Jackson Free Press

The most recognizable Brazilian athletic star, Pelé, won’t be on hand during the opening ceremony tonight at the Rio Olympics. It would be an understatement to say that he is Brazil's biggest and best-known athlete.

Even though he hasn’t competed in nearly 40 years, he is the standard all soccer players are judged against.

The 75-year-old soccer star’s health has been in decline over the last few years. Pelé recently had hip surgery and walks with the help of a cane. Due to his poor health, he said he wouldn’t be at tonight’s ceremony.

The soccer star was rumored to be the person organizers had asked to light the cauldron, but that hasn’t been confirmed.

Now, the honor falls to someone else. Who will light the cauldron is a mystery. That will add a bit drama tonight as the opening ceremony is broadcast around the world.

The broadcast in the U.S. begins on NBC at 6:30 p.m. central time. The opening ceremony will be at Maracana Stadium, and coverage goes until 11 p.m., so you can pace yourself as you watch.

It might be best to stay off Twitter and other social media because NBC is tape-delaying the opening ceremony by an hour. People could give things away, as the company wants to have time to “curate” coverage to provide proper context to what viewers are seeing.

Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira and Hoda Kotb will serve as the hosts during the broadcast. NBC’s primetime Olympics host, Bob Costas, will open the telecast.

Michele Tafoya and Ros Gold-Onwude will also provide reports from the stadium. NBC correspondent David Feherty will discuss the return of golf to the Olympic games after a 112-year absence.

Part of Feherty’s interview with Pres. Barack Obama will be broadcasted during the opening ceremony. Viewers can see the rest of the interview on the Golf Channel's “Morning Drive” on Saturday or stream it on NBCOlympics.com or GolfChannel.com.

During the open ceremony, nearly all the athletes from every nation will enter the stadium carrying their nation’s flag; however, some athletes such as soccer players might not be in attendance. The most decorated Olympic athlete in history, Michael Phelps, who has 22 medals, will enter the stadium as flag bearer for the U.S.

Phelps’ teammates voted for him to carry the flag. Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad was reportedly second in the vote to be the flag bearer. Muhammad is the first American to wear a hijab in Olympic competition.

If you are not near your TV, you can stream the opening ceremony on the NBC Sports app or on NBCOlympics.com.

The biggest complaint against NBC will be when everyone finds out the opening ceremony was taped-delayed. At some point, things will get ruined on social media for those who don’t know about the delay.

Ouch. After GOP vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan cited Rage Against the Machine as on eof his favoriate bands, Rage's guitarist Tom Morello responded in an op-ed on the Rolling Stone webiste.. Morello started with the money quote: "Paul Ryan's love of Rage Against the Machine is amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades."

Here's more:

Charles Manson loved the Beatles but didn't understand them. Governor Chris Christie loves Bruce Springsteen but doesn't understand him. And Paul Ryan is clueless about his favorite band, Rage Against the Machine.

Ryan claims that he likes Rage's sound, but not the lyrics. Well, I don't care for Paul Ryan's sound or his lyrics. He can like whatever bands he wants, but his guiding vision of shifting revenue more radically to the one percent is antithetical to the message of Rage.

I wonder what Ryan's favorite Rage song is? Is it the one where we condemn the genocide of Native Americans? The one lambasting American imperialism? Our cover of "Fuck the Police"? Or is it the one where we call on the people to seize the means of production? So many excellent choices to jam out to at Young Republican meetings!

Seriously, Ryan. This reminds me of when the Reagan campaign tried to misappropriate Springsteen's "Born in the USA," helped along with a naive George Will. Message to politicians: listen to the lyrics, fools.

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_in_the_U.S.A._(song)

If you listen closely, you'll hear it: it's the sound of 147 Republicans who hope to replace Sen. Thad Cochran weeping.

OK, maybe it's not quite that many. But Mississippi pols have been jockeying for position for a while on the chance that Cochran, who is so old that he remembers a time when Congress did stuff, retires when his term is up.

But Jonathan Martin of the New York Times wrote on his blog, The Caucus, that Cochran, 75, is raising money like a first term representative.

Martin notes of Cochran:

"He is hosting a breakfast Friday morning at a Capitol Hill restaurant, charging $500 for individuals and $1,000 for political action committees. Next month, Mr. Cochran will attend another, pricier breakfast featuring former Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi at Mr. Barbour’s namesake Washington lobbying firm. And in November, Mr. Cochran is staging what he’s billing as a “fall retreat” at a new resort in Middleburg, Va."

Earlier this year, Cochran held fundraisers in West Point, Miss., and Washington D.C., records from the Sunlight Foundation's Political Party Time site show.

It's likely a safe Republican seat, though a high-profile Democrat could creep in if the Republican primary leaves the nominee bloodied and weak.

At this point, Cochran is kind of like a dominant male lion at the watering hole. Other Republican hopefuls just have to sit back and wait for Cochran to have his fill (serving in the Senate is the water in this analogy).

If they don't, Thad will have them for lunch.

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Spotify for free and new releases...

At a press conference at Mississippi's last abortion clinic last week, "stone the gays" Pastor James Manning told a group of mostly white protestors that McDonald's would cease to exist in three to seven years due to abortion.

His logic: abortion is a racist institution, abortion providers target black people and, as a result, companies that target black customers will begin to collapse due to the decreasing population of black people.

As absurd as it sounds, Manning might be going somewhere. A report released today shows that McDonald's has lost 30 percent of it's quarterly profit. Could Manning's prophecy be true?

We're not convinced.

One explanation for the loss in revenue is a major meat scandal in China—inspectors found that a Shanghai food supplier was selling expired meat to McDonald's this summer.

But people in China are not the only ones who are no longer "lovin' it." An emphasis on health has likely deterred people in United States—and all over world—from enjoying meals at the massive fast food chain.

McDonald's acknowledges a significant decrease in revenue in the United States, but not because of "black genocide"—which is what Manning calls abortion.

The chain has received negative publicity due to the poor wages of its workers. That and a push to chose healthier food options can be be blamed for the decrease in revenue.

Manning would likely say "that's what they want you to think." What do you think?

Stay tuned for a more in-depth analysis of the preacher's statements publishing tomorrow.

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.

On Flag Day at its annual meeting, the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution that calls on all Southern Baptist churches and 'brothers and sisters in Christ' to not display the Confederate battle flag.

The convention passed a resolution that said, "we call our brothers and sisters in Christ to discontinue the display of the Confederate battle flag as a sign of solidarity of the whole Body of Christ, including our African-American brothers and sisters."

"We recognize that the Confederate battle flag is used by some and perceived by many as a symbol of hatred, bigotry, and racism, offending millions of people..." the resolution says. "We recognize that, while the removal of the Confederate battle flag from public display is not going to solve the most severe racial tensions that plague our nation and churches, those professing Christ are called to extend grace and put the consciences of others ahead of their own interests and actions."

Russell Moore, president of the convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and a native Mississippian, has spoken out against Mississippi's state flag previously and reiterated his stance in a blog post this week.

"As I’ve said before, the Cross and the Confederate flag cannot co-exist without one setting the other on fire," Moore wrote. "Today, messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention, including many white Anglo southerners, decided the cross was more important than the flag. They decided our African-American brothers and sisters are more important than family heritage. We decided that we are defined not by a Lost Cause but by amazing grace. Let’s pray for wisdom, work for justice, love our neighbors.

And let’s take down that flag."

Who hasn't bothered to file campaign-finance reports for the primaries?

Check out New Orleans' The Breton Sound tomorrow night at Sam's Lounge.

Mayor-elect Chokwe Lumumba will be sworn in today at noon, but the proverbial cat may be out of the bag on his first announcement after being inaugurated.

On Saturday, Jackson State University put out a press release congratulating Deputy-Chief Lindsey Horton on being named the city's next police chief.

City officials have not confirmed that Horton has been chosen, but Lumumba hinted to television station WAPT to expect an announcement soon after he was sworn in today at the Jackson Convention Center.

Horton would replace Rebecca Coleman, whose four-year tenure as chief ended Saturday.

You can read more about Horton in a 2011 JFP profile here.

Former Jackson Ward 1 City Councilman Quentin Whitwell will run for the seat left vacant by the recent death of U.S. Rep. Alan Nunnelee.

He wrote on Facebook: "With the outpouring of support and the blessing from my family, I am pleased to announce that I am running for US Congress. As a native of Southaven and current Oxford resident, I am ready to run a strong campaign. My business background and legal training distinguishes my candidacy from the field. I hope you will join me in fighting to bring America back to its finest moment!"

Whitwell left the Jackson City Council in October to move back to Oxford so that his son could be trained under tennis coaches at the University of Mississippi.

Update: Now there are only three counties in the state not issuing same-sex marriage licenses according to Unity MS. The Campaign for Southern Equality and ACLU of Mississippi have compiled a map of the counties that are (and aren't) issuing marriage licenses for same-sex couples. For updates see the list here. Counties not issuing licenses are either waiting for the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to lift the stay on the Campaign for Southern Equality v. Bryant case or are waiting on new marriage licensing forms.

The counties currently not issuing licenses are:

Holmes and Issaquena counties are waiting for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to lift the stay on the Campaign for Southern Equality v. Bryant case.

Smith County is waiting for an updated system and forms.

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If you're driving around Jackson today, consider tuning in to Mix 98.7 for a special "telethon" program they're doing for Batson Children's Hospital.

And, when you do, listen closely to the new voice you're hearing at that remote alongside Shannon Steele -- that's Brian Stauffer, my (Todd Stauffer's) brother.

Brian's got 20+ years experience in radio, but this is the first time he and I have been in the same town doing media work. I'm excited to have him here and for Jackson to get to know him.

Wish him luck!

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This year's Stray at Home is at Smith Park on May 13. This morning, organizers announced the 2017 makers. Here they are:

Alena G Vinet Designs

Blackjack Wax Co.

Bean & Bailey Ceramics

Lo Lady Fashion

Dot Products

Samara Thomas

Sam Clark Art

Thimblepress

Ellen Langford

Mermaid's Purse

d+p Design Build

Bridgman Pottery

Wild and Free Designs

Platypusfile

Wascome Woodworks

The Lovely Bee

PreSUDence

Moxie Floral

SwingLab

Homegrown Studio

Melody & Shaun Thortis

Elizabeth Fowler

DCZ Designs

Moonflower Photography

LCJ Jewelry

Cristina Leis Calligraphy

Blending by Betty

Bailey Armstrong

Phelan Harris

CJC

For more information, visit strayathome.com.

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Since starting at the Jackson Free Press in May, I have been involved in producing 15 issues. For some of them I didn't do a lot, but others I can flip through and see the work I put in on most of the pages inside. It's very cool having a physical product for our efforts each week and see people carrying it around, but it's even better to be proud of what we're doing—not just printing words and images into a paper, but being a force that strives to make Jackson a better place.

And now, we're upping those efforts on the Internet with our new website, including these fancy blogs for staff members and anyone who wants to create one.

So what's my story? I was born in Utah to Oregonian parents, moved to Mississippi for high school and decided to stick around for college—I went to Millsaps and loved it. Then I went to graduate school in Boston and lived three blocks from Fenway Park for two years. Boston was big and wonderful and I loved so much of it, but it was difficult to feel connected to the community in a meaningful way. So when the time came to move back to Mississippi (this time, for my fiancé-now-husband's enrollment in medical school), I was actually excited.

I touched on a lot of the reasons why in my first editor's note, but when I went to the Sal & Mookie's/Parlor Market collaboration PM Pizza on Monday night, I was reminded all over again how great our city is becoming these days. To me, the event is a perfect example of why I'm glad to be back in Jackson. First of all, Liz Lancaster (who does marketing for Mangia Bene) is a great friend of mine and a fellow Millsaps alum, and I just love seeing young people (especially intelligent former Majors with open hearts and minds) become the movers and shakers in this town. Liz and everyone at both restaurants did an amazing job for the event.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2012/aug/22/7817/

Second, the community. Walking over from the JFP office, I immediately found the table of my people, and throughout the night several more people or groups came in and came over for hugs and happy greetings. Everywhere I looked I saw people I either knew well or recognized. I love living in a capital city that still manages to create those moments.

There was also an influx of players from the local kickball league, which my table immediately wanted to know more about and get involved with. A friend who is moving out of the country for a year said multiple times how great Jackson is and how jealous she was that all of us could do events like PM Pizza and local kickball leagues. This person is moving to Paris, y'all, and she couldn't stop talking about how great Jackson is.

Third, the food. Ohhh, the food. I was there …

Mississippi State University (41-16-1) was one of the four SEC teams to earn one of the eight national seeds when the NCAA announced the field of 64 teams. This is the first time the team has been a national seed.

The Bulldogs are the No. 6 seed with fellow SEC teams, No. 1 seed the University of Florida (47-13), No. 4 seed Texas A&M University (41-16) and No. 8 seed Louisiana State University (42-18).

The four national seeds from the SEC are a record for the NCAA Baseball Tournament. But that’s not the only record the conference made when the field was announced.

A record seven SEC teams will host a regional. Along with the four national seeds, these SEC teams will host a regional: the University of Mississippi (43-17), Vanderbilt University (43-17) and University of South Carolina (42-15).

In the Starkville Regional with MSU is No. 2 seed California State University, Fullerton (35-21), No. 3 seed Louisiana Tech University (40-18) and No. 4 seed Southeast Missouri State University (39-19).

The Bulldogs will open regional play against Southeast Missouri State University at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, June 3, and the game will be on ESPN3. Cal State Fullerton and Louisiana Tech will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the second game.

The losing teams will meet at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, in an elimination game. The winners will face off at 6:30 p.m., and the winner of that game plays for the regional title on Sunday, June 5. All regionals are double elimination.

In the Oxford Regional, No. 2 seed Tulane University (39-19), No. 3 seed Boston College (31-20) and No. 4 seed University of Utah (25-27) will join the Rebels.

UM opens regional play at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 3, against Utah on ESPN3. The first game of the day is Tulane against Boston College.

While the Rebels and Bulldogs will host a regional, Conference USA Baseball Tournament winner, the University of Southern Mississippi, will not host a regional. The Golden Eagles instead were placed in the Tallahassee Regional.

Florida State University (37-20) is the No. 1 seed, USM (40-18) is the No. 2 seed, University of South Alabama (40-20) is the No. 3 seed, and Alabama State University (38-15) is the No. 4 seed.

USM will open regional play at 11 a.m. against South Alabama on Friday, May 3. FSU and Alabama State will play in the second game at 5 p.m., and both games will be on ESPN3.

If Mississippi State wins its regional, the team will play the winner of the Lafayette Regional. That regional has No. 1 seed University of Louisiana at Lafayette (41-19), No. 2 seed University of Arizona (38-20), No. 3 seed Sam Houston State University (41-20), and No. 4 seed Princeton University (24-19).

If the Rebels win the Oxford Regional, they will face the winner of the Coral Gables Regional. That regional features University …

Credit for the Dallas Cowboy’s eight-game winning streak seemed to be split between the offensive line and running back Ezekiel Elliott entering their game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Nov. 20. It isn’t like Dallas’ rookie quarterback, Dak Prescott, doesn’t get enough credit, but many seemed to think he was more of a game manager than a quarterback who can win games on his own.

The Ravens’ game plan was to force Prescott to try beating them with his arm.

That plan looked perfect early on, as Baltimore’s top-ranked rush defense bottled up Elliott for 26 yards on six carries in the first half. The Ravens even rattled Prescott, who started four for 10 on pass completions, gaining only 31 yards on the Cowboys’ first four drives.

Dallas punted on those drives, and everyone had to wonder if having Tony Romo as the backup quarterback was putting pressure on the young rookie. Then came first down and 30 yards for the Cowboys with under 10 minutes left in the second quarter and Baltimore leading 7-0.

Most of the time, a team facing first and 30 from its own 28 yard line would lead to a punt from the offense. But this is when Prescott began to take over and showed that he is a major reason for the Cowboys’ rebirth.

Prescott took off for 12 yards on first down, and on the next play, he ate up 12 more yards with a pass to wide receiver Dez Bryant, setting up a makeable third down and six yards.

Then, Prescott hit wide receiver Brice Butler on a 41-yard bomb to set up first and goal at the Baltimore seven yard line. The Cowboys scored three plays later when Prescott found Cole Beasley in the end zone to tie the game at 7-7.

Prescott shook off this rough start to end the game with 23 completions for 26 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns. In the second half, he went 14 for 15 on passing, and Dallas began to take over the game.

The Cowboys salted away the game in the fourth quarter with a drive that lasted more than six minutes. Prescott went three for three on passing, but Elliot handled the bulk of the work. All the same, great play from the fourth-round draft pick at quarterback led the way for the Cowboys’ running game to take over in the fourth quarter.

Prescott made play after play throwing the ball in a game where the Ravens wanted to see if he would fail under the pressure. But Baltimore’s game plan blew up in its face when Prescott proved that he can make every throw needed to beat opponents.

It is likely that the rest of the teams on the Cowboys’ schedule will try to employ the same tactic down the road. Even though that seems like a sound strategy, the former Mississippi State University star has shown …

Two former college-football stars ended up dead just over a year apart. Both former players ended up hanging themselves in their jail cells.

Former University of Nebraska star running back Lawrence Phillips didn’t have the best childhood, as he grew up in group homes in his youth. Football was a way for Phillips to escape his past and build a future.

The running back might have been able to outrun defenders on the football field, but he couldn’t outrun his anger off the field. He dragged a former girlfriend down a couple of flights of stairs while playing for Nebraska.

Then-Cornhuskers head coach Tom Osborne kicked Phillips off the team for just six games before reinstating him, saying he needed the structure of football in his life. Phillips helped Nebraska win back-to-back national championships.

Life in the NFL was not as great for the former college star. The St. Louis Rams drafted him sixth overall but cut him due to him showing up drunk for work and his inability to stay out of trouble.

Phillips spent time with the Miami Dolphins, NFL Europe, the San Francisco 49ers and the Canadian Football League. The running back ended up being released at nearly every stop for fighting with coaches, getting into legal trouble or failing to do the necessary work to be successful at the pro level.

After football, Phillips stayed in trouble and ended up in jail after running over three teenagers with car and nearly choking his girlfriend to death. He was no longer a football star and on Jan. 13, 2016, the former star hung himself.

Flash-forward to today, April 19, when former University of Florida and New England Patriots star tight end Aaron Hernandez was found dead from hanging in his jail cell. Hernandez was a high school star at Bristol, Conn., before he committed to play at Florida.

While at Florida, the coaches were worried about the people Hernandez was spending time with off the field. The coaches even tried to keep him in Gainesville, Fla., when school was out for breaks.

Some of the issues Hernandez dealt with while in college was a fight at a Florida bar, a double-shooting and rumors of spending time with the wrong people. There were also rumors of failed drug tests while playing for the Gators.

Those issues ended up dropping Hernandez to the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. The New England Patriots gambled that the tight end would leave his past behind him and even rewarded him with a contract extension in 2012.

Hernandez didn’t leave his past behind and was still associated with the wrong people. He was convicted in the shooting death of Odin Lloyd and given a life sentence in 2015.

Last week the former NFL player was acquitted of double murder charges in Boston, Mass. He was still suspected of other crimes at the time of …

Today, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia released a statement joining other journalism organizations in protesting the U.S. Department of Justice's over-reaching subpoena of The Associated Press' phone records. The JFP joins other media organizations who have signed onto this letter by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. It reads in part:

The scope of this action calls into question the very integrity of Department of Justice policies toward the press and its ability to balance, on its own, its police powers against the First Amendment rights of the news media and the public’s interest in reporting on all manner of government conduct, including matters touching on national security which lie at the heart of this case.

If you're in Jackson tonight and you hear gunfire, don't worry.

It's not the sound of voter-ID proponents celebrating the dismantling of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

It's not the beginnings of the Republic of New Afrika's armed insurrection.

It's just members of the Jackson Police Department shooting guns. JPD will be testing new equipment that detects gunfire, WLBT reports.

The technology, called The Shot Spotter, senses whenever a gun is fired and notifies emergency personnel, who will respond to the shot.

Officers will test the system tonight at 7 p.m. with live rounds, but will not fire bullets into the air. Even if the system works, JPD encourages residents to continue reporting gunshots in their neighborhoods.