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City Offers to Settle With Cedric Willis
After 17 years, Cedric Willis may get some measure of compensation from the city of Jackson for a wrongful conviction that cost him 12 years of his life. In 1994, Jackson police arrested Willis, then 19, for murder, rape, armed robbery and aggravated assault. Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Tomie Green exonerated him of all charges in 2006. Willis did not commit the crimes for which he was imprisoned.
Ronni's Wild Ride
"Have you ever noticed? Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac."
Barbour: First, Do No Harm
Call us suspicious, but we don't believe for one minute that Gov. Haley Barbour thinks the Mississippi Legislature will vote to merge the state's three historically black universities, while not touching Ole Miss or Southern. (We do believe they might merge Mississippi University for Women with Mississippi State, though.)
One Day In a Cause
Today has been an upsetting, disturbing, thought-provoking day. Six weeks ago, I discovered the Unitarian Universalists. I've never been a religious person; I'm convinced that organized religion is not my thing. That makes me something of a social outcast here in the "buckle" of the Bible Belt. Not that it bothers me personally, but it's been isolating from time to time. Discovering the UUs, as they refer to themselves, has been invigorating. But this story isn't about religion.
[Mott] ‘Bring On the Rest'
Driving away from Parchman Penitentiary on the night Mississippi executed Joseph Burns, I was having trouble putting my feelings into words. I had just watched a man die in front of my eyes and yet, I was oddly calm, as if I had just walked out of a movie theater.
Happiness Worth Celebrating
In my own relationship with an abusive man, "You're the best" turned fairly quickly into "I'm the only one who loves you," along with overt attempts to demonize my friends and isolate me.
Beyond the Blind Spots
Last Sunday after my yoga class, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few essentials like cat food and shampoo. The store wasn't crowded and I had my choice of lines. As usual, I exchanged a bit of banal small talk with the checker and the bagger.
Grokking New Beginnings
With Jackson State University naming Carolyn Meyers as its new president within the past week (see Ward Schaefer's interview), my thoughts naturally turned to Mississippi's educational system and the subject of how we learn.
The Lies We Tell
Last Friday's email brought this little gem to my inbox: Super PACs spent $23 million on deceptive or misleading advertising in GOP primary races, more than half of all advertising they purchased through April 3. Now, you might think that the SPACs aimed their big buckets of money at President Barack Obama, but no. Almost all of it was directed at fellow Republicans--Mitt Romney's PAC lying about Rick Santorum, Santorum's PAC misrepresenting Newt Gingrich's record, Gingrich spinning about Romney.
[Mott] Blue Dog Dems and Health Care
The Democratic Blue Dog Coalition has announced its agenda for reforming American health care. Not surprisingly, heading the list is controlling costs in the current systems.
[Mott] The Cost of Executions
Quitman County, Miss., population 10,500, raised taxes for three years and borrowed $150,000 to provide legal counsel to Robert Simon and Anthony Carr, sentenced to death for the 1990 murders of four family members. A death-penalty case "is almost like lightning striking," county administrator Butch Scipper told The Wall Street Journal in 2002. "It is catastrophic to a small rural county."
An Ache in Our Souls
A few years ago, I made what was, for me, a radical step: joining the Unitarian Universalist Church of Jackson. For a minute or two, I was on the board and even sang in the choir.
[Johnson] The Death of Birth
Biologist E.O. Wilson calls the stunning destruction of wildlife on our planet "the death of birth." We all must die in time, and there is a natural justice to the succession of generations.
[Mott] Bearing Witness
I inherited my love of history from my dad, who had a passion for it. A genuine scholar, the true stories he told around the dinner table were more engaging than anything in school textbooks.
A Good Woman Lives Here
John followed me out of the bar, yelling as I crossed the street, yelling when I got into my car, yelling as I started the engine. I don't remember what he was yelling about anymore, but I'm sure it was about me being stupid, or incompetent, or a coward for walking away; maybe it was all three.
Covering Our Oily Tracks
We humans forget a lot, especially when remembering means we have to change. And there is the crux of the problem: We've spent decades demanding that the rest of the world conform to what America wants. We gobble up a quarter of the world's energy with a mere 4.5 percent of the its population (both China and India have about four times the number of people). We have allowed amoral corporations to act in our name with impunity. We've stood by while politicians gutted our government in favor of private entities that increased spending and decreased responsibility. We can't sustain, and we can't understand why government isn't doing enough fast enough.
A ‘Local' Business Plan
The annual Best of Jackson reader's choice awards began in the very first issue of the Jackson Free Press.
Wisdom, Tibetan Style
With eyes closed and hands clasped in prayer, the monks of Drepung Loseling monastery consecrated the mandala of wisdom moments before dismantling the art they had spent four days creating at Millsaps College. In their maroon and saffron robes, the monks chanted in their unique multiphonic style, the chant leader singing three distinct notes simultaneously, creating an eerie, otherworldly sound.
Spend It to Make It
At the level of countries, economics can be a crapshoot, with future predictions playing as much of a role as hindsight. Micro-economics, the kind where you have to balance a checkbook and pay your electric bill to keep the heat on, are easier to understand. You have to spend less than you have coming in—or that's the goal, in any case. All the experts will tell you that it's far better to save money than go into debt for major purchases and life events such as college, marriage or starting a business.
Music, Fireworks, Bugs, Oh My
Sybil Cheesman expected to stay in Jackson only four or five years. "That's the longest I'd ever lived in one place," she says. Thirty-six years later, Cheesman has played her flute in the "Pepsi Pops" concerts since the first event. Featuring light classical, show tunes, movie scores and American standards for the past 32 years, this year's concert is Friday, May 9.