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JPS Board Mulling Metrocenter Move
Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. said at last week's Jackson Public Schools board meeting that he supports developer David Watkins' vision to relocate the entirety of JPS administration to the Metrocenter Mall, but said it was not his place to influence the decision.
MIRA Leading Census Effort
Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance President Bill Chandler says his organization will be working full time to make sure Mississippi's Latinos are counted in the 2010 census.
'This Isn't Anti-Tougaloo'
A group of about 100 gathered at the Smith Robertson Museum on Feb. 25 to advocate locating the proposed Civil Rights Museum in downtown Jackson.
Former JSU President Reflects on Shootings
Former Jackson State University President John Peoples, Jr. described with painful detail the 1970 shootings he witnessed at Jackson State University that resulted in the deaths of two students during Koinonia Coffee House's Friday Forum this morning.
Melton Pulls $3 Million From City's Reserves
The administration of Jackson Mayor Frank Melton got its wish from the council in a 3-to-2 vote in favor of raiding $3 million from the city's $7 million budget reserve fund to fix a lingering hole in the 2007 budget. "I don't like the idea of taking money out of the fund, but I don't see any other way to deal with (the shortfall)," Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes said.
AG: Hands Off the Judges
Mayor Frank Melton called a March 10 press conference to announce the arrest of two municipal court clerks charged with conspiracy to destroy criminal records. At the same conference, Melton declared that corruption in the Jackson municipal court system was so bad that he intended to put court services under the direct supervision of the Jackson Police Department.
Crime High, Perception Bleak
Recent Jackson Police Department statistics reveal that major crime this year remains stubbornly high compared to last year's figures. Though the May 8-14 ComStat Overview Report reveals that crime is tracking 2 percent lower than the last ComStat figures—which the JFP obtained from an anonymous source and published several weeks ago—it still registers a 14.1 increase in crime over last year's numbers.
The JFP Interview with Rebecca Coleman
Police Chief Rebecca Coleman is in a good mood this morning. It's Friday in Jackson, and the city is seeing more snow today than it has in years. The icy weather, while a deviation from typical central Mississippi weather, did not contain the kind of deadly black ice that terrifies cops.
Livingston Lives
The $75 million Livingston Village project, which developers plan to build near the Jackson Medical Mall, is moving ahead since the Jackson City Council maneuvered a few bumps in the road last week. After a contentious battle with unwilling Ward 3 residents, the zoning committee voted 7-to-0 to approve a zone change transforming the site of the old Hood Furniture Factory from its industrial category to mixed use. The decision will allow developer Mike Smith, CEO of MPI Center, LLC, to move ahead with property demolition this year and begin construction on Ward 3's newest neighborhood.
Strangulation, Security and Suffrage
Both chambers of the state Legislature spent the past week considering bills from the opposite chamber. The House amended Senate Bill 2923—a bill that expands domestic assault to include strangulation and requires a "cooling off" period between parties—to create the offense of attempted murder.
City Council Revisiting Fuel Theft Today
The Jackson City Council will meet today for an update on the city's continuing problem with alleged fuel theft. In early December, council members voiced concern that more than 80 percent of city employees with city–paid gas cards were not properly tracking odometer readings, and could be abusing the card and stealing from the city. The council gave four recommendations to the city at a Dec. 1, 2008, meeting, and will revisit the issue at 2:30 p.m. today.
No Rate Increases for Coal Plants
Mississippi Power Company is denying the Mississippi Sierra Club's Miller's interpretation of the PSC decision against hiking electricity bills to pay for pre-construction costs of a planned $1.8 billion experimental lignite coal plant in Kemper County. The power company called Miller's characterization of the decision "misleading."
'Blue Dot in a Red Sea'
Democracy for America Chairman Jim Dean endorsed Democratic candidate Gary Anderson for Mississippi Insurance Commissioner last week during a visit to Anderson's campaign headquarters.
Tuck to Revisit Tobacco Tax
g forward a bill seeking to raise the cigarette tax.
No Damages Against Melton
A Lauderdale County Circuit Court jury voted unanimously Friday that former Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Director Frank Melton should not have to pay damages after leaking a memo falsely incriminating two former MBN agents.
Necessary Means?
Throughout public debate of the allegations that Mayor Frank Melton and associates demolished a Ridgeway home, Councilman Kenneth Stokes has applauded Melton's actions. At Tuesday's City Council meeting, Stokes said: "We have to fight these dope boys by any means necessary. The mayor used a sledgehammer. I would have used a bulldozer."
‘This Don't Make No Sense'
The tone was tense at a hastily called Sept. 2 emergency briefing between City Council members and Jackson Mayor Frank Melton. Though slow to release public statements in the days after Katrina struck, Melton announced at the briefing that the city was under an emergency order "to give us the latitude" to address massive power outages across the city and the corresponding fuel shortage attributed to Hurricane Katrina.
AG Jim Hood Celebrates State Farm Settlement
Attorney General Jim Hood said Tuesay that his office has reached a class-action settlement with State Farm in the Katrina lawsuit. Policy holders and Hood claim the insurance company wrongfully denied coverage for storm surge damage.
Mayor to Hold Up Sales Tax Hike?
Last session, the Mississippi Legislature enacted a referendum vote for a sales tax increase to fix city streets and improve public safety, but Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. says that vote may be on hold indefinitely.
Meeting Addresses Crime, Calls for Tax Increase
Straight talk was the theme at a March 27 town hall meeting on Jackson crime at the Board of Education auditorium in downtown Jackson. The meeting, hosted by the Jackson Police Officers Association and the Jackson Free Press, featured Jackson Police Chief Malcolm McMillin, Assistant Chief Lee Vance, former Assistant Chief Edna Drake, Rev. Hosea Hines, and Det. Juan Cloy and David Domino of the police union. Hinds County DA Robert Smith was also slated to be on the panel, but his assistant called just before the event to say he wouldn't attend. City Councilman Margaret Barrett-Simon canceled earlier the day of the event.