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[City Buzz] Screw ideology; Mississippians want health care
MOVE OVER, VERMONT: The John C. Stennis Institute of Government announced the surprising results of a statewide poll on Dec. 8, showing that a wide majority of Mississippians want the …
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Effort to Rework Levee Board Fails
A play to support a controversial lakes plan died on the House calender last week. The bill, H.B. 1549, proposed changing the make-up of the Rankin-Hinds Pearl Flood and Drainage …
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Outcome of PERS Study Uncertain
Speculation has been running rampant since August, when Gov. Haley Barbour appointed a commission to study the Public Employees' Retirement System.
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Talk
Funny Math At The Fair
The Neshoba County Fair was calm this year. There are no candidates fighting for state-wide races, leaving many politicians free to make jabs at national candidates like presumptive Democratic presidential …
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Obama Appoints Mason to Federal HBCU Board
President Barack Obama announced Friday that he wants Jackson State University President Ronald Mason Jr. on the President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The board exists …
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Politics
Waller Leads Supreme Court race as Randolph, Coleman Win
Newcomer Josiah Coleman cruised to a seat on the Mississippi Supreme Court, while Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. held a solid lead over state Rep. Earle Banks, a Jackson Democrat …
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Some Thoughts on the 2007 Elections
With the March 1st filing deadline fast approaching, I don't see any evidence that any well-known Democrat has emerged to make a viable challenge to Haley Barbour. A channel surf …
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Sports
Ole Miss Probe Magnifies Big Weekend for Rebels, Bulldogs
The Magnolia State was already going to be in the national spotlight this weekend with both Mississippi State and Ole Miss—among college football's elite teams—playing host to national powerhouses.
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[Spann] Tonight, Baby?
The nubile young bodies writhing on our television screens and the sultry voices emanating from our radio speakers would lead most of us to believe that Americans are having great …
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Quick Video - Underground 119 Opening
This is from the Flip cam in a noisy jazz club setting, so pardon the audio:
I tossed this together after Donna and I *finally* got out of the office around 9:30pm last Friday (her Palm Desktop had a meltdown and I was trying in vain …
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Manning Faces Sentencing for WikiLeaks Disclosures
More than three years after his arrest in Iraq, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is set to learn the price he'll pay for leaking an unprecedented volume of classified information to …
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Politics
Early Voting, Online Registration, Felon Voting Back on Table in Legislature
Mississippians would be able to vote before Election Day and register online if legislation the House Apportionment and Elections Committee passed this week stays alive long enough to become law.
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Mississippi's Creative Economy
The Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Arts Commission host a summit on Mississippi's Creative Economy Aug. 10 at the Jackson Convention Center.
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Epps Resigns as Miss. Corrections Commissioner
The Department of Corrections said state Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps has resigned without giving a reason.
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The Big-Money GOP Donors at Gunn's Private Party
By R.L. NaveThere 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.”
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Mississippi Supreme Court Lineup Filled
By adreherGov. Phil Bryant has filled both Mississippi Supreme Court vacancies, following the departure of Justices Randy Pierce and David Chandler. Former District 1 Court of Appeals Judge James Maxwell and tenth district chancellor Dawn Beam will join the state's highest court in the new year.
Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. said in statement that Judge Maxwell's "energy and experience will serve the court and the citizens of the state well.” Waller expressed enthusiasm at Beam's arrival to the court. In a statement, he said Judge Beam has continued to go above standards in helping her court's district convert to an all electronic filing system. Beyond clerical duties, Waller said Beam "has tirelessly worked to resolve issues regarding placement and supervision of abused and neglected children.”
Judge Beam has been involved with her district's work to guarantee safe homes for all children and recently spoke at a community meeting in December praising the local Department of Human Services workers in Marion County for the changes they've made in their office--including upping personnel numbers. The increased personnel led to 160 children being removed from their homes due to court orders that cited deplorable living conditions or drug abuse at home.
Judge Maxwell was appointed to the district court by former Gov. Haley Barbour in 2009 and re-elected in 2014. He practiced civil law in Jackson and worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in the northern district of Mississippi.
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‘Obamacare' and Mississippi: What's In It For Us?
Shortly after Congress passed the Affordable Care Act—known as ACA to supporters and "Obamacare" to detractors—Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour joined a multi-state lawsuit challenging its constitutionality.
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Capitol Report
On Monday, Feb 28, a conference was held in Room 103 between the Senate and the House, where Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, accused the Senate of holding some of their …
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[City Buzz] Colonel Snoop Reporting for Duty, Sir
JACKAL SMOKED OUT … Like the rest of the world, Jacksonians of all political persuasions were all aglow in the days leading up to Christmas over the capture of long-time …
