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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.
Voter ID: Partisan Posturing?
Mississippi Democratic Party Executive Director Sam Hall is accusing Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant of pushing for voter identification for political reasons. "We have to ask if this is nothing more than an attempt to drum up support over another divisive wedge issue," said Hall, who spoke on Bryant's appearance at a Starkville Rotary Club meeting last week.
Meeting Between the Lines
Three Jackson Public School Board members may have held an illegal meeting last week. JPS Board member H. Ann Jones said she witnessed a Chastain Middle School assistant principal tell board member Sollie Norwood that board members Delmer Stamps and Ivory Phillips wanted to speak with him in a separate meeting room during a public forum regarding the district's search for a new superintendent.
Hinds County DA Alleges Racism in Courts
Even as Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith is alleging racism in the Hinds County Justice system, his African American predecessor says that it was her job to find a way to work within the parameters set by judges.
Melton, Pay Your Taxes
The Hinds County Tax Assessor's office told the Jackson Free Press that Mayor Frank Melton, an individual holding one of the most esteemed offices in the city, has yet to pay property taxes on one of his city addresses.
Playing Disaster Politics
Mississippi Secretary of State Mike Chaney is disputing that Attorney General Jim Hood does not deserve credit for the recent State Farm settlement with Mississippi. Hood announced last week that his office had settled a breach of contract suit with the insurance giant, which had agreed to pay at least $74 million more to policyholders who had fallen victim to Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.
DeLaughter Pleads Guilty
Former Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Bobby DeLaughter, 55, resigned his job and pleaded guilty to misleading authorities this week. The former judge had five counts against him, all representing various forms of corruption, but he pled guilty to the one count arguably carrying the lightest sentence, obstruction of justice.
Expanding Code Enforcement
Planning and development consultant Leland Speed said he wants to expand the skeleton crew of the city's code enforcement division by about seven officers. "My idea is for neighborhood associations to nominate one person from each ward, who will then work for the city in enforcing code enforcement," Speed said. "The neighborhood associations know better than anyone what's right or wrong with their neighborhoods, and this will empower them."
Melton Attempts to Remove JPS Superintendent
Jackson Mayor Frank Melton's efforts to remove Superintendent Earl Watkins before his contract completion date could cost Jackson Public Schools big money, according to some board members.
District 71 Winner Fights Re-Vote
House District 71 winner Adrienne Wooten asked the Hinds County Circuit Court to order the Hinds County Election Commission to reverse its decision to hold a revote, and to certify her as the winner of the Nov. 6 election.
Feds Backing Down
An allegedly unjust house of cards built by the Bush administration and the U.S. Department of Justice, detailed in a Jackson Free Press cover story last week, seems to be starting to fall as a congressional investigation of possible selective political prosecutions starts to heat up, leaving Republican appointees, including Mississippi's U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton, in the glare of public scrutiny.
Lott's Back
For months, U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., has been keeping both supporters and enemies scratching their heads at whether he would run for his Senate seat a fourth time. The senator had indicated that he was considering retirement, regardless of the slim 55-to-44 majority Republicans have in the Senate. If Lott's deliberations on retirement had been serious, Senate Republicans would have suffered six open seats on the ballot in November, with Democrats hungry to take advantage of moral lapses involving GOP lobbyists like Jack Abramoff and politicians like Republican Tom Delay, of Texas, both slapped with indictments and inundated by controversy, with Delay forced to resign his post as majority leader of the House after he was indicted in Texas.
Greasing the Wheels
Two Democratic candidates for state office assailed Republicans for their opposition to a popular bill that would cut the grocery tax in half and raise the tax on cigarettes to $1 a pack last Thursday. Gov. Haley Barbour said he would veto the bill if it hit his desk, and Sen. Finance Chairman Tommy Robertson, R-Mosspoint, has promised to kill the bill in committee so that pro-tobacco legislators will not have to cast an unpopular vote during an election year.
Money and Marriage
The biggest fight in the Mississippi Legislature still centered on money in week 3 of the 2010 session. The House refused to consider a Senate bill giving Gov. Haley Barbour the power to selectively cut 10 percent of certain state agency budgets while sparing other agenciesnamely the Department of Corrections. So Barbour responded with a more constitutional blanket cut.
Amid Tears, McCoy Keeps Seat
Democratic Rep. Billy McCoy reclaimed his seat as House speaker by only two votes Tuesday. House members, including new members Kimberly Campbell and Adrienne Wooten—both of Jackson—approved McCoy by a 62-to-60 vote, handing Rep. Jeff Smith, D-Columbus, a very narrow loss this year.
BP ‘Lied Through Their Teeth'
Jackson attorney Hiram Eastland has filed a civil suit on behalf of Gulf Coast property owners, alleging that BP infiltrated a U.S. government agency and knowingly lied about its ability to stop an oil spill like the one soiling the Gulf of Mexico.
Week 8: Abortion, Tobacco, Katrina
After declaring that he had no intention of considering abortion bills this year, House Health Committee Chairman Steve Holland, D-Plantersville, caved under the pressure from House Speaker Billy McCoy and a barrage of calls from anti-abortion supporters and allowed three anti-abortion bills to come up for a vote in the House.
Dems Target Abortion Rights
In a move calculated to force a showdown on abortion rights in the state, the Mississippi Legislature declared war on Roe v. Wade last week after Rep. Steve Holland, chairman of the House Public Health and Human Services Committee, added language to Senate Bill 2922 that would effectively ban legal abortion in the state.
We the People with ID
State Sen. Charlie Ross, R-Brandon, a GOP candidate for lieutenant governor, held a press conference on the steps of the capitol this morning, requesting Gov. Haley Barbour to call a special session on a law requiring voter photo identification at the polls.
Stanley Cole Indicted
A Hinds County grand jury has indicted former JSU criminal justice student Stanley Cole in the death of JSU accounting major Latasha Norman, 20. Police arrested Cole, 24, last November after he eventually led police to Norman's body 16 days after she went missing on Nov. 13. Police said Cole was a person of interest in the case early on. Investigators found blood and other DNA samples in the trunk of a car traced back to Norman.