Jackson Jambalaya

The Ridgeland Hotel Wars continue.  The Madison County Journal reported last week:

And there arose to the north of Eden a tribe called the Hotty-Toddys, who were also called metros. And the Hotty-Toddys were very displeasing; they didst place centerpieces on their banquet tables, and didst exalt themselves much. And they didst glorify the southern kingdom of the past.

JPD issued the following statement. 

Ole Miss and former Head Football Coach Houston Nutt issued the following statement today:

The Rankin County trial for Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith has been moved to...... Halloween.  You really can't make this up. 

An Auburn fan didn't have a fun trip to Baton Rouge last weekend:

JPD issued the following statement and photo.

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors appointed Connie Cochran to the Board of Trustees for the Jackson-Hinds Library System.  She will represent District 4.  She was approved on a unanimous vote.  She is the former Election Commissioner for District 4.  District 4 Supervisor Mike Morgan moved to appoint her.  District 1 Supervisor Robert Graham seconded the motion. 

Senator Thad Cochran issued the following statement. 

Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to stop his criminal while the Court considers his appeal of a motion to dismiss that was denied by Rankin County Circuit Judge John Emfinger.  The trial is scheduled to begin on October 23.  The Attorney General is prosecuting the District Attorney on two separate indictments for simple domestic violence, aggravated stalking, and robbery.  The two sides are also warring over whether testimony about alleged repeated incidents of domestic violence and drug use can be admitted as well.   Attorney John Reeves represents Smith. 

This is what happens when you become one with your Iphone.

Where can a good ole boy make an easy $20,000 without anyone knowing about it in Mississippi? Bond sales.  Eyes glaze over when bonds are mentioned.  Reporters who can barely add ignore the topic.  Politicians who can not add just trust their good ole boy friends to do right by them.  Adams County is a prime example of such a conundrum.  The  Mississippi Business Journal reported last week:

If you can't make it to church this morning, enjoy this sermon given by the late Dr. Frank Pollard. He preached from 1 Samuel 9:1-13. 

Rural communities just thought Wal-Mart was the great job killer. Now comes Amazon.

Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey issued the following statement.

The Gerald Mumford campaign issued the following statement: 

Some Friday afternoon humor.

Parents of a Northwest Rankin High School student sued the Rankin County School District and a substitute teacher in U.S. District Court for alleged racial comments made in a classroom.  They are represented by none other than attorney Carlos Moore. The Lindseys alleged:

Congressman Bennie Thompson's Chief of Staff can't seem to stay out of trouble.  Roll Call reported yesterday:

JPD issued the following press release.

Well, make that a hoped-for sponsor.  This post may not be safe for work, kids or Land Shark fans.

Former Ole Miss Head Football Coach Houston Nutt, Jr. sued Ole Miss, IHL, and the Ole Miss Athletics Foundation in Lafayette County Circuit Court yesterday for breach of contract.  He filed a similar lawsuit in federal court but it was dismissed due to lack of jurisdiction. The lawsuit accuses Athletic Director Ross Bjork and Coach Hugh Freeze of defaming Nutt to the media.  This court fight has claimed its share of casualties, including the job of one Hugh Freeze.

A blast from the past has returned to Jackson.  Kwame Kenyatta is the Deputy Director in Public Works. 

Attorney Generalissimo Jim Hood issued the following statement yesterday. 

The Justice Department issued the following press release.

JJ reported yesterday that Jackson attorney Ramel Cotton was disbarred after a Mississippi Supreme Court tribunal determined that he stole money from his clients, lied to the tribunal, refused to provide his trust account records when ordered to do so, and approved the forging of signatures.  The discovery of Cotton's misdeeds may not be over as another former client sued Cotton in Hinds County Chancery Court in July for embezzling his settlement proceeds.

It seems some Grinches are trying to stop a popular Christmas light display.  WLBT reported Monday:

The Richard Schwartz & Brent Hazzard radio show has been spicing up the airwaves every Wednesday morning on WMPR.  Listen to the hottest talk radio show in Jackson posted below.

The Ridgeland Police Department issued the following press release and asked for assistance from the public.

There has been a great deal of chatter online about a robbery that took place on Northpointe Estates recently. JJ did some digging and can give an account of what took place.

The Mississippi Supreme Court disbarred Jackson attorney Ramel Cotton a week ago after a tribunal convened on September 8.   The tribunal disbarred the shyster after it ruled that he stole from clients, approved the forging of signatures, refused to provide his trust account records when ordered to do so, and lied to the tribunal. 

Posted on the Ole Miss website today. 

The Pearl Police Department issued the following statement and picture.

Former LSU and NFL legend Y.A. Tittle died today.  He could play a little bit of football.  He was a seven-time Pro Bowler in the NFL and was LSU's first former player to be named MVP in the NFL.  He won that award three more times after he was thirty-five years old.

The Clinton Police Department issued the following statement and pictures.

Jackson Public Schools are short-changed because more affluent communities can pour more money into their public schools while Jackson struggles to keep its tax base.  Such is the mantra that is repeated over and over in the media and among community leaders.  However, the real truth is that JPS collects more money in property taxes than does any other school district in Mississippi.  What is really intriguing is that property tax revenue has been going up while the student population has been going down.  If anything, the working people of Jackson who pay taxes for their children to be educated are indeed short-changed but not by "disinvestment."  It is said a picture is worth a thousand words.  The pictures below illustrate the true state of affairs at JPS better than any long-winded column ever could.

There was great wailing among the House of Toddy yesterday as the Rebels were smitten on the Plains yesterday and the trumpets of Auburn sounded great insult over the dead of the Rebels:

If you can't make it to church this morning, enjoy the words of the late Dr. Frank Pollard.  He preached from Matthew 12:33-37 in this 1987 sermon. 

Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey issued the following statement.

Just when you thought it might finally be safe to swim in Mississippi's contractual storm waters, the MDE and Mississippi True contracts erupted.

A Madison County contractor was convicted of bank fraud in 2006.  The Justice Department charged Chris Creely with one count of bank fraud and alleged that he arranged for fraudulent mortgages of over $300,000.  The defendant pleaded guilty in 2007.

Yes, some people still use Instant Messenger but that will change by the end of this year. AOL announced today:

Yesterday was a sad day for a Jackson landmark, the Eudora Welty Library.  Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney minced no words and said the building should be condemned. The bricks are falling off of the walls, mortar is crumbling, the second floor is nearly ruined by a leaking roof, and there is raw sewage in the basement.  A far cry from when Sears opened the building  to much applause on March 21, 1947.  However, JJ aims not to mourn the building but memorialize it as it once was. JJ reached back into the archives of the newspaper and posted some of the building's past glory below. Enjoy.

Credit: CNN

Check out WAPT's headline from yesterday:

State Auditor Stacey Pickering issued the following press release.

The Mississippi Hospital Association created Mississippi True to get Medicaid managed care contracts.  Such contracts are big business as three such contracts worth $2 billion were up for grabs this year . Mississippi True loves to play the homeboy card as it beats its chest and loudly proclaims that the Medicaid money should go to a Mississippi company.  There is just one problem: Mississippi True's flag actually belongs on foreign soil.