Jackson Free Press

On Friday, the City of Jackson updated their status on repairs on Woodrow Wilson Drive between State Street and I-55; crews will dig on Monday to determine the parts needed for repairs that will take place a few weeks from now.

Woodrow Wilson Drive's eastbound lanes will be reduced to one lane in preparation for major repair work on the water lines below the road. Once repair work begins, traffic will be re-routed to State Street, but no contractor has been named so the street will remain open until a contractor is found and repair work begins. The project could take up to two months once construction begins.

Read the City of Jackson's press release (in full) below:

"Beginning Thursday, Jan. 7, City of Jackson Department of Public Works crews are switching eastbound traffic to the north lane of Woodrow Wilson Drive instead of the south lane. Motorists are encouraged to proceed with caution and drive at a reasonable speed.

The City is moving forward with the project to repair a major water main break on Woodrow Wilson Drive. The road remains passable for motorists as crews continuously assess the condition of the site to keep it safe until the repair work can begin.

Engineers have designed the repair, which is complex because of the location, the materials for the pipe and the laying conditions. This project requires a custom built new pipe as the break occurred on a 36-inch water line constructed in the 1960s. The pipe needs to be encased, which requires engineering design and a contractor. This repair cannot be made in-house.

The City is currently reviewing a contract for a contractor. Upon approval, work will begin and could take approximately two months to complete because of the complexity of the repair. During that time, traffic will be rerouted to State Street. The public will be informed of the detour in advance."

The following is a statement from Justice Kitchens' campaign:

Justice Jim Kitchens of Crystal Springs was the first candidate to file papers at the Secretary of State’s Office for the 2016 election when he qualified to seek election to a second term on the Mississippi Supreme Court this morning. Four seats on the nine-member court will be on ballots throughout the state for the November 8, 2016, election.

Although state judicial candidates run in nonpartisan elections, the Supreme Court contests will be on the same ballots as the presidential and congressional races.

Kitchens, a Copiah County resident, runs in the state’s Central District, which is comprised of twenty-two counties. This year two of the high court’s seats will be in play in the Northern District, and one in the southern District.

“Although there was no doubt in my mind that I would run again, it’s official now,” Kitchens said. “Today I filed my qualifying papers with the Secretary of State and paid the required fee. This was the earliest possible date on which I could sign up to run in the 2016 election. I am grateful for the encouragement I’ve received from everyday people and from attorneys in all segments of the Bar. I plan to continue devoting myself to making sound legal decisions on our state’s highest court because I am keenly aware that those decisions affect the lives of every man, woman, and child in Mississippi.”

A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Mississippi School of Law, Kitchens is a lifelong resident of Crystal Springs. Before seeking election to the Supreme Court, he practiced law for forty-one years, nine of which were spent as District Attorney for the 14th Circuit Court District. He and his wife, Mary T. Kitchens, have five adult children and eleven grandchildren, all of whom live in Crystal Springs. Mrs. Kitchens, a retired public school teacher, is the executive director of Mississippi’s Toughest Kids Foundation.

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Jackson Zoo officials have announced that a pack of feral dogs killed a gazelle and five springbok. Two geese were also hurt. The following is a verbatim description of the incident from the zoo:

Zoo staff discovered the animals had been attacked early Friday morning, and began to take measures of contacting Animal Control and catching the dogs before they attacked any other animals or escaped off property. The Zoo captured four of the five feral dogs believed to be involved in the accident. One dog escaped the premises; along with another dog spotted in the adjoining cemetery, not presently linked to the attack. None of the five medium size mixed breeds were wearing a collar for identification.

"This is a sad day, and the hardest thing about it is it didn't have to happen. The entire zoo's animal care staff work very hard to give the best care to the collection of animals here at the zoo, and to have them killed this way is tragic,” Zoo Director Beth Poff said, “There are people out there who have not taken responsibility for their dogs, and unfortunately we all have to suffer the consequences."

The Zoo lost 5 Springbok and 1 Addra Gazelle from its’ African Savannah area. Both species are part of antelope-gazelle family found in parts of Africa. The two spur-winged geese that were injured have been taken to the Zoo’s Animal Hospital for care.

Through a preliminary investigation there has not been a point of entry found on the fence line. The investigation continues as to where the dogs entered and one dog escaped the premises. The fence line is walked weekly to check for openings where dogs or other predators could enter.

The Zoo has 24-hour security, which has called Animal Control for dog sightings on zoo property eight times in the last five months, only three dogs have been captured from these calls.

Jackson Zoo staff continues to be vigilant in sighting loose dogs and monitoring the containment fences that surround the property. The zoo has contacted the City of Jackson today for assistance in containment, especially around possible drainage areas under the fence line.

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The city has hired a manager to oversee projects paid for with a 1-percent tax approved almost two years ago.

The Jackson City Council approved a contract with Jackson-based IMS Engineers for projects in the first year of the infrastructure master plan. IMS will help develop a comprehensive infrastructure plan, a 20-year blueprint to overhaul of the City’s infrastructure system of roads, bridges as well as water, sewer and drainage systems. IMS will also provide mapping and handle the public relations and outreach.

The selection of IMS came with relatively little controversy compared to other professional-services contracts that have gone before the city council in recent months. These include an agreement to remove sludge from the Savanna Wastewater Treatment Plant and switching health plans for city employees.

Mayor Tony Yarber said IMS did have the best scores from the City's evaluation committee, but two firms who scored higher had conflicts because the firms would have overseen work they previously committed.

Yarber has said hiring a program manager would be one of the last obstacles to overcome before spending from the 1-percent fund.

So far taxpayers have generated approximately $21 million from the 1-percent tax that voters approved through a referendum in early 2014. The first year of the tax added up to $15.1 million designated to begin repairs on some 2,000 miles of roadway, 881 miles of water main and 1,000 miles of sewer pipe.

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The following delicious news release is printed here verbatim:

Brenham, Texas, November 24, 2015 – Blue Bell Ice Cream will be available in Louisiana and Jackson, Miss., and its surrounding areas beginning Dec. 21. This is the second-to-last phase in the company’s five phase market re-entry plan.

“We are excited to announce phase four and look forward to expanding our distribution area,” said Ricky Dickson, vice president of sales and marketing for Blue Bell. “Our customers have shown great patience over the past several months and we cannot thank them enough.”

To begin phase four, Blue Bell will bring back 115 of its employees who were put on paid furlough earlier this year bringing the total number to approximately 1000 company-wide.

November has been busy for Blue Bell. At the beginning of the month the company entered phase two, less than two weeks later it announced phase three will begin in mid-December and its Brenham, Texas, production facility began making ice cream again on Nov. 18.

“We have made great strides over the past month,” Dickson said. “Our next big step is the phase three entry on Dec. 14. With the reopening of our Brenham plant in November, we are able to build enough inventory to enter phases three and four before the end of this year. Also, this will allow us to expand our flavor selection.”

For now Blue Bell is producing five flavors of ice cream in the half gallon and pint sizes: Buttered Pecan, Cookies ’n Cream, Dutch Chocolate, Homemade Vanilla and The Great Divide. More flavors will be added in the future. 12-pak Homemade Vanilla Cups and 12-pak Homemade Vanilla and Dutch Chocolate Cups are also available in stores.

For more information and to find out where Blue Bell is available visit bluebell.com.

Run-offs are old-school anyway, right?

The fate of District 79's representation in the House of Representatives will be decided on Friday by drawing straws, according to Mississippi election law. Rep. Bo Eaton, D-Taylorsville, has represented the district since 1996, but in this election he pulled in the exact same number of votes as his Republican challenger, Mark Tullos.

The two candidates tied with 4,589 votes each.

In a press release, Rep. Eaton said he will not challenge the result of Friday's straws. Technically, the loser on Friday has the right to challenge the vote and appeal to the House of Representatives, which would then decide who gets to take District 79's seat when they reconvene.

Eaton's press release said: "Whatever the outcome of the procedure, I will abide by the result and not challenge the election. I hope my opponent will agree to do the same thing."

The District 79 race straws will be drawn on Friday at 1:30 p.m. in the governor's office conference room in the Sillers Building when the governor and the secretary of state return from Israel.

The Times-Picayune in New Orleans is reporting that Rob Ryan, defense coordinator for the New Orleans Saints, has been fired after a particularly embarrassing 47-14 loss to Washington on Sunday.

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.

This is full, verbatim release from City Hall:

The City of Jackson recently implemented Phase One of its new Customer Care & Billing System (CC&B). The system went live across the City on September 1 and we are currently in the verification process, which allows the City to ensure account accuracy and that all of the new system’s capabilities are fully functional.

The necessity to estimate bills is primarily due to the testing of the network in conjunction with moving to a monthly billing cycle. It is not unusual when implementing this type of system upgrade to go through a transitionary period when bills are estimated based on an average of actual consumption from prior billing periods. Estimated bills will be identified on the bill with the abbreviation (EST) immediately after the reading. Once the system is fully verified and implementation is complete, bills will begin moving to the monthly cycle and eventually will be based on actual meter reads/consumption each month. The City anticipates moving to actual billing in the coming months as the electronic meter reads are introduced into the billing system by geographic area. After the transitionary period concludes, the bills will only be estimated if a read cannot be reasonably obtained.

Key benefits of the new CC&B include increased efficiency of meter reading and water billing, eventual elimination of the need for estimated bills, and a reduced need for personnel to enter property. The system will also be able to track usage patterns, allowing the City to potentially detect leaks on a property through abnormal usage patterns. Implementation of the new system will occur in two phases. During Phase One, all customer accounts will be moved to the new system and reviewed to ensure that accounts were properly transitioned to the new platform before the CC&B’s broader capabilities are implemented.

After last Saturday's 59-27 loss to Grambling Stat, Jackson State made the decision to fire head coach Harold Jackson during the team's bye week. The firing was first reported by the Clarion-Ledger.

Jackson's tenure ended after just 17 games and a 1-4 start this season and a 1-2 record in SWAC play. In just a season and just over a quarter of a second season, Jackson had a 6-11 overall record and 3-8 record in SWAC play.

Jackson State has given up 30 or more points every game this season and has given up 50 plus points in three of four losses. The Tigers offense had only scored over 30 points twice this season. JSU's one win was by four points (34-30 to Texas Southern) and 10 points is the closest loss (35-25 to Tennessee State).

Last season, Jackson State lost to Mississippi Valley State for the first time in over twenty years but rallied to beat Alcorn State (2014-15 SWAC Football Champions) to end the season.

At the time of the Jackson's firing no interim head coach was named. Jackson State doesn't take the field again until October 17, when the Tigers hit the road to face Alabama A&M (who currently also has one win going into a game against Grambling State this weekend).

Update:

Jackson State has announced that former Tigers quarterback Derrick McCall will take over as head coach for the last six games of the 2015-16 season. McCall has is in his eighth season as a coach at JSU.

During his time with Jackson State McCall was wide receivers coach, quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. He was a standout quarterback for the Tigers from 1979-82 were he helped lead the program to two SWAC Championships and two berths in the Division I-AA playoffs.

McCall's first home game as head coach will come on October 24 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

I came out of Game 3 against the Carolina Panthers with some optimism for the team—along with a resigned sense that 2015 is looking more and more like a rebuilding year for the New Orleans Saints.

I guess that shouldn’t be a shocker — considering the high-profile trades, draft picks, and the number of rookies the Saints are starting on this team, the idea that they would go far this year was perhaps a pipe dream in the first place.

What may end up being more interesting is the groundwork they’re laying for the future.

Game 3 Recap

After watch the game tape my first impression is that this was really a decent outing for the offense—especially since backup quarterback Luke McCown ran the offense for the first time (in a game that mattered) since he put on a Saints uniform.

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Particularly in the first half, the offense moved down the field almost at will.

McCown got the ball to many different weapons in the first quarter: Spiller, Ingram, Coleman, Snead, Robinson, Cooks, Johnson, Hill, and Watson all touched the ball in the first two series alone.

After re-watching those two drives I realized that (a.) I’m still not giving Ingram enough credit—he had some key, hard-fought rushes in that second drive in particular and (b.) this could be a very interesting offense once running back C.J. Spiller, acquired this year from Buffalo, gets more touches and is a bigger part of the gameplan.

It’s also interesting to think that the Saints will be able to field Spiller, Ingram and Cooks at the same time—and give defensive play-callers a few headaches.

On the defensive side of the ball, credit the Saints for getting pressure on quarterback Cam Newton in their first series and stopping running back Jonathan Stewart, forcing a punt. They did neither of those things the next series, allowing Carolina to reply with a TD that looked routine.

So, at 10-7, the Saints got a third look at the ball with 5 minutes left in the half; that drive went nowhere, as consecutive penalties pushed the Saints into a 2-and-25 situation that they couldn’t quite dig out of, despite a 21-yard, 3rd-down pass to Watson.

After a punt to Carolina’s 19 yard line at 2:06 in the half, cornerback Brandon Browner immediately gave up a 52-yard bomb to Carolina tight end Greg Olson, and Carolina dribbled down to the 2 yard line, but ran out of time and settled for field goal to tie the game at 10-10.

Saints linebacker H. Kikaha got his first sack of the game in Carolina's first series of the second half, a coverage sack that resulted in Carolina punting away its fourth possession. After a penalty on the Carolina punt (which Marcus Murphy had muffed and run out of bounds), the second attempt was a charm—Murphy took the ball back 74 yards with a quick, efficient punt return for a TD that showed him doing exactly …

If there's something I feel like I've learned after years of watching the New Orleans Saints play football, it's that there really is such a thing as scoring their last points too soon.

The classic instance in their modern incarnation is the Saints-49ners NFC Championship game in 2012. In that game, quarterback Drew Brees threw a 66-yard touchdown to tight end Jimmy Graham that put the Saints into the lead with 1:37 left on the clock. The point after put the score at 32-29.

The ensuing 49er drive took 1:28, as Alex Smith moved the team methodically down the field against a porous Saints defense, with the final touchdown just seconds before the end of the game.

It was a painful loss for Saints fans who watched a second Super Bowl berth slip away in a scenario that's happened just a little too often in the Sean Payton era—the Saints scored too soon on their final drive.

I don't think you can fault Payton and his quarterbacks, whether Brees or now Luke McCown, for seeing a potential matchup and going for the jugular late in the game. That's how football is played.

But what I do feel like you can fault Payton for—and I hate to say this—is trusting that his awful defenses will be able to hold off the other team's final drive if you give the opponent any time at all.

This past Sunday, for instance, I submit that a little conservative play-calling might have won the day.

The Saints were poised to beat the Carolina Panthers late in the fourth quarter, after marching down the field in an unhurried three-minute offense led by the surprisingly unflappable McCown.

Faced with dropped passes by the usually reliable veteran receiver Marques Colston and a couple of hot grabs by slot receiver Brandin Cooks, that final 24-yard pass into the end zone to Cooks looked too good to pass up; and it was, for Carolina cornerback Josh Norman, who made a fantastic interception on a pretty good pass by McCown.

It's hindsight, yes. But clearly the pass shouldn't have been thrown.

With over a minute on the clock and with timeouts still available, the Saints had two downs to get 6 yards and at least three backs to think about using to get them. On the play that they ran for the interception, Mark Ingram was wide-open in the flat for at least 5 of those 6 yards—a quick throw to the back would might have netted a first down and, critically, an opportunity to bleed more clock. (Colston, as it turns out, was also wide-open over the middle and might have scored if thrown to.)

Crazy talk? Sure. And, of course, there's no guarantee that you score from the 15 or so yards out.

But I can't avoid asking the question... is it too much to ask an NFL coach to at least temper the desire to toss it into the end zone for the quick …

RePublic Schools Inc., the charter management organization that opened one of two charter schools in Mississippi, received a $9.6 million U.S. Department of Education grant. RePublic Schools was one of twelve organizations selected for a Charter School Program Grant this year.

The grant will be issued over a five-year period, and RePublic Schools Inc. was allotted $1.76 million in Year One. The Mississippi Charter Authorizer Board approved two more RePublic Schools, Smilow Prep and Smilow Collegiate, earlier this month. The schools will open in Jackson in August 2016.

In a press release, CEO Ravi Gupta said, "We are grateful to Secretary Duncan (the U.S. Secretary of Education) and his team for recognizing RePublic's efforts to expand high quality, 21st Century educational opportunities for children in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana."

RePublic Schools has opened schools in Tennessee and Mississippi thus far, but the press release mentions Louisiana as well.

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves seems less concerned with creating a budget this year than he is with making sure Initiative 42 does not pass in November. During the Legislative Budget Office hearings on Monday and Tuesday, while most department heads were able to fend off taking sides, they were forced to answer obviously leading questions, primarily orchestrated by Reeves.

When the Department of Education presented their budget on Monday, they asked for the full funding of MAEP and funding for several additional programs including: the third grade reading gate, the MSIS system, state special schools and early education pilot programs.

Reeves asked state Superintendent of Education, Dr. Carey Wright several questions about the effectiveness of the additional programs in a way that indirectly asked about MAEP.

After questions from representatives and senators, Reeves asked several of his own. A small portion of the back-and-forth is below:

Reeves: How long have you been in Mississippi now? Has it been two years?

Wright: November the 11 will be two years.

Reeves: So you’ve had an opportunity to be in lots of school districts and a lot of schools across our state, my question is do you think Mississippi has an efficient system of public schools?

Wright: (Pause) Can you define efficient?

Reeves: Let me ask you a follow-up, can you define efficient?

Wright: Thinking about it from a superintendent’s hat, if I was a district superintendent, efficient to me would be am I utilizing funds the way they should be utilized, do I have an appropriate number of people at the school and central office level and am I efficient in my time and my management, and how I am executing my plans...

The verbal sparring continued, but few questions were asked about the extra $250 million that the department is asking for (over the FY16 Level of funding). Reeves' questions stem from the assumption that if Initiative 42 passes, the Legislature will be court-ordered to fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Formula (MAEP), which has been fully funded only twice since 1997. Republican leaders, mainly Reeves and House Speaker Philip Gunn, have vocalized what they see as the danger of Constitutional power transferring to the judicial branch of government.

For more MAEP coverage visit: http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/maep/

The Mississippi Charter School Authorizer Board unanimously approved an application for two new charter schools to open in Jackson. RePublic Schools Inc. will run both schools: Joel D. Smilow Collegiate and Joel D. Smilow Prep. RePublic Schools Inc. is the charter management organization that opened one of the first charter schools in Mississippi this year, Reimagine Prep.

Smilow Collegiate will be serve grades K-8, and Smilow Prep will serve grades 5-8. The schools will grow by a grade level each year until they reach 8th grade. The two charter schools will be located on the same campus at Northside Drive on the old campus of Wesley Biblical Seminary. By 2023, both schools could have an enrollment of 1600 students.

The two charters will have to pass all of the requirements and inspections as prescribed by Mississippi's charter school law of the board before officially opening. Any student within the Jackson Public Schools district will be welcome to apply, and applications will go into a lottery only if the number of applications received exceeds the number of slots available.

Southerners (and my mom) rejoice: After halting production for what seemed to many like an eternity, Blue Bell is back.

Here's the announcement from the Texas-based company:

Brenham, TX, August 17, 2015 – Blue Bell Creameries announced today it will begin distributing ice cream to select markets on Monday, August 31.

Blue Bell has notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and state health officials in Alabama and Texas of its plan to re-enter select markets on a limited basis.

“Over the past several months we have been working to make our facilities even better, and to ensure that everything we produce is safe, wholesome and of the highest quality for you to enjoy,” said Ricky Dickson, vice president of sales and marketing for Blue Bell. “This is an exciting time for us as we are back to doing what we love…making ice cream!”

The Blue Bell production facility in Sylacauga, Ala., began producing ice cream in late July. Additional production facilities in Brenham, Texas, and Broken Arrow, Okla., are still undergoing facility and production process upgrades similar to those made at the Alabama plant.

Due to the limited production capacity while producing in one facility, Blue Bell will re-enter parts of 15 states in five phases. The first of the five phases will be similar to how Blue Bell began and include the Brenham, Houston and Austin, Texas, areas, as well as parts of Alabama, (Birmingham and Montgomery) where the product is being made. The next phases include:

Phase Two: North central Texas and southern Oklahoma Phase Three: Southwest Texas and central Oklahoma Phase Four: The majority of Texas and southern Louisiana. Phase Five: Complete the states of Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas and begin distribution in Arkansas, Florida, northern Louisiana and Mississippi. This phase will also include only parts of the following states: Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Blue Bell will move on to each phase based on product availability and when it can properly service the customers in an area. With the exception of phase one, no other dates have been determined for when each expansion will take place.

For more information and to follow the company’s progress visit bluebell.com.

You can view the announcement from our vice president of sales and marketing here https://vimeo.com/136514867

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The city's new water billing system, part of the controversial $91 million Siemens contract, is scheduled to go live at the end of August.

According to a city press release: "Residents will soon experience updates to their water billing as part of comprehensive upgrades the City of Jackson has initiated with Siemens through its water infrastructure improvement project. The Customer Care and Billing System (CC&B) implementation will provide the City with a modern software platform and enhanced management tools that will greatly improve the customer experience."

The new system should increase "efficiency of meter reading and water billing, eventual elimination of the need for estimated bills, and a reduced need for personnel to enter property" and "will also be able to track usage patterns, allowing the city to potentially detect leaks on a property through abnormal usage patterns. Implementation of the new system will occur in two phases."

Three key changes become effective Monday, August 31:

· Water bills will be sent MONTHLY (instead of every other month) for more timely information and more efficient budget management. Payments will be due on a monthly basis and bills paid through an automatic bank draft will be drafted every month.

· Customers will have a NEW ACCOUNT NUMBER that will need to be used for payment to be processed.

· The new bill format will be EASIER TO READ and provide more detailed account information. During the initial installation period for the CC&B, the City may need to estimate bills every other month as it verifies the system upgrade. The estimated bills will be based on an average of actual consumption from prior billing periods, and will be identified on the bill with the abbreviation (EST) immediately after the reading. Once implementation is complete, bills will begin moving to the monthly cycle and eventually will be based on actual meter reads/consumption each month.

The city continued: "Phase Two of the CC&B implementation is expected in late 2015, and will involve rolling out the system’s full capabilities so customers can experience the complete benefits of the system. This includes the ability to view water usage online, online payment options, and the ability to consolidate irrigation and residential water bills. Customers will be notified when these features are activated."

For more information on the CC&B implementation and the water infrastructure improvement project, please visit: www.jacksonms.gov/water. Customers with specific concerns about their bill should contact the City’s Water and Sewer Business Administration Office at 601-960-2000.

Marriage—it's what brings us together.

That is, unless you live in Yazoo County and were planning on having a justice court judge officiate your ceremony.

Earlier this week, Judges Pam May and Bennie Warrington sent a letter to the board of supervisors saying they wanted to opt out of having to perform marriage ceremonies.

In a WJTV news report, Yazoo Supervisor Caleb Rivers presumed the letter was spurred by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing same-sex marriages across the country. Rivers said the board voted unanimously to let the judges stop doing any marriages at all.

It was only a matter of time. Not long after the SCOTUS at the end of June, state Rep. Andy Gipson, R-Braxton, suggested that the state get out of the business of marriage licenses. Up in Grenada County, a circuit clerk who was retiring anyway bowed out a few months early because she didn't want to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

"I believe you can do whatever you want to do in the privacy of your own home but as for Yazoo County we're just not going to allow it," Rivers, the supervisor, told WJTV's reporter.

Love birds looking to tie the knot in Yazoo County needn't fret, though.

Robert Coleman, the circuit clerk there, confirmed to the JFP that his office will still be issuing marriage licenses.

It'll just be up to couples to find someone—other than justice court judges—willing to perform the marriages.

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During the last couple weeks of talking about the Confederacy (and the state flag that celebrates it), we've encountered any number of historic inaccuracies in the arguments of those who don't want to change our state flag.

One of them is that (a) not many white Mississippians even owned slaves and (b) that only 6 to 10 percent of Confederate soldiers owned slaves.

Here are the problems with that argument as the chart and link before bring into full relief. As you can see in this excellent MPB documentary, many Confederates soldiers were just 17 or 18 years old. But many of the soldiers' families owned at least one or two slaves.

Based on 1860 Census results, 49 percent of Mississippi households owned slaves at the start of the Civil War, and more than half the population of our state—55 percent—were slaves. Slavery was massive here and directed affected nearly half the white families in Mississippi, including some who weren't as wealthy as the planters who owned many slaves (and who were at first exempt from fighting in the Civil War when the Confederacy instituted a draft, but that's another subject).

The chart below shows the number of slaves in all of the states that existed at the start of the Civil War.

Also, read my column this week, "Driving Old Dixie Down," for many links to historic sources about Mississippi and other Confederate states at the start of the war, including extensive evidence of why the Confederacy formed: in order to have a strong central federal government to force slaves on any new states, and to ensure that it got its runaway slaves back.

http://www.civil-war.net/pages/1860_census.html

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