All results / Stories / Arielle Dreher
Cover
Engineering Victory: Joce Pritchett Wants to be State Auditor
Mississippi pride runs deep for Jocelyn Pepper Pritchett, who goes by Joce (JO-see). The only time she has lived out of state was when she was away at graduate school, …
Business
On May Day, Honoring Workers Who Die on the Job, and a Call for Reform
Advocates for workers' rights, including the Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights and the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, gathered at the Mississippi Capitol on Friday, April 28, to honor those …
Cover
Making Ends Meet: Lawmakers Wrestle with Education, Infrastructure and Shrinking Revenue
Education funding dominated headlines throughout 2016, as lawmakers worked to level-fund and not cut the amount of funding that went to the Mississippi Adequate Education Program in previous budget years, …
Education
Statewide School Testing Task Force Named, Will Meet Next Month
Mississippi public high-school students will have a place on the statewide testing task force, which will begin meeting in June.
City & County
New Mayor-elect Lumumba Will Get to Appoint 3 JPS Board Members
The Jackson Public School District will be down three Board of Trustees members by the end of June, meaning Mayor-elect Chokwe Antar Lumumba will be responsible for filling the board …
LGBT
‘Not No, But Hell No’: Fighting for Same-Sex Adoption
Roberta Kaplan is challenging the provision in Mississippi adoption law that states, "Adoption by couples of the same gender is prohibited."
chickball
‘You’ll Be Safe Here’
Domestic abuse is not always obvious, and someone can be completely in control of her life on paper but not at home.
LGBT
'1523 Demonizes People': Pastors, Community Leaders File Third Legal Challenge
Mississippi pastors, community leaders, activists and a Hattiesburg church have filed a federal lawsuit challenging House Bill 1523, the third legal challenge to the "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government …
Immigration
'Sanctuary Cities' for Immigrants May Soon Be Illegal in Mississippi
Mississippi municipalities would be banned from establishing "sanctuary cities" for illegal immigrants if a Senate bill, which passed to the House of Representatives yesterday, becomes law.
Politics
Infant Mortality Prevention, Social Service Jobs on Budget Chop Block
Efforts to reduce the state's infant mortality rate—the highest in the country—will go on the chopping block if Gov. Phil Bryant signs the Legislature's version of the state budget into …
Health Care
In the Statehouse and the Courtroom, Mental Health is Embattled
Research in the psychology and psychiatry fields show little to no evidence that hospitals and residential treatment centers are effective in helping a person with mental-health needs.
Education
EdBuild: Mississippi Should 'Divorce' Education Policy from Spending
After a few quick months of touring around Mississippi, speaking with lawmakers, administrators, teachers and students, EdBuild released its 80-page recommendations report to Mississippi lawmakers, suggesting the state move to …
Politics
State Agency Budget Groups: ‘Not a Witch Hunt,’ Yet
State leaders are continuing their march toward "fiscal responsibility," including the elimination of government spending of one-time money and implementing performance-based budgeting, as well as a serious look at state …
Politics
Women, Whiskey, Watchdogs (and Dead Bills) at Session's End
Late in the 2018 legislative session, Rep. Jeff Smith, R-Columbus, talked about a night that his son broke curfew. His boy had spent his father's money on "whiskey, women and …
Civil Rights
Legal Fight Against HB 1523 Continues
What critics call the nation's "most discriminatory anti-LGBT law" took effect in Mississippi last week after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the lower court's injunction on …
City & County
Council Unanimously Approves Lumumba’s First JPS Appointee, Returning a Quorum to the Board
The Jackson City Council unanimously approved Letitia Simmons Johnson to serve as the Ward 2 member of the Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees at its meeting Tuesday morning.
City & County
Jackson’s Confederate-Named Schools May Change After JPS Board Vote
With the potential for a state takeover of the Jackson Public School District looming, its board of trustees voted to allow the local PTAs to rename three elementary schools in …
Politics
Seatbelts Now Required for All in Cars, Bryant Signs Trooper School Funding
Starting in July if you're riding in a car in Mississippi, seatbelts are required for everyone in the vehicle. But previously, state law only required those passengers in the front …
State
Saluting Those Who Serve on Veterans Day
Veterans, their family members, men and women in the military, and state leaders gathered at the Mississippi War Memorial Building today to honor the veterans from Mississippi and the country …
State
Report: Federal Grant Funds Mismanaged, Hurts Black Women
Low-income, single parents could more easily access affordable child care under two bills Mississippi child-care providers and advocates are asking the Legislature to pass.
