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State of the State Tonight
Gov. Haley Barbour will deliver the twice-delayed Mississippi State-of-the-State speech tonight at 6 p.m. The speech, postponed because of water issues in Jackson, will air live on Mississippi Public Broadcasting TV, radio and on the Internet.
Nearly Half of All Mississippians Not Connected
About half—45 percent—of all Mississippi residents are unable to do what many of us take for granted: read this, or any other Web site. They're unable to send e-mails to family or friends, search for jobs, find news and information, or do any of a myriad of tasks on the Internet, according to the U.S. Census Current Population Survey. The state has the lowest number of people connected to the Internet in the country, reports The Sun Herald.
Convicted Former Klansman Sues FBI
Convicted former Ku Klux Klansman Edgar Ray Killen is suing the FBI for millions, claiming violations of his civil rights, reports The Los Angeles Times. Killen, 85, convicted in 2005 of manslaughter in the 1964 slayings of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Miss., says the FBI hired mafia hit man "The Grim Reaper" to pistol whip witnesses into providing information in the case.
Roger Wicker
Passed by a 68-to-30 Senate vote, an amendment authored by Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, mandates that Amtrak allow passengers to carry handguns in their checked baggage. The amendment is an addition to a $122 billion housing and transportation bill, of which $1.2 billion is for Amtrak, and would deny funding for the carrier if it doesn't comply by March 2010.
Entertainment for Good Causes Tops Weekend Events
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Jackson Water Crisis: Day 3
Gov. Haley Barbour extended the state of emergency for Jackson in the wake of more than 100 water-main breaks in the city, spilling roughly 22 million gallons of water. Parts of Jackson remain without water this morning, and some schools, businesses and government offices remain closed, although about 70 percent of the breaks have been repaired.
Senate Health-Care Bill Clears Crucial Hurdle
The U.S. Senate won a victory early this morning in the health-care debate, reports The Washington Post. In a 1 a.m. 60-to-40 vote, Senators approved the first of three procedural motions to move reform legislation to final passage, now scheduled for Christmas Eve.
Miller: Too Soon to Declare Gulf Victory
Louie Miller, the state director of the Sierra Club, disagrees with Mississippi Department of Marine Resources Director Bill Walker's assessment that it's time stop Gulf municipalities' clean-up work connected with the BP oil well.
Former Choctaw Chief Hospitalized
Phillip Martin, the former chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, has been hospitalized at St. Dominic's Hospital in Jackson. Martin, 84, held the democratically elected post of the group's chief for 32 years, with his tenure ending in 2007. His condition is unavailable at this time.
Jackson Water Update
Parts of the city of Jackson served by its well-water system continue to be subject to a boil-water notice, according to a release issued this morning. Pressure has now risen to a point in that system to allow for testing. City crews are collecting forty samples from the system today to send to the Mississippi Health Department, and the boil-water notice will be lifted after two days of testing come back clear.
College Tuition Increases Possible
One of the things the Mississippi College Board is considering to offset the decrease in state funding is to increase tuition for students. During yesterday's meeting at the state Institutions of Higher Learning offices, Commissioner Hank Bounds brought the issue to the table, reports NEMS360.com
Barbour Wants 68 Percent Cuts to Ed Programs
Gov. Haley Barbour is recommending cutting education programs for gifted, special and vocational programs by 68 percent, reports WLBT. Making such deep cuts to state funding for the programs would result in losing $176 million in federal funding, as well.
Parents Should Make Plans for Getting Kids to School
With school bus drivers employed by First Student threatening a strike beginning Thursday morning, the Hinds County School District is urging parents to make alternate plans for getting their kids to school tomorrow.
JFP Freelancer of the Month: Valerie Wells
Her desire to make a difference in the world instinctively drew Valerie Wells to the field of journalism.
Medical Mall Aids Seniors With ‘Raise the Roof'
The Jackson Medical Mall will provide new roofs and other much-needed home repairs to four Jackson senior citizens through its fall "Raise the Roof" campaign. With seniors making up 65 percent of the city's residents, the initiative provides repairs too expensive for those on fixed incomes, allowing seniors to keep the homes they have worked all of their lives to own.
Alabama Dem Switches to GOP
In a move that some Democrats find unsurprising, first-term Alabama Congressman Parker Griffith announced yesterday that he was switching his party affiliation from the Democrats to the GOP. In a prepared statement, Griffith said there was no place in the Democratic Party for a "pro-business, pro-life, pro-Second Amendment" legislator.
Next BP Attempt to Cap Oil Could Increase Flow
In the wake of Saturday's failure of a "top kill" procedure to stem the gusher of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, British Petroleum will again attempt to cap the flow. This newest procedure, however, involves cutting the leaking pipe from the blowout preventer, increasing the flow for three or four days until a new containment dome can be put into place to allow the company to siphon off the oil, reports The Miami Herald.
Public-Good Rankings Include Mississippi Schools
Washington Monthly magazine has published college rankings based on their contribution to the public good. The listings include several Mississippi universities and colleges, and are based on three broad categories: social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).
Barbour: Don't Stop Drilling
Speaking at the Mississippi Manufacturers Association Friday, Gov. Haley Barbour implied that the millions of gallons of crude pumping into the Gulf of Mexico and threatening fragile eco-systems, wildlife and livelihoods from Texas to Florida should not be a reason to stop offshore drilling, reports The Sun Herald.
Doing School
I was never a stellar student. It's not that I'm not bright; I always tested well, 98th and 99th percentile on standardized tests in everything but math. Most of my teachers, however, utterly failed to engage my interest.