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State ‘Backward' on Transparency?

A new state law could take Mississippi from the middle of the pack among states, in its government transparency and accountability to near the bottom.

City of Jackson Approves Belhaven Historical Grant

The Jackson City Council voted to approve a grant application Tuesday for federal funds to put Belhaven on the National Register of Historic Places.

Un-gifting JPS

State budget cuts are forcing Jackson Public Schools to scale back its gifted-education classes to the bare minimum required by state law. With their emphasis on hands-on learning and critical thinking, classes for "gifted" students are among the highlights of any school district.

Showdown Ahead on Immigration Lawsuits

Mississippi lawmakers are headed for a standoff on two provisions of a proposed Arizona-style immigration bill. The House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 2179 yesterday but stripped a controversial section that would that would allow citizens to sue local law enforcement and public officials for not enforcing the restrictions. In its place, the House inserted a provision allowing citizens to take a business to court for hiring undocumented workers.

Will Oatis

Will Oatis of Silver Creek wants to be the next governor of Mississippi. Oatis, 37, is running as an independent candidate. Education and economic development are his top political issues.

JPS Sued over Shackling

Claiming alternative school staffers have unconstitutionally punished students over minor offenses, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a class-action lawsuit against Jackson Public Schools yesterday.

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.

DOJ Scrutinizing State Mental Health

Mississippi could lose a lawsuit over its mental-health system now that the U.S. Department of Justice supports the suit.

Food Truck Vote Pending

The Jackson City Council may address a new ordinance making possible food vending vehicles in downtown Jackson this month.

Speed Returns to MDA

A familiar face is returning to the Mississippi Development Authority. Jackson real-estate developer Leland Speed is temporarily taking the reins of the MDA as executive director until January 2012, the remainder of Gov. Haley Barbour's term in office.

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month

The Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence is honoring National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention month by promoting healthy youth relationships to prevent teen dating violence.

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.

Legislature Returns; How to Track Bills

As state legislators return to the Capitol tomorrow for the 2011 Legislative session, lawmakers will spend the next 90 days approving diminished funding for state agencies and debating a host of bills.

Dirk Dedeaux

Dirk Dedeaux knows the cost of obesity to Mississippi taxpayers. Dedeaux, a Democratic representative from Perkinston, chairs the House Medicaid Committee, giving him a front seat to witness the economic toll obesity takes on the state, which some projections put at nearly $4 billion annually by 2018.

Going for the Guns

Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. says a new Jackson Police Department partnership with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will help get dangerous weapons off the street.

Gwendolyn Magee

Jackson-based artist Gwen Magee, whose vibrant quilts elevated a traditional craft to nationally acclaimed works of art, died yesterday. Magee, who was intensely private, had been battling a long-term illness, but her death was unexpected, her friend Wendy Shenefelt told the Jackson Free Press today.

Mississippi a CO2 Dump?

Mississippi would become a reservoir for carbon-dioxide storage under Senate Bill 2723 and House Bill 1098--both of which survived their respective Oil, Gas and Other Minerals committees this month.

Juanita Ward

Former Callaway High School and Tulsa Shock women's basketball champ Juanita Ward, 23, is bringing the round ball to kids in Bolton this month with a two-part basketball camp.

State's African Americans See Higher Unemployment

Like many things in Mississippi, the hardship of unemployment during the Great Recession has fallen unequally on the state's population. African American workers in Mississippi experienced an 18 percent unemployment rate over 2010, according to the national think tank Economic Policy Institute report issued April 28.