Jackson Free Press

The City of Jackson has posted a new "We Are Jackson News" interview on its Youtube channel, with former councilman Marshand Crisler interviewing Capital Improvement Plan project coordinator Lacey Reddix.

Discussion in the video interview includes the true nature of the "$90 million" that the 1-cent tax represents, the streets that are scheduled for repaving and other projects that fall under the domain on the 1-cent tax Capital Improvement Plan funding.

Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump is scheduled to be in Jackson next Wednesday, August 24, for a fundraising event supporting his campaign, a MS GOP press release states. Tickets for the event are being sold at an affordable $1,000 per ticket.

The event begins at 6:00 PM, but the location is only being disclosed to those who purchase tickets. The event is closed to the press, the MS GOP release states. Last time Donald J. Trump was in Mississippi, he held a rally during the primaries at Madison Central High School in March. The rally cost Madison County taxpayers $11,565.44 in security expenses.

This was just came over the wires and was too juicy to pass up -- brand new from IOVO designs it the new Litterfish, a cat litter box that's not only "attractive" -- it's shaped like a fish -- it's also "functional," according to the press release.

Presumably, that means that cats can poop in it.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2012/jul/10/3580/

The Litterfish, which retails for $170, is "the brainchild of acclaimed Cinematographer Robert Brinkmann (The Rules of Attraction, The Cable Guy, The Truth About Cats and Dogs, U2: Rattle and Hum) and Comic Book Artist Dan Panosian (Marvel Comics, Kung Fu Panda, Duke Nukem), who worked together to produce this revolutionary product."

Oh, yeah. They said revolutionary. Who could argue with that?

Jackson mayoral hopeful Jonathan Lee hit the airwaves last night with the premier of his television spot, now he's released a 14-page brochure—a prospectus, if you will—you can find here.

In it, Lee discusses, sometimes in detail, his plan to tackle crime, employment and economic development, infrastructure and education.

Lee has taken heat in recent debates, albeit indirectly, for being a DINO (a Democrat in name-only). But Lee has pushed back, saying his voting record speaks for itself, saying at the last mayoral forum, ending his closing remarks with "At the end of the day, these potholes don't have a party affiliation."

I will soon launch our first eBook in a new "Ghosts of Hinds County" series. The first will focus on the juvenile-detention scandal of the 1990s. If you want to hear about it right away, please subscribe (free) to jfpdaily.com. We will announce it to the daily list as soon as it's live.

(An added benefit to subscribing: You get daily breaking news on weekdays and invitations to all our big events, including the Best of Jackson party, so there's that.)

The launch will originally scheduled for early May, but election coverage conspired against me. If you have something you think you could add to a piece about the juvenile detention days of old, please email me at [email protected]. We can talk confidentially if needed.

Democratic nominee for the mayor's office Chokwe Lumumba has filed a general election campaign finance report, which you can read here.

Councilman Lumumba has raised $71,614 since April 28, and spent $74,696 in that same period, leaving him with $15,333 in the tank headed into the June 4 general election against three independent candidates.

Year-to-date, Lumumba has raised $140,367 and spent $133,988.

Some of his biggest contributors on this report are Samuel L. Agnew of Baton Rouge, La. ($15,000), SJG Consultants Inc. of Greenville ($8,000), Winston Thompson III of Madison ($5,000) and a "G. Williams" of Ridgeland ($5,000).

Gov. Phil Bryant stepped in it yesterday when he blamed working mothers with the challenges in education. Since then, we've seen people posting tributes to their working mothers on social media. We'd like to collect them here, as a tribute of sorts to the amazing women who have built America, both from the nursery and the workplace. Click below to read one of my tributes to my mother who had to work at factories to put food on the table while she helped me lift myself up however she could. She was remarkable, and I miss her dearly.

Please add your tributes below.

If Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann has his way, Magnolia State voters will be required to show photo identification to vote, and it could start as early as 2014.

Hosemann, seizing on the U.S. Supreme Court decision last week to strike down the Voting Rights Act of 1965, is looking to push forward on a voter ID law that was rejected by the federal government in 2011. Now that the Voting Rights Act is null and void, Mississippi is free to set whatever laws it sees fit. Free photo identification is available through the circuit clerk's office.

The Secretary of State is currently soliciting comments from members of the public who have questions or concerns. You can reach the office at (601) 359-1350 or go online and visit the Secretary of State web site at www.sos.ms.gov.

Several new releases are due for 7/23...

Mississippi's 2013 Sales Tax Holiday begins Friday, July 26 and runs through Saturday, July 27.

Superband Wasteband!

As of now, the LGBT community is not protected in Mississippi's hate crime law. But Rep. Deborah Dixon, D-Raymond, authored a bill that could change that.

House Bill 534 would amend the constitution to increase the penalties for crimes committed against people because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation. The law currently defines a hate crime as a crime committed against a person because of their race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion or national origin.

HB 534 has been referred to the Judiciary B House Committee, chaired by Rep. Andy Gipson, R-Braxton.

While his committee has a meeting tomorrow morning, Gipson told the Jackson Free Press he has not looked at HB 534 yet.

In what feels like a surprise move (at least, to me) the Times-Picayune in New Orleans is reporting that multiple sources have given word that the New Orleans Saints are trading Pro Bowl Tight End Jimmy Graham to the Seattle Seahawks.

The Saints will receive 28-year-old center Max Unger and Seattle's first round pick, while the Seahawks will receive Graham and the Saints' fourth round pick.

This (apparent) trade comes one year after protracted negotiations resulted in a 4-year, $40 million contract last year. Graham joins veterans Pierre Thomas and Curtis Loftin as locker-room casualties as free agency deadlines loom.

Lance Bass, the Mississippi-born pop-singer, actor and producer who rose to fame as a member of NSYNC has joined actress Mary Elizabeth Ellis to encourage Governor Phil Bryant to veto HB 1523, the anti-LGBT "religious conscience" bill.

Jackson-based attorney Debra Gibbs will replace former Rep. Kimberly Campbell in the Mississippi House of Representatives in January.

Gibbs won the run-off in the special election on Sept. 13 for the District 72 House seat. She defeated Synarus Green by a vote of 921-897. Green is the current director of policy and intergovernmental affairs for the City of Jackson.

District 72 covers part of northwest Jackson, parts of Ridgeland and Pocahontas.

Vote Breakdown:

Hinds County voters: Gibbs: 816 Green: 819

Madison County voters: Gibbs: 105 Green: 78

Totals: Gibbs: 921 Green: 897

To learn more about Gibbs, read the JFP interview with her here.

At a press conference near City Hall, Democratic mayoral candidate Jonathan Lee and a handful of supporters announced a key endorsement from State Representative Credell Calhoun, who represents Mississippi's 68th district here in Jackson.

Lee also received endorsements from his pastor at Anderson United Methodist Church Joe May and New Jerusalem Church Pastor Duane Pickett. Pickett said it was important to him that Lee believes in the resurrection of Jesus Christ because "Jackson needs a resurrection."

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2013/may/15/11876/

That statement was an obvious swipe at Chokwe Lumumba, who despite being baptized four different times in four different churches has made statements in the past about not being sure about the story of Christ's resurrection, a story integral to the Christian faith.

After hearing from the speakers, Lee took to the podium and after a brief statement took three questions from the assembled media.

The first question was about Lee's support, both financial and at the ballot box, from the white community. The reporter asked if Lee was trying to distance himself from his supporters. The candidate answered no, and asked the reporter to look at the numbers, which he said shows he had a wide range of support from voters all over the city.

As we pointed out in a story in Wednesday's JFP, which you can read here, we noted that the bulk of Lee's support indeed came from Jackson's white community in Wards 1 and 7.

Lee added that he was "very proud" of the way his campaign has been run.

When pressed on the issue, event organizer Othor Cain said we would move past that line of questioning and asked if there was anyone else who wanted to talk about something else.

The second question Lee fielded was whether or not he was disappointed by former candidate Regina Quinn's decision to endorse Lumumba. Lee, who had already mentioned Quinn as a future role model for his daughter, said he was a little bit disappointed because he thought he had laid out a plan she could get behind, but that he would move forward without her support.

The third question was whether or not the preachers' comments were implying that Lumumba was not a "true Christian." Lee vehemently denied that, saying the pastors were only there to talk about him, and not his opponent.

The press conference was set to take place on the lawn in front of City Hall, but about 10 minutes before the set 11 a.m. start time, security and City Clerk Brenda Pree emerged from the building and told Cain and Lee's campaign manager Tyrone Hendrix they would have to move the event 150 feet from the building, because absentee and early voting was taking place inside City Hall.

Verbatim press release:

For the eighth consecutive year, U.S. News has produced a ranking measuring the quality of the undergraduate education at historically black colleges and universities. In order to be on the list, a school must be currently designated by the U.S. Department of Education as an HBCU. To qualify for the U.S. News ranking, an HBCU also must be an undergraduate baccalaureate-granting institution that enrolls primarily first-year, first-time students and must be a school that is part of the 2015 Best Colleges rankings.

The Higher Education Act of 1965 defines an HBCU as "any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary (of Education) to be a reliable authority as to the quality of training offered or is, according to such an agency or association, making reasonable progress toward accreditation."

If an HBCU is listed as Unranked in the 2015 Best Colleges rankings, it is also listed as Unranked in the HBCU rankings

In total, there were 80 HBCUs eligible to be included on the list; 69 of those were ranked and 11 of those were Unranked.

1. Spelman College
2. Howard University
3. Morehouse College
4. Hampton University
5. Tuskegee University
6. Xavier University of Louisiana
7. Fisk University
8. Florida A&M University
9. Claflin University
10. North Carolina A&T State University
11. North Carolina Central University
12. Tougaloo College
13. (Tie) Delaware State University
14. (Tie) Dillard University
15. (Tie) Morgan State University
16. (Tie) Winston-Salem State University
17. Johnson C. Smith University
18. Clark Atlanta University
19. Jackson State University
20. Elizabeth City State University
21. (Tie) Lincoln University of PA
22. (Tie) Tennessee State University
23. (Tie) Alabama A&M University
24. (Tie) University of Maryland-Eastern Shore
25. (Tie) Bennett College
26. (Tie) Bowie State University
27. Alcorn State University
28. (Tie) Albany State University
29. (Tie) Fayetteville State University
30. South Carolina State University
31. Bethune-Cookman University
32. Virginia State University
33. Oakwood University
34. Norfolk State University
35. (Tie) Philander Smith College
36. (Tie) University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff
37. Prairie View A&M University
38. (Tie) Fort Valley State University
39. (Tie) Kentucky State University
40. Stillman College
41. (Tie) Alabama State University
42. (Tie) Central State University
43. (Tie) West Virginia State University
44. Cheyney University of Pennsylvania
45. (Tie) Paine College
46. (Tie) Southern University and A&M College
47. Savannah State University
48. Livingstone College
49. Texas Southern University
50. (Tie) Bluefield State College
51. (Tie) Florida Memorial University
52. (Tie) Grambling State University
53. (Tie) Mississippi Valley State University

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2014/sep/11/18835/

Verbatim from the Attorney General's office:

A classic scam is now targeting Apple users. The very common “phishing” scam is constantly being revised by con artists to target a larger pool of potential victims. Currently, scammers are using emails to target Apple users by falsely claiming that your Apple ID, iCloud or iTunes account has been comprised. You are then asked to provide personal information to rectify the problem.

“Because there is a large percentage of Apple users, these cons are using the Apple name to cast a wide net to phish for potential victims,” said Attorney General Hood. “That’s why it is important to think twice about any action you take online asking you to provide personal information. Legitimate companies like Apple never ask you to provide such information to them through an email.”

The danger for most people using iCloud is that they often back their cellular devices up to it. In the event this account is compromised, the attacker could gain access to very sensitive and personal information stored on those backups. These phishing websites can look similar to the legitimate ones. Very often, the scam comes in the form of a fake email (see example below) which will prompt you to click on a link and visit one of these phishing websites to “update your account information.”

To avoid this scam make sure you are in the iTunes application directly, not through a web browser. If you are asked to update your account information, make sure that you do so only in iTunes or on a legitimate page on Apple.com, such as the online Apple Store.

If you suspect your Apple ID, iCloud or iTunes account has been compromised, change the password immediately and/or contact Apple and advise them your account’s security has been compromised. If you have received a suspicious email, please notify iTunes Customer Support by visiting www.apple.com/support/itunes/store. ‘

Sample of phishing email:

> iCloud ID – xxxx This is the final message to inform you as of 22 – February – 2015 that you have not yet updated your Apple ID details. Under “Know your Customer” legislation Apple Inc is required to carry out a verification of your information, failure to complete this validation will result in deletion of your iCloud within the next three days. Please click below to » Login to your Apple/iCloud ID To cancel the deletion of your Apple & iCloud ID please proceed to your Apple ID information before the deadline. Resolution Validation Request: #L8FHI20121711925 Sincerely, iGenius Helpteam

http://www.ago.state.ms.us/phishing-scam-targets-apple-users/

Just in case Mississippi starts to get too cozy thinking it's Voter ID law is going to get past the Feds, Attorney General Eric Holder had this to say in Houston yesterday: "we will not allow political pretext to disenfranchise American citizens of their most precious right."

Holder's money quote, as quoted by the Houston Chronicle, might at least suggest how the Department of Justice would view Mississippi's law as well: "Many of those without IDs would have to travel great distances to get them, and some would struggle to pay for the documents they might need to obtain them. We call those poll taxes."

In the immortal words of Ice Cube's Doughboy: Either they don't know, don't show or don't care about what's going on with circus elephants in the Tupelo, Miss. 'hood.

The Associated Press reports that a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus elephant was hit by a bullet in an apparent drive-by shooting in Tupelo. Circus spokeswoman Melinda Hartline says the elephant, named Carol, was not seriously hurt and that no other animals were harmed.

Tupelo Police Chief Tony Carleton said a vehicle drove past the arena about 2 a.m. and fired into the area, AP reported.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Former U.S. Rep. Travis Childers also offered a $250 reward.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2013/apr/09/11413/