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Council: No to Payroll ... and Bodyguard Raises
The Jackson City Council failed to approve the city payroll by a 3-to-3 vote at a special meeting this afternoon. Council President Leslie McLemore, Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon and Ward 6 Councilman Marshand Crisler opposed the payroll, with Ward 1 Councilman Jeff Weill, Ward 4 Councilman Frank Bluntson and Ward 5 Councilman Charles Tillman in favor. Members opposed the payroll because of controversial pay raises for Mayor Frank Melton's bodyguards Michael Recio and Marcus Wright, and two others, including the lieutenant who signed off on the raises when the mayor made him chief for three days after the last chief would not approve the raises.
Obama Coming to JSU; Clinton Speaks in Canton
Mississippi has suddenly found itself a focus of presidential politics as the March 11 primary approaches, and the two major Democratic candidates scrap for votes. Sen. Hillary Clinton attended the 26th annual Jefferson-Jackson Hamer Day Dinner last night in Canton, and Sen. Barack Obama announced today that he would attend a rally at Jackson State University on Monday evening.
What The Tuck!?!
In November 2002, Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck, a long-time Democrat, shook a few corners of the Mississippi political underground by announcing that she would now be called Republican Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck. "I feel that the Republican Party is more in line with my conservative philosophies," Tuck said in a statement. Nick Walters, state director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Authority, told The Clarion-Ledger in 2002 that Tuck "has essentially been governing as a Republican, and her switch would only serve to make her conservative stands compatible with her political party."
The State Of JPD
Photos by Adam Lynch, Brian Johnson, Ronni Mott, and Kate Medley
Precinct 2 Patrolman Michael Braxton was on an evening shift in July when he got a vague call from dispatch telling him to head to Deer Park and Dalton Streets "to transport subjects from this location to an unknown location.
The Untold Thousands
Life is bleak for many unwanted animals in Mississippi.
Working Man
The JFP Interview With Jamie Franks
Rep. Jamie Franks, D-Mooreville, does not have the most expressive mug in the world. Somebody in his life taught this guy that looking you directly in the face is the only way to have a conversation, so his eyes keep a direct, unsettling stare on you throughout any exchange.
BREAKING: Shake-up in City Administration
Jackson Planning and Development Director Carl Allen and Parks and Recreation Director Ramie Ford are leaving city government, the Jackson Free Press learned Thursday.
Taylor and His Guns
A young man who was mentored by Mayor Frank Melton is out of jail, though he was arrested only months ago for carjacking, a felony. Michael Taylor has lived off and on with Melton for years at his north Jackson home.
The JFP Interview With Alan Nunnelee
Republican Mississippi Sen. Alan Nunnelee is looking to follow after Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker—again. In 1994, Nunnelee gained Wicker's state Senate seat after Wicker won election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Katrina Effect: Politics After the Storm
Nobody had ever seen anything like Katrina. "When Katrina came, we knew we were in for an entirely different kind of animal," said Capt. Louis Skrmetta of Gulfport.
Thou Shalt Not Steal: Is Voter Suppression the Real Issue?
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has gone out of his way to excite the historically indifferent youth vote, but the biggest question with young voters may not be keeping their attention long enough to get them to the polls.
HUD, Barbour Under Fire for Diverting Money from Poor
Mississippi organizations are suing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for allowing Gov. Haley Barbour to divert nearly $600 million in federal funding away from affordable housing recovery after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and into a pet port project that Congress had refused earlier to fund with controversial earmarked money.
Secrets & Lies: GOP Accused of Political Prosecutions
Prosecutions of a Mississippi Supreme Court justice and a wealthy Gulf Coast attorney are at the center a spectacular congressional investigation of political prosecution.
Chairman Bryant
Will Mississippi Elect a Radical-Right Governor?
Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant 56, took his place on the far right of his Republican opponents on stage and thanked his wife, mother-in-law and voters for making his campaign possible. He was dressed neatly, without overdoing it, for the lively Republican debate backed by the Mississippi Tea Party June 25.
Calling Out the Guard
Note: The print edition erroneously lists Donna Ladd as the author of this piece.
City Passes Anti-Profiling Ordinance
Jackson's Anti-Profiling Ordinance (PDF, 224 KB)
Crossing the Line?
Madison and Rankin cops are angering both drivers of color and white business owners. Are they going too far?
Bold 'New' City
As the JFP turns 6 (!), we take our traditional birthday look at Jackson's progress.
The 2009 JFP Interview With John Horhn
John Horhn, 53, recently reclaimed his District 26 Senate for a fifth term, but now he wants to be mayor of Jackson. A self-proclaimed "lifelong resident of Jackson," and a product of Jackson Public Schools, Horhn won the then-newly created Senate seat in 1993.
Racist Names, Beware
Ward 2 Councilman Chokwe Lumumba said he voted with a majority of the council to remove a controversial petition requirement for the renaming of city streets or facilities because he felt city residents deserved a "more fair system" for changing street and place names.