News

The Saga of the Convention Center Hotel

The city council met behind closed doors Tuesday evening to discuss a possible cost-sharing agreement with developers of a $200 million mixed-used development along four blocks of Pascagoula street that would include a convention center hotel. The JFP Daily reported online Tuesday that TCI-MS, the LLC that owns the property, has not paid property taxes for 2009, and is linked to a controversial developer.

McLemore Named Interim JSU President

The Jackson State University Board of Trustees has named former Jackson City Councilman Leslie Burl McLemore interim JSU president while it searches for a replacement for outgoing president Ronald Mason. McLemore, a professor of political science, co-founded JSU's Fannie Lou Hamer Institute on Citizenship and Democracy and has served as dean of the university's Graduate School.

City Banking on Future Revenue

Read an excerpt from the report (PDF)

Midtown Housing Development Breaks Ground

City leaders today celebrated groundbreaking on the first phase of a $3.49 million energy-efficient residential development in Jackson's midtown neighborhood. The Jackson Housing Authority is financing the project through stimulus and other federal funds, which will start with the construction of four duplexes at Livingston and Lamar streets.

Amir Gwirtzman

Israeli musician Amir Gwirtzman says that his recent experiences in the South confirms his belief that music has the power to transcend race and cultures.

BP Gives $15 Million to Mississippi for Advertising

Oil giant BP, responsible for the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, is giving money to four coastal states whose tourism industry may be affected by the mess, reports WLBT. In all, the company is giving away $70 million to Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi, of which, the magnolia state is receiving $15 million for advertising designed to alter vacationers' opinions that the coast may not be not fit for vacationing.

Behind The Mask: Reversing Domestic Abuse

About 10 minutes before Jasmine stabbed her boyfriend, William, he had her on the floor of her grandmother's house, choking her to the point that she passed out. It wasn't the first time he had attacked her in that way, but it would be the last, she said.

State's First Legal Distillery Opens

Beginning Wednesday, May 19, Mississippi liquor stores will offer a truly local spirit. Cathead Vodka, the first legally distilled spirit in the state, goes on sale this week, after a nearly three-year development process. The corn-based alcohol is a joint venture of Jackson native Austin Evans and Georgia transplant Richard Patrick.

NAACP Blasts MDPS' Decision

The Mississippi NAACP is condemning Department of Public Safety Commissioner Steve Simpson's decision to ignore a May 11 finding by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that the department fired Horn Lake trooper Michael McField for racially motivated reasons.

Details Still Scant on Convention Center Deal

Read TCI-MS's PowerPoint presentation (PDF, 146 KB)

Death Row Prisoners Sue State

Read the complaint and supporting materials

Bob Hudson

Local poet Bob Hudson leans forward, adjusts his reading glasses and plunges me into another universe. His wiry voice guides me through his strange world of words and ideas, illuminating the path through "Enemy Country," a poem in his "Into The Cold Wind" collection.

Woodward Execution Today

The first of two back-to-back executions will take place today when Mississippi puts to death Paul Everette Woodward, 62, at 6:15 p.m. at the State Penitentiary at Parchman. Tomorrow, the state will execute Gerald James Holland, 72, at the same time.

Convention Hotel Developers Owe County Taxes

A company formed to develop the Capital City Center development on four blocks of Pascagoula Street, including a convention center hotel, has not paid taxes on the property for 2009. According to the Hinds County Tax Collector's website, TCI-MS owes $120,463.34 in property taxes for all its investments in Hinds County and $16,990.36 for properties associated with the hotel, which were due Feb. 1.

Mixed-Use at JSU, Fondren Market, County PR

Jackson State University is seeking retailers for a four-story mixed-use development on track to open this fall. One University Place will host 78 apartments on its top three floors. JSU's Center for University-Based Development is currently soliciting potential retail tenants for the building's ground floor, director Kimberly Hilliard said. The Center hosted an open house for retailers last week.

Charity Moody

Raymond High School senior Charity Moody's interest in biology began after her father's substance abuse-related death. His death inspired her to pursue a career in biology and neuroscience, so others wouldn't have to suffer the way that her family has. Now, thanks to her newly awarded Bill Gates Millennium Scholarship, she'll have the financial resources she needs to fulfill her dream.

BP Pipe Could Syphon Some Oil

A mile-long pipe running from the sea floor where hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil are gushing into the Gulf of Mexico may be the start of capping the spill, reports The Sun Herald. BP officials called the pipe, which is connected to an oil tanker on the surface of the water, "an important step" but not the solution to the problem.

City May Help Fund Convention Center Hotel

The city could enter a cost-sharing agreement with developers of the Capital City Center, a mixed-use development project on four blocks of Pascagoula Street that will include a convention center hotel, Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. confirmed today.

Coral Reefs Threatened by Oil Spill

Marine scientists are concerned about the future of the Gulf's coral reefs because of the unknown effects of dispersants, mixed with oil gushing from the ragged remnants of British Petroleum's decimated deepwater offshore oil rig.

Hinds Planning Bolton Airport Development

Hinds County is planning an aviation and aerospace development for the industrial park surrounding John Bell Williams Airport in Bolton. The Hinds County Economic Development District will present the county Board of Supervisors with a master plan for the industrial park at its next work session, Executive Director Blake Wallace said today.

Brian Keith Leavitt

As an investigator with the Mississippi attorney general's Cyber Crime Unit, Brian Keith Leavitt's attention to detail and use of technology has uncovered hundreds of child-exploitation cases in the state.

Community Events and Public Meetings

Two & Two Restaurant Days May 18 and May 20. Mission Mississippi organizes this annual lunch special. If you invite someone from a different ethnic background to lunch at a participating restaurant, you'll receive a 22 percent discount on your the meal. Visit Mission Mississippi's website for a list of restaurants. Call 601-353-6477.

Barbour Has Joined Health-Care Lawsuit

Friday, Gov. Haley Barbour joined the multi-state lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the federal health-care bill passed by Congress earlier this year. Barbour is moving ahead with the suit despite Attorney General Jim Hood's refusal to do so earlier this year.

Sierra Club: Dispersants Worse than Oil

Mississippi Sierra Club Director Louie Miller says the Sierra Club wants to know the environmental consequences of mixing dispersants with the oil jetting out of the devastated Deepwater Horizon oil well off the coast of Louisiana. He joins a growing number of Louisiana state agencies demanding answers about the chemical's safety.

Hinds Seeks $6 Million Fines

Lack of personnel and technology is preventing Hinds County from collecting over $6 million in outstanding fines, county supervisors learned at a work session yesterday. A discussion on improving the county's processing of warrants proposed by Supervisor Peggy Calhoun spawned an hour-long analysis of the county's system for tracking and collecting fines.

It's The Weekend

It's finally Friday and the best way to kick off the weekend is to attend "ZooBrew" at the Jackson Zoological Park at 6 p.m. Tickets are $40 for non-members and $35 for members. The event includes beer and wine samplings, live music by Time to Move and food from the Tyson Hot Wing Cook-Off. Afterwards\, head downtown to hear more live, local entertainment. The Fearless Four performs at Underground 119 at 9 p.m., Jason Turner Band and Friends performs at The Auditorium at 9 p.m., and Scott Albert Johnson plays at Fenian's at 9 p.m. Want more music options? Visit JFP Music Listings.

Bryant Backpedals on Oil Smell Comment; Tar Balls on the Beach

Speaking Wednesday at the Coastal Development Strategies Conference, Mississippi Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant flatly denied that anyone can detect the odor of crude oil wafting over the waves to the Mississippi Gulf coastline. "No, you can't" he said, according to a report by The Sun Herald. Bryant said the smells might be coming from lawnmowers.

Major University for Arts Proposed for Jackson

Jackson Developer David Watkins wants to transform the James Eastland Post Office and U.S. Courthouse on Capitol Street into an institute for the arts.

Mississippi Legislators Respond to Oil Spill

Troubles keep on brewing as a stricken BP oil well continues to daily jet more than 200,000 gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. British Petroleum's attempt to stop the spill with a 100-ton steel and cement dome that would have siphoned off the oil failed last week. The company is currently trying to seal the rig's blow out preventer and will drop a second dome to plug a smaller leak.

Jeffery Scott

Lt. Jeffery Scott has returned to law enforcement in the Jackson area. The former Jackson Police Department spokesman took a job with the Hinds County Sheriff's Department last week, after spending seven months with the Vicksburg Police Department.

Ellington