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Jackson Run-Off and ‘Two Lakes' Open Thread
All, the debate is over, so tell us what you thought. Did you learn something new? Did you hear something you liked? Didn't like? Did it affect your vote? What were the best moments? The worst?
WJTV Plans Live Stream of Clinton Speech
WJTV called this afternoon to let us know that they'll have a live stream of Senator Hillary Clinton's speech tonight at the Democratic Party's 26th Annual Jefferson Jackson Hamer Day Dinner in Canton. Viewer widget below the fold.
JAM! Announces 2008 Schedule
ZZ Top, The Ohio Players, Blind Melon, Eric Church, Mel Waiters, Hurt, Blue Mountain, Egypt Central, Hill Country Review, Endeverafter, Backdoor Slam, Jonzetta, Speakeasy
AltWeekly Winners Announced; JFP Walks With Two ‘Firsts'
This Saturday, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies and Medill School of Journalism announced the winners of the 2008 AltWeekly Awards at its national convention in Philadelphia, Pa. Top winners were the LA Weekly with three first place awards, and the Texas Observer, also with three. The Jackson Free Press won two first place awards, for Feature Writing ("We Are Family: A Klan Child Fans a Different Flame" by Donna Ladd") and "Public Service" package ("Road to Meadville" by Donna Ladd, Kate Medley and Matt Saldaña).
Boise State v. OU: I Dub It: ‘The Calls'
Those of us who watch a little too much football between teams that don't matter to us personally are probably doing it so that we can witness a game like the Frito-Lay Cool Ranch Tostito Dippers Fiesta Bowl that I just watched between Boise State and OU. OK, so I hate OU from my childhood in Dallas and for them having foisted, indirectly, Barry Switzer on my once-beloved Cowboys.
The Show Goes On: Crossroads This Weekend
Crossroads Highlights This Weekend:
Despite the weather, all is well at Regal Cinemas Parkway Place, the Mississippi Museum of Art and Hal and Mal's. All events are on schedule and the Crossroads "show" will go on!
Movin' On Up: Barbour Approval Increases
Gov. Haley Barbour has pulled himself up with constituents in the last two months, from a low of 37% approval in May to 41% approval in July, making him the 39th most popular governor in the Union, according to a monthly survey by SurveyUSA. Barbour leads five Democratic and six Republican governors in his race away from the bottom, including Texas "Guvner" Rick Perry (38% approval) and celebrated "Gov-or-na-tor" Arnold Schwartzenegger of California. Michigan's Jennifer Granholm is the lowest ranked Democrat on the list, at 45th Least Appreciated.
Bush Pitched SS Plan in Canton Tuesday
According to the Sun Herald George W. Bush will speak today around noon at the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi, where he's expected to address "fixing the hole in the safety net" of Social Security, according to press secretary Scott McClellan.
Civil Obedience
It wasn't much of a Juneteenth celebration, but the Mississippi ACLU and the Mississippi Green Party (which can, at times, appear to be one person—activist Landon Huey), sponsored a Freedom Forum at the temporary city hall downtown in honor of the holiday that celebrates African-American freedom from slavery. The forum itself held the interest of the not-quite-scores of people in attendance, with a presentation and discussion regarding the USA PATRIOT Act, the current Department of Justice and the potential dangers posed to civil liberties.
My House Is Greener Than Yours
Mississippi 2020 and Habitat for Humanity are seeking groups and individual volunteers to work Saturdays starting June 21 (skipping the July 4 weekend) throughout the summer. Volunteers must be fairly able-bodied, but no particular construction skills are required. Call Laura at Jackson Habitat, 353-6060.
A ‘Livable' Retreat
On Monday, April 12, the JFP revealed on our Web site the fact that Jackson had been named one of the "most livable places" by Partners for Livable Communities (http://www.livable.com). Let's be frank here. We were all a little shocked. OK, maybe that sounds cynical—it was just surprising that Jackson was already on that list. It's been clear for at least a year or two that it was headed in that direction, but you get used to the crime headlines and suburban politics and empty storefronts—and all that jazz. (Or is that the blues?) But the rest of the week after that announcement followed it up nicely—especially the street festival atmosphere in Fondren, which capped at least a week's worth of jawing on Jackson's problems—and their solutions.
Helping the Tsunami Victims
When he heard about that the disaster had struck on Dec. 26, Jackson attorney Taylor Ferrell made an phone call to Chennai, one of the devastated cities in southern India. After volunteering as an English teacher at an orphanage there for three weeks, he had left on Christmas, the day before the tsunami gushed through the city's coastal areas. Ferrell made contact with those he had worked with and was assured that all the children and other volunteers were just fine.
Going ‘Round in Circles
What's the toughest thing to get people to talk about? Crime? Race? How about commercial development? Funding city services? These are the types of social topics that are being tackled around the country in "study circles," an approach to community-building and public forums championed by the Topsfield Foundation of Pomfriet, Conn., which created the Study Circles Resource Center in 1989.
The State of a Stalemate
The first week of the special session called by Gov. Haley Barbour to focus on civil justice reform ("tort reform") and voter ID was, at best, cantankerous. At the end of the week, very little had been accomplished, and many legislators expressed a great deal of frustration.
Pennies for Your Votes
The day after the Capital City Convention campaign was announced last week, Jeff Good and Dan Blumenthal, owners of BRAVO! and Broad Street restaurants, pledged 1 percent of their sales between then and the election to the Capital City Convention fund. The two did so in dramatic fashion,with Good spilling pennies on the sidewalk in front of his podium while saying, "We're putting our two cents in." Good estimated that his company's total donation could be $5000 or more, based on the prior year's sales.
Score One for the City
The city of Jackson moved a step closer to a convention center last Saturday, when the Legislature passed a bill that allows for a voter referendum on the issue. The bill will enable the city to raise $65 million by putting additional taxes on restaurants and hotels in the Jackson city limits. Now 60 percent of voters in the city of Jackson will have to vote yea for it to pass and become a reality, assuming Gov. Haley Barbour signs it; he has indicated support for a Jackson convention center.
Home, My Home
Freddie Mac is guaranteeing up to $10 million in loans that SouthTrust Bank will be offering as mortgages to new homeowners in West Jackson, which can be used to buy or refurbish homes in the 1100 through 1300 blocks of Grand Avenue, south of West Capitol Street and parallel to Robinson Road. The loans, which require a lower down payment than standard mortgages, will be given to families identified by the Voice of Calvary Community Development Corp. as having completed classes on debt management and personal finance; once prepared, the new homeowner can borrow up to 120 percent of a home's value to be used for improvements or debt consolidation. The program is called "Catch the Dream Jackson."
[Talk] eVoting Next for State
Hurry, you only have until Monday, July 28, to get in your two-cents about Mississippi's voting upgrades.
Mississippi Invitational in its Last Week at MMA
The show was recently reviewed favorably in the industry magazine Art in America.
After this week, the 2009 Mississippi Invitational exhibition is history. This year's exhibition is the seventh such survey of Mississippi art, including a variety of works from a diversity of artists. Selected by New York based-based curator Peter Plagens, the exhibition features artists including Duncan Baird, Cleveland; Brent Fogt, Jackson; Marita Gootee, Starkville; Philip R. Jackson, Oxford; David Lambert, Jackson; Annabelle Meacham, Senatobia; Christopher Miner, Jackson; Mathew Grant Puckett, Jackson; Lee Renninger, Gulfport; and Amanda Sparks, Jackson.
Your Grid or Mine?
<i>Jackson Designers Push 'New Urbanism'</i>
Turn off U.S. 51 onto Hoy Road in Madison, toward the reservoir, and drive past a number of bland gated communities until the gravel ends and you're on dirt. Keep going through the trees, under a Natchez Trace bridge, through more trees—and, suddenly, you'll emerge at a clearing near the water. In that clearing (assuming I had my bearings right) will one day be the business district of Lost Rabbit, a "town" planned for this stretch of about 260 acres of this land. Right now, it's muddy, with water lapping the shore, two-by-fours and building materials (and fast food trash) scattered as if construction workers had skedaddled after sighting a gator.