Jackson Free Press

Jackson State University is apparently getting serious about building a domed stadium.

The university has launched http://www.jsums.edu/dome/, a site that includes a rendering and includes details on planning that were previously undisclosed. The cost of the 50,000-seat domed stadium is still listed at $200 million, and the site says the JSU administration has identified over $300 million in funding possibilities.

"The stadium is designed for football, basketball, concerts and special events," the site says. "Seating is 50,000 for football, 17,000 for basketball and 21,000 for concerts. It will include 75 sky boxes for rental. JSU's Sports Hall of Fame will be housed on the first floor. The design includes 4,500 parking spaces. Another 2,000 are located in garages downtown where shuttle buses can help on big game days."

The site says JSU currently owns 30 percent of the land on the preferred site.

The numbers are in, and it looks like the soon-to-be-law, one-percent local option sales tax won in every precinct last Tuesday.

The results, which you can view here, show that the vote received the highest support in north Jackson, but enjoyed widespread support throughout the city's seven wards.

The four wards with the highest turnout went overwhelmingly for the measure. To wit:

• Ward 35, which votes at Spann Elementary School in Ward 1, voted 475-34 in favor of the tax.
• Ward 45, which votes at St. Philips Episcopal Church in Ward 1, voted 463-48 in favor of the tax.
• Ward 46, which votes at Christ United Methodist Church in Ward 1, voted 689-90 in favor of the tax.
• Ward 83, which votes at New Hope Baptist Church in Ward 2, voted 648-38 in favor of the tax.

Mayor Harvey Johnson, Jr. and Department of Public Works Dan Gaillet gave an update on the status of construction on the JATRAN facility at Highway 80 and Valley Street at Tuesday night's city council meeting.

The status: there has been no change in status.

Gaillet laid out the timeline for the stalled project, which you can read about here, and said the city is still waiting on a waiver from the Federal Transit Administration before the project can move forward. If the city does not receive the waiver, the HVAC units in the building will have to be stripped from the existing structure, and replacement parts will have to be purchased and installed.

If that happens, Johnson told the council the city will likely pursue a legal route to insure the city is not solely responsible for the added expenses.

The expected date of completion was originally set for December of this year, and Gaillet said if the city receives the waiver, it can still hit that mark. If not, the project could still be finished by late spring.

An email distributed by former mayoral candidate Jonathan Lee and his "Friday Forum" group, which meets every Friday morning at Koinonia Coffee House, is asking for letters of support for the Jackson Zoo.

The Jackson Zoological Park's accreditation is up for review later this month, and the Community Outreach Committee of the Zoo Area Progressive Partnership (ZAPP) is collecting letters of support on behalf ot he zoo "from residents, businesses, churches and friends of West Jackson" in an effort to help the zoo keep its current status.

"If you haven't written a letter," Lee wrote, "please take a minute to write a few words about your Zoo-going, your interest in keeping the Zoo in West Jackson, your commitment to help re-develop the Zoo area and promote memberships and visits."

Letters will be accepted until Thursday, September 5, and can be addressed to Ms. Beth Poff at [email protected].

Mississippi State Sen. John Horhn was singing the praises of Mayor Chokwe Lumumba and the Jackson City Council Wednesday afternoon, a day after they moved forward on a motion to put to referendum vote a proposed 1-percent sales tax. He released this statement:

"I would like to applaud the Jackson City Council for its vote to proceed with a referendum to add a 1-cent sales tax on certain items in order to pay for much-needed improvements to our water/sewer system and for street re-surfacing. While I am not an advocate of higher taxes, as the author of this important legislation two years ago, I have long-advocated that the measure should be put before voters for an up or down vote to let people decide for themselves whether the increase was worthy of their support. My only regret is that this decision wasn't reached sooner, and I hope that the Mayor and City Council's resistance in the past has not soured voters' interest in approving the sales tax Increase."

The referendum will be put to the people on Jan. 14, 2014.

Former mayoral candidate and Chokwe Lumumba supporter Regina Quinn contacted two of the three independent candidates asking them to drop out of the June 4 general election to select Jackson's next mayor.

Councilman Chokwe Lumumba won the Democratic runoff earlier this week, defeating businessman Jonathan Lee by more than 3,000 votes.

Friday morning, Quinn released this statement to the JFP:

"After witnessing the brutal run-off between Mr. Lee and Mr. Lumumba, I came to the conclusion that the City had had enough and needed to start the healing process sooner rather than later. Therefore, I contacted two of the three independent candidates to see if they agreed with me that it would be best for the City of Jackson to acknowledge that with 20,000 plus votes people had decided who they wanted as their next mayor, and that it was now time to start healing. If I erred, it was an error of the head but not of the heart."

"Apparently, the healing process will have to wait until June 4, 2013," she added.

The independent candidates are Francis P. Smith Jr., Cornelius Griggs and Richard C. Williams Jr.

Well, that seemed easier than expected.

The Jackson Redevelopment Authority on Sept. 25 canceled, by unanimous vote, the contract of Farish Street Group LLC, the real-estate management company charged with luring businesses to the building on Farish Street.

In a move that Mayor Chokwe Lumumba called "long overdue," JRA chose to break ties with the group and its primary investor, developer David Watkins.

"Unfortunately, it just didn't work out and it was time for a change," Lumumba said. "Hopefully, some of the people who were involved with the previous group will be able to remain involved, but I just don't think they will be able to do what was originally planned. Either way, it didn't make sense for the city to be held hostage by one long-term contract."

Farish Street Group LLC hoped to have B.B. King's Blues Club open on the street by the end of 2012. Once architects finalized designs for the club, though, engineers discovered that not only could the current structure not support the capacity load, it doesn't even have a foundation.

Lumumba had called for the group to be kicked to the curb since December 2012.

A recent listing on online classified ads web page Craigslist shows that the old Broadmoor Baptist Church on East Northside Drive is for sale for $2.8 million. The building most recently went under the title of Wesley Biblical Seminary.

I'm not sure who is looking to buy a church and is surfing Craigslist with a budget near $3 million, but the listing is complete with pictures of the property, which is in surprisingly good condition.

The building features seating for 750 in the updated sanctuary, "dozens of offices, tons of rooms (over 100), (a) 250-seat chapel, (a) 120-capacity lecture hall, choir rehearsal room, heated baptistry, commercial kitchen and large fellowship hall... ."

It also contains conference rooms, a board room, an organ, video surveillance capability, an elevator, parking for 500 of your closest friends.

But forget all that. Here's the kicker – the building includes a gym and a four-lane bowling alley and an apartment. With all the talk about charter schools** in the city, this could be primed to be a location for one.

Can anyone else think of a way this building could be used (other than the obvious - a church)?

** Please do not consider this an endorsement of charter schools.

The US Human Rights Network has announced it will honor Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba and six others with the 2013 U.S. Advancing Human Rights Award. The Atlanta-based organization describes itself on its web site as "a team of thematic experts, organizers, education specialists, trainers, communications experts, and human rights activists."

It describes the award ceremony, set for Dec. 6-8 in Atlanta, as an opportunity to "recognize and celebrate six visionary people and one organization building and strengthening the human rights movement at the grassroots level."

To be considered, nominees must have had at least five years experience in grass-roots organizing in the area of immigration, environmental and climate justice, workers rights, or access to justice, as well as other areas such as racial justice, women's rights, disability rights, and economic, social and cultural rights.

Other award recipients include Haitian Women of Miami Executive Producer Marleine Bastien, Desis Rising Up and Moving Executive Director Monami Maulik, Texas Latina Advocacy Network Field Coordinator Lucy Ceballos Felix, Navajo Nation Corrections Project Supervisor Lenny Foster, Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign Co-founder J.R. Fleming and Mossville, La. community organization Mossville Environmental Action Now.

Looks like both property and violent crime rates continue to drop across the city, according to the latest COMSTAT numbers released by the Jackson Police Department.

The report for April 15-21, which you can read here, details how, across the board, property crime is down 18.5 percent year-to-date and violent crime is down six percent.

The biggest drops in rates appear to be in business burglary and grand larceny, which are down 43.3 percent and 45.1 percent, respectively. There have been 114 business burglaries to date in 2013, compared to 201 in 2012, and there have been 150 acts of grand larceny in 2013, down from 273 year-to-date in 2012. Auto burglaries have also fallen off at a rate of 41.7 percent (74 YTD compared to 127 last year).

Homicides, which have been a hot topic of discussion in recent weeks, are down 33.3 percent (14 in 2013 to 21 in 2012).

There were some trouble spots in the report as well. There has been a rash of house burglaries in the past week in Precinct 3, which covers Northwest Jackson from I-220 to Mill Street. Police responded to 16 house burglaries, four of which took place in the Queens neighborhood between Flag Chapel Road and Magnolia Road.

Precinct 2, which spans from West Hwy. 80 to I-55 through the downtown area, saw a congestion of house burglaries near Washington Addition and between Terry Road and Gallatin Street. Police responded to eight auto thefts last week alone. But looking at the bigger picture, crime is down this year 23.6 in that precinct, traditionally Jackson's most dangerous.

Jackson developer David Watkins is apparently not satisfied with losing control over the Farish Street renovation project, and is asking the Jackson Redevelopment Authority Board to reconsider their decision of two weeks ago to cut ties with the Farish Street Group, of which Watkins is the chief investor and developer.

You can read Watkins' letter to JRA Chairman Ronnie Crudup here.

This is the press release we just received from Watkins Development LLC:

---------------------Begin Press Release---------------------

The developer of the Farish Street entertainment district, Watkins Development LLC, has requested that the Jackson Redevelopment Authority (J.R.A.) reconsider their recent decision to cancel the leases and parcels in that area, where Watkins has spent millions of dollars on the historic urban renewal project. In a 10 page letter to the J.R.A., copied to the bulk of City government, Watkins legal counsel, Lance Stevens of Jackson, presents a lengthy historical account of the company’s accomplishments and unforeseen obstacles on the project, as well as the financial fallout which would accompany the developer’s ouster.

That letter is attached.

“We are encouraged by the new vision that Mayor Lumumba has brought to Jackson and feel certain that he will demand reconsideration of J.R.A.’s acts when our company is finally allowed to make a public or private presentation,” says David Watkins, the managing partner of Watkins Development.

The letter to J.R.A. references the fact that the leases were cancelled without consultation with Watkins’ group and without any presence at the meeting.

“The J.R.A. appears to be putting our fine city at risk–risk of destroying Farish Street’s hopes and risk of massive legal exposure–with their uninformed decision-making. They must be receiving no credible legal advice whatsoever,” says Watkins’ legal counsel, Lance Stevens. The letter to J.R.A. documents the $4.7 million that Watkins himself has invested in the property, while noting that the City and J.R.A., in particular, have not invested any money, despite scuttlebutt that City funds have been squandered.

“J.R.A. committed over $10 million in financing to the project and has utterly failed to contribute a nickel,” says Stevens. “The good news, however, is that with a timely reversal of their decision, the $5 million in tax credits can be salvaged, a protracted legal battle can be avoided and Farish Street can become our center for entertainment and local entrepreneurship."

The letter to J.R.A. documents that over $5 million in tax credits would be lost if Watkins Development is removed altogether from the project (as well as another $4 million in tax rebates), “dooming” the project, according to their counsel.

Some will remember the story the JFP broke back in May about a lawsuit a student brought against Northwest Rankin High School after she was forced to attend a religious event at the school. Well, the student won in federal court, and Northwest Rankin has a brand new policy on keeping religion out of the school.

In his judgement against the school, Judge Carlton Reeves said the school violated the establishment clause of the first amendment when it made attendance mandatory at the April 10, 2013 program.

The school was also told to pay the legal fees of the student, totaling $15,000.

The American Humanist Association released this statement earlier today:

A judgment has been entered by a federal court in a case brought by the American Humanist Association’s Appignani Humanist Legal Center on behalf of a student at a Rankin County, Mississippi high school challenging the proselytizing religious assemblies it staged for students earlier this year. The lawsuit was filed April 24, 2013 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi against administrators of Northwest Rankin High School in Flowood, MS and the county school district.

The judgment includes an admission of liability by the defendants that they violated the Establishment Clause, the provision of the Constitution that requires separation of church and state. It also requires the school district to comply with a new policy that prohibits future such violations and orders the defendants to pay the plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees.

“A lot has been accomplished and I’m pleased with the outcome of the suit,” said Magdalene “Gracie” Bedi, the student plaintiff in the case. “I'm grateful for the school's maturity throughout this ordeal and I look forward to graduating with them on a positive note. No one should have to question their rights in a public school and I think Northwest [Rankin High School] realizes this now.”

Before filing suit, a letter was sent asking school officials to stop the practice, where a student representative of the Pinelake Baptist Church spoke of finding “hope” in “Jesus Christ,” but the assemblies continued with school administrators insisting the assemblies were “student-led and organized.” According to students present, however, those who attempted to leave were prevented from doing so. At the end of the presentation, the speakers led the students in a Christian prayer. Videos captured by students can be found here and here.

“We are pleased that the school’s administrators have admitted that they violated the Constitution and agreed to continuing court oversight to prevent future violations,” said William Burgess, legal coordinator of the Appignani Humanist Legal Center. “There was clear evidence that these Christian assemblies were endorsed and organized by the school. To continue to deny a constitutional violation had taken place was untenable.”