All results / Stories / Donna Ladd
Stop the City Council Game-Playing
Here we go again. When the Jackson Free Press started 10 years ago, the City Council members from Ward 1 (Ben Allen) and Ward 3 (Kenneth Stokes) were constantly at …
Only the Best Will Do
I grew up thinking I lived in the worst state in the country. I wasn't alone: I was surrounded by people with a collective inferiority complex—especially the ones who protested …
A Long, Long Road
"Donna, you know what? I run Jackson," declared Mayor Frank Melton, scrunching his face up into one of his trademark snickers that are cute and creepy at the same time. …
Crossing Gallatin
So the JFP celebrated its fifth birthday a couple of weeks ago. I have long exercised the privilege of celebrating my birthweek and birthmonth, rather than just a flimsy day, …
Endorsements, of a Fashion
The Jackson Free Press has a tradition of endorsing candidates in our election issues. And considering that we never, ever endorse based on who we think is going to win, …
Come All Ye Faithful
In his column last week, The Clarion-Ledger's Sid Salter quoted the fifth chapter of Matthew to justify Gov. Haley Barbour diverting federal money away from low-income Katrina re-housing and into …
Of Barbour and the ‘Uptown Klan'
It seems Haley Barbour went too far this time. In an interview with the conservative Weekly Standard, he downplayed the terror and racial caste system of his town and our …
New Year, New Start
Recently, the Jackson Redevelopment Authority decided to stop and breathe rather than be bulldozed into making a decision without having all the information they needed for the proposed convention-center hotel. …
Cover
Hoodwinked! The U.S. Chamber Pulls a Fast One on Mississippi with 'Tort Reform'
It sounded mighty convincing: "Mississippi faces a crisis in medical malpractice insurance." The warnings by industry have been dire: "This is a wake-up call for Mississippi." The reports of doctors …
Scary Burbs
<i>Urban Flight May Shorten Your Life</i>
Last spring, during the media frenzy over crime in the city, I interviewed a Brandon woman who had been the victim of an armed robbery in Jackson. She wasn't physically …
School Daze: Testing Madness
As I proctored a classroom full of seventh-graders taking the Grade Level Testing Program (GLTP) test last April in a suburban Jackson public school, I couldn't help but think that …
Tough Questions: Gov. Ronnie Musgrove
They said they'd give me 15 minutes. I took 23. In that minuscule amount of time—enough time for sound bites, but not as much substance as I'd like—I tried to …
Our Boy Trent
Is Lott an anachronism, or does he represent a stereotypical, but true, Mississippi that still denies its racist past?
Chasing Amy
<b>Can Barbara Blackmon Make History?</b>
Read the full transcript of this interview on the JFP Politics Blog.
Dogging Youth
<i>Is Metrocenter Mall's New Policy Good for Business?</i>
When the four young women arrived at Metrocenter Mall Friday, Oct. 25, just after dark, they didn't expect to be carded at the door. Casually dressed in sweats and sneakers, …
Idiot's Guide to Cocktails
Looking back over the last couple of decades, I've certainly enjoyed my serious journalistic life. But I must admit that some of my best times, my favorite memories, involved not …
Harvey Talks Back: The 2003 JFP Interview with Mayor Johnson
Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. is having one hell of a year. On the one hand, the Vicksburg native has presided over a city for six years that seems to …
Radical Crime-Fighting: What is Community Policing?
Police Chief Robert Moore could be the only man in the city who knows what "community policing" really means—and just how hard it could be to implement in Jackson. Yet, …
Dear Meadville: Thomas Moore Tries To Wake Up His Hometown
Photo of Mac Littleton by Kate Medley
On his July pilgrimage back to his native Mississippi, Thomas Moore got his hopes up. With the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and the Jackson Free Press documenting his effort, Moore went …
Bold New Party?
<b>New Dem Head Wayne Dowdy on Faux Elephants and Young Voters
It's hard to get past Wayne Dowdy's name. Through no fault of his own, the new head of the Mississippi Democratic Party—a Millsaps grad, a grandfather and a U.S. congressman …
