News

Gulf Coast AGs Seek Spill ‘Clarifications'

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood and the attorneys general from four other states affected (or potentially affected) by oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico are looking for clarification of responsibility from all involved parties. Yesterday, the group of five state "top cops" sent letters to three British Petroleum executives and to the general counsels at Transocean, Halliburton Energy, and Cameron International, corporations directly associated to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded and sank April 20 killing 11 workers.

Woodward Execution Date Set

Attorney General Jim Hood is asking the state of Mississippi to execute two death-row inmates, the first since 2008. Hood's office submitted requests to the Mississippi Supreme Court last month to set execution dates of May 19 and 20 for Paul Woodward and Gerald James Holland.

Mason: ‘I'm Basically an Introvert'

Outgoing Jackson State University President Ronald Mason Jr. said at a Tuesday press luncheon that he did not expect his university to deviate from progress and growth in his absence.

Hinds Unloading Title Building

For three years, the Mississippi Valley Title Building has weighed on Hinds County's budget without contributing much of anything in the way of revenue. Purchased in 2007 for a planned expansion of county offices, the building has sat more or less dormant since the county scrapped those original plans.

Commence This

It's that time of year again, where we cheer and cry our hearts out to you, fellow grads! We here at the JFP, give much congrats to you for toughing it out and surviving homework.

Too Little, Too Late?

Behind the Silver Slipper Casino in Bay St. Louis, a fleet of commercial fishing boats sits quietly before sunrise on April 30. Even though it's the last day of oyster season, only a few fishermen are at the Bayou Caddy Marina.

Power Company to Challenge Commission Ruling

Mississippi Power Company will file a motion this week asking the Mississippi Public Service Commission to reconsider its April 29 order for Kemper County IGCC Project. The MPSC approved the experimental coal-burning plant, however its conditions made it impossible for creditors to fund the plant, Mississippi Power contends.

Maurice Turner II

Wherever Maurice Turner II is, so is his trumpet. It's not just some eccentric call for attention. "My band director loaned me a trumpet, and I left it in the study hall," he says. "It came up missing one day, and I've been carrying it around since I was 10 or 11—everywhere I go."

Barbour: Don't Panic

Gov. Haley Barbour wants Mississippi residents to stay calm about the oil spill creeping toward the Gulf shore, reports Canadian Business. The spill has been putting 5,000 barrels, or 210,000 gallons, of oil into the ocean every day since the April 20 explosion that sank a British Petroleum oil rig 50 miles off the Louisiana coast.

Blocking Digital Signs and Helping Small Business

Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. will submit a resolution protesting the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce's plan to build and rent three new digital signs in the city, city spokesman Chris Mims said today.

Business Round Up: Two Markets and A New Film Festival

A former grocery store near the Jackson Medical Mall reopened Saturday as a farmer's market. Part of the Roadmap to Health Equity Project, the market is located in the former New Deal grocery store on Livingston Road. Beneta Burt, project director, said that grant funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation allows the farmers market to offer fresh produce from a cooperative of local farmers at discounted prices.

Michele Baker

Michele Baker wants to help families who lost everything during Hurricane Katrina get back into their homes.

Mississippi Revenues Down Again

After a slight 1.4 percent uptick in March, state revenues are back in the doldrums, down for the 19th month of the last 20. April revenue came in at 8.54 percent, or $45.1 million, below estimates, Gov. Haley Barbour announced in a statement yesterday. The March improvement was due to an unexpected $30 million increase in corporate tax receipts.

Efforts to Minimize Oil Spill Underway

As a major oil spill creeps its away toward the Gulf Coast, officials are hoping that recent efforts by British Petroleum and the United States Coast Guard can keep the Coast from the worst.

Mason Gets Mixed Reviews

Jackson State University President Ronald Mason Jr.'s announcement last week that he will be ending his 10-year stint at JSU and taking the reins at Louisiana's Southern University and A&M College System in Louisiana, received a mixed response from the community.

Susan Lunardini

Susan Lunardini believes that a strong business climate goes hand in hand with a safe city. As the president of the Jackson Police Foundation, she hopes to promote that climate in Jackson.

Community Events and Public Meetings

6 p.m., Jackson Arts Collective Annual Meeting at Welty Commons Gallery (719 Congress St.). The annual meeting is an opportunity to hear a report of the previous year's activities and initiatives as well as to elect new steering committee members. Elections are open to all residents of the greater Jackson area, and voting is open to all Jacksonians who are present. Free; e-mail [e-mail missing].

Barbour Declares Third Emergency

Several north Mississippi counties joined Gov. Haley Barbour's emergency list yesterday because of severe storms, flooding and tornados that left at least three Mississippians dead. The counties of Benton, Lafayette, Panola, Tippah and Union joined several mid-state counties where the governor declared a disaster April 28 due to tornados, and the entire Gulf coast awaiting the encroaching sea of oil headed for the beaches.

State Waits for the Oil; Fla., La. Declare Emergencies

Mississippi's oyster fishermen, already hit earlier in the year with scares of infected seafood, greeted a stormy last day of the commercial season, along with possibilities of being unable to sell the day's catch.

Sleep Inn Poised for September Opening

After a brief hiatus, construction on the Sleep Inn downtown is set to resume in the next two weeks and finish in time for a Sept. 1 opening. Robert Gibbs, a member of the Jackson-based LEAD Group LLC, which is developing the hotel, told the Jackson Free Press today that his group has acquired construction financing to finish the $5 million project.

Trent Walker

Trent Walker is counting on his 14 years of varied legal experience in his bid for Hinds County judge.

Paint, Parties and Plays This Weekend

This afternoon, start your weekend off right at Arts Alive! in Smith Park for art, music and dance performances. Tonight, go to New Stage Theatre's opening of the play "Dead Man's Cell Phone" at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5, and encore shows continue through May 2. Or, if you've ever been curious about kirtan chanting, head to the LemuriaBooks.com building for music by Sean Johnson and the Wild Lotus Band. Tickets are $20. Later, partake in some body painting during the "Might Could Right Quick" CD release party for the duo Hot and Lonely at North Midtown Arts Center at 10 p.m. Admission is $5, CD included, and proceeds go to the Red Cross for the tornado victims in Yazoo. If that's not enough to keep you busy, begin your search for fun at the JFP Best Bets page, or the music listings for even more entertainment ideas.

Mason Leaving JSU for Southern Univ.

[verbatim from the Mississippi Institutions for Higher Learning]

After a decade leading Mississippi's largest historically black institution, Jackson State University President Ronald Mason Jr. announced today that he has accepted the position as the next president of the Southern University and A&M College System in Louisiana.

Mississippi ‘Prepares for the Worst'

As expected, the oil spill caused by the explosion and sinking of BP-owned rig Deepwater Horizon April 20 reached the mouth of the Mississippi River this morning, reports CNN. The Louisiana wetlands in the river's delta will be the first to be affected by the spill; however the slick is steadily making its way to the Mississippi, Alabama and Florida coasts as well. Officials expect the oil to reach Mississippi tomorrow.

PSC Approves Coal Plant, Mississippi Power Rejects It

Read the Public Service Commission's Order (PDF)

Obama Names African American Jackson Attorney to Federal Bench

Carlton Reeves is set to become the second African American appointee to the U.S. Southern District Court in Mississippi. President Barack Obama sent Reeves' name to the Senate yesterday for confirmation, but Reeves has been rumored as Obama's pick for more than a year.

Crime Declines City Wide

The Jackson Police Department reports an overall decrease in major crimes from April 19 through April 25 in the city. But Assistant Chief Lee Vance is cautious not to attribute the decline to the department's implementation of the High Enforcement and Response Operation, a task force that began April 24.

Jamie Weems

When Jamie Weems moved to Jackson from Lafayette, La., eight years ago, he was discouraged by the lack of creative outlets for musicians. Now, however, he performs or rehearses with other Jackson musicians as many as five times a week.

Gulf Oil Spill ‘Potentially a Valdez'

This morning, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said the spill from the leaking BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico was about 16 miles from the coast of Louisiana, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. Initially, the well, damaged when an oil rig exploded and sank, had one leak pumping approximately 42,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf; however, a second leak is now spilling 5,000 barrels a day, and officials attempting to control the spill have discovered a third leak.

Racist Names, Beware

Ward 2 Councilman Chokwe Lumumba said he voted with a majority of the council to remove a controversial petition requirement for the renaming of city streets or facilities because he felt city residents deserved a "more fair system" for changing street and place names.

Ellington