Jackson Free Press

The city's new water billing system, part of the controversial $91 million Siemens contract, is scheduled to go live at the end of August.

According to a city press release: "Residents will soon experience updates to their water billing as part of comprehensive upgrades the City of Jackson has initiated with Siemens through its water infrastructure improvement project. The Customer Care and Billing System (CC&B) implementation will provide the City with a modern software platform and enhanced management tools that will greatly improve the customer experience."

The new system should increase "efficiency of meter reading and water billing, eventual elimination of the need for estimated bills, and a reduced need for personnel to enter property" and "will also be able to track usage patterns, allowing the city to potentially detect leaks on a property through abnormal usage patterns. Implementation of the new system will occur in two phases."

Three key changes become effective Monday, August 31:

· Water bills will be sent MONTHLY (instead of every other month) for more timely information and more efficient budget management. Payments will be due on a monthly basis and bills paid through an automatic bank draft will be drafted every month.

· Customers will have a NEW ACCOUNT NUMBER that will need to be used for payment to be processed.

· The new bill format will be EASIER TO READ and provide more detailed account information. During the initial installation period for the CC&B, the City may need to estimate bills every other month as it verifies the system upgrade. The estimated bills will be based on an average of actual consumption from prior billing periods, and will be identified on the bill with the abbreviation (EST) immediately after the reading. Once implementation is complete, bills will begin moving to the monthly cycle and eventually will be based on actual meter reads/consumption each month.

The city continued: "Phase Two of the CC&B implementation is expected in late 2015, and will involve rolling out the system’s full capabilities so customers can experience the complete benefits of the system. This includes the ability to view water usage online, online payment options, and the ability to consolidate irrigation and residential water bills. Customers will be notified when these features are activated."

For more information on the CC&B implementation and the water infrastructure improvement project, please visit: www.jacksonms.gov/water. Customers with specific concerns about their bill should contact the City’s Water and Sewer Business Administration Office at 601-960-2000.

Hinds County District 2 Supervisor Doug Anderson has resigned from the board.

Anderson, who has been in poor health since suffering two small strokes over the summer, often missed board meetings and rarely spoke when he did attend.

A former state lawmaker in the Mississippi House and Senate, Anderson joined the board in 1993.

The board members can appoint a temporary replacement until a special election can be held next fall.

Verbatim statement from the US DOJ:

MISSISSIPPI CORPORATION PLEADS GUILTY AND AGREES TO $ 1 MILLION FINE FOR ILLEGALLY FILLING PROTECTED WETLANDS

WASHINGTON – Mississippi-based Hancock County Land LLC (HCL) pleaded guilty today to the unpermitted filling of wetlands near Bay St. Louis, Miss., and agreed to pay a $1 million fine and take remedial measures for two felony violations of the Clean Water Act, announced Assistant Attorney General Ignacia S. Moreno of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi Gregory K. Davis. HCL admitted causing the unauthorized excavation and filling of wetlands on a 1,710 acre parcel of undeveloped property in Hancock County, west of the intersection of Route 603 and Interstate 10.

According to the charges filed in federal court in Jackson, Miss., when HCL purchased the property, it had been informed by a wetland expert that as much as 80 percent of its land was federally protected wetland connected by streams and bayous to the Gulf of Mexico and, therefore, that the property could not be developed without a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Such permits typically require that developers protect and preserve other wetlands to compensate for those they are permitted to fill and destroy.

The charges allege that in spite of additional notice of the prohibition against filling and draining wetlands without authorization, HCL, principally through its minority owner /general contractor, hired an excavation contractor to trench, drain and fill large portions of the property to lower the water table and thus to destroy the wetland that would otherwise have been an impediment to commercial development. In pleading guilty, HCL admitted that it knowingly ditched, drained and filled wetlands at multiple locations on the Hancock County property without having obtained a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers as required under the Clean Water Act.

It is a felony under the Clean Water Act for any person knowingly to discharge pollutants into waters of the United States, including wetlands, without a permit. A corporation convicted of this offense is subject to a penalty of not more than $500,000 per count.

HCL agreed and was ordered to pay to the federal government a total penalty of $1 million ($500,000 for each of the two counts). HCL also agreed and was ordered by the court to restore and preserve the damaged wetlands as provided in separate agreements HCL reached with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a citizen group, the Gulf Restoration Network. The agreements require HCL to re-grade and then re-plant, with appropriate native vegetation, the wetland area it excavated and filled and donate approximately 272 acres of the southwest quadrant of its property to the Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain to be preserved in perpetuity. HCL is also required to fund its management and maintenance, to pay $100,000 toward the litigation costs of the Gulf Restoratio

For two big upcoming home games, Jackson State is cutting ticket prices for Jackson Public Schools employees and students as well as other JSU b-ball fans.

The Division of Athletics will offer discounted general admission ticket prices of $5 for JPS employees and students for the 5:30 p.m. Jan. 10 game with Alcorn State University and the 7:30 p.m. Jan. 12 game with Southern University.

General admission for the games will be $7; regular ticket prices are $15. Children age 5 and under get in free.

"I've not resigned and not received a termination letter," June Hardwick, a Jackson municipal judge, told the Jackson Free Press this afternoon.

Hardwick, whom Mayor Chokwe Lumumba appointed to a judgeship in 2013, was responding to rumors on a local blog that she had stepped down from her post last week.

Fueling the speculation that Mayor Tony Yarber, who has been cleaning house of many of the late mayor's appointments, is the fact that two municipal court appointees are up for nomination on tonight's city council—Gerald Mumford and Bob Waller.

The city's website lists six municipal judges, including Waller. Hardwick's name does not appear on the list, but it's unclear when the site was last updated.

Things have been tense between Hardwick, a former Hinds County public defender, and Yarber since May when Hardwick set a bond for a murder suspect that Yarber felt was too low. Yarber told WJTV that he would considering removing judges who weren't tough enough on violent criminals.

"We intend on ensuring that if you sit in a municipal judge seat in this city then the expectation is that you will value the lives and the families of those people who are affected by violent crimes by setting a bond that is appropriate in terms of that crime," Yarber told WJTV, "and $50,000 bond for a life that was taken...we're not tolerating that."

In that case, a 19-year-old named Wilber Clay was arrested for the Mother's Day shooting death of 29-year-old Ebony Hervey.

Yarber demurred when another WJTV reporter asked about the situation with Hardwick earlier today.

"I'm focused on the two (people) we have nominated," Yarber said.

The city code briefly talks about the rules of judicial appointments — "at the time provided for the appointment of other officers, not more than three municipal judges shall be appointed by the mayor and confirmed by an affirmative vote of a majority of the council present and voting" — but also stops short of stating specific circumstances for removing them from the bench.

In the meantime, despite all the consternation over Clay's bail being insufficiently tough, records from the Hinds County Sheriff's Office shows that Clay remains incarcerated in the Raymond Detention Center.

Hardwick is scheduled to sit on the bench Wednesday afternoon.

The following is a verbatim press release about the death of former First Lady Carroll Waller. She was the mother of Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller:

Former Mississippi First Lady Ava Carroll Overton Waller, 87, of Jackson, died Tuesday, October 28, at Manhattan Nursing Home after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s. Funeral services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday, October 31, 2014, at First Baptist Church, Jackson. Visitation will be in the Fellowship Hall of the church from 11 a.m. until the funeral service that day.

Carroll Waller was the widow of former Mississippi Governor William L. (Bill) Waller. They were married for 61 years.

The former Mississippi First Lady leaves a legacy of historic preservation. She spearheaded efforts to restore the Governor’s Mansion. The executive residence, built in 1842, had fallen into such disrepair that former Gov. John Bell Williams and his family moved out in 1971. Gov. Waller was in office 1972-1976. During that time, Carroll Waller led efforts for the architecturally correct restoration of the Governor’s Mansion and the construction of the neoclassical gardens which surround the Mansion. Although the Waller family lived in the executive residence for only a few months, their efforts preserved the landmark for the enjoyment of future generations.

Carroll Waller spearheaded efforts to have the Mansion designated a National Historical Landmark, which was the second executive residence in the nation so designated. She also provided leadership for the purchase and restoration of the historic Manship House in Jackson. For these projects, she received an Award of Merit from the Mississippi Historical Society in 1980. Carroll and Dr. David Sansing co-authored the book The History of the Mississippi Governor’s Mansion, with the proceeds used for the upkeep of the Governor’s Mansion.

As First Lady, Carroll was also instrumental in securing passage of legislation which designated Mississippi’s state animal as the white-tailed deer; a state fish, the large-mouthed bass; a state water mammal, the porpoise; a state sea shell, the oyster; and a state water fowl, the wood duck. At her request, a beautiful red rose known as the Mississippi Rose was hybridized for the state. The Carroll Waller Camellia was hybridized especially for her. These and native plants of distinction are part of the landscape of the Mansion grounds.

She gave leadership to the creation of a learning resources system in the Department of Education, including provisions for the evaluation of all children suspected of having learning disabilities. She served as National Library Week chairman and sponsored the Mississippi Library Commission’s bicentennial project, the collecting of autographed books by Mississippi authors for the Mansion. She served as chairman for numerous organizations across the state. Her service included two five-year terms on the Mississippi Arts Commission, Keep Mississippi Beautiful Committee, Board of the Municipal Art Gallery, the Board of the Mississippi Historical Society, the Board of Bookfriends of the University Press, and Regent of the D.A.R. Rebecca Cravat Chapter of Jackson. She was a former member …

Here's a list of Chokwe Lumumba's top campaign donors* this year, over the past two reporting cycles:

Barry W. Howard ($10,000) - Madison, Miss. Howard has given to at least one Democratic candidate for Mississippi statewide office, Gary Anderson, who ran for insurance commissioner in 2007.

Chokwe Lumumba ($6,000) - Jackson, Miss. Lumumba, the sitting Democratic Ward 2 councilman, gave himself money on two separate occasions. One sum totaled $3,000; the other $1,500. Lumumba is an attorney who has represented a number of high-profile clients and has a long and sometimes controversial history in civil rights and law.

Adekuule Adekuubi ($5,000) -- Mississippi The name that shows up on the most recent campaign finance report appears to be a misspelling of Adekunle Adekunbi, vice president of business development for Garrett Enterprises Consolidated, the company owned by Jackson developer Socrates Garrett.

John Burge ($3,000) - N/A

Burk-Kleinpeter Inc. ($2,000) -- Baton Rouge, La. Its website states: "Burk-Kleinpeter, Inc. opened its Jackson office in 2012 to serve the expanding Jackson area market as well as to provide services to the Mississippi Dept. of Transportation and other state agencies." With Mississippi offices Ocean Springs and Jackson eight total branches in Louisiana and Alabama Baton Rouge-based engineering consulting firm, Burk-Kleinpeter is an equal-opportunity political donor. On the federal level, the firm has given to the election campaigns of Sen. David Vitter and former Rep. William Jefferson, convicted on federal bribery charges in 2009. The firm, has also been in state races where the company operates, giving $29,700 total since 1998. In Mississippi, Burk-Kleinpeter or its principals, William Burk and George Kleinpeter, has in recent years contributed to Gov. Phil Bryant, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves

Dr. Demitri Marshall ($2,000) - Port Gibson, Miss. In 2011, a Houston grand jury indicted Marshall for nonpayment of child support and related medical expenses a child who resides in Texas. The one-count indictment charged Marshall with failing to pay more than $10,000 in child support and medical expenses ordered by a Harris County family district court dating back to 1997.

Moore's Auto Sales ($1,300) - Jackson, Miss. Moore's bills itself as "the finest luxury vehicles in metro Jackson." A search of the Mississippi secretary of state's website yielded no results for the business.

New England Contractors LLC ($1,300) - Jackson, Miss. Formerly known as East Parke Properties is listed as a general contractor based in Jackson. Abby G. Robinson, the registered agent for the company, secretary of state records show.

*Note: Lumumba also collected $300 on May 7, 2013 from a person listed only as "Anonymous Donor." Gerald McWorter and Judith Green whose addresses are listed as "PayPal" gave $1,000 and $500, respectively.

Read more about Councilman Lumumba: jfp.ms/chokwelumumba.

Christopher Epps, the long-tenured commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections has resigned effective today.

The letter of resignation he submitted to Gov. Phil Bryant did not state a reason for the unexpected departure nor has MDOC made one public.

The Clarion-Ledger cites "multiple sources" who confirm the existence of a federal probe, but the newspaper does not specify whether Epps is the subject of the investigation.

Epps had been the longest serving prison chief in state history.

Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove first appointed Epps to lead the agency in 2002; two subsequent Republican governors, Haley Barbour and Phil Bryant, kept Epps in place.

MDOC is searching for an interim commissioner.

Barely a full two months after taking over as chairman of the Mississippi Parole Board, Doug Davis is leaving for a new job as Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann's chief-of-staff.

Davis was appointed to the parole board earlier this year and ascended to the chairmanship on Aug. 1. He replaced Malcolm McMillin -- Hinds County's former sheriff -- who spent about 15 months as head of the parole board before retiring.

Through a news release, Hosemann said: “Doug has long served the citizens of the State of Mississippi ... No doubt his legislative experience, extensive background in policy, and commitment to our State will be an asset to our Agency."

Davis, a former state senator from DeSoto County, was getting paid $70,000 per year to run the parole board.

Gov. Phil Bryant appointed current board member Steven Pickett as the new chairman. Filling Pickett's slot will be Pearl police officer Butch Townsend.

For the longest time, even though the alcohol content of New Belgium Brewing Co.'s flagship beer, Fat Tire Amber Ale, was low enough to be sold under Mississippi's draconian limits for beer, the company chose not to offer Fat Tire in the Magnolia State.

If they couldn't sell all their beers, they wouldn't sell any of them, the thinking went.

Two years ago, though, the Mississippi Legislature raised the limit on beer, resulting in a flood of flavorful new varieties to taps and supermarket aisles. Now, Fort Collins, Colo.-based New Belgium is expanding into central Mississippi, Capital City Beverages Inc. recently announced.

True to the brewers' wish, Cap City posted on Facebook, that they are bringing New Belgium's entire portfolio of beers, which includes Fat Tire, Ranger IPA, Abbey and Trippel, starting in early March.

Two days after a first-place finish in the Democratic primary for Hinds County District 4 supervisor, Jerry Hopkins has bowed out of the race.

On Tuesday, Hopkins edged out James "Lap" Baker, 353 votes to Baker's 316, setting up an Oct. 8 runoff.

This afternoon, Hinds County Democratic Executive Committee chairwoman Jacqueline Amos-Norris told the Jackson Free Press that Hopkins dropped out of the race because "he looked at the numbers" and didn't like his chances.

As a result, third-place finisher Mike Maldonado, who got 160 votes, will face Baker in the runoff. The winner of that race will face Republican Tony Greer in the November general election.

In District 2, Darrel McQuirter will square off against Willie Earl Robinson in a Democratic runoff Oct. 8. Both men are department heads for Hinds County. McQuirter oversees planning and zoning, Robinson the county's central repair division.

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves will make a donation to a Mississippi charity in the amount his political campaign received from indicted Rankin County businessman Cecil McCrory.

McCrory was indicted last week along with former Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps in an alleged bribery and kickback scheme.

A former Rankin County Republican lawmaker turned businessman specializing in corrections consulting, McCrory has donated $1,500 to Reeves over the years. Reeves will donate that amount to the Girl Scouts of Greater Mississippi, his office said today. McCrory also contributed at least $1,300 to Gov. Phil Bryant, who told the Associated Press that he would give that sum to the Salvation Army.

Several other Republican elected officials have received similar donations from McCrory, including Public Service Commissioner Lynn Posey, Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall, Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney. Former Gov. Haley Barbour and former Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck also received contributions from McCrory as well.

A search of state campaign-finance records show that Epps made two contributions totaling $225 to Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, who appointed Epps to MDOC's top post in 2003.

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/

It’s unclear exactly how Stephen Gene Davenport died, but what is clear is that more happened than authorities have publicly disclosed.

Davenport died on April 21 after an apparent scuffle with deputies from the Lauderdale County sheriff's department.

Sheriff Billy Sollie told media outlets two of his deputies were also injured.

"The individual was placed in restraints. The individual became unresponsive," Sollie told WTOK. "Metro Ambulance was contacted, and he was transported to a local hospital where treatment was rendered. But he passed away at a local hospital."

The news station reported that Davenport, 40, and another man were fighting when deputies arrived and tried to intervene.

WTOK also reported that Davenport's mother said he fought with drug addiction and had no ill will toward the police.

Davenport's death came one week after Freddie Gray died while in police custody in Baltimore.

Baltimore Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said Gray died from a severe spinal cord injury.

"What we don't know, and what we need to get to, is how that injury occurred," Rodriguez said in a press conference.

Hopefully, the same is true of the Davenport case.

The state of Mississippi is moving closer to carrying out the first execution of 2013.

The Mississippi State Supreme Court denied today Willie Jerome Manning's requests for a rehearing and a stay of execution. Manning wants DNA tests that were not available at the time of his conviction in the early 1990s. Manning received the death penalty for the December 1992 killings of two Mississippi State University students, Tiffany Miller and Jon Steckler.

Manning has maintained his innocence. This Mississippi Innocence Project filed a brief in support of Manning. Innocence Projects usually don't get involved with cases that lack compelling evidence of innocence. Of the seven people Innocence Project helped exonerate, six of them were freed because their DNA was absent from the scene of the crime, the brief states.

In addition to the DNA request, Manning's attorney said one of the prosecution's jury-selection tactics in Manning's trial was discriminatory. Voisin said some candidates listed publications such as Jet and Ebony magazines on a jury questionnaire. Prosecutors dismissed some of the potentials because they read liberal publications.

In 2012, Mississippi tied with Arizona and Oklahoma for second-most executions carried out in the United States, with six in each state. Texas led the nation with 15 executions in 2012. Manning is scheduled to be executed May 7 at Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman.

The Hinds County Republican Party said it will also hold a primary election for two seats on the Board of Supervisors.

The county GOP primary will take place Sept. 24 with a runoff on Oct. 8 if necessary. Candidates must qualify by submitting a qualifying form and $15 fee by Friday, July 26 in either the Jackson or Raymond courthouses. The general election is Nov. 5 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.

Republicans decided to hold a primary only after county Democrats announced plans for primary yesterday, said Hinds County Republican Party Chairman Pete Perry in a statement. Perry said special elections are typically nonpartisan.

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.

Walker's appointment also gives all five board seats to African Americans, which has drawn criticism from whites and Republicans because Hinds County's white minority is currently with representation on the board.

The District 4 seat is considered safe for Republicans.

For the second time in two days, Chokwe A. Lumumba received a show of support for his stated commitment to women's issues.

Yesterday, attorney Regina Quinn, who competed in the April 8 special election, endorsed Lumumba's candidacy. She said she met with Lumumba and his rival, Ward 6 Councilman Tony Yarber, and felt that Lumumba had a deeper understanding of challenges women face. Gender-based pay inequity, she said, hurts families and, ultimately, the economy. Lumumba has proposed giving female city workers equal pay for equal work.

Lumumba said he would look to Ms. Quinn as an advisor and said he wanted women to have the same opportunities for city jobs, including top appointments.

Today, another group of women also announced their support of Lumumba.

"You can't possibly (support) a people's platform if you're not ready to run on a women's platform," he said today.

He credited his late mother, Nubia, with helping shape his attitudes toward women.

"If you knew my mother, you would know where my fire truly comes from," he said.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2014/apr/18/17054/

Mississippi may be in the midst of the nation's slimiest political contest, the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

Now, a new study purports that Mississippi is indeed the crookedest state in the union. Researchers at Indiana University and University of Hong Kong "studied more than 25,000 convictions of public officials for violation of federal corruption laws between 1976 and 2008 as well as patterns in state spending to develop a corruption index that estimates the most and least corrupt states in the union."

The full article is not publicly available, but based on the study's methods, Mississippi tops of the corruption list—surpassing even Illinois where two of the last three governors served time in federal prison on corruption charges—whose Top 10 is full of other southern state:

1. Mississippi
2. Louisiana
3. Tennessee
4. Illinois
5. Pennsylvania
6. Alabama
7. Alaska
8. South Dakota
9. Kentucky
10. Florida

It should be noted that by some other measures, Mississippi has one of the nation's lowest "corruption risks," thanks to a strong state auditor and insurance commissioner, both of whom are elected in Mississippi, unlike in some other states.

A campaign has several parts. First, especially, if you're an unknown candidate, you have to tell your story. Then, you have to talk about your big ideas. After that, you have to convince people that you're the best person to put those ideas into action.

The following is a press release from the office of Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves:

JACKSON – One day after nearly half of Senate Democrats joined all Senate Republicans in passing the largest tax cut in state history, House Democrats voted almost unanimously to kill the same bill.

“Fifty-two House Democrats believe they can spend your money better than the 1.23 million Mississippians that this bill would have benefited,” Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves said. “The Senate passed this bill in a large, bipartisan vote in an effort to simplify the tax code and encourage long-term economic growth. Hopefully, a few House Democrats will hear the cries of the people back home that need a little more money in their pockets to provide for their families.”

On Tuesday, the Senate voted 40-11 to amend House Bill 1629 to include additional income tax cuts proposed by Speaker Philip Gunn plus relief for small businesses proposed under Lt. Gov. Reeves’ Taxpayer Pay Raise Act.

The $555 million tax relief plan earned praise from Americans for Tax Reform. It would have:

· Eliminated the 3 percent and 4 percent tax brackets levied on income, · Reduced the overall tax burden on small business owners, and · Removed the investment penalty, or franchise tax, on businesses’ property and capital.

Eliminating the franchise tax alone would have grown the state’s GDP by $282 million and added 3,514 jobs within 10 years, according to a Mississippi State University study.