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Bodyguard: Melton Under Influence ‘Every Other Day'
Feb. 11, 2009 - Day 3 of the Melton Trial
Defense attorneys began cross-examining former mayoral bodyguard Marcus Wright this morning. Yesterday, Wright testified that Jackson Mayor Frank Melton had been drinking the night of the Ridgeway Street duplex destruction, and that as the mayor broke windows along the outside of the home, he boasted, "I want them f*cking people to know I'm not playing with them."
Next Stop, Tyler?
Despite promises to the contrary, Jackson Mayor Frank Melton still has not filed for homestead exemption status in the city he governs, according to information obtained from the Hinds County Tax Assessor. Melton filed for homestead exemption on the house where his wife lives in Tyler, Texas, in 1997, and still has not filed elsewhere since.
Parents, Educators Call on JPS to Renew Music Program
UPDATED October 26, 2009
Complaints inundated Jackson Public Schools Board members after a tie vote on Oct. 20 failed to renew a music education program that serves elementary students across the district. The roughly $300,000 program, a collaboration with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, brings professional musicians into schools to teach string performance to over 400 students. The program also brings all JPS elementary students to Thalia Mara Hall for full orchestra performances and offers smaller ensemble performances at individuals schools.
Itawamba Lesbian Teen: ‘It Was Pretty Bad'
Itawamba County Agricultural High School student Constance McMillen says she is relieved by the Itawamba County School District's offer of $35,000 for damages plus court costs, and adoption of an anti-discriminatory policy on sexual preference or gender identity.
Melton's Honeymoon, Part V: Seven Degrees of Separation
Like any governmental body that has to share power, the Jackson City Council is a forum of individuals who can rarely accomplish goals without forming some kind of alliance on issues. A new round of elections, like the one last June, almost always ushers in a new volley of hand-shaking and knot-tying between personalities. Often the personalities share political ideology; sometimes the similarities shared are barely visible.
Why Donner Kay Is Blogging Again
OK, I've been bad. Of a fashion. In recent months, I've gotten so caught up in new projects (like the new BOOM Jackson quarterly!) and in volunteer work and in managing what is quickly becoming our best staff ever (collectively speaking; we've always had great staffers), that I just haven't been blogging on the JFP site. And, yes, I admit it: I've found it easy to put a pithy statement or two on Facebook, and perhaps a link back to a JFP story, and leave it at that. But I've realized that isn't the best way to act, live and work LOCAL, and I'm a local-vore if you ever did meet one. So, starting today, I've got a new attitude. You're going to hear more from me on the JFP site (even though it's best for my productivity to not get too caught up in conversations under stories!).
What do you think of ‘The Help'? About race progress in the state and Jackson?
Now that "The Help" has officially opened, it's getting massive national attention. (Just follow hashtag #thehelp on Twitter to see responses.) We're also getting calls from national media wanting to know how it's being received and, inevitably, how Jackson has changed, or if it has. Of course, this is happening the week that CNN reported that a group of Rankin County teens are accused of coming into Jackson to find a black man to "mess with" and then killed him. Like it or not, we are in the national race spotlight again.
Chicks We Love
Every year, the Jackson Free Press chooses a delightful slate of Chicks We Love to spotlight, and each year we host the JFP Chick Ball to raise money to fight domestic abuse in our community. This year, we decided to put them together in a new and fun way to help seed the new legal fund at the Center for Violence Prevention.
Are The Saints The Best Team In The NFC Playoffs?
The NFL regular season is over and the playoffs are set to begin this week. Over in the AFC the New England Patriots look like heavy favorites.
Let's Talk Domestic Violence
Let's talk, Mississippi.
In honor of Heather Spencer, who was beaten to death by her boyfriend who almost beat her to death a couple months back with nothing done about it by the police, let's talk about the realities of domestic violence. We can at least honor the life of this woman, and others like her, by being brutally honest about how bad this problem is, especially in Mississippi, one of the most violent for women in the country. How do attitudes about women, and keeping your family together no matter what, play into this problem? How do economics in the poorest state keep women in violent situations? How do our laws, and lax enforcement, make the problem worse? How does the threat of even more violence when a woman tries to leave keep women in abuse situations? How does the ability of richer families to cover up their problems (or send them off to rehab instead of jail) tie in?
Saints Learn Lesson: Nobody's Perfect Except Peyton (...Maybe)
The Cowboys played like they were on a mission...and "dem Saints" played a little like they they had fewer than 11 men on the field at any given moment.
Isaac Byrd
Isaac Byrd, 54, is not the kind of guy who bases his self-assessments on the opinions of others. "One of the great downfalls of black America and Mississippi is that the black community, for historic reasons, has been externally driven by what other people think and do. It's important to be aware of things, but don't let others dictate what you are," Byrd says.
Chicks We Love
In order to fill Lindsey Cacamo's shoes, one must have the ability to switch into "octopus mode." Aside from the ability to multi-task, Cacamo says instinctual, quick-on-your-feet problem-solving skills and knowing how to debate well are her other skills as the director of media and community relations for Richard Schwartz and Associates, P.A.
UPDATED: ‘Batman' and Gang Acquitted
Alleged Wood Street Players gang members Albert "Batman" Donelson, Terrell Donelson and James Benton were acquitted on charges that Albert Donelson ordered the murder of Aaron Crockett on May 10, 2001, from the Hinds County jail, and that the two other men set about to carry out that murder. The jury deliberated for less than two hours. Immediately afterward, Mayor Frank Melton vowed that be would arrest "Batman" again—that he would not be going home.
Jumping the Line: Caught in the Crossfire of Ridgeland's Demographic Struggles
Many parents in urban areas, met with the spatial and academic barrier of their zip codes, have no choice but to send their children to the public school available to them within their school districts, regardless of its performance.
Do Kids Pay for Lazy Summers? Why We Must Prep Now for Next Year
For far too many children in the United States, there is such a significant academic regression during the summer months that studies have shown it is responsible for most of the achievement gap between poor and middle-class students.
Day 3: Police Officers Testify
Two police officers testified for the defense this morning. First was Sharon Gray, a 27 year veteran of the force who has spent the last five years as a records custodian. Second was Brendan Bell, a narcotics detective. At around 12: 30 p.m., the judge recessed the trial, which is set to resume at 2 p.m.
The Truth Can Hurt
A reckoning happened last week in the James O. Eastland Federal Courthouse in Jackson. A lot of truth came out before anyone ever took the stand to testify in the James Ford Seale trial for the kidnapping of Charles Moore and Henry Dee.
Missing Shannon: Family Wants Closure
August 29, 1999, was the last time Theresa McKinney heard from her daughter, Shannon. It was the mother's birthday, and Shannon always called her mother back home in Omaha, Neb., on holidays from wherever she was. She also regularly called her own little daughter, 4-year-old Alyssa, asking her to sing to her and tell her she missed her mommy.
A Dark Touch
Mathew Puckett's workspace on the second floor of One to One Studio is full of oil paintings of variations on his image.