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Jackson's Young Influentials 2005

by Skyla Dawn Luckey, Ayana Taylor, Brett Potter, Catherine Womack, Natalie Irby, Robert Williamson, Jessica Kinnison, and Randy Perkins

Capitol Report: Will They Or Won't They?

The Legislature only has until Jan. 31 to decide whether it will reinstate the Medicaid benefits taken from 50,000 people characterized as Poverty Level, Aged and Disabled (PLADs) last session. This deadline is a strict one, set under a court order issued Oct. 1 by U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate. However, making that choice is easier said than done.

Taylor Jane Hodges

Taylor Jane Hodges, 9, will introduce you to her goldfish: Bob, Billy, Katy and Samantha. She will perform tricks for you on her swing-set. She will tell you every last thing she got for Christmas. In many ways, Taylor is almost indistinguishable from any other 9-year-old girl, but in just as many ways she is not.

Trash Talk: Kim Wade Disses the JFP

"Last week the Jackson Free Press had an interesting article in there where the editor was lamenting the fact that 'hey, you know Lefties are religious, too,' and she was going on and on, and this is Donna Ladd was going on and on about how she was religious and how she respects Buddha and all these other folks, well that's fine and good—and we as Christians, we respect those other religions, too, that's how they were able to flourish here in America.

Running with the Young Guns

I just typed "04" in the date for this file and then corrected myself. It's that time of year again. After our week off for the holidays, we're back and ready to take on the world, even if we can't get the year right yet when writing a check or dating a file.

Dent May

Watching a Rockwells show will bust open any preconceived notions you might have had about four college students, home for the holidays, getting together to play with their old band. In Jackson, The Rockwells' popularity is audible, if not deafening.

Dazed and Content

I'm sitting here, dazed and content, in front of my eMac, trying to reflect on what 2004 has meant to me. We're about to send the last issue of the year to the printer—the one that is on the streets for two weeks in order to give us a few days to rest and rekindle for the new year. At 40 pages, it's one of our biggest issues, yet, and it's filled with profiles of creative and influential Jacksonians, stocking-stuffer ideas, cool fashion, a breathtaking JFP interview and wonderfully designed ads for local businesses. It's got breaking news, hip-hop gossip, pages and pages of entertainment listings and details on where to celebrate on New Year's Eve.

‘We Aren't Santa Claus'

There is a showdown this week in the Magnolia State between Gov. Haley Barbour and the state Senate on one side and the House of Representatives on the other. Between them hangs a $108 million economic-development bond bill that Barbour wants passed before the regular session convenes in January. Most lawmakers agree on the need for the bonds, which would primarily honor commitments the state made in 2003 to Northrop Grumman Ship Systems.

Part-Time Justice

<b>Poor State Prisoners Shorted on Legal Help</b>

A recent town meeting in Jackson highlighting prisoner abuse in the state's penal system offered a peek at another legal issue plaguing many Mississippians who find themselves on the wrong end of criminal prosecution.

Returns: National Elections

OK, it's getting there. Polls will start closing soon. Please use this thread to discuss the returns as they come in.

[Halloween] Cool Costumes and General Stupidity

For adults like me, Oct. 31 is a great day. And, no, it's not because my youngest son will turn 26 that day and thankfully be too old for the draft Dubya assures us will not ever happen. (Talk about scary.) It's because Oct. 31 is Halloween, a chance for adults to create costumes, to frighten others and to get scared silly—all in fun.

State Behaving Badly

More than 30 years after Mississippi's incarceration system was declared unconstitutional in the landmark case Gates v Collier, the Mississippi Department of Corrections is again being accused of subjecting its prison inmates to unauthorized mistreatment, prompting the ACLU to announce the formation of its first Prison and Jail Accountability Project.

White Noise

From the four pages of acknowledgements to chapters like "Why I'm a Virgin" and "Who Will Stand Up for Old People," Ben Ferguson's first book "It's My America Too" (William Morrow, 2004, $23.95) seems more concerned with impressing those aforementioned "old people" than providing a voice for a largely un-categorized generation. At no point does Ferguson drop the pretense of being a good little Southern boy to address his generationhe's too busy pandering to the grownups. He uses words like "whippersnapper" and "youngblood" to describe people his age. He opens every chapter with giant, grayscale American flag clip art. It is almost inconceivable that someone Ben Ferguson's age could be this comically out of touch with, well, people his age.

She Got the Power

Women are definitely doing it for themselves as Nov. 2 draws closer. Despite resistance by the governor's office, Mississippi Women for John Kerry pulled together a crowd of about 200 women (and men, including former Gov. William Winter) to rally in the capitol rotunda on Aug. 26 at 11:30 a.m. The rally was held on the 84th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

McKey Maxed Out

The next time I get a shipment with funky styrofoam packaging too cool to throw away, I'm taking it straight to Studio 3242 North State, workplace of artist Richard McKey. You know the place—you've seen the studio next to Parents for Public Schools on State Street: a cool building of natural wood and ruffled tin sporting wild sculptures of mannequin arms and scrap metal on a lot with a 20-foot drop from the street. A parcel of land unwanted, cast off, seemingly unbuildable, until McKey's vision of a studio created a landmark and a work of art in itself.

This Here Alternative Universe

I'm sitting here, OK lying here, in a humongous, brick-colored sofa far away from Jackson in the Pacific Northwest, counting my blessings about life in Mississippi. I didn't start out to wax about my good fortune, however. Truth is, we left Jackson in a flurry after putting out our biggest issue (The Annual Manual) and holding an open house for 100 people to honor our interns and young staffers (who produced the Manual). So I didn't have time to write my editor's note before we left.

A Vegetarian's Cafeteria Survival Guide

It's noon on your first real day of classes, and you can't remember a time you were this hungry. You could eat a horse, if eating horse wasn't against your personal dietary code of ethics. You approach the cafeteria with a dangerous sense of hope—excited to sample one of the many vegetarian options promised in your registration pamphlet. No more brown sack lunches, you tell yourself, you're in college, where they understand the needs of a vegetarian.

[Colleges] This is Your Life, Baby

It's 8 in the a.m. on your first official day of college, and you and several hundred of what you hope will become your closest friends are gathered in the gymnasium watching your freshman orientation leaders (OL) sing and dance.

Reach Out and Blog Someone

It's back to school, and chances are you and your friends won't be enrolled in the same college, much less the same city. You'll be making new friends, of course, but as the old saying goes, you'll want to keep the old. This task, once daunting and time consuming (thousands upon thousands of dollars spent on stationary, a long-distance bill that'll take you more time to pay off than your student loans) is made relatively painless by the Internet. There are innumerable, completely free Web services out there designed to help you keep in touch. From weblogs to mailing groups and profile networks, here's a rundown of the best of the best.

Mike Padilla

Mike Padilla, 20, a Millsaps College student—an actor, a director, a techie and an award-winning playwright—is involved in the theater at Millsaps on every possible level. Right now he's working backstage on "The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr: Abridged," which opens Aug. 25. Next up, he's directing Jean Anouilh's version of "Antigone." When I asked him when we could get together, he told me to "just stop by the theater any time, I'll be there pretty much all day." I finally caught up with him sitting at a makeup table in the dressing room at Millsaps, writing in his notebook. Surrounded by masks, wigs and witch hats, Padilla seemed entirely at home.

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