All results / Stories / Ronni Mott
Legislators Pass Bills Aimed at Teens
Two bills aimed at keeping Mississippi teenagers safe are on the legislative docket.
The first, SB 2280, is about driving for 15 and 16-year-old teens. The bill proposes prohibiting texting and driving by kids with learner's permits or intermediate driver's licenses, and adds …
Nissan to Expand Canton Plant
Despite declining auto sales worldwide, Nissan announced plans today to expand its Canton, Miss. plant to produce a new commercial vehicle, according to a release:
Lawmakers Debate Alternate Education Track
General classroom goals for high-school students, in Mississippi and elsewhere, emphasize pushing kids toward four-year college degrees. Some Magnolia state lawmakers are now looking at introducing a career-track curriculum for …
How to Serve God's Children
Leave a spoiled spot on a peach, and soon the entire fruit will go bad. A deteriorating inner city is a little like that rotten spot. Stop paying attention and …
The Big Fix Is In
Finding displaced and abandoned dogs after Katrina wasn't difficult. Offers of food can usually persuade dogs to trust rescuers. Cats presented a different challenge. Frightened cats hide from strangers and …
Change Is Vital
Lose weight, exercise, quit smoking—no one wants to hear it again. Most of us, especially when we're young and healthy, just ignore the advice. We stopped listening a long time …
Mississippi No. 1 in Obesity, Again
At 44.4 percent of children and 32.5 percent of adults, Mississippi leads the nation in obesity. According to the 2009 edition of "F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are …
It Won't Happen to Me
Why George Bell III stopped bludgeoning Heather Spencer on that June night is anyone's guess. Perhaps his hammer slipped out of his hand as Spencer's blood made it slick. Perhaps …
[Mott] Nearing Nirvana
I've always been fascinated with how my brain works. Sometimes, it's downright confounding. Take dieting, for example. I know exactly what I should be eating (and not eating), but I …
Hopes and Dreams
Last Friday was the first of the weekly Jackson Free Press summer intern workshops. With more than a dozen people stuffed into our classroom around the long stretch of tables, …
Grace and Humor
In my over-50 yoga class, I frequently see people frustrated by their inability to get a pose "right." I gently remind them that they're not 20-somethings any more and, usually, …
The Jobs Act: Help or Not?
It's no wonder that economics is called the "dismal science." Regardless of what motivated Thomas Carlyle to coin the term (some say it was a prediction that the world's resources …
A Great Ride
After nine years with one company, I got a pink slip. It was inevitable. The company had been sold several times, and with each takeover, my department's budget and staff …
City Offers to Settle With Cedric Willis
After 17 years, Cedric Willis may get some measure of compensation from the city of Jackson for a wrongful conviction that cost him 12 years of his life. In 1994, …
Obama in Gulfport Today
President Barack Obama begins his fourth visit to the Gulf Coast this morning, starting in Gulfport. Gov. Haley Barbour said that he will be on hand to welcome the President. …
Not an Easy Subject
Her mother and three sisters died of breast cancer, yet Nancy Lewis of Canton refused for years to have a mammogram. "I really wouldn't want to know," said Lewis, when …
Obama Campaign Opportunities
The Jackson Free Press received several e-mails regarding opportunities with the Obama campaign in Mississippi.
10,000 Protesters Barely Make the News
In 2008 at the St. Paul Republican Convention, police arrested 818 protesters, which was less than half of the number arrested at their 2004 convention. Minneapolis had more than 3,700 …
Investigation Reveals Irby was Legally Drunk
Hinds County prosecutors have presented evidence in the case of a crash that killed two young doctors in February to a Grand Jury, reports WAPT.
Not This, Not That
In her newest book, Karen Armstrong expands on a premise I first came upon in her 2001 book, "The Battle for God," in which she wrote that religious fundamentalism is …
