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Paul DeBoy
Paul DeBoy's first stage was the backyard of his Baltimore, Md., home. His older brother wrote plays that DeBoy would star in, and the two would charge admission when DeBoy was just 5 years old.
Pseudopolitics Equals Pseudofailure
Recently the Mississippi Legislature passed legislation outlawing the sale of medical products containing pseudoephedrine without a prescription. The intent of this legislation is to reduce the rampant methamphetamine epidemic.
Leaks Caused JPD to Dump Sergeant Exams
Civil Service Commission members said questions from the Jackson Police Department's recent sergeant's exam might have found their way to the officers prior to testing, causing the city to trash all of the recently completed tests. The commission discovered after administering the test to 180 officers that it was identical to an earlier, leaked version, despite instructions to the testing company to rewrite the exam.
Mixed-Use at JSU, Fondren Market, County PR
Jackson State University is seeking retailers for a four-story mixed-use development on track to open this fall. One University Place will host 78 apartments on its top three floors. JSU's Center for University-Based Development is currently soliciting potential retail tenants for the building's ground floor, director Kimberly Hilliard said. The Center hosted an open house for retailers last week.
Going ‘Round in Circles
What's the toughest thing to get people to talk about? Crime? Race? How about commercial development? Funding city services? These are the types of social topics that are being tackled around the country in "study circles," an approach to community-building and public forums championed by the Topsfield Foundation of Pomfriet, Conn., which created the Study Circles Resource Center in 1989.
State Lacks Affordable Legal Services
The state needs attorneys to donate their legal services in order to overcome a shortage of free civil legal service aid for residents, Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Jesse Dickinson told reporters at the Mississippi Supreme Court today.
A Soldier's Daughter
I read recently that patriotism is learned behavior. If that is true then I learned from my dad that America is beautiful. He joined the Navy at the end of World War II and served as Yeoman 3rd Class on the aircraft carrier USS Rendova.
It's the Weekend: Get your Blues On
The fifth annual Mississippi Blues Marathon features live entertainment and events for runners and non-runners alike this weekend. The marathon kicks off with a pre-race Blues Expo at the Jackson Convention Complex from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and continues with a special edition of "Downtown At Dusk" at the Old Capitol Green next to the War Memorial from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a performance by nationally acclaimed Elvis impersonator Brandon Bennett. If you'd like a break from the Blues, head to Thalia Mara Hall at 8 p.m. for Riverdance. Tickets are$27.50 to $57.50 and can be purchased by calling 1-800-745-3000. See the JFP's
Race Relations…What a Headache
Youth Media Project
Tolerance is a limited, quick answer, but doesn't address the entire situation. At the end of the day, our process of trying to reach new levels of conversation are the true product that we need. This is something else I learned: sometimes process is progress. We work to communicate, not fully understanding what will lie at our conquest's end. As an artist though, I feel as if I must help capture and transform each moment of this progression so that the truths of each moment are not lost.
James C. Thompson
James C. Thompson is the co-founder of the Jackson political consulting firm Blue Dot Group, which he says was named because the group's political affiliations make them "a little blue dot in a big red state."
Tripp Segars
Even from an early age, Tripp Segars knew the direction his life would take. When he was 4, he went on a preschool field trip to the "Mr. Knozit Show," a local children's television program in Columbia, S.C. When Mr. Knozit asked him what he'd like to be when he grew up, Segars replied: "I want to goes [sic] to the office and bes [sic] a lawyer like my daddy."
The Trial Begins ... Officially
We left Jackson early (7 a.m.!) to get to Philadelphia for the official opening of the trial — although there is not a lot of activity to cover today. There was a bit of excitement when Killen was wheeled into the courthouse — alongside J.J. Harper! Some reporters were asking his attorney why he was with a Klansman, and then Minna (Skau of Politken in Denmark, our friend from the day before) whipped out the business card Mr. Harper had given her the day before to show his Klan connection.
The Best In Sports In 7 Days
Doctor S sez: It's here, it's finally here—the second event in the PGA's FedEx Cup. Oh, yeah, and major college football begins, too.
The Best In Sports In 7 Days
Doctor S sez: The Doctor suffered another case of premature publication last week. Note to self: Drink pitcher of martinis after writing the Slate.
The Best In Sports In 7 Days
What's up in local sports over the next seven days?
The British Are Coming, by Herman Snell
British indie-pop invades Martin's Sunday night.
The birth of MTV in August 1981 was boycotted and banned in Jackson. I wanted my MTV. So at the tender age of 11, teen angst set in. Months later, the local cable company gave in to the pop gods, and my musical education began.
[Stauffer] A River Running Through It
The LeFleur Lakes project will be something that Jackson talks about for some time to come. Originally the brainchild of developer and engineer John McGowan, the "Two Lakes" project, as it�s often called, is a plan to dredge a canal in the bed of the Pearl River and then flood the river to create what (arguably) could be called two lakes—an upper and a lower, with the dividing line somewhere around LeFleur's Bluff Park. Some supporters tout the project as a miracle solution to Jackson's problems—or, at least, the flooding and economic development woes. With waterfront lapping up to the outskirts of downtown and all along the eastern edge of Jackson, people will flock back to Jackson and once again fill the city's tax coffers, they say.
Making The Connection
In my 10 years of living in California, I never once heard anyone play the "Name Game" with another Californian. Yet, within my first day back in Mississippi, I was part of a conversation that takes place in thousands of variations on any given day around here.
Capitol Report
Dr. Warren Jones, the executive director for the Division of Medicaid, held a press conference Monday and sent Gov. Haley Barbour a letter saying that he regrets to inform everyone that Medicaid only has enough money to benefit its beneficiaries until March 11. That's it.
Here Comes Da Judge
Damn, it's time for more Morgan-Quitno rankings. The last time we got dinged, it was for being the 10th most dangerous city, based on 2001 crime statistics and released last fall (and reported by daily media this spring as if they had just come out). In this round, though, the Lawrence, Kan.-based book publishers have the state of Mississippi in its sights. (Didn't that town learn anything about needless agitating back in frontier times?) This hellhole of a state we live in, it seems, is the 14th most dangerous, our second-worst ranking ever. We were more dangerous in 1999 (13th) and hit our safety peak in 1994 (the first year of the rankings). And, after all, Vermont is the safest state, and we wouldn't want to rank anywhere near them wussy-butts, even if they do, too, appreciate the right to arm bears, er, bear arms.