Jackson Jambalaya

JPD issued the following press release:

 Update: LinkedIn profiles have been removed.

Note: Dr. Wright did not respond to attempts to contact through emails or phone calls yesterday.  Dr. Wright did send a statement to the Clarion-Ledger. 

Dr. Wright came to Mississippi in the fall of 2013 to start her new gig as State Superintendent of Education. Dr. John Q. Porter followed her to Mississippi six months later and began to get consulting gigs for his company and himself from MDE.  MDE also put his employee, Elton Stokes, Jr., on the consulting payroll.  Dr. Porter became the Deputy Superintendent/Chief Information Officer, and later approved contracts for Mr. Stokes in his capacity as Deputy Superintendent. All three individuals worked together at one time, in the Montgomery County Public School District administration.   Dr. Porter's generosity even extended to Mrs. Stokes as she got a consulting contract as well.  It seems these foreigners are learning the Mississippi Way very quickly, as the Mississippi Department of Education has paid over half a million dollars to Dr. Porter and his cronies since 2014.

The Rankin County Sheriff's Office issued the following statement:

Friday's post about the Jackson convention center prompted a reader to send an old column opposing the construction of the convention center written by Howard Ross. (R.I.P.) It was written in late 2004 and was very prescient.

Best and brightest indeed.  Yale English majors want to be protected from.... English writers. They submitted this petition to the English Department:

JPD issued the following statement:

It appears MAC & Associates, LLC will get its day in court against Siemens Industry but that day will be in federal court.  MAC sued Siemens on May 31 for $37million in damages in Hinds County Circuit Court.  MAC is a Jackson minority subcontractor for Siemens under the $90 million water replacement contract. MAC is owned by Marcus Wallace.  The contract was awarded in 2013.  Siemens removed the lawsuit to U.S. District Court on June 3.

Is Don Hewitt a disgruntled developer or someone trying to blow the whistle on sweetheart deals? Anna Wolfe scored another story in the Clarion-Ledger yesterday and raised questions about the convention center hotel deal.  Ms. Wolfe reported:

Alphas are gonna alpha.  82 year-old man forgets he is 82.

The Mississippi Department of Corrections issued the following statement:

Slaughter brought the hair to Jackson back in 1990.

The Rankin County Sheriff's Department issued the following statement:

The Capital City Convention Center continues to lose money but is gaining ground this year.  JJ obtained a copy of the 2015 annual audit and the most recent quarterly financial statements through a public records request.  The audits are posted below. 

Attorney General Jim Hood issued the following press release:

In 1946 the Southern Authors Literary Guild chose "Speeding Floods to the Sea" as the most outstanding book of the fall.  Pretty racy stuff.  A book about cut offs - on the Mississippi River. The author W.E. Elam lived in Greenville which was known for its writers. He was not a writer though.  He was an engineer.  But not just any engineer.  He was the Chief Engineer of the Mississippi Levee District and a respected authority on floods. Floods were a big deal in Mississippi then. They had a big effect on its farm-based economy. So Elam wrote the book about how to prevent or moderate them.

It's pretty simple: just speed the floods to the sea. The idea is to straighten and shorten the river by cut offs.  The faded paper jacket on the book shows the river's meandering Greenville Bends. They looked like a winding country road with a super highway cut off going straight through.  Cut offs shortened the river about 150 miles.  They sped up its flow and cut a steeper slope and deeper bed in many places.  So the river carried more water at lower levels (stages).

The black and white video, from Madison Square Garden in 1962, is beyond grainy, but you can easily make out that the graceful man in white trunks is future heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali.

More accurately, the slender, svelte guy wearing white trunks is the man who would become Ali. On Feb. 10, 1962, the day he fought a man named Sonny Banks on national TV, Ali was still known as Cassius Clay.

JPD issued the following press release:

The Jackson City Council Rules Committee rejected a proposed contract for the management of the wastewater consent decree program last Monday. It is estimated that meeting the terms of the consent decree will cost Jackson approximately $400 million.  JJ obtained a copy of the proposal and posted it below.  Some highlights of the contract are:

The Rules Committee of the Jackson City Council rejected a contract for the wastewater program management required by a federal consent decree.  The meeting grew contentious at times as Mayor Tony Yarber and the committee sparred over the proposed contract.   Anna Wolfe reported in the Clarion-Ledger yesterday:

Central Mississippi Crime Stoppers issued the following bulletin and pictures on its Facebook page today:

Editors, anyone?

Ridgeland and Jackson police officers arrested Kevin Boney at 5520 Ridgewood Road Sunday night for grand larceny.  The police report and mug shot are posted below.  A criminal complaint was filed against Boney in April.  Ridgeland police officers discovered he was at the Ridgewood location and executed the warrant with the help of JPD.  Hinds County property tax records state the home is owned by the estate of  Michael L. Maloney*.,

JPD Chief Lee Vance held a press conference yesterday about the arrest of Joshua Dukes in the 2015 murder of O'Reilly Auto Parts Manager Broderick Smith.  Dukes and an unknown partner shot Mr. Smith to death when he couldn't open the store safe during a robbery.  Dukes was charged with his fourth count of capital murder.  His brother Antwain Dukes is charged with capital murder in the unrelated death of Carolyn Temple. 

Dan Fogelberg once played in Jackson. The show was recorded by WZZQ and is posted on Youtube. Enjoy.

Steve Wilson reports at Watchdog.org that the Mississippi Department of Education has grown despite being removed from the oversight of the State Personnel Board:

The Mississippi Department of Education’s two-year hiatus from oversight by the state personnel board — which is coming to an end July 1 — has resulted in a growing staff and higher pay and benefit costs. That’s not exactly the “effective and efficient” change envisioned by lawmakers or promised by state superintendent of education Carey Wright when the exemption was granted in 2014.

According to records obtained by Mississippi Watchdog, the number of MDE employees making $100,000 or greater has increased from 16 on June 30, 2014 — when the MDE was under civil service rules — to 20 as of May 31.

The Rankin County Sheriff's Office issued the following statement:

JPD issued the following press release and mug shot:

Didn't get enough of KISS last night? Here is a 1976 recording of KISS playing in Jackson.

Update (4:00 PM): The South West Mississippi Search and Rescue has been included in the search team for missing Joseph Skylar Burnley.  They will utilized special search K9’s.

The Rankin County Sheriff's Office issued the following press release:

It's Saturday night and look at who is playing in town: KISS!!!

JPD issued the following press release and mug shot:

A Facebook video posted a few hours ago shows the conclusion of a chase by the Mississippi Highway Patrol and other law enforcement officers.  This incident took place near the south Crystal Springs Exit on I-55N.   The suspect struck an 18-wheeler during the chase. The person who recorded this video saw her trip to Walmart (where she no doubt was getting an Ozark Trail Tumbler) turn into an episode of Cops.

A vintage bootleg audio recording of the 1976 Yes concert in Jackson popped up on Youtube.  Enjoy

The city of Jackson issued the following statement on the youth summer jobs program:

LSU's Mike VI got his first round of chemotherapy this week:

Peggy Noonan analyzed the current state of affairs in another Wall Street Journal column several weeks ago.  It set off conservatives such as National Review's Jonah Goldberg but it made some very good points.  The conservative cocktail circuit has never been so unhappy.  She wrote:

The AP's Jeff Amy analyzed the tenure of Mississippi Superintendent of Education Dr. Carey Wright earlier this week and wondered why she would want to stay at her job given all the criticism and some alleged micromanagement. Mr. Amy wrote:

JPD issued the following statement:

Meet the Ridgewood Rednecks:

Some yewts decided to check out some homes late at night this week in the area of Saratoga and Suffolk in Northeast Jackson.  They were seen going through back yards and casing homes. Security cameras provided the following photo and video.  Keep an eye out for these guys. 

The city of Jackson issued the following press release:

If you like the Allman Brothers, you might like this Youtube video of Greg Allman performing in Jackson back in 1983.

The Clinton Police Department issued the following press release:

The Jackson City Council recently changed the public comments format of its meetings in order to handle city business more quickly.  Public comments were taking up to 90 minutes before the council could address the rest of the agenda.  Council President Melvin Priester, Jr. made a sensible reform.  Comments that address specific agenda items are heard at the beginning of the meeting.  The rest of the comments are allowed after the agenda is concluded.  However, that didn't sit too well with one Mr. David Archie.  Mr. Archie raised hell with the council in this video.

This is written on Memorial Day morning, the morning after it was announced that both Ole Miss and Mississippi State baseball teams will host NCAA Regionals at once for the first time ever.

It is written on the day after Southern Miss's stirring 3-2 victory over tradition power Rice for the Conference USA Baseball Championship. Has a relay play from the outfield ever been executed more perfectly? I think not.

This is written on a day when we Americans take a day off from work to remember those who sacrificed to keep us free.

JPD issued the following statement: