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Entergy Drops Rates in Mississippi
After a year of investigation and outcry, Entergy is asking the Mississippi Public Service Commission to approve another 14 percent drop in its fuel adjustment starting Jan. 1. This new drop in cost reflects a total drop in price by slightly more than 30 percent since July, and marks a stark contrast to the company's request to hike costs by 28 percent over the summer.
Moderate Turn-Out Marks Runoffs
Beulah White, poll manager at Precinct 81, Callaway High School, described turn-out as "kind of slow, but steady."
Levee Board Rescinds 2007 Flood Control Approval
The Rankin-Hinds Pearl Flood and Drainage Control District voted to rescind its 2007 approval for a locally preferred flood control plan yesterday, and then voted unanimously to ask the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to look at all flood control plans available to the Hinds/Rankin area.javascript:void(0);
The Medicaid Compromise?
Administrators from two hospitals that have a no-refusal policy regarding patient admittance warned House members today that a hospital bed tax proposed by Gov. Haley Barbour will force cuts in hospital staffing and reduce services for their low-income patients.
City Money Out of Jackson's Hands?
Senate Bill 3268, which Gov. Haley Barbour signed into law March 11, authorizes the city of Jackson to hold a referendum vote on whether or not to approve an additional 1 percent sales tax increase. It is expected to annually generate at least $21 million, 70 percent of which is designated for road repair and 30 percent to hire and maintain police and firefighters.
EPA Kills Yazoo Pumps Project
The Environmental Protection Agency followed through with predictions and announced yesterday its decision to kill the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' proposed Yazoo Pumps Project in the Mississippi Delta.
COPS Money Available to City
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is funneling money to the ailing federal Community Oriented Policing Services program and the Hiring Recovery Program, and will soon be available to the city of Jackson.
Technology Upgrades Slated For JPD
The council voted Monday to approve a federal COPS grant request that could award $750,000 to the city of Jackson for hardware sand software upgrades, including 50 precision computer mounts and modems, which will be used to install mobile computers in city patrol cars. The computers are a more rugged version of an office laptop fit for the rigors of police dutyand well capable of alerting the officer of your unpaid municipal traffic citations.
Minor's Appeal Continues
Minor, who is serving 11 years for judicial corruption, is appealing his conviction on the argument that the federal Justice Department under former-President George Bush and former-U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales steered prosecutions against Democrat politicians and fundraisers like Minor in an attempt to swing elections toward Republicans.
From Taxes to Integration: Tea Partiers Decry Federal Meddling
The local version of nationally coordinated Republican tea parties Wednesday offered plenty of red meat—from cries against "socialism" to a speech using racial integration as an example of how federal meddling didn't work.
City Loses $240,000
The legal collapse of a Mississippi auctioneer could cost the city of Jackson almost a quarter of a million dollars. Durham Auctions, near Brooklyn Miss., wrote two bad checks to the city totaling about $240,000. The company had a contract to auction vehicles from the city's impound lot since May 2005. That contract expired in May 2008, but the city granted an extension to the company to hold one more auction this year. That auction, held in August, generated $240,000 in revenue that Durham Auctions never paid the city.
Could Minor Case Weakness Help Delaughter?
A change in federal court opinion could soon affect some media-saturated state trials, including the corruption trial of Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter and the ongoing appeal of Mississippi attorney Paul Minor. Court opinion could upend prosecutors' liberal use of so-called "honest-services" fraud and the RICO statute to indict and convict fundraisers and political figures during the years of the Bush administration.
McLemore, County Supervisor and Unions Endorse Johnson
Former Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. racked up endorsements today from organizations representing city employees, and from acting Mayor and outgoing Ward 2 Councilman Leslie McLemore, and from Hinds County Supervisor Doug Anderson.
City Postpones Bus Takeover Plan
The city of Jackson has postponed plans to take over the operations of its citywide bus service. The city council had been faced with the prospect of the city adopting the work of Texas-based McDonald Transit Associates Inc. when its contract ended in mid-December. The council opted instead to extend the McDonald contract another 90 days, until it either finds a new contractor or works the bugs out of the current McDonald contract.
Power Companies to Tie Charges to Prime Rate
The Mississippi Public Service Commission issued a final order today to the utility companies to use the prime rate of interest when calculating carrying charges.
Ad Oversight Jeopardizing MDES
Mississippi Department of Employment Security Executive Director Tommye Favre said she wished legislators had not endangered her agency over a battle to force more oversight on state advertising.
Undocumented Workers, Felons and Fines
Illegal immigrants and employers of illegal immigrants beware. The House passed Senate Bill 2988 by a wide margin today. The bill, called the Mississippi Employee Protection Act, forces all employers in the state to check employees' resident status with the E-verification System, available online at the Department of Homeland Security's Web site. It also makes any undocumented worker and anyone employing an undocumented worker a felon, with a punishment of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Cops Vow to Air Dirty Laundry
The day after City Council refused to fund the promotions of Mayor Frank Melton's bodyguards, a local police union said today that talks with the mayor about the appointments were not "productive." The officers vowed to tell all about problems within the city in retaliation.
Melton Hits Back With More Allegations
Jackson Mayor Frank Melton made hard allegations (PDF, 464 KB) against plaintiffs suing him and the city for civil rights violations this morning, from Albert "Batman" Donelson to Charlotte Reeves. "I'm not trying to taint the jury," Melton insisted. "These are things that I want to come up in a civil trial. We have a lot more latitude in civil court, and these are not allegations. These are facts, and I'm prepared to go forward."
Melton Pulls Reeves' Nomination
Jackson Mayor Frank Melton pulled his nomination Monday of former Rep. John Reeves, a Jackson Republican, for a Municipal Court position. Melton instead asked the council to consider putting Reeves on the Jackson Redevelopment Authority, an unpaid appointment. Melton had nominated Reeves to fill outgoing Judge Melvin Priester's seat after Priester, a long-time friend of Melton and his former private attorney, moved to an appointed position with Hinds County Circuit Court. The Mississippi Supreme Court appointed Priester to fill one of two full-time special judge positions in July.