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Friday, Dec. 6 Germany says it will take in a further 5,000 refugees from Syria, doubling its current offer of shelter for people fleeing the Arab nation’s civil war. ‌ The Fender Stratocaster that Bob Dylan plugged in when he famously went electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival sells for nearly $1 million—the highest price ever paid for a guitar at auction. Saturday, Dec. 7 About 50 survivors of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and some 2,500 others gather at the site on the 72nd anniversary of the attack. Sunday, Dec. 8 South Africa holds a national day of prayer and reflection for former President Nelson Mandela. Monday, Dec. 9 North Korea announces it has sacked leader Kim Jong Un’s uncle, long considered the country’s No. 2 power. ‌ The Senate votes to renew an expiring ban on plastic firearms capable of evading metal detectors and X-ray machines. Tuesday, Dec. 10 President Obama and nearly 100 heads of state and government from around the world pay respects to Nelson Mandela at a ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa, attended by tens of thousands of people.
by Tyler Cleveland
W
hen the David Watkins camp responded to the Jackson Redevelopment Authority’s decision to cancel Watkins lease on the Farish Street Entertainment District project, it sent JRA a 10-page letter that outlined the setbacks. It was an effort to explain what had happened, when and what would happen next if Watkins is not involved in the project going forward. Watkins may turn out to be right about the projects future—he says the project is “doomed� without him—but one of the biggest reasons he lists as a setback may not be anyone else’s fault. In that 10-page letter, dated Oct. 9, 2013, Watkins, through his attorney Lance Stevens, said: “The most significant delay resulted from the discovery in June of 2012 of the hidden structural defects in the B.B. King Building foundation. The engineering and construction solution to the newly discovered structural flaw resulted in increased costs of over $1.5 million and months of delay.� Stevens explained to the JFP last month in the run-up to a related story that the building passed one inspection before a subsequent inspection found that the foundation wasn’t just lacking, but nonexistent. But that may not be the whole story The company, and the individual engineer, who supposedly gave the building a pass during the first inspection, both deny that they inspected the building’s foundation. “We do not do foundation work or assess foundations,� said CivilTech engineer Elmore Moody, who supposedly inspected the building for Farish Street Group. “We
This building, located at the corner of Farish and Amite streets, was under renovation by developer David Watkins for a B.B. King’s restaurant, but Watkins says foundation problems halted the project.
would need core drilling equipment that we do not use.� Watkins said Monday through email that he hired CivilTech for the purpose of evaluating whether the structural design of the building would support the additional weight from the expanded use of the new club on the third floor. Moody and CivilTech provided Watkins with computer-assisted designs, he said, which suggested that the building needed a new system of beams, joists and columns to support the additional load. “Based on those designs,� Watkins wrote “approximately $400,000 was expended on the structural support requirements.� He added that neither the architectural drawings he received from his predecessor—Farish Street’s former developer
Performa—nor the report from CivilTech gave any indication any foundation issues. “Most certainly, the extensive structural work on the building that was completed was done based upon the recommendation,� he concluded. “No recommendation was made by CivilTech, nor was there a suggestion made, that any additional engineering studies needed to be conducted, including any soil or foundation testing.� JRA Board President and New Horizon Church Pastor Ronnie Crudup said Friday that the first he heard of the foundation was when Watkins informed JRA of the building’s structural problems about two years ago. “I, as well as, I’m sure, my fellow (board members) assumed that they had done their homework,� Crudup said. “Frankly, that’s on their end of things.�
Nelson Mandela and Mississippi by Amber Helsel
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e all mourned the loss of South African revolutionary and politician Nelson Mandela Thursday, Dec. 5. But did you know that our dear news editor R.L. Nave once stepped foot into Nelson Mandela’s house? Here are some other things you might not know about Mandela:
• He was a man of many names. His birth name, Rolihlahla, means “pulling the branch from the tree.â€? Colloquially, it means “troublemaker.â€? A teacher gave him the name Nelson. • He spent 27 years in prison (source: mnn. com). He is known as “the world’s most famous political prisoner.â€? • He has an international day celebrated in his honor on June 25.
• He has 250 prizes to his name, including a Nobel Peace Prize and the Lenin Peace Prize • On�The Cosby Show,� the Huxtables’ grandchildren, Winnie and Nelson Tibideau, are named after Mandela and his former wife. • He once shook hands with former Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett, known as one of Mississippi’s most racist governors.
jacksonfreepress.com
Thursday, Dec. 5 U.S. officials send two men who have been held without charge at Guantanamo Bay for more than a decade back to their native Algeria against their will as part of a renewed effort to gradually close the prison, despite the prisoners’ fears that they might face persecution and further imprisonment upon their return. ‌ Nelson Mandela, who became one of the world’s most beloved statesmen and a colossus of the 20th century when he emerged from 27 years in prison to negotiate an end to white minority rule in South Africa, dies at age 95.
The Phantom Inspection TRIP BURNS
Wednesday, Dec. 4 Officials release recordings of 911 calls from the Newtown school shooting days after a state prosecutor dropped his fight to continue withholding them despite an order to provide them to The Associated Press.
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