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Stop the Lakes-v.-Levees Drama

In recent months, the Jackson Free Press was pleased to see the Rankin-Hinds Levee Board seemingly get unlocked from the years-long Lakes-v.-Levees standoff that had prevented any forward movement toward flood control along the Pearl River and, with any luck, some smart and green economic development thrown in, to boot.

[Fainberg] Saving Our Children

America's health-care delivery system is riddled with racial and economic disparities—certainly old news. But here in the South, these words resound with a troubling new accuracy as the youngest members of our communities are dying.

Where the Jobs Are in 2010

If we're lucky, we're coming out a deep recession and looking at economic growth that, hopefully, will mean jobs, consumer spending and new business investment nationally. Jackson is poised to take advantage of economic revitalization, but to do it, we'll need to pull together and create opportunities.

[Kamikaze] Re-Shaking Things Up

Even I get discouraged. As much as I champion Jackson, there are times that its outdated vestiges rear their ugly heads. There are times when the corporate status quo takes a few slow promising steps forward, then a disappointing few steps backward.

Of Truth and the Shortest Month

I admit it: I've never been Black History Month's biggest fan. Let me put that another way: I don't like how media tend to treat Black History Month. Too often, it is a vehicle for selling ads on a special page to commemorate black history, usually with predictable images or talk of little-lady Rosa Parks suddenly getting tired and refusing to get up out of her seat. (No. She was a trained activist; the historic moment was planned.)

[Colom] Payday Lending: Bad Business

Each month, before receiving his Walmart paycheck, Mike* gets a payday loan. In exchange for the money, he writes the store a check for the amount of money he receives, plus an additional $22 for every $100 he borrows.

All God's Children

One image won't leave my head since I finished my part of the cover story I wrote this issue with freelance writer Valerie Wells (starts here): A deputy with his foot against a door as a desperate mother tries to get through to be with her 
13-year-old son during a police interrogation that will elicit a murder confession that may or may not have any truth to it.

Bring Early Voting to Mississippi

Elections are already underway for more than 3 million Americans who have access to early voting. What we're wondering at this point is why not us?

Fresh and Local, Every Day

One night a few weeks ago, Todd and I left the office at our too-usual time of 8 or 9 p.m. We ran through McDade's to pick up dinner supplies.

[Stiggers] That Sounds Nasty

Boneqweesha Jones: "Welcome to Hair Did University's S.O.H.K. (School of Hard Knocks) Critical Thinking Lecture Series. Psychologist Judy McBride wants to share with us an effect that is affecting people today."

[Balko] The Criminalization of Protest

Police and politicians ignore the First Amendment when we need it the most.

Higher Ground

Amid all the bellowing anger and finger-pointing and insults and threats to shove tennis balls you-know-where, last week I was fortunate enough to participate in something remarkable in downtown Jackson.

Talking Back in Flyover Country

Not too long before the election, I found an e-mail I'd missed from a young Mississippi artist: "Donna, I think this article deserves a talented rebuttal. See what you can do." I clicked his link to a Slate article, and I braced myself for a pseudo-intellectual snippet of snobbishness.

[Tucker] The Mean Season

Well, I guess it's official: The Mean Season is upon us.

[Kamikaze] Heal and Move On

I'm glad the Democratic primary is finally over, but the wounds this election has inflicted are deep.

[Stiggers] Bombs for the Poor

Inspector "Beat Down" Lipscomb: "Welcome to the Ghetto Science Team Counter Terrorism conference. Terrorism has become a reality around the world.

[Collier] Don't Give Up on God

Natalie A. Collier

Much of who I am can be attributed to not only my family but to the people at the church I grew up in. While there is a strange one or two among the group, much of my spiritual foundation was laid within the oak-lined walls of the small church with the cranberry red carpet that sits just a few blocks away from the campus of MSU's entrance: First Church of Christ (Holiness).

[Stiggers] Do the Hustle

Brotha Hustle: "At this time of the year, the only thing on poor people's mind is 'Tax Refund.' So, they grab their W2 statements and run to one of those well-known tax-preparation places.

[Wilkes] Dudettes Wearing Suits

Scene: Working husband, John Jones, walks in the door fresh from work, proverbial bacon in hand. Stay-at-home wife, Janet, cooks said bacon and puts what's left in a ROTH IRA for when their precious, unborn children, little Johnny Jr. and Jane, retire. End scene.

PSC: Keep Rates Low

The Mississippi Public Service Commission has a hard decision before it.