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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.

JACKSON — Isaac, a slow-moving tropical storm that became a hurricane before reverting back to tropical storm status, dominated local news this week. Here’s a look at some of the week’s top stories from around the capital city:

  1. When Hurricane Isaac blew ashore, reporter Jacob Fuller was dispatched to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where he filed stories about the storm’s initial impact as well as the after effects, including the threat of an earthen dam breach. For a gallery of Fuller’s photographs, go here.
  2. Trip Burns photographs Isaac’s effects on Jackson while R.L.Nave writes on city and electric utility crews efforts to remove fallen debris and restore power to residents after the storm.
  3. JFP intern Piko Ewoodzie profiles visiting Jackson State University professor Venkata Dodla, who created a new hurricane-tracking model that is at least as accurate as that of the National Weather Center.
  4. Bryan Flynn sizes up the New Orleans Saints going into the start of the NFL season.
  5. Jacob Fuller reports on a storm of a different nature, shedding light onto the legal issues of a MetroCenter restoration project and getting former project partner David Watkins’ side of the story.
  6. Managing editor Ronni Mott chronicles Mississippi’s efforts to introduce a mandatory voter-identification law and examines where the state law currently stands.
  7. Ward 5 Jackson city councilman Charles Tillman dishes on city redistricting and economic development in his ward in a Q & A with reporter Jacob Fuller.
  8. Nationally-acclaimed chef Luis Bruno and business partner, Aimée Dickerson, demonstrate their commitment to creating a healthier Mississippi and to downtown Jackson. Intern Matthew Bolian tells the story of Adobo, Bruno’s newest restaurant now open in the Standard Life Building.
  9. Deputy editor Briana Robinson and intern Whitney Menogan go inside one of Jacktown’s newest chill-out spots, Soul Wired Cafe on Millsaps Ave.
  10. After a purported slight by the Weather Channel sparked outrage among Mississippians, R.L. Nave looks at the meaning behind Landmassgate.

Be on the lookout for the JFP Fall Arts Preview, hitting the streets soon!

Remember: Check the JFP Events planner for everything to do in the Jackson metro area. You can also add your own events (or send them to events@jacksonfreepress.com)! See JFPEvents.com

Read staff and reader blog posts at jfp.ms/weblogs (yes, you can register on the site and start your own blog!

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The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.

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.