Jackson Free Press

The chorus of opposition among environmental advocates and downriver residents against a flood-control lake project is growing louder.

Thursday night, the St. Tammany Parish, La., council passed a resolution opposing a plan proffered by groups with ties to petroleum businessman John McGowan. Known locally as "One Lake," the flood-control plan involves damming the Pearl River to keep flooding down in the capital city and would create water-front development opportunities.

St. Tammany Parish officials are concerned about the proposed lake's effects on water levels, salinity, wetlands and wildlife.

In statement, Andrew Whitehurst, director of water policy director with the Gulf Restoration Network, said: “Combined with existing effects to the Pearl from the Ross Barnett Reservoir, a new 1,500 acre lake in the Jackson area is inevitably going to impact the flow and amount of water that reaches downstream communities like Monticello, Columbia and Pearlington in Mississippi, and Pearl River in Louisiana.

Whitehurst added: "Oyster beds and coastal marshes in both states rely on the vital fresh water that the Pearl provides and this proposed dam is a direct threat to that resource.”

The Jackson Free Press emailed Dallas Quinn, spokesman for Pearl River Vision Foundation, which McGowan created in 2011 for the purposes of completing an environmental-impact assessment that will be used as part of a federal application to proceed with flood plan, and will update the story when Quinn responds.

PRVF and the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood Control and Drainage District (Levee Board) recently held a scoping meeting in Jackson to address concerns and questions from members of the public.

The meeting was well attended, but conservation-minded attendees were disappointed with the format. Several people who spoke to the Jackson Free Press believe the meeting was designed to suppress any perceived public opposition to the plan.

Keith Turner, the Levee Board's attorney, said he believed the format was better for soliciting feedback and addressing concerns that a traditional public meeting in which individuals speak from a microphone one after the other.

According to City Hall, Jackson public-works crews will be doing the following today:

• Patching potholes on areas of S. Charleston Place, Jefferson Street, Dewey Street, Ellis Avenue, Castle Hill Drive, Monterey Street, Claiborne Avenue and First Avenue, River Park Dr., Springridge Drive, Lake Trace Drive, Kristen Drive and Lynn Lane, Riverside Drive and Highland Drive, Woodward Avenue, Ridgewood Road and Briarwood Road, Bailey Avenue, Brinkley Drive and Winchester Drive.

WJTV-TV reports that a Jackson woman is circulating a petition to rename the Ross Barnett Reservoir.

"The past of Mississippi is riddled with hate and racism. And, I’m trying to show everyone else that Mississippi isn't like that anymore," the woman told JTV.

For anyone needing a refresher, Barnett was a segregationist governor of Mississippi. Well, he was one of the state's segregationist governors, but Barnett was among the most vocal in his opposition to human rights for black people, and he happened in this lifetime. There are people living today who could have voted for him.

But never mind all that because the woman behind the petition is named TaJuana Byrd. If I know the Jackson-area media and blogosphere, the conversation in the coming hours and days will certainly devolve into attacking this African American woman for being the race baiter attempting to dredge up old, forgotten memories -- all over the name of a silly fake lake.

Stay tuned.

4 Democrats

2 Seats.

The Hinds Count Democratic Party is preparing for what it's billing as a showdown for the District 2 and District 4 races tomorrow night at Metrocenter.

Here's a the full release:

JACKSON-On the evening of Thursday, October 3 at 6:00 PM at Center Court at the Metrocenter Mall, the Hinds County Democratic Party and Metrocenter Mall will host a public forum for the Democratic runoff candidates in supervisor districts two and four to appear and answer questions from a panel and from the public. The event is free and open to all.

In Supervisor District Two, Darrell McQuirter and Willie Earl Robinson will be the two candidates vying for the Democratic nomination in the runoff on October 8. In Supervisor District Four, the October 8 runoff will feature James “Lap” Baker and Michael Maldonado, due to the withdrawal of the September 24 second place finisher Jerry Hopkins.

In about two hours, Jan Michael Brawner will be executed for the murders of his 3-year-old daughter, ex-wife and former in-laws. The Mississippi Department of Corrections issued the following news release detailing Brawner's final day:

Despite submitting paperwork to run in the city of Jackson's special election for mayor, two individuals have been removed for not meeting requirements to seek the office.

They are:

Tonya Brooks of Valley North Boulevard

Tammie Patterson of Carleton Street.

That shaves the number of people seeking the office down to 13.

The election is April 8.

A runoff, which is expected, between the top votegetters would be on April 22.

The Hinds County Democratic Executive Committee has set the date for elections to fill two spots on the Hinds County Board of Supervisors.

A special election will be held this fall to replace Doug Anderson, who died earlier this year, and Phil Fisher, who stepped dow to be mayor of Clinton. Anderson represented District 2 and Fisher represented District 4.

A Democratic primary will take place Tuesday, Sept. 24; a runoff, if necessary, will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 8.

On July 1, supervisors temporarily filled the open seats. Al Hunter, owner of contracting firm First Construction Inc., who lives in Edwards, took over for Anderson. Dr. Robert Walker, Vicksburg's first black mayor and now a Byram resident, replaced Fisher.

The candidate qualifying deadline for the Democratic primary is 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 25. Candidates must submit a qualifying form and a $15 fee with the Hinds County Circuit Clerk's office before the deadline. Candidates do not need to file a petition to run for the seats.

"In the modern two-party system, voters expect to know which party the candidates support. Far too often candidates hide behind the "independent" label, or run under false colors, in order to play both sides. In Hinds County, Democrats demand our right under the law to elect our nominees in a primary and to support our nominees in the general election. The party will both support our nominees and hold them accountable once elected. That's the way an effective two-party system works," said Hinds County Democratic Executive Committee Chairperson Jacqueline Amos-Norris in a press release.

The Mississippi Republican Party has not announced a primary schedule for the Hinds County open slots.

The wait is over, kids. Mississippi House members finally have a new legislative district map to vote on. The maps, which add two districts in rapidly growing DeSoto County, were unveiled at the Capitol today. Under the plan, several Democrats could lose their seats either by hasquaring off with fellow Democrats or by having to compete in mostly GOP districts.

At this morning's Hinds County Board of Supervisors meeting, supervisors distributed more than $250,000 to various recreational and other projects around the county. The money is coming from $3.5 million that had been set aside for the Byram-Clinton Parkway development project, which sparked intense debate between two board members.

In recent months, supervisors have routinely moved money from the parkway fund to the recreational fund. Today, supervisors doled out $262,000 to pave Village Drive ($70k) in northeast Jackson, playground equipment for Tougaloo Park ($50k), repairing a community center in Edwards ($80k) and resurfacing John F. Kennedy Drive in Presidential Hills ($62k).

Each vote passed 3-2, with Supervisors Robert Graham, Kenneth Stokes and Alphonso Hunter supporting the expenditures. Two of the projects -- the Village Drive resurfacing and Tougaloo Park lie in Graham's District 1. The town of Edwards and Presidential Hills are in District 2, where Hunter is the representative.

Peggy Hobson Calhoun of District 3 and Robert Walker of District 4 voted against each of the measures.

"We don't have enough funds to give everyone a piece of the pie," Hobson-Calhoun said at the meeting.

District 5 Supervisor Stokes, a staunch opponent of the parkway project, contends that the parkway project will never come to fruition and that the money could help other projects in the county now.

Management & Training Corporation will take over management of the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility and two other Mississippi prisons, the Associated Press is reporting. MTC will also assume management of East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian and the Marshall County Correctional Facility in Holly Springs.

Mississippi Democrats are basking in the post-electoral bliss of having held on to or picked up a number of mayor's seats yesterday.

A shock to no one, Democrat Chokwe Lumumba coasted to a W in Jackson (lesson here for future secret campaign engineers: being on the down-low never helped anyone).

Other incumbent Dems who also won reelection include Parker Wiseman of Starkville, Connie Moran of Ocean Springs and Patt Patterson of Oxford. Two sitting Democratic lawmakers, George Flaggs Jr. and Billy Broomfield, will also become mayors of Vicksburg and Moss Point, respectively. Each man defeated fellow Democrats and incumbents in those cities in primaries this spring.

What Democrats are beaming most about are the cities they took away from Republicans. In Tupelo, it was young Jason Shelton, in Meridian it was Percy Bland and in Booneville, it was Derrick Blythe. Tupelo was particularly sweet for Democrats, who haven't had the mayor's chair for three decades.

State Rep. Steve Holland, a Tupelo-area Democrat, credits Democrats' strong messaging and investment of "sweat equity" for yesterday's victories. Holland called Shelton a super guy with lots of energy and spunk.

"He had a cooler campaign that I would have had," Holland said of Shelton. "He tried to out conservative the other guy, and apparently it worked."

Two other Democrats--Glen Cook of Stonewall and James Young of Philadelphia -- also won election.

The city has hired a manager to oversee projects paid for with a 1-percent tax approved almost two years ago.

The Jackson City Council approved a contract with Jackson-based IMS Engineers for projects in the first year of the infrastructure master plan. IMS will help develop a comprehensive infrastructure plan, a 20-year blueprint to overhaul of the City’s infrastructure system of roads, bridges as well as water, sewer and drainage systems. IMS will also provide mapping and handle the public relations and outreach.

The selection of IMS came with relatively little controversy compared to other professional-services contracts that have gone before the city council in recent months. These include an agreement to remove sludge from the Savanna Wastewater Treatment Plant and switching health plans for city employees.

Mayor Tony Yarber said IMS did have the best scores from the City's evaluation committee, but two firms who scored higher had conflicts because the firms would have overseen work they previously committed.

Yarber has said hiring a program manager would be one of the last obstacles to overcome before spending from the 1-percent fund.

So far taxpayers have generated approximately $21 million from the 1-percent tax that voters approved through a referendum in early 2014. The first year of the tax added up to $15.1 million designated to begin repairs on some 2,000 miles of roadway, 881 miles of water main and 1,000 miles of sewer pipe.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2015/dec/16/23859/

Just as Sam Cooke predicted, a change is gonna come—to the Hinds County Board of Supervisors.

Last week, the board's two newest members—Darrel McQuirter of District 2 and Tony Greer of District 4—were officially sworn in and will sit for their first meeting on Monday, Nov. 18.

The additions represent a huge shift in power on the board of supervisors, where President Robert Graham and Vice President Kenneth Stokes have run the show for a long time. Along with ex-interim Supervisor Al Hunter, the three men could—and did—do whatever they wanted.

With the new dynamics, the question now becomes whether Graham and/or Stokes be deposed as board president and vice-president?

Either scenario is plausible.

Stokes was vocally anti-McQuirter during the Democratic primary for the District 2 seat, supporting challengers Willie Earl Robinson and, later, Hunter. Graham, although he did not publicly take sides in the special election, has locked horns with Hobson-Calhoun on a number of issues in the past, and she could seek payback by removing him from power.

Greer, a white Republican, is unlikely to get either of the board's top two slots, but will nonetheless be influential (perhaps even more so than his predecessor, Phil Fisher) because of his relationship with Democrat McQuirter.

The other interesting thing to watch will be how McQuirter's relationship develops with Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, who also endorsed Robinson in the primary. If there is any tension the men, they will have to bury the hatchet and find a way to work together as a large chunk of District 2 overlaps with the city.

The following delicious news release is printed here verbatim:

Brenham, Texas, November 24, 2015 – Blue Bell Ice Cream will be available in Louisiana and Jackson, Miss., and its surrounding areas beginning Dec. 21. This is the second-to-last phase in the company’s five phase market re-entry plan.

“We are excited to announce phase four and look forward to expanding our distribution area,” said Ricky Dickson, vice president of sales and marketing for Blue Bell. “Our customers have shown great patience over the past several months and we cannot thank them enough.”

To begin phase four, Blue Bell will bring back 115 of its employees who were put on paid furlough earlier this year bringing the total number to approximately 1000 company-wide.

November has been busy for Blue Bell. At the beginning of the month the company entered phase two, less than two weeks later it announced phase three will begin in mid-December and its Brenham, Texas, production facility began making ice cream again on Nov. 18.

“We have made great strides over the past month,” Dickson said. “Our next big step is the phase three entry on Dec. 14. With the reopening of our Brenham plant in November, we are able to build enough inventory to enter phases three and four before the end of this year. Also, this will allow us to expand our flavor selection.”

For now Blue Bell is producing five flavors of ice cream in the half gallon and pint sizes: Buttered Pecan, Cookies ’n Cream, Dutch Chocolate, Homemade Vanilla and The Great Divide. More flavors will be added in the future. 12-pak Homemade Vanilla Cups and 12-pak Homemade Vanilla and Dutch Chocolate Cups are also available in stores.

For more information and to find out where Blue Bell is available visit bluebell.com.

The following is a statement from Justice Kitchens' campaign:

Justice Jim Kitchens of Crystal Springs was the first candidate to file papers at the Secretary of State’s Office for the 2016 election when he qualified to seek election to a second term on the Mississippi Supreme Court this morning. Four seats on the nine-member court will be on ballots throughout the state for the November 8, 2016, election.

Although state judicial candidates run in nonpartisan elections, the Supreme Court contests will be on the same ballots as the presidential and congressional races.

Kitchens, a Copiah County resident, runs in the state’s Central District, which is comprised of twenty-two counties. This year two of the high court’s seats will be in play in the Northern District, and one in the southern District.

“Although there was no doubt in my mind that I would run again, it’s official now,” Kitchens said. “Today I filed my qualifying papers with the Secretary of State and paid the required fee. This was the earliest possible date on which I could sign up to run in the 2016 election. I am grateful for the encouragement I’ve received from everyday people and from attorneys in all segments of the Bar. I plan to continue devoting myself to making sound legal decisions on our state’s highest court because I am keenly aware that those decisions affect the lives of every man, woman, and child in Mississippi.”

A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Mississippi School of Law, Kitchens is a lifelong resident of Crystal Springs. Before seeking election to the Supreme Court, he practiced law for forty-one years, nine of which were spent as District Attorney for the 14th Circuit Court District. He and his wife, Mary T. Kitchens, have five adult children and eleven grandchildren, all of whom live in Crystal Springs. Mrs. Kitchens, a retired public school teacher, is the executive director of Mississippi’s Toughest Kids Foundation.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2016/jan/05/24034/

The following is a verbatim press release from the Office of the U.S. Attorney:

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today that William Kirk Montgomery, 25, of Puckett, Mississippi, Jonathan Kyle Gaskamp, 22, and Joseph Paul Dominick, 23, both of Brandon, Mississippi, were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Jackson for their roles in a federal hate crime conspiracy involving multiple racially motivated assaults, culminating in the death of James Craig Anderson, an African-American man, in the summer of 2011. Montgomery was sentenced to 234 months; Gaskamp was sentenced to 48 months; and Dominick was sentenced to 48 months.

Montgomery had previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act for his role in the death-resulting assault of Anderson, 47, of Jackson, Mississippi. Gaskamp previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act for his role in the conspiracy and in a violent assault of an unidentified African-American man near a golf course in the spring of 2011. Dominick pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for his role. A restitution hearing will be set for a later date.

“The Justice Department will always fight to hold accountable those who commit racially motivated assaults,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division. “We hope that the prosecution of those responsible for this horrific crime will help provide some closure to the victim’s family and to the larger community affected by this heinous crime.”

“Violence fueled by hate spreads fear and intimidation throughout our community,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis of the Southern District of Mississippi. “The prison sentences today make clear that our community will not tolerate hate, and individuals who commit such despicable crimes will be brought to justice.”

“The guilty pleas and resulting sentences handed down today are the result of the tremendous efforts by men and women in law enforcement who worked on this case,” said Special Agent in Charge Donald Alway of the FBI in Mississippi. “The FBI takes very seriously its responsibility to protect the civil rights of all Americans, and remains committed to its pursuit of justice for anyone who is deprived of those rights."

In prior court hearings, the defendants had admitted that beginning in the spring of 2011, they and others conspired with one another to harass and assault African Americans in and around Jackson. On numerous occasions, the co-conspirators used dangerous weapons, including beer bottles, sling shots and motor vehicles, to cause, and attempt to cause, bodily injury to African Americans. They would specifically target African Americans they believed to be homeless or under the influence of alcohol because they believed that such individuals would be less likely to report an assault. The co-conspirators would often boast about these racially motivated assaults.

Montgomery admitted his presence and participation in numerous racially motivated assaults, …

From the office of Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba: "After two (2) consecutive days of clear water sampling, the citywide precautionary boil water notice has been lifted. The precautionary advisory only affected customers on the City of Jackson Surface Water System."

Jackson Zoo officials have announced that a pack of feral dogs killed a gazelle and five springbok. Two geese were also hurt. The following is a verbatim description of the incident from the zoo:

Zoo staff discovered the animals had been attacked early Friday morning, and began to take measures of contacting Animal Control and catching the dogs before they attacked any other animals or escaped off property. The Zoo captured four of the five feral dogs believed to be involved in the accident. One dog escaped the premises; along with another dog spotted in the adjoining cemetery, not presently linked to the attack. None of the five medium size mixed breeds were wearing a collar for identification.

"This is a sad day, and the hardest thing about it is it didn't have to happen. The entire zoo's animal care staff work very hard to give the best care to the collection of animals here at the zoo, and to have them killed this way is tragic,” Zoo Director Beth Poff said, “There are people out there who have not taken responsibility for their dogs, and unfortunately we all have to suffer the consequences."

The Zoo lost 5 Springbok and 1 Addra Gazelle from its’ African Savannah area. Both species are part of antelope-gazelle family found in parts of Africa. The two spur-winged geese that were injured have been taken to the Zoo’s Animal Hospital for care.

Through a preliminary investigation there has not been a point of entry found on the fence line. The investigation continues as to where the dogs entered and one dog escaped the premises. The fence line is walked weekly to check for openings where dogs or other predators could enter.

The Zoo has 24-hour security, which has called Animal Control for dog sightings on zoo property eight times in the last five months, only three dogs have been captured from these calls.

Jackson Zoo staff continues to be vigilant in sighting loose dogs and monitoring the containment fences that surround the property. The zoo has contacted the City of Jackson today for assistance in containment, especially around possible drainage areas under the fence line.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2015/dec/18/23879/

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is stepping down, National Public Radio is reporting.

Holder is the nation's first African American AG and one of the longest-tenured members of first-black-President Barack Obama's cabinet.

According to NPR: "Two sources familiar with the decision tell NPR that Holder, 63, intends to leave the Justice Department as soon as his successor is confirmed, a process that could run through 2014 and even into next year. A former U.S. government official says Holder has been increasingly "adamant" about his desire to leave soon for fear he otherwise could be locked in to stay for much of the rest of President Obama's second term."

Holder shepherded the USDOJ through rocky times and made civil-rights enforcement a hallmark of his tenure.

Under Holder, several issues and cases out of Mississippi garnered national prominence.

In March 2012, Deryl Dedmon and two co-conspirators from Rankin County became the first individuals charged under a 2009 federal hate-crime law for the murder of James Craig Anderson, a black man from Jackson.

The case of Shelby County, Ala. v. Holder challenged the federal Voting Rights Act, which required a number of states that had histories with racial discrimination in voting. The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Shelby cleared the way for several states, including Mississippi, to implement voter-ID laws.

Civil-rights groups had argued, and Holder agreed, that voter ID represented an unconstitutional barrier to exercising voting rights. Mississippi's voter ID law, designed to stop election fraud, was first used in the June 2014 U.S. Senate primary, which resulted in multiple allegations of vote fraud that have yet to be resolved.

Charles Barbour