Otis Ashford
Otis Ashford is suing the City of Moss Point and three Moss Point police officers for civil-rights violations related to an April 2008 arrest. Ashford, a Moss Point resident, was visiting the house of his sister, Dell Jones, also of Moss Point, on April 18, 2008, when he heard noises coming from his brother's house next door. According to his lawsuit, Ashford went to his sister's porch to investigate the noise and saw two men struggling in the dark in front of his brother's house. Believing his brother to be involved and in danger, Ashford demanded that his brother be let go.
Mark Scurlock
Donut entrepreneur Mark Scurlock is delivering Christmas a few days early for Jackson. This morning, Scurlock celebrated the grand opening of his new location at 125 S. Congress St. at the corner of Pearl Street in the heart of the city's downtown.
Kathy Clem
Kathy Clem, executive director of The Good Samaritan Center, is working tirelessly until Christmas to make sure needy families in Jackson will receive gifts this holiday season. Clem, 48, has worked at the center for 25 years, and says there are still 120 children signed up the organization's Santa's Stocking program who are waiting for their wish list to be filled.
Brad Rogers
For better or worse, Pearl Mayor Brad Rogers proved he's his own man when it comes to making a decision on the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District. Rogers was one of the five members of the levee board who voted in favor of a motion to adopt a levee plan for flood control along the Pearl River, as well as one of four mayors on the board who favored levees. Flowood Mayor Gary Rhoads explained that he had constituents who wanted the board to get moving on some kind of flood-control plan, be it levees or a lake plan, and warned that the Corps had limited their choices by pulling the plug on the lake option.
Numan Rasheed Abdul-Ali
Numan Rasheed Abdul-Ali, 37, grew up surrounded by the Baptist faith of his family, but never felt it was right for him.
Cheryl Keeton Shelton
One wouldn't necessarily connect a sixth grade teacher with the FBI, but Daniel McMullen, special agent in charge of the FBI's Jackson division, selected just such a teacher for the 2009 Director's Community Leadership Award: Cheryl Keeton Shelton.
Russell Thomas Jr.
Russell Thomas Jr. lives jazz—as a teacher, a student and an advocate. The Mississippi Jazz Foundation recognized Thomas for his own musicianship as well as his education work last Friday, during its annual holiday concert at the Alamo Theatre on Farish Street. Thomas, who has taught jazz performance and music theory at Jackson State University since 1984, also promotes the music he loves in elementary and secondary schools. He founded "Jazz in the Schools," a music education program that teaches jazz history and jazz improvisation to elementary and high school students.
Mark Chinn
Yes, he's a divorce lawyer, but if Mark Chinn has his way, that job description will sound less like a slur and more like an honor. Chinn, 56, wants to move his profession away from the litigious, take-no-prisoners mentality it currently holds to a more collaborative approach that seeks to heal families even as it separates them.
Michael Feldman
Radio quipster Michael Feldman has been compared to Groucho Marx, though without the cigar and brothers. A lapsed schoolteacher and failed cab driver, he has been hosting the comedy quiz radio show "Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know?" since 1985.
Robin Jayne Henderson
When Robin Jayne Henderson, 27, leaves her day job as the gallery director of One Blu Wall in Fondren Corner, she heads home to One to One Studios and either picks up her paintbrush, or joins in with whatever event is happening on the floor below.
Joe Troupe
Joseph Randall Troupe, better known as Joe, was a veteran, a skilled carpenter and a powerful motivator. Troupe died Friday after battling lymphoma. He was 67. Troupe's wife, Mary Troupe, is the executive director of the Mississippi Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities. She credits him with helping her live a normal life in spite of being wheelchair bound.
Ally Mack
On Nov. 12, the Mississippi World Trade Center announced the first recipient for its Excellence in Trade Education Award: Jackson State University's Dean of International Studies Dr. Ally Mack. The center, a non-profit membership organization that assists Mississippi businesses in all aspects of international trade, awarded the honor to Mack for her outstanding contributions to international education.
Wade Overstreet
Wade Overstreet is passionate about improving the quality of life for children and families in Jackson. As the new development director for Operation Shoestring, Overstreet, 36, is in charge of raising funds and communicating the mission of the organization, a non-profit providing services for the inner-city community including after-school programs, parenting classes, summer camps and a food pantry.
Dr. Ed Thompson
Dr. F.E. "Ed" Thompson was a leader in improving the health of others. Thompson, 62, held the post of Mississippi's health officer, from 1993 to 2003, and again from 2007 until his death Tuesday of colon cancer.
Jake Greer
When some people think of Jackson, they conjure a place full of crime, drug houses, bumpy streets and rundown buildings, but not Crystal Springs native Jake Greer.