Jackson Free Press

Jackson auditions are Oct. 5.

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

Operation Shoestring just announced the panelists for its annual "Conversation About Community" luncheon: Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, former Gov. Haley Barbour and Wells Church pastor Rev. Keith Tonkel.

The event, which highlights and raises funds for Operation Shoestring's work with children and families in central Jackson, is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 14, at the Jackson Convention Complex (105 E. Pascagoula St., 601-969-0114), from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The featured panelists "will make public a conversation that’s been happening in living rooms and around kitchen tables across Jackson for a long time now," states a release about the luncheon. "Our capital city faces a declining tax base, a growing urban-suburban divide, struggling schools, crime and poverty. If Jackson, or Mississippi, for that matter, is going to rise, the solution will require our collective buy-in."

This year's "Conversation About Community" will be a frank, open talk about solutions.

“The potential of this event is enormous. Mayor Lumumba and Gov. Barbour bring vastly different perspectives to the task of moving our city and state forward. Providing a safe space for open dialogue between these two, with a faith-based voice of ‘what’s right’ coming from long-time central Jackson pastor Rev. Tonkel, has the potential to impact the trajectory of our city’s future in a profound way,” said Robert Langford, Operation Shoestring's executive director, in the release.

The organization's signature annual fundraiser was created as a way to put into action its mantra that “we all rise together.” The idea is to create a safe space for people and organizations from across the larger Jackson area, from all walks of life, to engage in open discussion about the critical issues that impact the children and families Shoestring serves in central Jackson and, ultimately, the larger Jackson community.

Tickets are $50, and sponsorships start at $125. Call Stacey Jordan for more information at 601-353-6336 ext. 27, or email [email protected]. Find out more at operationshoestring.org.

Law enforcement in Hinds and Rankin counties and in the cities of Jackson, Ridgeland, and Pearl worked together with the FBI, the Mississippi Attorney General's office and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics to rescue victims of sex trafficking in Mississippi and bring traffickers to justice.

The local action was part of Operation Cross Country VII, a three-day enforcement action to address commercial child sex trafficking throughout the United States that encompassed 76 cities.

A 17-year-old Mississippi girl was among the 105 children rescued in the sting. The Jackson-area operation included the arrests of 10 pimps. Officials have charged 24 others "with related state and local offenses," the FBI stated in a release.

“Child prostitution is a threat to children not just in other countries, but across America and right here in Mississippi,” said Daniel McMullen, special agent in charge of the FBI in Mississippi. “This operation serves as a reminder that the FBI and its partners in law enforcement remain committed to identifying and rescuing any child who is being victimized in this heinous enterprise.”

Rankin County saw a total of 14 arrests, and charged three men with human trafficking: Christopher Jermaine Armstrong, 28, of Hattiesburg and James Edward Williams Jr., 27, and William Charles Toliver, 48, both of Jackson. Tolliver faces two trafficking counts while Armstrong and Williams are each charged with one count of trafficking and marijuana possession.

Jackson authorities arrested eight people. Among them are Square Jefferson, 24, and Gerald Knight, 25, who are charged with aiding and abetting prostitution--pimping--a felony.

In Ridgeland, the sting netted 12, including four Jackson residents arrested for promoting prostitution: Adrian Harris, 26; Travis Minor, 29; Randy Roberts, 29; and Jasmine Taylor, 20.

Ridgeland Police Lt. John Neal told the Associated Press that Taylor and a second woman both had children with them at the time of their arrests. Police charged the other woman with prostitution.

"Each of them had their two small children with them. There was one that was four years old, the other that was two years old in the car while her mother was up offering services," Neal said.

The number of alleged pimps arrested in Mississippi was fifth-highest in the nation, the AP reported, behind the FBI divisions in Detroit (18), San Francisco (17), Atlanta (17) and Oklahoma City (13).

To learn more about Operation Cross Country and the Innocence Lost National Initiative, visit www.fbi.gov, www.justice.gov, or www.ncmec.org.

A disagreement over parking in Fondren caused a social-media stir this week.