Jackson Free Press

The following is a press release from Mayor Tony Yarber:

Mayor Tony Yarber on Friday, Aug. 22, announced Lee Vance as Jackson’s new police chief, saying his experience in law enforcement and commitment to community collaboration made him the right person for the job.

“He has proven leadership and respect in the community and among the rank and file in the Jackson Police Department,” Yarber said. “He also shares the administration’s vision for a holistic approach to crime-fighting and crime prevention.”

Vance has more than 27 years in law enforcement. He has served as interim chief since former Chief Lindsey Horton announced his retirement last month.

“I’m honored Mayor Yarber has entrusted me with this crucial public safety position. This is my hometown, and the well-being of Jackson citizens is my top priority,” Vance said.

Vance is certified and trained in management, preparedness, leadership and other various aspects of law enforcement. He rose through the ranks in the JPD, serving as patrol officer, public information officer, patrol sergeant, police lieutenant and commander.

I was just at the Hinds County Circuit Clerk's doing research for a story , and a couple of employees were talking about a mini-plague of serpents in the basement office.

This week, employees have stumbled across five earth snakes in the file room, Circuit Clerk Barbara Dunn said. Earth snakes are nonvenomous and grow up to around 8 inches. Employees said they have been unable to ascertain how the asps are getting in the building.

The thing that really made my skin crawl, though, was being charged $1 per page to make copies. Mississippi has some of the nation's worst open-records laws, which makes a lot of documents public but lets government agencies charge whatever they want. What stung the most was that I had to make the copies myself, and still had to fork out $84 for a pretty skimpy stack of paper (pictured).

Where's Nick Fury when you need him?

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2013/apr/24/11644/

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2013/apr/24/11645/

Sen. Josh Harkins, R-Flowood, is touching up a bill that proposes to change the Jackson airport commission structure. Harkins told the Jackson Free Press he will likely file his bill on Monday or Tuesday next week, which will change who appoints and who qualifies to serve on the airport's governing body.

The current commission is made up of five members, all appointed by the Jackson mayor. Harkins' bill will require the commission to include members from Madison, Rankin and city of Jackson. Harkins is still working on the details, but he said it is important for some commissioners to have aviation and business experience.

Jackson-based legislators have vocalized their distaste for the proposed bill, as well as Jackson business leaders calling the bill an attempted "takeover." Harkins said the city of Jackson will not suffer financially from the plan.

The complaint filed in chancery court has been withdrawn and District 3 Judge Denise Owens ruled Thursday to allow the city of Jackson to issue bonds to pay for the $90 million sewer and water improvement project with the Siemens company.

According to Advanced Technology Business Solutions attorney Herbert Irvin, the company and its president Dan Hewitt withdrew its complaint, which accused Siemens of promising savings it couldn't possibly deliver, because it got a closer look at the deal.

"After looking at the contract and the details," Irvin said. "We saw the economic impact of the temporary and permanent jobs, and realized the positive economic impact the deal with have on the city."

The original complaint stated, "When the energy savings proposal was presented to the City Council of the City of Jackson, Mississippi, project representatives stated that the City of Jackson would realize an annual savings of approximately $8 million during the 15-year period of the loan. In reviewing the preliminary official statement for the bond transaction, we find that there will not be any appreciable, discernible savings generated by this project – only increased collections from these users of the water system due to more accurate metering."

Hewitt could not be reached for comment.

The Secretary of State posted a new initiative to its website that reads:

Initiative #46 would amend the Constitution to restrict or define Mississippi’s heritage in the following areas: religion, official language, state flag, nickname, song, motto and state university mascots. Further, the initiative would prevent the consolidation of Alcorn State University, Delta State University, Jackson State University, Mississippi University for Women, and Mississippi Valley State University, designate the month of April “Confederate Heritage Month,” and reinstate Mississippi’s Constitutional boundaries.

The initiative was filed by Arthur Randallson, Magnolia State Heritage Campaign Director and former Tea Party of Mississippi Chairman. Randallson also previously proposed an initiative to amend the constitution to designate Colonel Reb the official mascot of the University of Mississippi.

Some say his current initiative is a way to declare Christianity the official religion of Mississippi. This pretty clearly violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, so it doesn't seem that the initiative would pass tests of constitutionality. Either way, the amendment proposal won't appear on the ballot in 2015 unless the group gets 107,216 certified signatures.

Gov. Phil Bryant created a task force today to address drug abuse in the state, specifically for the abuse of opioids and heroin.

Opioid abuse is up nationally and has been for the past two decades. Opioids include prescription pain killers, some nervous system depressants and some stimulant drugs, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Gov. Bryant's proclamation claims that Mississippi is one of the leading prescribers for opioids. The governor will appoint voluntary members to the task force, but the proclamation does not specify a date when the task force will meet or for how long.

The Centers for Disease Controls tracks overdose related deaths, and from 2013 to 2014, the state saw a slight increase, from 316 deaths in 2013 to 366 in 2014. That number is not specific to opioid-related overdoses, however.

The state of Mississippi is moving closer to carrying out the first execution of 2013.

The Mississippi State Supreme Court denied today Willie Jerome Manning's requests for a rehearing and a stay of execution. Manning wants DNA tests that were not available at the time of his conviction in the early 1990s. Manning received the death penalty for the December 1992 killings of two Mississippi State University students, Tiffany Miller and Jon Steckler.

Manning has maintained his innocence. This Mississippi Innocence Project filed a brief in support of Manning. Innocence Projects usually don't get involved with cases that lack compelling evidence of innocence. Of the seven people Innocence Project helped exonerate, six of them were freed because their DNA was absent from the scene of the crime, the brief states.

In addition to the DNA request, Manning's attorney said one of the prosecution's jury-selection tactics in Manning's trial was discriminatory. Voisin said some candidates listed publications such as Jet and Ebony magazines on a jury questionnaire. Prosecutors dismissed some of the potentials because they read liberal publications.

In 2012, Mississippi tied with Arizona and Oklahoma for second-most executions carried out in the United States, with six in each state. Texas led the nation with 15 executions in 2012. Manning is scheduled to be executed May 7 at Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman.

More over, Personhood supporters. Public-education backers are working to put funding the Mississippi Adequate Education Program on next year's ballot—being that the Legislature simply refuses to fully fund it.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal is reporting that Jackson attorney Luther Munford has filed the initiative language on behalf of a group called Better Schools, Better Jobs:

The Mississippi Adequate Education Program is the formula passed in 1997 that determines how much funding each school district should receive. It has been traditionally underfunded, however, including a shortfall of more than $1.3 billion during the last six years. This year’s appropriation is more than $250 million below what the formula requires.

The state’s constitution leaves little recourse if legislators don’t fund MAEP, Munford said. The initiative would change that.

It would require Mississippi to use money from economic growth to fill the void. Its language says at least 25 percent of new growth of general fund revenue would go into MAEP over a period of years until it was fully funded. It does not require a new tax.

Verbatim release from Chism Strategies:

Last night we conducted the final track of our MS Senate GOP runoff surveys. We surveyed 697 voters statewide. The MOE was +/- 3.8%. The survey was restricted to voters from the GOP primary on June 3rd. It does not include potential voters who did not participate in that election.

McDaniel holds an eight point lead among GOP voters who went to the polls on June 3rd and plan to return on Tuesday.

How We See It

Unless Cochran expands the electorate with general election Republicans and crossover Democrats, McDaniel wins.

The electoral math is much closer than the polling. Cochran heads into Tuesday only about 6,200 votes down out of a total of almost 319,000 cast on June 3rd. (We assume the third candidate’s supporters do not migrate to Cochran.)

No Polling Can Measure the Implications of Two Unprecedented Actions in Mississippi Politics

- Surrogates for the 42 year GOP incumbent are groveling for Democrat and union votes in the runoff after his campaign spent millions in the Primary bashing President Obama and his policies. Can Cochran’s team execute their elaborate, expensive GOTV plan?

- Will this pivot to a more centrist message erode his conservative base? Republican office holders have gotten way out ahead of their constituents. Are the establishment Republicans able to bring the rank and file to Cochran? Will there be a backlash from this top down directive?

The Grenada County circuit clerk resigned today because she did not want to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. According to an AP report, Linda Barnette has served as the circuit clerk in Grenada County for 24 years, and was scheduled to retire after the November elections. She decided she couldn’t wait, however, because legalizing a same-sex marriage goes against her religious beliefs.

According to Campaign for Southern Equality’s Lindsey Simerly, as of Monday 49 counties in the state are issuing same-sex marriage licenses. Technically the Supreme Court’s ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in the U.S. on Friday should overrule the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, that is expected to lift its stay on the Campaign for Southern Equality v. Bryant case soon. However, following a statement by Attorney General Jim Hood issued on Monday, some county clerks have decided to wait until the stay is lifted to begin issuing licenses. Regardless, Simerly also said that no one should have to drive more than an hour in Mississippi to get a marriage license now.

The Mississippi case will likely move forward after both sides have filed briefs requested by July 1.

In a segment highlighting how easy it is to buy up old medical debt and learn about the patients who have it, John Oliver on his show "Last Week Tonight" put together a shell company to do just that.

Forest Thigpen, president of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, issued the following statement regarding the lawsuit filed on July 11 by the Southern Poverty Law Center that alleges the state's charter school law violates the state's constitution by enabling ad valorem taxes to cross district lines, leaving the district they were meant to support:

Charter schools are public schools, and since they charge no tuition, any rational person would conclude that they are "free" schools as referenced by the state constitution.

Parents are responsible for their children's education. It is immoral for the government to force parents to send their children to schools that do not meet their academic and related needs, especially when other public options are available, including charter schools.

Parents who have enough money to move to a better district or to send their children to private schools already have options. Charter schools, as demonstrated by the student population at the two schools that opened this year, primarily serve families who cannot afford either of those options.

Improving educational outcomes is one of the most important ways to lift children out of poverty, and charter schools offer that hope to parents who want a better future for their children. By pursuing this lawsuit, it appears as though the Southern Poverty Law Center wants to perpetuate, not alleviate, southern poverty.

House Speaker Philip Gunn released a statement defending his position on the state flag, after all filed bills to change the state flag referred to the House Rules Committee died today. No Senate or House flag bill made it out of committee by today's deadline.

Gunn's statement is below, verbatim:

"For anyone to suggest I have surrendered or backed up on my position of changing the flag is simply not true," said Speaker of the House Philip Gunn. "I have not wavered in my viewpoint that we need a different flag to represent Mississippi. I have spoken with many House members both individually and collectively and have tried to convince them to adopt my view."

“I have explored every option from taking legislative action to change the flag to adopting two official flags, but we cannot get a consensus on how to address the issue,” he continued. "I will continue to stand by my view that changing the flag is the right thing to do. The flag is going to change. We can deal with it now or leave for future generations to address. I believe our state needs to address it now. I am disappointed that nothing took shape this year, but I will continue this effort."

We're trying to find the context of the $294,000/grant accusation in the email the Lee campaign sent out, but wouldn't document. We found the 2008 Clarion-Ledger story that the Lee campaign cited, as well as stories in the JFP. First, the Ledger story.

It was about then-Mayor Melton's abysmal financial management. It mentions the administration's complaints about problems left over from Johnson--which I personally take with a grain of salt until I find out the context. Because if there was anybody who could blame anyone but themselves, it was the Melton administration. Here's the relevant part of the story, "City not responding to suggestions":

"An employee hired by Mayor Frank Melton to assess Jackson's fiscal situation says she is fed up with Melton and his department heads for not responding to her recommendations to fix the city's bookkeeping problems. Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Valerie Nevels, a former Internal Revenue Service criminal investigator, said the mayor has not reinforced her suggestions. ...Nevels outlined to the City Council Budget Committee and various department heads a recent audit of city finances. She said it indicated sloppy accounting has left the city at risk of losing millions in federal funds and blurred its financial condition. The audit examined records from Oct. 1, 2005, to Sept. 30, 2006. To improve financial management in the city, Nevels has tried training personnel in such areas as filing quarterly reviews, balancing accounts monthly and setting firm deadlines for purchases and transfers. But employees have ignored the procedures and guidelines she passed out Oct. 1, she said. Nevels said Melton's response was for her to "make it happen." ...

...Melton and Walker said the city's poor accounting practices are left over from previous administrations. Nevels concurred, saying that during former Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr.'s administration, the city had more people working on financial statements and grants but the same problems existed. Johnson, mayor from 1997-2005, said his administration "took great pains to make sure the financial system was adequate. Johnson said that in his last year as mayor the city's bond rating was increased twice. Despite his efforts, Johnson's administration left behind some mismanaged grants, which the current administration and council had to deal with last fall. The city had to repay more than $294,000 on a grant because the grant was not spent in the required time period. Another $29,412 had to be repaid for the same period. "Clearly (Johnson) didn't walk away from this enterprise with clean hands, nor is the Melton administration going to walk away with clean hands," council President Leslie Burl McLemore said.

I vaguely remembered this controversy because it surprised us that a Melton hire was whistle-blowing on him. So I searched our database and found these stories about the problems that Nevel revealed: No Oversight Costing City Nobody Minding the Store

Adam Lynch also reported on Johnson and grants in this story right after he returned to office.

Although all of those stories bring back painful Melton-era …

There were some high-dollar contributors at a private meeting Speaker Philip Gunn had in his office last night. An unusual amount of activity at the Capitol yesterday evening led a TV news crew and a print reporter to investigate, but the journalists were turned away by Capitol security, wrote Clarion-Ledger political editor Geoff Pender today.

According to Pender's report, Gunn's policy director Nathan Wells called the meeting small and consisting of Gunn supporters who hadn't had a chance to visit the speaker's office.

Attendees included oilmen Billy Powell and Billy Mounger as well as Wirt Yerger and their spouses. All the men are high-rollers when it comes to political donations.

Mounger, who has worked in oil and gas development, gave more than $100,000 in both 2007 and 2011, but a quick review of those disclosure filings reveal that Gunn was not a recipient from Mounger in those two cycles.

Mounger has also given handsomely to federal campaigns, including former Gov. Haley Barbour's political action committee and to Republican members of Mississippi's congressional delegation. Powell of Powell Petroleum has also given while Yerger, president of Cavalier Wireless, gave $3,500 to candidates in 2011, including $1,000 to Gunn.

Wells insisted that the meeting was not a fundraiser. He told Pender: "We have food brought in for meetings all the time. This was completely paid for by (Gunn). There were no contributions, and none asked for. It’s not an event. We eat food here at meetings all the time.”

Voters do not have to vote in every race on the ballot for their votes to count.

Gov. Phil Bryant has filled both Mississippi Supreme Court vacancies, following the departure of Justices Randy Pierce and David Chandler. Former District 1 Court of Appeals Judge James Maxwell and tenth district chancellor Dawn Beam will join the state's highest court in the new year.

Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. said in statement that Judge Maxwell's "energy and experience will serve the court and the citizens of the state well.” Waller expressed enthusiasm at Beam's arrival to the court. In a statement, he said Judge Beam has continued to go above standards in helping her court's district convert to an all electronic filing system. Beyond clerical duties, Waller said Beam "has tirelessly worked to resolve issues regarding placement and supervision of abused and neglected children.”

Judge Beam has been involved with her district's work to guarantee safe homes for all children and recently spoke at a community meeting in December praising the local Department of Human Services workers in Marion County for the changes they've made in their office--including upping personnel numbers. The increased personnel led to 160 children being removed from their homes due to court orders that cited deplorable living conditions or drug abuse at home.

Judge Maxwell was appointed to the district court by former Gov. Haley Barbour in 2009 and re-elected in 2014. He practiced civil law in Jackson and worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in the northern district of Mississippi.

The Department of Justice announced a series of reforms for federal prisons today. Reforms include building a school district within the system and improving the halfway houses that serve as re-entry homes for inmates in the system.

The DOJ also announced plans to improve programs for women in prison and provide inmates that are released with ID cards, free of charge. The reforms are a part of the department's intense focus on lowering recidivism rates across the country and rehabilitating former inmates. Earlier this year, the DOJ announced that they would phase out all contracts they had with private prisons due to the lowering number of inmates in the country as well as not finding real advantage in cost savings or enhanced services with private facilities.

There are two federal prisons in Mississippi: one in Yazoo City, and one in Natchez. The facility in Yazoo City is privately operated and run by the Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA, whose stocks soared after Donald Trump won the projected electoral college votes on Nov. 8.

President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general could change some of these reforms, and Democrats fear what Sessions' prosecutorial reputation and Trump's promises for "law and order" on the campaign trail could mean for reforms made in the past eight years.

The City of Jackson released the following statement, verbatim:

City of Jackson’s Statement on Recent Ruling to Allow the West Rankin Utility Authority to Construct a Wastewater Treatment Plant in Rankin County

The City of Jackson is disappointed that the Rankin County Chancery Court agreed with the decision of the Mississippi Environmental Permit Board to grant the West Rankin Utility Authority an NPDES permit that will allow construction of a wastewater treatment plant in Rankin County. The Court’s decision last week ignored significant errors of law that should prevent the issuance of this NPDES permit. The West Rankin Utility Authority currently has cost-effective wastewater treatment provided by the City of Jackson’s Savanna Street Wastewater Treatment Plant. The City believes that the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant that discharges into the Pearl River is an unnecessary expense to all of its Savanna Street customers in Rankin, Hinds, and Madison Counties that will degrade the water quality of the Pearl River.

The City has 30 days within which to file an appeal of this decision to the Mississippi Supreme Court. The City is weighing this option as well as other options to increase its customer base as a result of any lost customers of the West Rankin Utility Authority. The City will also be reassessing its plans for upgrading the Savanna Street Wastewater Treatment Plant under the Consent Decree to identify areas of savings that may be available as a result of any loss in some West Rankin Utility Authority customers. Finally, the City will continue to be open to any new, mutually advantageous relationship with the West Rankin Utility Authority that will maximize the existing treatment capacity at the Savanna Street Wastewater Treatment Plant and maintain the existing low cost of treatment, while planning for the future.

A University of Mississippi student-body panel ruled this week that the male winner of a campus popularity contest would not longer have the title "Colonel Reb."

The Daily Mississippian, Ole Miss' school newspaper, reported that the Associated Student Body Judicial Council ruled the title of “Colonel Reb” was unconstitutional per the student government bylaws.

The DM quotes former ASB Judicial Chair Courtney Pearson, who last fall became the first African American homecoming queen in Ole Miss' history explaining: “An anonymous complaint was filed and the ASB Judicial Council took the appropriate steps to hear the complaint.... We followed the appropriate guidelines that we could have according to the most current Codes and Constitution. The decision is final.”

The Colonel Reb character is a old coot of an officer in the vanquished Confederate army, and has stirred controversy over the years. In 2003 then-Chancellor Robert Khayat announced in 2003 the Confederate throwback adopted as the official mascot in 1979 but whose image had been around since the 1930s, would no longer be a staple of Ole Miss on-field matchups. Khayat’s public reasoning was that having “a 19th century person representing a 21st century university in such a highly visible role” seemed odd.

As they are prone to do when anyone so much as sneezes in Colonel Reb's direction, Ole Miss were furious about the ASB committee's decision. Rob Pillow, ASB Attorney General Rob Pillow, vowed to investigate the name change, which he concedes is permanent.