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Barbour: Fund ‘Pet Projects' Now

Last week Gov. Haley Barbour called the House and Senate back for a special session, to begin May 18, to continue slogging away at the state's almost $4 billion budget. Thanks to surprise revenue jackpots such as a recent $100 billion settlement for tax evasion by WorldCom (now MCI) and the addition of $60 million in tax collections across the state, lawmakers should have a much easier time of addressing budget issues this time around.

The Mayor and the Cowboy

Hundreds of Jackson citizens poured through the doors of the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center to hear Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. give the annual State of the City address on Aug 31. Thirty minutes into his speech, on the other end of High Street, about 50 people (not including media) stood in a banquet room of the Clarion Hotel to hear former TV producer and mayoral candidate Frank Melton discuss his campaign platform.

‘Stepford Senators' Hold Education Hostage

Not one person at the Capitol can remember a Mississippi legislative session ending without a budget. Well, once again the 2005 Legislature might be producing another famous legislative first for the Magnolia state.

‘Take The Fight To The People'

Jackson County Chancery Court Judge Jaye Bradley reversed her own December 2000 decision earmarking $20 million to The Partnership For a Healthy Mississippi, possibly jeopardizing the program's smoking-cessation programs.

ON THE ISSUES: Special Needs: Left Behind?

During the final presidential debate Oct. 15, moderator Bob Schieffer asked the candidates: "Why would the country be better off if your running mate became president rather than his running mate?"

Mississippi Settles Foster Care Suit

On Nov. 8, Olivia Y., John A. and Mississippi's other 3,500 children in foster care got one step closer to receiving the care they deserve. In April, weeks before going to court, Gov. Haley Barbour and Attorney General Jim Hood conceded that the children's constitutional rights had been violated, and agreed to settle a 2004 class-action suit brought on behalf of the children under the care of the Mississippi Department of Human Services Division of Family and Children's Services. In the intervening three years, Mississippi undertook its own investigation to determine the best course of action.

New President Predicts ‘Rough' Year

The July 5 council meeting gave Jackson its first Republican council president since the adoption of the mayor/council form of government. Ward 1 Councilman Ben Allen, who walks away with easy or undisputed wins in his own ward every election year, found himself council president after a quick rundown of inter-faction debate. Allen blew no kisses at his success, and immediately predicted that his presidency would span a very hard financial year for Jackson.

Legislature Stands Up To Veto Threat

The Mississippi Legislature churned like machinery last week, sending out bills in record time, and often with little discourse.

Holocaust Denier Appearing in City Hall?

Holocaust refuter David Irving will appear in Jackson City Hall Oct. 21, according to attorney Richard Barrett, of Learned, Miss. Barrett, a self-avowed white separatist, sent out an e-mail this morning promising that Irving would appear in City Hall at 6 p.m. that day, in addition to the radio shows of Kim Wade, Charles Evers and Paul Gallo. City spokesman Chris Mims said today, though, the city has received a request to book Irving on that date, but has not yet confirmed a scheduling.

Johnson Picks New JPS Board Members

Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. announced his picks for the Jackson School Board last night. The returning mayor fell back on the ward rotation method in making his selections. He re-appointed board member Jonathan Larkin to finish his term, which will last another year and a half, on behalf of Ward 1, and appointed retired JPS Deputy Superintendent for Elementary Schools Kisiah Nolan to fill the Ward 4 slot. Johnson appointed retired cardiologist George Schimmel for the Ward 7 slot.

A Decoy Prom for Lesbian Teen?

When Constance McMillen attended her school prom on Friday at Fulton Country Club in Fulton, Miss., only seven students were in attendance. The majority of Itawamba Agricultural High School students held another prom at alternative location, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

Jackson State President: HBCUs' Future At Risk

Jackson State University President Ronald Mason Jr. predicted hard times for Mississippi's historically black universities if the schools don't work together. "When you confront the kind of problems that we're confronting, and when you take into account that we don't have the kind of cushion in our budgets that other universities have to handle these cuts, then you can envision the gap getting bigger and bigger and bigger," Mason said at a press conference this afternoon. "And the bigger the gap gets, the less able we are to survive in an increasingly competitive environment."

16th-Section Logging Too Zealous?

A former Forestry Commission employee is alleging that poor oversight and a new focus on aggressive logging is making statewide timber theft easier.

Undisclosed Funders Pay for Consolidation Study

Gov. Haley Barbour's Commission on Education Structure will use funds from an undisclosed private source to pay for a study of school consolidation. At its first meeting yesterday, the Commission agreed to pay a Denver-based consulting firm $72,000 to deliver a report on the potential cost-savings and improvements to educational quality offered by merging some of the state's 152 school districts.

New Year's Eve Events

Looking for something to do on New Year's Eve? Look no further. Whether it's a gala, a dance party or an intimate dinner you seek, the metro area has got you covered.

Dating the Candyman

After exploring Beijing's Chaoyang district for much of the afternoon, my boyfriend JP and I escaped the heat of the July sun, ducking into a Starbucks. The three stories of the coffee shop were packed with foreign and Chinese businessmen, 20-somethings on their laptops, and friends gathered for a mid afternoon coffee break. After scanning the menu, we both ordered plain coffee and found a seat on the second level to check our e-mail accounts.

Let's (Health) Care For Ourselves

As the presidential race has become more competitive, media are starting to focus attention on specific issues that directly affect the American public. One of the more popular topics in presidential debates in the recent weeks has been health care. There is much need for reform in a severely broken system of inflated premiums and costly plans that doesn't even guarantee coverage to people with pre-existing conditions who can afford it. But the question is, with whom should that reform begin?

Millsaps at Vietnam

"I thought I was having a hallucination," student Sharon Yoo wrote in her journal. "It was like the scenery from the movie 'Avatar.'"

Death Penalty Doesn't Deliver

This month marks 30 years since the death penalty was reinstated in the United States. In the past 30 years, we as Americans have executed 1,031 people. Are we better off?

[Balko] 4.5 SWAT Raids Per Day

During the last six months of 2009, police deployed SWAT teams oyed 804 times in the state of Maryland, or about 4.5 times per day. In Prince George's County alone, with its 850,000 residents, a SWAT team deployed about once per day. According to a Baltimore Sun analysis, 94 percent of the state's SWAT deployments to served search or arrest warrants, leaving just 6 percent in response to the kinds of barricades, bank robberies, hostage takings and emergency situations for which SWAT teams were originally intended.

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