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Art for AIDS

Mississippi HeARTS Against AIDS hosts its 20th anniversary benefit Feb. 11. The benefit, Mississippi's largest fundraiser for HIV and AIDS-related issues, is a live and silent art auction. Over 300 art donations given by well-known Mississippi artists are in the auction. Musicians, including Scott Albert Johnson, perform before and after the auction, and local restaurants cater the event.

Documenting Mississippi

Photographer Suzi Altman didn't glance back when she left New York City after years working for prestigious news outlets such as the Associated Press and Rolling Stone magazine. When she moved to Mississippi 12 years ago, the Delta made her heart sing, she said. She embraced a more casual lifestyle compared to the convention of East Coast living. The resettlement, Altman said, led her to produce more substantial work than she had ever created in New York City.

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The JFP Interview with Malcolm McMillin

Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin's office is home to several porcelain and ceramic pigs. Asked about his collection, the sheriff points to a Winston Churchill quote on his wall. "A cat looks down upon a man, and a dog looks up to a man, but a pig will look a man in the eye and see his equal," the quote reads.

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The JFP Interview with Bill Luckett

In Clarksdale, Miss., Bill Luckett may as well already be governor. An attorney by training, he seems to have a hand in nearly every significant activity in town. Down the road from his law office, a revitalization effort is afoot in downtown Clarksdale. Ground Zero Blues Club and Madidi Restaurant, two ventures Luckett owns with actor Morgan Freeman, are central to this progress.

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Measuring Progress: The Evolution of Downtown Jackson Partners

Downtown Jackson Partners President Ben Allen resembled a proud father during a presentation to downtown property owners at the Mississippi Museum of Art on May 26. A video displayed images of a vast cityscape, streets filled with smiling young professionals and renovated lofts.

Modern Woman

Take a visit to Vikki Mumford's campaign website for Hinds County Circuit Clerk, and you get the feeling that she isn't messing around. To demonstrate her tech-savvy abilities, Mumford's website includes video, audio endorsements and a side-by-side comparison of her and her opponent, Barbara Dunn.

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Put to the Test

Where the Candidates Stand on Education

Along the roads that yellow school buses are just beginning to frequent, red-and-blue campaign signs are reminders that this is also a political season. Many of the signs are for Johnny DuPree or Bill Luckett, Democratic candidates for governor who will face each other in a runoff election Aug. 23.

Poignant, Comic Gift

"The Descendants" bubbles to the top of critic lists and Golden Globe nominations. The film goes against the current of behemoth blockbusters; it defies the prevailing philosophy of franchising prior successes, recycling and repackaging old stories under new names.

Republican Cat Fight for District 25

When it comes to their platforms, there aren't many differences between the Republican candidates for the state senate's district 25. Will Longwitz, a Madison attorney, and Charles Barbour, a businessman and former Hinds County supervisor (and nephew of Gov. Haley Barbour), both preach limited government and fiscal responsibility, and both share conservative values. Perhaps that's why the District 25 race has been an endless political tug-of-war between the candidates as they try to gain votes in this close race. Whoever wins the Republican runoff election Aug. 23 will face Democrat Cecilia Sampayo in the Nov. 8 general election.

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Woman on a Mission

Standing an easy 6 feet tall in her fashionable beige wedge sandals, Sandy Middleton strode into the Copiah County sheriff's station. She breezed past the unmanned reception desk, barely pausing, pushing her sunglasses up into her blonde hair and out of the way.

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The JFP Interview with Johnny DuPree

Johnny DuPree makes clear that he is a city man. DuPree, 57, has served as Hattiesburg's mayor for almost 10 years and wants to take his municipal know-how to the state level. He is one of two Democratic candidates, so far, who have announced their desire to run for the Mississippi governor's office this coming November.

Giving Miss Eudora

If you're a Mississippian, and you love great literature, you love Eudora Welty. So why not spread some Miss Eudora love to those on your holiday list?

Nostalgia as Art

A maker of wooden toys and a children's book illustrator team up for a new exhibit at the Mississippi Library Commission (3881 Eastwood Drive, 601-432-4111).

Making a Place

Author Lalita Tademy describes Mississippian Lynne Bryant's debut novel "Catfish Alley" (New American Library, 2011, $14) as being "In the tradition of 'The Help,'" by Kathryn Stockett. True, both Mississippi authors have white women as central characters and black women struggling against racial hatred. Both novels have multiple perspectives. That's where they diverge.

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The JFP Interview With Tyrone Lewis

Tyrone Lewis, former Jackson Police officer (1983-2010), police chief and Democratic candidate for Hinds County Sheriff, is not a small man. He stands about 6 feet, but his barrel chest is like a cowcatcher on a 19th-century steam locomotive. When he flexes his arms, the muscles beneath the skin tumble over one another like a bag of basketballs.

Candidate of the Day: Cindy Hyde-Smith

Now that state Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith won the Republican primary Tuesday in her bid to become Mississippi's agricultural commissioner, she's helping her daughter start a new school year.

Challenging No-Bid Contracts

Ron Williams, 52, is a Republican candidate for governor and a vocal critic of what he claims to be state agencies' preferential treatment of contractors who donate to politicians.

Flat on the Floor

The sculpture of tiles is made of black-and-white photographic images of floors stripped of possessions and lifelines. Left on the homes' slabs are scatterings of personal items discarded after a deluge of waves and wind. The tiles form checkerboards of destruction: the historical marker of Hurricane Katrina.

Running for Supervisor

by Adam Lynch

Doug Anderson

Stand Up Big

When I shook his hand, I knew instantly that Larry Jackson wasn't a full-time comedian. His enormous paw, covered with callouses and cuts, swallowed my hand. In fact, he's only a comedian on the side. He maintains bridges and drains for the city of Jackson at his day job.