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2007 JFP Voter's Guide: Of Primary Importance

Photos by Adam Lynch & Roy Adkins

On Aug. 7, voters will turn out in droves—we hope—to make their voices known in the primary elections.

2007 JFP Voter's Guide: Supes Candidates Line Up

Photos by Matt Saldaña

This year, the Jackson Free Press interviewed Hinds County Board of Supervisors primary candidates by asking them identical questions. Of the 12 candidates, only Silas Bolden, Jr., the Democratic primary challenger for District 3, refused to participate.

2007 JFP Voter's Guide: What You Need to Know To Vote FAQ

And Thus, Earn Respect & Make A Difference In The Damn World

Whether you're a first-time voter or you've voted in every election since 1940, you might have a question about voting in the primaries. With a little help from the League of Women Voters of Mississippi Web site, we've put together info to help.

2007 JFP Voter's Guide: Fighting for a Secretary

Photos by Adam Lynch & Darren Schwindaman

Secretary of State Eric Clark is shipping out this year after more than 10 years in office. His departure opens a rift in what might have otherwise been one of the few safe seats in statewide elections, so it's not surprising that seven candidates are jumping at the chance to grab it.

2007 JFP Voter's Guide: Ag Commish Getting It From Both Ends

Agriculture Commissioner Lester Spell is under attack this year, and faces stiffer competition than in earlier years.

Why Isn't Gene Phillips Mentioned?

Blog post by Donna Ladd:

Jack Mazurack never mentions controversial developer Gene Phillips in this story today about TCI's plans for downtown Jackson, helped along by City Council yesterday. And then there is this:

Hear DA Faye Peterson on Radio JFP

District Attorney Faye Peterson appeared on Radio JFP on WLEZ-FM last Friday. The audio of the show, which focused on criticisms of the D.A., is available here. Click to listen to the show.

Party Surprises Former Councilman Ben Allen

Supporters of former city Councilman Ben Allen gathered tonight at Bravo! restaurant for a surprise party to honor him for his service. Secretary of state candidate Delbert Hosemann was a primary organizer, and Bravo! owner Jeff Good opened his restaurant specially for the occasion. More details to come Tuesday.

John Arthur Eaves' Speech at the Neshoba County Fair

[verbatim] I'm John Eaves, and I am running for Governor because I believe it is time for a new day in Mississippi. I am tired of hearing our leaders tell the people of Mississippi to lower their expectations. I have seen far too many broken schools and witnessed our neighbors stuck in FEMA trailers along the coast for too long. And I'm sick and tired of Mississippi always being last in jobs, healthcare, poverty, and education and then hearing our leaders say, "What do you expect?" Well, I expect a whole lot more, and I believe Mississippians deserve much, much better. And so I am running for Governor to declare that this era of low expectations is over and a new day is dawning in Mississippi.

DA Faye Peterson on Radio JFP Friday at Noon

District Attorney Faye Peterson is the guest this Friday, July 27, at noon on Radio JFP on WLEZ. Listen at 103.7 FM, or hear the stream live at http://www.wlezfm.com. The JFP will record the show and link it here later that day. Please feel free to post questions here that you would like us to ask Peterson during the show. Candidate Michele Purvis previously appeared on the show (hear the audio and read a long discussion thread here), and Robert S. Smith was invited to appear last week, but could not make it. The JFP also moderated a Q&A session with the three candidates recently at Schimmel's. Hear the audio here.

Toyota Supplier to Locate In Mississippi

[verbatim from Gov. Haley Barbour] (JACKSON, Mississippi) – Governor Haley Barbour said today Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd. (TAB) will build a $180 million plant in North Mississippi, becoming the first announced supplier to Toyota's new auto assembly plant in Blue Springs. TAB officials made the decision public in Japan overnight.

John Kellogg

John Kellogg, 21, says he has a skewed sense of normalcy. Currently in his last year at Millsaps College, majoring in psychology with a focus on human services, the Shreveport, La., native is full of stories about his interactions with the homeless. Kellogg is currently an intern at Stewpot Community Services working to organize a summer food drive, and Jerome, a homeless man who frequents Stewpot, often accompanies him on trips to donation sites. "We've distributed about 350 boxes to different places throughout the city," says Kellogg, "and we listen to a lot of blues on the rides."

The DA Game: A Trial Of Three

Photos by Adam Lynch & Cheree Franco

While some Hinds County electoral positions can go for years without challenge, the district attorney's office is routinely on the chopping block, and it's no different this year. Incumbent Faye Peterson is facing two Democratic challengers in the primaries, with no Republican wishful-thinker waiting in the wings for the November general election. The primaries, however, are fight enough. Former Special Assistant to the City Attorney Michele Purvis and defense lawyer Robert Shuler Smith are lining up to take a whack at Peterson, and their timing is seemingly perfect.

Transcript: 2007 JFP Interview with DA Faye Peterson

Interview by Adam Lynch

In 1997, when I started working at the public defender's office, I got hired when they were trying to create this drug court prosecution thing, because drug cases were lingering on the dockets, they were not a priority, so they hired two ADAs, two public defenders to work on drug cases. Then, a few years later, they began the treatment aspect of the drug court program. When I became DA in 2001, the human aspect of the program had been in place maybe about two years. It was kind of struggling, but I liked the concept, because it gave people the opportunity for treatment under a court order.

Transcript: JFP Interview with DA Candidate Michele Purvis

Interview by Adam Lynch

Mt. Olive, and I'm not a Jackson resident. I live in Clinton. I've lived in Clinton about three years.

Transcript: JFP Interview with DA Candidate Robert Smith

Interview by Adam Lynch

How old are you?I'm 36.

Jackson 2000: ‘DA Q&A' Audio

Better late than never, here's the audio from the Q&A with Hinds D.A. candidates Robert Schuler Smith, Michele Purvis and incumbent Faye Peterson at a lunchtime program at Schimmel's Restaurant that was put on by Jackson 2000.

UPDATED: Mayor's Summer Youth Camp Schedule

Update: Here's a PDF of the liability and media releases that parents had to sign in order to send their kids to Melton's camp this week.

JFP Radio on WLEZ - Noon Friday

Download the show: JFP 7/20/07

Tune in today at noon for the return of Radio JFP on WLEZ, 103.7 FM, or listen online at http://www.wlezfm.com live at noon. The show will be podcast later if you miss it.

Jannie Johnson

Jannie Johnson teaches children in the same one-room Madison County schoolhouse that her grandfather built 85 years ago. Inspired by her late father, herb doctor Seth Ballard Sr., and the philosophy engraved on his tombstone—"do right and go straight"—Johnson decided to meet a need: to ensure that neighborhood kids received education despite segregation.

Civil Rights and the Blues

The ACLU of Mississippi is having its annual membership meeting at the 930 Blues Cafe, on North Congress Street, on Friday, July 20, at 6 p.m. The ACLU will honor Jackson Advocate Publisher Charles Tisdale and exonerated Parchman inmate Cedric Willis, who spent 12 years in prison after a botched trial.

UPDATE: Taylor's Mom—‘Kids Will Be Kids'

The mother of a 17-year-old housemate of Mayor Frank Melton excoriated* the county today at a press conference in front of the Hinds County Courthouse. Youth Court* ordered that Taylor be re-arrested earlier today on armed carjacking charges after Youth Court mistakenly released him earlier this year.

BREAKING: Michael Taylor Back in Jail

Sheriff Malcolm McMillin told the Jackson Free Press this morning that a young friend of Mayor Frank Melton is again on the way to the Hinds County Jail in Raymond. Michael Taylor, who hid from authorities in Melton's home for more than a year after being charged in a 2005 business robbery, is back in the system after being subpoenaed to answer questions about alleged drug use in the jail.

UPDATED: Levee Board Approves ‘One Lake' Plan, Not ‘Two'

Members of the Rankin-Hinds Pearl Flood and Drainage Control District held a press conference this afternoon at the Mississippi TelCom Center, where chairman Billy Orr announced that the District has selected a flood control plan for Metro Jackson, called the "Lower Lake" plan. The plan will incorporate nearly all the levees recommended in the Comprehensive Levee Plan that the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers created in the mid-1990s, but adds a weir to the Pearl River just south of I-20, causing the Pearl to flood and form a single lake from I-20 to just north of Lakeland Drive, across from downtown Jackson.

Jackson Developer Nervous over Council Vote

Update July 16, 2007: The zoning committee of the Jackson City Council today voted to delay a $75 million development by the Jackson Medical Mall. People over the project fear the 30-day delay could essentially kill the project. Councilmen Leslie McLemore, Kenneth Stokes, Frank Bluntson and Charles Tillman voted to hold the project. Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon disagreed.

A Loud Voice Silenced

Jackson Advocate owner and publisher Charles Tisdale died July 7* after complications with diabetes. Tisdale, 80, fell into a coma during a routine dialysis at the G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery Veterans Affairs Medical Center and was on life support until family members removed him.

Purvis: ‘Melton Did Not Put Me in the Race'

Jackson 2000 held a district attorney candidate forum today at noon at Schimmel's. The Jackson Free Press moderated, asking questions provided by audience members. We will have a full report on the event later today, and with any luck, a podcast of all of the comments. Meantime, here is a press statement candidate Michele Purvis sent out this morning, stating that Melton did not ask her to run. It is important to note that she blames the district attorney for putting that information out there. To our knowledge, the D.A. has not initiated those statements, which she denied doing at the forum, although Sheriff Malcolm McMillin told Adam Lynch last week that Melton has put up the two Democrats running against him, as well as the district attorney. Here is Purvis' statement:

Police Chief's Work-Camp Plans Under Fire

The Jackson City Council today requested that Police Chief Shirlene Anderson remove some Beasley Road property from her list of candidates for a misdemeanor work camp. The property currently houses Ekklesia Christian Academy, and three council members said they had suffered a barrage of calls from angry city residents saying a work camp at the Beasley Road location does not fit in with the surrounding neighborhood. Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin attended the 10 a.m. special council meeting regarding the work camp, and called the city's drive to push a work camp, "unnecessary."

BREAKING: Taylor Headed Back to Jail?

Sources inside Hinds County say a 17-year-old companion of Mayor Frank Melton may need to turn himself back in to Hinds County authorities due to an administrative error regarding his failure to post bond.

BREAKING: McMillin Requests Subpoena for Michael Taylor

Melton inadvertently got his 17-year-old live-in companion subpoenaed before a 2nd District grand jury this morning.

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