V16n04 - JPS Takeover: What's to Come

JPS Takeover:

vol. 16 no. 4

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What We Know, What’s to Come Dreher, pp 14-16

Fondren Hotel Frenzy Kelly III, pp 6 - 8

The Best Spin Instructor Cardon, p 19

This Year’s State Fair Lineup Smith, p 22

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C U P S E S P R E S S O C A F E.C O M

JACKSONIAN Garrad Lee Imani Khayyam

H

inds Community College history professor Garrad Lee has crafted a niche for himself as an advocate for arts and music in the capital city.

“I definitely found my place and ideal career as a professor; it’s a profession that complements my passion for promoting cultural events in Jackson,” he says.

After graduating from Forest Hill High School in 1997, Lee earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Mississippi State University in 2001. In 2005, he married his wife, Catherine. The next year, they moved to Colorado.

While there, he completed a second bachelor’s degree in ethnic studies at University of Colorado at Boulder.

In 2009, Lee and Catherine decided to return to Jackson, where Lee enrolled at Jackson State University and earned a master’s degree in history in 2011.

That year, he got a job as a professor at Hinds Community College’s academic and technical center in Jackson.

“Many of my students are non-traditional students, with ages ranging from 17 to 70 years old. Some come from military backgrounds, and many are first-generation college students,” he says. “Mentoring students with these different life experiences is exceptionally meaningful to me.”

Lee is also involved in cultural events year-round in Jackson. One of his favorite local events is the annual Priced to Move art show, a showcase for local artists where every piece is priced under $100. Priced to Move Vol. 8 will happen the second or third weekend in December at Lucky Town Brewing Company.

Lee is also one of the coordinators for the third annual Jackson Indie Music Week, where venues all over town will host performances and music-focused panels Jan. 7-14, 2018.

Lee says he wants to see the arts scene in Jackson grow stronger.

“If I could ask for one thing to push the arts scene further, it would be to increase Jackson’s population by 50,000,” he says. “More people means a stronger tax base and more crowds to attend local festivals and events, and more people to buy art from our local artists.”

Lee co-hosts music-centered podcast “Comprehensive Beatdown” with Michael Milnick, and is opening art-and-music venue The Flamingo in Fondren with Milnick, Bradley Adair, Ian Hanson, Ahmad Thompson and Saddi Thompson.

For more information about Jackson Indie Music Week, visit jxnindiemusic.com.

—Jan M. Richardson

contents 6 ............................ Talks 12 ................... editorial 13 ...................... opinion 14 ............ Cover Story 18 ........... food & Drink 19 ... Best of Jackson 20 ......................... 8 Days 21 ........................ Events

7All Gated Up

New neighborhood security measures are controversial, but will still allow anyone into an area, supporters say. Just not so fast.

12 Is a Takeover Necessary?

“They were too busy seeing scary inner-city high-school students to see them for the wonderful people they are.”

—Lynne Schneider, “How the JPS Takeover Affects Students”

21 ....................... sports 22 .......................... music 22 ........ music listings 24 ...................... Puzzles 25 ......................... astro 25 ............... Classifieds

18 The War of Cupcakes

Sweet treats and competition come together in the NAMI Mississippi Youth Advisory Council fundraiser Cupcake Wars 2017.

September 27 - October 3, 2017 • jfp.ms

4 ............ Editor’s Note

flickr/josue goge; courtesy Lynne Schneider; file photo

September 27 - October 3, 2017 | Vol. 16 No. 4

3

editor’s note

by Donna Ladd, Editor-in-Chief

Yep, JPS Takeover Is a Conspiracy. Prove Me Wrong.

T

he disrespect said it all, really. After the Mississippi Board of Education came back into the hearing room in the old Central High School, it not only declared an “emergency” in Jackson Public Schools, setting a “takeover” into motion, but it went a nasty step further.

The board insulted the hard-working interim JPS superintendent, Freddrick Murray, who was present, by announcing that Dr. Margie Pulley would become the new superintendent. Huh. It’s one thing to argue, rightfully or wrongfully, that the State of Mississippi can run our largest urban district better than locals can. It’s another to take a spiteful swing at the administrator in the room who is trying to fix the problems.

That’s jackassery.

But the State displayed that tone throughout the kangaroo court designed to wink-wink give the district a proper hearing. It claimed JPS hadn’t done enough to fix problems (that occurred under prior leadership) due to an audit that just came out Aug. 31, a couple weeks before, so they had to hurry before the fixes were in.

It was the second such circus Jackson has faced in the past two years. The first was Rankin County white Republicans’ push to take over our airport because, you know, they want it—and its revenue potential.

The predictability of all this takeover hoohaa isn’t lost on anyone who comprehends Mississippi’s history of racial dynamics, white flight and victim-blaming. The state has a long history of white folk running when too many people of color move too close and start owning and running stuff and enrolling kids in “our” schools.

Don’t forget that Central High School, as well as others like Murrah, were jewels in the crown of white Jackson back before

forced integration—in a time when white conservatives abundantly funded public schools and extracurricular activities with tax money for their own. But when the black kids came, suddenly they were bad ole “government schools,” as some old-time Central and Murrah grads call them now.

The worst part fully hit me on a recent Delta road trip as I stood before the old Delta Democrat-Times offices in the once-thriving downtown Greenville, now across the street from a casino entrance with

Schoolchildren have long been the pawns in this power game. a whole lot more black people than white evident in the area near it. The old office where Hodding Carter Jr. won his Pulitzer for changing his segregationist views and challenging racists is abandoned with cracked windows and a historic marker.

“They flee and burn it all down behind them,” I told Todd angrily in the car. What I meant was the tragedy not just of so many white people rejecting a fully integrated life for their families, but how they then try to legislatively and politically ruin what’s left.

They not only take their tax money, but they pass laws trying to keep public dollars from flowing to where they’re needed, including now-poor schools, and try to redirect it to institutions they control.

It’s like they leave and never look back except to say (a) we don’t care how bad our

actions make it and (b) if you manage to build it into something anyway, we’re going to come back and take it again, teeheehee.

Now, if you don’t agree with that recounting of local history, feel free to start proving me wrong by staying put and investing time and resources in diverse communities rather than running to a cow pasture or a flood plain and trying to build your own white-run paradise. Until it gets too diverse, of course, and you load up the U-Haul to move further into rural Mississippi and start all over again, leaving dead malls and crumbling schools in your wake.

Again, prove me wrong. I’ll wait.

Schoolchildren have long been the pawns in this power game. I snickered when I saw that The Clarion-Ledger declared in bold headlines that the JPS takeover votes was “NOT A CONSPIRACY” a week after it published an editorial supporting it, without having done enough reporting to know whether it was a good idea or not.

(Sigh.) The Ledger’s editorial logic was typically facile, arguing that the State has to take over JPS because it took over earlier schools, and it would not be fair not to. Got it.

Worse, though, was such a naïve declaration that what we’re seeing right now couldn’t possibly be part of a larger plan to either control and/or close “government schools.” We have a supermajority in the Legislature that won’t even fund repairs to dangerous roads and bridges, and that sent Bubba out there to warn white folks not to vote for the education-funding initiative because that scary black judge down in Jackson would decide who got the money.

We have a lieutenant governor who insults Mississippians’ intelligence by telling us more funding needs to go to schools in wealthier districts because, you know, they’re

getting more bang and high test scores for their buck (despite all the evidence about the poverty-trauma-crime problems that keep poor kids from excelling). Leaders openly campaign for vouchers in whatever form they can shape them in order to get public funds for their own private schools.

They punish public schools for not achieving what they can’t afford to, while testing and suspending kids into submission.

That is, our schools are squeezed into corners where failure is likely, and a few of them manage to excel anyway. And even the “good” schools are then loaded onto the takeover ship because you know even academically brilliant kids now go to school in an “F” district. Put that on their resumé.

This manufactured crisis is designed to fail for political reasons. Prove me wrong.

Truth is, I don’t like everything or everybody I’ve seen in JPS. In my work with teenagers, I hear of stellar teachers and experiences, and I comfort students suspended for “talking smart.” Undoubtedly, JPS has over-used punitive policies that push out too many kids—but guess what? That’s probably the only part the State likes about the district, considering the people they think should replace our district’s leaders.

The tragedy is that JPS could use outside help to fix problems (and better schoolboard members, over all). And, frankly, superintendents who don’t moonlight as preachers. We can’t pray our challenges away. We need to work hand-in-hand with experts who don’t have JPS failure as a high priority and don’t condescend to our administrators, educators, children, parents and advocates along the way.

But our savior is supposed to be the State of Mississippi with all its political baggage and power trips? Yeah, right.

September 27 - October 3, 2017 • jfp.ms

contributors

4

Arielle Dreher

William H. Kelly III

Imani Khayyam

Abigail Walker

Dustin Cardon

Kimberly Griffin

Micah Smith

Kristin Brenemen

News Reporter Arielle Dreher is working on finding some new hobbies and adopting an otter from the Jackson Zoo. Email her story ideas at arielle@jacksonfreepress.com.

She wrote the cover story.

City Reporter Intern William H. Kelly III is a student at Jackson State University and is originally from Houston, Texas. Send him city news tips at william@jacksonfreepress. com. He wrote about the gate ordinance and Fondren hotel.

Staff Photographer Imani Khayyam is an art lover and a native of Jackson. He loves to be behind the camera and capture the true essence of his subjects. He took photos for the issue.

Abigail Walker is a freelance writer from Clinton, Miss., who spends most of her time playing with her corgi puppy, Eudora Welty. You can find her at Lemuria Bookstore in Jackson. She wrote about Cupcake Wars.

Web Editor Dustin Cardon is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi. He enjoys reading fantasy novels and wants to write them himself one day. He wrote a Best of Jackson blurb.

Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin loves Jesus, her mama, cooking, traveling, the Callaway Chargers, chocolate, her godson, Mississippi University for Women and locally owned restaurants, not necessarily in that order.

Music Editor Micah Smith is a longtime fan of music, comedy and all things “nerd.” He is married to a great lady, has two dogchildren named Kirby and Zelda, and plays in the band Empty Atlas. He wrote about the Mississippi State Fair music lineup.

Art Director Kristin Brenemen is a meganekko with a penchant for dystopianism. She’s recovering from two intense months of sewing and leather work and already wants to do more. She designed much of the issue.

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Special Features Free With Your Price of Admission!

5

“I hate that this item has brought such a division to a part of Jackson that we really need to be united.”

— Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes on his vote against neighborhood gates.

Wednesday, September 20

Gov. Phil Bryant tells reporters he is not going to rush judgment to sign a resolution declaring a state of “extreme emergency” in Jackson Public Schools.

Friday, September 22

Donald Trump says National Football League owners should fire players who kneel during the national anthem and encourages spectators to walk out in protest during a Huntsville, Ala., rally. He also slammed new NFL safety rules, saying they ruin the game.

Saturday, September 23

A strong earthquake hits Mexico after an earlier magnitude 7.1 quake.

September 27 - October 3, 2017 • jfp.ms

Sunday, September 24

Trump tweets that the NFL should make it mandatory to stand for the national anthem, prompting nationwide protests in which 200 players sit, lock arms, kneel, raise their fists or stay off the field altogether during the anthem.

6

Monday, September 25

The U.S. Supreme Court gives attorneys for Gov. Phil Bryant until Oct. 18 to respond to a lawsuit that challenges the Confederate battle emblem on the state flag. … The Dallas Cowboys team and owner Jerry Jones kneel on the field before the national anthem for unity and equality ahead of a 28-17 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

Tuesday, September 26

Equifax CEO Richard Smith steps down after the credit reporting agency’s damaging data breach that exposed highly sensitive information for about 143 million Americans. ... Republicans abandon the latest attempt to repeal Obamacare after failing to get enough votes to get it through Congress.

Get breaking news at jfpdaily.com.

Hotel Project Pops Up in Fondren, Demolished Houses Cause Outrage

by William H. Kelly III

L

ess than 36 hours after developers of a Hilton Homewood Suites Hotel explained their plan to neighborhood residents, the remains of “Fondren House” lay in ruins by the time darkness fell on Sept. 21. The house dates to the early 1900s and housed descendants of David Fondren Jr., the former namesake of the neighborhood and is in the heart of the Downtown Fondren Historic District.

Fondren-area residents say that original property owner and hotel partner Alan Lange stated during an informational meeting on Sept. 19 that the yellow house would be the last property considered for demolition in order to build the 125-room Hilton hotel with 4,000 square feet of retail space. Lange also owned land now being cleared for the hotel. The hotel will be located off of North State Street between Lorenz Boulevard and Fondren Place.

As word spread of the property being destroyed, including a video of demolition machinery breaking through the walls of the house that faced State Street, many Fondren residents were distraught. Erica Speed had attended the meeting with Lange, and told the Jackson Free Press after the meeting that he had made assurances that the Fondren House would be the last to go.

Thomas Rosell posted on the Preservation in Mississippi that Lange had assured residents, as Rosell put it, “that the Fondren House would be the last building demol-

Come One, Come All— Aw, C’mon

by Micah Smith

I

t may be fair season, but not everyone is playing that way. There have been plenty of less-than-perfect political moves in the past few weeks on the city, state and federal levels. In honor of the Mississippi State Fair, we thought we’d see if a little old-fashioned carnival showmanship might help.

William H. Kelly III

Thursday, September 21

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommends the Jackson home of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers for national monument designation. …

Hinds County Circuit Judge Jeff Weill sentenced Darnell Turner to 45 consecutive years in prison on three felony counts, while talking about DA Smith.

Darnell Turner sentenced to 45 years, amid cross-talk about DA Smith. p8

Construction workers clean the debris and remains from the “Fondren House” on North State Street that developers demolished on Sept. 21.

ished for a new hotel, leaving the possibility that the home of the neighborhood’s namesake could be relocated and saved.”

“He clearly gave the impression that we had time to figure out if it could be saved,” Speed told the JFP about Lange.

In fact, the Fondren House was one of the first to fall that week. “It’s another lie.

Another lie. Another lie,” Speed said.

Developers also demolished the duplex apartments nearby, but the old site of Que Sera Sera and more recently Green Ghost

Tacos is still intact, with a fence around it, awaiting demolition at press time.

The Little Yellow House

After developers held a press conference in late August to announce their “ultra-modern” hotel, citizens quickly reacted through social media and the NextDoor website. The result of their outcry was the “off the record” Sept. 19 meeting at St. James Episcopal Church, where residents presented personal complaints to

• The JPS Takeover Teacups • The “Teensy Tax Increase” Ring Toss • The Mississippi Flag’s Confedera-Skee Ball • The State Budget Lack-of-Fortune Teller • The GOP’s DACA Dunk Tank • The Whack-a-White-House-Mole • Trump’s “Pointless Show of Strength” Tester

“This isn’t something new. ... We’ve all been involved deeply in the schools … but we’ve been doing things in silos.”

“Based on what (state economist) Darrin Webb said yesterday, we’re just going to have to remain very cautious.”

— Tyrone Hendrix, executive director of Mississippi Association of Educators, on the #OurJPS coalition opposing the JPS takeover.

— House Speaker Philip Gunn on writing the fiscal-year 2019 state budget last week after hearing from several state agencies.

more HOTEL see page 8

Gate Ordinance Finally a Go

by William H. Kelly III

S

hortly after five of the seven Jackson City Council members approved a gating ordinance on Sept. 12 that had haunted the body for more than a year, the City Hall chamber filled with resounding claps lasting at least a minute. Supporters of gates had pushed for final permission to install what Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote calls “stop sign(s) that can’t be run” since an initial ordinance in May 2016 stalled due to pushback from neighbors who worry that they are divisive, unsightly, a barrier for emergency vehicles and could hurt property values.

During the Rules Committee meeting on Sept. 7, Foote and Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Banks announced that the ordinance they supported does not guarantee the installation of gates, but instead provides an application process. Applicants would be financially responsible for the planning, installation and maintenance of the public-access gates, which many believe will provide more security, while others worry they may slow down emergency vehicles

“What we needed to do for the gating ordinance, from the one that was originally passed in May 2016, we had to make sure to put in paragraphs that would guarantee due process for all the constituents,” Foote told the Jackson Free Press this week.

Foote said that opposing residents in a neighborhood applying for gates will have the opportunity to express concerns to the council body before approval. “We want to make sure that everybody got their chance to make their case for why a gate should be authorized or not authorized,” Foote added.

Neighborhoods must also install a sign at the gate that specifically states “push button for access.” The sign is to ensure that citizens understand that everyone has access into the gated area, unlike a private gated community. The idea, Foote said, is to slow down traffic, not shut people out.

“The main thing we’re trying to accomplish with this is make safer neighborhoods and control traffic in a way that’s safe for kids in the neighborhood. Not trying to keep anybody out, just trying to make for safer neighborhoods,” Foote said.

Under the ordinance, applicants are required to obtain a “policy of liability insurance” that is worth no less than $1 million, as a means to “protect the interests of the City.”

The ordinance, as approved, “will include the City as an additional insured interest and which will protect against costs, expenses, damages or judgments associated with claims arising out of the approval, installation and maintenance of the public access gate. Further, the applicant shall indemnify the City and hold Crowds of neighborhood gate supporters crowded into City Hall chambers harmless for any costs, expenses, damages multiple times in the last year and a half, including for this November 2016 Council meeting. They finally won the right to install gates nearly a year later. or judgments associated with claims arising out of the approval, installation, and into the neighborhoods. maintenance of public gates.”

Under the ordinance, the City’s Department of Planning While Jacksonians favoring gates celebrated their win, Ward 4 would regulate all applications for permits to install gates. Interested Councilman De’Keither Stamps, who voted against the ordinance, neighborhood associations must obtain a petition reflecting at least shifted the focus toward Jackson Public Schools and the impending 75 percent of the property owners in the proposed area to be gated. State takeover of the district.

This does not guarantee approval, however.

“The biggest gate we have in our City is our school district. It

Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes, who voted against the provides the proper fence for our young people,” Stamps said. “It gates multiple times, said at the Sept. 12 council meeting that the either produces criminals, or it produces productive citizens who barriers to entry will divide citizens. stop at stop signs and respect civic duty.”

“I hate that this item has brought such a division to a part of In the past, Jacksonians in favor of installing gates in neighJackson that we really need to be united,” Stokes said. “But some- borhoods argued that drivers speed through neighborhoods, ignore where down the line, we got to listen to the minority. And if the stop signs and endanger children. minority is saying we shouldn’t have gates, just because you out- Foote, Banks and Ward 7 Councilwoman Virgi Lindsay renumber them doesn’t make it right.” viewed a draft of the ordinance during a rules committee meeting

The ordinance requires that applicants submit “scaled sketch before presenting it to the full council on Sept. 12. All members of plans or photographs showing proposed gate dimensions and de- the council body were present at the Sept. 12 meeting. Stokes and tails of surrounding streetscape elements, including property lines, Stamps were the only “no” votes with all other members supporting sidewalks, curb lines, lighting, trees indicating size, tree gates, plant- the ordinance. It takes effect Oct. 12. ers, street signs, bus stops, and fire hydrants if relevant.”

Email William Kelly III at william@jacksonfreepress.com.

September 27 - October 3, 2017 • jfp.ms

File photo by Tim Summers Jr.

hotel investors Chico Patel, Ali Bhatti and Alan Lange.

Many residents say they are not necessarily concerned over a new hotel, which is the third one now slated for the west side of State Street through the heart of Fondren. The hotel would be located off North State Street between Lorenz Boulevard and Fondren Place.

They are concerned that the Hilton hotel seemed to pop up out of nowhere, while they were long apprised about the two boutique hotels going up further north on State Street.

“The concerns were that you’re tearing down some historical buildings, like Que Sera Sera and the Fondren House, particularly. Not to mention, some of the housing situations for renters or individuals that are possibly low-income,” Fondren resident David Knight told the Jackson Free Press.

“All that aside, the concern comes from the fact that there seemed to be no public knowledge or no opportunity for public input or public discussion,” Knight added, echoing the response of many in a neighborhood many consider to be like a small town where people talk to each other about plans.

Speed related Lange’s remarks at the Sept. 19 meeting, saying he had discussed the fate of the Fondren House with “experts” and historical groups about possibly donating and moving the house.

Lange would not identify the experts involved or the projected funds to relocate the house, she said.

Neighbors complained about the lack of transparency and advance notice at the community meeting and through social media. Knight, along with other neighbors, believe that the step-by-step development process seemed planned over a long period in a way that it could intentionally remain secretive.

“There’s no opportunity to weigh in any kind of discussion from the neighborhood and from the people it affects most,” Knight said.

Lange did not return phone calls, but emailed a statement to the Jackson Free Press early this week. “We worked with dozens of business owners, city planning professionals, financial professionals, leading architects and designers

7

TALK | city

HOTEL from page 7

requirement laws, attendees say.

But concerned residents believe that was not enough. “It became very, very, very

Ward 7 Councilwoman Virgi Lindsay told the Jackson Free Press that she became aware of the hotel project around the same

time of the public announcement.

“As a new council person, I did not have the opportunity to meet with the developers before they were ready to announce the project. And so I met with him (Lange) and his team just the day before they had the press conference,” Lindsay said.

Lindsay believes that the hotel will bring visitors to stay in Jackson rather than up north in Ridgeland. She added that this should result in visitors spending money at

local businesses in Fondren.

“I have heard some concerns about the change that this could bring to the Fondren business district. I’ve also heard a lot of excitement, and there is a feeling that this is going to be an economic-development generator for the area,” Lindsay said. “As long as there is open communication and networking between the hotel and the other people who work and own businesses in the area, I’m very confident that if there are any problems, they can be overcome.”

Speed is clear that she does not trust the process, however. “Personally, my biggest concern is if he was so proud of what he was doing, why would he have been so incredibly secretive and non-transparent,” Speed told the Jackson Free Press.

“I’m all for a hotel and additional lodging for Jackson and for Fondren. What I’m not behind is the methods in which Alan Lange and his partners went about making sure they got done whatever they wanted to get done.”

Patel said at the Sept. 19 meeting that demolition will take approximately two to four weeks, and full-speed construction will start around January. He added that once the foundation is in place, construction will take about 12 to 13 months.

Reached last week this article, Patel said he was traveling to a convention and could not comment until later.

Comment at jfp.ms.

ship, and without any effort to recuse himing lot in the Washington Addition.

As Weill detailed his sentencing of the self from his office, presented your case to 39-year-old, he brought up the district at- the grand jury and (it resulted in a) ‘no-bill,’ torney, who has long known and defended essentially dismissing the charges until the Turner in a criminal trial. Smith’s own fam- AG’s office discovered that relationship, and ily has deep roots in the Addition, and his Mr. Smith agreed that his office should be removed from the case,” defense-law office was in Weill added. the building that housed

Smith’s office had his grandfather’s business. presented the case to a Smith’s Supermarket was grand jury, but without just blocks north of the that evidence, the judge long-infamous Dairy Bar said, and the grand jury on Valley Street, known no-billed it, which means for drug dealing and vioessentially dismissing the lent attacks in its heyday. charges.

It is now closed.

Mississippi Attor After police invesney General Jim Hood’s tigated the 2014 attack, office later stepped in the judge said, Smith Donald “Darnell” Turner and presented a clearly opted not to include a recording that indicated that Turner “had stronger case to a grand jury and got the boasted about your relationship with pub- indictment that led to Turner’s re-arrest in lic officials and that nothing would happen 2016 and recent trial and conviction. because of that relationship.”

Smith’s alleged assistance of Turner

“I’ll note that now-District Attorney in the case was part of the AG’s original Robert Smith represented you in the past, affidavit indictment of the DA for hinderand his office, despite that prior relation- ing prosecutions of him and Christopher

Butler. Smith went to two trials for helping Butler avoid prosecution; the first ended in mistrial and then he was acquitted in the second. Smith now faces a criminal trial in Rankin County in October for domestic assault, stalking and threatening a former girlfriend with a gun.

Turner’s attorney Dennis Sweet III was not happy with Weill bringing up the district attorney last week.

“Your honor, throughout this trial, you have mentioned public officials, Robert Smith,” Sweet responded to Weill.

“... We started early on to investigate, emails, Robert Smith and everything else.

Robert Smith has played no role in this trial. He’s not assisted me. I represented Mr. Turner from the very beginning. … I was never contacted, Mr. Turner was never contacted. … Robert Smith provided us no information, no documents. We hadn’t even talked to Robert Smith about this case. …

We made a concerted effort not to be involved with Robert Smith.

“My client has told me on more than one occasion: ‘You represent me. Don’t get involved with Robert Smith stuff.’”

‘You Guys Should Get Ready’

Speed said she and other neighbors are worried that the location, scale and design of the hotel will affect the character and diversity of the Fondren district. She and others questioned the site plan and design of the hotel presented at the meeting, saying that it did not match the rendering sent to media in August.

In the site plan, there are 125 rooms and 122 parking spaces. On Lorenz Boulevard, there seems to be a heavy-duty concrete driveway that leads to a massive parking lot. It also shows a wall around the perimeter, excluding what is supposed to be the North State Street entrance.

The early rendering does not show the 122-space parking lot, however. The light blue, teal color of the hotel in the rendering is similar to other Fondren buildings.

Throughout the meeting, Lange stressed that his project follows all zoning

by Donna Ladd

September 27 - October 3, 2017 • jfp.ms

H

8

inds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith was in the courtroom on Sept. 21 when Judge Jeff Weill sentenced Donald “Darnell” Turner to 45 years in prison— although the DA wasn’t physically there.

Still, Smith was the elephant no one could ignore as Turner stood before Weill after a jury convicted him of beating, dragging, strangling the 22-year-old mother of one of his children. The jury decided he also shot at the young woman and dangled her off a bridge after she followed him and another woman on July 12, 2014, from Freelon’s nightclub to the Dairy Bar park-

Residents are complaining that the rendering developers provided of the new Hilton hotel in Fondren does not match plans unveiled at a community meeting. The plan from the meeting shows a wall and a huge parking lot.

evident really quickly that this whole meeting, they didn’t really give a sh*t about our opinion,” Knight said. “They were just saying more so of a, ‘Oh, by the way, we’re doing this. You guys should get ready.’”

Neighbors also question the role of the Jackson City Council and the mayor’s office in the process of this development.

Lange boasted that he spent “hundreds of hours in front of city council” planning the process of development.

Imani Khayyam

The DA Elephant in Weill’s Courtroom

courtesy DLW Architects

and people in local organizations to evaluate this potential project,” he wrote. “Those discussions impacted site design including the suggestions to add retail space to the project. We did not announce the project publicly until funding and city site plan approval had been secured, which both came within days of our announcement.”

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9

TALK | state

Protecting Children: New Leader, New Challenges

by Arielle Dreher

A

lmost 6,000 children are in the state’s custody, and some of them are backlogged in the system, newly appointed commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services Jess Dickinson told lawmakers last week.

When a child enters the state’s custody, he or she goes into foster care—and stays there until the child is either reunited with family or adopted. Adoption requires the court to terminate the child’s parents’ parental rights.

“We have a large number of children

agency. Dickinson told the Joint Legislative Budget Committee that he had planned on retiring, but Bryant convinced him to take this position.

“The governor came to talk to me about the agency and the critical need for our children and the families, it moved me to the point that I could not turn down the position,” Dickinson said at the Woolfolk Building last week.

The new commissioner had only been on the job four days when he was scheduled to appear before the lieutenant governor, speaker of the House and top lawmakers in Courtesy Administrative Office of the Courts

Former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Jess Dickinson (center), with his wife Janet (left) and Justice Jim Kitchens (right), became the commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services last week and faces a slew of backlogged cases.

September 27 - October 3, 2017 • jfp.ms

where parental rights have been terminated, and they are prepared for adoption, and they’re backlogged—there’s no reason for that,” Dickinson told lawmakers last week during legislative budget hearings.

Dickinson said more than 400 children are ready for adoption but stuck in that backlog of cases. He said his immediate goal is to solve that problem by moving those cases along.

CPS is a relatively new department— only a year old—and is already on its second leader. Gov. Phil Bryant appoints a commissioner to lead the executive-level agency, and the former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice David Chandler retired earlier this month.

Bryant tapped yet another Supreme Court justice, Dickinson, to the lead the 10

charge of writing the state budget and ask for an increase in funding.

Olivia Y Needs

The Legislature created CPS in 2016 as a result of an almost decade-long litigation in what is known as the Olivia Y lawsuit, brought on behalf of children in the state’s custody housed in foster homes that were unsafe.

Years later, lawyers whittled the settlement agreement down to just 31 pages.

Kenya Rachal, an attorney for CPS working on the Olivia Y case, said the most recent settlement allows the department more wiggle room to make the adjustments necessary to comply with the plaintiffs’ demands. She told lawmakers last week that CPS has hired more than 450 workers since

January 2016. She also noted that the Mississippi opioid epidemic affected the department’s intake of children.

“We have been hit with the opioid crisis: 40 percent or more of our cases come from opioid abuse. … Often times we learn those parents have a drug problem, right now those kids are being brought into our custody,” Rachal said. “Our custody numbers are skyrocketing.”

Just four years ago, the State had custody of 3,900 children, she said. Today almost 6,000 children are in its care. Rachal said CPS is working on a pilot program that targets opioid abuse to provide rehabilitation for drug-addicted parents in an effort to keep families together.

“We don’t want to remove children from families that can be stabilized and be a safe environment for those children,” she said. “We don’t need to bring them into foster care if we can help our families heal and keep those children safe—so that is one of Justice Dickinson’s primary goals is try to decrease the number of children in custody.”

Building Trust

As a former judge, Dickinson said he is working to bridge the gap between CPS and the court system because the adverse relationship leads to a high turnover rate in the agency. Dickinson said the turnover rate for social workers in his department is as high as 50 or 60 percent in some county offices. He said turnover is a “vicious cycle.”

“What happens is these case workers are under-prepared so they go into youth court, and youth court judges and chancellors get frustrated with them because they don’t seem to know what they’re doing….

So the judges cease to trust us, and when they don’t trust us, rather than taking our recommendations, they take the child and put them in foster care,” Dickinson told lawmakers.

Even if the CPS worker gives a sound recommendation, he said, his or her lack of experience could make the whole experi-

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ence traumatic—sometimes even leading to resignation. The commissioner went up to Oxford later that day to a youth-court judge conference.

“I’m going to speak to them and try to establish a relationship so we can begin to build that trust. Until we are able to do that, this cycle is going to continue,” he said.

“We’ve got to have a stable workforce,” Dickinson added.

Separation Soon

Due to the settlement agreement in Olivia Y, CPS must completely separate from the Mississippi Department of Human Services by next summer, and part of that separation will come with a cost, the former Mississippi Supreme Court justice told lawmakers. CPS has “ancient” software, Dickinson said, which CPS is in the midst of upgrading. The department also needs a single, physical office space.

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves emphasized the need for CPS to look at how they can save money on space when looking for a new office location, noting that the difference between paying $12 per square foot of space and $30 per square foot of space can mean “millions and millions and millions” of dollars with an agency like CPS that has 1,500 employees.

Dickinson said CPS needs about 90,000 square feet. He said CPS is in talks with the Department of Finance and Administration to find a space, noting that the State might have to purchase a new building instead of using existing state property.

“I would encourage you as you continue to process of making those decisions that you work with the legislative leadership,” Reeves told the new commissioner.

“I don’t think there’s going to be a rubberstamp appropriation for what we view as wasted space, and for prices that are not in line with what you could have gotten.”

Email state reporter Arielle Dreher at arielle@jacksonfreepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @arielle_amara.

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Lynne Schneider How the JPS Takeover Affects Students

Y

ou may have heard recently in the local news that Jackson Public Schools are in an “extreme emergency.” When stat auditors came into the schools, they saw teachers not teaching, students in the halls, and found records had not been handled properly; students graduated without meeting the basic requirements; Forest Hill High School was too dangerous for them to enter and complete an audit.

What you didn’t see in the local news is that Murrah announced three National Merit semi-finalists last week and graduated 10 AP Scholars in May. The Federal Emergency Management Agency selected Ruben M. Banks, a junior JROTC cadet at Jim Hill High School, for its 15-member Youth Preparedness Council. Five JPS schools ranked in the 90th percentile of MAP-testing results in the state. This information was most certainly not mentioned in the Mississippi Department of Education’s audit report.

While most reasonable audits would include positive and negative results, it seems that MDE was only looking for and reporting the negatives.

JPS has been under scrutiny for 18 months, and I would not claim that the district does not need major improvements. I’m a teacher at Murrah High School, and I know that to be true.

But is JPS in such bad shape that the state should take control and shut out the people of Jackson from the process of improvement?

Absolutely not. Our interim superintendent has worked diligently in less than a year to address the standards that the MDE’s reports have said the district is not following. A dynamic new mayor just took office and was about to name three new members to the local school board. JPS was on the precipice of major improvements that those who live and work in the city of Jackson, and whose children attend our schools, decided on.

Momentum was on the district’s side, and a takeover immediately kills it, with no reason to believe the state can do better. Isn’t the district more equipped than people who live in the suburbs and probably wouldn’t be willing to visit any of our high schools? JPS employees and citizens have more “skin in the game” than people outside the district.

The discussion and voting from people who never even pretended to read the JPS response to the audit happened behind closed doors. Except for three people, they never even asked a question. If the situation is so dire, would such shady practices be necessary to declare the emergency? Wouldn’t it have been more helpful to JPS and its students to hold an honest and open audit?

Why didn’t it happen that way?

There is so much I could say about racism and poverty, critical underfunding of all districts by our sate, state tests and testing companies that are unreliable, and an accountability model that requires 14 schools to be F schools, regardless of results. But my focus is on my students. Some of them think their diplomas won’t be valid, or that they will have to do a year of remediation before they can go to college. Some are scared of losing their sports and clubs, the very things that make school meaningful to them.

Worst of all, I see students who believe what MDE and the news says about them—that they are failures, that they are dangerous, that they aren’t going to make it in life. As high-school students, they are old enough to hear what is being said and take it to heart. Because those who conducted the audit were never interested in what JPS does right, and they were too busy seeing scary inner-city high-school students to see them for the wonderful people they are. How could a process that does this to students be good for Jackson or good for Mississippi?

12 Lynne Schneider is a teacher at Murrah High School.

September 27 - October 3, 2017 • jfp.ms

A state takeover kills that momentum.

Jackson Developers: Involve Locals in Decisions Early

T

he developers of a new Hilton hotel in Fondren held an “off-the-record” yet public community meeting about the proposed two-acre development in the heart of the historic district last week. (See page 6.) That would have been a great idea had it happened much sooner, but 36 hours after residents expressed concerns, machinery was knocking down old homes, including one from a family the area is named after.

We’ve seen this before, from the original Whitney Place concept to the now-shelved Two Lakes project. Developers come up with a big idea, meet with people who like the idea to get “consensus,” put together plans with minimal transparency and then, finally, tell the community their intentions.

This is the exact wrong way to develop, especially when it requires knocking down buildings or, in the case of Two Lakes, using eminent domain.

To start, conversations with the community should never be off the record. If you can’t say it to a reporter, why are you talking in front of any residents who walk in? Fondren residents have legitimate concerns about the development and were happy to relate what transpired at the meeting.

Corporate hotels beget corporate vendors. The proposed 4,000 square feet of retail space could easily move to the hands of other corporations, who can outbid local retailers and draw away customers.

If that space does go to chains, the hotel becomes a threat to locally owned and operated businesses.

Sneaky Beans and Cups might have to compete with a corporate coffee chain, like Starbucks or CC’s. A Burger King or a McDonald’s might challenge Rooster’s. Development history shows that chains follow chains, leading to Fondren looking like any gentrified shopping district in America instead of the uniquely local place it is now.

Not to mention, how many hotels can Fondren support with two others coming just up North State? Does one end up an empty shell as competitors win? To add insult to injury, the rendering of the hotel (which doesn’t match plans shown at the meeting) came from Florida firm DLW Architects—rather than one of the two amazing local architecture firms in Fondren. That speaks volumes.

As long as developers are following zoning and city codes, it’s within their right to build. Just because you can do something, however, does not mean you should. Jackson is built on the creativity and the hard work of Mississippians. Fondren’s charm sets it apart as the “Brooklyn” of Mississippi, Thrillist says, as well as a favorite stop for folks who do not live in the city limits. That charm can die quickly with a corporate takeover of the area.

To alter the fabric of the community without fully soliciting feedback is not only disrespectful to the residents but also irresponsible. As we work to build the city together, Jacksonians deserve a say in how it will look and feel. To ignore the wishes of residents is to put profit before people.

CORRECTION: In last week’s cover story (Vol. 16, Issue 3, Sept. 20-26), we misspelled local business Kamie’s Kreations as Kamie’s Creations. Also, Stephen Barnette was doing lighting for raves at the Starplex Amphitheater, not throwing them. CLARIFICATION: In the story, we quoted daniel johnson as saying that Jackson hip-hop audiences would not attend rock shows 15 years ago, when he had said the reverse was true. We also left reporter Arielle Dreher out of the birthday staff box. Apologies!

JOE ATKINS

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O

XFORD—I first noticed him in the 1967 film “Cool Hand Luke.”

He played Tramp, the guitar-picking inmate who crooned “Just A Closer Walk With Thee” as Paul Newman walked out to see his soon-to-die mother for the last time. It was a film that evoked the bad old days of places like Mississippi’s own Parchman Farm, where a special kind of southern cruelty ruled.

He was a southerner himself, son of a Kentucky tobacco farmer and a hairdresser.

His mother liked to dangle a black sock in front of her infant son just to scare him. After a tough Depression-era youth, he served as a ship’s cook during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. Maybe those experiences added a degree of poignancy to his roles in 100-plus movies and 50-plus television shows.

Maybe what attracted me most to Harry Dean Stanton, who died this month at the age of 91, was that lean, weather-beaten look of the classic underdog.

He was a “character actor,” a term he didn’t particularly like, one of those working stiffs of the Big Screen whose faces everyone knows, but not their names.

I’ve always loved character actors.

“Cool Hand Luke” was full of them. Who’ll ever forget Strother Martin as the warden saying, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”? George Kennedy, Dennis Hopper, Joe Don Baker, Ralph Waite and Stanton perfectly portrayed “the great mix of faces and personalities” you might find in a prison, said director Frank Darabont, whose own prison films, “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994) and “The Green Mile” (1999, with Stanton in the cast) are classics of the genre.

Countless hours in front of the television or in a movie theater in my youth made me as much a fan of actors such as Royal Dano, James Best, Dub Taylor, Cloris Leachman, Thelma Ritter and R.G. Armstrong, as of the big stars I also loved, including Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster and Robert Mitchum.

Many of the greatest character actors were southerners. Stanton, Warren Oates and Best were Kentuckians. Armstrong was from Alabama, Dub Taylor from Virginia.

Let me add here Oxford’s own Johnny

McPhail and his wife Susan McPhail.

Character actors are “not gorgeous enough to be stars,” wrote Melissa Holbrook Pierson and Luc Sante in their 1999 book “O.K. You Mugs: Writers on Movie Actors.” “Their noses have been broken one too many times. … In short, they are real.”

Stanton is unique among them, however. His career began in the mid-1950s with cowboy and other roles that led to regular appearances on TV Westerns like “Gunsmoke,” “Have Gun - Will Travel,” “Rawhide” and “Bonanza.” He played an Oklahoma hitchhiker in “Two-Lane Blackstop” (1971), a bogus blind preacher in “Wise Blood” (1979), a member of Billy the Kid’s gang in “Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid” (1973) and the crew member in “Alien” (1979) who is killed by the monster after calling out “Kitty, kitty, kitty” to the crew’s missing cat, Jones.

Stanton finally got his big break with a starring role in Wim Wenders’ 1984 film “Paris, Texas.” His character, Travis Henderson, was a silent, lone wanderer in the desert in search of some sort of penance for past sins. “It got more and more hard to say that this is Travis and this is Harry Dean,” Wenders has said of the film in its commentary.

Stanton himself agreed. “I don’t know what happened to Travis. I’d say … it’s me.

Still searching for liberation, or enlightenment, for lack of a better way to put it, and realizing that it might happen, it might not,” he said.

Such comments point to another side of the actor, a lifelong bachelor, the one in Hollywood known as Harry “Zen” Stanton. A philosopher of Buddhist-tinged fatalism, Stanton has attained a kind of cult status that may be due as much for his musings about life as for his work as an actor and his musicianship.

“In the end, you end up accepting everything in your life—suffering, horror, love, loss, hate—all of it,” he once told the Observer. Besides, he said, “It’s all a movie anyway.” OK, Harry. Then I say what a great movie your life was.

Joe Atkins is a veteran journalist, columnist and professor of journalism at the University of Mississippi.

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“It’s all a movie anyway.”

Email letters and opinion to letters@jacksonfreepress.com, fax to 601-510-9019 or mail to 125 South Congress St., Suite 1324, Jackson, Mississippi 39201. Include daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for length and clarity, as well as factchecked.

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Character Acting With Harry Dean Stanton

13

Takeover or Not:

Jackson Schools in Limbo

by Arielle Dreher

T

September 27 - October 3, 2017 • jfp.ms

14

side the old Central High School, repeating what he’d said in the hallway moments before. “The State of Mississippi has never cared about the black children in Jackson, and they’re not about to start right now.”

A frenzied press conference of state and local elected officials and parents echoed a singular sentiment: While JPS has problems, we don’t need the state to fix them.

“We’ve got some challenges, but I guarantee you that you can go to any school in any school district and you can find these very same challenges,” Sen. Sollie Norwood, D-Jackson, who sat dutifully through both

The mood was glum outside, and JPS parent and local attorney Dorsey Carson announced his intentions to file a federal lawsuit over the process, noting that parents had no say in the investigation, audit or “extreme emergency” declaration process.

“Every child in Mississippi and every child in the nation where a state provides public education, they have due-process rights in that education,” Carson told the Jackson Free Press in an interview later that week. “It’s considered a property interest ... how do you take away their property right to a public education in a process that comArielle Dreher

he afternoon of Thursday, Sept. 14, seemed to creep by slowly as Mississippi Board of Education members deliberated the future of Jackson Public Schools behind closed doors. The boardroom buzzed with conversation, sometimes lively, sometimes in hushed whispers. JPS and Mississippi Department of Education officials, community members and a few parents waited on the fourth floor of the Central High School Building to hear the board’s decision to declare an “extreme emergency” in the second-largest school district in the state. One MDE employee brought back a cup of candy from her office, offering it to not just her friends, but also anyone she passed.

About two and a half hours later, the State Board returned, lugging large binders that contained the almost 700-page MDE investigative audit as well as the JPS response to the report. The long deliberations did not help JPS, however, and Board President Rosemary Aultman delivered the verdict, reading from a paper at the front of the room. She said the board’s decided to declare an “extreme emergency,” and went on to name an interim superintendent, Margie Pulley, who would assume control of the state’s largest urban district once Gov. Phil Bryant signs the resolution.

JPS Board of Trustees member Jed Oppenheim stepped up from his chair and walked out of the room before Aultman had finished reading, visibly upset.

“What we are seeing is a re-colonization of our city by the state—this is not about children, this is about money and power,” Oppenheim told reporters out-

Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba sits in on the Commission on School Accreditation meeting on Sept. 13 where it voted JPS is in an “extreme emergency.” NAACP Interim President Derrick Johnson and Sen. Sollie Norwood, D-Jackson, sit to his right.

the commission and board meetings Sept.

13 and 14 said. “… This process to name an interim superintendent with the interim superintendent in the room? That’s absolutely disrespectful.”

pletely shuts out the parents?”

Carson received strong support for his lawsuit, and by the time he filed it Sept. 18, 30 parents had joined him asking the federal court for relief.

The Governor’s Call

Jacksonians will have to wait on Gov. Bryant’s decision, set to be made next month. The governor gets the final call on whether to pull local control from the state’s second largest district, dissolving the local school board and installing Pulley as interim superintendent. The governor is in no rush, however, signaling a shift from previous takeovers in the state, where he would sign a “emergency” declaration shortly after the state board’s decision.

“This is a very important decision that will be made,” Bryant told reporters on Sept. 20 at the Capitol. “I certainly respect the (state) board’s decision to send me that request for emergency, but we are going to make sure that we know exactly what the condition of the city of Jackson publicschool system is now—that that wasn’t just a snapshot that occurred.”

Bryant’s decision to hold off judgment means his staff will review the almost 700-page audit of JPS that the Mississippi Department of Education released at the end of August. He can also read the district’s response, which JPS furnished to the Commission on School Accreditation and State Board members earlier this month as administrators argued that no state of “extreme emergency” exists in the district.

On Sept. 14, the state’s Commission on School Accreditation voted to declare an “extreme emergency” in JPS, and the Mississippi Board of Education affirmed their decision the following day. MDE auditors found JPS in violation of 24 of the state’s 32 accreditation process standards. The district violated several standard areas from how

JPS Takeover Timeline: April 2016–September 2017 August 3, 2016: JPS responds to limited audit

April 4, 2016: MDE starts unannounced limited audit of JPS April 2016

MAY 2016

JUNE 2016

June 15, 2016: MDE releases preliminary findings of limited audit

JULY 2016

AUG. 2016

August 16, 2016: Commission on School Accreditation votes to put JPS on probation and orders MDE to conduct full investigative audit

October 20,2016: JPS submits corrective action plan for limited audit findings Sept. 2016

Oct. 2016

November 1, 2016: JPS Superintendent Cedrick Gray resigns

December 15, 2016: State Board of Education Approves CAP Nov. 2016

November 10, 2016: State Board of Education Rejects JPS CAP

Dec. 2016

November 30, 2016: JPS submits revised CAP

Imani Khayyam

Gov. Phil Bryant expects to make a decision about JPS in October when MDE releases the district’s accountability ranking.

learning and safety environment in the city of Jackson,” Bryant told Williamson.

“The final decision on this process, if you will, is on the 19th of October (when) the state department will give its final approval to determine if for the second year in a row if the city of Jackson is rated as an ‘F.’ That’s one of the indicators or triggers, if you will, that would add to a declaration of emergency. … I think it would be prudent on our part to wait until at least that day to see what the decision of the state board of education will be in rating the school district—that will go a long way in helping make that decision.”

JPS received an “F” grade in the 2016 accountability rankings, and preliminary data from MDE, used against the district during the Commission on School Accreditation meeting this month, show that the district will receive an “F” in October

as well. All of the state’s “F” rated school districts are majority-black districts, and all of the districts taken over by the state since 2010 are also majority-black districts, with one exception. Scott County School District, which has improved to a “B” grade since the state took it over, is 48 percent white; 38 percent black student population.

It also has the highest grade of any district ever taken over by MDE.

Race and takeovers can go hand-inhand. A study of Louisiana parishes and support for a ballot initiative authorizing Louisiana’s takeover law in 2003 found that resistance to the measure was strongest in parishes with the largest African American electorates.

“These data do not indicate why individuals oppose state takeovers, but resistance appears to stem from the fact that Louisiana assumes control over predominantly African American school districts in general, and New Orleans in particular,” Peter Burns wrote in his 2010 study.

JPS is a majority-black district, with African American students making up over 96 percent of the student body. The governor told reporters there have been issues in JPS for a decade, and leaders should have addressed those issues long ago.

“Now that the alarm has been sounded, everyone wants to rush in: where were they when we needed them a decade ago?” the governor said last week.

The governor has met with Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba, Jackson lawmakers and Interim JPS Superintendent Freddrick Murray. If Bryant chooses to sign the resolution declaring an “extreme emergency” in JPS, the district will lose local control and access to their schools immediately.

District of Transformation

Few people expected the governor to take his time making the decision. The Sept. 19 JPS School Board meeting was eerily empty, save a large number of district officials. The board passed a resolution to allow local PTAs and school communities to change their school names associated with Confederate leaders, in fear that they

February 21, 2017: JPS Board of Trustees votes to keep Interim Superintendent Freddrick Murray in charge until 2018-2019 school year Jan. 2017

feb. 2017

march 2017

State Takeovers By the Numbers:

19 16 2 Total Number of State Takeovers

Total Number of Districts Taken Over

by State

Current Number of Districts in State Control (Districts of Transformation)

2,103

Average Number of Students in Districts taken over since 2010 and after

Grades of Districts

Previously (and Current) Under State Control*

4 6 0 A

3

1 B

C

D

F

*Based on Mississippi Department of Education 2016 Accountability Scores. Numbers don’t match total takeovers due to consolidations. Indianola and Drew School Districts were consolidated with Sunflower County School District, and Oktibbeha County School District was consolidated with Starkville School District.

would not be able to meet again.

Acting JPS Board of Trustees President Camille Simms gave shout-outs to several district leaders, applauding their work, toward the end of the meeting, in what seemed to be a swan song.

“I feel like this really the end as we move forward, but really not the end, when I say the end, we are really not in the end position, we are moving forward,” she said.

September 13, 2017: Commission on School Accreditation votes to declare “extreme emergency” in JPS april 2017

Read more about the pending takeover of Jackson Public Schools at jacksonfreepress.com/jpstakeover.

may 2017

june 2017

July 2017

August 31, 2017: MDE releases full investigative audit of JPS

“I know some people have thought (about) what the governor is going to do, what is going to happen, we don’t have a clue. … We are moving forward, educating our children.”

The next JPS board meeting is scheduled for Oct. 3, and business continues on in the district as usual until Gov. Bryant declares an emergency. Pulley, for her part, is still acting as the interim superintendent in the Tunica County School District.

When the governor declares a state of emergency in a school district, he immediately dissolves the local school board and puts the Mississippi Board of Education over the district. Before state law changed to manicure the language used for state takeovers, deeming them “districts of transformation,” they were called conservatorships.

Now, instead of naming a conservator, the state board named an interim superintendent. Paula Vanderford, the chief accountability officer at MDE, told reporters Sept. 14 that Pulley would take over district operations if Bryant declares an emergency.

“The placement of the interim superintendent would be effective immediately, so the timeline from that point forward regarding any personnel decisions in the district would be left to the interim superintendent,” Vanderford said.

While Murray would obviously lose his superintendent title, the rest of JPS staff and personnel would also be subject to Pulley’s direction. Pulley and the State Board of Education could reduce the local supplements paid to school district employees, state law says, if the district’s impairment is related to a lack of financial resources.

The City of Jackson would lose control of the school district because the emergency declaration dissolves the local school board, which only has four members at the moment. The mayor appoints school board members, and the city council confirms them for five-year terms.

When the State Takes Over

Tunica County School District is more TAKEOVER, see page 16

September 14, 2017: State Board of Education votes to declare “extreme emergency” in JPS Aug. 2017

Sept. 2017

September 20, 2017: Gov. Phil Bryant says he’s not rushing judgment on takeover decision

September 27 - October 3, 2017 • jfp.ms

the district manages curriculum to school building safety and insecure state testing environments, the audit show. MDE auditors found JPS staff and teachers using electronics during state testing or in some classrooms, children unattended at all.

Gov. Bryant told JT Williamson on his SuperTalk radio show that he will wait until MDE releases final accountability ratings of schools districts in October to make his decision.

“I am going to do what I believe is best for the students, not the administration not the faculty, what’s best for the students’

15

What Happens…

TAKEOVER from page 15 JPS By the Numbers: Total Student Population

26,948 >5% Hispanic, white, multi-racial

Student Body 96.32% black

Number of Schools

58

F

2016 Grade

September 27 - October 3, 2017 • jfp.ms

*Numbers based on 2016-2017 MDE data; JPS data

16

one of two districts of transformation in Mississippi currently. Pulley is serving as the interim superintendent at the district now. Pulley, a former superintendent of the Greenwood Public School District, abruptly retired from her post back in 2012, only to get back to work as the conservator of Oktibbeha County School District in January 2013. Pulley moved from Oktibbeha—which has since consolidated with the Starkville Public School District—to Tunica in 2015.

Messages and interview requests left for Pulley at the superintendent’s office in Tunica School District remained unanswered by press time.

Tunica schools, which have a little over 2,000 students, improved from a “D” to a “C” ranking under Pulley’s leadership in just one year, but some parents feel shut out of the schools now that the state is in control. One parent with two children in Rosa Fort High School told the Jackson Free Press that access to school leaders and teachers completely changed when Pulley

and the state, took over the district.

“Before she came in there, if a teacher had a problem with her child, you can call back to the school and connect you to that teacher’s classroom,” the parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “Now you can’t even go to the school and check on your child, you have to stand outside and stand 40 feet away from the office building. … It’s like Parchman, you have to go to a check-in gate.”

The parent said other folks in the community refer to the high school as “Fort Knox” now, due to the changes.

Pulley, whose main charge is to improve academic achievement in the district, is known for her no-nonsense approach. A 2005 Leflore Illustrated article profiling Pulley said she “exemplifies the iron fist inside a velvet glove.” Pulley worked as a teacher, principal and eventually, superintendent of the Greenwood Public School District.

As principal of Threadgill (Elementary) School, the Leflore Illustrated article says, Pulley eliminated recess at one point to take control of a “sometimes rowdy campus.” Corporal punishment was a part of Greenwood’s handbook during Pulley’s tenure and was in 2015, too, The Washington Post reported.

Both districts of transformation in the state each have less than 3,000 students.

Greenwood School District has less than 3,000 students also. JPS, on the contrary, has almost 27,000 students by last year’s count (enrollment is down, however, and that number is closer to 25,000-26,000 this school year). The State Board trusts Pulley to turn schools around.

“Dr. Pulley has a record of transformation; she has done an amazing job in the other districts where she’s worked,” Aultman told reporters Sept. 14.

“She’s a strong academic person; she has a background as an academic officer, so we have every confidence … that she can come in and begin laying the groundwork to transform this district.”

Do Takeovers Work?

Advocates of local control for JPS decry the state’s track record on takeovers.

“Look, we know there are a number

…If Gov. Phil Bryant Signs Emergency Declaration?

…If Commission on School Accreditation Withdraws JPS’ Accreditation?

• Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees Dissolved

• Students become eligible to transfer to surrounding districts, if they accept them

• Interim Superintendent Margie Pulley takes Freddrick Murray’s position

• One-year period begins for district to correct deficiencies

• Mississippi Board of Education Assumes Control of District

• After one-year period: Only 50 percent of interscholastic activities allowed for all sports, dance, music, debate teams

• District goes into “transformation” status, meaning it must attain a “C” rating for five years in a row before returning to local control, depending on State Board’s judgment

• Students continue to receive credits; will be eligible to graduate and receive diplomas if they complete graduation requirements Source: Mississippi state law; MDE fact sheet

of problems JPS faces, but the record that the state department of education has with transforming school districts is dismal,” Ward 2 Councilman Melvin Priester Jr. said outside the old Central High School on Sept. 14. “It will result a loss of services for children; it’s not going to make children in JPS have better outcomes—it’s going to make things much, much worse.”

MDE has completed 19 takeovers total, of 16 school districts. The State Department had to re-takeover three districts: North Panola School District, Oktibbeha County School District and Tunica County School District.

Of the districts MDE has taken over, results vary. The majority of districts under state control at some point since 1996 have a “D” grade in the state’s 2016 accountability rankings. One district, Scott County School District, has a “B” grade; four districts have “C” grades; and three districts returned to local control continue to be failing, “F” rated, districts.

This past spring, the Legislature changed how takeovers work: state law now requires districts to maintain a “C” grade for five consecutive years before returning to local control—unless the Mississippi Board of Education decides otherwise.

State takeovers as a policy practice are used in about half of states nationally, and on the whole have very mixed results.

A Rutgers analysis of state takeover policies says very little research has been conducted on the effects of takeovers.

State takeovers can eliminate nepotism, improve administrative and financial

practices and implement innovate programs, the Rutgers 50-State report says.

“However, student achievement oftentimes falls short of expectations after a state takeover,” it says.

A 2002 policy brief from the nonpartisan Education Commission of the States emphasizes the Rutgers analysis.

“When state takeovers placing the state department of education in charge of school districts produce administrative and political turmoil, student achievement suffers. After a period of adjustment, however, these takeovers may also be able to produce positive achievement gains,” the brief says.

What’s Next?

October looms ahead for JPS, as the Commission on School Accreditation is set to meet on the 17th and could vote on whether or not to remove the district’s accreditation status. If the Commission votes to remove JPS’ accreditation, students are free to transfer to neighboring school districts that will take them.

Additionally, it starts a year-long countdown for improvement. If the district does not improve in that time, interscholastic activities, including all sports, dance, band and debate teams, are cut in half. Students continue to receive credits and will be able to graduate.

In federal court, the defendant’s answers to the JPS parents’ request for injunctive relief is due Oct. 11. State accountability results will be released Oct. 19, and Gov. Bryant, assuming he keeps his word, will decide then who he wants to control JPS.

What’s Next?

October 2017

Oct. 3: JPS School Board of Trustees Meeting

Oct. 11: Defendants in JPS Parents’ lawsuit answers due in federal court

Oct. 17: Commission on School Accreditation Meeting

Oct. 19: Mississippi State Board of Education Meeting

Oct. 17: JPS School Board of Trustees Meeting

Oct. 19: MDE Releases State Accountability Results

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LIFE&STYLE | food&drink

The War for Cupcakes

by Abigail Walker

flickr / Josue Goge

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Hal and Malâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 4 $PNNFSDF 4U +BDLTPO t Pub favorites meet Gulf Coast and Cajun specialties like red beans and rice, the Oyster Platter or daily specials.

Martinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Restaurant and Lounge 4PVUI 4UBUF 4U +BDLTPO t Lunch specials, pub appetizers or order from the full menu of po-boys and entrees. Full bar, beer selection.

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In Cupcake Wars 2017, bakers will compete to see who has the best cupcakes while also raising money for the outreach programs for NAMI Mississippiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Youth Advisory Council.

E

very October, the National Alliance on Mental Illness Mississippi shines a light on Mental Illness Awareness Month with a fundraiser. This year, the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Youth Advisory Council is hosting one to further their mission of mental-health communication while also bringing people together over something sweet: cupcakes.

Jamie Kurlej, communications outreach specialist for NAMI Mississippi and its Youth Advisory Council, says the goal of Cupcake Wars 2017 is to raise money that will help â&#x20AC;&#x153;expand awareness of mental illness,â&#x20AC;? specifically to a younger audience, she says.

The competition consists of 10 amateur bakers who will bring cupcakes for judging. Guests can either have dinner and a cupcake tasting for $40 or just a cupcake tasting for $20. All proceeds will go toward supporting the outreach programs the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Youth Advisory Council puts on throughout the year.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Volunteers will serve the dinner and cupcake samples to each table,â&#x20AC;? Kurlej says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;along with a ballot where guests can rank the cupcakes.â&#x20AC;?

Celebrity judges will include Jeromie â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kake Kingâ&#x20AC;? Jones, a professional baker and contestant on Food Networkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cake Wars,â&#x20AC;? and Kristy Johnson, Miss Black Mississippi USA 2017.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love the fact that there are still real people trying to help real people,â&#x20AC;? Jones says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think this is a great opportunity to showcase our local talent.â&#x20AC;?

NAMI Mississippi is also partnering with NFusion Metro Kids for a cupcake decorating competition during the evening.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m really excited to see everyone who comes out and talk more with them about what NAMI and the Youth Advisory Council does,â&#x20AC;? Kurlej says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s special that these bakers are volunteering their time for a great cause. We hope to make this a yearly event.â&#x20AC;?

The Youth Advisory Council has hosted several outreach programs since the group started in May 2016.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We do a lot of presentations on how to communicate about mental health,â&#x20AC;?

Kurlej says.

In September 2016, they held a Suicide Awareness and Prevention Vigil at the state capitol. One of the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest fundraisers is NAMIWalks, which takes place in November.

Cupcake Wars 2017 will be Sunday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. at Broad Street Baking Company (4465 Interstate 55 N., Suite 101, 601-362-2900). For more information and to register for the event, find the event page on Facebook.

To see more local food news, visit jfp.ms/food.

BEST OF JACKSON

Best of Jackson: Spin Cycle

S

ometimes exercise may seem boring, but if you find the right activity, it can feel more like fun than a chore. Indoor cycling, or spin, is a way to do that, and Jackson has a few spin instructors. Here are the ones you said are the best.

Best Spin Instructor: Derek Alley (The Country Club of Jackson, 345 St. Andrews Drive, 601-956-1411; Guruz Fitness, 6935 Old Canton Road, Ridgeland, 747-666-5326; YMCA, 800 E. River Place, 601.948.3090, metroymcams.org)

COURTESY DEREK ALLEY

Derek Alley, co-founder of consulting firm Arthur Alley Associated, has spent nine years sharing his passion for exercise with Jacksonians as an indoor cycling, or â&#x20AC;&#x153;spin,â&#x20AC;? instructor at locations such as the Country Club of Jackson and Guruz Fitness Studio. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Spin is a no-impact way to burn lots of calories in 45 minutes,â&#x20AC;? Alley says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Anybody at any age can get a great cardiovascular workout and lose weight without worrying about injuring their joints.â&#x20AC;?

Alley, 49, was born in Opelika, Ala., and started taking spin classes at the YMCA after moving to Jackson in 1994. He moved to upstate New York in 2001 and to Atlanta, Ga., in 2004 before returning to Jackson to found Arthur Alley Associated with his business partner, Bill Arthur, in 2008.

That same year, he became a certified spin instructor with Mad Dogg Athletics, the company that owns Spinner-brand bikes and Spin Fitness. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Dustin Cardon

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait for the new year when you can join now for

Just $1 24/7 Nationwide Access Free Coaching Session Free Access To Anytime Workouts App Check out our Facebook page! www.facebook.com/anytimefitnessjacksonms 901 Lakeland Place, Suite #10, Flowood, MS flowood@anytimefitness.com â&#x20AC;˘ 601.992.3488 2155 Highway 18, Suite E, Brandon, MS brandonms@anytimefitness.com â&#x20AC;˘ 601-706-4605 4924 I-55 North, Suite #107, Jackson, MS jacksonms@anytimefitness.com â&#x20AC;˘ 601-321-9465 2799 Hwy 49 S, Suite E, Florence, MS 39073 florencems@anytimefitness.com â&#x20AC;˘ 601-398-4036

www.anytimefitness.com Voted One of the Best Places to Work Out Best of Jackson 2010-2012

Finalists: Corey Abdeen (Guruz Fitness, 6935 Old Canton Road, Ridgeland, 747-666-5326; The Country Club of Jackson, 345 St. Andrews Drive, 601-956-1411) / Lacee Chagnon (The Country Club of Jackson, 345 St. Andrews Drive, 601-956-1411; Guruz Fitness, 6935 Old Canton Road, Ridgeland, 747-666-5326) / Brennen Hovell (The Country Club of Jackson, 345 St. Andrews Drive, 601-956-1411)

Fitness Best Yoga Studio: Butterfly Yoga (closed) Finalists: Joyflow Yoga (Fitness Plus, 1424 Old Square Road, Ridgeland, 601-613-4317, joyflowyoga.com) / M Theory Yoga (118 W. Jackson St., Suite C, Ridgeland, 601-7907402, mtheoryyoga.com) / StudiOm Yoga (665 Duling Ave., 601-209-6325, studiomyogaofms.com) / Tara Yoga (200 Park Circle, Suite 4, Flowood, 601720-2337, tara-yoga.net)

Best Fitness Trainer: Paul Lacoste (Paul Lacoste Sports, 601-398-0950, paullacoste.com) Finalists: Brittany Horton (The Club at Township, 340 Township Ave., Ridgeland, 601-856-0668; The Club 24, 5352 Lakeland Drive, Flowood, 601-6589559) / Jarrett Becks (No Limit Combatives, 145 Albertsons Drive, Suite A, Flowood, 601-941-4173) Jon Marc Franklin (Snap Fitness, multiple locations) / Leslie Johnson (Hinds Community College Raymond Campus, hindscc. edu) / Misti Garner (Get Fit with Misti, 123 Old Fannin Road, Flowood, 601-5043601, getfitwithmisti.com)

Best Massage Therapist: Tiffany Melton (Warehouse Gym & Massage, 4435 Mangum Drive, Suite B, Flowood, 601-317-1788) Finalists: Adrienne Anthony (Holistic Massage, 2084 Dunbarton Drive, Suite C, 601-896-6022) / Jermaine Sims (Massage Envy, 149 Market St., Flowood, 601709-3689) / Martha Howell Hooey (Baptist HealthplexJackson, 717 Manship St., 601-968-1766; Baptist Healthplex-Clinton, 102 Clinton Pkwy., Clinton, 601-925-7900, mbhs.org) / Matthew Haynes (Blue Skyz Still Waters Massage Therapy, 4460 Highway 80 W., 601383-4747)

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September 27 - October 3, 2017 â&#x20AC;˘ jfp.ms

More Best of Jackson

19

SATURDAY 9/30

SUNDAY 10/1

TUESDAY 10/3

TEDxMillsapsCollege is at the Gertrude C. Ford Academic Complex.

Cupcake Wars 2017 is at Broad Street Bakery & Café.

“Uncork & Fork: Roger Roessler” is at Table 100 in Flowood.

BEST BETS Sept. 27 - Oct. 4, 2017 courtesy Ellen Langford / Facebook

WEDNESDAY 9/27

“The Glass Menagerie” is at 7:30 p.m. at the Belhaven University Center for the Arts (835 Riverside Drive) in Barber Auditorium. The Tennessee Williams drama is about narrator Tom’s memory of living with his sister and mother in St. Louis. Doors open 30 minutes before show.

Additional dates: Sept. 27-30, 7:30 p.m., Sept. 30, 2 p.m. $10, $5 for seniors and students; belhaven.edu.

THURSDAY 9/28

courtesy Anthony J Brown / Facebook

“Verses & Voices: A Creative’s Open Mic Night” is at 8 p.m. at the Kundi Compound (256 E. Fortification St.).

Funmi “Queen” Franklin and Valencia Robinson are the hosts. The open mic is for spoken-word artists, musicians and anyone with a thought or feeling that they would like to express. $5 in advance, $7 at the door; call 601-3458680; find it on Facebook.

Ellen Langford is one of the artists featured in this year’s Art Soup, which takes place Friday, Sept.

29, at Hal & Mal’s.

Minton, Dan Fortner, Kevin Harrington, Casey Creasey, Michelle Calvert, Rebecca Wilkinson and more. Proceeds go to the Hal White Scholarship. Free; halandmals.com.

SATURDAY 9/30

September 27 - October 3, 2017 • jfp.ms

FRIDAY 9/29

Art Soup 2017 is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Hal & Mal’s (200 Commerce St.). Includes live music, vendors and a silent auction featuring works from artists such as Teresa Haygood, Ellen Langford, 20 Laurin Stennis, Cleta Ellington, Emily Simmons, Tawny

MONDAY 10/2

WellsFest 2017 is from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Jamie Fowler Boyll Park (1398 Lakeland Drive). The festival features a 5K run, a one-mile fun run, a pet parade, a silent auction, food and drink vendors, arts and craft vendors, a children’s area, a plant sale, and two stages of music. Free admission; wellschurch.org. … jacksonfreepress.com “Momma’s Boy” is at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Thalia Mara Hall (255 Fax: 601-510-9019 E. Pascagoula St.). The Priest Daily updates at Tyaire gospel stage play stars jfpevents.com Robin Givens, Nephew Tommy, Jackee’, Anthony Brown, Shirley Murdock, and more. Doors open one hour before show. $24.50-$74.50; ardenland.net.

Food for Thought is from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Town of Livingston (115 Livingston Church Road, Flora). Features food and drinks from 32 restaurants, music from Rhythm Masters, and a silent auction in the Chapel at Livingston. Proceeds go to Madison Countians Allied Against Poverty. $50; call 601-407-1404; madcaap.org.

SUNDAY 10/1

WEDNESDAY 10/4

events@

Gospel artist Anthony Brown is part of the cast of stars for “Momma’s Boy,” which comes to Thalia Mara Hall on Saturday, Sept. 30.

benefit walk is Mardi Gras themed. Registration begins at 1 p.m. and features ribbon cutting with VIPs and Kandu Kids, a picnic lunch follows the walk at 2 p.m. $20 minimum donation; call 601-957-7878; msdiabetes.org.

The Southern Soul Classic Breast Cancer Awareness Concert is from noon to 10 p.m. at Grants Down Racetrack (2900 Forrest Ave. Ext.). Performers include Sunshine Anderson, Cupid, Adrian Bagher, Pokey Bear, Terry Wright, Coldrank, Veronica Ra’elle, Dave Mack, J Fitz and Jeter Jones. $20; eventbrite.com. … Mississippi’s Walk for Diabetes is from 1 to 4 p.m. at Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company (1401 Livingston Lane). The

Rainbow Kitten Surprise performs at 7:30 p.m. at Duling Hall (622 Duling Ave.). The Boone, N.C.-based alternative band performs. Elliot Root also performs. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. $12 in advance, $15 at the door; call 877-987-6487; ardenland.net.

TUESDAY 10/3

The Mississippi State Fair is from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds (1207 Mississippi St.).

The fair features livestock shows, pig races, a children’s barnyard, a petting zoo, food and drink vendors, rides, games, and music from the Brothers Osborne, Brian McKnight, the Temptations, the Oak Ridge Boys, the Plain White Ts and more. Additional dates: Oct. 5-15. $5 admission, $5 per car, free weekdays 11 a.m.-1 p.m.; msfair.net.

COMMUNITY

STAGE & SCREEN

Events at Millsaps College (1701 N. State St.) • French Architecture & Interiors: Influence on Mississippi Decorative Arts Sept. 28, 7-8 p.m. In Olin Hall, room 100. Todd Sanders of Mississippi College discusses the influence of French furniture and architecture in relation to Mississippi. $10, free for students; email annerinlong@afjackson.org; afjackson.org.

• TEDx Millsaps College Sept. 30, 10 a.m.5 p.m. In Gertrude C. Ford Academic Complex. Speakers include Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Sierra Mannie, Beau York, Ashlee Kelly, Anna Stroble, Jake McGraw, Alison Buehler, more. $80; call 974-1000; millsaps.edu.

“The Glass Menagerie” Sept. 27-30, 7:30 p.m., Sept. 30, 2 p.m., at Belhaven University Center for the Arts (835 Riverside Drive). In Barber Auditorium. The Tennessee Williams drama is about Tom’s memory of living with his sister and mother in St. Louis. $10, $5 for seniors and students, free for Belhaven students; belhaven.edu.

Hinds County Human Resource Agency Gala Sept. 29, 7 p.m., at Jackson Marriott Hotel (200 E. Amite St.). The keynote speaker is Denise Harlow, executive director of Community Action Partnership. Includes entertainment, food and drinks, and a silent auction. $75; call 601-9231838; email angeliquer@hchra.org; hchra.org.

FOOD & DRINK Lost Rabbit Farm to Table Dinner Oct. 1, 6-9 p.m., at Lost Rabbit (147 Republic St., Madison). The pop-up dinner features a five-course meal from County Seat chef Jeremy Enfinger with whiskey pairings. $90; eventbrite.com.

Cupcake Wars 2017 Oct. 1, 7-9 p.m., at Broad Street Bakery & Café (Banner Hall, 4465 Interstate 55 N., Suite 101). Features a cupcakebaking competition with a celebrity judge panel to raise money and awareness of mental illness. $40 tasting and dinner, $20 tasting, $15 for contestants; call 601-899-9058; namims.org.

Food for Thought Oct. 3, 6-9 p.m., at Town of Livingston (115 Livingston Church Road, Flora). Features food and drinks from 32 restaurants, music from Rhythm Masters, and a silent auction. Proceeds go to Madison Countians Allied Against Poverty. $50; madcaap.org.

Uncork & Fork: Roger Roessler Oct. 3, 6-9 p.m., at Table 100 (100 Ridge Way, Flowood). The five-course dinner features wine pairings from Roger Roessler Wines. Cocktail hour at 6 p.m. $129 per person; eathere.com.

SPORTS & WELLNESS Health & Wellness Expo Sept. 30, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., at St. John M.B. Church (4895 Medgar Evers Blvd.). The expo features school-supplies giveaways, vendors, games, door prizes, children’s activities, medical checks on glucose, blood pressure and body mass index, and more. Free admission; call 601-566-5474.

Mississippi’s Walk for Diabetes Oct. 1, 1-4 p.m., at Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company (1401 Livingston Lane). The benefit walk is Mardi Gras themed. Registration begins at 1 p.m. and features ribbon cutting with VIPs and Kandu Kids. Picnic lunch follows at 2 p.m. $20 minimum donation; email irenamcclain@ msdiabetes.org; msdiabetes.org.

SLATE

CONCERTS & FESTIVALS Events at Duling Hall (622 Duling Ave.) • Fondren Covered Sept. 28, 7 p.m. The concert features songs from Billy Joel, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Hall & Oates, and Fleetwood Mac. Proceeds benefit The Little Lighthouse. $20; fondrencovered.com.

the best in sports over the next seven days

by Bryan Flynn, follow at jfpsports.com, @jfpsports

The Saints’ defense played its best game of the season, giving New Orleans the win over the Carolina Panthers. Every NFC quarterback who played Sunday threw three interceptions, except Drew Brees, who had three touchdowns.

Thursday, Sept. 28

NFL (7:25-11 p.m., CBS): Two long-time NFC North rivals meet again, as the Green Bay Packers host the Chicago Bears after a short week of practice.

Friday, Sept. 29

College football (9:30 p.m.-1 a.m., ESPN): End the workweek with a top-25 battle out of the Pac-12, as No. 5 USC travels north to take on No. 16 Washington State.

Saturday, Sept. 30

College football (5-8:30 p.m., ESPN): Auburn faces MSU, who is looking to bounce back from a big loss against Georgia. … College football (8-11:30 p.m., ESPN): The UM Rebels try their hand at toppling the Alabama Crimson Tide, No. 1 in the nation.

Sunday, Oct. 1

NFL (8:30 a.m.-noon, FOX): Be prepared to wake up early to watch the New Orleans Saints battle the Miami Dolphins in England.

Monday, Oct. 2

NFL (7:30-11 p.m., ESPN): Former Mississippi State defensive end Chris Jones and the Kansas City Chiefs host the Washington Redskins and former MSU linebacker Preston Smith.

Tuesday, Oct. 3

MLB (ESPN): The MLB postseason begins with the American League Wild Card Game; teams and start time are still to be announced.

Wednesday, Oct. 4

MLB (TBS): The MLB postseason continues with the Arizona Diamondbacks hosting the National League Wild Card Game, though we don’t know which team they will face or the start time just yet.

The Saints won their only other trip to London, defeating the San Diego Chargers in 2008. Miami has made three trips to London over the years, in 2007, 2014 and 2015, and their only win came in the 2014 game.

Mississippi State Fair Oct. 4, 5-10 p.m., Oct. 5-6, 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Oct. 7, 9 a.m.-10 p.m., Oct. 8-13, 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Oct. 14, 9 a.m.-10 p.m., Oct. 15, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. at Mississippi State Fairgrounds (1207 Mississippi St.). The fair features livestock shows, pig races, a children’s barnyard, a petting zoo, food and drink vendors, rides, and music from the Brothers Osborne, Brian McKnight, the Temptations, the Oak Ridge Boys, Plain White T’s and more. $5, $5 per car, free weekdays 11 a.m.-1 p.m.; msfair.net.

LITERARY & SIGNINGS Events at Lemuria Books (Banner Hall, 4465 Interstate 55 N., Suite 202) • “Mojo Rising” Sept. 27, 5 p.m. James L. Dickerson signs copies. Reading at 5:30 p.m. $21.95 book; lemuriabooks.com.

• “The Explorer” Sept. 29, 5 p.m. Katherine Rundell signs copies and reads an excerpt. $16.99 book; lemuriabooks.com.

• “Savage Country” Oct. 4, 5 p.m. Robert Olmstead signs copies. Reading at 5:30 p.m. $26.95 book; lemuriabooks.com.

CREATIVE CLASSES Intensive Acting Workshop Sept. 30, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., at New Stage Theatre (1100 Carlisle St.).

Veteran actor Rus Blackwell leads the acting single-session acting course for adults. All experience levels welcome. For ages 18 and up. $100 single session; newstagetheatre.com.

EXHIBIT OPENINGS HeARTworks Art Show Sept. 28, 5-8 p.m., at The Cedars (4145 Old Canton Road). The 10th annual art exhibition showcases work from local artists from the Stewpot Community Services arts ministry. Includes wine and light snacks.

Free; call 601-353-2759; fondren.org.

Art Soup 2017 Sept. 29, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 5-9:30 p.m., at Hal & Mal’s (200 Commerce St.). Includes music, vendors and a silent auction featuring works from artists such as Teresa Haygood, Ellen Langford, Laurin Stennis, Cleta Ellington, Emily Simmons, Tawny Minton and more. Free admission; halandmals.com.

BE THE CHANGE J.R. Lynch St.). In Rose McCoy Auditorium.

The play is about a wealthy family who gather in Martha’s Vineyard and deals with issues of race and privilege. $10 admission, $5 for seniors and students with ID; call 601-979-5956; jsums.edu.

“Once Upon a Mattress” Sept. 28-30, 7 p.m., Oct. 1, 2 p.m., at Center Players Community Theatre (2103 Main St., Madison). The musical is a comedic take on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale. $10 in advance, $15 at the door, $12 for seniors, students and military; eventzilla.net.

“Becoming Jane” Screening Sept. 29, 5:30 p.m., at Eudora Welty House and Garden (1119 Pinehurst St.). The film is a biographical depiction of Jane Austen and stars Anne Hathaway as the prefamous titular character. Free; mdah.ms.gov.

“Momma’s Boy” Sept. 30, 3 p.m., 8 p.m., at Thalia Mara Hall (255 E. Pascagoula St.). The Priest Tyaire gospel stage play stars Robin Givens,

• The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band Sept. 29, 8 p.m. The country-blues band performs. Doors open at 7 p.m. $10 in advance, $15 at the door; ardenland.net.

• Chris Knight Sept. 30, 8 p.m. The Kentucky singer-songwriter performs. Grayson Capps also performs. Doors open at 7 p.m. $20 in advance, $25 at the door; ardenland.net.

• Rainbow Kitten Surprise Oct. 2, 7:30 p.m.

The Boone, N.C.-based alternative band performs. Elliot Root also performs. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. $12 in advance, $15 at the door; call 877-987-6487; ardenland.net.

WellsFest 2017 Sept. 30, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., at Jamie Fowler Boyll Park (1398 Lakeland Drive).

The festival features a 5K run, a one-mile fun run, a pet parade, silent auction, food and drink vendors, craft vendors, a children’s area, two stages of music, and more. Free; wellschurch.org.

Silent “Talk” Auction Sept. 28, 6-9 p.m., at Arts Center of Mississippi (201 E. Pascagoula St.).

My Brother’s Keeper and Start Talking Stop HIV present the silent-auction fundraiser. Includes food, a cash bar, and music from Tiger Rogers and Stephanie Luckett with Musiq Theory. Free; email mjoiner@mbk-inc.org.

Zoo Party: Safari-Chic Sept. 28, 7-10 p.m., at The South Warehouse (627 E. Silas Brown St.).

The Jackson Zoological Society fundraiser features cocktails, a bourbon tasting, music, animal encounters, hors d’oeuvres, and more. $75 in advance, $85 day of event; find it on Facebook.

Check jfpevents.com for updates and more listings, or to add your own events online. You can also email event details to events@jacksonfreepress.com to be added to the calendar. The deadline is noon the Wednesday prior to the week of publication.

September 27 - October 3, 2017 • jfp.ms

Jackson Newcomers & Natives Sept. 29, 5:30-8 p.m., at Lucky Town Brewing Company (1710 N. Mill St.). The event is a welcoming mixer for those new to Jackson to meet longtime residents.

Free admission; find it on Facebook.

“Stick Fly” Sept. 28-30, 7-9:30 p.m., Sept. 29, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Oct. 1, 3-5:30 p.m., Oct. 2, 7:30 p.m., at Jackson State University (1400

Nephew Tommy, Jackee’, Anthony Brown, Shirley Murdock, Gary “Lil G” Jenkins, and more. $24.50-$74.50; ardenland.net.

21

Music listings are due noon Monday to be included in print and online listings: music@jacksonfreepress.com.

Sept. 27 - Wednesday

Sept. 28 - Thursday Bonny Blair’s - Josh Journeay 7:30-11:30 p.m. free Capitol Grill - Jesse Robinson & Friends 7:30-10:30 p.m.

Char - Tommie Vaughn 6 p.m.

Duling Hall - Fondren Covered 7 p.m. $20 F. Jones Corner - Raul Valinti & the F. Jones Challenge Band 10 p.m. $5 Fenian’s - AXL JXN 9 p.m.

Georgia Blue, Flowood - Kevin Ace Robinson Georgia Blue, Madison - Jason Turner Hal & Mal’s - D’Lo Trio 6 p.m. free Iron Horse Grill - John Causey 6 p.m.

Kundi Compound - “Verses & Voices” Open Mic 8 p.m. $5 advance $7 door Martin’s - Cordovas 10 p.m. $10 Old Capitol Inn, Rooftop - Brian Smith 6 p.m.

Pelican Cove - Brian Jones 6 p.m.

Shucker’s - Sid Thompson & DoubleShotz 7:30 p.m. free Soulshine, Flowood - Casey Phillips 7 p.m.

Table 100 - Andrew Pates 6 p.m.

Underground 119 - Lady L & the River City Band 7-10:30 p.m.

September 27 - October 3, 2017 • jfp.ms

SEPT. 29 - Friday

22

Ameristar, Vicksburg - Doug Allen Nash 8 p.m.

Bonny Blair’s - Larry Brewer & Doug Hurd 7:30-11:30 p.m.

Char - Ronnie Brown 6 p.m.

Dockery Grill, Byram - Cast of Comics 9 p.m.

Duling Hall - Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band 8 p.m. $10 advance $15 door F. Jones Corner - Stevie J Blues midnight $10 Fenian’s - Galen Martin 9 p.m.

Georgia Blue, Flowood - Chad Wesley

Jamie Fowler Boyll Park - WellsFest feat. Aa’keela & the Beats, Chris Gill & the Sole Shakers, Empty Atlas, Jason Turner Band, Patrick Harkins Band & more 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. free Martin’s - Southern Komfort Brass Band 10 p.m.

Pelican Cove - Jonathan Alexander 2 p.m.; Barry Leach Trio 6 p.m.

Shucker’s - The Slingers 3:30 p.m. free; 55 South 8 p.m. $5; Jonathan Alexander 10 p.m. free Table 100 - Tommie Vaughn 6 p.m.

T’Beaux’s, Pocahontas - Stud Ford & Cam Kimbrough 7-10 p.m.

Underground 119 - King Edward 9 p.m.

WonderLust - Drag Performance & Dance Party feat. Taboo 8 p.m.

Sept. 30 - Saturday Ameristar, Vicksburg - Doug Allen Nash 8 p.m.

Bonny Blair’s - The American Band 7:30-11:30 p.m. free Char - Bill Clark 6 p.m.

Drago’s - Larry Brewer 6-9:30 p.m.

Duling Hall - Chris Knight w/ Grayson Capps 8 p.m. $20 advance $25 door F. Jones Corner - Big Money Mel & Small Change Wayne 10 p.m. $1; Stevie J Blues midnight $10 Fenian’s - Once We Were Saints 9 p.m.

Georgia Blue, Flowood - Phil & Trace Georgia Blue, Madison - Brandon Greer Hal & Mal’s - Seth Power & the Part Timers 7 p.m. free The Hideaway - Austin John Winkler, Smile Empty Soul, Madame Mayhem, IV Shots, Candybone & more 7 p.m. $20 Iron Horse Grill - Eric Denton 9 p.m.

A Star-Studded State Fair

by Micah Smith

Oct. 1 - Sunday 1908 Provisions - Knight Bruce 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Char - Big Easy Three 11 a.m.; Tommie Vaughn 6 p.m.

Fenian’s - Emerald Accent 4 p.m.

Grants Down Racetrack - Southern Soul Classic feat. Sunshine Anderson, Veronica Ra’elle, Jeter Jones, Cupid, Coldrank & more noon-10 p.m. $20 Pelican Cove - Jonathan Alexander noon; Stace & Cassie 5 p.m.

Table 100 - Raphael Semmes Trio 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; Dan Michael Colbert 6-9 p.m.

Oct. 2 - Monday Elliot Root

DIVERSIONS | music

James Minchin

Alumni House - Pearl Jamz 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Char - Tommie Vaughn 6 p.m.

CS’s - Idle Threat 9 p.m. $5 Drago’s - Johnny Barranco 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Fitzgerald’s - Johnny Crocker 7:30-11 p.m.

Hal & Mal’s - New Bourbon Street Jazz Band 8 p.m. free Kathryn’s - Larry Brewer & Doug Hurd 6:30-9:30 p.m. free Old Capitol Inn, Rooftop - Lee Herrington 6 p.m.

Pelican Cove - Acoustic Crossroads Duo 6 p.m.

Shucker’s - Silverado Band 7:30 p.m. free Table 100 - Andy Henderson 6 p.m.

Georgia Blue, Madison - Stevie Cain Hal & Mal’s - ZZQs 6 p.m. free The Hideaway - Mustache 9 p.m.

Iron Horse Grill - Norman Clark 9 p.m.

ISH Grill - High Frequency Band 10 p.m. $10 Martin’s - Ron Holloway Band 10 p.m. $10 MS Museum of Art - Sonja Stamps 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. free Old Capitol Inn, Rooftop - Jonathan Alexander 6 p.m.

Pelican Cove - Lovin Ledbetter 7 p.m.

Pop’s Saloon - Chad Perry Band 9 p.m.

Shucker’s - Roundup Band 5:30 p.m. free; 55 South 8 p.m. $5; Jason Turner 10 p.m. free Soulshine, Ridgeland - Andy Tanas 7 p.m.

Spacecamp - Dream Cult & Lo Noom 8 p.m. $5 advance $7 door Table 100 - Tommie Vaughn 6 p.m.

T’Beaux’s, Pocahontas - Terry “Harmonica” Bean 7-10 p.m.

Underground 119 - Fred T & the Band 8:30 p.m.

WonderLust - DJ Taboo 8 p.m.

Matthew Simmons

MUSIC | live

Char - Tommie Vaughn 6 p.m.

Duling Hall - Rainbow Kitten Surprise w/ Elliot Root 7:30 p.m. $12 advance $15 door Hal & Mal’s - Central MS Blues Society 7 p.m. $5 Table 100 - Andrew Pates 6 p.m.

Oct. 3 - Tuesday AND Gallery - Musicianer w/ Alvin Fielder & Stephen Roach 7 p.m. $5 Bonny Blair’s - Don Grant 7:30-11:30 p.m. free Char - Tommie Vaughn 6 p.m.

Drago’s - Johnny Barranco 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Fenian’s - Open Mic Last Call - DJ Spoon 9 p.m.

Table 100 - Chalmers Davis 6 p.m.

Oct. 4 - Wednesday Char - Tommie Vaughn 6 p.m.

Drago’s - Johnny Barranco 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Duling Hall - J Roddy Walston & the Business w/ Sleepwalkers 7:30 p.m. $15 advance $20 door Pelican Cove - Jonathan Alexander 6 p.m.

Table 100 - Andy Henderson 6 p.m.

The Plain White T’s perform on Wednesday, Oct. 11, as part of the 2017 Mississippi State Fair, which takes place Oct. 4-15.

T

he Mississippi State Fair is never short on activities to keep visitors occupied, between the carnival games, livestock shows, rides and food—oh, so much food.

One of the biggest attractions, however, is its star-studded musical lineup. Here’s a rundown to get you ready for this year’s headlining acts.

Brothers Osborne Wednesday, Oct. 4, 7:30 p.m.

There’s no such thing as an overnight sensation, but country band Brothers Osborne comes pretty close. Siblings T.J. and John Osborne released their first single, “Let’s Go There,” in 2013, and it reached No. 36 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. The duo’s debut full-length, 2016’s “Pawn Shop,” peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard 200 and No. 3 on the Country Albums chart. The band’s stop in Jackson falls in a string of state fair and festival performances preceding a major tour of the United Kingdom.

William Michael Morgan Thursday, Oct. 5, 7:30 p.m.

The state fair’s second headliner hails from somewhere closer to home. Vicksburg native William Michael Morgan is a relatively new face to the country-music spotlight, but he’s done a lot with a little time. His debut single, “I Met a Girl,” came out in 2015 and reached No. 2 on the Country Airplay chart and led the way for his 2016 album “Vinyl,” which peaked at No. 5 on the Country Albums chart.

Skillet Sunday, Oct. 8, 7 p.m., at the Mississippi Coliseum

Skillet has been a presence in the Christianrock realm since forming in 1996. Today, the band has two platinum records, 2006’s “Comatose” and 2009’s “Awake,” and two Grammy nominations.

Skillet received three nominations at this year’s Billboard Music Awards following its hit 2016 album, “Unleashed.” This concert is part of the Air1 Positive Hits Tour, with ticket prices ranging from $20 to $50, but the event also includes performances from artists such as Britt Nicole and Colton Dixon.

The Temptations 9/28 - Drive-By Truckers - The Lyric, Oxford 9/30 - America - IP Casino, Resort & Spa, Biloxi 10/4 - Mutemath w/ Colony House - Iron City, Birmingham

Monday, Oct. 9, 7:30 p.m.

Like many legendary music groups, The Temptations have taken numerous forms over the years, but founding member Otis Williams still leads the lineup

at 75 years old. The group has won seven Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award, and its lengthy list of hits includes “My Girl,” “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” and “Just My Imagination.”

The Oak Ridge Boys Tuesday, Oct. 10, 7:30 p.m.

While the Oak Ridge Boys have existed in one form or another since the 1940s, the current members of the vocal quartet joined forces in the 1970s.

Over the past five decades, they’ve had 34 top-10 country tunes, including “Elvira,” “Bobbie Sue” and “American Made.” Their most recent release, 2015’s “Rock of Ages: Hymns & Gospel Favorites,” peaked at No. 26 on the Country Albums chart.

Plain White T’s Wednesday, Oct. 11, 7:30 p.m.

It’s rare that a song becomes so ubiquitous that it spawns a meme, but “Hey There Delilah” did just that for Plain White T’s. However, the Illinois pop-rock group’s repertoire runs much deeper than that. Since forming in the late 1990s, the group has released seven albums, the most recent being 2015’s “American Nights.” Plain White T’s put out a new single, “Land of the Living,” in April of this year.

Brian McKnight Thursday, Oct. 12, 7:30 p.m.

After 16 Grammy Award nominations and no wins, Brian McKnight is a bit like the Leonardo DiCaprio of R&B. However, the New York-native singer, songwriter and producer has plenty of major hits to his name, including “Back at One,” which peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for 37 weeks. McKnight released his 14th studio album, “Genesis,” on Aug. 25.

The Mississippi State Fair is Oct. 4-15 at the State Fairgrounds (1207 Mississippi St.). Admission is $5, and parking is $5 per car. Admission is free on Oct. 9 and on weekdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Visit msfair.net.

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MISSISSIPPI MUSEUM of ART Sunlight and Shadows: The Paintings of Kate Freeman Clark

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Kate Freeman Clark (American, 1875 - 1975) Blue Corner Portrait (The Elevated Train), ca. 1906. oil on canvas. 16 x 20 in. Collection of the Kate Freeman Clark Gallery, Holly Springs, MS. 83.44

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Last Week’s Answers 50 Start to matter?

53 Tuna type 55 “I’m gonna do it no matter what!”

60 They might appear when rightclicking 63 Shearing stuff 64 “Moby Dick” captain 65 Bear with patience 66 Good poker draws 67 Star of “Seagulls! (Stop It Now): A Bad Lip Reading” 68 Word on an empty book page 69 Zilch

BY MATT JONES

35 Leave off 36 “Rapa ___” (1994 film) 37 Adoption advocacy org.

40 Spread that symbolizes slowness 41 America’s Cup entrant 45 47-stringed instrument 46 Average guy 51 Billy Blanks workout system 52 “Am I right?” sentence ender, to Brits 54 Elijah Wood or Grant Wood, by birth 55 Brass band boomer

56 “Brah, for real?”

57 A little, in Italy 58 Ohio-based faucet maker 59 “What ___ is new?”

60 You might do it dearly 61 “So the truth comes out!”

62 Apartment, in ’60s slang ©2017 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@ jonesincrosswords.com) For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800 655-6548. Reference puzzle #843.

Down

“5 PM” —you’ll find it in the long answers.

Across

1 “Get outta here!”

5 Windshield attachment 10 Be boastful 14 “No can do” 15 Beginning of Caesar’s boast 16 Gutter holder 17 VicuÒa’s land, maybe 18 Recycled iron, e.g.

20 B-movie bad guy who emerges from the deep 22 Sound heard during shearing 23 Those, in Tabasco 24 Food drive donation

27 G.I. entertainers 30 Olive ___ (Popeye’s love) 32 “The elements,” so to speak 34 Pastries named after an emperor 38 “Eric the Half-___” (Monty Python song) 39 Decisive statement 42 “Beloved” novelist Morrison 43 Happening in L.A. and N.Y. simultaneously, maybe 44 “Queen of Soul” Franklin 47 Liq. ingredient 48 157.5 deg. from N. 49 Late Pink Floyd member Barrett

1 Eats dinner 2 Gnaw on 3 Ineffable glow 4 Large digit?

5 Daunted 6 ___ Domani (wine brand) 7 ___ asada 8 Build up 9 Subatomic particle with no strong force 10 It’s served in the video game “Tapper” 11 Maze runner 12 Director DuVernay of the upcoming “A Wrinkle In Time” 13 Shaving cream choice 19 City east of Phoenix 21 City SSW of Kansas City (that has nothing to do with bribing DJs) 24 Biblical ark measures 25 Giant concert venues 26 Tattooist’s tool 27 Baltimore Colts great Johnny 28 Very tasty 29 Played before the main act 31 “Stay” singer Lisa 33 Bagpipers’ caps

BY MATT JONES Last Week’s Answers

“Sum Sudoku”

Put one digit from 1-9 in each square of this Sudoku so that the following three conditions are met: 1) each row, column and 3x3 box (as marked off by heavy lines in the grid) contains the digits 1-9 exactly one time; 2) no digit is repeated within any of the areas marked off by dotted lines; and 3) the sums of the numbers in each area marked off by dotted lines total the little number given in each of those areas. Now do what I tell you— solve!! psychosudoku@gmail.com

MEDITERRANEAN GRILL

HOT DOG EATING CONTEST

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September 27 - October 3, 2017 • jfp.ms

Winner splits the pot with Ashley Lewis Additional Prizes for 2nd and 3rd Place

24

CORN HOLE TOURNAMENT OCTOBER 7 @ 2PM $30 ENTRY FEE

Winner splits the pot with Ashley Lewis Additional Prizes for 2nd and 3rd Place

LIVE MUSIC & A SILENT AUCTION THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS JOSH JONES 601.228.2928 AMY OLIVER 601.941.3033

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):

Be realistic, Libra: Demand the impossible; expect inspiration; visualize yourself being able to express yourself more completely and vividly than you ever have before. Believe me when I tell you that you now have extra power to develop your sleeping potentials, and are capable of accomplishing feats that might seem like miracles. You are braver than you know, as sexy as you need to be and wiser than you were two months ago. I am not exaggerating, nor am I flattering you. It’s time for you to start making your move to the next level.

In accordance with the astrological omens, I invite you to take extra good care of yourself during the next three weeks. Do whatever it takes to feel safe and protected and resilient. Ask for the support you need, and if the people whose help you solicit can’t or won’t give it to you, seek elsewhere. Provide your body with more than the usual amount of healthy food, deep sleep, tender touch and enlivening movement. Go see a psychotherapist or counselor or good listener every single day if you want. And don’t you dare apologize or feel guilty for being such a connoisseur of self-respect and self-healing.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

A queen bee may keep mating until she gathers 70 million sperm from many different drones. When composing my horoscopes, I aim to cultivate a metaphorically comparable receptivity. Long ago I realized that all of creation is speaking to me all the time; I recognized that everyone I encounter is potentially a muse or teacher. If I hope to rustle up the oracles that are precisely suitable for your needs, I have to be alert to the possibility that they may arrive from unexpected directions and surprising sources. Can you handle being that open to influence, Sagittarius? Now is a favorable time to expand your capacity to be fertilized.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

You’re approaching a rendezvous with prime time. Any minute now you could receive an invitation to live up to your hype or fulfill your promises to yourself—or both. This test is likely to involve an edgy challenge that is both fun and daunting, both liberating and exacting. It will have the potential to either steal a bit of your soul or else heal an ache in your soul. To ensure the healing occurs rather than the stealing, do your best to understand why the difficulty and the pleasure are both essential.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):

In 1901, physician Duncan MacDougall carried out experiments that led him to conclude that the average human soul weighs 21 grams. Does his claim have any merit?

That question is beyond my level of expertise. But if he was right, then I’m pretty sure your soul has bulked up to at least 42 grams in the past few weeks. The work you’ve been doing to refine and cultivate your inner state has been heroic. It’s like you’ve been ingesting a healthy version of soul-building steroids. Congrats!

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):

There are enough authorities, experts and know-it-alls out there trying to tell you what to think and do. In accordance with current astrological factors, I urge you to utterly ignore them during the next two weeks. And do it gleefully, not angrily. Exult in the power that this declaration of independence gives you to trust your own assessments and heed your own intuitions. Furthermore, regard your rebellion as good practice for dealing with the little voices in your head that speak for those authorities, experts and know-it-alls.

Rise up and reject their shaming and criticism, too. Shield yourself from their fearful fantasies.

ARIES (March 21-April 19):

Conceptual artist Jonathon Keats likes to play along with the music of nature. On one occasion he collaborated with Mandeville Creek in Montana. He listened and studied the melodies that emanated from its flowing current. Then he moved around some of the underwater rocks, subtly changing the creek’s song. Your assignment, Aries, is to experiment with equally imaginative and exotic collaborations. The coming weeks will be a time when you can make beautiful music together with anyone or anything that tickles your imagination.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):

Some newspapers publish regular rectifications of the mistakes they’ve made in past editions. For example, the editors of the UK publication The Guardian once apologized to readers for a mistaken statement about Richard Wagner. They said that when the 19th-century German composer had trysts with his chambermaid, he did not in fact ask her to wear purple underpants, as previously reported. They were pink underpants. I tell you this, Taurus, as encouragement to engage in corrective meditations yourself. Before bedtime on the next ten nights, scan the day’s events and identify any actions you might have done differently—perhaps with more integrity or focus or creativity. This will have a deeply tonic effect. You are in a phase of your astrological cycle when you’ll flourish as you make amendments and revisions.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):

It’s high time to allow your yearnings to overflow ... to surrender to the vitalizing pleasures of nonrational joy ... to grant love the permission to bless you and confound you with its unruly truths. For inspiration, read this excerpt of a poem by Caitlyn Siehl. “My love is honey tongue. Thirsty love. My love is peach juice dripping down the neck. Too much sugar love. Sticky sweet, sticky sweat love. My love can’t ride a bike. My love walks everywhere.

Wanders through the river. Feeds the fish, skips the stones. Barefoot love. My love stretches itself out on the grass, kisses a nectarine. My love is never waiting. My love is a traveler.”

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AT&T U-verse Meet singles right now! No paid NEW AT&T INTERNET OFFER. $20 and operators, just real people like you. $30/mo plans available when you bundle. Browse greetings, exchange messages 99% Reliable 100% Affordable. HURRY, and connect live. Try it free. Call now: OFFER ENDS SOON. New Customers Only. 800-513-9842 CALL NOW 1-800-670-8371 DISH TV DISH TV - BEST DEAL EVER! Only 1996 Ford Bronco XLT $39.99/mo. Plus $14.99/mo Internet 5.8L V8 Engine, Automatic (where avail.) FREE Streaming. FREE transmission, 49K MILES, Clear title $ Install (up to 6 rooms.) FREE HD-DVR. Call 1-800-398-0901 1,600 Call 601-885-3415 Christian Faith Publishing Become a published author!

Publications sold at all major secular Chiropractor Seeking Office Space & specialty Christian bookstores. CALL Chiropractor would like to rent space in Christian Faith Publishing for your FREE medical office. If interested please call author submission kit. 1-844-236-0439 Evan at 631-643-6999

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Post an ad, call 601-362-6121, ext. 11 or fax to 601-510-9019.

Deadline: Mondays at Noon.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):

One of the oldest houses in Northern Europe is called the Knap of Howar. Built out of stone around 3,600 B.C., it faces the wild sea on Papa Westray, an island off the northern coast of Scotland. Although no one has lived there for 5,000 years, some of its stone furniture remains intact. Places like this will have a symbolic power for you in the coming weeks, Cancerian. They’ll tease your imagination and provoke worthwhile fantasies. Why? Because the past will be calling to you more than usual. The old days and old ways will have secrets to reveal and stories to teach. Listen with alert discernment.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

The United States has a bizarre system for electing its president. There’s nothing like it in any other democratic nation on earth. Every four years, the winning candidate needs only to win the electoral college, not the popular vote. So theoretically, it’s possible to garner just 23 percent of all votes actually cast, and yet still ascend to the most powerful political position in the world. For example, in two of the last five elections, the new chief of state has received significantly fewer votes than his main competitor. I suspect that you may soon benefit from a comparable anomaly, Leo. You’ll be able to claim victory on a technicality. Your effort may be “ugly,” yet good enough to succeed.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

I found this advertisement for a workshop: “You will learn to do the INCREDIBLE! Smash bricks with your bare hands! Walk on fiery coals unscathed! Leap safely off a roof! No broken bones! No cuts! No pain! Accomplish the impossible first! Then everything else will be a breeze!” I bring this to your attention, Virgo, not because I think you should sign up for this class or anything like it. I hope you don’t. In fact, a very different approach is preferable for you: I recommend that you start with safe, manageable tasks. Master the simple details and practical actions.

Work on achieving easy, low-risk victories. In this way, you’ll prepare yourself for more epic efforts in the future.

Homework: Would I enjoy following you on Twitter or Tumblr? Send me links to your tweets or posts. Truthrooster@gmail.com

September 27 - October 3, 2017 • jfp.ms

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):

SERVICES

25

PAID ADVERTISING SECTION. CALL 601-362-6121 X11 TO LIST YOUR BUSINESS

------------- H E A LT H C A R E / W E L L N E S S ---------------The Headache Center

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---------------------- AUTOMOTIVE ----------------------J & J Wholesale Service & Repair 3246 Hwy 80 W., Jackson, (601) 360-2444 Certified Technician, David Rucker, has 40+ years of experience.

Mr. Rucker specializes in a/c, front end, part replacement, brakes, select services and repairs. Appointments only.

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------------------- FOOD/DRINK/GIFTS ------------------Beckham Jewelry

4800 N Hwy 55 #35, Jackson, (601)665-4642 With over 20 years experience Beckham Jewelry, manufactures, repairs and services all types of jewelry. Many repairs can be done the same day! They also offer full-service watch and clock repair.

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September 27 - October 3, 2017 â&#x20AC;˘ jfp.ms

2906 North State St. Suite 207, Jackson, (601) 292-7121

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Jacksonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s premiere music promoter with concerts around the Metro including at Duling Hall in Fondren. www.ardenland.net

Mississippi Museum of Art 380 South Lamar St. Jackson, (601) 960-1515

WEDNESDAY Fried Pork Chop

buttermilk fried, bone-in chop, Guinness onion gravy, champ, sauteed garlic greens

% &ORTIl CATION 3T s www.fenianspub.com -ON &RI AM AM s 3AT PM AM s 3UN PM AM

MMA strives to be a fountainhead attracting people from all walks to discuss the issues and glories of the past and present, while continuing to inspire progress in the future.

Mississippi Museum of Natural Science 2148 Riverside Dr, Jackson, (601) 576-6000 Stop by the museum and enjoy their 300-acre natural landscape, an open-air amphitheater, along with 2.5 miles of nature trails. Inside, meet over 200 living species in the 100,000 gallon aquarium network.

Live Music Every Thurs, Fri & Sat Night!

THURSDAY

WEDNESDAY 9/27

Thurs Sept 28 Lady L & The River City Band

Fri Sept 29 - Fred T & The Band

Sat Sept 30 - King Edward www.underground119.com 119 S. President St. Jackson

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We’re still #1!

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INDUSTRY HAPPY HOUR Daily 11pm -2am

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NEW BOURBON STREET JAZZ BAND Dining Room - Free _________________________

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WILL AND GRACE PREMIER WATCH PARTY Brew Pub - 7pm - Free

HRC MISSISSIPPI EQUALITY DRAG BINGO NIGHT

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RON HOLLOWAY BAND 10 P.M.

SATURDAY

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SOUTHERN COMFORT BRASS BAND

MONDAY

Dining Room - Free _________________________

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FRIDAY 9/29

ZZQ’S ART SOUP Dining Room - Free

Featuring Local Artists & Vendors Silent Auction proceeds to benefit The Hal White Scholarship Live Music at Both Showings Showings from 11am-3pm & 5-9:30pm Free To the Public _________________________

SATURDAY 9/30

SETH POWERS THE PART TIMER

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MONDAY 10/2

CENTRAL MS BLUES SOCIETY PRESENTS:

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TUESDAY 10/3

NO JAZZ

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601.948.0888 200 S. Commerce St. Downtown Jackson, MS

REV. PEYTON’S BIG DAMN BAND okay, they’re only a three piece, but they make some big damn noise

Saturday, September 30

10 P.M.

Doors 6:30pm - Game Starts 7pm Suggested Donation $10

D’LO TRIO

Friday, September 29

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TUESDAY

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SHRIMP BOIL

KARAOKE

UPCOMING SHOWS 10/6 - Motel Radio w/Shake It Like A Caveman 10/7 - Space Jesus “Morphed Tour” 10/11 - Keychain w/ Special Guest 10/13 - The Interstellar Boys 10/14 - Roots of a Rebellion 10/15 - the Magic Beans 10/27 - Andrew Duhon Trio 10/28 - Halloween Bash w/ Backup Planet 11/1 - Fossil Youth w/ Special Guest 11/3 - The Nth Power w/ Ghost Note 11/10 - Shooter Jennings 11/17 - the Stolen Faces WWW.MARTINSLOUNGE.NET

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CHRIS KNIGHT

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Monday, October 2 RAINBOW KITTEN SURPRISE no rainbows. no kittens. yes good music.

Wednesday, October 4 J RODDY WALSTON & THE BUSINESS make it your business to come rock out at this show!

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September 27 - October 3, 2017 • jfp.ms

COMING UP

_________________________

9/28

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