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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.
Jackson Business News: Fondren Food, Young Entrepreneurs
Several new restaurants are opening their doors in Fondren. The most recent is Petra Cafe, formerly of Clinton. The Mediterranean restaurant closed its second location (the first is in Hattiesburg) last month and relocated to the former Jerusalem Cafe site on Old Canton Road, opening officially last week. The new Petra boasts an entirely renovated interior. Owner and operator Ayman Albataineh says a remodeled outdoor seating area, with a roof, should be complete in one week. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Petra offers a lunch buffet for $9.99. The restaurant serves dinner seven days a week.
City Rolls Out 311 Call System
A new 311 call system offers Jackson citizens and business owners improved access to city services, Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. said today. Speaking at a press conference this morning, Johnson hailed the technology as an advance in making city government more open.
Protesters Seek Full Pardon for Scott Sisters
Paroled sisters Jamie and Gladys Scott deserve a full pardon for their alleged 1993 crime, protesters argued today. A crowd of more than 100 marched this morning from Farish Street Park to the Governor's Mansion to the state Capitol today, chanting, "Off parole / On with the life." Attorney Chokwe Lumumba, who has represented the sisters since their 1996 appeal, called on Gov. Haley Barbour to issue a full pardon for the sisters, who have been on probation since Barbour indefinitely suspended their life sentences for armed robbery in December.
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.
The Superintendent Staredown
If the JPS Board of Trustees decides that it does not want Superintendent Lonnie Edwards to return next school year, it will have very little time to find a replacement.
Parchman's Past, Prison's Future
It's a strange month when the Parchman Farm comes out looking better than a county jail. On March 10, a federal judge finally dismissed the bulk of Gates v. Collier. A 1972 decision on this longstanding court case mandated a slew of reforms at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, then the only state prison in Mississippi. Federal Magistrate Judge Jerry Davis dismissed all portions of the case dealing with state institutions but not the portions regarding Mississippi counties' correctional systems.
Report Calls for Drug-Law Reform
Reducing Mississippi's incarceration rate, which is the second-highest in the United States, depends on reforming many aspects of the state's criminal justice system, a report released this month says.
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.
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.
$7.75M Housing Development Breaks Ground
Workers break ground this afternoon on a new $7.75 million affordable housing development near Northside Drive. The project, called Holly Hills, will use low-income housing tax credits to construct 60 units of rental housing. Holly Hills should be partially open for occupancy within four months and complete by the end of the year, said Phil Eide, senior vice president of Hope Enterprise Corp., which helped fund the project.
The Home Front
If Morgan Freeman is Clarksdale's most recognizable resident, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Luckett may be its second. An attorney and developer, Luckett runs two of his high-profile business ventures with Freeman, the Ground Zero Blues Club and Madidi's Restaurant.
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.
The JFP Interview With Dave Dennis
In 1995, then-Mississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice announced his re-election campaign from the Gulfport home of Dave Dennis. Dennis had a lot in common with the governor. Both made their fortunes in the construction industry, and Dennis was an active Republican fundraiser who embraced Fordice's brand of business-friendly conservatism. Dennis, now 58, hopes to follow in Fordice's shoes.
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.
Hinds Ends Interest-Rate Swap
A multi-year financial transaction will provide Hinds County a final payment of $1.52 million next month. The transaction, an interest-rate swap on two bond issues, has saved the county money on its bond debt.
Census Shows Jackson's ‘Flight Problem'
Also see: Ward Schaefer: Jackson 'White Flight' Slows In Last Decade
Catherine Sherer Bishop
A random Thursday night at Fenian's Pub in 1998 sparked a long-term love of Irish dance for Catherine Sherer Bishop. That night, Bishop saw the Jackson Irish Dancers, then a newly formed group, performing and asked to join in their next dance. Although they discouraged her, saying that the dance was not for the faint of heart, she quickly learned the steps and performed it perfectly that night.
Jackson ‘White Flight' Slows In Last Decade
The release of 2010 Census data earlier this year may have been a gut-check for Jackson's leaders, but the numbers were hardly surprising. News reports, however, were quick to seize on them: Jackson's population dropped 5.8 percent over the last decade, from 184,256 in 2000 to 173,514 in 2010. Meanwhile, the five-county metropolitan statistical area--which includes Copiah, Hinds, Madison, Rankin and Simpson counties--grew 8.4 percent.
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.