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DOJ v. ‘Wackos'
The U.S. congressional investigation of the politicizing of the U.S. Department of Justice is continuing with House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers issuing a June 27 subpoena to the Justice Department. Conyers, D-Mich., demanded a pile of previously requested documents be handed over to the committee by July 9.
Republicans Kill Law Enforcement Bill
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood berated House Republicans Wednesday for voting down a bill that would have allowed him to ask a judge for permission to wiretap phones for white-collar crimes. "It's nothing less than a partisan attack. This vote was too solidly along party lines to be anything else," Hood said at a Wednesday press conference.
Sleep Inn Breaking Ground Downtown
J. R. Jones, managing member of minority investment and development organization The LEAD Group, LLC, is partnering with Jackson attorney Robert Gibbs in opening a new 64-room hotel on Gallatin Street. Jones, Gibbs and Downtown Jackson Partners will be hosting a groundbreaking ceremony for the New Downtown Sleep Inn and Suites at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Gallatin Street, between Pearl and Pascagoula Streets.
State Democrats Slam McCain
Mississippi Democrats used the birthday of the 70-year-old Social Security program to attack presumed Republican presidential nominee John McCain last week, accusing the Arizona senator of wanting to privatize the program. "Just one month ago, on July 7, Senator McCain told a town-hall audience that the way Social Security works is a disgrace and told ABC this week that everything will be on the table if he becomes president, including the privatization of Social Security," said Mississippi Democratic Party Vice Chairwoman Barbara Blackmon. "We're here today, exactly one week before the birthday of Social Security, to let the people know that we will not support any effort to privatize the most successful anti-poverty program in our nation."
Forester Alleges ‘Irresponsible' Clear-Cutting Scheme
A former Mississippi Forestry Commission employee from Franklin County says he can account for the surge in revenue from Section 16 timber sales reported by the Mississippi Secretary of State's office. "They pushed for me and every other county forester to raze just about everything the counties have to offer, which would leave us high and dry on timber production in 11 years," said former Franklin County forester Steve Oglesby, who said he left the agency after he refused to help the state "cash in" much of Franklin County's timber production.
BREAKING: $100 Million Sewer Crisis Ahead?
The city will be left holding what could be a $100 million bill if it does not move to regionalize its sewer treatment facility in the next few months, according to Council President Ben Allen.
BREAKING: Melton Hasn't Reported Home Addition
Jackson Mayor Frank Melton has not been paying taxes on a large home addition to his northeast Jackson house for several years, according to a Hinds County Tax appraiser. "We had suspicions about (Melton's unreported) home addition," said Hinds County Tax Appraiser Benny Keys on Friday. "We're working on that right now, or at least we had been."
Musgrove Camp Decries Scruggs Smear
Sen. Roger Wicker's supporters at the National Republican Senatorial Committee are attempting to link his Democratic opponent, Ronnie Musgrove, with incarcerated lawyer Paul Minor, as well as Mississippi attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, who pled guilty this year for attempting to bribe a Lafayette County Circuit Court judge for a favorable ruling in a dispute over $26.5 million in legal fees from a mass settlement of Hurricane Katrina cases. A U.S. District Court found Minor guilty of corruption in March 2007 for racketeering and bribery, along with former Judges Wes Teel and John Whitfield, for accepting the bribes.
PSC Creates New Hurdles for Coal-Burning Plant
The Mississippi Public Service Commission met last Friday to consider multiple motions submitted by Mississippi Power, the Sierra Club, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood and others regarding Mississippi Power's proposed coal-burning plant in Kemper County.
Hood Requesting More Funding For Crime Lab
Attorney General Jim Hood is recommending budget increases for the state crime lab and the Mississippi Medical Examiner's Office to the House En Banc Judiciary Committee today. The state currently allots $9.8 million to the state crime lab and the state medical examiner's office, but an attorney general's task force recommends almost doubling that amount, at least in the first year, to finance lab equipment, DNA analysis technology, medical examiners and support staff.
‘Wishy-Washy Approach To Public Policy'
Jackson Mayor Frank Melton dismissed rumors at a Monday press conference that he had forced a local contractor into subcontracting a Louisiana company he originally favored to remove debris from an April 4 storm in North Jackson.
Bobby DeLaughter
Former Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Bobby DeLaughter, 55, resigned his job and pled guilty to misleading authorities yesterday. 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, that of obstruction of justice. His plea means he'll be spending a little over a year--18 months--in a federal prison, and he will lose his law license.
Judge Yerger: A ‘Racist' Sentence?
Johnathan Jones walked back into Pops Around the Corner on Dec. 28, 2005, after leaving earlier to go home to Brandon. He told the bartender that "some n*gger" had thrown a beer bottle through his window and that he was "going to kill" the "n*gger." He asked the bartender to help him call the police to fill out a case report so his insurance company could replace the window.
New Deputy Chief Revives Cold Murder Case
Jackson Deputy Police Chief Gerald Jones announced that police issued an arrest warrant on Thursday for Jackson resident Sherrod Moore, who is a suspect in the deadly shooting of Jackson Police Officer Robert J. Washington. Washington, 37, disappeared Nov. 14, 1995, while patrolling his beat in Precinct 2. Police located his body the following day in a field near U.S. 80 West and Whiting Road. He had died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head.
Magnolia Bar Wants Black Judge
The Magnolia Bar Association says it is examining the process by which Gov. Haley Barbour will select a replacement for convicted Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Bobby DeLaughter this month. Bar President Gale Walker said the governor is seemingly insensitive to appointing blacks to judgeships on both the state and local levels.
Closing the Clean-Up Deal
The city may have brought to a close the troubled business relationship between local debris-removal contractor Garrett Construction Company and Pearl River, Miss.-based Nungesser Industries.
A Call for Unity ... But No Pictures
A June 15 event billed as a huge show of unity for Mayor-elect Harvey Johnson Jr. turned into a debate over transparency after organizers barred photographers and electronic media from the event held at the University Club downtown.
Court Grants Restraining Order Against JHA
Hinds County Chancery Court opted to grant Mississippi Housing Solutions a temporary restraining order to stop the Jackson Housing Authority from considering other bidders for development of a housing project in Jackson. The order remains in effect until an Aug. 13 preliminary injunction hearing, where the court will hear MHS' argument.
‘Oh, Please Just Shoot Me'
Rep. John Mayo, D-Clarksdale, smirked at the The Mississippi Hospital Association's recent refusal to submit a report to Gov. Haley Barbour of possible Medicaid cuts to hospitals last week. "Apparently the Hospital Association accepted the slap to the face when they accepted the 'either/or option,' but refused to turn the other cheek when asked what cuts should be made," Mayo wrote in an e-mail. "Kind of like the innocent but condemned prisoner, bound and tied to the post and about to be shot. The executioner whispers in his ear, 'Where would you like the bullet?' To which the condemned replies, 'Oh, please, just shoot me.'"
‘Obstructionist for Flood Control'
The battle over Two Lakes is back on. After years of infighting and millions of dollars spent on impact and engineering studies, the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District board is still debating two different plans to dam the Pearl River and create a shallow lake between Hinds and Rankin counties. The two plans differ only in their size, with the Lower Lake Plan creating less lakeside real estate, flooding less Pearl River wetland and costing less money to construct. Both call for the inundation of wetlands and portions of LeFleur's Bluff State Park, including campgrounds and hiking trails at Mayes Lake.