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Making An Urban Family
When Beth Kander moved to Jackson in 2003, she hardly knew anyone. Kander, an author and playwright who has also written for the Jackson Free Press, was far from her family in the Midwest and her college friends in the Northeast.
No Small Feat
The students in John Bennetts' second-grade class are being perfect sponges. Bennetts, a teacher at KIPP Delta Elementary Literacy Academy, a charter school in Helena, Ark., is drilling the class on the difference between "explicit information" and "implicit information."
Poet's Progress
Plain spoken and impassioned, poet Nikki Giovanni's body of work is a testament to the power of words to fulfill and inspire.
Burton: Schimmel Pushed Edwards' Ouster
George Schimmel, member of the Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees, drove the board's consideration of whether to replace Superintendent Lonnie Edwards, said Otha Burton, his fellow board member, today. Testifying at an ongoing hearing on Edwards' contract, Burton said that he did not see adequate reasons for replacing the superintendent when his contract expires at the end of June.
Grammy Museum Planned for Delta
The Grammy Museum, located in Los Angeles, Calif., will open another location in Cleveland, Miss., Bob Santelli, the museum's executive director, said today. Speaking at the Mississippi Economic Council's annual meeting today in Jackson, Santelli said that like the original location in Los Angeles, the Cleveland museum's mission will be primarily educational.
Animal Cruelty Bill Clears Major Hurdle
Cruelty to cats and dogs would become a felony in Mississippi under Senate Bill 2821, which the House Agriculture Committee voted unanimously today to approve. The bill to make "aggravated cruelty to a dog or cat" a felony on the second offense now goes to the House Judiciary B Committee for consideration.
Census Shows Jackson's ‘Flight Problem'
Also see: Ward Schaefer: Jackson 'White Flight' Slows In Last Decade
Fondren Business Shuffle, Nightclub Reopens
The Orange Peel is moving. Owner Kristin Tubb says the Fondren consignment shop will open in its new location, at 422 Mitchell Ave., on March 10. As Fondren's retail and restaurant community has grown, the demand for parking has put the squeeze on The Orange Peel's current location at the corner of North State and Duling streets, Tubb said.
Edwards Resumes Arguing to Keep Job
A laudatory report that Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Lonnie Edwards has repeatedly cited as evidence of his good work dates back to 2009 and comes from an organization for which he serves as a board member. Edwards, who is currently mired in a hearing on his three-year contract with JPS, has used the report from the Council of the Great City Schools to makes the case for a contract extension.
JPS Hearing Reveals Edwards' Failure to Communicate
Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Lonnie Edwards has consistently failed to communicate about major issues facing the district, JPS Board President Kisiah Nolan testified today. Nolan was the board's first witness in a hearing on Edwards' three-year contract, which the board voted Dec. 7, 2010 not to renew.
Community College Boost Awaits Barbour's Pen
Mississippi's community colleges could get an extra $15 million if Gov. Haley Barbour signs off on a funding bill approved by both chambers of the state Legislature. The version of Senate Bill 3042 on Barbour's desk is more generous than an earlier incarnation proposed by Sen. Doug Davis, R-Hernando, which Barbour supported, leading to speculation that the governor may veto the proposal.
Scott Sisters Story Goes Viral
After languishing in obscurity for 16 years, the story of imprisoned sisters Jamie and Gladys Scott received its 15 minutes on the national stage last week after Gov. Haley Barbour ordered their life sentences indefinitely suspended.
Not Without A Fight
Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Lonnie Edwards won't go quietly. Edwards announced Feb. 5 that he would appeal the JPS Board of Trustees' decision to let his three-year contract expire with the current school year.
Midtown Center Promotes Prosperity
The effort to revitalize Jackson's Midtown neighborhood has a new arm. The Prosperity Center of Greater Jackson pairs traditional welfare services with counseling and wellness programs, Kristi Hendrix, executive director of Midtown Partners, told an audience at Koinonia Coffee House's Friday Forum today.
Nikki Giovanni
It's fitting that Nikki Giovanni's appearance at Jackson State University next week is in honor of the JSU Student Government Association's "Women's Emphasis Week," celebrating women's achievements. For more than 40 years, Giovanni has a leading voice for women's and minority rights, as well as a successful and influential poet.
Hood Praises Crime Victim Assistance
Mississippi's victims and survivors of violent crime have a wide network of support available to them, including a state compensation fund, Attorney General Jim Hood said today, speaking at an awards ceremony and rally to commemorate National Crime Victims' Week.
State Economic Picture Improves
In light of an improved economic outlook, a panel of state lawmakers agreed today to adopt slightly higher estimates for state revenues in the 2011 and 2012 fiscal years.
Health for All
Alvin Poussaint's career reads like a hopscotch game across the touchstones of post-World War II African American history. Born in 1934, Poussaint earned a medical degree at Cornell University and studied psychiatry at UCLA before joining the Civil Rights Movement.
NAACP Pushes Federal Investigation of Greenwood Hanging
Brenda Carter-Evans said an inconclusive state autopsy on her son, Frederick Jermaine Carter, raised sufficient doubt about his death to require the involvement of federal law enforcement. Speaking at Mississippi NAACP offices, the dead man's family and NAACP representatives called today for a federal investigation into the Greenwood man's hanging death Dec. 2.
State of the State: A Fact-Check
Gov. Haley Barbour used his final State of the State address, on Jan. 11, to tout his resume of accomplishments over two terms. Ever the savvy political communicator, the governor stretched the truth and papered over the more complicated reality. In other instances, his claims were outright wrong. Here's a selection of Barbour's claims and that truth behind them.