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‘It Can Be in Ward 3'

Jackson needs more investment in businesses and needs it quick. That's how Albert Wilson, who is running for the Ward 3 City Council seat, thinks the city can boost both its tax base and the number of opportunities for its citizens.

One for the Guys

The idea behind this review was twofold—to get a man's perspective on the latest Sweet Potato Queen book and to do a bit of a combo review of "The Dummy Line," a novel by Mississippian Bobby Cole whom Browne's husband, Kyle Jennings, represents.

The Wonder of it All

In the early 1960s, Mama and Papa leased an old, rundown gas station in Liberty, N.Y., in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains, and spent every weekend of one winter and spring converting the property into our summer "retreat." We lived in Brooklyn at the time, but my parents were determined to get my sisters and me out of the city as much as possible, especially during the summer.

Coal Plant Cost Painful

The Mississippi Public Service Commission is taking its time approving rate increases funding a $2.88 billion coal-burning plant already under construction in Kemper County.

Tea Party Weighs in on Redistricting

The Mississippi Tea Party wants a federal three-judge panel to toss a redistricting map that favors Democrats.

Lynn Fitch

Lynn Fitch, 49, hopes to become the next treasurer of Mississippi. One of three GOP candidates, she faces Lucien Smith and state Senator Lee Yancey. If victorious, she would then face off against Democrat Connie Moran and Reform Party candidate Shawn O'Hara. She has a business administration bachelor's degree and a law degree from the University of Mississippi.

Why the PSC Race Matters

Few people attend the monthly meetings of the Mississippi Public Service Commission, outside of utility company officials and their host of attorneys. Generally, when the talk is about electricity, gas or telecommunications, eyes glaze over.

[Balko] The Hunt for Criminality

Why it's important that prosecutors know when not to bring charges.

[Balko] Justice For Johannes Mehserle

Early the morning of Jan. 1, 2009, in a now-infamous incident that dozens of cell phones captured on video and then replayed across the globe, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Officer Johannes Mehserle shot and killed 23-year-old Oscar Grant as Grant lay on his stomach on an Oakland BART platform.

[Opinion] Jackson Loves Jackson

When I made the decision to leave Ole Miss and venture down to Jackson, I was admittedly scared. While taking breaks from epic "Halo 2" battles and scourging fraternity pledges, I had caught breaking news flashes of Jackson's zany mayor busting into residential buildings and wearing Kevlar vests.

Note From A Concerned Citizen

When I arrived at the office one recent morning, an e-mail from a "concerned citizen" was awaiting my eyes in my inbox. In that e-mail, a Jackson resident expressed her outrage at an incident she and her husband had witnessed on their way to church the previous day.

Proposed Coal Plant Finds Opposition

Opposition is mounting against a proposed 582-megawatt coal gasification plant in Kemper County that could increase Mississippi ratepayers' utility bills by 15 percent.

City In Recovery

A spring storm went overboard last Friday, spawning about five tornados in the Jackson area and leaving a large portion of the city and some adjoining communities without power well into the following week. Hinds County Emergency Operation Director Larry Fisher called the storm the worst thing to hit the city since the Easter flood of 1979—another meteorological disaster spurred by frumpy spring weather.

Monticello Mayor: No Payments for Jackson

Mayor Dave Nichols II of Monticello has a letter in The Clarion-Ledger today opposing the move to pass a PILT (payment in lieu of taxes) bill for the capital city. It reads in part:

Melton Objects To Gulf Coast Jury

Following a federal judge's decision yesterday to hold Mayor Frank Melton's retrial in Jackson, with a jury from the Gulf Coast, Melton has filed a motion to reconsider the ruling. The Gulf Coast is disproportionately white, the mayor argued in a motion (PDF) filed today.

Federal Stimulus: ‘We Need to be Ready'

The stimulus is coming, and it's bringing big money. The Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review told the Mississippi House Ways and Means Committee that the economic impact of the federal stimulus package on the state could equal $5.12 billion, (equivalent to almost 6 percent of Mississippi's Gross State Product) after tax breaks.

EPA Kills Yazoo Pumps Project

The Environmental Protection Agency followed through with predictions and announced yesterday its decision to kill the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' proposed Yazoo Pumps Project in the Mississippi Delta.

Summer of Love

A little African-American girl dances, does handstands, twirls around. A blonde hipster college student, wearing a University of Michigan sweatshirt, holds her hand; a Mexican union worker from California teaches her how to sit Indian style; and a redhead originally from Canada convinces her to sit in a big-kids chair. All this activity occurs in a school library as veterans of the Civil Rights Movement recount their most vivid memories of the 1960s. The discussion is part of a New Freedom Summer training dedicated to teaching a new round of young people how to ensure the rights of immigrants, much as the original effort achieved legal equality for blacks 40 years ago.

Draining The Reserves

Photos by Darren Schwindaman

The Jackson City Council has opted to dip into the city's reserve fund rather than collect additional revenue with a fee increase. The council voted 6-0 on the revised city budget, which takes $1.4 million from the expendable reserve fund in addition to more than $2 million swiped from the same fund last year with the approval of the 2006 city budget.

Mason: ‘I'm Basically an Introvert'

Outgoing Jackson State University President Ronald Mason Jr. said at a Tuesday press luncheon that he did not expect his university to deviate from progress and growth in his absence.

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