, The Journey Ministries Coordinator Shaunti Dennis is raising money for church members to take a mission trip to Tanzania, Africa, this summer. The goal of the mission is to help young girls who are victims of human and sex trafficking.

Affordable Housing Gets Boost; West Jackson Biz Grows

Hope Enterprise Corp., a community-development organization that finances affordable housing projects in the South, received additional support this morning when it announced its membership with national community-development network NeighborWorks.

Barbour Veto Shortsighted?

A day after Gov. Haley Barbour announced that he would not make a bid for U.S. president in 2012, he used his veto power to kill a bill to develop a strategic plan to combat obesity in Mississippi. Barbour complained that the bill, which did not require any state funds, would duplicate existing programs and "add to the fat of state government."

Brunetta Sarpong

Brunetta Sarpong may not get paid for the work she does, but that doesn't mean she takes her title of volunteer lightly. On April 19, Jackson Public Schools named Sarpong the district's Parent of the Year for the 2010-2011 school year.

Michael Brown

The past nine months have been eventful for 20-year-old Michael Brown as he has traveled through the state providing emergency assistance to residents and building homes for families in need. The AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps member is assisting families in Clinton who lost their homes during the April 15 tornadoes.

Biz District Plan Moves Forward

With little dissent, downtown Jackson property owners approved a plan last night that would expand the Downtown Jackson Partners' Business Improvement District and maintain assessment rates at 10 cents per square foot.

Bye-Bye, Be-Bop

As Kathy Morrison surveys the crowds browsing CDs in the aisles at Be-Bop Record Shop May 19, she is reminded of a time before iPods, MP3 players and iTunes.

Ermea Russell

On May 23, Ermea Russell will begin her term as a Mississippi Appeals Court judge. Gov. Haley Barbour appointed her last week.

Marie Owen

Marie Owen wants to spend more time with her Fondren neighbors and build a stronger sense of community. After attending a national co-housing conference in Boulder, Colo., last year, the event inspired her to bring the co-housing concept to Jackson.

City Celebrates Metrocenter Milestone

Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr., developer David Watkins and several city leaders put on hardhats and swung sledgehammers this morning, as they broke down a wall in the former Belk Department Store at Metrocenter Mall.

Dowell Taylor

Jackson State University Director of Music Technology Dowell Taylor faces a hefty challenge: He has 48 hours to pull together Jackson Public Schools' annual All-City High School Band Festival.