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Confusion Reigns
"Anytime it clouds up now, my 4-year-old asks, 'Mommy, is the hurricane coming again? Is it going to kill us this time?'" Marissa Jones said. Jones, an evacuee from Gulfport with five kids, aged 4 to 17, is facing eviction from her hotel room as a March 1 FEMA deadline approaches.
[Pass The Mic] Dead Guy Rock
I like to think I have an eclectic taste in music. I listen to anything from '60s rock to modern "booty music," from bossa nova to electronica, and from Johnny Cash to Johnny Rotten. But as a few close friends of mine have pointed out over the last several years, I seem to have a particular affinity for singer/songwriters who are no longer with us.
A Vegetarian's Cafeteria Survival Guide
It's noon on your first real day of classes, and you can't remember a time you were this hungry. You could eat a horse, if eating horse wasn't against your personal dietary code of ethics. You approach the cafeteria with a dangerous sense of hope—excited to sample one of the many vegetarian options promised in your registration pamphlet. No more brown sack lunches, you tell yourself, you're in college, where they understand the needs of a vegetarian.
AVANT GARDENS: Gardening for Dummies
Jerry Palmer won our immediate respect when he pointed up at the 100-foot pine tree in our yard, and a good-sized limb from the top cracked and landed with a thud at our feet. Jerry was volunteering his time and expertise to a couple of gardening amateurs (my husband and me) ready to get out in the dirt but not knowing where to start. Although the errant limb was probably some cosmic fluke, the moment certainly highlighted Jerry's outdoor prowess (and it gave us all cause to be a little more reverent when discussing tree removal, especially when it is leaning toward our house).
[Lott] Open and Ready
If U.S. military bases are to be closed, jobs lost, and lives changed, which communities should feel the heat first - those in an increasingly unsupportive Western Europe, or in patriotic, taxpaying towns in Mississippi? Well, I'm more worried about the plight of folks in Heidelberg, Mississippi than Heidelberg, Germany. The well being of America's taxpayers, our domestic economy and homeland security should take precedent. Most domestic military bases should remain open and ready.
Cochran Bike Bill On the Ropes
Congressional House Republicans are trying to put the brakes on a provision in the federal transportation bill that could promote more biking and walking in America's cities and towns. But biking and walking advocates are looking to an unlikely ally for support: Mississippi's senior conservative Republican Sen. Thad Cochran.
Sundance Bound
Every year I gripe about the cold that chills my entire being when I'm in Park City, Utah, for the Sundance Film Festival. Despite the snow drifts and the messy aftermath of a daily freeze-thaw cycle, and even though I am weighed down by clunky fur boots, bundles of layers and a shamelessly ugly babushka wrapped over my head, I have an extreme fondness for Sundance.
[Casey's Note] Leaving My Heart In Jackson
When I first saw the Jackson Free Press, something sparked. I had given up hope for local weeklies, but the cover—a grid-like spread of a variety of Jackson folks—called to me. Someone had dropped off about 100 copies outside of the Millsaps cafeteria, and I—the eternal journalism snoop—scooped up two. I devoured the whole preview issue and then Googled "Jackson Free Press," hoping to find some Internet connection to this new paper.
Heart of ‘The Creative Class': Belhaven, Fondren Residents Build A City To Love
When new residents move to Madison Street, Pattye Dunlap makes sure that she takes time to greet the new neighbors and give them information packets about the neighborhood. Dunlap, president of the Belhaven Heights Community Association, said: "If we have a new neighbor, I'll get them a pamphlet about the neighborhood. The association tries to keep abreast on who's new and get them acclimated to the neighborhood." But the association's work goes beyond just greeting newcomers.
With A Little Help From My Friends: Waveland's Getting By
In Waveland, Miss., the little town that arguably received the worst punishment Katrina could mete out, those credited with the swiftest response are not disaster-relief groups or government agencies, but a bunch of hippies and a rock band.
ROAD TRIP: A Hill Girl Does Rocky Springs
I had no idea just how geographically snobbish Mississippians could be until the mother of a college friend from the Gulf Coast smugly remarked, "Sooo, you're from the hill country." Now, I grew up in Tupelo, only six hours from her family's ancestral home, but you would have thought I had just hobbled out from behind a still with a corncob pipe clenched in my teeth and a moonshine jug slung over my shoulder. But I was happy to forgive her indiscretion when I was served my first mint julep complete on her grandmother's silver with fresh mint sprigs from the garden while I watched the sun sink into the Gulf from her front-porch swing.
Wired Closes; Jackson Law Firm Ranks High
After three years in business, Wired Espresso Cafe closed its doors last weekend due to a tough economy for coffee sales.
Juanita Ward
Former Callaway High School and Tulsa Shock women's basketball champ Juanita Ward, 23, is bringing the round ball to kids in Bolton this month with a two-part basketball camp.
‘Urban School District' Challenges Supt. Search
Jackson Public Schools will likely hire a national search consultant experienced with urban school districts to look for a new superintendent.
Linda Rush
Linda Rush is passionate about establishing equal educational success for all children and making a difference for the young people in the Jackson area.
Legislative Black Caucus Foils Plan to Unseat McCoy?
Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, told the Jackson Free Press Friday that the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus adopted a position on Thursday against the candidacy of Columbus Rep. Jeffrey Smith's run for Speaker of the House. "We voted unanimously not to support Jeff Smith for Speaker and to not make a commitment to the position of Speaker Pro Tempore position, and to have another meeting later on," Flaggs said.
Kill Devil Hill
Jacksonian Rex Brown brings some friends home with him Oct. 21 when Kill Devil Hill plays at Club Fire (209 Commerce St., 601-592-1000). The hometown boy, who has worked in Los Angeles for the past 15 years, is lead singer for this new heavy-metal band with some serious heritage.
This Week's Public Meetings in Jackson
Monday, July 13
Jackson Public Schools board, special meeting, 5:30 p.m., school board meeting room, 621 S. State St.
Sue Else
In an effort to end domestic violence, Sue Else is working to put the issue in the national spotlight.