All results / Stories / Arielle Dreher
Politics
Special Session: Gov. Phil Bryant Asked for 'Unlimited Spending Authority'
For as long as some experienced lawmakers can remember, this week's special session was momentous.
Politics
A Bi-Partisan Mutiny Over Roads and Bridges
Lightning flashed outside as storms gathered inside the Mississippi Capitol late the night of Monday, March 27, a pivotal deadline day for budget legislation.
Politics
Lost Revenue: Closing the ‘Amazon Tax’ Loophole
In the state's never-ending search for revenue—and as corporate and individual income-tax cuts loom—lawmakers are looking to shift the state's tax code, all while not losing revenue in the process.
Education
D.C.-based PAC, Outside Money Funded Initiative 42’s Demise
Post-election campaign filings are revealing that opponents of Initiative 42, mostly from outside the state, spent much more money to defeat it than they were required to report before the …
JFP Interviews
Kennedy: ‘Caring, Capable, Committed’ to District 72
Theresa G. Kennedy can't go far for long before coming home to Mississippi. She has never lived out of the state for more than a year, on purpose, she says.
Education
JSU Reels After President Search, Budget Cuts
Jackson State University students, faculty and staff members went through a whirlwind of hiring and firing in the last two weeks.
Civil Rights
The Right to Pre-Trial Justice for All?
Scott County law enforcement officers arrested Joshua Bassett on Jan. 3, 2014, under a warrant for grand larceny and possession of meth. Bassett could not know then that he would …
Health Care
Mississippi to Instate Medicaid Work Requirements?
Mississippi leaders' refusal to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act left about 300,000 Mississippians without access to health care and led to the closure of several rural hospitals deprived …
Politics
Proposed Budgets Slashed Even Without 42’s Passage
Currently proposed budget cuts are even greater than those that Rep. Herb Frierson, a key Republican budget writer from Poplarville, warned would be necessary if the school-funding amendment Initiative 42 …
LGBT
Pride and Prejudice: A Life-Long Battle from Civil Rights to LGBT Rights
It was 1962 in Jackson, and Dee Smathers lived in an apartment on State Street with her first college roommate turned lover. Dee's family was living out of the state, …
Cover
What to do When Debt Takes Over
Fifty years later, the idealistic Pell Grant system has dissipated with rising tuition costs and higher-ed institutions hiking prices on virtually everything.
Politics
The Mystery of a $56-million Mistake
Mississippi's fiscal-year 2017 budget could be $120 million short if Attorney General Jim Hood's calculations are correct, and that budget just took effect on July 1.
Education
Rewarding of the Fittest Schools: #MSLeg Robs Poor Schools to Reward Richer Ones
At the end of a school day and an exhausting period of state testing, four Clinton Public School District teachers looked tired but content as they crowded into a tiny …
Development
A Waiting Game: What’s Next with ‘One Lake,’ Flood Control?
Despite multiple roadblocks and open questions, the controversial plan to create a large lake along the Pearl River for flood control and potential development in the Jackson area continues to …
Civil Rights
Amid Growing Scrutiny and Pressure, State Flag May Land at Supreme Court
Pressure to change the Mississippi state flag has intensified since shocking images emerged of torch-wielding white supremacists in Charlottesville, Va., marching to protect symbols honoring the Confederacy—a weekend rally that …
City & County
Next Steps for JPS Takeover: Governor in No 'Rush'
Jackson Public Schools started the week of Sept. 11 facing a possible takeover and ended with its fate in Gov. Phil Bryant's hands.
Crime
Fighting the Lethal Injection
Immediately before a July 2015 hearing on the prisoners' challenge to Mississippi's use of pentobarbital, the Mississippi Department of Corrections changed its policy to include more drugs on its list …
Politics
Confederate Flag Divides Mississippi Politicians
In the wake of the Charleston massacre, the nation is questioning South Carolina's Confederate flag, and in turn, looking to Mississippi's state flag that features the symbol.
Politics
The Curious Case of What the #MSLeg Passed, What It Didn’t
With their right to spend their campaign donations on mortgages, automobiles, clothing, tuition payments or non-documented loans still firmly in place, state lawmakers closed up shop early and skipped town …
Health Care
The State of Mental Health in Mississippi
Mississippi's mental-health system is mainly run through the Mississippi Department of Health, which certifies private and public mental health-care providers, rapid-response teams of mental health-care professionals and public community mental-health …
