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St. Paddy's Schedule of Events

Top of the morning to ya! Get ready y'all to have some fun and watch out for leprechauns.

Project Cocoon

In a couple of weeks, Jacksonians will have an opportunity to participate in an international art event: Cocoon Jackson.

How to Host Out-of-Town Guests (Without Going Insane)

Aunt Jean is coming to town. You've known about it for months, but you're days away from her camping out in your guest room with a plethora of denture accessories. And she knows just how to cook your turkey. Face reality and get a game plan, because compensating with bourbon refills can get pricey.

[Tatum] My Personal Easter

It's easier to gather a breeze in a basket than to totally grasp the mystery of Easter.

[Mott] The Cost of Executions

Quitman County, Miss., population 10,500, raised taxes for three years and borrowed $150,000 to provide legal counsel to Robert Simon and Anthony Carr, sentenced to death for the 1990 murders of four family members. A death-penalty case "is almost like lightning striking," county administrator Butch Scipper told The Wall Street Journal in 2002. "It is catastrophic to a small rural county."

Now We Begin Again

Like many Americans, the lead-up to the 2008 election was not the healthiest time period for me. It was an anxiety-filled time; at one point, I even woke up in the middle of the night thinking about something awful Sarah Palin had said, my heart pounding.

[Collier] Resolute Resolutions

A new decade has started, and I'm still trying to figure what that means for me. You're supposed to be excited about the start of a new year, but I can't say I am. Not yet, at least.

The Dawn of a New America

Let me start this post by explaining who and what I am. I am the oldest son of civil rights advocate James Meredith who integrated the University of Mississippi back in 1962 and graduated from that flagship institution in 1963.

Melton Faces Cop's Suit

Fresh off an announcement of his re-election campaign, Mayor Frank Melton received two signs last week that his legal woes are not over. Jackson police officer Robert Watts filed a civil suit March 3 in Hinds County Circuit Court alleging that Melton had him transferred after he cooperated with the FBI in Melton's federal case.

Young Gun: Toby Barker

At 28, Toby Barker first-term representative, looks closer in age to the blue-blazered pages ferrying bills across the House floor than he to some of the more grizzled legislators around him.

Residents To Legislature: Please Help

The Battlefield Community Association has a new way to fight crime in West Jackson: Members are taking the fight to the Legislature.

One for the Price of Two

In its zeal to find a new superintendent, Jackson Public Schools has hired one administrator for the price of two. A day after the school board selected Georgia education specialist Lonnie Edwards, on Aug. 10, Earl Watkins resigned as JPS superintendent.

Palin's Pipeline Problem

The Associated Press just published a long investigative piece on Sarah Palin's vaunted pipeline successand the parts she's not talking about. It starts:

Hood Says Power Companies Forced PSC Shutdown

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood and power industry watchdogs suspect power companies shut down a state regulating agency expressly to remove a new means of regulation from the table.

Supreme Court Refuses to Decide Statute of Limitations in Seale Case

Former Klansman James Ford Seale will remain in prison, at least for now. The U.S. Supreme Court today refused to address a question from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to decide whether too much time had passed for the case against Seale to proceed. "While we are disappointed that the U.S. Supreme Court chose not to decide the statute of limitations issue now, we look forward to our opportunity to present the issue to the court again when the remaining issues in the appeal have been finally resolved by the 5th Circuit," Seale's attorney Kathryn Nester said.

Council Must Address Another $3 Million Deficit

The Jackson City Council dropped the bomb at a special meeting that the city of Jackson is still stuck with a $3 million deficit from the 2006-'07 budget, even after the Council approved the 2008 budget last week. "We need to address the issue of the closed-out budget of '06-'07, which by state law, we are required to have balanced by Sept. 30. Right now, that is not the case," said Ward 6 Councilman Marshand Crisler. "I don't think we can over-emphasize the importance of doing that in a timely fashion."

News Bits: The Jackson Mayor's Race

Harper Withdraws, Leaving 11 Democrats for the Primary

Joyce Harper, one of 12 Democratic candidates who filed for the mayor's job in Jackson, has withdrawn from the race, lending her endorsement to incumbent Mayor Frank Melton, according to a release from the Melton campaign.

CityBuzz [09.27.06]

Musgrove Sucks Toes

According to a report in the Nashville Post, newly unsealed legal depositions allege that former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove had an affair with Robin Costa, the trustee and director of the Maddox Foundation, in 2001 and 2002. Musgrove represents Costa in an ongoing legal dispute over the foundation.

Fight or Flight

The 1st Annual Conference of the Veterans of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement takes place March 2-5 at the JSU E Center on Raymond Road. Organized around the theme "The Pursuit of Quality Education in the Ongoing Movement for Human Rights," the conference offers workshops with veterans of the movement with the goal of inspiring a return to work, focused this time on ensuring that every American receives the quality education that is his or her unalienable right. Owen Brooks, 78, who along with Hollis Watkins serves as co-convener of the conference, spoke with me recently about his experiences as a veteran of the civil rights movement in Mississippi.

The Lawyers and the Statistician

Day three of the Michael Ellis termination hearing resumed on Wednesday, Feb. 14, with Ellis' attorney Lisa Ross concluding her cross-examination of Charlie Bonds, Jackson Public Schools executive director of internal audits. Ellis, Chastain Middle School's principal until Dec. 18 of last year, was fired from his position for failure "to achieve significant progress" in Chastain's performance, among other allegations. Ellis claims that JPS fired him in retribution for charging JPS School Superintendent Dr. Earl Watkins with sexual harassment. He and his wife filed a Title VII lawsuit against Watkins and JPS on Jan. 18, 2007.

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