Jackson Jambalaya

Judge orders Shackelford to produce money or explain why he should not go to jail.

2012-03-05T00:01:00.000-06:00

Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas ordered Linus Shackelford to return several hundred thousand dollars to the estate of Demon McClinton Friday or face incarceration at a hearing scheduled for March 20. Judge Thomas decreed money from the estate was "illegally taken" by attorney Mike Brown and "invested or loaned to Mr. Shackelford and/or Lakeland Place LLC without court approval." Judge Thomas called the transaction an "illegal transfer".

Damon McClinton inherited $3 million when his mother, Rebecca Henry, died in 2000. Ms. Henry was the daughter of Mississippi civil rights legend Aaron Henry. Damon McClinton's father, Thomas, hired attorney Mike Brown to establish a guardianship for young McClinton. Then-Chancellor Stuart Robinson established a guardianship and ordered Mr. Brown to deposit the money in a bank account and decreed the money could not be withdrawn without court approval.

Judge Thomas ruled at a February hearing Mr. Brown never deposited the money in an account nor was one ever established. Judge Thomas threw Mr. Brown in jail after he could not account for the money. The attorney also claimed the file (he checked it out in 2006) and bank statements were destroyed when a water pipe burst in his office. Judge Thomas set bond at $100,000 at a later hearing. Mr. Brown made bail and is free.

Judge Thomas said in his findings Mike Brown "loaned" over $500,000 to Linus Shackelford out of Damon McClinton's estate. Mr. Shackelford owns Lakeland Garden Place cemetery on Lakeland Drive. Judge Thomas gave Mr. Shackelford 40 days to return the money to the estate or face jail at a hearing scheduled on March 20. The March 2 order states if the monies and interest are not returned, Mr. Shackelford "will have to show cause" why the Chancellor should not order his incarceration.

Earlier posts:
Attorney Mike Brown accused of embezzlement and jailed.
Bond set for attorney Mike Brown
Bar suspends Brown, Judge Grant grills attorney
Where is the money? Copy of file included.
More Shackelford shenanigans

*Note: JJ reported two years ago Mr. Brown was sanctioned by the Bar. From the Mississippi Lawyer:

"Michael J. Brown of Jackson: Public Reprimand. Entered into loan agreement with client. Loan was to finance another lawsuit by another client. Didn't advise clients to get second opinion on the transaction and the chances of success for the financed litigation and no recovery was made."

Live from Afghanistan

2012-03-04T18:29:00.002-06:00

One of our soldiers (Lives in Petal) from B Co 1st 111th AVN put this video together from his tour. He will be home September 20 and sends this multipmedia postcard. Enjoy.

Much ado about nothing?

2012-03-04T09:48:00.005-06:00

Time for the rest of the story. Jackson Free Press publisher Todd Stauffer lambasted the Clarion-Ledger for an alleged attempt to control advertising by local charities:

"Something interesting came to the attention of our advertising sales department during the production of this edition of the Spring Arts and Events Preview. It seems that The Clarion-Ledger is now telling some arts organizations that if they would like The Clarion-Ledger (or, presumably, their subsidiary publications, such as VIP Jackson) to sponsor a non-profit or charity event, then The Clarion-Ledger must be the "exclusive print sponsor" of that event.

In other words, no other print publication can give that non-profit discounted or donated advertising in support of that non-profit's event and be recognized for it.

Now, the Jackson Free Press isn't in a position to donate free advertising often, since selling ads is what pays our (ever-increasing!) bills, but we offer ads to non-profits for their events at sharply reduced rates, and we will frequently increase the size or frequency of the ads that they run when they recognize us as a "logo sponsor" or "media sponsor" of the event..." Column

Well, let met tell you the rest of the story. Sources at the Clarion-Ledger told this correspondent their version of what took place. A certain local non-profit that operates a well-known annual film festival in Jackson and also has Mr. Stauffer sitting on its advisory board (according to its website) approached the newspaper advertising the festival.* The newspaper tentatively agreed to provide free advertising in exchange for media sponsorship. So far, so good. Then the newspaper finds out that the festival is paying the JFP to insert flyers in an upcoming issue. Well, being the capitalist pigs they are, they didn't care too much for the festival paying another publication to advertise while they asked the newspaper to provide advertising for free while both were listed as media sponsors. That is where the so-called exclusive angle came in to play.

The CL said if they were going to play this game, then they expected to have exclusive print advertising. Think about it. They are expected to donate advertising while the charity pays a competitor and same charity is going to give the paid competitor equal billing for the event. From each according to his means....... Sources said the only policy the CL had on this matter said if a charity treats all media sponsors the same for an event, it has no problem advertising the event-whether they are paid or not paid. However, the rub comes in where one is paid and one is not but are given equal billing for the event.

A little bit different than what is portrayed in Mr. Stauffer's column. I have nothing against Mr. Stauffer, really don't. However, when he writes a column such as this one and sources I consider to be equally credible tell me a different story, I think their side deserves to be heard.

*I'm not mentioning the name of the festival as its a good cause and I do not want to see their name sullied in google searches when they don't have much to do with this story.

Another member of the public school lobby

2012-03-04T09:20:00.003-06:00

One of the groups opposing charter schools in Mississippi is Southern Echo. Southern Echo states on its website it is "working to empower the African-American Community through an inter-generation model of community organzing." The organization is led by Hollis Watkins, Leroy Johnson, Michael Sayer, and Brenda Hyde. Southern Echo website.

Southern Echo's 990 for 2010 reports it received $1.7 million in contributions and grants and overall revenue of $2 million. There are no extravagant salaries as seen at other non-profits. Six employees receive annual pay ranging from $58,000 to $77,000. I can report their leaders have attended all charter school activity at the legislature this year. Add one more group to the public school lobby: Parents for Public Schools, the Parents' Campaign, the Barksdale Reading Institute, the Clarion-Ledger editorial page, and Southern Echo.

Farewell to MBJ's Amy McCullough

2012-03-03T15:28:00.004-06:00

Farewell to Amy McCullough. I hate writing these posts but its time to say goodbye to the star reporter of the Mississippi Business Journal as she moves on to better things in Texas. She's one of the best and most unheralded reporters in the Jackson area.

I first met her when I broke the Evans case. I'd been writing about it for several weeks when she contacted me. She wanted to meet me and learn about the case. So we met one afternoon and went over the details. Then I said if you really want to learn how to report this case, you need to know how to look up deeds and the like. So what was going to be an hour meeting turned into a trip to the courthouse in Canton where she learned how to read deeds of trust, do title searches, and other nuances of digging through land records. I'll never forget sitting outside the office building where Chris Evans hung out early in the morning with her so she could get a picture of him and quiz him about what were then accusations of fraud. He was surprised but kept on walking, stone faced, trying his best not to notice her. She moved on to the energy beat where she gave Haley, Entergy, and those behind the Kemper plant heartburn more than a few times. Needless to say, they are probably glad to see her go. She last wrote about the charter school fight in Mississippi.

She graduated from Jackson Academy and then from Texas. Probably the smartest reporter at any of the newspapers in Mississippi and she will be sorely missed. Here's to Amy McCullough and best wishes for bigger and better things.

Still in the 20th century.

2012-03-02T13:27:00.003-06:00

Tried to get a copy of the agenda for Rankin County Board of Supervisors meeting Monday. No dice. Secretary said they were not even printed up yet and are not available until the meeting starts. Over in Madison and Hinds, they are already printed and posted on their websites. Nice to see open government in Rankin.

Word from management

2012-03-02T12:25:00.003-06:00

A person commenting on this site yesterday said he would like to donate but did not use paypal. If you want to donate but don' t trust the internet, you can mail donations to the office Pam Hancock, attorney. Makes checks payable to Jackson Jambalaya. Non-negotiable bearer bonds are welcome as well. Send to Pam Hancock, attorney, ATTN: Jackson Jambalaya, P.O. Box 2372 Madison MS 39130-2372. Thanks for reading and supporting the site.

Irby case reassigned

2012-03-02T08:28:00.004-06:00

The lawsuit filed by Karen Collins Irby against Charles Irby, Cal Wells, Stuart Irby, Jr., and Richard Montague has been reassigned to Hinds County Circuit Judge Jeff Weill. The case was assigned to Judge Tomie Green. Judge Green issued an order of recusal on February 29, 2012. Earlier post

Rita speaks out on education (Video)

2012-03-02T07:39:00.006-06:00

Representative Rita Martinson had a few things to say during the House Education Committee vote on Wednsday. Her two-minute speech didn't pull any punches.

Sorry for the bad angles at times. Room was packed and I was taking the camera off of the tripod and then moving it so I could get a decent shot.

AG & Auditor file suit against Robert Graham for $45,736 (Updated with exhibits)

2012-03-02T07:00:00.002-06:00

Update: Exhibits containing time records and other evidence provided by AG are published at bottom of this post. Grahams attorney responds to the Jackson Free Press in this interview. Her mantra is "Let the jury decide."

Original post on 2-29-12
Attorney General Jim Hood and State Auditor Stacey Pickering filed suit accused Hinds County Supervisor Robert Graham of fraud in a lawsuit filed yesterday in Hinds County Circuit Court. Mr. Graham is the President of the Board of Supervisors and owner of Professional Dispatch Management. The company provides training in 911 services. Mr. Graham was a dispatcher and spokesman for the Jackson Police Department until 2006.

The complaint charges Mr. Graham with using the city to copy Professional Dispatch training manuals. It is alleged Mr. Graham claimed they were used to teach classes for JPD personnel when in reality he was copying them for is own company. The company also used JPD to purchase 25 manuals for his business. Only 12 of the students who used those manuals were JPD employees. It alleges the rest of the students were not employees of the city of Jackson. The complaint does not stop with training manuals but also claims Mr. Graham taught classes for his company while "on the clock" for the city of Jackson. The AG and Auditor provided several exhibits composed of dozens of pages of time sheets and payroll records.

The complaint charges Mr. Graham with using "fraud and false representation" to defraud the city of Jackson to benefit himself and Professional Dispatch Management. The state claims he is personally liable for the repayment of the money and the investigation expenses. Mr. Pickering made a formal demand on May 25, 2011 for repayment. No repayment has been made. The suit asks for $23,818 to be repaid to Jackson, $10,008 in interest, and investigation costs of $11,909. The total amount claimed is $45,736. it should be pointed out this is a civil suit, not a criminal complaint.

Suds almost flowing

2012-03-01T14:49:00.001-06:00

Beer bill passes House 67-45
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Editorial: AT&T bill is too much too fast

2012-03-01T14:00:00.002-06:00

Update: Passed the House Public Utilities Committee 6-4.

AT&T is pushing a bill that will remove most of AT&T's services from state regulation. HB# 825 terminates the Public Service Commission's authority to supervise AT&T or treat it as a public utility. Have a complaint about AT&T? Call the federal government just as you do for the post office. Service problem? Call AT&T and experience the On The Road Tour, without Bob and Bing. Manila, Bombay, Bollywood even and the best part is, you don't have to leave home but get to do it on your phone with just one call, all presented by AT&T customer service and the Mississippi Legislature. Virtual schools & virtual travel - the AT&T and the Leg got this one.

Meanwhile, AT&T deployed their crack team of capital commandos to make sure the bill becomes law. AT&T spends over $440,000 a year on lobbyists, the best ones in the state, bar none. Their mean, they're connected, and although far from being lean, they get the job done. Their mission is to remove regulation of AT&T landlines so AT&T can raise rates without going through the Public Service Commission.

AT&T requested a rate increase in 2008 from the Public Service Commission. Not much data was provided to the PSC, AT&T just said "we want it and because we are AT&T, we should have it." The PSC rejected the proposed rate increase and the Mississippi Supreme Court backed them up in a unanimous decision. Well, AT&T didn't take its ball and go home but spent more money on lobbyists and went to conferences in locales such as Scottsdale so it could buy the food, the golf rounds, and the other little perks dear to a legislator's heart.

AT&T plays this game in other states over and over and over. California, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Ohio, Kansas.... like Sherman's march to the sea AT&T spreads the wealth, gins up the lobbying machine, and gets its deregulation bills passed by legislatures across the country. AT&T throws out the usual arguments: "Let the market decide." "We are regulated, our competitors are not." "Technology has passed the law". "We need a level playing field."

The result has been almost universal: AT&T raises the rates on its landline telephone service after deregulation takes place. Then after a while, the rate increases take place. This is one conservative who usually favors deregulation. Deregulation was good for the oil industry in the early 1980's. Deregulation was good for consumers overall after the AT&T decision. However, AT&T and other landline providers usually enjoy a monopoly in providing landline service. Only one company builds the system and maintains it. Sure, other companies offer it but they usually pay AT&T for the access to the equipment. While it is true AT&T's competitors are not regulated, it must be pointed out they do not enjoy profits generated by a monopoly either.

However, Ma Bell wants to have its cake and eat it too: The right to enjoy a monopoly AND the right to charge any price at any time. AT&T is required by law to provide telephone service to rural areas in Mississippi and even received a nice subsidy(over $260 million last year) to do so. In other states, AT&T has said it wanted to move such customers over to wireless if possible while pushing similar legislation. AT&T claims it has 30,000 rural landlines in Mississippi and its a safe bet these aren't as profitable as other phone service is for Ma Bell. If the HB# 888 passes, customers receiving such service can expect to pay for more expensive cellphone plans or higher rates for basic telephone service. I haven't even mentioned the comparison between cellphone service and landline services in rural areas.

Then there is the matter of E911 funds raised on this website last Sunday. Landline taxes pay for the funding of radio equipment for police and fire protection. If AT&T severs the landlines for rural customers or converts them to cellular, that is less revenue for their radios, 911 dispatch consoles, 911 computers, and similar equipment that is funded solely by landline taxes. Most counties (Unlike Hinds) have not treated their E911 money as a credit card but used them to support their police and fire departments - basic services everyone needs. It is no secret landline tax revenue is decreasing as more people use cellphones. This bill will accelerate the its decline while replacing it with nothing. Its clear no one has thought about the implications of this effect as no solutions are offered.

As stated earlier, AT&T wants the best of both worlds: monopoly power and unregulated pricing. Mississippi is still a poor and rural state. Thus for many residents the only telephone service available is through a regular phone line despite the claims of AT&T. The legislature needs to table this bill. AT&T and Mississippi are not going anywhere. The legislature should slow down, hold some hearings, give those interested in this issue a chance to make their concerns known, and then write a good bill- if one is needed. "Just because AT&T said so" is not a good reason for passing HB# 825.

DUCK!!!

2012-03-01T13:26:00.001-06:00

Watch Representative Beckett in this interview with the Mississippi Business Journal. The Chairman of the House Public Utilities Committee doesn't exactly answer a question about what will happen if AT&T is no longer required to provide service to rural customers. Check out 2:25:

Charter school bill clears House Ed Committee (Video of hearing).

2012-02-29T22:42:00.008-06:00

The House Education Committee passed a charter school bill (HB# 888) today by a 14-12 vote. Chairman John Moore (R-Brandon) called its passage "part of a journey" towards improving education. Copy of Bill. The Senate passed its own version of charter school legislation last week.

The bill contains the following provisions:

*All children in the state are eligible but a school district cannot make a student attend one.
*The "at-risk" population of the school cannot deviate more than 25% from the schools of the school district for that charter school. Representatives Espy and Moore said they wanted to prevent "cherry-picking" by charter schools.
*A non-charter-school converting to a charter school must give preference to students that are in the school, and their siblings. A lottery will be used if there is space available. This section (5) does not prevent schools focused on the disabled, kids posing discipline problems, or same-sex schools.
*A charter school board is established. The Governor appoints three members, the Lieutenant Governor appoints one, and the Speaker of the House appoints one.
*The initial term granted for a charter school is five years.
*The bill allows for creation of virtual charter schools but is limited to 2% of a district's population. The language concerning virtual schools probably accounted for a substantial portion of the opposition among committee members as several said they were not comfortable with the idea. Mr. Moore said the bill contained provisions mandating taking tests at the school and there are adequate controls to ensure the children were doing the work.
*PEER shall issue a report on charter school performance each year.
*Funding from the state will "follow the child" to the school.

A vigorous debate ensued between Representatives Holloway and Espy. Mr. Espy said there was more accountability for charter schools, as the state could shut them down, to which his opponent said, "You will be shutting down alot of them in five years." Representative Rita Martinson gave a speech that deserves hearing in the video posted below (part 5, 22:40). Parents' Campaign Executive Director Nancy Loome and Kelly Riley from MPE repeatedly shook their heads as they watched the committee debate the bill and vote on it. It was clear they were not pleased with how things went.

Chairman Moore said the bill would not be taken up by the House before next week. Here is the complete video of the House Education Committee meeting and vote on charter school legislation today. Sorry if audio is not the best as they did not use microphones and had the media jammed into one corner at the back of the room. Room was packed and that is putting it mildly. Enjoy.

Amendments offered. Virtual schools discussion begins at 9:00.

Virtual schools discussion continued. Representative Espy starts explaining his amendments at 9:10. It takes a while. ;-)

Mr. Espy continues his amendments. He and a member of the Black Caucus, Rep. Gregory Holloway go at it.

1:33: Espy discusses how Department of Education plays with ratings of school districts and the variables used to determine ratings. Watch Loome and her cadre at 2:28 on. Rep. Currie at 7:00. She brings up sports and recruiting. Won't happen. Rep. Nick Bain (D) brings up certification of teachers at 9:30. Rep. Rita Martinson lays it out in a speech at 22:40. Think I might edit that out into its own clip.

Vote at 9:25

Sellout (video)

2012-02-29T17:05:00.005-06:00

While waiting to enter the room for the charter school hearings at the Legislature, I happened to be standing next to Father Jerry Tobin, local advocate for the poor. He called Rep. Espy a sellout for supporting charter schools. I asked him again, he repeated it for me. Nice. Also badly needed a bath as he reeked.

Here is a video of Representative Chuck Espy defending himself against such charges. The hearing was supposed to start at 1:30 took place at 3:30. Mr. Espy sponsored HB# 888, which was the House "charter school bill.

Sun-Herald tries to dig into the 13th check

2012-02-29T08:40:00.004-06:00

Collection of all posts on PERS

The Biloxi Sun-Herald tried to find out how much the "13th check" paid to PERS retirees is each year. PERS refused to provide the information and as it turns out, would not provide that information to the PERS Study Commission either. Read on.

"Retirement incomes for public employees are a state secret in Mississippi, including extra pay that now consumes 25 percent of the annual retirement payroll....

The commission wanted specific amounts for the 13th check, but commission chairman George Schloegel said PERS never supplied the figures.

“We were told it’s just not available,” said Schloegel, a retired banker and mayor of Gulfport. “It’s pretty obvious they don’t want to talk about the 13th check. My question is, ‘Why?’”

The 13th check is paid in mid-December, just in time for the holidays. The Sun Herald in January requested a copy of payroll records for mid-December that would show individual amounts paid in the 13th checks, plus the December payroll for monthly retirement checks.

PERS denied the newspaper’s request for retiree payrolls. PERS, relying on its staff attorney in the state Attorney General’s Office, said the payrolls are confidential...."

How much could this check be? The newspaper published a separate story on the 13th. Keep in mind the 13th check is not a cost of living adjustment but is instead an automatic raise:

"The COLA is not tied to any inflation index. It starts at 3 percent of the annual retirement allowance, then compounds annually when a member reaches age 60, or 55 for those who joined PERS before July 1. Most retired employees choose to receive the COLA in a lump sum, so it is referred to as the “13th check.”

COLA payments for the fiscal year that ended June 30 totaled $368,645,000, according to PERS’ annual report, 25 percent of the total PERS payout for the year. Those payments are projected to increase in 2012 by $40 million, Schloegel said.

The 13th check winds up being higher than a retiree’s base retirement allowance by the 24th year of retirement, a PERS chart shows.

PERS would not release the individual amounts paid out in COLAs -- to the study commission or the Sun Herald. The director, Pat Robertson, cited a state law that says individual retiree files are confidential. However, both the commission and the Sun Herald requested the information without names attached.

Robertson did calculate “hypothetical” retirement figures for the Sun Herald. The Sun Herald submitted employee positions and salaries provided by the state Personnel Board for PERS to calculate. An employee who retired in 1985, with an average salary calculated at $18,935 a year, would today receive a base annual benefit of $11,834. The retiree’s 13th check would be $13,688. Total retirement pay, in this case, equals $25,522 a year...." Article

Editorial comment: For the record, I think the COLA should be a real COLA tied to the inflation rate. However, I also think it should be tied to the headline inflation rate, not the core or overall rate as headline is what consumers are usually experiencing.

PSC & ATT go at it over HB# 825. ATT spends over $400K per year on lobbyists

2012-02-28T15:45:00.005-06:00

The Mississippi Business Journal posted interviews with Public Service Commissioner Leonard Bentz and Mississippi ATT President Mayo Flynt on House Bill #825. The bill will remove most regulation of land-based telephone lines by the PSC.

ATT also spends quite a bit of money on lobbyists each year:

2011:
Randal C. Russell $20,501
Bucke C Murphy, Jr. $44,000
Worth Thomas $45,000
Spencer E. Medlin $45,000
Shirley M. Mock $40,000
Spence Dye $69,000
Timothy Alan Ford $48,000
Beth C. Clay $45,000
Grant Moncrief Fox $42,000
Crowell H. Armstrong $45,000
Total: $443,501

2010:
Randal Russell: $20,510
Beth Clay: $50,000
Spence Dye: $75,000
Spencer Medlin: $50,000
Crowell Armstrong: $50,000
Worth Thomas: $50,000
Tim Ford: $44,000
Burke Muprhy, Jr.: $44,000
Grant Fox: $44,000
Total: $487,510

2009: $496,875
2008: $468,875
2007: $468,000

Is this what charter school opponents are protecting?

2012-02-28T07:51:00.006-06:00

The House Education Committee is scheduled to vote on a charter schools bill tomorrow and sure enough, here comes the gnashing of teeth from the Clarion-Ledger, Dr. George Schimmel, and Nancy Loome. While they writhe in agony over the thought of anyone but them approaching the altar of public schools, perhaps we should take a look at how well public schools are performing in Jackson.

JJ reviewed the report cards provided by the Department of Education on its website and found there are few bright spots in the Jackson public school system. Check out the data for yourself and I warn you: it's not pretty.

Elementary Schools (33)
Star: 2
High Performing: 7
Successful: 6
Academic Watch: 8
Low Performing:
At risk of failing: 10
Failing:

Middle Schools (9)
Star:
High Performing:
Successful: 1
Academic Watch: 6
Low Performing
At risk of failing:2
Failing

High Schools (8)
Star:
High Performing:
Successful: 1
Academic Watch: 5
Low Performing
At risk of failing: 2
Failing

% of total schools at Academic Watch or below: 66%
% of elementary schools at Academic Watch or below: 55%
% of middle & high schools at Academic Watch or below: 88%

Note: Davis Magnet is rated High Performing and Power APAC has a Star rating. I did not include those in the above descriptions as they are considered "the gifted and talented" schools. An asterisk is placed next to a school with improvement of one level from the previous year. Two asterisks means it declined by one level. The previous level is stated if the change was more than one level.

Haven't seen these results in the media, have you? David Hampton wrote several columns and blogs this year opposing charter schools. Have you seen him write one column this year, last year, or the year before telling you how bad Jackson Public Schools really are? Have you seen him mention the poor ratings of JPS? Actually provide the data? His editorial page published a column by Claiborne Barksdale last week opposing charter schools. He published an editorial opposing current charter school legislation and no less than 15 similar letters to the editor while only two supporting letters were published in the last ten days.

How many letters to the editor or guest columns has the Clarion-Ledger published about the dismal ratings of Jackson Public Schools? Where are the 15 letters criticizing the leadership of Jackson Public Schools for only having ONE middle school and ONE high school rated above academic watch? How many times have you seen the same outrage currently spent opposing charter schools aimed at the poor performance of JPS? Not once did they tell you less than 40% of the boys at Wingfield and Provine graduate in four years or that half of all boys who go to high school in Jackson public schools graduate. Not once. Did Mr. Hampton mention his wife is in charge of public relations for Jackson Public Schools? Does he disclose this fact when opposing charter school legislation or recommending how it can be "fixed"? Earlier post on graduation rates

Then there is quote by Jackson Public School Board member Dr. George Schimmel in a letter published today in the newspaper:

"The charter school bill before the Legislature is less about choice than it is about segregation. It will segregate our children into those who are at high risk to fail and those who are not." Rest of letter

Dr. Schimmel, there will not be segregation if charter schools become reality because there is segregation right now. Children attending public schools in Jackson are held in bondage to schools that are already failing and at risk. They are doomed to a life of failure by YOUR school system, Dr. Schimmel. A school system that does not teach them, does not educate them, and damn sure is not graduating them. Even the children attending George and McWillie, two star schools actually educating children who are poor and black, see that spark of education extinguished when they move on to middle school. As for race itself, the public school system is 98% black.

I've yet to see Dr. Schimmel write letters discussing the graduation rates or pitiful report cards, yet he doesn't hesitate to raise the ghost of segregation in a 98% black school system when anyone discusses charter schools. Dr. Schimmel is a moral coward, more concerned with his position on the school board than actually doing something about the problems facing Jackson Public Schools. Injecting segregation into the discussion shows his intellectual laziness and inability to get off a path that has already led to failure because the JPS school system is a failure by any standard.

I just have one question for Dr. Schimmel, David Hampton, Nancy Loome of the Parents' Campaign, Claiborne Barksdale, and the rest of the public school lobby: How do you defend the record of a public school system such as Jackson's? How can you argue with a straight face a school system that graduates from high school only half its boys should be protected from charter schools? How do you claim a school system is not segregated when it is nearly all-black with most of the secondary schools rated as academic watch or at risk of failing? When will you admit this fight is more about you than it is the children?

Data:

Baker: High Performing
Barr: Successful
Boyd:High Performing*
Bradley: High Performing
Brinkley: Academic Watch
Brown: Successful*
Casey: High Performing
Clausell: Successful**
Dawson: none reported.
French: High Performing*
George: Star*
Green: High Performing* (At Risk of Failing)
Hopkins: At Risk of Failing**
Isable: " " **
Johnson: " "
Key: Successful
Lake: Academic Watch*
Lee: At Risk of Failling
Lester: Academic Watch
Marshall: At Risk of Failing**
McLeod: High Performing* (Academic Watch)
McWillie: Star
North Jackson: At Risk of Failing**
Oak Forest: Academic Watch
Peeples: Academic Watch*
Pointdexter: Academic Watch**
Raines: Successful
Smith: Academic Watch**
Spann: At Risk of Failing** (Successful)
Timberlawn: Successful
Walton: Academic Watch
Sykes: Successful
Wilkins: At Risk of Failing**
Woodville Heights: At Risk of Failing** (Successful)

Blackburn: Academic Watch
Brinkley: Academic Watch
Chastain: Academic Watch
Hardy: Academic Watch
Northwest: Academic Watch**
Peeples: Academic Watch*
Powell: At Risk of Failing
Rowan: Successful* (At Risk of Failing)
Whitten: At Risk of Failing

Bailey Magnet: Academic Watch
Callaway: Academic Watch**
Forest Hill: Successful. Congratulations. The best high school in JPS.
Jim Hill: Academic Watch
Lanier: Academic Watch**
Murrah: Academic Watch
Provine: At Risk of Failing
Wingfield: At Risk of Failing

Note: Adam Lynch covered some of this in the Jackson Free Press last year.

Canton annexation postponed.

2012-02-27T12:40:00.003-06:00

Too funny. Madison County Chancellor Cynthia Brewer postponed the hearing of Canton's attempt to annex part of the area south of the city. Apparently the city did not not meet the requirements for publishing notice of the annexation. Hearing is continued until June 2013.

Karen Irby sues Irby brothers, Junior, & Irby attorneys for damages

2012-02-27T10:51:00.006-06:00

Karen Irby filed a suit in Hinds County Circuit Court Friday seeking damages Charles Irby (brother), Stuart M. Irby, Jr. (son), Joe Irby (brother), Cal Wells (Irby friend and attorney), Richard Montague (attorney), Dr. Shaduker Madakasira, and Jeff Rickles (friend). Ms. Irby charges them with alienation of affection, conspiracy, and fraud after they allegedly gained control of his affairs, divorced the couple, and then changed his will to deprive her of her and her child's inheritance in the case of his death. Mr. Irby killed himself January 17, 2011. The lawsuit also seeks punitive damages and was filed by attorneys Dennis Sweet and Bill Featherston. Ms. Irby also included her daughter by Lee Bounds, Parker, as a co-plaintiff.

Ms. Irby states she and Stuart Irby (First names will be used as there are so many Irby's.) were married on June 11, 2005 and maintained a "close confidential relationship involving love, affection, mutual trust, co-mingling of substantial property, philanthropy, and the like." The complaint states "they were considered local celebrities because of their success, kindness, and generosity." Stuart Sr. signed and executed his will on November 14, 2007 (The will is posted below on p.19.). It should be noted Mr. Irby filed a divorce petition against Karen in 2009. A Hinds County Chancellor dismissed the petition after Karen was never served. Karen charged Stuart Sr. in 2007 and 2008 with simple assault. He was not convicted of either charge.

The will was very generous. Stuart Sr. bequeathed $4 million at the time of his death if they had been married for five year. The will also left the house on 3940 Stuart Place to Karen. He also left $1 million to his sister and $100,000 to each of his brothers.

An interesting aspect of the 2007 will is it leaves additional money to Karen but with conditions. It states "Is I am married to Karen Collins Irby and we have not separated and are living together at the time of my death and neither of us has instituted any action for separation... divorce" then Karen receives an additional $200,000 and another $100,000 for each year of marriage through the fifth year of marriage, then $150,000 a year until the 8th year, then $50,000 for the ninth year, and a maximum of $1.2 million.

The will finally leaves $1 million to the step-daughter, Parker. However, Parker would not get half the money until she turned 35 years old and the other half when she reached the age of 50. The will left $8 million for his then two-year old son Graham Irby with the same provisions for when he was to receive his inheritance as Parker. The will then leaves a substantial amount of money to various causes and charities.

The lawsuit states Stuart executed the will and Karen "was entitled, and expected, to receive a significant inheritance-and of course his family and several charities were entitled to receive substantial bequeaths."

The lawsuit then unsheathed the dagger as it addresses the wreck. Karen acknowledges the "horrific" wreck that killed two doctors and that she was charged with depraved heart murder. She states Stuart Sr. did not recover mentally and that his doctor allegedly reported his brain injury "rendered him mon compos mentis" (not of sound mind).

Karen claims one of the defendants hired attorney Joe Holloman to defend her and that she "did not have a written engagement letter" with Mr. Holloman "or any of her lawyers." She accuses the defendants of conspiring to deprive her of her inheritance and assets after she was sentenced to 18 years in jail and that Stuart Sr. "lacked the ability, as a result of his mental condition" to make a decision with a "reasonable degree of rational understanding."

Mr. Sweet moves in for the kill*: "While the Hinds County District Attorney's Office prepared to prosecute Karen and sought to interview Stuart, Stuart's personal lawyers maintained the position that he suffered infirmities and could not give competent testimony. Indeed this correspondent attended that hearing and heard his attorney state Mr. Irby could not testify and his medical condition was so severe, it would cause harm to his well-being. She stated she had a nueropsychologist ready to testify to that effect. Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie Green ruled in September 2009:

"Irby's medical providers opine that he suffers "retrograde amnesia for events leading up to the accident "through sometime in mid-April 2009. The medical providers indicate that this is typical of persons with severe traumatic brain injury, along with multiple other cognitive, psychological, and emotional maladies. Their prognosis for memory recovery remains poor.

(3)Stuart Irby's physicians are of the opinion that he lacks the ability to participate or even comprehend and provide reliable and valid answers to questions from the State and Defendant regarding the incident at issue in this case. Moreover these treating physicians advise the Court Mr. Irby's involuntary participation in even a simple interview at this time would likely "worsen" his condition, would setback his brain injury recovery, and "cause harm" to their patient.".... Earlier post

Karen's lawyers didn't miss this at all as they wrote his "lawyers also asserted he lacked the mental capacity to give competent testimony based upon his mental infirmities associated with the February 2009 accident." Mr. Irby thus allegedly lacked the sound mind needed to make changes to a will.

Charles Irby established a conservatorship for Stuart Sr. last year after he was arrested for a DUI in Ridgeland. The complaint alleges the guardians, Charles and several other defendants, divorced the couple and then changed the wil. She argues Stuart Sr. could not "comprehend his actions" and he executed another will on May 14, 2010 (A copy was not included in the file.). She claimed Stuart still "loved" her and frequently wrote her and visited her in prison and he told the defendants he did not want to get divorced. The petition for divorce was filed on May 17, 2011.

*Editorial note: I think the episode when the D.A. was trying to question Mr. Irby will be a huge factor in this case. Stuart Sr.'s lawyer, Lisa Milner Binder, argued repeatedly to Judge Green that Mr. Irby was not mentally competent to handle a short interview. Judge Green reviewed his medical file, which included an independent review she ordered, and agreed. I wrote back then Ms. Binder's representation of Stuart Sr. was a disaster and she just made things worse. All Mr. Irby had to do was say "I don't remember" for 10 minutes, interview over but she asserted medical privilege and that he was not mentally competent to present himself. Now it looks like this will be used against him and well, the question must be asked, was he mentally competent when he executed another will in 2010?

Bill may cut money for Police & Fire E911 funds

2012-02-26T10:20:00.007-06:00

ATT is pushing a bill that could sharply reduce funding for E911 services in Mississippi. HB# 825 seeks to transfer most regulation of "landline" telephone services from the PSC to the federal government. The tax collected on landlines is the sole source of revenue for the E911 fund. E911 fund is nothing important- its just used by counties and cities to purchase radios and other telecommunications equipment for law enforcement and first responders. Copy of bill

ATT launched a strong offensive to pass this bill, arguing deregulation is needed to create a level playing field with cellphone and internet-based phone service companies. The bill is part of an overall strategy by ATT to pass similar legislation in other states such as Alabama, Kentucky, and Florida. The bill is assigned to the House Public Utilities Committee. HB# 825 states:

"A public utility of the type defined in Section 77-3-3 (d) (iii) which is regulated under the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection shall not be subject to any rule, regulation, or order promulgated by the commission, except for the provision of intrastate switched access service. The provisions of Section 77-3-23 shall not apply to such public utility regulated under the provisions of paragraph (a) of this sub- section." (Note: (d)(iii) is regulation of telecommunications services.).

This section (lines 337-344) thus ends most regulation of landline service by the Public Service Commission. While everyone is applauding the triumph of free-markets, deregulation, and other typical conservative principles (which I usually promote) there is one small question that needs to be asked: How will this affect E911 funding?

Landlines are taxed to support E911 services and equipment.* The Mississippi Wireless Communication Commission collects the tax and distributes the money to the E911 Council in each county. The council then provides funding to municipal and county agencies in that county to purchase 911-related equipment such as computers, dispatch consoles, and radios. E911 funding is a very important matter for law enforcement and county governments in Mississippi. Without it, there would be no money for 911 services and communication equipment.

However, the question must be asked: will this bill affect E911 funding? Section 77-3-35 of the Mississippi Code requires phone companies to provide telephone service to rural areas:

(4)(c)(i) An incumbent local exchange carrier shall provide, upon reasonable request, primary single-line flat rate voice communication service to the premises of a permanent residence or business within its franchised service territory, if the costs, including, but not limited to, the costs of facilities, rights-of-way and equipment, of providing such service to the requesting party do not exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00)....

(ii) If the costs exceeds Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), as provided in and subject to subparagraph (i) of this paragraph (c), an incumbent local exchange carrier may not deny service on the basis of costs so long as sufficient funds to provide that services are available from contributions to aid in construction or the Mississippi portion of the applicable federal universal service fund program as administered by the commission...."

Does HB# 825 affect this part of the law? Does it repeal the universal service requirement or does it merely remove any means of enforcing it? It is estimated there are 30,000 rural landlines in Mississippi thanks to the universal service requirement. The lines carry higher costs but ATT did enjoy a decades-long monopoly in Mississippi. If such changes take place, taxes used to support the E911 fund will decrease. The federal government also pays a subsidy to Mississippi for rural phone service through the universal service fund. The fund paid Mississippi $260,533,000 in 2010, the most for any state. 2011 FCC Monitoring Report However, the FCC is making changes to the fund and it unclear what Mississippi's future funding will be. <"a href="http://www.usac.org/hc/">USAC website

If such is indeed the case, counties will face yet another wave of expenses when their budgets are already taking on water. It is no secret the E911 funds are shrinking due to the falling use of landlines as the Hinds County Board of Supervisors recently discovered. Removing the universal service requirement will only make the problem worse as more E911 revenue disappears. If the legislature passes this bill, it better be ready to provide another source of money for local governments. 911 isn't that big of a deal- until you need it.

*Monthly cellphone bills are taxed as well but the money is supposed to go towards Phase II E911 (GPS-tracking of cellphone when 911 call is made.).

Train up a child the way he should go.........

2012-02-25T09:11:00.003-06:00

So I am at Men's Wearhouse last night. Store had a few customers picking up tuxes and others getting fitted for their prison garb they get to wear on the day of their castrations oops I meant weddings. This little black boy is there with his mother as she waits for service. Cute kid, a precocious type. Pointing to thing such as cuff links and asking me questions about them, typical kid stuff- what are these?, what are they for?, and the like. Could just imagine this kid playing with a chemistry set for some reason. He was nice and I'm sure mom needed a break so I didn't mind.

I then go sit down at the other side of the store for my service and of course guess who pops up a few minutes later but the same kid. He gets me to ask him how old he is, where he goes to school, you know how kids are. He's proud to answer all the questions. He said he was six, he went to Sykes (I had to help him pronounce it), and his mama was a police officer for Jackson. He then asks if I like Martin Luther King. I said yes, he was a great man. He then said white people killed Martin Luther King. I said well, I like him, I've watched him on tv many times and I like him. He then says white people burned down his house. I said again, well, I like Martin Luther King. He says his mama said white people killed him. He asked why white people killed him. I said there are bad people out there but not everyone is like that. He then "you're nice but you're white" as if he were surprised by that fact. Needless to say, I was surprised to say the least. He was very friendly the whole time, just curious. About this time the salesman walked up.

I just have one question for my black readers: Is THIS crap what you are teaching your children?

Mr. Wint wants to try again

2012-02-24T09:46:00.002-06:00

Well, well well, it looks like Wint McGee don't like losing. The Madison County Journal reports:

"In May 2013, Smith and McGee will likely meet again in the political arena as both have already announced intentions to run for a full term.

McGee said, "I'll be back next May. I feel real good about things after the results. I have a heart for this city no matter what and we'll try to get in there next time. I believe that in a normal election, not a special election, you'll get a lot more people out to vote from the various wards."

Meridian cuts $10,000 monthly payments to Watkins to $1

2012-02-24T08:02:00.002-06:00

The Meridian Star reports the Meridian City council cut monthly payments to Jackson developer from $10,000 per month to $1 per month on February 7:

"MERIDIAN — The Meridian City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to cut their monthly payment to David Watkins, project developer of Meridian's new police station, by $9,999 until work resumes on the project.

The order, made during the Meridian City Council meeting Tuesday morning, included a mutual agreement between the councilmen and Watkins to reduce the project developer's monthly consultant fee of $10,000 to $1, effective Tuesday.

The council voted on the issue without discussion.

"We agreed with him that since nothing was happening, that we were going to reduce that agreement until he got going back with the project and some other things started happening around town," Ward 1 Councilman Dr. George Thomas said after Tuesday's meeting.

"Part of the agreement with him was that he was going to help the city developed some projects. Since he's not going with that project right now, we both agreed that we would reduce that (Watkins' fee), and once we get going with some projects there's a possibility that they can be renegotiated," Thomas said.

Construction on the project has been halted and isn't scheduled to resume until March 15. Watkins said the project – which entails renovating an old grocery building on 22nd Avenue into a new police station that will serve the entire department – has taken significantly longer than expected to finance.

Watkins said last week there have significant delays in closing on the new market tax credits, which are an important aspect of the project’s funding. He said the original closing date for the tax credits was expected to be Dec. 15, 2011. The date has been pushed back, he said, because of problems with coordination between the numerous entities involved with the tax credits and because it took longer to than expected for the tax credits to be allocated for the project.

The project developed stressed that the project is not unfunded, there is just a delay in accessing the funds. He added that the delay will not cost the city anything.

Meridian hired Watkins Development in October 2010 to work as a consultant for the $10,000 a month fee with a one year contract that is automatically renewed each year "for a number of years", according the agreement with the city. The contract with the city states that $10,000 a month is a 50 percent reduction on the firm's usual fee.

Thomas said the $1 fee was proposed to keep Watkins "on line" with the city.

"We still want an agreement with him, if he's willing to work with the city to develop some things," Thomas said. "But, until some things start happening, we just felt basically to just have an agreement with him; the $1 fee was just a token amount to keep the agreement going without any significant amount of money in it." Article

The newspaper's editorial board hailed the decision:

MERIDIAN — Kudos to members of the Meridian City Council for voting this week to stop paying Watkins Development their $10,000 monthly consulting fee until work resumes on city projects...

With the delay, city officials were left with few options. The good news: they're not having to pay for the monthly lease on building. They won't make a payment until the building is completed.

The bad news: city police continue to wait for a new place to operate. And up until last week, Watkins was still earning the $10,000 a month, seemingly for nothing according to some councilmen.

"We expect to see at least something, new plans for other developments around the city or something," Thomas said. "It's not like the city has a huge surplus where we can just pull money. Times are tough. Our police are ready to move in..." Editorial

Paywalls & buyouts at the Clarion-Ledger

2012-02-23T13:43:00.003-06:00

Looks like paywalls at the Clarion-Ledger will be in place by the end of the year and the product will suffer a bit as the newspaper offered buyouts to quite a few veterans. JJ reported the names a few weeks ago but it was buried at the bottom of the post. Sources inform JJ the following employees were offered buyout packages:

Rick Cleveland, Bobby Cleveland, David Hampton, Ernest Hart, Deborah Skipper, Gary Pettus, Jimmie Gates, Billy Watkins, and Bill Zimmerman.

Sources also tell JJ Jerry Mitchell will be taking a three-month break to finish writing a book. Needless to say with Elizabeth Crisp leaving, there will be very little talent or experience left at the CL if all accept buyouts. Then there is the matter of the paywall. Forbes reports:

"The vogue for digital paywalls sweeping the news business has made it all the way to the top: Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper publisher, is planning to switch over all of its 80 community newspapers to a paid model by the end of the year, it announced during an investor day held in Manhattan Wednesday." Article

Nice job, Leslie, nice job.

Senator John Horhn: Illiteracy's best friend. Here is what he is trying to protect.

2012-02-23T07:56:00.010-06:00

That's right. I said it. This gangsta-wannabe who loves to ply the white wine circuit as yuppies ooh and ah because he likes them offered up an amendment on charter school legislation this week. Here is the amendment, completely unedited:

AMEND by striking lines 249 through 256 and substituting the following in lieu:

SECTION 5. Authorizer. (1) The Mississippi Public Charter School Authorizer Board created under subsection (2) of this section may only authorize public charter schools in a school district rated as Failing, At-Risk of Failing or Low-Performing by the State Department of Education.

Notice what category is not on there? Academic Watch, which just happens to the level of Jackson Public Schools. This website reported several days ago on the graduation rates of JPS. Male students graduate in four years at a rate of only 53%. That's right: only 1 out of every 2 male students in Jackson Public Schools graduates in four years after starting ninth grade. These pointy-heads over at Parents for Public Schools and the Department of Education can twist the statistics all they want but the fact is, if you are only graduating half the boys or girls in your district, you have a disaster on your hands.

NCLB District Report Card (Bailey Magnet p.5, Callaway p.37, Forest Hill p.57, Lanier p.105, Murrah p.137, Provine p.161 Wingfield p.221)

4-yr graduation rates
Bailey Magnet: 74%
Callaway: 61%
Forest Hill: 56%
Jim Hill: 66%
Lanier: 56%
Murrah: 74%
Provine: 49%
Wingfield: 50%

Now, lets break it down even further using the reports provided by the Dept. of Ed. The report doesn't provide schools names but we will use numbers. I am pretty sure these are in alphabetical order so I will take a leap and guess the school names. The 4-year graduation rates for black male students are placed in parenthesis next to the overall graduation rate. The links to the reports are posted below. Column M is the 4-year graduation rate for black males in Jackson public high schools once they enter ninth grade. The actual student is tracked so if he transfers or moves, the rate is not skewed. The Department of Education website states JPS is 98% black. Graduation rates, Dropout rates

Bailey Magnet: 74% (68%)
Callaway: 59% (50)
Forest Hill: 56%(49%)
Jim Hill: 66% (59%)
Lanier: 56% (54%)
Murrah: 74% (69%)
Provine: 49% (38%)
Wingfield: 50% (36%)

Now lets look at the dropout rates for the same group with the black male students in parenthesis:
Bailey Magnet School: 12% (13%)
Callaway: 28% (38%)
Forest Hill: 20% (24%)
Jim Hill: 22% (23%)
Lanier: 20% (19%)
Murrah: 15% (18%)
Provine: 37% (43%)
Wingfield: 31% (38%)

Think I'm picking on JPS? Hattiesburg High School has a graduation rate of 48%. That's it. 48%. The same school graduated only 33% of its black male students BUT the district is labeled successful and Hattiesburg High is placed on the level of "Academic Watch". 91% of the district's students are black. The dropout rate for black males is 37%. Thus under Senator Horhn's amendment, a school that graduates ONLY ONE-THIRD OF ITS MALE STUDENTS is protected from charter schools if the district is carries the academic watch label.

Mr. Horhn thinks a school that has a student body over 90% black and graduates less than half of its students and one-third of its black male students should be "protected" from charter schools. Mr. Horhn is the Klan's best friend because Hattiesburg High School, Provine, Wingfield, Callaway, and others are graduating black male students at rates only the Klan could love. Read Provine again: Only half the kids graduate, less than 40% of the black male students graduate, and the dropout rate is aorund 40%. Yet John Horhn marches lockstep with Nancy Loome and Claiborne Barksdale, fighting to keep these kids trapped in the same system- until they drop out.

Horhn's amendment gives the game away for the public school lobby. This is not about improving the education of our children but control. The public school lobby and their allies have consistently delivered an educational system that is in last place. Now that there is a serious chance the status quo will change, those who make their living off of keeping our children in last place shriek the loudest. John Horhn should explain why he thinks a school such as Provine should be protected from charter schools because if there is a school that screams out for charter school conversion, it is Provine. Twenty-five years ago a redneck legislator said "We don't need no Harvards down here". Mr. Horhn and such rednecks are one and the same as they fight to keep the Provines and Hattiesburgs as they are.

Charter schools: here we go again today.

2012-02-23T07:24:00.003-06:00

Looks like the Senate's approval of charter schools yesterday was not quite final. The Senate approved SB# 2401 34-17 but held it on a motion to reconsider. The Public School Lobby war machine kicked it up another notch yesterday as it announced its opposition to this bill. Parents' Campaign Executive Director Nancy Loome issued another fatwah against SB#2401 last night in an email yesterday:

Today, the Senate passed its version of the charter school bill on a vote of 34-17. While there are some very good things about this bill, there are some areas that need to be changed significantly if this legislation is to help improve student achievement in Mississippi.

Senator Horhn's amendment to focus charter schools only in districts rated below Academic Watch was a step in the right direction. Our position on that amendment was to vote "yes." That amendment was defeated with 19 yeas and 32 nays. See that vote here.

The bill in its current form would do more harm than good, and so our position on the final passage vote was to vote "no." See that vote here.

Senate Education Chairman Gray Tollison acknowledged a number of times during questioning today that there are areas of the bill that still need work, yet he opposed each of the 9 amendments that were offered, promising to look at those issues and work to improve the bill.

I am hopeful that the House will do a better job of attending to the details that will determine whether or not this bill will work well for Mississippi. Done well, charter school legislation could help to propel Mississippi to the next level. Done poorly, it could diminish the success of Mississippi's Star and High Performing schools and harm significantly those communities.

Here's what needs to be improved.

* Limit charters to chronically underperforming school zones. We need to focus charter schools where they will most benefit Mississippi, where students are trapped in chronically underperforming schools. School budgets are severely underfunded, and there is little hope that the MAEP will be fully funded this year or next year. It would be irresponsible to further stretch those scarce school dollars by creating new schools - more administrators, more buildings, more overhead - where children already have good schools. We just can't afford it.
* Require a proven track record of success from charter school operators. The Senate version of the bill does not require this. The bill says that such information should be included in the application, but it does not direct the authorizer to grant charters only to those with a record of success. Under this bill, anyone could be granted a charter; there are no restrictions.
* Ensure that for-profit companies cannot run charter schools. The bill has a loophole that will allow this.
* Prohibit virtual charter schools. Fortunately, the Senate version does prohibit this form of charter school, thanks to an amendment passed by the Senate Education Committee. We need to remain vigilant about keeping them out. We will watch this in the House to make sure virtual charter schools don't make their way back into the bill. Read about virtual charter schools here.

Thank you for your hard work on this bill. I know many of you are disappointed in your legislators' votes. I've heard from so many of you today already that I cannot respond individually. Please continue to have conversations with your legislators about your position on charter school legislation. They need to know that you are paying attention and that you care deeply about the effects of this bill.

The bill will now go to the House. I'm not sure if that chamber will take up this charter bill or if it will take up its own version. We will watch it for you and keep you posted. You can find updates on our website. Thanks so much for being there for Mississippi kids!

Gratefully,

Nancy

The Clarion-Ledger published 8 letters to the editor opposing the charter schools bill and only 1 in favor of the bill. A guest column by Parents' Campaign President Claiborne Barksdale opposing the bill appeared Tuesday in the newspaper. Meanwhile I would love to publish some pro-charter school columns, fact-sheets, or similar letters to the editor but unfortunately, the pro-charter schools advocates seem to be taking the week off when it comes to PR. Stay tuned.

Brown suspended by Bar, grilled by Judge Grant

2012-02-22T15:21:00.008-06:00

The Mississippi Supreme Court suspended attorney Michael J. Brown's license to practice law on February 16, 2012. The court ruled it will dissolve the order only when the attorney presents a certified copy of an order showing he purged himself of the contempt charge in Hinds County. Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas threw Mr. Brown in jail after ruling he could not account for $3 million in the guardianship of Damon McClinton. Mr. Brown faced more scrutiny today after Rankin County Chancery Judge Grant ordered him to come to his courtroom to discuss another guardianship.

Judge Grant said in court today he "pulled" all estate and guardianship cases where Mr. Brown was the attorney to review for any possible malfeasance. The Chancellor ordered an accounting in the guardianship of minor Drake Bolland on February 7, 2012. The court appointed the parents of Drake Bolland, John and Melissa, guardians in 2007 after their son received a $15,000 settlement due to a fireworks-related injury. Michael J. Brown represented the parents. He told the court today they had been friends and went to the same church for a long time. The court established a guardianship for the child and directed the parents to place the funds into a federally insured bank where the funds were to remain until "further order" of the court.

Judge Grant subpoenaed the Bollands and Mr. Brown to appear in his court today. Judge Grant was not happy when he learned the parents removed the money from the account and placed it into other accounts such as checking and money markets. The Bollands apparently thought they could earn a better interest rate and said they were told by Brown they could do so without permission from the court. Judge Grant ordered the parents to place the funds back into the guardianship within 48 hours. In this case fate smiled upon little Drake Bolland because the funds actually increased in value thanks to market performance over the last two years.

Judge Grant said when the hearing began he was prepared to remove the Bollands as guardians but changed his mind after hearing their testimony. The Chancellor said they had "done wrong" but "they were led to act wrong by Mike Brown. He said they acted "inappropriately" but "no substantial damage was done" thanks to the Dow Jones. He ordered them to deposit $17,437 into an account at Merchants & Farmers Bank within 48 hours and ordered the bank to show proof they had done so (Principal and interest calculated at 1.25% since original transfer.). He then warned the couple: "If you mess up again, you will be in trouble." He also ordered M&F to keep the money from going "anywhere" without his approval. Judge Grant said "I'm supposed to be more conservative with Drake's money than what's in my own pocket." Judge Grant then lectured the couple on how serious his responsibility was in protecting Drake's interests.

However, this post is not about the mishandling of a child's small trust account but the behavior of an attorney in the courtroom today. Michael J. Brown did not appear at the hearing. Judge Grant sent deputies to his home during the hearing where they unsuccessfully tried to contact Mr. Brown. The attorney finally called the administrator and said he was en route to the courthouse. Mr. Brown showed up in blue jeans and a button down shirt. He assumed the stand after Judge Grant said "all right, I'd like to hear from Mr. Brown." Mr. Brown apologized to the judge for being late and said he had marked the hearing as February 23 on his calendar.

The suspended attorney said John Bolland asked him if he could move the funds into another account. Mr. Brown said "I think I contacted Judge Grant but I said the corpus could not be touched but they could move the interest." Mr. Brown made this assertion several times while on the stand. He said the "whole idea" was not to incur any attorney's fees. He said he told them the court order allowed them to move the interest but disclaimed any responsibility for moving the corpus.

Judge Grant asked Michael J. Brown "did you inform Mr. Bolland he needed a court order?" There was a long pause. Very long pause. Long pause as in the long pause after Karen Irby made her statement to Judge Green long pause. Judge Grant than had someone give the file to Michael J. Brown. The file was opened to the order establishing the guardianship. The gray-haired Chancellor, looking and sounding like stern Spencer Tracy in Judgment at Nuremberg, asked him where in the court order did it "say interest". Mr. Brown said "I don't see it." He then said "I could've swore it was in there" (Mr. Brown used the phrase "I could've swore" several more times during the hearing.). Mr. Brown said again "I could've swore it said you could move the interest."

Judge Grant said "just show me where it says it in there." Mr. Brown looked and looked through the order. He even removed his glasses and bent over, placing his face real close to the paper, studying each word. He said nothing. Mr. Bolland said the attorney said it was "ok" to make the transfer. Judge Grant again asked him if the order said anything about moving the interest. The attorney again said he "could've swore it was in there". Mr. Brown said several times he had gotten permission from Judge Grant during an ex parte discussion on another case. Judge Grant said he did not remember any such permission or conversation. Mr. Brown even said he never received a fee for the work performed in establishing the guardianship. Judge Grant finally drew the testimony to a close after Brown apologized to the Bowlands. The episode brought to mind Mr. Brown's claim in the McClinton case he could not return the bank statements and court file as water damage destroyed them.

Judge Grant heard enough and ordered Michael J. Brown to pay $71.50 in process fees within 24 hours. Judge Grant appointed Jeffrey Rimes and Clay Baldwin as attorneys for the guardianship. While everyone was leaving the courtroom, Mr. Brown asked to approach the bench. He asked Judge Grant "Judge, do you not remember we had that conversation in your chambers?" Judge Grant immediately and strongly said "I have no recollection and furthermore, I would never make a statement like that. This does not need to go any further." The Judge then left the courtroom in obvious disgust.

Good job Clarion-Ledger

2012-02-22T09:30:00.000-06:00

They've done it again. See if you can spot the error.

Ed Committee passes charter school bill (Video of entire hearing)

2012-02-22T07:45:00.002-06:00

The Senate Education Committee approved a charter school bill today before a packed room. The committee also approved an amendment by Senator David Blount striking all language concerning virtual schools. Only one Senator voted against the amendment.

Lobbyists, educators, Superintendents, and politicians packed the audience as the Senate moved the meeting to a larger room to accommodate the crowd. There was the feeling this was a different day in Mississippi- and they all knew it. There was little debate on the bill, no colorful speeches by supporters of public schools, just a few questions, some discussion, and then a couple of votes. Here is the video of the hearing:

SB# 2401

Meanwhile, Nancy Loome, Executive Director of the Parents' Campaign (funded by Parents for Public Schools), sent out this email this afternoon:

Dear

This morning, the Senate Education Committee amended the charter school bill to prohibit virtual charter schools. Senator David Blount offered the amendment, and it passed overwhelmingly.

Senator Blount and the committee are to be commended for their strong stand on this issue - one that protects Mississippi children and taxpayers. Read about virtual charter schools here. Thank you for your great work on that piece of the bill. You spoke up, and legislators heard you.

Now we need one more amendment on the Senate floor to make this a workable bill, and we believe our position aligns well with the Lieutenant Governor's position.

There is a misconception that we want to prevent charter schools from competing with unsuccessful schools that are in successful school districts. This is not correct. Our focus is on schools, not districts.

Children who are trapped in underperforming schools (below successful on the state's accountability system) should have a charter school option - even if the underperforming school is in a successful district. All children in Mississippi's 232 persistently underperforming schools need help. What we cannot afford is to create new schools where the public schools already are doing a good job.

Please call your senator with this message:

Amend Senate Bill 2401 to limit charter schools to the school attendance zones of underperforming schools (including those in successful school districts) or vote no on the bill. We must focus charter schools where they are needed. We cannot afford to create more schools - more administrators, more buildings, more overhead - in places where we already have good public schools.

Please call your senator today - and ask your friends and family to call, too:

I cannot tell you how grateful I am for your terrific work so far on this bill. Thank you for the many, many calls, emails, and words of support. Constituents overwhelmingly agree with us on this issue; make sure that your legislators know where you stand. The bill will probably be taken up on the Senate floor in the next day or two.

Ask everyone you know to call their senators today and tell them to amend the bill or kill it. If this bill fails, we'll have another shot at a charter school bill in the House. Legislators are getting lots of pressure from lobbyists and all sorts of folks they were not elected to represent. They need to hear from you - their constituents.

This is a very, very important bill for public education, and we need your help to make it work well for Mississippi children. I promise to keep you updated; check our website for the most recent postings. Stay tuned, and stay after it! Our kids really are counting on us.

Many, many thanks,

Nancy

Meanwhile, the website of the leading advocate for charter schools, the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, is silent on the passing of the bill or what it means for the charter school movement.

The Democratic Trust sent out this email this afternoon as well:

Jackson, MS - Today, the Mississippi Senate Education Committee passed Senate Bill 2401, the “Mississippi Public Charter Schools Act of 2012”. During committee, Sen. David Blount (D-Jackson) offered an amendment to strip virtual charter schools from the bill. The bill ultimately passed the full committee and will now be in line for consideration by the full Senate.

Brandon Jones, Executive Director of the Mississippi Democratic Trust said, “Democrats are ready and willing to embrace any innovation that may improve the quality of education provided in Mississippi’s failing school districts but any change to our current system should account for those communities that are getting it right.” Jones added, “If we introduce changes that ultimately serve to destabilize high performing schools, we will have done a disservice to the children in our best schools.”

Sen. Kelvin Butler (D-McComb) said, “Accountability is the key. We should implement charter schools with a scalpel and not a cleaver. This means limiting charters to underperforming districts and restricting the operation of virtual, online profit centers.” Butler added, “There are groups who would like to profit off of Mississippi’s educational dilemma. We have to make sure that any charter school bill contains safeguards that protect Mississippi children and Mississippi taxpayers.”

D.I WINS!!!

2012-02-21T20:30:00.003-06:00

Yup. D.I Smith won against Wint McGee tonight. 1156-939. Still have some absentees to count.

More Shackelford shenanigans.

2012-02-21T15:37:00.005-06:00

The Mike Brown and Linus Shackelford saga continues. Today we go back to 1998 when Mr. Shackelford was accused of lying to a Hinds County Chancellor in order to gain the life insurance money paid to the estate of his son after he was killed in a car wreck.

Linus Shackelford's son, John Shackelford, died when his Jeep left I-55 and rolled over several times on October 1, 1997. Young Shackelford was 20 years old and had no will. He did have a life insurance policy that had a value of $17,500. Linus asked the chancery court to appoint him administrator of the estate on April 28, 1998. The petition listed only Linus Shackelford and his ex-wife, Paula Lancaster, as heirs of law and next of kin. Just one problem. Actually three problems in the form of three siblings. Yup. The petition does not mention any siblings of John Shackelford.

The petition and order for Linus and Paula's divorce in 1984 states there were four children: Matt, Julie, Litricia, and John. Three of the children survived John but were not listed on the petition. The Chancellor thus had no way of knowing the deceased had three siblings who could be potential heirs at law. The petition was signed and submitted by attorneys James Renfroe and Roy Periloux. The Chancellor approved Linus as administrator and said the only next of kin were the mother and father.

Linus Shackelford then submitted a bill for $41,449 in funeral expenses from Lakeland Place Commemorative Gardens, Inc to "Linus Shackelford", father of the deceased. There is no mention in any of the documents filed at that time that Linus Shackelford was the owner of Lakeland Place. This was to be a fancy funeral. $18,000 for a mausoleum. $4,000 for an "individualized portrait". $5,000 for a road side space "by special feature area". $3,195 for a bronze memorial. $1,149 for a maintenance contract. The estate then filed a public advertisement for creditors in the newspaper.

AIG deposited a check for $16,500 with the court. Linus claimed all of the proceeds so AIG asked the court to decide how the insurance policy should be paid.

However, there was no stopping Linus as he registered a claim for 41,449 with the court against the estate. It was the only claim submitted to the court by a creditor. Linus filed a petition to close the estate on January 21, 1999. The petition stated the parents were the only next of kin but there was no need to contact them anyway as the "claims filed against the estate exceed the value of the estate." Yup. you read that right. Linus Shackelford submitted a bill for funeral expenses of $41,449 to the court from his own company without disclosing he owned the company and it was the only claim against the estate and it just happened to be greater than the value of the life insurance policy. He requested the court issue the funds to him for the payment of the claim. Mr. Shackelford even patted himself on the back, stating "the administrator has done an excellent job in the probate of the estate, and that he does not request a fee for said services" (Make your own comment). The court agreed and closed the estate.

Story is over, right? Nope. Just gets better. Remember, you are in Mississippi. Linus Shackelford decided to sue Chrysler for defective design of the Jeep that allegedly caused the death of his son. He filed a petition to reopen the estate on October 14, 1999 so he could pursue the suit. Linus suddenly names his ex-wife Paula and in a fit of sudden remembrance no doubt divinely inspired, listed his three other children, Matt, Julie, and Litricia, as potential heirs. Attorney Michael Brown represented Linus, the first time his name appears in this ordeal.

Paula Lancaster then shows up and files a petition to reopen everything on May 13, 2002. She points out his petition in 1997 asking the court to appoint him as administrator of the estate did not mention the existence of any of his children other than John. She alleged Linus did not have her served with process even though he knew where she lived. She accused him of making "certain frauds and representations" on the court so he could obtain all of the money from the life insurance policy. Paula then alleges the funeral expenses claimed by Linus on the invoice were never "incurred nor paid". She included pictures of the grave site (see documents posted below.). The pictures show no mausoleum or fancy portraits but simply some dirt heaped piled up on a grave site.

Ms. Lancaster claimed she did not know of the lawsuit against Chrysler or petition to reopen the estate until Linus's attorney sent her a notice to take her deposition and a copy of the complaint. She asked the court to appoint her as administrator and force Linus to repay the $16,500.

The case settled for $225,000. Litirica and Matt, the brother and sister of the deceased, filed a response on August 19, 2002, stating they had did not know anything about their brother's estate nor were they notified about any transactions regarding the estate. They accuse their father of "deliberately" making "false statements" to the court and that he "submitted fraudulent claims" for $41,449 when "the actual cost of the funeral was $6100. The siblings asked the court to allow them to exhume the body so they could move it so as to give their brother a decent resting place besides a pile of dirt. This request was made nearly five years after his death. Sister Julie made a similar request of the court and accused her father of lying in order to steal the life insurance money.

The case settled and was dismissed with prejudice on July 17, 2003. Sources inform this correspondent Judge Singletary strongly urged the parties to settle the case. The settlement paid by Chrysler was adjusted so as to pay all claims and reimburse the injured parties for any funds wrongfully taken in the payment of the life insurance policy. It is the understanding of this correspondent Mr. Shackelford improved the burial site of his son after the motion to exhume was filed. A mausoleum now houses his grave.

Mr. Shackleford and Mr. Brown are still under a court order freezing their assets and face contempt of court charges in the guardianship of DaMon McClinton after Chancellor Dewayne Thomas ruled $3 million meant for Mr. McClinton disappeared. A hearing will be held in March regarding Brown and Shackelford.

Note: Keep in mind the pictures are presented by one party. They are not verified and the case never went to trial.

Charter bill passes

2012-02-21T09:27:00.001-06:00

Charter school bill passes. Blount offers amendment to strike all virtual school language. Amendment passes.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Graduation & dropout rates. We report, you decide.

2012-02-20T22:33:00.007-06:00

So someone who supports Parents for Public Schools today told me how great schools are in Jackson and how they could measure up against any one in the country. Well, lets take a look at a couple of statistics for all of you public school supporters. I'm sure another $300 million would solve this problem or a teacher pay raise of $10,000 per year would as well. Take a look at these dropout and graduation rates from the Mississippi Department of Education's own website. Burnham likes to say they have cut the dropout rate to 17% from the 2005 rate of 25% reported by PEER.

Here are the 4th year cohort graduation rates for the ninth graders in 2006/2007. I chose males to show a problem. In all districts listed below, female students had much higher rates:

Amite County: 46%
Canton: 41%
Coahoma: 55%
Covington: 55%
Durant: 33%
East Tallahatchie: 49%
Franklin County: 46%
Greenville: 44%
Greenwood: 48% (But Rep. Willie Perkins gets mad over black kids attending private schools.)
Jackson Public: 53%
Jefferson County: 51%
Kemper: 51%
Laurel: 48%
Leflore County: 54%
McComb: 53%
Natchez-Adams: 34%. Thats right. Thirty-damn-four percent.
Okolona Seperate: 48%
North Panola: 53%
Philadelphia: 54%
South Pike: 40%
Sunflower County: 46%
Tunica County: 41%
Vicksburg-Warren: 45%
Water Valley: 49%
West Tallahatchie: 37%
West Point: 50%
Yazoo City: 54%
Yazoo County: 49%

28 school districts. ONE OUT OF EVERY TWO male students OR LESS failed to graduate in four years. Now you ready for the really bad news? Except for the alternative schools and Okalona Separate School District, NOT ONE SINGLE DISTRICT had black female students graduate at a rate less than 50%. However, there were 28 school districts where the black male students graduated at a less than 50% rate. Many of them were in the thirties. You read that right. Chart of data. Read it for yourself and weep. Comprehensive data for graduation, completion, and dropout rates.

However, I don't want to be accused of cherry-picking or slanting statistics. Here are the four-year dropout rates for the same period. Chart. See column J. Black male students are in column CL.. I only listed those over 25%.

Amite County: 30%
Canton: 30%
Drew: 29%
Durant: 35%
East Tallahatchie: 32%
Forest City: 25%
Greenville: 38%
Hattiesburg: 25%
Hazlehurst: 26%
Holmes County: 31%
Jackson Public: 23%
Laurel: 29%
Lawrence County: 26%
Natchez-Adams: 39%
North Panola: 30%
Oktibbeha County: 28%
South Pike: 27%
Sunflower County: 36%
Tunica County: 26%
Vicksburg-Warren: 35%
West Tallahatchie: 40% THE WINNER!!!
Wilkinson County: 28%
Yazoo County: 34%
Total: 23 district

Anyone see a problem? There is a great deal of useful information in these charts. Since I am sure I did not begin to touch of the useful data, feel free to chime in with your own observations.

The Parents' Campaign: Follow the money. Front for Parents for Public Schools.

2012-02-20T09:41:00.005-06:00

The Parents' Campaign has been making quite a bit of noise lately as it wades into the charter school debate. Who exactly is the Parents' Campaign? The organization's mission statement is "The goal of The Parents’ Campaign is to engender a public education system that affords all students access to excellent schools so that children can become what they dream." It states its 2012 legislative priorities are to improve funding, teacher quality, and school leadership for public schools. Who could be against those goals?

The lightning rod for the Parents Campaign is Nancy Loome, Executive Director and the 2005 Parent of the Year (State Board of Education winner). She sends the blast emails, speaks to the media, and handles the talking points. The Parent's Campaign and Ms. Loome have become very prominent in the charter schools fight in 2012. The organization professes to support charter schools- with a list of restrictions on how and where they can operate. It is this columnists opinion PC opposes charter schools and is using the amendment process to castrate any charter school legislation.

The tax returns for the Parents' Campaign make one thing clear: the organization is a front for Parents for Public Schools, the public school advocacy group. The 2010 Form 990 (posted below) for the Parents' Campaign state it had total revenue of $237,789. Salaries and employee benefits were $194,028 (81% of revenue). It reported an operating deficit of $27,560 (Hmmm.... no wonder the idea of for-profit charter schools is anathema to this group.).

The chairman is Claiborne Barksdale and the Vice-Chairman is Dick Molpus, the leading public school advocate in the state. Mr. Molpus founded Parents for Public Schools and Mr. Barksdale is the Chief Executive Officer of the Barksdale Reading Institute. The 990 states Ms. Loome is paid $99,040 per year and benefits worth $9,540. The old adage is follow the money. Well, the old adage is true in this case as the money leads back to the public school lobby: Parents for Public Schools and the Barksdale Institute.

Parents for Public Schools gave the Parents' Campaign $175,000 while the Barksdale Institute gave $42,000. PPS gave PC $150,000 in 2009, and $150,000 in 2008. The Parents' Campaign only had revenue of $237,789 in 2010. Thus the Parent's Campaign is likely a front for the public school lobby- Parents for Public Schools and the Barksdale Institute.

Lobbying. Lobbying. Lobbying Parents' believes it lobbysts as it pays Ms. Loome $13,283 in 2011 to lobby and reported three other lobbyists in 2011 although none made over $3,000. Camille Scales Young registered as a lobbyist for the Parents' Campaign last Friday. Her compensation is unknown. Given that the Parents' Campaign is a lobbying arm of the public school lobby, they should be recognized as such during the charter school debate.

More propaganda from the Parents Campaign

2012-02-20T07:19:00.005-06:00

Nancy Loome, Executive Director of the Parents Campaign, sent out a blast email last week about charter schools. You see, she supports charter schools. She really likes the concept. Of course we should try them in Mississippi. However, we just need to make sure we pass the right bill. Here is her email with embedded commentary from yours truly:

The Senate Education Committee will vote on the charter school bill on Tuesday morning.

We need your help to get the bill amended to achieve our goal of improving student achievement and providing good options for kids who are trapped in chronically underperforming schools.

Nice start. We want to help those who need it. We want to get them some good learnin'. Who could be against that? Kill more flies with honey than vinegar, you know. Wait, there is that word, amended. Hmmmm....... what's that about? Keep reading.

Please call your senator and Lt. Governor Tate Reeves before Tuesday and ask them to support amendments that:

There is that amending word again. Does this email support the bill or will it be subjected to death by a million amendments, oops I meant cuts.

1. Restrict charters to chronically underperforming school zones - We cannot afford to create more schools - more administrators, more buildings, more overhead - in places where we already have excellent public schools.

Ah yes, money.... and irony. Someone who supports the bureaucratic and inefficient ways of public schools suddenly discovers fiscal responsibility. I don't seem to remember Ms. Loome sending out emails complaining about how JPS spends much more money than Desoto Public Schools even though they educate the same number of students or how JPS wasted a bond issue a few years ago. Or the fiasco when JPS paid two superintendants- one to work and one to stay at home. In fact, did she ever say anything when it came out in court testimony most of Jackson's middle schools were in bad shape? Just wondering.

Then there is the matter of "chronically underperforming school zones." Notice she wrote "school zones", not schools. As Mr. Reeves wrote yesterday, a "successful" school zone can still have bad schools. This little trick of restricting charter schools to "underperforming school zones" is an attempt to make it harder to deliver charter schools to the kids who need them the most.

Folks, we are dead last in education. We might swap places with Louisiana from time to time but we are dead last. Period. Does anyone even think our best schools truly match up with the best public schools in the country? Or even against local private schools like Jackson Prep or St. Andrews? Competition is never a bad thing. Competition will help the kids who need it the most and push the better schools to improve. The winner is the children.

2. Prohibit virtual charter schools - It is astounding that anyone would want to allow virtual charters into Mississippi. In other states, virtual charter schools have moved student achievement backward while their executives have pocketed a fortune - in state tax dollars! Read about it here.

Heeeeeeelllllllllllppppppp!!!!! Virtual schools, virtual schools, lions and tigers and virtual schools, oh my! Virtual schools are not the boogieman and have their place in Mississippi public education. They are a great too for educating gifted students or those with special needs. Have a child with Asperger's? The child may have a high IQ and can learn but not in a classroom or social setting. Virtual schools might be a good fit for that student. Child has an IQ of 150 but lives in Kemper County or the Canton school district and want to take Chinese or advanced physics? Chances of him getting those classes at his local public school are zilch. If he went to a school such as Baton Rouge Magnet High, he could take these classes:

Languages: Spanish, French, Latin, German, Greek, Chinese.
Advanced sciences: bio. 2 ap, physics 2 ap, chem. 2 ap, environmental science ap
Advanced maths: calculus ab ap, calculus bc ap, statistics ap, discrete math
Advanced social studies: us history ap, econ. ap, European history ap, world history ap.

Too many school districts in Mississippi are poor and rural in nature. They don't have the funds or teachers to offer advanced classes to the few students who need them. Check out the website of Lake Attendance center. Less than twenty high school teachers on staff. It doesn't take a genius to realize that school probably does not have teachers who can teach chinese or advanced physics. Too often our other special students- the gifted and talented- are underserved by the public school system. Remember the fight over Montessori in Jackson? Good schools but people like Eric Stringfellow had the attitude that if we couldn't offer it to everyone, then we should offer it to no one, an attitude that unfortunately, holds Mississippi back and hurts those who need help the most. Virtual schools will address that problem.

Ms. Loome also very conveniently ignores Florida has a virtual public high school that serves over 100,000 students. Florida virtual schools. Virtual schools are a tool and like any other tool, they can be used poorly or wisely. Ms. Loome and the public school lobby, who has us in last place, do not think they should be used at all.

3. Require a proven track record of success from charter school management organizations - We can't afford to waste scarce taxpayer dollars on inexperienced "mom and pop" charter organizers who don't know what they are doing.

No one is advocating bringing in charter school companies with no track record although I am sure Socrates Garrett is trying to figure out a way to partner with a charter school so he can get the "minority contract" in black school districts.

4. Ensure that for-profit companies cannot run charter schools - For-profits cut corners on education to rake in greater profits. The bill has a loophole that will allow this.

Please call before Tuesday - and ask your friends and family to call, too.

Oh really? WHAT exactly is so virtuous about non-profit companies? Guess what Blue Cross/Blue Shield, St. Dominics, and many of your hospitals are? Non-profits. Last time I checked, they all have quite a few executives making six-figure salaries with all of the perks. All companies, profit and non-profit, operate on the profit motive for no other reason- if they don't make a profit, they will eventually cease to exist. There is nothing wrong with a principal making over $100,000 a year if he is a top producer or a company making a profit if it delivers results in the form of highly educated students. Tie compensation to performance and results, just like in the private sector. Empower the principal to experiment and try different educational methods, which he can do in a charter school. We currently practice a cookie cutter approach to public education in Mississippi and have cookie cuttered ourselves to last place.

Learn the facts about the bill. The Mississippi Business Journal published a good review of the bill last week for those of you who don't have the time to read all 60-odd pages. Ms. Loome's missive is actually a literary judo move against charter schools. Ms. Loome and her Parents for Public Schools-funded campaign supporters know the legislature is going to pass some form of charter-school legislation.

Ms. Loome is not going to scream bansai, bow to Emperor Molpushito, and try to kill charter school legislation as it would be nothing more than a suicide attack in a Republican legislature. What Ms. Loome is doing is much more clever: profess support for charter schools while using amendments to water down the bill or make it ineffective. She wants to improve the bill, you see. The goal for Ms. Loome and PPS is to keep charter schools from coming to Mississippi, Ms. Loome is attempting to water down charter schools bills with amendments that will make it almost impossible to implement charter schools in Mississippi.

Tate comes out swinging for charter schools

2012-02-19T17:10:00.002-06:00

Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves penned a column promoting charter schools that appeared in several newspapers today. The Lieutenant Governor wrote:

"This week, the state Senate will vote on allowing public charter schools in Mississippi. I would like to present the facts about this important legislation.

This bill creates an independent commission that will either approve or deny only the best charter school operators with a proven track record of success. Appointees will be from the governor, lieutenant governor, Department of Education and the state College Board.

Public charter schools would be funded with existing dollars from the federal, state and local levels. No new taxes would be added. The funds within the current school funding formula, the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, would follow students to their schools of choice.

Public charter schools could be allowed (but are not required) in any district in the state. However, the local school boards of districts rated as "star" or "high performing" by the state Department of Education also would have to give a stamp of approval to any charter school seeking to open within those top districts.

The independent commission will have the authority to allow charter schools in the other districts rated as "successful," on "academic watch," or "low performing."

These districts contain too many struggling schools, and our parents and students deserve an alternative.

Let me be clear: Being labeled as "successful" does not necessarily mean a district's schools are meeting the state minimum requirements. In reality, districts can earn the label of "successful" while housing schools that are "low performing," on "academic watch," or "failing."

For example, the East Tallahatchie County School District is rated as "successful" despite its three schools being rated as "low performing" or on "academic watch." The McComb School District has three schools on "academic watch" though the district has been deemed "successful." We cannot settle for simply successful districts producing average, or lower-than-average, results.

Mississippi is not entering new territory by allowing charter schools. Parents in New Orleans, Memphis and the Arkansas Delta have enjoyed a choice in their children's education for many years...

Charter schools have the flexibility to meet the needs of today's families while being held accountable for improving student achievement. If they fail, their charters will be revoked.

Public charter schools are not the answer to all of our educational challenges; however, they do give parents a choice in their child's education....." Rest of column

Bud now behind craft beer effort

2012-02-19T08:08:00.005-06:00

The Mississippi Business Journal reported Anheuser-Busch jumped on board the craft beer bandwagon:

“Anheuser-Busch is proud to support the effort to raise the ABW limit for beer in Mississippi,” said Doug Bailey, region vice president of state affairs at Anheuser-Busch. ”Increasing the state’s ABW limits will allow beer drinkers access to a greater variety of beers, including many of Anheuser-Busch’s high-end, specialty beers. It also will boost the state’s beer and hospitality industries..." Rest of article

Prediction: Some form of craft beer legislation will pass. Its not an election year, Dean Kirby is no longer chairman of Senate Finance Committee, and some of the major players like AB are now behind the effort to raise the limit. The craft beer advocacy group Raise Your Pints now has Hayes Dent for a lobbyist while AB still retains top lobbyist Beth Clay at a fee of $90,000 per year. Ms. Clay's son Stephen is the director of beer lobby PAC Capital Advocacy Group.

CAG donated $29,452 to politicians and PAC's in 2011 and reported last month it had over $16,000 in cash on hand. 2011 post on AB donations The only donations made to CAG are from Anheuser-Busch. AB donated $5,000 to its PAC in 2011. The donations will show the usual pattern by CAG- a nice contribution of $5,000 to the Lieutenant Governor. Oddly enough, Senator Dean Kirby did not receive a single contribution from CAG in 2011. AB went all in with Republicans as it gave $5,000 to a Republican PAC: Forward Mississippi and the same amount to the 2012 Swearing-In Committee.

Josh Harkins: $500
Angela Cockerham: $500
Lynn Fitch: $1,000
Will Longwitz: $500
Forward Mississippi PAC: $5,000
2012 Swearing-In Committee: $5,000
Dick Hall: $1,500
Mike Chaney: $500
Lynn Posey: $500
Buck Clarke: $500
Tate Reeves: $5,000
Doug Davis: $500
Sampson Jackson: $250
Phil Bryant: $1,000
Joey Fillingane: $1,000
Rita Martinson: $250
John Horhn: $500
Delbert Hoseman: $1,000
John Moore: $250

Saturday morning cartoons

2012-02-18T10:00:00.000-06:00

Judge Green defies Sheriff Lewis. Only Judge Green can fire bailiffs and set their pay.

2012-02-17T18:03:00.008-06:00

Or, Judge Tomie Green still has problems understanding the concept of separation of powers.

Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie Green told Sheriff Lewis his authority over his employees ends at the courthouse doors. Judge Green issued an order late this afternoon preventing Sheriff Tyrone Lewis from transferring, demoting, or reducing the salaries of any bailiffs without her consent. The order was also signed in concurrence by Judges Melvin Priester, Bill Gowan, and Patricia Wise. The Sheriff attempted to transfer several bailiffs to other duty and reduce the rank of some who are not certified law enforcement officers.

Sheriff Tyrone Lewis told JJ thirty-one HCSO employees were assigned as bailiffs: two captains, five sergeants, three corporals, and twenty-one deputies. Only one captain and two deputies are certified. The Sheriff said he preferred to have captains and sergeants supervising deputies, not sitting in a courtroom full-time. The Sheriff also said bailiffs who were not certified were going to be reduced to the rank of deputy unless they obtained said certification and receive deputy pay as well. Sheriff Lewis said he has been reorganizing the staff with an emphasis placed on deputies who are certified law enforcement officers.

The order refers to a previous order issued by the circuit court in 1996 establishing the rules and procedures for bailiffs serving Hinds County.The order states Sheriff Lewis entered special orders on February 15, 2012 that "adversely affected" bailiffs attached to the courts of Hinds County. Judge Green claims the orders also demote, transfer, and reduce the pay of said personnel without the "notice and consent of the Circuit Court of Hinds County." Judge Green decreed the orders are in direct violation of the 1996 order.

Judge Green also said the 1996 order states the Sheriff can not discharge bailiffs without the consent of the judge and must set their salaries on an "equitable basis" (See 1996 order posted below). The 1996 order states "Salaries for Court Bailiffs shall be set by the Sheriff on an equitable basis". The Sheriff told this correspondent he considered different levels of pay based upon certification to be equitable. The 1996 order refers to the bailiffs as "officers of the court" and said they "do not function as party of any law enforcement agency." The 1996 order states the bailiff is "a confidential employee of the judge" and the Sheriff "may remove" them for "good cause upon advice and consent of the judge."

It should be pointed out the orders do not cite any law from the Mississippi Code or Constitution nor is any case law mentioned. Section 19-25-19 of the Mississippi Code covers the hiring of deputies by the Sheriff:

"Every sheriff shall have power to appoint one or more deputies to assist him in carrying out the duties of his office, every such appointment to be in writing, to remove them at pleasure, and to fix their compensation, subject to the budget for the sheriff's office approved by the county board of supervisors. Such deputies shall have authority to do all the acts and duties enjoined upon their principals. Every deputy sheriff, except such as may be appointed to do a particular act only, before he enters on the duties of office, shall take and subscribe an oath faithfully to execute the office of deputy sheriff, according to the best of his skill and judgment. The appointment, with the certificate of the oath, shall be filed and preserved in the office of the clerk of the board of supervisors. All sheriffs shall be liable for the acts of their deputies, and for money collected by them. The circuit court, after a notice and a hearing, shall have power to remove such deputies and also bailiffs, upon a showing that the public interest will be served thereby. Each deputy sheriff shall be at least twenty-one (21) years of age, a qualified elector of the State of Mississippi, and shall not have been convicted of a felony. Prior to appointing any person a deputy sheriff, the sheriff shall determine that the proposed appointee is of good moral character and is capable of fairly and impartially enforcing the law of the State of Mississippi."

The Mississippi Attorney General issued an opinion on the matter of who has the power to hire and fire bailiffs in a 1998 opinion (Opinion No. 98-0687)*:

"Therefore, a deputy who is serving as bailiff may be removed from office at will by the sheriff or may be removed from office by a circuit judge after notice and a hearing, if the public interest will be served. There is no statutory provision that gives the court the authority to “veto” or invalidate a sheriff's decision to transfer a deputy serving as bailiff."

The Sheriff and his counsel Dana Price said they had not decided on what course of action would be pursued regarding Judge Green's order. The Sheriff also said the judges were free to supplement the bailiffs' pay with funds from their own budgets.

Additional Attorney General opinions:

Opinion No. 96-0166 (March 29, 1996): 3. "In general terms, to whom does a deputy sheriff assigned to bailiff duty by the sheriff ultimately answer, the sheriff who appointed him or the judge to whom he has been assigned?"

Thus a sheriff has ultimate authority over a deputy appointed by him, even if that deputy is assigned as a bailiff. The sheriff has the authority to transfer or terminate a deputy at will. However, §19-25-19 also states, “the circuit court, after a notice and a hearing, shall have the power to remove such deputies and also bailiffs, upon a showing that the public interest will be served thereby.” Therefore, a deputy who is serving as bailiff may be removed from office at will by the sheriff or may be removed from office by a circuit judge after notice and a hearing, if the public interest will be served. There is no statutory provision that gives the court the authority to “veto” or invalidate a sheriff's decision to transfer a deputy serving as bailiff

Congrats to Tate

2012-02-17T13:01:00.002-06:00

Our Lieutenant Governor and his wife announce the birth of their third child:

"JACKSON – Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and his wife Elee welcomed the couple’s third daughter into the world today. Madeline Tate Reeves was born at 9:36 a.m. and weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces and is 19 inches in length. Mother and daughter are doing well, and big sisters Sarah Tyler and Elizabeth Magee are excited for the arrival of their new sister.

“Elee and I thank everyone for their well wishes and prayers over the past several months,” Lt. Gov. Reeves said. “We have been blessed with a healthy and beautiful baby girl, and I know Tyler and Emma are thrilled and ready to play with their new little sister.”

Three daughters? Tate must've been a really wild child. ;-)

Nancy Loome's idea of charter schools

2012-02-17T10:27:00.002-06:00

Nancy Loome, Executive Director for the Parents Campaign, sent out an email about charter schools this week. Usual fire up the troops missive, contact your legislator, etc. She of course claims to be for charter schools. I mean, she really really likes them. They just need some adjusting is all. This is all you need to know about her idea about implementing charter schools:

Here is what her website actually states:

"The Parents’ Campaign supports the authorization of a conversion or of an open-enrollment charter school in the school attendance zone of any traditional public school that for the two most recent years has had an accountability rating that is below Successful (Academic Watch, Low Performing, At Risk of Failing, or Failing).

The Parents' Campaign supports the conversion of a traditional public school to charter school status when at least 20% of the registered voters living within the attendance zone of the consistently unsuccessful traditional public school sign a petition requesting the conversion.

It is the position of The Parents' Campaign that open-enrollment charter schools should be allowed in zones in which a school has been consistently unsuccessful but no "conversion" has been sought. Open-enrollment charter schools should use a true lottery system to determine enrollment. A true lottery means that every child attending the traditional public school within the attendance zone in which the charter school is located shall be entered into a random selection process (lottery). Parents who do not want their child(ren) to attend the charter school should have the opportunity to opt out. Students attending public schools that have had unsuccessful ratings for the two most recent years and are located within either the district in which the charter school is located or a district that shares a common boundary with the district in which a charter school is located should have the right to opt in to the lottery

The Parents' Campaign believes further that all chartering entities (schools and their management organizations) should be non-profit, required to have a track record of success in improving student achievement in a low performing school prior to establishing a charter school in Mississippi, and authorized by a single entity: Mississippi's State Board of Education. We believe that virtual charter schools should be prohibited.."

Rez Prez: don't be going to no media

2012-02-17T07:40:00.003-06:00

Here is a somewhat interesting clip from the video I shot at yesterday's meeting of the PRVWSD Board. President Jack Winstead took it upon himself to lecture everyone who attended the meeting because of the proposed fee increase a few things. You see, they just don't understaaaand how we do things around here, you git that boy? Don't be going to none of them nosey reporters and if you have a problem, you better just come to us. See for yourself:

Before I start quoting Ezekiel, allow me retort. The board is not elected but appointed from various agencies and governments. Elections are not a concern for them so thus they are not answerable to reservoir community if they choose not to be. This clip can be used by some as a good example of why the board should be revamped with some members who are elected and more representative of the reservoir area. Several of the parties affected by this fee increase told me the vote for the increase in January took place before they were notified of the change. In other words, they had no clue this proposal was coming until after the board had already taken action on it.

The District does not post agendas or minutes on its website, a common practice among governments in the Jackson area. The names of board members are not published on the website or if they are, they are buried somewhere that is hard to find. The fee was considered to be a fait accompli (For the rednecks in Scott County, that means it was already done.). Unelected board, no notice, vote already taken. I can't imagine why they tipped off the media. Perhaps if the board followed standard practices followed by other local governments in Mississippi, there would have been no need for the media to appear yesterday. Perhaps Mr. Winstead should geaux look in the mirror instead of talking down to those present yesterday. He should remember the government serves us, not the other way around.

Rez board backs down on new fees. (Updated. Video included.)

2012-02-17T00:01:00.001-06:00

The Board of Directors for the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District voted to rescind a new policy imposing new fees for special events held on district property. The policy generated much controversy this week after it was learned fees would rise from $500 to the greater of either $1,500 or 10% of all revenue received for the two largest special events- Pepsi Pops and the Dragonboat Regatta. The fee would include income generated from sponsorships, vendors, ticket sales, and entrance fees. Several groups such as Brown Bottling, the Mississippi Symphony, and the Madison County Chamber of Commerce complained. The policy was approved by the district's Shoreline Committee last Monday.

Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee speaks at meeting while D.I. Smith
watches and Madison Herald's Lucy Weber takes notes.

Board member and Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee moved to rescind the policy at the board meeting. It should be noted Mayor McGee voted for the policy at the January meeting. The Ridgeland Mayor then said later the January vote by the board for the new policy was "hasty". Board President Jack Winstead then lectured the audience on taking problems to the media and "politicians" instead of discussing them with the board (5:45 in video). Proposed policy, Earlier post on fee increase

Several representatives complained to this correspondent as well as other reporters the district did not inform them of the new policy until late January. They said budgets and ticket prices were already set thus the new fees would cause an unexpected and severe hardship. Kasey Perry of the Madison County Chamber of Commerce said it would reverse a projected first-time profit for the regatta to yet another loss. Reservoir officials were unable to provide JJ what the actual district expenses for Pepsi Pops and regatta were although the executive director estimated they were two to three thousand dollars each for the two events.

Interview with Mayor McGee

House Repubs announce new leadership

2012-02-16T15:31:00.002-06:00

The Mississippi Republican Party sent out a press release announcing the leadership in the House of Representatives:

JACKSON- The Mississippi House Republican Caucus elected the following to leadership positions today:
Republican Caucus Leader: Philip Gunn
Republican Caucus Chairman: Greg Snowden
Republican Caucus Whip: Mark Formby
Republican Caucus Vice-Chairman: Wanda Jennings
Republican Caucus Secretary: Jessica Upshaw
Republican Caucus Treasurer: Andy Gipson
Republican Deputy Whip: Brian Aldridge
Republican Deputy Whip: Charles Busby
Republican Deputy Whip: Randy Boyd
Republican Deputy Whip: Gary Chism
Republican Deputy Whip: Becky Currie
Republican Deputy Whip: Hank Lott
Republican Deputy Whip: Steve Massengill
Republican Deputy Whip: Kevin McGee

“The House Republicans have chosen a great group to help lead the party in the House for the next four years,” remarked Speaker Philip Gunn. “I look forward to working with each and every one of them, and I know they will be very strong assets in promoting conservative legislation in this chamber.”

“I congratulate the men and women elected today to these important positions,” added Joe Nosef, Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party. “Along with Speaker Gunn, they will help guide the House in a conservative direction over the next four years.”

I already know what some of you are going to say. Go ahead.

Cecil Brown has some questions to ask about the pardons.

2012-02-16T13:56:00.002-06:00

The House Democrats sent me the following column penned by none other than Representative Cecil Brown. Subject: pardons.

The recent flap over Haley Barbour’s 200 pardons and commutations has highlighted problems in our current gubernatorial clemency processes. At my request, the staff of the legislative Performance and Expenditure Review Committee (PEER) reviewed the files of those who were pardoned. The files for five of those who were pardoned could not be located. The files for 10 of those pardoned contained no application for pardon. (Such an application is required by parole board rules.) Sixteen applicants were granted pardons in spite of negative recommendations by the Parole Board. Thirteen of those sixteen received a unanimous “no” vote by the Board. The sixteen whose applications received no votes by the Board had been convicted of crimes ranging from murder to the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine. It is important to note the report was from PEER staff pursuant to a legislative request and is not part of an official PEER Committee report.

Because of the public interest in the Karen Irby matter, I also asked the staff to review her file. The Governor’s office, the Parole Board and the Department of Corrections all reported that they could not locate a file for Karen Irby. It seems to have disappeared. If such a file exists, the Parole Board should have a copy because much of the information in such a file would have been collected by the Parole Board in fulfillment of its statutory duty.

Governor Barbour has maintained that in granting pardons and commutations he relied on the Parole Board recommendations. In at least 16 cases that appears to not be true. Unfortunately, whatever recommendations the Parole Board has made are not reflected in their minutes, probably a violation of state law. In addition, the Board keeps no record of what files they have transmitted to the Governor for review. Therefore, it is almost impossible to track individual recommendations from the Board to the Governor’s office, and control over the files, which are official government documents, cannot be maintained.

Finally, there is no record of where the requests for clemency originated. Did the Governor send a list of individuals to the Parole Board, or did the Board send a list to the Governor? There is no answer to that question in the records.

I will be introducing legislation to correct these problems in the current legislative session. I support the Governor’s right to grant clemency. It is an important tool to serve justice when properly executed. However, there should be a process in place to insure that there is proper documentation of all the relevant facts. All official actions of the Parole Board should be spread upon their minutes, and those minutes and all public documents should be preserved, tracked and available for public review. It is unconscionable that the Parole Board has handled such an important matter in such an off-handed manner.

Rankin County passes animal shelter law

2012-02-16T07:40:00.003-06:00

The Rez News blog reports the Rankin County Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance to regulate animal shelters yesterday. There is only one private animal shelter in Rankin County- the Animal Rescue Fund on Holly Bush Road. TRN post about new ordinance.

JJ reported on the proposed ordinance Monday. There have been a few minor tweaks to it. Shelters can only have 15 animals outside at any one time. The ordinance requires the animals to be kept in an enclosed facility with heating and air-conditioning (The female prisoners at MDOC in Rankin County do not get air conditioning but OK.). The county has the right to inspect the facility at any time without notice. Existing shelters are given seven months to become compliant with the new law.

Latest crime stats

2012-02-16T06:47:00.002-06:00

Here are the crime reports for Jackson, Madison, Byram as these are the only ones available online.

Jackson crime stats for week ending February 5, 2012.

Jackson major crimes overview for week ending February 5, 2012.

The crime reports state major crime is down 11% from the prior week. Property crime is down 8% and violent crime 21%.For the past 28 days however, violent crime is up 50% compared to last year while property crimes are down 8%. YTD property crime is unchanged from a year ago and violent crime is up 56%.

Precinct 4. House burglaries down 5% YTD from a year go. Big improvement when this crime was up by a third last year. Auto burglaries are down 29% while business burglaries have nearly doubled from five to nine. However, violent crime is up 69% compared to last year YTD with aggravated assaults and armed robberies leading the way. See page 10.

City of Madison crime reports through February 2, 2012.

City of Byram crime reports through February 11, 2012.

Majority of housing in Ridgeland is now rental

2012-02-15T14:01:00.006-06:00

Ridgeland has the highest rate of rental housing among cities in the Jackson metro area according to U.S. Census data from 2010. The census states Ridgeland's rental rate among housing units is 54.1%. Madison had the lowest rate at 6.7%. JJ reviewed 2010 census data and posted the review below. Flowood was the only other city over 50% at50.6%. Translation: The majority of housing in Ridgeland is rental housing. Jackson placed fourth at 45.6% although it lost the most population. Census website

Where is the money?

2012-02-15T09:17:00.008-06:00

JJ obtained a copy of the file for the Guardianship of Damon Mclinton. Mr. Mclinton inherited $3 million when his mother, Rebecca Henry died. Hinds County Chancellor Stuart Robinson established a guardianship for Damon McClinton in 2000 and appointed his father, Thomas McClinton as the guardian. Attorney Michael J. Brown represented Thomas McClinton. The Chancellor ordered the funds to be placed in a bank account for young McClinton. Chancellor Dewayne Thomas recently threw Mr. Brown in jail after he ruled Mr. Brown never deposited the money into a bank account but instead kept the money. Judge Thomas froze the assets of Michael Brown and Linus Shackelford. He is free on $100,000 bond. Earlier post

The file reviews a few details. The Chancellor ruled he would waive "bond and accounting" if all funds were placed into a bank account. Mr. McClinton also retained attorney Glover Russell, Jr. at Watkins Ludlam for a tax opinion regarding the estate taxes. The guardianship was closed in August 11, 2006 when Damon Clinton turned 21 (Yes, I know the court papers say "Demon" but in reality his name is "Damon").

What is interesting is Mr. Glover filed a petition to compel an accounting on November 21, 2005. Mr. Glover stated his representation was terminated on November 16, 2005 but that Mr. McClinton told him $300,000 was withdrawn from the estate without a court order and the loan remained unpaid. Mr. Russell also stated he was also told $1 million belonging to the Guardianship was "never deposited" into the estate. Mr. Russell said the check for $1 million was deposited into Mr. Brown's account and "was spent by Michael Brown and never deposited into the estate". Mr. Russell asked the court to require McClinton's father to account for the $300,000, account for the $1 million, and appoint a representative for Mr. Ward.

Mr. Glover also included a promissory note for $300,000 dated February 11, 2011 signed by Linus Shackelford as an exhibit to the petition. Mr. Shackelford signed individually and as President of Lakeland Place, LLC. The note gives 20 acres owned by Mr. Shackelford as security for the loan. Exhibit B is a copy of a check signed by Mr. McClinton made out to Michael. Brown.

There is no disposition or adjudication of the petition in the file. There is one document that states it was discussed at a hearing, but there are no documents stating it was dismissed, granted, or anything (I will leave open the possibility the Chancellor is reviewing the file as he keeps it in his chambers and some documents are in his actual possession.). However, a motion to recuse filed by Mr. Brown on February 1, 2012 states Chancellor Robinson heard the petition on August 11, 2006, "heard all evidence, and signed off on accountings and closed the guardianship."

Several accountings were provided to the court but Chancellor Thomas (Case was assigned to him after Chancellor Robinson left the bench.) ruled these were completely fraudulent.

The elder McClinton filed a petition to reopen the guardianship in 2009 and claimed "money was intercepted by Attorney Mike Brown and placed into his trust account." The petition didn't stop there but accused the lawyer of "forging" Thomas McClinton's signature "in order to obtain the funds that were supposed to go to the guardianship." The petition also alleges Mr. Brown "checked out the entire guardianship file and has not returned it." Mr. Mclinton claimed "part or all of the fraudulently obtained money has been invested in a cemetary run or owned by Linus Shackelford." The petition also includes a promissory note for $507,745 at an interest rate of 6% payable within one year signed by Michael J. Brown on November 29, 2007.

Mr. McClinton then filed a petition to compel an accounting on December 2, 2010 to "determine where and why the money from the guardianship" went to Brown and Shackelford. The petition also asks for "accounting" information for two checks in the amounts of $205,020 and $32,725 "cashed and posted" on or about January 6, 2003. The petition also asks the Court to order Mr. Shackelford to show he repaid the loan.

Mr. Brown filed a motion asking Chancellor Thomas to recuse himself from the case. Mr. Brown alleged the Chancellor and Brent Hazard, the attorney for Mr. McClinton, were friends.

What is really funny is Michael J. Brown informed the court he was unable to locate the file or the bank statements. He would love to find them, you see. He would really, really, like to provide them to the court. BUT there were two major water leaks in his office and many old closed files and bank records were destroyed and lost. Mr. Brown also defends himself by arguing "There has never been any written statement offered to any court that any unauthorized transfer had occurred." Mr. Brown filed a Notice to Court of Unavailability of File and Bank Statements on February 1, 2012. Yup, just like Vann Leonard. Hard drive crashed. Water damage. Dog ate my homework.

Stay tuned. There is more to come.

Greg Davis: its everyone's fault but his.

2012-02-15T07:19:00.004-06:00

Southaven Mayor Greg "His Name is Lancelot" Davis blames shady land deals on the Southaven Board of Aldermen. See, he's just an ignorant rube and didn't approve anything. It's those Aldermen that approved sweetheart deals with his friends. Never mind searching the title, appraising the property, and putting the deal together is the Mayor's responsibility. Nope, it's the Aldermen's fault. The AP reports:

"SOUTHAVEN — Southaven Mayor Greg Davis, speaking publicly for the first time about business dealings that benefited friends and associates, said he believes he did nothing wrong because the city’s aldermen approved all transactions.

Davis spoke yesterday with The Commercial Appeal about deals involving a Florida condominium he co-owns with a developer who has received more than $3.4 million through real estate dealings with the city since 2008, a fire station that could cost taxpayers up to $4 million because of an unusual no-bid contract negotiated by Davis, and other recently reported transactions....

Davis, who is under criminal investigation for misuse of city funds after being ordered by the state auditor to repay about $170,000, said he couldn’t do anything without approval from the Board of Aldermen.

“What I think people need to realize is I don’t sign contracts without board authority,” said Davis, 45. “I don’t approve payments, so I don’t see how there could be any correlation between me returning favors for anyone because I am not the decision-maker. My job is to implement the policies approved by the board.”

One alderman responded to Davis’ comments by saying again that the mayor kept them in the dark about much of what he was doing.

“He would bring us the deals that we trusted him to present honestly and ethically but would give us half the story,” Alderman Ronnie Hale said. “He is speaking out to the media now because he is in this blame game, trying to take the heat off himself so he will look better. But we are not playing games with him. We are here to do what is in the best interest of the citizens.”....

Regarding a 20-acre site where Roberts’ firm, RH Holdings, pocketed $45,000 for a single day’s work, Davis said he didn’t know how much his friend made from the transaction.

“I was not there when he closed on the deal,” Davis said. “I can’t emphasize enough that a mayor in a co-chartered city, by law, doesn’t enter into land deals or authorize payments on these deals.”.." Article

Dear Lancelot, when the city spends over $300,000 on a tract of land, it is supposed to do what is called a title search. That is where the attorney reviews the ownership of the land and then notifies the buyer and/or lender of any defects in title. In this case, the lawyer for the city should have told the city the land belonged to someone else other than the claimed seller so the blame falls right back on the Mayor, who will probably blame some poor secretary making $25,000 for the whole mess. BUT we are not finished with Lancelot. The Commercial Appeal reported today the Chamber of Commerce paid his expenses, no questions asked, no receipts needed. I kid you not:

"The reports released Tuesday by the chamber to The Commercial Appeal include a statement by auditors saying they "were unable to examine sufficient documentation'' involving $75,800 in expenses incurred in 2008 and 2009.

Overall, Davis is believed to have received as much as $123,807 from the chamber between 2008 and 2010 for expenses incurred while promoting the city to prospective businesses.

A source familiar with the reports said the chamber couldn't fulfill auditors' demands for documentation because the organization didn't require Davis to submit receipts and simply accepted periodic handwritten invoices from the mayor..." Article

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T21:06:00.000-06:00

Update on the proposed event fees for Reservoir

2012-02-14T12:16:00.005-06:00

The Shoreline Committee of the PRVWSD met yesterday to discussed a proposed fee increase for events held at Reservoir parks. The fee is currently $500 per event. The proposal recommends increasing the fee for events attended by over 1,500 people to the greater of $1,500 or 10% of the gross revenue from the event. The district will consider moneys paid by sponsors, vendors, participants, and attendees to be part of the gross revenue.

I spent most of the morning talking to various groups affected by the new fees- the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Madison Chamber of Commerce, Brown Bottling, and John Sigman, the Executive Director of the District. Here is what I learned.

There are two large events held at the Reservoir and they are both in May: the Regatta and Pepsi Pops. Approximately 3,000 people attend Pepsi Pops and 5,000 attend the Regatta. The new fee of 10% is taken from all revenue before expenses are paid. The trash is picked up by MSO and Chamber personnel and not district employees even though Mr. Sigman told the Clarion-Ledger:

"However, John Sigman, executive director of PRVWSD, said his agency doesn't receive state tax dollars, leaving him little other option than to assess a fee to recoup funds spent on preparing and cleaning the public parks where these events are held."

If there was one fact everyone I spoke to agreed on it was the event sponsors clean up the park immediately after the event is over. No district personnel are used. The policy states the financial responsibility for security belongs to the event sponsor. They said Ridgeland Police Department provides security and traffic detail for the two events.

The event sponsors also told JJ they were not notified about the new fees until late January when they called to make appointments to discuss logistics for the upcoming events in May. They claim no notice was given to them prior to the vote for the new fees by the Park Committee in January. They also claim the district did not notify them of the new changes until they called.. Budgets were set early last summer and tickets were already sold. For example, the MRSO includes Pepsi Pops in its season ticket package. Season tickets are paid by the end of August. The Symphony thus had no opportunity to plan for the 10% fee or include the increase in its season ticket prices. The Chamber itself was going to finally break even this year after 50 teams entered the event. This increase will put them back in the red.

The main complaint everyone has about the fee increase is there was no notice, a vote was taken, and they were told about it a little more than 90 days prior to the event. The agendas and minutes are not published on the district's website. Everyone said the same thing: this increase would cause the sponsors to lose money on these events.

Mr. Sigman told JJ the district supported these events and enjoys hosting them. However, he said the total expense to the district is two to three thousand dollars per event (He said he was guesstimating off of the top of his head.). The district does not issue new contracts until January and none had been signed. Mr. Sigman said the district called each party and told them about the proposed policy. Mr. Sigman was adamant in stating the district only receives fees from leaseholds and it can't afford to lose money on these events. The board has not approved the proposal and will consider it at its regular meeting on Thursday.

Disclosure: The MSO advertises Pepsi Pops on this site. Link to original post

What is wrong with this picture.

2012-02-14T09:57:00.003-06:00

Anyone notice something wrong with this picture? Taken at McDades.

Killling the goose. Updated.

2012-02-13T16:45:00.004-06:00

Committee of the PRVWSD holds a meeting today and announces it will increase the fees for events held at the parks. Caught everyone by surprise. I am trying to get a copy of the one page memo, but it the kicker is this condition: It will raise the fees for events of over 1,500 people to the GREATER of either $1,500 or 10% of the gross receipts if admission is charged. That is big deal to events such as Pepsi Pops. Huge deal. WLBT will cover this story tonight with Marsha Thompson. The 10% charge will apply to smaller events as well. The board will take this up Thursday morning.

The Rez News blog has just published a post about the meeting today. The TRN attended the meeting and published a copy of the new policy and a letter from the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra to the district. Link to post. Here is a copy of the new policy:

WLBT story

Rankin looking to regulate animal shelters.

2012-02-13T10:25:00.003-06:00

The Rankin County Board of Supervisors is considering issuing new regulations on the operation of animal shelters. The Rez News blog published a copy of a proposed ordinance drafted by the board's attorney. Here are some highlights:

*No shelter can operate in an area zoned residential.
*Dogs have to be housed inside a "fully enclosed, insulated, sound-proofed, heated, and cooled structure". Floors are to have "adequate drainage".
*No more than 20 dogs are allowed outside at any one time.
*Limit of one grazing animal per 1 acre of grazing area.
*Plans & specs of all structures must be submitted to the county for approval.
*Structure must be "impervious to moisture and may be readily cleaned."
*Must have adequate electric power
*Must have potable water.
*Must have washrooms or sinks to for hygiene needs of caretakers. Two-compartment sink required for cleaning equipment used for animal care.
*Lighting for a minimum of 8 hours per day in enclosed area.
*Cats: Must be kept in stainless steel cage. If cats in shelter for more than 30 days, there must be at least 12 square feet of space per cat.
*Food and sanitation regulations are listed.
*Open supplies of food shall be stored in waterproof containers.
*Animals are to be fed at least once a day.
*Penalties: First offense: $500-$1,000 and/or imprisonment up to 30 days OR both. Second offense: fine of $1,001-$5,000 and/or imprisonment up to one year. Third offense in five years: second offense penalties and SHALL have its license revoked.
*County has right to inspect the shelter at any time and without notice to owner. County can take any measure to enforce ordinance if it determines the shelter is not in compliance.

Pretty strict. Clearly the county is ignoring the zoning issue and instead passing animal welfare legislation. This is a proposed ordinance and has not been formally submitted to the board. Link to Rez News and draft of proposed ordinance.

Monthly meeting of the Rankin County School board

2012-02-13T08:15:00.006-06:00

Here is the video from the monthly meeting of the Rankin School Board last week. First hour is awards and presentations. The board recognized the district guidance counselors as its Guidance Counselor Month. The Dance teams from Brandon and NW Rankin High Schools were recognized as well. NW Rankin won state in Jazz dance and Brandon placed 16th at a National Hip-Hop competition. The pistol team from NW Rankin High School was recognized as well. They are attending a national competition this week. Here is the video and the monthly awards.

Monthly honors winners. Pictured back row from left are Crystal Creel, Rankin County School District; Tina Reeves,Rankin County School District; Dr. Charles Frazier, Brandon Middle School and President of theRankin County School Board Ann Sturdivant. Front row from left are Dr. Lynn Weathersby, Superintendent of Rankin County Schools; Debbie Martin, Florence Middle School; Jaelyn Hanson, Flowood Elementary School; Amy Rummage; Richland High School and Tammy Carlee, Frontiers.

Here are the minutes from the January 11, 2012 meeting.

House fire in progress

2012-02-12T13:27:00.003-06:00

Corner of Wayneland and Reddoch. Don't know who's house this is. Doesn't look like it's Mr. Ted's or the Putnams'. Hope everyone is ok. Here are some photos and a video.

Whitfield sues Ridgeland PD over perjury

2012-02-12T09:40:00.005-06:00

Ridgeland resident Dwight Whitfield sued the Ridgeland Police Department, former Officer Daniel Soto, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety in December for violating his civil rights. Mr. Whitfield was arrested at a traffic stop in 2008 by Officer Soto. The charges were dismissed on appeal when it was discovered Officer Soto lied about the existence of videotape clearing Mr. Whitfield. Mr. Whitfield is represented by former Justice Chuck McRae.

Officer Soto stopped Mr. Whitfield on December 7, 2008 on Old Canton Road. There is no evidence Mr. Soto said "Climb Mount Nitaki" during the arrest. The Ridgeland police officer won MADD's Officer of the Year after he had 312 DUI arrests and convictions in 2008. The complaint alleges a Ridgeland police officer radioed Officer Soto and said Mr. Whitfield had pulled into the Shell Gas Station (considered to be the informal precinct for RPD), turned around, and went south on Old Canton Road. Officer Soto stopped Mr. Whitfield and informed him he was speeding. Mr. Whitfield disagreed with the police officer's accusation and "invoked his fifth amendment." The arrest report (posted below) states Mr. Whitfield's eyes were bloodshot and glassy. The report states Mr. Whitfield was unsteady on his feet and that he "stumbled backwards and nearly tripped on the curb." Mr. Soto said he smelled alcohol from Mr. Whitfield's breath. The complaint states Officer Soto turned off his microphone, "essentially cutting off all audio of this particular stop." Officer Soto arrested Mr. Whitfield and charged him with speeding, DUI refusal, and no proof of insurance.

Mr. Whitfield was found guilty and ordered to serve 48 hours in jail (suspended) and fined $1,221. The complaint states his attorney and appearance bond fees were over $15,000. The complaint also alleges Officer Soto said there was no video of the arrest because his car did not have video capability. Mr. Whitfield also stated in county court Mr. Whitfield was arrested 2 minutes and 46 seconds after he was "pulled over". The case was dismissed after the defense showed Officer Soto lied about the existence of the videotape. The city of Ridgeland withdrew its case after Officer Soto's truthfulness was compromised.

The complaint also attacks the Intoxilyzer 800, the device used as a "breathalyzer" by RPD, the Highway Patrol, and other law enforcement agencies as "junk science", claiming the defendant has no access to the "source code". Mr. McRae argues the defendant can not "determine the criteria" used to "convert the data to a chemical percentage gauging one's alcohol level." The complaint charges the state of Mississippi allows polic departments to use this device. Mr. Whitfield claims the MHP directs all other law enforcement agencies in Mississippi to use the Intoxilyzer 800 (page 17 of complaint.).

The complaint charges the defendants with one count of deprivation of civil rights under 42 USC Section 1983 and one count of deprivation of constitutional rights under the Mississippi Implied Consent Law (Ms. Code 63, Chapter 11). The plaintiff asks for punitive damages over $1 million and attorney's fees, an injunction to keep the defendants from using the Intoxilyzer 800, and that the Implied Consent Law be declared unconstitutional. Ridgeland filed a response denying all claims. It should be noted attorney Saundra Strong represents both Ridgeland and Officer Soto. Mr. Soto is no longer employed by the Ridgeland Police Department.

Earlier post

Its time to Part-AAAAAYYYYY!!!!

2012-02-11T19:09:00.002-06:00

Look who's having a birthday party.

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Saturday morning cartoons

2012-02-11T11:50:00.001-06:00

Brown free

2012-02-10T12:33:00.001-06:00

Michael J. Brown is free and out on bail.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

MBJ eyeballs KiOR

2012-02-10T12:30:00.000-06:00

The Mississippi Business Journal published a story written by star reporter Amy McCullough on one of Mississippi's bio-fuels experiments. Apparently there are some questions about the financial health of a company that received a $75 million interest free loan from the Mississippi Development Authority:

"The eyes of the international renewable-fuels community are fixed on KiOR (NASDAQ:KIOR), a Texas-based company in which Mississippi has a large stake — specifically a $75 million interest-free loan administered by the Mississippi Development Authority. KiOR plans to build five plants in Mississippi that should convert wood chips to renewable crude through a process called pyrolysis, a feat only accomplished in test facilities.

Biofuels experts, like Sumesh Arora, director of the Strategic Biomass Solutions division of the Mississippi Technology Alliance, laud KiOR as a great fit for Mississippi, which has abundant biomass resources.

“KiOR’s first location at the port in Columbus, Miss., lends itself well to utilize the tremendous pine wood biomass resources in the state for converting into next generation biofuels. KiOR features prominently in the ‘Biofuels Digest’ index of publicly traded biofuels companies, and I believe that market forces will govern the success of this sector as we move forward,” Arora said, noting that KiOR’s CEO Fred Cannon even ranked No. 20 on this year’s list of the top 100 people in bioenergy worldwide.

But some of those looking at the company strictly from a financial standpoint are more skeptical.

On Jan. 13, CNBC’s Stock Blog said KiOR was “bleeding cash” and investors were looking at shorting it, or making money by betting the company’s stock price will continue to fall. ”It needs upwards of $100 million more just to get its two plants going and to reach profitability, and that assumes no glitches,” the report said.

The Columbus plant appears to have already experienced at least $15 million in “glitches,” with more cost overruns expected, based on regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. KiOR is in the site selection process for its next Mississippi plant, which is set for Newton County with an estimated cost of $460 million. The plant currently under construction on a 22-acre site at the Columbus-Lowndes County Port was originally estimated to cost $110 million, according to “Pointe Innovation,” an MTA publication. Based on KiOR’s Sept. 30, 2011, financial statements filed with the SEC, the company has already spent over $125 million on the construction of Columbus plant. The MDA says the facility is expected to be in production by third quarter of this year.

In its SEC filing, KiOR explains that it is a “development stage enterprise” and “expects to continue to incur operating losses through at least 2013 as it continues into the commercialization stage of its business. The Company’s ultimate success is dependent upon the successful transition of the Company from primarily a research and development company to an operating company...

For the nine months ending Sept. 30, 2011, KiOR reported no revenues and realized a net loss to stockholders of $68.8 million. Although KiOR has yet to record any revenue and management expects to continue to incur losses through 2013, the company does maintain that it has the balance sheet to support its continued investments. Management noted: “We (KiOR) believe that our $152.2 million of cash and cash equivalents as of Sept., 30, 2011 and $35.6 million of remaining available borrowings as of Sept., 30, 2011, under our $75 million interest-free loan from the Mississippi Development Authority will enable us to meet our liquidity needs for the next 12 months.”

Under the MDA agreement, KiOR made a commitment to make certain investments in Mississippi by Dec. 31, 2015, including $500 million in property, plant and equipment as well as wages and direct local purchases of $85 million.

KiOR recently received a cash infusion on Jan. 27 when it announced it closed a new $75 million loan with a lender group comprised of an affiliate of Vinod Khosla and two Canadian corporations owned by certain pension fund clients of Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo)....." SEC filings, Rest of article

Farewell to Elizabeth Crisp

2012-02-10T08:18:00.005-06:00

I hate writing these posts. Best wishes to Clarion-Ledger reporter Elizabeth Crisp as she heads to St. Louis for bigger and better things. I thought she was the best reporter at the Clarion-Ledger as she wrote without an agenda, did her homework, and always tried to get the facts straight (and yes, I'm including Jerry Mitchell in that group.). She took her job seriously and was always trying to improve her knowledge of the legislature as it was her regular beat. I predict Ms. Crisp will leave St. Louis for even better things one day, such as New York or Washington.

Oh, and there were twelve more buyouts at the Clarion-Ledger.

Update: Just got word on some who were offered buyouts. Do NOT, repeat do NOT know if they accepted the buyouts. Brace yourselves: Rick Cleveland, Bobby Cleveland, Gary Pettus, Bill Zimmerman (copy desk),David Hampton, Earnest Hart, and Debbie Skipper. Others eligible but do NOT know if they were offered: Billy Watkins, Wow.

Cholly pumps Supertalk

2012-02-10T07:07:00.002-06:00

Columnist Charlie Mitchell, formerly of the Vicksburg Evening Post and now teaching young scribes at Ole Miss, penned a little column in yesterday's Clarion-Ledger extolling the virtues of Supertalk Mississippi (97.3 FM). Some excerpts:

This may sound like a commercial for a radio network. It's not meant to be.

It's just that how and where state government junkies get information has changed. Jackson-based SuperTalk Mississippi is in the driver's seat. That's worth talking about.

And talk, of course, is what they do.

The nine FM radio stations in the network blanket the state. For those who can't pick up a signal - or who want to see the show in addition to hearing it - SuperTalk is on the Internet."

You can't escape. They are everywhere. Give in. But I digress.

"For listeners, the best asset of SuperTalk Mississippi is the guests. Want to know what's going on with suggested changes in Public Employee Retirement System benefits? Tune in and the chairman of the study commission is likely to be on air explaining the findings.

Want to know what's going on with prisons, pardons, Medicaid funding, traffic cameras - you name it? The people in the key decision-making positions are likely to be on the air, taking questions.

This type of exchange has not existed previously in Mississippi. MPB television has a longstanding show, Quorum, with a panel of legislators.

But it's usually so boring and self-serving even the lawmakers' mothers find a reason not to watch."

"The state's newspapers do the best they can, but fewer than ever have reporters assigned to the state capital. There are some really good websites, blogs and alternative papers reporting and jawboning state topics. SuperTalk also uses multiple platforms, including social media. Most in its audience, however, probably just listen...

Notably, however, they are continuing to call in or go to the studios to explain or discuss the state's news. It would be better if the hosts challenged their guests more, but the hosts are not sycophants. They ask pretty good questions and usually get to the nut of the issues."

But then there is this nugget:

"Gauging by the number of public service announcements aired free during the shows, SuperTalk Mississippi, as with other commercial media, doesn't have as many advertising customers as it would like to have. Maybe the "state news junkie" demographic is too small."

Looks like we got ourselves a winner over on Ridgewood Road.

Video from today's pardon hearing.

2012-02-09T18:21:00.013-06:00

I am uploading video from today's hearing at the Mississippi Supreme Court right now. Rather than make one monster post and the publish it, I am posting the videos as I upload them. Bear with me as it will be awhile before they all get uploaded. Enjoy.

Fortner leads off after Waller warns the lawyers about "grandstanding" and "political soundbites. Griffin at 29:00.

All arguments by Griffin.

Griffin continued. Cynthia Stewart at 3:50. Got hammered. 15:20: Ed Blackmon starts. Only had five minutes but worth watching. Wish he had had more time. Funny moment.

Hood steps up to the plate. Nothing but Jim Hood all the time for the next 90 minutes. So much for the other lawyers that were sitting there on the bench and did a good job last week. Kind of like Jarrett Lee sitting on the bench while Jordan Jefferson & Les Miles fumble around in front of the whole country.

15:15: Justice trips up Hood on an interesting argument: Why is it ok for you to ignore part of Section 124 but not ok for Haley? Rebuttals from Griffin and Fortner follow.

Open thread about pardon hearing.

2012-02-09T10:36:00.002-06:00

Fire away.

Follow hearing on Twitter tomorrow.

2012-02-08T20:09:00.002-06:00

I will be tweeting the hearing as it takes place tomorrow. kingfish1935 is the Twitter handle.

Ghosts from chases past.

2012-02-08T13:17:00.002-06:00

You can't make this up. You.just.can't. There was a lawsuit filed over ten years ago that was decided by the Mississippi Supreme Court. The opinion states:

"Wilks was killed at the intersection of Ridgewood Road and Ridgewood Court when the vehicle she was driving was struck by a Toyota Land Cruiser driven by a car thief who ran a red light while being chased by Ridgeland police."

What was the name of the case? Southern Heritage Insurance versus Frazier Construction. Case. You read that correctly. The opinion states:

"One morning, Clayton Frazier, an employee of Frazier Construction, left the keys to a Toyota Land Cruiser owned by Frazier Construction in the ignition of the vehicle while he delivered some papers to an architectural firm on North President Street in Jackson, Mississippi. During the approximately five minutes Frazier was in the office, Misty Dawn Joyce seized the opportunity and stole the Land Cruiser. That afternoon, Peggy Wilks was crossing Ridgewood Road through a green light when the Land Cruiser Joyce was driving struck her car violently on the driver's side. Joyce was fleeing pursuit by the Ridgeland police and had crossed into an oncoming lane of traffic to run the red light she faced. Wilks was killed in the collision, and Joyce was arrested. Southern Heritage filed this lawsuit on behalf of its insured, Wilks, claiming Frazier Construction was liable for the negligence of its employee, Clayton Frazier, who was acting within the scope of his employment."

Unbelievable. Now if it had been Claiborne THAT would've been really freaky.

Pre-game

2012-02-08T12:59:00.002-06:00

Hearing on Barbour pardons is tomorrow at the Mississippi Supreme Court. If you want to read some of the briefs filed, NMC posted them over on his site.

Is Beeeeeeeeert Case going to put on the badge?

2012-02-08T10:18:00.002-06:00

Could happen. After Beeeeeert Case captured the suspect in Madison County a few weeks ago, Lee Vance of JPD called him up and offered him a job. No word yet on whether Mr. Case will accept the offer of employment.

PIMCO's Bill Gross has a few things to say about the economy

2012-02-08T00:01:00.001-06:00

Liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, read this essay by PIMCO's Bill Gross. He has a few things to say about the economy and they are worth reading as he points out the upside to bonds is nearly zero while the downside is huge:

"Most short to intermediate Treasury yields, however, are dangerously close to the zero-bound which imply little if any room to fall: no margin, no air underneath those bond yields and therefore limited, if any, price appreciation. What incentive does a bank have to buy two-year Treasuries at 20 basis points when they can park overnight reserves with the Fed at 25? What incentives do investment managers or even individual investors have to take price risk with a five-, 10- or 30-year Treasury when there are multiples of downside price risk compared to appreciation? At 75 basis points, a five-year Treasury can only rationally appreciate by two more points, but theoretically can go down by an unlimited amount. Duration risk and flatness at the zero-bound, to make the simple point, can freeze and trap liquidity by convincing investors to hold cash as opposed to extend credit.

Where else can one go, however? We can’t put $100 trillion of credit in a system-wide mattress, can we? Of course not, but we can move in that direction by delevering and refusing to extend maturities and duration. Recent central bank behavior, including that of the U.S. Fed, provides assurances that short and intermediate yields will not change, and therefore bond prices are not likely threatened on the downside. Still, zero-bound money may kill as opposed to create credit. Developed economies where these low yields reside may suffer accordingly. It may as well, induce inflationary distortions that give a rise to commodities and gold as store of value alternatives when there is little value left in paper.

Where does credit go when it dies? It goes back to where it came from. It delevers, it slows and inhibits economic growth, and it turns economic theory upside down, ultimately challenging the wisdom of policymakers. We’ll all be making this up as we go along for what may seem like an eternity. A 30-50 year virtuous cycle of credit expansion which has produced outsize paranormal returns for financial assets – bonds, stocks, real estate and commodities alike – is now delevering because of excessive “risk” and the “price” of money at the zero-bound. We are witnessing the death of abundance and the borning of austerity, for what may be a long, long time." Rest of essay

This is a dilemma facing PERS as over half of its portfolio is in equities. The problem is, there will likely be little price appreciation in treasuries while the yields are near zero and below the inflation rate- thus PERS would lose money if it replaces equities holdings with short-term treasuries.

Judge Thomas sets bond for Mike Brown at $100,000

2012-02-07T10:38:00.003-06:00

Hinds County Chancellor Dwayne Thomas set bond at $100,000 for attorney Mike Brown in a hearing this morning. The Chancellor threw the lawyer in jail last week after he ruled he had taken all of a $3 million inheritance meant for then 16 year-old Demon McClinton. Mr. Brown was represented by attorney Clayton Lockhart.

Mr. Lockhart told the Chancellor he thought the hearing as held for the purpose of setting bond and requested house arrest, telling the court "He's not going anywhere". Judge Thomas asked "what kind of bond can you raise? and after it was clear Mr. Brown could not raise much money, told Mr. Lockhart "Do you know how much money is involved here?" It turned out Mr. Lockhart did not know bond had already been set. Mr. Brown asked once to address the court but the Chancellor said he could do so through his attorney.

Judge Thomas set it at $100,000 and said he would hear the motion to reconsider at a hearing on March 20, 2012 at 1:30 PM. Judge Thomas also ruled the jailed attorney must also provide an accounting of the estate and explain where the money was transferred. The Chancellor also ruled Mr. Brown can not leave the state without his permission if he posts bond. He can use a bonding agent. Judge Thomas decreed the bond must be paid to the guardianship of Demon McClinton.

Earlier posts:
Judge Thomas freezes assets of Brown & Shackledord
Lawyer jailed for embezzling $3 million left to Aaron Henry's Grandson

Bert blows it

2012-02-07T00:01:00.001-06:00

Beeeeeeeeeeeert Case blew it today when he covered the Hinds County Board of Supervisors. Bert makes it seem as if poor Kenneth Stokes can't get any of his motions even seconded by any of the mean ole Hinds County Board of Supervisors. Don't believe me? Watch the video.

Bert is not telling you a few things, such as what the other supervisors would not second. Bert sat through the whole meeting but unfortunately would rather create a false narrative of feuding supervisors than tell what really took place: a clueless, incompetent supervisor who is too lazy to function in the 21st century and wants to nominate hoodlums and family members to boards. Here is what no one on the board would second today:

*A motion to appoint Chokwe Lamumba to the Hinds Community College Board. You got it- good ole Chokwe. Problem is, as the board attorney pointed out, Mr. Lamumba can not serve because he is a sitting city councilman in Jackson and under the separation of powers, he can not serve in the executive and legislative branches at the same time.

*A motion to appoint Enoch Sanders to the Hinds County Human Resources Board of Trustees. Had to withdraw it as he said he didn't know Mr. Sanders was a felon and thus could not serve on the board.

*A motion to appoint Keith Stokes to the Hinds County Economic Development Board of Trustees. Just one problem- Keith Stokes is his son and the potential conflict of interest was pointed out to Mr. Stokes.

*A motion to give Mr. Stokes yet another "special projects officer". SPO's are glorified assistants or secretaries. The Supes passed a resolution authorizing each one to have two (except for Phil Fisher, he has one). Mr. Stokes hired four part-time SPO's instead of two at full-time status. Mr. Stokes hired a lawyer, Tanecka Moore, as a part-time SPO BUT Mr. Stokes wanted to the board to allow him to have an additional slot so he could keep THREE part-time SPO's AND have a fourth SPO but on full-time status. Make that 2.5 SPO slots. Mr. Stokes said it would come out of his budget. No one would second his motion. Mr. Stokes felt slighted by the mere fact he only has an entourage of 4 SPO's.

*This one really fired him up. He made a motion to rename a street. Supervisor Fisher explained there was a process to go through that included getting signatures from affected residents and as well as obtaining approval from a department. Mr. Stokes thought it was ridiculous to answer to "underlings" and flat out made it clear he thought Supervisors were potentates to be served by everyone else.

Words do not begin to describe the buffoonery that was on display today. Watch the video and compare to the one broadcast by Bert Case. Warning: the video is pretty funny.

Oh yes, Mr. Stokes also complained about voting on contracts without reading them. Apparently Mr. Stokes does not read email. The county administrator emails to all Supervisors a packet of information and documents prior to each board meeting. Since Mr. Stokes does not use email or computers, he does not read the packet nor has it occurred to him to have one of his four assistants print out the documents for him to peruse at his leisure.

Judge freezes assets of Mike Brown & Linus Shackleford, sets bond

2012-02-06T16:58:00.002-06:00

Hinds County Chancellor Dewayne Thomas froze the assets of attorney Michael J. Brown and Linus Shackleford after ruling they looted the inheritance of Damon McClinton. Judge Thomas ruled on Friday:

"funds from the... guardianship illegally taken by Mr. Mike James Brown and invested or loaned to Mr. Linus Shackleford and/or Lakeland Place, LLC. Due to this illegal transfer of funds without Court approval and to prevent any further fraudulent conveyances, this Court temporarily enjoins Mr. Mike James Brown, Linus Shackleford, and Lakeland Place, LLC from transferring and/or disposing of any real or personal property until the show cause hearing dated March 20, 2012."

The order also freezes all bank accounts, stocks, bonds, cash, safety deposit boxes or "other assets". Judge Thomas also issued an order setting Mr. Brown's bond at $100,000. Judge Thomas will hold a "show cause" hearing for the Flowood attorney on March 20, 2012 at 1:30 PM "to show cause why criminal contempt should not be ordered by this Court for not depositing the monies of the guardianship" in a bank account and why he should not be jailed for civil contempt until he submits to the court a "proper accounting of the guardianship and he returns all monies plus interest..."

Mr. Brown was arrested for contempt of court February 2 after he was unable to provide for an accounting in the estate of Rebecca Henry. Mr. McClinton inherited $3 million from Ms. Henry, the daughter of Mississippi Civil Rights legend Aaron Henry, in 2000.

The court established the guardianship in 2000 when Demon was sixteen years old. Young McClinton inherited the money from his mother, Rebecca Henry. Mr. Brown was supposed to deposit $3 million in a bank on behalf of Demon McClinton, and report to the court on an accounting of all funds. The lawyer failed to do so after the court asked him twice in April 2011 and January 2012.

Judge Thomas ruled no guardianship account at a bank was ever established. The court also said Mr. Brown loaned $550,000 to Linus Shackleford from the McClinton funds. Mr. Brown personally "borrowed" $507,745 in January 2001 and he then forged two checks in 2002 for $205,020 and $32,725. Mr. Brown appeared before the court yesterday and was incarcerated by Judge Thomas after he failed to provide a "satisfactory explanation" of the funds and loans. The court had also approved a $398,000 payment in 2001 to Mr. Brown for "his efforts in procuring this minor's funds from his mother's estate." Judge Thomas ruled the fee was obtained through fraud and ordered it paid back to Demon McClinton.

Judge Thomas was very harsh in his description of Mr. Thomas' actions: "the acts of Brown in representing the minor have been intentional acts to steal and defraud the minor of the funds inherited from his mother. The Chancellor ordered Michael J. Brown incarcerated in the Hinds County jail until he deposits "all funds of said minor into the registry of the Chancery Clerk of Hinds County" and makes an accounting of the funds inherited. The court also ruled it will turn the file over to the District Attorney for further investigation. The Hinds County Sheriff's office told this correspondent tonight Mr. Brown is still in jail.

Latest crime stats

2012-02-06T09:10:00.000-06:00

Jackson crime stats for week ending January 29, 2012

Jackson major crimes overview for week ending January 29, 2012

The major numbers to watch:
*Major crimes are up 10% from the prior week
*Auto burglaries down 20% YTD but business burglaries up 57% YTD from last year. Business burglaries are sharply up across the board in every precinct ranging from 25% in Precinct 4 to 160% in Precinct 1.
*Total violent crime up 48% YTD from last year
*Grand larceny up 54% in Precinct 4 and 100% in Precinct 1 YTD.
*House burglaries: Good news for Precinct 4: YTD is down 5.2% after being up by a third for nearly most of last year. It was down in one other precinct and up in the two others.
*Precinct 4: Violent crime up 73% YTD while property crime is down 10%.

City of Madison crime reports through January 29, 2012

Byram crime reports through January 28, 2012

These are the cities that make their crime stats available online. I am contacting others to see if I can obtain copies of their reports on a regular basis.

Innocent bystander killed in chase (Audio from scanner posted)

2012-02-06T09:00:00.001-06:00

Update: The Rez News blog has full coverage and several photos. Click here to go to story. Below is the feed from the scanner captured by the Rez News.

If player does not appear properly, switch to IE or click on the link to the Rez News as there is a problem in FF.

Notes: Feed is from scanner set on Reservoir patrol, not Ridgeland PD. 2 Ridgeland police cars were reported traveling over 90 mph. Suspect struck two police cars at Hwy 471.

Here is press release from Flowood Police Department:

A Jackson man is in custody after multi-jurisdictional pursuit tragically claims the life of a Rankin County woman. The Rankin County woman’s identity is being withheld until notification of family.

The pursuit originated in the City of Ridgeland where Robert Williams (Jackson MS – Convicted Felon out of MS & GA) and Melinda Renae Rutherford (Ripley MS – No Prior Felony) went into a Ridgeland business and committed felony shoplifting. Ridgeland officers attempted to take the two into custody and in doing so, WILLAMS attempted to strike the officers with his 1999 Mercury Grand Marquis. WILLIAMS & RUTHERFORD then fled and lead law enforcement on a multi-jurisdictional pursuit that went across the spillway into Rankin County and ended in a fatal crash at the intersection of Grants Ferry Road and Lakeland Drive in Flowood. The fatality victim was taken to UMC where she was pronounced dead from her injuries. The suspected thieves were also transported to UMC where their condition is unknown at this time. There are no other injuries reported at this time. The crash is currently being investigated by the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol’s Crash Unit.

Upon being released from UMC, WILLIAMS will be taken to the Rankin County Jail and will be charged with a number of felonies including Felony Fleeing that resulted in the death of another and Aggravated Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer. Rutherford will be transported to the Ridgeland Police Department to face charges in that city.

Super Bowl thread.

2012-02-05T12:53:00.003-06:00

I'm picking LSU North, oops, I meant the Patriots.

Faces of Evil: Belsen

2012-02-05T09:28:00.004-06:00

I've been watching Youtube videos of the liberation of the concentration camps during the last week. There is a great deal of original footage available. It is graphic in nature, very sickening at times yet is necessary viewing. Gives you a good idea why Ike and others actually came up with a serious plan to deindustrialize Germany and turn it into farmland. This first set of videos was produced by Alfred Hitchock. No fancy narrations or spellbinding voices are used, the video says it all.

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

Another short documentary. Some moments are sickening, others poignant, and at the end a sweet one where one of the liberators marries one of the victims.

Pension costs break Providence

2012-02-05T08:37:00.003-06:00

WPRI reports pension costs are breaking Providence, Rhode Island:

"Rhode Island's capital city will be in bankruptcy by June if it doesn't get help resolving its financial crisis.

That was the dire warning from Providence Mayor Angel Taveras during a Thursday morning news conference at City Hall. With five months left before the end of the fiscal year and the capital set to run out of cash by the start of summer, the city still faces a roughly $30 million deficit in its budget for this fiscal year, which ends June 30.

The budget shortfall was projected at $110 million last March, when Taveras declared a "category five" financial emergency in Providence. It was reduced after he negotiated new contracts with unions, laid off workers, cut spending and won increased state aid...

Taveras said the city's retirees must accept reduced pension and health care benefits to save the city from financial ruin. A decree signed in 1991 by Mayor Buddy Cianci pushed the city's pension liability "into the stratosphere" by giving annual cost-of-living increases of 5% and 6% to more than 600 retirees, he said.

"These retirees have refused to sacrifice and are costing Providence taxpayers tens of millions of dollars a year," Taveras said, calling the increases "raises," not adjustments to keep up with the cost of living. The mayor will hold a meeting with retirees on March 3 where they will be asked for concessions.

Taveras's office released a list showing that the city's highest-paid pensioner, former Fire Chief Gilbert McLaughlin, now receives an annual pension of $196,813 a year. He retired with an annual salary of $63,510. At the current rate of growth, McLaughlin's pension will total roughly $796,871 if he lives to the age of 100."

Yes, you read that last paragraph right. Keep reading. A Jim Hood wannabe judge stuck her nose into this mess:

"Thursday's event was sparked by a Superior Court Judge Sarah Taft-Carter's ruling Monday in which she sided with retirees and blocked the city from forcing its retired police and firefighters to sign up for Medicare. The judge dismissed the $6 million cost of her decision as “alleged savings” that “would not save the city from financial ruin."

Taft-Carter's ruling "has pushed the city to the brink of bankruptcy," Taveras said. "Everything is on the table." The city will appeal her decision to the Rhode Island Supreme Court on Thursday and ask the high-court justices for an expedited review." Article

It is true the state did cut aid to the city but lets deal with reality here- paying someone nearly $200,000 a year when he didn't make even $100,000 while working is just plain nuts. Mish calculated on his blog:

"At 6% per year, it would take about 24 years to grow to a benefit of $196,813 a year to $796,882.97. Thus I conclude McLaughlin is 76 years old. If he lives another 10 years, his annual pension would be $352,462.11 based on an career ending salary of a mere $63,510..." Post

Brain-dead teen euthanized

2012-02-04T20:53:00.000-06:00

Ethics Commission orders State Rep. Kevin McGee to repay $346,554

2012-02-04T06:37:00.003-06:00

Updated: Mississippi Democrats issue press release. Published at bottom of post.

The Mississippi Ethics Commission ruled yesterday:

"Rep. Kevin McGee was part owner and president of Service Printers which received over $428,000 worth of state printing contracts after McGee took office in January 2008.

The state constitution and state ethics laws prohibit legislators from doing business with state government. The Ethics Commission determined McGee’s company had hundreds of printing contracts with 26 different state agencies since McGee took office. The Ethics Commission determined 258 of the contracts violated the Ethics in Government Law and ordered McGee to repay $346,554.06 to the state, the total amount of those transactions, and to pay an additional fine of $50,000, based upon contracts completed after receiving formal notice of the violations..." Summary, Final order (see pages 9-10)

Mississippi Democrats issued the following press release:

Jackson, MS - On Thursday, February 2, the Mississippi Ethics Commission issued a Final Order in its investigation of Rep. Kevin McGee (R-Brandon). The Commission found that since taking office in January 2008, Rep. McGee entered into 259 illegal service contracts with the State of Mississippi. As a result, Mr. McGee’s business improperly received over $428,000 in state funds.

The state constitution and state ethics laws prohibit legislators from doing business with state government. For his many violations of the constitution and statutes, Rep. McGee has been ordered to repay $346,554.06 to the state and an additional fine of $50,000.

Rickey Cole, Executive Director of the Mississippi Democratic Party said, “In light of these revelations, the only appropriate response is for Representative McGee to resign his office immediately.” Cole added, “Mississippi deserves responsible stewards in positions of public trust, not shameless self-dealers willing to abuse the public trust for personal gain.”

Continuing, Cole noted, “Since the November elections, we’ve had a Republican state representative caught taking money from his vulnerable aunt, a Republican mayor caught using his city’s budget as his own private expense account, and now another Republican representative caught making off with more than a quarter of a million dollars in taxpayer funds.” Cole added, “It seems to me that instead of using their power to make life better for all Mississippians, Republicans have decided to abuse their power to make a fat profit for themselves.”

Crook found guilty

2012-02-03T15:27:00.002-06:00

The City of Madison just issued the following press release:

"Madison County Court Judge Edwin Hannan has issued an opinion finding Kenneth M. Crook guilty on two counts of violating the City of Madison's rental ordinance.

Crook had raised numerous technical objections to the City's ordinance, claiming the ordinance was invalid because of provisions pertaining to inspection of the rental property and the requirement that landlords post bonds or other adequate sureties to ensure compliance with the City's safety codes. The Court's opinion reviewed Mr. Crook's arguments, but ruled that the City's ordinance was constitutionally sound and in compliance with state law on all Mr. Crook's points of objection.

The Court also overruled Mr. Crook's arguments that the affidavits contained procedural or technical problems.

Finally, the Court ruled that the factual evidence presented by the City established beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Crook was guilty on both counts.

Sentencing for Mr. Crook is set for February 21, at 11:00 a.m."

Let the games begin

2012-02-03T11:49:00.003-06:00

Check out the agenda for Monday's meeting of the Hinds County Board of Supervisors.

WLBT covers SLRP last night.

2012-02-03T08:39:00.003-06:00

WLBT broadcast a very good report on SLRP last night. SLRP, the special retirement plan for legislators. Watch the video below.

There is currently over $13 million in the SLRP account. The monthly amount paid to beneficiaries is not that much- the average payment is less than $500 per month. However there is no reason whatsoever they should receive extra-retirement pay. Forest Thigpen is right: Close out the program and pay the contractually retired benefits. Earlier post on SLRP.

Collection of all posts on PERS and SLRP

Lawyer Michael Brown jailed for embezzling. $3 million left to Aaron Henry's grandson disappears.

2012-02-02T18:01:00.006-06:00

Update: WLBT reported this story last night.

Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas threw attorney Michael J. Brown in jail yesterday for contempt of court. Judge Thomas ordered the lawyer to account for $3 million in the guardianship of Demon McClinton. Mr. McClinton is the grandson of Aaron Henry.

The court established the guardianship in 2000 when Demon was sixteen years old. Young McClinton inherited the money from his mother, Rebecca Henry. Mr. Brown was supposed to deposit $3 million in a bank on behalf of Demon McClinton, and report to the court on an accounting of all funds. The lawyer failed to do so after the court asked him twice in April 2011 and January 2012.

Judge Thomas ruled no guardianship account at a bank was ever established. The court also said Mr. Brown loaned $550,000 to Linus Shackleford from the McClinton funds. Mr. Brown personally "borrowed" $507,745 in January 2001 and he then forged two checks in 2002 for $205,020 and $32,725. Mr. Brown appeared before the court yesterday and was incarcerated by Judge Thomas after he failed to provide a "satisfactory explanation" of the funds and loans. The court had also approved a $398,000 payment in 2001 to Mr. Brown for "his efforts in procuring this minor's funds from his mother's estate." Judge Thomas ruled the fee was obtained through fraud and ordered it paid back to Demon McClinton.

Judge Thomas was very harsh in his description of Mr. Thomas' actions: "the acts of Brown in representing the minor have been intentional acts to steal and defraud the minor of the funds inherited from his mother. The Chancellor ordered Michael J. Brown incarcerated in the Hinds County jail until he deposits "all funds of said minor into the registry of the Chancery Clerk of Hinds County" and makes an accounting of the funds inherited. The court also ruled it will turn the file over to the District Attorney for further investigation. The Hinds County Sheriff's office told this correspondent tonight Mr. Brown is still in jail.

Look at what our Senators have been up to today

2012-02-02T16:52:00.002-06:00

on a bill to ban earmarks

Congratulations are in order.

2012-02-02T16:28:00.004-06:00

Congratulations to Brett Kittridge. Mr. K operates the conservative blog Majority in Mississippi and was recently named the Communications Director for the Mississippi Republican Party. MIM provided the best political analysis in the state over the last year through redistricting and then elections. It is unknown what he will do with his blog. My suggestions is he should leave it up as an archive. There are few people in the state who could do as good a job as Brett, much less take the time to do it. Leave it as it is, Brett. Good luck in the new gig.

Say a prayer

2012-02-02T09:21:00.001-06:00

Gannett is having a company-wide video-conference today. They will probably re-invent the wheel or announce more staffing or comp changes.

WREG: Seller didn't know about Southaven purchase

2012-02-02T07:51:00.002-06:00

WREG is doing some bang-up reporting on the Southaven implosion. Remember that little land deal last night where a gentleman sold some land to a friend of Mayor Greg Davis who then sold it to the city the next day for a profit of $45,000? Well, it turns out he would have sold it to the city for the same price if he had known the city would purchase it:

"Dodson sold a 20-acre plot of land on Swinnea Road to a company owned by Chuck Roberts for $325,000. According to the Commercial Appeal, Roberts, who is a friend of the mayor, turned around the same day and sold the plot of land to the City of Southaven for $370,000.

That’s a profit of $45,000. Dodson heard rumors that the city may be interested, but said he didn't get a straight answer when he asked.

“I was under the understanding that I was selling it to a group of investors,” said Dodson.

He says he would have sold the property to the city for the same price as he did to Roberts, had he known the city wanted it. He says he suspected something was shady after the closing date was rescheduled three or four times.

“It wouldn't have transferred that day and automatically transferred the next day so there had to be something going on between somebody,” said Dodson..." Keep reading.

Mississippi Supreme Court stops Judge Tomie Green.

2012-02-01T17:24:00.006-06:00

The Mississippi Supreme Court today stopped all proceedings in Hinds County Circuit Court in Jim Hood's lawsuit against MDOC and those pardoned by then-Governor Haley Barbour. Judge Green had scheduled a hearing on a temporary restraining order granted to the Attorney General on February 3, 2012.

The order also grants to Charles Hooker, David Gatlin, Nathan Kern, and Anthony McCray permission to appeal interlocutory orders. The writ of mandamus and emergency stay for Aaron Brown and Katharine Robertson were also granted by the court. The parties are ordered to appear for oral argument on Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 9:00 AM.

Does SB# 2224 require community service from parents of children with Down's Syndrome?

2012-02-01T10:36:00.006-06:00

Senate Bill #2224 requires 20 hours of community service per week from Medicaid recipients. Paul Gallo discussed the bill last week with the authors. The comments were fairly predictable. Yeah, buddy, we going to put them welfare bums to work. That will make these moochers get off their duffs and get a job. Yeaaaaaah buddy. Well, there are a few questions I have about this bill after reading it. Yes, I called the author of the bill, Senator Nancy Collins of Lee County. I sent her emails. No reply. Thus I will use this forum to ask some questions about SB# 2224. Bill

The bill states anyone who is above the age of 18 "who has applied for state or local public benefits... shall be required to participate in a community service program administered by by the Mississippi Department of Human Services. " Section 1(1). The bill then lists the following penalties for those who do not perform the community service:

1. First violation: 90 day suspension of benefits
2. Second violation: 180 day suspension of benefits
3. Third violation: one year suspension AND required to submit to a mandatory community service program before regaining eligibility.

Section 2 then defines Medicaid recipients. Yeah, I know, going to make them pull them up by their bootstraps. Well, I do have one small tiny little question: what about parents whose children are enrolled in the Katie Beckett program*? Earlier post on Medicaid hearing on Katie Beckett.

The Katie Beckett program is administered through Medicaid and is for children who should be institutionalized but are instead cared for in the home. The children suffering from conditions such as Down's Syndrome and spinal bifida require a great deal of care. This program is very important to parents of Down's Syndrome children as there are no facilities in Mississippi that can accept such children on a full-time basis. It is hard for both parents to work as most if not all child-care centers will not accept children with such disabilities. While there is no income limit for these Medicaid benefits, the parents are still suffering as the costs are enormous and at least one parent has to care for the child instead of working. Some single parents have been forced to go on public assistance because there is literally no one else to care for the child while they worked. These parents are not bums. They are not welfare cheats. They don't need to pull the wagon or hitch up their britches. They work their butts off every day caring for a child who is severely disabled and probably will never be able to live a normal life. They do without just so their child can survive. They would love to work or get a job but unfortunately, it is very hard to find someone else to care for the child. These parents do not fit a stereotype. They are just parents trying to do what is best for their children and play the cards they were dealt.

The question thus much be asked if SB# 2224 applies to Katie Beckett parents. Are they considered to be applicants even though the benefits are only for the child? Tell me Senator Polk and Senator Collins, while these parents are doing their community service, who will care for that child? You want to tell them you are "helping" them? Do you think you are helping them become productive citizens? Did you even consider this problem when you drafted the bill?

One would think Senator Collins, a speech therapist, would have addressed this problem when she wrote the bill but apparently, appearing on Paul Gallo and getting right-wing kudos was more important than doing what is best for the children. Now, I can be wrong and if the law does exempt these parents, then fine. If I am wrong in my interpretation, then I am wrong and will say so on this site. However, someone better take a long look at this bill and figure out where Katie Beckett fits into the new Republican workfare.

*Katie Becket program guidelines as codified:
a) The agency may provide Medicaid to children 18 years of age or younger who qualify under section 1614(a) of the Act, who would be eligible for Medicaid if they were in a medical institution, and who are receiving, while living at home, medical care that would be provided in a medical institution.
(b) If the agency elects the option provided by paragraph (a) of this section, it must determine, in each case, that the following conditions are met:
(1) The child requires the level of care provided in a hospital, SNF, or ICF.
(2) It is appropriate to provide that level of care outside such an institution.
(3) The estimated Medicaid cost of care outside an institution is no higher than the estimated Medicaid cost of appropriate institutional care.
(c) The agency must specify in its State plan the method by which it determines the cost-effectiveness of caring for disabled children at home." 42 CFR 435.225

Democrats slam Governor over education

2012-02-01T09:00:00.001-06:00

The Democratic Trust made the following statement yesterday:

Jackson, MS- Today, Brandon Jones, Executive Director of the Mississippi Democratic Trust, joined Democratic members of the House and Senate to highlight the impact of cuts to K-12 education under the 2013 Republican budget. The Republican budget plan, introduced today by Governor Phil Bryant, calls on school districts to contribute $72.9 million of their reserve funds to fill out the state education budget.

Jones said, “The Republican plan for education is simple: punish those school districts that have been prudent with their resources.” Jones added, “During the campaign, Governor Bryant claimed to support full funding for public schools. It is disappointing that his first budget as governor not only fails to provide full funding for our schools but comes in $73 million shy of level funding.”

Rep. Kelvin Buck (D-Holy Springs) said, “This budget represents a major step backward for Mississippi children. With revenue up $85 million over estimate, it’s irresponsible to make deep cuts to education and ask our local schools to make up the difference.”

###

The Mississippi Democratic Trust seeks to help elect Democratic candidates who will provide sensible and responsible leadership for Mississippi. The Trust supports effective policies to address legitimate economic, education, healthcare, and public safety issues in our State.

The statement refers to the Governor's budget proposal released yesterday. The Clarion-Ledger reported:

"Bryant called on school districts to pull a combined $72 million from their reserves to fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, effectively cutting the K-12 budget by 3.7 percent." Article

Watkins project delayed in Meridian, fireworks at Jackson City Council

2012-02-01T07:03:00.007-06:00

The Meridian Star reported today:

"Construction of a new police station has stopped and isn’t scheduled to resume until March 15, project developer David Watkins confirmed Tuesday.

Watkins said the project, renovating an old grocery store building on 22nd Avenue into a new police station that will serve the entire department, has taken significantly longer than expected to finance.

He said there have been significant delays in closing on the new market tax credits, which are an important aspect of the project’s funding. Watkins said the original closing date for the tax credits was expected to be December 15, 2011. The date has been pushed back, he said, because of problems with coordination between the numerous entities involved with the tax credits and because it took longer to than expected for the tax credits to be allocated for the project.

Watkins stressed that the project is not unfunded, there is just a delay in accessing the funds.

“The tax credit closing has taken much longer than anyone anticipated,” he said. “There’s money in the project. We just can’t get access to it until there’s a closing.”

He said the delay will not cost the city anything.

“The city’s not obligated to pay anything until the building is done,” he said. “The impact on the city is, it’s an inconvenience because we’re pushing the project (construction) back 45 days.” Rest of article.

Then there was the controversy in Jackson this week over the extra costs of renovating Metrocenter:

"The Jackson City Council balked Monday at spending $250,000 to install wiring at the Metrocenter mall, putting the city's once-imminent office relocation in limbo." Article

I spoke to several commercial realtors and developers yesterday about this problem and they all said the exact same thing: wiring such as what is needed for this project is always paid for by the tenant, especially in older buildings. Copy of lease agreement between Jackson and Watkins

Want to guess what the lease agreement says about wiring? Nothing. Look on pages 8-12 of the lease- maintenance, service, utilities, and alterations.The lease is silent about the matter of wiring, much less the landlord paying for its installation. What happens if the city does not move in after signing the lease? Lawyers can correct me if I interpreted the lease in error but it seems one of the remedies available to Mr. Watkins is the ability to collect damages of 12 months rent- $487,000. Stay tuned.

You can' t make this up.

2012-01-31T07:18:00.005-06:00

The probation officer for Doug Hindman was indicted and convicted a year after he requested termination for Mr. Hindman's probation when it was only 50% completed.

A Hinds County grand jury indicted Gerald Jones, Jr. on June 2, 201 for three counts of embezzlement and three counts of extortion. The indictment charged Mr. Jones with selling early releases from probation. It seems Mr. Jones was pretty cheap as the indictment alleges he charged $150, $200, and $50 for the three cases cited. Judge Swan Yerger approved a plea agreement on October 20, 2010. Mr. Jones was sentenced to one year of house arrest under MDOC supervision and had to pay $660 in restitution per month (Yes, this is the son of Gerald Jones. That should tell you all you need to know about why he got one year of house arrest.)

Mr. Jones was the probation officer for Doug Hindman. Mr. Hindman was busted for exploitation of a child in 2006 in a joint sting operation between NBC and the Hinds County Sheriff's office. A Hinds County Grand Jury indicted him for exploitation of a child in 2007. His attorney, Cynthia Stewart, made a plea agreement with the prosecutor, Rebecca Mansell, that reduced the charge to cyberstalking. The court ordered Mr. Hindman to pay a $10,000 fine, suspended a prison sentence of two years, and placed him on probation for five years. Earlier post containing court file and chat log

Mr. Jones filed a petition to terminate his probation on July 28, 2009 after he had completed only 50% of his probation. Special Circuit Judge Breland Hilburn approved the petition and terminated Mr. Hindman's probation. Then of course there is this passage published by the New York Times last week:

"Maggi and I wanted to begin by thanking you and Marsha for a lovely and special lunch at the Mansion last Tuesday,” began a letter to the governor by a family friend of Doug Hindman, one pardon applicant. “It was very interesting to see the historical quilt upstairs.”

So lets get this straight. The HCSO busts Doug Hindman trying to hook up with what he thought was a 13 year-old girl. He is indicted for exploitation of a child. An Ed Peters crony representing Mr. Hindman and a prosecutor involved in some questionable cases cut a deal reducing his charge to a lesser felony and resulting in no jail time for Mr. Hindman. Then a crooked probation officer gets his probation terminated after its only halfway completed. Then Governor Barbour pardons him after a "lovely and special lunch".

Welcome to the Mississippi criminal justice system.

Governor Bryant asks court to dismiss him from pardon lawsuit

2012-01-30T18:31:00.003-06:00

Another chapter was written in Pardongate today as Governor Phil Bryant filed a motion to dismiss in Hinds County Circuit Court today in response to the lawsuit filed by Attorney General Jim Hood. Mr. Hood seeks to block many of the pardons issued by then-Governor Haley Barbour.

The Governor in essence said this is not his fight, leave him out of it. He argued there was no remedy that could be obtained from him, he did not take part in the process of granting the pardons, and has no liability under any reading of the law.

Pardonees file request for emergency stay with Mississippi Supreme Court

2012-01-30T15:09:00.004-06:00

Note: If you are suddenly having problems accessing this site, comment or email me. Ever since scribd went to HTML5 it causes problems for blogger in IE.

Am uploading appeal right now. When post when done. Attorney Tom Fortner filed suit on behalf of Charles Hooker, David Gatlin, Nathan Kern, and Anthony McCray. Mr. Fortner also asked for an emergency hearing. Here is the petition:

Copy of petition and exhibits

Davis: I'm gay & I'm here to stay BUT the kinfolk deal with Sluggo & Doug Davis is on hold

2012-01-30T14:16:00.008-06:00

Southaven Mayor Greg Davis refused to step down today, said people are trying to use his homosexuality against him, and took no questions in a very short press conference today. WREG reported:

"Southaven Mayor Greg Davis says he is not resigning.

Davis made the statements in a very short press conference held at Southaven City Hall.

Davis says some have used his announcement that he is gay against him, "It deeply hurts that some have taken that very personal struggle and manipulated it and twisted it maliciously into something that was never intended."

Davis has not been seen in weeks, his attorney says he has been seeking medical treatment.

The State of Mississippi originally ordered Davis to repay $170,700 in expenses billed to the city unless he could provide specific receipts.

The $170,000 comes from several years of receipts which state auditors say are not appropriate.

Questions about his expenses arose last April when Davis spent two weeks and more than $27,000 at Psychological Counseling Services in Scottsdale, Arizona." Link to video

Meanwhile, that little story about the city purchasing ten acres for $1.9 million from the Mayor's cousins is now on hold. The story on WREG (some of which looks very familiar) has some new revelations as the reporter took my advice and looked at the settlement statement:

"Southaven aldermen say a plan to buy 10 acres of land for a new senior center are on hold.

It comes amid concerns from some people that the planned sale is a sweetheart deal between the sellers and Mayor Greg Davis.

On one side of the deal is the buyer, the city of Southaven, and the embattled mayor.

The seller is a limited liability company. Two of its members are the mayor’s distant cousins, DeSoto County Chancery Court Clerk Sluggo Davis and his son, former State Senator Doug Davis....

But Sluggo Davis insists everything is above-board when it comes to the agreement that the city purchase the ten acres for a proposed senior center. In December Southaven’s Board of Aldermen followed the mayor’s recommendation and voted to buy the property for $1.95 million. Mayor Davis told the board the land was appraised at $2.6 million.

“No, we have not seen the appraisal,” admitted Alderman Ronnie Hale. He was one of two aldermen who voted no on the purchase which is set to close in mid-2012.

With Mayor Greg Davis now under federal investigation for his spending of taxpayer money, Hale says the sale will not go through until aldermen see that appraisal.

“The fact that we've been lied to in the past it's just not prudent for us to move forward on the project until we know all the details,” said Hale.

Adding fuel to the fire, the county’s most recent appraisal in 2006 valued the land at $315,000.

Sluggo Davis said he and a partner, Alvin Gilless, bought the ten acres for $1.3 million in 2005. A settlement statement provided by Davis backed-up his claim.

WREG On Your Side Investigators asked him about the $2.6 million appraisal cited by the mayor. Sluggo Davis said he’s never had the land appraised, never seen the appraisal, and doesn’t know who did it.

So does he believe the property is worth what the mayor claims?

“It's been on the market and hadn't bought it,” said Davis.

Southaven’s city administrators said he didn’t have a copy of the appraisal either.

We asked DeSoto County Tax Assessor Parker Pickle why the county’s appraisal is $1 million less than what Davis paid. He was unaware of the sale price." Rest of story and video

Here's some advice for the city: pay someone to appraise the property. The appraisal should be done by the buyer or lender, never the seller. As for the Mayor, no one is attacking you for being gay, they are attacking you for your endless attempts to steal public money, set up sweetheart deals with your family and friends, and the general smell of corruption around you that grows stronger and stronger. You're the one that made Jay Leno, not your critics.

earlier post

Cottonmouth: he funny.

2012-01-30T08:21:00.004-06:00

Cottonmouth is at it again. The mouthpiece for Mississippi Democrats went into hysterics last week over PERS yet again. Senator Fillingane filed a bill about PERS. What sent Cottonchicken over the edge was some language about mortgage-backed securities (MBS):

"My favorite part, though, is the language that would let PERS retirement funds be invested in mortgage-backed securities (see lines 1241-1243). You may recall mortgage-backed securities as the investment vehicle that nearly ended America in 2008."

Um, no Cottonchicken. It was not the MBS's that nearly ended America, it was the fact the credit ratings agencies were grading them AAA instead of what they should have been - B,C or junk. Text of bill. The language merely authorizes PERS to purchase a long and diverse list of securities, of which MBS's are merely one item. However, once again, Cottonchicken has no clue about what he is talking about because PERS HAS BEEN PURCHASING MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES for quite some time.

Here is the report from the August meeting of the PERS investment committee. Look at Page 10 of this report on the PIMCO II fund. 25% of the fund is........ mortgage-backed securities. Page 14 of this report shows the fund at the time of the committee meeting had a balance just over $27 million. OH MY GOSH!!! HELLLLPPPP!!!! RUN FOR THE DELTA!!!!!!!!! PERS has mortgage-backed securities in its portfolio!!!!

Of course, I'm not too surprised at his ignorance as he once said to me on his blog that reading PERS reports, reading the audits, and going to the committee meetings did not make one an expert. Well, I can understand that coming from a lawyer as when you get so used to manipulating facts for a courtroom you can forget sometimes there is such a thing as actual truth. The truth is MBS's are a legitimate form of investment, as his hero Cecil Brown would tell him. Just as any other investment, their rate of return, risk, and the exposure of PERS is what matters but don't expect such ideas to enter the head of Cottonchicken.

By the way Kingfish, why do you call him Cottonchicken? Well, it seems Cottonchicken will not allow my comments on his website anymore. He's been shrieking about the hiring of Nathan Wells for $112,000 as Speaker Phillip Gunn's policy director. The Dems even sent out a press release on the hiring. Well, I'm going to give you guys some good advice. If you are going to play this game, please get everyone on the same page as EVERY DEMOCRAT ON THE COMMITTEE VOTED FOR THE HIRING OF MR. WELLS. Don't believe me? Here is the video.

If you are going to oppose the hire, then make sure your team does not vote for it. Such basic facts of politics unfortunately seem to escape Cole and Cottonchicken, which might explain why the Mississippi Democratic Party is in such sad shape. This isn't even bad liberal spin, its just plain pitiful. I repeatedly tried to point out the fact the Democrats voted for it unanimously every time Cottonchicken raised it but none of my comments, which contained no fowl language, were approved. Mr. Cottonchicken since then refuses to approve my comments. Apparently our learned lawyer who supposedly believes in free speech and informed debate is an intellectual coward. If this is the form Democratic opposition will take, Mississippi Republicans are going to be in charge for a very long time.

Note: Oh yes, Earle Banks made the statement about hiring Mr. Wells. First, he didn't check his own committee. Second, this is the same Mr. Banks that held a press conference raising hell over the Jackson water bonds, saying he was tired of voting for them only to have Haley and Tate rejecting them. Only problem was, Mr. Banks voted against them.

More dollars for Davis

2012-01-29T09:20:00.002-06:00

The Commercial Appeal found more sweetheart deals between Southaven Mayor Greg Davis, developers, and city land deals. Won't spoil the fun for you, so read here. This thing is about to blow up.