All results / Stories / Arielle Dreher
City & County
JPS Hires Consultant, Facing Corrective Deadlines
The Jackson Public School District has a lot of work to do ahead of the June 30 deadline set for some improvements outlined in its Corrective Action Plan, which the …
Abortion
'Unborn Child Protection' Bill Passes Mississippi House, 'Dangerous Precedent'?
The "Mississippi Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act" passed the Mississippi House of Representatives last week, meaning that legislators are back in the business of pushing anti-abortion legislation.
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.
Politics
Secret Execution Team, Firing Squads, Restricted Media Included in House Bill
Death by firing squad could become an option for administering the death penalty if Senate Bill 2237, which passed by the Mississippi House of Representatives on Friday and held on …
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.
Education
Mississippi Schools Show Signs of Improvement Despite Underfunding
Academic progress primarily comes from good instruction, and staffing schools, especially in south Jackson, has presented JPS recruiters with problems.
City & County
The ‘Radical’ Mayor, 120 Days Later
Hundreds of Jacksonians sat in mostly silence as Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba delivered his "State of the City" address on a late Monday afternoon in Thalia Maria Hall in downtown …
Education
'Vampire Bill': House Expected to Vote Quickly on New Ed Formula, MAEP Rewrite
As snow swirled outside on Tuesday, Jan. 16, the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee passed House Bill 957, which aims to rewrite the State's education-funding formula, the Mississippi Adequate Education …
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 …
Crime
Replacing Military-Style Detention
Mississippians who receive earned probation for crimes that do not carry a death sentence or involve deadly weapons will now have access to high-school equivalency education, alcohol and drug counseling, …
Education
Suing for Fully Funded Education
The fight to fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Program continues in the courtroom, as two Democrats filed a lawsuit against the governor, the state fiscal officer, the Mississippi Department …
Business
U.S. Rep. Thompson at Nissan: If HB 1523 Not Repealed, Must Seek Federal, Legal Recourse
Standing near a huge Nissan Titan truck at the automaker's Gluckstadt plant, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson reiterated today that House Bill 1523 is harmful to Mississippi's reputation and economic future, …
LGBT
Elation, Vows for State’s Same-Sex Couples
The party room in Julep restaurant in northeast Jackson was filled with relief Monday night as a group of about 30 people, new and old friends, gathered to celebrate four …
Cover
‘Empower’ PAC Helps Oust Anti-Charter Republicans
Empower Mississippi, a nonprofit dedicated to school choice, used its political arm, the Empower PAC, to unseat four incumbent Republican candidates for the Mississippi House of Representatives in the DeSoto …
National
‘Mad and Scared’: The Religious Shift in U.S., Mississippi Politics
Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour says no one has seen a presidential election like this one in his lifetime, at least. Speaking at the Mississippi Economic Council's Hob Nob event …
Politics
State to Reauthorize, Monitor Visitors Bureau
Pending Gov. Phil Bryant's signature, the State of Mississippi is reauthorizing the Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau for another year, but with added strings attached.
Health Care
Keeping Insurance Rates Stable, Despite Congressional Interference
Even with the Affordable Care Act intact, Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney is still concerned for Mississippians with certain plans that would see rate increases in 2018, despite the ACA's …
Health Care
Mental Illness: Behind Bars and Beyond
Locking up people suffering from mental illnesses is an endless, fruitless cycle—unless a person can access the services and (in some cases) treatment needed to live their lives in the …
Economy
Jobs, Budgets and Preparing for 2017
If the Mississippi state budget is a "moral document" or at least one that reveals priorities, the fiscal-year 2018 budget likely faces dramatic tampering in the upcoming legislative session.
