Jackson Free Press

Followers of Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber's social media accounts are no doubt familiar with his signature doodles and inspirational messages (and, oh, the subtweets!), scrawled onto disposable serviettes.

Reads one mouth-wiping device, posted about a week ago:

If You Love -Right- Eventually, it will hurt

Just Ask Jesus #Love #Longsuffer #Bye2014

Well, now someone apparently with downtown ties is taking aim at Jackson's resident napkiphile with an anonymous campaign and Twitter account called Jackson Napkin.

"You know what doesn't fix a pothole? A napkin," the inaugural photo tweet, on Jan. 6, says.

The following day, Jan. 7, a series of Capitol Street-themed napkins seemed to criticize the pace of the ongoing two-waying project.

"Wow, it sure is taking a long time," says the thought bubble of one of the stick-figure drawings.

The Capitol Street project is scheduled to be complete at the end of February. It is unclear if that timetable will be met or who's responsible for the campaign.

A #napkin seeking comment from the city's Department of Absorbency was not immediately Instagrammed.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2015/jan/08/19941/

Republican leaders say they don't want to simply do away with Common Core academic standards—they want higher, better standards.

“I don't take a political position on this. I take a personal position on this,” Gov. Phil Bryant said, echoing other lawmakers at the 'Stop Common Core' rally today at the Capitol that Common Core hurts Mississippi schoolchildren.

Bryant spoke about the national governors meeting he attended in which “they” said that Common Core was designed by national governors. “Well I wasn’t in the room when it happened,” Bryant joked.

It is the idea that these standards are a government overreach that drives the anti-Common Core movement. “We’re not here today to say take away those academic challenges. We’re here to say make them better but take them away from the control of the federal government,” Bryant said.

The speakers also repeated one point so firmly you might think they were trying to convince themselves: they’re “not attacking anyone.”

During his speech, Bryant recalled a conversation he had with another governor whom he described as “on the other end of the political spectrum,” but who also does not like Common Core. The governor told Bryant, “This is something I agree on,” Bryant said.

“He said, ‘My teachers union don’t like it,’ and I said, ‘Well bless your heart for that,’” Bryant said smugly while the crowd erupted in laughter.

Apparently, Common Core standards, adopted by 46 state including the ones most thriving in education, are not high enough for Mississippi, which consistently rates at the bottom in education categories.

While none of the politicians who spoke at the rally—including Bryant, Sen. Angela Hill, R-Picayune, Sen. Michael Watson, R-Pascagoula and Sen. Phillip Gandy, R-Waynesboro—spoke in detail about how the new standards would be crafted, Bryant assured it could be done without spending much money.

“Angela Hill could do a pretty good job at that and it wouldn’t cost us $8.6 million,” Bryant said of creating educational standards.

Hill told the group that even if the state does not develop new academic standards, it could adopt standards from other states, which, she said, would be free.

“It is not brain surgery. I can’t do brain surgery but I can write standards,” said the former science teacher.

Watson spoke to the group, challenging legislators and voters not to give up on the fight for higher standards, “because that’s what our children deserve.”

“We're not here to attack anybody, but we're here to fight,” Watson said.