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Bringing Nature Back to Gardening
Akia Chabot fits in nowhere, yet everywhere. The Australian native, with his master's in Environmental Management, teaches the natural poetry of permaculture with his wife, Rebecca, a Mississippi native who sports a Ph.D. in Ecology. The two will be offering courses on permaculture, starting Aug. 4, at their home in Vicksburg.
UPDATED: Government Ignores Own Bio-Lab Safety Studies
Alert: The government's deadline for comments on the bio-lab facility is Monday, Aug. 25. See below for contact info.
Goodbye, Mrs. Chaney
It took 41 years, but Fannie Lee Chaney lived to see her home state mete out a degree of justice for the murder of her son, James Chaney, on Father's Day, 1964. She was born Fannie Lee Roberth on a farm in a community called Sand Flats near Meridian. She married Ben Chaney in 1940, had a daughter, Barbara, the next year, and then gave birth to James Earl Chaney on May 30, 1943, as recounted in the book "We Are Not Afraid."
Been Profiled?
In these strange times, chances are good that you'll be stopped at a JPD roadblock set on enforcing Mayor Frank Melton's state of emergency, especially if you frequent West Jackson. When you see those blue lights and the police dogs snarling on their leashes, what should you do? More to the point, what can the police do to you?
State Faces Multiple Rate Hikes
Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said he will refuse to grant a 44.4 percent rate- hike requested by Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance on Mississippi homeowner insurance customers. Chaney said that the Mississippi Insurance Department's actuarial analysis found the 44.4 percent rate increase to be unsubstantiated.
Lessons of the 1979 Easter Flood
Part 3 in a series
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recommended last week that FEMA re-certify the levees protecting the Hinds and Rankin County edges bordering the Pearl River, despite the fact that the levees cannot stop a 200-year flood event similar to the 1979 Pearl River flood.
Voter ID: Partisan Posturing?
Mississippi Democratic Party Executive Director Sam Hall is accusing Republican Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant of pushing for voter identification for political reasons. "We have to ask if this is nothing more than an attempt to drum up support over another divisive wedge issue," said Hall, who spoke on Bryant's appearance at a Starkville Rotary Club meeting last week.
Meeting Between the Lines
Three Jackson Public School Board members may have held an illegal meeting last week. JPS Board member H. Ann Jones said she witnessed a Chastain Middle School assistant principal tell board member Sollie Norwood that board members Delmer Stamps and Ivory Phillips wanted to speak with him in a separate meeting room during a public forum regarding the district's search for a new superintendent.
Hinds County DA Alleges Racism in Courts
Even as Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith is alleging racism in the Hinds County Justice system, his African American predecessor says that it was her job to find a way to work within the parameters set by judges.
Melton, Pay Your Taxes
The Hinds County Tax Assessor's office told the Jackson Free Press that Mayor Frank Melton, an individual holding one of the most esteemed offices in the city, has yet to pay property taxes on one of his city addresses.
Playing Disaster Politics
Mississippi Secretary of State Mike Chaney is disputing that Attorney General Jim Hood does not deserve credit for the recent State Farm settlement with Mississippi. Hood announced last week that his office had settled a breach of contract suit with the insurance giant, which had agreed to pay at least $74 million more to policyholders who had fallen victim to Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.
Courts Going Digital
A dash of transparency could be coming to Hinds County's court system in 2011 along with some newly elected judges. Mississippi Electronic Courts, a pilot program offering attorneys and members of the public online access to court filings, is on track to become available statewide at the beginning of next year.
Sharrod Moore Back on Probation ... Sort Of
Dressed in a bright-orange jumpsuit with heavy chains around his hands, waist and sandaled feet, accused cop murderer Sharrod Moore won a victory this morning in Hinds County Court even as he was arraigned a second time for capital murder, with the added charge of armed robbery, for the November 1995 death of Jackson Police Officer Robert J. Washington.
Pack Up and Get Out!
Video still courtesy of WAPT-TV 16
What a week. As our last issue went to press, Mayor Frank Melton was in the middle of a tantrum about alleged "Wood Street Gang" associate Vidal Sullivan going free after a witness recanted his story to the district attorney. By the end of the week, Melton was basking in the Bahamas, and Sullivan was back on the streets as a free man, according to law enforcement insiders and friends of Sullivan who say they talked to him within hours of his brief visit with Melton on Wednesday night.
DeLaughter Pleads Guilty
Former Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Bobby DeLaughter, 55, resigned his job and pleaded guilty to misleading authorities this week. The former judge had five counts against him, all representing various forms of corruption, but he pled guilty to the one count arguably carrying the lightest sentence, obstruction of justice.
Expanding Code Enforcement
Planning and development consultant Leland Speed said he wants to expand the skeleton crew of the city's code enforcement division by about seven officers. "My idea is for neighborhood associations to nominate one person from each ward, who will then work for the city in enforcing code enforcement," Speed said. "The neighborhood associations know better than anyone what's right or wrong with their neighborhoods, and this will empower them."
Melton Attempts to Remove JPS Superintendent
Jackson Mayor Frank Melton's efforts to remove Superintendent Earl Watkins before his contract completion date could cost Jackson Public Schools big money, according to some board members.
District 71 Winner Fights Re-Vote
House District 71 winner Adrienne Wooten asked the Hinds County Circuit Court to order the Hinds County Election Commission to reverse its decision to hold a revote, and to certify her as the winner of the Nov. 6 election.
Feds Backing Down
An allegedly unjust house of cards built by the Bush administration and the U.S. Department of Justice, detailed in a Jackson Free Press cover story last week, seems to be starting to fall as a congressional investigation of possible selective political prosecutions starts to heat up, leaving Republican appointees, including Mississippi's U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton, in the glare of public scrutiny.
Lott's Back
For months, U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., has been keeping both supporters and enemies scratching their heads at whether he would run for his Senate seat a fourth time. The senator had indicated that he was considering retirement, regardless of the slim 55-to-44 majority Republicans have in the Senate. If Lott's deliberations on retirement had been serious, Senate Republicans would have suffered six open seats on the ballot in November, with Democrats hungry to take advantage of moral lapses involving GOP lobbyists like Jack Abramoff and politicians like Republican Tom Delay, of Texas, both slapped with indictments and inundated by controversy, with Delay forced to resign his post as majority leader of the House after he was indicted in Texas.