Purvis: ‘Melton Did Not Put Me in the Race'
Jackson 2000 held a district attorney candidate forum today at noon at Schimmel's. The Jackson Free Press moderated, asking questions provided by audience members. We will have a full report …
OK, Class: What's Wrong with THIS Story?
You get two points for every problem you can point out with this little ditty in The Clarion-Ledger about all the shootings that have been happening "near" Hamps. Have fun …
The Ledger's Co-Dependency with Frank Melton
One wonders where The Clarion-Ledger edit-boyz came up with this lead to their editorial berating their mayor for doing, pretty much, exactly what he indicated he would do during the …
Rudy: What a Hypocrite
So now the man who ran an entire crime-fighting plan with gun control at its base is now a "strict constructionist" when it comes to the Second Amendment. You know …
‘Chief Shirlene Andersons (sic) wants citizens ...
... to have a happy and safe Fourth of July Holiday ...'
No, that's not a typo, at least not on our part. The chief's office sent that e-mail with that exact subject line today. Here's the rest of the e-mail, verbatim:
City's War on Sex Toys Is Back
Just when you thought that the Jackson Police Department isn't up to the challenge posed by escalating crime, they prove you wrong. Per The Clarion-Ledger tonight:
Bush Commutes Libby's Prison Sentence
My, isn't this predictable? One wonders what goodies Libby has in his safety-deposit box, eh?
The Jackpedia Reader Question of the Week
Here's this week's Question o' the Week:
Starting this week, the JFP is going to ask readers to help us with a question of the week for Jackpedia, the new collaborative wiki about Jackson. Your efforts will …
Radio JFP Says Goodbye to Brian Johnson Today
Turn into WLEZ, 103.7 FM, today at noon for Brian Johnson's last broadcast. Yes, we'll talk about Frank Melton's latest shenanigans, and Todd will probably do weird voices. You might …
U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton in Accident
The JFP's prayers go out to the U.S. attorney.
The Associated Press is reporting that U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton was in a Jeep accident on a remote part of his property in Pike County. He is in a Jackson …
JUST IN: McAllister, Watkins Snag Standard Life
Developer David Watkins has just informed the Jackson Free Press that the Jackson Redevelopment Authority has chosen a proposal presented by him, Deuce McAllister and Historic Restoration Inc. to restore …
We Are Family: A Klan Child Fans A Different Flame
Photos by Kate Medley
Little Shirley Seale was in her room at the back of her wood frame house when she saw flames through her window. The Natchez girl, who was 5 in 1968, …
Phillips Group Close to Jackson Contracts?
The Jackson Redevelopment Authority has chosen a development consortium out of Dallas, Texas, with very close ties to controversial developer Gene Phillips as the developers of the Convention Center hotel, …
Guarding White Christians
The first Seale on record was a bodyguard—at 6-foot-6 and 300 pounds, Solomon Seale guarded King Alfred the Great, who ruled as the "King of the Anglo-Saxons" from 871-899. According …
They Got the Man They Wanted
Here's the Ledger edit-boyz' latest too-little-too-late whine about their mayor:
It is really hard to watch The Clarion-Ledger whine about Frank Melton. He is exactly the person they endorsed. His history showed that he was "rude" and "outrageous" and couldn't …
The Clarion-Ledger Has SOME Nerve
It continues to astound me how The Clarion-Ledger tries to take credit for the James Ford Seale conviction, even The Clarion-Ledger had dropped the ball on the case (as had …
The Earliest Speech I Ever Gave
So after a jam-packed week in Seattle and then in Portland), I got up Sunday morning to drive the hour or so to a town I'd never visited to speak …
WLBT: Robbery Suspect Arrested
More details as they develop.
WLBT is reporting that police have arrested John Wayne Mangum, 20, for the armed robbery of Councilman Margaret Barrett-Simon.
Hey Obama: Screw the Horse Race!
I returned to Jackson this week to discover that the Barack Obama campaign, assisted by local Democrats, tightly controlled his quick visit to Jackson last week. The media were allowed …
Day 9: Documentary Starts Court Firestorm
Defense attorneys started the morning off by raising objections to the testimony of Charles Marcus Edwards, the prosecution's star witness, based on footage shown on MSNBC this weekend of a …
James Ford Seale: A Re-Birth, of a Fashion
Now that the trial is going on, a bit of new media background on the declaration that Seale was dead has been added to the record. I just read a …
Day 8: Franklin County Editors, Past and Present
This morning, Judge Henry Wingate agreed to allow the government to show the jury a racial epithet-filled letter that James Ford Seale allegedly wrote to the Franklin Advocate on July …
Day 5: Of Guns and Freedom
By his own admission in court on Tuesday, it was Charles Marcus Edwards who first fingered Henry Dee. The young man who lived near him had come back to Chicago …
Goodbye, Mrs. Chaney
It took 41 years, but Fannie Lee Chaney lived to see her home state mete out a degree of justice for the murder of her son, James Chaney, on Father's …
Dredging Up the Past: Why Mississippians Must Tell Our Own Stories
It was warm under the mammoth magnolia tree on the north side of the Neshoba County Courthouse, just yards from where the Confederate soldier stood on his marble pedestal until …
James Ford Seale Trial to Begin Wednesday
The federal kidnapping and conspiracy trial of former Klansman James Ford Seale is now set to begin Wednesday, May 30, with jury selection in a federal courtroom in Jackson. Seale …
The Klansman Bound: The Crime
The last time Mazie Moore ever saw her boy, 19-year-old son Charles, he was standing in front of Dillon's gas station on Main Street in Meadville, trying to thumb a …
The Klansman Bound: The Road to Justice (A Timeline)
Klansmen kidnap Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee, two African American teenagers in Meadville, Miss., beat them at gunpoint in a Mississippi national forest, and forcibly throw them into …
StateDesk.com Ramping Up for Elections
And we're off ... !
The JFP's new statewide political site, StateDesk.com, is starting to ramp up after a few months of beta bug testing (yes, it's faster now). We have a new political intern, …
Non-White Population Grows in Mississippi
The Commercial Appeal is reporting:
How to Stir Up 'Holy Mischief'
"Speaking of Faith" had an amazing interview with young Christian Shane Clayborne this morning. I wasn't familiar with his work, or his book, but he was just breathtaking. The Tennessee …
Families to Replace Marker for Dee, Moore
Over at MississippiPolitical.com, C.W. is reporting about a memorial service to be held in Meadville on Memorial Day. The families of Henry Dee and Charles Moore will replace the memorial …
JFP Chick Ball Raises $7,000 for Domestic Abuse Victims
A preliminary count shows that the 3rd annual JFP Chick Ball raised just over $7,000 for the Center for Violence Prevention in Pearl. This amount was raised through direct donations, …
DA Candidate Michele Purvis on Radio JFP Friday
DA candidate Michele Purvis will be the guest on Radio JFP on WLEZ (103.7 FM) Friday at noon. You can also listen to the stream here.
Kaze's Hip-Hop Hater of the Week: Ebony Magazine
Here we go again folks. America just can't seem to do anything without going to the absolute extreme. As I expected the en-vogue pursuit to clean up objectionable lyrics is …
Bling, Bling, Baby! Carter's Jewelers Donates Diamond Hoops
It gets better by the minute. Ching, ching.
Carter's Jewelers just called out of the blue to donate diamond hoop earrings worth $700 for the silent auction Thursday night. Needless to say, Carter's is now a Queen Level …
How to Donate to the Chick Ball
We're getting calls from individuals (and political candidates) who want to donate money to the Chick Ball, and thus the Center for Violence Prevention. You can make checks out directly …
Radio JFP to Discuss Melton Interview Noon Friday
Here's a double whammy for y'all. Mayor Frank Melton is slated to appear on Ben Allen's WJNT radio show Friday morning. Then, at noon, the JFP will discuss is comments …
Lester Williams Resigns to Run for Sheriff
[Verbatim from Williams] In a letter sent to the Mayor's office three weeks ago, I indicated I was requesting an extended leave of absence from my position with Community Improvement …
Barbour Raised $3.4 Million in First Quarter of 2007
[Verbatim from Barbour] JACKSON, MS - Governor Haley Barbour today filed a campaign finance report showing he raised more than $3.4 million in the first four months of 2007 and …
So, what are YOU wearing to the Chick Ball!?!
What's a Chick to do? Go shoppping ... but where? Thoughts?
OK, this is on my mind this week. The JFP Chick Ball—aka The Grrl Jam—is coming together fabulously; we expect throngs of people Thursday night; we have dozens and dozens …
Hi From New York
We're up in New York for a long weekend while I study at a Columbia reporting seminar called "Let's Do It Better," a workshop on covering race. (I met Henry …
