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Ole Miss Apologizes to Black Protesters Arrested in 1970
The University of Mississippi has apologized to dozens of African Americans who were arrested in 1970 for protesting racial inequality on the mostly white campus where Confederate images were a …
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Evan Engram
Tight end Evan Engram is one of the few holdovers from the University of Mississippi's stellar recruiting class of 2013. He chose to return to school while the Rebels' better-known …
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A Look Inside Luke Audio
Flora, Miss., native Allen Luke turned his years of tinkering with musical equipment into a full-time career as the founder of Luke Audio in Nashville, Tenn.
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OPINION: New Orleans, A Good Idea
A different kind of musician, Bob Dylan, says New Orleans is a city where the ghosts of the dead and the laughter of the living are never far apart.
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Center for Art & Public Exchange, Holiday Tamales and Mississippi Trade Mart
The Mississippi Museum of Art launched a new initiative called the Center for Art & Public Exchange on Thursday, Nov. 30.
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Chokwe Lumumba Celebration of Life Service Info
The Honorable Mayor Chokwe Lumumba will lie in state at City Hall on Friday, March 7, 2014.
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Behind Vicksburg’s Blues
If you have made your way over for one of Vicksburg's many concerts, festivals and shows in recent years, the odds are good that you've crossed paths with Shirley Waring, …
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Michael Thomas
New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas has been another impact rookie. His play has eased the pain of the Saints releasing former No. 1 receiver Marques Colston, who is …
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James Meredith Lauds Ferguson Protests as Vital to 'Black Race'
James Meredith, who is known for making provocative statements, said the Ferguson protests are more important historically than even the violence that erupted from his own admission to Ole Miss …
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Lawmakers Move on Bonds Despite Complaints from Colleges
Mississippi lawmakers voted Monday to borrow $450 million for a range of needs, including $24.5 million to build an aquarium in Gulfport.
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The People Take on the Sales Tax
Six months after former Mayor Chokwe Lumumba's death and the unsuccessful campaign of his son, Chokwe Antar Lumumba, to succeed him as mayor, the organizers of the citywide People's Assembly …
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Video of Cop Killer Tweeted by Trump Denounced as Racist
Luis Bracamontes, an immigrant in the country illegally who was convicted this year of murdering two law enforcement officials, is now the centerpiece of a video President Donald Trump tweeted …
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'Between the Pines' Tackles Mississippi Sports History
When brothers Jon and Henry Wiener founded Bash Brothers Media, it seemed like a no-brainer to produce feature sports documentaries, Jon says.
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Death Row Prisoner Manning Gets a Stay
By R.L. NaveThe Mississippi State Supreme Court has granted a stay of execution for death row inmate Willie Jerome Manning. Manning was scheduled to be put to death this evening at 6 p.m. at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.
Manning, accused of killing two people in Oktibbeha County in 1992, has maintained he is innocent and has been fighting to clear his name. Since last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has twice admitted to errors in Manning's original trial, stating that investigators overstated the evidence against Manning.
Prosecutors said Manning had been in possession of items that belonged to the victims and that bullets from Manning's gun matched bullets recovered from the victims' bodies. On May 6, the FBI said in a letter: “The science regarding firearms examinations does not permit examiner testimony that a specific gun fired a specific bullet to the exclusion of all other guns in the world.”
In a letter to Oktibbeha County District Attorney Forrest Allgood, who prosecuted Manning, U.S. Justice Department officials stated last week "that testimony containing erroneous statements regarding microscopic hair comparison analysis was used" in Manning's case.
The letter, which went to Manning's lawyer and the Mississippi Innocence Project, which is monitoring the case, goes on to say that information the FBI presented in its testimony "exceeded the limits of science, and was, therefore, invalid." The FBI offered to perform the mitochondrial DNA testing.
Manning has always said he did not commit the crime; in fact, he says he was at a club on the night of the murders. For years, he's been trying to convince the state to test DNA from the crime scene. As gruesome as the murders were, there should be lots of biological material to test. One of the victims, Tiffany Miller, was shot twice in the face at close range. One leg was out of her pants and underwear, and her shirt was pulled up. Her boyfriend John Steckler's body had abrasions that occurred before he died, and he was shot once in the back of the head. A set of car tracks had gone through the puddles of blood and over Steckler's body.
One of the issues Manning raised in his appeal is that Allgood illegally kept African Americans off Manning's jury by dismissing potential jurors who said they read African American magazines. David Voisin, Manning's attorney, said if approved, the testing could take several weeks, depending on which lab is used.
On May 3, at the Mississippi Capitol, death-penalty opponents and Manning supporters called on Gov. Phil Bryant to stop the execution. The Mississippi Innocence Project filed a brief in support of Manning this week. Kennedy Brewer, who was exonerated in 2008 with DNA tests after being convicted and sentenced to death for killing his girlfriend's young daughter, also wrote Bryant asking to give Manning the same opportunity to clear his name that Kennedy received.
Update: Statment from Attorney General Jim Hood
I am sorry that the victims’ families will have to continue to …
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JSU Look to Win Three Straight
By bryanflynnJackson State University got off to a rough start at the beginning of the Tony Hughes era with three losses out of the gate.
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas pounded the Tigers 63-13 in the season opener. UNLV had the game well in hand at the half with a 42-7 lead, and JSU got outscored 21-3 in the second half.
The team looked to have righted the ship in the first half against Tennessee State University with a 23-19 lead at the break. The second half was another matter, as TSU outscored the Tigers 21-0 and won 40-23.
Entering SWAC play, Grambling State University jumped out to a huge 28-0 lead in the third quarter. JSU added a touchdown in the third and another in the fourth, but GSU’s lead was too large to overcome in the end.
The first win of the season came in the fourth game against the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. JSU jumped out to a 25-10 lead at halftime with a 71-yard interception helping the Tigers build it.
UAPB began a comeback in the second half, as the team scored 10 points in the third quarter and cut the JSU lead down to 25-20. The Tigers added a late third-quarter touchdown, sealing the 32-20 victory.
JSU looked to begin a winning streak against Mississippi Valley State University. The Tigers fell behind 7-0 early in the first quarter against an inspired Delta Devils team. JSU added a field goal late in the quarter, cutting the deficit to 7-3.
MVSU made another touchdown in the middle of the second quarter, building the lead to 14-3. JSU scored 13 points in a furious rally before halftime, taking a 16-14 lead.
Neither team could score in the second, so the Tigers notched the second season win. JSU, which is currently at 2-1 in the conference, owns first place in the SWAC East, with Alcorn State University in second at 2-2.
The team comes off a bye week and looks to win its third straight game for first time since 2013, when the Tigers won six straight. During the winning streak, the Grambling State game ended up being cancelled after the GSU players began boycotting athletic department conditions.
In the SWAC East, it looks like a two-horse race between JSU and ASU. Alabama A&M University and Alabama State University are both 1-4 in SWAC play, and MVSU is 0-4 in conference play.
If you throw out the UNLV game, JSU has been outscored 45-24 in the second half. In SWAC play, the Tigers have been outscored 69-62.
The second-half struggles cost JSU wins against Tennessee State and nearly allowed UAPB’s comeback. Finishing games in the second half might be the difference from reaching the SWAC Championship game or watching Alcorn State play in it again.
JSU hosts Southern University this weekend as it looks for win number three. The Jaguars …
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FOOD: Bilbo, Castro and Joe DiMaggio
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
I came across a piece recently in the Jackson Free Press about one of the great journalists of our time and geography, Bill Minor. The story reminded me that Bill's …
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[Fleming] A Come to Jesus Meeting
Where were you at 4:30 p.m. on March 18, 2004? I know where I was. I was sitting at my desk in the House Chamber, listening to Rep. Willie Bailey, …
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BREAKING: Kennedy Brewer is a Free Man
More to come on this story.
The Jackson Free Press' Ronni Mott called this morning from a Noxubee County Circuit courtroom to say that the judge hearing Kennedy Brewer's case has granted his freedom. There was …
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Seize the Day
What a bizarre, crazy week. As we've been putting together this special Fly issue, dedicated to the madness that is the Mal's St. Paddy's Parade, not to mention lots of …