News

State Workers Forced to Furlough?

Mississippi Sen. Alice Harden, D-Jackson, said she will submit a bill this legislative session forcing all state employees not directly connected to essential services, like hospital care, to accept a one-day-a-month furlough.

Bounds: Universities Will Have To Cut Programs

State Higher Education Commissioner Hank Bounds told legislators Tuesday that funding cuts will force Mississippi's eight public universities to eliminate programs and consider raising tuition. Speaking to the House Universities and Colleges Committee, Bounds warned that the state's universities would not be able to recoup lost state funding solely by increasing efficiency in areas like administration, purchasing and energy usage.

Commission Denies Allstate 65 Percent Hike

Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney sent a letter yesterday denying a request from Allstate Property and Insurance Co. to more than double rates for 51,000 residents state-wide, reports the Associated Press. Deputy Commissioner Mark Haire told the Associated Press that the commission did not find justification for the increase.

Net-Metering Advocates Push for Support

Advocates for net metering pressed legislators this morning to submit and pass laws during this legislative session making the consumer-based electricity policy a reality in Mississippi.

Jackson Sees Sharp Drop in Major Crimes

Major crimes in Jackson decreased 18.1 percent last week, according to statistics (PDF) released at a Jackson Police Department command staff meeting this morning. Officers reported a 14.2 percent decrease in property crimes and 35.7 percent drop in violent crimes from the previous week.

JFP Giraffe of the Day: Ruby

Dec. 8, 2009, was a banner day for the Jackson Zoo and for its resident reticulated giraffes, Diamond and Casper. On that Tuesday, Diamond gave birth to her seventh calf, a 104-pound healthy female.

Jackson Prepped for Frigid Temps

The Jackson area will see temperatures drop below freezing by around 6 p.m. today, according to the National Weather Service, and won't see anything above 32 degrees until Sunday. With this morning's rain, expect ice on the roads after dark. Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. has urged motorists to use caution and to stay off the streets as much as possible during the wintry precipitation.

The Billion-Dollar Levee Question

Downtown Jackson Partners President Ben Allen came out last week as an avid opponent of a levee expansion, saying it is too expensive. His choice, Two Lakes, is also expensive, and perhaps more so.

James C. Thompson

James C. Thompson is the co-founder of the Jackson political consulting firm Blue Dot Group, which he says was named because the group's political affiliations make them "a little blue dot in a big red state."

Running the Blues

The third annual Mississippi Blues Marathon will start and end at the intersection of Capitol and State streets in downtown Jackson this Saturday, Jan. 9. Event organizer John Sewell said about 2,000 runners from 46 states and four countries are expected to participate in the marathon and half marathon, sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield, and kicking off at 7 a.m.

City Attorney: More Accountability, Less Drama

Jackson City Attorney Pieter Teeuwissen officially adopted his job in October, although in truth he had been filling the role in some capacity for more than five years. Teeuwissen, 43, was the city's legal defense attorney until former City Attorney Sarah O'Reilly-Evans left her post after the 2009 municipal election.

Mental Health Ripe for Cuts?

Reform and belt-tightening will collide when state lawmakers consider mental-health services in the 2010 legislative session.

Mississippi Legislature Faces a Dire Task

Mississippi legislators skulked back into the state capitol Jan. 5, keeping their body movements at a minimum and their heads low in case somebody noticed them and asked them questions containing the words "budget shortfall."

Hood Offers Census Cautions and Tips

Attorney General Jim Hood is cautioning Mississippians to take care when revealing information in the upcoming 2010 census. Although he urges everyone to cooperate with census takersthe census determines levels of federal program funding and number of U.S. House seats, for examplehe says citizens should be wary of identity thieves impersonating census workers.

Barbour/Palin Ticket Could Carry 2012 GOP Primary

Mississippi State University political science professor Marty Wiseman predicted that a Sarah Palin/Haley Barbour ticket could easily win the Republican presidential primary in 2012, if the two came together long enough to form a united front. Palin, the former governor of Alaska who abandoned her office last year for a career in public speaking, has been making a big name for herself over the last few months. Barbour, meanwhile, will be unable to run for Mississippi governor after this term, and may be fishing around for another political post, providing he does not dedicate his full efforts to being chairman of the Republican Governor's Association and a high-powered Washington lobbyist.

Scalia Defends Gay, Abortion, Gun Rulings at First Baptist

The United States should not look to other countries when interpreting its own Constitution, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said yesterday in a speech at First Baptist Church of Jackson sponsored by Mississippi College School of Law.

‘Chopper Bob' Rall

"Chopper Bob" Rall, Mississippi's only helicopter traffic reporter, and the "Skycopter" have been staples in the Jackson skies since 1997. Rall was 12 when he moved to Jackson in 1954 with his family from Pittsburgh, Pa. Four years later, he was on the airwaves, disc-jockeying at WJXN radio. Rall died in his sleep early this morning.

German Manufacturer Coming to Tunica

At a press conference yesterday, Gov. Haley Barbour announced that German company, Wilh. Schulz GMBH, has selected Tunica, Miss., just south of Memphis, for a new pipe manufacturing facility. The plant is estimated at $300 million, creating 500 new jobs over the next five years. The company will make an initial investment of $80 million and 200 jobs.

Money to Dominate Legislative Session

Money is on the mind of every legislator entering the state Capitol tomorrow for the start of this year's Mississippi legislative session. Officials predict a shortfall of about $360 million in revenue by the end of fiscal year 2010 in June, and everybody holding an elected job will be nervous that the cuts they agree on this year could impact them in the 2011 elections.

Supervisors Push Forward on Byram-Clinton Corridor

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors today approved taking another early step forward in the Byram-Clinton corridor road-construction project. Supervisors voted unanimously to advertise for engineering consulting services on the project, which Supervisor Peggy Calhoun called "vital to the future economic development of Hinds County."

Public Meetings and Community Events

Hinds County Community College Registration, at all campuses; extended hours: 8:15 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:15 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday. Go to http://www.hindscc.edu or call 1-800-HindsCC.

Sen. David Baria

A Mississippi lawmaker and attorney, Sen. David Baria, D-Bay St. Louis, arrived to the Senate after beating back conservative Democrat Scottie Cuevas in the Democratic primary in 2007. Since his arrival, the frequent insurance-industry critic has become a champion of insurance reform, pushing time and again for an insurance policy-holder's bill of rights, which includes new laws regulating the insurance industry's use of anti-concurrent causation clauses in home-protection policies.

DeLaughter Begins Prison Term

Bobby DeLaughter, former Hinds County prosecutor, rocketed to national fame in 1994 when, 31 years after the crime, he put Byron De La Beckwith behind bars for the 1963 murder of Medgar Evers.

Jackson Metro Ranked in ‘Strongest 20,' Again

The city of Jackson again ranked high in a report released by the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., a nonprofit, non-partisan public-policy organization. The institution's quarterly MetroMonitor report now places the city as No. 9 on the list of its "strongest 20 metros" category for the third quarter of 2009.

Sheriffs Ask Barbour to Spare Crisis Centers

County sheriffs from across Mississippi yesterday urged Gov. Haley Barbour to spare the state's mental-health crisis centers, which Barbour targeted for closure in his 2011 budget proposal. Speaking at the state capitol, Mississippi Sheriffs Association President Willie March warned that closing the state Department of Mental Health's seven crisis-intervention centers would force counties to house mentally ill citizens in county jails.

Rep. Steven Palazzo

While he represents Biloxi in the Mississippi Legislature, Rep. Steven Palazzo often seems to be acting on a national stage. Palazzo, a Republican, sent Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood a letter Dec. 21 urging him to "take the appropriate legal action against the federal government" if Congress passes one of the health-care reform bills currently under consideration.

Barbour Again Seeks More Budgetary Power

Gov. Haley Barbour, in a letter addressed to Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant and House Speaker Billy McCoy, has again asked for additional power to cut Mississippi's state budget. Citing lagging revenue collections for this month and state economic recovery historical trends, Barbour wrote that the "best solution" was to give the governor the ability to make selective 10 percent cuts to agencies, doubling what he can currently cut.

Robert Graham: Positive Thinker

Robert Graham knows his way around a phone. The Hinds County Supervisor for District 1 keeps three cell phones and is not above using two at once, one on either side of his facea holdover from the 15 years he spent as media relations officer for the Jackson Police Department.

Abe Schewel

When Abe Schewel isn't carrying his briefcase through the halls of Murrah High School or wearing a whistle around his neck on the soccer field, it's easy to mistake him for a student, which may be why so many of his students relate to him.

Investigating The Investigators

Support is growing on Jackson City Council for establishing civilian review of the Jackson Police Department, but the form that review will take is still uncertain.

Ellington