By now you have all seen the video of the truck allegedly driven by Dedmon running over James Anderson.
Horrific. Outrageous. Sickening. Despicable. None of those words can describe the horror of watching that video. Maybe Clockwork Orange comes the closest. I have no problem giving the death penalty to Mr. Dedmon if possible and if convicted. In fact, I'd have no problem volunteering to be the executioner although its a shame he would get a shot of happy juice instead of what he deserves: death by flogging.
There is no question Mississippi has come a long way since the days of its segregationist past. It took literally blood, sweat and tears from many people- black and white, to change things and today Mississippi is a better place. Then these little Alex's kill a black man for fun and bam- here comes the national media asking if Mississippi has really changed, running headlines about redneecks looking for black people to kill.
Then of course over at you know who's website, she finally gets to realize her dream: reliving the civil rights fights of the 1960's she so tragically missed. Of course, Ladd couldn't resist the opportunity to throw her filth in this direction:
"Agreed, Duan. The media bear huge blame for how people perceive Jackson. And the kinds of blatant bigotry we see in anonymous comments on local blogs and under Clarion-Ledger stories always play out in violence. These kinds of perceptions have long justified, in heads of young, confused men like Dedmon et al, heinous hate crimes."
Yeah, ok. this blog bashes Jackson (Yes, I'm being sarcastic) all the time and the crime problem. That's why I post the actual stats every week and then lately have attempted to somewhat analyze them. Guess what, crime is down across the city BUT for Precinct 4 and in that area, house burglaries are waaaaay up. I've been accused of being a tool of Downtown Jackson Partners and accused again of being too pro-Madison and Rankin. Can't please everyone, I guess. I also let people be stupid and make dumb comments on this website unless they slander or get out of control. I happen to believe in free speech and that includes letting people be stupid. People too often convict themselves with their own words and when they do it, I'm going to let them do it so everyone else can see what is out there. Now the Clarion-Ledger is indeed ridiculous and I can't believe some of the stuff that stays on that site but I won't apologize for taking a progressive approach to free speech. However, she was just getting warmed up:
"I rather agree with sunshine: Every Mississippian should be speaking out against this. Not speaking up about what appears to be a blatant race crime makes us no better than, well, the folks who didn't speak out against the murder of Emmett Till, and so many others.
Have we really changed, Mississippi? I believe yes, but let's prove it. The world is watching and waiting to her our outrage.
posted by DonnaLadd on 08/09/11 at 09:10 AM"
The old "if you don't speak out against it you condone it" line. Um yeah. Ok. Then one commentor said ONLY the CL covered this story. Must have missed the tv coverage on multiple stations several weeks ago or this earlier post publishing the police reports and reporting Alex and his droogs committed similar acts against other kids at school. Then of course they come up with the idea of a vigil for Mr. Anderson:
"Folks, let's do the vigil. We owe it to every black person every killed in this state because of his or her skin color. And we need to show these young whites growing up amid hate that there is another way. posted by DonnaLadd on 08/09/11 at 03:39 PM"
Well guess what folks, we are about to have a Robert Paulson moment. I'm pretty mad this guy was killed and if convicted, I want these thugs to fry. Everyone got that? But lets put this in perspective. If you are black and living in Jackson, the chances of you dying because some racist thugs come to Jackson to kill for fun is near zero even after this murder. But lets remember Robert Paulson. His name was not Robert Paulson but Deronnie Spencer, a rising junior at Lanier High School.
Look at his picture good because he doesn't deserve to be forgotten after his 72 hours of media coverage. He doesn't get any CNN headlines. He doesn't get the star reporters parachuting into Jackson to report their phony outrage over his death. He was from all accounts a good kid well-liked by his fellow students at Lanier. One could feel his coach's grief on tv as he talked about what that young man meant to him and his team. It wasn't too many years ago Lanier had a real problem with young black males doing well at that school- only two had a GPA over 3.0 one year. Now a leader among the student body only to be brutally gunned down while sitting in a car.
Where is the outrage over this act? Where are the vigils? Where is CNN? Oh, just a young black man killed by another black man. Its horrible you see but well, it happens all the time so we'll forget about it. A young man gunned down. All of his hopes and dreams taken away in one night. A family and school mourning when it should be celebrating the joy and promise of youth. Then there is James McKinney. Remember him?
James McKinney was a security guard working at the Shell Station on Fortification Street when he was brutally gunned down by some thugs. He died protecting an employee, a man of another race. Mr. McKinney just happened to be black as were his accuses killers. Mr. McKinney was being a productive member of society and doing a job few others are brave enough to do- and was killed for it. He deserves a place in Valhalla. He didn't get CNN. He didn't get more than his 72 hours of media coverage. His sacrifice won't be used in a crusade for anything. He'll just be forgotten in a few weeks while Mr. Dedmon and his friends receive more than their share of attention for killing Mr. Anderson.
Did I mention a search of the JFP site revealed no mention of James McKinney or Deronnie Spencer? (I'll correct that sentence if wrong.) Here is the only reference:
"Last night on Facebook, I saw some folks posting about the awful crimes we've seen in Jackson of late, including the Lanier High School student, may he rest in peace. Some of the comments seem to be headed the direction we often see a year or so before mayoral elections kick in: blaming the chief and mayor for not speaking out more. Having covered—or been mired in—the Frank Melton campaign and then mayoral tenure, that kind of language makes me nervous, and just sounds political even if it's not meant to"
Ah yes, it either has to go back to Frank Melton or be a defense of Harvey Johnson as he can do no wrong and is their precious little baby who must be protected at all costs. If there is a reason I'm against treating crime as a hate crime, this is why. All crime is an expression of hate and murder is the ultimate hate crime, regardless of reason. Suddenly the murderers of Anderson are elevated above those of McKinney or Spencer. They are all murderers and deserve the same retribution if convicted. The Anderson murder will probably be the only such crime committed by a white perp in Jackson this year as compared to 40-50 committed by blacks against black victims. Well, on this site we remember all of the victims, just not those who fit a political agenda or who can sell another issue. When remembering Mr. Anderson as you watch the video, remember Mr. McKinney and Mr. Spencer as well.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
His name was Robert Paulson
WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
The Madison County Journal published a story that was downright funny:
"Accusations fly in heated senate race
By STEVEN G. WATSON
Associate Editor
MADISON - At a political forum five days before last week's primary election, Charles Barbour thanked Will Longwitz for running a clean campaign in the District 25 Senate race. It seems that was the last time either candidate had something nice to say about the other.
The race for District 25 has gotten heated in the last two weeks as Barbour and Longwitz trade barbs leading up to a runoff election Tuesday, Aug. 23. Neither received more than 50 percent of the vote in the Aug. 2 Republican primary.
From a debate over the candidates' NRA ratings (both received As), to arguments over basic semantics and even a rumor one has cancer, both camps are crying foul and the battle is being waged through mail outs and calls to voters.
Barbour says Longwitz started the fracas with a misleading mail out questioning his voting record as a Hinds County Supervisor.
Longwitz says Barbour should be held accountable for his voting record and that the questions are valid.
Barbour says Longwitz has a history of "sleazy politics" and misrepresents his qualifications.
Longwitz says Barbour is desperate and trying smear his name instead of talking about the issues.
The two are even arguing whether or not they had an agreement not to run negative campaigns.
And so it goes as the District 25 race, which along with races for sheriff and justice court judge, will highlight the runoff election in Madison County.
Barbour said the whole thing started with an "attack piece" mailed out to Northeast Jackson by the Longwitz camp the weekend before the primary.
The mailer calls into question Barbour's time as a Hinds County Supervisor, claiming he voted to "raid" the Hinds County E-911 fund and increase the county's debt.
Barbour said the accusations in the mail out are ridiculous and at best taken out of context.
"Saying 'raided' implies stealing and every financial transaction Hinds County makes is monitored by the State Auditor and Attorney General," Barbour said, explaining that any funds taken from the E-911 fund were later replaced as part of the budget process.
He also pointed to Hinds County's bond rating that was upgraded while he was on the board.
"The rating agencies had great confidence in what I did as a supervisor," Barbour said. "And I'm extremely proud of my record as a supervisor."
Longwitz denies that the mail out was dirty.
"We haven't done anything but state my opponent's voting record," he said. "The votes he took are bad for Hinds County and he should explain them."
Since the mail out, the Barbour camp fired back with calls in Madison County that Longwitz described as "push polls."
The calls assert that Longwitz lied about his rating with the NRA when he claimed to have the organization's top rating.
Longwitz received an "AQ" rating from the NRA, while Barbour received an "A." Both are not the highest rating given by the NRA, which is an "A+."
However, technically Longwitz's "AQ" rating is the top rating he can receive since he has never held public office and has no voting record.
Longwitz called the calls from Barbour's camp despicable and underhanded.
"The dirty and dishonest telephone push polls that they've brought into Madison County need to stop," he said. "That's dirty politics and Madison County doesn't want it.
"I'm going to continue talking about why I am the best candidate for this district," he continued. "I want to keep talking about jobs, economic growth and lower taxes. If my opponent wants to run a dirty campaign that's up to him."
Barbour would not apologize for the accusations about his opponents NRA rating.
"He lied about it," he said simply. "He claimed to be top rated and he's not."
Barbour went even further saying this type of thing is an example of how Longwitz "stretches the truth," noting the campaign he ran against Steve Ratcliffe in the 2010 Madison County Court Judge race.
"If you look at the sleaze he put out towards Ratcliffe he's done the same thing to me," Barbour said.
Longwitz, who garnered the majority of votes in the Aug. 2 primary, denies running a negative campaign and says his opponent is desperately trying to change the conversation from what it should be about.
"They know that the voters of this district have made their choice and all they can do is go dirty and negative," Longwitz said. "I'm talking about my ideas and my plans for this district. We're also talking about my opponent's record, if that's upsetting to him he should address it."
Along with all the finger-pointing Longwitz said they've even stooped to starting rumors or a "whisper campaign" claiming he has cancer, which he said was completely false.
Barbour outright denies starting any such rumors asking why he would want to give his opponent the "sympathy vote?"
The two are even arguing over whether an agreement was reached six months before the election not to run a negative campaign.
Barbour claims the two promised to concentrate on their own ideas and qualifications and not run negative things about each other.
"We had an agreement and I think it's fundamental to this argument that one of us has violated that agreement and led to all this unpleasantness," he said.
Longwitz denies there was ever any deal and again says all he is doing is talking about the issues and who is most qualified for District 25.
"I never talked to my opponent about any back room deal," Longwitz said. "If he believes there is one then he has broken it.
"The only deal I have with my opponent is the same deal I have with the voters of District 25, and that is to talk about how I would perform as their next state Senator," he added.
Longwitz is an attorney in private practice and lives in Madison. Barbour, a Jackson resident, is retired from the U.S. Military and is in real estate management.
Whoever wins the Republican nomination will face Democrat Cecilia Sampayo in the Nov. 8 General Election."
I read this story to a certain county GOP chairman last night over the phone and by the time we got through with it, we were both laughing so hard there might have been a small tremor in Jackson. How old are Charles and Will? 5? Make him stop touching me!! HE started it!!! No, HE started it!!! He's lying!! No, HE'S lying!!! HE started it!!! STOP TOUCHING ME!!! Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!
Message to both candidates: Both of y'all, KNOCK IT OFF!!!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
You can't make this up.
Cheryl just posted a good story about Hinds County on the WLBT website. Read it and weep. You just can't make this up.
Click Here to Read More..
Blogger having hiccup.
If can't view all of site, use Firefox, Chrome, or another browser. IE having a problem with blogger for some reason although if you click on the individual post in IE, everything comes up.
Bahou & Gaines endorse Harkins
Former Senate #20 candidates Steve Gaines and Tony Bahou endorsed Josh Harkins in this press release:
¬¬FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: August 8, 2011
CONTACT: Josh Harkins
PHONE: 601-781-0825
EMAIL: Josh@joshharkins.com
BAHOU AND GAINES ENDORSE HARKINS FOR SENATE
(Jackson, Miss.)—State Senate Candidate Josh Harkins today received the formal endorsement of both fellow primary contenders for the Senate District 20 seat, Tony Bahou and Steve Gaines. Gaines and Bahou combined for 18% of the vote but fell short of making the runoff.
“I'm throwing my support behind Josh Harkins. I believe Harkins will serve the people of Madison and Rankin counties well as the Senator from District 20,'" said Tony Bahou, candidate for Senate.
“While on the campaign trail, my wife and I met a lot of great people and I feel it is my responsibility to recommend Josh Harkins as our next Senator. There is a reason soon-to-be Governor Bryant and Congressman Harper have endorsed Josh Harkins, it’s called integrity and class,” said Steve Gaines, candidate for Senate.
"I am honored to have the endorsements from my fellow candidates. I appreciate the way both men ran hard and respectful campaigns. I believe that their endorsement of my campaign is a testament to my candidacy and their view that I am the best choice to represent the people of District 20," said Harkins.
Bahou and Gaines join the Home Builders Association of Mississippi, the Mississippi Association of Realtors, U.S. Congressman Gregg Harper, Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, Former GOP Chairman Jim Herring and Flowood Mayor Gary Rhoads in their endorsement of Josh Harkins for Senate.
Josh Harkins is a Republican candidate for the Mississippi Senate District 20, representing parts of Rankin and Madison counties. He is a licensed real estate broker and contractor. He lives in Flowood with his wife and two daughters.
To find out more about Josh’s campaign go to www.joshharkins.com.
Click Here to Read More..
Santelli slams Meredith
"Stick with munis" Too funny. Starts at 3:00 mark or so.
After she said this at the 9:30 mark:
An update on our little monitor
Mr. "Too Sweet" Henderson has the following convictions:
Three years for possession of cocaine with intent. Pled guilty on 5/26/92. Indictment #92-1-090-00.
Three years for possession of cocaine. Two years was suspended. 3 years probation. Pleaded guilty on 11/21/97. Probation ended in 2002. Was fined $2,000.
One year for receiving stolen property. Sentenced on 12/5/97.
His MDOC ID Number is 98630.
Mr. Henderson has been a frequent visitor to the Hinds County Courthouse during the last week as he sits with the Tyrone Lewis team as they "monitor" the vote-counting process. Too Sweet was also once one of Frank's special kids. Notice how many of the Melton gang have been at the courthouse to "monitor"? This correspondent reported yesterday (with video) Mr. Too Sweet was arrested more than once for cocaine possession, receiving stolen property, and auto theft. His record has been clean this decade but I don't think he was going to be arrested for anything under the Frank Melton regime.
The conviction for receiving stolen property bars Mr. Henderson from voting. Think that stopped him from voting? Of course not. He registered to vote on November 17, 2003 and is registered in precinct #62 and last voted on November 2, 2010. It is unknown if he voted in the election last week.
Gotta love it.
Click Here to Read More..
Longwitz calls on Barbour to stop "negative push polling"
August 8, 2011—Will Longwitz Campaign for Senate District 25 today called on his opponent, Charles Barbour, to immediately halt his campaign of negative push polling. The push poll has been reportedly conducted over the past two days. Those receiving the calls have been asked if they would vote for Longwitz if it was known that he lied about an NRA endorsement.
"To say I have misrepresented my rating from the NRA is ridiculous," said Longwitz. "It's clear as day to anyone that I received an 'A' rating from the NRA. I have a copy of the letter displayed on my website. Charles knows this. It's despicable that he would spend money to smear my name in such an underhanded way. I have been a very dedicated member of the Republican Party and the TEA Party, and stand very firmly behind all constitutional principles, including our Second Amendment rights."
The push poll reportedly also indicates that the two candidates agreed to not resort to negative campaigning.
"The only deal I have with my opponent is the same deal I have with the voters of District 25, and that is to talk about how I would perform as their next State Senator. I don't need to resort to back room political deals. Maybe that's how he does business, but I won't. I have a record of community service. The people I have had the pleasure of serving alongside know what I stand for. The voters should be allowed to look at those qualifications and elect the right man for the job without being inundated with these playground antics. Charles apparently wants to treat this as some sort of game. He should stop this nonsense now and start talking about his record and his ideas. I'm out talking with the voters about my record of service and the important issues like education funding, redistricting, and reducing government spending."
Will Longwitz is an active member o the Madison County Republican Party and the Madison County TEA Party. Working on Governor Haley Barbour’s Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal, Will helped Mississippi recover from its worst natural disaster, Hurricane Katrina. As a federal civil prosecutor, he has worked to fight fraud and protect people’s money. He has worked as an attorney for the State of Mississippi, helping to administer funds for rebuilding housing destroyed by the Hurricane Katrina. As a small business owner, Will understands what it means to make a small business run every day.
Here is Mr. Longwitz's NRA letter stating his "A" rating"
Click Here to Read More..
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Is anyone surprised?
Can the Hinds County Democratic Party get any crazier? Check out what they did tonight. The Clarion-Ledger reported
"Hinds County Democratic Executive Committee Chairman Claude McInnis is not allowing reporters in the committee’s meeting this evening on whether to certify the results from the Aug. 2 primary.
McInnis turned away a Clarion-Ledger reporter at the door, saying news media would not be allowed.
Asked why, he said, “because we have so desired it.”
The 18-member committee is facing criticism and scrutiny in the face of election-day snafus and a post-election ballot count fraught with problems.
The committee is meeting at the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance, 612 N. State St. in Jackson, to vote on certifying the results."
Here is my favorite passage though:
"On Friday at the McMillin camp's request, McInnis re-examined the three Precinct 58 voting machines. Machine totals showed 155 votes were cast, but that 496 signed the voter registry.
The re-tallying of the machines revealed poll workers only submitted the ballots cast on one machine. The new count of 377 votes still fell short of the signatures.
On Sunday, "we had discovered multiple precincts where the computers had not downloaded the votes," Pickett said. "We had hoped that review would continue, and it did not."
Guess y'all didn't learn anything from what the Hinds BOS pulled earlier this year, did y'all? You see how that turned out for them, didn't you? Reminds me a little bit of 2003 now that I think about it.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Meet Tyrone Lewis monitor Too Sweet
Note: FOLO has apparently disappeared. Here is the link to the actual Hickman deposition.
Meet Tyrone Lewis team member Too Sweet, otherwise known by his Christian name as Robert Earl Henderson, Jr.
He is the black guy holding the orange juice in front of the camera throughout the video. He hung out at the courthouse all day Saturday as part of the Tyrone Lewis team. He had free rein to roam through the basement of the Hinds County Courthouse Saturday, including the room where the Election Commissioners met, by the table where the committee counted votes, and the circuit clerk's office. Apparently his job was to "monitor" the vote-counting process for the Lewis campaign. Several people informed this correspondent Mr. Henderson hung around the courthouse "monitoring" the vote-counting for several days.
Why do I call him "Too Sweet"? Well, Too Sweet was once one of Frank's special kids. This passage is from the deposition of Stephan Hickman in the Sherrod Moore case in 2008:
"BY MR. SMITH: (Continuing) Q. Do you know a Too Sweet?
A. Yes, sir, I do.
Q. Okay. His name is also Robert Henderson?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Okay. Did you ever talk to Robert Henderson since you’ve been locked up?
A. With him, I talked probably about a good five minutes to him. He had a few questions to ask me as far as who was telling — who was — how much evidence they have on me and my case, what did Shawn tell me, where is Shawn being housed at, has he moved to Parchman yet, is he still down there with you.
He had questions like that at first. Then he came on also to say like well, you know, they was like well, you know, Too Sweet was going to be the one that was going to end up getting close enough to Shawn to knock him off, you know, to kill him, because he got access to come inside the jail. And then even if he don’t do it himself — see, Too Sweet, he got this forte, you know what I’m saying, this persona like, you know, he’s this godly person. You know, he stand beside, you know, the street and, you know, vote for such and such and such. And, you know, it’s like he done turned his life over.
But at the same time, this is right now, Frank Melton, this is his, you know, his push-along guy. If he needs somebody to be pushed, he’s going to push the buttons hard enough to where to get it done. But he’s just going to do it legally instead of illegally. But he’s going to do it illegally to make it look legal, you know.
Q. Okay. And so when did you talk to Henderson?
A. I talked to him — well, I talked to him once while I was in Parchman, then I talked to him once while I was here.
Q. Here as in downtown Jackson?
A. While I was downtown.
Q. Okay. And what did he want?
A. When he talked — when I talked to him down here he just asked me was Shawn still around me and, you know, what was he talking about, what did he say. But now, he also said that, you know, Shawn was the next person to get killed. You know, he was like they had already — they done already made — that he talking. Even though we already knew on TV that they weren’t going to really just do anything to Sherrod, even after the statement that he said, you know, on the news that, you know, ask Frank Melton about what’s going on. You know, after that we knew he wasn’t — they just wasn’t going do nothing to him." Rest of deposition Mr. Henderson was also quoted in the media defending Mr. Melton when a mistrial was declared.
It appears Mr. Henderson has not exactly been a good little boy over the years,which would probably qualify him to be one of Frank's special kids. Born in 1972, Mr. Henderson has been arrested more than once:
2/27/97: Violation of Probation, Contempt of Court, Disorderly Conduct
7/10/96: Possession of C/S (controlled substance)
11/10/95: Possession of cocaine, contempt of court
5/26/92: Receiving stolen property
3/2/92: Receiving stolen property
9/6/91: Possession of cocaine
3/18/91: Auto theft
1/15/91: Possession of cocaine
9/20/90: Possession of cocaine
JJ is working to learn the disposition of these cases. It must be pointed out it is not known if Mr. Henderson was convicted of any of these charges. However, it is disturbing Mr. Lewis would send someone with this background to "monitor" the vote-counting process.
Latest crime stats
Here are the latest crime reports for Jackson and Madison:
Jackson crime stats for week ending July 31, 2011.
Jackson major crimes overview for week ending July 31, 2011.
A quick review of the overview report shows property crimes down 11% in the last 28 days with business burgarlies dropping a third. Property crimes are down only 2.7% YTD compared to last year although business burglaries are down 35% in that category. Armed robberies (31%) and carjackings (42%) are down substantially YTD compared to last year as well. However, rapes are up 27% YTD as there are 17 more in 2011. Overall violent crime is down 15% YTD compared to last year. I know its not a sexy headline but that means 164 less incidents of violent crime and that is good news if you are one of those 164 that were not attacked. ;-)
Now on to Precinct 4. House burglaries jumped 171% in one week: 7 to 19. Ouch. They have risen 19% in the last 28 days (52 to 62), 29% from a year ago (373 to 482), and still 60% more than two years ago. Business burglaries are down 57% in the last 28 days as they dropped from 37 to 16 incidents and they are down 50% YTD as there are half the number as there were last year.
Bad news if you're a home in NE Jackson but good news if you're a person as violent crime fell 24% YTD from last year. There were no rapes that week although rape in Precinct 4 is up 170% YTD over 2010. Armed robberies are down 42% as there are 53 less YTD than in 2010. There were 47 fewer incidents of violent crime than there were in 2010 YTD.
City of Madison crime reports through August 3, 2011.
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Sunday, August 7, 2011
JJ blew it
We don't hide mistakes or corrections at JJ and this time will be no exception. Just to drive that point home, the rest of this post will be published in bold lettering.
The other night I posted there would be a runoff in the Sheriff's race. I was not repeating idle gossip or uninformed speculation but had no less than three very good sources who had been right on other matters before. It came down to a judgment call similar to the one made when Frank Melton died and JJ had received very credible information about his passing when no official word had been published. I made the decision to make the post. My sincere apologies to anyone in either of the campaigns who was upset by the post then or upset now to realize it was made in error. I'm leaving the comments open as I when I make a mistake, I have no problems taking my ass-whupping.
Mr. Lewis will be certified the winner tomorrow and JJ is sure this will be a very interesting week where the Sheriff's race is concerned.
Results from Hinds County Sheriff's race
Ya want the numbers, here they are:
Tyrone Lewis: 18,788 votes, 50.79%
Malcolm McMillin: 16,702 votes, 45.15%
Johnnie Bowden: 1,500 votes, 4.06%
Word is Mr. Lewis will be certified the winner with these numbers at some point. Of course, given the last few days, anything could happen.
AND here are the results from Hinds County Supervisor District #5:
Kenny Stokes: 3,314, 51.69%
George Smith: 3,097, 48.31%
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Cheryl & Elizabeth go to the circus too.
Cheryl shows up at the Circus:
and Elizabeth Crisp provides pretty good coverage in the Clarion-Ledger this morning. Here is a passage from her story with a great quote:
"Andrew McMillin said questions remain about vote totals. He noted that at one precinct, 192 people signed in but only 20 votes were recorded. "It appears they want to go ahead with the certification, despite the discrepancies," he said.
McInnis said he did not find anything unusual about the sign-in discrepancy.
"There are almost always more signatures than there are votes," he said. "That always happens."
He said it's due in part to people not voting in every race, and sometimes people sign in but do not vote."
Hinds County GOP Chairman Pete Perry had something to say about it:
"Despite McInnis' insistence that it's not unusual to have more signatures than votes, Perry said it has been rare in his experience.
"If those numbers aren't the same, you should be able to identify why," said Perry, who has worked on election challenges across the state.
He also said he has never seen someone sign in and then not vote."
Stay tuned.
Went to the Hinds County Circus today
Went to the Hinds County Courthouse and shot some video of the vote-counting process for the Democratic Primary. I'm going to add more videos as I upload them so enjoy. h, did I mention George was the only Supervisor that came up there and well, he was fairly subdued.
Part I:
What are these boxes? These are boxes containing supplies for the poll workers and are shipped out to each precinct. They are ALL supposed to be sealed. The seal is marked by a red tag and has a number. Pete Perry, Chairman of the Hinds County Republican Party, said there are ballots found in the boxes after every election. The boxes contained affidavits and absentee ballots shipped from the precincts in past elections. This is the first election where said ballots were shipped back to the Circuit Clerk in separate boxes.
What was found instead was these boxes are all sitting out by the elevators in the basement and have been there since Tuesday night. The slots are not sealed. Numerous boxes are not sealed with the red tags and indeed, several upon a cursory inspection showed the zippers were open. Watch the entire video as a serious effort was made to document what I saw. Someone could place ballots in the boxes and there is no way of knowing if box integrity or security was violated. Interesting.
Part II:
Then of course MORE ballots were found:
after they told Stephanie Parker Weaver there were no more ballots after they found some more and the Reverend Hightower threw a fit:
Pete Perry tried to make sense of it for Cheryl after the second batch of ballots were found:
Irby states intention to sue for malicious prosecution.
Conservators for Stuart M. Irby, Sr. filed a Notice of Verified Petition for Rule 27 depositions to file testimony, Friday in Madison County Circuit Court. The petition states Mr. Irby will file a suit for malicious prosecution against Lee Bounds and Madison Police Officer Vickie Currie, after the cyberstalking case against him is "terminated". The petition states the indictment against him is still pending.
The petition states Mr. Bounds is the first husband of Karen Irby. It claims Mr. Irby took "Mr. Bounds and his entire family to lunch one Sunday to celebrate the birthday" of one of his daughters (Karen and Lee's child). "Mr. Irby took several photographs of the family. Later, Mr. Irby sent Mr. Bounds photographs of Mr. Bounds' seventeen year old daughter, which he had photo-shopped by putting pictures" her face "onto the body of an adult female wearing a swimsuit."
The petition refers to the email as a "sophomoric prank" and states it was "emailed to Mr. Bounds, not to his daughter". The petition then states Mr. Bounds "emailed Mr. Irby asking if he could use Mr. Irby's condominium in Destin, Florida during his daughter's Spring Break."
Here is where it gets real interesting and I predict a suit will be filed against the Madison Police Department at some point. The petition states the mother of the daughter is a Madison Police investigator. Uh-oh. Everyone get that? Question that must be asked is why Madison did not turn the case over to MCSO or MBI. Expect Mr. Irby's lawyers to hit this point when they file suit. It is also stated Ms. Currie is also a Madison County Investigator and has a "close professional and personal relationship" with Mr. Bounds' ex-wife.
It is further argued Madison has no jurisdiction, as the alleged violation never took place in Madison. The petition alleges Mr. Bounds claims he was eating lunch at Wendy's in Madison when he opened the email. However, the suit claims Mr. Bounds ate lunch that day in Jackson and thus "provided false information under oath".
Hmmm....... remember my post last week? I seem to remember writing this:
"That was the news portion, now for the informed commentary part of this post. Lee Bounds is the ex-husband of Karen Irby. These two men know each other- well. In fact, Mr. Bounds sued Mr. Irby for alienation of affection in 2004. The case settled in 2005. There is a history of animosity between these two men. Several sources have informed JJ what took place was the Irby family went to the King Edward hotel for Sunday brunch. Mr. Bounds was invited to bring his family, which he did. Mr. Irby took pictures and Mr. Bounds daughter was one of those photographed. Apparently Mr. Irby learned how to photoshop a few months ago and thinks its pretty funny to photoshop his friends' faces on other bodies like the Hulk, swimsuit models, and the like. He took the daughter's face (who is seventeen) and photoshopped it on some swimsuit models and emailed the pictures to Mr. Bounds supposedly as a joke. Unfortunately for Mr. Irby, the girl's mother is a Madison (city) police officer.
However, several questions must be asked about this prosecution. Why was the Madison Police investigating this incident as it involved one of their own police officers? Standard procedure would have been for the Madison PD to hand the case off to another law enforcement agency such as the Madison County Sheriff's Office. JJ obtained a copy of the police report several months ago but did not publish it because there are serious doubts about is veracity. The police report repeatedly claims Mr. Irby cyberstalked the minor. JJ had already done some digging on the case and learned the facts posted above. The report was not posted as I had a serious question as to whether it was slanderous as cyberstalking a minor is considered much worse than sending a tasteless or crude email to a grown man and I did not want to publish a police report containing false statements. The indictment was more accurate than the original complaint, police report, and media coverage were as it stated Mr. Irby contacted Mr. Bounds, not his daughter. Big difference. Big, huge difference."
Most of the media coverage at the time stated Mr. Irby cyberstalked a minor, not Mr. Bounds. It remains to be seen whether the local media will correct their coverage. Earlier post including screen shots of media coverage.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Then there is our problem child Claiborne
Here is his plea agreement for his little bad check problem and oh, did I mention the recent part about his latest brush with the courts? :
The latest filing states:
8/4/2011 CONTEMPT ORDER AND ORDER OF COMMITMENT DIRECTED TO RESP
8/4/2011 CONTEMPT ORDER AND ORDER OF COMMITMENT DIRECTED TO RESP
7/28/2011 ORDER SERVED: HARRIS CLAIBORNE FRAZIER 07/25/11
7/26/2011 MEDIATION RESULTS REPORT - NO AGREEMENT
7/19/2011 ORDER FOR CONTEMPT MOTION HEARING SET FOR 08/03/2011 AT 3:00 PM IN JDD/ , JDG: REMINGTON, THOMAS T
7/18/2011 NOTICE OF HEARING SERVED: HARRIS CLAIBORNE FRAZIER 07/13/11
7/13/2011 NOTICE OF MEDIATION: 07/25/11 @ 9AM
6/16/2011 MOTION FOR CONTEMPT HEARING SET FOR 07/13/2011 AT 10:00 AM IN JDD/ , JDG: REMINGTON, THOMAS T
6/13/2011 MOTION FOR CONTEMPT FILED BY PET
4/27/2011 ORDER FOR TEMPORARY RELIEF/ALIMONY
4/25/2011 FINANCIAL AFFIDAVIT OF WIFE
4/25/2011 WIFE'S CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE IN FILING FINANCIAL AFFIDAVIT
4/25/2011 FINANCIAL AFFIDAVIT OF WIFE
4/25/2011 EXHIBIT 2 - COPY OF 1099-MISC
4/4/2011 MOTION HEARING SET FOR 04/25/2011 AT 9:00 AM IN JDD/ , JDG: REMINGTON, THOMAS
2/24/2011 ORDER OF REFERRAL TO FAMILY MEDIATION
2/23/2011 FAMILY MEDIATION INCOME VERIFICATION AFFIDAVIT
2/23/2011 NOTICE OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER-WIFE
2/23/2011 WIFES VERIFIED PETITION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE (NO MINOR CHILDREN)
2/23/2011 FAMILY COVER SHEET FILED
2/23/2011 SITUS DESIGNATION FORM FILED
2/23/2011 REGULAR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE FILING FEE ASSESSED ASSESSED $408.00
2/23/2011 JUDGE REMINGTON, THOMAS T: ASSIGNED
2/23/2011 CASE FILED 02/23/2011 CASE NUMBER 2011 DR 000816 S
Seems he didn't how up for an alimony hearing and a warrant was issued.
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Thursday, August 4, 2011
Runoff for Senate #25
FB post from Will Longwitz:
To all my friends, supporters and volunteers: There will be a runoff for the Senate seat in District 25. For the next three weeks I will continue spreading my message of economic growth, low taxes and fiscal responsibility. I look forward to victory on Tuesday, August 23, and to serving the people of Madison, Ridgeland, Gluckstadt and Northeast Jackson in the Senate. Please join with me and get strong, conservative leadership in the Senate for District 25.
Please email me at Will@WillLongwitz.com. I would like to ask each of you to start making a list of people you can contact and get to go vote on August 23rd.
Leigh Ann and I ask you to join us and get this done. Thank you again, and keep the faith.
Will
Click Here to Read More..
RIM rolls out new phones.
But WSJ TV discusses if it is too little, too late:
WJNT yesterday morning.
Sat in with Larry Nesbitt yesterday and analyzed the election results. Here is the audio:
Click Here to Read More..
Burwell not guilty
The Clarion-Ledger reported this week:
"Harbor Walk developer John Burwell has been found not guilty of assaulting a 55-year-old fisherman at the Ross Barnett Reservoir.
Ridgeland Municipal Judge Hal McCarley based the Monday ruling on whether Burwell attempted to cause bodily harm to R.T. Clerk of Jackson, who alleged Burwell pushed him three times in the chest.
Burwell faced a single misdemeanor count of simple assault, which carries a sentence of up to six months in jail and a fine.
"There was no testimony from Mr. Clerk that he suffered any pain or any bodily injury as a result of being pushed by Mr. Burwell," McCarley said.
He also questioned Clerk's delay in filing the affidavit until one week after the April 26 encounter with Burwell."
Interesting. Does that mean I can now walk around literally pushing people around as long as I don't hurt them? Here is what the statute says:
"(1)A person is guilty of simple assault if he (a) attempts to cause or purposely, knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury to another; or (b) negligently causes bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon or other means likely to produce death or serious bodily harm; or (c) attempts by physical menace to put another in fear of imminent serious bodily harm; and, upon conviction, he shall be punished by a fine of not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or both" Section 97-3-7 of the Mississippi Code
Guess the Judge missed the (c) part of the law. So if you don't file charges immediately, your case is not legit? Nice signal by the judge: If you are a victim of crime, better hope something like illness or your job keeps you from filing charges for a few days or else I'll throw out the case. I'm not too surprised by the ruling as I went to the hearing and heard both sides. Mr. Clerk had not witnesses while Mr. Burwell produced two. Those who left when told they were trespassing reported no problems from Mr. Burwell. The Judge chewed out Mr. Burwell some about how he dealt with people on the premises. I expected the Judge to either acquit Mr. Burwell or slap him with a small fine.
Note: Judge McCarley conducts one of the most criminal-friendly courts I've ever seen. Here is what usually takes place in his court: The prosecutor calls the defendant to the bench. The prosecutor and defendant(s) go up to the Judge's and stand only a few feet away from him. Microphones are not used. The audience sits 25 or more feet away and never hears what is taking place between the Judge and the parties. No way to discover who is being charged with what and what the resolution is by the court. Everything is whispered and done quietly. Very weird.
Click Here to Read More..
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Hehehehe
I don't know if I should enjoy this one or not:
George S. Smith (Dem) 2305 45.571%
Kenneth I. Stokes (Dem) 2753 54.429%
Total 5058
At least Kenny doesn't know how to use a bluetooth. Or email. or twitter. or Facebook. or a treadmill.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Liveblogging the election
Going to be live-blogging the election tonight. Stay tuned. Ah, Hell's Kitchen was on. What a way to start the night.
First numbers in from Desoto: 5 precincts in 2,280 votes for Tate Reeves / 1,164 votes for Billy Hewes. Will this hold up for Tate? Gee, do we have to endure Matt Friedeman AGAIN? Damn, WAPT, can't you find some other conservatives? Why do we have to watch the same damn "analysts" for the last 20 years.
OK, some numbers from Madison. 7 precincts in. Phil at 60%. I've a feeling that will be the trend for the Governor's race all night long. Billy & Tate nearly dead even. Lynns got 52% of vote in those seven precincts while the other two literally split the remainder. Ag: Cindy up 60/30. Don' think that will hold up. Dang, Meg Pace looks really nice tonight. WLBT, should've taken a chance on her when you had her. ;-) Still no results from Hinds. Oh I love it, Dick Hall has 73% of vote so far in Madison County. State Senate in Madison: Only one or two P's in. Too soon to mention. Wait a second, Nearly a third of the precincts in and Marsha Weems Stacey is kicking butt.
Great. WAPT reporting Hinds County Sheriff's results and there is nothing on the Hinds website. Are Josh Harkins and Knox Ross headed to a runoff? 9 precincts in in Madison and Ross has 37%, Harkins 31%, and Gaines 26%. Gaines a tough guy. Once broke his neck and took himself to the hospital holding his neck in place with both hands.
Half the precincts in Madison are in and Dick Hall has nearly 73% of the vote. Damn. Guess there was no hunk of burning love for Tim in Madison County anymore. 3 precincts in, Longwitz at 54%, Barbour at 40%. This will be an interesting race to watch tonight as the last four days grew pretty contentious between the two sides.
OK, Madison County Sheriff's race. Damn. 45% of precincts in and Randy Tucker has 45% of the vote. Did the controversy over Chief Deputy Belvedresi actually create a backlash favoring Tucker? Interesting. Jimmy at 25% and Brad at 19%. Sandridge has only 8% of the vote. Ok, Mac is tightening up, only five points down to Tyrone with 26% of the vote in. Did you get that? I said TYRONE LEWIS and spell that name right!!! Oops, back to Madison. 54% of vote in and Tucker down to 35%, Jimmy at 31, Brad at 21.
Madison Supervisors. District 1: 20% of vote in and John Bell & Leland are 3 votes apart. Dogfight? District 2: Lott has a 9 vote lead over Hutchinson with 43% of the vote. District 3: 30% of the vote and D.I. has a 60/40 lead. Damn.
Madison Justice Court: 45% of the vote in and DAMN, Weisenberger is kicking ass. 67% of the vote. I figured this one would be a runoff but that was before Mr. Hawkins past conviction was revealed and another candidate dropped out of the race. 43% of the vote in in District 2 and Marsha is .33% short of a majority. Go Marsha. District 4, a third of the vote in and Good Ole Louvier has 39% of the vote. The incumbent, Robert Schuler Smith's favorite judge, only has 13% of the vote. Damn.
"I think my bulldog will chase Elvis out of the building." Best line of the night. Please Dick, kick his ass. Damn, Tammy Eastwick in red. I will also say its nice seeing the shots from the King Edward instead of friggin Corky's or Jim Buck Ross Masoleum where plywood is the material of choice.
Big boxes from Northbay, Highland Colony, and FBC Yandell Road coming in. Question: What happens if Mac and Tyrone go to a runoff? THAT would be interesting. Just saw the ad for the Castle at Raymond. I'll digress for a second. Really is nice to see that open again as I used to love going there at Christmas time to enjoy the light displays. I hope they bring back that tradition. Damn, STILL no damn votes reported on the Hinds website.
73 precincts in. IATL is at 48%, Mac at 46%. What happens if we get a runoff? Simple. Everyone but those who voted in Republican primary can vote. Not good. Meg Pace looks taller than Billy Hewes. Work on that Billy.
64% of the vote in in Madison. Longwitz up 54-43. A little suprise: Knox has 44% of the vote in Madison County, Harkins has 33%, Gaines 11%. Didn't think Knox would do as well in Madison but he has. Nice job. Supervisors: 71% of the vote in and Lott has 55% of the vote. Give him credit. He campaigned for the job, did what he needed to do, and was aggressive in advertising. 60% of the vote in and John Bell kicking Leland's ass 58% to 42%. $10,000 from Rudy don't hurt. 57% of the vote in and D.I. is up 54-45 over Gerald but its only a 150 vote margin. Too close to call although I think its going to be another four years of 4-1 votes if he wins as the Rudy block is winning.
Mac is on camera. How ironic. I remember when Mac first ran. He was the young challenger taking on the long-time Sheriff J.D. McAdory and lost the first time. The similarities between the Mac/Mac fights and the Mac/Lewis ones. I just remembered I miss going to Paul's on Hwy 80 with Grandad and Mr. McAdory for morning coffee when I was a kid.
DAMN!!! DOWN GOES DAVIS!!! That's right, Doug Davis got frackin' beat. Guess he already had that chair measured and forgot about actually running for his seat. damn. Desoto paper: "DESOTO COUNTY- In a stunning upset, Republican State Senate candidate Chris Massey defeated incumbent Sen. Doug Davis, the sitting chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.
Back to Madison as its almost done for the night. District 1: 90% in and John Bell up by 350 votes. He has this one in the bag. Ronnie Lott won by 200 votes over Dick Hutchinson. The move by the Gang to get Billy out of District 2 paid off. 86% of the vote in and D.I. is up by 250 votes over Gerald at 54%. He might actually pull this off. Damn. Over to Justice Court. Marsha got 43%, Weber got 37%. You know what that means: THUNDERDOME. Two men enter, only one leaves. In District 3 Weisenberger go 67% of the vote. Hats off to Bill. Class act and nice guy although he talks almost as much as I do. District 4: The incumbent didn't even get 20% of the vote. Damn. THAT is what I call some SERIOUS rejection. Louvier at 33% and McKinley at 30%-runoff probably with 78% of the vote in. Sheriff: 93% in: Jimmy 33%, Randy 28%, Brad 24%. Sandridge: 11%. Brad is 700 votes behind Randy. That means Randy and Jimmy probably in the runoff.
Senate #25: Longwitz won Madison County by roughly 1,000 votes. Barbour is ahead in Hinds by roughly 800 votes with one box outstanding: Precinct #78. Down to the wire time. Josh actually won Senate #20 in Madison by 100 votes but is losing by 200 in Rankin with 3 boxes out. Going to be a runoff. Just in: D.I. lost by 117 votes. Valiant effort, he duked it out with Gerald and lost. Nothing to feel ashamed about. Yup. Going to be Randy and Jimmy in runoff: Jimmy 35%, Randy 27%. I suspect Brad will back Jimmy. No inside info, just a guess.
Enough of Madison, lets move over to Rankin. Someone asked about Lindsay: Shirley has 63% of the vote with 93% in. Time to check out the statewide results in Rankin as this is the key county in the Republican Primary:
Phil 70%, Dave 23% with 83% counted. No surprise here as its Phil's home turf. Same % counted, Tate is at 60-40. No surprise there either. Surprise in Treasurer: Lee at 40%, Lynn at 38%, and Lucien at 22%. Lynn carried Madison County at 47% while the other two tied at 26%. Damn. Will my prediction of last night come true? I predicted Lee and Lynn in runoff.
Hinds website STILL is not working. If there is ANYTHING that has validated my reporting on how screwed up Hinds County government is, this is it. Y'all can't even get the damn website to work for election night. Lets move over to statewide stuff.
Governor: 38% in, Phil up at 57%. Almost up to my prediction of 62% for Phil. Still haven't figured out the Dennis campaign or if one even existed. Phil campaigned for this job for four years but I'm not sure if and when Dennis ever did. He worked hard but made mistake after mistake. Just proves my thesis you need to lose before you can win. First-time candidates just think they can run for higher office and win because they have a better resume. There is a reason politicians are well, politicians. They've run and lost a few times, figured out what worked and what didn't. No substitute for experience and running for office is no exception. The Co-governors worked hard for this seat and will get their reward in January.
Lieutenant Governor: 65% in and Tate up at 55%. Almost nailed this one but still might before the night is out. Tate raised the money. Tate was out there campaigning working for the job. Billy made the mistake Dave made and didn't spend the first few months introducing himself to the voters. He then had to introduce himself and discuss the issues and somehow raise money at the same time. Madison County said it perfectly: For all of the support from the Madison County Republican establishment, Tate still broke even with Billy and that is where Billy's breakthrough outside of South Mississippi needed to take place.
Don't count out Mac just yet. Boxes outstanding: Clinton, Wynndale, Utica.
Treasurer: OH YEAH. Who da fuggin' man? Who fuggin' called it? I'm sorry, I've been watching IamTLewis too long. 83%: Lynn Fitch 37% Lee Yancey 34 Lucien Smith 29. Did I tell you I am Tyrone Lewis? I said last night Lucien would come in third and everyone said he would come in first. Ads were horrible, tried to say too much in one ad, only been out of law school three years, didn't really connect with voters. I like him, he has a future and can vote for him in another office but I could see him losing this one as he had no real base and did not run a good media campaign. I told you he would get beat. None of y'all believed me. I told you he was going down. You thought because he had $400,000 and the bond cartel behind him he could be beat. I told you I'd knock out Lucien Liston. You thought he was unbeatable. You thought he would would knock out Lynn and Lee. He ain't as fast as I am, he ain't as smart as I am, and he ain't as pretty as I am. He might have some endurance but when going against my predictions you better get some insurance. I'm pretty, got that? I'm pretty and can't be beat.
By the way Tate, you need a haircut. You got the job part down, now get a haircut you hippie. ;-)
The Hinds County online election results STILL are not working. Nathan Hargrove must have the contract for it. Ag: Max got clobbered. Shows the power of an articulate candidate backed by Farm Bureau. Serious question. Do I open another bottle of wine or move up to Makers?
Runoffs: Fitch/Yancey, Harkins/Ross, Houston/Tucker. Possible: Barbour/Longwitz, Mac/Lewis
Longwitz has 6,788 votes or 49.7% BUT there are 1,000 absentees in Madison County overall and 400 in Hinds to count. Stay tuned.
Its 6:15 Wednesday Morning. The Hinds County Website STILL has no election results posted. Zero. Nada. Zilch. Pitiful. Simply pitiful. One thing I noticed last night was the speed the results were announced. Guess we can think technology for that feature. I mean within 90 minutes or so, we all knew who was going to win most races. No more sitting up half the night watching returns. Takes all the fun out of election night. I'll be on WJNT this morning discussing the results from 8-9.
Precinct check
Made a check of precincts from 2:30 to 4:00 today in NE Jackson. Here are the totals:
#32: 171 Rs/88 Ds = 259
#33: 270 Rs/69 Ds = 339
#35: 386 Rs/116 Ds = 502
Willie Morris: 462 Rs/127 Ds = 589
#79: 104 Rs/237 Ds = 341
St. Phillips: 456 Rs/ 150 Ds = 606
#44: 198 Rs/208 Ds = 406
#46: 616 Rs/320 Ds = 936
#78: 200 Rs/128 Ds = 328
#9: 206 Rs/175 Ds = 381
Similar checks from earlier elections:
November 2, 2010:
Willie Morris Library: 700 at 3:05 PM
St Philips: 765 at 3:15 PM
Old Colonial Baptist Church: 500 at 3:20 PM
Fire station on Ridgewood (#79): 463 at 3:30 PM
Spann Elementary: 655 at 3:40 PM
Casey Elementary: 455 at 3:45 PM
Fire Station on Lakeland (#30): 360 at 3:50 PM
Belhaven (#9): 458 at 4:15 PM
May 5, 2009
St. Phillips: 614 votes
Firestation on Ridegwood (Precinct 79): 400 votes
Willie Morris Library (Precinct 34): 536 votes (Updated at 5:00 PM) 1016 votes in 2005.
Casey Elementary (Precinct 33): 465 votes (6:45 update)
Belhaven College (#9): 284 votes.
Spann Elementary: 492 votes (5:00 PM) 842 total in 2005
Election day open thread
Consider this the election day open thread. No pimping for candidates. Just want to hear what is going on out there in the field without being Tony Geiger. Enjoy and good luck to all the candidates and their workers.
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A tale of two robocalls
There is a nice little robocall from Haley going around NE Jackson and Madison right now. It endorses his nephew. What is funny is here is the robocall Haley did for his opponent last year:
This is why I never pay attention to robocalls and direct mail pieces. They are worth about what it cost to read or listen to them. Truth is most of you have had a chance in your local races to meet the candidates, ask them questions, and learn more about them unlike those running for statewide office. These guys running for supervisor, judge, sheriff, and a seat in the legislature have been all over their districts for the last few months making themselves available to you. Having said that, good luck to all the candidates and campaign workers today.
Monday, August 1, 2011
It's time (Predictions)
Time for predictions for tomorrow night. I'm making these guesses based on no special scoop or internal polls leaked to me- just going by what I read and hear out in the field. I'll miss them all so have fun with them.
Governor: Phil avoids a runoff at 62% of the vote. Phil has been working at getting this job for four years. He's got the stump speech down pat, has made a point the last two years to talk to all the right groups. He's raised much more money than his opponents and has put together a pretty good campaign team. The Dennis campaign sputtered. Dave only put a half a million dollars or so of his own money into the campaign. The Dennis campaign should have spent the first few months of this year on a heavy "get acquainted with the candidate" tour and media campaign only to squander it doing, well, we are still trying to figure out what they were doing. It only produced a few ads. His sterling resume was turned into a state secret. Instead of seeing a man serving at the Federal Reserve, we got a hard hat and a cherry picker. The campaign threw few punches until the last ten days of the race- too little and too late.
Lieutentant Governor: Reeves at 58%. Yeah I know, I keep hearing the race is tightening. I still think Hewes had a problem getting known outside of the Coast and Jackson area. He, too, made the same mistake Dennis made; he didn't spend the first few months of this year becoming familiar to the voters. The McDonald's-like commercial was a good start but like a boxer with a good jab and little else, the campaign failed to follow up the jab with a good combination. Meanwhile, Tate has been aggressive in fund-raising and campaigning since day one. He's put together a top-notch team led by Justin Brasell while the Hewes team led by Morgan Shands and a certain member of Frontier Strategies has made some questionable decisions. Billy went negative and gained ground on Tate, but I still think its too little, too late. Billy's ads were either hit or miss while Tate's showed a certain level of consistency that rarely hurt his candidacy.
Treasurer: Damn. This a tough one. Going to make my crazy pic here. Lynn and Lee make the runoff and Lucien comes in third. Lynn and Lee have both produced good ads while Lucien's, well, I need to catch my breath while watching his because it tries to do too much in one ad. Money doesn't necessarily mean votes and Lee is the only one with any kind of a true base. I can't put my finger on why Lynn will make the runoff, call it one of those weird hunches, hence I call this my crazy pic even though I should be picking Lucien and Lee for the runoff.
Ag: Max Phillips at 54%. Cindy has Farm Bureau behind her and that should be enough but Lester's endorsement doesn't help in some areas and Max has put together a good campaign team managed by the guy who led Delbert's in 2007. The fund-raising has been respectable for the two candidates while Danny Reed's has been almost non-existent. I still think in some areas more than a few people will not pull the trigger for a woman running for Ag, traditionally thought of as a male-dominated office in the same way DPS is.
Hinds Sheriff: Malcolm at 53%. Tyrone has some really interesting friends and some people are waking up to that fact. Mac has his blemishes but can actually testify in a courtroom and has built up support in the black community over the years. He won by more than the number of Republican crossover votes in 2007 (12,000 crossover votes). I think the surprise will be Republican voters voting for Mac, especially in NE Jackson, an area plagued by a 60% increase in house burglaries over the last two years.
Senate District #25: Longwitz at 60%. Yes, you read right. Turnout for Mac will hurt Mr. Barbour's chances and the fact a majority of the voters are in Madison County will hurt even more. The race has grown contentious over the last few days. In other words, its turned into a typical local race. They have both worked hard and done more than their share of door-knocking.
Senate District #20: Runoff between Ross and Harkins. Hard to read this race. The online poll for this race on this site probably is about right: Both candidates will be in the 40's but Gaines and Boohoo will be enough to keep one from winning outright.
Central Commissioner for MDOT: Dick Hall wins at 55%. Everyone I know has been completely turned off by the Elvis ads, even those that don't care about politics. Elvis goes down as a goofy campaign and past history of Madison BOS shenanigans catches up with him.
Madison County Sheriff: Houston and Harbour in runoff. Houston has the name, a base, and the warchest. Harbour is home-grown, somewhat well-known, and campaigned hard. I think that lawsuit two weeks ago hurt Tucker as he was endorsed by Belvedresi and used his name on his direct mail. I don't think Tucker ever really recovered from that punch. Sandridge had his little 15 minutes of fame with that ad but never really followed up with any fundraising or other advertising. He comes in fourth.
Madison County District 1 Supervisor: John Bell wins over Leland Herrington. Too much money even if from Rudy. He's an incumbent, and John is actually a nice guy.
Madison County District 2 Supervisor: Ronnie Lott over Dick Hutchinson. Lott has campaigned hard for this seat for quite some time. He spent over $33,000 on advertising. Hutchinson raised maybe a third of that, gives a better speech, and is probably more qualified, I just think Lott has been more aggressive across the board and it will pay off tomorrow. If he wins, he will have earned it fair and square.
Madison County District 3 Supervisor: D.I. Smith or Gerald Steen? hmmmm..... tossup. Gerald is the sign king yet I rarely meet anyone voting for Gerald. They are fairly even on reported fund-raising, although Mr. Steen refuses to document who his donors are. Mr. Steen is a veteran politician who knows how to win elections on that turf and is facing someone who is a rookie campaigner but has a group of people enthusiastically working the district over for him. Toss-up.
Tomorrow night, have fun ripping me for being so wrong.
Allstate drops complaint against Baker & Butler (Video)
Allstate filed a Notice of Dismissal (without prejudice) in U.S. District Court Thursday in Illinois for its complaint against Baker Donelson and Butler Snow. Allstate sued the two law firms after it purchased $18,605,000 bonds from the Lost Rabbit Development Public Improvement District. Earlier post. WLBT covered the story last week:
Why did Allstate file suit against the two firms only to drop its complaint? The key phrase is probably "without prejudice". Usually the terms "with prejudice" is used when the case is settled. I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate this complaint was a warning shot across the bow but no settlement has occurred- yet. Apparently the problem with the PID was the PID did not get all the signatures from the homeowners/leaseholders in Lost Rabbit and it might not have been formed properly. WLBT has a good story on the matter.
Hutchinson for Madison District 2 Supervisor
Dick Hutchinson submitted the following essay on his candidacy for Madison County District 2 Supervisor.
A former US Senator said he sure was glad that people were willing to stand up and serve the public good but that "anybody who serves in local politics such as mayor or supervisor, MUST have a screw loose as they have no place to hide, like I do in DC." Well, considering I have served my community, though not in office, for the past 27 years, I must have a whole bag of loose screws, but I believe it is my path.
My journey began when I moved to Madison in early 1984. There were only about 3,500 people in this small town, but you could feel the little town was on the move. I became involved in St. Catherine's Village coming to Madison back in 1986 thanks to my business. I befriended the Mayor and Aldermen so I could be a part of Madison's
growth. I helped the city fight developers who wanted to build apartments in Madison. This fight allowed us to avoid the problems currently facing nearby communities which allowed too many to be built. The Mayor later asked me to help develop and expand Liberty Park. Every time I drive past Liberty Park I feel a sense of pride when I see what our hard work produced.
I was appointed to the Madison County Economic Development Authority (MCEDA)four years ago. . This position became one of the most rewarding parts of my life as I worked for economic development for Madison County. As past Chairman and present board member, I have been a part of the expansion of WIN Center, working with existing industry to attempt to keep them in the county and keep folks employed. We were directly involved in the Monsanto operation being built in Flora. MCEDA played a major role in the new sound stage for movie production that just opened in Canton. When the Mayor of Madison came to us explaining the possibility of Tulane University coming to Madison, I, as Chairman at the time, along with the entire board, did what was necessary to make this a reality. When the citizens of Flora found themselves without water, under the direction of the Board of Supervisors, we stepped in, activated a well, and are now providing water to Flora until they get their new well built.
Serving on the Board of Supervisors seems the next logical step for me to give back to a county that has provided me with so much opportunity and happiness in my life.
Economic development must be the offset of this recession. Madison County has been fortunate in that we have been able to "coast uphill". However, the cart is slowing down and if the Board of Supervisors and cities of Madison County do not work together and attack the business conditions before us, we will find ourselves in a uncomfortable situation.
These are serious times for serious people and we must operate, over the next 18-24 months on a "NEEDS" list, rather than a "WANT or WISH" list. We must be aggressive in pushing and promoting our county, making it clear we understand public-private partnerships to entice businesses to locate here. Madison County needs a business incubator, with wet labs to unleash the entrepreneurs we have here. We must address our revenues and cut back whenever and wherever possible to avoid any tax increases. Our infrastructure, which we can't ignore, must be tackled. We must build up our commercial development to balance our "rooftops" while at the same time doing what the Madison County Business League, which I helped found, says in their mission statement- "One Vision-One Voice".
The job will be challenging. It will have its share of critics and back-seat drivers. However, I am looking forward to serving the voters of District 2 if they choose me to be their Supervisor. In closing I would say, yes, maybe I do have a whole sack full of loose screws to apply for this job, but I also bring with it, determination, honesty, courage, and energy to do what is best for the county.
sincerely,
Dick Hutchinson
