Opinion

Preserve JATRAN

Christmas often brings out the best and worst in people. During the holidays, we are so laden with do-lists, events and shopping that we don't always take time to look at the underlying issues in our city.

[Stiggers] A Christmas Safety Net

Qweem-O-Wheat: "It looks like a lot of people will have a merry Christmas and survive the New Year. Why? Because the left-wing Democrats and right-wing Republicans of the good ship ‘Bi-Partisan' agreed to appease the rich and accommodate the broke and unemployed by extending the Bush tax cuts and unemployment insurance. "

[Kamikaze] Same Place, Different Memories

As the years pass, I find it hard to accurately remember each and every detail of my life. It's easy for stories to be skewed, embellished or just plain forgotten. My wife says I sometimes "adjust" the facts of stories to keep from getting fussed at, and I can't recall if I do or not.

[Moody] Gen Y-Not

Whether you define yourself as Generation X, Y or (like myself) on the XY cusp, you are a part of a unique and powerful generation that desires to change the world, and has the vigor and technology to do it.

[Balko] The SWAT Team Would Like to See Your Permit

In August, a team of heavily armed Orange County, Fla., sheriff's deputies raided several black and Hispanic-owned barbershops in the Orlando area. More raids followed in September and October. The Orlando Sentinel reported that police held barbers and customers at gunpoint and put some in handcuffs, while they turned the shops upside down. Police raided a total of nine shops, and arrested 37 people.

Grokking New Beginnings

With Jackson State University naming Carolyn Meyers as its new president within the past week (see Ward Schaefer's interview), my thoughts naturally turned to Mississippi's educational system and the subject of how we learn.

Stop the War on the Poor

During the winter holiday season, our thoughts frequently turn to those in need: the homeless, the poor, the sick and other needy souls.

[Stiggers] Spiteful Weather

Big Roscoe: "Live from the Clubb Chicken Wing Multi-Purpose Complex, it's the ‘Clubb Chicken Wing Christmas TV Special.' On behalf of Lil' Momma Roscoe and the Clubb Chicken Wing staff, we hope that the Ghetto Science community, financially challenged individuals and the unemployed have a happy and prosperous holiday season."

The Santa Situation

Stores have decked the halls, and Christmas music is playing on radio stations. As the holiday approaches, children anticipate the magic of the season and people ask my kids, "Is Santa coming to your house this year?"

[Dennis] For Goodness Sake

I had a physics teacher in high school named Mr. Jones. He was a brilliant older man who often solved problems in his head faster than the rest of us could key the numbers into our calculators. Inevitably, his lectures would venture away from the subject and toward some profound nugget of wisdom.

Will the Next Josh Hailey Stand Up?

I remember the first time I saw Josh Hailey. I was covering the City of Ridgeland Chamber of Commerce banquet for the Madison County Journal in 2009. At this suburban hobnob where conformity is king, Hailey was clad in a colorful ensemble and his hair was in dread-locked pigtails.

[Editorials] Be Honest About Tax Cuts

U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker defended his vote against two Senate measures on Dec. 4 that would have preserved soon-to-expire tax cuts for individuals reporting less than $200,000 in personal income and for families and business owners making less than $250,000 in taxable income (after expenses).

[Stiggers] Bus-Driving Deacons

"Even though the cold-heartedness of people brings a chill to my soul, I will do my best to remain warm and sympathetic to the needs of others."

[Kamikaze] It's About People

Let's be honest. This town needs an enema. There are some leadership voids that indicate it's time for our city to turn a page—or three.

[Wilkes] TSA: Terrorists Screw America

The Transportation Security Administration implemented new policies that, in essence, give strippers more rights in their places of employment than airline passengers in an airport.

[Balko] The Continuing Saga of Steven Hayne

Last week the Mississippi Supreme Court granted a new trial to Cory Maye, who is serving a life sentence for shooting and killing Prentiss, Miss., police officer Ron Jones during a botched drug raid on Maye's apartment. One of the key prosecution witnesses in Maye's case was Steven Hayne, an overworked, ethically dubious medical examiner who performed the overwhelming majority of criminal autopsies in Mississippi for two decades, from the late 1980s until 2008. Although last week's ruling did not address Hayne's work, it presents an opportunity to consider recent developments in Mississippi's slow evolution toward a more competent death investigation system.

All God's Children

One image won't leave my head since I finished my part of the cover story I wrote this issue with freelance writer Valerie Wells (starts here): A deputy with his foot against a door as a desperate mother tries to get through to be with her  13-year-old son during a police interrogation that will elicit a murder confession that may or may not have any truth to it.

You Get What You Pay For

The confluence of two events brought home hard truths about the values that some Mississippians seem to hold dear: The first was Gov. Haley Barbour's budget recommendations for fiscal year 2012. The second was our cover story this week about children being tried as adults and, subsequently, incarcerated in sub-standard facilities, or thrown in with hardened criminals in adult prisons.

[Stiggers] Year-End Financial Dilemma

Rudy McBride: "Now that Thanksgiving and Black Friday have passed, how do you feel today? You've spent your hard-earned money on a few days of happiness. The leftover food is gone. Money in your checking account is low, and you need to earn more money from a temporary, second job to help pay those nagging pre-holiday bills."

[Adkins] Save Fondren's Main Street

A few weeks ago I went to Perfect Fit Alterations and enjoyed visiting while trying on pants to be hemmed. Then I walked next door to Jackson Shoe Repair where I took two pairs of shoes to get some TLC. Next, I walked to Wells Cleaners where I picked up a pile of dry cleaning and left another for next week.

[Balko] Vanishingly Rare Misconduct Citations

In 2007, a court tried Sonya and Joseph Smith for felony murder in connection with the 2003 death of their 8-year-old son, Josef, who medical examiners said was beaten and deprived of food and water. The trial was highly publicized, partly due to the Smiths' membership in the Remnant Fellowship, a Christian sect that stresses corporal punishment and dietary restrictions.

Fix the Earmarks Process

Mississippi's U.S. Sens. Cochran and Wicker, whipped to a fury by Republican deficit hawks, have committed themselves to the idea of no longer sending earmark money back to their home state.

[Stiggers] Unemployed and Broke

"You took my dignity and gone. My children are depressed because I cannot provide for them. My wife is annoyed, and I am desperate and frustrated. And I don't have health insurance."

[Kamikaze] Race, Again

My late mother always encouraged me to face problems head on. To this day, I've never let issues fester. Problem? You're going to know about it immediately, and I'm going to begin working on solutions and actions.

[Collier] Don't Give Up on God

Natalie A. Collier

Much of who I am can be attributed to not only my family but to the people at the church I grew up in. While there is a strange one or two among the group, much of my spiritual foundation was laid within the oak-lined walls of the small church with the cranberry red carpet that sits just a few blocks away from the campus of MSU's entrance: First Church of Christ (Holiness).

An Ache in Our Souls

A few years ago, I made what was, for me, a radical step: joining the Unitarian Universalist Church of Jackson. For a minute or two, I was on the board and even sang in the choir.

[Balko] Draconian Gun Laws

Sue Aitken called the police because she was worried about her son, Brian. She now lives with the guilt of knowing that her phone call is the reason Brian spent his 27th birthday in a New Jersey prison last month. If the state gets its way, he will be there for the next seven years.

Ellington