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City & County
What If We Could Fill Potholes ... With Jobs?
Are potholes the worst problem we face in Jackson? No. But they represent a pretty big problem for more than one reason.
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Obama: Will Name Indisputably Qualified Nominee for Court
President Barack Obama said Tuesday he would nominate a candidate to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court who is "indisputably" qualified. He called on the staunch Republican opposition in …
Entry
Mississippi Solar Alerts Fans of Solar Power (and Energy Oversight) to Legislative "Power Grab"
By toddstaufferMississippi Solar LLC, a solar panel installation company, sent an "urgent alert" today to media and followers regarding House Bill 1139 and Senate Bill 2089 in the Mississippi legislature, which they say would gut the power of the Mississippi Public Service Commission, reverse recent moves toward net metering and widely deregulate the companies that offer electric power in Mississippi.
In one section of the House bill, the authority of the PSC to oversee rates set by these corporations (which have a monopoly granted by the states) appears to be completely overturned, as well as the ability of the PSC to regulate consumer benefits such as net metering and smart-grid investment:
A corporation * shall have the power to fix, adjust, charge, collect and pay reasonable rates for electric energy and other facilities, supplies, equipment, products, commodities, goods and services furnished by, offered by or furnished to the corporation. All rates of a corporation formed or operating under the provisions of this article shall be established by the corporation's board and shall not be regulated by the Mississippi Public Service Commission.
The commission also shall not regulate nor attempt to regulate corporations formed or operating under this article with respect to the subject matters of standards established by the federal Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, including, but not limited to, those established at 16 USC Section 2621(d), and including, but not limited to, the following matters: cost of service; declining block, time-of-day, seasonal, and interruptible rates; load management techniques; integrated resource planning; conservation and demand management; energy efficiency; wholesale power purchases; net metering; fuel sources; fossil fuel generation efficiency; time-based metering and communications; interconnection for distributed generation; and smart grid investments and information.
The House bill was introduced by Republican Charles "Jim" Beckett, chair of the Public Utilities committee, whose 2015 campaign filings show nearly all of his campaign contributions were from corporations or PACs, many of which are subject to oversight from the PSC.
Rep. Beckett accepted $2000 from Entergy's PAC (and another $1000 in 2014), $1000 from Mississippi Power's PAC, $500 from the Electric Power Associations of Mississippi's PAC (pre-election in August); he also accepted money from Koch Companies Public Sector LLC, Cable PAC MCTA, Verizon and Comcast Corp., AT&T PAC, Chevron, North American Coal PAC, Atmos Energy Corp PAC and others.
Beckett began the year with $73,447 in the bank (including repaying a $10,000 loan on the same day he received it February of 2015, according to campaign filings) and ended it with $75,518, thanks in part to a post-victory $2500 donation from Electric Power Associations of Mississippi in December.
Seems they're already big fans.
[Note: The above was corrected; I originally thought the $10,000 repaid in February was loaned in the previous year. If you know of some clever political accounting reason to loan yourself money the same day you repay it, clue me in.]
Here's the text of Mississippi Solar LLC's …
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Obama Holds First Summit in US With Southeast Asian Leaders
President Barack Obama and leaders of Southeast Asian nations discussed regional security issues Tuesday before closing a summit called to show solidarity and U.S. seriousness about staying engaged in a …
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Politics
State's Foster Care System Requests $34.4 Million
Children have died and suffered mistreatment in the state's foster-care system, and the Mississippi Department of Human Services is requesting $34.4 million to change conditions that lead to the abuse.
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Biz Roundup
JXN Escape Room, Paint Nite and Mississippi Business Engagement Network
Clint Sistrunk and his wife, Paulina Krakowska, were in Poland visiting Krakowska's family in summer 2015 when the couple first discovered "escape rooms," which are live-action games that put a …
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Music
Royce Boyer
When Royce Boyer, the co-director of the Metro Male Chorus, and Chuck Reynolds, the band director for Madison Central High School, formed the Mississippi Chambre Music Guild in October 2014, …
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Russia Denies Its Warplanes Hit MSF hospital in Syria
Russia on Tuesday rebuffed claims that its warplanes struck a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders in northern Syria in airstrikes the previous day that killed at least nine as …
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State
AP Analysis: Some Mississippi Bills Seek to Micromanage People's Lives
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi legislators have filed more than 2,000 bills this year, and the first culling will take place by Feb. 23, the deadline for House and Senate …
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Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia Dead at 79
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Music
Hattiesburg Club Owner: State Pressure to Cancel Big Freedia Like 'Footloose'
“I thought to myself that if Miley Cyrus can imitate Freedia at the Emmys, and Freedia can play Jazzfest with hundreds of thousands of people, and have a nationally syndicated …
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Music
Big Freedia Banned from Hattiesburg Club for 'Illegal' Gyrating, Plans to Sue
A Hattiesburg, Miss., club cancelled Big Freedia's Feb. 12 show because a state official said her gyrating was likely illegal under Mississippi law.
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Health Care
Parents: Talk to Middle-Schoolers About Sex to Break Pregnancy Cycle
Parents should talk to their children about sex when they are between age 11 and 15 years old, the executive director of the Mississippi Campaign for Teen Pregnancy Prevention said …
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City & County
Teens Arrested for Robbery String, Police Searching for Carjacking Suspects
Two Jackson teenagers are in custody after a recent string of armed robberies, including of Beatty Street Grocery, Nail City and Waffle House, Police Chief Lee Vance said Thursday during …
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Education
Rep. Moore: 42 Campaign Used Teachers like 'Cheap Rug,' Authors Bill to Limit Politicizing
School-district personnel need to politicize on their own time, rather than during the performance of their official school-related duties, Rep. John Moore, R-Brandon, told the Jackson Free Press today, adding …
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Civil Rights
Winifred Green
A white woman from an old Jackson family of influence and means, Winifred Green grew up in the segregated security of white privilege in the Belhaven community during the 1940s …
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Flint Crisis May Help Governor Ease GOP Doubt on Detroit Aid
Rick Snyder's standing as one of the GOP's most accomplished governors has taken a beating in the crisis over lead-contaminated water in Flint, Michigan. Democrats, especially those running for president, …
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Court: Facebook Can Be Sued in France in Nude Painting Case
Facebook lost a crucial legal battle Friday as a Paris court ruled the social network can be sued in France over its decision to remove the account of a French …
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Seoul, US to Open Talks on Missile Defense Aimed at N. Korea
Looking to take a harder line after North Korea's recent nuclear test and rocket launch, Seoul and Washington will begin talks as early as next week on deploying a sophisticated …
