v8n24 - Police Woman

Voting for Personhood?

McLaughlin, p 9

Furrows: A Verb Dickson, p 27

Live to be 100 Eady, p 30

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2

jacksonian

Linda Mann always thought she would leave Mississippi after she graduated from college and never return. She moved to Jackson from Birmingham when she was 3 and by the time she graduated from Provine High School in 1964, she was ready to leave the city. “(It) was a pretty tumultuous time, and I just wanted to get out of here. I thought things would be better somewhere else,” Mann says.

She moved to Hattiesburg and the University of Southern Mississippi, graduating with a degree in music in 1968. After graduation, Mann and her then-husband moved around the United States so he could complete his education.

Fourteen years after she left, Mann moved back to Jackson and hasn’t left. It took leaving for her to realize that Mississippi was the place she wanted to call home.

“When I got a chance to (leave), I discovered that other places have problems, too.

Other places have their own issues and their own problems,” Mann says. “Jackson seemed a lot better to me then, so I was delighted to come back again.”

Once Mann returned to Jackson, she started working in the tourism industry and caught the “tourism bug.”

“It’s a natural progression to me to go from a background in the arts, through sales, into tourism because we sell the destination,” Mann explains. “We sell Jackson. That’s our

COURTESY LINDA MANN

linda mann mission: to sell it to visitors. And some of our best products come from our culture.”

Today Mann, 63, works as vice president of marketing for the Jackson Convention & Visitors Bureau, a job that seems like it was made for her. Mann lights up when she speaks about Jackson and radiates a sense of pride about her hometown.

“It’s a really exciting time to be in Jackson because of the possibility,” Mann says enthusiastically. “There’s a lot of development going on; we’ve really just gotten started.”

She started working for the JCVB in 2002 as special projects manager and became vice president of marketing in 2005. Mann manages content on the JCVB Web site and oversees the organization’s publications.

Around the office, other employees know Mann as the marketing “guru.” For her work, the Public Relations Association of Mississippi’s Central Chapter named Mann the 2010 Advanced Practitioner of the Year.

Music still plays big part of her life: Mann sings in her church choir and is a freelance choreographer for musical theater. She met her long-time boyfriend, Jack McDaniel, when they were both cast in “A Musical Revue” at New Stage Theatre in the mid-1970s.

She also volunteers with the Institute of Interfaith Dialogue, an organization that encourages interreligious discussion and cooperation.

—Jesse Crow

Cover photograph by Kenya Hudson Febr uar y 25 - Mar c h 3, 2 0 1 0

VOL.

8 NO. 24 PUBLIC DOMAIN; WARD SCHAEFER; COURTESY NUNOERIN; COURTESY FURROWS

6

8

26

27

Debating Dogs

Teacher to Advocate

Art Goes High Tech

New, Yet Familiar

City Council is asking for legal advice over a potential pit-bull ban in the city.

Lobbyist and former history teacher Yvonne Horton redefines what it means to be a lobbyist.

The Jackson Convention Center will soon see a 300-foot long light and metal sculpture of dancing vapor.

Furrows combines the best musicians from old faves on the music scene to bring a new twist to rock ‘n’ roll.

12 Stiggers

12 Your Turn

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: 4 Editor’s Note 24 JFP Events

4 Slow Poke 26 Arts

6 Talk 27 Music

12 Zuga

28 Music Listings

12 Editorial

30 Body/Soul

32 Food

37 Astro

22 8 Days 39 Slate

jacksonfreepress.com

contents

3

Adam Lynch Award-winning senior reporter Adam Lynch is a graduate of Jackson State. He and his wife live in North Jackson. E-mail tips to adam@jacksonfreepress.com, or call him at 601-362-6121, ext.

8. He interviewed the police chief for this issue.

Kenya Hudson After studying political science at JSU and public policy at Pepperdine, Kenya A. Hudson is pondering a doctorate degree in political science. Until then, she is a freelance photographer and Web designer. She photographed Chief Coleman for the cover story.

William Patrick Butler William Patrick Butler was born and raised in Jackson. He studied photography at the Memphis College of Art and is a graduate of Holmes Community College. He photographed Chief Coleman for the cover story.

Eileen Eady Gypsy and editorial intern Eileen Eady is looking to find her place in the Deep South. She lives in Wesson with her two boys and husband. She wrote the Body/ Soul feature.

Beth Dickson Beth Dickson is a freelance writer from Florence who enjoys reading about Mississippi politics and traveling cross-country to see her favorite musicians perform. Her newest hobby is running. She gets her energy from Cups iced coffee.

Dickson wrote a music piece.

Valerie Wells Valerie Wells is a freelance writer who lives in Hattiesburg. She writes for regional publications.

Follow her on Twitter at sehoy13.

She wrote about NunoErin in this issue.

Deirdra Harris Glover Deirdra Harris Glover spends her days juggling hats: Web designer, yoga teacher, wirework jewelry artist, culinary mad scientist. She lives in Jackson with her husband, animals and a stand mixer named Lucille. She wrote the food piece.

February 25 - March 3, 2010

Korey Harrion

4

Web producer Korey Harrion is a saxophonist who runs a small computer repair business. He enjoys reading, writing and playing music, origami and playing video games. He loves animals, especially dogs. He posts the Web stories for each issue.

editor’snote

by Donna Ladd, Editor-in-Chief

The Power of Now

W

hen I moved back to Mississippi in 2001, I was naïve. I thought I was coming home to write about the past that shamed me as a white Mississippian. I wanted to share the murders of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner in my hometown when I was 3—a historic tragedy I had to learn about from a TV movie when I was a teenager. I wanted to celebrate heroes of the past and out the demons. I wanted to send Klansmen to jail. I wanted to be a white Mississippian who wasn’t afraid to face the past.

I didn’t then understand the riddle that is Mississippi: I was caught in a place where I really believed that looking backward would catapult us forward. Let’s exorcize the demons, and we’ll be free, free, free at last.

What I discovered is the need to live, write and work in the now. Don’t get me wrong: I still want to put old Klansmen in jail, and there is little in my life I’m more proud of than the role my paper and I played in landing James Ford Seale behind bars.

But what I found as the JFP grew into its niche is that the answer to our riddle isn’t back in the past, circa 1964 or otherwise. It is not in the pursuit of old Kluckers, nor in constantly retelling the same sanitized Black History Month stories we hear every February.

My struggle between the past and present began the day we published the first issue in 2002: Do I use all my time and energy to chase down cold civil-rights cases, sniff out old murderers, put them in jail? Or do I take on the multitude of now-ignored problems that are right in front of my face?

At the JFP, I found myself surrounded by very hungry young Mississippians. They are the beneficiaries of our past, of every act of violence ever committed here, of every myth spread by white supremacists to keep their money and power—yet they struggle every day with serious problems few try to fix.

Every time I thought about digging into a cold Klan case, I heard another radio personality or politician rant about the young “thugs,” even going as far as talking about hanging them on gallows in front of the Capitol building.

I took a page from the playbook of civil-rights legend Bob Moses and deliberately surrounded myself and the JFP with young people. I followed the advice of my friend and journalistic idol, Hodding Carter III, who told me to not rely on past voices; to find new ones, then nurture and publish them.

From the beginning, we’ve brought in young people—to train, to intern, to be older people’s bosses, to blog, to write, to teach us.

We want them to tell their stories and share their challenges—and to know they’re heard.

They’ve taught me so much. I knew before I started the JFP that young people, especially of color, are screwed over in our society. In my graduate journalism studies, I had focused in part on how our country demonizes our youth. But it’s one thing to study; it’s another to listen to young people talk about how the media seldom report the positive

about them, about how television flashes the front of Lanier High School if a crime happens anywhere nearby, about how reporters treat the deaths of young whites as tragedy and the deaths of kids of color as inevitable.

It focused me on the present when we learned our first year that 12-year-old girls who acted up in the state’s training schools were being put in dark rooms naked and had to poop in a hole in the floor. The training schools were disparately filled with children of color and poor whites; wealthier parents had ways to buy their “good” kids out of trouble.

Then, of course, along came Mayor Frank Melton and his backward methods of “helping” young people—practices that had been in plain view for years. I’ll simply never forget footage of him holding a teen boy down on a car hood right after being inaugurated because he, with TV cameras in tow, had found the kid out after curfew. And I’ll never get over upstanding white citizens telling me they believed the worst rumors about him were true, and voted for him as mayor anyway.

Suddenly, it was damn easy to focus on the young people in front of my face.

As the paper came into its own, the riddle’s answer started to reveal itself. It was the young people who came to the JFP from white academies and racist families who perhaps taught me the most. These kids were determined to fill in the gaps about our history and to know, and help, people from other communities. They were, and are, eager to help excavate the past and then use what they find to change the present.

At the JFP, I’ve watched young people from Jackson Academy work and learn alongside kids from Lanier, Prep kids with Jim Hill, Belhaven and Mississippi College with Touga-

loo and Jackson State. We show them how to look back at our state’s real history; they are mesmerized and angered by the Sovereignty Commission files that prove it was more than old Kluckers who made Mississippians hate each other. It was often their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who boycotted newspapers like mine for telling the truth, made their maids use separate bathrooms and paid for attorneys to get Klansmen out of jail.

Now, nearly eight years in, we don’t sweat the riddle. Our young people want to know, and tell, and write the stories of their own realities, as well as those that created their Mississippi, for better and worse. We are now the proud home of the Youth Media Project (read more on page 13) that brings high school and college students from public and private schools together to talk, blog, write and film.

Recently, I stood outside my classroom, where YMP meets, and listened to a multiracial group from the richest and the poorest schools in the area interview each other. Some talked about being in the Detention Center; others talked about how they leave their backpacks lying around on campus at St. Andrews.

They talk about their frustrations with the media and with a community that complains about them but gives them so little help.

I invite you all to help and meet YMP students March 6 at Hal & Mal’s. Jackson 2000 selected YMP as one of its recipients for proceeds from the 2010 Friendship Ball honoring Dr. Aaron Shirley and Rev. Duncan Gray. Buy tickets ($20; $10 students) from a YMP student or from the JFP, and every dime goes to help finance their project. Call 601-362-6121 ext. 16 or drop by the JFP for a ticket. Meantime, find the answer to the Mississippi riddle at youthmediaproject.com.

5

jacksonfreepress.com

news, culture & irreverence

Thursday February 18 The state Senate passes a bill to restore $79 million of midyear budget cuts. … The Obama administration reaches a $1.25 billion deal with black farmers in an effort to end years of racial discrimination by the U.S. Agriculture Department.

Friday February 19 Hinds County Circuit Judge Winston Kidd upholds a $14 million fee to attorneys for the $110 million MCI/ WorldCom settlement.

Saturday February 20 Police arrest Madison resident Clinton Mayes after a-hit-and-run accident in which he allegedly killed a cyclist with his vehicle. … Possible GOP contenders promote their credentials and speak out against Democrats at the Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. Sunday February 21 Gov. Haley Barbour appears on “Fox News Sunday” to debate the effectiveness of the federal stimulus package and promote the GOP platform.

February 25 - March 3, 2010

Monday February 22 A Hinds County jury finds Stanley Cole guilty of the 2007 murder of his ex-girlfriend, Jackson State University student Latasha Norman. … President Barack Obama unveils a $1 trillion, 10-year health-care plan that would allow the government to deny insurance premiums spikes and provide health care to 31 million uninsured Americans.

6

Tuesday February 23 The Mississippi NAACP and housing advocates file an appeal to reinstate a lawsuit filed over the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to divert $570 million in hurricane housing funds to the Gulfport port expansion project. …

Toyota executive James E. Lentz III tells the House Energy and Commerce Committee that the company’s massive U.S. vehicle recall may not fully solve the safety problem of uncontrollable acceleration.

City Targets Pit Bulls

T

he Jackson City Council Rules Committee, spurred by the recent death of 5-year-old Terry resident Anastasia Bingham from a pit-bull attack, voted Monday to ask the city’s legal department to write an ordinance banning pit bulls dog inside the city limits, and to consider a second ordinance giving police officers more discretion in handling complaints against dogs.

Ward 1 Councilman Jeff Weill, Ward 2 Councilman Chokwe Lumumba and Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon asked the city’s Deputy Attorney James Anderson to look into a law similar to breed-banning laws Ridgeland city leaders enacted.

Police Deputy Chief Gerald Jones, who previously presided over the city’s animalcontrol division, said police now have limited power to deal with most animal complaints.

“Most of the calls the city has received concerning animals deals with barking dogs, not biting dogs, and that is a difficult issue to enforce because if the animal is in the owner’s private property, then that’s a privacy issue,” Jones told members of the committee. He added that most reported incidents of biting dogs involve animals that have never left their owner’s property to inflict the bites, which also presents a property-rights issue.

Jones said the clearest indicator that the police were doing their job under the city’s current ordinance was the fact that city residents report few dogs walking the streets and

by Adam Lynch

presenting a health hazard.

“The way current city ordinances are structured, that’s the surest indication that the police department is doing its job,” Jones said.

“There’s not much more we can do.”

Weill joined council members BarrettSimon and Lumumba in pushing for a ban on pit-bull breeds. They also joined in support of requesting a new city ordinance that might allow police to more effectively tip-toe around property- and privacy-rights issues to engage PUBLIC DOMAIN

Wednesday February 17 Gov. Haley Barbour announces that the state has received $20 million in stimulus funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation for railroad improvements from the Port of Gulfport to Hattiesburg. …

The Treasury Department announces that the national deficit is growing at a record pace with the deficit totaling $430.69 billion so far for this year.

The American Pit Bull Terrier served as America’s symbol of courage during World War I. The most celebrated American Pit Bull Terrier was Pete, friend to child movie stars of the 1930s, the Little Rascals.

JSU President Ronald Mason explains mergers. p. 11

Ward 1 Councilman Jeff Weill supports an amendment banning pit bulls inside the Jackson city limits.

complaints of incessant barking or animals exhibiting threatening behavior.

“We want to give police the tools to better protect the safety of Jackson residents,” Weill said. Anderson could offer no immediate ideas on an ordinance that would give police greater power in dealing with animal complaints, but explained that other cities had

successfully passed breed bans of their own.

Lumumba, while supportive of the push, expressed doubt regarding enforceability of the breed ban, and asked attorneys to look into how effectively other cities were enforcing their own bans.

Barrett-Simon said she considered the pit-bull breed to be one of the more violent and unpredictable dogs, the result perhaps of unscrupulous “back-yard breeding” by careless owners.

If attorneys return to the Rules Committee with a ban, at least three other members of the seven-member council may not support it: Councilmen Charles Tillman, Tony Yarber and Council President Frank Bluntson indicated no early support for a ban.

“I’m not for banning any dog,” Bluntson said. “I’m for tightening up on rules and laws for owners to be more responsible for that dog. Remember when the bad guys were Dobermans? We got over that.”

Yarber said police are incapable of stopping all-night barking, much less engaging in a mass collection of freshly banned pit bulls.

“What’ll you do when you pick them up—euthanize them? We got five people on animal control. I can’t see enforcing that,” he said.

Yarber then questioned enforcement: “If we ban any breed, we’ll have to define how PIT BULLS, see page 7

by Ward Schaefer

BUTT

C

R E C AN

“If you see me losing 40 pounds, that means I’m either running or have cancer.” —Gov. Haley Barbour in response to reporters questions over his potential bid for the presidency in 2012.

WORD CLOUD Gov. Haley Barbour has signed four bills into law since the Mississippi Legislature began its session Jan. 5.

These are the most frequently-occurring words in those

PIT BULLS, from page 6

much pit bull a mixed breed contains before it falls under the scope of the ban, and there’s a lot of room for argument there.”

Weill said he wanted city attorneys to consider a grandfather clause that might allow pit-bull owners to keep pets they have owned for more than six years and who managed to avoid any complaints of violence.

Sallyann Comstock, director of Texasbased American Temperament Test Society, which has tested dog breed behavioral characteristics since the 1970s, said pit bulls rate better in docility tests than many other breeds.

Comstock added that breed-specific legislation was a violation of the civil-liberties spirit of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

She asked that council members inform themselves before casting a vote.

“The general public wouldn’t be able to tell a pit bull from a boxer, much less have good knowledge on the behavior of the breed,” Comstock said. “Until the general population has more knowledge about dog breeds it would be best to keep silent.”

After the meeting, Jones would not offer an opinion on the effectiveness of a potential pit-bull ban, saying his job would only be to enforce the ban should the council approve one. He did say, however, that the brunt of dog bites reported in the city (a total of nine since December, including bites to other dogs) came from Chow Chows and Chowmix breeds. Unlucky owners reported most of those attacks after being bitten, Jones added.

Guilty Verdict in JSU Murder Trial

by Ward Schaefer

A

COURTESY FACEBOOK

Hinds County jury found Stanley an incident in Pearl.

In his opening stateCole guilty of the ment, Cole’s attorney, Hinds murder of Latasha County Assistant Public Norman Monday Defender Matt Eichelberger, afternoon. Cole, 26, faces life did not dispute that Cole had in prison for killing Norman, killed Norman but argued his ex-girlfriend. that her death was an acciNorman, 20, was a dent and not murder. junior accounting major Over three days, jurors at Jackson State University heard from witnesses that when friends reported her A jury found Stanley Cole had kept Norman’s missing Nov. 13, 2007. Her Cole guilty of body in the trunk of a car disappearance spurred a murdering Latasha Norman. while he went to dinner police search and attracted and that his then-girlfriend, considerable media coverSimone Harris, had noticed blood on his age.

Cole told detectives the location of shirt the night after Norman disappeared.

Norman’s body, a wooded area near Tou- Cole did not testify in his own defense, galoo College, and police recovered her and Eichelberger only called two witnesses, body on Nov. 29. In a police interview, he a forensic anthropologist and a crime lab told investigators that he had hit Norman employee.

Eichelberger moved to allow jurors to in the head during a fight. Roughly one month before her disappearance, Norman consider a lesser charge of manslaughter, had filed an assault charge against Cole for but Judge Swan Yerger denied the request.

Please join us for

“T h e Par t y With A Purpose”

news, culture & irreverence

THE 2010 FRIENDSHIP BALL

talk

THE 2010 FRIENDSHIP BALL Saturday, March 6 7 p.m. - Until at Hal & Mal’s 200 S Commerce Street Honorees: Reverend Duncan Gray and Dr. Aaron Shirley Benefiting: 100 Black Men of Jackson, Inc., MS Youth Media Project and Parents for Public Schools of Jackson

Tickets: $20 per person, $10 for students

Music by These Days with Jewel Bass Hors d’oeuvres - Cash Bar - Casual Attire

Fondren Theatre Workshop presents

TALK RADIO

Irby Trial On Schedule

by Ward Schaefer

T

Directed by Cory Drake Featuring Danny Dauphin as Barry Champlain with Brad Bishop, Keri Horn, John Howell, Beth Kander, Jimmy Quinn, Tony Sanford, Alison Stafford, Wayne Thomas, Kimberlee Wolfson and James Wood

Thursday - Saturday, Feb. 25, 26 & 27 All performances @ 8pm at Mad Genius Inc. (formerly Eyevox) Located at 279 Perkins Street in Ridgeland, MS $13 Adults/$10 Students - Cash & Visa/MC accepted Rated PG-13 for adult themes & mild profanity Info: (601) 982-2217 or fondrentheatre@hotmail.com

jacksonfreepress.com

COURTESY HINDS COUNTY SHERIFF

he criminal trial of Karen Irby, wife Old Canton Road the night of Feb. 11, of Jackson businessman Stuart Irby, 2009, when her Mercedes slammed into is set for March and looks ready to a pickup truck carrying Dr. Mark Pogue proceed. At a Feb. 17 pre-trial hear- and Dr. Lisa Dedousis. ing, Hinds County Circuit Court Judge The truck burst into Tomie Green indicated that flames and both Pogue she foresaw no delays in the and Dedousis, who were case and that she plans to engaged, died at the sequester the jury. Green also scene. Irby’s husband was granted requests from both a passenger in her car; his prosecutors and defense atdoctors have said that he torneys to allow experts to suffered memory loss. inspect Karen Irby’s black The families of Pogue Mercedes-Benz. and Dedousis have filed a Karen Irby faces charges Karen Irby will go on $60 million civil wrongtrial in March. of depraved-heart murder ful death lawsuit against and aggravated assault for the Irbys in Hinds County being the driver in a fiery car crash that Circuit Court. Judge Winston Kidd took the lives of two Jackson doctors. postponed a hearing in that suit that was Prosecutors claim that Irby was drunk scheduled for Feb. 8 because of snow, and and driving over 100 miles per hour down he has yet to schedule a new date.

7

politicsdish

by Ward Schaefer

Schoolhouse to Statehouse

W

hat sort of work do you do at the Legislature?

We have chosen to concentrate not so much on the legislative part of it, as the people-to-people part. When people want contracts, or when people want to get their information out, or they may need to get their product out; they may need to get their technology out; that’s what we concentrate on. Now we do some legislative lobbying.

But that’s not the primary focus.

I

f you don’t lobby legislators, who do you lobby?

For example, I had a client that we were quite successful with when I worked for another firm. I knew his daughter. They had a school that they needed to get additional financing for in order to be able to qualify for federal dollars. And we were successful in putting them with a person who would be able to help them with their financing.

D

id teaching prepare you for the work you do now?

Teaching school prepared me for it because I came in contact with many people.

I haven’t lobbied these people, but I taught (Hinds County) District Attorney Robert Smith in high school. I taught (City Councilman) Tony Yarber in high school. Stan Alexander works for the attorney general’s office; I taught him in high school.

It doesn’t hurt at all, now, to come from a political family. I have a brother who’s in

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the Mississippi House of Representatives; his name is Walter L. Robinson. Congressman Bennie G. Thompson’s mother was my first cousin, and we belong to the same church—we were baptized the same Sunday. It’s all about contacts. … I say my job is introducing people to the people they otherwise would not meet. It’s lobbying, because that’s what the state of Mississippi says it is, but it’s as much public relations as anything else.

WARD SCHAEFER

Y

vonne Horton made an unconventional job transition in 2007, joining a lobbying firm after 30 years as a publicschool teacher. Horton, 60, is a Bolton native and a 1971 graduate of Jackson State University. She taught social studies at Forest Hill High School for 30 years. After retiring, she took a job at the Talon Group, a Jacksonbased lobbying and political consulting firm.

In 2009, she joined the staff of Precious Martin & Associates, a Jackson law firm, where she lobbies municipal and state governments for a variety of clients.

P

lus, if you’ve got all these former students, they have to listen to what you say, because you once gave them detention.

Exactly. And lobbying is a lot like teaching. Although as a teacher, I’d like to think I was a little more neutral, that I saw both sides of the issue. As a lobbyist, you are educating, you are teaching in a sense, but you’re teaching to your point of view.

L

obbyist is almost a dirty word.

Have you noticed a change in people’s perceptions?

No, not really, because the people I come in contact with either know absolutely nothing about it, and they’re interested, and they say, “Oh, that’s what a lobbyist does.

Well, that’s not so bad.” Or the other group of people you come to realize the importance of having someone to speak for you when you can’t be there to speak for yourself.

H

ow much choice do you get over your clients?

No one has come to me yet with an idea that I couldn’t, in good conscience, lobby for.

I haven’t had to make that decision yet.

W

hat should people know about lobbyists?

I think it goes back to the scandals we had toward the latter part of the Bush administration. People didn’t know a lot about what lobbyists did, as far as good and positive; they just heard the negative parts. Bad news makes the news; most of the time good news doesn’t.

Yvonne Horton retired from teaching after 30 years. Now she lobbies state legislators and local governments.

A lobbyist who is working on behalf of retired teachers—that probably wouldn’t make the news. People hear “special-interest groups,” but going back to George Washington, he may even have called political parties specialinterest groups. I guess it depends on what your definition of a special interest is. We have a tendency to fear what we don’t know. And most people don’t know what lobbyists do.

My friends and people I meet ask me that all the time: “What do you do?”

W

hat’s the line you give them?

If I’m teasing, I say, “It would only make you jealous and you really wouldn’t like it.” For people who are serious, I tell them that the majority of my job is putting people with other people they otherwise would not have the opportunity to meet. Many times they explain or present their own case.

W

hat are the parts of the job that keep you excited?

You don’t know what’s going to happen.

And of course with the Legislature, every bill is exciting; sometimes every amendment to the bill is exciting. Especially when they’re trying to do away with my 13th check.

politicstalk

by Lacey McLaughlin

Abortion Amendment Unlikely WARD SCHAEFER

LUNCH BUNCH March 3rd at 11:45 a.m.

Jackson Medical Mall Community Room

P

ersonhood Mississippi leader Les Riley stood in front of a small but fervent crowd last week at the secretary of state’s office proclaiming victory for the pro-life movement. His children, wearing T-shirts adorned with fetuses and waving Christian flags, hovered around half a dozen cardboard boxes filled with signatures for a 2011 ballot initiative aimed at ending abortion in Mississippi.

“We are making history because Mississippi will lead the nation in providing equal rights to all human beings, regardless of their size or location,” Riley told the crowd.

Over a year ago, Riley, a father of 10, started organizing grassroots efforts to garner enough signatures for a 2011 ballot initiative to change the state constitution. He and his volunteers want voters to decide whether the constitution should designate when life begins by adding the following clause: “The term ‘person’ or ‘persons’ shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.”

After 13 months of trolling for signatures by canvassing communities, churches and businesses statewide, Riley says the movement has obtained 105,000 valid signatures.

The secretary of state’s office requires 89,285 statewide voter signatures with at least 17,857 from each congressional district to qualify an issue for a ballot initiative. Having accepted the signatures, the secretary of state’s office will now evaluate the petitions.

Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, who is expected to run for governor in 2011, solicited phone messages for organization, saying his participation fell in line with his religious beliefs.

“I had a prayer when I first started office: I didn’t want to just pass bills and worry over budgets; I wanted to do something special. I wanted to end abortion in Mississippi,” Bryant told the crowd. “[I] said Lord if you’ll send me there, I am going to do all that I can to stop this horrible sin that has blighted America.”

Amending a state’s constitution isn’t a new tactic to end abortions, but it is gaining momentum in several states. In Colorado, like Mississippi, the state-level group has collected enough signatures for a ballot initiative in 2011. Personhood groups are also pushing for

amendments in Missouri, California, Montana and Florida.

Colorado became the first state to gain enough signatures for a personhood amendment in 2008; however, Amendment 48 fell significantly short of passing, with only 27 percent of Coloradans voting to change their state constitution.

If, in fact, the 2011 amendment passes in the Mississippi Legislature, it would still have numerous legal hurdles. The amendment could not make abortions illegal by itself, but would give lawmakers and lawyers leverage in restricting the procedure.

Harriett Johnson, advocacy coordinator for the ACLU in Jackson, says that if passed, the initiative would bring legal ramifications for women’s reproduction rights by challenging current law, and would violate the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. “(The amendment) is intended to eliminate a woman’s right to make personal and private health-care decisions,” Johnson said.

“In regards to the law, it would invite lawyers in courts to reinterpret every Mississippi law and regulation that contains the word ‘person.’ It would clog up the court system at the cost of Mississippi taxpayers.”

Johnson could not confirm if the ACLU planned to file suit against Personhood Mississippi or the state.

Mississippi College law professor Matt Steffey says the amendment would be “null and void.”

“If the case was to go before the U.S. Supreme Court, it’s 100 percent certain that the law would be struck down as unconstitutional. An effort to (ban abortion) would be essentially symbolic at this point,” he said.

“But even if it passes with 100 percent of the vote, it’s still unconstitutional.” As unconstitutional, Steffey added, as it would be if voters in Mississippi wanted to re-establish segregation in the state.

Riley insists that the amendment would immediately ban abortion in Mississippi and if it is challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court, he says he is ready to put up a fight.

“A court decision is not law; the shocking thing to me is that we treat them as laws,” Riley said. The state of Mississippi is fixing to educate the Supreme Court.”

RSVP to 601.969.6015 $5.00 for Lunch Join us. For our city. For our children.

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Personhood Mississippi leader Les Riley (left) submitted signatures last week for a ballot initiative to end abortion; legal experts refute the weight of the amendment.

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Legislature: Week 7

T

he 90-day legislative session will creep past the halfway mark this week, and the clock ticks on plenty of legislative efforts, including the deadline to except or trash fiscal-year 2011 appropriation and revenue bills.

The Senate surprised everyone last week by approving the budget reconciliation act, S.B. 2688, which restores a total of $79 million in cuts enacted by Gov. Haley Barbour for fiscal-year 2011. The Senate voted 26-22 to concur with an amendment that the House approved last week, restoring cuts to the Mississippi Adequate Education Program—which steers state money to underserved districts with low revenue—and to district attorney offices and other agencies around the state. The vote, though narrow, was an odd deviation from the Senate’s usual habit of swallowing every demand the governor hands it. The governor mandates cuts over any attempt to shore up revenues through tax increases, but the state’s 2010 budget has already had to contend with numerous reductions instituted by the governor, including hits to K-12 public education, leaving district officials panicked.

“A lot of Republicans, as well as conservative Democrats, are feeling the pressure back home to restore some of these cuts,” said Sen. John Horhn, D-Jackson, who was not present at the vote, but said he supported it. “They’re hearing that the state is suffering irreparable harm, especially in terms of education, if they don’t do something to restore the money. You can only cut so much before doing serious damage.”

Democrats are already gearing up to attack the governor’s plan to veto the conciliation, which they say represents a compromise between an even bigger request by the House to return money to the state budget and Republicans’ desire to follow Barbour. Barbour put his priorities on the Department of Corrections over education last week, threatening to steer money out of the state’s education budget into the Department of Corrections, if corrections suffered the kind of cuts the reconciliation bill envisions.

February 25 - March 3, 2010

Shut up and

10

by Adam Lynch

Bashing Sodas and Saving Schools

Creative Writing Classes April 3 - June 5, 10am - 12:30pm Every other Saturday $150 $75 deposit is required for a spot in the class.

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Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, a House conferee on budget discussions with the Senate, called the governor’s priorities “misguided.”

“The governor seems to put more stock in keeping marijuana smokers and badcheck writers in jail than he does educating the children of Mississippi and making sure that our mental-health patients get the services they need,” Flaggs said in a statement.

“I was extremely disappointed to hear of the governor’s plans, and I am hoping and prayFILE PHOTO

ANCIENT BACTRIA ( A T )

Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, called Gov. Haley Barbour’s budget priorities “misguided” last week.

ing he will do the right thing.”

Bills that survived a House floor vote last week include H.B. 963, a bill that creates a study committee to determine the feasibility of and the need to use net metering by state residents and the use of a clean renewable energy tax credit for businesses and homeowners. The bill could be the next step in either approving or shutting down the possibility of homeowners receiving a state tax credit for installing solar panels or wind generators.

The House also passed H.B. 1349, a bill that creates a bridge-loan program administered by the state Department of Education, to help fund local school districts suffering revenue losses as a result of the economic downturn. Schools may only use the loans for “essential operations,” as identified by the

state Department of Education.

One notable bill creating tremendous buzz this year is H.B. 1606, the “sweetened beverages and syrups tax law,” which would force distributors who receive, store, manufacture, bottle or distribute certain sweetened beverage products to retailers to obtain a permit to continue business from the department of revenue. It imposes an excise tax on every distributor selling certain sweetened beverage products and creates the Children’s Health Promotion Fund.

Rep John Mayo, D-Clarksdale, praised the fact that the bill would lead to an increase in the price of many sweetened beverages, and said it would not only raise revenue for the state’s ailing coffers, but also have a tremendous impact upon the state’s terrible history with childhood obesity.

The John C. Stennis Institute of Government released a report last week showing that Mississippi has the highest obesity rate in the United States, with an adult rate of 33.4 percent compared to a national rate of 26.7 percent in 2008.

Mayo said his bill was currently sitting in the House Ways and Means Committee, but he did not have high hopes for it.

“It won’t die until Wednesday, but I don’t have high expectations,” Mayo said.

“Still, this is just the first bat in the first inning. We expect this to be a long haul.

I never expected the issue to get this much buzz the first time out. It shows the passion people have over this issue.”

Mayo went on to question why people who worked to remain healthy should “be required to pay the medical needs of those who choose to be unhealthy,” when under his bill, those who choose unhealthy living can assume some ownership and responsibility for their unhealthy lifestyle.

“My ending point (in the House debate) was that people who choose to drink sugared drinks, to be couch potatoes, to eat until they fall asleep are free to do that, but their eventual health care falls on those who choose to be healthy,” Mayo said, referencing state Medicaid costs.

educationtalk

by Lacey McLaughlin

Mason: No Plans for Public Input on Merger KENYA HUDSON

opposes Mason’s plan and has declined a request from Mason to meet this week to discuss the matter. “I disagree with his proposal, and I know where he stands,” Jordan said. “I have nothing more to say to him on the matter.”

Jackson State University President Ronald Mason says his proposal to merge three historically universities wasn’t ready for public input.

At Koinonia’s Friday forum, Mason tried to distinguish his idea from Gov. Haley Barbour’s proposal to merge the same three black universities to save $35 million. Mason said the idea behind Jacobs State was to maintain the three universities while moving programs and resources to save cost, while operating a single-name university.

Mason said the traditions and history of each campus would remain intact unlike the changes in Barbour’s proposal.

Michael Robinson, a JSU alumnus, said Mason’s idea is to preserve HBCUs while dealing with financial challenges. “(Mason) wants to make agencies stronger. In these tough economic times, he believes it’s better to stand as one unified entity as opposed to three,” Robinson said. “The problem is we are caught up in traditions and resisting change.”

Mason said he has no plans to hold community meetings on the issue, but will accept invitations to speak publicly about it.

Other state universities are looking at options and tactics to determine cost-saving and consolidation efforts.

In response to a request of Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Commissioner Hank Bounds and board members for more efficient ways to cut costs, Mississippi State University released a report last

week defining 60 cost-cutting strategies.

The university is expecting a 23 percent reduction in state funds by 2012.

The report is a result of three months of work by the President’s Select Committee on Efficiencies and Innovations. Convened

by MSU President Mark Keenum, the 33-member committee was composed of faculty, staff, administrators and student representatives. The report highlights programs that can be merged such as the university’s accounting and finance departments. The report also proposes doing away with degree programs with low enrollment, such as agriculture pest management.

MSU and Mississippi University for Women are also working on efforts to consolidate services. Mississippi University for Women President Dr. Claudia Limbert says she recently started discussions with Keenum, and appointed staff to evaluate services that can be combined.

“We don’t know yet what services will be combined,” Limbert said. “The economy is a mess right now, and it looks like it will get a lot worse. The guiding principal is that if it doesn’t save money or help services, we aren’t going to do that efficiency. We are going to look hard and see if it benefits the universities.”

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A

s Jackson State University President Ronald Mason Jr. shook hands at a forum last Friday at Koinonia Coffee House in Jackson, he sought to quell concerns about a possible HBCU merger idea he floated to legislators last month. He maintained that his proposal was merely “an idea that was leaked.”

“There was no bill or a proposal made to any board; it was a discussion of just one possible answer,” Mason told the Jackson Free Press. “There are serious challenges, and I’m just the worker, not the decision maker. My job is to give my best analysis and my best advice.”

Last month Mason approached legislators with the idea to downsize historically black colleges Alcorn University, Mississippi Valley State University and Jackson State University into a specialized campus named Jacobs State University.

Mason maintains that his multi-page proposal and PowerPoint slide show, first reported by the Jackson Free Press, were a private idea and not ready for public input.

Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood, spoke out against Mason’s proposal at a recent rally to support HBCUs at the state Capitol comparing him to a “philistine.”

Friday morning, Jordan said that he still

11

jfp op/ed

opining, grousing & pontificating

EDITORIAL

Will U.S. Chamber Win Again?

I

n 2004, Attorney General Jim Hood hired attorneys Joey Langston and Timothy Balducci—who later pled guilty to corruption in 2008 and 2007, respectively—to recoup unpaid taxes and interest resulting from a multi-state tax fraud scheme Clinton-based WorldCom cooked up before the company’s 2002 collapse.

WorldCom’s new owner, MCI, eager to be rid of loose ends after the bankruptcy, agreed to pay the attorneys separately from the $110 million they agreed to pay the state. But State Auditor Stacey Pickering said state law doesn’t allow a defendant to directly pay attorneys contracted by the attorney general’s office, and wants that $14 million fee put directly into state coffers. Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Winston Kidd disagreed on Feb. 11, saying there was “nothing improper or illegal” about MCI’s payment to the Langston Law firm.

Pickering is pursuing the case to the Mississippi Supreme Court, however, and will likely get a preferential decision considering the court’s corporate-defense-friendly environment, and such a decision would be good for corporate defendants. Hood asserts that a decision against the MCI settlement will discourage attorneys from seeking contracts with the state for big law suits—contracts that have earned the state more than $260 million during his two terms in office. The money often came at critical moments of budgetary shortfall, such as the $40 million Hood earned in 2009 in a Microsoft settlement and the more recent $18 million settlement with Eli Lilly and Co. this year.

But Republicans, spurred by corporate supporters like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, don’t like big companies getting sued, even if they acted improperly or endangered lives. The Chamber’s influence is obvious in Republicans’ repeated efforts to complicate or end Hood’s ability to contract outside attorneys through failed bills this legislative session.

The Chamber and its affiliates invested heavily in judges’ campaigns for the state Supreme Court, and it will likely get what it wants in terms of Hood’s ability to take on corporate malfeasance. But at what cost to the state? Pickering’s suit, according to Hood, has already cost taxpayers more than $340,000 in legal fees paid to its own contracted attorneys to chase Pickering’s position.

On top of that, if Pickering succeeds in nullifying Hood’s contract with the Langston firm, the state may have to pay the attorneys an extra $3 million.

By Hood’s contract, the firm had earned $16.9 million, based on the size of the WorldCom settlement, not $14 million. The company could fall back on Hood’s original $16.9 million contract if Pickering breaks the MCI contract.

Langston proved to be a dirty guy, but the process that employed him has been successful in saving the state’s backside on countless occasions. It’s time to stop putting the will of the Chamber over the needs of the state, especially in these trying times.

KEN STIGGERS

That Sounds Nasty

February 25 - March 3, 2010

B

12

oneqweesha Jones: “Welcome to Hair Did University’s S.O.H.K. (School of Hard Knocks) Critical Thinking Lecture Series. Psychologist Judy McBride wants to share with us an effect that is affecting people today. We should become aware of this effect in order to promote peace and enhance our critical thinking skills. Ladies and gentlemen, coming to the podium to share her insight with the people is Judy McBride.”

Judy McBride: “In my research and studies, I’ve discovered that some folks only listen to people or broadcast programming that supports their viewpoints. Eventually, they become more polarized and less willing to consider other, sometimes better-informed views. What I’ve just described is the ‘incestuous amplification’ effect.

“You’re probably thinking: ‘Eww! That sounds nasty.’

“Warning: If ‘incestuous amplification’ permeates our society, things can get really nasty. I mean closed-mindedness will surely spread like a wildfire in a dry forest. Subsequently, this nation will become a barren and divided society.

“Do we run to the hills and let ‘incestuous amplification’ ruin a society based on liberty, freedom and justice? I hope not. Perhaps we should work diligently and creatively to expose the masses to alternative forms of thought and action. Take a cue from the peaceful confrontations during the civil rights era, when the words and actions of closed-minded society were exposed to the world via television. In the meantime, maintain your sanity and integrity when exposed to the ‘incestuous amplification’ effect. And don’t let the haters bring you down.”

YOUR TURN

by Rodney Dixon

Pseudopolitics Equals Pseudofailure

R

ecently the Mississippi Legislature passed legislation outlawing the sale of medical products containing pseudoephedrine without a prescription. The intent of this legislation is to reduce the rampant methamphetamine epidemic.

Although it is encouraging to see Democrats and Republicans work so well together to achieve a common goal, this effort will fail for a variety of reasons.

First, this legislation will not be effective without the cooperation of neighboring states. None of these states has such legislation, and it will be too easy for criminals to cross state lines to get the drug.

Unlike marijuana, the naked nose can’t detect pseudoephedrine; thus, state troopers without police dogs will not be able to tell if someone has it in their vehicle when they stop them. Even if a trooper had a dog to sniff it out, there is an enforcement problem.

The law is you can’t purchase pseudoephedrine in Mississippi without a prescription; however, the Legislature can’t legislate for its neighbors. Thus, if Billy Bob goes to El Dorado, Ark., and buys 100 boxes of Sudafed he has committed no crime.

Second, this law will ultimately punish Mississippi businesses. Those most affected will be the small independent drug stores that are within an hour of the aforementioned cities in neighboring states. Many Mississippians suffer from allergies. The governor himself admitted that he daily takes pseudoephedrine to deal with his health issues. While some will try alternative products, others will go to these neighboring states to buy Sudafed and similar products. While there, they are going to shop in those towns. Thus, more money will leave Mississippi.

Third, the working poor and lower middle class loses with this legislation. Many of the working poor and middle class have no insurance. Although the

Obama administration has mandatory health insurance coming down the pipeline, it hasn’t arrived, yet. Additionally, as Hillary Clinton cautioned in the presidential debates, universal health care won’t be free. Therefore, cold and allergy sufferers will have to pay his physician anywhere from $100 on up just so he or she can write a prescription for what would otherwise be over-the-counter medication.

Fourth, this legislation opens the way for organized crime to take over the meth business. Although the meth business is problematic because people can get into it easily, law enforcement can control it better for the same reason. Right now, officers can easily find out who is peddling meth because the product is manufactured locally. The new legislation may reduce the number of teens and small-time pushers who manufacture the product; however, it only drives the cost up for the savvy criminal.

Thus, the professional criminal is in a position to capitalize off of this legislation. He will pick up the customers that the small-time pusher and teen pusher can no longer accommodate.

America has seen this before at the turn of the 20th century with prohibition. The small-time whiskey distillers were pushed out with prohibition; however, organized crime and individuals with deep pockets made millions. Not only did the alcohol business flourish, but crime and health issues associated with alcohol rose, too. Eventually, government repealed prohibition, realizing that regulating a problem is more effective than outlawing it.

Rodney Dixon is a Jacksonian who graduated from Provine High School, Tougaloo College and Mississippi College School of Law. He has a solo law practice specializing in family law.

E-mail letters to letters@jacksonfreepress.com, fax to 601-510-9019, or mail to P.O. Box 5067, Jackson, Miss., 39296. Include daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

JED OPPENHEIM

‘Listen to Me!’

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L

ast spring, as I sat in a Murrah High School classroom, surrounded by the brilliant young minds of the Civil Rights, Civil Liberties Club, I was struck by the contrast between these young people—who were deeply committed to contributing positively to their communities—and the myth some media outlets perpetuate about Jackson’s youngsters.

Too many news stories seem to be written in an attempt to make us fear our young people—reporting in gory detail about crimes allegedly committed by teens—but refusing to report on all the ways others are working to make our community better for us all. This is why I jumped at the chance to be a part of the Youth Media Project—because I want to help tell the real story.

In my work at the Mississippi Youth Justice Project, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, I spend a lot of time inside the state’s juvenile prisons and jails. I see firsthand the results inaccurate media portrayals have on young people and their communities. The media directly influences the overly punitive policies that lead to their imprisonment—particularly youth of color—for minor offenses. Media reports have created zero-tolerance hysteria in our schools—and as a result, many youngsters are funneled into the juvenile-justice system from the schools.

But negative media portrayals influence more than just policy makers. These negative images affect young people as well. During one of my conversations with participants in the Civil Rights, Civil Liberties Club, talk turned towards the juvenile-justice system.

Many of the youngsters participating in that day’s discussion had been involved with the system. They told their stories of being arrested for tapping a pencil on a desk at school, of being targeted by a security guard at a grocery store, of the days and nights they spent in a maximum security facility for minor offenses. As they finished sharing their experiences, one of the other participants spoke up and confessed: “I thought everyone that got locked up deserved to be there and was a bad person.”

The young people—by sharing their stories—busted a myth. This simple exchange illustrates the power of the Youth Media Project. The project is based on the premise that young people—telling their own stories—will get it right and will help all of us understand their exceptional promise.

YMP brings together young people across color and class lines: Through this

project they cross the artificial boundaries that separate us.

Youth from private and public schools collaborate, those who have spent time “in the system” and those who believe that boundaries must be broken against the will of their parents and grandparents’ generation spar over issues that are important to them and that will resonate with readers.

The YMP will change the way Mississippi thinks about our young people. They can tell their own stories, while destroying the myths that older generations have created for them. Combining Internet, print and video mediums, members of the YMP are building skills that will force society to pay attention to their strengths and their promise. We need to listen to what they have to say because it is often more important, more thought provoking and truer than anything we, as their seniors, have to say.

I spend many hours each week behind bars talking and listening to young people as they describe events that may have led to their being behind the cold, punitive metal security apparatus, listening to their stories of economic needs or the brutal mental, emotional and/or physical abuses they have suffered while imprisoned. A common refrain is, “if only someone had listened to me before…”

It is a simple request, but one that— when overlooked by a child’s parent, guardian or other influential adult—may have horrific consequences.

The desires of the young people I work with behind bars are not that different than the YMP: “Listen to me!” they shout. It is our responsibility to do just that. When you find yourself reading about youth crime, think rationally about it. Think about the myth that is being portrayed. Demand that your local media outlet spend resources reporting on the positive contributions of the youth in your community and not just on juvenile delinquency. And recognize that the answer to youth crime is not more prisons, but more jobs, better schools and more positive outlets for our young people.

“Any situation in which individuals prevent others from engaging in the process of inquiry is one of violence,” wrote Paulo Freire in “The Pedagogy of the Oppressed.”

We must stop preventing our young people from teaching us the road forward.

Help YMP by buying Friendship Ball tickets from the JFP. Call 601-361-6121 x16 for details.

“I thought everyone that got locked up deserved to be there and was a bad person.”

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Shutter Island

Nine

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Editor in Chief Donna Ladd Publisher Todd Stauffer

13

WILLIAM PATRICK BUTLER

Police Woman

The JFP Interview

by Adam Lynch

P

February 25 - March 3, 2010

olice Chief Rebecca Coleman is in a good mood this morning. It’s Friday in Jackson, and the city is seeing more snow today than it has in years. The icy weather, while a deviation from typical central Mississippi weather, did not contain the kind of deadly black ice that terrifies cops. The department adopted a policy the day before of having a pile of barricades ready to block off the city’s most potentially deadly bridges the minute ice became a threat.

The city’s second female police chief is looking out the window at the snow-covered lawn of City Hall, happy that her officers are working considerably fewer accidents than she was expecting. That week, the city had reported a slight drop in crime from the previous week. She takes no personal responsibility for the dip and warns that accident statistics can fluctuate wildly.

Coleman is the kind of leader who constantly defers to her command staff, praising them as much if not more than she’s willing to praise herself. Her face is filled with the kind of confidence that comes with doing one job for almost 40 years, but without a hint of arrogance.

Jackson does not represent Coleman’s first stint in leading a police department. After leaving the Jackson Police Department in 1994, she served briefly as chief of the Forest Hill Police Department in Texas before moving on to become the assistant manager of that city.

Later the same year, she returned to her home state to serve as bureau director for the office of Program Integrity of Fraud Investigations at the Mississippi Department of Human Services.

From there, she became head of the Jackson State University Department of Public Safety, where her work doubtless caught the attention of then-adjunct professor Harvey Johnson Jr., who brought her on as Jackson chief soon after his return to the mayor’s office last year.

What possessed you to get into law enforcement? I don’t suppose Angie Dickinson had anything to do with it, did she?

No, I can’t say “Police Woman” had much to do with my decision to go into law enforcement. I’d actually graduated high school with the intention of being a social worker, but once I got out, I learned that it was not so easy to find a job in that field. I later considered going into the police academy, because law enforcement felt like another kind of social service.

What was it like in that kind of man’s world? Was it protective or hostile?

When I came on the police department, I was one of three African American females here. We had maybe 20 or 25 African Americans in this department, so the females had to prove themselves in this male-dominated atmosphere. The men were not of the impression that we could carry our own, to back them up on a call or a response for service. I 14 think they mostly looked at the women at the time as someone they had to look after. But

once we proved ourselves, we were readily accepted. In fact, some police preferred female partners once we proved ourselves.

There was no different standard for females to complete the training at the academy.

At the time, we had to complete the same training as the males. We had to meet the exact same physical expectations the males did. If you couldn’t make it through the physical aspect of the academy, you did not complete the training.

Tell me about your first patrol? Who’d they stick you with?

I was put with a black officer, John Coleman—that’s (former Jackson Police Chief) Bracy Coleman’s brother. Bracy and I were in the same class, but his brother John Coleman graduated ahead of us. So I was put with him. I was assigned later to a white female officer and several white male officers. In all essence, I had no problem during that time, but occasionally there would be some kind of racist comment. During that time, they would say it was a slip of the tongue. That was the language at the time. I was able to deal with it. It was not something I accepted, and I had no problem letting it be known that I was not accepting of it—especially not in my presence.

What was the most daunting aspect of the physical training? Did they actually expect you to do a fireman’s carry on a 300-pound guy?

No. I don’t remember pulling a 300-pound guy. I got to dance through the tires and climb the wall. We also had to change a tire by stooping and not letting the tire touch the ground, and keeping it out from the body. It wasn’t easy.

Can I assume there were times when you were envious of Bracy Coleman’s upper-body strength?

I was envious of a lot of things concerning Bracy Coleman. He was my inspiration while I was in the academy. I wasn’t very good at running, but he would pair up with me, and he would smoke a cigarette and run backward in front of me, so I would have no choice but to run forward.

How did you prove yourself to the other officers?

I did my work. I carried my own. When we handled calls, we handled them together.

What, no big Mel Gibson-style standoff with the bad guys?

No, nothing like that. It was the little things: being there; being reliable.

Did you have a family at the time?

I was married when I came on the police force.

How did they take the news of your profession?

My mom and my father were somewhat opposed to me going into law enforcement, but my dad came around. I don’t think he felt that I would be able to get through the academy, and he told me if I could get through the training then he would support me in it. Once I got through that and graduated, I received both their support.

But how did you diffuse the potentially dicey atmosphere at the time?

I was supervising people who had been on this department 10 or 15 years, and here I was three and a half years into the job, and I was their supervisor, and it worked. I did have maybe one or two occasions when the subordinate wanted to buck a directive that had been given, but my style of supervision has always been firm and fair.

How did the spouse take it?

He didn’t have a problem with it.

Yeah, but reprimanding some older white guy for bucking orders might have hardened his older white peers against you.

Let me say this about law enforcement, and supervisors and officers: When officers came to work, most of them had a passion for the job. They knew they were public servants, and they wanted to make a difference in that precinct or on their particular beat. There may have been certain petty things that they may not have wanted to do as far as directives from me, but they did it because they were looking at the whole picture, the overall picture. They knew that to spite me in not doing it meant they were also spiting themselves and cheating their citizens, who we had all sworn to protect and serve. For that reason, police are often able to overcome their pettiness and are able to do their jobs. Now it’s often said that the police officer only has to come in, do his hours and answer his calls for service, but the group I came in with and the people under me wanted to do more than that.

There was competition between the precincts, the beats and the shifts to be the better officer. It’s something ingrained. They were able to get over that I was a double-minority, a black female, in Mississippi, giving orders.

Really? He didn’t have a problem with the rotten schedule or the potentially dangerous environment?

He felt that I was able to carry my own, and it was not a problem.

There was no whining about you coming home at 2 in the morning?

I was working between a day shift and an evening shift, and after 11 p.m. I was home.

Later the schedule changed, but it was never a problem as far as my marriage was concerned.

What would you say were your most trying years—uh, providing your most trying year is not this one?

(Laughs.) No, this is not my most trying year. My most trying year was not too long after I came on in the police department. I was on three and a half years before the sergeants’ exam was given. During that time, we had dual lists for everything. You had a list for black officers, and you had a list of white officers to take the test. I was No. 1 on the black list. A white female was No. 1 on the white list. I passed the test and wound up being promoted to sergeant. With less than four or five years on the force, I was in a position where I was supervising people who had 10 or 15 years tenure. That was a trying time. Not only for being accepted by my peers, but by those individuals who felt that they should have been in that position instead of me.

But I was able to get through that because I wanted that position. I knew what that position would entail, and even in those early years I was able to see how some of my supervisors handled situations. I learned how to treat people, and how to treat my thensubordinates: how I wanted to be treated.

It amazes me that you were able to belt out orders to middle-aged white guys in the 1970s without more of an issue.

Absolutely—and they took those orders, too. (Laughs.)

You’ve removed another nail of cynicism from my heart.

Well, it was a good thing that they got over it, because I was not going anywhere, and I let that be known, too.

Are you finding the world of running the city department different from running JSU? Woo, that’s dumb reporter question, ain’t it?

It is different in size, but managing people is managing people, whether it’s a large group or a small group. Believe me, there were issues and concerns and challenges at Jackson State. I had a small police department and a small command staff, but it was workable. The same thing applies here at the Jackson Police Department. Bigger police department—bigger command staff. I believe in working smart, by using the people next to me to make sure that those areas they’re responsible for are being handled. Ultimately, at the end of the day, I’m responsible for whatever happens with this police department, but I’m holding accountable the people I have in charge of their respective areas—just as the mayor is going to hold me accountable. It’s a bigger tree, but with more branches.

WILLIAM PATRICK BUTLER

What’s your take on Ward 1 Councilman Jeff Weill’s hesitation to confirm you as chief?

I don’t really have one. That was his prerogative not to want to go along with the confirmation. I didn’t take it personally. I didn’t take it personally that another council person didn’t show up for the confirmation. At the end of the day, I was confirmed, and as long as I serve as chief of the department I’m going to do the best job I can, regardless of the council vote.

Supposedly, he left word with the mayor that he invited you to sit down for coffee or something like that prior to the vote. Did you get the message?

I heard that I had been sent that message to have coffee, or whatever the case may be, with the councilman. But those issues were funneled through the mayor’s office, and at that formative stage, if the mayor felt the invitation was not proper, then it was not proper.

I was someone he was considering bringing into the police department, so at the time it was his call.

Born: Magee, Miss., Sept. 4, 1952 Age: 57 Husband: George Children: Dana and Danielle, twins, both 24 High School: McLaurin Vocational Attendance Center, Pearl General Studies McLaurin Junior High School, Pearl Diploma 1970 College: Jackson State University Bachelor of Arts Degree Major Sociology; Minor Social Work Police officer since October 1974

How would you rate officer morale in the department right now?

The feedback I’m getting tells me that morale is upbeat. Some officers feel that I’m going to lead by example and that I will be consistent in handling situations as they arise in this department. As far as being able to please all the officers on the department, I’m afraid that’ll never happen.

How did you achieve better morale? It’s not like you can afford to give them raises in the current economic environment.

I’m not about to take all the credit for it. I have five deputy chiefs, and a new deputy chief over operations, and he’s assisting me in chasing more aggressive projects, getting officers involved in more things going on in the precincts. That could be a contributing factor. And we’re including officers more in the process of governing the department. That could also be a factor.

POLICE WOMAN, continued on page 17

jacksonfreepress.com

Jackson Police Chief Rebecca Coleman

Would you have done it had the mayor not intervened?

I’d sit down and talk with anybody, but at the time I had not been hired by the city.

15

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POLICE WOMAN, from page 15

Chief Coleman kept Deputy Chief Tyrone Lewis in a high command position.

How do you fill gaps in officer ranks without stretching the officers thin?

We look at our COMSTAT reports; we look at crime and crime trends; we consider the size of each precinct and the numbers of calls for service we have in each precinct.

Through collaborative efforts between myself and my command staff, we make determinations on how to deploy manpower. If you’ve got a precinct with a low crime rate and a good number of officers compared to the other precincts, we tweak those numbers to accommodate the problem areas throughout the city. There has been a shake-up in some precincts, in terms of moving people around and getting more for less.

Past administrations have resorted to 12-hour work schedules to cover holes in the schedule. Would you ever consider it?

They had a temporary 12-hour work schedule, but the eight-hour work schedule is working, in my opinion. One of the things the officers were proud of was that eight-hour work schedule. However, there will be times when we might have inclement weather or some other circumstance stretching the ranks. If we need to go to a 12-hour schedule, we’ll do it, but I’d only consider it on a temporary basis.

families one way or another—even if it means violating someone else’s rights—just to get a meal on the table. I’m not saying that’s the cause of the majority of violent activity in this city, but it is certainly one of the many causes. When I look at the news and read that the stock market dropped, I kind of get nervous. But often crime happens because of the suspect’s drug dependency or a personal problem this person had with the victim.

JPD recently apprehended a few suspects in that spate of church burglaries from a few weeks ago thanks to a confidential tip from a citizen. What is the department doing (or what will it be doing) to increase citizens’ trust in police?

We’ve gotten back to community relations. When we first came in, we had some complaints from citizens about the lack of police follow-up after the initial report of an incident. They said they never heard back from the police department. That’s not the case anymore. We’ve implemented call-backs, so if you’ve suffered a crime incident, you will get a call-back from the police department, either to give you an update on your report or to ask you if you’ve obtained any additional information that might assist us in solving your crime. We attend COPS meetings, the ward meetings arranged by the mayor’s office. We’re getting away from a habit of no outreach to the community. We’re working in concert with the community. We’re letting our citizens know what services the police department offers to them, and we’re making a point to hear their issues and concerns.

We get back to them in an effort to help resolve their problem.

How effective has the inter-agency JET (Jackson Enforcement Team) been?

I’d have to see the reports to answer that one. We have entered back into a memorandum of understanding with numerous outside agencies that allow us to get information from these agencies on a monthly or quarterly basis. We get reports and statistics on what is happening on these teams. If we have team members attached to the MBN (Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics) or something like that, for example, we want to know what they are doing for that team, why they are there, and how is it impacting crime in the city.

KENYA HUDSON

What’s the rate of attrition of the city’s police force these days? Are we losing cops as fast as we were a couple of years ago?

I can’t say how many we were losing before, but we have a lot of officers deployed (on military ventures), and we’ve got a lot of officers up for retirement and going out on medical leave. Thankfully, we don’t have a large number of officers coming in one day and announcing that they don’t want to work for us anymore, but I can’t compare figures very well. Hopefully, we’ll have another academy class this year and get the ranks up to speed.

The sergeant’s exam caused a bit of a stir last year. What’s the next phase in the sergeant’s exam?

The exam will be administered April 20, I believe.

How deeply do you hold to the argument that the level of crime for any given year is connected to the health of the economy? I know you’re not a social psychologist— Yes, I am. I’m a police chief. I’m a social psychologist—except I’m not registered. Of course, there’s a tie between crime and the economy. It stands to reason that when jobs are lost, it encourages a sense of desperation in individuals who are determined to feed their

Chief Rebecca Coleman at her December swearing-in ceremony.

Will the department be able to keep JET going if the federal grant expires this year?

It was supposed to be disbanded, but they came up with some more funding. The grant was supposed to expire in July, but the MBN or the state government managed to get the funding. That gives us another year.

JPD created Precinct 5 initially to deal with crime in the downtown business district. Recently, it’s been more of a roving unit, helping out wherever crime increases. How do you plan to use Precinct 5 in the future?

Precinct 5 is serving its purpose. When we have blitzes throughout the city, we pull members from that team. We deploy our personnel based on need, and the Precinct 5 unit will not be disbanded, if that’s what you’re asking. They’re working very efficiently to combat crime in the downtown area. If we need them to enhance what’s going on in Precinct 1 or POLICE WOMAN, continued on page 19

jacksonfreepress.com

Violent crimes dropped nearly 10 percent last year in Jackson. JPD had two other chiefs for most of the year, but what do you attribute that to?

My excellent command staff. I came on in October, so I can’t rightfully take credit for any drop in crime last year. I did an evaluation of the command staff when I came in last year. Some were of the impression that I would wipe out the command staff and start anew, but my philosophy was to come in and give the people already here the opportunity to do what they can do. If their goals are along the lines of my goals, then why not?

We’ve evaluated the command staff’s job performance and their vision for the police department. If they are up to par and doing what’s needed in their respective areas, then they’ll stay where they are. If they’re not producing, then things may change, but right now they’re getting the job done.

Also, during this administration we’ve started a new division, the Division of Community Relations, which is headed up by Deputy Chief Tyrone Lewis. We have our quality-of-Life people. Our community relations people counsel victims of domestic violence.

They do presentations on domestic violence, conflict resolutions; they attend the neighborhood meetings and the COPS meetings; they’re in the schools talking to students.

They’re constantly out there giving information on how to prevent violent crimes and how to safeguard yourself from violent activity. That type of public awareness, in itself, serves as a deterrent to violent crime.

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POLICE WOMAN, from page 17

KENYA HUDSON

Precinct 4, we’ll send a few members from Precinct 5, but we’ll never send everyone and fully dissolve the precinct. They’re too valuable. We have a growing population downtown, and we want that population safe. In fact, we have more officers in that precinct even as we speak.

Supreme Court Justice James Graves, JSU President Ronald Mason and Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. attended Chief Coleman’s December 2009 swearing in.

Are their headquarters still on Farish Street?

Still there.

Are they permanent headquarters?

Eh, I wouldn’t call it permanent, not just yet, anyway.

Have there been any updates in the alleged Fuelman gas theft investigation?

Sure. The investigation has been completed.

Well, OK. What happened?

It’s not my position to speak on personnel issues, but it has been completed.

Oh, for Pete’s sake. Spit it out. Were there any dirty deeds being done?

Those are personnel issues that can’t be discussed.

What would your advice be if it is determined that one or more officers actually engaged in the theft of gasoline from the city? What needs to happen to the city employees involved? Would you go so far as to press charges if the wrongdoing appears odious enough?

Anytime any police officer is found guilty of committing a criminal act—not only a police officer, but any employee of the city—they will be dealt with according to the rules and regulations set forth by the police department and the service commission.

Who would be the ones to press charges if it came to it?

We would be the agency to press those charges if it happened to the city.

Sounds dicey, like it wouldn’t be much fun.

No. No, it wouldn’t.

I’ve heard some vehicles can sit up for days, even weeks, waiting for parts near the end of the budget year because the money to pay for the new parts is so hard to come by. Has that changed?

I can’t say whether that’s going to be a problem this time around, but I’m certainly trying to stay within the budget this year.

POLICE WOMAN, continued on page 20

jacksonfreepress.com

Changing the subject: How are you maintaining the city’s aging fleet of patrol cars? I’ve heard some vehicles sound like Jed Clampett’s truck when they go up and down the street.

We have purchased new cars this year for the city’s fleet, so the vehicles that need to be deadlined will be deadlined. Believe it or not, there was some money in the budget for the purchase of new vehicles, and we were also able to utilize some grant funds.

19

POLICE WOMAN, from page 19

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Do you plan any changes in how the police department will work with other members of law enforcement—such as the county or the state—to reduce crime?

We renewed all our relationships with entities willing to work with the police department. We have new memorandums of understandings with the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Marshal Service, ATF, DEA. And MBN offered their assistance at any time to come into the city and work with us on our problems.

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How would you rate detectives’ relationship with the district attorney’s office? During the DA’s election there was criticism that the DA wasn’t working well with the cops, that they weren’t helping them put together the best case they could. Has that changed?

When I came into office I met with the district attorney’s office. The deputy chief over investigations and I went over and spoke with the DA. They’ve given us their full cooperation in dealing with active cases we have and the backlog of cases we have. Right now, I don’t have any complaints about the relationship we have with the DA. They have offered officer training assistance, and our investigators and patrol officers are getting in-service training. The FBI has also offered to do a block of training on how to prepare cases. We’re taking everything they offer.

Chief Coleman tends to praise her staff more than she does herself—and she relies heavily on her command staff. She credits them for last year’s drop in crime.

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Completely unrelated to the last question: I don’t recall seeing any checkpoints in my part of town these days. Do you believe in police checkpoints?

Obviously, you’ve been in the wrong part of town or very lucky, because I could frighten you with the number of tickets that have been written at checkpoints throughout the city. I see the value in checkpoints, and we’re seeing improvements based on the number of tickets and the arrests that are coming in as a result of these checkpoints.

If you had a little more money at your disposal, how would you invest it in the department?

In a perfect world, if we had the money, I’d give our officers a raise.

What, we don’t need any new parking meters?

Raises. My officers need raises.

Where in five years will you be?

This year marks my 35 years of service. In five more years, I’ll have 40 years of law enforcement under my belt. I don’t see me in law enforcement in five years. I’ll finish out my four-year term, but after that, I’ll be 61. It’ll be time for me to sit down. I don’t think my daughters would allow me to stay in it.

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BEST BETS February 25 - March 4

by Latasha Willis events@jacksonfreepress.com Fax: 601-510-9019 Daily updates at jfpevents.com

THURSDAY 2/25

COURTESY MANDY JONES

The “Fresh Start” Career and College Fair is at the Jackson Medical Mall (350 W. Woodrow Wilson Ave.) between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Free; call 601-982-8467. … Radio JFP with Todd Stauffer and Donna Ladd returns at noon on WLEZ 100.1 FM or wlezfm.com. … St. Andrew’s Episcopal School presents “Deco,” a series of events promoting green practices at several locations Feb. 25-28. Tickets prices vary; visit stapresents.com for details. … A LGBT youth support group meeting for ages 14-24 will be held at Rise Above for Youth (121 E. State St., Ridgeland) at 6:30 p.m. Free; call 601922-4968. … The D’lo Trio performs at the Cherokee Inn at 6:30 p.m. Free. … Catch Jackie Bell, Norman Clark and Smoke Stack Lightning at 930 Blues Café at 8 p.m. $5. …

Los Papis! plays at Underground 119 from 8-11 p.m. Free.

King Edward and Eddie Cotton at The Auditorium starts at 9:18 p.m. $20. … The Murrah High School Alumni Mixer for former students 21 and up is at Schimmel’s at 9:30 p.m. $20; e-mail jimmie.lee@jleeplays.com. … See Scott Albert Johnson at Underground 119 from 9 p.m.-midnight. $10.

TUESDAY 3/2

SATURDAY 2/27 Visit the Gem, Mineral, Fossil and Jewelry Show at the Mississippi Trade Mart (1200 Mississippi St.) between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. and on Feb. 28 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. $5 adults, $3 children; call 601-276-2203. … Bring your new or gently used clothing and accessories to the Dress for Success clothing drive at Repeat Street (626 Ridgewood Road, Ridgeland), which starts at 11 a.m. Call 601-985-9888. … Christa Allan signs copies of “Walking on Broken Glass” at Borders (100 Dogwood Blvd., Flowood) at 1 p.m. $13.99 book; call 985635-9339. … The play “A Year with Frog and Toad” opens at New Stage Theatre (1100 Carlisle St.), with curtains up at 2 p.m. Additional shows are March 5-7. $10, discounts for children under 12 and groups; call 601-948-3531. … Hal & Mal’s 25th Birthday Celebration starts at 5 p.m. $5. … Dr. D plays blues at Underground 119 from 9 p.m.-midnight. $10.

SUNDAY 2/28 Today is the last day to see Lee A. Washington’s metal sculptures made from cotton-picker spindles at the Pearl Public Library (2416 Old Brandon Road, Pearl). Free; call 601932-2562. … The Howard Jones Trio plays jazz at the King Edward Hotel from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. … Open-mic poetry at Cultural Expressions begins at 8 p.m. $5.

MONDAY 3/1 Today is the deadline to submit grant applications to the Mississippi Arts Commission (Woolfolk Building, 501 N. West St., Suite 1101A). Free; call 601-359-6030; visit www.arts.state.ms.us. … The “Backyards and Beyond” exhibit at the Arts Center of Mississippi (201 E. Pascagoula Christa Allan, author of “Walking on Broken Glass,” will sign copies of her book at Borders in Flowood Feb. 27 at 1 p.m.

February 25 - March 3, 2010

The Warehouse Sale at NUTS (114 Millsaps Ave.) is from 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Call 601-355-7458. ... See “The Untold Story of Emmett Till” at noon in the Student Center Ballroom of Jackson State University (1400 Lynch St.). Free; call 601-979-2735. … Auditions for the Prince Hall Shriners Talent Scholarship Competition at M.W. Stringer Grand Lodge (1072 John R. Lynch St.) begin at 6 p.m. You must be a high school or college student between the ages of 17 and 21 to compete for the $500 grand prize. Call 601-832-8321 or 601-969-6697. … The play “The Star-Spangled Girl” debuts at the Old Clinton Junior High School (Fairmont St., Clinton) at 7 p.m. Encore shows are Feb. 28 and March 4-6. $12 adults, $8 students and seniors; call 601-573-2759. … “Three 22 Generations of the Blues” with David “Honeyboy” Edwards,

Learn how to organize your tax paperwork during the financial education seminar at the 3000 Fondren Building (3000 Old Canton Road) at 6 p.m. Free; call 601-969-6431. … “Downtown Spaces, Hip New Places,” sponsored by the Women’s Fund, will be held from March 2-5 at different venues in downtown Jackson. Ticket prices vary per event, $125 for all events; call 601-326-0700; visit womensfund.org.

WEDNESDAY 3/3 The Parents for Public Schools Lunch Bunch at the Jackson Medical Mall (350 W. Woodrow Wilson Ave.) in the community room starts at 11:45 a.m. $5 for lunch; RSVP at 601-969-6015. ... The karaoke contest finals at the Pelican Cove Grill will be from 6-10 p.m. Free. … The HBCU College Fair and Financial Aid Awareness Expo at the Hilton Jackson (1001 E. County Line Road) is 6:30-8 p.m. Free; call 601-977-7772 or 601-977-7919.

THURSDAY 3/4 See the latest spring fashions at Fashion Faux Paws at The South (627 E. Silas Brown) at noon. Proceeds benefit Community Animal Rescue and Adoption (CARA). $50; call 601-918-0848 or 601-201-0568. … Enjoy art, music and food during Fondren After 5 from 5-8 p.m. in the Fondren neighborhood. Free admission; call 601-981-9606. … The musical “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” which includes a $3 dessert intermission, starts at 7:30 p.m. at Belhaven University, McCravey-Triplett Student Center (1500 Peachtree St.) in the dining commons. $10, $5 seniors/students/children; call 601-965-7026.

More events and details at jfpevents.com.

Grab the kids and go see “A Year with Frog and Toad” at New Stage Theatre beginning Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.

COURTESY SHANNON FROST

FRIDAY 2/26

St.) opens at 10 a.m. and will be on display until April 1. Donations welcome; call 601-960-1557.

www.thepizzashackjackson.com

STOP IN FOR

(BUDWEISER & BUD LIGHT)

Dine-In / Carry-Out Mon - Thur: 11am-10pm

1220 N. State St. (across from Baptist Medical Center)

CATERING AVAILABLE

jacksonfreepress.com

601-352-2001

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Eric Stracner & the Frustrations, Wooden Finger, Jesse Robinson & the 300lb Blues Band, Buffalo Nickel, Dead Gaze, Will & Linda w/ Bruce Browning, 7even:Thirty

Also Performing: Lisa Palmer and the Knight Bruce Group, Kelly & Colbert, These Days feat. Jewel Bass, Bluz Boys, Dixie Nationals w/ members of Horse Trailer,

jfpevents JFP SPONSORED EVENTS “Talk Radio” Feb. 25-27, 8 p.m., at Mad Genius Inc. (formerly Eyevox) (279 S. Perkins St., Ridgeland). Cory Drake is the director. $13 adults, $10 students; call 601-982-2217.

Radio JFP on WLEZ Returns! Feb. 25, noon, at WLEZ 100.1 FM or wlezfm.com. Join Donna Ladd and Todd Stauffer every Thursday from noon-1 p.m., where they will discuss vital issues, play local music and feature special guests. Free; call 601-362-6121, ext. 17.

Mississippi Happening Feb. 25, 7 p.m., at Mississippi Happening Web site. Hear live music from Lizzie Wright Super Space Ship, Julian Vu and You and Yourn at Chez Space Ship (Lizzie Wright’s house). Also hear music from Rotary Downs’ latest CD. Free; visit mississippihappening.com.

Hal & Mal’s 25th Birthday Celebration Feb. 27, 5 p.m., at Hal and Mal’s (200 Commerce St.).

Party until 2 a.m. with a long line-up of musical acts on four stages. $5; call 601-948-0888.

Jackson 2000 Friendship Ball March 6, 7 p.m., at Hal and Mal’s (200 Commerce St.). This year’s honorees are Dr. Aaron Shirley and Rev. Duncan Gray. Buy your tickets from Youth Media Project students or the Jackson Free Press and every dime you pay goes to the Youth Media Project. $20, $10 students; Call 601-362-6121, ext. 16; e-mail assistant@jacksonfreepress.com.

V-Day 2010 March 25-26, at Hal & Mal’s (200 Commerce St.). The two-day event includes performances of the play “The Vagina Monologues” at 7 p.m. on March 25 and 9 p.m. on March 26.

The film “What I Want My Words to Do to You” will be shown on March 26 at 7 p.m. Proceeds benefit the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Women’s Fund. $20 for play and film, $15 for play only; call 601-362-6121, ext. 11; visit jfptickets.com.

COMMUNITY

THIS WEEK COMMUNITY

BACKYARDS & BEYOND OPENING GALA A traveling exhibition of over 80 paintings and sculptures by Mississippi artist, H.C. Porter.

Arts Center of Mississippi, February 27th, 6-8pm 601-960-1557, www.jacksonartscouncil.org

CULTURE

ROMANTIC PRELUDES AND SCANDINAVIAN GRANDEUR Thalia Mara Hall, February 27th, 7:30pm 601-960-1565, www.msorchestra.com

MUSIC

SISTER HAZEL Fire, February 27th, 9pm 601-592-1000, www.fireclubjackson.com

February 25 - March 3, 2010

DINING

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MANSELL’S DELI Come by Mansell’s Deli for the Roast Beef Sandwich or the Turkey Melt.

Visit www.downtown-jackson.com for a complete calendar.

Call 601-353-9800 for calendar information.

Greater Belhaven Market Feb. 27, 8 a.m., at the Mississippi Farmers Market (929 High St.). The market is open every Saturday from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. until Dec. 18. Free admission; call 601-506-2848 or 601-354-6573.

41st Martin Luther King Birthday Convocation Feb. 25, 10 a.m., at Jackson State University, Rose E. McCoy Auditorium (1400 Lynch St.). The guest speaker is U.S. ambassador Andrew Young. Free; call 601-979-2735.

“Fresh Start” 2009 Career and College Fair Feb. 25, 10 a.m., at the Jackson Medical Mall (350 W. Woodrow Wilson Ave.). High schools seniors and job seekers are encouraged to attend. Free; call 601-982-8467.

Isaac Byrd “For My People” Awards Luncheon at Jackson State University (1400 Lynch St.), in the Student Center Ballroom. This year’s honorees are Amb. Andrew Young, Dr. L.C. Dorsey, Dr. Alferdteen Harrison and Dr. Clarence Hunter.

Dr. John A. Peoples is the guest speaker. Free; call 601-979-2735.

Hysterectomy Seminar Feb. 25, 11:45 a.m., at the Baptist Medical Center (1225 N. State St.), in the Baptist for Women Conference Center. Dr. John Wooley explains all the options. $5 for optional lunch; call 601-948-6262 or 800-948-6262.

Celebrity Pottery Throw Feb. 25, 5:30 p.m., at the Mississippi Craft Center (950 Rice Road, Ridgeland). Watch local sports celebrities try to make pottery. An auction for each celebrity’s work will follow at $1 per popular vote. Free admission; call 601-856-7546.

LGBT Youth Support Group Feb. 25, 6:30 p.m., at Rise Above for Youth office (121 E. State St., Ridgeland). The meeting is for youth ages 14-24.

All are welcome to attend. Free; call 601-922-4968.

Used Book Sale Feb. 26-27, at Fondren Presbyterian Church (3220 Old Canton Road). Proceeds benefit the AAUW Educational Foundation. Hours are 9 a.m.-6 p.m. on Feb. 26 and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Feb. 27. Free admission; call 601-353-9820.

Tougaloo College 22nd Annual Business Luncheon Feb. 26, 11:45 a.m., at Hilton Jackson (1001 E. County Line Road). The guest speaker is W. David Watkins. $40 individual, $375 for table of 10; call 601-977-7871.

Murrah High School Alumni Mixer Feb. 26, 9:30 p.m., at Schimmel’s (2615 N. State St.).

Murrah High School alumni 21 and older are invited to attend. The attire is semi-formal. $20; e-mail jimmie.lee@jleeplays.com.

Jackson Heart Study Health Screenings Feb. 27, 8 a.m., at the Jackson Medical Mall (350 W. Woodrow Wilson Ave.), in the Mall common area. Get basic screenings for ailments that may lead to heart disease. Free; call 601-982-8467.

Gem, Mineral, Fossil and Jewelry Show Feb. 2728, at the Mississippi Trade Mart (1200 Mississippi St.). The show features dealers, demonstrations and exhibits. Show hours are 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Feb. 27, and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Feb. 28. $5 adults, $3 children; call 601-276-2203.

Jackson Zoo Job Fair Feb. 27, noon, at Livingston Park (150 Livingston Park Drive), in the Community Center. All applicants must be 17 or older.

Please bring valid ID. Call 601-352-2580.

New Summit School Draw Down Feb. 27, 5:30 p.m., at the Agriculture and Forestry Museum (1150 Lakeland Drive). Proceeds benefit New Summit School. $100 admission for two; call 601982-7827.

The Extreme Designers Fashion Show Feb. 27, 7 p.m., at the Jackson Medical Mall (350 W. Woodrow Wilson Ave.), in the Thad Cochran Center.

The event showcases fashion designers, make-up artists and hair designers. $12, $15; send an e-mail to extremedesignershowcase@yahoo.com.

Mississippi Arts Commission Call for Grant Applications through March 1, at the Mississippi Arts Commission (Woolfolk Building, 501 N. West St., Suite 1101A). Organizations and individuals may apply. Visit arts.state.ms.us to download an application or apply via eGrant. Free; call 601-359-6030.

“Downtown Spaces, Hip New Places” 2010 March 2-5, in downtown Jackson. On March 2 from 7-9 p.m., a preview party will be held in the King Edward Hotel’s grand ballroom. Tickets are $50. On March 3 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., a luncheon with Helen LaKelly Hunt will be at the Jackson Convention Complex. Tickets are $100 per person or $100 per table. On March 4 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., enjoy a downtown tour and a sidewalk art show on Congress Street for $20. $125 covers all three events; call 601-326-0700; visit womensfundms.org.

“Wildlife Conservation in Australia: a 30-Year Perspective” March 2, noon, at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science (2148 Riverside Drive), in the Rotwein Theater. Dr. James “Skip” Lazell will discuss the Australian wildlife population decline. $3-$5, free for members/children under 3; call 601-896-3884.

Financial Education Seminar March 2, 6 p.m., at the 3000 Fondren Building (3000 Old Canton Road), in suite 550. This month’s topic is organizing financial paperwork. Free; call 601-969-6431.

“History Is Lunch” March 3, noon, at the William F. Winter Archives and History Building (200 North St.). Robbie Fisher presents “The Gulf Islands: Mississippi’s Wilderness Shore.” Bring your own lunch; coffee/water provided. Free; call 601576-6850.

HBCU College Fair and Financial Aid Awareness Expo March 3, 6:30 p.m., at the Hilton Jackson (1001 E. County Line Road). Talk to college

MUSIC Kirtan Concert Feb. 26, 7 p.m., at the LemuriaBooks.com Building (4506 Office Park Drive). Mirabai Ceiba will sing songs and do chants in Spanish and English. $12 advance, $16 at the door; call 601-594-2313.

Three Generations of the Blues Feb. 26, 9:18 p.m., at The Auditorium (622 Duling Ave.). David “Honeyboy” Edwards, King Edward and Eddie Cotton share the stage. $20; call 601-982-0002.

Bravo IV: Romantic Preludes and Scandinavian Grandeur Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m., at Thalia Mara Hall (255 E. Pascagoula St.). The program features clarinetist Ana Catalina Ramírez Castrillo. $40; call 601-960-1565.

STAGE AND SCREEN Jackson Prep Show Choir Showcase Feb. 25-26, 7 p.m., at Jackson Preparatory School (3100 Lakeland Drive). The show choirs Reveillon and Fusion will perform in the Fortenberry Auditorium. $10; call 601-939-8611.

“And They Move” Feb. 26, 6:30 p.m., at Power Academic and Performing Arts Complex (1120 Riverside Drive). Students in grades 4-8 will perform. $4; call 601-960-5300.

Black History Program Feb. 26, 6 p.m., at the Jackson Medical Mall (350 W. Woodrow Wilson Ave.). Students from Champion Gym will perform at Center Stage. Free; call 601-982-8467.

“A Year with Frog and Toad” Feb. 27-March 7, at New Stage Theatre (1100 Carlisle St.). The New Stage Children’s Theatre production is based on Arnold Lobel’s books. Show times are at 2 p.m. on Feb. 27 and March 6-7, and 7 p.m. on March 5. $10, discounts for children under 12 and groups; call 601-948-3531.

“Men II Boys” Film and Lecture Tour Feb. 27, 3 p.m., at New Horizon Church International (Renaissance South, 1770 Ellis Ave.). The film features men delivering words of wisdom for boys and young men of color. Free; call 601-594-8713.

Belhaven University Senior Dance Concert March 3-6, 7:30 p.m., at Belhaven University, Bitsy Irby Visual Arts and Dance Center (1500 Peachtree St.). Senior Bachelor of Fine Arts students will perform. $10 adults, $5 students/ children/seniors; call 601-965-7044.

CREATIVE CLASSES Shut Up and Write! April 3-June 12, at the Jackson Free Press classroom (2727 Old Canton Road, Suite 224). JFP editor-in-chief Donna Ladd’s series of popular non-fiction and creative writing classes will be held every other Saturday from 10 a.m.12:30 p.m. Men and women are welcome. Gift certificates are available. $150 (including materials), $75 non-refundable deposit required; call 601-3626121, ext. 16 or send an e-mail to class@jacksonfree press.com for details.

Stringing Class ongoing, at Dream Beads (605 Duling Ave.). This class is offered every Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. Free; call 601-664-0411.

Belly Dance Class ongoing, at Lumpkin’s Restaurant (182 Raymond Road). The class is held every Saturday. Monique Davis is the instructor. $5; call 601-373-7707.

LITERARY AND SIGNINGS Events at Lemuria Books (202 Banner Hall, 4465 Interstate 55 North). Call 601-366-7619.

• “Bringing Down High Blood Pressure” Feb. 27, noon. Chad Rhoden signs copies of

his book. $22.95 book.

• “Hex Hall: Book One” March 2, 5 p.m.

Rachel Hawkins signs copies of her book. $16.99 book.

“Walking on Broken Glass” Feb. 27, 1 p.m., at Borders (100 Dogwood Blvd., Flowood). Christa Allan, mother of Mustard Seed resident Sarah Allen, signs copies of her book. Proceeds benefit The Mustard Seed. $13.99 book; call 985-635-9339.

PBS Kids Go! Contest through March 31, at Mississippi Public Broadcasting (3825 Ridgewood Road). Children in kindergarten through third grade can submit stories with illustrations. Free; call 601-432-6565; visit mpbonline.org.

GALLERIES Art Show Feb. 25, 8 a.m., at the Mississippi State Capitol (400 High St.). Students from Puckett Attendance Center will be showcasing their artwork in the rotunda. Free; call 601-825-2244.

Annual Belhaven Student Exhibition through March 22, at Belhaven University, Bitsy Irby Visual Arts and Dance Center (1500 Peachtree St.). See student works in a wide range of styles and media.

Free; call 601-965-7026.

EXHIBITS AND OPENINGS Events at the Arts Center of Mississippi (201 E. Pascagoula St.). Call 601-960-1557.

• “Backyards and Beyond” March 1-April 1.

The focus of the exhibition by H.C. Porter is life after Katrina on the Gulf Coast. Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.5 p.m. Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday.

Donations welcome; call 601-960-1557.

• “Just Dance” through April 30. The Greater Jackson Arts Council is calling for entries such as painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, film/ video, mixed media and installation. Only photos, digital prints or digital files will be accepted; no slides or original artwork. Samples will not be returned. $25 entry fee; call 601-960-1557.

“Home Sweet Home” Exhibit through May 13, at Mississippi Museum of Natural Science (2148 Riverside Drive). Smokey the Bear and Woodsy Owl come to life in this interactive exhibit. Hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. $3-$5, free for members and children under 3; call 601-354-7303.

Check jfpevents.com for updates and more listings. To add an event, e-mail all details (phone number, start/ end date and time, street address, cost, URL, etc.) to events@jacksonfreepress.com or fax to 601-510-9019.

The deadline is noon the Thursday prior to the week of publication. Or, add the event online yourself; check out jfpevents.com for instructions.

BE THE CHANGE Dress for Success Clothing Drive Feb. 27 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., at Repeat Street (626 Ridgewood Road, Ridgeland). Donate new and gently-used clothing and accessories. Call 601-985-9888.

“Gridiron Heroes” Feb. 27, 6:30 p.m., at Alumni House (574 Highway 51 North, Ridgeland). Guests include Michael Oher, who was portrayed in the movie “The Blind Side.”

Proceeds benefit the Mississippi Firefighters Memorial Burn Association. Attendees must be 18 or older. $30 individual, $50 couple; call 601-540-2995 or 601-212-9870.

Footsteps in Hope Walk Fundraiser through March 28. The 8K walk/run at Old Trace Park (Post Road, Ridgeland) on March 28 is in support of HIV/AIDS projects such as Grace House. Donations welcome; call 901338-7011; visit footstepsinhope.org.

jacksonfreepress.com

recruiters and get information on options to pay for college. Free; call 601-977-7772 or 601-977-7919.

25

arts

by Valerie Wells

COURTESY NUNOERIN

Art Meets Science

NunoErin’s 300-foot installation, shown in the rendering above, will hang in the Jackson Convention Center. Manufacturing and installing the panels will take about four months.

W

February 25 - March 3, 2010

hen Erin Hayne first brought her Portuguese husband home to Mississippi, the humidity immediately consumed him.

“I was breathing water,” sculptor Nuno Gonçalves Ferreira says. “Portugal is dry.”

Hayne, 33, a textile whiz from Jackson, and Ferreira, 36, create cutting-edge designs influenced by Mississippi nature.

The state’s climate inspired “Kinetic Vapor,” the winning proposal to create signature art for the Jackson Convention Center. NunoErin, the couple’s studio, won the international competition with the idea of visualizing vapor dancing over the ground using light and aluminum panels stretching 300 feet. They were the only artists in Mississippi to compete.

The 75 panels making up the long piece of public art will run the length of the center’s interior along a wall separating the first and second floors. Escalator riders will see the image change as they go up and down. Passersby will see the gigantic metal ribbon from the sidewalk and neighboring buildings.

Half a million little aluminum dots bent at hundreds of varying angles in the panels

26

will imitate raindrops. Ambient light will hit the panels of raised, tilted dots in swaying patterns of silver, gray and purple hues. From beneath, computerized LED lights will dance like water vapor patterns gracefully unfolding and spinning in air currents, sometimes with more intensity and sometimes with less. Different lights will graze the sides of the circles, creating varying effects.

As visitors move around the panels— from the escalators or across the street—the patterns will shift, the light will refract new colors. An optical illusion will surface as the fixed pixel-like dots will seem to move like reflective scales on a chameleon, with more than 16 million possible colors.

Hayne and Ferreira took pictures of water droplets to study when they first began work on their proposal. Hayne says interactivity with the images was key.

“We wanted to know how we can have a relation between art work and the people inside,” Hayne says. “How can they be affected?”

The two designers—who got married in the Cypress Swamp with a mutual love for Mississippi nature—live and work in a

downtown space on Congress Street. NunoErin morphs from a sleek, modern furniture showroom into a futuristic technology lab, melding art and science. All their work revolves around subtle, constant changes in the environment and how people discover that environment.

NunoErin designs furniture and wall hangings that change color when you lean against them or sit on them. The Love Handles chair is the latest piece of furniture NunoErin covered in thermo-sensitive material. It’s manufactured in Tupelo and is extra-wide, wider than your average extrawide chair with ample cushioning. It has a low back but no sides for arms to rest. On either side, the chair droops slightly like a little extra belly weight lapping over a belt.

A specialized coating helps create the greenpurple mood-ring color change when body heat presses against the surface. Stools shaped like cypress stumps, acoustic tiles that mimic waves and over-sized, asymmetrical benches for a small crowd all leave evidence of recent visitors’ hand prints that will fade and return to it’s original dark, even black color.

The furniture sells. Right now you can find it in hotel lobbies, hospitals, museums and residential spaces. It is also in concept stores, new bars and nightclubs, a casino in Macao and in the Mayo Clinic. Playboy magazine has expressed interest in using the furniture in an upcoming photo shoot.

NunoErin also experiments with bioluminescence, using products made from organisms that glow in the dark. Painting sidewalks throughout a city with a process NunoErin calls Luciform would create bottom-lit sidewalks that absorb sunshine during the day and glow for eight to 10 hours at night. Parks could be lit at night. Stargazing in the city would be possible because of the low ground light lighting. And there’s a practical application. Luciform could aid cities in natural disasters and power outages. Street markers could be seen under water during a flood.

Hayne and Ferreira moved into the downtown studio six months ago. They say they wanted to be part of a city evolving into a cosmopolitan center. When the competition for the convention center project opened last year, they jumped at the chance to help define a Mississippi identity.

“We thought it would be amazing if we had the opportunity to do something for Jackson, to be involved somehow,” Hayne says. “We worked really hard. It was a big risk, and a big responsibility—we were the only ones from Mississippi. This shows that young people here can compete.”

“It’s the perfect moment for creation,” Ferreira says. “You feel, this is something— that moment, click, opportunity, gift ...” He looks at Hayne and leans forward, searching for the right word. She rocks back on one foot, looks at him and smiles.

“It’s like the love we have for each other,” he says. “It’s true, Erin!”

“I know,” she says, leaning toward him.

“We have to have a fantastic sense of humor to work and live together,” Ferreira says. “It’s a crazy back-and-forth process.”

music

by Beth Dickson

Furrows is a fusion of two former Jackson favorite bands: Jonezetta and Goodman County.

A

s Cody Cox counts his cash drawer at the end of his shift at the Fondren Cups, one can’t help but wonder about the stories behind each of the colorful tattoos that adorn his forearms.

When Cox was 3, he was stung by a fire ant and almost died from anaphylactic shock. A tattoo of a carpenter ant on its back with a fencing foil plunged through his belly, and the banner reading “foiled” commemorates Cox’s recovery from that traumatic childhood event. When Cox’s friend Justin Hilbun, a singer for the band Way High Men from New Orleans, died in a car wreck, Cox and 16 of Hilbun’s close friends chose a commemorative tattoo of a guitar amp tube.

The tattoo artist donated all the proceeds from those tattoos to a New Orleans nonprofit in Hilbun’s memory.

Later, as Cox begins to recount all the jobs he currently holds, it seems he would need more arms than Shiva to get through each day’s to-do list. Cox is Jackson’s reigning “Best Barista” according to JFP reader’s poll, but when most Jacksonians’ workdays are ending, Cox is just getting warmed up.

In addition to his barista duties, Cox books musical acts for Ole Tavern, but his passion is most evident as lead singer and front man of Furrows, a “new” Jackson band.

Cox celebrated his 30th birthday last April by playing a farewell show with his band of seven years, Goodman County. Immediately following the show, Cox recorded a solo album with Tyler Kemp of Jonezetta playing keyboards. That collaboration led to the formation of Furrows, with guitarist Jason Daniel from Circus of the Seed, former Goodman County drummer Tony Abercrombie and bassist Barry Shannon rounding out the band. The guys have been playing together for the past nine months and just finished recording a self-titled album that will be released Feb. 24 on Cox’s label, Elegant Trainwreck Records.

Cox said the band decided Furrows was a good name for the new endeavor.

“What’s funny is that most people call it ‘The’ Furrows but it’s actually a verb.

I know that’s kind of a nerdy thing, but it’s intended to be a verb,” Cox says. Cox added that he likes words that have double meaning for aesthetic purposes—more so homonyms than double entendres. “I think

our music is very organic, which lends itself to that name. We don’t want to be another ‘The’ band, so we decided to drop the ‘The,’” Cox says.

The new album features seven songs ranging from bluesy rockers to more expansive, soulful ballads, with a common thread of Cox’s introspective and, at times, confessional lyrics. The lead track, “Sweet Anasthesia,” is a bluesy, N’Awlins-tinged rock song.

The lyrics bring to mind a down-on-his-luck bar fly pleading with a green absinthe fairy to deaden his pain: “Sweet Anasthesia, come and rest your head by mine and whisper to me with a head full of happier times. I’ll buy you a drink if you’ll whisper in my ear. Just promise me that I won’t wake up ’til some time next year.”

In contrast, “No Letters,” the closing track, is a soulful, gritty, hard-stomping rock ‘n’ roll song. The rhythm section of Abercrombie and Shannon adds a nasty, sexy swinging backbeat to Cox’s lyrics about “Miss Conception:” “She was an actress in them days. Aw you know all about them games that you play.

Cut notches in the headboard to keep score.”

Cox’s favorite song on the album is “Ambulance,” written in part for his friend Hilbun.

“I think it’s some of the best writing. It’s the heaviest song with a lot of weight in the lyrics,” Cox says.

The band’s songs are perfect for the intelligent rocker who prefers lyrics with heft and wit. Although Cox wrote all the songs on the current album, bassist Shannon said that band uses a collaborative song-writing process. “We all kind of parent the song,” he says.

It’s just downright fun to watch Furrows play. Abercrombie, Furrow’s affable drummer, morphs from a grinning, huggable sweetheart to a wild man reminiscent of the Muppets’ drummer, Animal. The pure joy of making music radiates from his bright smile.

Abercrombie says that the band has really begun to gel in the past few months.

“I believe it gets closer and closer with every interaction that we have. … We’ve been a band eight months I guess, as is, with two new members,” he says. “Three of us have played together a lot. We know how to work off of each other … bringing two new guys into it. It’s not starting over from scratch so much as just grafting new branches in and getting everything adjusted in order to help us all to still grow … not die off or get lazy … try to keep everything together and keep everybody included.”

Furrows’ album-release party is March 12, at 7 p.m. at Sneaky Beans (2914 N. State St.) with Dead Gaze opening. Tickets are $5 in advance and $7 at the door. The album and T-shirts will be available at Sneaky Beans, the Little Big Store in Raymond, Pizza Shack and at all Furrows shows. Find more info at www.myspace.com/furrowsband.

BANDS/DJS FOR HIRE Disc Jockey (DJ) Service Professional DJ - 20 Years Experience - Holiday Parties/Weddings/Birthdays/Private Parties, Lights/Fog/Etc available, Photography Services Available, Live Band Availble (601) 850-4380

GEAR Marching Baritone/Euphonium Wanted to purchase: Used marching B-flat baritone or marching euphonium. Very reasonable price. Good condition!

Call: 769-232-2415 Bach stradivarius trombone Bach Stradivarius professional trombone w/ F -rotary valve, Excellent condition. Dynamic tonal quality. $1,600.00 Call:- 769 232 2415 Bass gear Quality professional gear. Swr Silverado combo.

350 watts RMS. $400. New aoustic 200 watt bass head $200. Two Swr 1 15’ and horn cabinets $250 ea. Loud and Clean Sold seperately or together.

(601) 214-4412 Professional Sound Engineers Need sound equipment or just a couple of engineers at your next event call Daniel 601.488.0436 any venue large or small anywhere in the south.

Complete PA Huge carvin pa for sale, all accessories, cables, processors, mics, stands, lights, amps, etc. Over $20,000 in gear to sell for best offers. Equipment is in as new condition. (225) 341-9391 Guitar Gear - Must Sell!!

Vox AD120VTH Valvetronix Stereo Head $400, 1x12 and 2x12 cabinets- $80-$125. (601) 540-1739 Need extra sound?

Need sound or just an engineer at your next event call Daniel 601.488.0436 or Mike 601.291.9713.

1 - 1604vlz 1 - pmp-5000 - powered mixer 10 - b1520 pro - speaker cabinets 6 - b1800x pro - sub cabinets 4 - f1520 pro - monitor cabinets 5 - ep1500 - power amps 2 - ep2500 - power amps 1 - 266xl - compressor limiter 2 - s - 3-way crossover 2 - ew165g2 e865 - wireless mics 6 - pr99 - mics.

Lighting also available: 6 - Scanners 12 - Par Cans 1- Laze

MISCELLANEOUS Need A Few Good Musicians Interested in helping to set up music non-profit organization (centered around the blues) for disadvantaged youths in the jackson metropolitan area? If so, i am looking to talk to you. Need musicians who can teach everything from banjo, guitar, dobro, mandolin, fiddle, accordion, harmonica, piano, etc., Etc. Come be a part of this great project! (601) 924-0210.

MUSICIANS AVAILABLE Drummer Available Mature/seasoned drummer available. Have played everything from country to Christian Contemporary.

Would like to join existing band or form new one with seasoned musicians ONLY...no beginners please! Would like to play classic rock, blues and/ or contemporary. Call if interested. (601) 613-5835 Musician Available 25 Years experience playing Drums, Guitar & Bass.

Recently relocated to Jackson from Memphis, TN. All genres of music. Contact Tim at 601-665-5976.

Or email: reeves@cgdsl.net Serious inquires only.

Looking to Start Band I am a bass player new in town and am looking to start a band in the Jackson area. I need a guitarist, drummer and lead vocals. No specific genre is preferred, but the band will be based on rock and metal (no death or black metal). I’ve played in several bands and played out hundreds of times and am able to get gigs. If interested or for more info please call Chris @ 386-365-2944 Drummer Available 41 Year old drummer looking to play with existing group or start one. Great love for the instrument and really want to put something together for fun and profit (gigs 1-3 month). Rock, classic rock, pop, jazz, and swing. Good chops and attitude, no ego, just want to play. Call bill @ 601-955-7924 or e-mail at wricha2796@aol. Com. (601) 955-7924 Female Vocalist Seeking Band I am a 16-year-old female vocalist seeking a synthpop or rock band. Ages of band members preferrably 25 years or younger due to parental objections. Contact by email at freezepopforever10 29@hotmail.com.

Old Drummer Available!

DRUMMER AVAILABLE: Most recently, I have played with The Veterans of Foreign Bars band.

Interested in playing Blues, Funk, Soul, maybe Country. I am an older guy and settled in for the duration. I would be interested in a steady band, fill-in, and, possibly, a new start-up. Let me hear: mcdrum89@yahoo.com or call 601-832-0831 Jazz Musician Seeking Band I sing Jazz standards and am looking for mature drug free adult musicians. Retirees welcome to apply. You must be able to travel or do a gig within 48 hours notice. Please call Nola at 601-862-7626 between 11am-5pm, Monday-Friday Drummer Looking For Band I’m an experienced drummer looking to form/join a band. I have mostly played metal, but I am open to rock/hard rock/metal, etc. Call Dave at (769) 226-0845.

New band Experienced bass player/vocal and sound engineer/ keyboard are forming a rock band. We are seeking experienced musicians to join. +30 age preferred.

Open to music from 1960’s to current day. Must own equipment and no illegal habits. Call Charles at (601) 898-1628 or Gary at (601) 850-4380

MUSICIANS WANTED Bass player needed Looking for bass player to join weekend band.

Classic Rock, Classic R&B, a little blues and a little country. (601) 856-3107 Deathcore guitarists Metal band looking for 2 exp’d guitarists. Influences include WhiteChapel, Carnifex, Opeth, etc.

Call David for more info (601) 201-3815 Metal Singer & Bassist Wanted AnnX is looking for a Experienced Energetic METAL Vocalist and a Bass Player to play shows and write new material. (601) 383-4851 Become our Next Instructor Major Scales Studio is accepting applications for a classical or rock or jazz guitar teacher. Must have professional appearance. Please email your resume to Majorscales@aol.com.

Cellist Needed For Album/tour Cellist needed for my album and possibly to tour shortly after. I am signed with South City Records. I need to start recording ASAP! Must be reliable and dedicated. Please contact me at scorpiano31@gmail.com Drummer/Bassist needed - Metal We are in need of a drummer and a bassist. Experience in metal (death, black, etc.) is preffered, but not completely necessary. Call Buddy at (601)5025647. Thanks for reading. -Buddy

jacksonfreepress.com

COURTESY FURROWS

Grafting ‘New’ Branches

Looking for band mates? Wanting to sell your gear?

Advertise here for free! Visit JFP Classifieds.com. If you are interested in sponsoring the Musicians Exchange call JFP Sales at 601-362-6121 ext. 11.

27

livemusic 8

around S A Lthe O Ocorner N

Country and Rock Music OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK - 4 P.M. ‘TIL

HAPPY HOUR 5-7, MON -THURS

LIVE MUSIC CALENDAR

COLT FORD COMING APRIL 2 TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE! WEDNESDAY - FEBRUARY 24

Karaoke w/ Mike Mott

ALL SHOWS 10PM UNLESS NOTED WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY - FEBRUARY 25

Dylan Moss Project 2/24

LADIES NIGHT (FREE DRAFT CUP 9-11)

LADIES NIGHT

FRIDAY - FEBRUARY 26

TREY JEWELL

LADIES DRINK ALL YOU CAN 8PM-12AM FOR $5 - NO COVER THURSDAY

2/25

FEB. 25, THURSDAY

OPEN ‘TIL 2AM FRIDAY

2/26

ROTARY

SATURDAY - FEBRUARY 27

JAY AND THE T-BIRDS SUN. & MON. - FEB. 28 & MAR. 1

2 for 1 Domestics

DOWNS

TUESDAY - MARCH 2

Pool League Night

W/ SPECIAL GUEST

2636 S. Gallatin Jackson, MS 39204

601-961-4747 www.myspace.com/popsaroundthecorner

ROCK 93.9 and FIRE present: SATURDAY

2/27

ZOOGMA SUNDAY

2/28

KARAOKE MONDAY

3/1

OPEN MIC JAM TUESDAY

3/2

MATT’S LATE NIGHT KARAOKE $2 MARGARITAS $1 HIGHLIFE & PBR

February 25 - March 3, 2010

WEDNESDAY

28

3/3

LADIES NIGHT LADIES DRINK ALL YOU CAN 8PM-12AM FOR $5 - NO COVER 214 S. STATE ST. • 601.354.9712 DOWNTOWN JACKSON WWW.MARTINSLOUNGE.NET

FEB. 24, WEDNESDAY F. Jones Corner - Sherman Lee Dillon (blues lunch) free Hal & Mal’s - Robbie Peoples Shucker’s - DoubleShotz 7:30-11:30 p.m. free Underground 119 - Big Juv Brawley & Steve Chester 8-11 p.m.

Steam Room Grille - Vick Allen 6-9 p.m.

Pelican Cove - Karaoke Contest Finals 6-10 p.m.

Kathryn’s - Larry Brewer z 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Ole Tavern - Karaoke The Auditorium - Karaoke 9-12 a.m.

Fitzgerald’s, Hilton - Sofa Kings 8 p.m.

Regency Hotel - Snazz myspace.com/snazzband2 Footloose - Karaoke 8-12 a.m. free Electric Cowboy - Karaoke McB’s - Houseband 7 p.m. free Eli’s Treehouse, V’burg - Karaoke 8 p.m.

MAR 11 - POP EVIL MAR 18 - SAVING ABEL APR 22 - SICK PUPPIES MAY 4 - SMILE EMPTY

TOPTEN SONGS THIS WEEK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

CHEVELLE - Letter From A Thief CAVO - Crash MUDVAYNE – Scream With Me SLIPKNOT - Snuff ALICE IN CHAINS - Your Decision JANUS - Eyesore BREAKING BENJAMIN - Give Me A Sign (Forever And Ever) 8 HALESTORM – It’s Not You 9 THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH- Fire It Up 10 FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH - Walk Away

F. Jones Corner - Sherman Lee Dillon (blues lunch) free Underground 119 - Howard Jones Jazz Duo 5:45-7 p.m. free; Los Papis (Latin) 8-11 p.m. free Shucker’s - Rhythm Masters 7:3011:30 p.m. free Que Sera - Larry Brewer 6-10 p.m.

930 Blues Cafe - Jackie Bell, Norman Clark & Smoke Stack Lightning 8 p.m. $5 Cherokee Inn - D’lo Trio (Americana) Soulshine, Township - Fingers Taylor & friends 6:30-9:30 p.m. free Fenian’s - Legacy 8-11 p.m.

Pop’s Saloon - Trailer Park Playboys Footloose - Karaoke 8-12 a.m.

Regency Hotel - Karaoke 7 p.m.

The Auditorium - Shane & Frazier 7:30-9 p.m.

Poets II - Karaoke 10 p.m.

Castaways - Karaoke 6-10 p.m.

Electric Cowboy - DJ Cadillac 9 p.m.

McB’s - Karaoke 7 p.m. free Eli’s Treehouse, V’burg - Karaoke 8 p.m.

Lyric, Oxford - Dark Star Orchestra

FEB. 26, FRIDAY The Auditorium - Larry Brewer 7:309 p.m.; Honey Boy Edwards, King Edward, Eddie Cotton 9 p.m.

Martin’s - Rotary Downs+ 10 p.m. www.rotarydowns.com Shucker’s - Yankee Station 8-1 a.m. $5 Fire - Battery: Masters of Metallica 10 p.m. myspace.com/ batterymetallicatribute Underground 119 - Scott Albert Johnson (roots/juke) 9 p.m.

121 Studios, 121 Millsaps Ave. - Tim Lee 3, Jake Winstrom, The Used Goods 9:30 p.m. myspace.com/timleemusic ; myspace.com/jakewinstrom Hal & Mal’s Restaurant - The Fearless Four Ole Tavern - The Blue Party, Jaybirds & the Barry 10 p.m.

F. Jones Corner - Sherman Lee Dillon (blues lunch) free; Sherman Lee Dillon’s Miss. Sound w/Jesse “Guitar” Smith 11:30-4 a.m. $5 Sam’s Lounge - Blacksmiths 10 p.m.

2/24 2/25 2/25-26 2/26 2/26 2/27

930 Blues Cafe - Blues/Jazz 5:30-8 p.m.; Jackie Bell, Grady Champion 9 p.m. $10 Schimmel’s - Dr. D 6-9 p.m. free Soulshine, Township - Taylor Hildebrand 8 p.m. free Soulshine, Old Fannin - Joe Carroll 8 p.m. free Fenian’s - Buie, Hamman & Porter (Classic Rock) 9-12 a.m.

Electric Cowboy - DJ Terry 9 p.m.

Footloose - Karaoke 9-1 a.m. free Pelican Cove - Extremez 6-10 p.m.

Regency Hotel - Topper McB’s - Johnny Crocker 8-11:30 p.m. free Dick & Jane’s - Show Night/DJ Allen 9 p.m. $6; 18+ $10 Cultural Expressions - Reggae/HipHop/Old School Night 9 p.m. $5 RJ Barrel’s - Big Juv Brawley/ Shaun Patterson 8-10 p.m.

Poets II - Diesel 255 - 10-1 a.m.

Ameristar, V’burg - Dr. Zarr’s Funkmonster 8 p.m.

Beechwood, V’burg - Snazz Beau Rivage,Biloxi-Moody Blues $60+

10 p.m.

Kathryn’s, Ridgeland - Emma Wynters 7-10 p.m.

Regency Hotel - Topper Electric Cowboy - DJ Terry 9 p.m.

The Auditorium - Robby Peoples 7:30-9 p.m.

McB’s - Fulkerson/Pace 7:30-11:30 p.m. free Dick & Jane’s - House Party/DJ Allen 9 p.m. $6; 18+ $10 Pelican Cove - Thomas James & Chris 6-10 p.m.

Footloose Bar, Hwy 80 Doug Frank SurRealLife 9-1 a.m. www.myspace.com/ dougfrankmusic Bonnie Blair’s Irish Pub - Shaun Patterson 7-10 p.m.

Club Clarion - DJ Koinonia Coffee - Gospoetry 8-12 p.m. $5 Reed Pierce’s - Rainmakers 9-1 a.m. www.rainmakersband.com Ameristar, V’burg - Dr. Zarr’s Funkmonster 8 p.m.

Beechwood, V’burg - Snazz

FEB. 27, SATURDAY

FEB. 28, SUNDAY

Hal & Mal’s - Hal & Mal’s 25th Anniversary Celebration: Restaurant: Swing d’Paris 5:45 p.m.; Scott Albert Johnson 7 p.m.; Vernon Brothers 8:15 p.m.; Lisa Palmer & the Knght Bruce Group 9:15 p.m.; Will & Kelly w/ Bruce Browning 10:30 p.m.; Bill & Temperance 11:30 p.m.; Kelly & Colbert 12:30 a.m.; Big Room: Schroeder 6:15 p.m.; Men of Leisure 7:30 p.m.; Rocket 88 8:45 p.m.; These Days w/ Jewel Bass 10 p.m.; Bluz Boys 11:15 p.m.

Dixie National w/ members of Horse Trailer 12:30 p.m.; Red Room: Eric Stracener & the Frustrations 6 p.m.; Sofa Kings 7:15 p.m.; Wooden Finger 8:30 p.m.; Jesse Robinson & the 300lb Blues Band 9:45 p.m.; Buffalo Nickel 11 p.m.; The Vamps 12:15 a.m.; Patio: Dead Gaze 6:15 p.m.; Los Buddies 7:30 p.m.; Fedora Welty 8:45 p.m.; Robby Peoples 10 p.m.; Jaybirds & Barry 11:15 p.m.; 7even:Thirty 12:30 a.m. $5 (4 stages: blues, jazz, rock, bluegrass, roots,+) Fire - Sister Hazel 9 p.m. $15, 18+ $20 myspace.com/sisterhazel Thalia Mara Hall - Miss. Symphony Orchestra: Bravo IV: Romantic Preludes & Scandinavian Grandeur 7:30 p.m., $20+, 601-9601565, www.msorchestra.com Martin’s - Zoogma 10 p.m. www.zoogma.net Sneaky Beans - Liver Mousse, The Passing Parade 7-10 p.m.

Fenian’s - Sherman Lee Dillon (Blues Folk) 9-12 a.m.

Shucker’s - Will & Linda 3-7 p.m. free; Yankee Station 8-1 a.m. $5 930 Blues Cafe - Blues/Jazz 5:30-8 p.m.; Jackie Bell, Grady Champion 9 p.m. $10 F. Jones Corner - The Houserockers 11:30-4 a.m. $5 myspace.com/ thehouserockers Cultural Expressions - Kamikaze & Yardboy 9 p.m. $5 Sam’s Lounge - Triumphant Return

King Edward Hotel - Howard Jones Trio (jazz brunch) 11-2 p.m.

Warehouse - Mike & Marty Open Jam Session 6-10 p.m. free Fitzgerald’s - Andy Hardwick (brunch) 11-2 p.m.

Sophia’s, Fairview Inn - Knight Bruce 11 a.m. (brunch) Shucker’s - Rhythm Masters 3-7 p.m. free Pelican Cove - Jedi Clampett Duo 2-6 p.m.

The Hill - Open Blues Jam 6-11 p.m.

Footloose - Karaoke 7-11 p.m. free Cultural Expressions - Open Mic Poetry 8 p.m. $5 Two River’s, Canton - Hunter Gibson & Rick Moreira 9-12 a.m. free

Tegan & Sara - Tipitina’s, N.O. Dark Star Orchestra - Lyric, Oxford Rev. Horton Heat - House of Blues Parish, N.O. Eric Burdon, WAR, The Animals - Hard Rock Casino, Biloxi Grand Funk Railroad - Beau Rivage, Biloxi Indigo Girls - House of Blues, N.O.; 3/05 Tipitina’s, N.O.

MARCH 1, MONDAY Hal & Mal’s Restaurant - Central Miss. Blues Society Jam 8-11 p.m. $5 F. Jones Corner - Sherman Lee Dillon (blues lunch) free Martin’s - Open Mic 10 p.m. free Fenian’s - Karaoke 8-1 a.m.

MARCH 2, TUESDAY F. Jones Corner - Sherman Lee Dillon (blues lunch) free Millsaps Ford Academic Complex Miss. Symphony Orchestra Benefit: Composer Colman Pearce 7 p.m. $20; after party $15 Hal & Mal’s Restaurant - Pub Quiz 8 p.m.

Fenian’s - Open Mic 9 p.m.

Martin’s - Karaoke Shucker’s - The Extremez 7:30-11:30 p.m. free AJ’s Seafood - Hunter Gibson 6:30-10 p.m. free Fitzgerald’s - Rainmaker’s 8-12 a.m.

Ole Tavern - Open Mic Time Out - Open Mic 8 p.m.

McB’s - Karaoke 7 p.m. free Final Destination - Open Mic Lumpkin’s BBQ - Time to Move Band 9-11:30 p.m.

venuelist Wednesday, February 24th Fusion Coffeehouse Highland Colony Parkway, Ridgeland, 601-856-6001 Garfield’s Restaurant & Pub 6340 Ridgewood Court, Jackson, 601-977-9920 Gold Strike Casino 1010 Casino Center Drive, Robinsonville, 888-245-7529 Grand Casino Biloxi 280 Beach Boulevard, Biloxi, 228-436-2946 Grand Casino Tunica 13615 Old Highway 61 North, Robinsonville, 800-39-GRAND The Green Room 444 Bounds St., Jackson, 601-713-3444 Ground Zero Blues Club 0 Blues Alley, Clarksdale, 662-621-9009 Grownfolks’s Lounge 4030 Medgar Evers Blvd, Jackson, 601-362-6008 Hal & Mal’s 200 S. Commerce St., Jackson, 601-948-0888 (pop/rock/blues) Hamp’s Place 3028 W. Northside Dr., Jackson, 601-981-4110 (dance/dj) Hard Rock Biloxi 777 Beach Blvd., Biloxi, 228-374-ROCK Hat & Cane 1115 E. McDowell Rd., Jackson, 601-352-0411 Hauté Pig 1856 Main St., Madison, 601853-8538 Here We Go Again 3002 Terry Road, Jackson, 601-373-1520 The Hill Restaurant 2555 Valley St., Jackson, 601-373-7768 Horizon Casino Mulberry Lounge 1310 Mulberry St., Vicksburg, 800-843-2343 Horseshoe Bar 5049 Hwy 80 West, Jackson, 601-922-6191 Horseshoe Casino Tunica, 800-303-7463 The Hunt Club 1525 Ellis Ave., Jackson, 601-944-1150 Huntington Grille 1001 E. County Line Rd., Jackson, 601-957-1515 The Ice House 515 S. Railroad Blvd., McComb, 601-684-0285 (pop/rock) JC’s 425 North Mart Plaza, Jackson, 601-362-3108 James Meredith Lounge 217 Griffith St. 601-969-3222 Julep Restaurant and Bar 105 Highland Village, Jackson, 601-362-1411 Kathryn’s Steaks and Seafood 6800 Old Canton Road, Ridgeland. 601-956-2803 Koinonia Coffee House 136 S. Adam St., Suite C, Jackson, 601-960-3008 LaRae’s 210 Parcel Dr., Jackson, 601-944-0660 Last Call Sports Grill 1428 Old Square Road, Jackson, 601-713-2700 The Library Bar & Grill 120 S. 11th St., Oxford, 662-234-1411 The Loft 1306 A. Washington St., Vicksburg, 601-629-6188 The Lyric Oxford 1006 Van Buren Ave., Oxford. 662-234-5333 Main Event Sports Bar & Grill 4659 Hwy 80 West, Jackson, 601-922-9987 Manda’s Pub 614 Clay Street, Vicksburg, 601-638-6607 Martin’s Lounge 214 S. State St., Jackson, 601-354-9712 (rock/jam/blues) McB’s Restaurant 815 Lake Harbor Dr., Ridgeland, 601-956-8362 (pop/rock) Mellow Mushroom 275 Dogwood Blvd., Flowood, 601-992-7499 Mississippi Academy of Ancient Music 103 Magnolia, Edwards, 601-977-7736 Mississippi Coliseum 1207 Mississippi St., Jackson, 601-353-0603 Mississippi Opera P.O. Box 1551, Jackson, 877-MSOPERA, 601-960-2300 Mississippi Opry 2420 Old Brandon Rd., Brandon, 601-331-6672 Mississippi Symphony Orchestra 201 East Pascagoula St., Jackson, 800-898-5050 Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium 2531 N. State St., Jackson, 601-354-6021 Monte’s Steak and Seafood 1855 Lakeland Dr., Jackson, 601-362-8182 Mugshots 1855 Lakeland Dr., Jackson, 601-713-0383 North Jackson Pockets 109 Culley Dr., Jackson, 601- 362-4939 Okasions 1766 Ellis Avenue, Jackson, 601-373-4037 Old Venice Pizza Co. 1428 Old Square Rd., Jackson, 601-366-6872 Ole Tavern on George Street 416 George St., Jackson, 601-960-2700 Olga’s 4760 I-55 North, Jackson, 601-366-1366 (piano)

One to One Studio 121 Millsaps Ave., in the Millsaps Arts District, Jackson One Blue Wall 2906 N State St., Jackson, 601-713-1224 8:30 pm - Guys’ Cover $5 Peaches Restaurant 327 N. Farish St., Jackson, 601-354-9267 Pelican Cove 3999A Harborwalk Dr., Thursday, February 25th Ridgeland, 601-605-1865 Pig Ear Saloon 160 Weisenberger Rd., Gluckstadt, 601-898-8090 Bike Night w/ Krazy Karaoke Pig Willies 1416 Washington St., Vicks7:00 pm - No Cover burg, 601-634-6872 Pool Hall 3716 I-55 North Frontage Rd., Jackson, 601-713-2708 Pop’s Saloon 2636 Gallatin St., Jackson, Friday & Saturday, 601-961-4747 (country) February 26th & 27th Proud Larry’s 211 S. Lamar Blvd., Oxford, 662-236-0050 The Pub Hwy. 51, Ridgeland, 601-898-2225 The Quarter Bistro & Piano Bar 1855 Lakeland Dr., Jackson, 601-362-4900 Que Sera Sera 2801 N. State St., Jackson, 601-981-2520 Red Room 200 S. Commerce St., Jackson (Hal & Mal’s), 601-948-0888 (rock/alt.)

Reed Pierce’s 6791 Siwell Rd., Byram, 601-376-0777, 601-376-4677 8:30 pm - $5 cover Regency Hotel Restaurant & Bar 420 Greymont Ave., Jackson, 601-969-2141 Exquisite Dining at Rick’s Cafe 318 Hwy 82 East, #B, The Rio Grande Restaurant Starkville, 662-324-7425 RJ Barrel 111 N. Union 601-667-3518 Sal and Mookie’s 565 Taylor St. 601368-1919 Sam’s Lounge 5035 I-55 N. Frontage Rd., Jackson, 601-983-2526 Sam’s Town Casino 1477 Casino Strip Blvd., Robinsonville, 800-456-0711 Schimmel’s Fine Dining 2615 N. State St., Jackson, 601-981-7077 Scrooge’s 5829 Ridgewood Rd., Jackson, 601-206-1211 400 Greymont Ave., Jackson Shuckers on the Reservoir 116 Cones601-969-2141 toga Rd., Ridgeland, 601-853-0105 www.regencyjackson.com Silver Star Casino Hwy. 16 West, Choctaw, 800-557-0711 Soop’s The Ultimate 1205 Country Club Dr., Jackson, 601-922-1402 (blues) Soulshine Pizza 1139 Old Fannin Rd., Brandon, 601-919-2000 Soulshine Pizza 1111 Highland Colony Parkway, Ridgeland, 601-856-8646 Sportsman’s Lodge 1220 E. Northside Dr. at I-55, Jackson, 601-366-5441 Steam Room Grille 5402 Interstate-55 Frontage Road. 601-899-8588 Stone Pony Oyster Bar 116 Commercial Parkway, Canton, 601-859-0801 Super Chikan’s Place 235 Yazoo Ave., Clarksdale, 662-627-7008 Thalia Mara Hall 255 E. Pascagoula St., Jackson, 601-960-1535 Thirsty Hippo 211 Main St., Hattiesburg, 601-583-9188 (indie/ alt.rock/jam/world) Time Out Sports Bar 6270 Old Canton Rd., 601-978-1839 Touch Night Club 105 E. Capitol St., Jackson, 601-969-1110 Two Rivers Restaurant 1537 W. Peace m St., Canton, 601-859-9979 (blues) Two Sisters Kitchen 707 N. Congress St. 601-353-1180 CRAWFISH * BUDWEISER GIRLS Two Stick 1107 Jackson Ave., Oxford, JAGERMEISTER GIRLS * GAMES 662-236-6639 PRIZES & SCHWAG Tye’s 120 N. Congress St., Jackson, 601949-3434 MAR.25 MAR.26 Under the Boardwalk 2560 Terry Rd., MEET THE BRAD BAIRD Jackson, 601-371-7332 (country/ CAGEFIGHTERS classic rock) 9:30PM-1:30AM OF PSYCHOUT NO COVER Underground 119 119 S. President St. 601PROMOTIONS 352-2322 (COLLEGE NIGHT) PSYCHOUTMMA.COM VB’s Premier Sports Bar 1060 County Line Rd., Ridgland, 601-572-3989 $3 SUNDAY, BLOODY MARYS & MIMOSAS ONLY VFW Post 9832 4610 Sunray Drive, Jack, $1.50 PINTS ON THURSDAY DAYS MON R-1 2-FO son, 601-982-9925 Vicksburg Convention Center 1600 Mulberry Street, Vicksburg, 866-822-6338 Walker’s Drive-In 3016 N. State St., Jackson, 601-982-2633 (jazz/pop/folk) The Warehouse 9347 Hwy 18 West, Jackson, 601-502-8580 (pop/rock) Wired Expresso Cafe 115 N. State St. 601-500-7800

Ladies’ Night w/ Snazz BUY 1 GET 1 WELLS

Weekly Lunch Specials

$2 MARGARITAS!

TOPPER

SATURDAY, MARCH 6TH * LIVE MUSIC ALL DAY! 2-5pm Chris Gill (Jimmy Buffet Style) 5:30-8:30pm Southbound (Hank Williams Jr. Style) 9pm-1am The Glitter Boys (80’s Rock)

Parking now on side of building

Open for dinner Sat. 4-10pm thursday FEBRUARY 25

LADIES NIGHT with MR. NICK! LADIES DRINK FREE WELLS & PONIES 9PM-2AM

friday FEBRUARY 26

THE BLUE PARTY w/ Jaybirds and Barry saturday FEBRUARY 27

Private Party Upstairs tuesday MARCH 2

OPEN MIC with Cody Cox *DOLLAR BEER*

wednesday MARCH 3

Kick Ass Karaoke WITH KJ JOOSY FREE WiFi Open Mon-Sat, Kitchen open Mon-Fri 11 am-10 pm & Sat 4-10 pm

jacksonfreepress.com

61 South - Rainbow Casino 1380 Warrenton Rd., Vicksburg, 800-503-3777 88 Keys 3645 Hwy. 80 W in Metrocenter, Jackson, 601-352-7342 930 Blues Cafe 930 N. Congress St., Jackson, 601-948-3344 Alamo Theatre 333 N. Farish St, Jackson, 601-352-3365 Alley Cats 165 W. Peace St., Canton, 601-855-2225 Alumni House Sports Grill 574 Hwy. 50, Ridgeland, 601-855-2225 America Legion Post 1 3900 W. Northside Dr., Jackson, 601-605-9903 Ameristar Casino, Bottleneck Blues Bar 4146 Washington St., Vicksburg, 800-700-7770 Beau Rivage Casino 875 Beach Blvd., Biloxi, 800-566-7469 Belhaven College Center for the Arts 835 Riverside Dr, Jackson, 601-968-5930 Bennie’s Boom Boom Room 142 Front St., Hattiesburg, 601-408-6040 Borrello’s 1306 Washington St., Vicksburg, 601-638-0169 Buffalo Wild Wings 808 Lake Harbour Dr., Ridgeland, 601-856-0789 Capri-Pix Theatre 3021 N. State St., Jackson, 601-981-9606 Central City Complex 609 Woodrow Wilson Dr., Jackson, 601-352-9075 Cerami’s 5417 Highway 25, Flowood, 601-919-2829 Char Restaurant 4500 I-55, Highland Village, Jackson, 601-956-9562 Cherokee Inn 1410 Old Square Rd., Jackson, 601-362-6388 Club 43 Hwy 43, Canton, 601-654-3419, 601-859-0512 Club City Lights 200 N. Mill St., Jackson, 601-353-0059 Club O’Hara 364 Monticello St., Hazlehurst, 601-894-5674 Club Total 342 N. Gallatin St., Jackson, 601-714-5992 The Commons Gallery 719 N. Congress St., 601-352-3399 Couples Entertainment Center 4511 Byrd Drive, Jackson, 601-923-9977 Crawdad Hole 1150 Lakeland Dr., Jackson, 601-982-9299 Crickett’s Lounge 4370 Hwy 80 West, Jackson, 601-922-0500 Crossroads Bar & Lounge 3040 Livingston Rd., Jackson, 601-984-3755 (blues) Cultural Expressions 147 Millsaps Ave., Jackson, 601-665-0815 (neosoul/hip-hop) Cups in Fondren 2757 Old Canton Road, Jackson, 601-362-7422 (acoustic/pop) Cups in the Quarter 1855 Lakeland Dr., Jackson, 601-981-9088 Davidson’s Corner Market 108 W. Center St., Canton, 601-855-2268 (pop/rock) Debo’s 180 Raymond Road, Jackson, 601-346-8283 Diamond Jack’s Casino 3990 Washington Street, Vicksburg, 1-877-711-0677 Dick & Jane’s 206 Capitol St., Jackson, 601-944-0123 (dance/alternative) Dixie Diamond 1306 Washington Street, Vicksburg, 601-638-6297 Dollar Bills Dance Saloon 103 A Street, Meridian, 601-693-5300 Edison Walthall Hotel 225 E. Capitol St., Jackson, 601-948-6161 Electric Cowboy 6107 Ridgewood Rd., Jackson, 601-899-5333 (country/ rock/dance) Executive Place 2440 Bailey Ave., Jackson, 601-987-4014 F. Jones Corner 303 N. Farish St. 601983-1148 Fenian’s 901 E. Fortification Street, Jackson, 601-948-0055 (rock/Irish/folk) Fire 209 Commerce St., Jackson, 601592-1000 (rock/dance/dj) Final Destination 5428 Robinson Rd. Ext., Jackson, (pop/rock/blues) Fitzgerald’s Martini Bar 1001 E. County Line Road, Jackson, 601-957-2800 Flood’s Bar and Grill 2460 Bailey Ave., Jackson, 601-713-4094 Footloose Bar and Grill 4661 Hwy 80 West, Jackson, 601-922-9944 Freelon’s Bar And Groove 440 N. Mill St., Jackson, 601-353-5357 (hip-hop)

29

by Eileen Eady

read more Body&Soul stories and the blog at jacksonfreepress.com

Real Woman, Real Plan

I

Simple Switches, Big Health Benefits Replace White potatoes .......with..... Sweet potatoes Croutons................with..... Walnuts Mayonnaise ...........with..... Avocado Button mushrooms .with..... Shitake mushrooms Milk Chocolate .......with..... Dark chocolate Iceberg lettuce ........with..... Romaine lettuce Cream cheese ........with..... Almond butter All-purpose flour ....with..... Whole-wheat flour Vegetable oil ..........with..... Olive oil Sour cream ............with..... Yogurt FROM “LIVING WELL AT ONE HUNDRED”

what we are spending. Over the past 60 years, our health-care costs have risen from $144 per capita to $4,400 per capita, she writes. The United States spends more than any other nation on health care, and yet we are ranked No. 37 for healthcare quality. McCord explains that bad lifestyle choices are a primary cause for this rise.

McCord reminds us that life is a journey, not a race. She tells us that changing your wellness is as simple as making a different choice. She notes that we keep our cars tuned up to avoid problems. She says that taking care of our bodies is much like taking care of a car.

You wouldn’t ignore the checkengine light on your car and wait for it to fail, and yet we often wait to get medical care until there is already a problem.

In another chapter, McCord discusses the importance of supplements and our reluctance to use them. Her point is that many illnesses can be battled from a natural way, rather than pumping our bodies full of chemicals. One point in particular was that we spend all of this money each year on pharmaceuticals, and we could be spending it on supplements.

Much of the information in this book repeats the recommendations that we hear continuously: Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, take your vitamins, exercise more and so on. But McCord’s point is that if you incorporate small steps into your daily life it becomes a practice of preventative medicine. Full of colorful illustrations and charts, McCord’s book is pleasant and easy to understand, reading more like a coffee-table book than a textbook. McCord basically says to treat your body like you would your car. Go in for a check-up and blood panel every year. Figure out what supplements you should be taking for your health. Eat healthy and exercise.

The book made me stop and reflect on my lifestyle choices. I particularly liked the chapter dealing with nutrition. The chart of what foods to replace common staples COURTESY ALFRED A. KNOPF

can no longer climb stairs without my knees aching.

My body has morphed from a lean 20-something to a comfortable and rounded-out 30-something. Children and age have etched lines on my once-smooth skin. I know how to ease the strain on my body, but it all seems overwhelming. The idea of becoming healthy sometimes seems like climbing a rocky mountain peak barefoot.

“Living Well at One Hundred” by Dr. Darlene McCord (Authorhouse, 2009, $27.95) made it seem less difficult.

McCord’s book, with the happy author smiling at you from the cover, lets you know right away that this is not just another fitness book written by some obnoxious 20-something twit. She is a real woman with a real-life plan for longevity. Her approach is based on years of research as a biochemist and treatment specialist for nonhealing wounds. It is a simple plan that involves making better lifestyle choices.

The book starts with an honest look at health care and

February 25 - March 3, 2010

Come see Why We Were Voted One Of Jackson’s Best Mediterranean Restaurants

30

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How to Live a Long, Healthy Life Here are some of the factors involved: • Good genes • Healthy diet rich in fruit and vegetables • Exercise • Meditation and stress relief • Improved nutrition with supplements • Mental stimulation: for example, reading, classes, the visual arts • Socializing • Positive attitude • Reduced dependence on prescription drugs • Seeing a physician who prescribes changes in diet before prescribing drugs • Laughter • Music • Sleeping at least eight hours per night • Healthy lifestyle free of smoking and heavy drinking • Weight control FROM “LIVING WELL AT ONE HUNDRED”

with was helpful and informative. It became a task that I could accomplish. Simply by substituting sweet potatoes for white potatoes, for example my family can be eating healthier. She encourages you to keep a daily food diary and track of your meals.

It’s not just about eating right and exercising. McCord also stresses the importance of laughter and enjoyment in life. She says we need to stretch more, laugh more, increase balance, stay mentally and physically active, and take care of our emotional health. There is even a section to help get you started on an activity program, which includes illustrations of yoga stretches and poses to improve flexibility and balance.

“While I recognize that it is always a challenge to make change happen, I would like to extend a positive challenge to you: Take charge of your own health and make a commitment to yourself to live a long and healthy life,” McCord writes in her conclusion. “Remember, no one else can make that choice for you.”

“Living Well at One Hundred” is available through the publisher at www.authorhouse.com, and through other Internet booksellers. Proceeds go to benefit research into Buruli ulcers, a flesh-eating bacterium that threatens thousands of children each year. Learn more at www.mccordresearch.com and at livingwellat onehundred.com.

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I don’t know what my life would be like now if I had not found Body Benefits classes and Barbara Nobles, my Personal Trainer!

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Mirabai Ceiba, Kirtan Concert February 26, 7-9pm $12 in advance, $16 at door At the LemuriaBooks.com Building

BROGA “yoga for bros” - No Spandex Required! -

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March 7 - 28, 1:30 to 3pm 4-Week Series / $60 Intro-level series of classes designed for men.

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3025 North State Street - Fondren District - 601.594.2313

To Register - www.butterflyyoga.net or call Scotta

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Massage for healing and wellness.

31

dining

by Deirdra Harris Glover

Luxe Leftovers

S

February 25 - March 3, 2010

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Reduce: Take (or make) stock Homemade stock is culinary gold, but it has an undeservedly bad reputation for being difficult and fussy. If you have a slow cooker, stock becomes a breeze. Once you amass a few quarts of frozen home-brewed bouillon, you’ll affectionately begin to think of your chest freezer as Fort Knox.

Place the bones of your bird (including the neck and head) into your slow cooker.

Add a quartered onion, some garlic cloves, and a cup of white or rice wine. Add whatever aromatics and vegetables you have on hand in your kitchen (I used fennel stalks, star anise, Thai peppers and a piece of ginger) and fill the slow cooker with enough hot water to cover the ingredients by at least an inch.

Simmer stock for at least 12 hours or as long as two days, replenishing the water as it boils off. When the bones crumble with minimal effort, strain the stock through a cheesecloth-lined colander. Salt to taste.

Use within two days, or freeze into amounts suitable for your cooking needs.

Frozen stock will be viable for three months.

Reuse: Clean your plate No matter how carefully I plan a dinner party, I usually end up with an excess of condiments. In this case, I was left with a

few handfuls of shredded scallions and red bell pepper, as well as a hoisin sauce and a bit of Meyer lemon marmalade. I combined the remaining condiments, and wrapped the vegetables in a paper towel before returning them to the fridge. I roughly chopped the remnants of duck meat for soup, and cut the skin (itself a highly valued condiment) into strips to be pan-fried until crispy.

When you’re clearing the table from a meal, take a hard look at what’s left, and use your gut. Think with your stomach! I could have easily mixed the duck, sauces and shredded vegetables to create a wrap sandwich, or tossed it with a few handfuls of peppery greens for a different take on the now-ubiquitous Asian chicken salad, but like the heart, the stomach knows what it wants, and it wanted Chinese noodle soup.

DEIRDRA HARRIS GLOVER

hopping in my favorite specialty market recently, I stumbled upon an Asian foodie’s grail: crispy whole Chinese-style duck. I enjoy relying on serendipity to deliver such delicacies into my path, and my prized possession rode in my lap on the way home, the way one cradles fresh eggs or delicate produce. My husband and I invited friends to a modest spread of handmade herbed crepes, shredded vegetables and glorious condiments to accompany our good find.

Despite voracious appetites and the exceptional quality of the bird, we still had quite a bit of duck left at the end of the night, as well as a pile of vegetables. I routinely compost kitchen scraps because I hate to waste food, particularly animal products—a certain responsibility is forged when you’ve looked your meal in the eye—so I began formulating a plan for the next day’s supper over the remains of our feast.

Stripping a poultry carcass or scrounging from your serving dishes hardly sounds glamorous, but some of the most satisfying meals I create at home revolve around reinventing last night’s supper. The next time you serve roast chicken or luck into a deeply flavorful Chinese-style duck, consider maximizing your yield by transforming your leftovers into a “stone soup” in the style of the Jade Empire. Think of this less as a recipe and more of a launch platform to economical, eco-conscious luxe leftovers.

Recycle: Soup’s on This soup comes together quickly, which is a grand thing for a weeknight supper. I steeped rice noodles from my pantry in boiling duck stock, but any prepared noodles (even spaghetti or ramen) will do. Crisp the duck skin in a frying pan and place on a serving plate if you’re feeling generous, though I won’t blame you if you keep it all as a chef’s spoil-of-war.

Wilt Chinese cabbage or a salad green like spinach or arugula in the duck fat. Move noodles to individual bowls, and drizzle a few spoonfuls of hoisin over the noodles.

Stack ingredients in this order for maximum beauty: greens, duck, stock to cover and shredded vegetables.

Bring Chinese soy sauce and sriracha (a chili-garlic concoction often called rooster sauce by those too timid to mispronounce sriracha with authority) to the table to allow each person to adjust the heat and saltiness to their taste. Serve with a wide spoon, chopsticks, and a sense of fiscal and culinary pride.

If you’re omnivorous and have never experienced the glory of crispy Chinese duck, it’s a treat. It’s very easy to assemble at home with homemade pancakes (or even warm soft tortillas), scallions, cucumber and basic knife skills. You can pre-order the ducks for special occasions, or call ahead to ensure availability: Van Hung Asian Market, 587 Highway 51, Suite P, Ridgeland, 601-856-9638.

Express Tokyo Fresh • Sushi • Fast

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ASIAN OEC (Ridgeland 601-853-4188 and Madison 601-853-8288) Dine in or take out Japanese-style hibachi orders, friend rice, salads or sushi. Hibachi options range from veggies to jumbo shrimp. And it ain’t Japanese in Mississippi without the crawfish roll, right?

DINE IN OR CARRY OUT

5050 I55 N Ste. D Jackson (Located in Deville Plaza) PHONE 601.957.1558 FAX 601.957.1368

Tokyo Express (5050 I-55N 601-957-1558 and 900 E County Line 601-899-8838) Lunch or dinner hibachi orders (chicken, shrimp, steak, scallops) and cooked sushi rolls (snow crab, philly, crawfish, dynamite, titanic) along with fried rice and appetizer.

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STIX (109 Marketplace Lane off Lakeland Dr Flowood 601-420-4058) Enjoy the quick-handed, knife-wielding chefs at the flaming teppanyaki grill; artful presentations of sushi; the pungent seasonings and spicy flavors of regional Chinese cuisines.

Nagoya (6351 I-55 North #131 @ Target Shopping Ctr. 601-977-8881) Nagoya gets high marks for its delicious-and-affordable sushi offerings, tasty lunch specials and high-flying hibachi room with satisfying flavors for the whole family.

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416 George St. 601-960-2700 Pub food with a southern flair: beer-battered onion rings, chicken & sausage gumbo, salads, sandwiches and weekly lunch specials. Plus, happy hour 4-7pm Monday through Friday.

Messenger Bird in Concert

Ichiban (153 Ridge Drive, Ste 105F 601-919-0097 & 359 Ridgeway 601-919-8879) Voted “Best Chinese” in 2010, cuisine styles at Ichiban actually range from Chinese to Japanese, including hibachi, sushi made fresh with seafood from the Coast, and a crowd-pleasing all-youcan-eat buffet. Two locations in Flowood, Grill at 153 Ridge and Buffet at 359 Ridgeway.

Friday, Feb. 26th Starts @ 7:30pm

COFFEE HOUSES

“Now Dats Italian”

A metro-area tradition since 1977 Dinner Hours: Lunch Hours: Tues-Fri 11am-2pm

Cups Espresso Café (Multiple Locations, www.cupsespressocafe.com) Jackson’s local chain of coffeehouses offer high-end Arabica beans, a wide variety of espresso drinks, fresh brewed coffee and a selection of pastries and baked goods. Free wi-fi!

Tues-Thurs 5pm-9pm Fri & Sat 5pm-10pm

601-919-2829 5417 Lakeland Drive ~ Flowood, MS 39232

Wired Espresso Café (115 N State St 601-500-7800) This downtown coffeehouse across from the Old Capitol focuses on being a true gathering place, featuring great coffee and a selection of breakfast, lunch and pastry items. Free wi-fi.

THANK YOU FOR THE BEST OF JACKSON AWARDS NOMINATIONS

BAKERY Broad Street (4465 Interstate 55 N. 601-362-2900) Hot breakfast, coffee espresso drinks, fresh breads and pastries, gourmet deli sandwiches, quiches, soups, pizzas, pastas and dessert. A “see and be seen” Jackson institution!

Crazy Cat Bakers (Highland Village Suite #173 601-362-7448 & Fondren Corner Bldg) The amazing lunch sandwiches include: Meatloaf Panini, Mediterranean Vegetarian, Rotisserie Chicken to gourmet pimento cheese. The outlandish desserts are: to die for. Now open in the Fondren Corner Building on North State Street.

ITALIAN Basilʼs Belhaven (904 E. Fortification, Jackson, 601-352-2002) The signature Paninis are complimented by great Italian offerings such as spaghetti and meatball, tomato basil soup, cookies and cupcakes. Dinner menu includes fresh tilapia, shrimp and risotto, seafood pasta, generous salads—and don’t forget the crab cakes. Party menu includes a “panini pie.” BYOB.

BAKERS Now with TWO locations to better serve you

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BRAVO! (4500 Interstate 55 N., Jackson, 601-982-8111) Wood-fired pizzas, vegetarian fare, plus creative pastas, beef, and seafood specials. Wonderful atmosphere and service. Voted Best Wine Selection and Best Chef in 2009, Bravo! walks away with tons of awards every year.

Southern-style Italian cuisine features their signature Shrimp Cerami (white wine sauce, capers artichokes) along with veal, tilapia, crawfish, chicken and pasta dishes. Now with liquor license!

Fratesiʼs (910 Lake Harbour, Ridgeland, 601-956-2929) “Authentic, homey, unpretentious” that’s how the regulars describe Fratesi’s, a staple in Jackson for years, offering great Italian favorites with loving care. The tiramisu is a must-have!

BARBEQUE Hickory Pit Barbeque (1491 Canton Mart Rd. 601-956-7079) The “Best Butts in Town” features BBQ chicken, beef and pork sandwiches along with burgers and po’boys. Wet or dry pork ribs, chopped pork or beef, and all the sides.

DINE LOCAL, see pg. 34

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!

Best Butts In Town! since 1980

601-956-7079

1491 Canton Mart Rd. • Jackson

jacksonfreepress.com

Ceramiʼs (5417 Lakeland Drive, Flowood, 601-919-28298)

33

Paid advertising section.

Lumpkins BBQ (182 Raymond Rd. Jackson 866-906-0942) Specializing in smoked barbeque, Lumpkin’s offers all your favorites for on-site family dining or for catered events, including reunions, office events, annivesaries, weddings and more.

Rib Shack B.B.Q. & Seafood (932 J.R. Lynch Street, Jackson, 601-665-4952) Hickory-smoked BBQ beef or pork ribs, BBQ chicken, giant chopped BBQ beef or pork sandwiches. Fried catfish, pan trout, fried shrimp, po boys. Tues-Thurs (11-8pm) Fri-Sat (11-10pm).

Serving: H OT P ASTA D ISHE G RILLED F ISH P ANINI S ANDWICH

BARS, PUBS & BURGERS

En

from the Belhaven bakery

Mon. - Thurs., 11am - 8:30pm | Fri. & Sat. 11am - 9pm 904B E. Fortification St. - English Village

Call Us: 601-352-2002

Telephone:

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THIS IS THE PLACE! B.B.Q., Blues, Beer, Beef & Pork Ribs Saturday & Friday Night Blues Band Coming Soon!

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Lunch & Dinner Hours: Tuesday - Thursday 11a.m. to 8p.m.

Friday & Saturday 11a.m. to 10p.m.

932 Lynch Street in Jackson (Across from the JSU Baseball Field)

2003-2010, Best of Jackson

February 18 - 24, 2010

Italian Done Right.

34

Remember you can buy our lasagna by the pan!

707 N. Congress Street

910 Lake Harbour Dr. Ridgeland | 601-956-2929 Monday - Saturday | 5 - until

Downtown Jackson • (601) 353-1180 Open 11am-2pm, Sunday thru Friday

LUNCH: MON.-FRI., 10AM-2PM See Us Come kfast! a e r B r o F

7AM -10AM

168 W. Griffith St. • Sterling Towers Across from MC School of Law

601-352-2364 • Fax: 601-352-2365 Hours: Monday - Friday 7am - 4pm

Alumni House (574 Hwy 51 Ridgeland 601-605-9903, 110 Bass Pro, Pearl, 601-896-0253) Good bar food, big portions and burgers (with “blackened” as an option) known for their sweet buns. Televisions throughout, even small tubes at your table. Po-boys, quesadillas; good stuff!

Fenianʼs Pub (901 E. Fortification St. 601-948-0055) Classic Irish pub featuring a menu of traditional food, pub sandwiches and beers including Guinness and Harp on tap. Free live music most nights; Irish/Celtic bands on Thursdays.

Cool Alʼs (4654 McWillie, 601-713-3020) A standard in Best of Jackson, Al’s stacked, messy, decadent, creative burgers defy adjectives.

Or try pineapple chicken, smoked sausage...or the nationally recognized veggie burger.

Fitzgeralds at the Hilton (1001 East County Line Road, 601-957-2800) Bar favorites with a Gulf Coast twist like Gumbo Ya Ya, Shrimp Cocktail and Pelahatchie artisan sausage and cheese antipasto. Plus grilled oysters, tournedos of beef, chicken pontabla and of course the fried stuff—oysters, catfish, shrimp, seafood or chicken. Did we mention the bar?

Hal and Malʼs (200 S. Commerce St. 601-948-0888) Pub favorites meet Gulf Coast and Cajun specialties like red beans and rice, the Oyster Platter or each day’s blackboard special. Repeat winner of Best of Jackson’s “Best Place for Live Music.”

Last Call (3716 I-55 N. Frontage Road 601-713-2700) Burgers, sandwiches and po-boys, plus sports-bar appetizers and specialities. Try chili cheese fries, chicken nachos or the shrimp & pork eggrolls. Pay-per-view sporting events, live bands.

Martinʼs Restaurant and Lounge (214 South State Street 601-354-9712) Lunch specials, pub appetizers (jalapeno poppers, cheezsticks, fried pickles) or order from the full menu of po-boys and entrees. Full bar, massive beer selection and live music most nights.

Shuckerʼs Oyster Bar (116 Conestoga Road, Ridgeland 601-853-0105) Serious about oysters? Try ‘em on the half shell, deep-fried, charred from the oven or baked in champagne. Plus po-boys, pub favorites, burgers, mufalettas, pizza, seafood and steaks!

Sportsmanʼs Lodge (1120 E Northside Dr in Maywood Mart 601-366-5441) Voted Best Sports Bar, Sportman’s doesn’t disappoint with plenty of gut-pleasing sandwiches, and fried seafood baskets. Try the award-winning wings in Buffalo, Thai or Jerk sauces!

The Regency (400 Greymont Ave. 601-969-2141) Reasonably priced buffet Monday through Friday featuring all your favorites. Daily happy hour, live bands and regular specials.

Time Out Sports Café (6720 Old Canton Road 601-978-1839) 14 TVs, 1 projector and two big-screens. Daily $9 lunch specials, pub-style appetizers, burgers, seafood and catfish po-boys, salads, and hot entrees including fish, steak and pasta.

Pelican Cove Grill (3999A Harbor Walk Drive 601-605-1865) Great rez view! Shrimp and seafood appetizers, soups, salads, burgers and sandwiches, plus po-boys, catfish baskets, and dinners from the grill including mahi-mahi and reggae ribs.

Underground 119 (119 South President St. 601-352-2322) Jumbo lump crabcakes, crab quesadillas, beef tenderloin parfaits, orange-garlic shrimp, even “lollipop” lamb chops. Add a full bar and mix in great music. Opens 4 p.m.-until, Wed-Sat.

SOUTHERN CUISINE The Auditorium (622 Duling Ave. 601-982-0002) Sweet Potato Crawfish Cakes, shrimp & grits, fried green tomatos, creole seafood pasta, catfish, shrimp and combo platters, Mississippi cavier salad, babyback ribs with sweet potato fries and cole slaw. Even a veggie plate! Full bar, movie nights and music on the Peavey Stage.

Julep (1305 East Northside Drive, Highland Village, 601-362-1411) Tons of Best of Jackson awards, delicious Southern fusion dishes like award-winning fried chicken, shrimp and grits, blackened tuna and butter bean hummus. Brunch, lunch, dinner and late night.

Primos Cafe (515 Lake Harbour 601-898-3400 and 2323 Lakeland 601-936-3398) A Jackson institution featuring a full breakfast (with grits and biscuits), blue plate specials, catfish, burgers, prime rib, oysters, po-boys and wraps. Save room for something from the bakery.

Sunioraʼs Sidewalk Cafe (200 South Lamar Street 601-355-1955) Homecooking, soul food, buffet and pizza for lunch in downtown Jackson. Soup and salad bar every day, plus daily lunch specials. “Mama’s in the kitchen!” Mon-Fri, 11am-2pm.

Sugarʼs Place (168 W Griffith St 601-352-2364) Hot breakfast and weekday lunch: catfish, pantrout, fried chicken wings, blue plates, red beans & rice, pork chops, chicken & dumplings, burgers, po-boys...does your grandma cook like this?

Paid advertising section.

The Strawberry Café (107 Depot Drive, Madison, 601-856-3822) Full table service, lunch and dinner. Crab and crawfish appetizers, salads, fresh seafood, pastas, “surf and turf” and more. Veggie options. Desserts: cheesecake, Madison Mud and strawberry shortcake.

Two Sisters Kitchen (707 N. Congress St. 601-353-1180) Best of Jackson winner for fried chicken (year after year after year) offers a sumptious buffet of your choice of 6-8 veggies, a salad bar, iced tea & one of three homemade desserts. Lunch only.

M-F 11-2, Sun. 10:30-2.

FINE DINING Huntington Grille at the Hilton (1001 East County Line Road 601--957-1515) Chef Luis Bruno offers fresh Gulf seafood, unique game dishes and succulent steaks alongside an expansive wine selection; multiple honors from Best of Jackson, Wine Specator and others.

Schimmelʼs (2615 N. State St. 601-981-7077) Creative southern fusion dishes at attractive prices make the atmosphere that mush more enticing. New appetizer menu, “Martini Night Football” and others bar specials for football season!

Steam Room Grille (5402 I-55 North 601--899-8588) Great seafood featuring steamed lobster, crab, shrimp and combo patters. Grilled specialities include shrimp, steaks, and kabobs. Fresh fish fried seafood, lunch menu, catering, live music.

Friday and Saturday Night Music

MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EASTERN Aladdin Mediterranean Grill (730 Lakeland Drive 601-366-6033) Delicious authentic dishes including lamb dishes, hummus, falafel, kababs, shwarma and much more. Consistent award winner, great for takeout or for long evenings with friends.

Jerusalem Café (2741 Old Canton Road 601-321-8797) Yes, it’s a hookah bar in Jackson, which also happens to have a great Meditterean menu, including falafel, lamb shank, feta salad, kabob, spinach pie, grape leaves and baba ghanouj.

Kristos (971 Madison Ave @ Hwy 51, Madison, 601-605-2266) Home of the famous Greek meatball! Hummus, falafel, dolmas, pita sandwiches, salads, plus seasoned curly fries (or sweet potato fries) and amazing desserts.

Petra Cafe (104 West Leake Street, Clinton 601-925-0016) Mediterranean and Lebanese cuisine in the charm of Olde Towne Clinton. Stuffed grape leaves, spinach pie, shrimp kabobs, greek salads, hummus and more. Lunch and dinner served seven days a week.

PIZZA The Pizza Shack (1220 N State St. 601-352-2001) 2009’s winner of Best Pizza offers the perfect pizza-and-a-beer joint. Creative pizza options abound (“Cajun Joe, anyone?”), along with sandwiches, wings, salads and even BBQ. Sal & Mookieʼs (565 Taylor St. 601-368-1919) Pizzas of all kinds plus pasta, eggplant parmesan and the local favorite: fried ravioli. Voted Best Chef, Best Kid’s Menu and Best Ice Cream in the 2009 Best of Jackson reader poll.

CARRIBBEAN Taste of the Island (436 E. Capitol, Downtown, 601-360-5900) Jerk chicken or ribs, curry chicken or shrimp, oxtails, snapper or goat, plus bok choy, steamed cabbage and Jamaican Greens, Carry out, counter seating or delivery available. 11a-7p.

VEGETARIAN High Noon Café (2807 Old Canton Road in Rainbow Plaza 601-366-1513) Fresh, gourmet, tasty and healthy defines the lunch and brunch options at Jackson’s vegetarian (and vegan-friendly) restaurant Wonderful desserts!

Reflections on the Old Thoughts on the New

free wireless internet Photo courtesy of a proud mom

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Thank you for entering our doors over the past year

35

Get out yer green!

Stop by for a pint!

Sign up for a float ride!

What are your plans for St. Paddy ’s Day?

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE AUDITORIUM

CALL (601)982-0002 WWW.THEAUDITORIUMRESTAURANT.COM

HAPPY HOUR MONDAY – FRIDAY NOON – 7 PM

2 for 1 Domestics & Wells 622 Duling Ave. Jackson, MS

601-982-0002

WEDNESDAY 2/24

Intern at the JFP

THANK YOU FOR VOTING US #1 FOR BEST CHINESE

Shaun Patterson (Acoustic Rock) THURSDAY 2/25

Legacy (Irish Dance) FRIDAY 2/26

Sushi & Chinese Buffet

Buie, Hamman & Porter (Classic Blues)

SATURDAY 2/27

Sherman Lee Dillon (Blues, Folk, Original)

Brunch 11am-3pm SUNDAY 2/28

Brunch 11am-3pm Open until Midnight MONDAY 3/1

February 25 - March 3, 2010

Karaoke w/ Matt

36

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359 Ridgeway • Flowood, MS 39232 Phone: (601) 919 - 8879 www.ichiban-ms.com

BY MATT JONES

ISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) f you were going to launch a career as a rap artist any time soon, I’d suggest that maybe you use the alias “Big Try” as your stage name. If you were planning to convert to an exotic religious path and get a new spiritual name, I’d recommend something like “Bring It Harder” or “Push It Stronger.” If you were about to join an activist group that fights for a righteous cause and you wanted a new nickname to mark your transformation, I’d urge you to consider a tag like “Radical” or “Prime” or “Ultra.” And even if you’re not doing any of the above, I hope you’ll carry out some ritual of transition to intensify your commitment to your life’s vital dreams.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) “Everything is complicated,” poet Wallace Stevens wrote. “If that were not so, life and poetry and everything else would be a bore.” I hope you will choose his wisdom to serve as your guiding light in the coming weeks. It is high time, in my astrological opinion, for you to shed any resentment you might feel for the fact that life is a crazy tangle of mystifying and interesting stories. Celebrate it, Aries! Revel in it. Fall down on your knees and give holy thanks for it. And by the way, here’s a big secret: To the extent that you do glory in the complications, the complications will enlighten you, amuse you and enrich you.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) This is one time when you can be both the river and the bridge. In fact, I strongly suggest that you make every effort to be both the river and the bridge. I’ll leave it up to you to interpret how this metaphor applies to your life, but here’s a clue to get you started: Be a force of nature that flows vigorously along even as you also provide a refuge for those who want to be close to your energy but are not yet ready to be inside it and flow along with it.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Almost exactly ten years from now, you will be blessed with an eruption of personal power that’s so crafty and so practical that you will be able to visualize a solution to a problem that has stumped you for a long time. It may take you months to actually carry out that solution in its entirety, but all the while you will have the luxury of feeling perfect certainty about what must be done.

And you know what the weird thing is, Gemini? Something very similar is in the works for the next few weeks: an eruption of crafty, practical power that will help you materialize the key to solving an old dilemma, hopefully followed by months of carrying out your lucid plan.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Last night I had a dream in which I was addressing a crowd of thousands of Cancerians in a large stadium. I was referring to them as dolphins rather than as crabs.

“I say unto you, my fellow dolphins,” I proclaimed (I myself was born June 23), “that you have been given a sacred assignment by the great gods of time themselves. And that assignment is to master the art of Timeology.” When I awoke from the dream, I was awash with feelings of deep relaxation and ease, although I wasn’t sure why. I had never before heard that word “timeology,” so I googled it. Here’s how the Urban Dictionary defined it: “spending time doing what you want to do, not accomplishing anything major but also not wasting time.” It so happens that this prescription is well suited to our current astrological omens. I suggest that you and I be as playful as dolphins.

angels unawares.” While that’s always good counsel, it’s especially apt for you in the coming days. I believe you will come into contact with people who can provide you with valuable teaching and healing, even if they’re disguised as baristas or pet shampooers or TV repairmen—and even if this will be the one and only time they will provide you with teaching and healing.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Metaphorically speaking, you have recently begun crossing the water in a dream boat that has a small leak. If you keep going, it’s possible you will reach the far side before sinking. But that’s uncertain. And even if you were able to remain afloat the entire way, the shakiness of the situation would probably fill you with anxiety. My suggestion, then, is to head back to where you started and fix the leak.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Some Scorpios bring out the worst in people. Other Scorpios draw out the best. Then there are those members of your tribe who sometimes bring out the worst in their fellow humans and other times bring out the best. Where do you fit in this spectrum? Regardless of your position up until now, I’m betting that in the coming months you’ll be moving in the direction of bringing out more of the best. And it all begins now. To get the process underway, think of five people you care about, and visualize the wonderful futures that it might be possible for them to create for themselves.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) More than a few fairy tales feature the theme of characters who accidentally find a treasure. They’re not searching for treasure, don’t feel worthy of it and aren’t fully prepared for it. They may initially not even know what they’re looking at and see it as preposterous or abnormal or disquieting. Who could blame them if they ran away from the treasure? In order to recognize and claim it, they might have to shed a number of their assumptions about the way the world works. And they might have to clear up a discrepancy between their unconscious longings and their conscious intentions.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Everyone alive has some kind of learning disability. I know brilliant physicists who are dumb about poetry.

There are fact-loving journalists whose brains freeze when they’re invited to consider the ambiguous truths of astrology. My friend John suffers from dyslexia, while I myself am incapable of mastering the mysteries of economics. What’s your blind spot, Capricorn? What’s your own personal learning disability? Whatever it is, this would be an excellent time, astrologically speaking, to work with it. For the next few months, you will be able to call on what you need in order to diminish its power to limit you.

8 100% 9 Sorrow 10 Type of pencil that stops bleeding 11 Hendrix on the guitar 12 Opposite of sans 13 Volleyball needs 18 ___ a million 22 Candle material 24 Reason for some sirens 25 About 71% of the earth’s surface 27 Pained cries 28 It’s more than your and my two cents’ worth 30 Actress Skye 31 Garage sale condition 32 Fender bender result 33 Former Israeli PM Golda 34 Likewise 35 From coast to coast: abbr.

36 Expression akin to “shucks” 40 Joe-___ weed (healing plant) 43 Lets it all out?

45 Funk & Wagnalls offering: abbr.

49 Ludicrous 51 Do some price fixing?

—2008 & 2009.

52 “Never ___ moment” partnered on ESPN with Stuart Scott 53 Make baby food Across 54 Backyard cookouts, for short 48 Julia of “Julie & Julia” 1 Last.fm’s #1 pick for Best Artist 55 Homecoming attendee, some50 “The stuff that belongs to the of 2008 times person you just broke up with” 5 Lo-cal dishes 56 Hawaiian feast (George Carlin) 11 Start of the yr.

57 Swiss abstract painter Paul 54 ___ States (group that includes 14 Regenerist skin care company 58 Long swimmers Bulgaria) 15 South American wildcat 59 Father, in France 57 Agitated 16 “___ seen worse...”

62 Raphael’s weapon, in “Teenage 60 ___-ray (HD movie option) 17 A clip of his “Inside Edition” Mutant Ninja Turtles” 61 With “The,” inspirational bestmeltdown made Huffington Post’s #1 spot on “YouTube’s Best of 2008: seller that made About.com’s “Top 10 63 Gossip show that was recently hoaxed on a fake JFK photo Books of 2008” Top Ten” 64 Sine ___ non 19 Fit, as requirements ©2010 Jonesin’ Crosswords 65 Tooth substance 20 Gifted people (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) 66 Red Sox or White Sox player, 21 Fiber ___ For answers to this puzzle, call: 1briefly 23 Actor Rob 900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute.

67 Laura Bush’s alma mater 24 Large arterial trunk Must be 18+. Or to bill to 68 Grabs control of 26 Like some Greek columns 69 TV.com’s #1 pick for “Coolest Cast your credit card, call: 1-800-65529 Troy story 6548. Reference puzzle #0449.

33 Documentary on many best movie on Campus” for 2009 lists of 2008 Last Week’s Answers Down 37 Not quite exact 1 Angry throngs 38 “In the Valley of ___” (2007 2 Type of cells that provide support Tommy Lee Jones film) for neurons 39 Nix 3 John Lee convicted of the 2002 41 Getting ___ years Beltway sniper attacks 42 “Grease ___ word!”

4 Two-time All-Pro cornerback cur44 A fake “RIP” tweet about him rently with the Denver Broncos (after the VMA broadcast) made PopEater.com’s “Best Celebrity Twit- 5 Do some post office work 6 Deck quartet ter Stories of 2009” 7 Hawaiian wear that spawns corny 46 Luxury watch brand 47 NFL Network journalist Rich, once jokes

“Best of the Decade, Part 5”

BY MATT JONES

Last Week’s Answers

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers,” advises a passage in the Bible, “for thereby some have entertained

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) “We cannot change anything until we accept it,” psychologist Carl Jung said. “Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.” Make that your hypothesis, Aquarius, and then conduct the following experiment. First, choose some situation you would like to transform. Next, open your heart to it with all the love and compassion you can muster. Go beyond merely tolerating it with a resigned disappointment. Work your way into a frame of mind in which you completely understand and sympathize with why it is the way it is. Imagine a scenario in which you could live your life with equanimity if the situation in question never changed. Finally, awash in this grace, meditate on how you might be able to actually help it evolve into something new.

What are you doing to get ready for 2012? Read my suggestions at http://bit.ly/2012now, then tell me your own at Truthrooster@gmail.com.

Missing Links” Place the following fifteen letters into the grid so that, as in Scrabble, all sequences of two or more letters form English words. You must use all fifteen letters given and cannot move any of the letters already placed in the grid.

A A A D E E E E G H P S S Y Y

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In an episode of the animated TV sci-fi series “Futurama,” we get to see inside the headquarters of Romanticorp, where “love research” is being done. One of the experiments involves robots delivering various pick-up lines to actual women. The line that works best is “My two favorite things are commitment and changing myself.” I recommend that you make that your own catchphrase, Leo, not just this week but for the foreseeable future. The entire year 2010 will be an excellent time to deepen your commitments and transform yourself, and the weeks ahead will bring unprecedented opportunities to intensify those efforts.

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Doctor S sez: Less is more when it comes to the MHSAA Boys and Girls State Tournaments.

FRIDAY, FEB. 26 High school basketball, MHSAA 1A Boys State Tournament, Myrtle vs. McAdams (10:30 a.m., Mississippi Coliseum, Jackson): One of the state’s greatest sports events begins its run at the Big House.

Please ignore that barnyard smell.

SATURDAY, FEB. 27 Men’s college basketball, Mississippi State at South Carolina (5 p.m., Columbia, S.C., ESPN, 105.9 FM): The Bulldogs need a victory at a place where they seldom win. … Mississippi Valley State at Jackson State (5:30 p.m., Jackson, 620 AM): The Tigers entertain the Delta Devils in an intrastate SWAC grudge match. … High school basketball, MAIS Overall State Tournament championship games (girls, 1 p.m., and boys, 3:30 p.m.): The East Rankin girls and MRA boys are heavy favorites to take the titles.

Curses, Foiled Again After stealing handcuffs, a Taser and other items from an unmarked police car in Ocoee, Fla., Shane Thomas Williams-Allen, 19, was apprehended when he “locked the handcuffs on himself and had to call the Clermont Police Department to respond to release him,” according to an arrest affidavit. Lake County authorities who took Williams-Allen into custody said he told them that while removing the Taser from the police car, “it discharged, hitting the floor and causing his foot to get shocked.” (Orlando Sentinel)

Just Can’t Get Enough South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma confirmed that he fathered the daughter of a woman who isn’t one of his three wives. Zuma has 19 other children. Brian Sokutu, a representative of Zuma’s African National Congress Party, said that the president’s relationship with the woman didn’t count as adulterous because the 67-year-old Zuma is a polygamist and may have been intending to marry the 39-year-old woman. “There is something called courtship,” Sokutu explained. “What that means is that before you do officially get married there is the courting period. And during that period anything can happen.” Sokutu wouldn’t confirm whether Zuma was actually planning a wedding. (Britain’s Daily Telegraph)

Irony Illustrated A single-engine airplane used for rush-hour traffic reports in metropolitan Philadelphia caused a mile-and-a-half backup in both directions of the New Jersey Turnpike when it made an emergency landing in the northbound lanes

SUNDAY, FEB. 28 Winter Olympics, Closing Ceremony (6 p.m., Ch. 3): Let the games end. An overblown ceremony full of hype and selfcongratulation will cap three weeks of great ratings (allegedly) for ratings loser NBC. MONDAY, MARCH 1 Men’s college basketball, UAPB at Jackson State (7:30 p.m., Jackson, 620 AM): The Tigers and Golden Lions tangle in a SWAC catfight.

TUESDAY, MARCH 2 Boys high school basketball, Provine vs. Forest Hill in MHSAA Class 5A State Tournament (2:30 p.m.): South Jackson rivals meet in an all-JPS semifinal contest.

Doctor S predicts a Jackson team will win.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3 Men’s college basketball, Mississippi State at Auburn (7 p.m., Auburn, Ala., Ch. 12, 105.9 FM): The Bulldogs have to win in the Loveliest Village on the Plains if they want to go to the NCAA tourney.

The Slate is compiled by Doctor S, who mistook Tiger Woods’ robotic media event for a scene from “I, Robot.” Attention, humans, visit JFP Sports at www.jacksonfreepress.com.

near Cherry Hill. Noting no one was injured, New Jersey Turnpike Authority said the backups were due mostly to rubbernecking, adding, “For the first time in eight years, I can probably say you had a good reason to stop and look.” (Associated Press)

Not-So-Great Escapes Travis Copeland, 19, bolted from a courtroom during his bond hearing in Waukegan, Ill., and headed for a skyway that connects courtrooms in two buildings. As Lake County sheriff ’s deputies closed in, Copeland, ignoring that he was two stories above a busy street, tried to shoulder his way through a skyway window to make his escape. The bulletproof glass didn’t break when Copeland hit it with his head and shoulder, however. Instead, he bounced off the window and staggered to the floor, while nine deputies with guns drawn surrounded him.

When Copeland was returned to the courtroom, his bail was raised from $50,000 to $1.5 million. (Arlington Heights’s Daily Herald)

Reasonable Explanation A jury in Orangeburg, S.C. found Mark Zachary, 51, guilty of stealing an $80 slab of beef from a store in Orangeburg, S.C. Authorities said that when a store manager approached Zachary about the missing meat and the big bulge under his shirt, he fled—right into the arms of an off-duty police officer. He testified that he wasn’t stealing the meat, just “massaging” it. (Associated Press) Compiled from mainstream media sources by Roland Sweet. Authentication on demand.

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THURSDAY, FEB. 25 Winter Olympics, women’s figure skating (7 p.m., Ch. 3): This is what you’ve been waiting for. And expect to wait a while tonight before you get to see it.

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