Jackson Jambalaya

Retiring Senator and Doctor Tom Coburn blasted both parties in this parting epistle printed on the pages of the Wall Street Journal:

Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler gave her annual "state of the city" speech last night to an overflow audience at the Madison Justice Complex.  Mayor Mary was on her game last night, as she rolled through all expected topics, and then had a few things to say about the proposed Lost Wabbit settlement and the Board of Supervisors.

Here is the complete video from the regular meeting of the  Hinds County Board of Supervisors last week.  The county gave the website a much-needed facelift..  Here is the agenda for next week.  Stokes wants to discuss the libwawy again. 

 Update: Spoke to Michael Raff. His comments are included below.

Jackson Jambalaya obtained a copy of the final seating chart for Thalia Mara Hall after renovations are completed.  Two items of interest:

Fund-raiser tonight:

Former Madison County Administrator issued the following press release:

Of course he waits to say so until after he announces his retirement but better late than never. The Daily Caller reports:

Thought we had it bad? Check out these photos and videos from Birmingham:

Dr. Kimberly Hilliard of JSU provided an update about her university to the Hinds County Board of Supervisors last week. She said the school enjoyed attendance of approximately 10,000 students. She said the attendance goal is 15,000 students in five years.  She also said the school should have plans for a proposed 50,000 seat stadium by the "end of the year" (6:50 in video).  The video and powerpoint presentation are posted below.  Dr. Hilliard stated several more items of interest:

The New York Times reported the Justice Department is investigating HMA hospitals for allegedly wildly inflating medical bills.  The Times reported:

The Byram Police Department issued the following press release and video:

This Twilight Zone episode seemed appropriate today.

Third update: Governor Bryant closed all state offices today. Dick Hall just tweeted:

This is to advise that I-20 from Scott County Line thru the Jackson metro area is iced over and we recommend no travel!!

Jackson Zoo attendance increased in 2013 and the balance sheet improved somewhat as well. JZS lost its accreditation in 2013.  JZS appealed the decision.  Ms. Poff said she expects a verdict by the end of March. 

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors discussed reorganizing county government last week.  Board President Darrel McQuirter said the current arrangement was inefficient as 25 departments report directly to the county administrator. The supervisors voted to direct administrator Carmen Davis to review county government and recommend any structural changes.  The video is posted below.

Politicians never change.  Young, old, black, white, male, female, illterate, or even Harvard-educated, it doesn't matter. It is always about them and their precious little egos.  Exhibit A concerns Jackson City Councilman Melvin Priester, Jr.  (Pay attention to the "junior" as we do not want to confuse this politician with his fine parents.)  It seems someone wishes to open a charter school in Jackson, yet made the mistake of not approaching Junior on bended knee and kissing his Ivy League ring in return for some indulgences. 

The Blue Cross-HMA fight moved to the legislature, as Senator Videt Carmichael introduced SB #2709.  The Patient Protection Act. Senator Carmichael chairs the Insurance Committee.  Let's not mince words.  This bill is a direct shot at Blue Cross, since Blue Cross enjoys 80% of the health insurance market in Mississippi. Copy of bill and bill status update.

Two Germantown Middle School students earned runners-up honors in  a New York Times contest.  The New York Times asked high school students to submit raps about the news in 2013. Their rap is posted below.  The two young ladies were selected out of thousands of students who submitted such raps.  The newspaper selected five winners and thirteen runners-up.

Lost in translation?

Here is what Geoff Pender wrote yesterday about a Dem press conference on PERS:

Hinds County Circuit Judge Winston Kidd recused himself in Precious and Crystal Martin v. St. Andrew's et al.  The case has been reassigned to.....

Here is a list of letters of intent to open charter schools in Mississippi.  Not a bad start.

State Auditor Stacey Pickering issued the following press release:

Averyell Kessler came on the show to discuss the $5 ticket surcharges at Thalia Mara recently imposed by the city council.  The Northside Sun reported on the surcharge last week. The story is reprinted below with permission of the Northside Sun. I found the video of the city council vote and am uploading it right now. A survey of ticket surcharges at venues across the country is posted below as well. Mrs. Kessler obtained the survey from her booking company. The video of the city council dicussion is also posted below.

Democratic members of the House and Senate will hold a joint press conference on the 2^nd floor of the Capitol at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, January 23. From what I understand, it's about PERS.

Classic gold from Colbert:

John Pittman Hey strikes gold again up in Leflore County.  He reports on Thetaxpayerschannel.com:

We all know the story.  Husband beats the hell out of the wife or kids. Breaks some bones. Someone is a bloody pulp.  The police try to prosecute the case only to have the spouse drop the charges. "He got saved", "We are going to counseling", or "He is in rehab".  We read about the victim in a few months winding up dead.  Senator Will Longwitz's proposed bill (#2629) aims to do something about that problem. Copy of bill

Patricia Furr, Executive Director of the Hinds County Library System, fired back at critics yesterday in a presentation to the Hinds County Board of Supervisors. Several employees accused her of running a "Jim Crow" system adverse to minorities and the homeless.

Here it is. Pretty self explanatory:

Speaker Philip Loome probably wants to give this teacher a pay raise:

Our radfem is at it again.  Apparently she is unsettled people actually read her website. Yup. Readership is a bad thing but we did learn a new word: Gaslighting. Warning: Mature subject matter are in her posts. You just can't make this up. 

Here are the latest crime reports for Jackson, Byram, Madison, Rankin County, the Rez, Clinton, and Ridgeland. Jackson still does not post crime reports on its website as it did under the Johnson administration.  JJ obtains them once a month. 

Eric Erickson charged the Republican establishment is preparing to abandon the fight to repeal Obamacare.  He wrote on Redstate last week:

Bloomberg News reported Mississippi Republicans created a PAC to help Senator Thad Cochran defeat State Senator Chris McDaniel:

Change if coming to football stadiums across America.  The NFL decreed they shalt offer wi-fi service to the fans. What does that mean? Watch the game, get hungry, open an app on your cellphone, order your food, runner delivers it to your seat. Eat.  Fortune magazine reported last fall:

Elevator in the Hinds County Courthouse. Hope no one breaks any of these light bulbs:

WLBT announced legendary broadcaster Bert Case will retire on January 31.  The station posted this statement on Facebook:

It appears Joshua Bobo will not get out of jail any time soon.  Rankin-Madison District Attorney Michael Guest is asking a court to revoke the probation Mr. Bobo received a  year ago for an attempted grand larceny conviction in Rankin County.  Mr. Bobo pleaded guilty to the charge.  This conviction is merely one incident in a growing list of problems with the law for Mr. Bobo.

Don't want to listen to teens or power-users yap on the cellphones during your flight? Make your opinion known to the government as it considers changing the policy.  Here are the steps you need to take if you wish to submit a comment to the government. There will be two public comment periods.

What happens if health insurance companies lose money under Obamacare? Simple. We bail them out. Leading health care policy expert Bob Laszewski writes on his blog:

From the Palisades to the Wal-Mart. Ridgeland Police arrested Joshua Martin Bobo after he went on a rampage at a Wal-Mart store.  RPD told JJ Mr. Bobo went into the store, jumped the counter, stabbed the clerk with a syringe, drank some peroxide, and then took some pills.  Unfortunately for the rest of us, Mr. Bobo was not done as he carjacked a car.  He got boxed in somehow and ran back into the store.  He was then arrested.

Reason magazine produced this great video comparing Obamacare to the purchase of coffee:

Secretary of State Gilbert Hoseman issued the following press release:

Jason Zebert entered a plea of guilty in U.S. District Court yesterday.  The U.S. Attorney charged him with one count of theft of government property and funds.  Mr. Zebert currently resides at the Rankin County jail after a Chancellor held he was in contempt of court for misspending money in an estate under his care as conservator.  The Mississippi Court of Appeals recently denied his appeal.  The court ruled:

The U.S. Inspector General slammed the Mississippi Department of Public Safety for misspending $7.1 million in safety grants from 2007 to 2010 in a little-noticed report issued in Feburary 2013.   Funds intended to be used for DUI programs were instead used to support other activities in violation of federal law.  The abuse was so bad that the IG said only 5% of the citations issued under the program were for DUI offenses.  JJ made repeated attempts to contact DPS officials for comment.  The efforts were unsuccessful.