Rip the Cypher: Phase One
Before stepping foot inside the North Midtown Arts Center on Millsaps Avenue, it was obvious that something was going on. More than the cars parked along the sides of the street gave it away. The energy was palpable; the music was loud; and the building's usually dim lights were bright this Jan. 15 night.
Bridging the Gaps
Book selling was a profitable enterprise in the oft-mythicized but very real city of Timbuktu. In the late 15th century, after the emperor Aska Mohammed's reign, the city was at its most prosperous, its scholars widely celebrated.
Torn by Time
It's one of the hallmarks of humanity: being torn between hope for the future and the familiarity of the past. The Prozorof family in Anton Chekhov's "The Three Sisters" is especially human.
Maintaining Focus
When I first saw the cover of "Ghost Light: A Novel" by Joseph O'Connor (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011, $25), I didn't know quite what to expect from the woman dressed in early 1900s garb. Would I be bored or enthralled with the reminiscences of a broken relationship and a love that survived years later?
‘Bodies, Bodies'
"The Swimming Pool" by Holly LeCraw (Doubleday, 2010, $25.95) starts with this uninviting, ethereal opening line: "Bodies, bodies."
[Natalie's Note] Come Aboard the Mothership
Some radio stations only play what the big corporations want them to play, but that won't last much longer. With Pandora, Sirius and a number of other musical resources popping up, folks are finally getting what they've been begging for: radio stations that play exactly what listeners want to hear. It would behoove mainstream stations to pay attention.
Civil Rights Museum Funding Advances In House
A proposed national civil-rights museum in downtown Jackson could receive $30 million in state funds, under a bill up for consideration by the state House of Representatives. The House Ways & Means Committee voted today to approve HB 1463, which allots $55 million total to the civil-rights museum and a museum of Mississippi history, both to be located near the William Winter state archives building. The bill now goes to the House floor for a vote by the full chamber.
Health Reform Moves Ahead
The Mississippi Legislature is debating laws that conform to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, even as legal challenges to the act continue.
Bills to Protect Domestic Abuse Victims
After her husband physically and mentally abused her for nearly a decade, Joy Jones* realized her situation was only going to get worse. She gathered up enough courage to seek a divorce and secretly obtained a lawyer, who encouraged her to close her and her spouse's joint checking account. Jones says earning the majority of the family's income gave her a financial advantage in being able to afford the proceedings.
Paul DeBoy
Paul DeBoy's first stage was the backyard of his Baltimore, Md., home. His older brother wrote plays that DeBoy would star in, and the two would charge admission when DeBoy was just 5 years old.
Whitwell Wins Ward 1 Council Seat
Quentin Whitwell will take his seat as Ward 1 Jackson city councilman after winning the majority of votes in yesterday's special election.
NAACP Asks Barbour to Condemn Klan Plate
Mississippi NAACP President Derrick Johnson is asking Gov. Haley Barbour to condemn the Mississippi Sons of Confederate Veterans' push to create a commemorative license plate for Confederate General and the Ku Klux Klan's first Grand Wizard, Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Stadiums, Hackers and Oil
A bill the Mississippi Senate is considering could transfer control of Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium to Jackson State University. House Bill 1158, which the House of Representatives passed Feb. 10, would give JSU control of the stadium itself while transferring the property surrounding the stadium to the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
Carla Palmer-Allen
Carla Palmer-Allen knows that perseverance eventually pays off. Last month, the Jackson native became the first African American to serve as president of the Jackson Association of Realtors, a 1,500–member organization that advocates and provides information for area realtors.
Ward 1 Special Election Today
Ward 1 voters will decide today whether L. Patricia Ice or Quentin Whitwell will fill the Ward 1 City Council seat, which has been empty since Jeff Weill left in January to serve as a Hinds Circuit Court judge.
Cost of Flood Study Could Jump
A study examining flood control along the Pearl River could cost taxpayers twice as much, due to post- Katrina requirements, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told the Levee Board today.
Barbour Repeats Budget, Medicaid Myths at CPAC
Continuing his hints at a 2012 presidential run, Gov. Haley Barbour addressed the Conservative Political Action Committee's annual conference Saturday in Washington, D.C., with his argument for electing a Republican president. Barbour touted his own record in Mississippi, trotting out a list of accomplishments that requires some closer scrutiny. Here's a partial list of some of Barbour's statements and the facts behind them.
Russ Markle
Even though Russ Markle joked about growing a mustache, he knew it would involve a few challenges. His wife wasn't a fan of facial hair, and he felt he would risk his professional look at work. But when friends offered to pay him to grow a mustache if he donated the money to charity, it was an offer he couldn't refuse.
Community Events and Public Meetings
Free Tax Counseling and Filing. IRS/AIM or AARP volunteers will do electronic filing. Bring all necessary documents. Joint filers must come together. Free.
City Issues Boil Water Notice for Some Areas
The City of Jackson issued a precautionary boil-water advisory yesterday after a loss in water pressure for the following areas: