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Dickie Scruggs Arrested on Bribery Charges

The Sun-Herald is reporting that the feds have arrested Scruggs and others for trying to bribe a judge:

Please Help With Presents for Katrina Kids

Dec. 4, 2006—Sweet Potato Queen Jill Conner Browne just forwarded us this e-mail. Everyone, please do what you can to help these children get presents this year; drop-off info in Jackson and Oxford is included at the bottom:

Thompson Retains Advantage in Second District

Second Congressional District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson has the financial edge on campaign contributions and political action committee money this year as he cruises into the November elections against his Republican candidate and Tea Party member Bill Marcy.

Special-Session Man Is Back!

[verbatim] GOVERNOR BARBOUR TO CALL SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE SESSION

(JACKSON, Mississippi) * Governor Haley Barbour announced today he will call a special session of the Mississippi Legislature to convene at 9 a.m. on Thursday, August 24, 2006, and deal primarily with a huge job-creating project in northwest Mississippi known as Riverbend Crossing.

Bush Pitched SS Plan in Canton Tuesday

According to the Sun Herald George W. Bush will speak today around noon at the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi, where he's expected to address "fixing the hole in the safety net" of Social Security, according to press secretary Scott McClellan.

Honoring Dr. King: Toward Justice in Mississippi

Jacksonian Martha Bergmark, who runs the Mississippi Center for Justice here, has an inspiring call to action (especially for social-justice attorneys) printed at MSNBC.com/Newsweek today, in honor of Dr. King's birthday today:

Mayor Walks Out On Citizens

Community policing took a body blow last week when Mayor Frank Melton and Jackson Police Chief Shirlene Anderson—a man and a woman put there to be anti-crime crusaders—suddenly dumped the department's Crime Prevention Unit as of Oct. 1, leaving eight crime prevention specialists out of work with only days' notice, and saving about $275,000 in salaries. The eight employees learned of the job eliminations on Tuesday before their jobs ended on Friday; they are getting paid through Oct. 15. The budget awards $110,000 in raises to legal personnel.

Roads, Bridges, Elections, Oh My

The 1950s and 1960s were a golden age for America's highways. Rolling in money, the nation dumped fresh concrete from coast to coast, and put a gas station on every block to keep cars on that concrete.

Old Wound Still Bleeds On Farish

Money, by far, is the most daunting of the countless little plagues haunting the development of the Farish Street Entertainment District.

Home, Bittersweet Home

Mary Johnson was a resident of Rose Street back when Rose Street looked very different from how it looks now. In many ways, the story of Johnson is the story of Jackson's demographic history. Johnson had a house at the corner of Rose and Central Street. Though staunchly segregated, the black version of Jackson sat mere streets away from her. Sharing her local neighborhood in the 1960s, she says, were Ku Klux Klan members, people with possible connections to countless terrorist activities against black people, all while living mere streets away from their black neighbors.

Gas Price Hell: Is the End Drawing Nigh?

Janice Taylor fills up the gas tank of her Ford Navigator once a week. The Navigator's tank is capable of holding well over 40 gallons, and with gas at even the cheaper outlets running more than $2 a gallon, Taylor kisses a whopping pile of cash goodbye almost every time she visits the pump.

Favorite JFP Moments: Yours and Ours

As the JFP approached its 10th birthday on Sept. 22, 2012, we asked current and former staff and interns, as well as readers, to share their favorite JFP moments.

Come On And Rescue Me ...

Driving to work this morning, I saw a handful of pro-birth protesters with huge magnified fetus signed, probably Photoshopped (their favorite tech invention), in front of UMC. It seems that most of the traffic was ignoring them; it wasn't like they were met with a bunch of honks of support. I wanted to ask them what they were going to go to help "rescue" all the unwanted children and ensure they have adequate food and educations once they get our only abortion clinic closed and go on back wherever, but knew it wouldn't do any good with such zealots. I wonderfed if they had a permit to protest there; it seems they didn't and got arrested a short time later.

White Men for Obama?

A long New York Times magazine feature by Matt Bai explores the question on everyone's mind: Can white men bring themselves to vote for Barack Obama in November? This is near the end:

[Lott] Correcting the "Supreme" Court

Despite the glorification of judges and lawyers on television, in movies and within popular culture, the mission of our courts is simply to enact the American people's will in our laws. It may be called the "Supreme" Court, but the framers of our Constitution intended that the American people and their elected representatives have the supreme say.

I Look Like WHO???!!!

A new (partially in beta) site, http://www.myheritage.com, offers the use of face recognition software to help in genealogical research. If you think that's interesting, they also offer a free face recognition scan so you can see which celebrity you resemble. Wild, huh?

Charter Schools Advance In Mississippi Senate

The Senate Education Committee just approved a bill that would allow privately operated charter schools to open in Mississippi starting in 2011. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Michael Watson, R-Pascagoula, and has many Republican co-authors. Opposition came primarily from Sens. David Jordan, D-Greenwood, and Alice Harden, D-Jackson, who were both concerned that charters would draw funds and students from regular public schools that have never been properly funded. Jordan also worried that charters could lead to re-segregation. Watson tried to assure him that, under his bill, charter schools would use a lottery system for admissions, but Jordan seemed unconvinced.

Ledger Does Melton-Denying-Allegations Story

Read the JFP Melton blog/archive here.

It seems The Clarion-Ledger is suddenly going somewhere it hasn't dared to go in over 20 years in its story today about the R.J. Washington case. The bizarre thing is that there are no new allegations here, although perhaps new to them. I recall an editor over there belittling our stories back during the campaign (stories that Melton himself tipped us to, starting with this one) about the old criminal allegations against Melton (and his denials), saying that they were bogus. The question is, if the Ledger believes that, why are they running this story today—which has no evidence, other than a deposition and some history of the criminals who have been living in his home? It's presented like a big investigative package, but there isn't anything there but the deposition, some known background on the Sharrod Moore case and some quick rehash of stuff we've reported for years. Odd, but very Ledger.

Obeying the Sign Ordinance

I wonder how many Jacksonians know that it is unlawful to post signs on utility poles. Are City Council members exempt?

Yerger's Revisionist ‘Lily White' History

The Mississippi Republican party is holding events today honoring the party's founding chairman, 79-year-old Wirt Yerger, Jr., and last Sunday, Clarion-Ledger columnist Sid Salter interviewed Yerger. Just a few questions into the interview was this exchange:

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