Jackson Free Press

Violent Crime Continues 30-Year Low

This story didn't get much attention when it broke a couple of weeks ago, so it's worth revisiting.

FEMA To Cancel No-Bid Contracts

The front page of The Clarion-Ledger almost looked like a real newspaper today. The lead story is a combo wire/local effort about how FEMA is cancelling no-bid contracts. Of course, …

Bennett And His Black Boys

"If you wanted to reduce crime, you could—if that were your sole purpose—you could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down." No, that …

Ain't Too Proud To Beg

After days of behind-the-scenes struggle, the Legislature passed bills allowing casinos to build within 800 feet of the high-tide line during a special session called by Gov. Haley Barbour to …

Trapped In Left Field

The first week of September was a turning point for the Left Field Sports Grill, says President Dan Keith. Katrina blasted through the streets of Jackson, and the grill suffered …

Fellow Texan Molly Ivins Defrocks Harriet Miers

Reaganite Says Aborting Black Babies Would Reduce Crime

Here's your stupid Republican quotation for the day, coming from Reagan's secretary of education:

This Is My Fault

Since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and thrust her spotlight on the abhorrent conditions of the poorest Americans, I have been pondering poverty. First, I got angry.

No Apologies: Inside Mississippi's Pro-Life Movement

Bruce Stuckey and Roy McMillan are doing what many people would consider radical—standing outside the Jackson Women's Health Clinic in mid-September, protesting in the rain. They are flanked by a …

White House Blocking Hurricane Aid

AP is reporting:

With Gulf Coast governors pressing for action, Senate Finance Committee members complained Wednesday that the Bush administration is blocking a bipartisan $9 billion health care package for hundreds of thousands …

Haley Barbour's Katrina Special-Session Speech

[verbatim transcription]September 27, 2005—Thank you. Governor Tuck, Speaker McCoy, ladies and gentlemen of the Legislature*. Fellow Mississippians.

Brownie Slams States; GOP and Dems Slam Him

MSNBC is reporting:

Former FEMA director Michael Brown aggressively defended his role in responding to Hurricane Katrina on Tuesday and blamed most coordination failures on Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor …

Contract to Former Barbour Client Under Investigation

The New York Times is reporting Monday that a debris-removal contract awarded to a former lobbying client of Barbour is under congressional investigation:

Does GOP STILL Want to Cut Taxes, Services for Poor?

New York Times editorial today:

As Rita Looms, Mississippi Fears Being Forgotten

Knight-Ridder is reporting:

The Place To Be: Developers Catering More To City's ‘Creative Class'

Since the early 1970s, an outflow of businesses and residents to the suburbs has decimated downtown Jackson. Until recently, the lower taxes demanded of cow pastures and the cheap gas …

[Chick] Your Racism Is Not Wanted

I don't know about y'all, but the Monkey and I were needing some Jesus real bad this last week, so we got ourselves to church even though I was very …

God's Country: Katrina Sows Uncertainty In The Eye of The Storm

This story appeared five years ago in the days after Hurricane Katrina as many Gulf Coast residents sat waiting for help

Another Storm Brewin'

David Baria says he's one of the lucky ones. That's a bit hard to fathom. After evacuating from Bay St. Louis with his wife, three children and their pets to …

In Survival Mode

I would daresay during the past two weeks, most of the population of Mississippi has been stressed out. In graduate school I once had a professor who made it her …