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Coal Plant Cost Painful
The Mississippi Public Service Commission is taking its time approving rate increases funding a $2.88 billion coal-burning plant already under construction in Kemper County.
Barbour Taps Leslie King for Supreme Court
Leslie King, a veteran state Court of Appeals judge, will take departing Justice James Graves' place on the Mississippi Supreme Court. Gov. Haley Barbour announced yesterday that he would appoint King to serve the remainder of Graves' term, which expires in 2013. The U.S. Senate recently confirmed Graves' appointment to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
Scott Sisters Face Health Barrier to Transplant
Also see: The Tragic Case of the Scott Sisters
House Stalls on Domestic Violence GPS
Monitoring domestic violence suspects out on bond is apparently a controversial issue in the Mississippi House of Representatives. The House spent most of yesterday tackling an unofficial list of non-controversial legislation. Left off that list was a bill sponsored by Rep. Brandon Jones, D-Pascagoula, that would give judges the option of requiring a defendant accused of domestic violence to wear a GPS-equipped tracking device.
Watching a Revolution
Hussein Sadek has had the bittersweet experience of watching a revolution in his homeland happen while he's away. Sadek, 23, is a junior at Jackson State University, studying for a degree in telecommunications engineering. He grew up in Giza, Egypt, near Cairo--the nation's capital and the recent revolution's epicenter.
Redistricting Fight Comes Home
Hinds County's redistricting woes are not over, yet. One week after the county Board of Supervisors voted to approve new district maps, the board faces a possible lawsuit over its decision to hire Mississippi NAACP President Derrick Johnson to oversee its redistricting process.
Barbour's Ed. Numbers Off-Mark
Mississippi public-education advocates fear that the state Senate may short-change school districts next year by $65 million. On the Senate agenda is a House education-funding bill approved last week; however . Gov. Haley Barbour has urged legislators to adopt the lower funding amount, describing it as "level funding." Data from the Mississippi Department of Education show that Barbour's claim is inaccurate, however.
Former Inmate: Youth Prison Was Hell
The Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility is failing to rehabilitate and is actually endangering the lives of its juvenile inmates, advocates and former inmates told state lawmakers today. Members of the House Juvenile Justice Committee heard a litany of complaints against the state-funded, privately operated prison, ranging from inadequate educational services to misconduct and physical abuse by prison staff.
Ice Leads To Five-Hour Gridlock on the ‘Stack'
On a day that many Jacksonians suffered long commutes, Rodney Cuevas still had an exceptional evening. Cuevas left his job at the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality for his home in Brandon a little before 4 p.m. on Thursday.
Now Comes the Hard Part, Again
Mississippi's lawmakers may have approved $20 million in bonds for a state civil-rights museum last week, but the project still has major hurdles to clear before becoming a reality. Chief among those is a private fundraising effort, the same thing that doomed an earlier incarnation of the project.
Pinetop Perkins
Mississippi native Pinetop Perkins, whose boogie-woogie blues piano playing backed up generations of blues legends before he took a turn in the solo spotlight, died Monday at his home in Austin, Texas. He was 97.
Solar Panel Plant To Open; New Downtown Cafe
A California solar panel company plans to build a new production facility in Hattiesburg, Gov. Haley Barbour announced today. The company, Stion, produces high-efficiency thin-film solar panels at its headquarters in San Diego. Barbour called on the Mississippi Legislature, which convenes today, to pass a $75 million loan, along with other tax and workforce-training incentives, to facilitate the project.
Fair Funds for Kids?
Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., increasingly seems like a holdover from another, kinder era of national politics. Cochran has largely removed himself from the hyper-partisanship of recent years.
Teaching The Truth
Next year, for the first time, Mississippi will require all social-studies teachers to teach the history of civil rights in the state. The requirement will come more than five years after state lawmakers initially approved the curriculum change.
Byram Town Center Gets $5.5M TIF Boost
Construction workers have begun a commercial development that will bring new restaurants, shops and offices to the young city of Byram. The Hinds County Board of Supervisors voted today to approve a $5.5 million tax-increment financing, or TIF, plan for the Byram Town Center development.
A Mixed Bag for Mississippi Children
By many measures, children in Mississippi are worse off than kids in most other states, but Mississippi shows some bright spots. The Annie E. Casey Foundation's annual "Kids Count" report ranks Mississippi 50th overall for its children's educational, economic and physical well-being. At today's Mississippi Kids Count annual summit, advocates and educators shared challenges and success stories in the effort to improve the state's standing.
Shirley Brewer
Shirley Brewer has seen plenty of changes from her perch at the Fondren McDade's Market. Brewer has worked at the grocery store for the past 27 years, seeing the business change names and owners from Jitney Jungle to Winn-Dixie to, in 2004, McDade's.
KiOR Heats Up
Biofuels company KiOR has yet to produce any of its vaunted crude oil substitute in Mississippi, but the startup is making big moves on financing.
Today is Confederate Memorial Day
State offices in Mississippi are closed today in recognition of Confederate Memorial Day, honoring Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. The state House of Representatives passed a bill this year that would have also established a "Civil Rights Memorial Day" on the last Monday in April, but the measure died in the Senate. Earlier this month, the white-separatist Council of Conservative Citizens claimed credit, with the state chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, for killing the bill.
Edwards Fights for JPS Job Today
Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Lonnie Edwards makes his case today for an extension of his contract. The JPS Board of Trustees voted Dec. 7 not to renew Edwards' contract, which started in 2008. Under state law, superintendents can appeal initial decisions on their contracts and request a hearing before the board.