Jackson Jambalaya

Will the Mississippi Department of Education take over the Jackson Public Schools district? JPS flunked a very troubling MDE audit last year and faces a loss of accreditation by MDE.  MDE followed the 2016 audit with a more thorough audit for in the 2016-2017 school year.  MDE will take up the matter at the September 13 board meeting.  State Superintendent Dr. Carey Wright said:

The Jackson City Council questioned whether the regular meetings of the Board of Directors for the Jackson Zoo should be public.  The Jackson Zoological Society by-laws bar the public from attending these meetings.  Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Banks took the lead in raising the issue while the rest of the City Council and Mayor Lumumba chimed in with their support of Mr. Banks. 

Attorney General Jim Hood issued the following statement and pictures.

You are not reading The Onion.  This post is not a piece of satire or parody.  This article really did appear in the Daily Mississippian:

Update: Post is updated with video of friends and family speaking in support of Klauser. 

The former CFO of Innovate Mississippi is going to prison after she admitted stealing $598,143 from her former employer.  Madison County Circuit Judge Steve Ratcliff sentenced Tonya Klauser to serve ten years in prison after she pleaded guilty to two counts of false pretenses in June.  However, Judge Ratcliff suspended six years of the sentence.

JPD issued the following information on Twitter:

Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith fired two assistant district attorneys and his personal secretary yesterday.  One of the fired prosecutors was Randy Harris. It appears Mr. Harris received his reward for prosecuting Ben Allen.

Geoff Pender delved into the world of independent contractors working in state government yesterday in the pages of the Clarion-Ledger:

The former wife of a Hinds County Deputy accuses a Lieutenant in the Hinds County Sheriff's Department of having her locked up after they had a nasty text message exchange regarding marriages and homewreckers.  Alicia Alexander sued Hinds County, the Hinds County Sheriff's Department, Deputy Sheriff Janie Myles, and several John Does in U.S. District Court on August 14.

You and your child are stranded in floodwaters for several days and manage to survive.  You are tired, cold, and hungry, oh, and traumatized.  So you get off the bus and BOOM!, a CNN reporter shoves a microphone right in your face.  How do you think this ended?

Update #3: Judge Clay set bond for Dixon at $1 million. 

Update #2: Dixon surrendered. 

Update: Jackson Municipal Court Judge Ali Shamsid-deen gave Coats a $200,000 bond. 

JPD issued the following press release:

Some readers took me to task last week for daring to question the anti-vaxxers. How quickly we forget our past. Take a look at these newspaper articles from nearly 100 years ago.   Mississippi had over 6,000 Measles cases in one month alone although there were other months were only a few hundred cases developed. To say Measles was a scourge was an understatement.

What is wrong with this picture on the Clarion-Ledger website?

Despicable.  The Cajun Navy is getting shot at while trying to rescue people in Houston while catching grief from Bedwetters online.  WDSU (NOLA) reported:

Amazon didn't waste any time in cutting prices at Whole Foods:

John Doe, yes THE John Doe - Ole Miss Booster #14, provided the following statement to the Ole Miss Spirit:

Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker issued the following press release.

Curtis Wilson and his boyfriend Leon Miles were arrested last week for stealing a BMW on August 10 in the Castlewoods subdivision in Rankin County.  He was arrested in May for (allegedly) committing several burglaries in Rankin County but posted a $125,000 bond.  Earlier post.

Mad Dog Mattis made a few remarks to some troops at an undisclosed location overseas:

If you can't make it to church this morning, enjoy this sermon given by the late Dr. Frank Pollard.  This sermon was given on Super Bowl Sunday in 1986.

Straight from the baristas at the Seattle Times:

Steven Godfrey wonders whether Ole Miss and Mississippi State are engaged in mutually assured destruction in a story published yesterday in SBNation- with Leo Lewis playing the part of the nuke:

Seven Days in May, written by Fletcher Kneble and Charles Bailey and published in 1962, portrays a tense, nearly successful coup of American government by a cadre of senior generals. A quote on the cover of the paperback attributed to the Army Times said, “They say it can’t happen here, but if it does, it probably will be pretty much as Knebel and Bailey say.”

Jackson Ward 4 Councilman DeKeither Stamps was in rare form last night on WMPR.  Hell, I'm not going to deprive you of your fun by giving away what he said.  Just listen at 3:20 for 90 seconds or so and then at 16:50 for a couple of minutes.  You simply can not make this up.

Police have not released the name of the passenger in Chelsie Kirchsten's car  at the time Chelsie was murdered a week ago on Fortification Street.  JPD has not yet made an arrest for her murder. The passenger was arrested for cocaine possession in Jackson last month.

Attorney General Jim Hood issued the following statement. 

What was once unthinkable is now taking place.  Measles was thought to be eradicated in this country over 15 years ago.  However, human nature being what it is, we just can't stand success.  The anti-vaxxers are gaining more followers so the Journal of the American Medical Association issued some warnings about what this trend could mean for public health (The report is posted below).  It's really quite simple.  Measles cases will substantially increase if fewer Measles vaccines are given.  This is not hard to understand.  To paraphrase Algore: one goes up, the other goes down. JAMA reported:

A Madison County grand jury indicted Linda Brune for embezzlement from her former employer, Downtown Jackson Partners. Ms. Brune was the secretary for Executive Director Ben Allen. The five-count indictment accuses her of forging signatures on several checks that she made payable to herself out of the Downtown Jackson Partners account at Trustmark Bank.  The indictment accuses her of the following forgeries:

You can't make this up: Shreveport shoplifter in action.

It keeps getting worse.  ESPN reported yesterday:

An owner of Mugshots Ridgeland asked a federal judge to divorce his partner from the restaurant. William Walker sued fellow Mugshots Ridgeland owner Chris McDonald and several McDonald companies in U.S. District Court on April 13, 2017.  The complaint charges McDonald with defrauding the restaurant and the plaintiff.  Mr. Walker also asked the court to declare him the sole owner of the Mugshots Ridgeland franchise and terminate his partner's rights under the operating agreement.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba offered his condolences to the families of several victims who were recently murdered in Jackson at a press conference today.  The press conference was held at City Hall.  The Mayor said his administration was taking a strong stand against crime.  Several murders took place in Jackson over the last week:

Malik McIntee was killed on I-220 yesterday at 1:00 AM.  JPD said he was driving alone on I-220 near Watkins Drive when someone in another car shot several times into McIntee's vehicle and killed him.  However, the victim was indicted earlier this year for first degree murder.

The President of Jackson Academy will be the new CEO at Gulliver Schools in Miami. Jackson Academy sent this email yesterday:

A Brandon man is attempting to get his gun rights back after serving nearly nine years in prison for killing his infant son in 2005. 

WLBT reported last week that the Madison County Economic Development Board is taking another look at the vote to fund a $1.2 million airport study by Warnock & Associates: 

Gunbuyer has a great deal on the Smith & Wesson MP Shield 9mm.  Great pistol for concealed carry and a great one for women to be used by women.  It has much less recoil than the dummy-proof .38 and the trigger pull is much lighter as well. Check it out:

Update: Rueters just reported:

 Johnson & Johnson on Monday was ordered by a California jury to pay $417 million to a woman who claimed she developed ovarian cancer after using the company's talc-based products like Johnson's Baby Powder for feminine hygiene.

JPD issued the following statements.

The Mississippi media has only filed 35 public records complaints since the Ethics Commission began accepting such complaints in 2010.  The Clarion-Ledger led the way with a grand total of 13 public records complaints.  Yours truly came in second with five.  The Greenwood Commonwealth acquitted itself well by coming in third with four complaints.  The rest of the Mississippi media took a dive.  Only one tv station filed a complaint.  14 media outlets filed public records complaints and two of those are Steve Robertson (Scout) and the Mississippi Crime Crier.

What does this picture have to do with Ole Miss?

If you can't make it to church this morning, enjoy this sermon on spiritual growth by the late Dr. Frank Pollard. 

It seemed like a good time to post this rather entertaining video since it's Book Weekend in Jackson.  Pete O'Toole gives a funny performance in Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell.  The late British columnist was a bit of a rake and somewhat of a sot  so one can imagine Mr. O'Toole having some fun with this role.  Enjoy.

Did you read Geoff Pender's terrific column "Take some aspirin before searching Transparency Mississippi website" in the Clarion-Ledger? If transparency in government spending matters to you, this is a must read.

The Mississippi Division of Medicaid issued the following statement.

What's wrong with this picture?

It's time for the last call for the annual fund-raising drive for Jackson Jambalaya.

Thank you very much for your support of Jackson Jambalaya and reading the blog over the years. We've come a long way since we started up in 2007.  This blog couldn't have gotten as far as it has without support from the readers.  You've donated money, provided tips, and helped provide information when it was needed.  JJ is asking for your help again this year.