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McCain Chooses Alaska 'Hockey Mom' as Running Mate

The New York Times reports that Sen. John McCain has chosen a 44-year-old conservative, pro-life governor who called herself a "hockey mom" as his running mate:

Watching History Unfold

My mind is going in so many directions right now that I'm surprised that I'm not dizzy.

First, yesterday was the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington. Whenever I saw clips of his speech, I would wish that I was there to see it, even if it was just live on TV. Of course, that would not have been possible since I was born over eleven years later. Then, in an interesting turn of events, I watched the first black man to become a major-party presidential nominee, Barack Obama, give his acceptance speech on TV last night, on the anniversary of the "I Have a Dream" speech. My heart was beating so fast that I thought my chest was going to pop. Good thing I wasn't there in person - I probably would have fainted. It doesn't matter whether you're red, blue or purple - it was still a historic moment. Regardless of whether he wins or not, I will never forget what I saw because he did the unthinkable.

The Code Returns

The Code

Fondren Radio's Daniel Guaqueta and the guys at The Code, an online music broadcast featuring Southern artists, just released their fifth episode. The new show features Jackson's own Red Hill City, N.T. Bullock, and Bear Colony. Check it out.

Who Can Read This?

Why is The Clarion-Ledger in so much trouble? Here's a good hint: Top editor Ronnie Agnew's column today starts this way:

"USA Today: Mississippi Edition"? The ‘Nuclear Option'?

Gannett blogger Jim Hopkins writes:

Things are so bad in the Gannett world (including layoffs nationwide, and 5 percent of The Clarion-Ledger staff, and dropping revenue and see-saw stock prices) that rumors are flying about what the company might try to do to save itself. Over on the very-active Gannett Blog, a tipster says that Gannett papers may "go nuclear"—in this case, apparently meaning to fold the local editions and become different editions of the national USA Today.

Fare thee well, mes amis

Today is my last day here at the Free Press. Tomorrow I have to go back to Oxford for my final year at Ole Miss. I've been in the office today fact-checking and revising, and I've also been wondering around the rooms remembering what I've been doing here for the past three months. There's the classroom where the interns had our classes with Donna and is also headquarters of the CCU (Cold Case Unit to you - t-shirts are forthcoming!). There's the Fly room where I would bug Stephanie while she was putting together purses and scarves for a new fashion spread. It's also where Lisa and I got ready for our brush with fame in the fashion shoot (My mom actually asked Donna to get her a blow-up of the Jackpedia issue with me on the cover, and I was dying of embarrassment because isn't it a little narcissistic to have a three foot tall picture of yourself in your house?). The editorial room where I spent ninety percent of my JFP life transcribing interviews, proof-reading, making edits and cold-calling strangers for this and that. It's also where I sang songs from Dr. Horrible to Maggie, Sage and Vince (they may have actually blocked this part out) and where I got to chat with other interns about Jackpedia and the Freedom Rides and what movies were coming out that weekend. The over-flow hallway which, while quieter, was a good place to get work done and get to see what's going on in the other parts of the office (Oh, my God, we have a kitchen?).

Congress Does the Right Thing

From the Environmental Working Group's EnviroBlog (verbatim):

Ed Peters Making a Deal with the Feds ... Or Not?

Patsy Brumsfield is reporting on the deal-or-no-deal confusion at The Daily Journal. (Hat tip to Folo.):

First black woman to serve as representative of Ohio dies

Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones died of an aneurysm Wednesday. She was 58. From CNN:

Coxwell Not Representing Melton

According to a report by WLBT, Merrida "Buddy" Coxwell has filed a motion informing the court that he and the mayor haven't "reached terms" and that he would no longer represent Melton. According to the story, Melton is negotiating with another attorney, Kenya Martin, to represent him.

Shoot to Kill—Store Clerk Shoots Robber

So WAPT is reporting that a store clerk shot a man who had attempted to rob his store for a case of beer. This guy is facing murder charges since the robber died from the gun shot wound.

To: Employees of The Clarion-Ledger

To: Employees of The Clarion-Ledger

As you may have read in our newspaper or web site earlier today, The Gannett Company has announced a reduction of approximately 1000 jobs or 3 percent of the company workforce over the next two weeks. To respond to your concerns, The Clarion-Ledger took this difficult step two weeks ago when we reduced our workforce by 20 people or 5 percent of the staff.

Adventures with the camera, audio recorders and microfilms

At the beginning of my internship with Jackson Free Press, I excitedly signed up to learn video and podcasting. There was a reason behind my eagerness: I'm horribly clumsy and inept with technology. Even after taking crash courses in multimedia from my more tech-savvy friends, I have the worst luck with the littlest tasks, like sending story attachments over I-Chat.

ARTICLE: Calif. mom gives birth on front lawn by herself

Nothing surprises me any more. Nothing. From USA Today:

Nationwide Layoffs Announced Today at Gannett

An "undated memo" sent to publishers in the Gannett chain of daily newspapers confirmed something that was suggested two weeks ago when we learned that the Clarion-Ledger was laying off 5 percent of its workforce -- the cuts are nationwide, and they hit hard in Gannett's community publishing (daily newspaper) division. From Reuters:

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