Clarion Ledger
BUILT ON BALANCE
Blake Anderson’s office looks a lot like you would expect for the Southern Miss football coach. Hanging on his wall is a framed Southern Miss football jersey, this one black with gold lettering. On his shelves are photographs of his wife and children....
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‘MAN, HE’S REAL, MAN’
There were four key components to the perfect Pete Golding impression in the Southern Miss football team room. h The 2014 and 2015 Golden Eagles held an annual talent show. All the new players had to get up in front of everyone and entertain their...
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Colleges confront decline in reading
Anyone who has spent time on a college campus lately has probably heard laments from faculty about their students’ reading habits, or rather nonreading habits. Such complaints are more than an unfounded nostalgia for a bygone age. Reading – not just...
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How new bridge could transform LeFleur’s Bluff into a regional destination
Federal, state and local officials gathered Wednesday, Aug. 19, to break ground on a new pedestrian and biking bridge that will connect parks, museums and outdoor attractions on both sides of Lakeland Drive in Jackson. The bridge will span Lakeland...
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‘Every one is a challenge’
If you’re familiar with flintknapping, there’s a good chance you know the name John Tuttle. He lives in Natchez, and he has been making arrowheads and knives from stone for more than 60 years, something he still finds challenging to this day. “Every...
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LOVE, ALWAYS
Dolly Parton, the “Queen of Country” singing and songwriting icon with a personality as bold as her signature blond coif and rhinestoneencrusted outfits, has died. She was 80. Parton’s death was announced by her family on her social media pages and...
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Flooding the market
Up to 300,000 tons of beef will flood the United States over the next three months. The shipments aren't subject to tariffs, and President Donald Trump confirmed on social media that the meat will undercut market prices by approximately 25%. Trump has...
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Sea of sorority sisters
The always-popular sorority bid day went off without a hitch at the University of Mississippi on Saturday, Aug. 22. The date marked the completion of sorority rush season at Ole Miss, which has one of the highest percentages of students participating...
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3 former Ole Miss players get 2026 eligibility
Three former Ole Miss football players who signed with NFL teams are eligible to play college football in 2026. Per a court order obtained by the Clarion Ledger, tight end Dae’Quan Wright, defensive tackle Zxavian Harris and defensive back Wydett...
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Deal, danger for SpaceXAI
Within a week, Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI will see one of its major litigation hurdles as the company and its affiliate, MZX Tech LLC, head to federal court. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi Aug. 24 will have a preliminary...
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Texas Southern hires JSU’s Ashley Robinson as new AD
Jackson State athletic director Ashley Robinson is on the move. The university announced Robinson’s departure on Aug. 19, congratulating him on being hired to fill the same position at Texas Southern. Senior women’s administrator Alyse Wells-Kilbert...
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‘Let the old Confederacy go’
TUPELO – Walter Jones moved to Mississippi a handful of years ago from Chicago. Before he relocated, he said, people he knew up north were scared to come to Mississippi. “Mississippi had a bad rap of how people were mistreated all these years,” Jones...
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Renovating a ‘masterpiece’
A church in Mississippi, almost 200 years old, is in its final stages of a $2.6 million renovation to repair problems that come with time and to preserve the building for future generations. For some people, it’s considered one of the most beautiful...
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The Boom is back
The start of a new school year also marks the start of a new band season for Jackson State’s Sonic Boom of the South and Prancing J-Settes. The band recently finished up band camp, and on Aug. 8 it performed in its annual showcase called Thee Merge,...
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Muslim museum asks Gipson to retract remarks
Amid mounting backlash from Mississippi state authorities and elected officials over Assma Ali’s appointment as a judge in a small town in Bolivar County, America’s first Muslim museum is urging Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy...
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HERE’S THE BEEF
Are you looking for steakhouse-quality beef from healthy cattle that are raised locally? If the answer is yes and you live in Jackson or a surrounding area, not only can you get it, it’s delivered right to your door. h “It is fantastic,” said Matt...
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‘Not something I would wish on anyone’
Standing alongside civil rights leaders and members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Nolan Wells’ family called on the U.S. Department of Justice to open an independent federal review into the Mississippi teen’s disappearance and death. The college...
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Jackson councilman wants federal help in case of woman hanging in tree
Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes has contacted Mississippi’s U.S. senators and written to the U.S. Attorney’s Office seeking federal involvement in the investigation into the death of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune. Fortune was found hanging from a...
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State embraces need for doulas
As Mississippi’s maternal health system struggles, doulas move from rarity to mainstream. With one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country, many soon-to-be mothers are turning to doulas for support before, during and after childbirth. h...
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AFTERMATH
Nearly one year after residents were ordered to leave Blossom Apartments, a now-broken fence surrounds the South Jackson complex. But it came too late to stop much of the damage. The once-occupied property has been ransacked and stripped, while a...
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CLEAN ENERGY
What began as a grueling Ironman training session for Madison resident Marty Frascogna has turned into a fast-growing startup that he and his wife Lesley hope can shake up a sports drink industry dominated for decades by brands such as Gatorade and...
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TEARING DOWN THE TAD PAD
OXFORD — An iconic Ole Miss athletics building is set to be demolished, but don’t expect a dramatic implosion. Work has begun to tear down the CM Tad Smith Coliseum, known as the Tad Pad. It was the home of Ole Miss men’s and women’s basketball...
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‘It’s not just the mamas anymore’
For today’s sorority hopefuls, recruitment begins long before they walk through chapter doors in August. h Months before bid day, high school seniors spend hours curating their Instagram feeds, stalking chapter profiles, curating resumes and learning...
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Alligator season is days away
August is here and for folks in Mississippi, it signals two things. For almost everyone, it means hot weather. Temperatures routinely push toward 100 degrees in the hottest part of the days and the “feels like” temperatures can soar above 110...
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AG Lynn Fitch wants to be governor. See her platform
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch's campaign is all about relationships. Fitch announced on Tuesday, Aug. 4, that she is joining the race to become Mississippi's next governor, touting her connections to the Trump administration and staunch...
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Luxury estates top Jackson housing market
The Jackson area’s luxury housing market remains a small but highly exclusive segment of the broader residential real estate landscape. While the median listing price is approximately $130,000 in Hinds County, $350,000 in Rankin County and $425,000 in...
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St. Andrew’s unveils new Lower School campus
Nearly 60 years after St. Andrew’s Episcopal School launched in Fondren, students are preparing to move into a new state-of-the-art South Campus facility that school leaders said reflects the way children learn today while preserving the school’s...
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A NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM
The Mississippi Museum of Natural Science in Jackson is the state’s largest museum and millions of dollars are being invested in the facility to make a good thing even better through renovations and new things to experience such as spending the night...
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Off the beaten path
If you’ve traveled on Interstate 55 South in Mississippi, you may have passed a sign for the Bogue Chitto exit just south of Brookhaven and odds are you didn’t get off the interstate there. After all, why would you? According to the U.S. Census, it’s a...
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BRAIN DRAIN
Mississippi is losing fewer people than it was a decade ago, but the state continues to struggle with a persistent brain drain that sends many of its young, educated workers elsewhere in search of opportunity. Demographers, economic development experts...
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‘THE DECLINE IS SIGNIFICANT’
When Ashton Reed voted for President Donald Trump in 2024, he was drawn by Trump’s vow to recharge the economy and curb the inflation that many around his hometown of Jackson, Missouri, blamed on then-President Joe Biden. Reed, 22, who has worked at...
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How to watch CBS news, sports on Jackson substation
Beginning Aug. 1, CBS programming in the Jackson market will move from WJTV Channel 12 to a digital subchannel of WAPT Channel 16. The switch follows a multi-year agreement between CBS and Nexstar Media Group, which owns WJTV. WAPT, owned by Hearst...
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Tom Rice plans new butcher shop in Fondren district
Less than a year after opening Louise’s Piano Bar in Jackson’s Fondren district, local entrepreneur Tom Rice has revealed plans for another venture in the neighborhood. Rice announced on Instagram that he is opening Tommy’s, a butcher shop and...
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A Taste for the entire SEC
Restaurateur Craig Fant has an ambitious goal for his growing restaurant empire: Put a Taste Restaurant in every Southeastern Conference market by 2029. Fant, whose family has built one of Mississippi’s fastest-growing restaurant groups around the...
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DROPS CBS
The WJTV 12 building is seen on TV Road in Jackson on July 24. Nexstar Media Group, WJTV’s owner, will shift the CBS affiliate over to a CW Network on Aug. 1. WAPT will start carrying the CBS affiliation on a subchannel.
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DA explains why officials won’t say more about Wells’ death
unrelated media people claim is tied to the investigation. Ledbetter has said the fake claims have been a challenge because people are reporting them to his office. “As divided as the discussion around Nolan’s death has become, I know we all want the...
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Mahjong madness
On a warm Wednesday morning, four women who hardly knew each other gathered around a table in the upstairs parlor of Vicki McGuinness. One had slipped away from work. Another was preparing to send her daughter off to college. A third said she had...
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What’s next for Jackson airport?
Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport could be in line for a new terminal as airport officials begin searching for developers to lead a major overhaul of the facility. The Jackson Municipal Airport Authority issued a formal request...
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State Street overhaul is nearly complete
After more than two years of construction, the overhaul of State Street through Downtown Jackson is nearly complete. The bulk of the work along State Street between Capitol and Fortification streets is finished, according to Marcy Scoggins, a...
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ALL SMILES AS SEASON NEARS
Ole Miss football coach Pete Golding smiles during an event at the Country Club of Jackson on July 21. Hundreds of fans showed up to hear Golding speak ahead of his first full season as head coach. For more on Pete Golding and Ole Miss football, see
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MS teachers still use own money on supplies
Teachers in Mississippi have long paid out of pocket to keep their classrooms running. In 2012, the state created the Education Enhancement Fund procurement card program to ease that burden, now giving teachers $748 annually for instructional...
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‘OUR HEARTS ARE BROKEN’
OCEAN SPRINGS — A funeral service for Nolan Wells drew hundreds of mourners July 20 in Mississippi, as family, friends and community members gathered to honor a life defined by generosity, compassion and a willingness to help others. Wells, 18, died...
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MS Legislature passes youth court overhaul
After a late night Wednesday, July 15, in the Mississippi Senate and a Thursday, July 17, morning debate in the House, the Legislature passed a bill redesigning the state’s youth court system. Gov. Tate Reeves called the legislature back into Jackson...
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Plan
the contract before the larger program was fully funded. Stokes questioned the decision to hire an out-ofstate firm and whether the initiative would address homelessness throughout Jackson. Unlike recent state laws focused on camping and panhandling,...
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Looking for good, cheap barbecue?
Want great ribs, brisket, pork, chicken, shrimp and sausage on the cheap? One Mississippi barbecue restaurant just earned more national recognition after being named the state’s top pick for affordable barbecue. “Across the country, family-owned...
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City starts enforcing council chamber occupancy limits
Jackson City Council meetings suddenly have a velvet rope. Getting inside now feels a little like trying to get into a crowded bar on a Saturday night: once the room hits capacity, you’ll have to wait outside until someone leaves. For years, Jackson...
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Jackson City Council takes first step toward regulation
Data centers are on pause in Jackson for the next six months. The Jackson City Council voted Tuesday, July 14, to enact an ordinance that would place a 183-day hold on new data center proposals. During that time, the city plans to develop rules...
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‘Same old Fenian’s, just with a facelift’
Nearly two years after Fenian’s Pub poured its last drink, the lights are almost ready to come back on. Owner William Lake said renovations on the iconic Belhaven bar have entered the final stretch, with crews now aiming for an August reopening. It...
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LAID TO REST
FuneralDeMarco Bailey was finally learning how to breathe again. The mourning process is rarely a straight line, but for the 41-year-old man, the path toward healing was beginning to level out. After the passing of his wife two years ago, Bailey had...
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Healing Jackson
The guilty pleas that ended the federal public corruption case against former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, former Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens and former Jackson City Councilman Aaron Banks also closed one of the most tumultuous...
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MS’s most dangerous city isn’t Jackson
Jackson may get more attention, but a new crime analysis found another Mississippi city poses the greatest overall risk for residents and visitors. A home safety and security company analyzed crime data to determine the most dangerous cities in...
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Dave & Buster’s approved in Ridgeland
In December 2024, Gabriel Prado helped bring Topgolf to life, as the sports entertainment venue opened in Ridgeland with much fanfare as part of the Prado Vista development just off of I-55. And while Topgolf is the drawing card for the development...
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Mississippi family sells Cowboy Maloney’s stores
Cowboy Maloney’s, the iconic Mississippi-based appliance, electronics and furniture retailer, has been acquired by O’Shaughnessy Holding Company, marking a new chapter for the longtime regional brand. The sale marks the conclusion of an era for the...
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DOWN AND OUT
Frustrated fans react to action in the closing minutes of the FIFA World Cup Round-of-16 match between the United States and Belgium, during a watch party at Fertile Ground Beer Co. in Jackson on July 6. Belgium defeated the United States, 4-1,...
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Ex-mayor’s scandal has haunted city for nearly 2 years
A week after Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens pleaded guilty, former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba followed suit, as he admitted guilt in federal court in a bribery case that has hung over Jackson for nearly two years. During the...
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Gulf Coast, Jackson suburbs among fastest-growing Mississippi cities
Mississippi’s population isn’t shrinking. It’s shifting. A handful of cities are pulling in new residents while rural areas lose people. World Atlas analyzed U.S. Census estimates and made a list of where people are moving to in Mississippi and...
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Standing the test of time
There is a difference between surviving and standing the test of time. As the United States celebrates its semi quincentennial with USA 250 celebrations, a select group of Mississippi institutions are marking a level of endurance that rivals the...
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1776’s Black troops often overlooked
There’s something about a soldier – the crisp uniform, the erect posture, the disciplined movements, the upturned eyes – that says: I am a man, not a slave. h Service members are “looked at with a lot of respect in our society,” said historical...
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2025-26 may be Ole Miss’ best athletics season ever
OXFORD — The season Ole Miss athletics just completed makes a strong case for being the best in program history. It’s tough to perfectly quantify success because values are subjective.Anexcellentseasoninsomesportsmeansmorethanothers, and the hierarchy...
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Closing arguments made in Jackson airport trial
The tug-of-war between Jackson and the state of Mississippi over control of the Jackson airport wrapped up on July 1 with closing arguments from each side. The airport trial is set to be concluded with a ruling from Judge Carlton Reeves, but the...
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Owens pleads guilty
In a surprise move after maintaining his innocence for months, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens pleaded guilty to corruption charges in federal court on Monday, June 29. The plea came at a 2 p.m. change-of-plea hearing, with details unfolding...
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TRIPLE HOMICIDE
The Jackson Police Department is investigating a triple homicide after a two-year-old toddler and two women were found fatally shot multiple times Saturday, June 27, inside a home on Queen Alexandria Lane. Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney said...
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Attorney for accused Beth Israel arsonist seeks another trial delay
The attorney representing Stephen Spencer Pittman, who is accused of setting fire to Mississippi’s largest synagogue because of its “Jewish ties,” is seeking another trial delay. Defense attorney Michael Scott filed on Wednesday, June 24, a motion to...
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Lowdown on the law
Months of debate whittled thousands of proposals into the Mississippi Legislature down to a few hundred bills that were signed into law. The majority of those bills will take effect on July 1, outlining new ways that Mississippians will work and live...
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Dolly’s truck stop
Dolly Parton’s new truck stop is about two hours and 45 minutes from Tupelo, Miss., for any dedicated fans who want to make a pilgrimage to the southern icon’s latest business venture. Parton cut the ribbon to the new Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop...
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Future of historic Jackson Hilton takes step with building sale
There is likely a new owner of the historic Hilton Hotel in Jackson. That is the case after a winning bid of $6.3 million was placed Wednesday, June 24 during an auction at Rimarketplace.com that began on June 22. No winner has been officially...
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Senate hopefuls challenge Cindy Hyde-Smith record
PHILADELPHIA – At the Neshoba County Fair, surrounded by Republican voters and baseball caps emblazoned with Trump administration slogans, even the Democratic candidates distanced themselves from the Democratic Party. The fair has earned itself a...
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‘Not interested’
At least 80 members of the public packed Jackson City Hall on Monday, June 22, as the Jackson City Council heard comments regarding the potential footprint of a data center moving into the capital city. From the chamber floor to overflow rooms, 26...
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Trial begins with claims of racial discrimination
After nearly a decade of litigation and multiple trips to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, opening arguments began Monday, June 22, in the trial over who controls Jackson’s airport. Standing before U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves, attorney...
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Long, winding road to trial explained
For nearly 10 years, a legal battle over who controls Jackson’s airport has wound its way through federal court, survived four trips to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and outlasted multiple governors, mayors and airport board members. Now,...
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Talking frogs, giant lions and a drink with bite
Mississippi is known for a lot of things and is significant in many ways. At different times, it was claimed by Spain, France and England before it became a part of the United States. The city of Vicksburg was the site of a battle that was key to...
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Cream of the coast
Looking for a laid-back Mississippi beach trip? Southern Living says Ocean Springs and Bay St. Louis should be on your list. The lifestyle magazine highlighted 20 coastal cities with friendly people, great restaurants and natural beauty. The list also...
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Massive Ice Age fossil found in Mississippi
The African lion is sometimes called “The King of the Jungle.” Why they’re called that is a bit puzzling because they don’t live in jungles. Nonetheless, their agility, power and size make them one of the most respected and feared predators on the...
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LOWER CRIME RATES AT RISK
The United States is experiencing one of the steepest declines in violent crime in modern history, including a murder rate at its lowest point in more than a century. Homicides across 35 major American cities fell 21% in 2025, amounting to 922 fewer...
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