Jackson Jambalaya

Is he retired or isn't he? That is the question to be asked about Hinds County District 2 Supervisor Doug Anderson. Several supervisors received phone calls over the weekend stating Mr. Anderson is rescinding his retirement.

Less than one month to go.

 Come to Olga's for New Year's Eve or as Olga wrote:

The greatest blast of the year!
It's New Years Eve at Olga's - where everybody knows your name!
When 2013 comes around you'll be at the coolest bar in town with your friends & family near So book your spot. We've got what you want
From dinner to dancing to drinks, Choose early or late
We'll save you a plate!
Family and Friends music will be the
joined forces of Renegade (Gena Stringer and David Steele) and The
McGee Boys - (Ronnie, Gavin, and Grant!)
What a treat!!
It's New Years Eve - Come celebrate with us!

Reservations are accepted for New Year's Eve.

This is how a clueless out of touch liberal thinks. The New York Times apparently thinks its better to go to college, run up a bunch of student loans, and remain unemployed instead of gasp, getting a job and making money:

Here are the latest crime stats available online:

Cindy Ayers-Elliot announced her candidacy for the senate seat formerly held by the now-deceased Alice Harden in this press release.

Elizabeth Rooks-Barber fired back at the Sun-Herald about its coverage of her contract with the Department of Marine Resources in a letter to the editor a few days ago. Since this website published the original story as well as additional information, it seems only fair to publish her letter in its entirety. Ms. Rooks-Barber is the wife of Madison County Tax Assessor Gerald Barber.

Jackson's decline brings one big problem to its citizens:finding basic amenities one expects to have in a city of over 150,000 people. Need to buy a pair of blue jeans? Go to Rankin or Madison County. Want to see a movie? Cross the county lines. However, our city fathers want to do something about this problem. Good for them. I applaud them for it. However, they can't seem to take the easy way on anything as they are talking about a government-private business partnership to bring a movie theater to Jackson. Yup. Senatobia can have a movie theater without government help but these guys have to conjure up grants and other big gummint ideas just so we can go to the movies. Next thing you know, they are going to tell us we have to sell some bonds (and you know what that will mean.). The Clarion-Ledger reported yesterday:

Update: Suit says $150,000 per infringement. Assuming all twenty-one color-glossy photographs with a paragraph on the back of each one were used in the ebook, the requested damages are $3.15 million.

Here are some videos I found of the tornado that hit Mobile yesterday

Want a break from all the Christmas merriment today? Here is a post from the archives about the history of the Mafia in New Orleans. Long but fun read. 

The Wall Street Journal publishes this decades-old column every Christmas as its lead editorial. It seemed fitting to post it here. Enjoy.

Maria Bartiromo asks a Senator if he and the rest of Congress are "incompetent" on CNBC:

A few of you asked if I will post A Charlie Brown Christmas. Here it is. Enjoy.

Collection of all posts on the Frazier case

U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Ball appointed public defender Keith Drew to represent Claiborne Frazier. A federal grand jury indicted Mr. Frazier for attempt and conspiracy to commit fraud. Attorney John Collette represents Austin Frazier, while Merrida Coxwell represents Spencer Copeland. The order as well as the conditions of Mr. Frazier's bond are posted below.

The Washington**** confirms more of what is becoming obvious to everyone: The Romney campaign was repeatedly outclassed and beaten to the punch on media buys. The  **** reports:

Blast from the past: Leontyne Price. Here are some performances of the operatic legend I dug up on Youtube including a beautiful version of "O Holy Night":

Connecticut has some of the toughest gun control laws in the county but conversely it also has the weakest laws for dealing with those suffering from mental illness.  There was a push in the legislature earlier this year that would force the mentally ill to take prescribed medications. Some version of this bill is the law in forty-five states.  Needless to say, the proposal generated a GREAT deal of opposition:

Dr. Arnold Smith asked a federal court to issue a preliminary injunction against the prosecution in his capital murder case. A grand jury indicted Dr. Smith for capital murder for his alleged participation in a "murder for hire plot" to kill Greenwood attorney Lee Abraham.  Mr. Abraham represented Dr. Smith's ex-wife in their divorce. 

This house is for rent in Fondren. 1,800 square feet. One-car garage. Fenced-in back yard.  3 bedroom, 2 bath, den, living room, and washroom.  Beautiful hardwood floors. Kitchen appliances are Viking.  Pictures are below. Shoot email to Kingfish1935@gmail.com for more information.

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors allows caroling at the meeting before Christmas and then begins the meeting with a prayer. Election Commissioner-Elect Santore Bracey sang the Lord's Prayer. I think you will enjoy watching this video.

U.S. Magistrate Keith Ball set bond at $10,000 for Claiborne Frazier, Austin Frazier, C.E. Frazier, Jr., and Spencer Copeland this afternoon. Merrida Coxwell represented Spencer Copeland, John Colette represented Austin Frazier, and a federal public defender represented Claiborne Frazier and C.E. Frazier.

Collection of all posts on the Frazier case

A federal grand jury indicted Claiborne Frazier, Austin Frazier, and C.E. Frazier, Jr. on December 12, 2012 for mail fraud and money laundering. The grand jury also indicted Spencer Copeland for money laundering. C.E. Frazier, Jr. is the father of Austin and Claiborne. Mr. Copeland is the step-brother of Austin and Claiborne. The defendants have been taken into custody.

Roll Call recently published a feature story on political consultant Casey Phillips.  Mr. Phillips is the owner of Red Print Strategies, a D.C.-based firm.  Mr. Phillips ran Dilbert's campaigns as well as several others in Mississippi.  Roll Call reports:

Sorry posting late but this is the show from last week.  We discussed Bolivar County and Bennie Thompson. 

Oldie but goodie. This video is from a year ago but hey, its the Christmas season.

Update: Here are the results:

Yes. Abolish middle schools. 148 (63%)
No. 44 (18%)
No opinion. 42 (17%)

Since we discuss education quite a bit on this website, I thought I would throw out a different type of poll question: Should we bring back junior high schools and abolish middle schools?

The federal government cited a company owned by Madison County Tax Assessor Gerald Barber in an audit of the Coastal Impact Assistance Program. Mr. Barber and his wife Elizabeth own Barber & Mann. DMR paid the company over $600,000 in fees since 2009 under several consulting contracts according to the Department of Finance and Administration website. The Inspector General states DMR awarded the contracts without accepting competitive bids. Such agreements violate federal law. The Sun-Herald published the report in October.

The Parents' Campaign Nancy Loome blasted charter schools in a column that appeared in newspapers around Mississippi:

Want to improve the quality of teachers in the classroom? The President of the American Federation of Teachers has an idea. Randi Weingarten advocates in a Wall Street Journal column making teachers pass the equivalent of a "bar exam". Naturally there are to be no "bar complaints" filed against individual teachers, mind you but hey, its great at making it tougher to become a teacher.  Did I mention she is a lawyer?  Read on.

Scot Allen announces candidacy for State House of Representatives—District 59

I am Scot Allen and I announce my candidacy for the office of State Representative for House District 59. The District is composed of the Reservoir area in Rankin County, part of Flowood, and part of Brandon. I humbly ask for your vote in the upcoming election on January 8th.

I was going to post "A Charlie Brown Christmas" today but after yesterday, I think I will wait before I post that video. Here is the entire showing of "Scrooge", starring Alaister Sim in 1951. Needless to say, Mr. Sim's Scrooge is a real s.o.b.  Its considered the best version of the Dickens classic although George C. Scott almost stole the role for himself in 1984. Enjoy.

Consider this post to be a thread about the shooting at the elementary school in Connecticut. Our prayers go out to the families there. There is simply nothing to say at a time like this. Feel free to vent, grieve, or post updates here. KF.

Stokes wants to appoint Nathan Hargrove to the board of Hinds Community College. Agenda

Whispering Pines and Wingfield Estates. Two South Jackson neighborhoods that brought the spirit of the Christmas season every year to the Jackson area as residents put on a festival of lights. Bumper to bumper traffic. Lanterns lining the streets.   A holiday tradition everyone enjoyed. Although the character of South Jackson changed over the last ten years, the Christmas displays continued year after year.  Since neither of us saw the Christmas lights in three years, StilettoGOP and I visited the two neighborhoods last night with videocameras rolling as we did for the "Cruising McDowell Road" post earlier this year. I won't spoil the fun for you. Just watch the videos below.

Doug Anderson's daughter said he will support Joe Lewis as his replacement on the Hinds County Board of Supervisors. The same Joe Lewis who was removed from the bench in 2005 by the Mississippi Supreme Court for making inappropriate advances towards several women. Jackie Anderson Woods made the statement during a press conference announcing Mr. Anderson's resignation.

JPD issued the following press release:

Supervisor Robert Graham called it a "difficult day".    Jackie Anderson Woods announced at a press conference today her father, Hinds County District 2 Supervisor Doug Anderson, will resign from the Board of Supervisors on January 1, 2013. Mr. Anderson was not present.

District 2 Congressman did not exactly tell the truth when he sent a letter to the Justice Department protesting school district consolidation in Bolivar County.  The Congressman was quite upset the state would dare do something about one-school districts paying superintendents salaries over $117,000.The Congressman could not resist playing the race card. One can almost imagine him writhing on the floor and foaming at the mouth as he wrote this letter. How dare those white Republicans do something in the Delta. Who do they think they are? The Congressman wrote in his letter:

I posted last week an email from a listener who took exception to what I said about majority-black public school districts on the radio last week.  The same person sent these emails prior to sending these emails. Enjoy.

Pig's tongue. How does the mutt eat this stuff. Ugh.

Bigger Pie Forum commissioned a study to determine the effect the Kemper project will have on utility bills for residential and commercial customers. BPF stated in a recent post:

The Commissioner of Insurance will hold a health care symposium tomorrow at the convention center. See flyer posted below for more details.

Note: This was first posted on December 4, 2012 but I am bumping it up as I will be discussing some of this on the radio this week as well as my earlier post about Bolivar County schools.

Highlights of post:
-All district report cards reviewed with charts included below. 
-Districts reviewed on # of teachers hired/Total # of employees
-Total spending per student compared by grades and majority race. All federal, state, & local funding dollars is included.
-Statistics are compared between majority-black and majority-white districts. Charts included.
-Districts over 80% of one race are compared to each other. Charts included.

A review of annual report cards for all Mississippi public school districts reveals some uncomfortable trends: majority-black districts in Mississippi spend more money per student, hire a fewer percentage of teachers, and have worse ratings than majority-white districts. The picture worsened for districts at least 80% black. They spend $2,000 more per student than  districts at least 80% white while performing much worse.

Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves announced the proposed 2014 budget in this press release:

Bradley Lum, Bennie Hubbard, Scott Allen and Brent Powell qualified for House of Representatives District #59 yesterday.

A police report states an employee embezzled $80,000 from Broadmeadow United Methodist Church in Fondren.

Here are the latest crime reports available online. Sorry, Jackson's have not been updated in several weeks and are still stuck on October 28.

Excellent choice. I wish Miles would fire Stud and hire him to be his OC but such is not to be. If you want a look at his offense with real talent, watch the 2007 Sugar Bowl. He called the plays in that game against Notre Dame.

The Tiger Girls got a little bored on a road trip and decided to produce this video:

The Sierra Club issued this press release charging former Governor Haley Barbour "failed to disclose his financial ties to corporate giant Southern Company, parent company of Mississippi Power (MPCO).

Mississippi Republican Party just issued a press release stating a politician is going to switch parties:

Ever wonder what Superintendents make in Mississippi? Check out the chart below.

Kent & Larry took my Tuesday post about Mississippi education and ran with it on their Thursday morning show on WJNT.

The Jackson Free Press published a report on the decision by the Jackson Public School Board to refinance some bonds. It turns out JPS is going down the road taken by the city of Jackson a few years ago: running up the bond credit card to get more cash up front but pay more later than if it had done nothing. The JFP reports:

The Sun-Herald's Karen Nelson uncovered more shenanigans in the scandal at the Department of Marine Resources. Ms. Lee reports DMR spent over $1 million of money meant for artificial reefs to lease boats from foundations, including one operated by the Executive Director of DMR:

College football is over. Nascar is on its winter break. What to watch, what to watch. Want some good political theater? The complete episodes of I Claudius are on Youtube. Here is the first episode. No fancy sets, no special effects, no Spartacus sex scenes, just good old-fashioned script-writing. Enjoy.

I discussed the post about public education in Mississippi on the show this week. Enjoy. Kent & Larry discussed it on their show yesterday and today. I'll post the recordings to those shows over the weekend.

WJTV covered the Twin Creeks failure and problems at Silicor in this story last night:

Senator Chris McDaniel (R-Jones) honors the heroes of Pearl Harbor in this column submitted to JJ:

Today we all remember the day the Japs bombed Pearl Harbor. We took our licks, toughened up, and gave them more then they ever bargained for when they pulled off their sneak attack. If interested in a good movie telling the story of the attack, watch Tora, Tora, Tora. It was made back in the 1970's and is far superior to the theatrical piece of garbage starring Ben Affleck a few years ago. This is a link to a gallery of photos taken after the attack at Boston.com. Here is color video of the attack:

Seems my little posts about Mississippi education and discussing them on WJNT got someone's attention. Here is the email I received this week:

What would be a fiscal cliff discussion without Santelli & Liesman going at it in this video?

JJ just learned Senator Alice Harden passed away.  Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves issued this statement:

The Justice Department approved the consolidation of Bolivar County school district in a September letter sent to the Mississippi Attorney General. The Mississippi Legislature passed a law this year mandating Bolivar reduce the number of districts from six to no more than three. The law generated much opposition from Bolivar residents.

However, my review of Mississippi school district report cards yielded quite a few nuggets about Bolivar County school districts that didn't make into that post earlier this week. Take a look at some basic facts about these districts below and pay attention to the Superintendent salaries as well as the size of the districts.

That is run for the House, not run to the House.  Bradley Lum announced his candidacy to replace Kevin McGee in this press release:

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy issued this statement and petition:



Our friends at the Goldwater Institute created a short video giving six reasons states should be opposed to the insurance exchanges being set up under Obamacare. While Mississippi is saying yes, 21 states are saying no. Here’s why:

Well, actually alive but if dead it won't bother me even though it won't happen.  These thugs posted below are wanted for attacking the manager of the Swell-O-Phonic on North State Street Monday night:

The New York Times published a story Sunday on how states are giving major incentive packages and tax breaks to corporations in an effort to recruit industry but are often left holding the bag. The story included an interactive map allowing the reader to see a list of projects and incentives for each state.

How did I forget to do this? Enjoy.

Dr. Arnold Smith filed a Section 1983 lawsuit against Attorney General Jim Hood, District Attorney Dewayne Richardson, and Assistant District Attorney Timothy Jones in U.S. District Court Monday. The suit alleges the three defendants acted to deprive Dr. Smith of his fourth amendment rights. Dr. Smith was indicted for allegedly masterminding a murder for hire plot to kill Greenwood Attorney Lee Abraham. Dr. Smith is incarcerated without bond in the Leflore County Detention Center.

Mississippi's health insurance exchange is now active.  Onemississippi.com is the title for the exchange. 

Moved up in the family from throwing phones at people & assaulting security guards to this:

A fine representation of a Canton Public School education:

Insurance companies providing coverage in states that do not set up a health insurance exchange under Obamacare will pay a 3.5% surcharge on premiums.  The surcharge will fund the creation and maintenance of the federal exchanges for such states.

Our favorite Congressman, last seen worrying that too many Marines would cause Guam to sink into the ocean, now wants to pass a constitutional amendment to "control" the free speech rights of corporations and businesses since they might oppose ideas he suppports. Can't make this up.

Recording a police officer with a cellphone became easier after the Supreme Court let stand a 2011 Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that affirmed the right of citizens to record police officers performing their duties in public. (No. 12-318) The Court denied certiori to an appeal by the State of Illinois on November 26.* The Seventh Circuit decision overturned a fifty-year old Illinois statute making it a crime to record “all or any part of any conversation” without the consent of all parties. The ACLU filed suit after it announced it was going to start recording police officers while in the performance of their duties.

Ole Miss is talking to Nike about new uniforms in 2013. Here are some of the new helmets that are up for consideration. The Gray one is pretty bad-ass.

The political junkies on both sides will enjoy this post. Erick Erickson at Redstate declared war on the "consultant class" after election day.  He penned a series of posts naming names and diagramming the relationships.  Erick ramped it up in his latest missile, oops, I meant missive, against the consultants he says are strangling the Republican Party.  Mr. Erickson writes:

I'm posting a snapshot of Mississippi public schools Monday based on reviewing report cards for a solid week. Here is a quick look at one group: the school districts under 1,000 students.  Enjoy.

The Associated Press reports Governor Bryant said the Twin Creeks project in Senatobia failed and the state is seeking repayment of the $27.7 million loan provided to the company.  AP reporter Jeff Amy writes:

This beer commercial has to be banned somewhere. NSFW.

Forbes magazine published a list of "death spiral" states. Such a state is considered to be in a death spiral if the number of people receiving income from the government is more than the number of people receiving income from the private sector.

Twin Creeks. Twin Disaster is more like it. Jeff Amy provides more details on the Twin Creeks flop firsts reported on this website several weeks ago. The AP workhorse reports:

Mississippi native Stuart Stevens defended his management of the Romney campaign in this Washington Post essay:

Here is the report card for Copiah County schools:

Looks like 401K plans have a target on their account statements. By some strange coincidence a Danish study criticizing the tax credits for 401K plans appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, and Time within 24 hours of each other.

Update: Police change charges against Alford to conspiracy to possess weapon on school campus.

WDAM reports USM quarterback Anthony Alford was arrested yesterday:

Sorry I have not posted much this week. I've been working on a lengthy research project.  I will post the results Monday and discussed it on the radio yesterday.  Here is a video of Nancy Loome discussing charter schools with a group of educators Monday night in Meridian.  After the 30 minute mark, she goes into overdrive.

Mayor Harvey Johnson changed the Jackson "Christmas Parade" to the "Holiday Parade" this year.  Application/press release.

Governor Phil Bryant announced his education plan to Mississippi teachers in a conference call yesterday.  The Governor called the plan "Framing Mississippi's Future, an Agenda for Our Children".

U.S. District Judge Dan Jordan, III scheduled a restitution hearing for Chris and Charles Evans on December 19, 2012 at 9:00 AM.  Hope this means some jail time will commence.

Should Mississippi establish a health care exchange under the Affordable Care Act? Republican Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney is creating an exchange while Governor Phil Bryant opposes his actions.

Parker defeated Nelson in the race to fill the Senate seat formerly held by Merle Flowers.  20 out of 22 precincts are counted. Parker has a 1377 vote lead over Nelson at 61-39.  Two boxes with no more than 400 votes are outstanding. Nelson has conceded.  The forces of darkness were defeated tonight.

Governor addressing teachers on conference call about his education program. I'm tweeting it while I listen. kingfish1935 on twitter.

Brent Powell, the son of Republican elder Billy Powell, will run for Kevin McGhee's seat in the Mississippi House of Representatives.

Apparently we are not immune. 24 bomb threats were phoned in to Tennessee courthouses today. The Hinds County Chancery Court building is circled off right now while the building is inspected.

Mike is back and has a few things to say about the election in this classic video.  Warning: Strong and um, colorful language. It was shot the day after the election so Mike threw a bit of a tantrum. Racist language used.  He makes KIM Waaaaaaaaaade sound like a pre-schooler.

Vandals went on a rampage in Greenwood Cemetery last night. The pictures below show the destruction as many irreplaceable monuments were demolished. The Greenwood Cemetery Association is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the vandals' arrest and conviction. There are many more pictures but those posted below will give you a pretty good idea of the damage. Real sick bastards.

Here is the report card for the Warren County-Vicksburg school district:

Collection of all posts on the Evans case.

Chris Evans of Evans brothers fame is still walking around free thanks to a series of extensions granted by the federal judge.  Mr. Evans pleaded guilty to charges of bank fraud and money laundering in federal court in 2011. U.S. District Judge Dan Jordan, III sentenced Chris Evans to 168 months and Charles Evans, Jr. to 240 months in prison for bank fraud and money laundering. The two brothers created over thirty companies to defraud over fifty banks to obtain approximately $80 million in mortgage loans. It was the largest case of mortgage fraud ever in Mississippi.

 Update: Spoke to MDE and was told they can not suspend the licenses until there is a conviction.

A federal indictment states Mississippi teachers participated in a scheme to obtain teacher certifications using false identification.  The U.S. Attorney indicted Clarence Mumford, Jr. of Memphis and twelve other defendants for allegedly taking the Praxis exam for teachers in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee. The indictment charges the defendants with sixty counts ranging from conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and Social Security fraud, aggravated identity theft, to fraud in connection with identification documents.

Here is the most recent report card for Canton public schools:

Melissa Marshall gives a very witty and funny presentation on how to present complex ideas in a simple way.... and she does it in four minutes.

JR passed away today.  Here are some of my favorite clips from Dallas:

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

JJ obtained a copy of an email Desoto County Public Schools Superintendent Milton Kuykendall sent to his employees this week:

So you think your schools in Desoto and Rankin are sooooooooo good.  Arthur Levine says in the Wall Street Journal guess again.  The suburban schools really don't do that well compared to schools in other countried. Mr. Levine opines:

Frack the holidays.  Battlestar Galactica is back in a new series posted online in webisodes. Moore is not involved with this project but it still has the BG feel. Set back in the original Cylon war.  Here are the first four:

Representative Bobbie Moak (D-Bogue Chitto) submitted this column to JJ for publication:

LSU Coach Les Miles answered a question in colorful fashion after the Ole Miss game last week. What set him was a reporter asked him if Russell Shepard was a flop. Yeah, he asked that question. Needless to say, Coach Miles didn't take too kindly to the question.

I hosted The Blueprint author Rob Witwer on WJNT this morning.  The book discussed how the Democrats were flipping states from red to blue and how they were exporting their Colorado model to other states.  This is a show the political junkies will love.  Download his book. Its worth reading.

Here is the report card for the Hinds County Public Schools District:

FHA is officially broke.  I warned you ,here, here, and here.  The Wall Street Journal reported last week:

The Hinds County Sheriff's Office provided these reminders about shopping on Black Friday:

Here are the latest crime stats available online in the Jackson metro area:

Rob Witwer, author of The Blueprint, will be on the show tomorrow to discuss how the Democrats used technology and non-profits to flip states from red to blue.  Very interesting stuff and I think you political junkies will enjoy this interview.  Here is the show from two weeks ago, the day after the election.  1180 AM at 8:05 AM.

These little girls are selling pecans by the railroad tracks at the corner of Madison Avenue and Jones in Madison to fight hunger:

Mississippi Republican Party cash on hand plunged nearly $200,000 compared to the same reporting period four years ago. Finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission state the party only had $42,151 cash on hand on October 25, 2012. The party had $191,801 on October 15, 2008.* The reports show the party has substantially less money than in the 2008 and 2004 election cycles.

Here is the annual report for Pearl Public Schools.

Found this video of the grand opening of the Jackson Municipal Airport.

A federal three-judge panel denied the NAACP's request to set aside the 2011 legislative election results and order new elections in 2013.  The order is posted below.  Secretary of State Delbert Hoseman issued the following statement:

Here is the report card for Clinton public schools. Tomorrow: Pearl.

Check out what these Hostess workers who lost their jobs have to say:

Peter Schiff took a camera and microphone to Bourbon Street and asked employees about their college backgrounds.  Get ready.

Here is the JPS report card.  Clinton goes up tomorrow.

The Democratic Trust of Mississippi sent the following press release to JJ:

Daniel Henninger penned a very good column in the Wall Street Journal Thursday about how the Democrats ground game worked in the presidential election. Contains some nice warnings for the GOP if they want to compete in future swing states:

January 25.

Here is the annual report for the Rankin County School District:

Reason TV produced this video about a hospital in Oklahoma. What is unique about this hospital is it accepts payments only in cash. No Medicare, non Medicaid, and no insurance plans. The result is the charges for services are much lower than other hospitals.

The report cards for Mississippi school districts are out. JJ will post one a day for the next several days. Here is Madison's report.

This time Larita Cooper-Stokes is protesting an animal shelter in her district. Sad part is, the mutts are probably more civilized than she is. Watch the video on WLBT.

Note: Efforts to obtain comments from Sheriffs Randy Tucker, and Bryan Bailey have been unsuccessful. Sheriff Tyrone Lewis comments are posted below.

Thank you unions. My favorite snack. Hostess Cherry Pies. No more since Hostess is turning out the lights. CNN reports:

Kingfish note: The post is about the Twin Creeks project. I inadvertently wrote "Twin Lakes" in the title. The fault is mine and mine alone. My apologies. 

Bigger Pie Forum reports the Mississippi Development Authority can not say who will pay for the loan on the failed Twin Creeks project:

Attorneys have done quite well representing the Jackson Public School District. JJ obtained through a public records request invoices and contracts for school board attorney Dorian Turner and JPS District Counsel Joanne Sheppard. What is interesting is the district has both a lawyer who is an employee and an attorney who represents the school board. Most districts have one or the other but not both.

Ms. Turner sent invoices of $237,836 since January 2010 to JPS. Here are the fees as stated on the invoices*:

Amy McCullough reports in the Bigger Pie Forum the Twin Creeks project in Senatobia is no more:

A Mississippi ACLU hack, straight from Cal-Berkeley, started up a "Mississippians United Against Charter Schools" page on Signon.org. The usual bromides are tossed out in an effort to smear charter school supporters:

Should've put the land in a cousin's name so Tom Hood could say he wasn't family. The Sun-Herald reported:

Looks like one of MDOC's "earned "release" beneficiaries couldn't wait to return to the trade:

Jack David and Michael Dunn write on the Wall Street Journal editorial page our fleet of fighters, bombers, and tankers is becoming old, smaller, and just plain worn out:

Hinds County District 4 Election Commissioner fired off a letter to Clarion=Ledger reporter Terricha Bradley-Phillips. The reporter wrote a story Saturday stating Supervisor Robert Graham was "investigating" alleged complaints about the elections last week. Earlier post. She also reported Election Commissioner Jermel Clark questioned whether the machines were tampered with after he was clobbered in his re-election bid by 65%-35%. Mrs. Cochran wrote:

Update: See email posted at the bottom of this post. 

The Clarion-Ledger reported Supervisor Robert Graham said there were "complaints" about the elections:

State Senator Chris McDaniel (R-Jones) submitted this column discussing the election:

Watch this video first. Was shot Monday.

 

Update: It was never beta-tested.

The Ace of Spades  argues the Romney campaign's vaunted ORCA project became in reality a Charlie Foxtrot. Read on. Ouch:

The National Association of Realtors published this brochure on the new taxes coming down the turnpike under Obamacare. A new tax of 3.8% will be levied on some forms of investment income. The brochure states:

So the GOP turnout Tuesday was 3 million less than 2008. Shocking number to some as it was the subject of talk radio and the blogosphere today. How about we dig a little bit deeper and see how the Republican turnout compared to where it matters: the swing states.

Hinds County Senior Circuit Judge Tomie Green withdrew her order reassigning the docket among the four circuit judges.

Kim Wade and I hosted Adam Schraeger, the author of The Blueprint on WJNT. Feel free to listen to the show as he described in detail how the Democrats were able to flip red states to blue states and then increase their turnout in those states. Earlier post on The Blueprint.

From National Review in 2009:

I'll probably start at 7.  So the first big question: What are you drinking tonight? Post in comments. Use this post for election night comments. Cabernet tonight for me.

Kentucky and Indiana for Romney, Vermont for Obama. Dead even in Florida. Romney wins West Virginia. Coal cost Obama. Will it in Penn? Stay tuned.

South Caronlina for Romney. Obama ahead in Florida BUT two of his main counties came in. Panhandle polls not closed yet.

Time to start.

Its a great day to be an American. Today is for what our ancestors fought and died. This post celebrates all things American. N.S.F.W.

Mississippi Secretary of State issued this mid-morning update:

Follow me on Twitter today at kingfish1935. I'll be using Twitter when I can't post here. Yes, I will be live-blogging the election tonight.

Ok, here is the deal. Post any headlines you think are worth noting on this thread. No spin, no propaganda, just headlines and noteworthy information. If you don't know how to link here ya go: .  Insert the address in the blank, Insert a title for the link between the ><.  Polls, stats, headlines, videos, and so on.  The type of comments where someone could scroll through and get the latest news from a variety of sources.  Several readers asked me to do this. Enjoy.

Just got this message from a Canton voter:

The Mississippi Secretary of State issued this press release for election day:

If you are voting today and see something that doesn't look quite kosher, take a picture.  If you are in line, as what just happened in Canton, and some women come out and pass out absentee ballots to all the black voters in line, take a picture and send it to kingfish1935@gmail.com. Your identity will be protected.  If you see something funny or unusual, send it in. Now get out, vote, and have some fun.

Garbage truck driving down the street in Fondren and then BOOM!  Part of the road collapses with the garbage truck stuck in the resulting hole. See pics below.  City crews of course came out there immediately.  Just one problem, Fondrenites had been calling the city for over a week about the problem, with no results.  The reader who sent in these photos provided details in an email (yes, I spoke to him and confirmed the email.).

A group of candidates battle to see who can be the Superintendent's stooge in Jackson. Check out the direct mail pieces posted below.  If you can't rotate them in Scribd, just download and rotate in adobe. By the way, the Governor did NOT endorse Nelson but that sure didn't stop Mr. Miles "I stood up to the Republicans" Nelson from using the Governor in his mailer.

Thanks for your earlier support of JJ. Your support of this website earlier this year allowed me to get new computers and some other toys for the website.

Former Governor Haley Barbour gives his thoughts on tomorrow's election in his latest video posted below.

It's going to be busy on this website for the next 48 hours. I'm going to live-blog the election tomorrow night. Haven't picked out my wine or what I will eat, but those choices will enjoy serious consideration. Does Tico's do home-delivery? Anyway, the posts are going to be flying today and tomorrow so tune in early and often. Here is a link to the nationwide early voting stats and a link to making your own map:

I hate exit polls. I hate the "experts" sitting there on election night telling us what will happen before the votes are counted and I especially love it when they look stupid.  I dug up this old column from one of my favorite columnists, Mike Royko.  Mr. Royko urged people to lie to exit pollsters after they voted.  Some drive-time DJ's liked his column so much they read it on the air.  Next thing you know, the experts were looking pretty stupid as their exit polls were completely wrong that night.  Here is the column and if confronted by an exit pollster this week: LIE!!!:

The Wall Street Journal editorial page provided a very detailed column on the entire Benghazi debacle yesterday. (Italics are from WSJ, bold lettering is my emphasis):

If you are so inclined to watch, here is a speech given by Mitt Romney yesterday in Englewood, Colorado. Some are calling it his best speech of the campaign.  Much sharper than what he gave during the primaries.

((Channeling Kim Wade)) Likely Chokwe voter steals Rebublican Brian Perry's furniture off of his front porch in Belhaven in this video:

Four retired Madison County Schools principals and Ridgeland’s mayor endorse Janet Shearer for Madison County School Board, District 3. Miss Ann E. Smith and Kathy Rigsby, former principals at Ann Smith Elementary; Dr. Cheryl M. Stone, former principal at Highland Elementary; Lee Boozer, former principal at Ridgeland High School; and Mayor Gene McGee  encourage you to join them in supporting Janet with your vote on November 6.

Bored and want to have some fun? The 1940 census was posted online this year.  Gives some interesting information about your family members.  Enjoy.  Link to 1940 Census. 

The Blue Angels visited Jackson in 1963 for the opening of then Thompson-field.  A Mr. Tommy Griggs posted the video on Youtube.  Enjoy.

Sick of the elections? Ready for them to be over? Here is a different look at the two candidates. Warning: Very crude Language, cursing, and general jackassery.

Cheryl Lassiter scrutinized the salaries of Jackson Public School officials last night in this report and compared them to the slightly larger Desoto Public School District:

Will the Village Voice sue the Jackson Free Press?  Check out what the Village Voice has been doing in a courtroom in another state over the "Best of" label:

Amy McCullough reports in Bigger Pie Forum the stock price of KiOR changed after a Columbus newspaper changed its story.  Mississippi issued an interest-free $75 million loan to the company to construct a plant near Columbus.  Ms. McCullough writes:

The Clarion-Ledger reported yesterday the Governor thinks voters should voluntarily show their ID at the polls next week as a form of "protest":

The Marcy campaign sent this press release:

Kaptain Kangaroo managed to get this shot of a meteor streaking across the sky last night.

Halloween edition. Had some interesting music and clips. Discussed JPS, Dixon called, then moved on to Mayor's race, Crechale's, Presidential race, and a call from Gloria.  Enjoy.

This is a screenshot of Politico today. Notice anything?

The Jackson Public School Board voted 4-3 today to accept an agreement with the Mississippi Department of Education so it could keep its accreditation after voting 4-3 yesterday to reject the same agreement. However, the decision was met with strong protests by several board members who argued the agreement took away the district's right to appeal. The department said it would revoke the district's accreditation by November 1 if the district did not ratify the agreement.  Earlier post

The Jackson Public School Board reversed itself and voted 4-3 to accept an agreement with the Department of Education concerning its special education program.  The agreement allows the Jackson Public School District to keep its accreditation.  More to follow later as I upload the complete video and write a full post. 

Michael Moore and Moveon.org released this video. NOT SAFE FOR WORK OR KIDS!!!

Republican Congressional candidate Bill Marcy released this commercial attacking Bennie Thompson this morning:

Nothing like have a shark swimming around your front porch during a hurricane:

JPS School Board rejects settlement with state by a 4-3 vote. JPS could lose its accreditation Thursday.  Apparently the Board and attorney Jim Keith don't want to forfeit the right to appeal in a settlement as they think they can win in court. Nice. How much more money will be wasted by this broke district on a legal fees?

Bill Marcy will be releasing a nice little commercial tomorrow morning.

Latest political ad to go viral:

The 2012 annual actuarial report states the funding level for the "Supplemental Legislative Retirement Plan" (SLRP) fell to 68% from 73% in 2011. The legislature passed SLRP in 1999. The plan gives legislators retirement benefits that are 150% of what state employees receive under PERS.

If you want to send a letter of encouragement to Marcus Lattimore, here is the address:

Looks like the Obamabots now borrow a trick from Hitler and Kim Il Jong II and make an ad using children and if you don't vote for Obama, the kids are blaming you. They say so.  See for yourself*.

Great use of the cowbell in this song.

I might as well post this. These two idiots earned it.

Here is an example of the pressure that was put on Vicki Slater, a Madison attorney who is also chairwoman of the Mississippi Association for Justice (trial lawyers group),  to drop out of the race against Republican Congressman Gregg Harper.  A prominent local attorney involved in Democrat Party politics urged her in this email to drop out of the race.  Needless to say, she apparently followed his advice.  What was interesting was he urged her to drop out to help Earle Banks in his race against Chief Justice Bill Waller.  Read for yourself. Its actually pretty good reading and I don't mean that in a bad way.

The crime is bad. Tax hikes are coming. Sewage in the Pearl River. However, have no fear. In this time of crisis, here is a voice from the past we call all turn to:

Collection of all posts on PERS

The annual PERS actuarial report states the funding level for the Mississippi Public Employees Retirement System fell to 58% at the end of the 2012 fiscal year. PERS has been under scrutiny for several years as the funding level fell over several years even though contributions from employees and employers were increased. What is even more troubling is the deficit between contributions and payments to retirees jumped to $641,704,000. PERS earned a return on investments of only 0.6%. PERS investments are $19.8 billion.

Check out this tweet from the JFP yesterday:

The Sun-Herald provided an update on the special-needs 14 year-old student assaulted at George County High School last week:

" LUCEDALE -- Austin Stokes, the 14-year-old special needs student who was assaulted at George County High School last week, wanted to go back to school Tuesday, but his mother said the principal asked that Austin wait until Thursday.

"He wanted a day or so, so he could plan something for Austin's return," she said. But she said she wasn't sure what.

According to Lori Ann Dees, the principal also said Austin would not be welcome on the football team's float in Tuesday night's homecoming parade.

Dees said Austin had been invited to ride the float by a mother of one of the football players. The theme was to have been anti-bullying and Austin was excited to accept the invitation, she said.

But Dees said the principal who called told her rumors that Austin was hit by a football player caused such a stir in the Athletic Department that it would not be possible for Austin to ride the float.

"He said he felt it would cause more problems if he rode on the float with the football players," Dees said. "Austin was disappointed, but I asked him what he'd like to do instead of the homecoming parade, and he said he'd like to go to the county fair in Pascagoula. So that's what we're going to do." Article

This website did post it was a football player who hit Austin. The student was listed on a previous roster of the football team. The mother posted on her FB page it was a student. This website has attempted to contact the mother several times with no success.

Amy McCullough writes in Bigger Pie Forum about the start-up problems of Silicor and its $94 million state and local tax incentive packages. Silicor is a startup solar silicon and aluminum byproducts manufacturer that received a nice $75 million loan from Mississippi to open a plant in Columbus. Ms. McCullough reports:

"The company has had problems since the Mississippi Legislature approved $75.25 million on Sept. 2, 2011. About 12 days later the company -- then called Calisolar -- laid off 80 employees at its California solar cell manufacturing plant. It changed its business model and rebranded itself as Silicor Materials in March 2012....

The solar industry as a whole is struggling. See Bigger Pie Forum's post: "Should MS learn from its mistakes and prevent solar 'beef plants'?" "Lack of market assessment" was named by then-state Auditor Phil Bryant as one of the main pitfalls of the beef plant in his 2005 report on "what went wrong and how to prevent the same thing from happening in the future" called a "A Limited Review of the Mississippi Beef Processor's Cull Cow Project.”

Rest of post about Silicor at Bigger Pie Forum.

Bigger Pie Forum has purchased distribution rights on Jackson Jambalaya

Here is some S&M porn for Mississippi State people:

Here are the latest crime reports for Jackson, Byram, Madison, and the Rez:

I will be live-blogging the final debate tonight. Yes, final is the word. I don't think we can take many more of these mano a mano scenes. I expect the President to stay aggressive. Interesting to see what Romney will do as he hasn't said much about foreign policy and its the one area where a challenger is at a disadvantage. Feel free to comment as the debate goes. The big question is when do I eat this Krystal apple pie. Discovered them last week. Reminds me of how good they used to be at McDonald's before they started baking the damn things. Deep=fried, filled with apples, makes you think you are a little kid without a care in the world as you think mom is the greatest because she got you in one in the drive-through right after she picked you up from school. Anyway, I digress.

Its time. We are who about to die salute you.

No chest bumps. Figured they would be broh's by now. Going straight to Middle East and Libya. Bob bringing back Romney's quotes about Libya. Nice move by Romney to congratulate the President on killing Osama. Obama comes back with "brought the boys home" theme. Obama sounding presidential in his answer but gets off Libya real quick. Compares cost of Libyan intervention to Iraq. Good point. Romney a little shaky. Romney going into the laundry list. Gender equality? Um, even the so-called moderate Muslims don't believe in that goal. Romney mentions Egypt but leaves out brotherhood talking about tearing up the peace treaty with Israel. Obama is on the attack but Romney is taking it in stride. Romney letting him slide on Libya. Um, did everything possible? Ok. Romney coming back on Russia. Uh oh. Just mentioned Obama's comments to Russia about waiting until after the election.

President said you have to be clear on foreign policies. Romney can get him here on yes he was clear to Russia: we wouldn't oppose them, clear to Iran that we would stop Israel, and so on. At this point they are both landing punches.

Time for Syria. President says "organizing international community." Um, like Russia? President's rhetoric on Syria doesn't match the facts on the ground. Um, Mitt, what if there are no "responsible parties" in Syria? They won't admit that little fact. Here we are back on Libya again. Will Romney let him skate again? Back to Syria. Romney says no no-fly zones in Syria. Smart. Americans are war-weary. Bob brings up Mubarak. No regrets about telling him to go? Um, Obama is begging Romney to bring up the Muslim Brotherhood and what they are doing. Yeesh. Protect rights of women? They are attacking women in Egypt. They are running out the Christians. Will Romney respond? Now Obama is saying we have to "do things at home as well"? Obama flubbed that one. Now Romney responds on Egypt. Romney walks away from Egypt. Damn. Will he take a swing instead of presenting a policy paper? Now he is bringing up budget cuts and debt? Weak. Obama is giving more specifics on foreign policy as Romney did on the economy. Round to Obama.

What is America's role in the world. Expect them both to sing kumbaya here. Is Romney afraid of being called mean? Starting to look like it. He finally hits him on Obama's silence on the aborted Green Revolution. Obama taking credit for ending war in Iraq. Romney has yet to mention the surge, which is what really solved the problem. Obama now claims to be Israel's best friend. Will Romney respond to that one? Here we are back on the economy and the President is going to his well-used cliches. Obama throwing punches about Bush and Cheney. Did they land? Now Romney responds about the economy. Obama gave Romney a chance to play to his strength, which he is doing BUT NONE OF THIS IS ABOUT FOREIGN POLICY! Nice line about Latin America. Now we are talking about schools and teachers' unions?

This is where moderator should jump in and bring them back to foreign policy. NOW we are debating education. Will Mitt hit him on education? Chicago would be a good start. Obama backstabbing the kids who used vouchers in DC is another one. Now we are debating who wants to hire more teachers. Give me a break. Where is the moderator? He finally puts a stop to it but here we go again on education. we are halfway there.

Bigger military. Where does the money come from? No one points out our fighters are 40 years old. Not to mention our equipment is worn out after ten years of war. Here we are fighting over deficits and budgets. Obama needs to realize by fighting over the economy he is giving away his advantage to Romney. Brings up navy. Did Obama say horses and bayonets? Oooooooook.

Isreal and Iran. Obama opens up defending Israel. Operative phrase though: "If they are attacked". President points out state of Iranian economy. Good point. Good rebuttal is to point out there are two Iranian economies- one for the Quods and one for everyone else. Quods is doing just fine. Romney sounding tough on Iran, comparing them to apartheid and genocide "incitation". Obama sounding presidential again. Not being flippant, sounding sober and reasoned. Romney brings up green revolution. Nice jab. Mentions daylight quote. Obama looks ready to pounce. Response is to call Romney a liar. Oooook. Oh damn, it just got real. Mentions Romney's investments. Obama throwing punches. Will Romney?
"They noticed that you skipped Israel". Nice jab. He's letting him get away with the China comment. Now they are trading shots on general foreign policy. Damn. We still have 30 minutes or so to go. Is Obama really saying "I would take that shot"? Oh you did, did you? I'm giving slight edge to Obama at this point in the debate.

Afghanistan. Romney commits to bringing troops home by end of 2014. Surge been successful. The Afghans troops are shooting our troops. Never mind. Wow. Dick Morris agrees with me. WHAT? Did Obama just say "we were bogged down in Iraq"??? That begs for a retort. Will Romney let it slide? Bob does what Romney won't: brings up the arrest of the doctor who helped us. Will Mitt hit Barack on that one? At this point probably not. I need to hurry up and get to the fourth glass of this red zin. 15 more minutes. Ugh.

Um, HOW did we get this far into a foreign policy debate on China? Whoah. Did Bob just ask about drones? Yup and Mitt agrees with Obama's use of them. WOW, did we actually get to China with just a few minutes to go? Yes, we did. Obama says we will insist they "play by the rules". Um, hard to do when they own so much of our debt. China wants the world to be free and open? Um Mitt, that is when they get to ignore the rules. A little over five minutes to go. I want to eat that apple pie. Almost there. Romney brings up China not playing by the rules. Romney finally on firmer ground discussing China. Probably because its more of an economic argument. Obama gets personal again with Chinese investments. Oh please. Lets look at Obama's pension. I bet there are plenty of Chinese investments in that portfolios. Now Obama is attacking Romney. Where is the Romney who said Obama put 50 years of tax breaks for oil companies into one year for green energy? Now we are arguing over auto bailouts. Sigh. Back to arguing over economics. We are going to close by who wants to hire more teachers? ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

"I think we all love teachers". FINALLY!

Closing statement time. Please like me. Romney held his own at times in this debate, took shots in others. I give this debate to Obama. No knockdowns, nothing like the first debate, but edge to Obama but both appeared to be sober and serious.

USM football player's mom has to leave after she went off on someone heckling her son. Needless to say, some yokel at the game recorded the outburst and then of course posted it on Youtube. Sorry about the title embedded in the video. I didn't do it and frankly, I'm not changing it as I want people to see how some "fans" treat the parents of these players. Looks like racism to me but that's just me.



Now if the team would have some of this mom's passion, maybe they would not be um, winless.

Senators Kay Bailey-Hutchison and Barbara Mikulski promoted single-sex education on the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal last week:

"Studies have shown that some students learn better in a single-gender environment, particularly in math and science. But federal regulations used to prevent public schools from offering that option. So in 2001 we joined with then-Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Susan Collins to author legislation that allowed public schools to offer single-sex education. It was an epic bipartisan battle against entrenched bureaucracy, but well worth the fight.

Since our amendment passed, thousands of American children have benefited. Now, though, some civil libertarians are claiming that single-sex public-school programs are discriminatory and thus illegal.

To be clear: The 2001 law did not require that children be educated in single-gender programs or schools. It simply allowed schools and districts to offer the choice of single-sex schools or classrooms, as long as opportunities were equally available to boys and girls. In the vast and growing realm of education research, one central tenet has been confirmed repeatedly: Children learn in different ways. For some, single-sex classrooms make all the difference.

Critics argue that these programs promote harmful gender stereotypes. Ironically, it is exactly these stereotypes that the single-sex programs seek to eradicate.

As studies have confirmed—and as any parent can tell you—negative gender roles are often sharpened in coeducational environments. Boys are more likely, for instance, to buy into the notion that reading isn't masculine when they're surrounded by (and showing off for) girls.

Girls, meanwhile, have made so much progress in educational achievement that women are overrepresented in postgraduate education. But they still lag in the acquisition of bachelor's and graduate degrees in math and the sciences. It has been demonstrated time and again that young girls are more willing to ask and answer questions in classrooms without boys.

A 2008 Department of Education study found that "both principals and teachers believed that the main benefits of single-sex schooling are decreasing distractions to learning and improving student achievement." The gender slant—the math-is-for-boys, home-EC-is-for-girls trope—is eliminated.

In a three-year study in the mid-2000s, researchers at Florida's Stetson University compared the performance of single-gender and mixed-gender classes at an elementary school, controlling for the likes of class sizes, demographics and teacher training. When the children took the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (which measures achievement in math and literacy, for instance), the results were striking: Only 59% of girls in mixed classes were scored as proficient, while 75% of girls in single-sex ones achieved proficiency. Similarly, 37% of boys in coeducational classes scored proficient, compared with 86% of boys in the all-boys classes.

Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, Tenn., the winner of the 2011 Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge, went to a 81.6% graduation rate in 2010 from a graduation rate of 55% in 2007. Among the changes at the school? Implementing all-girls and all-boys freshman academies.

In Dallas, the all-boys Barack Obama Leadership Academy opened its doors last year. There is every reason to believe it will follow the success of the first all-girls public school, Irma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School, which started in 2004. Irma Rangel, which has been a Texas Education Agency Exemplary School since 2006, also took sixth place at the Dallas Independent School District's 30th Annual Mathematics Olympiad that year.

No one is arguing that single-sex education is the best option for every student. But it is preferable for some students and families, and no one has the right to deny them an option that may work best for a particular child. Attempts to eliminate single-sex education are equivalent to taking away students' and parents' choice about one of the most fundamentally important aspects of childhood and future indicators of success—a child's education.

America once dominated educational attainment among developed countries, but we have fallen disastrously in international rankings. As we seek ways to offer the best education for all our children, in ways that are better tailored to their needs, it seems not just counterproductive but damaging to reduce the options. single-sex education in public schools will continue to be a voluntary choice for students and their families. To limit or eliminate single-sex education is irresponsible. To take single-sex education away from students who stand to benefit is unforgivable.

Ms. Hutchison, a Republican, is the senior senator from Texas. Ms. Mikulski, a Democrat, is the senior senator from Maryland.

I strongly support single-sex education, especially in the lower grades. Look at the unwed birthrates in Mississippi. 70% in Hinds County. Probably higher in the black community. Some counties have rates of nearly 90%. Let that sink into your brain for a minute. Compare the graduation and dropout rates between boys and girls in Mississippi. Some of these schools such as Wingfield and Provine had graduation rates in the 50's but when you examine them by sex, the male graduation rate is in the 30's. That's right. At some schools barely a third of the boys graduate. Boys growing up on the streets, no dads, no positive male role models, yet we expect the teachers to just fix everything. Separate the children by sex until high school and try use same-sex teachers when possible, especially for the boys.

You can pay for it now.... or pay for it later when Chris Epps says he needs more money.

You may remember this video about raw sewage pouring onto Sheffield Drive after a city pipe busted:



Well, the city decided upon a temporary solution: Set up a pump that operates 24/7 and makes a Who concert seem quiet and then pipe the um, stuff, through the yard of a pre-school and then the playground at Parham Bridges:



Earlier post with more details of the sewage problem

The dreaded and feared Certificate of Need law appeared at the Mississippi Supreme Court this week. This time the victim is UMC:

"JACKSON — The Mississippi Supreme Court has refused to reconsider its ruling that the University of Mississippi Medical Center must follow the state's certificate-of-need law.

The court today denied requests to revisit its June ruling.

Mississippi's CON law limits where hospitals can locate and expand and what services they can provide.

The court ruled UMMC, as a competitor in the hospital marketplace, must abide by the same CON laws as the other 100-plus hospitals in Mississippi. However, the court said state health officials can determine when UMMC must do so.

UMMC said it was not subject to the CON law. St. Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital, Health Management Associates and Mississippi Baptist Medical Center took the view that the laws apply to UMMC as to all hospitals."

Perhaps its time to get signatures and put abolishing the CON law on the ballot.

Second Update: WLOX published this story on its website. The story includes an interview with the victim and his mother. The victim says the whole thing started when he was called a retard. The Superintendent issued this statement:

It was never a good sign on Dallas when Lieutenant Harry McSwain appeared on the scene as it usually meant J.R. have someone threatened or arrested. Hinds County Constable Jerry Moore is quickly acquiring the same reputation as in August he arrested Hinds County Republican Party Chairman Pete Perry.

The Hinds County Election Commission met in August to discuss the redistricting of Election Commissioner districts for the November Election. Supervisor Robert Graham was pressuring the commission to approve them as quickly as possible. Two precincts over 90% black were added to the district while one that was almost evenly divided between blacks and whites was removed.

The arrest warrant stemmed from an incident at a June meeting of the Election Commission. Hinds County resident Ineva May-Pittman addressed the commission (A JJ video of Ms. Pittman is posted below from a meeting of the Board of Supervisors.). At some point an argument ensured between Ms. Pittman and Commissioner Connie Cochran. Mr. Perry was sitting between the two individuals. Ms. Pittman alleged in charges filed against Mr. Perry that he “interrupted her public presentation and that he called her a “bad” word.) Mr. Perry said his warrant stated the charge was "general assault". It is important to note there have been no allegations of physical contact.

Mr. Perry told JJ the August meeting began 45 minutes late. He said shortly after it began, Mr. Graham entered the meeting with Constable Moore in tow. Constable Moore announced he had a warrant for Mr. Perry's arrest. Mr. Perry said the constable would not allow him to finish the meeting but instead took him into custody. Constable Moore promptly took him to Judge Sutton's courtroom where Mr. Perry sat for over 2 1/2 hours until Judge Sutton allowed him to post bail. The meeting was over when Mr. Perry was finally allowed to leave custody.

This is not the first time Mr. Graham or Constable Moore have been accused of abusing the legal process. Attorney Dennis Sweet alleged the constable illegally kicked open the door to a home and took a child from a grandmother in the Vance case in federal court. Hinds County resident alleged Mr. Graham used a Hinds County Deputy to have him removed from the Tougaloo precinct last year on election day even though he was a poll worker.

Mr. Perry reported the incident on my radio show two weeks ago. He discusses it at the end of the show at 41:00.