News

Cultural Expressions Opens

The building that housed Seven*Studioz is reopening, under new ownership and a new name: Cultural Expressions. Dora Lowe confirmed that she has owned the building, formerly rented by Seven*Studioz manager Ezra Brown, since June. Brown has been living in New York for the past several months.

Domestic Violence Victim

She could be anyone you know. She is white, African American, Latina, Asian or Native American. She might live in the Virden Addition, but then again, she could have a Belhaven or Madison address. Chances are high that she's a wife and mother. Perhaps she's your sister, your friend or the woman who works in the next office or cubicle.

Convicted Judge Whitfield Appeals to 5th Circuit

Attorneys for Harrison County Circuit Judge John Whitfield, convicted of bribery alongside Mississippi attorney Paul Minor, filed a motion for review with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday, citing flaws in U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate's refusal to grant Whitfield's motions for release pending his appeal.

Unemployment Hits 20 Percent in Mississippi County

The rate of unemployment in the Magnolia State either dropped slightly or rose slightly, according to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security, depending on how you count the numbers. Adjusting for the season, May's rate was 9.7 percent, and the June rate dropped just a bit, to 9 percent. In real numbers, however, 1,500 more people were jobless in June than May, meaning the unadjusted rate climbed to 9.8 statewide.

Ledger Spreads Bad Info About Columbus Daily

The Commercial Dispatch in Columbus was surprised to learn yesterday that it was changing format from a daily newspaper to a weekly "advertiser" format. Except that it wasn't true. Turns out The Clarion-Ledger was mailing subscribers in the town, spreading false information to try to increase its own subscriptions in the area.

Advocates Unveil Program to Curb Domestic Violence

In a noon press conference today in the Mississippi Capitol, Sandy Middleton, executive director of the Center for Violence Prevention in Pearl, former Appeals Court Judge Mary Libby Payne, Madison County Justice Court Judge Carole Davis, Sheriff Malcolm McMillin, Assistant Attorney Heather Wagner and Hinds Justice Court Judge Frank Sutton announced a new resource to prevent domestic violence in the Jackson area: a batterer's intervention program based on the Duluth Model.

Scurlock's Donuts To Open Downtown

Local breakfast hero Mark Scurlock is opening a second location for his donut shop, Scurlock's Donuts, in the heart of downtown Jackson. Beginning the last week of August, the un-sugared masses downtown will be able to get their fix on the ground floor of the Capitol Towers, at the corner of Congress and Pearl Streets.

Mississippi Casinos Feeling the Pinch

Casinos, which economists once thought were "recession proof," are feeling the slump along with the majority of other businesses across the country. The state Tax Commission reports that Mississippi casino earnings numbers for June across the state totaled $189.7 million, down from $237.3 million in June 2008. That's a drop of just over 20 percent.

No Rate Increases for Coal Plants

Mississippi Power Company is denying the Mississippi Sierra Club's Miller's interpretation of the PSC decision against hiking electricity bills to pay for pre-construction costs of a planned $1.8 billion experimental lignite coal plant in Kemper County. The power company called Miller's characterization of the decision "misleading."

Change Meets Fear at JSU

Members of committees affiliated with Jackson State University are worried that the university will cut programs in a curriculum reorganization.

MySpace v. Domestic Abuse

Pussy for Peace is a married 25-year-old woman from Tehran. The MySpace page she manages is a sprawling hive of women's news and thoughts with a Middle East flavor. When a woman is attacked, shot or beaten anywhere in the world, the news often appears here, along with a host of pro-female thoughts.

Emily Sanford

"I know I want to help people, and I can do the science," she thought, "but for me, my heart isn't into this."

Chicks We Love

Chicks like these are rare. They are intelligent, strong, influential women who are making the face of Jackson look a little brighter. And we love them.

Area's First Batterer's Intervention Program Coming to Jackson

Domestic violence. It's such a bland, vanilla euphemism for some of the most brutal and damaging pain that people inflict on one another. Brutal, of course, because peoplemostly women and childrenget their faces punched, their bones broken and sometimes die. Damaging, because the same people who profess love are those doing the punching and breaking, permanently scarring their victims, physically and psychologically. And for women, dying at the hands of an abuser is a real threat: In 2002, two-thirds of all women murdered by firearms were shot by their intimate partners.

Jackson Gets a Taste of the Caribbean

The hungry downtown crowd has spicy new option for lunch, thanks to husband and wife duo Richard and Chandra Higgins. The two opened up Taste of the Island Caribbean Take-Out June 22, and the restaurant has already developed a thriving customer base. Chandra, a native Jacksonian, spoke to the Jackson Free Press in between lunch rushes about opening a business downtown.

Jackson Crime Stats for July 13-19

Major crimes in Jackson dropped last week, according to a weekly report (PDF) released by the Jackson Police Department this morning. Precinct commanders reported 22 fewer property crimes than the previous week, for a 10.4 percent decrease, and 9 fewer violent crimes, representing a 20.9 percent decrease.

Howard McMillan

Howard McMillan, dean of Millsaps College's Else School of Management, will serve as acting president of the Jackson school beginning next month. He takes the place of Dr. Francis Lucas, who announced earlier this year that she would be leaving the college, effective June 2010. Dr. Lucas is using her accrued sabbatical leave to finish her term.

Jackson City Government Broken, says Mayor

Information from Mayor Harvey Johnson's transition team meetings is slowly trickling in, and Johnson said preliminary reviews are showing the city suffers from a broken chain of command.

Mayor Reveals ‘Dire' State of Jackson's Budget

Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. confirmed Monday what many City Council members already knew: that the city's financial situation is "dire."

Kenneth Stokes

The Jackson City Council voted earlier this month to appoint individuals that historically sided with former Mayor Frank Melton to lead them under the new administration. Ward 4 Councilman Frank Bluntson and Ward 5 Councilman Charles Tillman received unanimous votes for council president and vice president, respectively. Bluntson immediately set about making Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes, the third councilman in the Melton "faction," head of the council's planning committee, so that Stokes could immediately go about bringing up all the agenda items that the more level-headed council leaders of the past kept bottled up in committee.

Update: Mayor Tables Farish Zoning Request

Yesterday, the Jackson Free Press reported that the Jackson City Council, particularly Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon, was worried that a zoning request for the Farish Street Entertainment District could open the area to unwanted commercial establishments, including used car lots. In yesterday's council planning and zoning meeting, Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. pulled discussion of the request from the agenda.

Hinds Director to Retire after 48 Years

Hinds County's Director of Emergency Management Larry Fisher announced yesterday that he will retire at the end of October. Fisher said he would work until Oct. 31 to see the county through hurricane season and finish other projects.

Final Transition Forum Tonight

Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr.'s transition team will hold the last of five public forums tonight at City Hall. The topic of tonight's meeting, which starts at 6 p.m., is human and cultural services, a broad category that includes services for special populations, including seniors, and the arts in Jackson.

Council Anxious Over Farish Street Zoning

Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon is nervous about potential rezoning efforts connected to the Farish Street Entertainment District. Renovation of the Farish Street project has been ongoing for about a decade, stalled by strict guidelines for construction in a historically designated area, city/developer disagreements and a host of money issues. The massive endeavor changed hands last year from Memphis' Performa Chairman and CEO John Elkington to the Jackson developer of the King Edward and Standard Life projects, David Watkins, after Performa took a hit from the national economic downturn and was unable to secure reliable funding.

Jackson Public Meetings This Week

Monday, July 20

Johnson Transition Forum: Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr.'s transition team invites the public to a forum concerning human and cultural services. 6 P.M. City Hall, 219 S. President Street

Viking to Open Ridgeland Cooking School

Viking Culinary Group, a division of Viking Range Corporation, is opening a cooking school in Ridgeland next month, kicking off with a class titled "Classic Steakhouse" on Friday, August 21. The group has named Chan Patterson as the school's manager, and the school has a full schedule of classes in the following days and weeks.

Anna Tadlock

On Saturday, Anna Tadlock of Brandon, 23, was crowned Miss Mississippi at the culmination of three days of pageant events in Vicksburg. According to her profile, the Mississippi State University graduate says her future plans include receiving her master's degree in education and teaching English at the high school or college level. She also sees herself getting married and starting a family within the next 10 years.

Mississippi Foreclosures Increase, Maybe

A California-based company that tracks foreclosures, RealtyTrac, reported last week that Mississippi has seen a huge jump in foreclosures last month. The company currently lists 1,893 foreclosed properties in the state, however Forbes reports 755 new actions in June, representing an increase of 74 percent over the previous month.

Mississippi School Board Picks New Interim Superintendent

The State Board of Education replaced interim state superintendent Judy Rhodes yesterday, following a legal opinion from the Attorney General's office that found her technically unqualified for the position. Because she has not earned a Master's degree, Rhodes is ineligible for the interim position, according to minimum qualifications established by the state Legislature, Assistant Attorney General Reese Partridge found.

Dan Blumenthal

Fast cars have been a passion for Dan Blumenthal since he was a little kid. He inherited the bug from his father, and was reading Road &Track magazine at age 7.

Ellington