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Chief Coleman takes Oath of Office
Jackson Police Chief Rebecca Coleman took the oath of office Wednesday afternoon. Supreme Court Justice James Graves administered the oath, after a speech of faint regret by Jackson State University President Ronald Mason, who surrendered Coleman as director of JSU public safety when Mayor Harvey Johnson appointed her as chief in October.
Wicker To Introduce ‘States' Rights' Bill
U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker said he intends to undermine a federal health-care reform law President Barack Obama signed this year by introducing a bill this week allowing state officials to challenge federal regulations.
Sierra Club: Dispersants Worse than Oil
Mississippi Sierra Club Director Louie Miller says the Sierra Club wants to know the environmental consequences of mixing dispersants with the oil jetting out of the devastated Deepwater Horizon oil well off the coast of Louisiana. He joins a growing number of Louisiana state agencies demanding answers about the chemical's safety.
Barbour Vetoes Budget Restoration
Gov. Haley Barbour vetoed budget reconciliation act Senate Bill 2688 today, a bill that restored $79 million in cuts he enacted for Fiscal Year 2011. The governor rejected the bill saying that it delayed "inevitable government reorganization and relied on one-time money to cure recurring budget woes."
Ward 1 Candidates Seek Weill's Seat
Ward 1 Councilman Jeff Weill's election to a Hinds County Circuit Court judge seat means a second mid-term vacancy for Jackson's Ward 1 council seat. Former Councilman Ben Allen abandoned the seat in 2007 for health reasons, he said then, triggering a special election that Weill won.
Johnson Picks New JPS Board Members
Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. announced his picks for the Jackson School Board last night. The returning mayor fell back on the ward rotation method in making his selections. He re-appointed board member Jonathan Larkin to finish his term, which will last another year and a half, on behalf of Ward 1, and appointed retired JPS Deputy Superintendent for Elementary Schools Kisiah Nolan to fill the Ward 4 slot. Johnson appointed retired cardiologist George Schimmel for the Ward 7 slot.
Protesters: HBCU Merger Cannot Happen
Alumni, students, and advocates for historically black colleges and universities marched to the state Capitol from the Mississippi State Fairgrounds today to recognize the birthday of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and to protest Gov. Haley Barbour's recent proposal to merge Mississippi Valley State University and Alcorn State University with Jackson State University.
Anti-Abortion Resolution Holds Little Weight
A senate resolution suspending a January legislative deadline for bills to be introduced, afforded Sen. Alan Nunnelee, R-Tupelo, the opportunity to include language to stop federal funds from funding voluntary abortion in the state, which the House passed today in an 80 to 33 vote. Several legislators, however, say the resolution is purely symbolic.
Council Agrees to Invest in South Jackson Development
The Jackson City Council voted to issue more than $1 million in bonds for a South Jackson development at Tuesday's council meeting. The decision, which is connected to the development of the much-disputed Timber Falls development near Forest Hill High School, means the city will spend $1.2 million to finance the completion of a road linking the new neighborhood to Raymond Road. The bond will also pay for the straightening of a sharp curve in the winding Forest Hill Roadwhich was once little more than an isolated ribbon of concrete twisting through a large thicket of greenery linking Cooper and Raymond Roads.
House Bill Restricts Sales of Meth Ingredient
Rep. Steve Holland, D-Plantersville, used the memory of his brother, who died from a meth overdose, to beg the Mississippi House of Representatives to pass a bill that will require cold and allergy sufferers to have a doctor's prescription for medicine containing pseudoephedrine, an important component of illegal methamphetamine, aka meth.
Jackson to Recycle Christmas Trees
The city will be recycling discarded Christmas trees into mulch this year, and will offer the mulch to Jackson residents for free. City Spokesman Chris Mims urged city residents to please remove all Christmas ornaments and trappings from their trees before taking them to any of the tree recycling drop-off points.
Jackson Targets Neglected Property
The city has a new weapon against dilapidated and abandoned property thanks to a new state law that will make it easier for the city to collect fines on those properties, Jackson Planning and Development Director Corinne Fox said yesterday.
Highway 80 Redesign To Spur Development
Nina Holbrook, executive director of the Metrocenter Area Coalition, said at a public forum today that the Coalition's plans for the U.S. Highway 80 corridor includes a redesign of the area to spur economic development.
Mabus: Time for New Gulf Economy
U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus met with representatives from Mississippi universities and colleges Friday to gather information on the economic and environmental recovery of the Coast following the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster.
More Trouble for Yazoo Pumps
Last week, environmental groups pounced on an August lawsuit filed by the Board of Mississippi Levee Commissioners over the federal rejection of a plan to drain the southern portion of the Mississippi Delta.
MDA Extends Entrepreneur Training
The Mississippi Development Authority is extending its Dec. 3 enrollment deadline for its free inaugural entrepreneur and business-owner training seminar to Dec. 17 due a low number of applicants.
Willis to be Compensated for ‘Egregious' Prosecution
Jackson resident Cedric Willis says he is happy that the state of Mississippi agreed to pay him compensation for wrongfully convicting him for the shooting death of Carl White in 1994, even though $500,000 doesn't quite seem to cover it.
Earmark ‘Kings' Pledge Ban
Mississippi's two U.S. senators signed onto a pledge last week by fellow Republicans to refrain from requesting earmark funds for their home state during the upcoming 112th Congress. Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker--ranked as the No. 1 and No. 3 "earmark kings" in the U.S. Senate--announced they would go along with the Senate Republican Conference's call to temporarily halt federal "pork-barrel" spending, which is the long-time practice of sending congressionally budgeted funds to specific local projects from highway construction in the Delta to Hurricane Katrina restoration projects. Pork accounts for about 1 percent of the federal budget.
Mosque Construction Planned in April
The Mississippi Muslim Association will break ground on a mosque off Highway 51 in Madison next month, following the approval of a 3-to-2 vote by the Madison County Board of Supervisors today.
Barbour Contradicts on Coal Plant
Speaking at a biofuels conference this morning, Gov. Haley Barbour re-affirmed his support for construction of a $2.88 billion experimental coal plant in Kemper County while criticizing a federal energy bill that imposes a carbon-limiting policy on power-production companies.