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The JFP Interview with Chokwe Lumumba
Chokwe Lumumba was one child among seven in Detroit's West side public housing projects. His birth name is Edwin Taliaferro, though he abandoned what he considers his slave name in favor of his current, more nationalistic, equivalent.
Sidebar: Justice Is Deaf
Police arrested Gregory Tavoras Hobson of Canton and Markeith Brown of Canton last December for the Dec. 8, 2005, shooting death of 16-year-old Keavin Jones. When Hobson's charges went before a grand jury recently, the jury said there was not enough evidence to push a prosecution against Hobson. More than six months after he was arrested and presented his alibi, police finally dropped the charges in late June.
Blind Eye: Easier Times for Bingo Crimes?
Adam goes into depth about monetary abuses in bingo parlors, and why nothing has been done about it.
Old Fights, New Bruises
House Speaker Billy McCoy, Senate leader Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant and Gov. Haley Barbour will address some very old fights this year as the Legislature convenes. Many of these are battles that never seemed to get a resolution in past bouts—not even after exhaustive special sessions.
Travis Childers Unplugged: The JFP Interview
Within 63 days, Travis Childers went from being a former Prentiss County chancery clerk to one of the biggest butt-pains the Republicans have experienced in 15 years.
The JFP Interview With Alan Nunnelee
Republican Mississippi Sen. Alan Nunnelee is looking to follow after Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker—again. In 1994, Nunnelee gained Wicker's state Senate seat after Wicker won election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
AG says Barbour's Veto 'Unconstitutional'
Gov. Haley Barbour cannot legally make a line-item veto on million of dollars in spending on at-risk youth programs, Attorney General Jim Hood said today. "Barbour's misguided and illegal attempt to partially veto (appropriations bills) HB 1681 and HB 1589 are clearly unconstitutional, based upon well-settled Supreme Court decisions," Hood told reporters. "That cuts off numerous programs, from the YMCA, to the Boys and Girls Clubs and Big Brothers Big Sisters to Badges for Baseball. Anybody familiar with these programs will say that it's cheaper to spend money on children at a young age than spend $30,000 a year to warehouse them as criminals after they become adults."
'Where Barbour's Loyalties Really Lie'
On March 15, Gov. Haley Barbour vetoed a second tax reform bill that would have raised the cigarette tax to $1 per pack and cut the state's 7 percent sales tax to 3.5 percent.
Scruggs' Indictment Shaking State
Attorney Paul Minor is serving 11 years in federal prison for paying off campaign loans for a Democratic Mississippi Supreme Court judge. Guaranteeing loans to the campaigns of supreme court justices was once common practice, and Minor accused the FBI of not prosecuting fellow Gulf Coast attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs for "doing the same thing." Unlike Minor, Scruggs gave campaign money to Republicans like his brother-in-law Sen. Trent Lott.
Melton's Mixed Messages in 'Heinous' Case
Mayor Frank Melton doesn't have to write a check to two former Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics employees. Just yet.
Two Democrats Eye Charles Barbour's Seat
It's the first month of 2007, and the elections are already gathering some momentum. Two Democrats are vying for the chance to square off with Republican Charles Barbour over his seat as supervisor of Hinds County's District 1 in the general elections in November.
The AG's Race: Hoodwinking the Voters?
The race for attorney general is boiling down to two relevant choices: Do voters want a state lawyer who tries to distance himself from lawyers, or a lawyer who embraces them.
Melton Budget 'Smoke and Mirrors'
The City Council cut short a budget session last week after the Melton administration failed to present detailed budget revisions.
Link Lost in 'Illegal' Limbo
The Mississippi Link is suing Jackson Mayor Frank Melton and City Council members who voted against a recent veto override. Last month, the council failed to override a veto from Frank Melton rejecting the council's decision to award printing for the city's legal ads to The Mississippi Link newspaper. Also named in the lawsuit with Melton are Ward 1 Councilman Ben Allen, Ward 5 Councilman Charles Tillman and Ward 4 Councilman Frank Bluntson.
'Blue Dot in a Red Sea'
Democracy for America Chairman Jim Dean endorsed Democratic candidate Gary Anderson for Mississippi Insurance Commissioner last week during a visit to Anderson's campaign headquarters.
'27 Lakes' Plans Making Waves
A plan to flood the wetlands between Hinds and Rankin counties may get a new boost from a federal bill that makes it easier to include private funding in the venture. The U.S. Senate overrode President Bush's veto of the U.S. Water Resources Development Act Nov. 8, setting the stage for a federal/private funding partnership for the development of the Pearl River.
City Council Votes 'No Confidence' on City Attorney
City Council cast a vote of no-confidence in City Attorney Sarah O'Reilly-Evans at the May 22 council meeting, saying O'Reilly-Evans acts as if she works for the mayor rather than the city. "I've heard you say you work exclusively for the executive branch, and I know that's not the way state law has set that up," Councilman Marshand Crisler said to O'Reilly-Evans.
Fleming's Little Secret
The home shopping Web site Cafepress.com no longer carries women's thong underwear featuring the logo of Mississippi House Rep. Erik Fleming, D-Hinds. Up until this week, anybody looking to keep Fleming close to their ... er, heart ... could grab a credit card and promote Fleming where it counts most.
Mayor's Home on the Block?
Jackson Mayor Frank Melton is in danger of losing his $353,000 home at 2 Carter's Grove in North Jackson to foreclosure. Melton told The Clarion-Ledger that he was making arrangements with his mortgage lender, OmniBank, to save his northeast Jackson home, which he has not made a payment on since last October.
Gettin' Pumped?
The $220 million Yazoo Backwater Area Project, which involves installing a huge pumping station to drain 66,945 acres of Delta wetlands, horrifies many environmentalists, who say the 60-year-old endeavor is a leftover from a more callous age.