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Convention Center At Risk?
In 1995, Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. and local business leaders managed to convince legislators to authorize more than $17 million to build the Telecommunications and Conferencing Center, now due for a ribbon-cutting in a couple of weeks on Pascagoula Street. Johnson had fought to promote the idea of the Telecommunications Center to the state Legislature, which often shied away from dispensing money for capital city projects. The project began with numerous false starts, including stalls over the building's location. One failed proposal suggested using the dilapidated King Edward Hotel as the home of the center.
City Faces More Budget Woes?
The Jackson City Council agreed to transfer $250,000 in forfeited drug money to the police department's budget in a Dec. 18 meeting. The money will finance uniforms, generators for precincts, police gear and an attorney who will provide legal representation "directly to the police department," according to Administration Director Rick Hill.
Recycling Crime
U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate has put the clamps on an effort to change a new state law regulating the metal-recycling industry. The law specifically demands scrap buyers keep all scrap purchases on their property for three days, so authorities can check it as potentially stolen merchandise.
Mayor Presents Budget Revisions
After months of delays, the mayor's administration finally handed over budget revisions to address the city's $3.9 million budget shortfall.
She's Got A New Attitude
In a surprising move last week, Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck stepped away from her usual role as the governor's mouthpiece to come out in favor of a cigarette tax.
Stokes Delays ‘Slumlord' Ordinance
Members of neighborhood advocacy group Mississippi ACORN are growing impatient with City Council's decision to postpone a vote on a proposed rental housing ordinance.
BREAKING: GOP Rift Hurts Hinds Primaries
Hinds County Republican Party Chairman Pete Perry said a rift between his administration and that of his predecessor, Ken Avery, complicated the Aug. 7 primary with staff shortages, long waits and some crossover voting.
Stokes: A Bought Man?
Jackson Mayor Frank Melton assured council members Monday that Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes would support placing Leland Speed in an unpaid consultant position with the Jackson Redevelopment Authority despite Stokes' contentious relationship with Speed.
A Broken System Expands
Hinds County Supervisors surprised some onlookers at the Aug. 7 supervisors' meeting by producing more money for the Raymond Detention Center. Supervisors voted 4-to-1 to approve $481,000 to expand the recreation yards at Raymond, with only Doug Anderson voting no. Supervisors hope the expansion will meet national standards on recreational space and allow a higher inmate count, possibly bringing in 132 extra beds.
Contractor, State Trade Blows
The State of Mississippi wants Hinds County Chancery Court Judge William Singletary to dismiss a suit launched against it by multi-national corporation Utility Management Corp.
Fantasy Island Swamped
The LeFleur Lakes Plan might be on the ropes, project head John McGowan said in a recent Northside Sun article. Plans for a new overpass might make the project unviable, he said.
Jackson's Next Mayor?
Photo montage by JFP Staff
The city is already thick with speculation over who is jockeying to be Jackson's next mayor, even though the current mayor has vowed he will not resign.
State Farm Pulling Policies
State Farm Insurance and Casualty Company said that it plans to pull home-insurance policies from part of the Gulf Coast. The decision leaves many current and potential homeowners, who live between the coastal waters and I-10, without insurance.
The JFP Interview with Eddie Fair: Numbers Man
Tax collector Eddie Fair says he runs a tight ship at the Hinds County Tax Collector's office. He boasts he's increased production and efficiency and can bring the same kind of high standard to the Jackson mayor's office.
Mayor Having Negative Influence on Troubled Teens?
Two of Mayor Melton's young housemates are back in jail. Last week, Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Swan Yerger revoked the bond of 17-year-old Michael Taylor for a 2005 armed robbery after the teen allegedly stole a woman's car at gunpoint on Nov. 16, 2006, a story first reported by the Jackson Free Press. This week, WAPT broke the story that a Copiah-Lincoln Junior College student who lives at Melton's house when he's not at college, Jeremy Bibbs, 19, is sitting in a Copiah County jail after allegedly getting caught with a gun on campus.
Week 8: Fire, Coal and Taxes
The House passed HB 1712 last week, an act authorizing the issuance of $300 million in general obligation bonds for highway and bridge rehabilitation. Legislators say more than 200 bridges are deficient, with almost half of those posing a safety hazard.
Landlords On The Hot Seat
A meeting over a proposed landlord ordinance (PDF, 92K) got testy when supporters of tenants' rights butted heads with a coalition of landlords in council chambers last Thursday.
[CollegeTalk] Tuition Up, Grants Down
There's no getting around it: Tuition costs keep climbing. The State College Board voted in May to raise tuition costs at state universities by 5.5 percent—the eighth tuition hike in 10 years. The increase will add an extra $250 or more to tuition fees at universities. Out-of-state students face an even bigger hit at universities, with $710 or more in higher tuition.
Oversee This, But Not That
The governor's office put the lockdown on money going to the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi last week after the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the agency can no longer access $20 million a year from the state's tobacco fund. The decision, coming out of the state's Supreme Court, cannot be appealed to a higher court, and thus must stand unchallenged.
McMillin Endorses DA, Rumors Fly
Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin endorsed Hinds County District Attorney Faye Peterson over Democratic challenger Robert Smith on Tuesday. McMillin announced his endorsement to the Jackson Free Press, saying he opposes Smith because of a suspected alignment with Jackson Mayor Frank Melton, and opposes "Melton's attempt to expand his sphere of influence to county offices."