Free Republic

Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., joined forces with 18 GOP governors to reject President Joe Biden's environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) "agenda," claiming the push is a "direct threat" to the economic freedom of American retirees. Governors in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming formed the alliance Thursday in what they described as an effort to ensure American retirement funds are not used for "woke" investments. "Yet again, President Biden put his political agenda above the wellbeing and individual freedoms of hardworking Americans,"...

Mississippi's Capitol Police Department, created to protect state buildings, has become Jackson's de facto second police department. During the past year, Capitol Police has doubled in size to almost 120 officers and expanded its reach into an 8.7-square-mile zone of Jackson called the "Capitol Complex Improvement Zone." This is where the former capitol security force now sets up traffic checkpoints, combats street crime and even investigates homicides. Jackson, however, still has its city-run police force, the Jackson Police Department. The expansion of Capitol Police is the response of the Republican, majority-white state legislature to Jackson's stubborn crime problem. The homicide...

The Mississippi Senate has passed a bill that will stop electric car companies from opening their own dealerships in the state, ensuring that the state famous for being last place in many rankings of all 50 states remains there. There is a saying used in the US: “Thank God for Mississippi.” This is a reference to the state coming in last place in many rankings of desirability as compared to the other 49 states in the US. It typically ranks last or close to last in economic measures, poverty, quality of life, health, education, unemployment rate, and so on. So...

Mississippi has become the latest state to ban health care professionals from providing “gender-affirming care” for transgender youth in what officials say will stop the attempt to “push a sick and twisted ideology” on children. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, signed the GOP-led House Bill 1125, also known as the “Regulate Experimental Adolescent Procedures (REAP) Act” into law on Feb. 28. Under the legislation, which is effective immediately, individuals in the state are banned from “knowingly engaging in conduct that aids or abets” the performance or inducement of gender transition procedures for Mississippians under the age of 18.

JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi’s struggling capital has been a favored target of Republican leaders since the GOP took total control of the state a decade ago. But perhaps none of the slings and arrows flung at Jackson has provoked as much outrage as the one the state House of Representatives loosed earlier this month. Legislators approved a bill that would establish a separate court system for roughly one-fifth of Jackson, run by state-appointed judges and served by the state-run police force that currently patrols the area around Mississippi government buildings. For the neighborhoods it would cover, the entire apparatus would...

Now that you all have placed your Super Bowl bets and don’t want to be a chalk-eater, here’s a good underdog wager: A Democrat will win the Mississippi governor’s race this year. Yeah, sounds crazy. The deep-red Magnolia State went overwhelmingly for Donald Trump, hasn’t voted for a Democratic president since 1976, for a U.S. Senator in 40 years — and not for a Democratic governor in almost a quarter century. But incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves is not very popular. A Siena college poll last month showed 57 percent would prefer someone else, and Reeves barely leads the Democratic candidate,...

On Jan. 26, 2023, detectives assigned to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) Robbery/Homicide – Cold Case Unit arrested 55-year-old Michael Lapniewski, Jr., for a murder that occurred in 1987. Detectives conducted an extensive investigation over a period of several years. A suspect was developed after advancements in DNA testing. According to detectives, on Feb. 9, 1987, deputies responded to a residence in unincorporated St. Petersburg for a deceased person. The victim, 82-year-old Opal Weil was located deceased by her sister-in-law after not answering her telephone. Weil had obvious and visible signs of trauma. Deputies discovered the suspect fled the...

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - The name Chris McDaniel is one some Mississippians may recognize either as a state senator or a man who’s had several campaigns for U.S. Senate over the years. “We are here because of our great conservative legacy. From Kirk Fordice all the way to Tate Reeves, this party must learn to work together again if we were to accomplish old and great things for the state,” McDaniel said. The far-right Republican said he’s building his candidacy on original Republican beliefs and values, and wants to slow the growth of moderate and left ideologies. “There was no...

Organizations in Jackson, Mississippi, are asking for help from other states as the water crisis dries up resources. It’s been over five months since the Pearl River crested and Jackson, Mississippi’s water system failed. Now, crews are working to replace the pipe system, but families and businesses are prepared to go without water periodically, for up to 10 years. Cities across the country are replacing fragile water pipe systems. Besides Jackson, there's Flint, Michigan, Baltimore, Maryland, and Houston, Texas. The systems are replaced section-by-section after failure. But, these years-long projects can cause water main breaks. Kenneth Wayne Jones serves as...

A Mississippi school district has agreed to change its religious speech policy that forbade a third grader from wearing a mask bearing the words “Jesus Loves Me.” In October 2020 when mask mandates in schools were widespread, the principal of a school in the Simpson County School District in Pinola, Mississippi, told third grader Lydia Booth she could no longer wear her mask expressing her Christian views, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a religious freedom legal organization. Two days later, the administration issued a policy prohibiting messages on masks that were “political, religious, sexual or inappropriate symbols, gestures...

Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach has coached three seasons in Starkville. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach was hospitalized due to a health issue that occurred at his home on Sunday. According to a university statement, Leach was transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson via ambulance. No other information was immediately available. “Mississippi State University head football coach Mike Leach had a personal health issue at his home earlier Sunday. That issue led to a decision to transfer Coach Leach to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson by ambulance,”...

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon admitted that theft has become a major issue for the chain.. he said that woke district attorneys' policies need to be 'corrected' or the company will be forced to raise prices or shut stores.. McMillon did not specify which locations have experienced the record-high level of shoplifting, but stores in LA have had to lock up most of their inventory.. Robberies there are up over 10%; critics blame DA George Gascon's policies.. ... Target, also revealed that shoplifting at its stores had jumped more than 50 percent year on year, leading to more than $400 million...

Two historically black churches in Jackson, Mississippi, were deliberately set on fire early Tuesday morning — Election Day — authorities told USA Today. There were five additional suspected arson cases in the city — and all seven occurred in the area of Jackson State University, a historically black public university, the paper said. 'We will not allow domestic terrorists to suppress our right to vote' Mississippi Democrat congressional candidate Shuwaski Young released a statement early Tuesday morning calling the fires acts of "terrorism," USA Today reported. "This morning several churches were burned in Jackson, Mississippi on Election Day," the statement...

An arson investigation was underway on Tuesday after seven fires erupted overnight at two churches, a gas station and four other buildings near Mississippi's Jackson State University, officials told local media. Video footage showed the worst of the seven fires near the historically Black college left Epiphany Church in ruins. There were no reports of any injuries, ABC affiliate WAPT reported.

As during Communist control of Soviet Russia, the Jan. 6 Committee’s purpose is to prop up a dying, corrupt regime.. The House Select Committee on Jan. 6 launched the public phase of its proceedings Thursday night in a prime-time hearing with all the fanfare of a Soviet show trial, complete with production assistance from a former president of ABC News. Just as the communists gathered in Moscow between 1936 and 1938 to purge their political opponents in public show trials, nine members of the lower chamber filed into the Cannon House Office Building to demonize their political opponents as domestic...

With the Friday subpoena issued by the special committee of the House of Representatives to former President Donald Trump to both hand over documents and appear for personal testimony before the committee, several constitutional questions have been raised. The committee was tasked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to investigate the events of January 6, 2021, when several people entered the United States Capitol during a protest over the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. All nine committee members voted to issue the subpoena, and threatened to charge Trump with contempt of Congress if he fails to comply. Considering that the...

Wow...sad.

On Saturday, Sept. 17, shots rang off inside Northpark Mall in Ridgeland, Mississippi, as 16-year-old Za’Lill D’Chelle Patterson attempted to steal from a popcorn store. As reported by CBS 42, the shooting occurred around 5:20 p.m., when Patterson pulled out a gun after she was caught trying to shoplift from the store by the owner. According to Ridgeland Police Chief Brian Myers, the threatened store owner shot Patterson in the leg in self-defense. Inside the mall, the gunshots caused major panic. In one documented moment, a father and his son were spending time together, enjoying the day while the child...

And Eliza Fletcher. And Brianna Kupfer. Where are the media mourners of those crime victims?Every day seems to bring another crime video. This one is especially grim. The store clerk gave the thug everything he demanded, and posed no threat at all to him. The thug shot him simply because he, the thug, is an animal. ***WARNING*** The following media includes graphic content.Here's a news story about the murder:Tupelo police said Copeland tried to rob a Chevron store Sunday morning, Sept. 11. During the attempted robbery, he allegedly shot Parmvir Singh, 33, of Tupelo, in the head. During his court...

Whether Republican or Democrat, white or black, Jackson residents deserve better. Mississippi needs a strong capital city,” Latino writes. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall, ravaging the Mississippi Gulf Coast with record storm surge. On the 17th anniversary of one of the worst natural disasters in state history, Governor Tate Reeves stepped to a podium this week to announce another water-related disaster. The governor’s message: The City of Jackson’s Public Water System (“PWS”) had failed, and residents would have inconsistent and unsafe water supply for the foreseeable future. Though this crisis is only now gaining national attention, it...