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JPD Battles Church Burglaries
Major crimes in Jackson dropped a whopping 9 percent last week, but Jackson Police officers are concerned about a rash of burglaries at churches across the city. Since mid-December, the city has seen 14 church burglaries, most recently on Tuesday Jan. 26 at New Jerusalem Church on Old Canton Road.
Fondren Shooting Spurs Community Meeting
A recent armed robbery and shooting in Fondren has some area residents up in arms. A community meeting, advertised on Facebook as "Take Back Our Neighborhoods," is scheduled for 6 p.m. today at Sneaky Beans coffee shop on North State Street.
Business Round Up: Crazy Cat Serves Dinner, Leaves Fondren; UMC Turning Dirt
After six months in Fondren, Crazy Cat Bakers is refocusing its efforts on its Highland Village location, which will be opening for dinner next week. Owner Jon Lansdale closed the Fondren location last Friday, and he plans to begin serving dinner at the Highland Village location on Wednesday, June 2.
Accused Can't See Evidence Against Them
On July 4, 2009, Basil DeJuan Sullivan was arrested for disorderly conduct at Freelon's Bar and Groove. Sullivan alleges that a group of Hinds County deputies threw him out of the Mill Street club, beat him and arrested him without reading his rights, but he does not have access to much of the evidence that could help him prove his case, like the police report from his arrest.
Robert Dudley
Former Hattiesburg resident Robert Dudley will succeed Tony Hayward as BP's new CEO, the embattled oil company announced today. Dudley, who has been directing BP's cleanup operations in response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, is the first American to head the British company. Hayward will step down Oct. 1, the BP board said.
New Bistro; Grants
Parveen Kapoor, a native of Delhi, India, came to Jackson seven years ago after a stint managing restaurants in Japan. He worked at Spice Avenue as a manager for over a year before leaving to open his own Quizno's franchise on Old Fannin Road in Brandon.
Hinds Seeks $400K for Hwy 80
Hinds County has applied for $400,000 to help redevelop brownfield sites along Highways 18 and 80 in Jackson. The county Board of Supervisors approved an application today to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the grant funds. The grant would help the county assess sites along the highway corridors that might be brownfields—old industrial sites that have not been redeveloped because of real or perceived environmental contamination.
JSU Breaking Ground on University Place
A long-awaited development project near Jackson State University has begun its first phase at the corner of Dalton and Lynch Streets. The JSU Development Foundation, which supports the university through investments, will celebrate the groundbreaking on the four-story, mixed-use building at 10 a.m. tomorrow, marking the official start of construction on its $125 million University Place development.
JFP People of the Day: Barbara Taylor and Jerry Mosley
Barbara Taylor and Jerry Mosley are walking together this weekend. Tomorrow, Taylor will lead a team from the Community Services Department of the Mississippi State Hospital in NAMIWalks, a benefit for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Census Director Stresses Cultural Sensitivity
U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves met yesterday with representatives from a variety of Mississippi civil rights advocacy organizations to address concerns about low census participation in parts of the state. Groves' visit came in response to a May 18 letter to the Congressional subcommittee overseeing the census that highlighted obstacles to administering the census in historically hard-to-count communities.
Otis Ashford
Otis Ashford is suing the City of Moss Point and three Moss Point police officers for civil-rights violations related to an April 2008 arrest. Ashford, a Moss Point resident, was visiting the house of his sister, Dell Jones, also of Moss Point, on April 18, 2008, when he heard noises coming from his brother's house next door. According to his lawsuit, Ashford went to his sister's porch to investigate the noise and saw two men struggling in the dark in front of his brother's house. Believing his brother to be involved and in danger, Ashford demanded that his brother be let go.
Feds Support Mississippi's Obesity Fight
When it comes to addressing and preventing obesity, federal action can help set the tone for efforts, but true progress will come from local action, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said today. Speaking at the Global Obesity Summit 2010 at the Jackson Convention Complex, Sebelius explained the Obama administration's approach to fighting obesity and encouraged state and local actors to take the lead.
Russell Thomas Jr.
Russell Thomas Jr. lives jazz—as a teacher, a student and an advocate. The Mississippi Jazz Foundation recognized Thomas for his own musicianship as well as his education work last Friday, during its annual holiday concert at the Alamo Theatre on Farish Street. Thomas, who has taught jazz performance and music theory at Jackson State University since 1984, also promotes the music he loves in elementary and secondary schools. He founded "Jazz in the Schools," a music education program that teaches jazz history and jazz improvisation to elementary and high school students.
Full Smoking Ban Takes Effect
An expanded version of the city's ban on smoking in restaurants and bars took effect July 1, but compliance with the ban is still spotty.
Obama Names African American Jackson Attorney to Federal Bench
Carlton Reeves is set to become the second African American appointee to the U.S. Southern District Court in Mississippi. President Barack Obama sent Reeves' name to the Senate yesterday for confirmation, but Reeves has been rumored as Obama's pick for more than a year.
Hinds Youth Center Director Resigns
The troubled Hinds County Youth Detention Center has lost its second director in one year. Clifton Strong resigned July 20, only one month after he accepted the director position. Strong follows the previous director, Darron Farr, who resigned in March after managing the detention facility, also known as the Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center, for two years.
Hospitals Feud Over Equipment
As the state's only teaching hospital, the University of Mississippi Medical Center occupies an awkward position. Its reputation as central Mississippi's charity hospital is sometimes at odds with its new image as a high-quality medical research center. And while its place under the authority of the state board for Institutions of Higher Learning insulates it from some of the rough-and-tumble economics of the health-care industry, it still competes with the Jackson area's three other hospitals for patients and, by extension, money.
Business Round Up: Two Markets and A New Film Festival
A former grocery store near the Jackson Medical Mall reopened Saturday as a farmer's market. Part of the Roadmap to Health Equity Project, the market is located in the former New Deal grocery store on Livingston Road. Beneta Burt, project director, said that grant funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation allows the farmers market to offer fresh produce from a cooperative of local farmers at discounted prices.
Midtown Housing Development Breaks Ground
City leaders today celebrated groundbreaking on the first phase of a $3.49 million energy-efficient residential development in Jackson's midtown neighborhood. The Jackson Housing Authority is financing the project through stimulus and other federal funds, which will start with the construction of four duplexes at Livingston and Lamar streets.
Luckett, Candidate for Gov., to Speak in Jackson Friday
Clarksdale attorney and 2011 candidate for governor Bill Luckett will speak at Koinonia Coffee House in Jackson Friday morning. Luckett, who announced his candidacy in September, is the featured speaker at the 9 a.m. Friday Forum, a weekly series sponsored by west Jackson businessman Bill Cooley.