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Klan Wizard Sam Bowers Is Dead

JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) -- Former Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard Samuel H. Bowers, who was serving a life sentence for the 1966 bombing death of a civil rights leader, died Sunday in a state penitentiary, officials said. He was 82.

NOW Clinton Is Worried About Young Voters?

Since Barack Obama proved that the under-30 vote mattered in Iowa, and could well be a deciding factor in the presidential election, Hillary Clinton is adjusting her strategy to start trying to appeal to them. Does she really think that young voters are going to fall for that when it's obvious she's doing it just to get their vote? If she cared about them, she would have shown it already. This shows exactly why I'm not a Clinton fan—she is a political machine, who cares more about strategy then getting out there and really getting real with the voters. I'm fully on the Obama wagon now. This did it for me, not that I needed much of a nudge.

Obama To Address Joint Session of Congress

According to The Hill, President Obama will address a joint session of Congress next Looks like Obama will be working to get the talking stick back after a month of tea parties and town halls. It'll be interesting to see if he's only talking about health insurance reform or if there's a wide swath that he's cutting; not that he, Pelosi and Reed will meet to discuss it all the day before.

Abortion Ban Attempt Dies in Conference

More details as they develop ...

Tonight, the 8 p.m. bill deadline came and went at the Mississippi Legislature without an agreement out of conference. Thus, the abortion ban bill died.

BREAKING: Melton Reverses, Reinstates JFD 5

UPDATE: At a special City Council meeting this afternoon, Fireman Brandon Falcon informed City Council that he had just spoken to Mayor Melton, who asked Falcon and the other four suspended firefighters to return to work on Monday. They will not be disciplined for speaking to the media. Watch for further updates.

Obadele Visit Ignites Old Fires

Councilman Kenneth Strokes is being lambasted by police organizations and other critics for inviting Dr. Imari Abubakari Obadele to speak to young people at City Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 1, in honor of Black History Month. Obadele—formerly Richard Henry, a contemporary of Malcolm X in the early 1960s (but not Nation of Islam) and a black separatist today—started the Republic of New Africa on March 31, 1968, "to free black people in the United States from oppression," and to promote self-sufficiency as well as self-defense.

[Chick] We're That Good

My boyfriend said the most disturbing thing on our way to Hooter's. He said, "You and MF can't make a mockery of my Corvette." Are you kidding me? Now tell me that doesn't sound like a challenge. My best friend MF and I can make a mockery of anything, including but not limited to Corvettes, Hooters, each other, ourselves and everyone around us. We're that good.

Clarion-Ledger Moves In; Indy Media Boxes/Racks Trashed

What citizens can do. June 20, 2006—A little while ago, calls started coming in from the reservoir area, telling us that our racks and boxes, and those of other members of the Mississippi Independent Publishers Alliance, were lined up next to dumpsters at businesses near the reservoir. Todd just drove out there and, lo and behold, there all of us indies were—lined up next to the dumpsters at several locations, including the Conoco on Old Fannin Road (pictured, right) and the one on Lakeland Drive near Wal-Mart. Goliath is on the move. An Alliance member called Ronald Gooding at The Clarion-Ledger, the "Non-daily distribution manager," who said that his guys had been moving our boxes all day, but that he was unaware that any had been put by dumpsters. Interestingly, the eviction letter that TDN/Gannett/Clarion-Ledger sent us said that "the store owner/operator will remove them or have them removed" if we didn't agree to pay TDN to be in their boxes. I guess they changed their minds; not a single business has itself asked us to remove our boxes/racks. We're also hearing that Gannett is letting businesses out of contracts who ask to be—so there's the best reason yet to go visit businesses where the JFP and other free pubs are located. Ask them to keep supporting indy media, and not allow the Gannett Corp. to make us pay our competition for distribution in order for you to be able to pick us up in their businesses. Remember: You can help save independent media; see how here.

Street Talk: What do you think about Councilman Kenneth Stokes?

Lakesha Nichols, 24, "I think that he is a pretty fair person. I stand behind him."

Note: This thread was closed due to its length after 1,086 views and 97 comments.

I'm Fed Up!!! Tired of folks blaming hip-hop for our ills: My response to Leonard Pitts' Column

Peace and Blessings, my name is Kamikaze. Im a nationally known hiphop artist from Jackson, MS and President of the Mississippi Artists and Producers Coalition. I also write a bi-weekly column for a publication called the Jackson Free Press here. jacksonfreepress.com.

[Chick] Your Racism Is Not Wanted

I don't know about y'all, but the Monkey and I were needing some Jesus real bad this last week, so we got ourselves to church even though I was very uncertain about the message we might receive. Chalk it up to a rural Southern Baptist upbringing, but I for one was not up for the wrath of God sermon if you know what I mean. Our family was thirsty for some hope and for a place to direct some helpless energy.

Melton Polling High in First JFP/16-WAPT Poll

A March 12 telephone poll of 763 registered Jackson voters conducted by ZATA-3 Consulting in Washington, D.C., found that Jackson Mayor Frank Melton gets an excellent grade from 42 percent of those polled, while almost two-thirds want him to spend more time being mayor and less acting as a policeman.

R. Kelly Trial - who's to blame?

So many of you are probably familiar with the case of statutory rape that singer R. Kelly is facing. So word is that Kelly and the underaged female are denying that they are the ones on the video (the one that caused all this drama). But now there's a new girl...third party, who says she was involved in a three-some with Kelly and the same girl.

Candidates Reveal Differences at Debate

Three Republican Party gubernatorial candidates leaned heavy right on social issues, but differed slightly on some money matters at a Flowood debate sponsored by the Mississippi Tea Party.

Pennsylvania Judge Rules: Intelligent Design is Not Science

The Dover "monkey trial" (discussed in a previous blog entry here) ended exactly as it should have: With a ruling that defends the scientific method from those who would push it aside by force. Somewhere, Galileo is smiling.

Civil Rights Museum to Tougaloo?

Jackson hip-hop artist Kamikaze is organizing community feedback regarding a consulting group's recent recommendation to place the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum north of County Line Road in Ridgeland. Museum consulting firm LaPaglia & Associates recommended Tougaloo College as the site of the museum on Feb. 11, even though it received a No. 10 ranking on a site list (PDF, 177 KB) as recently as November when the top spot under consideration was the site of Smith Wills Stadium on Lakeland Drive.

Fear is a Four-Letter Word

Harvey Johnson is not the only one who lost the mayoral primary last week. So did fear. Yes: fear suffered a resounding loss in Jackson.

We Need A Mayor, Not A Daddy

It is going to be painfully ironic—and useless—if the recent murder spate is the factor that finally gets the Jackson media to start questioning Mayor Frank Melton. Unless proven otherwise, the nine murders in 10 days are not Frank Melton's fault. To my knowledge, he did not put the guns in the killer's hands; he did not tell them to rob and kill; he did not provide illegal drugs that people are willing to kill for; he did not tell a troubled man to pick up a weapon and go kill his girlfriend and another man.

D.A. to Mayor: ‘Bring It On'

Click here for a podcast of Attorney General Jim Hood's press conference about the D.A.-Mayor conflict.

Minister Blasts Mississippi Senator's Connections

Also see JFP cover story: Guess Who's Coming to Jackson, June 24, 2009

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