Black Farmers to Benefit from Obama Decision
About 24,000 Mississippi black farmers could benefit from a decision by the Obama administration to include a $1.25 billion discrimination settlement in the 2010 federal budget.
Magic Johnson HIV Testing Tour in Jackson
Some 231,000 Americans are infected with HIV and don't know it. Hoping to make an impact on those numbers, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation's Magic Johnson "Testing America" tour is stopping at Hinds Community College today from 8 a.m. until noon to offer free testing.
Senate Votes to Restore Budget Cuts; Barbour Promises Veto
Gov. Haley Barbour claims he will veto a bill the Mississippi Senate passed today that would restore funding to offset cuts he made to state agencies. "This bill spends too much, burns too much of our reserves, and fails to adequately address Corrections, where we still face the possibility of turning criminals loose due to the lack of funding. I expect the bill to reach my desknext week, and I will veto it and send it back to the Legislature," Barbour said in a statement.
City Threatens Ridgeway Duplex Owner
City's letter to Jennifer Sutton (PDF)
Auto Burglaries puts JPD on Alert
A spike in auto burglaries has the Jackson Police Department increasing patrol units and asking residents not to leave valuable possessions in their cars.
Rev. Eric Pridmore
Rev. Eric Pridmore, 38, hasn't let blindness stop him from hunting. The mounted antlers from a three-point buck he shot hang over his fireplace, a testament to his marksmanship. Pridmore's friend, Ted Kendall IV, helped him gain his trophy.
The Overnight Lows Hit a New High with LP Release on Goner Records
One of my earliest memories in Jackson was stumbling into Martin's Lounge, where I found this really loud, fast punk/garange band called The Overnight Lows. They were composed of Jackson's Marsh and Daphne Nabors, a husband-wife duo that just so happened to rock pretty hard. Their ripsaw guitars and thunderous, rock-god beats filled that tiny space with a wall of sound that could deafen those with lesser hearts.
Soda Tax Will Fizzle Out
Sweetened drinks add to the problem of childhood obesity, according to Andrew Hysall, associate vice president of advocacy and public policy for the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign for Healthy Kids. A proposal to add a 2-cent per ounce tax to those beverages has little chance of getting through the Mississippi Legislature, however.
Nice and Slow
That's it; I've had it. Today is not the day.
[Mott] Year of the Tiger
My life has always been filled with challenges; it's the way I like it, always pushing the edges, coming around the curve sideways on two wheels, and hitting the brakes just in time to avoid catastrophe. That may be more than Donna wants to know about me, but then, we've been working together for going on four years, so I think she's got a clue. Chaos follows me around like the little dirt cloud follows Pig Pen in Charles' Schultz "Peanuts," always ready to engulf me.
Bills Target Jackson Development, Infrastructure
In the sixth week of its session, the Mississippi Legislature passed a number of bills relevant to the city of Jackson.
PSC to Rule on Kemper County in May
The Mississippi Public Service Commission will deliver a decision on a proposed $2.4 billion coal plant in Kemper County in May.
The Best In Sports In 7 Days
Men's college basketball, Vanderbilt at Ole Miss (6 p.m., Oxford, ESPNU, 97.3 FM): Ole Miss' NCAA hopes are hanging by a string. Will Vandy bring the scissors?
Magnanimous Mississippi?
Gov. Haley Barbour has grown inordinately fond of hauling out the phrase, "not business as usual," just before he announces new budget cuts.
[Stiggers] Sweet Music of Hope
Boneqweesha Jones: "Hair Did University presents the Ghetto Science Team Job Counseling Sessions, where unemployed workers from the Ghetto Science community come to the Madame C.J. Walker Student Union for counseling and training twice a month.
[Kamikaze] Give a Damn
Remember Haiti. In whatever you do this week, respect the fragile nature of life. Remember Katrina. This week embrace the positive things around you. Recognize the blessings you've been given.
In Dat Number
It was a celebration 43 years in the making. Here is the JFP's loving last hurrah for the Super Bowl XLIV Champions the New Orleans Saints and their city. Can you say, "Who Dat"?
Plan B? Flood Control Beyond Lakes and Levees
Flood-control options for the Pearl River seem limited as Jackson-area residents compare the ungainly design of the levee plan designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1996 with the $1.4 billion cost of a lake-development plan.
Behind Barbour's Prison Rhetoric
To hear Gov. Haley Barbour tell it, if he doesn't get his way, the state's fiscal crisis could force thousands of felons out of jail and into communities. Since his Jan. 13 State of the State address, Barbour has repeatedly called for greater authority to cut state agency budgets at his discretion. The threat of convicted criminals on the streets has provided Barbour a rhetorical trump card in budget negotiations.
Bust a Move
"Groovaloo," coming to Thalia Mara Hall in Jackson Feb. 22, binds 10 dancers' true stories of abuse, low self-esteem and poverty with their dances. "These are our stories," Bradley Rapier, creator of the Broadway show, says about his troupe.