News

Crossing The Mighty River: Race, Religion and Mississippi

At the climax of the 11 o' clock church service at Galloway Methodist church, the Rev. Ross Olivier assumes the pulpit to deliver his sermon. Olivier's polished demeanor gives no air of being weathered by years of struggle against apartheid in South Africa. He does not let any possible scars from that experience stop him from addressing the hard issues before American Christians. His sermon, which is riddled with messages of the social Gospel, is an open call to Christians to unseat themselves from complacency and work toward living out the mission of Jesus Christ by working for justice.

Mayor, Chief Downplay Crime Stats

Jackson City Council President Marshand Crisler spoke out last week against the city police department's tight lips regarding crime figures, in contrast to Former Police Chief Robert Moore, who provided weekly reports on crime statistics. The computer-generated statistics, called COMSTAT reports, were used to pinpoint what crime was occurring where, and were provided to both City Council and the media.

JFP Night for "Santaland Diaries" TONIGHT at New Stage

Join the Jackson Free Press Friday, Dec. 16, for a special showing of "The Santaland Diaries" at New Stage Theater. You don't want to miss the hilarious and irreverent one-man show of David Sedaris' rather twisted mind. For this one, buy tickets at the theater on Friday, first come, first serve. Get there early to get a good seat. $10. Show time is 10 p.m.

David Rop

Coach David Rop, 28, may seem soft-spoken and gentle, but his fierce dedication to cross-country is anything but mild. A native of Eldoret, Kenya, Rop moved to Jackson in 1995 after accepting an athletic scholarship to Jackson State University. At JSU, Rop collected copious cross-country and track trophies and set new records as he completed his bachelors and masters degrees in mathematics. After graduating from JSU in 2001, Rop became assistant cross-country coach at JSU and taught mathematics.

U.S. Supreme Court to Review Texas Redistricting Scheme

AP is reporting today:

Going-Away Dance Party for Casey TONIGHT

The Jackson Free Press is sending Casey Parks off to grad school with style in the Red Room with a "Please Don't Go" Going-Away Dance Party. Starts at 9 p.m., no cover, 18+. DJs Stephen Barnette and Donna Ladd will help you dance your butts off. Casey Parks Look-alike Contest at 11 p.m. Be there! You're welcome even if aren't yet lucky enough to know Casey personally.

Local Blues Musician Loses Everything in Fire

Virgil Brawley (of the Juvenators) and his wife lost everything in a fire this morning that destroyed their Belhaven Heights home and its contents, including a very large collection of vintage guitars. The local music community is in the process of setting up a fund at Mississippi Music to replace some of his music gear. However, they need some stuff in the short run. Charly Abraham has volunteered Hal & Mal's as a collection point for needed items and money. Please drop by tonight (Thursday) and donate a few bucks or some clothes or a toothbrush. Lisa Palmer and the Knight Bruce Group are playing. Todd and I will be going there after the Pix Capri benefit. Best, Donna

Patti Carr Black

Patti Carr Black's Belhaven living room appears almost square, with built-in, wall-size bookshelves directly across from the front door. A quarter of the way down, surrounded by a portion of her collected books, hangs Walter Anderson's "Magic Carpet," opulent in color and design, breath-taking in its seven-foot width.

Just Rewards

Christmas came early for Thomas Moore when Mississippi religious leaders agreed to offer a reward for tips about the 1964 murders of his brother and his friend.

Holiday Arts Mixer TONIGHT

As a board member of the Greater Jackson Arts Council (formerly the Arts Alliance), I'd like to personally invite each of you to tonight's Holiday Arts Mixer at the old Capitol Inn from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Come enjoy free wine, beer and creative cheer. You can also see wonderful and artistic gift ideas by local artists and artisans, and meet some of the artists who are making this a wonderful creative class city. Please join us tonight (Monday). 226 N. State St., 601.960.1557.

More Allies Pulling Out of Iraqi War

AP is reporting:

Two of America's allies in Iraq are withdrawing forces this month and a half-dozen others are debating possible pullouts or reductions, increasing pressure on Washington as calls mount to bring home U.S. troops. Bulgaria and Ukraine will begin withdrawing their combined 1,250 troops by mid-December. If Australia, Britain, Italy, Japan, Poland and South Korea reduce or recall their personnel, more than half of the non-American forces in Iraq could be gone by next summer.

Robert Langford

Tall and slender, with a fluid gait that quickly takes him from one responsibility to the next, Robert Langford, 42, has the needs of children and their families foremost in his heart and mind. First, there's his wife Betsy Bradley, executive director of the Mississippi Museum of Art, and their two children. Then there are the elementary school students and their families served by Operation Shoestring where Langford has been executive director since 1997.

The Day That Emmett Died

Twelve-year-old Simeon Wright lay in his bed in his family's small house near Money, Miss., in the Mississippi Delta. It was Saturday night, Aug. 27, 1955, and Simeon was tired from a busy week. Wright was looking up at the raindrop ceiling, gray with the casts of traces of moonlight. For the last eight days, he had been hanging out with his older cousin Emmett Louis Till, and other cousins and friends, all teens—or, like Simeon, almost-teens.

JFP Interview: Keith Beauchamp

Telling The Untold Story

Keith Beauchamp, 34, has spent the last 10 years of his life investigating the brutal murder of Emmett Louis Till in Money, Miss., in 1955. Till, 14, was visiting relatives in Mississippi when he was reported to have whistled at a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, and was subsequently tortured, beaten and shot in the head.

Twin Failures

Film Review: "The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till"

We live in a culture so driven by visual images that our eyes can't take them all in. From pop-up Internet ads to quick-cut TV commercials to high-tech billboards, we witness far more than we can comprehend, wiping most of what we see from our mental hard drives. Some images, though, aren't so easily erased. On rare occasions, the mind becomes like a photographer's darkroom, in which an image doesn't fade but resolves to such clarity that it becomes an indelible memory.

Jackson Less ‘Dangerous' In 2004

Ironically, a murder binge in the city—nine fatal shootings in 10 days—comes just as a national crime-rating outfit released good news for the city of Jackson, at least about its reputation in 2004. For the first time in a decade of reporting, Jackson's 2004 FBI crime figures knocked the city out of the top 25 most dangerous cities, according to Morgan-Quitno, the Kansas-based book publisher.

Rebecca Starling

Rebecca Starling hesitated a bit about being a JFP Jacksonian—she's not someone looking for the spotlight. Her deep-seated conviction to meeting the needs of Hurricane Katrina-displaced students attending Jackson Public Schools changed her mind.

Ride ‘Em Cowboys, We're Back ... But Apologies

As most of you cowpokes have figured out by now, the JFP's site underwent technical problems this week with our service provider. Understanding exactly what happened is above my pay grade, but Todd tells me it has a whole lot to do with having too much traffic, which overloaded our previous system. That seems a blessing in disguise, even if it didn't feel like it this week. As you can see, the site has been transferred over and is up and running again. However, there are still some glitches.

Melton's Honeymoon, Part III: Crime and Punishment, Melton Style

Frank Melton carried the May 2 mayoral primary in part because of a surly, take-no-prisoners attitude on crime. Melton used his 14-month tenure as head of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics to forge a local image as a hard-nosed delivery system for justice, despite being involuntarily relieved of his MBN duties by incoming Gov. Haley Barbour due to low drug arrest numbers.

Michael Robinson

Michael Robinson, 31, is wearing a t-shirt that says, "I Love Myself," when I interview him. "Born and bred" in Jackson, Robinson sharpened his public speaking skills at Murrah High School on the rap team, then went on to Mississippi Valley State University for a degree in music education. He developed a passion for outreach, education and compassion.

Clarion-Ledger: Jackson Nightlife ‘Virtually Nonexistent'

I'm reading the first piece in The Clarion-Ledger's new "Changing Faces" installment, and I run into this humdinger of a sentence, stated as a fact by the journalist, thus the newspaper:

Steve Deaton

Steve Deaton teaches English at Belhaven College and Holmes Community College. He also gives guitar lessons at Morrison Brothers. It doesn't take too much imagination to see all of this when I meet him: He's got the English teacher look all over him, although maybe a cooler English teacher than most of us might have had. What might not be so obvious is that every so often, he and his band Buffalo Nickel like to rock out Jackson audiences and make great records.

‘Tis ‘Best of Jackson,' ‘Think Global, Shop Local' Season

This week's issue kicks off the JFP's "Best of Jackson 2006" campaign season—and our fourth annual "Think Global, Shop Local" campaign, which we introduced to Jackson in our first year of publication. Pick up this week's issue and read all about why Wal-Mart is not the future of this growing creative-class city, and how you help your community to spending your dollars with locally owned businesses. Also, turn to page 24 to cast your votes in the "Best of Jackson 2006" readers' choice awards—which will be announced in late January.

Kendria Moreland Robinson

Canton native Kendria Moreland Robinson, 33, understands the "no pain, no gain" mantra. As a former gymnast, fitness has always been her drug of choice, and running is her new fix. A couple weeks ago, she completed the five-mile "Over the River Run" in Vicksburg, her longest to date.

Trent Lott: Alito Is a ‘Home Run'

[Verbatim statement/Oct. 31, 2005] WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi issued the following statement upon President Bush's nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. to be Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court:

Trent Lott, Harry Reid Call for ‘New Blood' in White House

The New York Times reports today that prominent lawmakers of both parties, including Sens. Trent Lott and Harry Reid are calling for the president to make shake-ups in the White House, in the wake of Friday's indictment of Scooter Libby, who is both special assistant to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney's chief of staff. Lawmakers are also calling for a major investigation in Dick Cheney's role in the scheme to cover up the lies about WMD that convinced the American people to support the Iraqi War.

Ellington