Jackson Jambalaya

More fully sourced, detail rich and research derived reporting you'll never read in the Jackson Free Press.


Kingfish is the best investigative reporter in Mississippi!

Good reporting KF. Not everyone wants to spend the time to look at audited financial statements.

Yeah you're on it with this one KF. Keep up the good work.

Though substantial the money being pissed away at the zoo pales in comparison to the torrents of red ink taxpaying Jacksonians are forced to endure from JATRAN and the debacle of the convention center.

Yarber and the rest of the stupid redistributionists on the City Council can feign and parry about this and that but the bottom line is that they keep voting for budgets that condone these massive shortfalls each and every fiscal year.

Hey, here's an idea Tony. Jack up taxes some more and let's roll with an increased sales tax rate. That is a whole lot easier to do that address the real illness.

Now both the City of Madison and parts of Rankin County are going to move away from shipping sewage to Jackson (and paying for it) leaving even more of the calamitous financial disaster to the tired shoulders of the rapidly shrinking tax base.

Jackson's bankruptcy approaches.

Thank goodness Chuckster has hired a former Detroit failure to help guide the process of Jackson from shit in the bowl to the actual flush.

And WLBT now reports that the zoo has lost its accreditation. Though the zoo will, of course, appeal the decision.
Zoo Loses Accreditation

Thanks 9:54 AM-- we have not seen the bottom of the sewage pit just yet.

MORE crapola. The Zoo lost its accreditation last SUNDAY but it only comes to light today. Shut down the damn Zoo and cut the losses.

It's serious when an auditor makes a going concern statement in their report. They really don't like doing that because the client usually gets upset over having that issue pointed out. Also, something to bear in mind is that if the water and sewer bill were included at $700,000, the excess of current liabilities over current assets would look much worse.

Close the damn zoo and stop throwing good money after bad.

While you are digging KF take a look at the Jackson Zoo Foundation which files separately from JZS.

Curious if the accreditation loss was also being kept from the Council.

Hard to reconcile how a big talker like Stamps goes wiggy over a Fortification change order but isn't raising a ruckus about the Jackson Zoo money pit.

Btw, you won't hear a peep 9:29 AM out of the JFP because Donner's "bestie" Prichard Morris sits on the BOD of the JZS and has had her butt parked in a ringside seat to the train wreck.

You're wrong @11:26. DonnerKay's bestie is herself.

Usually somebody says 'follow the money', but, in this case, follow the employment roste. It will probably be claimed that personnel files don't exist at a non-profit; however, somebody has the payroll records. They'll probably never surface, but would be interesting to see who all is dining in the club car while this train wreck occurs. Vegas odds say Harvey knows every one of them by name and 'close cousin' status.

WLBT has the answer to the Zoo's woes hidden at the end of their story:

Zoo attendance is down 35 percent over the past three years. A slight uptick was seen last year, when the zoo added a splash pad.

Turn the Zoo into a water park. Take a page from the brilliant Metrocenter ad campaign of a few years ago ("Get your shopping on/Get your leasing on") and put billboards up around town that say "Get yo splash on!". Admission is $10, payable in cash or SNAP. Turn the opening into a gala event with a cameo by the Mean Machine Dancers from the old Black Gold program. They can recreate the scene where they chase the train into the tunnel, then exit being chased by the train (with one dude on the cow catcher).

Of course you could just cry racism.

What a shame, I fear we won't be able to debate the moving of the zoo much longer, as there won't be anything to move.

Can anyone who has been in Jackson for a while, explain why Livingston Lake is closed? Open that, charge a small fee, and the neighborhood suddenly has something positive to hang its hat on.

That's the problem with those pesky auditors. You let those people get one foot in the door...they start asking a lot of questions and adding up columns of figures....they print reports and mix in a healthy dose of sunshine.

Then, church is out!

Oh, Lordy!

Dear kf please please ask them why they took federal money ear marked for the exhibits in the education building and used it to pay off "debt" the deputy director and director said they would replace it in the summer with profits but never did and that my friend is why there now sits an empty room in the education building which btw the deputy director now uses as his office and there is only a classroom with fold out chairs and card tables for the children what happened to the exhibits the play area and all the educational activities oh and the tables and chairs was also a grant for 800, 000 dollars but the kids get card tables and chairs and one classroom in a million dollar educational building built for them and they have the nerve to name it the gertrude c ford educational building if she could see that she would rip her name off it so fast your head would spin they gaurd their records because they are padding those books

Let us dig up even more history at the zoo and the old educational building Faith Hills brother used to be the educational director at the zoo he got his sister to give a free concert all proceeds were to go to a new education center after she raised all that money for the zoo the deputy director took the funds and used them for different stuff in the zoo and told faith hill he was going to do what he wanted to with the money faith hill said she would never help the zoo again and the brother was no longer the director this is what kind of person runs our zoo in jackson and btw call and speak to faith hills reps or her brother they will verify this to be true

Wesley, Faith Hill's brother, was a great asset to the zoo while he was there. My children went to Zoo Camp every summer they could growing up, mostly because he ran a top notch program. My oldest eventually graduated college, came back and worked at the zoo for two years, then was accepted to vet school where she is now. Most of this is because of Wesley. I grew up myself coming to Jackson and going to the zoo, and swimming in Livingston Lake and having picnics. What a shame.

To 12:24 and 12:32: after reading that I suddenly had a craving for a comma.

Thanks for that post 5:25. I was trying to remember the name of Faith Hill's brother. I used to see him on television talking about the zoo and showcasing various animals. Did not know if he was still there or not. Sounds like your family's experience with him (and the impact of it) was a very positive thing. Hope your daughter continues in that admirable profession.

Though I can't find it now, on either WAPT or WLBT last night at 6:00 the zoo director was asked about filing quarterly reports. She said she did file the reports, and I believe she said she turned them in to the Budget Dept. of Jackson. Hmmm. So if that's true, why didn't the City Council get them? Not sure who is telling the truth here.