History Made in Hinds
Much like television news directors who intentionally place sports and weather coverage at the end of the news broadcast to keep audiences tuned, organizers of this morning's Hinds County swearing-in ceremony were acutely aware of what people really wanted to see.
Drill, Haley, Drill
With less than one month left in office, Gov. Haley Barbour primed the pump for oil and natural gas drilling to take place off the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The Week in Crime
Due to yesterday's police academy graduation, we got the weekly crime stats a little late.
Due to yesterday's police academy graduation, we got the weekly crime stats a little late. Here's an overview.
JPD Chief: New Cops Will Help Curb OT
In a packed and muggy auditorium and under the watchful eye of instructors who continued barking orders throughout the ceremony, 33 new recruits joined the Jackson Police Department this morning.
Barbour's 2013 Budget At a Glance
In his final budget recommendations before leaving office, Gov. Haley Barbour put everything from Mississippi Public Broadcasting to the Egg Marketing Board on the chopping block Tuesday.
Where The Jobs Are ... and Aren't
Where are the jobs? Everybody should move to North Dakota, where there are more jobs than people and more people than housing. But you don't have to go so far as Fargo to find work. While Mississippi has more folks out of work than a lot of other places, growth is happening here, too.
The Side Hustle
Thomas Davis is passionate about beef jerky. An aficionado of jerky himself, he invested in his own business. But this isn't your average filling station dried meat. "It is great beef jerky. It's tender, tasty, and it's good for you," said Davis, who pays about $12 a week for his own online portal through which he can sell jerky and about seven ounces of the product.
Local Fights Back
Stacy Mitchell, a senior researcher with The New Rules Project, an initiative of the Minneapolis-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance, examined how local businesses have fared compared to their national competitors in recent years.
Online Tax Debate Looming
Sidewalks, busy sidewalks. In the air, there's a feeling that the economy might finally be picking up momentum if trends during the holiday shopping season are any indication.
Supremes Question Kemper
In all the pages of court records regarding a dispute between environmentalists and an electric utility company--pages that one Mississippi Supreme Court justice characterized as the most voluminous he has seen in his eight years on the court--one important piece of information eluded the justices.
Barbour Budget: Slash Education, MPB, Combine HBCUs
Gov. Haley Barbour called for a 2.9 percent average funding reduction to various state agencies today including education and Mississippi Public Broadcasting. He also called for state universities, including HBCUs, and public school districts to be consolidated.
Old Capitol Green Could Get $13 Million
The long-delayed Old Capitol Green downtown development project drew a little closer to fruition this morning.
JPD Releases Crime Stats
Now in the homestretch of its effort to finish out 2011 with a reduction in overall crime, the Jackson Police Department released its crime report for the week of Dec. 5, 2011 through Dec. 11, 2011.
Judges Want to See PSC's Rationale
What exactly happened for the Mississippi Public Service Commission to let a utility company jack up the price on a plant by nearly a half-billion dollars in less than a month's time?
Smokin' the Polls
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is smoking the polls. Well, one poll anyway. The Raleigh, N.C.-based firm Public Policy Polling, which Democratic pollster Dean Debnam founded, unveiled its findings Friday, Dec. 9. The poll shows Barbour's approval rating inside the state is 60 percent, the highest of any state governor; only 29 percent of Mississippians polled disapprove of Barbour.
Another Landfill?
R. L. Nave
All day long, hulking trucks rumble along North County Line Road to dump loads of rubbish at one of the area's two waste dumps. At the north end of the road sits Republic Services Inc.-operated Little Dixie Landfill; at the far south end is a rubbish landfill, which Madison South Rubbish Landfill Inc. owns. Between those facilities lies a 160 acre-parcel of land where Mike Bilberry wants to put a third landfill.
Graham Defiant in Auditor Probe
More than five months since receiving a demand from Mississippi State Auditor Stacey Pickering, Hinds County District 1 Supervisor Robert Graham has not paid the $45,736 the auditor said Graham owes the state.
They're Crafty
They say that handmade gifts mean so much more to the recipient. They also mean a lot to the artists who craft the items as well as to the local economy, especially now. The Mississippi Craft Center Gallery in Ridgeland, and others like it around the country, is having a banner sales year.
Can Sacred, Secular Coexist on Farish?
Despite popular beliefs, churches are not ivory towers. Or, as the Rev. Dr. Hickman Johnson put it: "The church should not be cloistered somewhere because it has to be holy. The dichotomy between the secular and the sacred is not real."
Tougaloo a Challenge for JPD
Read the report here.
Black Farmers: Getting Their Due?
Mississippi is likely to have the highest concentration of farmers who are entitled to a piece of two landmark decisions. In fact, more than one-fourth of the claims under the second decision originated in Mississippi, according to the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association.
Doomsday for Black Folks?
By all measures, the state of black Mississippi should be strong. Mississippi's concentration of African American residents, 37 percent, is the highest of any state. Mississippi also has the highest number of majority-black counties, 25, and black elected officials (900+). So why did the Mississippi Black Leadership Summit, which took place in downtown Jackson last week, strike such a somber tone?
Big Changes at Koinonia
If his ability to juggle a phone interview while whipping a breakfast bagel is any indication, Nate Coleman is going to make one heck of a restaurateur. Coleman, a Jackson native and trained culinary chef is bringing a new eatery to the capital city that will occupy Koinonia's space, according to a new release from the coffee shop.
Hinds Balks at Madison Landfill
A decade-long controversy over the placement of a landfill on North County Line Road could soon draw to a conclusion. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, which must grant NCL-Waste LLC a permit to move forward with plans for a 100-acre municipal solid-waste disposal site, will hold a public hearing Thursday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at Tougaloo College's Holmes Hall.
No More Excuses for JPD
View the entire Major Crimes Report here.
Oil Spill Czar Being Slick?
Jim Hood doesn't pull any punches when it comes to criticizing the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, the agency set up to help people who were hurt by the 2010 BP oil disaster, and its administrator, Kenneth Feinberg. Since early this year, Hood has sought access to Mississippi residents' claims to make sure GCCF handles payouts from the $20 billion fund fairly and in accordance with the state's consumer protection laws.
Garbage to Gigawatts
With Mississippi outpacing other states when it comes to using electricity, a little creativity is necessary to keep up with demand. Increasingly, that means supplementing traditional hydro, coal and nuclear power with other forms of renewables-driven electricity powered by the sun, wind and even garbage.
Hinds Wants Blank Check
To get the ball rolling on construction of a proposed roadway, the Hinds County Board of Supervisors will ask the Legislature for financial support.
The Cycle of Hate
Just when we think we've moved beyond Emmett Till, history gives us James Craig Anderson.
Feds to Draw Congress Map
From the looks of it, it'll be federal judges, and not the Mississippi Legislature, who will redraw the state's map of congressional districts.
AG Hood Still Wants BP Claim Records
A dispute between Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood and the administrator of BP's $20 billion oil-spill fund will be settled in state, not federal, court.
Hinds County Wants Blank Check for Project
The Hinds County Board of Supervisors will ask the Legislature to issue bonds to aid development in the Clinton-Byram corridor; they just don't know how much funding they will request quite yet. The Hinds County Board of Supervisors this morning voted down Calhoun's request to ask the Mississippi Legislature to issue $50 million in bonds for the proposed project.
Dems Lick Wounds, Prep for Battle
Mississippi Republicans are still painting the state red in celebration of the party's recent electoral successes. The GOP is maintaining control of the governor's mansion, the lieutenant governorship, the state Senate and every statewide constitutional office except one.
State's Biz Climate Iffy
Gov. Haley Barbour touted his administration's pro-business bona fides for the last time in his role as state government's chief executive before a throng of mostly business folks at the Mississippi Economic Council's Hobnob event Nov. 2, perhaps engaging in a bit of legacy preservation.
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