News

WAPT is reporting that conservative talk darling Rush Limbaugh has been arrested:

Donna & Todd Present 'Southern Fried Karaoke'

Tonight. (Friday.) 9 p.m.-until. No cover. Hal & Mal's restaurant. Be there.

Justice Diaz Acquitted ... Again

Ben Barlow

After spending his first years out of college as a chef on a cattle ranch in Wyoming and a salesman in Colorado, Ben Barlow came back to Mississippi to try his hand at the family business; both his mother and grandmother were teachers for 40 years, and his cousin is also in education.

The JFP Crime Blog is Live

JPD Charges Two in City's 9th Homicide in 2006

Bob Kochtitzky

Bob Kochtitzky, director of Mississippi 2020, has the gift of foresight. He can pick out warning signs years before the rest of society catches on, and he figured out ages ago that sustainable living is a necessity if the planet is still going to be usable far into the future. The hard part, Kochtitzky will tell you, is convincing everybody else.

Eddie Brown, Jr.

Chivalry is not dead, and some men still believe that real men can be gentlemen. Meet Eddie Brown Jr.

Jackson 2nd in KPMG study

[Moved from forums - TS]

"A KPMG 2006 study backs up what Kaczkowski discovered for himself and ranks Jackson as one of the least-costly metro areas to do business among 13 locations in the U.S. with populations between 500,000 and 1.5 million."

Is Tom Delay relevant to the ‘06 election?

Ebony Gee

"There's nothing to do in Jackson." This is one of the most common complaints and misconceptions echoed all-around our bold new city, and Ebony Gee, 23, grows more determined to quiet those voices everyday.

The 2006 Session ends

Marshand Crisler: The Man Watching the Mayor (2006)

The office of Jackson Council President Marshand Crisler bears the signs of a harsh duality. Crisler carries himself with a clean, pressed lookin startling contrast to the reporter sitting across from him. He's always clean and ironed, he's hardly ever been spotted with a stain on his shirt, and ring around the collar is something that happens to other people. There's a very good chance Crisler was up this morning before 5 a.m., and it's an even better bet that his clothes were ironed before he went to bed in the first place.

Katy Smith

Katy Smith blinks in the afternoon sunlight of a bright spring day and says, "I love downtown Jackson. I think it's really beautiful, and people don't appreciate it."

House Concurrent Resolution 114 To Resurrect Bills

[verbatim] House Concurrent Resolution 114

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION SUSPENDING THE DEADLINES FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE FURTHER CONSIDERATION AND PASSAGE OF CERTAIN BILLS THAT DIED IN CONFERENCE.

Barbour Vetoes ‘Partnership' Bill

GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE FOR HOUSE BILL 1115 -March 27, 2006-

I am returning House Bill 1115: AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 43-13-403, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DEFINE CERTAIN TERMS IN THE HEALTH CARE TRUST FUND LAW; TO AMEND SECTION 43-13-405, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT ALL TOBACCO SETTLEMENT INSTALLMENT PAYMENTS MADE TO THE STATE SHALL BE DEPOSITED INTO THE HEALTH CARE TRUST FUND, INCLUDING ANY SETTLEMENT PAYMENTS MADE UNDER COURT ORDER FOR TOBACCO CESSATION PROGRAMS, EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN THIS ACT; TO EXTEND THE DATE OF THE REPEALER ON THAT SECTION;

JFP Lounge Thursday Night!

Come on out and join us at the monthly JFP Lounge Thursday night, March 23, from 7:30 to 11 p.m. in the Oyster Bar at Hal & Mal's. Just a gathering of creatives and progressive thinkers. Make new friends and network. Come alone, or bring friends. Free munchies. Non-smoking (can smoke at the main bar). We're combining parties, so to speak, with a wrap party for the film Todd has been working on in Canton. So it'll be a double-whammy tonight of creative juices (if anybody has any left).

Civil Rights to Actually Be Taught

Gov. Haley Barbour likely shocked his staunchest supporters when he announced a bill authorizing public schools to add civil rights and human rights to the public-school curriculum in all grades. "I think the broader the curricula and history are, the better it is for the students," Barbour said at the March 20 announcement.

Oleta Fitzgerald

Oleta Fitzgerald, 58, is a tiny woman with a big office. Perfectly coiffed in a tweed business suit, she arises from her desk when I arrive and gracefully extends her hand to meet mine. Fitzgerald's soft and feminine exterior suggests her warmhearted and nurturing interior. But when it comes to executing her duties as the head of the Southern Regional Office of the Children's Defense Fund, Fitzgerald is a determined, almost unstoppable woman.

PHM Bill heads to Governor

Open thread for this week: Only two weeks left

FBI Presents DA with Report on Emmett Till

The Associated Press is reporting:

The long awaited report into the 1955 killing of Emmett Till concludes no federal charges will be filed in the case, but District Attorney Joyce L. Chiles will make the decision on state charges, the FBI says. The FBI turned the report over to Chiles' office on Thursday. Chiles, who was trying a case in Leflore County, was not immediately available for comment.

Barbour Vetoes Tobacco-Grocery Tax Bill

Following is Gov. Haley Barbour's statement today vetoing the popular effort to raise the tax on cigarettes and lower the tax on on groceries. Note that he is repeating his past statement about the effect the tax-switch would have on local governments—even though his allegations on that front are disputed by the State Tax Commission. As quoted in Adam Lynch's report this week on this issue:

Cecilia Reese Bullock

Every time I'm in the presence of Cecilia Reese Bullock, a construction-company owner and real-estate mogul, some guy tries to pick her up. At least one. Usually more.

One man's crusade

Melton: Police Taking Over Court Services; No Crime Stats to Media

UPDATE March 16, 2006: This is now a full transcript of the mayor's press conference, addressing many issues—from crime stats to his pursuit of the Wood Street Players.

Lott, Cochran Introduce Bill for Offshore Gulf Drilling

[verbatim statement] A bill to direct revenues to Mississippi and other Gulf states, generated by the expansion of deepwater oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico, was introduced in the U.S. Senate Wednesday by Senators Trent Lott and Thad Cochran of Mississippi. The bill, authored by Senator Lott, is a response to legislation now before the Congress which proposes to open about three million acres in the Gulf's Lease Sale 181 Area, 123 miles southeast of Biloxi but which fails to provide any coastal impact assistance to states like Mississippi from the revenues that will be generated from the offshore oil and gas drilling.

Kim Wade

Kim Wade, a boisterous conservative, reclines in the cramped studio of WJNT. The witty and outspoken Wade is probably best known in the Jackson area for his weekday talk show, "WJNT in the Afternoon," broadcast from 5-6 p.m., Monday-Friday, on WJNT1180 AM.

Ellington

My take on the Immigration issue

Police Beat 18-Year-Old While In Handcuffs

Rush Limbaugh Arrested on Drug Charges