Jackson Free Press

Last week the JFP College Football preview broke down the hopes and dreams of the colleges and universities in Mississippi. An entertaining issue that you should check out if you haven't yet. Before college football starts on Thursday night, let's look at each conference with some predictions. Enjoy.

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 …

Based on the odds of terrorism actually taking place (as calculated by the right-leaning Cato Institute) a blanket ban on immigrants (much less people actually holding a green card or visa waiver) coming into the country tackles a "problem" that presents a very small threat to most Americans.

Today on the campaign trail President Obama told a laughing crowd in Virginia that he may have diagnosed why Mitt Romney seems to say one thing in the nationally televised debates and another thing while campaigning... he's got "Romnesia."

Marvel's Doctor Strange is coming to the big screen, beginning with a premiere in Hollywood. Watch the AP stream live here.

The Jackson Free Press and the Center for Violence Prevention are proud to announce the 10th Annual JFP Chick Ball on Saturday, July 19, 2014, at the Arts Center of Mississippi in downtown Jackson at 201 E. Pascagoula St. This year's special JFP Chick Ball is moving to the Arts Center for this year's special gala, which will celebrate a decade of preventing domestic abuse, protecting families, and empowering women to lift themselves and their families up after experiencing abuse.

This year, at 8 p.m. the JFP Chick Ball will honor three heroes who embody the event's motto of "prevent, protect, empower": Abuse survivor Sarah Reynolds, state Sen. Sally Doty, who helped create the state Office Against Interpersonal Violence, and the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Training Academy, for their work against sex trafficking in the state. The JFP is also honoring a decade of Chicks We Love at the event.

Past JFP Chick Ball events, all at Hal & Mal's in Jackson, have resulted in the purchase of a new mini-van for client transportation, the launch of the Batterer's Intervention Program, and legal assistance for victims. Proceeds from the 2013 Chick Ball were used in addressing an emerging issue in our area—human trafficking, which is also known as modern-day slavery.

This year's JFP Chick Ball is honoring and supporting all the work of the Center for Violence Prevention and its efforts to save and improve lives of families in central Mississippi. "Domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking occurrences continue to rise in the Central Mississippi area, as we are hearing almost daily about another woman or child whose life has been negatively impacted by it," Sandy Middleton, executive director of the Center for Violence Prevention in Pearl, says. "These interpersonal crimes cross all social-economic, racial and cultural boundaries, meaning they can affect any of us or our children."

JFP Editor-in-Chief Donna Ladd launched the event a decade as a way to give Jackson-area adults of all ages and income brackets a way to help fight the abuse epidemic, which strikes all communities. She also wanted it to be fun, creative and a celebration of female performers.

"The Chick Ball has always cost $5 to get in. I purposefully designed it to welcome all who want to come. And chicks must be prominent in all performances! That, of course, means it's a very popular event for our arm candy as well; men are some of our best donors, supporters and dancers!"

The JFP Chick Ball has become a fashion fete as well, with all kinds of dress welcome—from jeans to bling. The Diva of Bling (her) and Best Arm Candy (him) take home prizes from local businesses every year.

The event's silent auction is one of a kind, with hundreds of gifts, pieces of art and gift certificates from local businesses and artists donated each year. The JFP is accepting auction donations through Thursday, July 17 (at 125 S. Congress St., #1324), during normal business hours.

"One of …

Tyrone Hendrix and Dennis Sweet IV will be heading for the Ward 6 City Council Election, which is scheduled for July 1.

In yesterday's election, Hendrix came out on top with 546 votes. Sweet was only nine votes behind with 537 votes total. Rashaad Crisler came in third place with 429 votes. The polling results can be viewed in its entirety on the city's website at http://www.jacksonms.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=79.

Hendrix was born and raised in Jackson. He is a longtime Democratic Party operative who helped manage Jonathan Lee's campaign for mayor in 2013 and worked with Regina Quinn during the recent special election for mayor. Before working for Lee last year, Hendrix—who runs a political consulting firm with his wife, Ercilla—was deputy campaign manager for Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny Dupree's 2011 gubernatorial bid.

He was also state director for Organizing for America, a grassroots advocacy group affiliated with the Democratic National Committee, and other community-organizing groups. During the 2009 Jackson mayor's race, Hendrix worked on the campaigns for state Sen. John Horhn in the Democratic primary and Harvey Johnson in the runoff and general election. In 2008, Hendrix worked on Barack Obama's first presidential campaign.

In a recent interview with Jackson Free Press, Hendrix explained what his top priorities would be if he obtained the Ward 6 seat.

"Hands down, in the first few weeks I’ll be going to the residents of Ward 6," Hendrix said. "I think that we can’t get so caught up in what we think the issues are, and I think we have a pretty good sense of what they are because I, personally, go knock on doors and make phone calls every day to residents of Ward 6. But at that particular time I think we’ll have to reinforce what we think the biggest issues are.

"…We also have problems with our children not having a place to go so they walk the street, they stay at home, they get in trouble. They say an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. The saying is often used, but it also applies particularly in Ward 6 because a lot of places have closed down, particularly the parks. The park areas that we have in the ward, if they are open, they are unsightly. It’s not inviting for people to want to come and spend time in that green space, which would be a great place for kids to go."

Sweet works with his father at Sweet & Associates, where the younger Sweet specializes in civil litigation, civil rights, personal injury, medical malpractice, premises liability and criminal defense.

Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Chicago, Sweet has practiced law in Mississippi since 2008. He has also worked as an adjunct professor and volunteer pre-law adviser for Tougaloo College, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 2004. Sweet attended Thurgood Marshall School of Law, and he received a Master of Laws from the George Washington University Law School in 2011.

In a recent interview with JFP, Sweet talked …

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 …

Most of the GOP's 2012 contenders are signing up to support "Personhood" initiatives that are similar to the one that Mississippi just overturned.

Terri Herring has been a lobbyist in Mississippi for 27 years, yet she only registered as such March 13, 2013.

Tonight, everyone should make their way out to Duling Hall for Todd Snider's show. It will be a feast for media types as he reads from his book, shows us film and even plays music. There's something for everybody.

Tomorrow, vinyl enthusiasts will celebrate Record Store Day. With the closing of MorningBell, most of the die hards will have to go out of town to try to grab exclusive vinyl releases. Be safe and happy hunting.For a complete list of participating stores and releases, go here.

If you're out of town this Easter weekend, here are few things going on north and south of us:

4/19 - Rob Thomas - Horseshoe Casino - Tunica

4/18 - 4/27 - Biloxi Crawfish Festival feat. Three Days Grace, Charlie Daniels Band, etc. - MS Coast Coliseum - Biloxi

4/20 - Rick Ross - Lakefront Arena - New Orleans

4/21 - Aziz Ansari - Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts - New Orleans

Also, here's this week's new releases:

The Afghan Whigs - Do to the Beast

The Both - The Both

Nas - Illmatic XX [20th Anniversary Edition]

Slint - Spiderland [LP]

Ray Bonneville - Easy Gone

Rodney Crowell - Tarpaper Sky

Thee Oh Sees - Drop

Woods - With Light and With Love

Duck Sauce - Quack

Chet Faker - Built on Glass

Ziggy Marley - Fly Rasta

Ingrid Michaelson - Lights Out

Dan Wilson - Love Without Fear

Nels Cline/Medeski, Martin & Wood - Woodstock Sessions, Vol. 2

Stanton Moore - Conversations

The Secret Sisters - Put Your Needle Down

Sonic Avenues - Mistakes

Bobby Bare, Jr. - Bobby Bare, Jr.'s Young Criminals' Starvation League

Chuck E. Weiss - Red Beans and Weiss

Amps for Christ - Canyons Cars and Crows

Dylan Shearer - Garagearray

Ryley Walker - All Kinds of You

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The Rankin County School District is under fire for one teacher's disparaging comments against atheism. The American Humanist Association's legal center sent the district a letter on Tuesday detailing a complaint from a student and her parent that said the student's history teacher, who is also a pastor at a Baptist Church, has made several jabs at atheism in comments made in class throughout the year.

Northwest Rankin High School, where this history teacher teaches, has had trouble with the First Amendment before. A few months ago, the district came to a settlement with a former student who sued and won after she was forced to attend a blatantly Christian assembly during school hours.

The letter is not a lawsuit, but it asks the district to comply with the Establishment Clause and provide written notices to all faculty reminding them to not make remarks "promoting religion and disparaging atheism." The American Humanist Association has asked for a response from the district within a week. The seven-page letter details parts of the Constitution and legal history that could be argued to prove the teacher's comments unconstitutional.

Monica Miller, an attorney at the association's legal center wrote, "Good faith is not a defense to contempt and you are court-ordered to ensure that your employees are complying with the Consent Decree and Establishment Clause."

The American Humanist Association provided counsel to Magdalene Bedi, the Northwest Rankin High School student who sued and won after being forced to attend a Christian assembly in 2013. The district must pay damages to Bedi for additional violations since they violated two consent decrees after she filed her original lawsuit.

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann has announced several revisions to Mississippi election laws that will bring our code up to date with current elections procedures and technology. Some of the changes include tightening down campaign finance disclosure laws for political committees and moving Mississippi's presidential primary vote day to the first Tuesday in March. See full list of changes reproduced below from the Secretary of State's press release:

• Modernized Criminal Penalties: consolidates all election crimes in Chapter 13, Title 97 of the Mississippi Code; updates penalties to match fines and sentences applied to other felonies and misdemeanors

• Online Voter Registration: modernizes and streamlines Mississippi's voter registration system; brings Mississippi in line with over half the United States which allow for online registration; will allow US citizens who are Mississippi residents who possess a Mississippi driver's license or DPS issued identification card to register electronically; will help eliminate errors and reduce costs of paper registrations

• Pre-Election Day Voting: creates a 21 day no excuse voting period for citizens to cast their ballot before election day; voting will be conducted only at the County Courthouse during the pre-election voting period; any registered voter may cast a final vote during the pre-election voting period; eliminates the need for in-person absentee voting

• Financial Disclosures to Voters: moves deadline for political committees to file a statement of organization from 10 days after receiving or spending funds to 48 hours after spending or receiving funds; increases transparency by requiring filers to itemize payments made to credit card issuers, banks, or online payment portals; places sanctions on political committees that failed to make required filings with the Secretary of State

• Presidential Primary: moves Mississippi's Presidential Preference Primary from the second Tuesday in March to the first Tuesday; will make Mississippi have a stronger voice in choosing the presidential nominees

Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) sent a letter to Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security John Kelly today regarding Daniela Vargas, the 22-year old undocumented immigrant detained in Jackson last week. Thompson's letter asks Sec. Kelly to ensure that his department "exercises available discretion and looks upon her case favorably."

Vargas is Thompson's constituent, and the congressman describes her story to Kelly, saying "Daniela is the kind of young person who, as President Trump put it, should be treated with 'great heart.'"

Thompson asks Kelly to release Vargas from detention while her case proceeds.

"I would also ask that any pending application for immigration benefits, including her DACA renewal, be expeditiously reviewed and favorably considered by your Department," Thompson's letter says. "Young people like Daniela are an important part of communities all over this country, and deserve a chance to pursue their American dream."

National law firms and advocacy groups filed a petition for Vargas' release on Monday, asking the U.S. District Court in Louisiana to stay her pending deportation so that the court can consider whether or not Vargas deserves a hearing before an immigration judge--or to be released from ICE's custody altogether.

Vargas is currently held in the LaSalle Immigration Detention Facility in Louisiana.

Read Congressman Thompson's letter here.

We're trying to find the context of the $294,000/grant accusation in the email the Lee campaign sent out, but wouldn't document. We found the 2008 Clarion-Ledger story that the Lee campaign cited, as well as stories in the JFP. First, the Ledger story.

It was about then-Mayor Melton's abysmal financial management. It mentions the administration's complaints about problems left over from Johnson--which I personally take with a grain of salt until I find out the context. Because if there was anybody who could blame anyone but themselves, it was the Melton administration. Here's the relevant part of the story, "City not responding to suggestions":

"An employee hired by Mayor Frank Melton to assess Jackson's fiscal situation says she is fed up with Melton and his department heads for not responding to her recommendations to fix the city's bookkeeping problems. Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Valerie Nevels, a former Internal Revenue Service criminal investigator, said the mayor has not reinforced her suggestions. ...Nevels outlined to the City Council Budget Committee and various department heads a recent audit of city finances. She said it indicated sloppy accounting has left the city at risk of losing millions in federal funds and blurred its financial condition. The audit examined records from Oct. 1, 2005, to Sept. 30, 2006. To improve financial management in the city, Nevels has tried training personnel in such areas as filing quarterly reviews, balancing accounts monthly and setting firm deadlines for purchases and transfers. But employees have ignored the procedures and guidelines she passed out Oct. 1, she said. Nevels said Melton's response was for her to "make it happen." ...

...Melton and Walker said the city's poor accounting practices are left over from previous administrations. Nevels concurred, saying that during former Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr.'s administration, the city had more people working on financial statements and grants but the same problems existed. Johnson, mayor from 1997-2005, said his administration "took great pains to make sure the financial system was adequate. Johnson said that in his last year as mayor the city's bond rating was increased twice. Despite his efforts, Johnson's administration left behind some mismanaged grants, which the current administration and council had to deal with last fall. The city had to repay more than $294,000 on a grant because the grant was not spent in the required time period. Another $29,412 had to be repaid for the same period. "Clearly (Johnson) didn't walk away from this enterprise with clean hands, nor is the Melton administration going to walk away with clean hands," council President Leslie Burl McLemore said.

I vaguely remembered this controversy because it surprised us that a Melton hire was whistle-blowing on him. So I searched our database and found these stories about the problems that Nevel revealed: No Oversight Costing City Nobody Minding the Store

Adam Lynch also reported on Johnson and grants in this story right after he returned to office.

Although all of those stories bring back painful Melton-era …

A few new releases due out tomorrow...

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.

The city of Jackson's water system seems to be fighting a battle against shifting Yazoo clay.

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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