A Place for Everyone
My husband Ray and I have been looking for ways to get involved in our community for quite some time now. It has not been an easy task. I am a full time student, Ray sometimes doesn't get home from work until after 8 in the evening, and we have two school-age children and not much money to pay a babysitter. Luckily we found St. Alexis Episcopal Church and have been able to get involved in family friendly things there. As far as community events go, we have not been able to attend due to timing, no babysitter, or other things, so when Ray heard about the community meeting last night at Sneaky Beans he got excited and attempted to get home from work in time. Ray has a degree in criminal justice, works in loss prevention, and has a lot of practice at taking down an armed shoplifter. There is no doubt he could be of use to a community concerned with defending themselves against crime and looking out for each other. Unfortunately, Ray did not make it home from work in time and couldn't attend the meeting, but even without attending there were just a few things that irked me a bit.
Fondren Shooting Spurs Community Meeting
A recent armed robbery and shooting in Fondren has some area residents up in arms. A community meeting, advertised on Facebook as "Take Back Our Neighborhoods," is scheduled for 6 p.m. today at Sneaky Beans coffee shop on North State Street.
Johnson Attending Obama Visit
City of Jackson Spokesman Chris Mims confirmed today that Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr., was invited to attend first lady Michelle Obama's personal visit to the city on Wednesday. Obama is visiting the city tomorrow as part of her "Let's Move" campaign, which emphasizes healthy diet and exercise for youth.
[Balko] Is Texas About to Execute Another Innocent Man?
Henry Watkins "Hank" Skinner was supposed to be executed tomorrow, but last Tuesday a Gray County, Texas, district court judge pushed the date back one month, to March 24. Skinner has been on Death Row in Texas since 1993, awaiting execution for the murder of his girlfriend and her two sons. He has maintained his innocence since his arrest, and investigators from the Northwestern University Journalism School's Medill Innocence Project have shot numerous holes in the prosecution's case. But Texas officials refuse to conduct a simple DNA test that could point to the condemned man's innocence or cement his guilt.
Helen LaKelly Hunt
Women's activist Dr. Helen LaKelly Hunt believes that Christianity and feminism go hand in hand, and is using that idea to advance women's rights.
Animal Cruelty Bill to Die
Today is the last day committees in the Mississippi Legislature can act on bills presented by their colleagues across the hall. Effectively, that means any bills stuck in committees not scheduled to meet today are dead. That includes SB 2623, a bill proposing to make torturing or maiming cats or dogs a felony.
BREAKING: Writer Barry Hannah Dies of Heart Attack
The Jackson Free Press has learned from sources in Oxford, Miss., that author Barry Hannah, 67, died of a sudden heart attack in his home there today. He was working with a graduate student, sources say. Hannah was born in Meridian, Miss., and raised in Clinton. He is the acclaimed author of eight novels and currently directed Ole Miss' MFA program in creative writing.
Fisher: Hinds Supes ‘Hiding' In Executive Session
Hinds County Supervisor Phil Fisher accused his fellow supervisors today of evading public scrutiny by relegating two potentially inflammatory decisions to executive session. In a closed session during its meeting this morning, the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to fire County Administrator Vern Gavin. Supervisors also rejected a proposal from Fisher to dissolve the county's agreement with the Mississippi Youth Justice Project, a juvenile-justice watchdog group.
Obama Appoints Mason to Federal HBCU Board
President Barack Obama announced Friday that he wants Jackson State University President Ronald Mason Jr. on the President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The board exists to strengthen the nation's list of HBCUs, many of which suffered financial cutbacks as the economy tanked and attendance declined. Even prestigious Spelman College in Atlanta cut more than 30 staff members and announced plans to restructure its Education Department last year.
Community Events and Public Meetings
"Support Haiti Relief" Show at Bryant Galleries (3010 Lakeland Cove): 50 percent of all sales from the Haitian collection will go to the American Red Cross Haitian Relief Fund. Free admission; call 601-932-5099.
Bill Ellison
Bill Ellison remembers the excitement and energy he felt when he played trombone in the band at Bailey Junior High School. That passion propelled him to spend his career performing and broadcasting music.
First Lady to Visit Jackson
Earlier this month, first lady Michelle Obama announced a campaign to solve childhood obesity in America. It only makes sense, then, that she would visit the capitol of Mississippi—the most obese state in the nation—as part of her "Let's Move" campaign.
Shutter Island: You Can Never Leave
Shutter Island, Martin Scorsese's suspense thriller, begins with the blast of a fog horn. It's a warning, and I jumped in anticipation of sinister horrors. The loud thrumbling of music escalates the foreboding sense of doom and gloom.
JPS to Cut Jobs, Fill Classrooms
State budget cuts this year and next will force the Jackson Public School District to cut teacher positions and increase class sizes, a district official said today. Michael Thomas, the district's Deputy Superintendent for Operations, told an audience at the Koinonia Coffee House Friday Forum this morning that the district is running out of options for budget cuts.
Weekend Events
The weekend starts tonight with classic Mississippi blues at The Auditorium. Starting at 9:18, catch "Three Generations of the Blues" with David "Honeyboy" Edwards, King Edward and Eddie Cotton on stage for only $20. If you'd rather spend the evening catching up with old friends, head to Schimmel's for the Murrah High School Alumni Mixer for all those 21 and older. For more details and more happenings around town, head to the JFP Best Bets page to start your search for weekend entertainment.
Nightclub Has Big Plans for Jackson
Located on the corner of Gallatin and West Capitol street, Dreamz Jxn is a three-story club and entertainment complex in downtown Jackson. Inside the club are sophisticated features that include 25 plasma screens, VIP rooms, three bars and three dance floors.
Hal White
When Hal White was a child, the kitchen served as a gathering place for his family. After watching his aunt cook large pots of red beans and rice or gumbo, White remembers spending the day boating on Mary Walker Bayou in Gautier, Miss., with his family.
Convicted Former Klansman Sues FBI
Convicted former Ku Klux Klansman Edgar Ray Killen is suing the FBI for millions, claiming violations of his civil rights, reports The Los Angeles Times. Killen, 85, convicted in 2005 of manslaughter in the 1964 slayings of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Miss., says the FBI hired mafia hit man "The Grim Reaper" to pistol whip witnesses into providing information in the case.
JFP on WLEZ Podcast for 2/25/10
jfp022510.mp3
OK, this is not *really* the podcast, but I'll put up a subscribe tool later today so that people can subscribe to this show and all future shows. Meanwhile, here's the download link:
Veto Override Fails: Legislators Return to Negotiation
The Senate failed to override Gov. Haley Barbour's veto of budget reconciliation act this morning, and opponents of the veto now argue that the state should put to use $36 million from savings accrued through a federal stimulus program.