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Barbour: Legislature Better Place to Decide Personhood

Gov. Haley Barbour yesterday reiterated concerns he expressed earlier this week on MSNBC and Fox News about Mississippi's ballot Initiative 26, the proposed Personhood amendment.

Most Intriguing Jacksonians 2011

For better or worse, you talked about them. A lot. Some deserved it. Others? Well ...

For better or worse, you talked about them. A lot. Some deserved it. Others? Well ...

UMMC Hosts Children's Health Study

The National Children's Study, a long-term study of children's health, hosted a ribbon cutting Nov. 10 at the Jackson Medical Mall to highlight research that is taking place in the Jackson area.

Occupy Jackson Permit Under Scrutiny

On the sidewalk outside Smith Park, too-small tarps covered waterlogged books, papers and canisters of food caught in Tuesday's heavy rain. Inside City Hall a few blocks away, the signs' owners assembled to try to persuade the City Council Planning Committee to allow them to stay in the park day and night for another month.

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Shields Up

Mississippi, like 10 other states in the union, doesn't have a shield law that protects journalists from revealing sources, turning over documents or answering subpoenas. In 40 states, reporters and editors have some protection in varying degrees.

[Week In Jacktown] December 7 - 13, 2001

With what that goes on around Jackson, we indeed live in interesting times. Events come and go, weirdness happens, occasional gossip about someone, and of course the usual political muckraking. So take a peek and see what happened over the past week that you may, or may not have missed.

Smokin' the Polls

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is smoking the polls. Well, one poll anyway. The Raleigh, N.C.-based firm Public Policy Polling, which Democratic pollster Dean Debnam founded, unveiled its findings Friday, Dec. 9. The poll shows Barbour's approval rating inside the state is 60 percent, the highest of any state governor; only 29 percent of Mississippians polled disapprove of Barbour.

Personhood Supporters Shocked, Undeterred

See also Grassroots Mamas: 'We Did It!'

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Hinds Wants Blank Check

To get the ball rolling on construction of a proposed roadway, the Hinds County Board of Supervisors will ask the Legislature for financial support.

How to Win (or Lose) an Election

Johnny DuPree faced an uphill battle in his race for governor this year. As a Democrat running in a state trending more Republican, an African American where people often vote along racial lines and a mayor without the state-level political experience of his opponent, his chances were slim.

Oil Spill Czar Being Slick?

Jim Hood doesn't pull any punches when it comes to criticizing the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, the agency set up to help people who were hurt by the 2010 BP oil disaster, and its administrator, Kenneth Feinberg. Since early this year, Hood has sought access to Mississippi residents' claims to make sure GCCF handles payouts from the $20 billion fund fairly and in accordance with the state's consumer protection laws.

One Fork at a Time

About 30 students from Chastain Middle School filed into The Penguin Restaurant, dressed in collared shirts and ties or dresses and bows. They politely took their seats at tables arranged around the room, then fiddled with an unfamiliar number of forks and glasses.

Local Fights Back

Stacy Mitchell, a senior researcher with The New Rules Project, an initiative of the Minneapolis-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance, examined how local businesses have fared compared to their national competitors in recent years.

Wingfield's Bounce: A Case Study

Money isn't the only factor in a good education, but $5.2 million doesn't hurt, either.

Part-time Occupation

After weeks of debate, the Jackson City Council agreed to a compromise to allow Occupy Jackson protesters to stay at Smith Park later in the evening, although they will not get to occupy the park overnight.

Honey, I Shrunk My City!

Scott Crawford maneuvers his wheelchair from the front of his house through his living room to a dining room table set with LEGO replicas of Jackson landmarks.

Dems Lick Wounds, Prep for Battle

Mississippi Republicans are still painting the state red in celebration of the party's recent electoral successes. The GOP is maintaining control of the governor's mansion, the lieutenant governorship, the state Senate and every statewide constitutional office except one.

Another Landfill?

R. L. Nave

All day long, hulking trucks rumble along North County Line Road to dump loads of rubbish at one of the area's two waste dumps. At the north end of the road sits Republic Services Inc.-operated Little Dixie Landfill; at the far south end is a rubbish landfill, which Madison South Rubbish Landfill Inc. owns. Between those facilities lies a 160 acre-parcel of land where Mike Bilberry wants to put a third landfill.

Grassroots Mamas: ‘We Did It!'

Just before 10 p.m. last night, Lori Gregory Garrott ran out of her Fondren home, stood on the front lawn and looked around before shouting, "We just won!" She yelled again, louder: "We just won!" The co-founder of Parents Against 26 had to tell the night sky a third time that Mississippi grassroots mamas defeated the Personhood Initiative.

Mississippi Deals Personhood Movement a Resounding Defeat

Nov. 8, 2011 -- Tonight was not a good night for the national Personhood USA movement that tried to push Initiative 26 in Mississippi. The opponents took some 60 percent of the vote by the time it was called as a loss. The JFP had a crazy busy night on Twitter (@jxnfreepress and #jxnfreepress) following the progress of 26, as well as voter ID (26) and the eminent domain limits (31). Voter ID passed as expected, and the eminent-domain limits passed. (The Jackson Free Press urged voters to reject personhood and voter ID and approve eminent domain limits—so we won two out of three.