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The Will of Grace

From outside, Grace House looks like a family home. Swing sets, lawn furniture and a deck dot the back yard. Bicycles rest on the back porch. Inside, the vibe is much the same. On Friday, Sept. 16, residents are watching "Gunsmoke" in one room. Another resident prepares a meal of homemade fried chicken, rice and beans, and cornbread in the kitchen.

[Talk] Gettin' Safer

Jackson has lunged out of the "Top 10 Most Dangerous Cities" to No. 16, according to just-released 10th annual Morgan Quitno Press "most dangerous city" rankings for 2002. Using M-Q's standards, the city of Jackson made gains in 2002 over 2001 relative to other U.S. cities based on overall FBI crime figures, moving up six spots in the new rankings from the No. 10 spot (framed as "in the top 10" by key Republican candidates in the 2003 election) in the group's 2001 rankings.

[Talk] Rebels for NAFTA

Every year at the Neshoba County Fair, candidates bring in college students to do their dirty work. They did it back when I was head of "Students for Stennis" at Mississippi State—when, as it happens, Haley Barbour ran against him. We all stuck stickers all over us, screamed and yelled for our candidates, and jockeyed to get our candidate signs in front of the cameras—and in front of the opponent's signs.

[Talk] What's in the Water?

The City of Jackson was inconvenienced last week when officials released a precautionary boil-water alert because samples showed bacteria that can cause digestive problems. Everyone scrambled for alternatives. Residents lugged home gallons of store-bought water and cringed when they realized how hard it was to remember not to turn on a faucet. Restaurants fussed about ice and soda fountains. We're so accustomed to relying on a safe water source, and we're so used to expecting "them" to protect us. We're so spoiled to the convenience of turning it on and trusting it to flow and be safe. This alert caught everyone completely off guard when it showed up so "suddenly."

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.

No Stoplight for Bubba

With his stiff blue collar and black-rimmed glasses, state Rep. Randy "Bubba" Pierce looks and smiles just like a politician. When we spotted him at the Neshoba County Fair, he was standing inside a horseshoe of similarly dressed men, addressing all of them at once. They seemed to be entranced by his words. Later, he said, "I speak impromptu, from the heart. I don't script myself. I like to talk to people, not speak at them." He has not written a speech so far in his political career, he said, including the one he gave that morning at the Fair.

Memories That Bless And Burn

Is racial reconciliation a myth or a mission? This is the question that a group of Jacksonians came together to discuss at the Annual Human Relations Day Program of the Mary Church Terrell Literary Club, held at the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center on April 14. The museum was formerly the Smith Robertson School, the first public school in Jackson for African Americans, and is the state's largest museum dedicated to the preserving of African-American culture.

[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.

Rape: The Forgotten Crime?

When The Clarion-Ledger recently published Jackson crime figures for 2004, numbers showed drops in most categories, including burglary, assault, robbery and larceny. The years 2002, 2003 and 2004 also saw reports of rape slide from 182, to 179, to 165, respectively. A more recent report, however, showed that both arson and rape saw a rise during the first few months of 2005, compared to last year.

Healing Port Gibson

Those of us with the desire to integrate people through art need look no further than Port Gibson this weekend, when a diverse, intergenerational community will come together in Jo Carson's play "How the Deal Rocked Up." Commissioned and presented by Mississippi Cultural Crossroads, the play interweaves 50-plus years of local narratives collected by the organization as a part of the Claiborne County Oral History Project. Themes touched on—first-person accounts of shootings, racial tensions, land purchases under the New Deal—can be problematic to address anywhere, let alone in a town of 12,000 people in southern Mississippi.

Mayor Walks Out On Citizens

Community policing took a body blow last week when Mayor Frank Melton and Jackson Police Chief Shirlene Anderson—a man and a woman put there to be anti-crime crusaders—suddenly dumped the department's Crime Prevention Unit as of Oct. 1, leaving eight crime prevention specialists out of work with only days' notice, and saving about $275,000 in salaries. The eight employees learned of the job eliminations on Tuesday before their jobs ended on Friday; they are getting paid through Oct. 15. The budget awards $110,000 in raises to legal personnel.

Open Letter to City: Open Briefings; Let Info Flow

As rumors swirl about everything from gas prices to lawlessness, the City of Jackson has seemed to take a bunker mentality. They are, apparently, having "briefings" twice a day between the city and the Hinds County EOC—but are not opening them up to the media, or media questions. They give us a hand-out of "highlights" afterward, but we cannot ask questions about where power is being restored, the priority of restoration, the problems, gas issues (and all sorts of rumors are floating on that), issues regarding potential crime and looting and what should be done. Very importantly, there doesn't seem to be key people addressing issues of refugees and what the people of Jackson can, and should, do to help them. Here at the JFP, the e-mails and phone calls are fast and furious with questions and requests—and we can barely handle them, although we are doing our best.

Taxing Your Grub

In an era of "no new taxes" pledges, you will soon find a stealthy tariff lurking on your cafeteria tray.

DIY: Decorate A Christmas Tree

Experienced Christmas tree decorator Sherrie Nichols' philosophy can be easily understood. "I take my cues from nature. Our definition of perfect is different from God's definition of perfect," she told me as we talked about the process. "If you drew a line down my body, my right side is not like my left side, but that's OK because that's me—you don't have to be symmetrical." Here's Nichols' advice for picking the right tree and decorating it just the way you and your family want it.

Shakin' Loose

The newly created Sangha Theater Company performed "Shake Loose My Skin" at the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center on March 11-13 as its inaugural production. Named for the collection of poetry by Sonia Sanchez, the montage of dance, drama and song celebrated the women poets who taught America what it was to be black, bold and beautiful.

[Talk] Revered and Feared

If you were to walk down the 300 block of Farish Street today you would find a Federal Building, a few reserved parking spots and possibly a couple of state officials with top-secret information in their briefcases. Forty years earlier, in 1963, you would have found 10-year-old Robert Graham—now Lt. Robert Graham, police department spokesman—shining shoes at his father's shine shop. It was also in 1963 when Mayor Allen Thompson swore into office James Earl Johnson, Ellis Sonny Weathersby Jr., Joe Louis Land, Levaughn Carter, Charlie Corley and William Carter—Jackson's first African-American policemen (then called "colored officers"). Due to the strict order that all officers be dressed appropriately and clean at all times, plus the fact the African-American officers could only patrol Lynch and Farish streets, young Graham had the opportunity to shine all six of these officer's shoes on a regular basis.

Miracle on North State

Forty years ago—October 1963—I was a tenth-grader at Provine High School. Never in my wildest imaginings would I have believed where I would be and who I would be with four decades later.

Deja Vu, Special Session Style

The state Legislature may soon be heading into its fourth special session. Gov. Haley Barbour said he aims to consider $14 million in upgrades for Baxter Healthcare Corp., in Cleveland.

Now, Where is Jackson?

"Now where exactly is Jackson?" was the response when we asked if anti-war cartoonist David Rees could stop by on his 30-cities-in-50-days book tour supporting his new book, "Get Your War On." He found us Nov. 14 when his Greyhound bus deposited him on Jefferson Street. Looking a little discombobulated and worn out from the 4 1/2 hour ride from New Orleans—and from sleeping on some punksters' sofa the night before—the North Carolinian-turned-New Yorker seemed ready for a meal and a bourbon on the rocks.

Nickel and Dimed

Councilman Kenneth Stokes proclaimed at the June 1 Jackson City Council meeting that "kids looking for a job are often turned away and only have the dope lords to turn to." In response, Alfrenett Johnson-Orr, director of the Mayor's Youth Initiative, described her summer tutoring program as a remedy for that concern, asking for City Council to approve the funding for her program.

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