Joseph Muller
Joseph Muller got a great opportunity after he graduated from Millsaps College in May. He got a job as an editorial assistant in acquisitions at University Press of Mississippi. Now he has to give up that great opportunity that English majors dream about for another one--a Fulbright Award.
[Breaking News] Mass Confusion at Hinds County Courthouse
News editor Lacey McLaughlin reports mass confusion at the Hinds County Courthouse as officials disagree on how to count absentee ballots.
SPLC Attacks State's School-to-Jail Pipeline
Jody Owens shared this morning an upsetting example of what's wrong with juvenile justice in Mississippi. A child suffering from depression, he said, cried out while in custody at Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center. "Shut the hell up," the guard told him. The child later cut his wrists.
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.
Buying the News
Everybody does it. That's essentially the explanation ABC broadcaster Chris Cuomo gave for the television network's practice of paying for photographs—a tricky way of paying sources to speak.
Candidate of the Day: Lee Yancey
Sen. Lee Yancey, R-Brandon, claims to be the only candidate for state treasurer who has a voting record to study.
Candidate of the Day: Addie Green
In a campaign season when few Democrats and even fewer women are running for state office, African American grandmother Addie Green stands out.
It's the Weekend!
It's a beautiful night of jazz in Fondren that will involve all your senses. Jazz Night Live is at 7 p.m. at circa Urban Artisan Living (2771 Old Canton Road). Jazz Beautiful with Pam Confer performs, and Pam Confer also celebrates her birthday with cake, a toast and a perfume giveaway. See, hear, taste, smell and feel the night. Why limit yourself to Fondren? After the jazz, catch some other live acts in the JFP Music Listings.
A Different Brand
Hinds County makes sense to planning consultant Tripp Muldrow. He lived in Baltimore in the 2000s, and while many residents had given up on the city and moved away, a dedicated group of citizens were determined to stay.
Judge: Advocates Can Visit Detained Youth
The Southern Poverty Law Center and Disability Rights Mississippi have won access to youth held at the Hinds County Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center. A federal judge ruled Monday that facility officials cannot continue to block attorneys and advocates from meeting with youths.
Freelancer of the Month: Larry Morrisey
Larry Morrisey evangelizes musicians who don't fit a mold. His story earlier this year about Delta bluesman Bill Abel, a painter as well as a musician, depicted a side character who usually plays small venues. That's Morrisey's favorite kind of story.
Branding Hinds County With Just a Little Snark
What difference could a bold marketing campaign make to Hinds County economic development? Tripp Muldrow, a South Carolina planning consultant, suggests it could make a world of difference.
It's the Weekend!
Tonight, we suggest you get your fundraising on. You have a choice of three events to attend. The American Cancer Society's Jamaica Me Crazy beach party begins at 7 p.m. at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum, Sparkman Auditorium (1150 Lakeland Drive). Faze 4 provides the music, you provide the cute beach attire. A little later, comedian Eddie Griffin headlines The BeanSprout Benefit Comedy Show. The program begins at 8 p.m. at McCoy Auditorium (1400 John R. Lynch St.), at Jackson State University. Also at 8 p.m., The Fashion for Life fashion showcase at Duling Hall (622 Duling Ave.) benefits the Mississippi Sickle Cell Foundation. So, be part of the solution, help out and look good doing it. Want to know about more fundraisers? Always refer to your friendly neighborhood
Sheriff Candidate's Campaign Reports Corrected
The Hinds County Sherriff campaign contributions listed this week's Jackson Free Press interview with Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin are incorrect. Several of the contributors listed are actually disbursements from each campaign. We apologize for the error.
Lauren Fredman
Lauren Fredman of Jackson sat with 24 other educators in a Boston, Mass., classroom last week at the opening of the Jewish Women's Archive's Summer Institute. They came to explore Jewish roles in Civil Rights Movement and to find ways to share that history with younger Jews.
Emergency Calls Begin; Jackson Makes ‘Top 100 List'
City officials can warn residents directly about fallen trees and broken power lines during storms and other emergencies. A new system quickly delivers messages by phone to targeted areas of Jackson or to the entire city.
Gannett's Cut and Paste
After The Clarion-Ledger laid off four journalists June 21, ads appeared on the national job site JournalismJobs.com seeking four new journalists at Gannett Co.'s Jackson newspaper.
Clarion-Ledger Hiring?
After The Clarion-Ledger laid off four journalists June 21, ads appeared on the national job site JournalismJobs.com seeking four new journalists at Gannett Co.'s Jackson newspaper.
Interns of the Day: Christy Dawson and Rachel Bush
After 240 hours, two design interns at the Jackson Free Press complete their university's requirements today.
It's the Chick Ball Weekend!
With the JFP's 7th Annual Chick Ball Saturday night, this is one of the hottest weekends of the summer. Dresses, hair, music, friends--and, yes, of course that includes the men. It's going to be fun to see the good-looking man who wins the Arm Candy award. You might as well make a full weekend of it and take your man out for a test run tonight, starting off with great music. Jackson's own Zac Harmon plays tonight at Underground 119. If you missed his show at Jackson State last night, here's another chance to catch the popular blues artist. Burgers and Blues has music by the Justin Moreira Trio, Dreamz JXN hosts Can't Feel My Face Friday, Shaun Patterson is at Fenian's, and Poison Control Center and The Passing Parade play at Ole Tavern . Need more options for music, dancing and socializing? Go to JFP Music Listings.
Choctaws To Hold New Election
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians is having a new election after a tribal member appealed the June 14 election.
Silver Lining
Torch in hand, Lil McKinnon-Hicks bends thin silver cords into earring wires. She drips metal until it forms a small ball. She hammers out bracelets and solders two metals to create necklace pendants.
City Sets Public Hearing for Gates
Read the ordinance
JPS Admits Handcuffing Kids for Hours
Read the complaint and the JPS response. Also, read our previous story.
Graham: Investigation is Political
Adam Lynch
McDade's Remodels Fondren Store; DJP Expands ‘Courtesy'
McDade's Market will begin a major renovation of its Fondren grocery store in July.
A Week of Layoffs
Dozens of Mississippians lost their jobs this week in layers of irony. Mississippi Department of Employment—the agency that helps people who get fired or laid off—said Wednesday that it will lay off 40 employees at the end of July. The day before, Gannett Co. Inc. laid off 10 Clarion-Ledger employees, several media blogs reported, part of the 700-plus job cuts the corporation made this week nationwide.
Picking the Right Pick
John Looney bounced a synthetic Dunlop Gator Grip guitar pick on a table at Hal & Mal's. He was in between sets playing the mandolin with Anna Kline and The Grits & Soul Band, so he didn't have much time for this demonstration.
PyInfamous Wins ‘Coldest MC' in Nation
Watch PyInfamous perform June 24 at Forever Friday at Suite 106.
Jason "PyInfamous" Thompson, 29, has won the national Coors Light's "Search for the Coldest MC" contest. He was one of four regional finalists.
Rev. Otis Moss III
Rev. Otis Moss III, senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ of Chicago, visits Tougaloo College to speak to teenage girls this week.
Detaining Disabled Kids: Who Decides?
The day after the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit against a Hinds County-run youth detention center, the county denied SPLC and its clients access to the children detained there.
John R. Kelly
Gov. Haley Barbour appointed John R. Kelly to the Mississippi State Board of Education yesterday. Kelly's term begins July 1, and the state Senate must confirm him. His term expires June 30, 2020.
The Good Guys
Men who care about children, who stand fast to protect them, who work hard to make this world better and safer and even a little bit more fun are absolutely men we love. So many men fit that description here in Mississippi.
SPLC Wants Quick Resolution to School Suit
The details are too similar. A school security officer leads a student to the stairs near the gym. He closes one cuff on the child's wrist and the other on the stair railing. He leaves the student alone for hours.
Shackling Kids For Sass
The details are too similar. A school security officer leads a student to the stairs near the gym. He closes one cuff on the child's wrist and the other on the stair railing. He leaves the student alone for hours.
Lewis Liddell
Lewis Liddell is certain the first wrong note he hears in band practice later this summer will get him fired up. He can't wait.
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.
Mix It Up This Weekend
Let's kick this summer off right, and let's do it tonight. Come to Art Remix at 6 p.m. at the Mississippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St.). This free downtown event features music by Dangermuffin and Valerie June. The Jackson Free Press is a sponsor. Music, food, cool people and an arty backdrop make for a downtown party. For more live entertainment options, check out the JFP Music Listings.
More than $11.6M Approved for Tornado Survivors
<i>[Verbatim from FEMA]</i>
CLINTON, Miss. - Federal assistance approved for people in 29 Mississippi counties that were declared a major disaster area by the president because of devastating storms and tornadoes has reached $11,667,808.
School Cuffs Kids for No Belt, Wrong Shoes
One morning this spring, a boy showed up at school without his belt. He forgot it at home. The 16-year-old walked up to the metal detector that all the students at Capital City Alternative School have to go through. School officials inspected their shoes and belts before the students could go to class.
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.
Passion for Classics
"You can sing gospel, you can sing pop beautifully, and I respect those styles, but you must also respect the classical style," Phyllis Lewis-Hale says. "You must respect the hard work and dedication and scholastic work that goes into it."
Sara Howard
It was already hot a few hours ago at 6 a.m. when Sara Howard showed up for training at Jackson State University. As a participant in the Paul Lacoste Sports Fit 4 Teaching Challenge, she has shown up for daily circuit training since last Tuesday. In this first week, she's already lost 8 pounds. After a few minutes of running this morning, Howard didn't notice the heat any more.
Meredith W. Sullivan
Meredith W. Sullivan regularly scours Jackson boutiques and vintage shops for hot fashion, cute clothes and good deals. Recently, she noticed Jackson had picked up the newest trends from the latest season's fashion shows in New York City.
Court Stops Simon Execution
Robert Simon Jr., 47, gets to live a little bit longer on death row. The state of Mississippi planned to kill him May 24, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stopped the execution just hours before the scheduled time.
TGIF: The Weekend's Here!
Let's make this a Memorial Day weekend to remember, shall we? Start it off tonight with Latin flair. Eat, dance and try out your conversational Spanish at Fiesta Latina, the free party at Lingofest Language Center (7048 Old Canton Road, Ridgeland). It begins at 7 p.m. Later, head over to Afrika Book Cafe (404 Mitchell Ave.) to hear music from Tawanna Shaunte of Eclectik Soul, Kolectiv Rhythm and Lonne George beginning at 8:30 p.m. Don't stop there. What's the best place to begin looking for things to do in Jackson? The JFP Best Bets page, of course.
Billy McCoy
Mississippi House Speaker Billy McCoy, 68, a Delta farmer from Rienzi, announced yesterday that he would not run again for his seat in the Mississippi House of Representatives.
Take My Hand
I was not about to lie down in a body imprint left in the grass no matter how much the artist encouraged me. Looking at the impression of a fallen body in a bed of violets was enough for me to feel raw. I didn't want to feel more real than that. At least not on that Sunday afternoon.
Art Intensive
Tougaloo Art Colony returns for its 15th year this July. Accomplished artists and curious amateurs are all accepted for the intensive experience, space permitting. The object at this retreat is to create works depicting multiculturalism.
It's the Weekend
Art House Downtown Cinema brings Jackson independent and interesting films consistently. You have a chance to catch two films, "Blank City" at 7 p.m. and "Heartbeats" at 8:45 p.m. today at Russell C. Davis Planetarium (201 E. Pascagoula St.). It's $7 per film. Meet some new folks and talk about the films over coffee or drinks afterward. For live music options, check out Chimney Choir and Wooden Finger at Sneaky Beans or Velcro Pygmies at Fire. Lots of great options abound on the detailed JFP Best Bets page.