Jackson Free Press

Religious organizations are generally not allowed to donate to politicians, but often find clever ways to skirt the Internal Revenue Service prohibitions.

One way is just for the pastor and key church officials to personally make big contributions, and encourage their flock to do the same, to support candidates who share their values. Another is to allow candidates to speak to congregants directly, which lets the politician associate himself or herself with that particular house of worship.

Both are gray areas.

It's quite another thing, though, for a church to give directly to a political candidate. That's what appears to be happening in the case of Hinds County Democratic hopeful Willie Earl Robinson. Campaign finance reports show that Hill of Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Bolton made a donation of $500 to Robinson's campaign.

Robinson's challenger in the Hinds County District 2 race, Darrel McQuirter, is a pastor. The name of his church -- Pleasant Green Baptist Church -- does not appear on his finance reports, but McQuirter and his wife personally contributed more than $7,000 to the campaign coffers.

Under the Federal Election Campaign Act, charitable organizations (in fact, all corporations) are prohibited from making contributions in connection with federal elections. This is not a federal election. However, the IRS code, which applies to all organizations that have tax-exempt status, states: "(A)ll section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office."

A Guidestar.com search of 501c3 nonprofits as well as a search of charities through the Mississippi Secretary of State yielded no results for a Hill of Zion M.B. Church in Bolton.

An attempt to reach the church by phone this morning was not successful.

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The Jackson City Council had a couple of hurdles to jump Tuesday morning to keep the city from losing up to 20 percent of its expected profits from the now-official water and sewer rate increases outlined in Mayor Chokwe Lumumba's 2014 budget.

Some were cleared; others were not.

The city will lose expected revenue it was set to receive from increased rates, but the rates will not be delayed as long as they could have been.

The motion to enact the rate increases, which will charge $4.47 per 100 cubic feet of metered water consumption for sewer service and $3.21 per 100 cubic feet for water consumption, was passed with a 5-2 vote, with LaRita Cooper-Stokes, Ward 3, and De'Keither Stamps, Ward 4, voting in opposition.

Here comes the technical part:

Rules of council procedures require a new ordinance, such as the one the city council passed Tuesday morning, to sit on the agenda for at least six days before the council puts it to a vote. After it's approved by a majority vote, the ordinance goes into effect 30 days after the vote.

The city attorney's office gave an extensive briefing on what would have to happen to bend both of those rules and make the rates go into effect immediately, but council did not heed that advice.

The council agreed unanimously to an expedited vote, forgoing the six-day waiting period, but because the final vote came back 5-2, the increased rates will still take 30 days to go into effect. A unanimous vote would have made the rate increases go into effect immediately.

"I was hoping for a unanimous vote," Council President Charles Tillman said. "But it's out of our hands now."

For more on water and sewer rate increases, be sure to pick up this week's edition of the JFP, which hits stands tomorrow, or check back to JacksonFreePress.com tomorrow.

(Yes, I'm going to get all the mileage I can out of this Public Enemy-esque headline.)

A group called Mississippians for Affordable Energy picketed Tuesday night in Meridian to protest Mississippi Power Co.'s Kemper County coal-fired power plant.

Local TV station, WTOK reported: "The picketers say they were there in protest of the financial burdens on ratepayers as Mississippi Power constructs the lignite plant, as well as a fundraising dinner that was in progress tonight for Central District Public Service Commissioner Lynn Posey."

The news station noted that the protestors set up outside of Weidmann's, a fancy joint in downtown Meridian.

Posey, a Republican, has consistently voted in favor of Mississippi Power and Kemper. And even though Posey won't be up for re-election again for another couple years, it's possible that he is banking that the growing unpopularity and price tag of Kemper -- almost $5 billion -- won't sit well with central-district voters in 2015.

Meridian is approximately 30 miles south of where Kemper construction is taking place.

• Trace^Pathways Farm in Learned, Miss. is hosting educational farm tours through Nov. 8, 2013 for schools and families. The farm is located about 25 minutes from Jackson, near Port Gibson off of Hwy. 18. Activities include a Haystack Pathway, where patrons will get an opportunity to interact with farm animals, horses and other wildlife, and tackle a large hay maze. Other activities include a Scarecrow Pathway, a hayride and a healthy Me-Popcorn Pathway, where children will learn the connection between healthy living and agriculture. Contact Trace^Pathways at 601-497-8189 or via email at [email protected] for more information.

• The NASCAR Fueling Your Dreams Tour is coming to Downtown Union Station in Jackson from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, 2013. The tour brings in stock cars, actual simulators for the real feel of the big-motor speedways and actual NASCAR drivers. Kids and parents will get a chance to take photos with drivers and get autographs, and learn about the science of racing. Admission is free, but a fundraiser is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 31 at noon at the Old Capital Inn at 226 North State Street. All proceeds will benefit Agape Community Development Corporation’s Leadership Initiative, REB Racing Motor Sports Academy and MSI Youth Foundation.

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

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

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

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

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

That letter is attached.

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

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

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

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

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

Some musical birthday wishes and new release info...

The state Department of Health has withheld nearly $600,000 from domestic-violence shelters over the past two years.

Dear Magnolia State Meth Dealers:

Do not interpret this as a challenge.

But Mississippi is one of the least methy states in the nation, a new Huffington Post infographic shows.

Citing something called the Nationa(l) Security System, or NSS, HuffPost said that Mississippi had five meth-lab-related accidents in 2012.

Given Mississippi's ruralness and high rate of poverty -- both of which are key for optimal methy conditions -- you'd think the incidents would be much higher.

So what's our secret?

The report notes: "Oregon and Mississippi have figured out how to curb these accidents by making the key meth ingredient pseudoephedrine prescription-only."

The nation's most methy state was Missouri, with 1,825 meth incidents.

Barely a full two months after taking over as chairman of the Mississippi Parole Board, Doug Davis is leaving for a new job as Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann's chief-of-staff.

Davis was appointed to the parole board earlier this year and ascended to the chairmanship on Aug. 1. He replaced Malcolm McMillin -- Hinds County's former sheriff -- who spent about 15 months as head of the parole board before retiring.

Through a news release, Hosemann said: “Doug has long served the citizens of the State of Mississippi ... No doubt his legislative experience, extensive background in policy, and commitment to our State will be an asset to our Agency."

Davis, a former state senator from DeSoto County, was getting paid $70,000 per year to run the parole board.

Gov. Phil Bryant appointed current board member Steven Pickett as the new chairman. Filling Pickett's slot will be Pearl police officer Butch Townsend.

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History has put out a flyer touting the economic impact the planned 2 Museums Project will have on the economies of the state and its capitol city.

The flyer says the Mississippi Development Authory's tourism division estimates that the two new museums will welcome approximately 180,000 visitors annually, creating $17.1 million in tourism expenditures, 231 direct tourism jobs in the three-county region with a $6.3 million payroll, 92 indirect jobs with a $3.3 million payroll and contributing $1.2 million to the state general fund.

Even before the museums open, it continues, MDA estimates the construction of the two museums will toal $50 million in brick and mortar impact, 500 direct and 275 indirect jobs totaling $37.2 million in payroll and add $2.4 million to the state general fund.

If those numbers are accurate and the state has a place to share it's history at the end of the four-year project, it should be worth the $70 million in bonds the state has already passed to begin construction.

The groundbreaking is set for 9 a.m., Oct. 24, 2013, at 200 North Street in downtown Jackson.

Apparently, in my native Missouri (also known as the most methy state in the nation), a billboard has popped up along an Interstate asking passersby to "Consider a contiguous 5-state secession" with Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Missouri and Mississippi.

That's interesting.

For one, that would be a pretty weird-ass-shaped nation (see image below). And, two, I checked all the Mississippi secessionist blogs that I read on a regular basis and found no discussion of a secession plan including those five states.

The Missouri billboard also asks about the pros and cons of forming such a union.

Well, here's a quick list, off the top of our heads:

Pro: Finally, Mississippi gets to disassociate from the awfulness of Alabama and Arkansas. Con: Mississippi would no longer have Alabama and Arkansas to deflect some of the negative attention away from us.

Pro: Mississippi would no longer be considered part of the South. Con: Mississippi would no longer be part of the South.

Pro: Mississippi would have the nicest beaches in the country and be the nation's literary and cultural capital. Con: We still wouldn't have a Six Flags or a Dave & Buster's.

Pro: Being lumped in with Texas and Oklahoma, Mississippi's politics would come off as moderate. Con: The Mississippi Legislature would lose its distinction as the nation's nuttiest legislative body.

What are some more pros and cons?

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The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Josh Marks, a Chicago native who attended Tougaloo College and worked for a time in Vicksburg for the U.S. Army as a contract specialist, died Friday of a what the coroner has ruled a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The victim, of the South Side, was pronounced dead at 6:37 p.m. on the scene, according to a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office. An autopsy conducted today ruled his death a suicide.

As an amateur chef, Marks was a contestant on the show Masterchef, having left Jackson to compete on the show's third season in 2012. In an article published by the JFP, Marks summed up his experience: Class Under Fire.

This past summer, Marks was arrested for assaulting a police officer and attempting to pull the officer's weapon; he faced multiple felony charges. According to the Tribune:

At the time of Marks' arrest in July, police say he claimed to have been possessed by "MasterChef" judge Gordon Ramsay who turned him into God. During the scuffle, officials say it took multiple officers to capture Marks, after he lunged at one and attempted to take his gun.

Just this past Wednesday a continuance was granted in the case to November 6th.

A memorial service for Josh Marks is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 17 at 6:30 p.m. at Tougaloo College's Woodworth Chapel.

Marks died on Oct. 11 after battling mental illness. A Chicago native who attended Tougaloo, Marks earned fame from his appearance on TV cooking reality show "MasterChef." A statement from the Tougaloo College Owens Health and Wellness Center reads in part:

"We will honor the memory of Joshua Marks with our efforts to create awareness around mental illness and dispelling the stigma associated with treatment. Stigma still discourages people from getting help, despite advances in education and research. By learning the truth about mental illness and encouraging others to do the same, we can help lessen the stigma."

Marks' funeral will be held on Monday, Oct. 21, at the Apostolic Church of God, located at 6320 S. Dorchester Ave. in Chicago. The wake will be at 10 a.m., with the funeral beginning at 11 a.m.

As I blog, the United States Navy and the City of Jackson are unveiling at City Hall the crest of the USS Jackson. Lanier High School’s color guard were scheduled to open the ceremony with the presentation of colors of the U.S. flag and Jackson State University’s Band Ensemble was to perform the National Anthem. City of Jackson officials will gave remarks, and Commander Michael B. Davies of the United States Navy unveiled the crest.

The USS Jackson is an Independence-class littoral combat ship. Although there have been other ships named for former U.S. President Andrew Jackson, she is the first ship to be named specifically for Mississippi's Capitol.

Construction began on August 1, 2011 with the first cutting of aluminum at Austal USA's modular manufacturing facility in Mobile, Ala. The name of the ship was announced on Oct. 5, 2011.

In 1970, the University of Southern Mississippi defeated Ole Miss 30-14 in what, to this day, stands as one of the biggest upsets in Mississippi history.

Southern Miss was thrashed the week before by San Diego State, and got torn to pieces the next week by Mississippi State, but managed to beat Archie Manning and the No. 4-ranked Rebels because of a secret weapon.

That weapon was "Wee" Willie Heidelberg, who died Tuesday in Jackson. The then-20-year-old junior was the only black player on either team. He touched the ball three times, and scored twice.

As Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum Director Rick Cleveland wrote:

Wee Willie was like a black dot on an ivory domino, the only black player on the field for either team that day. His performance foreshadowed sweeping changes in Deep South football. On this, the last day of Black History Month, it seems appropriate to ask the question: Was Heidelburg aware of the ramifications back then as a 20-year-old junior?

“Oh no,” Heidelburg says. “I knew that was a special victory. I knew we had done something big. But, as for me, I was just playing ball. I certainly wasn’t thinking about making history.”

Read more here.

Heidelberg eventually moved to Jackson and took a job coaching at Belhaven College. Many Jacksonians will remember him as the official scorekeeper for the high school basketball championships at "the big house."

State Sen. Chris McDaniel, a Republican from Ellisville, is making an announcement this weekend about his political future, the blog Mississippi PEP reports.

McDaniel, a self-styled fiscal and values Tea Party conservative, has been rumored for some time to have his eyes on senior U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran's seat. Anyone looking for proof of that needn't look any further an McDaniel's Wikipedia page, which was updated more than 50 times in April alone -- way more than a Mississippi state senator needs to (see below).

Cochran, whose conservative street cred is solid, but he has been criticized for being insufficiently right wing. Cochran has held the seat since the late 1970s and even at age 75 can probably hold on to the position until he gets good and damn ready to step aside.

"We are in difficult times. Our state and country are suffering from a lack of confidence in our current leaders. Our Republican Party is in the process of reinvesting in the principles that made us who we are, and that has not been an easy time," said McDaniel, who wasn't even a year old when Cochran first went to Congress in 1973, said through a press statement posted on the PEP blog.

“I hope my decision will aid in bringing us back to agreement on the values we all support and hold dear, and give Mississippians the ability to move forward into the future with a purpose of reclaiming those values for our children.”

I don't know McDaniel well, so it's hard to tell what his end game is. It's possible that McDaniel is positioning himself to the first to declare his intentions in case Cochran retires. In doing so, McDaniel also gets first crack at deep-pocketed Tea Party Mississippians who'll no doubt be getting hit up by several Republicans in case a Cochran departure yields a packed GOP primary.

Or, he's positioning himself for a primary run at Cochran because someone has convinced him (erroneously) that with the right people behind him, he could take down a wounded Cochran.

McDaniel might also just be displaying a bit of bravado to run for a statewide office in 2015 as the kid who had the cahones to lock horns with Thad.

We'll know for sure when he makes the announcement in Ellisville on Thursday, Oct. 17.

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In addition to making his Food Network debut Sunday, Oct. 20, local chef Tom Ramsey is busy opening his first restaurant, La Finestra. The Italian eatery will open in the Plaza Building on Congress St. downtown the first week of November. Here's what he had to say about the restaurant:

This came together real fast. I got a call that this place was available. I came down and met the owner, and within a week, we had a deal struck. I got the keys on Oct. 1 and we’re turning it around in 30 days.

It’s called La Finestra, which means "the window." (He gestures to the walls of floor-to-ceiling windows surrounding the space in a corner of the ground floor of the Plaza Building downtown). It is traditional Italian food, very affordable. We make all the pastas in-house, all the sauces from scratch.

Well, initially I though I would open a burger place. When I came down to see the space, I had my son Whit with me. I said, “You know, it doesn’t really look like a burger place,” and my son said, “It looks like an Italian restaurant.” And I said, “Ooooooh.”

Anytime I have a concept for a restaurant, I write a menu. So I went home and wrote an Italian menu, and really liked the way it was coming together. I just made a decision that night to go Italian. We're really excited about the direction its going.

The Jackson Police Department announced an arrest this afternoon in the death of pro fisherman Jimmy Johnson. A Texas native, Johnson was only passing through Jackson to participate in a fishing tournament when he was shot and killed at a motel Sunday.

Rightly, there has been an outpouring of support for Johnson and his family over the past few days. And, also rightly so, there has been a fair amount of media coverage of Johnson's murder and the ensuing investigation. With today's news from JPD that a 17-year-old has been charged in connection to Johnson's death, local news and social media is once again abuzz.

The Clarion-Ledger has had three or four stories about the incident tacked to its front page all day while the comment sections of various news orgs are blowing up with comments about Johnson's death says about and means for progress in Jackson.

Johnson's was the 40th homicide in the city of Jackson this year, police records show. Yet, few have generated as much interest as the Johnson killing. There was the killing of William "Nod" Brown in September, which most people seem happy chalking up to the simple consequences of ghetto violence. And Quardious Thomas, whose cause of death was ruled self-defense because a homeowner claims Thomas was breaking into his unoccupied car.

So why does Jackson media seem to care so much more about Jimmy Johnson...

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Than William Brown?

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According to GovTrack.us, Representatives Alan Nunnelee and Steven Palazzo voted against House Bill 2775 this evening, which was the bi-partisan compromise in the Senate to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling in order that the bills owed--from budgets already passed and funds already appropriated by this same House--might be paid.

The rest of the Mississippi delegation -- Senators Wicker and Cochran, Representatives Thompson and Harper -- voted for the compromise bill.

For the two who voted against the bill, it's worth it to stop and think what they voted against tonight. After their tea party point was made -- and after their tactics failed and a compromise was reached -- they still voted to take the United State's good faith and credit down with their twisted politics.

This compromise was the vehicle for moving ahead; this compromise was the vehicle for getting back to work after a misguided stratagem -- shutting down the government in order to try to kill the Affordable Care Act -- blew up in one party's face.

After $24 billion lost, treasury bills getting more expensive, 0.6% shaved off GDP growth and countless people denied important, sometimes critical services, this was the way forward.

But along with Rand Paul and Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio, two of Mississippi delegation still voted against putting the government back to work and pulling the economy out of a treacherous nose dive.

Nunnelee and Palazzo put ideology over country. It was irresponsible, selfish and potentially very damaging to the United States and its people.

Hopefully their constituents will remember that.

Jackson State is off to a hot start again this season, and is the only remaining unbeaten team in SWAC play. This weekend's matchup with Grambling State, which has lost 13-straight SWAC games and 17-straight overall, shouldn't do anything to derail that.

But this game just got interesting, with news surfacing yesterday that Grambling's players boycotted practice a day after they walked out of a team meeting with the school's administration on Tuesday.

Among the gripes players have for administration is mistrust between the team and the coaching staff, and the fact that the team had to bus from Grambling to Indianapolis to receive a 48-0 beat-down from Alcorn State, while the Braves flew in and out for the contest.

Grambling fired coach Doug Williams last month after the team lost their first two games this season by a combined score of 71-19.