Jackson Free Press

The Mississippi State Supreme Court has denied Attorney General Jim Hood's request for an explanation of their March decision in the case of Michelle Byrom, Tom Freeland of the North Mississippi Commenter reports.

Byrom had been on a death row for participating in the murder of her abusive husband. However, evidence came to light that raised strong doubts about the extent of Byrom's participation in the crime and the state's high court declined to schedule her execution and ordered a new trial with a new judge.

Hood, a former prosecutor and the state's only statewide Democratic official, blew a gasket and demanded that justices explain their rationale.

Not only did justices not bend to Hood's request on the Byrom case, just for good measure they also threw out the death sentence of a man named Roger Lee Gillett and ordered him re-sentenced.

The Associated Press reports: "Gillett was convicted in 2007 in Forrest County on two counts of capital murder for his role in the deaths of a Hattiesburg couple and the transporting of their bodies to Kansas in a freezer. While in custody in Kansas, he attempted to escape. That crime was one of the aggravating factors prosecutors presented jurors to support the death penalty.

"The Supreme Court, in its 6-3 decision Thursday, says not every escape is considered a crime of violence under Kansas law. Therefore, wrote Justice Ann Lamar, the Kansas crime cannot be used to support a death sentence in Mississippi."

The Mississippi State Supreme Court has granted a stay of execution for death row inmate Willie Jerome Manning. Manning was scheduled to be put to death this evening at 6 p.m. at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.

Manning, accused of killing two people in Oktibbeha County in 1992, has maintained he is innocent and has been fighting to clear his name. Since last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has twice admitted to errors in Manning's original trial, stating that investigators overstated the evidence against Manning.

Prosecutors said Manning had been in possession of items that belonged to the victims and that bullets from Manning's gun matched bullets recovered from the victims' bodies. On May 6, the FBI said in a letter: “The science regarding firearms examinations does not permit examiner testimony that a specific gun fired a specific bullet to the exclusion of all other guns in the world.”

In a letter to Oktibbeha County District Attorney Forrest Allgood, who prosecuted Manning, U.S. Justice Department officials stated last week "that testimony containing erroneous statements regarding microscopic hair comparison analysis was used" in Manning's case.

The letter, which went to Manning's lawyer and the Mississippi Innocence Project, which is monitoring the case, goes on to say that information the FBI presented in its testimony "exceeded the limits of science, and was, therefore, invalid." The FBI offered to perform the mitochondrial DNA testing.

Manning has always said he did not commit the crime; in fact, he says he was at a club on the night of the murders. For years, he's been trying to convince the state to test DNA from the crime scene. As gruesome as the murders were, there should be lots of biological material to test. One of the victims, Tiffany Miller, was shot twice in the face at close range. One leg was out of her pants and underwear, and her shirt was pulled up. Her boyfriend John Steckler's body had abrasions that occurred before he died, and he was shot once in the back of the head. A set of car tracks had gone through the puddles of blood and over Steckler's body.

One of the issues Manning raised in his appeal is that Allgood illegally kept African Americans off Manning's jury by dismissing potential jurors who said they read African American magazines. David Voisin, Manning's attorney, said if approved, the testing could take several weeks, depending on which lab is used.

On May 3, at the Mississippi Capitol, death-penalty opponents and Manning supporters called on Gov. Phil Bryant to stop the execution. The Mississippi Innocence Project filed a brief in support of Manning this week. Kennedy Brewer, who was exonerated in 2008 with DNA tests after being convicted and sentenced to death for killing his girlfriend's young daughter, also wrote Bryant asking to give Manning the same opportunity to clear his name that Kennedy received.

Update: Statment from Attorney General Jim Hood

I am sorry that the victims’ families will have to continue to …

Sharon Grisham-Stewart, the Hinds County coroner, told the Jackson Free Press this afternoon that she is not planning an autopsy for the late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba.

Lumumba died Tuesday, Feb. 25, of what Grisham-Stewart has said were "natural causes," seven months into his first term as mayor of Jackson.

Lumumba, who was 66 at the time of his death, had several bouts with illness over the years, including pneumonia that put him in the hospital in 2012 and prostate cancer several years ago.

It's not clear whether Lumumba's family will seek a private autopsy. Lumumba's services are scheduled for Saturday, March 8 at 11 a.m. at the Jackson Convention Center. There will be a wake on Friday, March 7 at City Hall, according to administration officials.

Lumumba died at St. Dominic's Hospital at the age of 66 with his long-time partner, Gloria Elmore, at his side.

The city has made its picks to the 1-percent sales-tax commission.

City officials had requested an opinion from the Mississippi attorney general's office on whether members of the city council could sit on the commission. It's unclear whether than opinion has come back.

In any case, the city's picks include Yarber along with James Anderson, an attorney for the city of Jackson, and Dr. Charles Williams, interim director of the city's public works department. Jackson is advertising for a permanent public works director.

“Ninety percent of Jackson citizens decided on Jan. 14 they wanted better streets and an improved water and sewer system,” Yarber said in a press release. “We’re excited to put forth these appointments to the commission so citizens will finally have the opportunity to see their 1 percent sales tax go to work for them.”

The tax was expected to generate about $15 million a year for infrastructure upgrades, but a recent change in state law is likely to reduce that sum.

In a unanimous and completely unsurprising move, the Mississippi Republican Central Committee rejected the federal Affordable Care Act, which Congress passed three years ago.

The state GOP said it was supporting the positions of the state's Three Tops--Gov. Phil Bryant, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and Speaker Philip Gunn--in resisting the implementation of the ACA as well as the expansion of Medicaid.

“Our party is unified and supports the prudent and careful approach advocated by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Speaker. At a time when we learn more every day about improper government intrusion into the lives of ordinary citizens, it defies logic to embrace an expansion of that intrusion,” MSGOP Chairman Joe Nosef said through a press release.

Of course, Obamacare is being implemented anyway. Last summer's U.S. Supreme Court decision assured that the ACA, including its controversial individual mandate provision, would be the law of the land even if it lets states opt out Medicaid expansions, which the architects of the law hoped would pay for a big chunk.

Nosef is right on one point, though: Mississippi Republicans have been unified in saying they reject Obamacare.

Emphasis on saying.

Most Mississippi state Republicans have stated their opposition to the federal health law, but there is evidence that the party's armor is starting to chink, most notably Sen. Billy Hudson, R-Hattiesburg's recent coming out in favor of expanding Medicaid.

Meanwhile, Republican congressmen are quietly soliciting Obamacare funds for a Rankin County health clinic.

There'll be more about that in tomorrow's paper.

Forget about making Mississippi healthier. Forget about the cost to taxpayers. The fight over Medicaid in Mississippi is turning into an all-out partisan turf war.

The latest salvo came yesterday, when Democratic Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood issued an opinion stating that the governor cannot lawfully run the Medicaid program if the Legislature fails to reauthorize the program.

At odds over whether the state should expand Medicaid, lawmakers couldn't come to a consensus on renewing Medicaid before the legislative session ended this spring, leaving the future of the program up in the air.

Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, who opposes Medicaid expansion, has said that if Democrats, who support the expansion and have asked for legislative debate on the subject, continue standing in the way of Medicaid's reauthorization that he would run the program himself.

In recent weeks, legislative Republicans and the Mississippi Republican Party have blitzed the Internet and social media with anti-Obamacare messages ahead of the July 1 Medicaid deadline. The MS GOP has started an online petition against Obamacare while Speaker Philip Gunn, a Clinton Republican, has written op-eds for several local newspapers and blogs.

Hood's opinion this week relies on a similar opinion Hood issued in 2009, which states that "a governor cannot create or re-create a state agency that has been repealed by operation of law, nor can a governor divert funds which may be appropriated to a statutorily repealed agency to some other agency."

The response from Bryant's office was terse. Bryant's spokesman, Mick Bullock, responded to Hood in an email to the Associated Press: "That's all it is, his opinion."

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I was just at the Hinds County Circuit Clerk's doing research for a story , and a couple of employees were talking about a mini-plague of serpents in the basement office.

This week, employees have stumbled across five earth snakes in the file room, Circuit Clerk Barbara Dunn said. Earth snakes are nonvenomous and grow up to around 8 inches. Employees said they have been unable to ascertain how the asps are getting in the building.

The thing that really made my skin crawl, though, was being charged $1 per page to make copies. Mississippi has some of the nation's worst open-records laws, which makes a lot of documents public but lets government agencies charge whatever they want. What stung the most was that I had to make the copies myself, and still had to fork out $84 for a pretty skimpy stack of paper (pictured).

Where's Nick Fury when you need him?

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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.

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The Jackson Police Department announced an arrest this afternoon in the death of pro fisherman Jimmy Johnson. A Texas native, Johnson was only passing through Jackson to participate in a fishing tournament when he was shot and killed at a motel Sunday.

Rightly, there has been an outpouring of support for Johnson and his family over the past few days. And, also rightly so, there has been a fair amount of media coverage of Johnson's murder and the ensuing investigation. With today's news from JPD that a 17-year-old has been charged in connection to Johnson's death, local news and social media is once again abuzz.

The Clarion-Ledger has had three or four stories about the incident tacked to its front page all day while the comment sections of various news orgs are blowing up with comments about Johnson's death says about and means for progress in Jackson.

Johnson's was the 40th homicide in the city of Jackson this year, police records show. Yet, few have generated as much interest as the Johnson killing. There was the killing of William "Nod" Brown in September, which most people seem happy chalking up to the simple consequences of ghetto violence. And Quardious Thomas, whose cause of death was ruled self-defense because a homeowner claims Thomas was breaking into his unoccupied car.

So why does Jackson media seem to care so much more about Jimmy Johnson...

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Than William Brown?

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The office of state Attorney General Jim Hood is asking the Mississippi Supreme Court to "enter a reasoned opinion stating the basis the reversal of the conviction of capital murder and sentence" of Michelle Byrom.

Byrom was convicted and sentenced to death for allegedly conspiring to hire a hit man to kill her husband in 1999. However, after several pieces of information Byrom's jury never saw came to light, including several alleged confessions from Byrom's son who stated his mother was not involved with the murder, the state's high court this week reversed her sentenced and gave her a new trial with a new judge.

In the motion, special assistant to the AG Marvin White Jr. writes that state and federal courts have already dispensed with each of Byrom's claims.

"Each and every claim that Byrom presented to this Court had been addressed on the merits either by this Court or the federal courts on habeas corpus review," White's motion states.

White writes that there is "an absolute need to know" the reasoning behind the Byrom decision "so as to avoid the same errors at the new trial."

"The State would assert that the Court has embarked on an unprecedented course of action that leaves everyone questioning why," the motion states.

It goes to say: "… We are left only to speculate at the Court’s reasoning. This is not the manner in which cases are reversed. Without any guidance from this Court, the State is doomed to repeat the presumed errors upon which this conviction was reversed.

"With all due respect the State would respectfully submit that the Court should stay the proceedings in this case until such time that a reasoned written opinion issues from the Court stating the basis for the reversal of this death penalty conviction that has survived all previous challenges in this Court and the Federal courts."

Mississippi House Democrats didn't quite get the Medicaid expansion they wanted, but are declaring victory in sort of getting a debate on the subject.

In the end, after a couple of attempts to expand ways for more citizens to receive health insurance coverage, a $841 million Medicaid appropriation bill passed overwhelmingly, 115-1.

After the Legislature adjourned this spring without renewing the existing Medicaid program, Gov. Phil Bryant called a special session this week for lawmakers to reauthorize and fund Medicaid in its current form.

Democrats repeatedly blocked efforts to reauthorize Medicaid to force a floor debate on the issue of growing the Medicaid rolls to include 330,000 more people.

Despite the narrow scope of Bryant's special session call that was limited to re-authorization and funding of the existing Medicaid program, House Democrats offered amendments to expand Medicaid. When the House debated House Bill 1, which establishes the Division of Medicaid, Democrats tried to amend the bill to create a state-based health-care exchange. The federal government rejected Mississippi's plan for an exchange, meaning that the feds will will create one on the state's behalf.

Democrats pointed out the irony of the Republican leadership's anti-Obamacare posture as reason for standing in the way of Medicaid expansion while an intra-party spat between Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney and Bryant forced the feds to take over the state's exchange.

Democrats implored their colleagues to support the health-exchange amendment. Rep. Adrienne Wooten, D-Jackson, got choked speaking about her single working mother who "no matter what would not let her health insurance go."

HB 1 passed on a party-line vote but is being held on a motion to reconsider. Later, lawmakers took up the second part of the governor's special session call, a bill to fund the Medicaid program. Democrats again attempted to amend the bill to expand Medicaid.

"These are people who through no fault of their own don't have health insurance," said Rep. Bob Evans, D-Monticello. "These aren't deadbeats."

Despite shutting down expansion discussion earlier in the session because it was not germane to the issue at hand, Speaker Philip Gunn allowed Democrats to speak in favor of expansion.

Despite being unsuccessful, House Democrats chalked the session up as a victory because their side was able to argue for Medicaid expansion.

The Senate also convened but took no substantive action, pending the outcome of votes in the House.

In an election this short, money can make all the difference.

Unfortunately, we won't know who the big money players in the Jackson mayor's race are for at least another week, however.

Information from the Jackson city clerk's office shows that pre-election reports are due April 1, 2014 — one week before the election. Candidates are required to itemize each contribution over $200; donations under $200 can be lumped together.

Runoff candidates would need to file another report by April 15. All candidates are supposed to file statements of economic interest (SEI) with the Mississippi Ethics Commission as are current office holders and some other appointed officials.

Since so many of the candidates are current or former officeholders, I decided to pull their SEIs.

Here's what I dug up:

First, there are two glaring omissions. A search of the ethics-commission website returned no results for Ward 6 Councilman Tony Yarber, pastor of Relevant Empowerment Church and consultant with Bailey Kirkland Education Group, LLC. Yarber has been on the council since 2009 and told the Jackson Free Press this week that he draws now salary from his church and earns a living doing educational consulting and through the generosity of others, which he called "Holy Ghost handshakes."

Only one result, from 2009, came back for Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon. On her form, Barrett-Simon listed no business interests aside from her position on the city council; she listed her husband, Dr. Al Simon, as an employee of Jackson State University.

Former Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr.'s most recent report, filed in 2012, also shows that he held no economic interests outside of his office; he is seeking re-election to his former seat.

Democratic State Sen. John Horhn lists his wife, Gail, as an employee of Jackson Public Schools on his 2012 report. Horhn, a 2009 Jackson mayor candidate, also lists himself as an officer in three businesses: Branch Consulting Group LLC, Horhn & Associates and Landfair Solutions LLC that year.

Finally, in January 2013, Melvin Priester Jr., listed his law practice — Priester Law Firm — as a business interest and indicates that he has represented the Capital City Convention Center Commission. At the time, Priester was a candidate for Ward 2 city councilman; currently, he is seeking the mayor's office.

Last night's mayoral forum/debate/"job interview" seemed to have been born of a desire to shake things up, to breathe new life into the stodgy, old question-and-answer-from-a-fixed-podium-style debates of yore. For that effort in thinking out of the box, the organizers at Leadership Jackson probably deserve a cookie.

A small cookie, made of shortbread and perhaps with a bit of mint flavor given the clumsy execution of the event. It began with a Jeopardy-style quiz game designed to test the candidates' knowledge of such trivial matters as how many city council members does it take to sue the mayor and how many bond referendums voters have rejected in the past 30 years (answers: one and zero, respectively)

Organizers didn't have a clear understanding of how much time each of the candidates was supposed to have to answer, or even how long the thing was supposed to last. At the end, one moderator invited closing remarks while another moderator (who works with one of the campaigns) insisted on continuing to ask questions.

However bizarre, there were a few takeaways from the forum that featured Democratic runoff candidates Councilman Chokwe Lumumba and businessman Jonathan Lee--both of whom seemed agitated by the debate format--and an independent named Richard Williams who goes by "Chip."

First, and most strikingly, is that Councilman Lumumba needs to get up to speed on Jackson Public Schools. While Lumumba aced questions relating to the city council, where he stumbled was on questions about the composition of JPS' budget. Although the city has no hand in running the schools, the mayor does appoint members to the JPS Board of Trustees, and the city provides local funding for schools through property taxes.

Second, there isn't much room between Lee and Lumumba when it comes to some personnel issues, mainly whether department heads should be required to live in the city of Jackson. Lumumba added that because his administration would "encourage" property owners to live inside the city, having his department heads live in the city would set a good example.

Third, Lee is staying on message that he is a "second-generation operator of a small business." In the weeks leading up to the Democratic primary on May 7, news that the company Lee's father started was being sued by several companies came to light. When the Jackson Free Press asked Lee about the default judgments during an interview at JFP HQ, Lee said that the problems occurred after he stepped away from running the company as its president although questions remained about what he knew and when. Since Lee went on to finish in first place in the election, Lee clearly thinks the ensuing maelstrom didn't hurt his chances, so he's staying on message.

Fourth, judging by the crowd response, Lumumba's supporters are a little more fired up than Lee's polite backers. In winning the primary, Lee arguably had the most cohesive coalition of young African Americans and whites, pockets of west Jacksonians--the Koinonia Crowd, I call them because of Lee's …

The Jackson City Council outlined more than $7 million in savings in order to avoid Mayor Tony Yarber's proposal to furlough city workers and raise local property taxes to fill a budget hole.

Yarber proposed a one-day-per-month furlough for full-time employees and a property tax increase of 8 percent to shore up a projected $15 million deficit.

Council President Melvin Priester Jr. presented an alternative, a 10-point plan consisting mostly of freezing job vacancies that are budgeted for but currently unfilled in addition to making other staffing cuts.

Council members say they're double-checking the numbers, and will provide final totals later. The plan, the details of which were outlined in a public meeting this afternoon at city hall, includes:

• Reducing the Jackson Zoo's requested allocation in half, from $1.2 million to $600,000

• Reducing certain reserve expenses, including $1.5 million for an expense related to the Jackson Redevelopment Authority that Priester said would not require assistance from the city.

• Freeze more than $2 million slotted for the police, fire, and public works departments.

• Cutting about $494,000 from city hall salaries, including: $200,000 from the city clerk's office, which the council oversees; $200,000 in constituent services, which the mayor's office oversees, $86,000 from the chief-administrative officer's office; and 5 percent from the salaries of city council members. (City council members earn $25,000 per year; the council president receives an extra $2,000.)

• Freeze $120,000 in unfilled positions at municipal court.

• Reducing expenditures on outside consultants by at least $115,000

• Reducing expenses on software and equipment

• Reducing travel, dues and memberships by $95,000

• Reducing expenditures on emergency contracts

• Reducing the Department of Parks and Recreation budget, including for maintenance at the city's golf courses.

In addition, the council plans to introduce plans to increase revenue, including for $20 million in outstanding water and sewer bills.

Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote has proposed using JPD to collect delinquent water bills and splitting the revenue with the department. Foote also suggested turning over management of the golf courses to the Jackson State golf program and letting an organization take over running the Russell C. Davis Planetarium.

Budget Committee Chairman and Ward 4 Councilman De'Keither Stamps said he wants the city to get into the asphalt manufacturing and water bottling businesses. He added that the city should charge the state for providing JPD security to the state fair in October. The city has unsuccessfully made the same request of the state over the years.

Yarber's office released a statement this evening: “The Administration will review the City Council’s budget recommendations and consider the proposals going forward. Council members have verbally proposed measures that will ultimately result in mass layoffs, which the Administration had hoped to avoid. I am deeply concerned about the impact on public safety, mainly because council members have proposed significant reductions in the Police Department and the Fire Department. The council has also proposed drastic cuts to the Department of …

Buried deep within the city council's 78-item agenda for Tuesday, is a proposed resolution from Jackson Councilman Kenneth Stokes to name the Pearl Street Bridge for the controversial late Mayor Frank Melton.

It's unclear what Stokes's motives are beyond the fact that he was an ally of Melton, who died on Election Night in 2009, and he seems to enjoy prolonging city council meetings as long as possible.

We'll try to find out more next week.

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For about a year, maybe longer, the state court system has slowly been rolling out news of electronic filing coming to certain counties.

Now, it's finally Hinds County's turn.

Starting on Oct. 1, Hinds Circuit Court and Hinds County Court starts accepting voluntary electronic filing of court documents in civil cases on Oct. 1. Senior Circuit Judge Tomie Green signed the order. E-filing will become mandatory on Nov. 1 in civil cases, a press release states.

“The addition of Hinds Circuit and County Courts to the Mississippi Electronic Courts system marks a milestone in our efforts to implement a unified, statewide e-filing system for the judiciary. The state’s most populous county, the home of our capital city and the seat of state government, is an essential component of a unified records system," said Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. said in a statement.

Hinds County Circuit Clerk Barbara Dunn said in the statement that "trying to make this as simple as possible."

This is huge for members of the public and the press.

Dunn's office charges $1.00 PER FREAKING PAGE for copies.

The state e-filing system is similar to the PACER system the federal courts use, which charges a dime per page.

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.

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In Season 3 of House of Cards, the Netflix dark political drama, President Frank Underwood devises a plan to circumvent Congress and fund his sweeping jobs plan dubbed America Works.

The plan involved Underwood's declaring that soaring unemployment created a state of emergency, which let him tap into the coffers of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide jobs for out-of-work Americans.

Not saying Mayor Tony Yarber is Frank Underwood, but I wouldn't be surprised if HOC has been marathon-streaming on the Yarber family Roku in the past few weeks considering the announcement Yarber made this afternoon.

During a press conference in his office, Yarber, said that his administration has been "talking out loud as a team about declaring a state of emergency" for the city's infrastructure woes.

"Over the last 24 hours, we've seen more breaks than we'd like to see in our water mains," Yarber said.

The declaration enables the city "to use a different form of procurement in order to get the supplies and resources we need," the mayor added.

The winter weather and heavy rains of the past few weeks likely caused shifts in the soils that created potholes and weakened already brittle and deteriorating underground pipes.

Yarber stressed the quality of the water coming out of the city's water-treatment plant remains high, but some residents might see boil-water notices, which the city is legally required to issue when busted pipes cause drops in water pressure. The Red Cross and Salvation Army could be called upon to provide bottled water to area dormitories for students who cannot boil their water, Yarber said.

Yarber added that Gov. Phil Bryant and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality support the declaration.

Council President De'Keither Stamps said he and his fellow council members are getting up to speed on the emergency-declaration processes.

"If the governor is supporting this, they've obviously identified resources," Stamps told the Jackson Free Press.

In recent weeks, the city council has expressed frustration with Yarber for not providing final budget numbers for fiscal-year 2013-2014 so that budget writers have a clear picture of the city's fiscal health.

Council Vice-President Melvin Priester Jr., who presides over the council's Budget Committee, said Yarber's declaration put the city in unchartered territory and he wants to see the details of the plan.

"If you can declare an emergency about aging infrastructure when there hasn’t been a tornado or hurricane or breakdown at the water-treatment plant, and magically be able to draw from a big pool of money with no strings attached, every municipality in Mississippi would have done it," Priester said.

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Gov. Phil Bryant has accepted the resignation of Malcolm McMillin as chairman of the State Parole Board and named current parole board member Doug Davis as McMillin's replacement. Davis' replacement will be former U.S. Marshal Nehemiah Flowers, according to a news release from Bryant's office.

“I appreciate Malcolm’s service to the people of Mississippi. His dedication to public safety and law enforcement are deeply respected,” Bryant said. “I wish him and Delores the very best.”

Before joining the parole board, McMillin was sheriff of Hinds County and served as Jackson Police chief. Davis's chairmanship becomes effective August 1. Of Davis, a statement from Bryant's office states:

"Davis recently served as assistant vice president of First Security Bank, and he represented District 1 for two terms in the Mississippi Senate. While serving in the Legislature, Davis chaired both the Appropriations Committee and the Universities and Colleges Committee. He was recognized as Legislator of the Year by the Mississippi Troopers Association and the Mississippi Police Chief’s Association. Davis also serves on the boards of directors for the DeSoto County Economic Council and the Palmer Home for Children. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Mississippi College and is a member of Longview Point Baptist Church."

Of Davis' replacement, Flowers, Bryant said: “Nehemiah brings a vast amount of experience to the state parole board with more than 40 years of public service under his belt. His understanding of the criminal justice system makes him well-qualified to serve in this position.”

Bryant's statement also states: "Flowers served as the United States Marshal for the Southern District of Mississippi 2002-08. In 1973, he joined the staff of then U.S. Rep. Thad Cochran and later joined Cochran’s U.S. Senate staff. He is a graduate of Belhaven University with a degree in Business Administration. While serving as United States Marshal for the Southern District, Flowers formed the first ever Criminal Task Force, dedicated to pursuing criminals in and across state lines. He was named as 2008 Federal Law Enforcement Officer of the Year, retired Brigade Command Sergeant Major for the U.S. Army Reserve and is currently a board member for Mississippi Blood Services."

Flowers’ appointment must be confirmed in the Mississippi Senate.

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.