Jackson Free Press

A small sampling of new music due out tomorrow, 8/13:

Luke Bryan - Crash My Party (Country)

Washed Out - Paracosm (Pop/Rock)

Glen Campbell - See You There (Country, Pop/Rock)

Béla Fleck - The Imposter (Classical)

Carrie Underwood - The Blown Away Tour: Live (Country)

Richard Pryor - The Warner Bros. Albums (1974-1983) (Comedy)

Coheed & Cambria - The Afterman ((Pop/Rock)

TB

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Someone just forwarded me a letter they say was distributed today at Cade Chapel M.B. Church that appears to be from former Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. asking for support in his run in the special mayor election. We have been hearing that he is running again, and are trying to confirm it from him directly. Here is a JPG of the letter forwarded to us. I apologize that it's a bit blurry.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2014/mar/09/16321/

Here's a look at the Flaming Lips kicking off their 8th show in 24 hours at the House of Blues in New Orleans. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc_2zjhRFyM

Check back for more videos:

Interviews with Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips and Chris Pontius of Jackass

Watch Chris Pontius lead the parade down Decatur Street in New Orleans to the House of Blues

See behind the scenes of the O Music Awards and the Flaming Lips world-record tour

And many, many photos to come...

Beer lovers: Our readers need your help! As you find and taste new craft beers previously unavailable in Mississippi, please take a minute and post them here (or tweet with hashtag #beermonth and we'll add them!).

Meantime, see the JFP's special Beer Month archive here, including a JFP v. RYP taste.

Cheers! (And drive safely, or don't drive!).

The campaign to elect Chokwe Lumumba as Jackson's next mayor just posted a video of rapper Ludacris endorsing Lumumba for mayor and urging Jacksonians to vote today.

You can see the video here.

The secret, underground Quentin Whitwell write-in campaign could be doomed if they don't get an emergency endorsement from Chingy in the next hour.

Services for late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba are scheduled for Saturday, March 8 at 11 a.m. at the Jackson Convention Center. There will be a wake on Friday, March 7 at City Hall, according to administration officials.

Lumumba died Tuesday at St. Dominic's Hospital at the age of 66 with his long-time partner, Gloria Elmore, at his side. So far, no official cause of death is known.

Read more about Lumumba here.

Live music this weekend...

The seemingly never ending story is over. ESPN's NFL reporter Chris Mortensen is reporting Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints have reached a deal before the July 16 3p.m. deadline.

Mortensen reports the deal is five years worth $100 million. First year is worth $40 million and Brees will earn $61 million in first three years of the deal with $60 million being guaranteed.

The $60 million guaranteed to Brees is the largest guarantee in NFL history. Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio also has confirmed the numbers, adding that there are $22 million more in “rolling” guarantees as the contract unfolds.

Finally, one of the Saints offseason sagas is over. Now if that pesky "Bounty Gate" will ever end.

More details on the Brees deal:

Drew Brees becomes the NFL's first $20 million man.

Now that the new deal is in place, Brees' cap number will drop next season from $16.37 million to $10.4 million. The cap number for the record setting quarterback will be $17.4 million (2013), $18.4 million (2014), $26.4 million (2015), $27.4 million (2016).

It is important to note that in 2015 the new TV deal kicks in which is why the number jumps so high from 2014. Another important detail, although highly unlikely, on the third day of the wavier wire (normally the third day after the Super Bowl) in 2015 and 2016, Brees will be guaranteed more than half his $19 million base salary (2015) and again more than half his $20 million base salary (2016).

The unlikely part is the Saints must cut the quarterback before the third day of the waiver wire or the club is on the hook for the full guaranteed money. This would allow Brees more time to find a new team if the Saints decide to cut him. Again, highly unlikely as long as the quarterback is playing at a high level but if it does, Brees would hit the market before free agency begins in 2015 or 2016.

Brees will receive a $37 million signing bonus (paid out over the next six months) and a base salary of $3 million this season (2012). Because of the new deal, New Orleans gains $6 million in salary cap space for this season.

The team also announced that Drew will available in a press conference on July 24 at Saints Camp in Metairie. The time is to be determined.

How could the clinic already be on its way to being shut down if the judge said it could remain in operation while its paperwork is reviewed? It makes more sense once you read the AP piece.

Does Mitt Romney support Paul Ryan's approach to Medicare, which would turn it into a voucher paid toward private insurance, or is he against it? Depends on the day... and the state... and that level of incoherence reportedly has some in the GOP worried.

The Romney messaging snafus, they note, have been relentless. Just this week, the Romney campaign repeatedly alternated between embracing Paul Ryan's Medicare Plan and distancing Romney from it. The campaign issued talking points and dispatched advisers to say Romney's plan is different. But in Florida this week, when reporters asked Romney himself about Ryan's plan, he said he supports it.

Perhaps most disconcerting is Ryan's performance in a fairly safe space -- an interview with Fox News. Ryan was unable to say whether Romney's budget would balance even by 2030, and couldn't make particularly clear how Romney's budget would balance without "getting wonky."

Earlier on Tuesday, the Romney campaign intended for Ryan's first solo interview to underscore the Congressman's policy chops. But when veteran newsman Brit Hume pointedly asked for program details, Ryan couldn't deliver. In addition, Ryan said the specifics on closing tax loopholes would have to wait until after the election. Even Hume looked visibly annoyed. "It was," said a top Republican, "an unmitigated disaster."

Here's the full video; get about 3 minutes in for the budget discussion, about the 8:00 point for the discussion on whether they have specific tax loopholes they're going to cut. (After that comes the Ayn Rand discussion.) Embedded below:

While on the air with ads saying Obama has a "War on Religion" and that he's loosening the work requirements for Welfare (which has been widely debunked) he complained on the campaign trail about Obama's "campaign of division and anger..."

However, Romney has been saying the President is a "nice guy" in nearly every speech for the past three months.

Is the Romney campaign off message? Off the rails? Or are the Romney campaign messaging folks crazy like a fox?

Cover Mississippi is taking on the challenges of educating and enrolling Mississippians in the new health insurance market place.

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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The American Family Association's president, Tim Wildmon, sent out an "AFA ActionAlert" this morning to let us know that our worst fears are, indeed, coming true. Thanks to an "activist" Federal judge in Utah, "...polygamy is now essentially legal in the United States."

Whoa! I tell you, those activist judges are out. of. control.

Of course, Wildmon had tried to tell us...

We warned from the beginning that once the biblical standard of man-woman marriage was breached, there would be no logical place to stop.

The AFA ActionAlert somewhat surprisingly links to this USA Today story about the ruling—I say surprisingly because, presumably, we're not actually supposed to read the USA Today story, since it only barely says anything like what Wildmon's ActionAlert says.

There is a judge, and a lawsuit—one brought by the reality TV stars of "Sister Wives," a show which focuses on a polygamist family formerly of Utah—now in Vegas.

From USA Today:

U.S. District Court Judge Clark Waddoups said in the ruling that the phrase in Utah law that forbids cohabitation with another person was a violation of the First Amendment.

Utah, it seems, has the most limiting polygamy law on the books—while 49 other states have laws against polygamy (being legally married to more than one person at a time), Utah's law "makes it illegal to even purport to be married to multiple partners or live together."

In other words, it's illegal in Utah to pretend to be married to more than one person at a time; in every other state it's only illegal to actually be married to more than one person at a time.

Back to Wildmon:

Though we have been accused of exaggerating and scare-mongering, this ruling shows that we were right all along to sound the alarm. Bans against incest are now at risk of being overturned.

Ahhh. Well, I guess we could see that one coming. Feels like a bit of a stretch… unless those rumors I've been hearing about a new show being cast in Appalachia called "Cousin Wives," prove to be true…

Arriving fashionably late, the boys stood in the parking lot by a jeep with the infamous snake flag draped over the windshield and expressed their disapproval of the groups desire to form the GSA at BHS.

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Steve Earle is the latest voice to join the flag debate, though his voice comes in the form of a good-old-fashioned protest song. On the track, titled "Mississippi, It's Time," the Virginia-born musician denounces the Confederate battle emblem's position on the Mississippi state flag, which has been a point of contention yet again following a white-supremacist gunman's slaying of nine African Americans at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C., on June 17.

“I grew up in the South and lived there until I was 50, and I know that I’m not the only southerner who never believed for one second that the Confederate battle flag is symbolic of anything but racism in anything like a modern context,” Steve Earle said in a press release. “This is about giving those southerners a voice.”

Earle and his band, the Dukes, release the song for download on iTunes this Friday, Sept. 11, with all proceeds going to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The lyrics feature a number of powerful and to-the-point phrases, such as, Mississippi, don't you reckon it's time that the flag came down because the world turned 'round? We can't move ahead if we're looking behind," and "I wish I was in a land that never held a soul in bondage ever. I wouldn't have to drag these chains behind. Mississippi, it's time."

Near the track's close, though, Earle trades any semblance of metaphor for blunt outrage: "What the hell, Mississippi? Mississippi, you're out of your mind. Mississippi, God d***, even Alabama and South Carolina (have) come across the line."

As people from without and within the state push for the removal of the Confederate flag—and the dark ideals it represents—the decision ultimately rests with state lawmakers who can't seem to come to an agreement.

Earle, a pupil of famed songwriters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, has had countless hits on the country music charts, both from his own releases, such as his debut record, 1986's "Guitar Town," and from hits for legends like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Emmylou Harris.

Visit Southern Poverty Law Center's website to listen to "Mississippi, It's Time."

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The responses to Gov. Phil Bryant's signing of HB 1523 today are coming fast and furious, but this one by U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson really stands out. Here it is, verbatim:

“Last week, the Mississippi Legislature agreed on a version of House Bill No. 1523, the so-called “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act” and, today, Governor Phil Bryant – in an act that could have long lasting negative impacts on the state – chose not to resist the forces in this state that paint Mississippi as backwards, insensitive and discriminatory but instead sided with those forces and signed the bill into law. The bill will allow circuit clerks to deny marriage licenses, prevent certain individuals from having access to adoption, stop citizens from having access to medical treatment and will go as far as to regulate clothing choices for kids in school, and generally, provide for government-regulated discrimination.”

“The effect of signing this bill could be far-reaching and gravely damaging to our state. Industries that are considering bringing jobs to our state and talented individuals considering bringing their skills to our state could decide to turn their backs on Mississippi just as the Governor and State Legislature have turned their backs on our own citizens and neighbors. Much needed federal funding for things like transportation, infrastructure, and agriculture might be jeopardized now that this ill-advised and, indeed, discriminatory bill has been signed into law in Mississippi.”

“We have seen these types of ‘religious freedom’ bills in other states and we have seen the negative impact that they have had on industry and tourism in those states. I am deeply concerned that the same negative economic impacts will now befall Mississippi. For example, the NCAA has already placed the state of Mississippi under a postseason ban because the state still flies a flag bearing the emblem of the confederacy. Now, the state has upped the ante and adopted a bill that has the potential of legalizing discrimination. Who knows what penalties and consequences this law will bring from the NCAA and any of a number of other governing bodies with interests in the state?”

“Today, by signing this discriminatory bill, Governor Phil Bryant turned the clock back to a time when discrimination was codified through Jim Crow laws and poll taxes instead of looking forward to a more inclusive and tolerant future. This is no religious freedom bill but rather a bill that gives freedom to those who discriminate.”

See jfp.ms/lgbt for ongoing coverage of HB 1523 and the fight for LGBT rights in Mississippi.

After reports of the death of singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Prince began circulating earlier today, national news media sources swarmed to find the truth if there was any truth to the rumor. Sadly, the artist's publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, has now confirmed to multiple sources, including CNN, that Prince had been found dead at his estate and studios in Chanhassen, Minn. He was 57 years old.

This news comes only a week after the music icon's plane made an emergency landing following a show in Atlanta. While many fans and news sites have speculated that his death resulted from a prolonged flu, police are currently investigating to confirm the cause.

Born Prince Rogers Nelson in Minneapolis in June 1958, the musician is known for his sexual lyrics and stage presence, as well as his blend of funk, rock, soul and R&B music elements. Over the years, he has won seven Grammy Awards for his music, including 1985's Album of the Year for "Purple Rain," which he had released the year prior in conjunction with a film of the same name. That album also won Prince an Academy Award for the best original song score in 1985. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

While his final studio albums, 2015's "HITnRUN Phases One and Two," were not the chart-topping successes of his younger years, they did receive mostly positive reviews across the board.

Prince also has a more direct—and more curious—connection to the city of Jackson. Last August, a viewer asked WAPT to look into a mugshot of Prince that had been making the rounds on the Internet, and anchor Ryan Houston obliged.

The mugshot was, in fact, real, Houston reported, and came from the musician's arrest after a show at the Mississippi Coliseum in March 1980, when Prince had been opening for Rick James. While boarding a plane departing from Jackson, keyboardist Matthew "Dr. Fink" Fink, who played in Prince's band, The Revolution, told the late legend that he had seen a megaphone in the overhead compartment.

Prince allegedly suggested that he put it in his carry-on bag, and a woman aboard the plane alerted authorities, who then detained both Fink and Prince for questioning. Police chose not to file charges.

While college football is just around the corner, let’s not forget that women’s soccer will begin this fall. The SWAC head coaches and sports information directors made their preseason predictions for the upcoming soccer season.

The team to beat and big winner of the awards is affiliate member Howard University, which was picked to win the conference with 170 points. Howard also swept all three preseason awards for Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year. The Bison also had eight players placed on either the first-team or second-team All-SWAC.

Mississippi Valley State University was picked to finish second in the conference with 146 points, closely followed by third-place pick Alabama State University with 145 points.

Jackson State University was picked to finish fourth with 126 points, with Prairie View A&M University in fifth place at 112 points. Arkansas-Pine Bluff University was picked to end up sixth with 102 points, and another close vote had Texas Southern University in seventh with 101 points.

Alabama A&M University ended up in eighth place with 74 points, and Southern University was picked to finish ninth with 58 points. Rounding out the bottom of the conference is Grambling State University, picked to finish 10th with 46 points and Alcorn State University picked to finish last with 42 points.

Jackson State placed three players on first-team All-SWAC in midfielder Jalana Ellis, defender Kyleigh Lo and goalie Faith Toennies. The Tigers placed two players on the second-team All-SWAC in midfielders Kalen Roberts and Sie’Yara Wells. The five players JSU placed on the preseason teams were second in the conference.

Mississippi Valley State finished 2015 as regular season champions and placed one player on the first-team All-SWAC in midfielder Laadi Issaka. The Delta Devils placed two players on the second-team: All-SWAC forward Heather Craddock and midfielder Marina Balboa.

Alcorn State didn’t place any players on either first or second teams. Alabama State was third in players selected to the preseason teams, with four players. Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern each placed one player on the preseason teams.

Last season, MVSU finished 8-1-1 in SWAC play and 13-7-2 overall. JSU finished with the same 8-1-1 record as the Delta Devils in conference play and the Tigers finished 11-7-2 overall. Alcorn State finished 0-10 in SWAC play and 0-13 overall.

Nov. 8 is Election Day. Here are some tips, tricks and (most importantly) voter laws in Mississippi to remember tomorrow (via the Secretary of State):

·Polling Place Hours: Polling places are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. A voter is permitted to cast a ballot if he or she is standing in line at 7 p.m.

·Polling Place Locations: A voter can visit the Secretary of State’s Polling Place Locator to find out the address of the location where he or she is required to cast a ballot. Voter registration cards also list polling locations. Additionally, your Circuit Clerk’s Office can provide assistance.

·Voter ID: Voters are required to show photo identification at the polls. Acceptable photo identification includes a driver’s license; state or federal government-issued photo ID; U.S. passport; firearms license; student photo ID from an accredited Mississippi college, university, or junior and community college; U.S. military ID; tribal photo ID; or free Mississippi Voter ID card. A voter without proper identification will be allowed to cast an affidavit ballot. An affidavit ballot is counted if the voter provides proper identification to the Circuit Clerk or obtains a free Mississippi Voter ID card within five business days (November 16, 2016) after the election. For more information, visit www.MSVoterID.ms.gov.

·Campaigning: It is unlawful to campaign for any candidate or party within 150 feet of a polling place, unless on private property.

·Loitering: It is unlawful for any person to loiter within 30 feet of a polling place, including within a polling place. Voters should please leave the polling place after voting.

·Privacy: A voter is not permitted to show his or her marked ballot to any other person.

·Poll Watchers: Parties are permitted two credentialed poll watchers in each polling place, and candidates are permitted one credentialed poll watcher. Individuals not authorized as a credentialed poll watcher by a party or a candidate will not be permitted to observe or loiter inside the polling place. Circuit clerks, election commissioners, pollworkers, and authorized observers are also permitted to remain in polling places.

·Observers: The Secretary of State’s Office will have observers at polling places in at least 32 counties throughout the State. The Attorney General’s Office will also have observers stationed throughout the State. Observers do not have the authority to rectify any problems arising at the polls, but they can contact the Secretary of State’s Office and any relevant local election official, District Attorney, or law enforcement official.

·Write-In Votes: Write-in votes are only counted in the event of the death, resignation, withdrawal, or removal of any candidate whose name was printed on the official ballot.

Dallas Cowboy fans might not have to wait long to see the start of year two of the Dak Prescott era. The Cowboys will face the Arizona Cardinals in the 2017 Hall of Fame Game on Thursday, Aug. 3.

Since this is the first preseason game of the new year, it is possible that neither Prescott nor Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer will play. Quarterback Tony Romo might get the start if he hasn’t been released or traded at that point. Dallas could also decide to rest running back Ezekiel Elliott so he will be fresh for the regular season.

Still, this will be the first NFL football since the New England Patriots’ amazing comeback in Super Bowl LI against the Atlanta Falcons.

The Hall of Fame game will have some changes this year. The biggest change is that it will be on Thursday instead of Sunday to make the enshrinement the biggest part of the weekend.

This is the first time the game has been played on a Thursday in NFL history. The other change is that the game will be played in the new Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. Last year’s game was suspended due to the poor field conditions.

It makes perfect sense to have the Cowboys and Cardinals face off in the game. Former Arizona Cardinal and St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones are both part of the 2017 Hall of Fame class.

The rest of the class includes former Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis, former San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson, former Seattle Seahawks safety Kenny Easley, former Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor, and former New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons kicker Morten Andersen.

On Friday night, the Hall of Fame will honor the 2017 Class with the Enshrinees’ Gold Jacket Dinner at the Canton Memorial Civic Center. Past Hall of Famers will greet the new class and welcome them into the exclusive club they are joining.

On Saturday night the new class officially enter the Hall of Fame during a nationally televised ceremony. On Sunday is the Enshrinees’ Roundtable and the yearly Concert for Legends.

Moving the game to Thursday makes sense since the field used to be overworked by the time the game was played on Sunday. It also makes sense to make the enshrinement the most important part of the weekend.

Fans will get a chance to see Prescott, Elliott, Palmer and the other stars when the Cowboys and Cardinals battle in the regular season.