Jackson Free Press

State Rep. Earle Banks, D-Jackson, just sent out a press release announcing his intention to run for Mississippi Supreme Court Justice in District 1, which Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. now represents.

Residents of Jackson's Fondren and Belhaven neighborhoods are cautioning their fellow neighbors to be vigilant amid what they're calling a crime spree of house burglaries.

Jeff Good, who lives and owns businesses in Fondren, sent out the word on Facebook. "We obviously have a group of criminals stalking our neighborhood (and Belhaven) and breaking in. We have all seen the myriad of postings ... looks like we are averaging 3 - 4 a day, all in the mid-morning/early afternoon (9 - 1 p.m.)," Good wrote.

Good added "the current list of suspect cars are a older model two-door white Honda Accord sedan with a spoiler on the back (that is a raised fin on the trunk of the car... like a race car would have. Another vehicle is grey Chrysler 300."

It's hard to quantifiably determine whether there's been any spike in crime. Overall house burglaries were down between Oct. 6 and Oct. 13, as well as in the last 28 days and year-to-date through Oct. 13, JPD data show. Any spree that commenced after Sunday of this week will not show up until next week's crime report is published.

Nevertheless, Good and other residents are erring on the side of caution. Precinct 4 Commander James McGowan wrote Good back about how residents could keep themselves and their property safe. Good posted McGowan's response on Facebook:

"Call the Police Department immediately at 911 for any suspicious activity (people and vehicles). Call 911 first and report the information as detailed as possible. Anyone going door to door should be immediately reported. If you have windows and doors with no curtains, do not leave laptop computers other items where they can be easily seen by someone walking up to the door.

"We have increased patrol in the Belhaven and Fondren. Directive Patrols are being done in Belhaven, Fondren, Eastover and all througout Precinct Four. There were and always will be at least 10 officers on each of the 10 beats we have in Precinct Four, plus at least one Sergeant out on the streets. We have the Direct Action Response Team, the newly reconstructed Jackson Police Department Reserve Unit, Quality of Life officers and other units in our area patrolling.

"If you see a suspicious person or vehicle, please call 911 immediately. Call us first.

"We are looking for several vehicles in reference to recent burglaries (both auto and house burglaries). We are looking for a grey Chrysler 300, a white 1992ish Chevrolet Silverado, and a honda vehicle that has been described as an accord type of vehicle. The main thin is continue to be aware of your surroundings and the neighborhood. If it looks suspicious, call 911. There is and always will be a 10 beat officers working along with at least one sergeant.

"Get tag numbers, use your cell phone to take a picture of the suspect and suspect vehicle."

The Clarion-Ledger is reporting that Mississippi Tea Party vice chairman Mark Mayfield appeared in a Madison County court for his alleged participation with a story to that continues to roil the Mississippi Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

Mayfield, an attorney in Jackson, was arrested today along with an unnamed suspect, but charges were not released, the paper reported. (Clarion-Ledger political editor Geoff Pender later tweeted from court that Rick Sager, a soccer coach in Laurel, is the other individual arrested)

Mayfield may be familiar to readers of the Jackson Free Press for his participation in a 2012 interview in which then-president of the Central Mississippi Tea Pary Janis Lane said that America took a wrong turn when women gained the right to vote.

Mayfield quietly exited the interview as Lane began her anti-woman rant, but he had some harsh words for sitting U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran.

In response to a JFP question about whether Congress's core function is to bring federal dollars to their home districts, Mayfield said:

"They sure think it is. We've got a senator up there right now—Thad Cochran—who's just as guilty as anybody. He's probably the worst one up there in terms of pork-barrel legislation."

Mayfield said he was apolitical for much of his life "until I saw the direction we started taking with the bailouts, the stimulus, TARP, Obamacare--you name it--this endless, mindless overspending and over-borrowing."

He added that he believed certain Tea Party principles could attract more African Americans, among them, he said: "Jobs and economic development. Things like giving voters a choice on where to send their kids to school. They don't have to keep sending them to a failing public school. We want to give them the option of sending them to a successful charter school or perhaps look at vouchers where they can send them to a successful private school."

McDaniel's camp has maintained that the state senator had nothing to do with the blogger who allegedly photographed Cochran's bedridden wife, Rose, and released a statement about the arrests of Mayfield and Sager.

"As we have said since day one, the violation of the privacy of Mrs. Cochran is out of bounds for politics and is reprehensible. Any individuals who were involved in this crime should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," McDaniel said

Mayfield later posted bond, the Ledger reported.

Let's say a meteorite crashed to Earth and landed on the Jackson Free Press' offices, resulting in a broken pinky toe on my left foot. According to a new state law, it would be up to me to prove to my bosses that I wasn't high as a kite when said celestial projectile descended on Fondren.

Dear Magnolia State Meth Dealers:

Do not interpret this as a challenge.

But Mississippi is one of the least methy states in the nation, a new Huffington Post infographic shows.

Citing something called the Nationa(l) Security System, or NSS, HuffPost said that Mississippi had five meth-lab-related accidents in 2012.

Given Mississippi's ruralness and high rate of poverty -- both of which are key for optimal methy conditions -- you'd think the incidents would be much higher.

So what's our secret?

The report notes: "Oregon and Mississippi have figured out how to curb these accidents by making the key meth ingredient pseudoephedrine prescription-only."

The nation's most methy state was Missouri, with 1,825 meth incidents.

Last week, Forbes Magazine ran an interesting Q&A with HOPE Enterprise Corp.'s chief-executive officer Bill Bynum.

Bynum told interviewer Willy Foote that the population HOPE serves through its credit union is similar to a developing nation and talked about why HOPE is successful, saying:

"It’s certainly not easy but it doesn’t require rocket science. The tools are by and large the same ones that the banks use. Our difference is that we add a commitment to serving these markets. It’s a matter of will. We are very committed to making sure people have access to capital regardless of who their parents were, or where they live or what they look like. "

Read the rest of the interview here.

Acting Jackson Mayor Charles Tillman issued the following statement on the removal Thursday of a mural honoring late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba:

“On behalf of the Administration, employees, and citizens of the City of Jackson, we reiterate our honor, our respect, and our love for the late Honorable Mayor Chokwe Lumumba. The past few weeks have been difficult on all of us, yet the business of the City of Jackson has demanded that we move forward.”

“It came to our attention that one of our City-owned parks had been painted with certain words, slogans, and designs that had not been authorized or permitted by the City. Consistent with our policies and City ordinances, the painting was removed.”

“In continuing our quest to honor the memory and legacy of our late Mayor, our actions, in this instance, were in keeping with Mayor Lumumba’s high moral and ethical standards that we were fortunate to experience.”

Verbatim statement from the Travis Childers campaign:

"One thing is clear tonight; Senator Cochran does not have the confidence of his state, let alone his own party. The majority of Republicans voted for change in Washington. And if we are going to change Washington, we will need to change who we send to Washington.

"The same people will give us the same results of gridlock, and elected officials will continue fighting each other rather than fighting for Mississippians. It is time for a change, and I believe I can best represent the future of Mississippi in the United States Senate.

"I look forward to a spirited debate with Senator Cochran on the many issues facing Mississippi. And I am calling for Senator Cochran to join me in a series of debates beginning next month, so voters can clearly see the differences."

Only one other state delivers less bang for the buck for residents than Mississippi, a new poll from Dow Jones-owned MarketWatch shows.

The poll looks at taxes that residents pay compared to the quality of services they receive. Although Mississippi's tax bills are relatively low—averaging $6,210 per year—our "residents get a very poor rate of return from what they do pay (this state has the worst government services in the nation). It (has) got the worst economy in the nation, and its education (49th) and health (46th) ranking aren't much better."

Mississippi finished ahead of neighboring Arkansas, which offers residents the least bang for their buck, and behind Louisiana, the survey says.

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.

A top city economic-development official says retail is alive and well in Jackson.

Jason Goree, Jackson's economic development chief, tweeted this afternoon that a Burke's Outlet store is coming to Jackson.

"It's gonna happen!!!!! Retail ain't dead in the Capitol," Goree posted to Twitter.

The city has struggled with attracting and retaining big-box retailers in recent years. Following the closure of Sam's Club, the Best Buy store on County Line Road announced this year that it would close. And after Jackson had been courting Costco, one of the nation's largest companies, that company is now in talks with the city of Ridgeland to build near the Renaissance.

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Jackson Ward 1 Councilman Quentin Whitwell will retire this fall, WLBT reports.

Whitwell told WLBT's Cheryl Lasseter today that he would submit a letter of resignation to the city clerk; the resignation would be effective Oct. 31, the station said.

Lasseter: "Whitwell cites family commitments in Oxford and increasing demands from his professional life as reasons for his decision. He tells us he has tremendous respect for the City of Jackson and its leaders, and he believes the city deserves a Ward 1 Councilman who can dedicate maximum time and resources to the position. He is currently in his second term with the City Council."

After he steps down, the city would have to hold a special election to fill his northeast Jackson seat. Ward 3 Councilwoman LaRita Cooper-Stokes is also running for Hinds County judge in the November general election.

Jackson has already held one special election this year to fill the Ward 6 council seat that Tony Yarber vacated when he won election to Jackson mayor.

Bill Chandler, the director of the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance, is reporting that the Scott County Circuit Clerk's office may have mishandled the voter registration forms of approximately 200 people, mostly Latinos and African Americans.

Chandler said MIRA, a which advocates from immigrants in Mississippi, registered 320 new voters in Scott County, where 9.7 percent of the population is Hispanic. More than 38 percent of Scott County's citizens are African American.

Roughly half the individuals MIRA signed up did not have working telephone numbers, Chandler said. Of the people who did have working phones, Chandler said not one received voter information cards from Circuit Clerk Joe Rigby's office. Chandler believes the voters without phones also likely did not receive the information cards.

"The effect of that is preventing people from knowing where their polling place is. To me, that is very, very serious," Chandler told the Jackson Free Press this evening.

Back-to-back calls placed to Rigby's office resulted in a busy signal.

CORRECTION: The above blog post has been edited to reflect that the circuit clerk's name is Joe Rigby. We apologize for originally misstating his name.

Janet Barreto, who once on the U.S. Marshals’ list of most wanted fugitives, died at Central Mississippi Medical Center. She had been incarcerated at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Rankin County.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections said Barreto, 43, died shortly after 9 a.m. today of natural causes.

Barreto's death follows that of Kenneth Davis, who was on death row at Mississippi State Penitentiary, convicted of killing an off-duty Jackson police officer in 1989.

Davis died Dec. 15.

MDOC information shows Davis was sentenced to death in March 1991 for fatally shooting Bobby Joe Biggert, who walked into a south Jackson pawn shop when Davis was robbing it. The Mississippi Supreme Court denied an ineffective assistance of counsel challenge from Davis in July 2004.

According to MDOC, Barreto pleaded guilty to six counts of child endangerment, three counts of child abuse, and one count of manslaughter and was sentenced to 25 years in prison earlier this year. Barreto had spent five years on the lam with her husband before marshals caught up with the couple in Oregon in August.

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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 Jackson City Council passed the compromise budget they worked out with Mayor Tony Yarber's administration.

"This budget is as barebones as it gets," Yarber said after the council voted 5-2 on a nearly $400 million spending plan Thursday morning.

To close a $15 million deficit, Yarber initially proposed the tax increase along with furloughing most full-time workers one day each month.

Ward 4 Councilman De'Keither Stamps and Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes voted against the budget, which still relies on furloughs.

"I don't think we should balance the budget on the backs of the people," Stamps said in the meeting.

Last week, after a very short public hearing last night on the proposed millage rate—the amount per $1,000 used to calculate local taxes on property—the Jackson City Council approved a millage rate of 58.03 with anticipated revenues of $1.14 million per mill.

Nonetheless, the city will rake in at least $926,000 less in property taxes because the overall assessed value of property in Jackson went down, officials said.

Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon, who had been hospitalized, did not attend but participated in the meeting via speakerphone.

What's in a name?

Well, a rebranding of the local the mass-transit system, JATRAN, got under way quietly with a press release from the city this morning.

The Transit Services Division wants public input on what to rename the authority. The public-comment period last through October. Citizens can vote through on online survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ST7X9ZZ.

From the survey, you can suggest your own name (e.g. "Jumpin Jack Flash," "The Ripper," or some such) or pick from one of these pre-fab/suggested names:

• Jackson Jazz • Jackson Area Express • Jackson Metro • Pearl RiverRunner • CityBus • CityLink • Beat • Blues • CAT (Capital Area Transit) • GoJackson • JBus • The J • Magnolia Ride • The Ride

The results of the survey (which, face it, will probably be Jumpin Jack Flash) will be shared with the Jackson City Council at their Tuesday, November 17, 2015 meeting.

According to the city, "the person who suggests the best name for JATRAN and is approved by City Council will receive a special prize." (Editor's note: should be free bus rides for life).

Happy voting.

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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.

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.

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.