August 11, 2011 Newspaper

Page 1

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northsidesun the weekly

For 44 Years, Covering Northeast Jackson, Madison and Ridgeland

Vol. 44, No. 43

Two Sections, 40 Pages, Thursday, August 11, 2011

Shortchanged

City taxpayers pay in more than they get back from county By ANTHONY WARREN Sun Staff Writer THE CITY OF JACKSON IS BEING shortchanged by Hinds County when it comes to the tax revenue it pays in and the services it receives in return. Additionally, the city of Jackson has little say in how the county spends money when it does take on a project in the corporate limits. City leaders are now hammering out a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with county officials to better address those issues. However, officials were unsure

when the MOU would be completed. In 2010, Jackson residents and business owners paid the county more than $60 million in ad valorem taxes. However, in the past few years, the county has spent little on infrastructure improvements within the corporate limits. The county does give Jackson a small sum each year from a pro rata road tax, but little more in county funding is usually spent on city streets. For the 2011 fiscal year, the county gave Jackson $477,000, which was put in the general fund, said Jackson Deputy Director

of Finance Rick Hill. “This is basically all they give us,” he said. When the county does spend money in the city, the dollars typically don’t come from local coffers, but state and federal sources. A project undertaken by the county within the last five or six years proves that point. Last week, work began on a project to overlay Clinton Boulevard from Magnolia Road to Hillsdale Drive, and Northside Drive from North Norrell Road to Williamson Road. They’re part of a See Hinds Spending, Page 12A

DANCE WITH STARS

Photos by Beth Buckley

Opera fund-raiser planned The Mississippi Opera will host Dance with the Stars, August 20 at the Marriott Hotel Windsor Ballroom beginning at 7 p.m. A separately ticketed cocktail reception with the celebrities begins at 6 p.m. The evening also includes a seated dinner and an open dance floor after the celebrity dance

competition. Shown are (from left, back) Jill Conner Browne, Dickens Fournet, Nancy Riser; (front) Hogan Allen and the Rev. Dr. Minka Sprague. For more information call 601-9602300.

Jackson officials to consider creating a juvenile curfew

IF SOME MEMBERS of the Jackson City Council get their way, the streets of Jackson will be emptied of teens after 10 p.m. Not only will they be free of youth 17 years old and younger there will also be a decrease in juvenile crime. With school starting back, the Jackson City Council is considering re-enacting a juvenile curfew. On July 26, the council referred a curfew ordinance to the Rules Committee. The measure was authored by Ward Three Councilman Kenneth Stokes, and is being proposed in an effort to help reduce juvenile crime. If the measure is passed, students 17 years and younger will be required to be at home between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from midnight to 6 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Under the proposed guidelines, it will also be unlawful for any school-age students to be on any public street, highway, park, vacant lot, establishment or other place in the city between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday during the school year. Exceptions include if a parent or guardian is accompanying a minor; if the minor is on an errand for a parent; if the minor is on the way home from work; or if he or she is returning home from a school or religious activity. Minors can also be outside until 12:30 a.m. if they’re on the sidewalk adjacent to their dwelling. Police officers believing that a student is in violation of the code will be required to stop and ask for the minor’s name and address. From there, police will attempt to contact the minor’s parents. If they’re unable to get in touch with the minor’s guardians, the officer is to take the minor to the Henley-Young Juvenile Detention Center until parents are contacted. A first offense nets a $25 penalty; for each additional offense, the fine increases by $25. The courts can also require up to 60 hours of community service for the parental offender, according to a copy of the ordinance. The ordinance will expire a year from the date of its passage, or September 21, 2012. JACKSON’S PREVIOUS curfew ordinance expired in July 2009. No one was available recently to tell the Sun why the previous See Juvenile Curfew, Page 6A

LEARNING EXPERIENCE

RIDGELAND’S YOUNGEST EVER ALDERMAN LISTENING TO CONSTITUENTS TO SET AGENDA, GOALS

Wes Hamlin

By KATIE EUBANKS Sun Staff Writer RIDGELAND’S WARD 6 Alderman Wesley Hamlin - elected in 2009 as the youngest alderman in the city’s history says guidance from other city officials and communication with constituents have helped him accomplish some major goals in his ward. Hamlin, now 29, was 27 when elected and says his first term has been a learning experience. “First of all, Ridgeland is a great city. It’s run well with a great mayor and board. The mayor and fellow board members and department heads have helped

get my feet on the ground and … move me along at a fast pace to understand how things operate,” he said. “It’s been great.” He said he makes a deliberate effort to stay in contact with Ward 6 residents through the homeowners associations. “When I go to these neighborhood association meetings and they bring up questions and concerns and things they want to see, I immediately take that to the board and set up a meeting with the department head to see what we can do. “I really value and listen to the constituents … my agenda is what they’re saying, what they’re wanting, what they’re concerned with.”

ONE OF HAMLIN’S MAIN goals as alderman was “to bring some of the excellence in landscaping [from] Highland Colony … over to the east side of Ridgeland, and we’ve been able to do that.” He said the city has added landscaping to a few major intersections in Ward 6, including County Line Road and Old Canton Road; Lake Harbour Drive and Harbour Crossing; and Lake Harbour and Northpark Drive. “It makes it look better, and it just brings an excellence to that side of See Wes Hamlin, Page 7A


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