The Melton Tapes: Donna Ladd's Interviews with Frank MeltonIn spring 2006, Mayor Frank Melton broke his 14-month silence toward the Jackson Free Press, after refusing to give an interview to the newspaper after critical coverage of his campaign by JFP editor Donna Ladd, who was later joined by …
Mayor Re-instates, Discredits JPD Promotion ExamsJackson Mayor Frank Melton announced today that the police department will again administer police officer promotion exams to officers currently serving in acting sergeant and lieutenant positions because the city has not offered the test in recent years. Melton, however, …
Does This Make Sense?The Clarion-Ledger has a story about D.A.-elect Robert Smith not showing up for a docket call and needing to resolve his pending cases before he takes office in January. The Ledger states:
The Politics of Voter IDCandidates tend to look for issues to separate themselves from their opponents. It's a tough order in conservative Mississippi, where many nominees on both sides of the political spectrum agree on many of the same issues.
31 Pounds of CheeseWhen most people bust out statistics like "the average American eats more than 31 pounds of cheese each year"—give or take a few pounds, depending on your source and the year—they are generally mourning the state of nutrition in this …
Dreaming Through Adversity"What happens to a dream deferred?" asks Langston Hughes in his poem "Harlem." "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?/Or fester like a sore—/And then run?"
The Best In Sports In 7 DaysCollege football, Delta State at North Alabama (7 p.m., Florence, Ala., CSS/930 AM): Something has to give when the GSC's last two undefeated teams meet on Thursday night.
Jim KopernakAs I approach the industrial-looking Old House Depot on Monroe Street, I hear the robust sound of Ella Fitzgerald's voice. Jim Kopernak, 61 (but looking 10 years younger), emerges from a small office and wipes away the sweat just above …
The Good Book and Politics Don't MixMississippians are viewed as a "different breed" for a number of good reasons: our take on the second person plural, the affinity toward things like sweet tea and caramel cake, and the instinctive way we wave at neighbors (even if …
Council Blocks Pay Raises for BodyguardsOn Monday, the Jackson City Council halted Mayor Frank Melton's scheme to use drug-seizure money to fund recent police salary raises. The administration proposed taking $192,101 from the $400,000 drug-forfeiture fund to preserve the Jackson Police Department finance division—which the …
Debate Highlights Party LoyaltiesRepublican State Auditor Phil Bryant and Democratic Rep. Jamie Franks sparred before a modest crowd of about 200 at Biloxi's Saenger Theater last Wednesday. The event was more a locked-down forum than a debate, with no chance for rebuttal. With …
Don't Blame (It All on) MeltonLeland Speed, whose family enthusiastically supported Frank Melton in his mayoral run, is going around saying something amusing about the beleaguered mayor in recent days as rumors fly about possible federal grand-jury indictments against the city's loose-cannon folk hero.
[Stiggers] Somebody's Watching MeCrunchie Burga World CEO: "Welcome fellow Crunchie Burga World employees to a farewell banquet honoring the hard work and dedication of Miss Wanda, our beloved part-time senior greeter and fry cook, who will retire this week.
No. 38, October 17The words that fall out of our government representatives' mouths are sometimes just too incredible to be made up.