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Parolee Arrested for Barrett Killing
Around 6 p.m. yesterday, police arrested Vincent McGee, 22, for the slaying of white supremacist Richard Barrett. McGee, on supervised release for assaulting a police officer and grand larceny in 2007, lived with this mother just a few doors down from Barrett in Pearl, and had done yard work for him.
Irby Wants Her Day in Court
Karen Irby, sentenced to 18 years in prison for the deaths of two young doctors last month, says she was forced to plead guilty, and now wants to withdraw that plea, reports WAPT. Irby was legally drunk and behind the wheel of her black Mercedes when the car crossed into oncoming traffic on Old Canton Road, Feb. 11, 2009, crashing head on into a pickup truck driven by Drs. Lisa Dedousis and Daniel Pogue. The two doctors died at the scene when their truck burst into flames.
Melody Golding
The Smithsonian Institute in Washingon, D.C., has selected Vicksburg photographer Melody Golding's photo collection "Katrina: Mississippi Women Remember," to add to the Smithsonian Archives Center this month. Golding's work is the institute's only acquisition documenting the effects of Hurricane Katrina on Mississippi.
MDH Offering Free Flu Vaccines
The Mississippi State Department of Health is now offering free vaccines for the H1N1 flu, commonly known as swine flu, to Mississippians. Residents 6 months of age or older can get either the injectable vaccine or the nasal-spray vaccine free at any MSDH at any county health department. Physicians and schools are also making the vaccines available.
Cheryl Keeton Shelton
One wouldn't necessarily connect a sixth grade teacher with the FBI, but Daniel McMullen, special agent in charge of the FBI's Jackson division, selected just such a teacher for the 2009 Director's Community Leadership Award: Cheryl Keeton Shelton.
Barbour Signs Tougher Stalking Law
Also: Listen to Rep. Brandon Jones and Sen. David Blount talk about the stalking bill on JFP Radio.
Gusher Twice as Big; BP Grants to Miss. Upped to $65 Million
Yesterday, government scientists announced yet again that the amount of oil gushing from the BP well in the Gulf of Mexico is at least twice as much as previously believed. The new "official" amount is now between 20,000 and 40,000 barrels per day, reports The New York Times. That means that for the past 52 days, 840,000 to 1.68 million gallons have been spewing into the sea every day.
Hood Requests Execution Dates
After the Mississippi Supreme Court denied appeals for two death row inmates Monday, Attorney General Jim Hood requested the court set execution dates for the two men. Paul Woodward has been on death row since 1987 and Gerald Holland since 1993. Hood has requested dates on or before May 20. The U.S. Supreme Court also declined to hear either case.
Legislators Return to $5.5 Billion Budget Deal
The Mississippi Legislature will return to Jackson tomorrow to reconvene its regular session, put on hold three weeks ago in anticipation of $187 million in additional federal stimulus funds. In the meantime, top lawmakers have come up with a $5.5 billion budget for the 2011 fiscal year that does not rely on those funds, which have yet to materialize reports The Sun Herald.
Gulf Coast AGs Seek Spill ‘Clarifications'
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood and the attorneys general from four other states affected (or potentially affected) by oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico are looking for clarification of responsibility from all involved parties. Yesterday, the group of five state "top cops" sent letters to three British Petroleum executives and to the general counsels at Transocean, Halliburton Energy, and Cameron International, corporations directly associated to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded and sank April 20 killing 11 workers.
Building to be Named for Slain Civil-Rights Workers
The Mississippi House debated yesterday over naming the new FBI field office building in Jackson for three slain civil-rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, reports the The Commercial Appeal.
Obama in Gulfport Today
President Barack Obama begins his fourth visit to the Gulf Coast this morning, starting in Gulfport. Gov. Haley Barbour said that he will be on hand to welcome the President. Obama will be touring the U.S. Coast Guard command center and meet with locals before he heads to Theodore, Ala., this afternoon, reports gulflive.com.
Childers to Tour Crop Disaster Areas
Today, Rep. Travis Childers, representing Mississippi's first Congressional district, will lead a crop disaster tour throughout his district in the company of U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary Michael Scuse. The tour will provide the agency first-hand information about the severe crop loss suffered to Mississippi farmers in the wake of heavy rains earlier in the fall, according to a release.
Dress for Success Honors Women of Strength
First impressions may never be more important than when a job applicant walks into an interview. For many women, learning how to make a good first impression and then maintaining a professional demeanor on the job can mean moving from poverty to economic self-sufficiency. That's the goal of Dress for Success, a nationwide non-profit organization that works with disadvantaged women, providing professional attire, support and career development tools.
Partnership Brings Free Dental Care to Kids
Approximately 400 students in two of Jackson's elementary schools will be receiving dental screenings today and tomorrow through the Colgate "Bright Smiles/Bright Futures" mobile van. The van, which is in Jackson in partnership with the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation and the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Dentistry, will be at Brown Elementary School today and at Smith Elementary School tomorrow between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Swine Flu Vaccine Injections Available
The Mississippi Department of Health has received an injectable version of the Swine Flu vaccine, reports WXVT. Spokeswoman Liz Sharlot said the state took delivery of 60,000 doses of the new vaccine in addition to the 69,000 doses of the nasal spray version already being distributed.
Barbour Again Seeks More Budgetary Power
Gov. Haley Barbour, in a letter addressed to Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant and House Speaker Billy McCoy, has again asked for additional power to cut Mississippi's state budget. Citing lagging revenue collections for this month and state economic recovery historical trends, Barbour wrote that the "best solution" was to give the governor the ability to make selective 10 percent cuts to agencies, doubling what he can currently cut.
‘Tough Times' in Mississippi
The non-profit Center for Social Inclusion released a new report "Tough Times in Mississippi: Housing and Poverty," last week showing that the Magnolia state is one of the hardest hit in the current recession. Not surprisingly, the African American community has been disproportionately affected, and is at the greatest risk of being left out of an economic recovery.
State Tax Revenues Down Again
Mississippi tax collections for October were behind estimates for the month by 6.74 percent, or $28.5 million, Gov. Haley Barbour stated yesterday. For the year to date, the first four months of the fiscal year, which began in July, are down 7.5 percent, or $111.7 million.
Jackson Home Prices Bucking National Trend
While most of the country continues to see a drop in home prices in the wake of the housing and foreclosure crises, Jackson home prices will be going in the opposite direction. The average home across the nation will lose 11.3 percent of its value between now and June 30, 2010, predicts Fiserv, a Wisconsin-based financial information and analysis company. The company expects values in Jackson, however, to rise by 0.1 percent.