by Anthony DiFatta
May 7, 2008
Immediately I knew she was a strong and intelligent woman. I was a little intimidated—especially because she was an accountant and lawyer. But after three years of dating, Melissa married me in 2000.
by on 05/07/08 at 04:57 PM Comments (0) -- Read More...
:: jacksonians
Quincy Jackson
by Ari Glogower
April 30, 2008
Our peripatetic protagonist, a Terry native and graduate of Byram High School, abandons his theater studies at Hinds Community College in 2000 to crisscross the U.S. as a flight attendant for Northwest Airlines.
Two years later,…
by on 04/30/08 at 04:46 PM Comments (0) -- Read More...
April 30, 2008
Our peripatetic protagonist, a Terry native and graduate of Byram High School, abandons his theater studies at Hinds Community College in 2000 to crisscross the U.S. as a flight attendant for Northwest Airlines.
Two years later,…
by on 04/30/08 at 04:46 PM Comments (0) -- Read More...
Amy Steinberg
by Maggie Burks
April 23, 2008
When your job requires you to drive across the southeast two weekends every month, it’s sometimes difficult to find pleasure in the monotony. But for Amy Steinberg, 23, the time she spends at the destination outweighs the stuffy car ride. An education fellow for the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, Steinberg travels to small, isolated Jewish communities in the South with the purpose of helping sustain Jewish life and culture. She leads services, interacts with families and teaches young people the mitzvot, or God’s commandments.
Despite the short length of these visits and long time between them, Steinberg says she can see the impact on the community and herself. “What I love most about it is the opportunity to make an impact in young Jewish students’ lives and whole community’s lives. The whole community changes when we’re there for a weekend,” Steinberg says. “… Just the chance to be such a resource to the people is something that’s so great.”
Originally from Memphis, Steinberg attended the University of Missouri where she began studying education, but quickly changed her major to human environmental science. “I was looking to teach more than just young students, and I wanted to be part of a whole family experience, not just students at a school,” she says.
When she graduated in 2006, Steinberg was unsure of her plans. She knew she wanted to go to graduate school, but wasn’t ready, yet. Family friend and Beth Israel Rabbi Valerie Cohen told her about the two-year education fellow position at the Institute, and Steinberg soon joined five other fellows traveling around the South.
Coming from a large Jewish community in Memphis to a much smaller one in Jackson was an adjustment for Steinberg, but she also had to transition to living in a new place about which she knew little. Being on the road so often didn’t help her transition, either, but Steinberg has made a point to stay plugged into the Jackson community. She says one of the major highlights of her time in Jackson has been Mal’s St. Paddy’s Parade. “It was definitely a hilariously fun weekend,” she says. “It was something I wanted to experience before I left.”
While the road does get monotonous, Steinberg and the close-knit group of other fellows try to make it fun, often stopping to take photos of peculiar road signs and venturing to places like the Chunky Harley Davidson Store and Jerry’s Catfish Igloo in Florence.
“People always say I should write a book,” Steinberg says, laughing.
by on 04/23/08 at 07:17 PM Comments (0) -- Read More...
April 23, 2008
When your job requires you to drive across the southeast two weekends every month, it’s sometimes difficult to find pleasure in the monotony. But for Amy Steinberg, 23, the time she spends at the destination outweighs the stuffy car ride. An education fellow for the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, Steinberg travels to small, isolated Jewish communities in the South with the purpose of helping sustain Jewish life and culture. She leads services, interacts with families and teaches young people the mitzvot, or God’s commandments.
Despite the short length of these visits and long time between them, Steinberg says she can see the impact on the community and herself. “What I love most about it is the opportunity to make an impact in young Jewish students’ lives and whole community’s lives. The whole community changes when we’re there for a weekend,” Steinberg says. “… Just the chance to be such a resource to the people is something that’s so great.”
Originally from Memphis, Steinberg attended the University of Missouri where she began studying education, but quickly changed her major to human environmental science. “I was looking to teach more than just young students, and I wanted to be part of a whole family experience, not just students at a school,” she says.
When she graduated in 2006, Steinberg was unsure of her plans. She knew she wanted to go to graduate school, but wasn’t ready, yet. Family friend and Beth Israel Rabbi Valerie Cohen told her about the two-year education fellow position at the Institute, and Steinberg soon joined five other fellows traveling around the South.
Coming from a large Jewish community in Memphis to a much smaller one in Jackson was an adjustment for Steinberg, but she also had to transition to living in a new place about which she knew little. Being on the road so often didn’t help her transition, either, but Steinberg has made a point to stay plugged into the Jackson community. She says one of the major highlights of her time in Jackson has been Mal’s St. Paddy’s Parade. “It was definitely a hilariously fun weekend,” she says. “It was something I wanted to experience before I left.”
While the road does get monotonous, Steinberg and the close-knit group of other fellows try to make it fun, often stopping to take photos of peculiar road signs and venturing to places like the Chunky Harley Davidson Store and Jerry’s Catfish Igloo in Florence.
“People always say I should write a book,” Steinberg says, laughing.
by on 04/23/08 at 07:17 PM Comments (0) -- Read More...
Wade Thompson
by Kelly Bryan Smith
April 16, 2008
Wade Thompson, 32, of Duvall Decker Architects, is one of the founding members of Jackson’s branch of the U.S. Green Building Council, a group of architects, interior designers and contractors he describes as “environmentally forward-thinking, passionate people.” Thompson emphasizes the importance of considering the lifetime energy costs of operating a building with new construction or remodeling. The high cost of green building is a misconception, he says, even if you aren’t spreading it out over the life of a building.
by on 04/16/08 at 07:31 PM Comments (0) -- Read More...
Matt Massingill
by Ward Schaefer
April 9, 2008
At the time of year when many high school seniors try to get by with the bare minimum, Matt Massingill, 18, does not seem to be suffering from “senior-itis.” As a service requirement for his senior project at Northwest Rankin…
by on 04/09/08 at 06:18 PM Comments (0) -- Read More...
April 9, 2008
At the time of year when many high school seniors try to get by with the bare minimum, Matt Massingill, 18, does not seem to be suffering from “senior-itis.” As a service requirement for his senior project at Northwest Rankin…
by on 04/09/08 at 06:18 PM Comments (0) -- Read More...
Tarra Riggs
by Kristen Phillips
April 2, 2008
“Don'’t look like they did much of a good job."
The audience laughter that followed her delivery of that line was all actor Tarra Riggs needed to hear.
Just two years ago, Riggs…
by on 04/02/08 at 03:31 PM Comments (1) -- Read More...
April 2, 2008
“Don'’t look like they did much of a good job."
The audience laughter that followed her delivery of that line was all actor Tarra Riggs needed to hear.
Just two years ago, Riggs…
by on 04/02/08 at 03:31 PM Comments (1) -- Read More...
Michael Rubenstein
by Greg Williamson
March 26, 2008
Michael Rubenstein’s office in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame is cluttered with sports awards and pictures, and a little plastic sumo wrestler stands on his desk. Born in Booneville, Miss., he moved to Jackson for a state job in…
by on 03/26/08 at 03:53 PM Comments (3) -- Read More...
March 26, 2008
Michael Rubenstein’s office in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame is cluttered with sports awards and pictures, and a little plastic sumo wrestler stands on his desk. Born in Booneville, Miss., he moved to Jackson for a state job in…
by on 03/26/08 at 03:53 PM Comments (3) -- Read More...
Don and Becky Potts
by Ward SchaefferMarch 19, 2008
Don and Becky Potts’ backyard would be noticeable even without the horse. Behind their Fondren home, the couple maintains an elaborate garden and two greenhouses. Somehow, they also have room for Little River, their 7-year-old miniature horse.
by on 03/19/08 at 05:54 PM Comments (0) -- Read More...
Lorenzo Bailey
by Kristen PhillipsPhoto by Nate Glenn
March 12, 2008
Go to college. Play basketball. Live out your dream.
by on 03/12/08 at 08:16 PM Comments (0) -- Read More...
Mitchell Shears
by Maggie BurksPhoto by Maggie Burks
March 5, 2008
Looking like a giant among the three-feet-tall first-graders pouring into the bright, sun-filled hallway of Clausell Elementary School, Principal Mitchell Shears steps into the main office where three students await his arrival. “I…
by maggie on 03/05/08 at 05:20 PM Comments (1) -- Read More...
:: jacksonians recent comments
Apr 04, 2008Tarra Riggs
L.W.: What a great comeback for Tarra. Congratulations to her!
Apr 01, 2008
Othor Cain
ladd: Hmmm, could it be a ruse!?! The plot thickens.
Apr 01, 2008
Othor Cain
L.W.: Careful, y'all. Kevin Clash is the voice of Elmo, and he is featured on the cover of the Black EOE Jurnal, but he is…
Apr 01, 2008
Othor Cain
ladd: That's fascinating. I wonder if he's the puppeteer Kevin Clash!?!
The truth is that people need to learn that…
Apr 01, 2008
Othor Cain
gipper: http://www.blackeoejournal.com/
Apr 01, 2008
Othor Cain
gipper: Hmmmm ... looks like Othor's high 'standards' are attracting a bit of national attention from business journalists ... check out this post over there before it disappears ...
Kevin Clash Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 7:28 pm
I am an editor of “Black EOE Journal”. We are based in Riverside, California. I was alerted to this website by a relative that lives in Canton, Mississippi.
Mr. Cain, all that we are attempting to do in our black community, you are destroying. If you cannot see what your attempts at “investigative” reporting really are, please understand that many of us can, and what you as a black individual are perpetuating with your “reporting” has a chilling affect on those of us that have “earned our stripes”.
I would like to discuss this with you Thursday and will contact you. I have your number.
Respectfully,
Kevin Clash
Apr 01, 2008
Othor Cain
ladd: I should also add that I fear that the way Othor goes on about the "white power structure" is actually going to convince many people that there isn't one—kind of like the boy who cries "wolf" all the time. The truth is: there is, and it has long been a problem in this city, culminating in its all-out efforts to help get Frank Melton elected. Ironically, it joined with charter members of the BPS to do that, forming the oddest and most distasteful rainbow coalition imaginable, leading to a very rocky campaign, to hear people involved then describe it.
In today's world, it's some of those kinds of coalitions that need to be scrutinized the closest, just as back in the day when Percy Green came across as supporting white supremacists for his own purposes. Right now on Othor's site you can see people blogging and high-fiving with him about his ugliest comments who have posted some really ugly stuff about race on this site back when they could.
Talk about coalition building. A coalition built on hatefulness will always be just that.
And I remind everyone that the way we ended up with Melton's fact-challeged, divisive demagoguery running the city is that people did not stand up and question his nore outrageous statements about other people over the years. He build a "folk hero" status on unsubstantiated rhetoric. We know better now. Everyone out there should challenge accusations whenever you see them to find out what's behind them. We will be a stronger city if we hold our loudest pundits accountable.
And with that statement, I'm going to try to move on from Othor-gate. I've ignored his obsession with me for months now, and I've reacted enough over the last couple days, I think, to his statements about the town-hall meeting and the police to raise awareness that it's going on, which is all I can do.
I'm going back to what I do very well: ignoring the trolls in our midst.
Thanks again, golden, for being a uniter and not a divider.
Apr 01, 2008
Othor Cain
ladd: Maybe I shouldn't let what Othor and his posters say bother me (and it really doesn't), but what they've said about you was over the line.
I understand feeling that way, Othor. That's the way I felt when I saw his comments to hard-working people like Juan Cloy—a man who walks into my office wearing his SWAT gear from time to time to talk about planning a town-hall meeting in his spare time. This isn't someone who sits in front of a computer screen or behind a microphone. He's on the front lines. Blogging is a wonderful tool for conversation if we use it responsibly. But using it to spread rumors is not responsible.
If Othor wants to raise legitimate concerns about JPD or even the "white power structure" behind Downtown Jackson Partners, then fine.
I agree with that statement. Ever since my experiences of covering downtown Manhattan as it was being gentrified, I've been concerned about how economic development is done and who is displaced. But here's the thing: We can whine from a distance about any and all development lumped together as "BAD," or we can get up close and figure out what/how things are being done and use our public influence to try make sure that it's done better.
As for downtown development (not Farish), the truth is that people are not being displaced by the King Edward, the Electric Building and other developments down there. Will it mean that high-priced condos and hotel rooms come in? Yes. Will that help the city's tax base? Yes.
A bigger gentrification concern of late has been the actions by JSU to "quick take" people's homes around JSU. That is straight-up gentrification, even as I can understand the need for good eco-devo around JSU, and was not even disguised as anything else. My understanding is that Ronald Mason apologized to residents about that last night (look for a story from Adam later) due to community outcry and negative media coverage.
I don't know about you, but I don't recall hearing Othor saying anything about that effort. Maybe it didn't fit his stereotype of who does gentrification.
Bottom line: We need to watchdog development and how it's done. We've said that from the beginning. And watchdogging does not includes rumors, lies and innuendo designed to disparage people you don't like. We also believe in it when it's done right. I have no apologies for that.
Apr 01, 2008
Othor Cain
golden eagle: Maybe I shouldn't let what Othor and his posters say bother me (and it really doesn't), but what they've said about you was…
Apr 01, 2008
Othor Cain
ladd: Thanks, golden. Sadly, he seems to have missed the whole journalism lesson about not passing around unsubstantiated rumors. This habit has been brewing in the local blogosphere for a while now as a way to wage personal vendettas, and it's reaching epidemic proportions. It's not healthy because it builds distrust (and runs the risk of hurting real people). And, frankly, someone in Othor's position should just know better. He's in the media business, for God's sake, unlike some of the rest of the local blogging yucks.
Frankly, I'm more concerned about his the attacks over there on police officers than I am on me and the JFP, although those are getting more inflated by the day. It's starting to sound like he's determined to out-do the hatchet job that the Ledger, et al., did on Chief Moore during the last administration on current police leaders, including the union guys. And the attacks on Duckworth and Downtown Jackson Partners aren't fair (or accurate) either. For God's sake, one can find plenty of stuff in his history to criticize Ben Allen about, so why start making stuff up? I've certainly had my rounds with him—but I am also happy to see him doing what I believe to do much better work than he was doing when he was sitting next to Larry Nesbit promoting crime sensationalism (and, yes, pushing the memes that crime stats were cooked).
And a big part of the problem is a lot of the posts over there about how development is happening downtown are based on false information about how incentives even work.
Factchecking is a journalist's friend. So are corrections, as needed.