Weekend Happenings
Tonight head on out to the Trunk Show at Dream Beads at 5 p.m. Then you can catch some blues with King Edward at Underground 119 at 9 p.m. If jazz is more your thing, cruise over to Hal & Mal's for Rhonda Richmond, also at 9 p.m.. Pyinfamous, Ulogy, Sycology and DJ Phingaprint will be at Monte's Seafood at 9 p.m., then have breakfast at midnight. None of these grabbing your attention? Check out more on the JFP Events Calendar
Rep. Adrienne Wooten
Rep. Adrienne Wooten, D-Jackson, is a woman of convictions, and she has no problem letting those convictions loose on the House floor. Wooten, 35, prevented the passage of a House bill yesterday that would allow persons convicted for the first time of illegal drug possession to petition the court to expunge their conviction from all public records.
Jackson Water Update
Parts of the city of Jackson served by its well-water system continue to be subject to a boil-water notice, according to a release issued this morning. Pressure has now risen to a point in that system to allow for testing. City crews are collecting forty samples from the system today to send to the Mississippi Health Department, and the boil-water notice will be lifted after two days of testing come back clear.
Reservoir District Bill Back Door to Flood Control?
Control of the Ross Barnett Reservoir is at stake in a bill proposed this week by Sen. Lee Yancey, R-Brandon, that is raising questions over what it really aims to do -- and whether it could be a back-door way to help the Two Lakes river-development plan still see the light of day.
Bounds Predicts Job Losses, Tuition Hikes
State higher education commissioner Hank Bounds said today that Mississippi's public university system will likely shed 1,000 jobs over the next two years due to budget cuts. Speaking today to the state Institutitions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees, Bounds delivered dire news about the effects of a more than 8 percent budget cut and recommended that the board approve a series of tuition increases.
Compromise Sex-Ed Bill Moves Ahead
School districts would have to choose between implementing an abstinence-only or an abstinence-plus sex education curriculum by June 2011 under a bill the House Education Committee passed Wednesday.
Phil Reed
Phil Reed, 60, has spent the last 27 years helping people, and in the wake of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated the Haiti last week, he is spearheading local efforts to provide aid to the country.
Former Melton Bodyguards to Pay $20K Restitution
by Ward Schaefer January 21, 2010 Michael Recio and Marcus Wright, the former police bodyguards for the late Mayor Frank Melton, must pay $10,000 each in restitution for their roles in the 2006 warrantless demolition of a private home on Ridgeway Street, a federal judge ruled yesterday.
Eric Stringfellow
As a journalism professor, Eric Stringfellow, 49, is never far away from a newspaper. As he works on his computer, a stack of papers accompanies him.
[Stauffer] Facts, Damn Facts and Opinions
The Jackson Free Press publisher explains why the newspaper does not support Two Lakes or the 1996 Levee Plan. Instead, we need to put politics aside and seek a basin-wide solution.
Bowl of Red
When the weatherman started talking about snow in Jackson, my wife got busy gathering up blankets and throws. Nine-year-old Zak sat by the window keeping a keen eye on the night sky, straining not to blink and miss catching a glimpse of the first flakes, back-lit by the streetlight. Our teenage boys furiously worked the keyboards on their iPhones making plans with girls to drink coco and flirt (as if they need an excuse like snow for flirting).
[Pass the Mic] Plus the Kitchen Sink
If I didn't know better, I would swear there is a secret highway that leads directly from Jackson to Portland, Ore. In the last couple of years, several Jacksonians have made an exodus to Portland—artists, musicians, writers, even a dentist I know. The lane northwest to Portland is wider than the lane heading southward, but some still choose to return to Jackson, bringing with them more creativity than when they left.
[Herman's Picks] Vol. 8, no. 19
The 20-year freeze has thawed, and it's time to warm up with good drinks and live music. Nothing eases the stir-crazy-winter blues like a live juke session. Whether you're looking for calm acoustics over dinner, or something livelier to get your dancing shoes moving, we've got you covered.
Where's the Money
The state Legislature is still rumbling over money issues and executive power this week. The Senate passed Senate Bill 2495 last Wednesday, a bill that would grant Gov. Haley Barbour the selective power to cut the budget of some state departments up to 10 percent, without having to cut all departments by 10 percent.
Flaggs Backs Down on Mergers
Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, has changed his tune somewhat regarding Gov. Haley Barbour's budget recommendation for merging Mississippi's historically black colleges and universities.
Sundance Bound
Every year I gripe about the cold that chills my entire being when I'm in Park City, Utah, for the Sundance Film Festival. Despite the snow drifts and the messy aftermath of a daily freeze-thaw cycle, and even though I am weighed down by clunky fur boots, bundles of layers and a shamelessly ugly babushka wrapped over my head, I have an extreme fondness for Sundance.
[Letter to the Editor] Cedar Point Dumping, Revisited
I took offense to a statement in your Most Intriguing Jacksonians 2009 article from your Dec. 31, 2009, issue. You stated that John McGowan relished taking on "environmentalists in lawsuits over his company's dumping chemicals into the Galveston Bay." That statement is actually a misstatement.
[Stiggers] It ‘BE' That Way
Big Willie 'Shakespeare' McBride: "Welcome to Hair Did University's Language Arts and Across Cultures Series, a subsidiary of the James Brown Say it Loud Ebonics Speech Academy.
All About Water
The capital city is all abuzz about water, and so are we. This issue, Ward Schaefer writes about the broken water mains in "Singing the Broken-Pipe Blues": why they broke, who gets the bill and more. In "The Lakes Plan That Won't Recede," Adam Lynch looks at who stands to gain the most from the proposed Two Lakes plan.
The Lakes Plan That Won't Recede
Although both the U.S. Corps of Engineers and the local Levee Board have rejected the Two Lakes development/flood-control plan, its supporters are vowing not to give up.