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Coast Mayor Wants State Treasurer Job

This is a corrected version of this story. Jackson Free Press reporter Lacey McLaughlin erroneously reported that Mayor Connie Moran helped secure $500 million in grants for Ocean Springs. The number should have read $50 million. We apologize for the error.

‘Waiting for This Moment'

It's Super Bowl weekend, and it is half empty at Suite 106 tonight. Usually, you have to really get here early because the small place packs up quickly. Today, people are probably cooking and shopping so, come Sunday, all they have to do is sit back and watch the Giants take on the Patriots.

The Holiday Playlist

Defining when the holiday season begins gets more complicated every year. A growing number of retailers pull out the Christmas garlands and ornamentation around Halloween. Black Friday and cyberspace Monday overshadow the annual homage to pilgrims and turkey feasts. Not wanting to be left behind, movie distributors have grabbed onto the premature rush of holiday consumerism.

Help Your Head

Since its inception, football has been a violent game that takes a physical toll on the athletes who play it.

Local Love

My favorite love song is Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life." The song is a constant reminder of how lucky I am to have a wife who loves and needs me as much as I love and need her. But the great thing about love songs is that there are so many, and each can mean different things to different folks.

Stolen Car Sat in Impound Lot, Owner Says

A Jackson restaurant manager says the Jackson Police Department's poor interdepartmental communication cost her more than $1,000.

Henry Lee "Trey" Mangum

AIDS activist Henry "Trey" Mangum died Friday in New Orleans, leaving behind a particularly heartfelt legacy of hope.

Pearl River-Related Bills

Legislators introduced a number of bills during this year's legislative session that would have had some bearing on Pearl River flood control, although a few of the measures are dead.

Police Union: No Agreement

The city of Jackson has not reached an agreement with the Jackson Police Officers Association regarding limiting the number of officers allowed to complete the sergeant's exam process—contrary to what Interim Police Chief Tyrone Lewis said at a June 11 Civil Service Commission meeting. Union president Juan Cloy denied Lewis' statement before the Commission last week, saying that the chief was mistaken.

Legislative Special Session Underway

The Mississippi House and Senate are desperately hammering out an agreement on a state appropriation bill one day after Gov. Haley Barbour finally called a special session. Barbour had initially fought the idea of a special session, after disagreeing with a House and Senate conference settlement filling a Medicaid budget hole with a $60 million tax on hospitals that accept Medicaid patients.

Judges Order Two Off Mississippi Death Row

In separate cases, federal judges have ruled that two Mississippi inmates on death row in Parchman are mentally ill. Both cases stem from 1981 crimes, and the two inmates have each served 27 years.

Jackson Prepped for Frigid Temps

The Jackson area will see temperatures drop below freezing by around 6 p.m. today, according to the National Weather Service, and won't see anything above 32 degrees until Sunday. With this morning's rain, expect ice on the roads after dark. Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. has urged motorists to use caution and to stay off the streets as much as possible during the wintry precipitation.

Tell Me the Truth, JoAnne

<b>Complicated and Loquacious

Q. I'm new to Mississippi, and everybody talks too damned much. You ask someone a question, and you can't get them to shut up. Whatever happened to "yes" or "no"? — New in Town

All in the Family

The drummer bobs her head as she keeps steady, brassy time, giving the cymbals a lot of love in just the right places. The bass player strums his six-string bass with an air of relaxed comfort, as if he could play the bass in his sleep.

Enron Founder, Ken Lay Dies of Heart Failure

Will post more on this as I get it, but CNN just reported that Enron Founder Ken Lay has died of Heart Failure. His family has released a brief statement, but are asking for their privacy at this time.

Scalito's Way

To everybody who thought Harriet Miers was just a decoy: Jeez. Good guess.

Not Everyone Hurt By Rising Oil Prices

Some companies, for instance, are doing just fine as a result:

Cataloguing the Blues

Ted Gioia's "Delta Blues" (W.W. Norton, 2008, $27.95) rambles from Mississippi to Memphis, from Chicago to New York and across Europe, just like the musicians it documents. The book traces the development of acoustic country blues from the 1920s onward, showing how the music adapted itself to new fashions, recording techniques and audiences.

The Next Meal

A good meal is something many of us take for granted. But for others, food, especially hot meals for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina and those diligently working to return our lives to some sort of normalcy, is now more scarce than most could imagine just a few days ago. Right now in Jackson there are those who want to help and those in need of knowing where their next meal is coming from. Here's a list of spots to find that next meal, as well as places to donate necessary supplies and assistance.

Fantastic Fall Food

Elixir Restaurant and Bar, 4800 I-55 North, 981-7896, gives female Jacksonians their very own present for its first birthday—Working Women's Wednesdays—throughout the month of November—from 5-7 p.m., the special is $5 cosmopolitans. Don't worry: those of you who are non-working women won't be turned away at the door.