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Friendship Ball Promotes Dialogue, Helps Kids
This Saturday, Jackson 2000, a nonprofit established to improve race relations will host the 10th annual Jackson Friendship Ball, a celebration of the work of non-profits and individuals working to better the city by creating and expanding interracial dialogues.
Greasing the Wheels
Two Democratic candidates for state office assailed Republicans for their opposition to a popular bill that would cut the grocery tax in half and raise the tax on cigarettes to $1 a pack last Thursday. Gov. Haley Barbour said he would veto the bill if it hit his desk, and Sen. Finance Chairman Tommy Robertson, R-Mosspoint, has promised to kill the bill in committee so that pro-tobacco legislators will not have to cast an unpopular vote during an election year.
Money and Marriage
The biggest fight in the Mississippi Legislature still centered on money in week 3 of the 2010 session. The House refused to consider a Senate bill giving Gov. Haley Barbour the power to selectively cut 10 percent of certain state agency budgets while sparing other agenciesnamely the Department of Corrections. So Barbour responded with a more constitutional blanket cut.
Amid Tears, McCoy Keeps Seat
Democratic Rep. Billy McCoy reclaimed his seat as House speaker by only two votes Tuesday. House members, including new members Kimberly Campbell and Adrienne Wooten—both of Jackson—approved McCoy by a 62-to-60 vote, handing Rep. Jeff Smith, D-Columbus, a very narrow loss this year.
BP ‘Lied Through Their Teeth'
Jackson attorney Hiram Eastland has filed a civil suit on behalf of Gulf Coast property owners, alleging that BP infiltrated a U.S. government agency and knowingly lied about its ability to stop an oil spill like the one soiling the Gulf of Mexico.
Mental Health Ripe for Cuts?
Reform and belt-tightening will collide when state lawmakers consider mental-health services in the 2010 legislative session.
Dr. Charles Kimball
Dr. Charles Kimball is a Baptist minister, but the focus of his scholarship has always been the religion of Islam. The professor of comparative religion at Wake Forest University has written extensively on topics such as Islamic militancy, and has traveled to the Middle East on no less than 35 occasions in order to help during times of political and social unrest. Many of those trips were made during 1983 to 1990, when Kimball served as the Director of the Middle East Office at the National Council of Churches.
JPS School Board Reinstates Moment of Silence
During a painfully long Sept. 24 meeting of the Jackson Public School board, JPS Attorney JoAnne Shepherd reported on the litigious circumstances surrounding the proposed implementation of invocation before school board meetings. While the State Board of Education and the Mississippi Institute of Higher Learning open their meetings with prayer, most school boards in Mississippi do not. Board member Sollie Norwood has been vocal on the matter of prayer, saying in the meeting that the practice of prayer should extend beyond the school board.
‘Massive' Pre-Existing Condition
Since the age of 2, Madeleine Kelly-Kellogg, now 7, has gone through three surgeries to remove a benign brain tumor. After the first surgery Madeleine lost all ability to function on the right side OF her body and underwent two months of therapy to learn how to walk and speak again.
A Plan for Change
Otha Burton may be one of the newest appointees to the Jackson Public Schools board, but he is a veteran of city government. Burton served as chief administrative officer for Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr., during Johnson's first two terms as mayor, from 1999 through 2005.
Week 8: Abortion, Tobacco, Katrina
After declaring that he had no intention of considering abortion bills this year, House Health Committee Chairman Steve Holland, D-Plantersville, caved under the pressure from House Speaker Billy McCoy and a barrage of calls from anti-abortion supporters and allowed three anti-abortion bills to come up for a vote in the House.
Dems Target Abortion Rights
In a move calculated to force a showdown on abortion rights in the state, the Mississippi Legislature declared war on Roe v. Wade last week after Rep. Steve Holland, chairman of the House Public Health and Human Services Committee, added language to Senate Bill 2922 that would effectively ban legal abortion in the state.
Take It to the Feds
Download the motion (PDF 1.44MB)
Water Crisis Forces Closures, Cooperation
A water emergency gripped Jackson this week, as more than 100 water-main breaks left many parts of Jackson with low or nonexistent water pressure. The crisis forced the closure of state offices, schools, colleges and private businesses.
We the People with ID
State Sen. Charlie Ross, R-Brandon, a GOP candidate for lieutenant governor, held a press conference on the steps of the capitol this morning, requesting Gov. Haley Barbour to call a special session on a law requiring voter photo identification at the polls.
Taking a Budget Break
The Mississippi Legislature put budget negotiations on pause this weekend, with plans to reconvene April 20, when the state's revenue forecast will be clearer.
Training Schools Flunk
Students are prescribed anti-psychotic medication at 16 times the number of diagnoses, and mental health evaluation and counseling remain "grossly inadequate." These are but a few of the many ongoing violations at the Oakley and Columbia juvenile training schools, according to federal court monitor Joyce Burrell.
While Rich Folks Scream
There are certain power players in the entrepreneurial game that everyone should know. Two names are Michael and Steven Roberts. When I crawled from under the rock I'd been living under, I realized that these men have made massive waves in the business world, and have no intentions of slowing down. I sat down with the St. Louis-born brothers at their newly acquired Roberts Broadcasting here, in the capital city, and talked to them about their business ventures.
Stanley Cole Indicted
A Hinds County grand jury has indicted former JSU criminal justice student Stanley Cole in the death of JSU accounting major Latasha Norman, 20. Police arrested Cole, 24, last November after he eventually led police to Norman's body 16 days after she went missing on Nov. 13. Police said Cole was a person of interest in the case early on. Investigators found blood and other DNA samples in the trunk of a car traced back to Norman.
Wrong Inmate Released
Sheriff Malcolm McMillin said Monday that county officials released the wrong person last Thursday when Willie McGregory got out of the Hinds County Detention Center, possibly due to an indictment snafu.