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Redistricting Hits the Courts

Gov. Haley Barbour's crusade for more Republican districts in the Mississippi House of Representatives is putting him at odds with the Mississippi NAACP, which wants the U.S. Department of Justice to approve a map with more black-majority districts.

Teresa Nicholas

I've never met writer Teresa Nicholas, but I'm getting to know her quite well. My buddy JoAnne Prichard Morris (who is also an editor of the Jackson Free Press) strongly suggested several weeks ago that I get her new book, "Buryin' Daddy" (University Press of Mississippi, 2011, $28). You'll love it, she told me.

[McLaughlin] Lovers Unite

The people who go out of their way to make life better for others inspire me. With Valentine's Day approaching, we should celebrate our lovenot only for each other, but our love for our city. Let's strive to see the bigger picture, especially when pettiness comes between us. I've learned that it's our setbacks that make success and victory sweet.

[Balko] Cross-Examining Forensics

The Supreme Court says that forensics analysts can be cross-examined ... for now.

Melton Details Jefferson Davis Youth Camp

Mayor Frank Melton abruptly called the Jackson Free Press last week to correct what he thought was misreporting in the paper, in a July 25 story about a camp for boys that he organized. "You know I don't read your paper," he said, "but someone told me that you reported that the city paid for the camp. It didn't cost the taxpayers. I paid all costs out of my pocket."

Ride ‘Em Cowboys, We're Back ... But Apologies

As most of you cowpokes have figured out by now, the JFP's site underwent technical problems this week with our service provider. Understanding exactly what happened is above my pay grade, but Todd tells me it has a whole lot to do with having too much traffic, which overloaded our previous system. That seems a blessing in disguise, even if it didn't feel like it this week. As you can see, the site has been transferred over and is up and running again. However, there are still some glitches.

Summer Festival Guide

As the temperature ratchets up and the youngsters (and not-so-youngsters) taste the sweet freedom of the school year's end, it begins to "officially" feel like summer. To me, summer just means great music festivals. If you didn't get out to those we covered earlier in the month, fear not - - Mississippi still has plenty of festivals for the rest of us.

Minor Gets Three Hours with Dying Wife

Bill Minor, the father of convicted attorney and Democratic fundraiser Paul Minor, told the Jackson Free Press that his son only has three hours to visit his dying wife in Baton Rouge today.

Moderate Turn-Out Marks Runoffs

Beulah White, poll manager at Precinct 81, Callaway High School, described turn-out as "kind of slow, but steady."

Levee Board Rescinds 2007 Flood Control Approval

The Rankin-Hinds Pearl Flood and Drainage Control District voted to rescind its 2007 approval for a locally preferred flood control plan yesterday, and then voted unanimously to ask the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to look at all flood control plans available to the Hinds/Rankin area.javascript:void(0);

Mother Stabbed to Death by Children's Father

A young mother of six, Tracy Collier, is the latest victim of domestic violence in Jackson. Police found Collier, 33, stabbed to death in her yard at 2408 Brookside Drive on Monday, April 14. As a final indignity, her accused attacker, Torrian Holmes, also 33, allegedly ran over her body with his car as she lay in the yard of her home. The autopsy on Collier's body, reportedly completed Monday night, should indicate whether she was already dead at the time.

UPDATED: Hosemann Seeks More Power

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann asked the Legislature for subpoena power last week to make it easier for him to purge the state's voter rolls. Hosemann suggested to the Senate Elections Committee that his office should be able to assume control of any county election commission "found in default," and he proposed a new statute allowing his office to subpoena records, documents and other evidence related to voting in state and local elections. Hosemann also requested new restrictions on the use of assistants for certain voters on Election Day, excluding any people allied with candidates.

Dealing With The Bad Guys

Precinct 4 COPS meetings have proved a reliable format for city figures to meet with concerned residents and discuss problems facing the community, particularly infrastructure and crime issues. The Aug. 4 meeting was no different. Visiting the audience that day, along with Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes and Public Works Director Thelman Boyd, was Jackson Mayor Frank Melton, who leaned into the crowd with informal aplomb and pronounced his top three priorities as mayor.

Johnson Picks New JPS Board Members

Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. announced his picks for the Jackson School Board last night. The returning mayor fell back on the ward rotation method in making his selections. He re-appointed board member Jonathan Larkin to finish his term, which will last another year and a half, on behalf of Ward 1, and appointed retired JPS Deputy Superintendent for Elementary Schools Kisiah Nolan to fill the Ward 4 slot. Johnson appointed retired cardiologist George Schimmel for the Ward 7 slot.

Undisclosed Funders Pay for Consolidation Study

Gov. Haley Barbour's Commission on Education Structure will use funds from an undisclosed private source to pay for a study of school consolidation. At its first meeting yesterday, the Commission agreed to pay a Denver-based consulting firm $72,000 to deliver a report on the potential cost-savings and improvements to educational quality offered by merging some of the state's 152 school districts.

Accused Can't See Evidence Against Them

On July 4, 2009, Basil DeJuan Sullivan was arrested for disorderly conduct at Freelon's Bar and Groove. Sullivan alleges that a group of Hinds County deputies threw him out of the Mill Street club, beat him and arrested him without reading his rights, but he does not have access to much of the evidence that could help him prove his case, like the police report from his arrest.

Let's (Health) Care For Ourselves

As the presidential race has become more competitive, media are starting to focus attention on specific issues that directly affect the American public. One of the more popular topics in presidential debates in the recent weeks has been health care. There is much need for reform in a severely broken system of inflated premiums and costly plans that doesn't even guarantee coverage to people with pre-existing conditions who can afford it. But the question is, with whom should that reform begin?

[Mott] Some People Talkin'

Brian Johnson, Matt Saldaña and I passed the pages of "We Are Family"—last week's cover story about Shirley Beach's journey from racism—between us last week, proofing and correcting them. Brian read them first, then passed the pages to Matt as he finished, and then Matt passed them on to me. Donna watched us all, inserting telling facts as we went, calling Shirley Beach to get just one more question answered, hovering like a new mother while we "doctors" corrected and polished and made it fit. What a story.

[Media Buzz] A Poll Is A Poll Isn't A Poll

After the Jackson Free Press broke on our blog May 15 and then in our print edition May 18 that Gov. Haley Barbour has some of the worst gubernatorial approval ratings in the country, according to a survey conducted by SurveyUSA of 600 Mississippians on May 10, we waited to see how long it would take the state's media to catch up with the news.

Newspaper Bites Self

Coincidentally, today's Editor & Publisher e-blast featured a story about USA Today's long-standing habit of padding their official "paid" subscriber numbers with the "freebie" newspapers they distribute through hotel chains. (If you've done much business travel, you may have seen a copy outside your door or in the lobby.) They do this by offering a low price to the hotels for those copies, and then convincing the hotels to put a disclaimer in small print, saying that the guest can request a 75 cent refund from the hotel if you don't want the paper. If you don't complain, USA Today interprets that to mean you "bought" the paper and counts it.

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