Jackson Free Press

Poet and playwright Claudia Rankine has postponed her lecture at Millsaps College due to inclement weather in New York. The 2016 McArthur fellow and Frederick Iseman Professor of Poetry at Yale University, was scheduled to speak on her book, "Citizen."

Here are more details on Hal's St. Paddy's Parade & Festival on March 18.

Before the focus on the NFL shifts from the regular season to the offseason, we should discuss a few things that happened before Super Bowl LI and going forward to the NFL Combine.

If you missed it, Saturday night, Feb. 4, which was the night before the Super Bowl, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was named Associated Press NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year at the NFL Honors ceremony. On Friday, Feb. 3, he was named Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year. His coach, Jason Garrett, won AP NFL Coach of the Year.

Dallas thought Prescott would end up sitting out this year and learning behind veterans Tony Romo and Kellen Moore. Instead, Moore broke a bone in his leg in practice to move to second string, and early in the preseason, Romo injured his back making Prescott the starter. All the rookie from Mississippi State did was lead the Cowboys to the best record in the NFC and playoffs.

Prescott is the first Dallas player to win the award since Emmitt Smith in 1990. Smith went on to become the NFL’s all-time leading rusher and helped the Cowboys win three Super Bowls.

Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott finished second in the voting. Prescott thanked the 31 teams that passed on him and wished he could cut the award in half to share with Elliott.

Prescott now has to follow up his amazing rookie season with more of the same in 2017. He won’t be under the radar, and everyone will look to see if he has a sophomore slump.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan won Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year and NFL MVP but continued the trend of NFL MVPs losing the Super Bowl. Ryan’s offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan won AP Assistant Coach of the Year.

San Diego Chargers linebacker Joey Bosa won AP Defensive Rookie of the Year and Green Bay Packer wide receiver Jordy Nelson was named AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year after recovering from a knee injury. Oakland Raiders linebacker Khalil Mack was named AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

The NFL honored its past on Super Bowl weekend. During the NFL Honors, the 2017 NFL Hall of Fame Class was announced. Long-time New Orleans Saints kicker Morten Andersen was voted into the hall.

Andersen was one of the Saints’ biggest offensive weapons in the 1980s and 1990s and is the leading scorer in NFL, New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons history. He is just the second player to make the hall strictly as a kicker. The first is Jan Stenerud.

In Andersen’s 25 seasons in the NFL, he played in 325 games, which is also a NFL record, while playing for five teams and racked up 2,544 points. He is one of the first kickers to make 40- and 50-yard field goals look easy.

Joining Andersen in the hall is St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner, Miami Dolphins defensive end …

Ever since Chane's announcement last year that the future of Fondren's First Thursday was up in the air, many people have speculated what will happen to it. Fondren Renaissance Foundation put out a press release on FFT this morning. Here is the release verbatim.

Jackson, MS—Fondren's First Thursday, the monthly neighborhood street party held in Historic Downtown Fondren, will return on March 2, 2017 - with a twist.

Event organizer Ron Chane says "FFT Remixed" will be a new system of alternating presenters each month to expand the depth of creativity of the two-year-old event.

Included in this year's FFT slate are three State Street Concert Series events presented by Sneaky Beans and Rooster's, showcasing a headlining main stage act; the return of Fondren Renaissance's Arts, Eats & Beats, a 15-year-old Fondren tradition; a special art-focused night helmed by the Mississippi Museum of Art; and FRF's Fondren Unwrapped, on a new date, Dec. 7. Three FFT "Throwbacks," presented by Studio Chane, round out the year and will follow a structure similar to past year's first Thursday events. Two of these, June and September, will offer vendors opportunities.

"This event has taken two years to reach its creative maturity," says Chane, who will continue to guide and support the full roster of events for 2017. "This is still a positive night of people enjoying people, seeing our neighborhood from different perspectives. There will be an ebb and flow with much more variety. In short, something for everyone."

The events for 2017 are:

• March 2 - State Street Concert Series presented by Rooster's and Sneaky Beans
• April 6 - Fondren's First Thursday Throwback presented by Studio Chane
• May 4 - Arts, Eats & Beats presented by Fondren Renaissance
• June 1 - Fondren's First Thursday Throwback presented by Studio Chane
• July 6 - State Street Concert Series presented by Rooster's and Sneaky Beans
• August 3 - End of Summer
• September 7 - Fondren's First Thursday Throwback presented by Studio Chane
• October 5 - State Street Concert Series presented by Rooster's and Sneaky Beans
• November 2 - Art Night presented by Mississippi Museum of Art
• December 7 - Fondren Renaissance's Fondren Unwrapped presented by Bank Plus

For more information: Ron Chane - FFT - [email protected] Jim Wilkirson - Fondren Renaissance - [email protected] Byron Knight - State Street Concert Series - [email protected] Nathan Glenn - State Street Concert Series - [email protected] Julian Rankin - MS Museum of Art - [email protected]

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