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Arizona-Style Immigration Bill Advances, In A Hurry
The Mississippi Senate passed a bill modeled after Arizona's anti-immigrant law SB 1070 today, despite protests by some Democrats that the measure was rife with errors carried over from the other state's law.
State Has Highest Rate of Unbanked
Limited use of traditional banks threatens the ability of Mississippi's working class to improve its economic situation, a report released yesterday says. The report, issued by the Mississippi Economic Policy Center and the Foundation for the Mid South, finds that Mississippi has the highest percentage of "unbanked" households in the country.
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.
JRA Refinancing, Renovating
The Jackson Redevelopment Authority took initial steps toward lightening its debt burden today, with a vote to authorize the refinancing of $9 million in debt. The vote also paves the way for renovations to the future home of JRA's offices, the Richard Porter Building downtown.
Blues Marathon Growing Boon for City
When 2,000 people swarm Jackson streets tomorrow morning, they'll be bringing dollars and a growing sense of prestige to the city. Saturday's Mississippi Blues Marathon is only the fourth year for this event, but it represents a long evolution.
Advocates Urge Canceling of Youth Prison Contract
Mississippi should cancel its contract with private prison company GEO Group, juvenile justice advocates said today. GEO Group, which operates the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility, is the subject of a lawsuit alleging widespread abuse and mistreatment of juvenile inmates. Friends and Family Members of Youth Incarcerated at Walnut Grove, a group dedicated to exposing conditions at the prison, delivered a petition with more than 1,600 signatures from Mississippians to state Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps today.
Judging Carefully
For Judge Leslie King, serving on the Mississippi Supreme Court is a natural career move, if not necessarily one he expected. Last week, Gov. Haley Barbour appointed King to the Supreme Court, replacing Justice James Graves, whom President Barack Obama appointed to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
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.
The Slippery Arena Study
The push for an entertainment arena in downtown Jackson, once a private endeavor, is now a matter for city government. Last month, the steering committee of business leaders that has been raising funds for an arena feasibility study handed control of the project to Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr.
Out of Time
Once the drugs started to flow, it took only a minute for Benny Joe Stevens' lips to stop moving. He slipped out of consciousness, and soon his heart stopped.
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.
The Cheering Section
As Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Lonnie Edwards makes the case for keeping his job, he has relied on the support of a variety of visible community members.
Caring for Criminals
Inmate medical care is an unpopular business, at least in Hinds County. The Hinds County Board of Supervisors learned that lesson the hard way in January, when it found itself scrambling for a medical provider before its existing contract, with Jackson-based Reddix Medical Group, expired Jan. 31.
GOP Official Threatens Hinds With Lawsuit
The Hinds County Board of Supervisors may face a lawsuit over its decision to hire Mississippi NAACP President Derrick Johnson to oversee its redistricting process. Hinds County Republican Party Chairman Pete Perry told supervisors at its board meeting today that he plans to sue the county if they do not void Johnson's contract.
State ‘Backward' on Transparency?
A new state law could take Mississippi from the middle of the pack among states, in its government transparency and accountability to near the bottom.
Un-gifting JPS
State budget cuts are forcing Jackson Public Schools to scale back its gifted-education classes to the bare minimum required by state law. With their emphasis on hands-on learning and critical thinking, classes for "gifted" students are among the highlights of any school district.
Showdown Ahead on Immigration Lawsuits
Mississippi lawmakers are headed for a standoff on two provisions of a proposed Arizona-style immigration bill. The House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 2179 yesterday but stripped a controversial section that would that would allow citizens to sue local law enforcement and public officials for not enforcing the restrictions. In its place, the House inserted a provision allowing citizens to take a business to court for hiring undocumented workers.
Dirk Dedeaux
Dirk Dedeaux knows the cost of obesity to Mississippi taxpayers. Dedeaux, a Democratic representative from Perkinston, chairs the House Medicaid Committee, giving him a front seat to witness the economic toll obesity takes on the state, which some projections put at nearly $4 billion annually by 2018.
Gwendolyn Magee
Jackson-based artist Gwen Magee, whose vibrant quilts elevated a traditional craft to nationally acclaimed works of art, died yesterday. Magee, who was intensely private, had been battling a long-term illness, but her death was unexpected, her friend Wendy Shenefelt told the Jackson Free Press today.
State's African Americans See Higher Unemployment
Like many things in Mississippi, the hardship of unemployment during the Great Recession has fallen unequally on the state's population. African American workers in Mississippi experienced an 18 percent unemployment rate over 2010, according to the national think tank Economic Policy Institute report issued April 28.