Jackson Jambalaya

Sort of taking the day off today but here is a post related to the feminist post Sunday. A radfem blogger argues all sex with a male is rape. She complains in this post about not having any friends. The irony is simply too rich.

Here are a couple of videos from April.  The first one is Senator David Jordan (D-Hollywood) showing his real personality at a school board meeting in the Delta. David Jordan in "Do you know who I am video. Then there was the Hemp Lady.  She ran as a candidate for Mayor in Jackson. Her solution for everything was hemp.  See for yourself.  Hemp 1, Hemp II. 

This is probably my favorite blast from the past of 2013 JJ archives.  JJ submitted a public records request to Hinds County for a copy of the settlement agreement between Motorola and the county.    Original post. An important principle of law was at stake: can a government body seal a settlement agreement even though it represents the taxpayers.  This site took the position public records laws are a fundamental part of elected government and thus are necessary to hold elected leaders accountable to the people.  Hinds County disagreed so we went to court.  It took 2 1/2 years but the settlement was obtained. Judge orders disclosure of settlement.  It turns out the county attorney made $1 million on the case out of a $2.5 million settlement.  His response was to call me a klukker on his radio show.  Typical for him but that is besides the point.  Copy of agreement The taxpayers of Hinds County won in the end.

Looks like the new regimes have some learnin' to do about public records laws.

Here is a case study in how not to make an arrest. Exhibit A: The Madison Police Department as they arrested one Sarah Lofton of Madison County and charged her with a DUI (refusal) and leaving the scene of the accident, only to have a Madison County Court judge throw out the case.

The Eric Law story was rather disgusting as it involved the statutory rape of a 15 year old girl by a local tv weatherman.  JJ broke the story about the "law and order" room at Eric Law's home as it obtained a copy of the police report.  This post received the second highest number of hits in 2013.  Original post.  Mr. Law is now serving eight years in the state pen.  The case spawned some jackassery that was covered by the post Eric Law pick-up lines. 

A good Samaritan rescued this dog and sent this message to a friend:

This March post delved into the issue of "black flight" from Jackson.  JJ reviewed the change in black enrollment in schools that are adjacent to Jackson.  Needless to say, blacks are fleeing Jackson in greater numbers and are doing it more quickly as this post reported.  Original post.  Needless to say, this is an issue that is not covered in the local media much less the local political races. 

Just a post on a radfem blog. Warning: Not safe for work or kids. Adult subject matter.

Looks like the Marine Corps is relaxing the standards for female soldiers. NPR reported:

Welcome to the year in review post.  JJ is going to post some favorites from 2013 over the next few days.  Here is one for the books and it involves our favorite subject: the Hinds County Board of Supervisors.  The Supes attempted to hire a lobbyist in January.  They didn't know this clown was a disbarred attorney nor was it illegal to hire him on contingency.  Watch for yourself.  You can't make this up.  The board did hire him but later rescinded the vote when it all hit the fan, thanks to this website.  Enjoy.

WDAM reported last week:

Just one question about this ad I found on a local bulletin board:

Someone did some oppo-research on Butler Snow and fed it to Cottonmouth.  The Democrat website published a little article this week on Butler Snow and its Republican connections.

Peggy Noonan penned probably the best critique of the Obama administration on her Wall Street Journal blog earlier this month.  There is much in her column for Republicans and Democrats to appreciate.  People expect their leaders to make the trains run on time regardless of party.   The post is a longer read than usual but worth it. 

Merry Christmas to you.  This video says it all. 

Nothing like a little holiday cheer.  Not safe for work or people who hate Duck Dynasty & Phil Robertson. 

Here are the C's awarded to restaurants in the Jackson metro area for the month of  December by the Department of Health. Needless to say, a grade of C is the lowest grade given by the state.

Entertaining story about the attempted overthrow the government of Dominica by some druggies and klukkers back in the 1980's.  It is apparently available on Google online for free.  Check out the book here. 

U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett told the U.S. Attorney to give up Department of Marine Resources public records sought by the Sun-Herald Friday.

Kim Strassel gave some great advice to the GOP concerning Obamacare in a November Wall Street Journal column:

A conservative group released a poll this week that showed incumbent Senator Thad Cochran with a rather nice lead over State Senator Chris McDaniel.  Senator Cochran led the State Senator 54-37. The sample size was 710 voters and the margin of error was +/- 3.68%.  The crosstabs are posted below. However, a Human Events/Gravis poll showed them in a dead heat.

Plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit against the Lost Rabbit Development and Madison County tried to seal a Madison County study of the project last week after Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler filed a public records request for the study.   

The Jackson City Council voted this week to ask the legislature to allow cities to elect school board members instead of the current method where board members are appointed. The city council passed a legislative agenda that stated:

Rachel Beech has been doing some knock-out reporting at WDAM on the latest scandal plaguing the Johnny Dupree administration in Hattiesburg: the misuse of government fuel cards. Seems these were treated as gift cards for the favored as her reporting reveals:

Hinds County District Attorney Robert Schuler Smith issued the following press release:

JJ confirmed Rankin-Madison District Attorney Michael Guest will present the findings of the Abigail Bonner investigation to a grand jury next month.  The D.A. met with Madison police yesterday for several hours.  The Clarion Ledger reported today:

Dr. Smith is officially nuts. A court ruled he was unfit to stand trial after spending some time at the state funny farm. The Greenwood Commonwealth reported:

Bigger Pie Forum Kelly Williams says Kemper is much like Obamacare in this latest column:

Thank goodness. Delta Airlines CEO Richard Anderson said no phone calls on the planes in this memo:

JSU fired head football coach Rick Comegy and his staff. Ouch. JSU went to five SWAC champeenship games under his tenure. JSU issued the following press release:

Jackson City Councilman Tony Yarber appeared on the show.  Had a lively discussion about Jackson, finances, and Christmas. 

JJ published a story this week about the Clinton homewatch program. Go out of town for Christmas. Notify the police. Police watch your home for you.  Some readers pointed out Madison offers a similar service.  The city provided this statement on the program.  IF there are other cities offering this service in the Jackson metro area, please let us know in the comments section. Thanks.

Representative Cecil Brown (D-Geritol) submitted this column yesterday:

Andrew Biggs published a very good essay in the Wall Street Journal Monday on the problems facing public pensions.  PERS discussions go over your head? Mr. Biggs argues public employee retirement systems such as PERS will face more problems as they are forced to make riskier bets in the stock market and gobble up more taxpayer dollars:

He was 86 years young and will be missed by many. Here is his obit:

I haven't kept up with the Common Core debate. Too much on my plate to take on another serious topic right now. However, the Governor's Executive Order yesterday got my attention to I thought I would read through it and make some remarks.

Saturday Night Live nails it again.

Governor Phil Bryant issued this press release and executive order concerning the Common Core curriculum today:

The city of Clinton issued this press release:

Terry High School coach Damien Anderson was charged with one count of exploitation of a child and two counts of sexual battery of a child on December 5 in Hinds County.  He was released on a $10,000 bond.  Mr. Anderson is 25 years-old.  He is a defensive coordinator for the football team. 

Our system of checks and balances was amended last week. Longstanding U.S. Senate rules were changed by the Democratic majority, on a straight party line vote. In a naked power grab, Senate Democrats have done away with the filibuster, though for the moment only for judicial and executive nominees. The change lowers the threshold for approving judges and senior Administration officials to a simple majority vote. Democrats exercised the so-called “nuclear option” they railed against when Republicans floated the idea.

You may have read about the Southern Pines Electric Co. lineman who was seriously injured on the job last week (electrocution).  He is in the burn unit in a Memphis hospital.  His name is Jeremy White.

You just can't make this up.  You just can't. KGW in Portland reports:

The Detroit Free Press published a good story in September, How Detroit Went Broke: The answers may surprise you.  This story might be relevant, as Chokwe is importing Detroit talent into Jackson government. Enjoy.

Tomorrows' meeting of the Hinds County Board of Supervisors should be interesting.  Agenda. Items of interest are:

The Wingfield Fight Club drew quite a bit of interest last week.  It's no coincidence a similar story appeared on one local tv station a few days later.  Some readers accused this site of picking on Wingfield. Well, we take all such charges seriously so JJ decided to scan YouTube for other local high schools to see if there were more fight videos.* See for yourself.

Here is one fight from Madison Central floating around on YouTube.  It was posted two months ago and was the only one that popped up under "Madison Central Fights" search results. It is probably NOT our Madison Central but it's still entertaining. 

The President and his followers like to use the common refrain "Where is the Republican health care plan" whenever Obamacare is criticized. I wrote a few days ago on this website I was going to start posting conservative health care plans offered up over the last few years.  Here is the first one.  We are going to start with the plan proffered by Senator John McCain during his 2008 presidential campaign. 

We dissected PERS a few weeks ago. Now it's time to look at SLRP.* You might remember SLRP- the Supplemental Legislative Retirement Program. Time and a half retirement pay for part-time employees, oops, I meant legislators.  It's true the part-time JPS bus drivers want a fat pay raise, but at least they work for their pay, unlike these pigs, oops again, I meant public servants, who feed at the public trough.  Cops, teachers, firemen, nurses, even lowly staff attorneys, all state employees, don't get this perk. 150% retirement pay.  Keep in mind legislators receive retirement benefits from SLRP and PERS.   Sweet deal if you can get it.

Tom Burnham and Ken Thompson inflated ratings, said School Board member Bill Jones

New Orleans schools were in such bad shape an auditor recommended blowing up the books and starting over from scratch prior to Hurricane Katrina as the records were almost non-existent. Apparently the Leflore County schools system is such a condition. The Greenwood Commonwealth reported:

Election Commissioner Connie Cochran briefed the Hinds County Board of Supervisors on the implementation of voter ID last week.  However, Stokes being Stokes, he launched into several diatribes on the matter that were rather interesting. See for yourself.

A Madison County grand jury indicted Cobby Williams for engaging in voter fraud. THe indictment states Mr. Williams illegally obtained the "registration of Pamela Rochelle Walker" as a voter even though she was not a registered voter due to a forgery conviction in 2011.

Check out this new Glock ad.

 A Madison County grand jury indicted Kimberly "Baboon's ass"  Readus for voter intimidation, destroying an absentee ballot, and attempting to remove an unsealed ballot box.  Ms. Readus waived arraignment and posted a $20,000 bond.  She is represented by Ed Blackmon.

From a reader who found a bloodhound on Ridgewood Road today:

Pete Perry appeared and all we discussed was the Thad-Chris Thunderdome. Phones lit up and we probably could've done a second hour.

Why worry about deductibles, premiums or subsidies when Obamacare can help you get laid? (Yes, I wrote that.) Here are some really cool ads for Obamacare that were promoted by the Colorado exchange:

The Lady or The Tiger, which door to open? Or in this case, higher premiums or higher deductibles are a similar choice Americans face under Obamacare.  Leslie Scism and Timothy W. Martin report in the Wall Street Journal:

Too bad this type of debate can't take place here. Enjoy.

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors reassigned three maintenance works to permanent duty at the Raymond detention center until further notice last week at its regular meeting. Supervisor Tony Greer moved to to transfer the workers but not without strong resistance from Supervisors Kenneth Stokes and Maintenance Director Michael Harrington.

The Department of Public Safety awarded a million-dollar media contract to Frontier Strategies in August. The contract is part of DPS's fight to stop drunk driving during the holidays. The campaign is paid for with only federal funds. No bids were solicited for the contract. Frontier agreed not to participate in the next bidding process for DPS contracts.

Jackson Municipal Court Judge June Hardwick sent an email to the Magnolia Bar stating her concerns about the bus drivers strike:

Hinds County Supervisor Kenneth Stokes decided to bring the library scrum before the Board of Supervisors last week. The Hinds County Library System hired a new Executive Director this year but the hire drew no small amount of flack as an employee complained she was not given the chance to apply for the job. She vigorously presented her case to the board last week as you will see in the video below. Haven't kept up with this dispute so I don't know much about it. However, another employee (who was white) repeatedly accused the library system of bringing back Jim Crow segregation(15:10).

The battle between the Sun-Herald and State Auditor Stacey Pickering over DMR records raged in Harrison County Chancellor Jennifer Schloegel's courtroom as the newspaper sought to hold Mr. Pickering in contempt of court. The Sun-Herald reported:

Yes, you can keep your doctor. but.......remember when we argued over what is "is"?  Get ready for more of the same:

We don't need the Megabus.  Don't need Southwest to stay.  JJ found the perfect solution to this problem:

Here are the last crime stats for Jackson, Byram, Madison, Clinton, and Rankin County. Jackson does not post them anymore on the city website.

Here are some videos of fights at Wingfield High School available online. They all say Wingfield Fights although it is not confirmed these fights all took place at or around the school.  These videos were posted in 2012 and 2013.

City of Byram just issued a press release:

A little bird just told me Senator Thad Cochran notified his staff he is indeed running for re-election.  A very reliable little bird.  Time for some Senate Thunderdome.

The Wall Street Journal reported the new "aggregation rules" under Obamacare are not exactly welcomed by small business. Simply put, the government counts all businesses owned by an individual as one business when counting towards the 50-employee threshold. Ownership means partial or full, the size of the ownership apparently does not matter.  The Journal stated:

Southwest Airlines announced yesterday it is pulling out of the Jackson market:

Former Congressman Chip Pickering will become the CEO at COMPTEL the trade association for the telecommunications industry. COMPTEL announced on its website:

Bad Boy Senator John Hohrn was apparently a very bad boy when he was arrested for a DUI several weeks ago according to a copy of the police report of his arrest on November 14.* Mr. Horhn's bad boy self was on full display that night as he pulled the "do you know who I am card", threatened the police officers, repeatedly told them he led a crime fighting summit that night, and made sure they knew he knew the chief.

Attorney General Jim Hood said the "open-carry" of firearms can be restricted on public property in an opinion issued to the city of Corinth. However, the Attorney General also enhanced permit holders could still carry firearms on public property as "a municipality has limited authority to prohibit" them from doing so.

Rankin-Madison District Attorney Michael Guest issued the following press release:

Cory Wilson decides not to run in the June special election for  Madison County Chancery Clerk.  He sent the following statement to Jackson Jambalaya:

TWO NORTHSIDERS are part of a group that won a $388,000 award in an arbitration against the local Morgan Stanley office, and five more arbitrations are coming down the pipeline.

Kemper: A political decision in 2006, an imprudent 2010 PSC decision based on guesses by Southern/MPC, extremely slow acknowledgement of actual plant costs, an extremely imprudent 2012 new PSC certification of Kemper followed by rapid, massive adjustments to plant costs once major legislative and regulatory approvals were in hand...

The city of Jackson denied a public records request for a copy of the police incident report for Senator John Horhn's recent DUI arrest submitted by this website.  City Attorney Latrice Westbrook stated in an email denying the request:

Little Johnny wants an Ipad for Christmas? Getting him one may not be the best idea as research in the UK shows some unwanted consequences when too much technology is introduced into a child's life.  The Daily Mail reported:

Just another water line break in Eastover....

Here are the C's for restaurants in the Jackson area since October 1 as issued by the Mississippi Department of Health*.  The state issues grades of A,B, or C.

JJ just received word that former Governor Bill Allain just passed away.

Updates: Here are press releases on the Governor's passing:

 The old saying "follow the money" definitely holds true when discussing the education lobby in Mississippi, as it becomes apparent there is quite a bit of money at stake for these organizations.  Wonder why they fight reform efforts so hard?  Look at how much money is at stake in the diagram I created and posted below.  The diagram will show the relationships and money flowing between these groups.   

Yes, the Gators did it again yesterday.  I'm not making this up.

The Sun-Herald asked a Gulf Coast Chancellor to hold State Auditor Stacey Pickering in contempt of court:

Ethanol policy is a perfect example of how dysfunctional Washington is.  The ethanol mandate takes 40% of the corn harvest out of food production.  Food prices thus rise.  Ethanol costs more money.  It uses more energy.  It ruins small engines.  It produces lower gas mileage.  However,  little is done to change ethanol policy as a confluence of Iowan presidential politics, Big Ag, and other forces work together to keep this insanity in place.

Then there are the Frenchies.  Economy is flat.  Growth non-existent.  Jobs are desperately needed. So..... what does the government and the unions do? Team up to abolish jobs.  The Wall Street Journal reported in September:

CBS News reported this week employers are starting to drop health care coverage for employees as their current plans do not meet the minimum levels of coverage under Obamacare:

Getting closer to the end of November.  Thad said he would decide real soon if he was going to run for re-election.  Samuel Adams is in and running ads.  Dilbert and Stacey are waiting in the wings.   Do you think Thad will run or not? Feel free to comment.

Don't believe Ole Miss lost last night but they did.  Here is a video floating around on Youtube about how Ole Miss fans react to losing the Egg Bowl last night.  Its kind of weak. A for concept, C- for execution. 

Bill Crawford called out PERS in a recent column carried by several newspapers He also calls out the politicians for lacking the "political will" to do anything about PERS. Keep in mind when reading this post that the average rate of return for PERS is 13% for the last four years. In other words, the market came back, PERS didn't. Read on:

Annie Oeth defended Thanksgiving against the Christmas shopping creep that seems to occur more and more each year:

Yes, I think some of the Gators are on the take. Would explain plays such as this and losses such as the most recent one.

It's that time of year and you know what it means: It's time for my award-winning egg nog recipe:

Some interesting things on the agenda for the Hinds County Board of Supervisors Monday:

Mark Halperin discusses on CNBC whether there will be "death panels" under Obamacare in this video:

Little sketch from SNL about what it would take for President Obama to lose the support of the black community.

Eric Law will serve eight years in jail after pleading guilty to one count of sexual battery in Madison County court today.  Judge John Emfinger accepted the prosecution's recommendation that he sentence Mr. Law to a twenty year term and suspend twelve years.  Mr. Law will have to register as a sex offender.  He will face supervised release for five years after his release.

Kimberly Readus.  Canton's special child.  Last seen calling an elderly woman a "baboon's ass" as she tried to walk out of the courthouse with unsealed ballot boxes on election night last May.  Madison Justice Court Judge Bill Weisenberger fined her $1,000 and issued three thirty-day sentences against her after she was convicted of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and providing false information yesterday. 

Here is the latest session of Questions for the PM.  Are you aware this is funny stuff and better than any political theater in the states? If not, watch. Would that we could have such debates here in this country.

WARNING: SEXUALLY EXPLICIT LANGUAGE IN THIS POST! EMBEDDED DOCUMENT CONTAINS A SEXUALLY EXPLICIT PICTURE.

It seems another teacher got stupid. A lawsuit filed against Damien Anderson, a football coach at Terry High School, spells out some rather lurid and disgusting details between the coach and a student at Terry.   The complaint charges the coach had sex with her at school and at motel rooms in the Jackson area.  The plaintiff also claims Mr. Anderson sent sexually explicit messages and pictures to the student's cellphone.

 And the hits to Obamacare just keep coming.  Self-inflicted wounds, of course. Bloomberg reported:

Blood donors are needed for local teen, Robert Gaillet. His number for donations at Mississippi Blood Services is DG05.  You can read his story on his Caring Bridge web page.  Please donate if you can do so. 

Sheriff Bryan Bailey announced the funeral arrangements for Chancellor Thomas Zebert:

Here are the latest crime stats for Jackson, Madison, Byram, Clinton, Rankin County, and the Rez. Jackson still does not post them on the city website as it did for years. The reports are embedded in flash so please keep that in mind if using an Apple product.

CNBC conducted a little experiment on how to find people just by using social media. Watch the video below.

Madison PD issued the following press release:

Judge Tom Zebert passed away last night at the Hospice Center in Ridgeland, funeral arrangements will be posted as soon as they are available.

The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled against Marshall Wolfe and Jack Harrington. The two sought relief from fines imposed upon them by the Secretary of State for securities Fraud. The state said the pair operated a "ponzi scheme" through a group of affiliated companies.  Don't have time to provide the details of the ruling but here is the ruling.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba appointed Reverend Jeffery Stallworth to the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority. Hmmm.... where have we heard that name before?

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors welcomed two new members Monday and got down to bidness. District 5 Supervisor Kenneth Stokes did not attend the meeting. The meeting was quick, efficient, and over before noon. It became more common for meetings to last four or five hours under the previous board.

The Wall Street Journal reported Congress enjoys some extra perks under Obamacare. Louis Radnofsky reports:

City of Jackson issued a boil water notice today:

Local political guru and columnist Brian Perry appeared on the show today to discuss Thad Cochran and Chris McDaniel's candidacy.

Apparently the unemployment numbers published before the 2012 Presidential election might have been cooked.  Rick Santelli had enough and said a few things this morning on CNBC:

Public Policy polling released a poll showing unexpected support for State Senator Chris McDaniel when placed against Senator Thad Cochran*:

WAPT got a copy of the police report for the arrest of SENATOR John Horhn.  Ouch.  At least he didn't tell the police to call Randy Tucker or Brad Rogers.  Its good reading.

Arthur Johnston's decision to retire as Madison County Chancery Clerk set off a flurry of debate, as contenders jockey up to the starting gate for the June 3 primary.  There are several names attracting attention that keep surfacing in discussions about the election.

You can't repeal the laws of economics.

Clearwater Group, LLC issued the following press release: 

U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett set the trial for Scott Walker on December 16, 2013 in Gulfport.  A federal grand jury indicted Mr. Walker, Bill Walker, Scott Janus, Sheila Tina Shumate, and Joseph Ziegler for allegedly using DMR and a related foundation to defraud the federal government. 

The Leftenant Governor just issued the following press release:

Forget the websites. Who lied. Who knew. The federal government issued new rules regarding health insurance coverage under Obamacare. The New York Times reported:

Today will be an interesting day downtown as the two new members of the Hinds County Board of Supervisors will assume their seats today.  It should be interesting, to say the least.  Will Robert Graham remain board president?  Will Kenneth Stokes storm out?  What other surprises will take place.  You can watch the live stream on the county website. You can also follow my observations on Twitter at kingfish1935. 

Colorization of historical photographs is a welcome trend in art as it gives us a new way of looking at the past. Indulgd.com published 36 such prints on its website.  Here are a few samples.  Click on the link to see the rest.

Still can't believe they actually produced this sketch.  Someone going to be in trouble.

It seems the aldermen of Starkpatch don't cotton to citizens learning what goes on in their meetings. The Columbus Dispatch reported:

Awesome game. Awesome ending.

Roy Nicholson steps down as Chairman of the Central Mississippi Tea Party in this message:

JPD confirmed to JJ that Senator John Horhn was arrested for a DUI last night.  The arrest took place on Beasley Road shortly before midnight.  The Senator spoke at community meeting last night about Jackson crime.  Of course, who can forget this part-aaay.  JPD was unable to confirm if the Senator demanded someone call Gary Rhodes. 

Send this MSNBC boy back home to his mama where he needs to learn how to shave before he tackles politics.

Mrs. Hosemann is having her own little tea party down on the coast:

WREG (Memphis) reported how a homeless couple treated their free home: 

Nona Aronawitz writes on The Atlantic Cities website about the creative scene in Jackson:

The Nashville Post reported the HMA board approved the sale of the company to Community Health Systems:

The Hinds County District Attorney issued the following press release:

Update: Check out II under Supervisor Tony Greer's section of the agenda. 

Here is the agenda for the November 18 meeting of the Hinds County Board of Supervisors.  Sheriff gets his million bucks back as Greer wants to pull over $3 million out of the slush fund, oops, I meant parks and recreation, and give it back to the Sheriff and Byram-Clinton corridor project.

Open lines on the radio show today.  No special topics. 

Is ADHD over diagnosed in American children? An American psychiatrist compared the two cultures of child-raising in Psychology Today. She wrote:

Are you aware that they are back? Enjoy.

The fight between David Watkins and the city of Jackson just got more heated.  Central Mississippi Planning & Development District demanded JRA rescind the termination of its lease with Mr. Watkin's company, Farish Street Group in an October 3 letter.

Hinds County Supervisor Kenneth Stokes (District 5) had someone from the Mississippi Department of Education explain the procedures for taking over a school and a district.  He launched into a brief discussion of various conspiracy theories such as the state taking over JPS and charter schools taking over Lanier.  Not once has he ever done one thing:

JJ posted a couple of weeks ago the health insurance premiums for Hinds County as found on healthcare.gov.  Now it is Rankin County's turn. Rankin County is rated a "3".

Veterans Day is a special one this year as the Doolittle raiders met for perhaps the last time:

It's no secret the cars used by the Hinds County Sheriff's Office are not equipped with dashcams. Well, Hinds County Board of Supervisors never lets an opportunity to rip off the taxpayers go to waste. Watch the video below. Some vendor pops up at the board meeting last Monday and makes a presentation to the board. His name was Tarrien Williams of Venture Technologies. He claimed his company was affiliated with Oracle.

JJ filed a public records request for a copy of the public records requests filed by the Sun-Herald on the DMR case.  There are some interesting exchanges in the records posted below.

Saw this yesterday around 5:30.  Just could. not. resist.  Red light was on although it doesn't appear to be in this picture. 

I've joked before that the U.S. Government should sell debt bonds to reduce the debt. It would make a good Onion headline. However, a bond insurance company is alleging that is exactly what the Madison County Board of Supervisors did in diverting $1 million in bond proceeds to repay the bonds for the Parkway East PID according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on November 1.

Tony Greer and Darrel McQuirter are now Hinds County Supervisors. They were sworn in at noon today to a crowded board room. Peggy was visibly happy. Graham was visibly quiet. And Stokes was invisible as he was a no-show.

The State Auditor issued the following press release. The actual indictment is posted below. Attorney William Gunn filed an entry of appearance for Scott Walker.  A hearing will be held on November 8 at 10:00 AM before Magistrate Robert. Walker.

Senator Chris McDaniel appeared on the show yesterday. Enjoy.

Update: Sun-Herald reports arrests are expected today. 

Did the State Auditor use the Feds to evade the Sun-Herald and a Gulf Coast judge? The Sun-Herald reported:

Want to participate in the Jackson Free Press "Best of" nominations? Be prepared as the JFP is now engaging in its own form of voter ID:

Looks like the Sun-Herald's fight to obtain the DMR records it sought from the State Auditor took an unexpected turn yesterday:

The Wall Street Journal published the best editorial I've read to date on Obamacare last week. Forget the "glitches", there are bigger issues at stake:

Haven't had time to read this story, as I just saw it in comments (thank you), but Fitch apparently downgraded its rating outlook for Mississippi to negative:

Going to step in and out during the night SO make your comments about the two supervisor elections here. Feel free to post results as they come in. Good luck to both sides.

Update: 3003 to 640. 22 of 31 McQuirter giving victory speech

The market returned and yet the funding level for PERS still fell.  PERS released the annual actuarial report for several retirement systems it manages last month at its bi-monthly meeting of the board of trustees.  PERS enjoyed a 13.4% return on investments and enjoyed $2.6 billion in investment income but saw the number of retirees grow as payments continued to outpace contributions.

School Board member Bill Jones blamed lack of oversight on former state Superintendent Hank Bounds

The scumbags in District 2 just could not help themselves.  There is an election for District 2 tomorrow for supervisor.  For over twenty years the Bennie-Doug-George-Graham-Stokes crowd ran roughshod over everyone.  Now that bunch is scared to death of what may actually happen tomorrow: Darrell McQuirter may actually win the election.

The train wreck continues.  A cancer patient pens a rather poignant account of his experience in trying to obtain health insurance in the Wall Street Journal today:

Blue Cross-HMA.  HMA-Blue Cross.  The scrum between the two companies has dominated the news for quite some time in Mississippi.  The entire battle started with a lawsuit HMA filed against Blue Cross.  The media reported HMA filing the lawsuit but really has not analyzed the lawsuit, much less posted a copy of it for you to read.  JJ will attempt to do so in this post.

Judge Henry Lackey dismissed David Archie's challenge of his loss in the District 2 Democratic Primary for Supervisor.   Mr. Archie represented himself.  See below.

Here is the video of the last meeting of the Hinds County Board of Supervisors.  Supes managed to blow through an extra $650,000 that morning.  Cut money from the jail. No money for this. No money for that. Mention slush fund and heyyyy, they can spend some money. 

Here are the polling places for in District 2 for the supervisor election Tuesday. This website, along with other media outlets, endorsed the Democrat nominee, Darrell McQuirter. If you live in Belhaven and vote at the Fire Station on North State Street, vote Tuesday. If you live in Fondren and vote at Fondren Presbyterian Church or Woodland Hills Baptist Church, vote Tuesday. Y'all are actually in District 2 and have a say in this election. Here are the precincts:

Obama lied while your health insurance died.  That is the headline of the week. How many times did the President say "you will keep your health insurance" and "your premiums will not increase."? Just in case you forgot, here is a reminder:

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors had a spirited discussion over what to do about a 13% increase in health insurance premiums.  They voted to have the county pay for the increase so employees would not see a rise in premiums. Here is the video.

A Harrison County Chancellor stopped the State Auditor's efforts to keep records of the Department of Marine Resources away from the Sun-Herald yesterday:

The Kaze published this epistle on his Facebook page yesterday. JJ obtained permission to publish it. The Kaze wanted to rewrite it and polish it up as he was just writing what came to mind on Facebook with no thought to editing but I liked the way it was written so enjoy.

Well, looks like the CL has more problems this week, some of them self-inflicted.  Gannett kicked the general manager and editor of VIP to the curb.  Sources at the newspaper inform JJ the publication made a profit of $25,000 last month. Apparently that wasn't good enough.  Gannett also fired the suburban reporters a couple of months ago and assigned their duties to the VIP staff.  Brilliant.  Kill off one of the few divisions actually making money.  Then the digital sales staff quit yesterday. Yup.   That is the digital sales staff for the CL.  How many ways can you shoot yourself in the foot?

Keep in mind that Governor Phil Bryant only rescinded part of his executive order today. The Governor did leave intact the sections of the order that threw a few orders at Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney. The Commish fired right back at Governor Bryant today in this letter JJ obtained in a public records request:

Governor Phil Bryant just rescinded his executive order directing Blue Cross to reinstate ten HMA hospitals to network status. He also threatened legislative action if the dispute between the two companies is not resolved.   The Governor issued Executive Order #1328 stating:

Mayor Lumumba appeared at a community association meeting Monday night at Jackson Academy.  Here is a video recording of his remarks.

Clinton now publishes monthly crime reports on its website. Clinton Mayor Phil Fisher made overhauling the city website one of the top priorities of his administration. The city started posting agendas and minutes two months ago. The crime reports are separated by the type of offense and state the number of monthly violations for each offense over the last twelve months. Clinton crime reports. Now that is progressive.

How are Mississippi's public schools and school districts rated? By something called the state “Accountability Model,” and for most normal human beings, this model is confusing to the point of being laughable.

Today was the Halloween edition. Had some interesting bumper music during the show. Discussed election next week, Obamacare, and the new PERS actuarial report.

The Secretary of State charged developer David Watkins diverted bond proceeds meant for the Retro Metro project to another project in Meridian, at a hearing yesterday at its office. The Securities Division seeks to impose a $25,000 fine and repayment of the $587,084 it claims was diverted.

The Kesslers announced a ticket special for next week's showing of Chicago:

The Lieutenant Governor issued this press release yesterday:

Looks like the Obama administration lied about keeping your health insurance. NBC news reported yesterday:

Just got word Blue Cross got its TRO.   Hearing scheduled next Tuesday for deciding whether to issue a permanent injunction. Both sides to exchange witness lists.  Its a weird ruling.  Here is the entry in Pacer:

State education probe: Cronyism, school ratings fraud and security breaches

Mississippi public schools produce America’s most poorly educated students, if you judge them by college readiness.

U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate said at a Friday hearing he will rule today on Blue Cross's petition for a temporary restraining order against Governor Phil Bryant. The insurer seeks the TRO against the Governor's executive order directing the company to reinstate six HMA hospitals to network status. HMA sued Blue Cross earlier this year as it alleged the insurer violated their contract over reimbursement rates. Blue Cross notified HMA it was exercising the termination clause in the contract. The effect was all ten HMA hospitals in Mississippi were paid lower "out of network" reimbursement rates on September 1. HMA is currently paying the difference for Blue Cross policyholders as the dispute continues in court.

Last week's edition. Never gets boring.  Wish we practiced this style of debate here. Very entertaining.

Healthcare.gov provides a little tool that allows one to see how much various plans are per month by county. JJ is going to present premiums for a particular county every few days. Today we will start with Hinds. Link to website Next up will be Rankin County.

I am about to write my post about the Blue Cross hearing in federal court Friday but thought I would go ahead and pass along a little gem to the readers.

Not good. Not good at all. Stacey Pickering is trying to be so precious as he seeks to keep everything DMR under wraps. The Sun-Herald reported yesterday:

Lanier High school stands at the Germantown game in Gluckstadt last night.

 Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney accused Governor Phil Bryant of "illegally" usurping his power in a motion to intervene and  joinder he filed yesterday in the legal fight between Governor Phil Bryant and Blue Cross in federal court.  A hearing is scheduled for this morning. Governor Bryant ordered Blue Cross to reinstate ten HMA hospitals to network status earlier this week.  The same executive order also directed the Commissioner to conduct a hearing and review of the dispute.  Blue Cross asked Judge Henry Wingate to issue a temporary restraining order against the executive order. 

Obamacare still not working.  Avik Roy writes in Forbes:

Hinds County settled its lawsuit with Motorola for $2.5 million in 2011. JJ just obtained a copy of the settlement agreement after filing a motion for contempt on Tuesday. Special Chancellor Larry Buffington ordered the county to turn over a copy of the agreement to this correspondent on June 4, 2013.

Here is the latest zoo financial statement as required by its contract with the city. Total revenue was $2.18 million but the budgeted revenue was $2.48 million. Variance of over $302,000. One line that stood out was private contributions. They were $60,000 less than expected. The Zoo suffered a loss of $134,512.

The Madison County Journal published a rather amusing essay last week about the Madison County Tax Assessor:

Blue Cross filed a motion for a temporary restraining order against Governor Bryant's executive order and a supporting memorandum yesterday in U.S. District Court.  Governor Bryant issued an executive order Tuesday reinstating ten HMA hospitals to network status with Blue Cross.  Nothing really new here as the filings are regurgitations of what was filed Friday.  The affidavit of Blue Cross CFO Jeffery Leber contains market data at its end.  This post is for the court junkies. 

Yours truly filed a motion for contempt against Hinds County yesterday after the county failed to turn over a copy of the Motorola settlement agreement.  I filed a public records lawsuit against Hinds County after Motorola sought to seal the agreement.  Judge Larry Buffington ruled in my favor and ordered the county on June 4 to turn over the agreement.

Just another crime story from Belhaven:

In an October 18 letter, Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney told Governor Phil Bryant he could not force Blue Cross and HMA to enter into a contract.  The Governor asked him to do so and said he will order Blue Cross to reinstate all HMA hospitals to network status if the Commissioner does not take such action.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield announced yesterday it was unilaterally reinstating four HMA hospitals yesterday to "in-network" status. Blue Cross stated in a press release (posted below):

Rankin-Madison District Attorney Michael Guest issued the following press release.

Madison County Chancery Clerk Arthur Johnston just resigned. We just lost one of the good guys and the best chancery clerk in the state.  Mr. Johnson will assume the position of Clerk of Court for the federal court system of the Southern District of Mississippi. The Board of Supervisors appointed Deputy Clerk Cynthia Parker as his replacement per his recommendation on a unanimous vote. Here is a statement Mr. Johnston submitted to JJ:

 Kingfish note: This submission is several hundred words longer than what recently appeared in several newspapers. The freedom of the internet.

Close followers of Mississippi politics are probably aware of a public relations war between two non-profits, one from your state, the other from Alabama, and regarding Mississippi Power's Kemper coal plant.

Note: In light of recent events concerning the Farish Street project, JJ decided to repost this story from June 2012. It should be noted these funds were spent before David Watkins became involved with the project. JJ also learned a major bank in Jackson loaned $6 million to someone to "do something" about the shotgun houses on Farish Street. Needless to say, the money never was spent on its intended use. This loan also took place before Mr. Watkins became involved with the project.Here is the original post. It has been moved forward and the comments are intact.


Note: Cathead wrote this post. Cathead is a new contributing writer for JJ.

Despite spending in excess of $21 million for more than twenty years, the prospects of transforming Farish Street into an oasis of bright lights, great food and memorable music have begun to lose their luster.

The whole story as to why Farish Street stands as a sad, neglected spectacle in the heart of the city will never be completely known as the only easily accessible record of the Farish Street revitalization effort is in the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH).

TexasAgs toured the Grove before their game last weekend and produced this little video.  Two Ole Miss chicks are the main stars.