News

Mitchell Staying at Clarion-Ledger

Award-winning journalist Jerry Mitchell is not among a dozen Clarion-Ledger employees facing an early retirement buyout choice. Speaking at this morning's Friday Forum at Koinonia Coffee House, Mitchell addressed the future of the Gannett-owned daily newspaper.

Sen. Thad Cochran

A national group has recognized Sen. Thad Cochran for advocating for volunteer programs. ON Tuesday, Cochran received the Edward M. Kennedy National Service Lifetime Leadership Award at the Friends of National Service awards reception.

Personhood Mississippi: We Are Listening to Voters

Personhood Mississippi founder Les Riley sent out a statement this morning praising Personhood legislation in the Oklahoma Senate and promising further efforts in Mississippi that will address voters' concerns about contraception and in vitro fertilization.

APAC Celebrates 30 years

The Power Academic and Performing Arts Complex is celebrating its 30th anniversary today.

The magnet school opened in January 1982 and serves students in grades 4-12 who want extra instruction in the arts. Last fall, the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts

Runaway, Prostitute or Victim?

Not too long ago in another state, a high-school boy offered a high-school girl a ride home. He drugged her drink, took nude photos of her and used the pictures to blackmail her into having sex with a series of other men. She wasn't poor, from another country or in foster care; her father was an executive at General Motors.

City: Spending Down, Overtime Up

When Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. and the city of Jackson set the budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year, they didn't plan to do as well as the first-quarter numbers now indicate.

Deville Smith

Deville Smith was born in Jackson in 1991 and grew up to become a star basketball player at Callaway High School. He averaged more than 20 points and added four rebounds with four assists per contest during his senior year.

Rep. Brown: Irby Clemency File Missing

Here is the statement, verbatim:

House Democrats have just released a statement from Rep. Cecil Brown, D-Jackson, on former Gov. Haley Barbour's pardons. In it, he says files are missing for several pardon recipients, including Karen Irby.

Dems: Ain't No Sunshine in this Bill

This time around, the "sunshine" bill didn't wither. Despite their best efforts to slow down and trip up House Bill 211, which supporters argue adds a layer of transparency to the state's use of hiring outside legal firms when disagreements arise with the attorney general, the state's chief legal officer, the measure passed 59 to 55. After a similar bill failed last week on a technicality, its Republican authors made fixes earlier this week and brought it to the Wednesday morning. Democrats pressed Mark Baker, the chairman of the House Judiciary A Committee, on a range of what they perceived to be shortcomings of the bills. Some clearly just wanted to mess with Republicans.

Pardongate: Continuum

Imagine that every person who received a pardon from Gov. Haley Barbour did exactly what the state constitution says and ran a newspaper ad for 30 days before they received the pardon. Then what?

Bring the Noise

Legislative Republicans are setting 'em and knockin' 'em down. After a clumsy first month when the House didn't even have committee assignments, bills are starting to soar through the committee process and going to the floor.

Personhood Redux

Just three months after voters turned down a Personhood Initiative, at least one legislator is trying to get it back on the ballot.

More than Factories

A member of the Screen Actors' Guild, state Sen. John Horhn has some ideas on keeping the state's economy from sagging.

Truth Troops

Some people—including some journalists I've worked with over the years—assume Stars and Stripes is a propaganda arm of the Department of Defense. It's not. It's an all-American institution that is in danger.

No Miracle Cure

'The business of education is not a business, so you can't run it like a business.'

Education: A Strong State Economy Starts Here

Research shows that struggling schools and low education levels hurt individuals as well as the state as a whole, bringing economic and social challenges. Fortunately, people outside the educational community are starting to talk about how Mississippi can make its schools—and work force—better.

Of Love and Pardons: How They Met

On the night of Dec. 7, 1992, Joseph Ozment and three friends arrived to rob J & R's Old Store in Hernando and found Ricky A. Montgomery there, working alone. During the robbery, one of Ozment's accomplices shot Montgomery three times, though not fatally. Ozment, fearing Montgomery would be able to identify him, delivered two more bullets to the head of the 40-year-old clerk, who was begging for help.

Drilling the Front Lines

Captain Louis Skrmetta is on the front lines. So far, Skrmetta, whose family has operated tour boats between the mainland and Mississippi's barrier islands in the Gulf of Mexico since 1926, is fighting a winning battle to rebuild his business to pre-Hurricane Katrina levels.

Christine ‘Chrissy' Wilson

Mississippi has no bigger cheerleader when discussing the art, history and culture of Mississippi than Christine "Chrissy" Wilson. She has edited many of the markers on the Mississippi Freedom Trail commemorating the state's civil-rights heritage as well as the Mississippi Blues Trail and the Country Music Trail markers.

City Wants State to Take Back Roads

The Jackson City Council will have a special meeting at 11 a.m. this morning to discuss their recommendations to the state Legislature.

Ward 3 Race to End in Runoff

Although LaRita Cooper-Stokes gained 42 percent of the votes in a special election yesterday, it wasn't enough to give her the Ward 3 City Council seat outright. She and Joyce Jackson, who received 22.6 percent of the votes, will meet up again in a runoff election Feb. 28.

Sunshine Act Still Clouds Legislature

Debate over the Sunshine Act, which Speaker Philip Gunn introduced last week and failed on a technicality later in the week, continued to rain down on the Legislature as a House committee returned the issue on Monday.

Record Store Coming to Fondren

In an age of iPods and MP3s, Fondren is about to get a dose of good-ol' vinyl LPs and their younger, shinier CD brothers.

Sen. Joey Fillingane

Personhood supporters and detractors are still trying to sort out the ramifications and nuances of an anti-abortion resolution introduced yesterday. Sen. Joey Fillingane, R-Sumrall, introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 555, seeking to amend the state Constitution to "protect the life of every unborn child from conception to birth."

Ward 3 Election Today

The Jackson City Council will fill the empty seat left by recently elected Hinds County Supervisor Kenneth Stokes today after voters in Ward 3 select their new council member.

JFP Endorses Beneta Burt for Ward 3 Council Seat

At a Ward 3 candidate forum last week at the Medical Mall, several themes emerged: First, most of the plethora of candidates who are running for Kenneth Stokes' vacated seat had few specific, new ideas to share. Second, Stokes' wife, Larita, must think she has a lock on the seat because she didn't show up to answer questions (although someone scattered her campaign material around). And third, about every candidate talked repeatedly about how getting government grants can help save Ward 3 and solve its problems.

City Needs Transportation Funds

The Jackson City Council discussed bills the city is supporting in the Legislature at a morning committee meeting.

Community Events and Public Meetings

AARP Tax Aide Volunteer Service. The service is available to low- and moderate-income taxpayers with special attention to those ages 60 and older. Bring all necessary documents. No appointment required. Free.

Fillingane Introduces Anti-Abortion Resolution

Within the last couple of hours, Sen. Joey Fillingane introduced a resolution to amend the state constitution "to protect the life of every unborn child from conception to birth."

Metrocenter Moving Forward

A city councilman who used to be a lawyer and lobbyist for David Watkins and some of his firms made a motion Tuesday to allow the mayor to negotiate payments with the Watkins' firm Retro Metro for needed computer cabling in new city offices at Metrocenter Mall. Councilman Quentin Whitwell, Ward 1, says he no longer represents Watkins and denied that he had any conflict of interest in the Metrocenter project.

Ellington