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Bitter Waters

Artist Martha Ferris and husband and playwright Kos Kostmayer of Vicksburg believe we're in danger. Since 1985, we have lived in the shadows of Entergy's Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Plant in Port Gibson, which provides a third of the state's power and creates about $20 million in tax revenue. The couple warns it also poses a grave risk of both security breaches and serious accidents such as the April 26, 1986, Chernobyl nuclear-power meltdown. They want to "alert the public about what Entergy is up to, who's footing the bill, and the incredible hazards of building a second nuclear reactor in our back yard poses," as Ferris wrote in an e-mail.

Live at the Rodeo

After seeing the Columbia shuttle tragedy unfold on television, I walked out the door and felt the sun on my face, and smelled the warm winter air that only the South knows. I felt all the more grateful for everything I have. I decided to clear my head, and, remembering there was a Paint Horse show at the Fairgrounds, I hopped in my truck. I've been a horse lover ever since I paid my way through summer camp by feeding and saddling horses, cleaning the stables, and working the chuckwagon during overnight pack trips. I must say I was a bit overwhelmed when I arrived at the show.

Great Americans

Tamaya Daniels sat in the lobby of the new girl's dorm at Tougaloo College, watching the Lakers vs. Pistons game on television. A center for Nottingham High School in Syracuse. N.Y., she was routing for the Pistons because they were the underdog. Six feet tall, Daniels had to stand in the few higher portions of the ceiling in the basement of Slave Haven. She could not stand up straight in the room where thousands of slaves had waited to be taken through the Underground Railroad.

Stripping Licenses Stripped?

The City Council said at a Feb. 28 appeal hearing that it will decide in five working days if the revocation of licenses for three Jackson businesses will hold.

Tobacco Tout Out of Touch

Anti-smoking group Communities for a Clean Bill of Health released a poll this week revealing Mississippians' support for a $1 cigarette tax increase over Gov. Haley Barbour's proposed plan to tax hospitals to cover a $90 million Medicaid shortfall.

Lorenda Cheeks

Lorenda Cheeks' work to improve educational opportunities for Jackson Public Schools students is receiving national attention.

PSC Attorney Withdraws from Coal Plant Hearing

A Mississippi Public Service Commission attorney gathering information for a second-phase hearing on the workability of a proposed $2.4 billion coal plant in Kemper County withdrew her participation from the issue this morning.

House Panel Considers Animal-Cruelty Law

Also see: Give Me Shelter: Protecting Animals, Prosecuting Abusers

Linda St. Martin

Linda St. Martin got Gov. Haley Barbour's attention Tuesday when she stood up at the inaugural Gulf of Mexico Commission meeting. She soundly criticized the governor for failing to include commercial fisherman and shrimpers on his hand-picked panel addressing recovery on the Coast from the BP oil disaster.

EPA Sued over Clean Water Act

The Mississippi Sierra Club is joining a host of organizations to demand that the United States Environmental Protection Agency write new rules regulating the use of oil dispersants and adhere to current laws overseeing the use of potentially dangerous chemicals in the environment.

Fortification Renewal Set for 2011

Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. said he expects construction to begin on the renewal of Fortification Street project by early next year.

Advocates Urge Proactive Approach to Homeless

Addressing homelessness in Jackson will require the active participation of communities, especially in the areas near downtown, the city's Homeless Program Coordinator Heather Ivery said today.

Eddie Cotton

Bluesman Eddie Cotton Jr. grew up with gospel music in his daddy's Clinton church, Christ Chapel True Gospel Church of God In Christ, where he's known to sit at the Hammond B-3 organ as the church's music minister. Cotton was 4 when he picked up his first guitar.

Students Vent Outrage at Anti-Merger Rallies

Jackson State University students are organizing a rally on the steps of the State Capitol at 1 p.m. today in protest of Gov. Haley Barbour's recommendation to merge the state's three historically black colleges and universities.

New Money for Farish and Medical Mall Expands

The Jackson Redevelopment Authority approved a $1 million loan yesterday to the The Farish Street Group to continue their renovations on Farish Street, and passed a resolution recommending that the city expand the Jackson Medical Mall Urban Renewal Area.

Marlena Duncan

Marlena Duncan sounds more like the star of an action movie than a dancer when talks about her craft. "I enjoy the adrenaline, the fear, the surprise and the delight of entertaining people," she says.

Hinds Seeks $400K for Hwy 80

Hinds County has applied for $400,000 to help redevelop brownfield sites along Highways 18 and 80 in Jackson. The county Board of Supervisors approved an application today to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the grant funds. The grant would help the county assess sites along the highway corridors that might be brownfields—old industrial sites that have not been redeveloped because of real or perceived environmental contamination.

Pat Chambliss

Pat Chambliss, 52, is the volunteer executive director and one of the founding members of Dress for Success in Jackson. A national organization started in 1997 in New York, the organization's goal is to provide "suits to self sufficiency," Chambliss says.

Burkhalter Stepping in as Interim U.S. Attorney

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder picked federal prosecutor Don Burkhalter to serve as interim United States Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi today. Burkhalter, who served as No. 2 under former U.S. Attorney Brad Pigott during the Clinton administration, will replace Stan Harris, who had been serving as acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi since the departure of Bush-appointed U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton.

JPD Probing Irby Crash Investigation

The Jackson Police Department is conducting an internal investigation of one of its own officers' work in reconstructing a Feb. 11, 2009, car crash that took the lives of two Jackson doctors. Karen Irby, wife of Jackson businessman Stuart Irby, pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter Friday for her role in the collision. Irby admitted that she had drunk two glasses of wine that night before speeding in her Mercedes-Benz down Old Canton Road, where it collided with a pickup truck carrying Dr. Mark Pogue and Dr. Lisa Dedousis. Stuart Irby was injured in the crash and did not testify in his wife's trial.

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