Jackson Free Press

We've heard about a number of debate parties in Jackson and beyond. You're on your own to figure out the drinking games. Here are the ones we know about; feel free to add your own!

1. Hal & Mal's Red Room, downtown Jackson, tends to be a progressive crowd that likes to imbide.

2. Koinonia Coffeehouse, JSU parkway, also leans progressive but of more of the coffee-drinking type.

3. The @MadisonCoMSGOP is hosting a debate watch party in Ridgeland. Details here: twitpic.com/b0esqh -- decidedly not progressive. We don't know if they're drinking or not, but suspect there will be a flash or two at least.

4. If you're on the Coast, the @HCRepublican is hosting a debate watching party at their HQ in Gulfport. More info here: us4.campaign -- Republicans, duh. See flash guess above.

5. Pi(e) Lounge at Sal & Mookies (Fondren) is inviting people to come there and watch. Probably a mixed group, politics wise, but we wouldn't expect many birthers. The cocktails will flow freely.

6. The 29th Annual Fannie Lou Hamer Memorial Symposium starts tonight at the Fannie Lou Hamer National Institute on Citizenship and Democracy at Jackson State with a keynote address by Dr. Mary Coleman at 6:30 p.m. in the Dollye M.E. Robinson College of Liberal Arts and will be followed by a debate watch tonight and will continue throughout the day tomorrow. We're guessing that the punchbowl won't be spiked. Go ready to think and be sick and tired of being sick of tired in honor of the great Mrs. Hamer.

7. Watch the debate at the Top Notch Sports Bar at 109 Culley Drive. We don't know their politics--football?--but clearly you can get a beer. It's a sports bar, fool.

Meantime, join our open discussion about the debate here. Follow us on Twitter @jxnfreepress and @jfppolitics for even more. (Where were you when Twitter broke? We expect it'll be tonight.)

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2012/oct/29/9091/

Spirit Halloween, owned by ACON Investments, is running ads for costumes the company labels for teens and tweens with sexual references and innuendo.

The Mississippi State Chapter of the National Organization for Women, a liberal feminist group, and Concerned Women for America, a conservative group, are two organizations that rarely see eye-to-eye. Spirit Halloween's advertisements, which blatantly market sex to underage girls, have given the groups a common enemy to fight.

One advertisement for a "Rag Doll Teen Costume" finished with the lines: "you are all grown up now, so why not find out if big boys like to play with dolls!"

Spirit Halloween responded to a campaign on Twitter and Change.org by removing most of the sexual references in their teen and preteen costume descriptions. Many parents are still boycotting the company, though, because they still sell many costumes for minors which feature short skirts, low-cut tops and long stockings, which the women at NOW think are too sexual for young girls.

“Although Spirit changed the shocking sexual content in many of their kids’ costume ads in response to a Twitter campaign by outraged parents and consumers, the issue still remains that Spirit Halloween and its owner, ACON Investments have refused to pull their totally inappropriate sexualized children’s costumes off the market. They are marketing extremely revealing, short, tight-fitting dresses and skirts to our children – many of their kids costumes look like adult fantasy sex costumes. This is not about adult women's choices to wear sexy costumes, this is about Spirit Halloween and ACON marketing sexualized costumes to girls as young as 9 and 13 years old – they are offering sickening and horrible costume choices for children that parents don’t want,” Miss. Now president Laurie Roberts stated in a press release.

You can see the advertisements with the sexual innuendo here: Spirit Halloween

You can also sign the petition to boycott Spirit Halloween here: Change.org

Johnny Lee Butts went out for his regular morning walk on July 22, 2012 and never came home. That morning, a car struck and killed Butts; later police arrested a couple of teenagers for the crime.

In a recent report, CNN shed new light on what happened that morning . According to statements by two of the passengers-- a teenager and a man named Tony Hopper Jr.-- the passengers and unnamed driver of the car spotted a man walking. Here's an exchange from the grand jury indictment, according to CNN:

We see a walker on the side of the road. The complete left side of the road while we are on the complete right side of the road," the unidentified teen told a police lieutenant. "And I pointed out to say, 'watch out there is a walker there...'" The unnamed teen continued his story: "Whit slightly turns the steering wheel and I saw him. 'Watch out, don't do nothing stupid' and then he just keep turning the steering wheel and eventually before we knew it he ran him straight over." "He didn't slow down," Hopper said in a statement to a deputy sheriff. The deputy asked: "He never hit his brakes?" Hopper replied: "No sir." "Do you think he hit him on purpose?" asked the deputy. "Yes, sir, I do," said Hopper.

The driver is white; Butts was African American. However, the Panola County District Attorney John Champion (he is also the DA for DeSoto County) opted to not seek hate crime charges in the case.

Donny Butts, the victims brother wants to know why. He told CNN "That's the only reason they ran him over because he was black. Point blank."

The Butts family is considering filing a wrongful death suit, which may be the only way for the full truth to come out.

Rep. Angela Cockerham, a Democrat from Magnolia, is joining the House Appropriations and Joint Legislative Budget Committees. Speaker Philip Gunn made the announcement this afternoon. Here's the full release:

Jackson, MS—Today, Speaker of the House Philip Gunn announced his appointment of Rep. Angela Cockerham (D-Magnolia) to the House Appropriations Committee and the Legislative Budget Committee. Rep. Cockerham replaces Rep. George Flaggs (D-Vicksburg) who was sworn in as Mayor of Vicksburg on June 30.

“I am pleased to appoint Rep. Cockerham to fill this position on the House Appropriations Committee and the Legislative Budget Committee,” said Speaker Philip Gunn. “Through her work as Chairman of the House Energy Committee, Rep. Cockerham has been invaluable to the House leadership team. I know she will be an effective member of these committees as they address state budget issues.”

As a member of these committees, Rep. Cockerham will play an active role in crafting the state’s budget. The Legislative Budget Committee is a starting point for the budget crafting process. Once a year, members meet with representatives from all the state agencies who present their estimated budget needs for the next fiscal year. For Fiscal Year 2014, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees agreed to adopt $5.779 billion budget.

“I would like to thank Speaker Philip Gunn for having the continuous confidence in me to appoint me as a member of the Appropriations and Legislative Budget committees,” said Rep. Cockerham. “Speaker Gunn has continuously proven that he is a technician when it comes to achieving a balanced budget and a visionary for economic development. My goals, as a member of these two committees, will be to collaborate with my colleagues as we continue work to find solutions to the major issues that face our constituents and the citizens of Mississippi.

“I am mindful of the many cost issues we are faced with like education, healthcare, and corrections to name a few,” she continued. “As House Energy Chair, I am excited about our country and state's energy future and the impact it is having on my district in Southwest Mississippi. I will approach my new assignments with God at the center of my thought process and the humbleness that my parents remind me of daily.”

Operation Shoestring just announced the panelists for its annual "Conversation About Community" luncheon: Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, former Gov. Haley Barbour and Wells Church pastor Rev. Keith Tonkel.

The event, which highlights and raises funds for Operation Shoestring's work with children and families in central Jackson, is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 14, at the Jackson Convention Complex (105 E. Pascagoula St., 601-969-0114), from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The featured panelists "will make public a conversation that’s been happening in living rooms and around kitchen tables across Jackson for a long time now," states a release about the luncheon. "Our capital city faces a declining tax base, a growing urban-suburban divide, struggling schools, crime and poverty. If Jackson, or Mississippi, for that matter, is going to rise, the solution will require our collective buy-in."

This year's "Conversation About Community" will be a frank, open talk about solutions.

“The potential of this event is enormous. Mayor Lumumba and Gov. Barbour bring vastly different perspectives to the task of moving our city and state forward. Providing a safe space for open dialogue between these two, with a faith-based voice of ‘what’s right’ coming from long-time central Jackson pastor Rev. Tonkel, has the potential to impact the trajectory of our city’s future in a profound way,” said Robert Langford, Operation Shoestring's executive director, in the release.

The organization's signature annual fundraiser was created as a way to put into action its mantra that “we all rise together.” The idea is to create a safe space for people and organizations from across the larger Jackson area, from all walks of life, to engage in open discussion about the critical issues that impact the children and families Shoestring serves in central Jackson and, ultimately, the larger Jackson community.

Tickets are $50, and sponsorships start at $125. Call Stacey Jordan for more information at 601-353-6336 ext. 27, or email [email protected]. Find out more at operationshoestring.org.

Jackson auditions are Oct. 5.

ENI, a Canton, Miss.-based political-action committee formed in late March.

But that's about all we know so far.

The statement of organization, filed with the Jackson city clerk's office April 2, indicates the committee is not authorized by any particular candidate and its purpose is "to raise money in relation to the City of Jackson Mayoral Special Election."

The form lists Alance McKinney of Jackson as ENI's president/director and Fletcher Shaw of Canton as secretary/treasurer. State records also show a south Jackson address for two dissolved companies. Reached by phone, Shaw said the PAC was set up to back a candidate in the mayor's race, but referred a Jackson Free Press reporter to attorney John P. Martin, who prepared ENI's paperwork, for particulars.

"It's a political-action committee set up and established based upon the guidelines the election commission set up — no less or no more," Shaw told JFP.

Martin, of the Canton firm of Montgomery McGraw PLLC, called the JFP back Thursday to say that his firm's role in the PAC is only to serve as its agent.

Employees of Montgomery McGraw, including partner Bob Montgomery, a former Mississippi state senator and chief of staff to former Democratic U.S. Rep. G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery, have contributed to several political candidate campaigns over the years.

Most recently, Bob Montgomery gave to Republicans Gov. Phil Bryant, transportation Commissioner Dick Hall and Lucien Smith, a 2011 state treasurer candidate who now serves as Bryant's chief-of-staff. In past elections, Montgomery also gave to Republicans former Gov. Haley Barbour, Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck and Tate Reeves when he was state treasurer.

In addition, Montgomery has contributed to former Democratic Insurance Commissioner George Dale as well as several state supreme court candidates, races that are officially nonpartisan.

Fletcher Shaw said the ENI would be in compliance with state financial disclosure rules; runoff candidates—Chokwe A. Lumumba and Tony Yarber—will be required to file reports on Tuesday, April 15.

The Human Rights Campaign issued the following verbatim news release:

Bay St. Louis, MS Passes Pro-LGBT Measure

Sixth Mississippi city to pass measure recognizing the role LGBT people play in thriving communities

WASHINGTON – Tonight, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi passed a measure, 7-0, recognizing the dignity and worth of all city residents - including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT). Bay St. Louis joins five other Mississippi cities – Starkville, Hattiesburg, Greenville, Magnolia and Oxford – which all passed similar actions earlier this year.

“Like so many cities across America, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi has made clear that all its residents deserve to be treated with dignity, respect and equality, regardless of who they are or who they love,” said Human Rights Campaign (HRC) President Chad Griffin. “Today the Bay St. Louis city leadership proudly affirmed the city’s support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and moved Mississippi forward on the road to equality.”

Public opinion on equality in Mississippi is far ahead of law in the state. A poll conducted last summer found that nearly 60 percent of Mississippians under the age of 30 support marriage equality, while 64 percent of residents back workplace non-discrimination protections for LGBT employees.

The action comes less than two weeks after HRC launched Project One America, an unprecedented effort to dramatically expand LGBT equality in Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama. HRC is making a deep and lasting $8.5 million investment concentrated in these three states.

The community-based program focuses on building lasting LGBT presence and infrastructure. A full time local staff and dedicated office space will support this effort. HRC is committed to Project One America and Mississippi for the long haul.

For details on Project One America in Mississippi, visit www.hrc.org/states/mississippi

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

Rashad Crisler made his official announcement that he is running for Mayor Tony Yarber’s previous position, Ward 6 city councilman, this morning at a press conference outside City Hall.

Crisler said that he is enthusiastic about the prospect of being a part of a young, progressive leadership movement, which he believes was set into motion with Mayor Yarber’s initial election to council in 2009.

“He was only two years older than I am today when he earned the Ward 6 citizens’ trust to lead our community out of the brink of despair,” Crisler said. “I have known Mayor Yarber for many years and admired his leadership as our city councilman. I appreciate the example he has set and I am now prepared to take Ward 6 to the next level.”

It is well known that Crisler’s father, Marshand Crisler, was a big supporter of Yarber’s bids for both city councilman in 2009, and recently, as mayor; hence Rashaad Crisler sees a direct correlation between his bid for the Ward 6 seat and the efforts of Mayor Yarber and the elder Crisler during their respective tenures as city councilmen. http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/weblogs/politics-blog/2014/may/13/after-speculation-crisler-no-not-that-one-announce/

Addressing the ward’s current needs, Crisler said that infrastructure would be his top priority since it is the weakest aspect of the ward. However, he feels that space is the ward’s greatest advantage and will allow for more businesses to move into the area. He also expressed interest in working to decrease crime in the area to make the area more appealing to business.

He admitted that he would like to address problems with council that he saw when his father held the seat previously, expressing a desire to work with the rest of city council to ensure success for the city as a whole.

“I’ve seen in the past, watching my father when he was in this seat, all the problems with communication between city council members, fighting and bickering over issues,” Crisler said.

“I want to bring the council members together, all on one accord, to get a plan done to present to the mayor so he can execute it.”

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On May 14, 1970, two Jackson State University students were killed by Jackson police officers—10 days after the much more publicized Kent State shootings of four students in Ohio.

The victims of the JSU shootings were Phillip L. Gibbs, a junior at the school and father and James Earl Green, a high school senior.

Why didn't the JSU shooting get as much national attention? Well, the most obvious answer is the race of the victims. All four Kent State victims were white; the young men killed at Jackson State were African American.

NPR retells the circumstances of what it calls a "widely forgotten" tragedy at JSU:

On the evening of May 14, African-American youths were reportedly pelting rocks at white motorists driving down the main road through campus — frequently the site of confrontations between white and black Jackson residents.

Tensions rose higher when a rumor spread around campus that Charles Evers — a local politician, civil rights leader and the brother of slain activist Medgar Evers — and his wife had been killed, according to Lynch Street: The May 1970 Slayings at Jackson State College. The situation escalated when a non-Jackson State student set a dump truck on fire.

Police responded to the call. A group of students and non-students threw rocks and bricks at the officers. Police advanced to Alexander Hall, a large dorm for women.

Even if the rest of the nation has forgotten (or never knew), the shootings remain integrated into the curriculum and culture at JSU, where all students learn about the shootings during a mandatory orientation.

In C. Liegh McInnis' freshman composition class, students have to observe in the women's dorm and write a paper on it.

He told NPR: "The tragedy showed the resolve of the students.

The Tea Party’s Prayer:

“We ask for your blessing upon the conservatives in this state, that they might stand strong and firm. Father, we even ask for you to bless our enemies, and Lord they are truly our enemies that head the Republican Party and the whole political establishment.

‘We’re asking, Father, for two things. We’re asking, Father, that you would expose them, set division amongst them, set them one against another, bring confusion and fear into their camp, into their thinking, for the purpose of pulling them down, for casting them down out of their high offices and reducing them, Lord, to having no power in this state.

“So, Lord, that you might raise up and seek the righteous in the positions of power that this state might once more be a state that honors you in all that it does.”

I’m not this good at satire. These words, in this order, were truly spoken when Mississippi Tea Party Chairman Roy Nicholson included them in his opening prayer at a Tea Party meeting on Monday.

Something tells me this is not how Christianity works.

Still, the crowd gave a generous “mhm” as the man on the stage asked God to smite the GOP.

The group was welcoming blogger Charles Johnson from California to speak about the U.S. Senate election, through which he’s made a name for himself. Tea Partier Tricia Raymond called Johnson a fearless bulldog, saying “God gave us this red-haired man.”

The red-haired prophet then went on to chastise Mississippi’s 76-year-old U.S. Senator for living in a house with his executive assistant and defended the men who broke into the Senator’s wife’s nursing home to take pictures of her by using the First Amendment as justification.

“Father, we’re asking that in all of the tribulations were asking you to bring upon them, that it would work change in their heart—that you would use it to bring true Godly sorrow, that they might truly repent for their iniquity and their wickedness, for that they would be restored to you, that you would have honor in the state of Mississippi for the great works that you’ve done in correcting and purifying the government and rescuing and saving the worst of us,” Nicholson went on about the establishment Republicans.

It was the most ominous tea party I’d ever been to.

Jackson City Councilman De'Keither Stamps, of Ward 4, says he voted against the Trilogy Engineering Inc. contract to do a corrosion study for the city last week because it is an "unfunded mandate" by the State of Mississippi—and one the taxpayers cannot afford. In two videos on his YouTube channel, Stamps said his main priority wasn't who was getting the contract, but that the State was demanding that the City suddenly pay $400,000 for a corrosion study, instead of helping the capital city.

"I know several of the subcontractors personally," he says in the most recent video (see below). The issue is I don’t want to spend $400,000 when we don’t have it. This is an unfunded mandate from the State of Mississippi. If they can help us, I’m all for it. … It’s not something we’ve budgeted for."

Stamps, who has unsuccessfully asked for an emergency declaration over the lead issue several times, says the City needs stand and/or federal assistance in order to make sure Jackson residents are safe, especially in areas where 90 percent of the water tested positive for at least trace elements of lead.

"I want to test every child in the whole city that’s in these affected areas," he said in the second video below.

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves dismissed the ACLU's lawsuit that tried to dismantle House Bill 1523 before it becomes law next week. In his order, Reeves wrote that the ACLU's complaint did not satisfy the criteria for him to issue a preliminary injunction to block HB1523 from becoming law. Reeves wrote that the plaintiffs needed to prove that injury was "imminent" in order for a preliminary injunction to be considered. The plaintiffs, Nykolas Alford and Stephen Thomas are engaged to be married but do not plan to do so for a few years. Reeves said for a threat to be imminent, it "threatens to occur immediately."

"Alford and Thomas’s injury, if one exists, would arise when they apply for a marriage license. But they declare that they will apply for their license sometime within the next three years," Reeves wrote. "That is not imminent. The ACLU has the same problem. If a member of the ACLU intends to enter into a same-sex marriage in 2017, any injury is at least six months away."

Human Rights Campaign state director Rob Hill reiterated that HB1523 is dangerous and hateful legislation, in response to the order.

“H.B. 1523 represents the worst of Mississippi. If allowed to go into effect next week, it will lead to widespread discrimination against LGBTQ Mississippians at work, school and in family life. The business community -- including local and national companies and organizations such as Nissan, General Electric, the Mississippi Economic Council, the Mississippi Manufacturing Association and more -- has roundly condemned this dangerous bill," Hill said in a statement. "It will do harm to our community, our families and our economy and we must not allow it to stand. In the coming weeks, HRC will continue our ongoing efforts to ensure this bill is ultimately struck down or repealed.”

Judge Reeves will hold hearings for the two other lawsuits filed against House Bill 1523 together on Thursday this week. HB1523 will go into effect on July 1 if Reeves does not issue a preliminary injunction blocking it from becoming law.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees gained leverage in his contract battle with the team by way of today's ruling by arbitrator Stephen Burbank. The ruling clarified vague language of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) on the franchise tag. At the heart of the matter is the wording:

Article 10, Section 2(b) — “Any Club that designates a player as a Franchise Player for the third time”

The NFL Players Association and Brees argued that the wording means a player can't be franchised three times in his career regardless of team. The NFL argued that the franchise tag was club related and the same team could franchise a player three times in his career.

Brees was franchised by the San Diego Chargers in 2005 counts as the first time he was franchised. This means the Saints franchising Brees this year counts as the second time and if the two sides don't reach a deal, next year would be the third time Brees was franchised in his career.

This gives leverage to Brees for salary cap reasons because his salary would would be 144 percent of this year’s number. That number would put the Saints over the cap next season causing the team to have to cut salary just to keep Brees.

By no means am I a salary cap expert but there are ways for the Saints to pay Brees and make the cap hit lower. I have heard on ESPN and NFL Network people more familiar (without going into great details) say the lower cap hit is possible (it's not great TV to bore the audience with accounting).

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, wrote a detailed article on the franchise argument that might be more helpful than my limited understanding of the CBA and salary cap issues. Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports also writes a detailed article on the subject as well.

Still, a potential mess can be avoided if the Saints and Brees can come up with a long term deal before July 16.

The Summer Olympics are over for the next four years. In two years, the Winter Olympics will take place in Sochi, Russia. We won’t see the summer games against until 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

Every nation will have to wait four more years to catch up to the United States in total medals. After all the medals where given out Sunday, the U.S. stood alone atop the medal standing as the only nation to break triple digits in medals.

The U.S. finished with 104 overall medals outpacing second place China, which finished with 87 total medals, by 17 more medals and third place Russia, who finished with 82 total medals by 22 medals.

No one finished with more gold medals than the USA either. The U.S. finished with 46 gold medals with China at 38 gold medals in second and Great Britain, who finished fourth in total medals with 64 total medals, who had 29 gold medals.

Overall the U.S. finished with 36 gold medals, 29 silver medals, and 29 bronze medals. In the final medal count, 25 nations finished in double digits in total medals.

Bahrain, Botswana, Cyprus, Gabon, Grenada (won gold), Guatemala, and Montenegro all won their first ever Olympic medal. There were 204 countries competing and 85 of those countries received at least one medal.

Rounding out the top ten in total medals were Germany (44 total medals) in fifth, Japan (38 total medals) in sixth, Australia (35 total medals) in seventh, France (34 total medals) in eighth, South Korea and Italy (28 total medals each) tied for ninth to round out the top ten.

London was a successful Olympic games for the United States. Since 2000 games in Sydney, the U.S., China and Russia have finished in the top three spots.

Since 1992 games in Barcelona, China has finished in one of the top four spots as the Chinese have become a world power in the Olympic games after not even being in the top ten in the 1988 games in Seoul, South Korea.

The United States leads the way to Rio in total and gold medals but Brazil, China, and Russia will be hot on the U.S. heels in four years.

Gov. Phil Bryant has accepted the resignation of Malcolm McMillin as chairman of the State Parole Board and named current parole board member Doug Davis as McMillin's replacement. Davis' replacement will be former U.S. Marshal Nehemiah Flowers, according to a news release from Bryant's office.

“I appreciate Malcolm’s service to the people of Mississippi. His dedication to public safety and law enforcement are deeply respected,” Bryant said. “I wish him and Delores the very best.”

Before joining the parole board, McMillin was sheriff of Hinds County and served as Jackson Police chief. Davis's chairmanship becomes effective August 1. Of Davis, a statement from Bryant's office states:

"Davis recently served as assistant vice president of First Security Bank, and he represented District 1 for two terms in the Mississippi Senate. While serving in the Legislature, Davis chaired both the Appropriations Committee and the Universities and Colleges Committee. He was recognized as Legislator of the Year by the Mississippi Troopers Association and the Mississippi Police Chief’s Association. Davis also serves on the boards of directors for the DeSoto County Economic Council and the Palmer Home for Children. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Mississippi College and is a member of Longview Point Baptist Church."

Of Davis' replacement, Flowers, Bryant said: “Nehemiah brings a vast amount of experience to the state parole board with more than 40 years of public service under his belt. His understanding of the criminal justice system makes him well-qualified to serve in this position.”

Bryant's statement also states: "Flowers served as the United States Marshal for the Southern District of Mississippi 2002-08. In 1973, he joined the staff of then U.S. Rep. Thad Cochran and later joined Cochran’s U.S. Senate staff. He is a graduate of Belhaven University with a degree in Business Administration. While serving as United States Marshal for the Southern District, Flowers formed the first ever Criminal Task Force, dedicated to pursuing criminals in and across state lines. He was named as 2008 Federal Law Enforcement Officer of the Year, retired Brigade Command Sergeant Major for the U.S. Army Reserve and is currently a board member for Mississippi Blood Services."

Flowers’ appointment must be confirmed in the Mississippi Senate.

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.

The response to the question that will be posed to the Jackson City Council next Tuesday (Oct. 22) is something many people are asking: Is the Jackson Redevelopment Authority still worth having?

Ward 3 Councilwoman LaRita Cooper-Stokes has put forward item No. 34, an order by the city council unauthorizing the JRA.

Technically, the word should be de-authorizing, but you get the message. This conversation should be interesting in light of recent developments with the Farish Street saga and the unanswered questions surrounding the non-existent convention center hotel.

For a quick history lesson, JRA was created during the 1970 legislative session. It’s a seven-member board that has power, under the Mississippi Code of 1972, to establish and construct municipal parking facilities for motor vehicles belonging to members of the general public, and to rent, lease, purchase, or acquire land and property for public purposes (the historic Farish Street district or the land on which the Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau now sits, for example).

This may get a bit technical, but it also has the power and authority to rent, sell, convey, transfer, let or lease such facility and related structures or any portion thereof, or any space therein, and to authorize commercial enterprise activities other than the parking of motor vehicles on leased property comprising any part of such parking facilities and related structures, which is what it is doing with the Farish Street Entertainment District and the land on which the new Iron Horse Grill will sit.

Because the JRA board was set up by Mississippi law, it is unclear whether or not the city council even has the authority to do eliminate the quasi-governmental body.

We reached out to all the city council members this morning and, so far, Ward 6 Councilman Tony Yarber is the only one to comment. He said he is not likely to support the motion.

“What I am in support of is a proposal I’m going to bring forward,” Yarber said, “a motion that will require JRA to involve the (city) council in future, and way earlier on in the process.”

Yarber said he could bring his motion as early as next week.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Ward 4 Councilman De'Keither Stamps responded with a "no comment."

JazzFest and New Releases...

True the Vote, the Houston—Texas-based pollwatching organization that is suing Mississippi political and government officials over alleged voter suppression—has submitted two affidavits from people to support their claims that the integrity of the June 24 Republican primary for U.S. Senate might have been compromised.

One submitted to TTV by a woman named Susan Morse in Noxubee County claims that a Macon woman participated in the GOP primary after voting in the Democratic primary June 3, which state election laws prohibit.

Another, filed in Harrison County by a man named Phillip C. Harding III, claims that at about 2 p.m. on July 1—one week after the election that U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran beat state Sen. Chris McDaniel, he observed election officials discard ballots.

Harding writes: "In a one of the bins I found a small stack of provisional ballots, unopened. I gave te provisional ballots to an exec committee member who took control of them. I also found absentee ballot bags in several o the supply bins. Some had opened envelopes and applications in the them. I took the applications and envelopes out because I did not know what to do with them, but believed they should be saved. After setting them aside I saw another volunteer dispose of them at executive committee members' direction."

The group filed a motion for a temporary restraining order in U.S. District Court in Jackson late Wednesday against election commissioners in several Mississippi counties, including Hinds County, as well as the state GOP. A teleconference took place this morning at the federal courthouse.

The motion for the TRO detailed the counties it says is not complying with the law: While some counties provided proper voter records, Copiah County, Hinds County, Jefferson Davis County, Lauderdale County, Leake County, Madison County, Rankin County, Simpson County, and Yazoo County refused. These counties, who have been sued via their respective Election Commissions, also wrongfully maintain that the birthdates of voters must be redacted from voter records, at Plaintiffs’ expense."