Dr. Omar Abdul-Rahman
Dr. Omar Abdul-Rahman, a pediatrics professor at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, recognizes that medicine is not one size fits all. That's why he is studying the role that human genetics play in treatment and prevention, particularly for children.
Kill Bill Vol. 3: Education, Entertainment, Elections
On the Feb. 3 bill deadline in the Mississippi Legislature, committee chairmen—like the katana-wielding Uma Thurman—swiftly killed several bills aimed at helping educate Mississippi children, creating a music industry in the state and clearing up election law.
Are Schools Still Pushing Kids Out?
Krystal Polk's 13-year-old daughter, Krystin, has been arrested twice this school year. The first time, the eighth-grader spent the night in a juvenile detention center.
Excerpts from Judge Carlton Reeves’ Ruling
Even an abbreviated history shows that millions of Americans were once deemed ineligible for full Fourteenth Amendment protection.
‘Justice, Justice, Thou Shalt Pursue’: The JFP Interview with Roberta Kaplan
Like many LGBTQ couples, New York attorney Roberta Kaplan and her wife, Rachel Lavine, have enjoyed federal marriage rights since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal restrictions against same-sex marriage in 2013.
Funking Up Jackson, Targeting Crime
Fred McAfee was on a study committee that the Mississippi Legislature created last year to determine the feasibility of creating incentives to facilitate an entertainment industry for the state.
Building LGBT Teen, Business Alliances
When a Magnolia Junior High School teacher conducted a math exercise by dividing the classroom into two teams based on gender, Destin Holmes was forced to sit in the middle of the room. This, according to the teacher, was because the teenage girl was "an in-between it."
Middle-Class Families Could Get Special-Needs Help
When the parents of 10-year-old Flannery Smith noticed their daughter's learning difficulty, they took immediate action. Through legal help from the Mississippi Center for Justice, the family compelled the school district to provide services including diagnoses and a special computer program.
LGBT Leader, Other Democratic Women Running for Office
The civil engineer and businesswoman helping to spearhead the fight for marriage equality in Mississippi is running for state auditor and hopes to bring transparency to the office that holds the state accountable for its spending.
Uncertainty Looms for Wages, Schools, Health Care in Tax Cut Plan
Despite a controversial $1.5 billion tax cut prompting fierce debate on education funding, state employee salaries, grocery taxes and lottery tickets, the Republican-led tax plan passed the Mississippi House of Representatives with no mechanism to keep vital state services intact.
Mississippi Sex Education Efforts Still Limited
Although the state began to require institutions of higher education to create a plan for pregnancy prevention, it has not helped the schools develop those plans, nor has it required the schools to follow them.
Tackling Poverty, Medicaid: Solutions Discussed Outside of Capitol
Over the last several days, the Mississippi Legislature has hit a calmer patch of the session as it deals with the state budget, despite the week beginning with racist comments from Rep. Gene Alday, R-Walls, flooding the media.
Vicki Slater Announces Governor Candidacy
Democrat Vicki Slater announced her candidacy for governor Thursday morning on the platform of better jobs, better education and better healthcare.
Vaccination Exemptions and Outbreaks by State
A measles outbreak originating at Disneyland in California has infected more than 120 people across 14 states since December.
Meddling in Foreign Policy Could Cost State
With the same gusto as with last year's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Mississippi lawmakers are advancing new laws that appear to have little real effect.
Common Core Rollback Leads a Week of Capitol Politics
While the Mississippi Legislature advances several pieces of substantial legislation, some lawmakers appear to be gearing up to seek higher office. And voters this year will be subjected to new party primary rules due to a bill that the House passed Feb. 12.
Revving Up for the Big Fights
The Mississippi Legislature is preparing for the big fights that come later in the session, now that the Senate and House cleared most routine, non-controversial items off their calendars in this fifth week of the session.
Development Catches Fondren Residents Off Guard
Fondren residents started noticing several rundown houses in January with siding missing and a big, red "X" painted across their doors. Each day, more homes became vacant and began to disappear.
New Civil Rights Museum on Track For Completion
In former Gov. Haley Barbour's address Tuesday morning about the progress of the state's new civil rights museum, he stressed the importance of not only recognizing Mississippi's history, but improving the city of Jackson.
Legislature Status: Bills We're Watching
Lawmakers had a Feb. 3 deadline. Here's what made it and what didn't.
No Legislation Is Dead Until It’s Dead
It's election year in Mississippi, and that means that state legislators will go for the controversial jugular if it might translate into votes back in the home district.
Special Ed: ‘It’s Been a Rollercoaster’
Many educators, disability advocate Mandy Rogers said, don't know the procedures regarding students with special needs, such as what kinds of disabilities, like dyslexia, are covered under disability law.
Rep. Deborah Dixon
Rep. Deborah Dixon's personal experience led her to work on a bill over the last few years that would revise Mississippi's hate-crime law.
Lawmakers Move to Drop Common Core Standards
Lawmakers made moves Thursday to change Mississippi’s academic standards and method of statewide testing.
McDaniel's New PAC: The Next Generation
With hopes of bringing together multiple factions throughout the state in the wake of a divisive Senate race, state Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, recently announced his new political action committee, the United Conservatives Fund.
Target: Abortion Rights, Public Ed, LGBT Custody
Women's rights and public education topped the Mississippi legislative agenda as it rolled past the Jan. 19 deadline for filing bills and into the fourth week of the session, while a move by a Democratic lawmaker to limit LGBT custody of children roiled many members of his own party.
Straight, LGBT Teens Fight to Support Each Other
Presley McCord, who is a board member of the Gay-Straight Alliance at Brandon High School, said she hopes the group helps to make a difference and improve the high school experience for LGBT students.
Special Ed Bills Duke It Out
Two bills aimed at improving the educational experience for students with special needs—from opposite ends of the political spectrum—are making the rounds this Legislative session.
Rep. Bob Evans
A bill from Democratic lawmaker State Rep. Bob Evans from Monticello is raising eyebrows because it contains what appears to be discriminatory language regarding parental custody rights and sexual orientation.
Divorcing the State's Same-Sex Marriage Ban
Same-sex marriage cases have been in abundance as of late. But today, the justices at the Mississippi Supreme Court heard oral arguments for a different kind of LGBT equality issue: same-sex divorce.
Behind the Wall
The Mississippi Legislature voted last week to place an alternative to a citizen-driven initiative on the ballot this fall for the first time in Mississippi history under the state's initiative-process law.
Brandon Gay-Straight Protest Planned Today
Despite fervent backlash from detractors, a demonstration against what LGBT activists call discrimination against a group of students who wanted to create a Gay-Straight Alliance at the school will continue as planned.
Tate Reeves Proposes Changes to Tax Code, MAEP, Hospitals
Talk around the Capitol suggests that because it is an election year, nothing substantial will get done. But it's clear that the state leadership has a different idea.
Mississippi Women Make $11,500 Less Per Year Than Men
Giving merit to their call for equal-pay legislation, the Mississippi Commission on the Status of Women introduced its 2014 report that shows women in the state make an average of $11,500 less per year than men.
Dems: Education 'Booby Trap' on November Ballot
House Concurrent Resolution 9, which passed the House 64-57 Tuesday, passed the Senate 30-20 Wednesday—virtually a straight party-line vote in both chambers.
Born To Fight
What would have been a calm first week of the legislative session turned into an explosive debate on the floor of the Mississippi House of Representatives the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 13.
Running the Marriage-Equality Gauntlet
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' hearing on same-sex marriage included three cases from three different states—Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.
Legislature Explodes in Fight Over Public Education
The first big legislative fight of the year exploded in the Mississippi House of Representatives this morning as Democrats attacked a Republican alternative to a statewide ballot initiative that, if it passes in November, would require adequate state public-education funding.
Miss. Same-Sex Marriage Fate Now With 5th Circuit
Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas are three very different places, arguments for throwing out each state's same-sex marriage bans—the subject of cases heard in a federal appeals court in New Orleans this morning—don't differ too much.
Legislators on a Tight Rope, Walking a Fine Line
Officials and advocates don't expect this legislative session to be much different than any other. It's a state-wide election year, which is the perfect time for emphasizing wedge issues and lollygagging on real state concerns like education and Medicaid.
Analysis: Election-Year Politicking Starts
Like a comet that is visible to Earth denizens only once in a while, the quadrennial event of the election-year legislative session has commenced.
Boosting Downtown’s Curb Appeal
In downtown Jackson, utility crews whacked off the tops of Bradford pear trees to prevent them from growing into power lines. Iron grates on Congress Street choke the growth of some trees, as the foliage has been left to grow where it pleases.
Same-Sex Marriage Arguments Before 5th Circuit Friday
The future of same-sex marriage in Mississippi hinges upon arguments that begin Friday, Jan. 9.
Legislature: The War is Just Beginning
The Mississippi Legislature is back in session tomorrow, which means another three months of state representatives at battle on issues, some of questionable significance.
Christina Doss
After participating in a Habitat for Humanity build in Dallas, Nissan employee Christina Doss plans to use her acquired skills and experience to help enrich her own community in the Jackson metro area.
Money, Ministry and Stewpot’s Future
Stewpot, a pillar in the Jackson community for its service to the homeless population, has a long history of struggling to make ends meet.
Does Uber Have a Dark Side?
The ride-sharing app, Uber, has plans to change the transportation game forever. The company included Jackson in those plans as it expanded into the city with its UberX program, beginning Dec. 11, even as it is mired in international controversy.
What is a ‘Segregation Academy’?
The greatest hike in private academies in Mississippi was from 1968-1971, during which segregated private schools grew from educating just over 5,000 to 40,000 students in the state.
Then and Now: When ‘School Choice’ Creates a Divide
"School choice" is a hot-button political phrase, used in some form since the 1960s. At its most generic, it means giving parents an option of where to send their kids to school beyond the traditional public school of the district in which they live, while still using public dollars, such as with charter schools.
Education Funding Center of State Budget Fight
With Republicans controlling both houses and the Governor's Mansion, not a lot of compromise is necessary for the GOP to get its way in the new session. But Democrats are fighting back, especially on public-education funding.
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