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Fourth Execution This Year Unlikely

The Mississippi Supreme Court has not yet ruled on Attorney General Jim Hood's request for a Dec. 29 execution date for Frederick Bell, making it unlikely that state will conduct its fourth execution this year.

Council to Vote on Sales-Tax Request

At tomorrow's meeting, the Jackson City Council will decide whether to ask the state Legislature to remove a controversial state commission that must now approve how the city spends sales-tax money on safety and infrastructure repairs.

Hood Proposes Traffic Citation Increase to Fund Unit

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood wants to strengthen his agency's Vulnerable Adult Unit by raising some traffic citations by $1.

Community Events and Public Meetings

JPS Pepsi Holiday Basketball Tournament Dec 28-30, at Jackson State University, Williams Athletics and Assembly Center (1400 John R. Lynch St.). The tournament features 11 girls' teams and 13 boys' teams throughout the state. Consolation games are at Forest Hill High School (2607 Raymond Road). Visit the JPS website for brackets and game times. $8 Dec. 28-29, $10 semifinals and finals.

P.J. Lee

P.J. Lee hopes that a glowing, seven-foot catfish dropping from 80 feet in the air will bring large crowds downtown this New Years' Eve.

Community Celebrates Kwanzaa

The community is invited to celebrate Kwanzaa this week at the Medgar Evers Community Center (3159 Edwards Ave.)

Donations Sought to Repair Family's Home

Real Estate Solutions Managing Broker Willis Finley is seeking donations from the community to help a Jackson family in need of home repairs and heat.

The Redistricting Battle Ahead

Mississippi will likely experience a re-shuffling of state legislative districts, according 2010 U.S. Census data released this month.

Mississippi Unemployment Rate Slightly Increases

Read the report.

For the month of November, the state's unemployment rate was 9.8 percent, a slight increase from 9.7 percent in October, the Mississippi Department of Employment Security reported yesterday.

Dent May

When Jackson native Dent May returns home for Martin's annual Christmas show Dec. 25, he'll trade his magnificent ukulele for synths and drum machines as he croons new and original songs.

More Room At the Inn

While plans for a convention-center hotel remain in limbo, downtown Jackson is seeing plenty of hotel development on a smaller scale. Last week, a team of developers that included several Jackson businessmen presented the Jackson Redevelopment Authority with their vision for a 100- to 130-room hotel and residential building at Court and Lamar streets.

Health Reform on the Way

The Mississippi Primary Health Care Association and Health Help for Kids hosted a community forum last week featuring federal and state leaders who outlined some of the changes Mississippians could expect as a result of the new health-care legislation.

Save Our Routes

Ineva May-Pittman took the mic and walked with a slight limp toward the front of the room to face the audience. Someone said, chuckling, "Ms. Pittman!" If her salt-and-pepper bob and conservative dress didn't give it away, what she said confirmed her senior-citizen status. May-Pittman's car-insurance rates have increased.

Internet Technology and Privacy

The use of and dependence on the Internet and social networking has various implications for personal privacy. Many people worry "big brother" is watching their virtual footsteps or that their personal data can be auctioned to the highest bidder in the advertising world.

Building Robots for the Future

Math is the language of the universe, and speaking that language effectively is the only way to put two gears together and link them with the right kind of motor to get a desired effect. Use the wrong components, and either your gears won't turn at all, or they won't stop turning.

Technology and the Government

Google set off grassroots campaigns in dozens of cities this year when it announced its Google Fiber for Communities contest. Google promised to finance enormous fiber-optic infrastructure projects in the city with the best proposal. The project would provide connection speeds of 1 gigabit per second—100 times faster than broadband available to most Americans—for up to 500,000 people, the company said.

Free Wi-Fi in Jackson

Everday, wi-fi is becoming more essential in our daily lives. Facebook, Twitter, eBay you name it. But not everyone has portable internet, let alone any internet, to do the things they need to do. Here is our list for the best free wi-fi in Jackson. Don't forget to be kind and buy services and goods to help support the store.

Bluntson Questions DA Over Bail Bonds

City Council President Frank Bluntson was certainly not alone in his frustration at last week's council meeting. Venting about the Dec. 11 arrest of a 16-year-old suspect in connection with an early-morning burglary and armed robbery in south Jackson, Bluntson demanded to know why the suspect was out on bond the day of the crime, having been charged in other robberies this summer.

City Rewards Businesses with Tax Exemptions

Four businesses will save $1 million in property taxes on expansions they made to properties in the city of Jackson last year. The Jackson City Council voted during its Dec. 14 meeting to approve resolutions supporting property-tax exemptions for the businesses.

Daniel Fuller

Daniel Fuller isn't your mama's English teacher. He knows getting students excited about 16th-century literature requires a little innovation.

Mississippi Business Leaders Hopeful for Future

Read the survey

While the majority of Mississippi business leaders report concerns about the current state of the economy, they have confidence in future economic growth.

Community Remembers the Homeless

Candles burned in Galloway United Methodist Church today to commemorate the lives of six homeless men who died in Jackson this year.

Oriental Market Opens; Broadband Gets Boost

One of Mississippi's largest Asian markets and restaurants celebrates its grand opening in Jackson today next to Cowboy Maloney's Electric City and Big Lots. Assistant Manager Shery Chen said her family chose the Interstate 55 location for its high traffic and ample parking space.

Latrisha Dumas Bailey

Massage Therapist Latrisha Dumas Bailey is on a mission to help people adopt self-care as a central practice for their lives.

Executions Down Nationwide

Read the report (PDF)

Attorney: Hinds Elections Hiring Improper

The Hinds County Election Commission did not follow required hiring procedures when it issued a contract to a voting machine technician, county supervisors learned today.

Senate Confirms Reeves to Federal Court

Newly confirmed Federal District Judge Carlton Reeves will keep his politics to himself, legal observers predict. Yesterday, the U.S. Senate confirmed the former Magnolia Bar president to serve as a Southern District Court judge in Mississippi, eight months after President Barack Obama appointed him.

Community Events and Public Meetings

Christmas Wish List Drive at Jackson Street Gallery (500 Highway 51, Suite E, Ridgeland). The gallery is collecting donated items for The Home Place, a senior citizens home in Madison through Dec. 20. Items needed include salon products, Kleenex and snacks. Contact the office for the full list. Donations do not have to be wrapped; they will be wrapped on-site. Donations welcome; call 601-853-1880.

Pam Greer

Pam Greer remembers what it felt like to not get any Christmas gifts. When she was a child growing up in Magnolia, Miss., her family couldn't afford them and were too proud to ask for help.

Senate Approves Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal

Gay-rights activists gained a victory Saturday when the U.S. Senate passed the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act allowing gays to serve openly in the military.

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