Jackson Jambalaya

Can you spell lazy...JACKSON

Absolutely true. Only one car there when I came through at 8:30. I don't know that one man could have directed all that traffic; but they should have had two men directing iso portable stop signs.

Completely true, though I cannot verify that it was backed up to Hwy 471. Lakeland definitely was a parking lot from Treetops Blvd in Flowood until the Ridgewood intersection. But it gets better. Even though traffic was at a standstill, a JPD officer decided that it was more important to pull someone over about 100 yards west of the Lakeland/Ridgewood intersection than it was to direct traffic. Incompetence at its finest.

And they cannot figure out why people are leaving Jackson.

This can't be. The Spinmeister and his merry band of downtown oompa loompas assures us that the BID is the closest thing to Utopia you'll find in Mississippi.

For the second time, for the second week in a row, Mississippi Business Journal employees arrived at work this morning to find that their office at 200 North Congress St. had been broken into ...

20% loss in the white flight according to the 2010 census.....Did not know there was 20% left to leave?

I'm at a loss as to why the brilliant folks at The Mississippi Journal can't outsmart Willie.

I was downtown last night. Me...an old lady alone meeting hubby downtown after work. It was bustling...a line at the Mayflower. King Edward bar was hopping and it was Monday night when The Parlor is closed.

Lots of police visibility.

Now that buildings have been remodeled and others are being gutted, Willie is going to have to move on. Many of his friends already have.

Anyway, let me help. One of my friends in Atlanta rigged motion detectors outside to trigger a tape of a vicious sounding dog inside. Cheap and it worked...cheaper than man hours lost cleaning up after Wille.

Possibly just a perception of a break-in...

As happens most times when anyone dares mention crime downtown @10:17 AM blames the victims.

@10:14 - I, too, am at a loss. But I'm at a loss over why the folks at the MBJ should HAVE to outsmarts Willie. We're talking about criminal activity -- not a game of checkers. Rational people don't view it as their civic duty to participate in the city's Crime Victim Roulette program.

I think JPD has a few officers that can manage directing traffic. They must not have been on duty. :)

That overlay JPD precinct put in place to protect the interests of the DJP money boys sure looks to be delivering results. Looks like they've been able to duplicate the wild successes that JPD has produced elsewhere in the city. Kudos!

I was in Flowood this morning, their chief was livid about jpd not getting out of their cars to direct!

I work on Lakeland ( Hinds Co. ) site. My secretary comes in from Rez. area. Took her 1 1/2 HOURS to make what's normally a 20 mintute commute. thank you Jackson

I drove by around 0900 and there was an officer out of his car and directing traffic efficiently.

But I'm still pissed about the times the lights have been out at Old Canton/Meadowbrook with no traffic direction when St. Andrew's has a.m. dropoff.

Traffic-signal failure causes major backup

A Jackson police officer was on the scene, but no one was directing traffic.

I left the rez about 8:40. If I had to sit in traffic 1 1/2 hours, I would have turned around.

What did it take for the FBI to take over New Orleans PD? It seems they should look at Jackson. In all fairness, until they raise the pay and education requirements for all law enforcement officers, that is the service we will continue to get. Low pay, little education, and the power and grace of society to kidnap you and/or kill you.

Fine police work ...

* UPDATE – Feb. 8, 12:15 p.m. — Jackson Police detectives just showed up at our office to collect prints from yesterday’s break-in. Would have been nice if they had shown up yesterday, before we all disinfected our desks and the prints were still here.

My nephew left the medical center and was driving east out Lakeland Drive around 8:30AM, and he called me just livid. He said they were working on the lights near the new McDonald location on Lakeland, and they had put four-way stop signs there. He said the traffic was backed up bumper to bumper coming into Jackson from Ridgewood Road to as far as he could see past Old Fannin Road where he turned to go to his home. So it's definitely true some idiots were pretending to work on Lakeland Drive today.

Eastover McDonalds? I'm loving it!

20% White be too Black to eber come back....put a fork in it. It's over. Now the state will have to get involved. There has never been a successful all black city in this country. Ever. just de gawds truff. For that matter, there has never been an all black country that has been prosperus. Name one, if I am wrong. As faulkner said...."the tragic burlesque of the sons of Ham"........and for the record, Atlanta never reached 80/20. it was 30/70 at it's lowest and now 46/50 and some say 50/50 by more reliable counts. 40 years of black liberal rule have made ATL a city too expensive for blacks to live in. It took the Georia Stae assemble and audits by the feds to ensure a fair equitable tax assessment on Blacks against whites. The assemble threatened to revoke the charter way back in the late 70's if Maynard didn't get his shit together and i imagine the ste Leg in MS will end up doing the same. The assemble is real tough on ATL. As it should be........

....I mean't Georgia State Assembly. We don't call it a Legislator, goes back to colonial times and oglethorpe....anyway. I don't think the MS Leg should cut Jackson one bit of slack. It's a disgrace to the whole state and the patient needs serious intervention. I'll bet an audit by the stae of Jackson tax assesments would turn up some real interesting facts. Would that would be enough to revoke the cities charter? And run it as a State administered ward? The new administrator would see to tax collection so that infrastrucure, police and fire would be all the taxes went to. If willie needs a meal, a high security holding pen could provide it and a place to sleep. All in pink underwear. Tree line boulevards and Arenas woould all have to be done by private enterprise. The taxes go for basics. Like street paving and water systems. And demolition. your there folks.......!!!!

My solution is to move the state capitol and all government offices out of Jackson and nuke it from orbit.

I must be a mean racist.

The racial issue is exactly why the governor does not want to step in and take over. He could declare a state of emergency and take over the City. If he really is in the running for president, there is NO WAY in HELL he is going to stir the racial pot.

Just fyi...
State and Federal offices and all of the lucrative churches in the area pay NO taxes. They contribute NOTHING to the City's infrastructure.

It's probably a good thing since the City can't pour piss out of a boot without the directions written on the heel, and they suck better than a crack whore vs. a roomba.

Lucrative churches? Like CUMC?

Can't help but laugh every time someone brings up the properties not on the tax roll. The same blokes, mind you, who scream bloody murder when state legislation is introduced to move said governmental functionings out of Jackson.

Jackustan's cake-and-eat-it-too crowd speaks out of both ends simultaneously.

61% of Jackson's downtown business district is not on the tax rolls, which means, of course, only 39% are. So at the core of Jackson's commercial properties, only 39% garner taxes.

Imagine if 61% of the Renaissance development was tax free properties. Imagine that stark fact for any other new development. Other states recognize this short-coming and offset it by one of various means, recognizing that 61% of properties being completely off of the tax rolls is a burden via simple math. If you cannot recognize why 61% of properties being off of tax rolls is an issue at a minimum that imposes a burden the city has to deal with, good luck in life. Recognizing this fact shouldn't be a stretch even for the most ardent Jackson opponent.

FYI Kingfish. Driving in to office this AM. Alan Lange on Gallo taking credit for YOUR Derrick Johnson Hinds County redistricting story. He didn't mention you or Jackson Jambalaya once.

I have often thought that a state takeover, hopefully temporary, would be a good idea. It would have to be a quid-pro-quo -- we will give you $$$ and control how they are spent.

Jackson is the capital for everyone in the state, and everyone should have an interest in a safe capital city with streets that won't tear up your car.

People, Willie is a reality that exists. It'd be nice if Willie were institutionalized but we don't do that anymore. We get him temporarily better and let him out again.
It's not blaming victims, it's facing reality.
We medicate the mentally ill and set them lose to stop taking their meds. We don't treat substance abusers against their will anymore so they are out there.
This is the reality of someone having to be " a danger to themselves or others" before treating them against their will.

Anderson, the solution for Jackson is to NOT fix the streets and then apply for ObamaRail funds. Jackson needs that high speed rail to be successful. That is what is holding them back.

Got news for you 8:07 Jackson's issue isn't about properties in the business district that aren't on the tax rolls.

Have any of you Jackson bashers been downtown at night lately????
I was as discouraged about downtown as anybody until a business function caused me to go downtown. I couldn't believe the progress in such a short time. As a result, I began to consider downtown venues for an upcoming event for an organization to which I belong.

Do you know about the Ambassador program and other security measures now in place?

I've spent the last two months dealing with the Convention Bureau and they are first rate professionals doing a tremendous job. Their energy and enthusiasm and determination is amazing.
Indeed, the Art Museum and the Symphony and other groups are energized in a way I've never seen before. I've been involved with planning many events over the years in several states and I've never dealt with anyone more responsive to my groups needs and concerns. Nor have I dealt with anyone more determined that we have a successful event.

The Mississippi Marathon, for ONE example, has grown by leaps and bounds and those visitors LOVED our capitol city. I was invited to see what the city offer that group and I was impressed. Indeed, I was given many organization contacts to talk to about their recent downtown events. They weren't just pleased, they were enthusiastic.

I had my doubts, was skeptical and had to be convinced, but unlike some, I am willing to admit things have changed and I was wrong to base my opinion on the " then" instead of the " now".

They haven't revitalized the entire city, but from the post office to the Siller building and from the train station to I-55, our city is becoming more beautiful and vibrant every day and is the SAFEST acreage in the State.

It's a great beginning and if you have any pride in this State at all, you'll support the efforts. Downtown is already impressing those from outside the State. I know I've now talked to many visitors and they LOVED our city. They'll be back. Too bad some of you won't.

My ass it's not an issue. Let's take it further: Ask Madison if they want to pay for HWY 51. As any county in Mississippi if they want to pay for 51. HWY 51 is paid for, by the state, everywhere but in the Jackson city limits when it becomes State Street. Same for HWY 80 and others. But like you said. Abundant tax free properties and the burdens of paying for roads that are paid for by the state in every other county aren't an issue.

The spokeswoman for JPD said there was an officer present but he was "observing traffic". Duhhh... He was observing many people being late for work & school, but it didn't seem to bother him. Well, he was warm & toasty in his patrol car that WE were paying for the gas to burn!

I don't blame people for moving out of the city if that's who is protecting & serving!