All results / Stories / Arielle Dreher
City & County
The Edison Walthall Rises Again
The Edison Walthall Hotel is the place of legends, bar fights between powerful men and lots of stories its walls could tell, but it has sat empty now since it …
City & County
Four New JPS Board Members to Lead Next Chapter for Beleaguered District
The Jackson City Council restored a quorum to the Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees on Wednesday, unanimously confirming four new members who are charged with leading the district through …
Civil Rights
Running Out of Venues to Change the State Flag
From ballot initiatives to rallies, the Mississippi state flag has gained a lot of attention lately in-state and then nationally following the shootings in Charleston, S.C., a debate exacerbated by …
LGBT
Gov. Bryant Receives Religious Freedom Award After HB1523
Last week, the Family Research Council awarded Gov. Phil Bryant the first ever "Samuel Adams Religious Freedom Award."
Education
MPB Bridges Education As Cuts Loom
Ronnie Agnew watched PBS shows like "Sesame Street" when he was growing up in Saltillo in rural Mississippi. Now the executive director of Mississippi Public Broadcasting, Agnew tells the story …
City & County
Teaching Teens Financial Literacy
Students at Provine High School will soon be able to open up accounts with Hope Credit Union right in their own hallway.
Education
Classroom Coding: The New Norm?
All fourth graders at Eastside Elementary in Clinton got their first introduction to coding as a part of Computer Science Education Week from Dec. 7 through 13.
Politics
State Guts Firefighting Forestry Jobs
Fifty foresters with "boots on the ground" to fight wildfires all over Mississippi on almost 19.8 million acres will lose their jobs come July 1. The layoffs come after the …
LGBT
House Bill 1523 Becomes Law after 5th Circuit Overturns Injunction
The controversial "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Religious Discrimination Act" is now state law, after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the 2016 injunction that prevented House Bill …
LGBT
Fear Rules with Kim Davis Laws, Guns at Church
The deepest fears of some members of the Mississippi House of Representatives came out last week, as the chamber passed bills to fight terrorism, protect religious freedom and allow armed …
State
McDaniel: Highway Bill ‘Unfair Tax Policy,’ Would Hurt Poor, Middle Class
Three hours of heated debate, bi-partisan opposition and five failed amendments later, the last finance bill—to ostensibly fix crumbling highways, bridges and roads—passed the Mississippi Senate by four votes Wednesday.
Education
PEER Questions Grading System for Public Schools
A legislative oversight group is questioning the way Mississippi grades its public schools even as the state moves forward with plans to take control of schools considered failing.
Education
How School Districts Try to Make the Grade
The new system for grading Mississippi public schools is under fire in a recent PEER study that has called for changes.
City & County
ICE Plans to Deport Daniela Vargas Without Hearing, Attorney Says
Daniela Vargas, a 22-year-old undocumented immigrant who grew up in Mississippi, is in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody with no bond and will not get a hearing before an immigration …
Education
Moving Beyond Suspension: Changing the Discipline Climate in Jackson Schools
JPS administrators recognize that out-of-school suspension is not the way to change school climates district-wide, and Margrit Wallace, the JPS chief academic officer in the student academic and behavioral support …
Cover
Honey, We Shrunk the General Fund: Medicaid, Education, Gang Debates Loom in 2018
The Joint Legislative Budget Committee, made up of lawmakers, adopted a budget that cuts the State's general fund by $66.1 million or 1.3 percent. The legislators' plan includes small increases …
Cover
‘Everybody Matters, Or Nobody Matters’: The JFP Interview with Public Safety Commissioner Marshall Fisher
Department of Public Safety Commissioner Marshall Fisher shared his opinions and ideas about how law enforcement fits into society and government as a whole with the Jackson Free Press recently.
Crime
Sheriffs Decry Cutbacks, Private Prison Contracts
Mississippi sheriffs packed into Room 113 at the Capitol Monday to express frustrations after the Mississippi Department of Corrections announced a reduction in inmates housed at the 15 regional facilities …
LGBT
UPDATED: ADF to Defend Bryant in HB 1523 Appeal, Emails Reveal Outside Groups' Influence
In a court filing Wednesday, Roberta Kaplan, one of the lawyers representing plaintiffs in the case that made the "Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act" unconstitutional, revealed numerous emails …
Politics
Politicians for Sale? Mississippi Economic Council Knows How to Throw a Party
Funding for the state's crumbling infrastructure didn't exactly top priorities for legislators on their first round of revenue bill deadlines, and Senate Bill 2921 made it over to the House …
