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Melton's Honeymoon, Part VI: The Mayor and The Police
Mayor Frank Melton swept into the city's mayor office July 4 with a badge and a side arm, determined to take a bite out of crime. During that time, he's taken part in numerous police raids, parading his image of a gun-toting crime fighter before the television cameras.
Turnabout: Melton Changes Story About Leak
When he was head of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Jackson Mayor Frank Melton leaked a memo containing accusations that would later be disproved about agency personnel to The Clarion-Ledger. Before he took office, he said under oath he did not leak the document. But after a judge ruled that the reporter could not keep her source confidential, Melton changed his story. Adam Lynch investigates.
Ridin' the Wave: The JFP Interview with Ronnie Musgrove
Former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove has his eye on Sen. Trent Lott's old seat. He's running on a "throw the bums out" platform against his opponent, and the Republican Party.
The 2009 JFP Interview With John Horhn
John Horhn, 53, recently reclaimed his District 26 Senate for a fifth term, but now he wants to be mayor of Jackson. A self-proclaimed "lifelong resident of Jackson," and a product of Jackson Public Schools, Horhn won the then-newly created Senate seat in 1993.
Thou Shalt Not Steal: Is Voter Suppression the Real Issue?
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has gone out of his way to excite the historically indifferent youth vote, but the biggest question with young voters may not be keeping their attention long enough to get them to the polls.
Where There's Smoke, There's Haley Barbour
During his long tenure in Washington, Haley Barbour was known for his love of Maker's Mark bourbon, good cigars and Republican politics, not necessarily in that order.
The Peacemaker?
The effortless July 5 council vote giving Ward 1 Councilman Ben Allen the president's seat was a dramatic contrast to the council president vote of 2005, when Ward 6 Councilman Marshand Crisler took the presidency from Ward 2's Leslie McLemore after a last-minute coup involving Ward 4 Councilman Frank Bluntson, Ward 5 Councilman Charles Tillman and Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes.
2007 JFP Voter's Guide: Fighting for a Secretary
Photos by Adam Lynch & Darren Schwindaman
Secretary of State Eric Clark is shipping out this year after more than 10 years in office. His departure opens a rift in what might have otherwise been one of the few safe seats in statewide elections, so it's not surprising that seven candidates are jumping at the chance to grab it.
Secrets & Lies: GOP Accused of Political Prosecutions
Prosecutions of a Mississippi Supreme Court justice and a wealthy Gulf Coast attorney are at the center a spectacular congressional investigation of political prosecution.
Ceara's Season
Ceara Sturgis' home in Wesson, Miss., is filled with cookie jars. Ancient, smiling caricatures of 1950s-era "Campbell's Kids" join recent additions featuring the likeness of the M&M characters.
Election ‘04: Rural vs. Urban
Early figures regarding the elections point to the rural and suburban areas of Mississippi for the greatest support for both George W. Bush and the gay-marriage ban. A CNN News poll shows Bush carried the state with a 59.63 percent, or about 671,027 votes, over Kerry's 39.60 percent, or about 445,596 votes. Rural areas, such as Greene County's 14 precincts overwhelmingly supported Bush at 72.64 percent, or 3,850 votes, over Kerry's 26.81 percent, or 1,421 votes. Greene County also carried the amendment with 93 percent in favor, or 4,921 votes, as opposed to seven percent at 379 votes against. Though primarily African-American counties, such as Issaquena, preferred the Democratic Kerry with an eight-point lead, the county's five small precincts still approved the gay ban with an eight out of 10 rating of 677 votes over 158.
Melton: Taxpayers Should Pay My Fine
Photo Graphic by Darren Schwindaman
Attorneys for Jackson Mayor Frank Melton argued in a Meridian court on Oct. 20, over whether Melton can be sued as a private individual or if the state has to shoulder the financial burden of a civil suit against him brought by former Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics employees who say Melton defamed them by leaking a false memo to The Clarion-Ledger in April 2003.
A Life-Saving Tax?
Money and where to find it is the big issue being discussed in the 2005 special session. Supporters for one popular means to get the money mobbed the south side of the Capitol May 17, calling for a $1 increase in the tobacco tax. The group of about 50 supporters consisted of American Cancer Society volunteers, state residents and cancer survivors.
Cool Little Duling
Real estate developer Mike Peters is looking to expand the successful cultural renaissance at Fondren Corner across Duling Avenue, and will officially unveil his vision Nov. 17, at the Fondren Unwrapped holiday open house.
City Faces Homicide Spate
This past Sunday, Michael Jerome Williams, a 28-year-old suspect in a double homicide, turned himself in to police after committing the city's eighth and ninth homicides in 10 days with the double murder of LaTonya Thompson and Calvin Jennings. The murders brought the city's homicide count for 2005 up to 40—22 of those since the beginning of July.
‘Legitimate Gripes' or ‘Rumor'?
A line of concerned students and alumni gathered May 25 at 9 a.m. on the pavement below the Jackson State University administrative towers building to protest the merger of the university's sociology and criminology programs. Students said they were shaken by the news that the university would be putting both schools under one administrative roof in a merger it claims will strengthen the faculty base.
Mayor Tries to Clean House
Jackson Mayor Frank Melton, elected July 4, was already looking to shake the system July 27, calling for the resignation of city board and commission members. In a press release, Melton's office told the media in an unprecedented announcement that he wanted immediate resignations of the almost 200 members of the 22 boards and commissions "in an effort to assure that the necessary policies and programs are initiated."
Melton's Lies Cost Taxpayers
Jackson Mayor Frank Melton admitted to lying in legal documents for more than two years on Aug. 22, saying he had been confused, as he stood before a judge in Lauderdale County Circuit Court. Three days later, Judge Robert Bailey called his explanation "ludicrous" and declared Melton the loser in the lawsuit due to lies he'd told to the court on numerous occasions - leaving the Mississippi taxpayers to pay his damages.
Byram: ‘Worth Fighting For?'
The city of Jackson sallied forth with plans to creep its southern border a little further south June 13 when city attorneys pled a case for annexation before a Hinds County judge. The city had withdrawn its appeal of a Hinds County ruling that threw out the annexation bid, but then City Council members passed an ordinance putting new gusto behind the move to annex.
‘Twin Lakes' All Over Again
Almost 60 years ago, flood waters utterly inundanted the city of Jackson, swelling up out of Town Creek, which is now contained and flowing under the Hood building. Then, in 1979, the waters of the Pearl River rose up to reclaim the ancient swampland upon which Jackson is built. That 1979 Easter flood caused hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage and sparked a number of desperate anti-flood plans by the Army Corps of Engineers and private investors looking to protect their assets. One was the $84 million Shoccoe Dry Dam Project and later the 1996 Levee Plan, neither of which got off the ground—killed by disagreement among residents and designers.