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JPS Board Won't Renew Edwards' Contract

The Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees voted during its Dec. 7 meeting not to renew Superintendent Lonnie Edwards' contract for the upcoming school year, Board Attorney Dorian Turner told the Jackson Free Press today. The 3-1 vote came during executive session, and the board informed Edwards of its decision at a meeting this afternoon, Turner said.

House Stalls on Domestic Violence GPS

Monitoring domestic violence suspects out on bond is apparently a controversial issue in the Mississippi House of Representatives. The House spent most of yesterday tackling an unofficial list of non-controversial legislation. Left off that list was a bill sponsored by Rep. Brandon Jones, D-Pascagoula, that would give judges the option of requiring a defendant accused of domestic violence to wear a GPS-equipped tracking device.

The Best In Sports In 7 Days

Doctor S sez: Mississippi State's baseball team has gone further than even the most rabid Bulldog fan expected.

Watching a Revolution

Hussein Sadek has had the bittersweet experience of watching a revolution in his homeland happen while he's away. Sadek, 23, is a junior at Jackson State University, studying for a degree in telecommunications engineering. He grew up in Giza, Egypt, near Cairo--the nation's capital and the recent revolution's epicenter.

Maura Johnson

Throughout her childhood, Maura Johnson met her family around the dinner table to not only share a meal together but to talk about specific historical facts. They always read the news and newly released biographies and spoke of the importance of being familiar with history.

Redistricting Fight Comes Home

Hinds County's redistricting woes are not over, yet. One week after the county Board of Supervisors voted to approve new district maps, the board faces a possible lawsuit over its decision to hire Mississippi NAACP President Derrick Johnson to oversee its redistricting process.

City Filling Budget Holes

Halfway into the budget year, the city of Jackson has to move money around thanks to overtime costs and JATRAN budget overruns, among other issues.

Barbour's Ed. Numbers Off-Mark

Mississippi public-education advocates fear that the state Senate may short-change school districts next year by $65 million. On the Senate agenda is a House education-funding bill approved last week; however . Gov. Haley Barbour has urged legislators to adopt the lower funding amount, describing it as "level funding." Data from the Mississippi Department of Education show that Barbour's claim is inaccurate, however.

Former Inmate: Youth Prison Was Hell

The Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility is failing to rehabilitate and is actually endangering the lives of its juvenile inmates, advocates and former inmates told state lawmakers today. Members of the House Juvenile Justice Committee heard a litany of complaints against the state-funded, privately operated prison, ranging from inadequate educational services to misconduct and physical abuse by prison staff.

Mandatory Sex Ed: Almost There

The Mississippi Senate and House of Representatives are awaiting the governor's signature on a bill forcing all local public-school boards to adopt a policy to add "abstinence-only" or "abstinence-plus" education into its curriculum by June 30, 2012.

Former Chief Questions Shooting

Former Jackson Police Chief Robert Johnson says two Jackson police officers should not have been in a position to shoot a Jackson resident on New Year's morning.

Ice Leads To Five-Hour Gridlock on the ‘Stack'

On a day that many Jacksonians suffered long commutes, Rodney Cuevas still had an exceptional evening. Cuevas left his job at the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality for his home in Brandon a little before 4 p.m. on Thursday.

2011 Mississippi Legislative Preview

The Mississippi Legislature returned Jan. 4, and many legislators are not looking forward to the kind of cuts facing state departments. The Mississippi Department of Mental Health is looking at a shortfall of more than $30 million this year, which could easily mean the closing of some mental-health institutions in the state, delivering more mental-health patients into county jails and state prisons.

Now Comes the Hard Part, Again

Mississippi's lawmakers may have approved $20 million in bonds for a state civil-rights museum last week, but the project still has major hurdles to clear before becoming a reality. Chief among those is a private fundraising effort, the same thing that doomed an earlier incarnation of the project.

Critics Oppose Mega-Building on Lakeland

Some Jackson leaders and developers don't want the new home for the Mississippi Department of Revenue at the corner of Lakeland Drive and Ridgewood Road.

Pinetop Perkins

Mississippi native Pinetop Perkins, whose boogie-woogie blues piano playing backed up generations of blues legends before he took a turn in the solo spotlight, died Monday at his home in Austin, Texas. He was 97.

The Best In Sports In 7 Days

Doctor S sez: This has been a spring of discontent for Ole Miss and Mississippi State fans. The Rebels and Bulldogs just aren't very good this season.

Cindy Clegg

Even though Cindy Clegg is busy making last-minute preparations for tonight's "Take a Tasty Bite Out of Crime" fundraiser, she is eager to explain the importance of raising money for the public-safety initiatives in the metro area.

UMMC Names New Pediatrics Head

The University of Mississippi Medical Center has named Dr. Fredrick "Rick" Barr to serve as the professor and chair of its pediatrics department starting July 1.

Keba Ambrose

Jackson State University student Keba Ambrose is always ready to take on a new challenge. After hearing about a summer institute on public policy at New Jersey's Princeton University, she worked tirelessly to fine-tune her personal statement for the application process.