Sunshine Act Aimed at AG Hood
Before a House Judiciary A Committee commenced this morning, a young staffer quipped to a buddy that with the end of hunting season in Mississippi, he has nothing to look forward to.
In Their Words: Thomas Cole Kendall
The JFP is featuring the stories of some of the people Gov. Haley Barbour pardoned, in their own words.
Hinds Jails Switching Commissary Providers
Hinds County jails are joining the buy-local movement.
EEOC: Discriminating Against Felon Illegal?
Have you ever been convicted of a felony? The question, which is standard on most job applications, often spells heartbreak for many people who know that checking yes means their resume will likely end up in the garbage can.
In Their Words: Mitchell Travis Tanksley
The JFP is featuring the stories of some of the people Gov. Haley Barbour pardoned, in their own words.
Bryant: Can't Do Nothin' For Ya, Man
Phil Bryant is grounded, and the Legislature's allowance is being reduced. This week, Bryant made his first executive budget recommendation to lawmakers at the Capitol. As expected, he took a do-the-same-with-less approach to government spending.
Study: Race Affects Broadband Access
Gene Marks is not a poor black kid, but he played one in Forbes magazine.
In Their Own Words: Lindsay Kathryn Welch
Starting today, the JFP will feature some of the stories of the people former Gov. Haley Barbour pardoned, in their own words. Oktibbeha County, 2000 Lindsay Welch gave birth to a son in the bathroom of her Starkville home late at night on March 19, 1999. Welch, then a 19-year-old freshman at Mississippi State University, wrapped him in a towel and left him on the kitchen counter to go lie down. When she returned three hours later, the baby's hands were cold and his heart wasn't beating, she testified later.
MS Supreme Court to Hear Pardongate
The hearing scheduled to take place this Friday, Feb. 3 on the constitutionality of the pardons and commutations granted by former Gov. Haley Barbour has been canceled and the Mississippi Supreme Court will take over, WLBT is reporting. Attorneys for four former inmates who lived and at worked at the governor's mansion asked that the case, previously in Hinds County Circuit Court, be moved to the state's high court. Justices will hear arguments on Thursday, Feb. 9
Mississippi Pardongate: What's Next?
When state investigators caught up to convicted murderer Joseph Ozment Sunday night, he was living in a Laramie, Wyo., hotel and driving the Mercedes-Benz of his fiancée, LaChina Tillman, an engineer with defense contracting giant Northrop Grumman.
The Barbour Pardons: How We Got Here
July 2008: Gov. Haley Barbour grants clemency to five convicted criminals assigned to work in the governor's mansion by the Mississippi Department of Corrections after reducing their status' to minimum security: Michael Graham, Clarence Jones, Paul Warnock, Bobby Hays Clark and Bobby Hays Clark.
The Color of Clemency
Mississippi's pardon process isn't race-blind, either. A Reuters analysis, completed by Himanshu Ojha, Marcus Stern and Jackson Free Press stringer Robbie Ward, found that the more than 200 acts of clemency former Gov. Haley Barbour granted during his tenure helped more white prisoners than African Americans.
Facebook is Going Public
Facebook is going to have to adjust its privacy settings -- because they're finally going public. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based -media behemoth released its prospectus this afternoon, which contains the first tangible financial data on the company whose revenues have long been held under wraps. According to the S-1 filing to the US Securities Exchange Commission, revenues grew from 153 million in 2007 to 3.7 buh-buh-BILLION in 2011.
Cyberstalker Hindman: Well-Connected
When you're caught in a sting to catch online sex predators, like Douglas Hindman was, it pays to have friends who dine at the governor's mansion when it comes time to get a pardon.
AG's Office to Trusty: You Got Served
When state investigators caught up to convicted murderer Joseph Ozment Sunday night, he was living in a Laramie, Wyo. hotel and driving the Mercedes-Benz of his fiancee, LaChina Tillman, who has an impressive-sounding job with defense contracting giant Northrop Grumman.
AG: Trusty Ozment Found in Wyoming
After several weeks of trying to track down pardoned governor's mansion trusty Joseph Ozment, investigators from the Mississippi attorney general's office served Ozment with court papers last night in Laramie, Wy., AG Jim Hood said this afternoon. Hood said Ozment, convicted of killing a store clerk in DeSoto County in 1992, was driving his girlfriend's Mercedes-Benz when officers attempted to serve him. In the process of trying to avoid being served, Ozment bumped one of the investigators with his car, Hood said. Later, Ozment signed a receipt of service with the AG's investigators and two Laramie police officers.
Do Costs of Drilling Outweigh Benefits?
If Mississippi's own tourism website touts the pristine beaches, dunes and endangered wildlife-viewing on the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands, Capt. Louis Skrmetta can't understand why the state wants to muck it up with gas-drilling rigs.
Heather McTeer
Eight years ago, fresh from a victory that made her Greenville's first African American mayor, first woman mayor, and the city's youngest mayor, Heather McTeer found out the city's chief executive didn't have her own computer.
Shut ‘Em Down
In announcing his long-awaited committee appointments, House Speak Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, likened himself to a high-school football coach.
Pardongate's Fancy Lawyer Tricks
Much like the Haley Barbour pardons that caused a firestorm in Mississippi and around the country, lawyers for many of those who received clemency deluged the Mississippi attorney general and a judge with last-minute motions days and hours before a Jan. 23 hearing on the constitutionality of the reprieves.
Rep. Moak Responds to Bryant SOTS
Democratic Response to State of the State
State Rep. Bobby Moak, of Bogue Chitto, gave the Democratic response to Gov. Phil Bryant's state-of-the-state speech. Here's the text of Moak's remarks:
Bryant Makes 1st State of State (Full Text)
Governor Phil Bryant
Gov. Phil Bryant delivered his state-of-the-state address this evening at the Captiol. Supporters and admirers heralded the speech as the first in the Mississippi history to take place outdoors.
Don't Fall Off Cliff, House Told
What seemed like a hundred House Appropriations Committee members, their staff members and others crammed into a room built for half that number this morning at the Capitol to sift through a telephone book-size legislative budget report.
Hinds Judge Grants Extension in Pardon Case
This afternoon, Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie Green postponed a hearing on whether to strike down reprieves former Gov. Haley Barbour granted on his final days in office. On Jan. 12 Green issued a temporary restraining order to stop the more than 200 pardons from moving forward and ordered five former inmates who worked in the governor's mansion to show proof they complied a constitutional requirement to file public notice.
NOAA: 2011 Saw U.S. ‘Climate Extremes'
It was very hot last year. In fact, 2011 broke records for climate extremes, as the U.S. battled historic levels of heat, precipitation, flooding and severe weather, according to scientists from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
Obama's in For the Good Times
Why is everyone so surprised that that President Barack Obama hummed a few surprisingly well-sung notes of Al Green's"Let's Stay Together" at a New York City fundraiser last night? After all, his boo, Michelle, just celebrated her 48th birthday a few days ago
Gunn Pulls Trigger on Committees
Now nearing the end of the third week of the Mississippi legislative session, House Speaker Phillip Gunn, R-Clinton, made his long-awaited announcement this morning of who's going to head up which committees in that chamber.
Why He Did it: Barbour Gives Rationale in WaPo
In a Washington Post op-ed published today, Haley Barbour defended clemency pleas he granted in the waning hours of his governorship. He said that the ensuing controversy stemmed from people not knowing the difference between clemency and letting people out of jail.
Reeves: No Significant Increase in FY13 Revenue
Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves today said state revenue in Fiscal Year 2013 will not increase significantly, reflecting the financial difficulties Mississippi's economy may experience in the next several fiscal years."Economic recovery hasn't hit Main Street, and Mississippi families and businesses continue to struggle," Lt. Gov. Reeves said. "The economic outlook for the state reflects these challenges, and state agencies will have to continue to learn to be more efficient with less money."
House Burglaries Plague South Jackson
Read the full report here. (pdf 553 KB)
Welcome to the Terrordome
Just before the Senate convened on Monday, a young lawmaker tried to jam a fistful of blue and white pieces of paper into an already overstuffed bill box.
MDOC Handbook: No Killers in Guv's Mansion
Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood will ask a circuit court judge on Jan. 23 to invalidate the pardons of at least 10 felons whom ex-Gov. Haley Barbour granted clemency before leaving office.
Elections Flap Results in New Voting Machines
Jimmie Lewis got fired today. About 20 minutes later, the Hinds County emergency operations director got his job back.
Dems React to Pardongate
Haley Barbour's granting clemency to more than 200 people precipitated so much fallout that there's now fallout to the fallout.
Hosemann Releases Barbour's Pardon Orders
Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann's office released the full pack of executive orders former Gov. Haley Barbour issued to pardon or suspend the sentences of more than 200 people in the state. The documents provide some insight into Barbour's rationale for making each. Follow the Jackson Free Press' coverage of Pardongate here.
First Week Light on Substance
On a mild but drizzly afternoon that forced planned inauguration ceremonies indoors, Phil Bryant took the reins of Mississippi government.
Barbour Pardons Enough for 20 Football Teams
If you counted up all the pardons and sentence suspensions -- 222, over eight years -- Haley Barbour made as governor, you'd have enough for 20 football teams. And if gubernatorial pardons were a sporting contest, Barbour would be accused of unfairly running up the score on his fellow governors. According to various media reports: Barbour's fellow Republican Gov. Kirk Fordice issued one football team-worth of pardons (13) while Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, a Democrat and Barbour's immediate predecessor, issued only one. Democratic Gov. Ray Mabus, who is currently President Barack Obama's Secretary of the Navy, issued four pardons.
Phil Bryant is the Governor
Here's the full text of Gov. Phil Bryant's inauguration speech from Bryant's website. The ceremonies, planned for the south step of the Capitol had to be moved into the House chamber due to rain.
Sending out a Sears SOS
With future generations of Jacksonians potentially left with no place to buy Wrangler jeans, Kardashian Kollection accessories, large appliances and power saws, a city of Jackson-sponsored effort is now afoot to prevent the closure of the Sears department store at Metrocenter Mall.
Reeves Bipartisan in Chair Assignments
Calling it a leadership team that represents both the Mississippi Senate and the state, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves unveiled his appointments of committee chairs, vice-chairs and members at the Capitol this morning.
Jackson Crime Down, Maybe
Read the full report here. (pdf 553 KB)
Barbour to Lawmakers: Think About Online Taxes
Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, who completes an eight-year run as governor next week, addressed a joint session of the Mississippi Legislature this morning for the final time as governor. Barbour will be replaced next week when Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant is sworn in as governor at noon on Jan. 10.
Chief, I Crushed the Car
Recycling is great for the Earth, but a potential nightmare if you're the victim of auto theft in Jackson.
Jim Barksdale to Head MDA
Verbatim Statement from the Phil Bryant Transition team:
Governor-elect Phil Bryant appointed Jim Barksdale Interim Executive Director of the Mississippi Development Authority at a 2 p.m. press conference on Jan. 4 in Jackson. Barksdale, former President and CEO of Netscape Communications Corp., will succeed Leland Speed as chief of the agency that leads Mississippi's economic development efforts.
Stampede
Republicans proved they can win elections. Now they must prove they can govern.
On Dec. 20, Haley Barbour stepped to the podium on the 18th floor of the Walter Sillers building to make his final budget recommendation to reporters—and started hacking away at state agencies.
Lessons from the Past
When Republican John R. Lynch won a seat in the Mississippi House, the Legislature had a lot of important rebuilding to do after the Civil War, including schools and other public buildings. In fact, state government needed to entirely reconstruct and reorganize itself.
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Seven businesses will receive more than $50,000 in grants from the city of Jackson to make technology and operational improvements as well as facade upgrades. The city council authorized the grants, part of the city's small business development grant and storefront improvement grant programs, at the Dec. 27 meeting.
Boots Optional?
Phil Bryant may not support a woman's right to make decisions about her body but there is one issue on which the future guv is decidedly pro-choice: footwear. Mississippi's 64th governor takes the oath of office at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 10, followed by a parade and concludes with an inauguration ball at the Jackson Convention Complex at 6 p.m. According to the invitation for the event themed Rising Together, "black tie and boots are optional." As one whose love of western leatherwear matches Bryant's, I'm of the mind that boots should be mandatory. In fact, Satan wins if you dare to show up in regular ol' wing tips. And while many members of the media are waiting for an advance copy of Bryant's inaugural speech, my breath is bated for the moment Bryant's camp reveals his choice of boot for his big night: Will he go with a kick-ass pair of Tony Lama ostrich quills? Stylish Ariat Belly caimans? Or will he pull out all the stops and go with an American alligator hornback from Lucchese? I know my invitation is in the mail (members of the public can visit risingtogether.ms to buy tix for $50 each) but likely hasn't shown up yet because of the busy holiday season. In the meantime, I'll be shining my boots.
Legislative Session Commences Tomorrow
A potentially raucous Republican-led legislative session begins tomorrow at noon. Political observers describe the weeks leading up to the start of the session as akin to the first day of school.
Car Crushers Concern Cops
Read the full report here. (pdf 762 KB)