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JPS Board Renews Music Program, Delays Bullying Policy
The Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees renewed a popular music education program last night, after its failure to do so last month resulted in weeks of outcry from parents and education advocates. Board members voted 4-0 to approve the district's contract with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, which provides concerts to all JPS elementary schools and string instruction to over 400 students.
McLemore Named Interim JSU President
The Jackson State University Board of Trustees has named former Jackson City Councilman Leslie Burl McLemore interim JSU president while it searches for a replacement for outgoing president Ronald Mason. McLemore, a professor of political science, co-founded JSU's Fannie Lou Hamer Institute on Citizenship and Democracy and has served as dean of the university's Graduate School.
Hinds Signs Old Capitol Green Support Agreement
The Hinds County Board of Supervisors approved a tentative agreement today with the City of Jackson and New York City-based developers Full Spectrum Inc. establishing financial support for infrastructure related to the proposed Old Capitol Green development in downtown Jackson. The memorandum of understanding follows a 2009 state bill authorizing a $20 million loan for the long-delayed project.
Navy Names Ship After Medgar Evers
The U.S. Navy is naming a ship in honor of Medgar Evers, the civil rights leader who was assassinated outside his Jackson home in 1963. Navy Secretary and former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus is expected to announce the honor when he speaks at a Jackson State University luncheon today.
Tow Companies Refusing City Business
Three local wrecker-service companies are refusing to tow city owned large commercial vehicles after the city lowered towing fees at an Aug. 10 City Council meeting. Trey Ward, owner of Ward's Wrecker Service, confirmed that the three wrecker services are refusing to tow a city asphalt truck out of protest against the revised city towing ordinance.
Trent Walker
Trent Walker is counting on his 14 years of varied legal experience in his bid for Hinds County judge.
Fairview Hearing, UMMC Research
The city's Planning Board will hold a hearing Wednesday, Nov. 17, on a permit application that would allow the Fairview Inn to apply for a permit to operate a public restaurant. The bed-and-breakfast located on North State Street includes a restaurant, Sophia's, that was open to the public from 2003 to 2009. Last year, the Mississippi Supreme Court granted a legal challenge to the restaurant by four neighbors who argued that the city's permit for the restaurant constituted illegal "spot zoning." In July, the City Council approved amendments to city ordinances that created a zoning category for historic houses with a bed-and-breakfast and public restaurant. Next week's hearing is on the inn's application for a use permit under the new amendment.
Calhoun, Developer Spar Over Hinds TIF
The developer of a south Jackson housing development is asking Hinds County to support infrastructure developments, but at least one supervisor remains skeptical of the request. Clarence Chapman, principal of Oxford-based Chartre Consulting, appeared before the board of supervisors this morning to discuss his request for tax increment financing, or TIF, funds for infrastructure around the Timber Falls subdivision.
Homeless Day Shelter Reopens
The Opportunity Center, Jackson's only daytime homeless shelter, will reopen later this month. Stewpot Community Services, which opened the shelter in May 2007, closed it April 2 due to a lack of outside funds.
Revenue Estimates Down, Barbour to Announce Budget Cuts
With newly revised revenue estimates projecting a slow recovery for the state economy, Gov. Haley Barbour is preparing to cut an additional $41 million from the state budget for this fiscal year. The Mississippi Legislature's joint budget committee today adopted revised revenue estimates predicting a 6.3 percent drop in state revenue for the 2010 fiscal year and a 0.4 increase in 2011. Barbour told reporters that he thought the minimal growth predicted in 2011 was over-optimistic.
Fondren Crime Meeting Turns to ‘Healing'
A standing-room-only crowd gathered at Sneaky Beans coffee shop on Tuesday evening to voice concerns about crime in the Fondren neighborhood and to hear crime-prevention tips from law enforcement officials. The community meeting, sparked by fears of crime, has morphed into an effort to organize the surrounding community.
Gannett In ‘VIP' Trademark Dispute
The owner of a Jackson-based events promotion company alleges that Gannett River States Publishing Corporation, which publishes The Clarion-Ledger, is trying to muscle him out of a trademark that he rightfully owns. Curtis Lyons, the owner of Jacksons VIP, is locked in a trademark dispute with Gannett, which has published VIP Jackson Magazine, a free monthly society magazine featuring pictures of wealthy Jacksonians at parties and charity events, since August 2006. The Clarion-Ledger prints 20,000 copies of VIP Jackson a month.
NAACP Report Condemns Tea Party Racism
A new report issued by the NAACP finds that the national tea-party movement has resentment about racial and social issues running throughout its many factions. The study, titled "Tea Party Nationalism," finds the conservative movement that often purports to focus on spending and fiscal responsibility to be "permeated with concerns about race and national identity and other so-called social issues."
Businesses Gear Up for Sales-Tax Holiday
For the second year in a row, the Mississippi Department of Revenue is holding a sales tax holiday in time for back-to-school shopping. From 12:01 a.m. on Friday, July 30, to midnight Saturday, July 31, the state will waive its 7 percent sales tax on clothing and footwear.
Cochran Crosses Aisle to Bring Home the Bacon
Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran broke ranks with fellow Republicans Sunday to pass a $1.1 trillion omnibus federal spending bill for the 2010 fiscal year. The bill combined $447 billion for transportation, housing and urban development with roughly $650 billion for federal benefit programs like Medicare. It also included $3.9 billion in earmarks for special projects, of which $150 million went to Mississippi. Support from Cochran and two other Republicans, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, gave Democrats the 60 votes they needed to surpass a threatened GOP filibuster. The spending measure now awaits President Barack Obama's signature.
House Panel Considers Animal-Cruelty Law
Also see: Give Me Shelter: Protecting Animals, Prosecuting Abusers
Kidney Not Sole Condition for Sister's Release
UPDATED: This story has been updated to reflect information from the NAACP's press conference this morning.
Downtown Trees on the Chopping Block?
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Anderson Attacks County Spending In Jackson
Hinds County departments should not spend money in the city of Jackson, Supervisor Doug Anderson said at a meeting this morning. Anderson made the claim after learning that county public works employees had mowed grass along Highway 18 in Jackson last week at the request of District 3 Supervisor Peggy Calhoun.
Immigrant Rights Alliance Says Enforcement Unbalanced
Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance Executive Director Bill Chandler is charging that the indictment of Jose Humberto Gonzalez in the 2008 Howard Industries immigration-enforcement raid highlights the unbalanced enforcement of federal immigration law. In 1986, the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act made employers liable for employing undocumented aliens.