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'Good Time' For the Dems?
Amid cheers and declarations that "It's a good time to be a Democrat," the executive committee of the Mississippi Democratic Party met and unanimously elected Jamie Franks its new party chairman at the Regency Hotel on Saturday, July 12.
Johnson to Fill City Boards
Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. told the Jackson Free Press that he is putting a priority on filling city boards or re-committing board members whose terms expired under the last administration.
Firefighters Reinstated, Controversy Remains
A battle between Mayor Frank Melton and five members of the Jackson Fire Department ended in a handshake last Friday. Local 87 union President Brandon Falcon announced that he, along with Capts. Sidney Johnson, Patrick Armon, Reuben Ray and Lt. Vernon Gee could go back to work Sunday after being put on paid suspension for speaking to the media regarding staff shortages in the fire department.
[In Memory] Florence Mars, 1923-2006
I didn't know Florence Mars growing up in Neshoba County. She was from a different part of town—the side that had old money. I don't have memories of her walking around town in her floppy hat like Sen. Gloria Williamson describes, or driving her little bug around town as former Neshoba Democrat editor Stanley Dearman does. I don't remember seeing her at the Neshoba County Fair. I certainly had no reason to visit the stockyard that she owned, the one that white folks boycotted for awhile.
Council Approves Tax, Fee Hikes
Last Friday, the City Council voted to raise taxes for city residents, even as the budget of the mayor's office jumped 41 percent over last year. In the last year, the city has moved to cut costs, including sharp cuts in overtime pay, a promotion freeze in some departments and a drastic call by Mayor Frank Melton for every city department—except the police—to cut its budget by 5 percent.
AG Can Sue BP without OK
British Petroleum announced that Mississippi will receive a total of $65 million to fight oil coming onto the beaches and for tourist advertising, but Attorney General Jim Hood says he requires none of those funds to pursue a suit against the oil giant, should one become necessary.
Demand Up, Money Down
Despite seeing an increased demand for library services, Jackson-Hinds Library System Executive Director Carolyn McCallum said it will struggle to maintain services and hours for Jackson residents in the upcoming budget year.
Batman and Melton Return
A showdown of sorts between District Attorney Faye Peterson and Mayor Frank Melton occurred on Monday in Circuit Court Judge Bobby DeLaughter's courtroom, during motions in the trial of alleged Wood Street Players gang members.
Art Needs You
Real estate gurus, businessmen and women sat down with artists to discuss arts and its importance to the lives of us all at St. Andrew's Cathedral on June 15. Panel moderator Todd Stauffer, publisher of the Jackson Free Press, set the tone of the Jackson Arts Council forum quickly with remarks about the "creative class"—and art's connection with economic development.
Convention Complex Opens
Twenty thousand visitors filled the Jackson Convention Complex during its official grand opening Saturday, according to preliminary estimates.
Transforming Lives
Domestic violence affects one in three women in their lifetimes, according to the Family Violence Prevention Fund. The staff at the Center for Violence Prevention is trying to quell the national and statewide epidemic of violence against women, particularly in the metro area, by transforming the lives of the women who come to them.
Council Guarded on Care Homes
Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes was clearly guarded about imposing new regulation for personal-care homes at the Monday Jackson City Council Planning Committee meeting.
Melton Sues Over Own Leak
Jackson Mayor Frank Melton is suing The Clarion-Ledger for breach of contract, a story the Jackson Free Press broke on its Web site on April 18. Melton was head of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics for less than four months when he leaked a memo composed by then-MBN agent Roy Sandifer (now JPD assistant police chief) to The Clarion-Ledger's Washington correspondent Ana Radelat in 2003. Now, Melton is suing the paper because it ran his leaked memo without corroborating the accusations in it. The memo alleged that MBN agents were illegally transferring MBN-seized weapons and an airplane.
Local Businesswoman Gives to JSU
On behalf of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Educational Advancement Foundation, Jackson State University alumna Juanita Sims Doty added $5,000 to the Juanita Sims Doty Scholarship Fund for financially burdened students. The additional contribution to the fund, which was established in 2000 and currently totals $16,000, is a boost to JSU's Campaign For Jackson State effort. The campaign seeks to accrue $50 million in additional scholastic funding by the year 2010 and has raised $23 million to date.
Re-opening The Evers Case?
Jackson Mayor Frank Melton launched into a tirade last week over his desire to give the Jackson international airport the full name of former NAACP Field Secretary Medgar Evers, who was assassinated in his driveway in 1963.
Oakley Training School: A 'Bad Model'
Mississippi is wasting time and money in its attempt to bring the decrepit Oakley Juvenile Training School up to humane, livable standards. Calling large-scale, centralized juvenile facilities ineffective, Bear Atwood, director of the Mississippi Youth Justice Project, is advocating for the state to close Oakley permanently in favor of small community-based programs.
Melton: 'I'm At Peace'
Mayor Frank Melton praised Jackson's economic progress and outlined some of the city's persistent problems in his State of the City address Thursday morning, Aug. 21, at the TelCom Center.
City Council's Resolutions
During last Friday's Jackson Free Press radio show (which airs every Friday at noon on WLEZ 103.7), Council President Ben Allen set out several items he said City Council hoped to address by February:
New Law Targets Neglectful Owners
The city will put more energy into Capitol Street's dilapidated properties and will have a new state law to help out, Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. said this week.
Pay Now, or Pay Later
Jackson Public School Superintendent Earl Watkins and JPS School Board President H. Ann Jones held an editorial board meeting with the Jackson Free Press last week, arguing for a $150 million bond proposal, which will be put to a vote by Jackson voters this November. Both Jones and Watkins believe it's necessary in a district facing overcrowding. Over the last two decades, the district has built low-quality aluminum portables to house a surge of students, constituting about 300 potential tornado-hazards throughout Jackson.