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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.

So, I am at home tonight and, from another room, my husband yells, “I love Donna Ladd!” Just earlier he informed me that the latest Jackson Free Press contained the article, “The Mayor and His Women” (Editor’s Note, July 12-18, 2007). Am I jealous because of this outburst? No, I am thankful to Donna, once again, for reporting and explaining the ridiculous state of affairs in which we find ourselves.

Now, what can Donna tell us about our superintendent of education?
— Janet D. Crawford, Jackson

Stop the Killing
I cannot continue to let the current government—which works for us, the citizens—continue on this current course of criminality. The dying must stop now.

Therefore, as a citizen, I demand the military place the president and vice president under house arrest at a maximum security military base here in the U.S. A contingency of two each of the highest-ranked officers from each branch of the armed forces shall present a warrant for arrest for war crimes, treason and murder in the highest degree.

Upon the arrest, Nancy Pelosi will assume the office of the presidency until the coming election. She will see to a smooth transition of government positions and a task force of the highest military ranks, which will begin to withdraw troops immediately. We will decide, with the military courts, what to do with our prisoners after the war is over.

Why is there no 10-year plan? Well, let’s do this now—and maybe we’ll have 10 years to plan for. I love America, and I want to defend her from enemies, here and abroad. Stop the killing. We can do it—today.
— Anthony J. Harville, via e-mail

Mark Wants Mike
I’ve known secretary of state candidate Mike Lott for sometime. During his eight years in the state Legislature, Mike worked to protect the interests of Mississippians from the harmful effects of illegal immigration. He has a proven conservative voting record in the state house where he authored voter identification and pro-life bills each year. He is a small business owner, a former public school teacher and a strong supporter of education. We are very fortunate to have a man of Mike Lott’s character and competence running for secretary of state.
— Mark S. Mayfield, Ridgeland

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.