All results / Stories / Adam Lynch
Health-Care Reform to Dump Poor Kids?
Oleta Fitzgerald, director of the Children's Defense Fund's Southern Regional Office, says she is concerned over the welfare of Mississippi children if either of the two health-care reform packages considered by the U.S. House and Senate ever make it into law.
The Redistricting Battle Ahead
Mississippi will likely experience a re-shuffling of state legislative districts, according 2010 U.S. Census data released this month.
DeLaughter Moved to Halfway House
Former Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Bobby DeLaughter is out of prison and in a transitional facility finishing his 18-month prison term for lying to federal authorities. Since January 2010, authorities have held DeLaughter at federal prison in McCreary, Ky.
Reservoir District Bill Back Door to Flood Control?
Control of the Ross Barnett Reservoir is at stake in a bill proposed this week by Sen. Lee Yancey, R-Brandon, that is raising questions over what it really aims to do -- and whether it could be a back-door way to help the Two Lakes river-development plan still see the light of day.
The GOP's Obsession with Tort Reform
As the health-insurance reform debate swirls, Gov. Haley Barbour is claiming that most Americans are actually looking for tort reform, not a government-guaranteed insurance option, to lower their health-care costs.
Jewish Organization Asks City to Block Holocaust Denier
UPDATED October 14, 2009
The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants sent an e-mail to the Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. last night asking him to bar Holocaust refuter David Irving from speaking at City Hall on Oct. 21.
Wins, Losses for School Appropriations
The House and Senate agreed to restore about $37 million to K-12 education in a this week following Gov. Haley Barbour's veto of a budget reconciliation bill that would have restored $79 million in cuts to the Mississippi Adequate Education Program and district attorney's offices.
Council Passes Budget Without Tax Increase or Pay Raises
Despite Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes' request, the Jackson City Council approved a city budget for fiscal year 2011 this afternoon without a tax increase or a blanket pay raise for all city employees.
Daniel McMullen
Daniel McMullen would be difficult to pick out of a police line-up. It's hard to determine McMullen's age and race, and although he's the special agent in charge of the FBI's Jackson division since September 2009, he keeps a low profile.
Library System Predicts Shortfall
The Jackson Zoo and the Jackson Public School District will not request an increase in funding for fiscal year 2011 from the city; however, the Jackson-Hinds County Library System is likely to come up short without the city's financial support.
House Panel Questions Dispersant Toxicity
Some House members left this morning's inaugural meeting of the House Select Committee on the Gulf Coast Disaster without knowing the potential risk of dispersants that British Petroleum is using to break up and sink millions of gallons of oil bursting from a destroyed deepwater oil well off the coast of Louisiana.
Barbour's Budget Hits Women, AG, Schools Hard
Gov. Haley Barbour released a budget proposal yesterday calling for a 12 percent cut in the state budget for most agencies and the consolidation of the state's historically black colleges and universities. The proposal, which reflects the state's fiscal year 2011 revenue estimates of a $715 million shortfall, picks and chooses which agencies should receive the majority of cuts.
PSC Attorney Withdraws from Coal Plant Hearing
A Mississippi Public Service Commission attorney gathering information for a second-phase hearing on the workability of a proposed $2.4 billion coal plant in Kemper County withdrew her participation from the issue this morning.
Council to Push for Permanent Tourism Bureau
The Jackson City Council is expected to vote tomorrow on a resolution asking the state Legislature to support a law that would make future re-authorizations of the Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau unnecessary.
City Approves Financial Contract, Drug House Demolitions
Atlanta-based Malachi Financial Products Inc. will be the city's new contracted financial adviser to guide it through financing of its general fund debt in hopes of saving $27 million over the next five years. City council members approved the contract last night in a 6 to 1 vote.
Major University for Arts Proposed for Jackson
Jackson Developer David Watkins wants to transform the James Eastland Post Office and U.S. Courthouse on Capitol Street into an institute for the arts.
Council Approves Metrocenter Purchase Despite Budget Woes
The Jackson City Council voted to purchase property inside the Metrocenter mall today. The city will buy more than 170,000 square feet of space within the mall—formerly occupied by Dillard's department store before it moved out in 2004—for $39,500. Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. approached the council with the possibility of buying the property earlier this month as part of a bigger plan to revitalize the Highway 80 corridor between the city limits of Pearl and Clinton. The area, which contains the Metrocenter Mall, served as a bountiful location for businesses well into the 1980s before white residents vacated to the suburbs.
Engineers Want Lower Lake Plan on Table
An engineer urged the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District Levee Board last week to press the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to approve a lake plan to coincide with a Corps-preferred levee expansion the board approved in December.
Thompson Kicks off Economic Summit
U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi's Second Congressional District, urged local governments to increase contracts with minority businesses during the Mississippi Economic Recovery and Procurement Summit this morning.
Payday Lenders Big Donors to Lawmakers
The Mississippi Center for Justice says short-term lenders donate heavily to legislative banking committee chairmen in hopes of extending an exemption allowing them to charge up to $21.95 for every $100 loaned.