Jackson Free Press

A disagreement over parking in Fondren caused a social-media stir this week.

According to information from City Hall, Jackson public-works crews are working on the following projects today, April 13:

• Patching potholes on areas of Highland Drive, N. Cliff Drive, Colebrook Avenue, Barrett Street, Poindexter Street, Valley Street, Eastover Subdivision.

• Repairing curb and gutter on St. Mary Street.

On Friday, April 10, workers were completing the following:

• Patching potholes on areas Cedarwood and Woodcliff, Maddox Road, N. Siwell Road/Raymond Road/Western Hills, Laurie Lane, Maria Drive, W. Browning, W. County Line Road, Meadowbrook Road, Old Canton Road, Keele Street, Village Drive, Meadowlane Drive, Marshall Street, Webster Street, Lawrence Road, Magnolia Street and McTyere Street.

• Repairing utility cuts on Colebrook Drive & Springfield Circle and Northcliff Drive.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2012/oct/29/9091/

Spirit Halloween, owned by ACON Investments, is running ads for costumes the company labels for teens and tweens with sexual references and innuendo.

The Mississippi State Chapter of the National Organization for Women, a liberal feminist group, and Concerned Women for America, a conservative group, are two organizations that rarely see eye-to-eye. Spirit Halloween's advertisements, which blatantly market sex to underage girls, have given the groups a common enemy to fight.

One advertisement for a "Rag Doll Teen Costume" finished with the lines: "you are all grown up now, so why not find out if big boys like to play with dolls!"

Spirit Halloween responded to a campaign on Twitter and Change.org by removing most of the sexual references in their teen and preteen costume descriptions. Many parents are still boycotting the company, though, because they still sell many costumes for minors which feature short skirts, low-cut tops and long stockings, which the women at NOW think are too sexual for young girls.

“Although Spirit changed the shocking sexual content in many of their kids’ costume ads in response to a Twitter campaign by outraged parents and consumers, the issue still remains that Spirit Halloween and its owner, ACON Investments have refused to pull their totally inappropriate sexualized children’s costumes off the market. They are marketing extremely revealing, short, tight-fitting dresses and skirts to our children – many of their kids costumes look like adult fantasy sex costumes. This is not about adult women's choices to wear sexy costumes, this is about Spirit Halloween and ACON marketing sexualized costumes to girls as young as 9 and 13 years old – they are offering sickening and horrible costume choices for children that parents don’t want,” Miss. Now president Laurie Roberts stated in a press release.

You can see the advertisements with the sexual innuendo here: Spirit Halloween

You can also sign the petition to boycott Spirit Halloween here: Change.org