Jackson Free Press

Cover Mississippi is taking on the challenges of educating and enrolling Mississippians in the new health insurance market place.

Al Jazeera America published a profile of Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba today, "In Mississippi, America's most revolutionary mayor." Author Siddhartha Mitter a good amount of time in the city this summer.

Looks like a good read: “Nowadays you’ve got to call yourself a ‘change agent’ or something, or else you’ll make people scared,” Lumumba told me when I visited Jackson in August. “But I am a revolutionary.”

Mitter even managed to work in Lumumba's trademark "Alright. OK."

Mississippi's 2013 Sales Tax Holiday begins Friday, July 26 and runs through Saturday, July 27.

One day only special, $9.11.

Many people don't have the photo IDs required under the new laws.

Gov. Bryant has vetoed HB 1584, which proposes giving governing authority to a reservoir board.

The official results aren't available, yet, but it looks like its runoffs for the Democrats.

Pew Research survey gives Obama an 8-point lead over Romney.

Pass the Kleenex. Jackson ranks at the top of the list for spring allergies.

The Animal Rescue Fund of Mississippi is making a desperate plea for donations.

This summer, Hinds Community College will hold classes for people who want to finish their General Education Development (GED) high-school equivalency.

Conde-Nast Traveler's annual Readers' Choice Survey puts Jackson at No. 7 on its list of the 10 friendliest cities in the U.S.

"Visitors to Mississippi's capital—and most populous town—note that 'friendly people and great food' make it a worthy stop. Its streets are 'steeped in history' and dotted with 'green and pretty' public spaces," the survey site states. "Take an afternoon to sample 'wonderful barbeque' and chat with 'lovely' residents."

Mississippi's capital city tied Natchez on the Traveler list: "Known for well-preserved relics of pre-Civil War architecture, including 'very beautiful antebellum houses,' Natchez also boasts a sweetly Southern resident community. The hospitable population and slower pace of life make Natchez 'an amazing town to visit and relax.' In fact, this 'great undiscovered location' made one reader 'feel like a real Southern Belle.'”

When it comes to friendly, "southern hospitality shines on that front—in the Top 10, all but three of the cities are in the South," the site states.

Rounding out the list are: No. 10, Branson, Mo.; No. 9, Sonoma, Calif.; No. 8, Telluride, Colo.; No. 5, Austin, Texas; No. 4, Asheville, N.C.; No. 3, Savannah, Ga.; No. 2, Galena, Ill.; No. 1, Charleston, S.C.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that The Clarion-Ledger has laid off 13 employees over the past two days. The report, from The Gannett Blog (which is not an official Gannett source), says that nationwide, the Gannett Company's U.S. Community Publishing newspaper division, the C-L's parent company, has fired an estimated 223 people at 37 sites. A few other subsidiaries are also affected, the blog states.

The Gannett Blog relies on its readers for layoff reports, and the post includes a link to a spreadsheet showing the specific numbers reportedly laid off at Gannett worksites. Hattiesburg, home of the Hattiesburg American, shows two layoffs.

"These figures remain preliminary and are almost certain to rise at least through Monday as more employees are notified," the blog states.

"Most of the job losses were through layoffs over the past 48 hours, with a much smaller number comprising open positions that have been permanently eliminated, according to these readers.

"It's unlikely Corporate will ever confirm these figures, because this round is being done under the radar. Asked for a comment yesterday, Corporate's chief publicist, Jeremy Gaines, told blogger Jim Romenesko only this: 'Some USCP sites are making cuts to align their business plans with local market conditions.'"

The blog entry is calling this round of layoffs "the biggest since about 700 newspaper employees were let go in June 2011."

The website Remapping Debate has posted a story titled "Brother, Can you Spare $829 Billion?" On it, your can see just how much the top public corporations are hoarding ... er, holding.

So how much pump-priming could America’s largest corporations achieve if they were to dig into their cash and cash equivalents as well as their short-term investments? Remapping Debate examined the relevant quarterly Securities and Exchange Commission filings of the 100 largest corporations by revenue as ranked by the Fortune 500 in 2012 (looking only at publicly-held corporations, and excluding those in the financial sector). We looked at filing data for the period closest to June 30th in 2012, 2006, and 2000.

...each of three numbers calculated as a percentage of total assets for each of the three years: cash and cash equivalents (CCE) separately, short-term investments separately, and CCE and short-term investments combined (for 10 companies in 2000, comparable data were not available).

It turns out that more than 70 percent of the corporations listed in both 2012 and 2000 showed an increase over time in CCE and short-term investments combined as a percentage of total assets, including 15 corporations where the percentage point increase was 10 points or more.

Kind of makes me wonder how much faster the economy could recover if some of those companies would put some of their resources into hiring -- and creating additional consumers for their goods. Hmmm... What do you think?

On March 15, the Maryland House of Delegates decisively passed (82-56) a bill that would replace the death penalty with life without parole.

The band DEVO has teamed up with Dogs Against Romney to take a jab at presumptive presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

From the press release: "Gerald Casale, a founding member of the American punk/New Wave band DEVO, has announced a new single “Don’t Roof Rack Me, Bro! (Seamus Unleashed).” The track, written by Casale, will be released in conjunction with a mobile game titled The Crate Escape: Seamus Unleashed, a new mobile game that satirizes the dog-on-roof incident. Both the single and game are planned to launch on August 26, which is both National Dog Day and one day before the Republican National Convention. The single will be available at all digital music retailers while the game is initially being launched as an app on iTunes.

"In releasing this single, DEVO has joined forces with Dogs Against Romney, an online advocacy group with more than 70,000 members on Facebook, and Censault LLC, a Dallas mobile/social game publisher, to help call attention to Mitt Romney’s 'crate-gate' scandal."

“'I can’t overstate how excited we are to have DEVO’s Gerald Casale as a partner with us in making sure every voter in America knows Mitt Romney strapped his dog, Seamus, to the roof of his car for a 12-hour trip to Canada,' said Scott Crider, founder of Dogs Against Romney. “The new DEVO song Gerald created with his bandmates is awesome, and I believe it will be the soundtrack for Romney’s defeat in November.'

"... The Crate Escape: Seamus Unleashed game will be launched as a free app for the iPhone and iPad. Pledges are being sought on Kickstarter to raise money for adding additional features to the game and for the creation of version compatible with and playable on other devices. For additional game info and images, go to www.facebook.com/CrateEscapeGame."

Read more about it and listen to the song on the Rolling Stone website.

Terri Herring has been a lobbyist in Mississippi for 27 years, yet she only registered as such March 13, 2013.

Jackson Public Schools will see a $3.63 million increase in funding from the city in the upcoming school year.

Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon officially announced her candidacy for mayor March 17.

The Mississippi Insurance Department has arranged for insurance companies to use the Mississippi State Fairgrounds as damage inspection stations.