All results / Stories / Arielle Dreher
Economy
State Economic Growth Lags, As Agencies Request More Funding
From public safety to education, several large state agencies asked top lawmakers for more funding last week. Based on the State of Mississippi's economic outlook, however, more funding does not …
City & County
Charter School Decision Over Diversion of Public Funds Should Drop Soon
Parents with children in Jackson Public Schools are waiting for Hinds County Chancery Court Judge J. Dewayne Thomas to decide if the state's charter-school law violates the Mississippi Constitution, which …
City & County
Protecting Children: New Leader, New Challenges
Almost 6,000 children are in the state's custody, and some of them are backlogged in the system, newly appointed commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services Jess Dickinson …
City & County
Takeover or Not: Jackson Schools in Limbo
The afternoon of Thursday, Sept. 14, seemed to creep by slowly as Mississippi Board of Education members deliberated the future of Jackson Public Schools behind closed doors.
Civil Rights
Civil Rights Photographer Doris Derby Unveils Work at JSU Tonight
Doris Derby, a civil-rights veteran who worked in Jackson in the 1960s, walked into a basement room of the not-yet-opened Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and saw her black and yellow …
Education
Auditor: 'Culture of Obstruction' Inside State Education Department
The Mississippi Department of Education may have broken state law with contracts it authorized in fiscal-year 2014 and 2015, and some of those deals with people and companies in the …
LGBT
HB 1523 May Become Law This Week; Plaintiffs Asking Supreme Court to Hear Case
House Bill 1523, the law Gov. Phil Bryant signed that can allow Mississippians acting on their religious beliefs to discriminate against LGBT citizens, is set to become state law this …
Politics
Poll: Mississippi Flag Losing Favor; White Voters Still Oppose Change
A new poll shows that 49 percent of Mississippians favor the current state flag, signaling the first time a majority of state residents does not support the banner.
Health Care
CHIP in Limbo: 79,000 Mississippi Kids Could Lose Health Insurance
The U.S. Congress quietly let the Children's Health Insurance Program, initially authorized in 1997, expire last week, leaving more than 79,000 Mississippi children at risk for losing their health insurance.
Education
JPS Set to Begin $2.5 Million School Renovations to Wingfield, Brinkley, Murrah, Forest Hill
Students at Wingfield High School and Brinkley Middle School will see renovations and improvements to their facilities in the coming months after both the Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees …
LGBT
Federal Judge Revives Same-Sex Marriage Case After 5th Circuit's HB 1523 Hearing Denial
U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves wasted no time in reviving the original case that sought to legalize same-sex marriage in Mississippi, after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied …
City & County
JPS: In the Midst of an ‘Unprecedented’ Situation
When the Mississippi Board of Education recommended a takeover of Jackson Public Schools, the district was almost finished implementing a corrective action plan that the department of education approved in …
LGBT
HB 1523 Becomes Law Tuesday, Oct. 10, After 5th Circuit Denied Stay
The "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act" will become state law on Tuesday, Oct. 10, after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied attorneys' request to prevent …
Business
Report: Jackson Airport Economic Impact More Than $1 Billion
The Jackson Municipal Airport Authority's total monetary impact in 2016 on the five surrounding counties—Hinds, Rankin, Madison, Simpson and Copiah—is valued at $1.19 billion, a Jackson State University study found.
Immigration
Rep. Bomgar, Businessmen: DACA Has 'Huge Economic Benefit'
A diverse panel of local business owners, a Republican state legislator and an economics professor at Jackson State University all agreed that immigrants on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals …
City & County
Welty Library Closes Due to Fire Violations
The Eudora Welty Library in downtown Jackson closed this evening after a state fire marshal inspection on Wednesday, Oct. 4, revealed several violations of fire and life safety standards.
City & County
Welty Library Building Closure ‘Devastating’
The Eudora Welty Library building is closed off to the public after the state fire marshal closed it Oct. 5 due to several violations of fire and life safety standards …
Health Care
Mental Health Task Force Aims to Improve Services, Including for the Accused
Attorney General Jim Hood is tackling problems in Mississippi's mental-health system to make it easier for people to get treatment and to improve the commitment process, he said last week.
Politics
Fighting for the Right to Vote
Mississippi state law on who gets to vote after serving time in MDOC's custody appears rather arbitrary. Twenty-two disenfranchising crimes are listed in a 2009 attorney general's opinion that clarifies …
Civil Rights
Beyond Mississippi’s Dark Days of Judicial Injustice
On Sept. 27, Mississippi justices, lawyers and law students celebrated the state judicial branch's 200th birthday, along with U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who visited Jackson for the …
