JackBlog

The Mississippi Mile

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In honor of the state’s bicentennial and the opening on the civil-rights and history museums in December, organizations and businesses such as Creative Mississippi, Team JXN and Blue Magnolia films have partnered together to create the Mississippi Mile in downtown Jackson. The Mile will feature a bicentennial photo gallery, which will be one of the largest pop-up, open-air galleries in the U.S., and more.  Mississippi Mile is Saturday, Dec. 9, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Capitol Street in downtown Jackson. The event is free and open to the public. Those who want to be a vendor should register here by Monday, Nov. Continue Reading

JackBlog

Hinds County Attorney Election Heads to Runoff

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Malcolm Harrison and Gerald Mumford will head to a runoff for the Hinds County attorney election, after neither candidate managed to win 50 percent of the vote plus one. The election had three candidates, and interim Hinds County Attorney Martin Perkins pulled 7 percent of the vote. Harrison won 47 percent of the vote, while Mumford won 45 percent of total votes cast in the election. Only 9,960 Hinds County voters cast ballots on Tuesday, unofficial election results show. Harrison and Mumford will face off in two weeks for a runoff election. Continue Reading

JackBlog

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

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For the Making Strides of Hinds-Jackson breast-cancer-awareness march on Saturday, Oct. 28, Allstate agency owners and financial specialists from Jackson will come together for the event to secure a grant through Allstate Foundation Helping Hands to The American Cancer Society. Here is a press release verbatim about the event and the grant:

Allstate agency owners and financial specialists from the Jackson area will come together to secure an Allstate Foundation Helping Hands grant to benefit The American Cancer Society at a Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. The grant will support the nonprofit organization’s mission to celebrate survivors and raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research, support services and early detection. The agency owners and/or financial specialists will each earn $1,000 for the American Cancer Society by walking during the event, which begins at 9 a.m. at Thalia Mara Hall. Continue Reading

JackBlog

Pearl Youth Court Shutters After Judge Allegedly Kept Mother from Child Due to Unpaid Fees

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On Wednesday, the Pearl Municipal Youth Court closed permanently, and Youth Court Judge John Shirley resigned as youth court judge after Cliff Johnson, with the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center, told Pearl officials about Shirley’s order blocking a mother from seeing her child until she paid court-ordered fees, a press release from the Center says. Judge Shirley entered an order on Aug. 22, 2016, prohibiting Johnson’s client, referred to as “Mother A” due to strict youth court confidentiality laws, from having any contact with her baby until she paid court fees in full, the press release says. Fourteen months later, Judge Shirley entered an order on Oct. 25 reversing his earlier decision and returning custody to “Mother A.” The mother was not represented by a lawyer in the Youth Court proceedings. Continue Reading

JackBlog

Honey Bunches of (Joyce Carol) Oates

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In cased you missed it, author Joyce Carol Oates retweeted a photo of a banner at Mississippi State University that featured Mississippi author William Faulkner and said, “So funny! If Mississippians read, Faulkner would be banned.” https://twitter.com/JoyceCarolOates/status/920638826971877379

If you’ve lived here long enough or know anything about southern literary history, you know that Mississippians read, and some of us even write! Of course, her tweet created a firestorm on Twitter with more than 1,200 replies. Here are some of the highlights. Continue Reading

JackBlog

Calling All Craftspeople: Submissions for Flag Art Exhibit

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On Thursday, Oct. 12, local artist and the granddaughter of late Sen. John C. Stennis, Laurin Stennis, announced that she is taking submissions for a “Mississippi: I Declare” juried art exhibit. For it, she asks that artists, creatives and craftsmen use their mediums to interpret her design of the Mississippi state flag. When submitting works, participants must include their names, town of residence, title and medium used in the work. The deadline for submissions is Dec. Continue Reading

JackBlog

New Stage Holding Open Auditions for Unframed Series

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On Saturday, Oct. 14, New Stage Theatre will hold open auditions for its Unframed Series. Here is a press release about the event verbatim:

The Unframed Series at New Stage Theatre will be conducting open auditions for the upcoming Unframed at New Stage Theatre Series! New and aspiring actors of all ages are welcome! The plays for consideration include modern classics from the late great, Sam Shepard, comedic contemporaries and original works written by community members. Continue Reading

JackBlog

Water Outages Off Highway 80 Begins Friday Night

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Water will be shut off for a few locations in Jackson, starting today at 5 p.m.

In a press release from the Office of the Mayor, it states that 1300-1399 Morson Road, Jackson Highway and 4100-4499 US Hwy 80 W are affected by this water outage. The release states that when water pressure is restored, a precautionary boil water notice will be in affect for those locations. Continue Reading

JackBlog

Judge Denies JPS’ Request to Stop Takeover

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As the State Board of Education met to vote on whether or not Jackson Public Schools was in a state of “extreme emergency,” the district took legal matters into their own hands by asking a Hinds County Circuit judge for a restraining order and a preliminary injunction to stop the state from taking over their school district last month. On Monday, Hinds County Circuit Court Judge William Gowan denied the district’s request for a restraining order and injunction, saying that both the Commission on School Accreditation and the State Board of Education had followed state law by taking all of the proper steps to declare a district to be in an “extreme emergency.” JPS took issue with the Commission not following internal rules that allow a district 30 days to respond to an audit report, but Judge Gowan writes that since those internal rules are not statutory law, they are “subject to exceptions in certain necessary situations.” Gowan also notes that all state law allows school boards of any school district “aggrieved by any final rule, regulation or order of the State Board of Education…shall have the right to appeal therefrom to the chancery court.” In other words, if JPS wanted to dispute an order of the State Board, they should file a suit in chancery court, not circuit court. Continue Reading