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Utility Pushes Back on Power-Saving
Mississippi Power Company wants a proposed statewide energy-efficiency plan evaluated based on its cost to ratepayers rather than its long-term savings—a move critics say is a contrast to its desire to have ratepayers fund its own coal-plant expansion.
City Debt Profits Attorney?
City Council delayed a vote Monday to refinance the city's debt. The refinancing would give the city enough to cover its $3.9 million budget deficit, but would cost the city about $110,000 in counsel and bond fees, and dump higher interest rates upon the city over the next 10 years.
Melton: ‘I May Step Aside'
Jackson Mayor Frank Melton said this week that he is considering taking a leave of absence from his job as mayor of the city to "bring in" a man who was acquitted of murder last week and released.
God's Secret Club
The shocking details of Leisha Pickering's suit against the alleged mistress of former U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering is only the latest scandal connected with C Street House, a Washington, D.C.-based political fraternity and Christian fellowship home.
Lessons From Texas?
The Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District can take a lesson from Fort Worth, Texas, Waggoner Engineering owner Joe Waggoner said at the Oct. 27 Levee Board meeting.
Respect for the City
Campaign adviser and lobbyist Quentin Whitwell is looking to get his own campaign moving this year. Whitwell, 38, announced to supporters last month that he plans to run for the Ward 1 Jackson City Council seat that Councilman Jeff Weill will vacate in January to take his seat as a judge in Hinds County Circuit Court.
Dirty Debris?
Garrett Enterprises owner Socrates Garrett said his company and subcontractors have already removed more than half the debris lining the streets after tornado winds tore through the Jackson area last month.
That Damned Docket
City Council members questioned the city's payments to contractors and temp agencies—called the "claims docket"—yet again at Tuesday's City Council meeting.
Thompson's Easy Win Shocks Many
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-2nd District, easily trounced his Democratic opponent Chuck Espy in the June 6 primary. Thompson, who has held his seat for more than a decade, won the election with more than 55,000 votes, or 65 percent, to Espy's 30,000, or 35 percent.
Melton: Please Stop Lawsuit
This Tuesday, Mayor Frank Melton filed an emergency petition to appeal a ruling by Lauderdale County Circuit Court Judge Robert Bailey in striking his defense in a defamation lawsuit filed by former Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics pilots Robert Earl Pierce and Jimmy Saxton.
Conservative Agenda Fueling Medicaid Numbers?
Republican governors in states including Mississippi and Nebraska may be using inflated cost figures for Medicaid in order to help a movement to roll back recent health-care reform.
Arts On The Chopping Block
City budget woes have put after-school programs, funded through the Greater Jackson Arts Council, at risk. Revenue shortfalls have reached critical levels, and Mayor Frank Melton's budget revisions now jeopardize a number of programs.
Insurance ‘Bait And Switch'
State Attorney General Jim Hood said he would be willing to settle a multi-million dollar lawsuit against insurance companies like State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide, Farm Bureau and USAA if they would come to the table, but blamed the companies for sticking to the courts and delaying a judgment.
Republicans Choose Sides In Bailout
The Jackson NAACP, the Mississippi AFL-CIO and supporting organizations protested Mississippi Republican senators' opposition to a bailout bill for General Motors and Chrysler at the State Capitol on Tuesday.
Fear Of A New Tax
Last week, Gov. Haley Barbour did as expected and vetoed Senate Bill 2310, calling it an "irresponsible" revenue change "in a time of fiscal uncertainty." Barbour's office claims the state would lose $1.5 billion, and cities would lose $166 million over nine years. The bill went back to the Senate, but the Senate Finance Committee voted almost immediately 14-to-10 in favor of recommending that the Senate override the governor's veto.
Week 13: Zombies, Exonerees
The Zombie Tax A bill increasing the cigarette tax rose from the dead Monday, as legislators in both the Mississippi House and Senate voted to suspend the deadline for a bill that would satisfy both Senate and House negotiators.
District Attorney Challenges Chief Justice
An updated version of this story will appear in the print edition Wednesday, June 21.
Levee Board Talking Tax Hikes
The Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District Levee Board may be gearing up for a district expansion to pay for a proposed flood-control plan for the Pearl River.
Legislative Update: Smokes, Schools and Parks
The House agreed with the Senate in a 120-to-0 vote to roll the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi into the Health Department. Former tobacco lobbyist Haley Barbour killed the Partnership last year, suing to cut the annual $20 million funding to the smoking cessation program, which former Attorney General Mike Moore called "the most successful program of its kind in the country."
Melton Timeline
July 4, 2005 New Mayor Frank Melton was sworn in at City Hall. In his speech, he promised that any young person who wanted one could have a job with the city, as long as they attended church regularly. Later in the day, sporting a specially made badge and a sidearm, Melton joined the police on a slew of checkpoints and neighborhood sweeps.