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Music Awards Honor Local Artists
The 35th annual Jackson Music Awards, hosted by WLBT sports anchor Rob Jay, recognized a talented selection of Jackson's finest musicians and entertainers last night at the Jackson Marriott downtown. Congratulations to all of the honorees and nominees, especially to the following 28 top award winners.
Gannett Profits Down 60 Percent
Gannett released its first quarter profits this morning, showing earns fell by 60 percent over the same quarter last year, "slightly surpassing diminished expectations" on Wall Street, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Health Department Urges Measures to Curb Flu's Spread
With the second death in Mississippi from the H1N1 flu, commonly known as swine flu, the state Department of Health is urging parents to teach children the basics of good hygiene. To date, Mississippi has confirmed 586 cases and two deaths, which is not outside the realm of normal flu deaths. Nationwide, about 36,000 Americans die from flu and complications from the illness every year.
Economy Blamed for Postponing Mayor's Meeting
Organizers for the Gulf Coast Black Mayor's Conference, originally scheduled for July 12–15 in Baton Rouge, are pointing to the recession for postponing the meeting, according to the Sun Herald. Planners are hoping to reschedule the meeting for next month.
Hood Warns of Stimulus Scams
[verbatim from the Mississippi Attorney General's office]
Attorney General Jim Hood, along with the Federal Trade Commission, is warning consumers about bogus web sites and emails promising to help them qualify for a payment from President Obama's economic stimulus package. The scammers tell consumers they can help with only a little information or for a small payment from the consumer.
MEMA Sends Warning to Louisiana
Emergency cottages sold to Louisiana-based Henderson Auctions are not fit for human habitation, says the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, which transferred title on 232 units to the auction house.
Mississippi Loses Bio Lab to Kansas
The Department of Homeland Security selected Manhattan, Kansas, over Flora, Miss., and four other sites for its proposed $451 million Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. The lab, which will focus primarily on communicative animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, often called simply FMD, will replace an outdated 1950s lab currently located on Plum Island, off the coast of New York.
Myrlie Evers-Williams
Today, the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tenn., named Myrlie Evers-Williams, 76, as a 2009 National Freedom Award winner. Widow of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, Evers-Williams became chairwoman of the NAACP in 1995, serving for three years.
Advocates to Legislature: Stop Delaying Cigarette Tax Increase
[Verbatim from Communities for a Clean Bill of Health]
Dry Rankin May Vote To Get Wet
Dry sections of Pearl and Flowood may see liquor sales soon, as Gov. Haley Barbour signed a bill that precedes putting the issue to county voters.
Mississippi Reports First Swine Flu Cases
The Mississippi State Department of Health today confirmed three cases of H1N1 flu, commonly called swine flu, in Harrison County on the Gulf Coast. The people infected, two adults and one child, have all fully recovered.
Redefining Pregnancy
You're a woman who has been raped, and you're terrified that your rapist made you pregnant. You ask your doctor for emergency contraception, but she refuses to give it to you; she's morally opposed to it.
Court Re-hears Seale Appeal
On May 21, the 17-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the case of James Ford Seale.
Mississippi Defenseless in Federal Suit
Three-year-old Olivia Y. weighed only 22 pounds—less than half what she should have weighed—when the Mississippi courts took her from her abusive mother and turned her over to the foster-care system. Her caseworker described the severely traumatized toddler as "petite" and "quiet," and failed to provide the mental and physical care she needed while moving her repeatedly—once into a home with a convicted rapist.
The Race Conversation
Race in Mississippi usually comes with many tons of baggage and several degrees of heat. Certainly, it's unusual to have the words "race" and "dialogue" on the same page, let alone the same sentence.
BREAKING: JPS Wants Secrecy
On Friday, the U.S. District Court will rule on a Jackson Public Schools motion for a protective order that will allow virtually any document, file or record connected to the termination of former Chastain Middle School principal, Michael Ellis, to be marked "confidential," without the court's review.
Sales Tax Holiday This Weekend
If you're in the market for back-to-school clothes and shoes, this coming weekend is the time to make your purchases.
Oakley Still Hurting Children
Students may no longer have to eat their own vomit at Oakley Training School, but the Department of Justice's eighth quarterly monitors' report shows that the school still has a very long way to go.
One in 100 Behind Bars
America reached a new record this year, but it's not one that comes with bragging rights: We've reached the point where one in every 100 adults is behind bars. In Mississippi, one in every 97.3 adults is in prison or jail.
Toward a Peace Culture
Takashi Teramoto was 10 when "Little Boy" dropped on Hiroshima in August 1945, killing 140,000 Japanese—half instantly, the other half from radiation poisoning. Teramoto is traveling with Steven Leeper, director of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, who often translates for him. Dedicated to eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide, the foundation is funding their tour to 101 U.S. cities, which began late in 2007.