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Willis Fires Back
Former Parchman inmate Cedric Willis is suing the city of Jackson, the police department, and officers Gerald Jones, Ned Garner, Jim Jones and Joe Wade for $36 million for wrongful arrest and prosecution in a conviction that locked him away from friends and family for more than a decade.
EXCLUSIVE: City Attorney In the Money?
City Attorney Sarah O'Reilly-Evans could collect up to $650,000 on the $65 million convention Center bond proposal, according to a clause in her city contract, first revealed publicly on Nov. 1 on jacksonfreepress.com. O'Reilly-Evans, who heads the city's legal department, makes $113,000 a year in annual salary—almost $25,000 more than the last city attorney, Terry Wallace—but a clause in her contract allows her to take home extra pay from every city bond proposal she helps devise.
DOJ Investigation Hits Close to Cochran
A U.S. Department of Justice investigation is creeping closer to Republican Sen. Thad Cochran. The DOJ indicted Ann Copland, Cochran's 29-year legislative aide, for accepting more than $25,000 worth of meals and event tickets from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, in exchange for aiding Abramoff's clients.
Ellis Termination Justified?
This is an expanded web edition of an article that appeared in the Feb. 14 print edition.
Judge Malcolm Harrison: A New Man
Newly appointed Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Malcolm Harrison is a careful man when it comes to talking politics about Mississippi's judicial system.
JRA on the Chopping Block
The mayor's recent proposal to dissolve the Jackson Redevelopment Authority and use the savings to reduce the city's $4.3 million budget deficit may do little to address the city's budget woes.
The Game of Monopoly
Mississippi attorney general Jim Hood filed a lawsuit against Entergy Mississippi Inc. last Tuesday, accusing the company of "dishonest practices worthy of ENRON."
Racist Names, Beware
Ward 2 Councilman Chokwe Lumumba said he voted with a majority of the council to remove a controversial petition requirement for the renaming of city streets or facilities because he felt city residents deserved a "more fair system" for changing street and place names.
Cigarette Tax Debate Rages On
Pragmatism and principle will collide when the Mississippi House considers the Senate version of a proposed cigarette tax increase. The Senate approved increasing the cigarette tax from 18 cents per pack to 49 cents per pack Jan. 29. The Senate bill was a more modest revision of the $1 tax, which the House approved two weeks earlier.
Not So Fast, Suburbs
Former Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. says he doesn't believe the city should have to lose ownership of its wastewater treatment plant in order to fix it.
Supremes' Decision Could Affect Minor
The U.S. Supreme Court's June 29 decision to vacate the 2006 fraud conviction of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and remand that case back to the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals could mean good news for convicted Mississippi attorney Paul Minor.
Hurricane Green: Who Profited?
By now, it should be clear who is making the big bucks on Katrina recovery: contractors and consultants. The storm's victims haven't fared so well.
Politics of Tobacco
The House sent a veto-proof cigarette tax bill to the Senate Thursday, along with the message that one side of the Mississippi Legislature is standing behind the tax, even if former tobacco lobbyist Gov. Haley Barbour and his Senate allies have no intention of letting the bill come up for a vote.
Mayor Wants 'Responsibility'
At a June 25 meeting at Koinonia Coffee House, Mayor-elect Harvey Johnson Jr. told Ward 5 residents that the theme for the city during his third term as mayor will be "responsibility."
The 2009 JFP Interview With Robert Amos
Robert Amos is the youngest remaining candidate for mayor. At 35, he's already worked in more fields than some do in a lifetime—health care, education, criminal justice and business—and he's currently an adjunct professor at Jackson State University's College of Lifelong Learning.
Crime Summit Useful?
JSU criminology professor Jimmy Bell says the city's upcoming crime summit, planned for Aug. 31 will be different from crime summits hosted in other cities, while the ACLU is concerned that the summit will not tackle crime issues in a substantive way.
Rev. Olivier Returns to South Africa
Rev. Ross Olivier, "Reverend Ross" to his Galloway Methodist Church parishioners, will return to his native South Africa in January after serving the Jackson church since July 2004. In recent years, Olivier (pronounced Ollie-FEE) has become a Jackson staple at social justice and racial reconciliation events, drawing from his work and experience during the apartheid era in South Africa, where he was a vigorous opponent of the brutal oppression he found there. Archbishop Desmond Tutu asked Olivier to establish a council of churches during that time, and in 1994, the year of South Africa's first democratic elections, he facilitated the Methodist Church's re-visioning for the new, emerging democracy, chronicled in the book "Journey Begun," which he co-authored.
McMillin Rags Media
Echoing complaints of former Police Chief Robert Moore, Hinds County Sheriff and Jackson Police Chief Malcolm McMillin said Tuesday that he took personal offense to a Feb. 13 Clarion-Ledger story questioning his openness with city information.
A Crying Shame
Some City Council members were showing anxiety over recent firings in city government last week. The Clarion-Ledger had reported that the Melton administration has fired as many as 53 city employees since the administration entered office in July. Melton fired the brunt of that number in perfect time for the holidays, announcing a massive restructuring of the Planning and Development Department in late December, 12 days before Christmas.
DeLaughter Joins Sons of Confederate Veterans
Jefferson Davis Camp No. 635, an organization dedicated to conserving deteriorated Confederate battle flags and preserving the nation's Confederate heritage, welcomed a Hinds County Circuit Court judge as a new member in June.