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Luckett to Speak in Jackson Friday

Clarksdale attorney and 2011 candidate for governor Bill Luckett will speak at Koinonia Coffee House in Jackson Friday morning. Luckett, who announced his candidacy in September, is the featured speaker at the 9 a.m. Friday Forum, a weekly series sponsored by west Jackson businessman Bill Cooley.

Appropriations and Pole-Dancing

The House and Senate agreed on a major appropriation bill last week, when negotiators came to terms on appropriations bill SB 2495, which restores $82 million to the Fiscal Year 2010 budget, including $37 million slated for K-12 public education. House and Senate negotiators reached an accord after Gov. Haley Barbour sliced more than $450 million from the 2010 budget.

Voter ID Poised For 2011 Vote

Mississippians will vote next fall on a constitutional amendment to require photo identification at the polls. In a press conference this afternoon, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann accepted petitions for a ballot initiative on voter ID for the Nov. 2011 statewide general election. Voter ID proponents collected approximately 131,000 signatures in support of the initiative, Sen. Joey Fillingane, R-Sumrall, told the Jackson Free Press today. State law requires at least 89,285 signatures to place an initiative on the ballot.

Wins, Losses for School Appropriations

The House and Senate agreed to restore about $37 million to K-12 education in a this week following Gov. Haley Barbour's veto of a budget reconciliation bill that would have restored $79 million in cuts to the Mississippi Adequate Education Program and district attorney's offices.

Nursing Homes and Overrides

Last week was all about passing budget bills, with the House and Senate considering a huge list of appropriation legislation funding various state agencies.

Lessons of the 1979 Easter Flood

Part 3 in a series

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recommended last week that FEMA re-certify the levees protecting the Hinds and Rankin County edges bordering the Pearl River, despite the fact that the levees cannot stop a 200-year flood event similar to the 1979 Pearl River flood.

Johnson Attending Obama Visit

City of Jackson Spokesman Chris Mims confirmed today that Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr., was invited to attend first lady Michelle Obama's personal visit to the city on Wednesday. Obama is visiting the city tomorrow as part of her "Let's Move" campaign, which emphasizes healthy diet and exercise for youth.

Fisher: Hinds Supes ‘Hiding' In Executive Session

Hinds County Supervisor Phil Fisher accused his fellow supervisors today of evading public scrutiny by relegating two potentially inflammatory decisions to executive session. In a closed session during its meeting this morning, the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to fire County Administrator Vern Gavin. Supervisors also rejected a proposal from Fisher to dissolve the county's agreement with the Mississippi Youth Justice Project, a juvenile-justice watchdog group.

Veto Override Fails: Legislators Return to Negotiation

The Senate failed to override Gov. Haley Barbour's veto of budget reconciliation act this morning, and opponents of the veto now argue that the state should put to use $36 million from savings accrued through a federal stimulus program.

Schoolhouse to Statehouse

Yvonne Horton made an unconventional job transition in 2007, joining a lobbying firm after 30 years as a public-school teacher. Horton, 60, is a Bolton native and a 1971 graduate of Jackson State University.

Bashing Sodas and Saving Schools

The 90-day legislative session will creep past the halfway mark this week, and the clock ticks on plenty of legislative efforts, including the deadline to except or trash fiscal-year 2011 appropriation and revenue bills.

Will U.S. Chamber Win Again?

In 2004, Attorney General Jim Hood hired attorneys Joey Langston and Timothy Balducci—who later pled guilty to corruption in 2008 and 2007, respectively—to recoup unpaid taxes and interest resulting from a multi-state tax fraud scheme Clinton-based WorldCom cooked up before the company's 2002 collapse.

Pseudopolitics Equals Pseudofailure

Recently the Mississippi Legislature passed legislation outlawing the sale of medical products containing pseudoephedrine without a prescription. The intent of this legislation is to reduce the rampant methamphetamine epidemic.

Barbour Vetoes Budget Restoration

Gov. Haley Barbour vetoed budget reconciliation act Senate Bill 2688 today, a bill that restored $79 million in cuts he enacted for Fiscal Year 2011. The governor rejected the bill saying that it delayed "inevitable government reorganization and relied on one-time money to cure recurring budget woes."

Barbour Goes National, Again

Gov. Haley Barbour was in Washington, D.C., this weekend for the National Governors Association's annual conference, but he made headlines for extracurricular activities, speaking against the federal stimulus bill and rallying Republican opposition to health-care reform and climate-change regulations.

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