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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

Ben Deneka

In this town, cash is king. And if you’re low on it, you’ll find yourself bankrupt. A few mayor … er, major, players think they own this city and are out for your property. Whether you live on St. Ann or Ridgeway, no one is safe. We’re all players in the game of Monopoly.

Many of you in the community (chest) cast your votes for the best in the game—the people, places and things that do it the best around the block. So decide what kind of player you want be—shoe, thimble, race car, etc.—and take a spin around the Best of Jackson board. Don’t move too fast, though. The Monopoly Man will be waiting at the GO square for you jailbirds.

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Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.