News

Judge: Advocates Can Visit Detained Youth

The Southern Poverty Law Center and Disability Rights Mississippi have won access to youth held at the Hinds County Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center. A federal judge ruled Monday that facility officials cannot continue to block attorneys and advocates from meeting with youths.

City Revisits Teen Curfew

Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes' proposed ordinances to prevent teen violence ran into a familiar wall yesterday.

Lemuria Challenges Media; Whitwell Calls on Food Truck Supporters

When WAPT ran a story last week suggesting Lemuria Books did not carry titles on local schools' summer reading list, chief bookseller John Evans saw a marketing opportunity. Lemuria staff arranged a display in the store featuring books on school reading lists and a sign that said, "Hello WAPT: Here is a fact check for you!"

Freelancer of the Month: Larry Morrisey

Larry Morrisey evangelizes musicians who don't fit a mold. His story earlier this year about Delta bluesman Bill Abel, a painter as well as a musician, depicted a side character who usually plays small venues. That's Morrisey's favorite kind of story.

Citizens Police Academy Seeks Applicants

Verbatim statement from city:The Jackson Police Department is urging residents to sign up for the upcoming Citizens Police Academy. The Citizens Police Academy will begin October 3, 2011 and will run through October 10, 2011. The Academy runs after hours and during the weekend to accommodate working adults who want to participate.

Branding Hinds County With Just a Little Snark

What difference could a bold marketing campaign make to Hinds County economic development? Tripp Muldrow, a South Carolina planning consultant, suggests it could make a world of difference.

Council Votes on Food Trucks Tomorrow

Read the proposed ordinance here.

Talamieka Brice

Flip through Graphic Design USA's 250-page publication of award-winning designs, and between designs from Geico, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, you'll find the designs Talamieka Brice made for Methodist Rehabilitation Center. This is the second year Graphic Design USA recognized the Mississippi native's work, and she describes the attention as really cool.

Community Events and Public Meetings

11 a.m., Blood Pressure Checks for Seniors, at Tougaloo Multi-Purpose Senior Citizens Center (318 Vine St.). The city of Jackson and St. Dominic Health Services provides blood pressure checks, and heat and skin care awareness information to qualifying individuals ages 55 or older living within the Jackson city limits. Free; call 601-960-0335.

Eminent Domain Heads to Court

Hinds County Judge Winston Kidd will hear arguments this morning over a Nov. 8 ballot initiative aimed to prevent the government from taking private land for non-public projects.

Gubernatorial Candidates Challenge Bryant at Debate

In a televised debate Thursday evening, candidates for governor sought to distinguish themselves from Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant and position themselves as frontrunners ahead of the Aug. 2 primary.

Operation Understanding Visits Jackson

Sixteen high school kids from Philadelphia, Pa., brought their mission to "share, unite and inspire" to Koinonia Coffee House this morning.

It's the Weekend!

Tonight, we suggest you get your fundraising on. You have a choice of three events to attend. The American Cancer Society's Jamaica Me Crazy beach party begins at 7 p.m. at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum, Sparkman Auditorium (1150 Lakeland Drive). Faze 4 provides the music, you provide the cute beach attire. A little later, comedian Eddie Griffin headlines The BeanSprout Benefit Comedy Show. The program begins at 8 p.m. at McCoy Auditorium (1400 John R. Lynch St.), at Jackson State University. Also at 8 p.m., The Fashion for Life fashion showcase at Duling Hall (622 Duling Ave.) benefits the Mississippi Sickle Cell Foundation. So, be part of the solution, help out and look good doing it. Want to know about more fundraisers? Always refer to your friendly neighborhood

Tripp Davis

Tripp Davis has become a modern Renaissance man. The Ridgeland native, 27, is an accountant, fitness instructor and Ironman competitor. The 2006 graduate of Delta State University was also an All-American swimmer. But Mississippi's 2010 Cosmopolitan bachelor did not become a household name until after he joined the cast of "Sweet Home Alabama." Country Music Television's newest reality show features Davis competing against 19 other men for the southern sweetheart, Devin Grissom. The show presents a cultural clash, with 10 of the men being city slickers and Davis and nine others as the country boys. Davis says living in the house with the other men reminded him of college.

Branding Process Focuses on Perception

Several residents offered suggestions last night for a bold marketing campaign to change the state's perception of Hinds County.

Sheriff Candidate's Campaign Reports Corrected

The Hinds County Sherriff campaign contributions listed this week's Jackson Free Press interview with Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin are incorrect. Several of the contributors listed are actually disbursements from each campaign. We apologize for the error.

Vivian L. Fuller

Vivian L. Fuller understands what it takes to lead athletically as well as academically.

Debt Ceiling Debate Hits Home

Jackson City Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon expressed concern this week over what Congress' debt ceiling debate will mean for the council's decision to restructure its bond debt.

Travels With Chickens

It started out as a typical yellow school bus. When six Mississippi teens were done with it, the bus had turned into a colorful "Farm on Wheels," with a cheery agricultural scene along the side topped with puffy clouds and even a rainbow or two. Oh, and it now runs on vegetable oil instead of gasoline, and a chicken coop is among its new features.

Job Trainer Loses Job

One month ago, Machelle Kyles was busy preparing to train another wave of job seekers at Florida-based Paxen Learning Corp.'s office in Jackson. Now, the former program coordinator is job-hunting herself.

A Matter of Money

Retired Mississippi Bureau of Investigation Lt. Johnnie Bowden, 58, says he's running for sheriff and plans to put new emphasis on drug-related crime prevention in the county.

Miss. Power Wants $900,000 for Jet Fare

A corporate utility wants to charge private jet expenses to ratepayers, and Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley wants to forbid it.

Dunn's Family Circuit

Barbara Dunn wakes up at 4 a.m. every day, makes a cup of coffee, watches the news and then heads to the Hinds County Circuit Clerk's office where she prepares breakfast for her employees. She's been doing this for 27 years, ever since she was first elected circuit clerk.

Minnie Watson

Minnie Watson still remembers the day she met Medgar Evers in 1961. She was attending Campbell College, an all-black private college in Jackson, when Evers came to speak to their class about joining the NAACP.

Branding Meetings Start Today

Hinds County will hold public meetings during a three-day process to brand the county this week.

Earlier this year the Hinds County Economic Development Authority signed a $10,000 contract with the urban-planning firm, Arnett Muldrow & Associates, to develop a brand for Hinds County. Tripp Muldrow, a partner at Muldrow & Associates, says the goal of branding Hinds County is to unite the county, attract industry and new residents.

Water Rates Safe for Now, Johnson Says

Jacksonians likely will not see hikes in their water or sewer bills this year now that the Jackson City Council voted to refinance the city's bond debt, Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. said yesterday.

Bloomberg: Jackson 11th Strongest Economy

CORRECTION: We described circa, a store in Fondren, incorrectly. We should have said it is a lifestyle store.

Lauren Fredman

Lauren Fredman of Jackson sat with 24 other educators in a Boston, Mass., classroom last week at the opening of the Jewish Women's Archive's Summer Institute. They came to explore Jewish roles in Civil Rights Movement and to find ways to share that history with younger Jews.

UMMC Receives Nursing Grant for Delta

The University of Mississippi Medical Center has received a $450,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to provide Delta residents with oral health care and health education.

Council Debates Debt Restructuring Plan Today

Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. will brief the Jackson City Council again today on the details surrounding restructuring a portion of the city's water and sewer bond debt.

Ellington