News

Minor Bribery Conviction Overturned

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals partially overturned the convictions of Mississippi attorney Paul Minor and former judges John Whitfield and Walter "Wes" Teel.

Contractor, State Trade Blows

The State of Mississippi wants Hinds County Chancery Court Judge William Singletary to dismiss a suit launched against it by multi-national corporation Utility Management Corp.

Casey Amendment Targets Poor Children's Care

Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey is pushing an amendment to keep children in the national Child Health Insurance Program from getting rolled into an insurance exchange.

Council Agrees to Invest in South Jackson Development

The Jackson City Council voted to issue more than $1 million in bonds for a South Jackson development at Tuesday's council meeting. The decision, which is connected to the development of the much-disputed Timber Falls development near Forest Hill High School, means the city will spend $1.2 million to finance the completion of a road linking the new neighborhood to Raymond Road. The bond will also pay for the straightening of a sharp curve in the winding Forest Hill Roadwhich was once little more than an isolated ribbon of concrete twisting through a large thicket of greenery linking Cooper and Raymond Roads.

Numan Rasheed Abdul-Ali

Numan Rasheed Abdul-Ali, 37, grew up surrounded by the Baptist faith of his family, but never felt it was right for him.

2011 Budget Slashes State Jobs

Following Gov. Haley Barbour's cost-cutting lead, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee released their proposed budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 2010. Among its recommendations is eliminating 3,600 state jobs, and cutting another 10 percent from agency funds, resulting in a budget that is $300 million smaller than that of the current year.

Corps Plan Inadequate?

Levee Board member and Jackson developer Leland Speed made clear his belief at Monday's levee board meeting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has duped Rankin County mayors into prematurely accepting a flawed levee plan that the Corps has endorsed.

Cochran Crosses Aisle to Bring Home the Bacon

Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran broke ranks with fellow Republicans Sunday to pass a $1.1 trillion omnibus federal spending bill for the 2010 fiscal year. The bill combined $447 billion for transportation, housing and urban development with roughly $650 billion for federal benefit programs like Medicare. It also included $3.9 billion in earmarks for special projects, of which $150 million went to Mississippi. Support from Cochran and two other Republicans, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, gave Democrats the 60 votes they needed to surpass a threatened GOP filibuster. The spending measure now awaits President Barack Obama's signature.

Cheryl Keeton Shelton

One wouldn't necessarily connect a sixth grade teacher with the FBI, but Daniel McMullen, special agent in charge of the FBI's Jackson division, selected just such a teacher for the 2009 Director's Community Leadership Award: Cheryl Keeton Shelton.

Mayor Proclaims Homeless Persons' Memorial Day

[verbatim] Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson, Jr., will proclaim Friday, Dec. 18, as James Ivory Homeless Persons' Memorial Day at an observance scheduled for 9:30 a.m. that day at the Stewpot Community Services sanctuary, 1100 W. Capitol St. in Jackson.

Levee Board Votes for Corps-Approved Plan

The Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District voted this morning to move head with a levees-only flood-control plan endorsed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Flowood Mayor Gary Rhoads moved to accept the Corps' recommendation that the levees along the Pearl River between Hinds and Rankin counties be extended.

Russell Thomas Jr.

Russell Thomas Jr. lives jazzas a teacher, a student and an advocate. The Mississippi Jazz Foundation recognized Thomas for his own musicianship as well as his education work last Friday, during its annual holiday concert at the Alamo Theatre on Farish Street. Thomas, who has taught jazz performance and music theory at Jackson State University since 1984, also promotes the music he loves in elementary and secondary schools. He founded "Jazz in the Schools," a music education program that teaches jazz history and jazz improvisation to elementary and high school students.

Youth Justice Project Sues Hinds County Schools

The Mississippi Youth Justice Project filed a lawsuit today against the Hinds County School District, alleging that the district unlawfully targeted a student for expulsion. The student, identified in the complaint only by his initials, A.H., was a freshman at Terry High School. District officials suspended, then expelled and placed him in an alternative school for his involvement in what the lawsuit calls a "coin-tossing game" on a school bus.

BREAKING: Levee Board Votes for Corps' Levee Plan

The Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District voted this morning to move head with a levees-only flood-control plan endorsed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Flowood Mayor Gary Rhodes moved to accept the Corps' recommendation that the levees along the Pearl River between Hinds and Rankin counties be extended. The other mayors on the Levee Board including Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. all supported the motion, with only Jackson businessmen Leland Speed and Socrates Garrett voting against it. Rhodes cited the concerns of his constituents about the urgency of flood control in submitting the motion. Mayor Johnson seconded the motion.

Childers to Tour Crop Disaster Areas

Today, Rep. Travis Childers, representing Mississippi's first Congressional district, will lead a crop disaster tour throughout his district in the company of U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary Michael Scuse. The tour will provide the agency first-hand information about the severe crop loss suffered to Mississippi farmers in the wake of heavy rains earlier in the fall, according to a release.

Fifth Circuit Overturns Paul Minor Bribery Conviction

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has partially overturned the convictions of Mississippi attorney Paul Minor and former judges John Whitfield and Walter "Wes" Teel. A federal jury convicted Minor, Teel and Whitfield in 2007 for federal bribery and honest services fraud, but they appealed, arguing that prosecutors changed jury instructions to muddy the definition of an exchange of services for corruption, among other arguments.

Jackson High School Wins National Honor

U.S. News & World Report has named Murrah High School in Jackson a Silver Medal school in the magazine's latest list of America's Best High Schools. Murrah was the only school in the state and one of 461 high schools in the nation to earn the Silver Medal designation, which is based on how well schools prepare students for college. No Mississippi schools were among the 100 selected as Gold Medal schools, the highest level.

Mark Chinn

Yes, he's a divorce lawyer, but if Mark Chinn has his way, that job description will sound less like a slur and more like an honor. Chinn, 56, wants to move his profession away from the litigious, take-no-prisoners mentality it currently holds to a more collaborative approach that seeks to heal families even as it separates them.

[Ratcliff] Energy Efficiency is the Solution, Not Coal

Climate change and what to do about it has been a contentious topic for some time now. Although Al Gore's film, "An Inconvenient Truth," did a terrific job of telling the story about the threat of global warming, too many people don't believe they can or should do anything about it.

MDH Offering Free Flu Vaccines

The Mississippi State Department of Health is now offering free vaccines for the H1N1 flu, commonly known as swine flu, to Mississippians. Residents 6 months of age or older can get either the injectable vaccine or the nasal-spray vaccine free at any MSDH at any county health department. Physicians and schools are also making the vaccines available.

Girl, 8, Shot at Boys & Girls Club

An 8-year-old girl was shot in the head while sitting inside the Boys & Girls Club on Sykes Road at around 2:30 p.m. today, according to Jackson police. The unidentified girl was reportedly doing her homework when a bullet came from outside.

Howard Exec Pleads Guilty

Jose Humberto Gonzalez, 45, former personnel director at Howard Industries in Laurel, Miss., pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy related to the company's hiring of undocumented immigrants. On August 25, 2008, Howard Industries was the site of the biggest immigration raid in U.S. history, during which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers placed 595 immigrants under administrative arrest, nine of whom have since pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft.

Developers Push a Lake for Downtown

UPDATED: December 15, 2009

Jackson developer David Watkins, whose ventures include the King Edward Hotel and the Farish Street entertainment district, unveiled plans for a downtown lake and riverwalk at a media event yesterday. The project, which is still in the early stages of planning, would complement the problematic Two Lakes project for the Pearl River, but its completion would not depend on that development, according to Ben Allen, president of Downtown Jackson Partners, which sponsored the event.

Violent Crime Down; Property Crime Spikes

Major crimes in Jackson rose 11.9 percent last week, with a drop in violent crime not enough to offset a spike in property crimes, according to weekly statistics released at a Jackson Police Department meeting today. For the week ending Dec. 6, Jackson police officers reported three fewer violent crimes than the previous week, keeping with the overall trend: For the year-to-date, Jackson has seen a 9.6 percent drop in violent crime from 2008.

Michael Feldman

Radio quipster Michael Feldman has been compared to Groucho Marx, though without the cigar and brothers. A lapsed schoolteacher and failed cab driver, he has been hosting the comedy quiz radio show "Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know?" since 1985.

Chief Coleman takes Oath of Office

Jackson Police Chief Rebecca Coleman took the oath of office Wednesday afternoon. Supreme Court Justice James Graves administered the oath, after a speech of faint regret by Jackson State University President Ronald Mason, who surrendered Coleman as director of JSU public safety when Mayor Harvey Johnson appointed her as chief in October.

Did State Mismanage Stimulus Funds?

A Jackson company is alleging in Hinds County Chancery Court that the state mismanaged $3.75 million in federal stimulus funds by passing over the lowest and best bidder for a contract to "green" public buildings.

Weill Demands City's Fuelman Records

Ward 1 Councilman Jeff Weill delivered an information request to the city of Jackson yesterday, asking for copies of all records of purchases made from or through Fuelman, the city's contracted fuel administrator. Weill's information request, which targets the time period between Nov. 1, 2008, and Nov. 30, 2009, includes requests for records reflecting the number of city employees who have access to Fuelman cards, the number of and type of exceptions or misuses that have occurred, and "to what extent manual key-ins were permitted" on the cards, meaning purchases made without the presentation of the actual card.

Robin Jayne Henderson

When Robin Jayne Henderson, 27, leaves her day job as the gallery director of One Blu Wall in Fondren Corner, she heads home to One to One Studios and either picks up her paintbrush, or joins in with whatever event is happening on the floor below.

AG's Office Getting Tough on Rip-Offs

Attorney General Jim Hood has announced formation of Mississippi's first intellectual property theft task force, supported by the national business community, according to a release. "Operation Knock Out Knock-Offs" is funded by a federal grant, Hood said, and the task force held its initial meeting and training in October, with more than 40 state, federal and local agencies participating.

Ellington