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Funding Approved for Two-Way Capitol Street

Downtown Jackson Partners said today that Sen. Thad Cochran is confirming that the city will get a $3 million 20 percent matching grant in order to make Capitol Street two-way. This is great news for downtown's Renaissance efforts.

ChickBall Performer: Rhonda Richmond & Laurel Isbister

The African proverb goes something like this:"If you want to know the end, look at the beginning." So, if you're going to talk about the music lineup at the 4th Annual Chickball, you're going to have to look at longtime blues artist and Jackson native Rhonda Richmond, who played the inaugural Chickball in 2004. Steeped in the blues, peppered with jazz and a healthy dose of R&B and even country, Richmond's music reveals a powerful spiritual component which illuminates the strong cultural ties between the Mississippi region and the West African nation of the Yoruba. Richmond's debut album, Oshogbo town, draws greatly from the West African and the Mississippi blues traditions.

Lawsuits Against Melton and City Piling Up

WAPT broke the story yesterday that A-1 Pallet has (predictably) filed a $100 million lawsuit against the city, Melton and several others. So how many lawsuits has Melton brought, or helped bring, to the city? Let's see ...

Bid on a football signed by Deuce at the Chick Ball!

See y'all at the Ball.

Red Alert: Deuce McAllister and David Watkins have donated a football signed by our favorite running back to be auctioned at the Chick Ball this weekend! Come and get it, folks. And keep those donations coming!

The Rocky Road (unfortunately, I'm not talking about ice cream)

For some reason, sitting at the computer position makes my right shoulder ache. Just that one. It's like scapula tunnel syndrome. I'm going to need a deep tissue massage before I go back to school in August. The JFP may be fun, but it is not for the faint at heart. I still have blisters from when Stephanie and I walked around Fondren running Chick Ball errands, because, you know, I just had to wear heels that day. (Number 5 thing I've learned at the JFP: Always keep a spare set of flip-flops in your car.) I almost fainted once when I was waiting to go into a board meeting because I hadn't eaten. I was talking to a woman who worked in the building and I had to interrupt her to say, Um, can you show me to the bathroom before I collapse, please. I didn't actually say that, of course, I have, in fact, heard of tact, but I did sort of freak her out, which I felt bad about later. (Lesson 6: Always keep a granola bar in your purse, or large pockets, as the gender identification may be.)

ChickBall Performer: Caroline Crawford

Visit Myspace.com/carolinespiano for more info.

Loving and learning the piano as a young teen. Sneaking a radio into her bedroom at night to listen to rock music – which was forbidden in her house. The summers in Seattle training with her music teacher grandfather. Those first public performances at the Kaffeeklatsch in Huntsville Ala. as a nervous 16 year-old. Caroline Crawford is a product of her experience. Crawford has come a long way since the days when her piano-playing was an experience so personal that she shied away from ever performing for others. Tone deaf until her music skills only began burgeoning, her ailment led her parents to at least initially discourage her for pursuing professionally. Now Crawford's haunting voice and piano evokes Tori Amos and Evanescence's Amy Lee. Music is her passion, her conduit of self-expression. "I write about the things I can't always talk about. I take it to the piano and hope I can be open enough to let the lightning come and shock the truth and all the emotion right through my fingertips and my voice."

Releasing Fears

I take back what I wrote two weeks ago about the humidity "not being too bad" here. Every day, I walk for an hour to get some exercise and come home looking like a wet dog with pouffy, crazy hair. But, I love Jackson and have learned to take more risks and feel less inhibited with my fears since I began interning at the JFP three weeks ago.

Brett Favre - Make up Your Mind

What is it with these athletes that retire and within months are ready to come back? I don't get it! And this is retirement number two for Brett. Do you think that maybe he was forced to retire? Did he get home and decide, naaa, I can't do this? This happens quite frequently in todays sports' world so what's the deal with that?

Thank You Sponsors!

Diva: Caroline "Bond Girl" Hobbs

We wanted to send out a huge thank you to the people who have already sponsored this year's Chickball:

Ah! Working at the JFP

Working at JFP is like nothing I ever expected or could have expected. I had the opportunity to choose between the JFP and another Jackson newspaper. While deliberating which paper to choose I decided that working in Fondren would be cool, so I called for an interview. At my interview Maggie asked me what type of stories I would like to write about. Here I was in her office thinking, "Yeah like I really will be writing anything, probably will becoming real friendly with those people at Cups." But I soon realized she really wanted to know what I felt like writing about. I've now been working for a little over a month and I love everything about it. I am actually writing, working on many projects, so I'm not that friendly with the people at Cups.

ChickBall Performer: Infinite

Listen to Infinite and Dread Bred on Radio JPF (WLEZ) today from noon-1pm.

Three worlds come together to make up Dread Bred. Puncho represents the crunk, Infinite represents the streets, and Lyrik represents true lyricism. Making huge strides with the 2007 hit singles "Watch Me Do It" and "Tear It Up", Dread Bred manage to catch the attention of many record labels and ink a publishing deal to release 2 new songs on "Envy" The Movie featuring Lisa Raye and Ray J. Recently nominated for 3 Jackson Music Awards, Dread Bred continues to make huge strides to develop into one of the top HipHop/Rap Trios in the music industry with the release of their new singles "He Said She Said" and "Dread Bred Fresh." For more information concerning Dread Bred, call 317-524-8594 or visit online @ http://www.myspace.com/DreadBred

Melton Spin Machine in Full Force

It's really something to watch Melton shift into full spin mode about how the federal indictments (apparently brought by "political enemies") are not going to stop him from doing his job and fighting crime, especially drug crimes, in interviews going out nationally. He told The Associated Press, for instance:

It's So Great to be Fly

Go fetch me some coffee. Make sure you pick up my dry cleaning. I was going to be doing all work and no play, and no pay, was my first thought when I heard I was going to be interning at JFP. My second thought was OMG I have no journalism experience. Well, I was right about the no pay part. Even so, I am gaining a lot of experience that will help fatten my wallet later.

Huh? Big Blooper in Clarion-Ledger Editorial About Melton

The Clarion-Ledger edit-boyz suffered a bit of reading miscomprehension when they wrote this false statement last night for their editorial today saying that Frank Melton should resign:

Why I Love Thursdays

Ah… Thursdays. One of the main reasons I enjoy Thursdays is the weekly intern class. Sure, us interns see each other during the week, but this is a time to collectively get together. We are able to share our frustrations, weaknesses, triumphs and blunders. Amongst this group of people, I get to tell people about situations that my "non-writer friends" probably would roll their eyes at. Sometimes, they just can't relate.

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