Jackson Jambalaya

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Jackson crime stats for week ending August 1, 2010.

Jackson major crimes overview for week ending August 1, 2010.

City of Madison crime reports..

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Mayor Harvey Johnson lashed out at the Bond Commission last week after he learned from the Clarion-Ledger a six-million dollar bond package was not approved by the government body. The newspaper reported on his reaction:

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Its coming down. A crew of workers is demolishing the Northeast Jackson home I wrote about a few weeks ago. A permit was issued on August 6.

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JJ posted this in May:

"The House Management Committee met on May 11 to discuss a budget shortfall for the next fiscal year (see below for a list of members). House Clerk Don Richardson and a staff employee briefed the committee on the House's budget problems. This correspondent was the only person in attendance who was not a member of the Legislature despite media reports on the meeting.

Mr. Richardson didn't mince any words and took the bull by the horns: The worst-case scenario for the House's operating budget projected a shortfall of $500,000. Unfortunately, the actual shortfall was going to be $700,000 if no action was taken...

He estimated another $200,000 could be saved by a similar ban on all out of state travel expense reimbursements. The cut in staff travel would save $75,000 as well. Representatives Percy Watson and J.P. Compretta both said the House should cut reimbursement for all travel expenses.

However, two members took very strong exceptions to the proposed ban on out of state travel reimbursements. Representatives Willie Perkins and Omaria Scott both heatedly objected to such cuts. Both members were quite animated as they argued as members of national associations, the state should reimburse them for traveling to meetings held by those organizations.

Ms. Scott called it an issue of "fairness" and was quite vigorous in her objections....

Mr. Perkins then said he was "concerned with the suspension of out of state travel" and that he wanted the state to pay for him to travel to national board meetings. He point blank told the committee "if there is an across the board suspension of (reimbursement for) out of state travel, ya losing me." Ms. Scott chimed in and argued again the state should pay for out of state travel to national associations.

Mr. Watson tried to mediate and said the cuts were not permanent but they "needed to get travel in-line to save discretionary days." The Speaker then said he wanted to deal with it now. Mr. Watson followed his lead and moved for a vote on suspending reimbursement for travel expenses for members and employees. Mr. Perkins objected and moved for a separate vote on the banning of reimbursement on out of state travel expenses. He further stated "I want the minutes to show I objected." Only two other members voted with Perkins in his opposition, Scott and Coleman. The motions passed and the committee banned said travel by members and employees."

Since these two legislators were wailing so loudly over losing their taxpayer-paid out of state trips, the natural thing to do was to file a public records request asking for copies of the expenses and receipts submitted by Representatives Perkins, Scott, and Watson the current and last two fiscal years. I included Watson because I thought his expenses would be much lower than those of the other two and wanted to show a contrast within the Black caucus. I personally delivered the request to Mr. Richardson.

In a few days, I received the following response from Mr. Richardson:



The law apparently exempts the House from all public records laws and allows it to make its own policy. Indeed, Mr. Richardson wrote "pursuant to these provisions, the House Management Committee adopted a policy regarding requests for expense records of the Mississippi House of Representatives."

The Kingfish likes to stay abreast of all public records laws and hates wasting the time of hard-working public officials with frivolous requests. Therefore I sent the following email to Mr. Richardson:

from Kingfish
to drichardson@house.ms.gov
date Sun, Jun 27, 2010 at 6:05 PM
subject Response to public records request
mailed-by gmail.com

hide details Jun 27

Mr. Richardson:

Thank you for your kind and prompt response to my public records request. Please proceed with my public records request for the 2009 summary you stated you were authorized to release.

However, I do have one question. Your letter states the House Management Committee "adopted a policy regarding expense requests". I have been unable to find the policy on the legislature's website or anywhere else online. Could you please provide me a citation to the policy or a link to where it is available online. It is my intention to maintain a working knowledge of your public records policy so as not to waste your time. Therefor, any assistance you can provide me on learning what the exact policy is will be greatly appreciated.

Please feel free to call me at xxxxxxx if you wish to discuss this further."

Pretty reasonable request one would think. If you are going to quote a policy, please provide a citation to the policy or a copy of said policy. I even called Mr. Richardson's office several times and left messages. I received the second letter on July 12 (see above Scribd embed.). I did state for him to proceed with my public records request. Mr. Richardson sent me a second letter on July 12. Mr. Richardson sent a non-response. He states the law exempts the legislature from the public records statutes and this time does not even mention a policy.

The House leadership has continued stonewalling since Mr. Richardson sent his letter. I called Speaker Pro-Tem J.P. Compretta's office last week. Messages were left. Calls were not returned. One of Mr. Richardson's employees finally called me last week. I informed her I was calling to find out what policy Mr. Richardson was citing. She promised to relay the message to the clerk. I spoke to Representative Rita Martinson as well. The Lady from Madison County said the committee leadership had not informed the committee about my request and such actions were par for the course. She said she and other members were virtually ignored on the committee and at times informed of committee actions after they took place. Shades of the treatment of Socrates and Leland by the Levee Board. The funny part is the members thought Mrs. Martinson had put me up to appearing at the meeting since she was not present. Funny in that until last week, I had never been in contact with Mrs. Martinson and someone else had tipped me off about the meeting.

The House leadership apparently thinks it is accountable to no one but itself, taxpayers be damned. All the leadership has to do is produce copies of some receipts and expenses submitted by some members who have made it clear they expect the taxpayers to pay for their travel to out of state conventions, meetings, and other "association functions". However, the leadership thinks it is above the law. It doesn't even cite a law or policy backing up its position as "Because we say so" is apparently Billy McCoy's style of leadership. It is debatable as to whether a policy even exists and the leadership is merely making things up as they go along. A former member of the House privy to such things informed me such was probably the case.

Billy McCoy and his leadership can say "screw you" to this blogger and the taxpayers of the state as often as they can. However, I'm going to plugging away at this one because the more he stonewalls, the more its obvious he and his friends have something to hide. Perkins and Scott will probably scream racism but numbers don't lie and neither will those receipts. McCoy, Compretta, Richardson, Scott, and Perkins need to remember they are our servants, not our rulers.

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The Bankfind page of FDIC has been added to the government websites sidebar on the right. Want to look at a bank's balance sheets? Deposits? Simply go to this page, enter the information, and voila, a wealth of information about your bank suddenly appears.

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Steve Guyton wrote this on his Facebook page today:

"Hey Everybody. This morning at the Golden Corral Restaurant in Rankin County, Tate Reeves officially announced that he is running for Lt. Governor. You heard it here first! Bye"

Confirmed. It was at the Irl Dean Rhodes Breakfast Club. No word yet if the Molly Ringwalds appeared.

Update: Was not a formal announcement. Apparently Mr. Guyton jumped the gun. ;-)

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Update: Here is a photo of the arrest. It's from a distance and you can't see the suspect, but the Ford truck is his. As far as I know, it's the only photo in existence. Good job by the Madison Police Department.

In custody. Two counts of indecent exposure, two counts of attempted kidnapping. Name is Ricky Davis. He apparently thought Madison was McDowell Road and was caught cruising through a neighborhood in a different vehicle. One funny story: last two nights when Barbie went home, the MPD followed her right on her bumper and ran her tag since she drives a gold car.

Update: Oh, this is too much. I couldn't make this up. He lived on Queen Mary Lane in Jackson. Fire away with the comments.

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This week the poll is..........vote for your favorite bar or lounge. Vote early and often.

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The poll for the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor on JJ was held this week. State Treasurer Tate Reeves won by 29 votes over Gilbert Hosemann.

Delbert Hosemann	119 (44%)
Tate Reeves	148 (55%)

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I do love this commercial.

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Just learned St. Dominic's application for a certificate of need for its proposed Madison facility was denied.

When are we going to get rid of the entire CON process?

Update: I was told by a very good source it was denied but a commentor wrote the hearing officer recommended denial but the State Health Officer has the final decision. Stay tuned. Regardless, St. D just had a nice obstacle placed in its path to Madison. Commentor was right.

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So Harvey used revenue from bonds not yet approved in his proposed budget? What the hell is going on? Does he think Jackson residents can handle water bills that double or triple? Jackson already has the highest taxes in central Mississippi yet the Mayor wants to make it more expensive to live in Jackson. I knew something was wrong when I discovered that bond deal would cost Jackson $8 million. I knew something was screwy when I learned they were using an unlicensed, disgraced broker as the "financial adviser". Oh, did I mention Will Colom foreclosed on him back in 2006 for a million dollar loan in Fulton County State Court? This, however, takes the cake:

"Johnson learned from reading Wednesday's The Clarion-Ledger that the State Bond Commission did not approve the city's request for $6 million in bonds for water upgrades in downtown Jackson. The mayor also recently learned that the city would not be getting $10 million in federal funds for water system needs.

That leaves the city to rely solely on "local resources," Johnson said during a news conference Wednesday at City Hall.

"In other words, the city of Jackson would be forced to look very seriously at significant rate increases. We would have no other choice in this matter," he said...

Johnson said he already had included the bonds in his proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1"

I know, I'm stupid. That's no surprise to anyone who visits this website. However, I must ask why didn't Harvey meet with Barbour or Reeves prior to the vote and discuss their concerns? Why is Harvey getting surprised on something like this? This battle should have been won before a vote was even taken. I'm sure there is a behind-the-scenes story but right now, it doesn't look good. Nothing like make-believe budgeting.

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Lost Rabbit's problems continue. The troubled development received another blow this week as one creditor, Vision Landscape, obtained a writ of garnishment. Vision sued Lost Rabbit Development, LLC earlier this year and obtained a default judgment after Lost Rabbit failed to respond to the lawsuit. Earlier post Vision filed a suggestion for writ (a proposed garnishment order).

Lost Rabbit then filed a motion to set aside the judgment.. The defendants said yes, they knew there was a judgment against them, but it shouldn't be enforced because they had been talking to the owner of Vision and that while they were trying to work something out, he would not take any action against them in court. Vision came back with an answer to that motion that included an affidavit signed by Greg McPherson, owner of Vision. McPherson stated he had spoken to Richard Ridgway several times. He claimed "I have been misled time and again as to when I would be paid and by what financial arrangement Lost Rabbit would make payment to me. Lost Rabbit's representatives' promises and plans to pay my company have never materialized." McPherson further stated he never told Ridgway his company would not pursue satisfaction of the judgment.

Vision filed a proposed writ of garnishment August 3 against Lost Rabbit. The Circuit Clerk confirmed it was approved. The writ states Lost Rabbit owes $585,017 to Vision and directs Metropolitan Bank to turn over any Lost Rabbit assets it holds to Vision in order to satisfy the judgment. Copy of writ. There is still a separate lawsuit pending in Madison Circuit Court filed by Site Technologies against Lost Rabbit and another lien for $1.3 million filed by Utility Constructors as well.

Note: Here is an interesting affidavit filed by Ron Yarbrough, the attorney for Vision about the trouble he had serving the lawsuit: Copy of Affidavit

By the way, Lost Rabbit sold $18 million in PID bonds. PID Bond issuance

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Time for a little update from the rumor mill concerning all the political races for next year. Keep in mind these are rumors or what people tell me off the record. Take it for what it's worth and consider yourself warned.

Hearing from multiple sources Tate raised $500,000 at his Jackson fundraiser last month. Several sources also tell me Stacy Pickering is definitely running for Lieutenant Governor and even went so far as to try to convince Billy Hewes to run for State Auditor instead of LG. Needless to say, Mr. Hewes said nope, he was in it for the long haul.

Speaking of auditor, Henry Knox Ross is reported to be running for that position. He is the Mayor of Pelahatchie and a CPA. The question will be if he wins, will the State Auditor's office have Christmas decorations year-round and will Country-pleasin' Sausage replace Krispy Kremes in the office as well. Democrat Mike Sumrall, who lost to Pickering in 2007, is rumored to be running for State Auditor again.

Delbert? Good luck figuring out what he wants to do. Delbert imagined he was a scriptwriter for Lost writing for a series finale and had several different speeches written with each one having a different scenario. One for if he runs, one for if he stays put, and so on. No one knows what he is going to do. If he runs, Cory Wilson is probably going to run for Secretary of State. Arthur Johnston, the Chancery Clerk of Madison County, is someone people should consider as well (consider that an unofficial push from me). One other tidbit I heard this morning, Delbert might run for Lieutenant Governor. That would really make things fun.

First it was Caesar and Pompey, Caesar won, then the Republicans killed Ceasar, then Octavian and Antony beat the Republicans, then Octavian beat Antony.

As for Treasurer, Lynn Fitch, the Executive Director of the State Personnel Board, is going to run for Treasurer. She was at Neshoba last week passing out her cards that merely said "Lynn Fitch for Mississippi". Cute. Haley counselor Lucien Smith is supposedly looking at running for the office as well as is State Senator Joey Fillingane.

Stay tuned.

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Jackson crime stats for week ending July 25, 2010.

City of Madison crime reports.

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Meet Les Green, the other guy running for Congress in the First District.

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Here is this story in the Madison County Journal:

"MADISON - A 42 acre lake south of Madison Avenue and across from Liberty Park will drastically reduce flooding in the area and offer an attractive spot for future developments according to city officials.
Work crews have already started on the $1.2 million project which is scheduled to be complete within two years.
The lake is part of a 150-acre plot purchased by the city several years ago which Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler says could eventually be used for a park and recreation expansion or even a permanent campus for Tulane University.
"It's a very valuable piece of property to the city and to the citizens of Madison," she said. "There are a lot of possibilities."
No set plans have been given for such development, however.
Adding to the attractiveness of the land is the planned interchange that will connect Madison Avenue to I-55 and open up a wider corridor of traffic along the roadway.
Officials say the lake have an almost immediate impact on flood mitigation.
Madison Public Works Director Denson Robinson said it will ultimately impound around 200 "acre-feet" of water giving several neighborhoods like Treasure Cove, Sandalwood and Tide Water subdivisions relief from frequent flooding issues.
The new lake ties into several other drainage projects and retention ponds the city has planned in conjunction with the city of Ridgeland to mitigate flooding associated with Brashear and Culley Creeks in south Madison County.
"It will effect everything from the south city limits and Ridgeland all the way up past Cypress Lake (Subdivision) west of the interstate," Robinson said. "That may sound far fetched over that far a distance, but those two creeks cause flooding all over south Madison County."
Robinson explained that many times the creeks get obstructed and cause trouble, but the new lake will help mitigate a lot of that as well as make the flat land surrounding it much easier to develop for construction.
Hawkins-Butler said the development of the land has been a long time coming and the lake is simply the first phase.
"We bought the property several years ago and waited until we could budget the money needed to develop it," she said"

Do I even need to say it?

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David Orey, a professor at the University of Nebraska, published a study in 2006 on how Harvey Johnson used race to win election in 1997. His basic thesis is that Mayor Johnson ran a race-neutral campaign in 1993 and came in third in the Democratic primary. Johnson changed his tactics in 1997 and ran a campaign that focused more on the black community and showed the black community he was "blacker" in the words of Frank Bluntson. While identity politics is nothing new and will always around in elections, the study makes some interesting points.

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Mississippi is the Mexico of the United States?

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"The man who dragged a stolen dog to death at the Colorado National Monument in December was sentenced today to the maximum prison term of three years.

U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer told Steven Clay Romero, 38, that his actions were shocking.

"This crime is characterized by premeditation," said Brimmer. "He took the dog to a national monument. He claims he strangled the dog first and then to make sure the dog was dead he dragged it behind his pickup. It is particularly shocking to tie a dog behind a pickup and drag it to death."

Brimmer told Romero that his story that he first strangled the dog — a German shepherd mix named Buddy — didn't make sense because evidence showed that Buddy was "alive and trying to keep up with Romero's pickup" as Romero drove through the monument...

Buddy belonged to Sacha and Joe Leber of Delta. On Dec. 29, while the family was at a Delta restaurant, Buddy was stolen from the back of their pickup.." Article

Mississippi Farm Bureau does not think this crime should be a first-offense felony. If new to this website, just read this article from the Columbus Packet, this earlier post, or this earlier post.

"Oh, and let's not forget this part since someone at Farm Bureau might think I'm trying to sell insurance on this website:
The use of Mississippi Farm Bureau's name and logo in this post is for criticism of MFB policies and additional commentary. Such a use is deemed fair use under the following statute:

"(d) The following shall not be actionable under this section:
1) Any fair use, including a nominative or descriptive fair use, or facilitation of such fair use, of a famous mark by another person other than as a designation of source for the person's own goods or services, including use in connection with:
(B) Identifying and parodying, criticizing, or commenting upon the famous mark owner or the goods or services of the famous mark owner;
(2) Noncommercial use of the mark; and
(3) All forms of news reporting and news commentary."
Mississippi Code Section 75-25-25"

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The Clarion-Ledger reported this morning FDIC ordered Heritage Banking Group to raise more capital:

"In an agreement with the state Department of Banking and Consumer Finance and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Heritage Banking Group was given 90 days to increase capital or submit a plan to state and federal regulators guaranteeing the bank has funds to meet standards..." Article

Hmmm....... where have we heard about Heritage Banking Group before? Maybe here or here. Bankrate gave Heritage its lowest rating after examining its first quarter earnings statements. A quick examination of the balance sheet reveals several interesting items:
1. Provision for loan and lease losses was only $2.1 million
2. Net losses on real estate owned was $152,000.
3. Net income was a net loss of $1.598 million. The previous quarter it was $1.8 million loss.
4. Assets of $238 million.
5. Total liabilities were $225 million.
6. Total loans and leases: $183 million.
7. Page 31: $1.4 million in construction and land loans were 30 days past due, none at 90 but $8.949 million in these loans and another $3.8 million in closed-end residential loans were in the non-accrual column. Not good. This is probably what drew the regulators attention.

Since the Clarion-Ledger did not include the order, here it is: Copy of order. Some quick notes while quickly reading through it:
1. Board must take more active role and assume more responsibility.
2. Bank must hire a consultant acceptable to the government.
3. The consultant must evaluate all management positions and submit a management restructuring plan. In other words, clean house.
4. Bank must raise $6 million in 90 days.
5. No dividends.
6. Tighten lending standards.
7. Bank's board must approve any loan to insiders greater than $50,000. Hmmm.... wonder if anyone was treating the bank as their personal checking account.
8. Pages 11-12. Changes in how nonperforming loans are treated. Government is making them call a spade and spade and start recognizing the bad loans on the books.
9. Bank's board must approve loans to an individual over $250,000. Another hmmm...
10. Bank can't pay overdrafts of any bank officer over $2,500 without approval of loan committee. Funny. Most banks I know take the money out of your paycheck or fire you if you write a bad check.
11. Bank must establish a loan committee. 4 members must be independent.
12. Consultant is to be engaged to review loans.

The feds are clearly making major changes in how the bank operates and the probability is strong the bank will not be able to survive in its current form. Reading the order gives the sense a group of insiders treated it as a personal piggy bank, bad loans were carried on the books and not recognized or charged off, and the bank was poorly managed. Its no secret Sethi is a major player in this bank, the same Sethi who sent a notice to Madison County a few months ago that his company Parkway South, might miss a payment on TIF bonds. The next sixty days should be very interesting.

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See table 9. Fannie Mae's 90 days or more delinquencies were down slightly in April from March. Mortgages not backed by mortgage insurance (less than 80% loan to value) were unchanged for the last three months while those requiring mortgage insurance dropped from 13.8% to 12.55%, a welcome change.

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Photo gallery

This "home" is near Jackson Academy in Northeast Jackson. It is owned by Gulf States Investments, which in turn is owned by Richard Clay Perry. He purchased the home on March 3, 2006. This home has been a sore spot among his neighbors for over two years after the home was completely gutted and not repaired (see the linked photo gallery.). The yard was neglected and only kept up by neighbors who were tired of the eyesore and merely wanted to protect their property values. The home was completely unsecure as the back door and gate were wide open, a lock on one door was busted off the frame, and all other doors were open as well. Mr. Perry's wife, Madison Realtor Lacy Perry, listed the home for sale last year but took it off the market.

Several neighbors complained to Mr. Perry about his property after several burglaries in their subdivision forced them to be more vigilant. A wide open home that looks like a crack house on the inside drew their attention. Mr. Perry informed them he was unable to work on the home due to his partner's bankruptcy. However, Mr. Perry's claim does not coincide with the facts. His partner, Robert Johnson (not the former chief), filed a petition for chapter 7 bankruptcy in August 2009. It was discharged in February 2010. An examination of the schedules reveals the home nor deed of trust issued by Madison County Bank on the property was included in the bankruptcy. Mr. Johnson's name does not appear on any corporate documents filed with the Secretary of State but does appear on a 2006 deed of trust as a partner and in the bankruptcy schedule as a 50% owner of Gulf States Investments. Deed, Deeds of Trust, Bankruptcy schedule, Petition

A crew of workers appeared soon after the neighbors called Mr. Perry and began demolishing the home three weeks ago. Several pictures will show the removal of several features: shingles, the front door and its surroundings, windows A large dumpster sits in the driveway. However, Mr. Perry never bothered to obtain a demolition permit from the city. Such permits are required, along with an asbestos report, before a property owner can demolish a home. They only costs $100 and are issued in less than a week after an application is submitted all required documents are included with the application. The city issued a stop-work order the same day the demolition started. JJ called the city this morning and was told Mr. Perry still has not applied for a demolition permit. One must wonder what would look better: a home that is gutted but looks fine on the outside or an overgrown lot with a concrete slab. Very classy.

I spoke to Mr. Perry today and the conversation was very short. He informed me he had obtained the necessary permits and was waiting on an asbestos permit from the city. When I informed him the city told me no permit applications were filed and that there was no asbestos permit but he had to file a report. He became more belligerent and said it had been tied up in litigation for a long time as his partner was in bankruptcy. When I then informed him his partner was only in bankruptcy for six months, he cut me off, said I didn't know the behind the scenes mess involving the home, and that he wasn't responsible for the crime in Jackson. He then hung up on me.

Oh the irony. Does anyone want to guess where Clay and Lisa Perry live? Reunion, of course. Does anyone wonder what would happen if they tried to pull this crap in Madison? The Queen may be many things to many people, but everyone would agree any landowner who treated a home as Mr. Perry has this one in Northeast Jackson would be in serious trouble and it wouldn't have dragged on for over two years.

The neglect of this property is a perfect example of why Jackson has declined. Absentee landowners out of sight and out of mind are as much a threat to Jackson as are the criminals everyone fears. Jackson should crack down on landowners such as Mr. Perry and Mr. Johnson. If nothing else, Jackson should finish what Mr. Perry started: tear down the house and then send Mr. Perry the bill or place a lien on his fine Reunion home. Its a safe bet there are some attorneys in the neighborhood who would handle filing that lien for free. Some will question why I wrote this post but in my opinion, if NE Jackson residents want to keep it from going the way of other parts of Jackson, then we need to start speaking up about blight or other issues whenever we see them.

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Mayor Mary gave a quick speech to a gathering in Madison last week. I'm posting this video because Fox40 does one thing right I wish other stations would emulate: posting the entire video instead of thirty second clips picked by someone else. Despite all the times we see her on tv, it is usually in the context of responding to a controversy or questions from a reporter. Rarely do we hear her just talking as she does in this video. While she hits upon the expected topics, what drew my attention in the first five minutes was her passion for the City of Madison, a passion matched by few other mayors and something I wish would rub off on a couple of guys in the Jackson area, hint, hint.

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Lynn Fitch, Executive Director of the State Personnel Board, will be running for State Treasurer IF Tate runs for Lieutenant Governor. Take it for what it's worth.

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Meanest tackler I ever saw. Period. He would love these running quarterbacks like Vick playing today. Bad things would happen man, baaaaad things.

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The U.S. District Court set aside Mike Crook's entry of default in his lawsuit against the City of Ridgeland, its Mayor, and several police officers for his arrest two years ago. Mr. Crook and his wife filed suit earlier this year seeking $700,000 in damages. Phelps Dunbar, the firm representing the defendants, requested additional time to answer the complaint, which the judge granted. The answer was due June 21, 2010. No answer was filed for an additional two weeks. Mr. Crook filed an application for default and the clerk entered a default in the case. However, the court had not yet awarded a default judgment. Phelps Dunbar filed its answer several minutes after the default was entered by the clerk. Mr. Crook filed a motion with the arguing the court should grant him a judgment. It should be noted the Crooks are representing themselves.

The court gave serious consideration to the fact the attorney working the case was suddenly forced to leave the office as she had a child who required immediate surgery. The court stated "contrary to plaintiffs’ contention otherwise, defendants’ failure to timely answer was neither willful nor intentional but rather was merely inadvertent." The court also ruled the Crooks would suffer little harm in that "the only prejudice that the Crooks allege to have suffered is the time spent researching their motion for the clerk’s entry of default and the fact that, if the court sets asides the entry of default and allows defendants to answer, they will have to litigate their claims. This simply is not the type of prejudice contemplated by law." Order, Plaintiff's response to Defendant's objection

Numerous attorneys informed me after I first posted about the case the judge would take the action it did in this ruling. Judges like to hear the cases on their merits and are loathe to see them decided on technicalities such as deadlines. It is also no secret judges tend to be a little more harsh in their dealings with parties representing themselves. Mr. Crook also filed yesterday a Motion to Strike All Pleadings filed since June 21. Copy of motion. The Crooks argue the Court had no jurisdiction to entertain the responses and motions filed by the defendants after June 21 because they did not seek permission from the court first to file them after the June 21 deadline. It pretty clear Judge Lee wants the case to proceed to a trial or settlement and will thus probably deny this motion as well.

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Update: No answer has been filed but an order has been issued decreeing all judges in the first district will recuse themselves from this case.

Superintendent of Lee County Schools Mike Scott filed a lawsuit last week against Jamie Franks, Chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party and former Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor, and Lee Hampton, Chairman of the Lee County Democratic Party Executive Committee. Here is the lawsuit:



There is no sense in sugarcoating it. It's dynamite. Mr. Scott admits to an affair and then accuses Franks and Hampton of conspiring to maliciously interfere with his employment and "extorting" Mr. Scott. It states Mr. Hampton used his position in the Democratic Party to further the conspiracy between he and Mr. Franks against Mr. Scott. What is also interesting is the suit claims the defendants were able to get the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal to publish articles that would aid their cause (Hmmm.... is he alleging Patsy Brumfield, former Governor Musgrove cronie and the reporter in question, is acting for Franks and Hampton?) . Mr. Scott asks the court for a declaratory judgment stating he is not liable for alienation of affection and and in the alternative, an undeclared amount of damages for extortion, malicious interference with his employment, defamation, and negligence. The complaint includes as exhibits the letter sent by the Lee County Democratic Party Executive Committee to Mike Scott demanding his resignation, a copy of the NE Mississippi Daily Journal articles, and the notice of claim filed by Jamie Franks. They are all worth reading.

Mr. Waide told this correspondent in no uncertain terms Mr. Scott was paying him out of his own pocket and no funds from taxpayers and the insurance company were used. He also made it clear Mr. Scott met with him either during lunch hour or after the close of the business day, never while he was supposed to be on the clock working for Lee County.

One can only imagine what Democratic Party elders are thinking right now as Mr. Franks took what was a private feud between he and Mr. Scott and managed to drag the Mississippi Democratic Party through the mud with them.

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Haley and Hood at it again. It seems Haley met privately with the Attorney General and asked him to look into what legal strategies could be used to fight the proposed casino in Jones County. Haley then accuses Mr. Hood of leaking the memo he requested to the media. The letter is posted below.

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Note: All right, there is new information released and a couple of commentors were gracious enough to post it here. I used the Australian as the source for this post, a legitimate news outlet. The original story was in the Times and thus behind a pay wall but both are owned by Newscorp. I rarely quote bloggers that don't provide documentation of what they allege in their posts unless its opinion only and then will usually make disclaimers about it. In this case, the White House released correspondence showing how strongly it was opposed to the release. I'm not going to zap what I wrote for several reasons. One is to show that even using acceptable sources, the story and corresponding opinion can still miss the mark. Two, to show how things can change as a story develops. Three, if I do make mistakes, I don't suddenly take them down without mention but instead, correct them and admit the mistake. I won't admit to a mistake here but will admit to providing opinion based on a story that later turned out to be erroneous in facts and its fundamental nature. I have no idea why the Australian published the story as it did. My apologies. See additional stories posted in the comments section. The White House released correspondence showing it opposed the release.



Go ahead Craig, Ladd, Stauffer, Eichelberger, and NMC, defend this one.

"Correspondence obtained by The Sunday Times reveals the Obama administration considered compassionate release more palatable than locking up Abdel Baset al-Megrahi in a Libyan prison.

The intervention, which has angered US relatives of those who died in the attack, was made by Richard LeBaron, deputy head of the US embassy in London, a week before Megrahi was freed in August last year on grounds that he had terminal cancer.

The document, acquired by a well-placed US source, threatens to undermine US President Barack Obama's claim last week that all Americans were "surprised, disappointed and angry" to learn of Megrahi's release...." Article from The Australian"

White House Scumbags.

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The Mississippi Bar does not publish sanctions against wayward lawyers on its website per se. However, if one were to dig through the online editions of its house organ, the Mississippi Lawyer, one could find the sanctions that are published in each edition. JJ published four posts in December reporting sanctions listed in the Mississippi Lawyer. It is the position of this website that the legal profession is in much need of greater transparency and sanctions should be published online by the Bar.

However, if one were to go looking on the Bar's website for recent issues, one would be searching for a very long time as the bar has not posted its most two recent editions of the Mississippi Lawyer on its website (It is published bi- or tri-monthly.). Ok, there are excuses. They were overwhelmed at work. Someone might have quit. Someone was on vacation. The server was down. Well, the most recent online edition is the January/ February issue. It has published no sanctions. Nada. Zip. Zero. The same issue from a year earlier published said sanctions. So is it a coincidence the Bar suddenly didn't include sanctions in the issue it published immediately after JJ started posting them from its online editions and then quit issuing an online edition altogether? It doesn't matter if its a coincidence or not, JJ is obtaining copies of the publication and will start posting more sanctions from the Mississippi Bar even if the Mississippi Bar does not want you to know which lawyers got in trouble.

Stay tuned.

Note: If you want to read sanctions published on this website, there is a section on the right side of the page...... at the bottom. See also this earlier post criticizing the Bar.

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Tate Reeves won the first round of voting in the poll asking who you support for the Lieutenant Governor Republican nomination. Now we are going to have a lil ole runoff. Tate and Del get to go at it again while everyone else watches. Interesting the Queen beat both Phil, who IS an incumbent, Billy, and Stacy.

Phil Bryant	56 (10%)
Delbert Hoseman	106 (20%)
Billy Hewes	64 (12%)
Tate Reeves	176 (33%)
Stacy Pickering	34 (6%)
Mary Hawkins-Butler	76 (14%)
Alan Nunalee	10 (1%)

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Geaux to the Mississippi Bar's website, msbar.org, and see if you notice anything.

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Jackson crime stats for week ending July 18, 2010.

Jackson major crimes overview for week ending July 11, 2010.

City of Madison crime reports through July 22, 2010.

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Here is a good presentation on the basics of deep water drilling presented at the Aspen Ideas festival recently. It was conducted by two Shell engineers.

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The Federal Register published this announcement last week:

"A recently issued independent actuarial study shows that the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund (MMIF) capital ratio has fallen below its statutorily mandated threshold."

FHA is required to maintain sufficient reserves as it insures all mortgages in the FHA program used by lenders. The above language is bureaucratic gobbledygook for saying "we're broke". When a bank issues an FHA mortgage to a borrower, the federal government picks up the tab if the loan goes bust. This announcement by the government comes as no surprise to me as I wrote about this a year ago in a post about the sharp increase in first-payment defaults:

"This should come as no surprise and is scary for several reasons. FHA requires a 3.5% down payment (unless you are getting funds from down payment assistance programs such as the bond money program operated by Mississippi Home Corporation.). The FHA rates for the last few years have been low, usually below 7%. The income and assets are verified, these are not "liar" loans. Despite these guidelines that should make FHA mortgages much safer than subprime, Alt-A, and Fannie Mae no-down payment loans that have exploded the housing industry, the defaults are STILL rising to very dangerous levels.

This problem does not exist because of the economy going south as there is no reason a borrower on such a mortgage should default on the first payment. Within a day or so of the mortgage's funding, the lender contacts the employer on the phone usually to verify employment just for this reason (its a standard industry practice.). The lender reviews pay stubs, tax returns, W-2's, and bank statements. There are only a handful of reasons FHA is imploding. Fraud is being committed by the lender or borrower. Sloppy underwriting practices. FHA's cashout refinances (Until recently, a borrower could get a cash-out refinance through FHA for 95% loan to value, a recipe for disaster as the default rates on such mortgages are very high.). FHA has no minimum credit score requirement (Most of the lenders have imposed their own, however.). FHA accepts "alternative" credit if a borrower has no credit history in the form of utility payments, rent payments, etc. The appraisal guidelines are not as strict as they are for Fannie and Freddie. The mortgage insurance rates are lower.

However, the pressure to use FHA programs has been great the last few years as many mortgage companies who only originated subprime mortgagees and were facing extinction obtained FHA licenses so they could pursue subprime borrowers as FHA had easier underwriting requirements compared to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Some subprime lenders entered the FHA market just to stay afloat even though they lacked any FHA expertise...

Subprime crashed. Mortgage lending not supported by the government is non-existent. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have turned into financial money pits with no end in sight. Now we are looking at another time bomb about to go off at HUD while we are wasting our money bailing out Citi, AIG, and every one else with a hand out for some dough. The whole mess is blowing up in the faces of the politicians who don't have a clue what they are facing nor what to do. Even now, some congressmen seek to pass a law making the now-banned FHA down payment assistance programs legal once more (see note below) even though the default rates are triple those for borrowers required to make a down payment. Strap yourselves in boys and girls, the roller coaster is about to give you some more thrills and excitement as the madness continues." Earlier post

FHA has known for some time this day would come and has been allowing lenders to tighten their underwriting guidelines for FHA. However, FHA is now stating it is going to do the same thing. The same announcement states FHA is going to make the following changes:

1. reduce the amount of seller-paid closing costs from six percent to three percent of the purchase price.
2. Institute a minimum credit-score for loans. FHA did not use credit scoring at all in insuring mortgages although private lenders did.
3. Require higher down payments from borrowers with lower credit scores. FHA currently allows minimum down payments of 3.5%. Borrowers don't even have to have a down payment if using down payment assistance programs such as Mississippi Home Corp's bond money program. Unfortunately, those loans tend to have high default rates and FHA can't afford to subsidize such lending anymore.

The shortfall was first mentioned back in November 2009 in FHA's annual audit. However, FHA is now announcing it publicly and using it as a justification for tightening underwriting standards. FHA lending accounts now for nearly half of the mortgage market so any tremor at FHA is an earthquake in the housing industry. As housing continues to stumble, expect more bailouts of Fannie, Freddie, and FHA. Nearly all of the mortgage market is supported by the federal government as private mortgage lending has evaporated. This problem will be with us for years to come.

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The Clarion-Ledger reported the suspect in the Ridgeland Wachovia bank robbery is still on the loose. The newspaper also published a description:

"Ridgeland police are searching for the man who robbed the Wachovia Bank on
Jackson Street about 11 a.m. today.

Ridgeland Police Lt. John Neal said the suspect is a man about 25-30 years old, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds. He was wearing an orange reflective vest as well as a blonde wig and a dark-colored baseball cap."

JJ has been hot on the trail of this thug and I think we have figured out who it is as the suspect may not be wearing a wig but it might be a woman with blonde hair if one reads the newspaper description carefully. Inside sources have informed Kingfish the man (or woman) hunt is very much alive. Here is a picture of the suspect. Please be careful. 

This person is dangerous. If you see this suspect, please use caution and do not attempt to apprehend. Please call Ridgeland PD at 911 or 601-856-2121.

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Found this article on Downtown Jackson Partner's website discussing how Jackson compares to other cities in terms of funding development:

"Not a day goes by, that someone doesn't ask me "Why don't we have such-and -such" or "How does city 'X' have an arena, riverwalk, an aquarium, or whatever, and WE DON'T?"
FOLKS, IT IS CALLED "VISION and MONEY".Another area we are right at dead last, in the cities we surveyed, is tourism tax.

TOURISM TAX.

Each 1% in sales taxes collected on behalf of the city, if dedicated, equals around $30,000,000 in revenue for our city, which will float a $500,000,000 bond, which could possibly build (depending on the scope), an arena, a stadium for JSU, a "Riverwalk" and leave $100,000,000 for water and sewer improvements. Oklahoma City did just this (the projects listed above), plus 4 other additional projects.

Below is what our cities throughout the south charge in taxes regarding tourism. Want to know why we "don't have such-and such"?" Read the rest here.

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Gayle Lang, the mother of Karen Irby, sued Stuart M. Irby, Sr. in Hinds County Chancery Court Wedsnday for visitation rights to the child of Stuart and Karen (The petition is only two pages and I will upload it later when I am in front of a scanner.). The petition states

"Karen C. Irby, the natural mother of Graham Read Irby and the daughter of petitioner, Gayle Lang, joins in this petition and requests that the Court grant visitation rights to her mother, Gayle Lang, with the minor child of Karen C. Irby, Graham Read Irby.

Petitioner Gayle Lang, the maternal grandmother of Graham Read Irby has established a viable relationship with her grandson, Graham Read Irby, and Respondent, Stuart M. Irby, Sr., the natural father of Graham, has unreasonably denied Petitioner visitation rights with Graham.

Wherefore, premises considered, Petitioner requests that this Court grant her grandparent visitation rights with her maternal grandson, Graham Read Irby."

Attorney Bill Featherston filed the suit and Karen Irby signed it. The applicable statute is Section 96-13-1 et seq. of the Mississippi Code. Section (3)(2) states

"(2) Any grandparent who is not authorized to petition for visitation rights pursuant to subsection (1) of this section may petition the chancery court and seek visitation rights with his or her grandchild, and the court may grant visitation rights to the grandparent, provided the court finds:

(a) That the grandparent of the child had established a viable relationship with the child and the parent or custodian of the child unreasonably denied the grandparent visitation rights with the child; and

(b) That visitation rights of the grandparent with the child would be in the best interests of the child.

(3) For purposes of subsection (3) of this section, the term "viable relationship" means a relationship in which the grandparents or either of them have voluntarily and in good faith supported the child financially in whole or in part for a period of not less than six (6) months before filing any petition for visitation rights with the child, the grandparents have had frequent visitation including occasional overnight visitation with said child for a period of not less than one (1) year, or the child has been cared for by the grandparents or either of them over a significant period of time during the time the parent has been in jail or on military duty that necessitates the absence of the parent from the home." Mississippi Code

Stay tuned. Copy of petition

See sidebar on right side of page for collection of all posts on the Irby case.

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Rankin-Madison District Attorney Michael Guest proudly displays his "Most Wanted" page on his website. First thing one sees on his website (and it is his website as he stuck his name in the domain address) is the "Most Wanted" section next to his picture, along with a "captured label" on at least one of the photos. 34 out of 42 photos on the page itself show the same moniker, leading one to think these guys are locked up and we are all safe from these criminals.

However, these labels are somewhat misleading. One person listed as "captured", Kalvin Morrow, is a child rapist currently loose on the streets. Mr. Morrow raped a twelve-year old girl nearly five years ago. He was twenty-six years old at the time. He was indicted on May 17, 2007, for statutory rape. Mr. Morrow sat in jail for a long time before he finally posted bail on June 2, 2009.

Mr. Morrow entered a guilty plea on January 8, 2010, for Statutory Rape in an arrangement with the court and prosecution. He admitted to "having sexual intercourse with a child who is under the age of fourteen." Mr. Morrow received a twenty year sentence with twenty years suspended and supervised probation for five years. He is also enrolled in the sex offender registry. Registry

JJ is not questioning the prosecution of Mr. Morrow. He is obviously a sick and depraved man who should be in jail for a long time. However, a good prosecutor somehow obtains convictions even when dealt a bad hand. Mr. Morrow was indicted by the previous district attorney's office. The mother of the victim made it clear she was not going to let her child go through the ordeal of a trial and would not let her testify. The victim had made significant progress in her recovery and the mother did not want to impair it in any way possible, which is understandable. The prosecutor thus was faced with the dilemma of wanting to put this scumbag behind bars but unfortunately had a very weak case without a victim. The female prosecutor somehow obtained a guilty plea from the defendant and could at least label him as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Several prosecutors I spoke to said she had no choice and that was the only option available to her. If anything, she is to be commended for saving a case that probably would have failed if it had gone to trial. Copy of file

It is one thing to prosecute a sex offender, it is another to advertise Kalvin Morrow as "captured" when he is actually free. Mr. Guest has a responsibility, no, an obligation, to the public to tell the truth on his website. Such advertisements are misleading and an insult to the public. It is true Mr. Morrow was captured at one time. However, the average person who reads that page thinks this child rapist is locked up in jail when he is actually free and living among us. Mr. Guest will be better served if he posts something useful such as a convicted sex offenders page on his website instead of juvenile promotions such as his "most wanted". What we want from our leaders is the truth about crime, not false advertising. Mr. Guest should remove Mr. Morrow from his "Most Wanted" list.

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Note: This post is about Malachi Group of Georgia, not Malachi Financial in Ridgeland.

Malachi Group is acting as the city of Jackson's "Independent Financial Adviser" in the $25 million refinance of its bonds. Jackson Jambalaya reported on the proposed deal last month. Malachi sold this deal to the city as a way to free up over $5 million next year to apply towards a projected $10 million deficit. Documents provided to the city council show Jackson will save $5 million a year for several years in interests costs. However, Jackson will then pay $1 million a year for four years, nearly $2 million for one year, then approximately $4.5 million a year for four years, and finally $6 million in the last year, costing the city $8 million more in interest costs over the life of the bonds than if they were not refinanced.

Malachi recommends this deal to the city but the question must be asked: who is Malachi Group? Malachi Group is located in Atlanta but is represented in Jackson by local aspiring player Porter Bingham. The same Porter Bingham of Malachi Group who sold Hinds County on some interest-rate swaps back in 2006 (yes, the same type of swaps that blew up Jefferson County). What exactly is the track record of these guys? A check of FINRA's database reveals it suspended Mr. Bingham for twelve months and fined him $10,000 in 2007 for not telling the truth on Malachi's financial statements provided to the regulatory agency FINRA Report (Page 6).

Mr. Bingham has never re-registered with the FINRA or SEC. He is not registered with the state of Mississippi as a broker/dealer or an investment adviser. However, Mr. Bingham is not the only party in this deal who has faced regulatory problems as Malachi has its own checkered history. Regulatory agencies have disciplined Malachi seven times since 1997. The National Association of Securities Dealers expelled the firm for not paying fines in 2006. Malachi is not registered with the SEC nor FINRA. FINRA report Neither Mr. Bingham nor Malachi are registered with the SEC or Mississippi as investment advisers either.

However, all of the fines, suspensions, and trouble that seem to follow these cats around didn't stop Jackson from engaging them as its "Independent Financial Adviser". Page four of the documents linked above even state their duties to the city. Read it and weep. How much are we paying these rogues of finance? $80,000 (Page 6). I would provide a copy of the contract with Malachi Group for you to read except for one problem. There is no contract nor is there going to be one according to the public records request I filed a few weeks ago. The city answered last week: "No contract will be executed." No contract for Malachi. I'm not making this up. Jackson is giving $80,000 to a group that is not registered, has a representive who was suspended and has no license, yet does not make them sign a contract protecting Jackson's interests. I spoke to Communications Director Chris Mims and was referred to Rick Hill, Deputy Administrator (I am waiting for him to call me.). Mr. Mims and I spoke for a few minutes but in all fairness to him, this is not his area of expertise nor should it be. However, one can hope the city will execute something binding on Malachi.



Note: FINRA is "The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. All told, FINRA oversees nearly 4,700 brokerage firms, about 167,000 branch offices and approximately 635,000 registered securities representatives." (FINRA website) NASD and the NYSE Committee merged in 2007 to form FINRA.

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Who do you support for Lieutenant Governor? I included Phil because he IS the incumbent and has one term left. The usual suspects were included as well. Yes, I listed the Queen for one simple reason: probably the best known local Republican politician in the metro area. Moreso than the other mayors or legislators from Hinds, Rankin, and Madison. Vote early, vote often.

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Apparently Queen Mary's peeps set up a speed trap on Highland Colony. Going to Chang's and thinking about driving to Madison on Highland Colony Parkway? Slow down when you get to Madison. Madison dropped the speed limit to 35 mph when it repaved the Madison portion of the road. Naturally the poh-lice are hanging out right after the speed change waiting to get ya as happened to a friend of mine last week who thought it was still 40 mph.

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