Jackson Free Press

There were some high-dollar contributors at a private meeting Speaker Philip Gunn had in his office last night. An unusual amount of activity at the Capitol yesterday evening led a TV news crew and a print reporter to investigate, but the journalists were turned away by Capitol security, wrote Clarion-Ledger political editor Geoff Pender today.

According to Pender's report, Gunn's policy director Nathan Wells called the meeting small and consisting of Gunn supporters who hadn't had a chance to visit the speaker's office.

Attendees included oilmen Billy Powell and Billy Mounger as well as Wirt Yerger and their spouses. All the men are high-rollers when it comes to political donations.

Mounger, who has worked in oil and gas development, gave more than $100,000 in both 2007 and 2011, but a quick review of those disclosure filings reveal that Gunn was not a recipient from Mounger in those two cycles.

Mounger has also given handsomely to federal campaigns, including former Gov. Haley Barbour's political action committee and to Republican members of Mississippi's congressional delegation. Powell of Powell Petroleum has also given while Yerger, president of Cavalier Wireless, gave $3,500 to candidates in 2011, including $1,000 to Gunn.

Wells insisted that the meeting was not a fundraiser. He told Pender: "We have food brought in for meetings all the time. This was completely paid for by (Gunn). There were no contributions, and none asked for. It’s not an event. We eat food here at meetings all the time.”

Attorney Regina Quinn, former general counsel for Jackson State University, confirms she's throwing her name in the growing hat of Jackson mayoral candidates.

Quinn finished in fourth place in last year's Democratic mayoral primary. When the race came down to a runoff between then-Ward 2 Councilman Chokwe Lumumba and businessman Jonathan Lee, Quinn threw her support to Lumumba. Many of her supporters also got behind Lumumba; currently, several members of her campaign staff hold positions in city government.

That sets up an interesting race given that Lumumba's son, Chokwe Antar also plans to seek the seat and is expected to draw much of his late father's political base.

"I've worked so closely with Chokwe and, honestly when Antar said he wanted to run, I kind of felt like I'd be running against my nephew. But then I really started thinking about what Jackson needs and what I could bring to the table to get that done," Quinn, the only woman so far to definitively declare her candidacy, told the JFP this morning.

Quinn also stressed that her candidacy does not mean she has doubts about the leadership potential of Chokwe Antar or anyone else who has declared their intentions.

"I don't have doubts about anyone's leadership abilities, but what I have confidence in is what I bring to the table," she said.

A previously failed proposal that aims to abolish abortion has resurfaced this legislative session.

State Rep. Randy Boyd, R-Mantachie, introduced a so-called Personhood bill in the form House Bill 1309, which would amend the state constitution to define a person as beginning at the moment of conception.

Boyd's bill number is reminiscent of a bill passed in 2012, House Bill 1390, which required physicians at abortion clinics to have admitting privileges to nearby hospitals.

Critics of Boyd's bill point to the failure to achieve a Personhood law through a statewide ballot initiative in 2011. During that drive, a proposed Personhood amendment to the state constitution failed to garner enough votes to become law. Later, in 2013, a group attempted to get the measure back on the ballot but missed a key deadline. Subsequent Personhood bills in the Legislature have also failed to gain traction.

Personhood has gained national attention not only because it would outlaw abortion in violation of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, but because of the law's unintended consequences. Because such a law would also define a fertilized egg as a person, it could bring to question the legality of birth control pills, Plan B, and some methods of in-vitro fertilization, reproductive-justice advocates say.

The 2012 Mississippi admitting privileges law would have closed the last abortion clinic in the state, Jackson Women's Health Organization, because nearby hospitals refused to grant privileges to them. But the clinic fought the law, which resulted in a U.S. District Court striking it down. A federal appeals court upheld the decision and Mississippi's attorneys have not announced whether the state would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The National Security Administration isn't big on public statements, so this one by Admiral Michael Rogers, the NSA's current chief, is raising some eyebrows.