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The Saga of the Convention Center Hotel

The city council met behind closed doors Tuesday evening to discuss a possible cost-sharing agreement with developers of a $200 million mixed-used development along four blocks of Pascagoula street that would include a convention center hotel. The JFP Daily reported online Tuesday that TCI-MS, the LLC that owns the property, has not paid property taxes for 2009, and is linked to a controversial developer.

Entergy Seeking Friendlier Court

U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate said last week that he would rule within three weeks to 30 days on a motion for venue change requested by Entergy Mississippi.

U.S. Official Cheers Stimulus Jobs

Robert Peck, U.S. general services administration's commissioner of public buildings touted 48 new jobs created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, during a press conference at the McCoy Federal Building today.

City Works to Cover $2.3 Million Shortfall

The city will look at savings within each department to cover a potential $2.3 million *shortfall in sales tax estimates for fiscal year 2010, Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. told council members today.

Mississippi Legislators Respond to Oil Spill

Troubles keep on brewing as a stricken BP oil well continues to daily jet more than 200,000 gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. British Petroleum's attempt to stop the spill with a 100-ton steel and cement dome that would have siphoned off the oil failed last week. The company is currently trying to seal the rig's blow out preventer and will drop a second dome to plug a smaller leak.

Is Beleaguered Bon Air Back?

The city of Jackson announced new funds for the development of the Bon Air Subdivision on West Capitol Street last weeka project with a long trail of controversy behind it.

Health Reform: What's In It?

President Barack Obama enjoyed rising approval ratings Tuesday as he signed a historic health-care bill the U.S. House of Representatives passed late Sunday without a single Republican vote--the same health-care bill the Senate approved last December.

Entergy DOJ Investigation Kept Secret

Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley said he is frustrated that Entergy Mississippi was slow to reveal a weeks-old U.S. Department of Justice civil investigation into Entergy Corporations' energy-purchasing practices.

Katrina Byrd

While walking home from her job at the YMCA on Farish Street as a teenager, Katrina Byrd noticed a man in a truck following her. Moments later, the man attempted to abduct Byrd by forcing her into his car.

Banking Locally

Joe Magee, 59, is a third-generation poultry and cattle farmer. His farm, located just outside Mendenhall, produces a little more than half a million chickens and around 100 head of beef cattle a year. Magee operates the farm with the help of his son and one employee.

Unemployment Nears 24 Percent in Some Counties

Five Mississippi counties reported jobless rates exceeding 20 percent in February, with Noxubee and Holmes counties edging toward a quarter of their populations collecting unemployment benefits; the counties reported rates of 23.3 and 23.1 percent unemployment, respectively. The other three counties are Winston (22.1 [percent), Clay (21.6 percent) and Tunica (21.1 percent).

Mayor Hypes Restarted Housing Project

Tucked into Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr.'s July 7 State of the City address was the news that a 26.7-acre housing development previously held up by a lawsuit is now back on track. Johnson's speech highlighted a number of well-known economic-development projects in varying states of completion, but it also indicated that the Agape housing project in northwest Jackson has cleared a major obstacle.

McCoy, Bryant Announce Dueling Oil Spill Panels

Two newly-created committees of state legislators will begin hearings on the Gulf oil spill as early as next week. Yesterday morning, House Speaker Billy McCoy, D-Rienzi, announced the formation of a special House committee to monitor the response to the disaster, which has surpassed the Exxon Valdez as the largest spill in U.S. history. Later the same day, Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant announced the formation of a Senate committee for a similar purpose.

Seale the 'Last' Case? We Doubt It.

To fill space this weekend in The Clarion-Ledger's package on the James Ford Seale case, reporter Jerry Mitchell returned to a well from which he has drunk in the past with a story headlined "Seale Case Could Be Last of Its Kind." The article is a thinly disguised prognostication that seems to pander to a perceived demographic of readers who are "tired" of civil rights cases being brought to trial. But the article flies in the face of evidence that both the federal government and Mississippians intend to prosecute any of these old civil rights cases when the facts of the case warrant it.

'Dems' vs. Dems

Sen. Scottie Cuevas of Pass Christian filed a challenge with the Mississippi Democratic Party last week, contesting the primary in Senate District 46, in which challenger David Baria beat him by 36 votes. The Democratic Party may address the complaint at a Sept. 8 committee meeting. If the committee decides the complaint has merit, the party could throw out some precincts in dispute, toss the whole election and hold a re-vote, or officially ignore the complaint.

'Batman' Acquitted; Melton 'Arrests' Own Witness

Last week saw a whirlwind of activity from Mayor Frank Melton surrounding the trial of three Wood Street Players—a group of alleged criminals that he calls his "obsession."

My Civil Liberties Site

As many of y'all know, I'm the About.com Guide to Civil Liberties. So you might be asking yourself: What kind of stuff have I been writing lately? Well, right now I'm working on a piece dealing with today's New Jersey marriage law/civil unions ruling--but here's some other stuff I've written...

Merry Christmas!

My blog is usually pretty serious, so here are a few random stocking stuffers to throw my karma back into balance...

Picture Perfect

Thousands of picture postcards lie in a crate at the end of my bed. From California to New York, Texas to the Black Hills of South Dakota, I have thousands of mementos of summers spent with my Nanny. Down vacant country roads and busy city highways we went in her cream-colored Ford, which wouldn't go over 45 m.p.h. on steep hills. Granny, my 70-year-old great grandma, was relegated to the backseat after getting us lost one too many times in places that conjured images of men with chainsaws. I was 8, but I was in charge of the map.

[MomDom] Strangers In Love

What is having a baby supposed to be like? I don't really know. I thought I did. Serene motherhood. The Madonna. Look at that beautiful sleeping baby. I dreamed of nursing in the middle of the night, rocking my son and singing soft lullabies. I folded tiny outfits and imagined what it would be like to dress him. I started a scrapbook, took pictures of my growing belly and decorated the nursery in our apartment. I could not wait to have our baby.

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