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Taylor Testimony Creates Firestorm, Brings In Melton Drunkenness
Previous JFP coverage of Michael Taylor
Melton Came Within Two Votes of Conviction
Within days of coming within two votes of going to federal prison, Mayor Frank Melton revealed to the Jackson Free Press last Thursday for the first time publicly that he plans to run for re-election. "Yes," he replied when asked in his City Hall office if he is running for a second term. "I really want to stay close to the people," he added. Melton said that it took him three years to figure out what the job of mayor is about and that he's learned from his mistakes.
Wright: Recio Falsified Documents, Melton ‘Clearly Under the Influence'
'On the Road Again' with Melton and his Bodyguards
Jury Deliberations Resume 9 a.m. Saturday
Kenya Hudson's Melton-Recio trial photos here.
Melton Defense Continues; Chris Walker Today?
JFP Coverage of Defense Witness Christopher Walker
Mississippi GOP Politicizes Scruggs Plea
The head of the Mississippi Republican Party is using the guilty plea of Richard "Dickie" Scruggs to try to focus the scandal spotlight away from Republicans and put it squarely on Democrats, especially Attorney General Jim Hood, who was re-elected last November with more votes than any statewide elected official, including Gov. Haley Barbour. Scruggs, the brother-in-law of former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott and known for campaign contributions to both major parties, pled guilty last week to conspiracy to bribe a Lafayette County Circuit Court judge.
UPDATED: Mayor Frank Melton ‘Still Alive,' Spokeswoman Says
UPDATE 12:10 P.M.: City spokeswoman Goldia Revies has released the following statement: "Mayor Frank E. Melton is still resting and will undergo tests today at St. Dominic Hospital. More information will be released as it becomes available. An emergency meeting of the City Council will be held at 4:00 p.m. in Council Chambers in order to ensure the efficient continuation of City business. The outpouring of prayers and support from concerned citizens in the interim is greatly appreciated."
UPDATED: Melton Bodyguard Wright Pleads Guilty, Resigns
Read: Adam Lynch's breaking Ridgeway coverage
Melton: Tyrone Lewis to be New Chief
Keeping in mind that today is April Fool's, and anything could happen, Jackson Mayor Frank Melton told the Jackson Free Press earlier today that he is planning to announce at 2 p.m. today that he's replacing Malcolm McMillin—who has submitted his resignation—with Tyrone Lewis as the city's new police chief. "It's McMillin's choice," Melton said when reached by phone. "He's tired. He's done a great job."
Jury Back 12:30 Friday in Melton-Recio Trial; Verdict Today?
Read the JFP original breaking story on Ridgeway destruction here
Mayor Walks Out On Citizens
Community policing took a body blow last week when Mayor Frank Melton and Jackson Police Chief Shirlene Anderson—a man and a woman put there to be anti-crime crusaders—suddenly dumped the department's Crime Prevention Unit as of Oct. 1, leaving eight crime prevention specialists out of work with only days' notice, and saving about $275,000 in salaries. The eight employees learned of the job eliminations on Tuesday before their jobs ended on Friday; they are getting paid through Oct. 15. The budget awards $110,000 in raises to legal personnel.
Batman's Family: ‘Enough'
Albert "Batman" Donelson's family is suing Mayor Frank Melton, the Jackson Police Department, six "John Doe" police officers and the city of Jackson for negligence, civil assault, trespass, nuisance, infliction of emotional distress, libel, slander and breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment, according to a June 28, 2006, notice of claim filed by Attorney Dennis Sweet III.
Little Love for Levees
The meeting room for the Rankin-Hinds Pearl Flood and Drainage Control District Levee Board in Flowood filled with rancor Monday, Feb. 8, after the board learned that the state Legislature may vote to dilute its authority to make flood-control decisions for the metro area, clearing the way for the controversial Two Lakes development plan to come back to life.
The Problem With Lakes and Levees
When famed New Urbanist Andre Duany came to Jackson to examine creative solutions to both flooding and economic-development options, he didn't get excited about the Two Lakes development plan developed by geologist and oilman John McGowan.
UPDATED: Two Lakes Supporters Helped Finance Defeat of Pearl Mayor
Fans of a controversial plan to develop the Pearl River had better luck installing a pro-"Two Lakes" mayor in the little town of Pearl than in the state's capital city this month.
Nightmare on Ridgeway Street
About 8:30 the evening of Aug. 26, residents of Ridgeway Street in the Virden Addition saw the Mobile Command Center roll up in front of Evans "Bubba" Welch's duplex, near the corner of Mill Street. Mayor Frank Melton and his two bodyguards, witnesses say, emerged from the blue-and-white RV, and one broke down Welch's back door.
Standoff Ends: State to Release $6 million to City for Water Repairs
Also see: Reeves Defends State Bond Allocations
Former Melton Home Reopens, Owner Defends Plans
The former home of the late Mayor Frank E. Melton and the young men he invited to live with him there exhibits little evidence still of Melton's presence except for the "Bottom Line" basement game room with a red pool table, a glass-fronted cabinet filled with liquor bottles, and a small shrine to Melton sitting amid Christmas lights and holiday greenery. To the left on the shrine shelf sits an undated United Minority Media Association Inc. "Development Award" presented to "Frank E. Melton, President, TV-3 Inc., Jackson, Mississippi" for "National Youth Management." To the right is a framed printout of cartoonist Marshall Ramsey's goodbye cartoon to Melton, along with Melton's city business card and his Jackson Police Department ID signed by then-Chief Shirlene Anderson.
To Levee or Not to Levee
Also see: Editorial: Stop the Lakes v. Levees Drama
No Deposit, No Return
If you were the melodramatic type, you might call it a nightmare. Barely a year into the new mandates, and increased (and largely unfunded) costs, of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, public school districts in the state fear that the state Legislature may not even fully fund them as much as they're required to under state law. Adding insult to injury, the new Republican governor did not even mention the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) in his State of the State Address.