Author: Thomas Rowe

Mississippians convicted of certain felonies have few options to regain their voting rights — a standard practice in most other states — after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take up a case attempting to end the lifetime ban on voting. The nation’s highest court, by a 7-2 vote in late June, refused to hear a Mississippi lawsuit arguing that the state’s lifetime ban on voting for people convicted of certain felonies was unconstitutional. Racist white lawmakers in 1890 who wrote the provision into the current Mississippi Constitution said plainly that they adopted it to keep African Americans from voting.…

JACKSON, Miss. — A new Mississippi law discriminates against residents of the majority-Black capital city of Jackson by requiring the appointment of some judges in a state where most judges are elected, the U.S. Justice Department said in court papers filed Wednesday. The department is seeking to join a federal lawsuit the NAACP filed against the state shortly after Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed the law in April. Kristen Clarke, the department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, said in a statement that Mississippi lawmakers created “a crude scheme that singles out and discriminates against Black residents” in Jackson and Hinds County,…

Speaker Kevin McCarthy kicked off a closed-door meeting on Tuesday morning with a plea to his members: Let’s move on from last week’s debt ceiling drama and focus on the “next play.” A bloc of Republican hardliners had different ideas. Hours later, a band of 10 rebels took down the GOP leadership’s push to move on two bills this week, an extraordinary move they said was retaliation for McCarthy’s deal with President Joe Biden to suspend the national debt limit. The revolt underscored the fragility of McCarthy’s narrow majority and the lingering tensions with the right-wing of his conference over the debt…

Gas stations are sparing travelers from the summertime swings in prices seen a year ago when gas was more than a full dollar higher per gallon. A gallon of regular gas was $3.55 on average Monday, June 5, according to AAA. Stacker compiled statistics on gas prices in Jackson, MS metro area using data from AAA. Prices have been stuck around $3.50 on average coming into the summer months as domestic production and supply keep prices down. Demand has also fallen in recent weeks as Americans worry a recession could arrive sometime in the second half of the year. Jackson by the numbers– Current gas…

A new Mississippi law will restrict free speech by requiring people to obtain permission from state law enforcement officials for any protest near the statehouse, Governor’s Mansion or other state government buildings in the capital city of Jackson, according to a lawsuit that seeks to block the mandate from taking effect July 1. “Those who peacefully protest without state government authorization and who are charged with crimes for doing so may be prosecuted and sentenced to prison. This chills protected speech,” said the lawsuit filed on behalf of the Mississippi Poor People’s Campaign and several other organizations. The federal lawsuit was filed…

Jackson’s Tuesday City Council meeting devolved into a shouting match between Ward 3 Councilmember Kenneth Stokes and Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba. During a discussion of a motion to set up a grants division for the City of Jackson, Stokes and Lumumba got into an explosive argument that ended with Stokes calling Lumumba’s Chief of Staff Safiya Omari a “thief” at least three times as Jackson Police Department’s Interim Chief Joseph Wade made his way to the front. The Council members were voting on whether to set aside $250,000 to hire a grants compliance officer, a grants specialist and a program…

An elderly woman is fighting for her life Tuesday after being attacked by multiple dogs in a Jackson neighborhood. Residents who live along Clairmont Street, where the attack happened, say the dogs have been causing trouble for years. In fact, Nancy Singleton says she walks a farther distance to the bus stop than she should have to just to avoid being attacked herself. “We can’t walk the streets of Jackson without dogs,” she said. Singleton says a vicious pack of six to seven pit bulls constantly walk up and down her street and attack almost everything in sight. 3 On…

More than $100 million in funding has been distributed for repairs to Jackson, Mississippi’s beleaguered water system, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday, the first tranche of more than half a billion dollars appropriated by Congress. “For years, the people of Jackson, Mississippi, have suffered the consequences of aging water infrastructure,” Biden wrote in a statement. “Last summer, the city’s water system reached a crisis point when a major flood aggravated longstanding problems in the system and left tens of thousands of people without any running water for days on end. Long before then, families in Jackson lived under the constant threat of…

The state of Mississippi is one of the best places to travel in the U.S. in 2023, according to a recent article from Forbes. Mississippi joined a list of 19 other places across the nation Forbes contributors believe are the top spots to visit in America this calendar year. “The Magnolia State has everything a traveler could want in 2023, from a cutting-edge culinary scene to buzzing small towns to incredible natural beauty,” Laura Begley Bloom wrote. As for specific locations Bloom recommends, she varied from Hattiesburg to multiple spots across the Mississippi Gulf Coast while highlighting the food in Jackson and the…

JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Be sure to check your lottery tickets! The Mississippi Lottery Corporation (MLC) said there are still several large prizes from Powerball and Mega Millions that remain unclaimed in Mississippi. One prize expires on Monday, May 1. Powerball outstanding prizes: Mega Millions outstanding prizes: Players have 180 days from the drawing date to claim valid prizes. The current jackpots in the draw games are gaining traction, according to the MLC. Wednesday night’s Powerball jackpot worth an estimated $37 million with an estimated cash value of $19.6 million. Friday’s Mega Millions jackpot is now up to an estimated…