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Court Stops Simon Execution

Robert Simon Jr., 47, gets to live a little bit longer on death row. The state of Mississippi planned to kill him May 24, but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stopped the execution just hours before the scheduled time.

Edward Dacus

Although Edward Dacus has only had his new title of Mississippi Opera Chorus Master since Jan. 26, he has not wasted any time starting new opera projects. Dacus, who is currently preparing the all-men chorus spring show, "The Barber of Seville" for April 9 at Thalia Mara Hall, values the importance of male and female vocals and is also working to establish an additional performance that will showcase the ladies chorus.

Cesar Vazquez

Growing up in Guadalajara, Mexico, Cesar Vazquez never thought he'd be working in the United States. The 25-year-old traveled a lot as a child, living for short amounts of time in Esfahan, Iran and Frankfurt, Germany. Vazquez has always liked to travel and experience different cultures, and that interest brought him to Mississippi two years ago.

Jeff Maddox

Country music songwriter and singer Jeff Maddox has a single that's getting airplay across the United States and overseas, but so far he hasn't heard his song on radio stations at home. Maddox, 42, grew up in Pearl and lives there still, writing music and recording albums.

Talamieka Brice

Flip through Graphic Design USA's 250-page publication of award-winning designs, and between designs from Geico, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, you'll find the designs Talamieka Brice made for Methodist Rehabilitation Center. This is the second year Graphic Design USA recognized the Mississippi native's work, and she describes the attention as really cool.

[Stiggers] Nurse Tootie, Private Eye

Cootie McBride: "The Ghetto Science National Broadcasting Corporation Network presents the premiere of 'To Catch a Predator Who Takes Advantage of Senior Citizens, Racial Minorities, Poor Folk and the Uneducated'. The McBride family and I produced this television program to alert unsuspecting and financially disadvantaged consumers about how they can be deceived and tricked out of their money and possessions. In other words, we're 'Big Brotha' ghetto style.

Services Aren't Like Toasters

Politicians, especially the tight-fisted ones, love to compare the government to your home. When money is tight at home, they'll explain condescendingly, you may have to send your toaster to a repair shop, put off that Disney family vacation or drive that old clunker around for another year or two.

[Hightower] Money In, Money Out

Surely you don't think that campaign donations from wealthy interests are intended to buy favors from our lawmakers, do you?

Get out the Voter ID

At a recent event, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said he hoped new voter-identification laws will be in place by September—in time for federal elections. He's waiting on the Legislature to decide how to apply the new amendment that will require photo ID at the polls, though, and depending on how strict our law is when the Legislature is through with it, Mississippi could be waiting much longer than that before voter ID becomes a reality.

[Sue Doh Nem] A Brainwashed State of Christmas

Nurse Tootie McBride: "This holiday season I want to provide encouragement for the hopeless, jobless, broke and stressed out individual who feels like ending this year with a bang or two. I want to reason with you for a moment. I hope that I'm able to relieve your troubled state of being.

[Editorials] Be Honest About Tax Cuts

U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker defended his vote against two Senate measures on Dec. 4 that would have preserved soon-to-expire tax cuts for individuals reporting less than $200,000 in personal income and for families and business owners making less than $250,000 in taxable income (after expenses).

State Gets a Second Chance

Second chances are rare. Mississippi gets an occasional glimpse at another chance when it convicts murders and conspirators of the horrendous crimes committed here during the Civil Rights Era. But those chances don't come nearly often enough, and at this late date, they may fail to resonate nationally as the milestones they represent in the state. Now, though, Mississippi has the opportunity to make a second chance count for the entire U.S.

Welcome to FY 2010: Where's the Budget?

At around 8 p.m. last night, the Mississippi House approved a $60 million hospital tax promoted by Gov. Haley Barbour to fund the state's Medicaid program, after a nearly two-and-a-half hour readingout loudof the 81-page bill, reports the Memphis Commercial Appeal. The tax will increase by another $30 million over the next three years to reach the original $90 million figure the governor wanted.

AAN Awards Diversity Grant to Melishia Grayson

The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies announced today that JFP intern and columnist Melishia Grayson is the recipient of a 2007 diversity grant. Melishia will report, write and blog 20 hours a week for the JFP, focusing on state and city issues. She will be part of the JFP's expanded legislative team at the State Capitol for the 2007 legislative session. Melishia is a 2005 graduate of Lanier High School where she was student body president. She is now a Jackson State University sophomore studying mass communications. This is the third diversity grant the JFP has received from AAN; the first two went to Ayana Taylor, a graduate of Tougaloo College and now a contributing editor of the JFP, and photographer/filmmaker Thabi Moyo, a graduate of Howard University who now works with the Crossroads Film Festival and the Canton film office.

[Parman] Redefining Service

In the early 1800s, when the United States recognized a need for military leadership, President Thomas Jefferson authorized the creation of West Point, a school uniquely crafted to address these needs with a specially designed curriculum like none other in the country. Two hundred years later, the tradition of military service and leadership still thrives.

Great Balls of Fire

Traffic was snarled for miles around the Fondren shopping area, on Old Canton Road, early Friday morning. As many drivers took detours on their way to work and school, those who worked in or near the area had to park and walk. The rumor went around that "Fondren is burning," but upon closer inspection, it turned out that one business—interior designers Cindy E. Walsh and Associates—had burned. The store was located right in the apex of the main Fondren shopping strip. Smoke from the fire damaged merchandise in Summerhouse and the two clothing stores, Soma and Swell, in the same strip.

[Talk] Musical Education

"A significant part of our mission is education," explains Malcolm White, executive direction of the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame. "Both getting Mississippi music education in the public schools and educating the general public about Mississippi's extraordinary story in the development of America's popular music." To that end, the fourth annual Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame (MMHOF) induction ceremony is complemented this year by two new events, a youth talent search and a seminar on the music industry. The latter, to be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Thursday, Aug. 7, at 6 p.m. ($20 at the door), features *NSYNC vocalist Lance Bass and a panel of music industry heavyweights, who will provide insider's tips about breaking into and succeeding in the entertainment industry.

[City Buzz] no. 8 November 8 - 15

Barbour Disses MAEP

Gov. Haley Barbour says he won't be bound by the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, which provides funding for teachers' salaries, classroom materials, school utilities and other education necessities.

Future for Clinic Uncertain

The future of the Catholic Charities Legal Assistance Clinic in Jackson, which provides legal services for women and children fleeing domestic abuse, is uncertain, as pending upcoming funding decisions. Funding for the clinic from the Mississippi Bar and the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women ended in August 2009.

Environmentalists Warn of Wetland Loss; Flood Risk

Two U.S. Supreme Court decisions are endangering Mississippi wetlands and raising the risk of serious floods, environmentalists said during the Clean Water Summit at the Mississippi Natural Science Museum this morning.

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