v9n12 - JFP Issue: Kids Tried As Adults

Vote @ bestofjackson.com until Dec. 15 Vol. 9 | No. 12 //december 1 - 7, 2010

DAILYBREAKINGNEWS@JFPDAILY.CO JFPDAILY.COM

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Rush to Judgment The Dubious Trend of Trying Kids As Adults Wells and Ladd, pp 14 - 21

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December 1 - 7, 2010

December 1 - 7, 2010

jacksonian

VOL.

9 NO. 12

contents CHRISTI VIVAR; MUGSHOT; SONY PICTURES; MARLON J. IVY

JERT-RUTHA CRAWFORD

7 Who Pays?

The public service commission investigates how utilities pay for their philanthropy.

Mugshot of Tyler Edmonds; cover design by Kristin Brenemen

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THIS ISSUE: Kids in Prison

28 31 34 35 37 38 39 43

In laws borne of faulty logic, children as young as 13 can be tried and incarcerated as adults.

.............. Editor’s Note ............................. Talk ...................... Editorial ........................ Stiggers ............................ Zuga ...................... Opinion ..................... Body/Soul .......... Road to Wellness .................. Diversions ......................... 8 Days .................. JFP Events .......................... Music ........... Music Listings ............................. Slate ............................ Astro ............................ Food ........... Fly Gift Guide

wanda collier wilson Nestled in her austerely decorated downtown office, Jackson Convention and Visitor’s Bureau CEO and President Wanda Collier Wilson is no stranger to hard work. Not one to put up a big fuss about the numerous awards and plaques hanging on her walls and sitting on shelves, she speaks with a calm and powerful voice that catches the attention of those around her.

In 1983, Collier Wilson started at JCVB as an intern, and over the years has held a variety of positions from secretary to the director and marketing director. She has arranged tours for visitors, managed sales accounts, helped attract clients to Jackson and overseen the organization’s advertising campaign.

Collier Wilson, who has spent the last 27 years promoting the city of Jackson, says the complexity of the tourism industry intrigued her, and she wanted to learn all she could about it.

“Before working at the visitor’s bureau, I had never thought about tourism and the implications for a community,” she says, adding that tourism contributes to the community by bringing in revenue and giving a city a sense of pride.

Collier Wilson is starting to see the fruits of her efforts.

“In a few years, Jackson is going to be it,” she says. “No longer will we be trying to become a destination, but we will be a desti-

nation with all the development to come.”

The divorced mother of two graduated from Lanier High School and attended Mississippi State University where she studied political science.

She was named one of Mississippi’s “50 Leading Business Women” in 2006, and in 2008, she served as president of the Mississippi Tourism Association.

The Jackson native says she is looking forward to Jackson’s renaissance and applauds development such as the Farish Street entertainment district. She says she would like to see the Jackson Convention Center expand in the next few years.

“If we expand the convention center, I feel it will draw additional events downtown and draw more support and business in the downtown area,” she says. “(Hopefully) we can offer a walking type of venue for planners who are meeting down here.”

When Collier Wilson isn’t overseeing her staff or meeting with city officials on upcoming projects, she enjoys her time reading and attending church.

“I am a Jacksonian, and I live here by choice,” Wilson says. “I like what I do, and I love living here in Jackson and promoting the city to get people to appreciate the city and all that it has to offer.”

—Dominique R. Benson

34 Say It Loud!

The Godfather of Soul led an all-star lineup to accompany the “Rumble in the Jungle.”

43 Bling is Best When it comes to melting your honey’s heart, nothing works better than something shiny.

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editor’snote

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

Follow her on Twitter at sehoy13.

She co-wrote the cover story.

Brandi Herrera Brandi Herrera, a native of Portland, Ore., is a freelance writer and graduate of Linfield College in Oregon. She enjoys wine and cooking and strives to live as “green” as possible. She wrote the Body/Soul feature.

Katie Stewart Katie Stewart, a Jackson native, works for Imaginary Company, a local design firm. She loves perusing used bookstores and is usually accompanied by a cup of strong coffee. She wrote a food piece and the kitchen gift guide.

Pamela Hosey Pamela Hosey is originally from West Point, Miss. She loves to write, read James Patterson novels and spend time with her family. She coordinated the hostess gift guide.

Phyllis Robinson Phyllis Robinson, aka Peaches, has worked in every facet of fashion: writing, styling, designing, and modeling. She is the founder of E & E Models of Jackson, for plus size models. She coordinated the jewelry gift guide.

Bryan Flynn Bryan Flynn is a lifelong Mississippi native who resides in Richland. When not working for the JFP, he writes a national blog, playtowinthegame.com. He lives with his wife and their four cats.

He wrote the sports feature.

Marlon Ivy Freelance photographer Marlon Ivy is a Mississippi State University alumnus. An instructor told him it would be years before he would be considered a photographer. It doesn’t matter; he prefers the title “Picture Taker” anyway. He photographed the jewelry gift guide.

December 1 - 7, 2010

Lydia Chadwick

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Advertising designer Lydia Chadwick enjoys crazy, awesome weekends with her husband and two kids. She thrives in the midst of procrastination and prefers eating cereal from a cup instead of a bowl. She designed ads in this issue.

by Donna Ladd, Editor-in-Chief

All God’s Children

O

ne image won’t leave my head since I finished my part of the cover story I wrote this issue with freelance writer Valerie Wells (starts page 14): A deputy with his foot against a door as a desperate mother tries to get through to be with her 13-year-old son during a police interrogation that will elicit a murder confession that may or may not have any truth to it.

Stop for a minute and think about it: What is going on here, folks? How have we created a society where young people arguably get fewer rights than adults? A world where a judge blocks expert testimony that would allow jurors to consider that a child’s confession might be false? A state where kids get thrown into juvenile facilities without decent educational, medical or mental resources, and are often abused worse inside the facility than outside?

Have we really become a society where adults don’t care if another person’s child is abused, or railroaded, or sent to a prison where he has to tie something around him because he fears being raped in the shower? Or are we so blinded by fear of “thugs” (or “predators” as they were called a decade ago) that we refuse to face that we are, in fact, creating them?

I could blame the media. I spent my graduate-school years and then a six-month fellowship researching the 1990s myths about kids that enabled and popularized horrendous policies against accused children, and the media and politicians that spawned them. Right here in Jackson, I have spent an inordinate amount of my time in recent years reporting stories that other media wouldn’t touch about the young people who lived in the late Mayor Frank Melton’s home with scant supervision that wasn’t overly connected to liquor, showboating, playing with guns and Lord knows what else.

I’m still amazed at how hard it was to get people, especially those in charge of overseeing “foster” situations, interested in the children’s welfare in that bizarre saga. It was as if people didn’t give a damn what was going on at 2 Carter’s Grove because the kids there were assumed to be throwaway thugs until a folkhero businessman opened his home to them.

I also infuriate some people because I dare to challenge our “local” media’s either-or propensity toward images of white people as the “VIPs” and black folks, especially kids, as the thugs (or blaming the parents who don’t stop the thuggery), not to mention the media trick of flashing urban schools like Lanier on the screen when something bad happens anywhere near by.

No doubt: The media helped create this disastrous state for young people and are doing way too little to change it. (I heard one editor recently throw his hands up in front of a group of children’s advocates and declare that it was “up to the parents,” as if every person in the room didn’t know that the parents play a vital role, as do the rest of us.)

In the 1990s, a group of drug warriors grabbed the media by the ear and dragged

them right into a trap set to target black urban youth. As we discuss in our cover story, the “super-predator” myth swept the nation as outlets from the Boston Globe to Newsweek, and politicians from Bob Dole to Orrin Hatch, spread predictions that the largely black (their words) population of “super-predators” would explode by 270,000 young criminals by this year. (Based on population figures, this meant that as many “thugs” would have to be under age 6 as over 13, but the media outlets didn’t bother with calculators or, apparently, factchecking before passing along the predictions as fact.)

This hysteria came, by the way, as the nation was enjoying a post-crack-era 68 percent drop in youth homicides, headed toward the lowest youth-crime rate in 25 years. But the meme caught on, spread by the media and politicians trying to get votes on the backs of kids. The only answer, according to the book “Body Count” (a racist polemic I have grown to loathe over the years) was to blame the parents while calling for some of the harshest juvenile-crime policies in the world. These politicians played the fear card hard when it convinced the public that the only way to guard us all from the “predators” was to pass tough laws requiring accused children to be treated (and often mistreated) like adults.

America fell for it and, as a result, we have policies across the nation that are abusing young people, as well as turning many of them into more hardened criminals. Here in Mississippi, we already had a miserable youthdetention system that allowed, and allows, simply unfathomable abuses of young people (mostly of color; white kids who get in trouble are more likely to avoid detention in our state, sometimes because their parents know the

right district attorney) with politicians turning their heads.

Now, we have treat-em-like-adults scenarios like those we detail in this week’s cover story.

There at least would be an argument for this scenario if it wasn’t bona fide fact at this point that children in those situations are more likely to lie to please the adults trying to get them to confess to something bad (we teach them to obey grown-ups, you know). And when they’re held in these über-stressful situations for hours, they will often lie just to get out of the room. Their attention spans are short, and science proves that their brains aren’t developed enough to understand the consequences of a lie, even one that can land them in prison.

I’m not sugarcoating anything here: Young people commit crimes. They always have. Some of them are heinous.

What I am saying is that it doesn’t make a lick of sense to keep up policies that are actually detrimental to children, families and the rest of society. It is downright stupid to support adult incarceration of youth when it actually makes our society less safe. And, I must add, there is a special cellblock in hell for a politician who trolls for votes on the back of a child.

If my research on the criminalization of youth taught me anything, it is this: These harsher policies came about because of fear of people of color, and they are hurting all kids, regardless of race. It is not one or the other; it is both.

The politicians and their media created this disaster; it is up to the rest of us to fix it. It is time to stand up for all of God’s children.

This column is named for a remarkable book on the complexities of youth justice: Fox Butterfield’s “The Bosket Family and the American Tradition of Violence.”

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PSC Examining Charitable Contributions

M

ississippi Public Service Commissioners Brandon Presley and Lynn Posey say they want to limit ratepayers funding charitable donations given by utility companies.

Presley said state law allows utility companies like Mississippi Power Company, Entergy Mississippi and TVA to donate money to various organizations, but he complains that it also allows the company to categorize such donations as business expenses, which can be funded through the company’s major source of revenue: its ratepayers.

“Companies shouldn’t be able to go around spreading goodwill in their name and then turn around and take that money out of the pockets of the ratepayers. It should come from the shareholders,” said Presley, who supported the PSC’s decision to open a docket to investigate the contribution process this month. “I don’t think ratepayers, who have no choice but to pay their bills, should have to pay for these contributions.”

Posey said companies dish out charitable contributions, but then approach the commission with reimbursement requests for their donations, paid for through what Posey describes as “minute” rate increases to customers’ monthly utility bills.

“The average charitable … contributions that Entergy makes amounts to about 6 cents per month per 1,000 kilowatt user, I think. Mississippi Power is maybe 7.6 cents.

It’s a bunch of money, but it’s very little per

ratepayer. It hardly affects rates, averaging 6 cents per month for a customer using a 1,000 kilowatt hours. It’s minute, but we’re still getting ready to scrutinize these things even so,” Posey said.

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The Mississippi Public Service Commission is considering ways to restrict contributions a utility company like Entergy can make with ratepayers’ funds.

Posey said the PSC’s sister agency, the Public Utilities Staff, has recommended disallowing contribution reimbursement requests, meaning utility companies are gambling every time they shell out a donation if they expect a reimbursement, but that hasn’t stopped them from being generous.

In 2009, for example, Entergy Mississippi invested $100,000 in the statewide early childhood education program Mississippi Building Blocks, which serves about 50 child-

by Adam Lynch

care centers and 150 early education classrooms throughout the state. The company plans to invest another $200,000 by 2011.

Entergy Mississippi also pledged $500,000 to Jackson State University’s College of Science, Engineering and Technology, and delivered another $50,000 check to the university in September. Mississippi Power announced a $500,000 commitment to Mississippi State University’s Bagley College of Engineering in September.

MSU announced in October that 100 “economically challenged” students would receive $250,000 in tuition aid courtesy of Entergy Mississippi.

Entergy Mississippi spokeswoman Mara Hartmann said an Entergy contribution committee—composed of employees and some executives—examines contribution requests from non-profits, universities and other organizations, and allots money based on the company’s focus of improving education, helping low-income and disabled customers, and improving the environment.

Despite the appeal of the donations, Posey and Presley want the donation process scrutinized and may require companies to fund future contributions through stockholders rather than rate increases.

“With economic times being what they are, we decided to take a closer look,” Posey said.

PSC Executive Director John Waites DONATIONS, see page 8

of Separation

Kenny Stokes to Bristol Palin

by Ward Schaefer

This year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Awards Banquet, organized

by Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes, honored Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Lonnie Edwards as its 2010 Man of the Year. Edwards was once a guest on “Sally,” the talk show hosted by Sally Jessy Raphael, who made a 2004 cameo appearance with comedian Dave Chappelle on “Chappelle’s Show.” Chappelle’s “Block Party” concert and documentary saw Lauryn Hill reunite with her old group, The Fugees. Hill got her big break in “Sister Act 2,” with Whoopi Goldberg, who later went on to co-host “The View,” which featured Bristol Palin in a June 2010 show.

quack “As science, like the law, evolves over time, one generation’s expert is another’s quack.” —Former Mississippi Supreme Court Judge Oliver Diaz, writing about Dr. Steven Hayne’s testimony in Tyler Edmonds v. The State of Mississippi.

Wednesday, Nov. 24

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announces plans to end the use of the color-coded terrorism alert system and replace it with one that is more effective and specific. … Chokwe Lumumba, Jackson city councilman and lawyer for the Scott sisters, delivers 24,000 signatures calling for the release of the sisters to Gov. Barbour.

Thursday, Nov. 25

Two Poles and a Swede are charged with the theft of the “Arbeit Macht Frei” (work will make you free) sign stolen from Auschwitz last December. If convicted, the trio could face up to three years in prison. … Two men are arrested for stealing a Lamborghini from a Jackson Walmart.

Friday, Nov. 26

Russia says it will miss the 2012 deadline to destroy their chemical weapons from the Cold War era. … Auburn defeats Alabama 28-27 in the Iron Bowl.

Saturday, Nov. 27

In Ireland, thousands of people gather in Dublin to protest cuts to welfare programs and public jobs. The cuts are part of the country’s austerity program, designed to rescue Ireland’s economy. … Ole Miss falls to Mississippi State 23-31 in the Egg Bowl.

Sunday, Nov. 28

Police in Rio De Janeiro say they successfully took over the Alemao slum, ridding it of gang members and drug dealers. This takeover is part of a push by the Brazilian government to secure Rio De Janeiro before they host the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016. … The U.S. Department of Defense announces that First Lt. William Donnelly IV, a Picayune, Miss., native, was killed in Afghanistan.

Monday, Nov. 29

President Obama announces a twoyear pay freeze for federal employees to help reduce the federal deficit. The pay freeze will save $2 billion by September 2011. … Jackson State University’s marching band, is one of eight schools invited to perform at Honda’s Battle of the Bands in January 2011.

Tuesday, Nov. 30

The U.S. Senate defeats a proposed ban on earmarks with a 39 to 59 vote.

Among eight Republicans voting against the ban is Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran. … Overnight and early morning tornadoes damage property across the state, especially in Yazoo and Starkville.

jacksonfreepress.com

news, culture & irreverence

Contrary to public perception, violent crime in schools has declined dramatically since 1994. The annual rate of serious violent crime in 2007 (40 per 1,000 students)was less than half of the rate in 1994. These data are victim reports collected as part of the National Crime Victimization Survey and are not derived from school records.

Wes Holsapple’s goal is to nurture and help build businesses in Jackson. p 12

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talk

news, culture & irreverence

DONATIONS, from page 7

December 1 - 7, 2010

coiurtesy entergy

said utility companies also generate revenue mission.” However, the commission does not through stock sales, and that this is the indi- have a blanket regulation governing the size rect method through which companies can the donations or any circumstances surroundfinance donation costs that are unrecovered ing them. The only PSC rule that addresses by ratepayers. the issue is Rule 22 governing charitable or

Theoretically, a stockholder may purchase civic contributions. one share of $20 stock in Mississippi Power’s “Due to the varied sizes and operations parent company Southern Company. The of the utilities regulated by the commission, stock may carry a dividend rate of five percent. contributions will be studied individually to Mississippi Power may pay out anywhere determine allowance as cost of service,” the from 50 to 60 rule states, withpercent of their out issuing any net income in financial limit or dividends to ratepayer comSouthern Commitment cap. pany stockhold Presley said ers. What the Mississippi is company keeps one of only a is called retained few states that alearnings—meanlow utility coming earnings kept panies to seek by the business reimbursement to fund reinvestthrough rate inment in things creases, and cited such as electricLouisiana as the ity poles, power only example he lines, and genknows of a state erators—and that allows for contributions. In the practice. John essence, the busiBethel, executive ness keeps some director of the of its investors’ Entergy spokeswoman Mara Hartmann says Arkansas Public stockholders already hold most of her company’s money for op- donations last year.

Service Comerating expenses mission, said his and capital inagency does not vestments, rather than giving it back to them typically include donations in rate increases of as 100 percent dividends. any kind.

Hartmann said stockholders already “Those are typically treated below the covered most of her company’s donations last line as a shareholder expense. That’s been the year. “When we took a look at 2009 contri- commission’s practice for a number of years,” butions, it amounted to less than 15 cents Bethel said. “Typically, donations and chariper customer per month. We had a total of table contributions are not included in rates about $3 million in donations that year and approved by the PSC.” $1.3 million came from shareholders. The Alabama PSC spokesman John Free said other $700,000 was recovered under Mis- his state also does not allow utility companies sissippi law and with commission approval,” to charge rate-payers for the cost of donaHartmann said. She added that the company tions, while Texas Public Service Commission never sought to recover $900,000 of the $1.3 spokesman Terry Hadley said his state already million that shareholders carried. The PSC follows Posey’s donation cap suggestion and disallowed reimbursement of $400,000 that does not allow any utility company’s donaEntergy requested, so shareholders, she said, tions to “exceed three-tenths of 1 percent” of funded that amount as well. the company’s gross receipts.

While Presley said he would prefer more “With that kind of cap, I can’t see cuscontributions to come directly from company tomers paying even six cents of their monthly stockholders, Posey said he is considering the bill to donations,” Hadley said. idea of capping the percentage of donations Hartmann would not say if limiting ratepayers must accommodate. contributions to stakeholders or capping

“Our attorneys are working on a pro- contributions would have an impact on local posed rule, and I think they’ll have a proposed recipients, but said the state needed all the parule suggestion to make soon. We will have tronage it could get, especially considering its hearings and have the (utility) companies economic environment. come in and discuss the proposed rule with “Our state has great needs. We’re the us,” Posey said. poorest state in the country,” Hartmann said.

Currently, the PSC has no real prec- “We feel it is very important that we and edent by which to determine reimbursement. other businesses contribute to the communiState law Section 77-3-79 states that “reason- ties we live in. This is corporate responsibility. able charitable or civic contributions shall be It’s not about slapping our name on a sponsorallowed as cost of service,” although these ship. It’s about trying to meet very real, very amounts are “not to exceed amounts estab- serious challenges.” lished by regulations adopted by the com- Comment at jfp.ms.

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justicetalk

by Ward Schaefer

Scott Sisters’ Clemency Momentum Growing

S

upport for imprisoned sisters Jamie and Gladys Scott is growing as an anticipated deadline for their clemency petition nears. The sisters, who are in the 17th year of their double life sentences for armed robbery, have a petition for clemency or pardon pending before Gov. Haley Barbour.

Attorney and Jackson Councilman Chokwe Lumumba, who previously handled the sisters’ appeals, filed a petition for clemency or pardon with Barbour Sept. 14. Since then, the NAACP, as well as other national civil-rights organizations—including a coali-

their sentence.

Two of the sisters’ three alleged co-conspirators received reduced sentences in return for testifying against them. Within three years of their sentencing, all three of the co-conspirators were released from prison.

Lumumba said that he has been in communication with Barbour’s attorney, Lucien Smith, and that he expects a decision on the pardon request soon.

“It appears that the government—the governor and the Parole Board—have taken some affirmative steps to at least investigate our position,” Lumumba said. “We expect an answer in the near future.”

Investigators from the state Parole Board have spoken with the sisters at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility at least three times, according to Nancy Lockhart, an activist who is in regular phone contact with the Scotts. Lumumba said that he has also discussed the case with investigators, and he believes the governor has enlisted the help of the Parole Board to investigate the case and deliver a recommendation on the pardon request.

“We’ve heard that the Parole Board would deal with their recommendation by the end of the year,” he said.

R

State law does not require Barbour to seek a recommendation from the Parole Board, however. This past winter, a bill that would have required the Parole Board to make a non-binding recommendation in advance of any gubernatorial pardon died in the state Legislature. Rep. Brandon C. Jones, D-Pascagoula, authored the bill in response to Barbour’s controversial pardons of five murderers who worked in the governor’s mansion as trustys, four of them for domestic murders, as revealed by the Jackson Free Press in 2008. The House of Representatives passed the bill by a 115-5 vote, but the measure died in the Senate.

Support for the sisters’ release has grown dramatically this year, spurred in large part by the urgency of Jamie Scott’s health problems. In January, doctors diagnosed her with kidney failure, a result of untreated diabetes. Since then, prison staff has periodically rushed her to the hospital because of infections and other complications.

Jamie is currently suffering from severe headaches and blurry vision, Lockhart says, another side effect of her diabetes. Lockhart has asked prison staff to prescribe Jamie glasses, but she has yet to receive them.

PA I D A DV E RT I S E M E N T

oom Service started off in 1986 as little more than a salad vending service.

Now, more than 25 years later, Owner Herbert Hays Thompson has creating mouth-watering specialties in a short time span down to a science. For example, they made 954 sandwiches in a two-hour period.

Of course, Hays is usually one to turn down news articles, and even proposed book deals, because he is of the school of anti-self-promotion.

The food at Room Service speaks for itself from Owner Herbert Hays Thompson the 25 salad dressings to 31 different salads. You can see them yourself on Room Service’s hand-written menu. Don’t call and ask them to give you the list over the phone. Seriously. You won’t be eating lunch that day if you do.

Along with your appetite, bring your sense of humor, or you might not be able to handle the obnoxious atmosphere of Room Service located at 4107 Northview Drive in Jackson.

“When asked what is special on the menu, everything is special,” says Hays.

“The sandwiches and salads are all the same price, too—$7.34 plus tax totals to $8.

Anything on the menu is one price.”

You won’t be able to fight the temptation to order just one menu item. The Uptown Sammie is dressed with grilled chicken, cranberries, blue cheese, pecans, red onion, tomato and lettuce. The Washington Salad is a favorite, with chicken, bacon, egg, grapes, walnuts, raisins, sunflower seeds, mushrooms, bagel chips and lettuce.

The sammies come on whatever you want, just be nice when you are ordering or…well, you know. Varieties of bread include French, croissant, honeywheat, white, King’s Bread, pumpernickel, Sugarbusters, Texas toast, and rye.

Fax (601-362-4657), call (601-362-4617) or e-mail (roomservice96657@ bellsouth.net) your orders in the day before your office or business wants them, or you can place your order at 7:30 a.m. the day of. They will deliver salads, soups, and sammies to businesses and offices (if you haven’t made the “Don’t Take Their Order List”) only Monday - Friday for lunch, but they are open 9 a.m. til 1:30 p.m. Monday - Friday. (Visit www.roomservicejackson.com to see their menu online.)

Want a flashback to your younger school days? Try their brownies sprinkled with powdered sugar, affectionately known as a secret & personal addiction for some customers. Hays says that customers also get stingy with the sweet pickles and chicken salad. Learn to share or buy your own—they sell them in quarts and pints.

jacksonfreepress.com

Ward Schaefer

Attorney Chokwe Lumumba delivered a petition with 24,000 signatures to Gov. Haley Barbour’s office Nov. 24.

tion of Mississippi Freedom Riders—have joined the call for their release.

On Nov. 24, Lumumba delivered to Barbour’s office a stack of papers bearing the names of 24,000 people who signed an online petition for their release issued by the NAACP. He also carried another 1,500 letters of support that he received personally at his law office.

Among the new crop of supporters was Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith, who reviewed the sisters’ case and pledged his support in a separate letter.

“The Scott sisters do not have a previous criminal history, which is at least a hint that they were most likely law-abiding citizens for most of their adult life,” Smith wrote.

“Consequently, they do not have the profile of those who exhibit predatory behavior or aggressive conduct towards criminality.”

Jamie and Gladys are serving life sentences for allegedly masterminding a 1993 armed robbery, when they were 21 and 19, respectively. Estimates of the amount allegedly stolen range from $11 to a little more than $200.

The sisters have maintained their innocence, as have many of their supporters, but the pardon petition and recent groundswell of support have focused on the severity of

9

moneytalk

by Adam Lynch

Donations for Exemption?

T

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In 1998, legislators passed the Check Cashers Act, which exempts payday lenders from a 36 percent annual-percentage-rate cap on loans less than $1,000. Under the exemption, check-cashing operations can charge customers a $21.95 lending fee per $100 loan—which are typically due within two to four weeks. The Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance calculates the fee into an annual percentage rate (APR) of 572.26 percent. amile wilson

December 1 - 7, 2010

1935 Lakeland Dr. 601.906.2253

he Mississippi Center for Justice says short-term lenders donate heavily to legislative banking committee chairmen in hopes of extending an exemption allowing them to charge up to $21.95 for every $100 loaned.

Short-term lenders comprised 10 of 21 donations Senate Business and Financial Institutions Committee Chairman Gary Jackson, R-French Camp reported from January to December in 2008, a total of $5,100 out of his total $14,700 for that period. House Banking Committee Chairman George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, meanwhile, reported $4,900 out of his $8,1000 total contributions from short-term lenders in 2008 and $5,100 out of his $43,675 total contributions from short-term lenders in 2009.

“It’s the history of the industry to contribute to political campaigns in an effort to secure their special exception to the Small Loan Act. It would be expected to see an increase in contributions due to the fact that this exception, which expires in 2012, will see legislative action in the upcoming session,” said Mississippi Center for Justice Advocacy Director Beth Orlansky. “Basically, they are protecting the way the industry conducts business in the state of Mississippi.”

Orlansky said MCJ does not donate money to campaigns.

Flaggs said the suggestion of donors influencing his vote on the bill was an “attack” on his character. “The question is an insult to me. ... I take campaign contributions from pharmaceutical companies, and yet I voted against their interests. I’ve been in the Legislature for 23 years, and I’ve always voted on the merits of the issue.”

The representative defended the $21.95 fee, reiterating the lenders’ position that they can’t stay in business if their exemption expires. He said the $21.95 fee compares favorably to credit-card companies’ fines and fees that grow considerably when they become delinquent. He said the fee also compares favorably to the cost of re-activating cell phone and electricity service.

Jackson did not return calls.

Opponents to short-term lending say the industry donates to legislative bankingcommittee leaders, like Rep. George Flaggs.

Jamie Fulmer, vice president of public affairs for Advance America, said the APR is not a fair translation of the interest rate, however, considering the short lifespans of the loans, which, under Mississippi law, cannot last a whole year or charge more than 18 percent simple interest.

“An APR calculation isn’t how a consumer values it. In order to pay a (572 APR), the consumer would have to take out that loan every two weeks for an entire year,” Fulmer said. “On average, they use us between seven and eight times a year.”

The exemption is temporary and set to

Jesse Gallagher Sarah J Griff Howard Lori Carpenter Scroggins Ginger Rankin Brock Freeman

expire July 2012. Payday lending advocates say most payday lenders can’t stay in business charging 36 percent APR on $100 loans.

Fulmer says that capping the APR at 36 percent pushes a short-term loan into an incompatible unit of measurement, which would amount to an unsustainable fee of $1.38 per every $100 loaned, he said.

To get a short-term payday loan, a borrower hands a payday lender a personal check, which the lender holds until the loan’s due date. In exchange, the borrower receives cash from the lender, minus the lender’s fees.

Companies like Advance America, on Ellis Avenue, offer a $330 maximum payday loan, requiring a fee of about $60.

The lender typically holds the borrower’s check for about two weeks—the length of a regular pay period—and will deposit the customer’s check at the end of the period, as per the contract.

The practice puts the borrower at risk of bank overdraft charges, as well as a lender fee up to $30, if they don’t have the money in the bank to cover the draft. Under state law, borrowers may not extend the same loan, but Orlansky argues that some payday borrowers begin a cycle of taking out subsequent loans with different payday lending companies to fund previous loans.

Borrowing $300 can accrue $65.85 in fees. If the borrower takes out eight $300 loans, he is looking at up to $526.80 in fees.

Flaggs said he was going to hold a hearing next year where both sides of the argument can debate a bill scribed by Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance Commissioner John Allison. “It’s not even going to be my bill. It’s going to be a bill put together by the state banking commission, which licenses (short-term lenders),” Flaggs said.

Allison said it was too early to submit any bill recommendation but said the existing statute will be tweaked in a number of ways.

“There will be several introductions out there, although I don’t know what all they’re going to be,” Allison said.

Comment at jfp.ms.

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by Lacey McLaughlin

Creating Synergy

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Venture Incubator Executive Director Wes Holsapple wants to create a hub for small business entrepreneurs.

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s Wes Holsapple II walks through the soon-to-be filled offices on the second floor of the Regions Plaza building on Thanksgiving eve, his mind is far from turkey and stuffing. As the executive director of the Venture Incubator, Holsapple is focused on creating a hub to help small business owners flourish. Earlier this year, Downtown Jackson Partners created the nonprofit and provided funds for its start up.

Cities such as Little Rock, Birmingham and Baton Rouge have created business incubators. If Holsapple has his way, about 60 Jackson businesses will use the Capitol Street space by the end of the second quarter of 2011. The incubator has different levels of membership, and clients can lease an office or use the organization for training, development and networking.

The Nashville native moved to Jackson in the early 1980s and has worked as an area manager and trainer for Dale Carnegie & Associates, a global self-improvement and professional training company. Holsapple, 48, also owned a Business Networking International franchise until 2005.

What is the incubatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s goal?

Businesses that get started often times have a very high failure rate. Many times itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s because they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the capital to get started. They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the money it takes to have an office facility, and also they (may)

What is your role?

My role is to tell the story of the incubator to the community and also to businesses.

(My role) is to help them get in, and then contact corporations like Entergy and other companies and say: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have this many people wanting to start small businesses in the area.

They want to come to the area because they believe in it. Would you be willing to help us with our operating expenses?â&#x20AC;? And since we operate as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, our focus, as with all incubators, is to lower the expenses of our new business clients.

How is the incubator different from other business-development groups?

At Jackson State Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s small business-development center, (clients) have an office. â&#x20AC;Ś But they also get use of the conference room and the copier and the receptionist and all those shared services. These businesses can lower their cost, but they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have the benefit of training and development. â&#x20AC;Ś (The Mississippi e-Center at JSU) is primarily tech focused, so someone who wants to start a janitor business, the e-Center is probably not a good fit.

What are some skills that small business owners need to succeed?

A lot of people have a dream, they have an idea, they are enthusiastic about it, but they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a business plan that talks about how they are going to accomplish what they want to do. Who else needs to be involved? What about financing, cash-flow projects? Who is your market, and how are they different? â&#x20AC;Ś Can they give a 30-second elevator talk? There has to be a compelling message that these business owners are using to grow their business.

What are the pros and cons of starting a small business in Jackson?

The positive side is that we have such a diverse industry of government, education and medical that those types of industries arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t going to suffer the ups and downs like Detroit that has the automobile industry. ...

Jackson has consistently ranked high as a good place to start a business, raise a family and get an education. I think there is a tendency that Mississippi has been kicked so long that the attitude is: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s find something to kick. And, oh, look. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mississippi.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;Ś I think one of the challenges is that we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t tell our story well, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something we need improvement on.

What happens when clients want to expand their businesses?

It depends on the client. There might a person that comes to us and says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have an office in my home in Clinton, but I would love to have an office downtown and meet clients in a conference room.â&#x20AC;? For $250 a month, they can do that, plus they can get all the training, development. This is not a moneymaking thing. We are a nonprofit. Every decision we make is on how we can help the clients succeed. We want them in one to three years to graduate out. â&#x20AC;Ś But letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s say that a client starts as a sole proprietor and then needs to hire people. Now would be a good time to move out of the incubator, but they can stay as an affiliate and get the training they need.

What advice do you have for people who have a plan but lack financing?

If someone comes to me and needs help with financing, I pick up the phone and introduce (him or her) to the folks they need to be involved with. â&#x20AC;Ś Every day there are new opportunities coming around. There is new money that is being made available but you just have to meet certain requirements. But if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know those requirements, or if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know how to get started in meeting those requirements, then the money is inaccessible.

For information about the Venture Incubator, visit ventureincubator.org.

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11

jfp op/ed

opining, grousing & pontificating

EDITORIAL

You Get What You Pay For

T

he confluence of two events brought home hard truths about the values that some Mississippians seem to hold dear: The first was Gov. Haley Barbour’s budget recommendations for fiscal year 2012, which mandated cuts in nearly every area of state spending—education at all levels, Medicaid and the state Health Department among them—with the glaring exception of economic development and prisons. The second was our cover story this week about children being tried as adults and, subsequently, incarcerated in sub-standard facilities, or thrown in with hardened criminals in adult prisons.

An outsider in could deduce from those events that that thing we hold most dear is putting away criminals—our oft-repeated “tough on crime” stance—to the detriment of nearly everything else. Except, perhaps, business development.

No doubt, looked at through the myopic lens of “no tax increase” policies and our current unemployment picture, business development must be heavily subsidized and state funded. Corporate welfare has become so ubiquitous that most of us don’t give it a second thought.

The issue of prisons is another story altogether. The facts don’t lie: As a result of America’s love affair with incarceration and our nation’s longest-running “war” (against drugs), one out of every 100 Americans was behind bars as of 2008.

With nearly 2.5 million Americans locked up, many for drug offenses, the land of free has the highest rate of incarcerations in the world.

The fact that private prisons are a multi-billion-dollar growth industry is a symptom of a skewed system of justice. The fact that we classify some 13- and 14-year-old children in the same way that we do adults in their 30s, 40s and 50s is symptomatic of a system slightly berserk. The fact that we allow prosecutors like Forrest Allgood to use different evidence in related trials (as he did in the trials of Tyler Edmonds and his sister, Kristi Fulgham) and to employ questionable testimony like that of disgraced forensic pathologist Steven Hayne is indicative of our crazed, nonsensical longing to feel secure at any cost.

We keep dragging out our short-term solutions because we cannot, under any circumstances, admit that they don’t work. While we’re pouring our treasure into more and bigger prisons, better security technology and tougher laws, our children are the ultimate losers. Somehow, we have yet to admit that our lagging educational standards—the U.S. is nowhere near the leader in education that it is in convicts—are connected to the cradle-to-prison pipeline.

We’ve seen some signs that lawmakers are attempting the turn this particular Titanic around, but so far, the efforts are feeble. And progress is continually challenged by the coterie of “tough on crime” politicians like our own governor.

It’s time to put our resources in the correct end of the high crime, high prison-population equation. That’s education, folks, starting with pre-kindergarten all the way through university. There is no better time than now to start.

KEN STIGGERS

Year-End Financial Dilemma

December 1 - 7, 2010

R

12

udy McBride: “Now that Thanksgiving and Black Friday have passed, how do you feel today?

You’ve spent your hard-earned money on a few days of happiness. The leftover food is gone. Money in your checking account is low, and you need to earn more money from a temporary, second job to help pay those nagging pre-holiday bills.

“Financially challenged customers, don’t worry. The Let Me Hold Five Dollars National Bank staff understands your year-end financial dilemma.

“Nevertheless, my bank executives and I did not add any of the ‘Ghetto Stimulus Package’ money to our salaries. Therefore, we have plenty of money left over from the stimulus package, and we want to assist those struggling with their holiday finances.

“For families, individuals or couples on the verge of home foreclosure, the L.M.H.F.D. national bank can provide a ‘Please Give Us One More Month Anti-Foreclosure Loan’ that will temporarily stop the Finance Pimp from taking his home back.

“Need some cash to keep the family vehicle running? We have a ‘Fix That Hoopty Loan.’ After you receive your cash, take your broken-down ride to Rev. Cletus’ Car Sales Church and let ‘Big Deacon’ Jones do the repairs.

“No money in the budget to buy gifts for the family? Get a ‘Budget Supplement’ loan. This is not a bunch of B.S.; it’s a loan to help you make it through the holiday season.

“And remember the L.M.H.F.D. motto: We’ll let you hold five dollars, but you got to pay us back.”

CHATTER

Noise from the blogs @jacksonfreepress.com

“Bluntson and Lumumba Square Off” “Every time Bluntson opens his mouth, he shows how ill informed and incompetent he is. Lumumba is following exactly what his platform was when he ran for City Council. He told the voters of Ward 2 that he wanted to see more black Jackson businesses getting city contracts and more black Jackson workers being employed by any contractor doing business with the city. This would have the effect of increasing the incomes of Jackson residents and keeping more of the money the city spends in Jackson. How Blunstson can disagree with this philosophy defies credibility, unless he just does not understand.

—Wellington “I don’t see anything wrong with asking who the contracts are going out to. Asking that minorities be able to participate in the bidding and city projects is not the same as mandating. We just want a seat at the table.”

—dd39203 “Yes, we want a seat at the table; however, Lumumba, in my opinion, should join the table—not interrupt it. Lumumba

represents the ward I live in. Unfortunately, we did not have a person running for the office that I felt good about. My comment does not have anything to do with how right or wrong Lumumba is; I just know that he seemingly stays racially charged and with some of that fire, ready, aim behavior.”

—Justjess “People are confused in this city. First, we want to address racial imbalances, but then we don’t want to. I don’t get it.

Why is it the norm around these parts to just not speak about it? I think it’s high time someone steps in to look after those of us who populate the majority in this city. So often, we are overlooked and unwelcome.

—Queen601 “For the record, it is widely known that some city employees campaigned for Melton’s re-election on the city’s dime.

If this practice is continuing, it needs to be investigated and stopped. Lumumba is right to look closer if there is evidence to back it up.”

—Donna Ladd

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.

Or write a 300-600-word “Your Turn” and send it by e-mail, fax or mail above with a daytime phone number. All submissions are subject to fact checks.

Arin Clark Adkins

Save Fondren’s Main Street

EDITORIAL Managing Editor Ronni Mott News Editor Lacey McLaughlin Associate Editor Natalie A. Collier Senior Reporter Adam Lynch Reporter Ward Schaefer Events Editor Latasha Willis Music Listings Editor Natalie Long Assistant to the Editor ShaWanda Jacome Writers Quita Bride, Lisa Fontaine Bynum, David Dennis Jr., Scott Dennis, Bryan Flynn, Carl Gibson, Garrad Lee, Lance Lomax, Anita Modak-Truran, Larry Morrisey, Chris Nolen, Robin O’Bryant, Brandi Herrera, Casey Purvis, Tom Ramsey, Doctor S, Ken Stiggers, Jackie Warren Tatum, Valerie Wells, Byron Wilkes Editorial Interns Jesse Crow, Julia Hulitt, Holly Perkins Consulting Editor JoAnne Prichard Morris

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A

few weeks ago I went to Perfect Fit Alterations and enjoyed visiting while trying on pants to be hemmed. Then I walked next door to Jackson Shoe Repair where I took two pairs of shoes to get some TLC. Next, I walked to Wells Cleaners where I picked up a pile of dry cleaning and left another for next week.

Three days prior, I had bought a birthday cake at Campbell’s Bakery, and each week I try to be a regular at Butterfly Yoga.

Having finished my errands, I walked to Fondren Corner where I have proudly had an office for the past five years. Upon entering my suite, I told an office mate how much I appreciated having friendly businesses conveniently across the street. I described how much I loved living and working in a neighborhood that offers such urban options in a district that continues to thrive throughout the decades.

Spoke too soon, I did. Fast-forward three days and “Whitney Place to Rebuild Fondren” comes out in the Jackson Free Press. I had heard rumblings of development in the district, but I completely missed the boat on the extent of the vision until reading the article.

It was as though I had been struck down by horrible news. I was inconsolable.

I sought out Fondrenites for their opinions, and they seemed resigned to the idea.

There was disappointment with having to say goodbye to the face of Fondren, but acceptance because the buildings are in such terrible shape.

I immediately thought of The Cedars and how we helped to save it several years ago. My husband and I were just starting out professionally, but we scraped together what we could to support the cause. When we received a second letter that said, “we are not there, yet,” we did it again, because saving The Cedars was a priority. More zero-lot-line town homes or the oldest residence in Jackson? Choice “B” please.

Now, The Cedars is a social and cultural center. When I think about how those striving for its preservation had to stand against “development,” I remain amazed to realize how easily The Cedars could have been discarded.

I was shocked to hear that there was no momentum to preserve Fondren’s “Main Street.” Then I dug a little deeper. I approached some of the business owners asking, “So what do you think about Whitney Place?” My crestfallen state was transformed.

The business owners I spoke with are adamantly opposed to the plan. Some, but not all, of the buildings have been purchased for the development. The current owner has done a great job of upkeep on

the circa-1938 buildings. Perhaps some of the other buildings have structural damage, but not those rented by the business owners with whom I spoke.

The JFP article made Whitney Place sound like a done deal, but opposition does, in fact, exist. Those I spoke with do not want people to think their buildings are unsound, and they want to stay right where they are.

Development is essential for progress.

But history and preservation are essential for humankind. We travel to historic places to see the sights because they are something to behold. They are timeless; they move us.

Fondren’s main street may not be a historical sight now, but if it is torn down, it never will be.

Places like this are dying out. When you drive through Flora or Canton, you smile and say “look how quaint” and have a feeling of connectedness with the people who were there before. The buildings in the Fondren strip continue to do good business. They are not simply a sentimental but failing reminder of what once was—they still are.

Those of us who appreciate historic preservation and vernacular architecture see ourselves as stewards of structures that have stood over time. I have lived in Fondren for 10 years, and my home was built in the 1930s. I’ll fill in cracks in the plaster and repaint, and eight months later there is a hint of a crack returning. The patina on the banister is lighter where all the hands have grabbed it over the years. I have a lot of expense in maintenance, but I will pay and would not trade if I could.

Preservation can be incorporated into development. Look at Duling. The old school was preserved and recreated into beautiful space. The new part, Fondren Place, is modern and exciting. The developers gave care to replicate the bricks of Duling School to connect the old and the new. This makes sense.

This is thoughtful development.

Others feel the way I do. I do not suggest that development be squelched. I do, however, think there should be conversation with members of the community and those whom the proposal affects. The people of Fondren should have a more active voice in the development of their neighborhood.

My e-mail address is arinclarkadkins@ gmail.com, and I invite a conversation.

Arin Clark Adkins lives in Fondren with husband, David, and sons Dex and Will. She is a Millsaps College graduate with a master’s in social work from University of Southern Mississippi. An attorney, Adkins is a partner in her family firm, Clark & Clark.

Preservation can be incorporated into development.

Look at Duling.

jacksonfreepress.com

Editor in Chief Donna Ladd Publisher Todd Stauffer

13

Rush to Judgment

The Dubious Trend of Trying Kids As Adults

by Valerie Wells and Donna Ladd

T

December 1 - 7, 2010

yler Wayne Edmonds took his last seventh-grade exam at Fifth Street Junior High School in West Point on a Thursday and was confident he had done well. So far, 2003 had turned out to be a pretty good year for the 13-year-old skinny honors student with short hair and big eyes.

The boy wasn’t one to get in trouble, and he liked to play the trumpet. He also enjoyed hanging out with his half-sister Kristi Fulgham and going to her house in the Longview community a few miles west of Starkville, which he did every other weekend.

Edmonds idealized Fulgham, then 26.

She was older, married and cool. When he visited her and her husband’s house, he could eat junk food and stay up too late. They’d listen to the radio together and play with her three young children. He didn’t get fussed at.

At home, his mother made him do chores, made him do homework.

This was a new retreat for Edmonds.

He had only gotten to know his half-sister in the past year. They grew close fast. Kristi, who had a different mother, could arrange it so Edmonds could visit their father, Danny Edmonds, without his mother or anyone else knowing. His mother didn’t want the boy near his father who she divorced in 1992.

Edmonds did favors for his sister, too—like covering for her with her various boyfriends.

He even wrote a school essay called, “I love my sister more than I love myself.”

That Friday, May 9, 2003, Fulgham picked Edmonds up after school, shortly before her husband’s stepfather came by to take her three kids for the night. The siblings went 14 out to Subway for dinner, then back to her

house. There, her husband of 12 rocky years, Joey Fulgham, soon went to bed, and Edmonds fell asleep on the floor next to his sister as she worked on the computer.

Very early the next morning, May 10, Fulgham loaded Edmonds, as well as a computer CPU and her jewelry, into her car to go down to Biloxi for the weekend. On the way, they picked up her kids about 5 a.m. and then drove to Jackson to get her boyfriend, Kyle Harvey, before going on to the Beau Rivage.

While the group played on the beach, dined and bought souvenirs, her husband lay face down in his bed back home, dead from a .22-caliber rifle blast to the back of his head.

‘Mama, Don’t Leave Me Here’ Sunday, May 11, was Mother’s Day. Edmonds called his mother, Sharon Clay, from Biloxi to wish her a happy day. On the trip back from the Coast in the late afternoon, his sister’s cell phone started ringing with the news that Joey Fulgham’s brother, Shannon, had found her husband dead.

The brothers worked together at a local car dealership, and they had been paid on Friday. Joey Fulgham had cashed his paycheck for $1,020 and put the money in his wallet. The brothers had planned to attend an air show the next day, on Saturday, but when Shannon showed up at Joey’s house about noon, no one answered the door. When Shannon had not heard from his brother by Sunday afternoon, he cut the screen on the living-room window and entered the home at about 5:30 p.m. He found this murdered brother and called 911.

When Oktibbeha County Chief Investigator Robert Elmore arrived at the home, he discovered the victim’s wallet missing but

found no gun or shell casings. He noted that it looked like a computer CPU was missing, due to the outline on the living-room carpet.

Authorities soon learned that Kristi Fulgham had gone to Biloxi for the weekend and called her on Monday to come in for questioning. She went voluntarily to the sheriff’s department, where she gave a statement at about 5 p.m., saying that her half-brother, Tyler Edmonds, had shot her husband to protect her from abuse. She had already told him to take the blame for the murder if needed because, as a juvenile, he would not go to jail for it, and she needed to raise her three children.

While Fulgham was giving her statement, Edmonds’ mother Sharon Clay learned that the sheriff was looking for her son. She called in about 5:30 p.m., and they said they needed to ask him a few questions. She took him in voluntarily without any sense that he was a suspect. He was still wearing his flannel pajama bottoms, a T-shirt and flip-flops when they arrived at the station about 6 p.m.

When authorities asked Clay to sign a waiver of his Miranda rights at 6:23 p.m., she thought it meant that they could only question her son if she was there. She was firm with the deputies. “You can talk to him, but only in my presence,” she instructed.

Deputies James Lindsey and Tommy Whitfield began taking the boy’s statement with Clay present. Initially, Edmonds said that he had picked up a gun from his home “to shoot a dog.” He claimed Joey Fulgham was alive when they left, and even waved at them. Edmonds did not know that his sister had already admitted that her husband was dead when they left for the Coast.

“So we knew he wasn’t being upfront

with us about what had transpired,” Lindsey said later. They continued asking Edmonds repeatedly, “Are you sure he wasn’t dead?”

Clay kept interrupting, saying she would have known had her son “been involved in something like this.” Officers then asked her if they could talk to her son outside her presence. She repeatedly said no. No, no, no.

Soon, though, Sheriff Dolph Bryan told the officers to question Edmonds without his mother present. Whitfield took her into the lobby and told her that he didn’t think her son was being honest. Edmonds still had not been charged with any crime, and certainly not a capital crime that would exempt the Youth Court requirement that a child be questioned with a parent present.

The officers would not allow Clay back in the room with her son.

This was their first mistake.

‘She Don’t Lie to Me’ Mississippi Code, Sec. 43-21-303(3), severely restricts the circumstances in which a child can be taken into custody or interrogated without an order from a youth judge, which was not requested for Edmonds. And if officers believe they can justify detaining a child, then they must do so using “the least restrictive custody.”

Furthermore, state law says: “Unless the child is immediately released, the person taking the child into custody shall immediately notify the judge or his designee. A person taking a child into custody shall also make continuing reasonable efforts to notify the child’s parent, guardian or custodian and invite the parent, guardian or custodian to be present during any questioning.”

MDOC

State law follows the spirit of U.S. Su- bedroom where Joey Fulgham slept.

With the confession on tape to back after they returned from the Coast. preme Court decisions, which consistently Edmonds said he held the .22-caliber them up, officers did what Fulgham promised He said his sister asked him then to take warn that juveniles are vulnerable in police rifle that she had asked him to bring to the her kid brother they wouldn’t do if he took the blame and make up a story because, if he interrogations, and often give false confes- back of the victim’s head while she put her the fall—they charged Edmonds with mur- didn’t, he wouldn’t “get to see my kids again.” sions and hurt themselves. “[A] 14-year-old arms around him, and they both squeezed the der, handcuffed him and pulled him away She also told him that they “wouldn’t do anyboy, no matter how sophisticated, is unlikely trigger together from his mother. thing to you because you (are a) minor.” She to have any conception of what will confront “Mama, don’t leave me here,” he begged wanted him to say it was an accident. But The officer also included details that did him when he is made accessible to the police,” not match the crime scene: that he saw blood as deputies took him away. when he confessed, Edmonds did not take the high court wrote in Gallegos v. Colorado. sprinkles on the victim’s white pillowcase after His first of many nights in custody, the the full blame as she had asked. He thought

In Haley v. Ohio, the Supreme Court pulling the trigger; crime photos showed no boy slept in a county jail cell where they usu- he was helping his sister avoid the death penwarned: “And when, as here, a mere child— blood and that the sheets weren’t white. ally put the drunks. It smelled like it, too. He alty by sharing the blame with her. an easy victim of the law—is before us, special Interrogations are tricky animals, even As Edmonds finished his confession stared at the concrete block walls and listened care in scrutinizing the record must be used. and while the tape was running, Clay finally to the odd clinks and other noises in the night. when it’s an adult being questioned, but with Age 15 is a tender and difficult age for a boy forced her way into the room to confront a He didn’t sleep. children, they are rife with booby traps, as of any race. He cannot be judged by the more sobbing son who couldn’t stand up, holding Soon, Edmonds would be denied bond prosecutors and judges have learned repeatedexacting standards of maturity.” as authorities built a case to send him to ly since trying kids as adults came into vogue his head in his hands.

However, on the night of May 12 in “Tyler!” prison for life, with parole not possible until in the mid-1990s.

Starkville, the interrogators of the 13-year-old “Do, do you want him to stop talking 2053, for a murder his sister cooked up. He Beyond the basic moral question of Edmonds were not employing much “spe- to us? Do y’all want to—,” Officer Shannon would sit in jail 14 months before he went to whether children should be treated the same cial care”—believing that state law exempted Williams said to her. trial in 2004. as an adult under any circumstance—whether them from having to

Since the 1980s, thousands of kids in allowed to drink alcohol, marry, watch porn, allow his mother to be Mississippi have been tried as adults, and work long hours or be rough-handled the present for his intersame as a 50-yearrogation because they old murderer—is might charge him the problem that with murder later. their confessions

Whitfield kept often do not hold Clay in the hall outup in court. Or on side the room, while appeal.

Lindsey told Edmonds The reason: that his sister had put Kids often lie the murder on him, when in high-pres“that he was the one sure interrogation that killed Joey.” situations.

Edmonds said he Children are didn’t believe she said used to doing what that. Then, Lindsay adults tell them. So said, “Well, would when pressured by you believe her if she a group of adults told you that?” in scary uniforms, Tyler Wayne Edmonds was 13 when

“Yes, because I they will often Oktibbeha County locked his mother out of don’t lie to her, and say whatever they his interrogation. she don’t lie to me,” think the cops the boy responded. want to hear. Or

The officers then put him in the break “I want to be what they think room with his mother while they went to get here with him. This is their family memFulgham from another room. my child. You have to bers want them to

Soon Chief Deputy George Carrithers, understand.” say. Or what they who had interrogated Fulgham, walked into She turned to think will keep the the break room and grabbed Edmonds by the her son, ignoring the real criminal from arm. “We’ll be back in a minute,” he said to officer, and begged to hurting them. Or Clay, not telling her that he was about to have know if he was clear what they think their two suspects talk to each other. on what they were will get them out After the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned his error-ridden conviction and a

The officer took Edmonds to Lindsey’s asking. “They’re not of a bad situation jury acquitted him, Edmonds became an EMT in October 2009. office. Fulgham walked in, sat down and told making you say stuff in the next 10 Edmonds to hold her hand. “You need to tell you don’t want to minutes. them what happened. I’ve already told them, say?” she asked, as he shook his head no. hundreds are serving time in the adult system, Even if some prosecutors and police and they know what happened, and you need “Son, just—look, baby, tell me. Look. says Sheila Bedi, deputy legal director of the would rather not know about it, the evidence to tell the truth,” she said to her brother.

What’s wrong? What’s wrong, baby, huh?”

Southern Poverty Law Center and the former is overwhelming against interrogating chil Officers then took Edmonds to another “I’m telling the truth,” he answered. co-director of the SPLC’s Mississippi Youth dren as if they are adults, even when they’re “OK. What is the truth?” she asked. suspects for “adult” crimes. In 2004, the Famroom to videotape his statement, but without Justice Project, based in Jackson.

“That me and Kristi did it.” alerting his mother. At 8:30 p.m., officers read

The state has no uniform tracking of ily Justice Center at Northwestern University “Tyler, y’all killed him?” Tyler continued kids tried as adults. In Mississippi, any child School of Law’s Bluhm Legal Clinic submitEdmonds his rights off tape and then on tape. over 13 who commits a felony or uses a fire- ted an amicus brief to the Wisconsin Supreme At 9:30 p.m., he made his statement, with his sobbing, not answering his mother.

“Tyler! Tyler Wayne! Son, look at me. arm in a crime automatically is tried in an Court that delineated the problems with the mother in the hallway pounding on the door, yelling to be let in. But a deputy had put his Did you for real do that, or are you just telling adult court, often after a confession that may practice established by a wide variety of rethem that?” or may not be true. searchers: (1) “juveniles do not adequately foot against the door to keep her out.

“We done this.”

understand their Miranda rights and the

“What did y’all do? Oh God, Tyler True Confession ... Or Not? ‘This Is My Baby’ consequences of waiving them and that, in

In the confession, Edmonds said that Wayne, are you sure you did this?

While in jail and after his court-appoint- making decisions, they tend to comply with “Yes, ma’am.” sometime during the previous Friday night, ed attorney had not shown up in four days, adult authority figures.” (2) Recent medical

“Tyler, do you know what that means?” Edmonds called the sheriff himself to recant technology shows that “the area of the brain Fulgham woke him up where he slept on the “Yes ma’am, momma.” floor and put him in one of her kids’ beds. Be- his confession. In his second videotaped con “What—Tyler, what is going on?” tween 3:30 and 4 a.m., the alarm clock went fession, which jurors would not see, Edmonds TRYING KIDS, see page 16 15 “She made me do it.” off. He got up, and then they went into the said he did not know about the murder until jacksonfreepress.com

courtesy patsy brumfield

TRYING KIDS, from page 15

December 1 - 7, 2010

courtesy MDOC

which governs decision making, the weigh- Beware the Super-Predator ing of risks and rewards, and the exercise of Before the mid-1980s, the tough-onjudgment is still developing into the late teen youth policies used against juvenile deyears and early twenties.” (3) “largely as a re- linquents (and their parents) would have sult of new DNA technologies, evidence has shocked the average American. But a violent emerged suggesting that juveniles may be at youth crime surge changed the dynamic. a higher risk than adults of falsely confessing In 1998, the rate for serious violent when pressured by police.” crimes for youth was about the average for the

The brief also states that failure “to call previous 25 years—a trend that has continthe parents for the purposes of depriving the ued. Youth property crime actually declined, juvenile of the opportunity to receive advice but one youth category had diverged in a disand counsel” should be considered “strong turbing way from 1985 to 1993: murder. evidence” that coercion was used to elicit the Criminal researchers, including Alfred juvenile’s statements.

Blumstein of the National Consortium on

The attorneys urged the court to require Violence Research, have explained for years a “per se rule” that would exclude “any state- that the sudden spike in gun killings in the ments obtained from minors when such state- late ’80s and early ’90s (which was true here ments are made without parental, guardian or in Jackson, too) was due to the boom of crack attorney consultation.” markets coupled with increased gun availabil The Mississippi Youth Justice Project ity on the streets. During that time, young made similar arguments in an amicus brief people—largely young black men—were killfiled on behalf of Edmonds’ appeal in 2004. ing each other in record numbers over drug

As more and more children are charged, turf wars. Homicides with guns more than and thus handled, like adults, their false con- tripled during those eight years. fessions are H o w e v e r , costing society youth violent resources, not crimes dropped to mention 48 percent by ruining the 1998 as the lives of chilcrack markets dren. One of “stabilized” and the more infapolice made mous examples stronger efforts occurred in to keep guns Northwestern’s out of the hands front yard of juveniles, when two boys, Blumstein reaged 7 and 8, ports. By 2001, were charged FBI Uniform as adults for the Crime Reports rape and murshowed that der of an 11juvenile homiyear-old girl, cides were at Ryan Harris, in their lowest rate Chicago’s Ensince 1966 and Demarious Banyard was 13 when older boys glewood comdropped 56 urged him to try to rob pizza delivery man munity. percent from Robin Ballard, whom he killed. He says he Police brought 1993 to 1998. didn’t mean to. the boys into Meantime, the station without telling their parents they the hysteria kept growing. It was helped along were suspects, kept them there for hours, gave dramatically when a small group of men with them Happy Meals and cajoled them into inordinate power over public opinion (not confessing to the crime. to mention the ability to get quoted any Weeks later, and after the handcuffed time they wanted) essentially declared a war boys’ pictures appeared in media, a crime on youth in the mid-’90s, giving a name to lab ascertained that the semen found on the people’s unease over youth crime and a reason girl matched the DNA of Floyd M. Durr, an to get behind trying kids as adults: the “superadult charged with sexually assaulting three predator.” other young girls in the area.

John DiIulio—a conservative Brookings

Chicago police had to release the boys, Institution director and Manhattan Institute and ended up paying millions of dollars to the fellow—gave the young enemy that name in boys for wrongful arrest, but the city never ad- 1995. He borrowed from a scientific theory mitted that they were wrong. that says that “super-predators,” human hunt To understand why such an error-prone ers with a thrill of destroying, wiped out large practice has become so popular, and why Ty- animals of prehistoric times. His source was ler Edmonds’ momma and many other par- Northeastern University criminal-justice proents have been routinely locked out of their fessor James Alan Fox who had warned that, children’s interrogations for the past two de- increasingly, many of the young people then cades, one has to turn the clock back more carrying guns would “kill and maim on imthan two decades. pulse, without any intelligible motive.”

16 Blame it on crack.

“A 14-year-old with a gun in his hand

is far more menacing than an adult, because a teenager will pull the trigger without fully considering the consequences,” Fox warned.

In a now-infamous essay in the Nov. 27, 1995, Weekly Standard, DiIulio argued that these “super-predators” would just keep multiplying and constitute 6 percent of all juveniles by 2010: “By 2005, the number of males in this age group will have risen about 25 percent overall and 50 percent for blacks.

To some extent, it’s just that simple: More boys begets more bad boys.”

The “super-predator” scare blew up with a Newsweek cover, “Superpredators Arrive” in January 1996 and “Teenage Time Bombs” in U.S. News & World Report in December 1995. Bob Dole used the phrase in his presidential campaign. And within a month of DiIulio’s Weekly Standard piece, Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch used the words to call for harsher treatment of youthful offenders, especially drug users.

Hatch continued: “If we do not reverse these trends … our ability to control healthcare costs, reform welfare, improve the academic performance of our school-age children and defuse the crime bomb of youthful superpredators, will all be seriously compromised.”

The bogeyman was the perfect excuse for Reagan’s Education Secretary Bill Bennett (George H.W. Bush’s drug czar) and John P. Walters (George W. Bush’s drug czar) to push a war on youth. DiIulio, Bennett and Walters together published the 1996 book, “Body Count: Moral Poverty … and How to Win America’s War Against Crime and Drugs” to back up their dire predictions.

The book warned that young black males, especially, were preying on “law-abiding” society and should, thus, be herded out of schools and into jails. “Indeed, the nation’s drug and crime problem is bound to grow over the next ten years, especially among young urban minority males.”

Their arguments lacked logic: After saying that the Family Research Council had found that young people in the poorest neighborhoods are at the highest risk for criminal behavior, they rejected outright the idea that economic poverty drove up inner-city crime.

Instead, they blamed “moral poverty,” which could be repaired only with a mix of stronger (preferably traditional) families and the most punitive criminal responses for first offenders, including juveniles. “Body Count” played the fear card: “[A]s high as America’s body count is today, a rising tide of youth crime and violence is about to lift it even higher. A new generation of street criminals is upon us—the youngest, biggest and baddest generation any society has ever known.”

The rhetoric helped create support for the men’s tough-on-youth policy proposals and shift the country away from a separate justice system for youth. By June 1996, conservatives were pushing hard to reverse the 150-year-old separate juvenile-justice approach to separating juvenile offenders from adult prisoners. Congress introduced bills, such as “The Violent Youth Predator Act of 1996,” to federalize the tougher approaches,

offering block grants to states that took the harshest measures, including mandatory sentences, mug shots, adult interrogations, and penalties for states that refused to prosecute 13- and 14-year-olds as adults.

The Sentencing Project warned in 2000: “Fear of out-of-control juvenile crime and a coming generation of ‘super-predators,’ compellingly if erroneously described publicly and to Congress in 1996, has undermined the traditional practice of treating young offenders as different from adult criminals—less culpable because of their age and more amenable to rehabilitation. In recent years, the focus has turned to punishment and in particular to the transfer of increasing numbers of youthful offenders from juvenile to criminal courts.”

Growing Criminals

Time has proved two major problems with the super-predator scare. For one, it was a myth. The youth crime wave was already reversing before Congress adopted its federal tough-on-youth policies and even before “super-predators” became a catchphrase.

Urban crime dropped dramatically as the crack trade slowed down, as did murder by young people. By 2001, the “super-predator” scare had been completely debunked; DiIulio even admitted publicly that it was overblown. And since the “super-predator” hype, criminologist Fox has denounced the kinds of harsh policies that his theory spawned.

But the tougher policies didn’t go away.

Treating juveniles as adult offenders, and locking parents out of interrogations, became a familiar practice across the country, including in Mississippi, pushed by local, state and federal governments. This was a bipartisan effort: Conservatives may have spread the hysteria, but the Clinton administration supported harsh policy proposals with little-to-no research to support them.

Congress gave incentives to states to try most juveniles age 14 or 15 who committed a violent or drug-related crime as adults either automatically or at the sole discretion of the prosecutor. Traditionally, a qualified youth judge had to approve “waivers” that would allow juveniles to be handled in the adult system. Now, a district attorney could easily hang a tough-on-crime re-election campaign on the backs of a child.

The American Bar Association took a strong stand against this federal interference and block grants that, it said, would “instead give incentives to states to do just the opposite—to divert their efforts from prevention and intervention to retribution, which has been shown generally not to work.”

Thus, the second problem: As the ABA predicted, the tougher juvenile policies have had the opposite effect than their cheerleaders promised. They are turning juvenile delinquents into lifelong criminals.

More than a decade after the “predator” scare, reality is showing that when young people are tried as adults and then sentenced to adult facilities, they come out and revert to crime more quickly, committing more serious offenses than those that sent them to the adult

how she had manipulated her kid brother, should have allowed the jury to hear their whom they presented as another victim in the father’s statement: “Danny’s testimony was saga. But in his trial, they fought to block any sufficiently trustworthy because Danny was evidence that both Kristi and would indicate Tyler’s father,” that his adult Justice Bill sister had maWaller Jr. wrote nipulated him for the court. into helping “Surely, he had her kill her husa significant band. reason not to

Edmonds’ inculpate Kristi, lawyer, Jim and it is reasonWaide of Tupeable to assume lo, argued that that he would the prosecution not testify that used a false, she made the coerced confesstatements unsion and had less she really convinced the did make the judge to block statements.” testimony from The court an expert on found that exthe pitfalls of cluding the tape adolescent inof “The Montel Kristi Fulgham claims she and her brother killed her husband, Joey Fulgham, because terrogations— Williams Show” he abused her. Others believe she wanted his the kind of was “an abuse of life-insurance money. testimony that discretion.” Edprosecutors of monds was enyoung people fight hard to keep away from titled to make his case to the jury that his sister juries. At the same time, the judge allowed an had motive to kill her husband and cajole him expert for the prosecution to present a com- into helping, and it would not unfairly prejupletely implausible “two-shooter theory” that dice Fulgham in her separate trial. happened to match up well with Edmonds’ “Here, the only direct evidence that Tyler original confession. was involved in Joey’s murder was Kristi’s

On cross-examination, now-contro- allegations that Tyler killed Joey and Tyler’s versial medical examiner Steve Hayne stated disputed confession. Tyler had absolutely no that he could tell from looking at the bullet motive to kill Joey other than to please Kristi,” wound that two people had pulled the trigger Waller wrote. together. He did not elaborate on the physIn a concurring opinion, then-Justice Oliics of his theory. Hayne did not respond to ver Diaz Jr. blasted the trial court for allowrequests for an interview for this story. ing Hayne’s “quackspertise” testimony, while

The judge also made it clear to the excluding expert testimony on problems with jury that Edmonds, if convicted, could not youth confessions. “Unfortunately, these rules receive the death penalty because he wasn’t were arbitrarily applied when Dr. Hayne was old enough, thereby encouraging them to go allowed to testify to something that no man ahead and convict him. can know, and Tyler was denied the opportu The Mississippi Court of Appeals af- nity to present expert evidence in his defense,” firmed Edmonds’ conviction in 2006, but Diaz wrote. He called the decision “a dishearton Valentine’s Day 2007, the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned it, saying that he was TRYING KIDS, see page 18 “denied a constitutionally fair trial.” The court

jacksonfreepress.com

Fulgham v. Edmonds

Authorities never thought Kristi Fulgham was innocent. Even though she tried to put the murder on her little brother, she was arrested for her husband’s murder, too, on

that manic Monday. Turns out she had left a trail of evidence indicating that she might try to kill her husband and then collect his lifeinsurance policy.

The Fulghams married when she was in her middle teens. On “The Montel Williams Show” in 2000, she admitted having an affair with Joey’s best friend, who fathered her third child while the pair was married. Joey often told her she would “burn in hell.” And, he said, they fought daily with him telling the audience that he would make her pay for cheating with his friend: “I’m going to remind her of it every moment I get.” Still, he added, he loved her and wanted to make it work.

But it didn’t. Fulgham moved out and in with Kyle Harvey in 2001, before returning to live with her husband six months before his murder, supposedly to “work it out.” But she told Harvey that she planned to buy a house for her, Harvey and her kids in Jackson from $300,000 she expected to inherit from her grandmother.

In addition to taking the $1,000 in his wallet after he was dead, Fulgham had called the National Guard office where her husband was stationed and asked how much life insurance he had. She was unaware that he had changed the beneficiary on his policy from her to his mother; she believed she would get at least $300,000 if he died.

Fulgham had also asked her father, Danny Edmonds, for a pistol so she could kill her husband in his sleep. She told her dad that she was tired of her husband beating her and her kids and that she would get his life insurance money if he died.

Her dad’s statement to the police about that conversation provided the probable cause and motive to arrest her and, in 2006, convict her of capital murder. She was one of three women on death row in Mississippi until her death sentence was rolled back to life in prison on Nov. 23, 2010—a change supported by the victim’s family—because a social worker wasn’t allowed to testify at her sentencing.

Her premeditated actions were excluded from Edmonds’ trial, however. Judge James T. Kitchens Jr. agreed with District Attorney Forrest Allgood that the evidence was “inadmissible hearsay.” Bizarrely, in Fulgham’s trial, the same prosecutors used the evidence to show

courtesy MDOC

system in the first place.

In 1996, the “Body Count” trio praised the state of Florida, an early adapter to treating juveniles as adults. They especially gushed over the work of State Attorney Harry L. Shorstein in Jacksonville, who started an “unprecedented” program in 1992 that had funneled hundreds of juvenile offenders to Jacksonville’s jails by the end of 1994 and scores more to serve a year or more in Florida’s adult prisons. “Jacksonville’s would-be street predators got the message,” the authors wrote.

Or did they? A 1996 study—done the year “Body Count” came out —showed that adult treatment was increasing recidivism.

Youth transferred to adult court in Florida were a third more likely to reoffend than those sent to the juvenile-justice system for the same crime and with similar prior records. Of those who committed new crimes, the ones sent to adult court reoffended at twice the rate of those sent to juvenile court.

Similar studies in states like New Jersey and New York came to a similar conclusion: Sending kids to the adult system is an abject failure when it comes to decreasing crime.

It is also worse for the welfare of the child. In 2001, The Miami Herald reported that youth in Florida prisons were nearly 21 times as likely to report being assaulted or injured as counterparts in the juvenile system.

Nationally, research shows that children in adult facilities are five times more likely to be raped, twice as likely to be beaten by staff and 50 percent more likely to be attacked with a weapon than those sent to the juvenile system. The U.S. Justice Department reports that children in adult jails are 7.7 times more likely to commit suicide than those in juvenile detention centers.

Like adults, in this climate, even if children are innocent or if mitigating evidence exists, many prosecutors, judges and jurors want to send them to adult prison and throw away the key—even if it means violating the child’s constitutional right to a fair trial.

17

ening example of the double standard applied to testimony in criminal cases.”

Diaz took the police to task for not allowing Edmonds’ mother to stay present, pointing out that the Youth Court Act applied because he had not been charged as an adult or told he was a suspect. An amicus brief filed by the Mississippi Youth Justice Project pointed out the “inherent illogic” in allowing police to question a child without his parent because they think they might charge him with murder later—thus exempting him from the Youth Court parental requirement.

“[H]is mother’s removal from the room requires that we reverse and remand for a new trial,” Diaz stated. And he argued that admitting the confession violated Edmond’s rights against self-incrimination because a 13-yearold child cannot waive their Miranda rights “voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently.”

“Tyler could not have understood the nature of the charges against him or the consequences of waiving his Fifth Amendment constitutional rights if he was never told that he was suspected of murder,” Diaz said.

Diaz added that the police’s use of Fulgham, which he called a “psychological ploy,” to coerce Edmonds’ statement (and to benefit herself) was “improper influence” and unconstitutional—and it pitted a child against three adults.

“Even if Tyler understood his rights, it is highly unlikely that a naive, 13-year-old child would disobey three adults including two police officers and his beloved sister,” Diaz wrote, echoing the research on the unreliable use of adult interrogation techniques on children.

The justice also criticized the court’s denial of bail to Edmonds, leaving a 13-year-old who was unlikely to flee and had no history of violence, or even of being disciplined at school, sitting in jail for 14 months awaiting trial. He quoted then-Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Charles Pickering, who had written that Edmonds had a right to bail in a bond petition hearing before his court.

Pickering wrote that he was “concerned greatly” that Edmonds was arrested May 12, 2003, and did not go on trial until July 19, 2004. “[I]t is inconceivable that the State of Mississippi could not have found some place to incarcerate this young defendant without maintaining him in an adult population for some 14 months before trial.”

Pickering slammed the court for ignoring two mental experts it appointed who found that his mental state was declining while he awaited trial, but then ordering that neither expert could testify in his trial.

“Without question, it was the State of Mississippi that was holding this 13-year-old before trial. Petitioner has raised serious constitutional issues about the incarceration of a 13-year-old held some 14 months before trial,” Pickering wrote.

‘Barbaric’ Conditions

After his 2004 conviction, the state of Mississippi sent Edmonds to the Walnut Grove Correctional Facility, where he was to stay until he turned 21 when he was to move 18 to the state penitentiary at Parchman to live

out his sentence.

The 1,500-bed facility, which opened in 2001 with 500 beds about 65 miles north of Jackson, is where the state temporarily warehouses kids serving adult time. Inmates at Walnut Grove are between ages 13 and 22.

Bedi estimates 90 percent of them are black.

One of the youngest inmates at Walnut Grove, Edmonds witnessed fights, riots and retaliation. If one boy misbehaved, guards would pepper-spray the entire room, even the visitor’s area. His mother was visiting once and saw a baby get pepper sprayed. Edmonds started wearing his underwear in the shower because he was terrified of being raped.

The facility had no classes or educational activities for the teens, Edmonds says. Walnut

and things usually turned into riots, which in turn got the whole zone or facility locked down for 24 to 48 hours.”

To pass the time, Edmonds volunteered to work in the cafeteria handing out meals. A typical meal for a growing teenage boy at Walnut Grove was a hot dog, two pieces of white bread, navy beans, a peanut butter cookie and a carton of milk.

The Geo Group, based in Boca Raton, Fla., owns and operates the for-profit youth jail, which has generated roughly $100 million in less than 10 years. Geo Group holds 25 percent of the U.S. private corrections market share and manages 116 correctional facilities in the United States, Australia, South Africa and Canada. Geo Group recently merged Valerie wells

December 1 - 7, 2010

TRYING KIDS, from page 17

Earlier this year,Tyler Edmonds decided to move to Arizona and escape the memories, and harassment, of living in Mississippi.

Grove hired a single teacher who would periodically stop by and visit each boy and asked if he wanted a GED worksheet. If a boy said no, she walked away.

Edmonds said yes at first, though. He was so bored when he wasn’t terrified or depressed. The teacher gave the former honors student a single piece of paper with simple math problems that asked for the sum of two single-digit numbers and then left. Edmonds didn’t understand how anyone could think this was high-school work. His mother found a correspondence school for him so he could work on his high-school courses during the long, empty days. Before he left Walnut Grove, he got a high-school diploma.

The teen had no counseling, no therapy, no group sessions, or any kind of intervention or help for the emotional and psychological issues he was left alone with and didn’t know any kids there who did. But behavioral problems spilled out everywhere. He would stay in his cell and doodle on a piece of paper over and over until a new ink pen ran out of ink— just to see how long it would take.

“Things like two inmates arguing over a 13-cent pencil or an inmate masturbating in front of everyone when a female guard walked in the room was enough to drive anyone crazy,” Edmonds says now. “These arguments

with Cornell Companies, the former owner of Walnut Grove, in a $730 million merger.

In 2005, Geo stock was $7.66 on the New York Stock Exchange. This year, Geo stock sold as high as $25.82.

“These facilities were established to give young men a second chance,” Bedi says. Second chances, however, don’t always coincide with a corporation’s profit making. “They have every incentive to cut costs.”

The Mississippi Youth Justice Project, along with civil-rights lawyer Rob McDuff and the ACLU’s National Prison Project, filed a class-action lawsuit against Walnut Grove Nov. 15, condemning “barbaric” conditions.

In addition to too little supervision of the prisoners, the lawsuit alleges that guards provoke violent attacks between the residents.

In January 2010, the suit alleges, an inmate (“John Doe”) warned facility guards that he feared attack from his cellmate, but they ignored his warnings. On Jan. 23, the cellmate raped and assaulted him for more than 24 hours before guards intervened. The suit says that Christopher Coleman requested separation from his cellmate for his safety, and then a guard encouraged the cellmate to beat him, and watched the attack. Guards also use excessive force, the lawsuit states, including mace in unprovoked or malicious beatings.

Walnut Grove provides inadequate mental-health care, the suit alleges, pointing out that the staff do not dispense medication regularly and charges Health Assurances LLC, the Jackson-based medical contractor, with providing fewer mental-health professionals than required by its contract.

In October 2009, inmate Victor Allen hung himself from a light fixture in his cell. The lawsuit states that Allen repeatedly threatened to kill himself, but with no response from supervisors.

In the first half of 2010, Walnut Grove recorded nine suicide attempts.

Weeks before the lawsuit was announced, the U.S. Department of Justice opened its own investigation into conditions at Walnut Grove to look into “systematic violations of the Constitution” and to “focus on the protection of juveniles from harm, suicide prevention and the provision of medical care and mental health care.”

‘Let’s Go Rob Him’

Another 13-year-old boy was arrested for murder in Jackson less than three months before Tyler Edmonds.

Demarious Latwan Banyard was shooting hoops at Jackson’s Westwick Apartments about 6 p.m. on Feb. 24, 2003, with a group of teenagers. Someone came around the corner and announced: “Pizza man is out there.

Let’s go rob him.”

One of the older guys playing basketball, Dennis Ragsdale, 19, went to his Jeep, got a gun and came back to the group.

One of the players, Traven Kyser, saw Ragsdale cock the gun and take the clip out.

He handed the gun to Banyard, who had not seen him unload it, Kyser said. “Let’s go rob the pizza man,” Ragsdale said.

Banyard said later that he could not say no to Ragsdale—whom he called “serious” and “mean” and who had “jumped on him” the first time they met—and Kyser’s statement backed him up, saying Banyard feared for his own life. Carrying the gun, he walked toward Domino’s worker Robin Ballard’s black Malibu with Ragsdale walking “real close” to him, egging him on: “Go ‘head, come on.”

At the Malibu, Ragsdale went to the passenger side and told Banyard to go to the driver’s side. “Give me the money,” Ragsdale told the victim. After he didn’t get the money, Banyard said later, Ragsdale “came back around” to his side. Banyard handed the gun back to Ragsdale, but it went off when he tapped the trigger, he said in a later confession. Ragsdale started laughing, and the two ran, leaving Ballard, 25 and the father of a 4year-old daughter, slumped over the steering wheel, shot in the neck.

Soon afterward, as Jackson Det. Kent Daniels was interviewing witnesses, Banyard’s mother, Sheila Banyard, called JPD to say her son wanted to turn himself in. That evening, after Banyard waived his Miranda rights and with his mother present, Banyard implicated himself and Ragsdale.

TRYING KIDS, see page 21

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20

TRYING KIDS, from page 18

Valerie Wells

At a party celebrating his acquittal in 2008, Edmonds torched his court file. A photo of the ceremony sits next to the last letter he received from his sister, Kristi Fulgham. Underneath he wrote, “You have to forgive and let go.”

side of the story.

The reversals in the Banyard and Edmonds cases represent a possible rollback of the trend of trying kids as adults. Whether due to mounting research that juveniles become tougher criminals when treated as adults or because police, prosecutors and judges are making errors that allow accused teens to walk free on appeal, the tide is turning against sentencing young teenagers to life without parole.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May of this year that youths cannot be sentenced to life in prison without parole for a non-homicide crime, but crimes such as those Edmonds and Banyard were accused of committing are still subject to adult treatment.

Mississippi courts try all 17-year-olds as adults now, but not for much longer. Under a new law, the only kids under 18 who will be tried as adults here are those who commit rape, murder or a felony with a gun. A 17year-old who commits any other crime will be tried in youth court. Gov. Haley Barbour signed Senate Bill 2969 in April and it goes into effect July 2011.

So far, bills that would further reform juvenile-justice practices in Mississippi have all died in committee.

‘Torching the Past’

Even at 21, Edmonds is extremely thin with narrow wrists. He can sit on a couch and pull both knees under his chin, folding his legs like a yogi. In March, Edmonds packed up his belongings at his rented house in Columbus as he filled in details of his story. Boxes in his living room were filled with framed pictures, special books and knick-knacks. He hadn’t packed his large red scrapbook, yet.

When the state Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 2007, the first thing Edmonds wanted to do was eat. His mom picked him up, and they smiled all the way to the nearest Taco Bell. Edmonds ate a single burrito, then promptly threw it up. His body couldn’t handle it.

When a new jury acquitted him in 2008, Edmonds decided to take classes at Itawamba Community College to become an emergency medical technician. Doing rounds in an ambulance often put him face-to-face with law enforcement from Oktibbeha County.

The cops remembered him. They let him know in subtle and blunt ways they thought he was a murderer.

He bumped into the judge, the prosecutor and deputies at Walmart and Lowe’s.

Sometimes an awkwardly polite “How are you doing, Tyler?” would follow. He ran into regular folk, too, who were nosy. “Did you sleep with your sister?” one acquaintance asked him while he was trying to shop for groceries. Edmonds was horrified and speechless.

He was ready to leave Mississippi for good.

Edmonds turned 21 this summer, soon after he moved to Yuma, Ariz., where he sells boats and spends a lot of time on the Colorado River, and works on his memoir. He had to get out of Mississippi.

He hasn’t seen his sister, Kristi, in years.

He doesn’t want to have a single thing to do with her, and he beats himself up for being so naive to trust her. He mainly just wants to let go of the pain and hatred and move on with his life, he says.

Fulgham did write him just before Christmas 2008. He keeps the letter, which angered him at the time, in the large red scrapbook.

“12-03-08.

It’s Wednesday, lunch time, and while listening to the 80s 90s lunch hour on 4101, I heard your song. Remember you use to make me play the ‘Taja’ CD every time you got in my car?

Hearing the song made me think of you and I needed to write and say I miss you, I love you, and I’m sorry for... well, you know what I’m sorry for. For your sake and mine, some things are better left unsaid. You do good out there okay and do all I know you’re capable of doing.

I love you, Tyler. I miss you so much. Take care okay and be good.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Uncle Tyler.

Always,

Kristi”

Under the letter and next to a picture of Edmonds setting copies of his court documents on fire with a blowtorch, Edmonds wrote in red ink:

“One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do is FORGIVE. Over time, I’ve learned that sometimes people are the most blatantly cruel beings on the face of this earth. But holding hatred inside the heart and sometimes you just have to forgive and let it go.

“Forgiving Kristi has been the single most healing factor for me.”

Factual information and narrative accounts are drawn from court documents and police statements. Additional details about the teens and families come from interviews and other public records. Additional Walnut Grove reporting by Ward Schaefer.

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Mississippi law required that a teenager as young as 13 be automatically tried as an adult for murder. State law also required a capital-murder charge because Ballard was killed while a felony robbery was in progress.

Banyard was convicted of capital murder Aug. 7, 2006. He was sentenced to life without parole and sent to Walnut Grove until he was old enough to move into Parchman.

As of early 2010, Banyard was one of eight 13-year-olds in the world sent to die in prison, according to the Equal Justice Initiative. All but one are black.

During his trial in Hinds County, with Judge Tomie Green presiding, Banyard’s defense was that he believed Ragsdale would hurt him if he did not go along with the robbery plan. However, the trial court did not allow the jury to hear that if they found that Banyard might have acted under duress, as he maintained, he could not be found guilty of Ballard’s robbery or have the “intent” to kill Ballard. Because that felony was an essential element of capital murder, he could not then be convicted of the ultimate crime.

The jury could have, instead, found him guilty of the lesser crime of murder, manslaughter or both, and sentenced him to a lengthy sentence, but one allowing parole.

For his role in Ballard’s murder, Ragsdale pled guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Like in Edmonds’ trial, the judge did not allow an expert to testify that 13-year-olds have a “propensity to be vulnerable to suggestion and influence”—which Green ruled was not relevant to the capital murder charge.

In September of this year, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that Green should have included the duress instruction and, thus, reversed Banyard’s conviction and ordered a new trial. “Finding that Banyard was entitled to have an instruction given the jury which presented his theory of the case, we reverse and remand for a new trial,” Justice Ann H. Lamar wrote in the opinion.

Lamar emphasized that not allowing the “duress” component was unfair to Banyard. “[T]he refusal effectively disallowed the jury from considering Banyard’s theory of the case.” In addition, she added, “Banyard presented sufficient evidence to support his duress theory.”

Banyard has not been released, but was recently moved from Walnut Grove to the Hinds County Detention Center to await his new trial in which the jury can consider his

21

without the blues, there’ d be no rock ‘ n’ roll.

December 1 - 7, 2010

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by Brandi Herrera

Let Me Count the Ways

CLIPART

knowledge gratitude have higher levels of vitality and greater optimism, suffer less stress and experience fewer episodes of clinical depression. Grateful people also tend to be less concerned with materialism, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t suffer as much from anxiety about status and monetary success and are, therefore, more likely to see themselves as â&#x20AC;&#x153;satisfiedâ&#x20AC;? with life.

Interestingly, these arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessarily the same people society would regard as â&#x20AC;&#x153;advantaged.â&#x20AC;?

Studies show that among the most grateful are people whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve suffered personal tragedies or hardships, and those of modest financial means. They also tend to have a realistic view of the world, readily accepting universal ideas of good and bad. And yet, they still find ways to focus on the positive aspects of their lives despite having experienced disappointment or setbacks.

Unfortunately, thankfulness isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a virtue weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re commonly taught to cultivate. For years, psychology professionals didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t view gratitude as anything more than good mannersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;like remembering to write thank you notes or returning a favor. The â&#x20AC;&#x153;Encyclopedia of Human Emotions,â&#x20AC;? a standard psychology field text, has only recently added the concept. But academics specializing in well-being research now realize how effective gratitude can be at lowering stress, leading to more successful life â&#x20AC;&#x153;outcomes.â&#x20AC;?

One of the easiest ways to remind yourself of the many positives in life is to record your thoughts in a journal. Various psychological experimentsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;where researchers asked groups of individuals to keep a weekly gratitude journalâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;found that participants displayed improved physical health, had greater levels of optimism, and described themselves as happier than control groups who didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t journal, but had the same overall measures of health, optimism and exercise when the experiment began.

Positive thoughts and goodwill are infectious. How many times have you smiled at a virtual stranger only to have them frown back? Offer someone a hug, and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll likely receive it with warmth and grace. Gratitude journaling also has the power to increase the positive flow of energy in your life. By association, others in your life will benefit as well. And thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something to be thankful for.

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Make It a Habit

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ome of us are admittedly better at journaling than others. I, for one, have never taken well to it. The writer in me wants a polished piece; edited and ready to share with the world. People like my motherâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;who jots down her thoughts in pretty handmade notebooks almost every dayâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;fall at the other end of the spectrum. But like anything we practice regularly, journaling gets easier with time.

Try to set aside a specific time each week to reflect on what youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re grateful for. Better yet, make gratitude journaling into a ritual.

Reserve a serene space (free of noise and clutter), make yourself a cup of tea and quietly sit to gather your thoughts. Remember: Journaling has no official rules. You can record your feelings in a free-associative manner however you choose: as a bulleted list; in verse; as a narrative account; or even accompanied by doodles. The only requirement is to keep your thoughts positive. Steer clear of negative emotions or feelings of dismayâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;this is a time to ponder what is good about your life, not what you perceive as going wrong.

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A

s the holiday season approaches, we tend to focus on the things that overwhelm us: We have gifts to purchase, meals to prepare, out-of-town guests to accommodate and spaces to spruce up and decorate.

Of course, life doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop there. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re faced with the overwhelming task of trying to balance all of this increased activity with already-full schedules, as well as the demands of work, family and social lives.

It is often only when the holiday meal has finally been served and everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sitting at the table that we take a moment to breathe again and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Sometimes, we allow the true meaning of the holidays to escape us completely.

Ironically, fretting only increases stress levels, which can have negative repercussions on both your mental and physical well-being. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a vicious cycle few of us know how to escape successfully. The good news? Steering clear of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;pressure to pleaseâ&#x20AC;? is possible.

It can be as simple as vowing to pare down your hectic schedule, setting limits and changing what you perceive others expect of you.

Whether we want to admit it or not, our stress is often self-inflicted.

Our friends and family really only want a few things: to spend quality downtime together, enjoy a home-cooked meal, and offer thanks for the people and blessings in their lives through acts like gift giving and sharing meaningful sentiments.

We habitually give thanks at this time of yearâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;calling attention to the special people and things that make up our world. But gratitude shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be relegated to one season, just as benevolence shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be something we show people in our lives merely on days of celebration. Spontaneous acts of kindness toward others, as well as taking time to reflect on the things weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re appreciative of, can be immensely gratifying in itself.

Cognitive studies in the emerging field of gratitude research show the positive effects expressing gratitude can have on our healthâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;psychological, spiritual and physical. Some experts believe itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s actually in our self-interest to feel thankful, because it, ultimately, leads us to become better people.

Consider recent studies conducted at the University of California Davis, which suggest that individuals who readily ac-

23

A New Map

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‘TIS THE SEASON

I’ve recently switched my road map to wellness.

Though I’m still trying to eat better, and I’ve been walking a lot more, I feel I need to focus on my mental and emotional wellness. With that said, I’ve decided to take a little more time for myself, be it reading more or sitting in a park or just dancing around my house like a fool while I play my extensive vinyl collection.

Since returning to school this semester, I see there are so many opportunities out there. I’ve been afraid of failure and have been holding myself back. So starting this month, I’ve vowed to be more brave and spontaneous and reach for my dreams. I’ll let you know what happens.

—Ashley Jackson

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December 1 - 7, 2010

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Although I am joining the Road to Wellness a few months into the journey, it’s a road I’ve been traveling, with, admittedly, too little regularity for quite some time.

I took my first steps toward a more healthy lifestyle when, after only four months of living in Manhattan, my favorite boots refused to zip past the mid-point of my calves. I blamed it on all the extra walking and stair climbing (our apartment was on the third floor, which magically translated to just one short flight of stairs).

Surely my legs were just more muscular. The extra bulk couldn’t possibly be blamed on burgers from Big Nick’s, chimichangas from Harry’s Burritos or the pasta from Pomodoro. Not even the desserts that followed every meal were as sweet as the sound of the building’s security guard on the other end of the phone: “Delivery for you.”

I took to the gym, which was in the second level of my building’s basement, and yet somehow, inexplicably, only three flights of stairs away (I could have taken an elevator to the lobby and then changed elevators to reach the basement, but not even I was that lazy). My tenure with the gym was short-lived at best. But the boots still wouldn’t zip, so I joined Weight Watchers with my boss.

Men might have a boys’ club, but in New York City, women had Weight Watchers. In my first week, I lost four pounds! But then life went crazy, and I was consuming 20 points in wine alone.

A cross-country move later, and I was still carrying the proof of the Gray’s Papaya recession special I partook of a bit too often.

But I figured the extra weight could be lost after the baby. I was pregnant.

All of this to say simply: 20 months after my amazing baby was born, I am in

better shape and living healthier than ever before. Having a daughter has proved a greater responsibility than I anticipated, and I feel the weight of her future body awareness and image sitting heavy on my shoulders. So I wake up at 5:30 a.m. a few times a week to exercise. I eat my veggies, and I have even managed to replace adult sweets with kid-friendly ones (chocolate Goldfish are surprisingly low in calories and can be munched like popcorn).

I am already making strides on the physical road to wellness, so I am now on a mental/spiritual/emotional quest. I want to spend more time playing with Stella (my little girl). I want to read more. I want to find more peace. My husband and I don’t regularly attend church. This past Sunday morning, we spent two hours sitting at the kitchen table coloring and teaching Stella the very difficult lesson of sharing.

The windows were open. The curtains billowed in the cool air.

I wonder if I could have learned more about God inside the stuffy walls of a church than I did around that table.

—Shannon Barbour

A Holiday Haiku The impossible To lose weight on Thanksgiving And yet, it is so.

—Kristin Brenemen

How Not to Get Sick Several coworkers and friends have gotten sick recently. It’s probably the change in the weather.

Luckily, I have an amazing immune system. Seriously, I’m not trying to brag. How many times have I called in sick to work in the last year? None.

Nada. Zilch.

So how does one acquire an immune system of steel? That’s a hard question to answer. But I can tell you my regimen for anytime I feel the slightest cold or illness coming on: • Take two echinacea capsules every five hours.

• Go to the gym and work out ‘til you break a sweat.

• Eat a quart of hot and sour soup from Chopstick, a Chinese take-out place on Ellis Avenue.

• Have a dance party by yourself to Of Montreal’s “Sunlandic Twins” album.

• Drown your sorrows in OJ and water.

Now, if you still get sick, let me know, and I’ll give you a refund on my advice.

But this is what I do, and I haven’t been sick since 2005.

—Lacey McLaughlin

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25

MUSIC p 34 | SLATE p 37

Muddy Dreams

by Holly Perkins

Courtesy Charles Jenkins

And there’s another fellow, Hendrix, who lives in Baton of the time, people don’t believe me that it’s really made out Rogue who’s in his 80s. … The Smithsonian doesn’t have of mud,” he says. anything about anyone who does mud paintings. They Jenkins likes to stay with the natural media but excels with wanted to have some of my mind,” Jenkins says. And so, other materials. He’s a basket weaver and has gained notorimud artist says, “I’m just pursuing it on my own, making ety as “the new Walter Anderson” or “Walter Anderson with a my own mistakes.” sense of humor” with his colored lead pencil drawings.

The artist travels to gravel pits and to Red Bluff in Co- In 1993, after a period of frustration with his old lumbia, Miss., to gather colored clays, which he stores in paintings that had gotten moldy, bent and mildewed in airtight containers with kitty litter to keep out moisture. He storage, he burned them and began using French colored also collects nuts, black walnut shells, hickory bark, seasonal pencils made of lead instead of wax. berries for color, and rain water because, he says, “the city His first project with the colored pencils was animal water’s got stuff that’ll change the colors on you, so I use portraits. He and a friend came up with an exhibit concept natural water.” based on a question: “What do animals do for fun and en Due to the size of the pieces and the materials he uses, tertainment when humans aren’t around?”

Jenkins’ mud creations take about 200 hours to make, layer- Carrying his love for animals and art a step further, ing the mud and letting each layer dry in between.

Jerri Bennett at Community Animal Rescue and Adoption

Other than natural, organic mud, Jenkins uses dirt daub- commissioned a limited edition piece (there are 100 prints) er nests, which he grinds into a dust to make a thick paste. from Jenkins to help raise money for the organization and He then mixes get out awareness about the no-kill shelter and its mission.

Artist Charles Jenkins uses natural in blueberries He did so gladly. The piece will be available starting Friday, materials to craft his unique and and black­berries Dec. 3, at CARA and will be featured in one of WLBT’s sometimes quirky pictures and drawings. into the paste for Pet-of-the-Week segments. color. Recently, You can also see Jenkins’ work at the Belhaven Market he’s ventured into corn husks for color making, too. now until Christmas. His mud paintings will be on display

“Everybody that sees the corn husks can’t imagine that at an invitational—an exhibit of various artists—at Brandon you could do that with natural materials and something Hall in Natchez (Mile Marker 8.5 Natchez Trace Parkway, ost people who grew up in Mississippi probably that pretty comes out of it,” Jenkins says.

601-304-1040) Dec. 18 and April 17, 2011, at the Juke Joint recall making mud pies as a child. For the creative He gets a similar reaction to his mud paintings. “A lot Festival in Clarksdale. pie, you dug up wet, red Mississippi clay and squished it though your fingers, patting and patting, to make that perfect shape. There was nothing more satisfying than making something so nice out of something

by Natalie A. Collier so messy.

Charles Jenkins, 62, takes mud art to a whole new ust about everyone in Jackson erything that personifies him. level. (maybe even statewide) knows Musicians Patrick Har Jenkins, originally from Thomastown, Miss., now lives Josh Hailey’s name. From local kins, Scott Albert Johnson, with his wife, Margaret, in Hazlehurst. He has been interestrappers to news-making politicians James Collette, Horse Trailer, ed in art his entire life and holds two master’s degrees—one and those Millsaps “Are you one?” The Furrows, TTOCCS in art education and one vocational counseling from Delta billboards, Josh has captured Jack- REKARP, Hot and Lonely, JState University. He also holds a post-graduate degree from son life on film. When he’s not steal- Tran and The Quills with Josh the University of Southern Mississippi in psychometry and ing snapshots, you might catch him Hailey (yes, he dabbles in muis a founding member of the Mississippi Craftsmen’s Guild. prancing around in that gold lamé sic, too) will set the musical

Although he wanted to be an artist at a young age, he bodysuit of his. He’s a permanent fix- mood as patrons are invited opted for art education because of practicality. “I wanted to ture in the capital city. Until he’s not. to look (and buy) pieces of art. be a full-time artist, but living in the South, that’s more of a

Josh Hailey is moving to Los Then there’s dance—Nicole dream than a reality,” Jenkins says.

Angeles. What shall we do? Attend Marquez has choreographed

Then, on a trip to St. Francisville, La., “a few years ago his exhibit, “I Love Mississippi: Jack- something specifically for in the fall,” Jenkins says, he stopped at a plantation home son Retrospective,” and relive Hailey’s “I Love Mississippi”—body where the guide showed him old paintings made of mud years in Jackson with him. painting (you know how HaiJosh Hailey, one of Jackson’s well-known created by slaves. Jenkins was impressed and intrigued, but

“This is my final show in Jack- ley loves his body paint) and artistic vanguards, is moving to Los Angeles. the guide couldn’t tell him anything about how the slaves son before I expand to Los Angeles, a T-shirt-making station. And To celebrate, he’s hosting an exhibit: “I Love had made these remarkable paintings. After searching as far Calif. I want to thank you, Jackson! if you’re not too embarrassed Mississippi.” the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., for inFor embracing me as a part of your to capture it all on film, Adam formation with no results, Jenkins found a kindred spirit in great city and for being my home Hudson Photography’s photo booth 2, 5 p.m.-midnight, for the “I Love fellow artist Anthony DiFatta. where I could get down and crazy will be onsite, too.

Mississippi: Jackson Retrospective”

DiFatta was also interested in mud paintings, but they with my art,” Hailey writes about the For all the love he’s shown Jack- exhibit. The only thing better than could only find two other artists in the country making show. From “buildings to boobies,” son, join the JFP and the people who this Hailey-produced going-away exthem at the time. he likes to say, Hailey’s show promises love Josh to bid him adieu at the Arts hibit/party would be a welcome back

“There were two fellows I found. One, Jimmy Lee to be the perfect combination of ev- Center of Mississippi, Thursday, Dec. shindig. Here’s hoping!

26 Sudduth, from Alabama passed away last year. He was 95.

M

Hello and Goodbye

December 1 - 7 2010

courtesy Josh Hailey

J

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Fondren After 5 Dec. 2, 5 p.m. This monthly event showcases the local shops, galleries and restaurants of Fondren. Free; call 601-981-9606.

Josh Hailey: “I Love Mississippi” Jackson Retrospective The exhibit includes an opening reception Dec. 2 at 5 p.m., which will have music from eight bands, body painting, a performance by Nicole Marquez and many other activities. Dec. 2-Jan. 11, at Arts Center of Mississippi (201 E. Pascagoula St.). This will be Hailey’s final show in Jackson, showcasing his photographic work done in the past six years. Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday.

Free; call 601-960-1557.

Young Professional Alliance’s Blue Tie Ball Dec. 2, 7 p.m., at Hal & Mal’s (200 Commerce St.). Enjoy heavy hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar and music by DJ Phingaprint. Bring an unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots. $10; visit ypalliance.com.

Holiday Festival of Lights Dec. 2-4, at Mississippi College (200 Capitol St.), in Provine Chapel. The 25th anniversary performance features the MC Singers and a reunion choir. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. nightly. $15; $5, students; call 601-925-3440.

Black Nativity Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m., at Jackson State University, Rose E. McCoy Auditorium (1400 Lynch St.). The play featured the Nativity from an African American perspective and includes music, dance and poems by Langston Hughes. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2-4 and 3 p.m. Dec. 5. $10; $5, seniors/students with ID; call 601-979-5956.

Christmas Parade Dec. 3, 10 a.m., at Mississippi State Hospital (3550 Highway 468 W., Whitfield).

The parade will travel along a two-mile route through the hospital campus and feature several school marching bands, floats, antique cars, horses and Santa Claus. Free; call 601-351-8262.

Sounds of the Season Dec. 3-4, noon, at Old Capitol Museum (100 S. State St.). Enjoy local choirs in the rotunda. Free; call 601-576-6800.

Old Jackson Christmas by Candlelight Dec. 3, 4:30 p.m., in downtown Jackson. This annual event features traditional seasonal decorations at the Governor’s Mansion, Old Capitol Museum and State Capitol. The train town of Possum Ridge and the historic Christmas trees exhibit in the William F. Winter Archives and History Building will also be on the tour. Free; call 601-576-6800.

City of Jackson Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony Dec. 3, 5 p.m., at City Hall (200 S. President St.)—Congress St. side. This year’s theme is “Have a Holly, Jolly, Healthy Holiday.” The Poindexter Elementary Choir and the Cade Chapel Choir will perform, followed by Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr.’s holiday greetings. Call 601-960-1084.

Chimneyville Crafts Festival Dec. 3-5, at Mississippi Trade Mart (1200 Mississippi St.). More than 200 master craftsmen display, demonstrate and sell their handcrafted work at the 34th annual event. $10 one day; $50, three day pass; children under 12, free. Call 601-856-7546.

Christmas Concert Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m., at Millsaps College, Ford Academic Complex (1701 N. State St.). The Millsaps Singers and Chamber Singers celebrate the Christmas season with carols and seasonal music selections, especially J. S. Bach’s “Magnificat” conducted by Dr. Timothy Coker. Free, donations welcome; call 601-974-1422.

Christmas Open House Dec. 4, 10 a.m., at The Mustard Seed Gift Shop (1085 Luckney Road, Brandon). The open house features ceramic gifts and paintings created by Mustard Seed residents for sale and a performance by the Bells of Faith handbell choir. Free; call 601-992-3556.

MARL Pet Photos with Santa Dec. 4, 10:30 a.m., at Mississippi Animal Rescue League (5221 Greenway Drive Ext.). Photos will be taken in the Holiday Lobby. The prints can be picked up at Deville Camera (5058 Interstate 55 N.) $15 for six photos with Santa; call 601-969-1631.

City of Jackson Christmas Parade Dec. 4, noon, in downtown Jackson. The parade includes music, dancing, floats and a special visit from Santa. Free; call 601-960-1084.

Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” Dec. 4-5, at Jackson Academy (4908 Ridgewood Road). This annual performance by the Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet features over 100 local dancers with guest artists Meghan Hinkis and Joseph Phillips of American Ballet Theatre.

Performances are at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 4 and 3 p.m. on Dec. 5. The Nutcracker Tea Party for children will be held each day before the 3 p.m. performance. $18-$25; call 601-853-4508 or 601992-9016.

Christmas Parade Dec. 4, 2 p.m., at Jackson St., Ridgeland. The event will take place in Olde Towne. Free; call 601-605-5252.

Ballet Mississippi’s “The Nutcracker” Dec. 4-5, at Thalia Mara Hall (255 E. Pascagoula St.). Members of the production company will perform the classic holiday tale, including returning guest artists Mikhail Iliyn and Nicole Graniero from American Ballet Theatre. A tea party, including lunch and a visit with Nutcracker characters, will be held prior to the Dec. 5 performance. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4 and 2 p.m. Dec. 5. $10-$25, $20 tea party; call 800-595-4TIX. Floating Christmas Parade Dec. 4, 6 p.m., at Old Trace Park (Post Road, Brandon). The parade includes decorated boats, which will travel across the Ross Barnett Reservoir. Cash prizes will be given to the boat with the best decorations. There is no cost to enter a boat in the parade, and all boat sizes are welcome. Free; call 601-853-2011.

Daniel Pinkham Christmas Cantata Dec. 5, 10:30 a.m., at Northminster Baptist Church (3955 Ridgewood Road). The Northminster choir performs with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra Double Brass Choir. Free; call 601-982-4703.

“Mary Had a Baby” Christmas Concert Dec. 5, 2 p.m., at Belhaven University Center for the Arts (835 Riverside Drive). The Belhaven Choral Department, soloists and small ensembles will perform under the direction of Dr. Christopher Shelt. Free; visit belhaven.edu.

Hanukkah Kids Event Dec. 5, 3 p.m., at Borders (100 Dogwood Blvd., Flowood). Kids ages 3 to 8 are invited to celebrate Hanukkah with holiday stories, games and songs. Free; call 601-919-0462.

Annual Winter Concert Dec. 5, 3 p.m., at Tougaloo College, Woodworth Chapel (500 W. County Line Road, Tougaloo). The performance by the Tougaloo College Concert Choir directed by Dr. Kathy Castilla includes a tree lighting ceremony. Free; call 601-977-7896 or 601-977-7885.

Advent Procession, Lessons and Carols Dec. 5, 5:30 p.m., at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral (305 E. Capitol Street). Enjoy the sounds of the Christmas season in the annual holiday celebration. Free; call 601-354-1535.

Holy Light, A Candlelight Service of Carols

In Search of Place

W

hen Jamie Weems was touring to the Strange Pilgrim’s music.

Europe last year, unexpected de- “It’s great a development from our first tours became some of the most attempt at such a collaborative event,” she memorable experiences from his trip. says. “We have learned a lot through the Those moments inspired him and his process and are able to communicate more band, Strange Pilgrims, to clearly and play off the expeproduce a body of music. rience we gained producing

But his desire to exthe ‘Mobiles’ event.” plore that theme didn’t stop

Bowers says collabthere. On Dec. 3, Weems orative art performances and a several Jackson artnot only provide an outlet ists will collaborate during for different artist to per“thisLocation,” an exhibit formance, but it is a way to showcasing art, music and explore other media. dance inspired by the es “I think there is so sence of space and memory. much we can learn from

The event features one another across disciphotography, visual art and plines,” he says “We have film from local artists Mere- Front Porch Dance learned a lot about music dith Norwood, Alexa Crane, will perform during composition. There was so “thisLocation,” a Spence Kellum, Jacques collaborative art showcase much I didn’t know. Being Murphree, Aaron Phillips on Dec. 4 at North able to talk to Jamie about and Robby Piantanida. The Midtown Arts Center. how he develops the music centerpiece of the event is a and themes, … I think it dance performance by Front Porch Dance. just helps us to be better-informed artists.”

The dance company collaborated with the Catch “thisLocation” Saturday, Dec. Strange Pilgrims during “Mobiles,” a col- 4, at the North Midtown Arts Center laborative exhibit in September 2009. Front (121 Millsaps Ave.). An artist reception Porch Dance member Krista Bower said the starts at 7:30 p.m., and the performance December performance includes six dance begins at 9 p.m. Suggested donation is $7. members, five of whom choreographed the An encore matinee performance is Sunday, dance, and will explore the exhibit’s theme Dec. 5 at 2 p.m.

Aaron Phillips

Radio JFP on WLEZ ongoing, at WLEZ 100.1 FM and wlezfm.com. Join Donna Ladd and Todd Stauffer every Thursday from noon-1 p.m., where they discuss vital issues and play local music. This week’s guests are Stacey Everett, the director of education museum division of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and blues musician T-Model Ford. Listen to podcasts of all shows at jfpradio.com. Free; call 601-362-6121, ext. 17.

78th Annual Singing Christmas Tree Dec. 3-4, 7:30 p.m., at Belhaven University (1500 Peachtree St.), at the Belhaven Soccer Bowl. Belhaven students will wear choir robes and form ta tree to sing carols and celebrate the advent of Christmas. Bring blankets and/or chairs. Free; call 601-974-6494.

Dec. 5, 5:30 p.m., at Broadmeadow United Methodist Church (4419 Broadmeadow Drive). Enjoy a traditional setting of Christmas carols featuring a choir and an orchestra. Free; call 601-366-1403.

Country Christmas Dec. 7-10, at Mississippi Museum of Natural Science (2148 Riverside Drive).

Festivities include a play starring the Pearl River Redneck, Rudolph and Santa, Christmas quilts on display in the Heritage Center, teacakes and hot chocolate, a tour of the 4-H Museum and a chance to milk Cloverbelle the cow. Hours are 9 a.m.-noon daily. $6, $3 children ages 5-18, $2 children ages 34; call 601-432-4500.

Lighting of the Bethlehem Tree Dec. 7, 5:15 p.m., at Mississippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St.), in Trustmark Grand Hall. Refreshments are served at 5:15 p.m., and St. Andrew’s Cathedral Choir performs Christmas music at 5:45 p.m. followed by the tree lighting ceremony. Free, donations welcome; call 601-960-1515.

Community Mississippi Center for Nonprofits Seminar Dec. 2, 8:30 a.m., at Mississippi Center for Nonprofits (921 N. President St., Suite C). The topic is “Completing the IRS Form 1023.” $60; $35, members; visit msnonprofits.org.

Merry Mammals Dec. 2, 9 a.m., at Mississippi Museum of Natural Science (2148 Riverside Drive).

Join the museum staff for warm-blooded and furry fun activities. $5; $4, seniors; $3, children ages 5-18; $1, children ages 3-4; call 601-354-7303.

Power APAC Chili Dinner Dec. 2, 5:30 p.m., at Power Academic and Performing Arts Complex (1120 Riverside Drive). Proceeds from the fundraiser go toward the arts department for supplies, fees, costumes, music rights and other needs.

Volunteers and donations are welcome. $5; $20, family of four or more; call 601-960-5387.

Habitat Metro Jackson Homeowner Application Meeting Dec. 2, 5:30 p.m., at Jackson Medical Mall (350 W. Woodrow Wilson Ave.). In the Community Meeting Room. The three-hour meeting will give potential homeowners with low incomes an opportunity to learn more about the Habitat for Humanity program. Free; call 601-353-6060.

Precinct 1 COPS Meeting Dec. 2, 6 p.m., at Jackson Police Department, Precinct 1 (810 Cooper Road). These monthly meetings are forums designed to help resolve community issues or problems, from crime to potholes. Call 601-960-0001.

Salsa Mezza Dec. 3, 10 p.m., at Mezza Restaurant (1896 Main St., Madison). Join Salsa Mississippi for Latin music and dancing. A cash bar will be available. $10; call 601-213-6355.

ACT Test Prep Course, Session III Dec. 4, 10 a.m., at Millsaps College (1701 N. State St.). This test prep course is a fast-paced presentation of test-taking strategies designed to help college bound students to test nearer to their ability levels on reasoning tests such as ACT, SAT, etc. $70; call 601-974-1130.

Old-Fashioned Bazaar and Flea Market Dec. 4, 7 a.m., at Cade Chapel M.B. Church (1000 W. Ridgeway St.). Proceeds benefit the Nate Ruffin Scholarship Fund. Free admission, $25 vendor table; call 601-366-5463 or 601-850-6781.

Art and Antique Walk Dec. 4, 5 p.m., at Historic Canton Square, Canton. Take a stroll back in time to enjoy the square, artisans, craftsmen, and musicians. This month’s theme is “Ho! Ho! Ho! Holidays on Canton Square.” Free; call 800-844-3369.

Mostly Monthly Ceili Dec. 5, 2 p.m., at Fenian’s Pub (901 E. Fortification St.). Enjoy a familyfriendly gathering of folks interested in Irish music and dance. Jackson Irish Dancers is the sponsor.

Free; e-mail emeraldrose2@yahoo.com.

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jfpevents

from page 31

Southern Writers Dec. 6, 7 p.m., at Millsaps College, Ford Academic Complex (1701 N. State St.).

Stokes McMillan and Alex Heard speak as part of the Millsaps Arts and Lecture Series. $10; call 601974-1130.

Conference on High Technology Dec. 7-8, at Jackson Convention Complex (105 E. Pascagoula St.). Hosted by the Mississippi Technology Alliance, the conference includes presentations by entrepreneurs and investors, and breakout sessions.

Speakers include Jim Barksdale and Bill Rancic. The conference kicks off with the Innovators Hall of Fame Awards Gala Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. $100 gala; $65, conference; call 601-842-2291.

Financial Education Seminar Dec. 7, 6 p.m., at 3000 Fondren Building (3000 Old Canton Road), in suite 550. Hosted by CredAbility, the seminar will be led by certified budget and credit counselors.

Pre-registration is preferred but not required. Free; call 601-362-7284.

Tackling Your Taxes: A Tax Talk Dec. 7, 5 p.m., at Richard Wright Library (515 W. McDowell Road). Hear H&R Block tax professionals address topics such as unemployment, filing status, who to claim and the earned income tax credit. Free; e-mail chauncey.wilson@hrblock.com.

STAGE AND SCREEN Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” Dec. 5, 2 p.m. The film from Austria is presented by the Mississippi Opera and the Mississippi Film Institute at the Russell C. Davis Planetarium (201 E. Pascagoula St.). $16; call 601-960-2300.

DOXA Fall Concert Dec. 1-2, at Belhaven University, Bitsy Irby Visual Arts and Dance Center (1500 Peachtree St.). This event highlights emerging young creative artists’ choreography and performance which is produced by members of DOXA, the dance department’s student-led organization. Show times are 6:30 p.m. Dec. 1 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2. $5, free for children, Belhaven faculty/staff/students; call 601-965-1400.

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” Dec. 2-5, at Mississippi College (200 Capitol St., Clinton), in Swor Auditorium at Nelson Hall. The play based on a children’s book is directed by Sandra Grayson.

Shows are at 10 a.m. Dec. 1-3, 7 p.m. Dec. 2 and 2:30 p.m. Dec. 4-5. $7, $5 students, MC employees and seniors; call 601-925-3229.

Honk, Jr.” Dec. 3-5, at Actor’s Playhouse (121 Paul Truitt Lane, Pearl). The musical comedy is based on the story “The Ugly Duckling.” Show times are 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3-4 and 2 p.m. Dec. 5. $15, $10 students/seniors/military; call 601-664-0930.

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“A Christmas Carol” Dec. 3-19, at New Stage Theatre (1100 Carlisle St.). New Stage’s holiday tradition continues with this year’s production of the story of Scrooge, directed by Chris Roebuck. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3-4, Dec. 9-11 and Dec. 15-18, and 2 p.m. Dec. 5, Dec. 12 and Dec. 19. $18; $15 seniors/students; $10 kids 12 and under; call 601-948-3533.

“The Black Candle” Dec. 4, 10:30 a.m., at Jackson Medical Mall (350 W. Woodrow Wilson Ave.). In the MJCPC office, suite 2260. Narrated by Maya Angelou, the documentary film uses Kwanzaa as a vehicle to explore and celebrate the African-American experience. Refreshments will be served. Free; call 601-454-5777.

“The Christmas Peril” Dinner Theatre Dec. 7, 7 p.m., at Rossini Cucina Italiana (207 W. Jackson St., Suite A, Ridgeland). The comedy play about havoc at Santa’s workshop is written by Tom Lestrade. A four-course meal is included. $42.50; call 601-668-2214.

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

• “Don’t Quit Your Day Job: Acclaimed Authors and the Day Jobs They Quit” Dec. 1, 5 p.m.

Editor Sonny Brewer signs copies of the book; reading of the book at 5:30 p.m. $24.95 book.

• “Bull Cyclone Sullivan and the Lions of Scooba, Mississippi” Dec. 2, 4:30 p.m. Members of the Frascogna family sign copies of their book. $24.95 book.

• “Ivan Becomes a Hero” Dec. 4, 11 a.m. Linda Rossetti Brocato signs copies of her book. $18.95 book.

• “Memoirs of the Original Rolling Stone” Dec. 4, 1 p.m. Andy Anderson signs copies of his book. $20 book.

• “Year of Our Lord: Faith, Hope and Harmony in the Mississippi Delta” Dec. 4, 4 p.m. T.R. Pearson will sign copies of the book. Photographer Langdon Clay, Lucas McCarty, and the Trinity House of Prayer Holiness Church Choir will also be present. $19.95 book.

• “David: The Illustrated Novel” Dec. 5, 5 p.m.

Michael Hicks Thompson signs copies of his book. $29.50 book.

• “Yellow Pine Capital” Dec. 7, 5 p.m. Gilbert H. Hoffman and Tony Howe sign copies of the book. $49.95 book.

• “Mississippians” Dec. 8, 5 p.m. Editor Neil White signs copies of the book; reading of the book at 5:30 p.m. $45 book.

Writer’s Spotlight Dec. 3, 7 p.m., at The Commons at Eudora Welty’s Birthplace (719 N. Congress St.).

Locals will share their writings in Commons Hall.

Free; call 601-540-1267.

“The Real” Dec. 4, 2 p.m., at Borders (100 Dogwood Blvd., Flowood). James Cole signs copies of his book. $26.95 book; call 601-919-0462.

CREATIVE CLASSES Jewelry Making Class Dec. 5-18, at Dream Beads (605 Duling Ave.). This class is offered every Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. Free; call 601-664-0411.

Events at Viking Cooking School (1107 Highland Colony Parkway, Ridgeland). Call 601-898-8345.

• Edible Ornaments Workshop Dec. 4, 9 a.m.

Children of all ages will enjoy making and decorating stained glass and gingerbread cookies with colorful sparkling sugars, edible glitter, royal icing and decoratifs. Children must be accompanied by an adult. $59.

• Around the World Cookie Swap Dec. 5, noon.

Bake classic cookies from around the world; then decorate assorted sugar cookies with whimsical decoratifs and brightly colored icings, sprinkles, and sugar crystals. $89.

Yoga/Dance Community Class Dec. 7, 4 p.m., at Joyflow Yoga (Trace Harbour Village, 7048 Old Canton Road). The class is a combination of yoga, free and guided dance, community building and stillness meditation. Nicole Marquez and Debi Lewis are the instructors. An RSVP is requested but not required. Free; call 601-613-4317.

Shut Up and Write! Donna Ladd’s creative nonfiction writing class begins Jan. 8, 1 a.m.-noon for six Saturdays. Every other week; skips spring break. $150; gift certificates available. Call 601-362-6121 ext. 16 or e-mail class@jacksonfreepress.com; 10 spots available.

EXHIBITS AND OPENINGS Opening Reception Dec. 2, 5 p.m., at Fischer Galleries (3100 N. State St., Suite 101). See paintings

by Richard Kelso. Free; call 601-366-8833.

Four Seasons at The Cedars Winter Art Exhibit Dec. 2-Jan. 7, at The Cedars Historic Home (4145 Old Canton Rd.). Artwork by Sara Jane Alston, Cleta Ellington, Patti Henson and Diane Jacobs will be on display, including a special showing during Fondren After 5 on Dec. 2. Free; call 601-981-9606.

Studio AMN Art Gallery Open House Dec. 2, 6 p.m., at Studio AMN (440 Bounds St., Suite C-1). Studio AMN is a new art gallery co-owned

and operated by Melanie and Janella John. Art on display will range from paintings, photography, sculpture, as well as the offering of custom framing

by Sanaa Gallery. free; call 601-209-5563.

Mississippi Watercolor Society Art Exhibition through Dec. 3, at Municipal Art Gallery (839 N. State St.). The art exhibit highlights approximately 100 selections from members during the juried exhibition. Free; call 601-960-1582.

Opening of the Bethlehem Tree Dec. 4, 10 a.m., at Mississippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St.), in Trustmark Grand Hall. The display features a 16feet-tall tree and more than 100 authentic 18th-century Neapolitan angel and Nativity figurines in an Italian crèche setting. $3-$5, children under 5 and museum members free; call 601-960-1515.

Family Day Dec. 4, 10 a.m., at LeFleur’s Bluff State Park (2130 Riverside Drive). In conjunction with the grand opening of the Mississippi Children’s Museum, activities include a parade with Santa Claus and tours of the museum. Activities in the park include the Mississippi Army National Guard Kids’ Boot Camp, roaming literary characters, a fossil exhibition and more. $10, children under 12 months free; call 601-981-5469 or 877-793-KIDS. NuRenaissance Art Showing and Gala Dec. 4, 5:30 p.m., at Afrika Book Cafe (404 Mitchell Ave.). Enjoy a night of art and music hosted by the Harlem Renaissance-inspired creative group. Free; e-mail nurenaissance@yahoo.com.

Christmas for the Birds Dec. 5, 2 p.m., at Mississippi Museum of Natural Science (2148 Riverside Drive). Create natural ornaments to help feed the birds in winter months. All ages are invited to participate. Free; call 601-354-7303.

Power APAC Exhibit Dec. 6-9, at Watlins Ludlam Winter and Stennis P.A. (190 E. Capitol St., Suite 800). See artwork by visual arts students in the lobby. Free; call 601-960-5387.

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 601510-9019. 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 Walk of Grace Dec. 4, 8 a.m., at St. James Episcopal Church (3921 Oakridge Dr.).

Check-in is at 8 a.m., and the walk begins at 9 a.m. Proceeds benefit Grace House, Mississippi’s first HIV/AIDS transitional living facility located in Jackson. $25 in advance, $30 day of walk; call 601-353-1038 or 601-982-4880.

Habitat Hideaways through Dec. 5, at Habitat for Humanity/Metro Jackson (615 Stonewall St.). Buy raffle tickets for a child’s playhouse to raise money to build decent, affordable houses for families in need in metro Jackson. The winning ticket will be drawn on Dec. 5. $20, $40 for three, $100 for ten; call 601-353-6060. $20, $40 for three, $100 for ten; call 601-353-6060.

Mustard Seed Fundraiser Dec. 7-8. Anyone who eats at Broad Street (4465 Interstate 55 N.), BRAVO! (4500 Interstate 55 N.) or Sal and Mookie’s (565 Taylor St.) and presents a special coupon will have 10 percent of the value of their meal donated to the Mustard Seed. Call 601-992-3556.

Student Helping Others Planetwide Market (S.H.O.P) Dec. 7, 5 p.m., at Jackson Medical Mall (350 W. Woodrow Wilson Ave.).

Students in the JPS Open Doors Gifted Education Program will host the alternative gift market. All gifts purchased will benefit needy causes in the U.S. as well as developing nations. Call 601-960-8310.

Public schools do more than educate children. They measure a cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pride. They reflect community. They predict the social and economic well-being of a cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future.

For 20 years, Parents for Public Schools of Jackson has worked to keep our public schools strong, to empower parents as leaders for positive change, and to engage community support of our public schools.

Join us. For our city. For our children.

For our future.

Founding Chapter, Parents for Public Schools, 1989 200 N. Congress, Suite 500, Jackson, MS 39201

jacksonfreepress.com

www.ppsjackson.org

33

DIVERSIONS|film

by Natalie A. Collier

E

ach instrumentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s note, with its distinct tone, stacks one on top of another and builds a sound so bountiful and lush, they swaddle the listenerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ear. The horns blast, starting and stopping at the exact same moment, as if a machine is playing them, not humans. The boom-clack of the drums helps band members keep time.

In front of the band stands the show stealer, gyrating, dancing, doing the splits and pushing through the microphone his unique style of speak-singing. Sometimes, honestly, you have no idea what the performer is saying, but it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really matter. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s real music, so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all good.

At one point, when the band is perfectly in sync and the crowd is grooving, instead of words, the performer sings inarticulable syllables over and over. The crowd goes wild.

James Brown grunts, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Say it loud,â&#x20AC;? and the audience, made up of all kinds of people, responds appropriately: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m black, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m proud.â&#x20AC;?

There was something special about the music of the 1970s. Soul and funk were at their pinnacles. And for three nights in 1974, heaven came down to Kinshasa, Zaire, for one of the greatest musical experiences of all time. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just a concert; it was a statement.

Most people know October 1974 in Zaire for the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rumble in the Jungle,â&#x20AC;? the fight of epic proportions between two of Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatest heavyweight boxers of all time: Muhammad

Courtesy Sony Pictures

Homeland Soul

James Brown and many other musicians gathered in Zaire in October 1974 for a music festival of magnanimous proportions to balance Muhammad Ali and George Foremanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rumble in the Jungle.â&#x20AC;?

Ali and George Foreman. The fight was a big deal. Don King wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have had it any other way. Boxer Foreman injured his finger during preparation for the fight/festival, and the fight had to be postponed, but the bands played on.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our festival must go on,â&#x20AC;? Hugh Masekela said when asked about potentially postponing the concert because of the boxing match. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The stage is being built. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impossible for us to delay, not one day. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impossible for us to delay a minute.â&#x20AC;?

Masekela and Stewart Levine masterminded â&#x20AC;&#x153;Zaire â&#x20AC;&#x2122;74â&#x20AC;? and made the blistering hot performances something for the

movies. And now they are. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Soul Powerâ&#x20AC;? explores what some have called the African American music event of the 20th century. Jeff Levy-Hinte, the filmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s director, condensed more than 125 hours of footage into a 93-minute documentary about the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Rumble in the Jungleâ&#x20AC;? soundtrack.

The three-day concert event included performances by well-known performers from the United States and elsewhere like Bill Withers, The Spinners, B.B. King, James Brown, Miriam Makeba and Celia Cruz.

There are bits of politics interspersed throughout the film, including the hurdles concert promoters had to cross to produce the concert. The cameras overhear a few of the starsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; opinions about how it feels being in their â&#x20AC;&#x153;homeland.â&#x20AC;?

Muhammad Ali looks into the camera and says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never felt more free in my life.â&#x20AC;? But itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all ultimately a precursor to the music: from B.B. Kingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s classic â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Thrill is Goneâ&#x20AC;? to Bill Withersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; acoustic-driven â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hope Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll Be Happierâ&#x20AC;? to James Brownâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Soul Power.â&#x20AC;?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Godd*mn it! You are somebody,â&#x20AC;? Brown exclaims to the camera, ending the film. If you need a reminder that Brown (or King or any of the others who were on the bill at Zaire â&#x20AC;&#x2122;74) was somebody, see this film.

See â&#x20AC;&#x153;Soul Powerâ&#x20AC;? Friday, Dec. 3 or Saturday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. at the Russell C. Davis Planetarium (201 E. Pascagoula St.), $9.

A Mostly Nice List of Offbeat Holiday Films

T

he holidays are upon us. Thanksgiving is past, and Christmas is coming up faster than a speeding sleigh. When you need a moment away from the maddening traffic and endless lines, try popping one of these movies in your DVD player for a breather. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a mixed bag of Yuletide mayhem, some slightly more obvious than others, but all guaranteed to take your mind off shopping and wrapping and socializing. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Elfâ&#x20AC;? (2003)â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Before slipping into sports-movie parody territory, Will Ferrell made this goofy comedy about a normal human named Buddy reared at the North Pole

by Santaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s elves. Sent into the normal world to find his real father, Buddy becomes the quintessential fish out of

water. NaĂŻve to a fault, Buddy manages to find himself repeatedly at the bottom of lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pitfalls as he searches for his dad. James Caan, not known as the bubbliest guy in Hollywood, is pitch-perfect as Buddyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brick wall of a father, and Ferrell inhabits the concept of the overgrown child as if it was his daily existence. His scenes with diminutive actor Peter Dinklage are priceless. Balancing out Caanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s edginess and Ferrellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s goofiness are Mary Steenburgen as Emily, Walterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sweetheart of a wife who insists they take Buddy in, and Zooey Deschanel as Jovie, Buddyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shy love interest. While the concept is fluff, performances are first rate. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Trading Placesâ&#x20AC;? (1983)â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Dan Aykroyd plays Louis Winthorpe III, employed by commodities brokers Mortimer and Randolph Duke, played by Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy. During the holiday season, they wager one dollar that they can switch Winthorpeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

December 1 - 7, 2010

you decide

34

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by C. Zuga soft, posh socialite life with that of street-wise con man Billy Ray Valentine, played by Eddie Murphy. Throw in Jamie Lee Curtis as Ophelia, the proverbial hooker with a heart of gold, helping Winthorpe get back what is rightfully his, and some payback for the gentlemen who put all this in motion and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got the makings of a hilarious â&#x20AC;&#x2122;80s Christmas comedy directed by John Landis. Murphy and Ackroyd are at their best playing off old-guard comedians Ameche and Bellamy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Childrenâ&#x20AC;? (2008)â&#x20AC;&#x201D;â&#x20AC;?The Childrenâ&#x20AC;? is for grown-ups only, especially those who need a break from too much holiday cheer. In the English countryside during Christmas, a particularly nasty virus is circulating among the

children of three couples. Any child with a cold is fussy and irritable, but the virus elevates discomfort to ridiculous heights. An unfortunate side effect is homicidal behavior. As the illness spreads without much notice from adults, sniffles and fever become a frightening affliction. What first appears to be a few horrid accidents are revealed as the work of some decidedly â&#x20AC;&#x153;naughty listâ&#x20AC;? kids. Watch as a quiet holiday gets turned into a nightmarish fight for survival against the least expected of predators.

This is not the kind of thing one expects at Christmas, especially when what you are trying to get away from is your own murderously intentioned offspring. Do not offer them a chance to go sleighing; theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll misinterpret that.

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Dec. 1 - Wednesday F. Jones Corner - Sherman Lee Dillon (blues lunch) free Underground 119 - Eddie Cotton $20 Shucker’s - DoubleShotz 7:30- 11:30 p.m. free Philip’s on the Rez - DJ Mike/ Karaoke Regency Hotel - Snazz 8:30 p.m. facebook.com/ snazzband2 Pop’s Saloon - Karaoke with Mike Mott Burgers and Blues - Jesse “Guitar”Smith 6:30- 9:30 p.m.

Char - Jason Turner Whistle Stop Corner Cafe, Hazlehurst - Dylan Bass and Friends The Irish Frog - Ralph Miller C Notes - Open Band Jam with Chad Wesley

Dec. 2 - Thursday F. Jones Corner - Jesse “Guitar” Smith (blues lunch) free; Amazin’ Lazy Boi & Sunset Challenge Blues Band 11:30- 4 a.m.

MS Museum of Art - Josh Hailey Studio’s “I Love Mississippi” Jackson Retrospective: Patrick Harkins, Scott Albert Johnson, James Collette, The Quills with Josh Hailey, Horse Trailer, The Furrows, TTOCCS REKARP, J-Tran, Hot and Lonely 5 p.m.

930 Blues Cafe - Norman Clark & Smoke Stack Lightning 8 p.m. $5 Hal and Mal’s - T Model Ford’s 90th Birthday Party Celebration (big room), Fearless Four (rest.)

Time Out - Jason Turner Underground 119 - Blue Triangle Regency Hotel - Karaoke 7 p.m. free Philip’s on the Rez - Bubba Wingfield McB’s - Karaoke 7 p.m. free Burgers and Blues - Mark Whittington Que Sera - Larry Brewer C Notes - Kokomo Joe Karaoke Union St. Books, Canton (Song)writers Showcase 7-9 p.m. free, 601-859-8596 MSU Riley Center, Meridian - Manhattan Transfer Christmas Show $41+, 7:30 p.m. 601-696-2200

12/3-12/4 12/4 12/4

12/4 12/5 12/6 12/6

This page is dedicated to the memory of music listings editor Herman Snell who passed away Sept. 19, 2010.

Proud Larry’s, Oxford - Old 97s Sal & Mookie’s - Y’alls Blues Band 6-9 p.m.

Lumpkin’s - Barbecue, Books & Blues: Y’alls Blues Band (JPS fundraiser) 6-10 p.m. $25

Dec. 3 - Friday

Dec. 5 - Sunday

F. Jones Corner - Stevie J (blues/solo) noon; 12-4 a.m. $10 Jackson Convention Complex - Maze feat. Frankie Beverly 8 p.m.

Hal and Mal’s - Mac McAnally Underground 119 - Booker Walker Wired Espresso Cafe - David Hawkins noon Roberts Walthall - First Friday/ DJ Phil 10 p.m.

Queen of Hearts - Kenny Hollywood $5 Poet’s II - Jason Turner Burgers and Blues - Mike and Marty Martin’s - The Weeks, Hot Cha Cha 10 p.m.

Soulshine, Old Fannin - Natalie Long and Clinton Kirby Pop’s Saloon - Dylan Moss Project C Notes - Scott Albert Johnson Reed Pierce’s - Snazz Whistle Stop Corner Cafe, Hazlehurst - Mike Greenhill The Irish Frog - Ricko Donovan (Irish recording artist)

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

Fitzgerald’s - Andy Hardwick (brunch) 11-2 p.m.

Sophia’s, Fairview Inn - Knight Bruce 11 a.m. (brunch) Burgers and Blues - Shaun Patterson 5:30-9:30 p.m.

C Notes - NFL Cookout free

Dec. 4 - Saturday Poet’s II - Fade 2 Blue (classic rock) Burgers and Blues - Scott Albert Johnson and Bob Gates F. Jones Corner - Stevie J & the Blues Eruption 11:30- 4 a.m. $5 Underground 119 - The Juvenators Suite 106 - Meet and Greet feat. D. Scott Jazz Quartet and Tony “Tiger” Rogers 9 p.m.

Poet’s II - Richard Lee Davis Band Whistle Stop Corner Cafe, Hazlehurst - Big Earl & Denise Owen Band Pop’s Saloon - Hillbilly Deluxe C Notes - M.O.S.S. Reed Pierce’s - The Rainmakers 9 p.m.

Kittrell’s on the Square, Lexington - Emma Wynters, Mark Whittington 8 p.m.

Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Ole Miss - Synergy Brass Quintet fordcenter.org

Dec. 6 - Monday Hal & Mal’s Restaurant Central Miss. Blues Society Jam 8-11 p.m. $5 F. Jones Corner - Stevie J (blues lunch) free Fitzgerald’s - Hunter Gibson & Rick Moreira 8-12 a.m. free Martin’s - Open Mic Free Jam 10 p.m. free Fenian’s - Karaoke 8-1 a.m.

Weekly Lunch Specials 4(523$!9 .)'(4

7ING .IGHT WITH CENT WINGS AND "EER FROM PM PM We have NFL Sunday Ticket & ESPN Gameplan to show all games!

H APPY HOUR

Monday - Saturday, 2-7pm 2-for-1 All Mixed Drinks, $1 Off Draft & Wine and 59 Cent Wings

Attack Attack! - House of Blues, N.O. Shelby Lynne, Allison Moorer - Saenger Theatre, Mobile, Ala. Fuel, Natasha Bedingfield, Robyn, Travie McCoy, Egypt Central - Harrah’s Casino, Tunica Fantasia, Eric Benet, Kandi - Lakefront Arena, N.O. Ricky Skaggs - Saenger Theatre, Mobile, Ala. The Gun Show - Paddidles, Theodore, Ala. Justin Townes Earle - Callaghans, Mobile, Ala.

DECEMBER 2

LADIES NIGHT LADIES DRINK FREE

friday

12 BEERS ON TAP

Kitchen Open ‘til 2 AM 1428 Old Square Road in Jackson 601.713.2700 lastcallsportsgrill.com

DECEMBER 3

ZEEBO saturday

DECEMBER 4

LIGHT BEAM RIDER with Liver Mousse tuesday

DECEMBER 7

OPEN MIC

Dec. 8 - Wednesday F. Jones Corner - Sherman Lee Dillon (blues lunch) free Hal and Mal’s - Taylor Hildebrand (rest.), This Bitch Knows Karate (red room) Char - Jason Turner Underground 119 - Eddie Cotton $20 Pop’s Saloon - Karaoke with Mike Mott Shucker’s - Mark Whittington 7 p.m.

Philip’s on the Rez - DJ Mike/ Karaoke Regency Hotel - Snazz 8:30 p.m.

Burgers and Blues - Jesse “Guitar”Smith 6:30- 9:30 p.m.

Whistle Stop Corner Cafe, Hazlehurst - Dylan Bass and Friends The Irish Frog - Ralph Miller

thursday

WELLS & PONIES 9PM-2AM

Dec. 7 - Tuesday F. Jones Corner - Amazing Lazy Boi (blues lunch) free Hal & Mal’s Restaurant - Pub Quiz 8 p.m.

Fenian’s - Open Mic 9 p.m.

Martin’s - Karaoke 10 p.m. free Shucker’s - The Xtremez 7:30- 11:30 p.m. free Time Out - Open Mic 8 p.m.

McB’s - Karaoke 7 p.m. free Burgers and Blues - Jesse “Guitar”Smith 6:30- 9:30 p.m.

Open for dinner Sat. 4-10pm

with Cody Cox

*DOLLAR BEER* THURSDAY - DECEMBER 2 LADIES NIGHT Ladies Drink Free 9pm-11pm

FRIDAY - DECEMBER 3

Dylan Moss Project SATURDAY - DECEMBER 4

Hillbilly Deluxe

wednesday

DECEMBER 8

KARAOKE w/ KJ STACHE

thursday

DECEMBER 9

LADIES NIGHT LADIES DRINK FREE

WELLS & PONIES 9PM-2AM

friday

DECEMBER 10

Jay Lang &

SUNDAY - DECEMBER 5 8 BALL TOURNAMENT

The Devil’s Due

MONDAY - DECEMBER 6 MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

FREE WiFi

TUESDAY - DECEMBER 7

Open Mon-Sat, Kitchen open Mon-Fri 11 am-10 pm & Sat 4-10 pm

2636 S. Gallatin Jackson, MS 39204

jacksonfreepress.com

livemusic

www.myspace.com/popsaroundthecorner

35

Free Hot Wings, $3 Pitchers during game

POOL LEAGUE NIGHT

601-961-4747

venuelist

LIVE MUSIC CALENDAR ALL SHOWS 10PM UNLESS NOTED

WEDNESDAY

12/1

LADIES NIGHT

LADIES PAY $5, DRINK FREE FRIDAY

12/3

THE WEEKS WITH HOT CHA CHA

Wednesday, December 1st

EDDIE COTTON

(Blues) 8-11, $20 Cover Thursday, December 2nd

BLUE TRIANGLE

(Blues) 8-11, No Cover Friday, December 3rd

BOOKER WALKER

(Jazz) 9-1 $10 Cover

SATURDAY

12/4

SUNDAY

12/5

GRABALL FREERUN

KARAOKE MONDAY

12/7

MATT’S LATE NIGHT KARAOKE

$2 MARGARITAS $1 HIGHLIFE & PBR

December 1 - 7, 2010

WEDNESDAY

36

JUVENATORS

(Blues) 9-1, $10 Cover

12/6

OPEN MIC JAM TUESDAY

Saturday, December 4th

12/8

LADIES NIGHT

Thursday, December 9th

HOWARD JONES

(Dixieland Jazz) 8-11, No Cover Friday, December 10th

FEARLESS FOUR

(Funk) 9-1 $10 Cover Saturday, December 11th

LOS PAPIS

(Latin Jazz) 9-1, $10 Cover

LADIES PAY $5, DRINK FREE 214 S. STATE ST. • 601.354.9712 DOWNTOWN JACKSON WWW.MARTINSLOUNGE.NET

119 S. President Street 601.352.2322 www.Underground119.com

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, 601855-2225 Alumni House Sports Grill 574 Hwy. 50, Ridgeland, 601-855-2225 Ameristar Casino, Bottleneck Blues Bar 4146 Washington St., Vicksburg, 800700-7770 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 The Blind Pig Saloon 206 W. Capitol St., Jackson, 601-944-0123 (blues/dance) Borrello’s 1306 Washington St., Vicksburg, 601-638-0169 Buffalo Wild Wings 808 Lake Harbour Dr., Ridgeland, 601-856-0789 Burgers and Blues 1060 E. County Line Rd., Ridgeland, 601-899-0038 C Notes Studio Bar & Grill 6550 Old Canton Rd, Ridgeland, 601-899-8842 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, 601919-2829 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 Congress Street Bar & Grill 120 N. Congress St., Jackson, 601-968-0857 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 (neo-soul/hiphop) 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, 601346-8283 Diamond Jack’s Casino 3990 Washington Street, Vicksburg, 1-877-711-0677 Dixie Diamond 1306 Washington Street, Vicksburg, 601-638-6297 Dollar Bills Dance Saloon 103 A Street, Meridian, 601-693-5300 Dreamz Jxn 426 West Capitol Street, Jackson, 601-979-3994 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, 601-5921000 (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) Fusion Coffeehouse Highland Colony Parkway, Ridgeland, 601-856-6001

Have an upcoming performance? Send your music listings to Natalie Long at music@jacksonfreepress.com.

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 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) The Irish Frog 5o7 Springridge Rd., Clinton, 601-448-4185 JC’s 425 North Mart Plaza, Jackson, 601362-3108 Jackson Convention Complex 105 E. Pascagoula St.. Jackson, 601-960-2321 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 King Edward Hotel 235 W. Capitol St., Jackson, 601-353-5464 Koinonia Coffee House 136 S. Adams St., Suite C, Jackson, 601-960-3008 Kristos 971 Madison Ave., Madison, 601605-2266 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, 800898-5050 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 Midtown Arts Center 121 Millsaps Ave., Jackson, 601-497-7454 Okasions 1766 Ellis Avenue, Jackson, 601373-4037 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 Blu Wall 2906 N State St., Jackson, 601-713-1224 The Parker House 104 S.E. Madison Drive, (Olde Towne) Ridgeland, 601-856-0043 Peaches Restaurant 327 N. Farish St., Jackson, 601-354-9267 Pelican Cove 3999A Harborwalk Dr., Ridgeland, 601-605-1865 Philip’s on the Rez 135 Madison Landing Cir., Ridgeland, 601-856-1680 Pig Ear Saloon 160 Weisenberger Rd., Gluckstadt, 601-898-8090 Pig Willies 1416 Washington St., Vicksburg, 601-634-6872 Poet’s II 1855 Lakeland Dr., 601- 364-9411 Pool Hall 3716 I-55 North Frontage Rd., Jackson, 601-713-2708 Pop’s Saloon 2636 Gallatin St., Jackson, 601-961-4747 (country) 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 Queen of Hearts 2243 Martin Luther King Dr., Jackson, 601-454-9401 Red Room 200 S. Commerce St., Jackson (Hal & Mal’s), 601-948-0888 (rock/alt.)

Reed Pierce’s 6791 Siwell Rd., Byram, 601376-0777, 601-376-4677 Regency Hotel Restaurant & Bar 420 Greymont Ave., Jackson, 601-969-2141 RJ Barrel 111 N. Union 601-667-3518 Roberts Walthall Hotel 225 E. Capitol St., Jackson, 601-948-6161 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 Scrooge’s 5829 Ridgewood Rd., Jackson, 601-206-1211 Shuckers on the Reservoir 116 Conestoga Rd., Ridgeland, 601-853-0105 Silver Star Casino Hwy. 16 West, Choctaw, 800-557-0711 Sneaky Beans 2914 N. State St., Jackson, 601-487-6349 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 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 Time Out Sports Bar 6270 Old Canton Rd., 601-978-1839 Tomara’s 9347 Hwy 18 West, Jackson, 601502-8588 (pop/rock) Top Notch Sports Bar 109 Culley Dr., Jackson, 601- 362-0706 Two Rivers Restaurant 1537 W. Peace St., Canton, 601-859-9979 (blues) Two Sisters Kitchen 707 N. Congress St. 601-353-1180 Two Stick 1107 Jackson Ave., Oxford, 662236-6639 Under the Boardwalk 2560 Terry Rd., Jackson, 601-371-7332 Underground 119 119 S. President St. 601-352-2322 VFW Post 9832 4610 Sunray Drive, Jackson, 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) Whistle Stop Corner Cafe 133 N. Ragsdale Ave., Hazlehurst, 601-894-9901 Wired Expresso Cafe 115 N. State St., 601-500-7800

DIVERSIONS|sports

FRIDAY, DEC. 3 High school football, MHSAA title games (Memorial Stadium, Jackson, Ch. 29): It’s time for Mississippi’s greatest sports weekend with 1A, Durant vs.

Mount Olive (11 a.m.); 2A, Calhoun City vs. Lumberton (3 p.m.); and 6A, South Panola vs. Meridian (7 p.m.)

SATURDAY, DEC. 4 High school football, MHSAA title games (Memorial Stadium, Jackson, Ch. 29): 3A, Aberdeen vs. Forest (11 a.m.); 4A, Lafayette County vs. North Pike (7 a.m.); and 5A, West Point vs.

Brookhaven (7 p.m.). … Men’s college basketball, Southern Miss at Ole Miss (7 p.m., Oxford, 105.1 FM, 97.3 FM): The Golden Eagles and the Rebels meet in an intriguing non-conference matchup.

SUNDAY, DEC. 5 NFL football, St. Louis at New Orleans (3 p.m., Ch. 40, 620 AM): The Saints can’t go to sleep on the somewhatdangerous Rams. … Pittsburgh at Baltimore (7:20 p.m., Ch. 3, 930 AM): The penalty flags and fines will be flying.

MONDAY, DEC. 6 Men’s college basketball, Mississippi Valley State at Ole Miss (7 p.m., Oxford, 97.3 FM): Sure, the Rebels are paying for a win, but at least the money will stay in Mississippi. … NFL football, New York Jets at New England (7:30 p.m., ESPN, 930 AM): The Jets and Patriots battle for first place in the AFC East.

TUESDAY, DEC. 7 Men’s college basketball, Spring Hill at Jackson State (7 p.m., Jackson): The Tigers finally get to play a home game again.

Welcome back, guys.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 8 Men’s college basketball, Belhaven vs.

Mississippi State (7 p.m., Mississippi Coliseum, Jackson, 105.9 FM): The Bulldogs meet the Blazers in MSU’s annual game at the Fairgrounds.

The Slate is compiled by Doctor S, who is looking forward to eggnog season. Spirits are always high at JFP Sports on www.jacksonfreepress.com.

Team Loyalty Contests and Sports Trivia!

Wrestling instructor Kelly Leo (top) teaches moves to his student Tyler Lee during a weekly training session at the Madison Wresting Club in Flowood.

E

very Monday night at 8 p.m., millions of sports fans tune in to the USA Network to watch World Wrestling Entertainment’s “Monday Night Raw.” But wrestling is one of the oldest sports known to man and was a legitimate sport long before promoters like Vince McMahon brought larger-than-life characters like Hulk Hogan, The Rock and Triple H to the screen for entertainment purposes.

I was curious about wrestling, which dates back to the ancient Greeks. (It’s mentioned in Homer’s “Iliad,” written in the 8th century BC, set during the Trojan War, and was often practiced naked.) I headed to the Flowoodbased Madison Wrestling Club to meet coach Kelly Leo, 36, where I learned that wrestling is a little like human chess: Each contestant is trying to think several moves ahead of his or her opponent.

“The sport of catch wrestling is as safe as any sport can be,” Leo says. “Accidents can happen in training, but the goal here is not to injure anyone intentionally.”

Thank goodness. Learning catch wrestling, the style Leo teaches, involves a bit of pain, nonetheless. It would have been easy for Leo to hurt me a good bit in his demonstration. But, as he said, if hurting someone is a person’s goal, his club is not the place to be.

To demonstrate, Leo put me in arm bars and strangleholds. He also showed me the parts of the human body that can be used as weapons. I learned that a shin bone to the inside of the thigh can be very painful, not to mention how a forearm bone can feel to the jaw, bridge of the nose or eye socket.

Leo became interested in wrestling when he saw a mixed martial-arts event on television. He soon went in search of a school to teach him wrestling and found the MWC, where he’s been training for more than four years. Rich Swete started the club in 2005, but he has since moved to Arizona. Leo took over as coach in 2008.

Catch wrestling, also known as catch-ascatch-can wrestling, is a style of folk wrestling that implies “catching (a hold) anywhere you can.” This style of wrestling is less restrictive than the Olympic-style Greco-Roman wrestling, which does not allow holds below the waist. It’s a forerunner to today’s entertainment wrestling and a type of fighting in mixed martial-arts events.

The style originated in traveling carnivals where the carnie’s wrestlers would challenge local tough guys to matches for cash and priz-

es. The old wrestler’s lingo is still used today in terms like “hooker,” a master at submission holds, and “ripper,” someone who will intentionally injure his opponents. Leo and the MWC use these terms as honorific titles to rank fighters.

Catch wrestlers win their matches through submission (when the opponent yields) or pins (where a fighter holds an opponent’s shoulders to the mat). Most matches are won through the best two of three falls. No shoes are allowed on the mat, I quickly learned.

“Everyone on their first visit to the club does not know to take their shoes off,” Leo says with a laugh.

During my lesson, I learned the three phases of catch wrestling: free motion, with both fighters on their feet and free to move; clinch, when fighters are actively touching; and ground, which is when both fighters are down on the mat. Most of the action happens on the ground, and Leo put me on my back to show me a few moves.

Fighters are considered “in the mount” when they’re on the ground. The most common type of mount has the two fighters facing each other with the fighter on the bottom in an open guard (feet unhooked) and the fighter on the top in the top mount, straddled across his opponent and sitting on his torso. The fighter on the top is open to all different types of submissions and holds.

Other types of common mounts include the side mount or half mount, where the controlling fighter is on top and to the side of his opponent and pinning him, and the rear mount, where the bottom fighter is face down and top fighter is sitting on his torso. Fighters can do different types of moves in each mount, and depending on the position of both fighters, the dominant position also changes.

The sport of wrestling has changed a good bit since the days of ancient Greece. Today, the biggest appeal for wrestling has been the rise of mixed martial arts.

“Any of the best MMA fighters are great wrestlers as well,” Leo says. “Any time you can control where the action takes place, you can control your opponent. This is what makes wrestling so vital to good MMA fighters.”

The Madison Wrestling Club has 10 regular participants who range in age from 20 to 30 years old. For more info or a free lesson, contact Leo at 601-717-2208 or visit madisonwrestlingclub.tripod.com. The club meets at the Flowood Family YMCA (690 Liberty Road, Flowood, 601-664-1955).

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THURSDAY, DEC. 2 NBA basketball, Miami at Cleveland (7 p.m., TNT): LeBron James returns to face the Cavaliers since he took his talents to the (underachieving) Heat. … Mississippi State at Ole Miss (7 p.m., CSS): Some of you will want to watch a replay of the Bulldogs’ victory in the Egg Bowl, and some of you have had enough.

‘As Safe As Any Sport’ MIKE LOFTIN

Doctor S sez: South Panola High is back in town. The Tigers have turned Memorial Stadium into their home away from home.

by Bryan Flynn

37

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote a book called “Ecce Homo: How One Becomes What One Is.” I’d love it if in the next few weeks you would think a lot about how you are on your way to becoming what you were born to be. Current astrological omens suggest you will have special insight into that theme. For inspiration, you might want to borrow some of Nietzsche’s chapter titles, including the following: “Why I Am So Wise,” “Why I Am So Clever,” and “Why I Am a Destiny.”

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

During some of her concerts, Capricorn singer Hayley Williams (lead vocalist of Paramore) has worn a tank top that bears the phrase “Brand New Eyes.” I encourage you to consider making that your guiding principle for a while.

By pointedly declaring your intention to view the world with refreshed vision, you will be able to tune in to sights that have been invisible to you. You will discover secrets hidden in plain view and maybe even carve out a window where before there had been a thick, blank wall.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

Much of my recent book, “Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia,” is rated PG. Some is R. But there’s one story that’s X. Not in the same way that porn is. While it’s uninhibited in its rendering of ecstatic eroticism, it’s a feminist meditation on spiritual intimacy, not a heap of vulgar stereotypes. Still, when the book came out, I couldn’t bear the thought of sending copies to certain relatives of mine who are a bit prudish. So I came to an honorable compromise: Using a razor blade, I sliced out the nine pages in question and gave my loved ones the mostly-intact remainder. May I suggest you consider a comparable editing of your efforts, Aquarius? Your main object right now is to win friends and influence people.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

In the waters off the southwest coast of Africa, jellyfish have always preyed on the small fish known as the bearded goby—until recently. Now this formerly mild-mannered species, whose diet used to consist of phytoplankton, has overthrown the ancient status quo: It is feasting on the

jellyfish that once feasted on it. Scientists aren’t sure why.

I foresee a metaphorically comparable development in your life, Pisces. How it will play out exactly, I’m not sure.

Maybe you’ll gain an advantage over someone or something that has always had an advantage over you. Maybe you will become the top dog in a place where you’ve been the underdog. Or maybe you’ll begin drawing energy from a source that has in the past sucked your energy.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Physicist Stephen Hawking believes it would be dangerous to get in touch with extraterrestrial creatures. “If aliens visit us,” he says, “the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans.” Those who’ve studied the teeming evidence for UFOs would say that Hawking’s warning is too late. Some mysterious non-human intelligence has been here for a long time, and the fact that we are still around proves they’re no Spanish conquistadors.

Aside from that, though, let’s marvel at the stupidity of Hawking’s lame advice. As any mildly wise person knows, exploring the unknown is not only an aid to our mental and spiritual health—it’s a prerequisite. That’ll be especially true for you Aries in the coming weeks.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

“At times, although one is perfectly in the right, one’s legs tremble,” philosopher V.V. Rozanov wrote. “At other times, although one is completely in the wrong, birds sing in one’s soul.” That may have been the case for you last month, Taurus, but these days, it’s the exact reverse.

If your knees are wobbly, you’re off-center, missing the

mark or far from the heart of the matter. If, on the other, birds are singing in your soul, it’s because you’re united with the beautiful truth. There are a couple of caveats, though: The beautiful truth won’t be simple and bright; it’ll be dense, convoluted and kaleidoscopic. And the birds’ songs will sound more like a philharmonic orchestra pounding out Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony than a single flute playing a quaint folk song.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

Are there any actors who have impersonated as many different types of characters as Gemini chameleon Johnny Depp? From rogue agent to chocolatier, from psychotic barber to astronaut, he is a model of inconsistency—a master of not imitating himself. (To glimpse 24 of his various personas, go here: http://bit.ly/GeminiActor.) According to my reading of the omens, you now have a poetic license to follow his lead. There have been few times in the last two years when you’ve had this much freedom and permission to be so multiple, mercurial and mutant.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Psychologist Carl Jung said that we are all connected to each other via the collective unconscious. Your psyche and my psyche have taproots that sink deep into the memories and capacities of the entire human race.

According to my reading of the omens, your taproots are now functioning more vigorously than they have in a long time. You’re in more intimate contact than usual with the primal pool of possibilities. And what good is that, you may ask? Well, it means you have the power to draw on mojo that transcends your personal abilities. Could you make use of some liquid lightning, ambrosial dreams or healing balm from the beginning of time?

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

A tattoo now adorns the neck of pop star Rihanna. It says “rebelle fleur,” which is a French phrase meaning “rebel flower.” The grammar police protested her new body art. They wished she had rendered it correctly—as “fleur rebelle”—since in French, adjectives are supposed to follow, not precede, the nouns they refer to. But I’m guessing Rihanna knew that. In reversing the order, she was double-asserting her right to commit breezy acts of insurrection. Let’s make “rebelle fleur” your keynote in the coming days, Cancerian. Break taboos, buck tradition and overthrow conventional wisdom—always with blithe grace and jaunty charm.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

to heal sick people: It can provide a mysterious boost.

(More here: tinyurl.com/LuckCharm.) Just for the fun of it, Leo—and in accordance with the astrological omens—put this finding to the test. Get yourself a magical object that stimulates your power to achieve success.

Research by German psychologists suggests that positive superstitions may be helpful. Reporting in the journal Psychological Science, they discovered that people who think they are in possession of good luck charms outperform people who don’t. “Superstition-induced confidence” seems to act in ways akin to how placebos work

If you want to get a gallon of milk directly from the source, you have to squeeze a cow’s udder over 300 times. I recommend you use that as a metaphor for your task in the days to come. It’s going to take a lot of squirts or tugs or tweaks to get the totality of what you want. Be patient and precise as you fill your cup little by little. There’s no way you can hurry the process by skipping steps.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth,” the Bible says. That doesn’t mean what most people think it does. The word translated as “meek” is the Greek word praus, which in ancient times didn’t mean “weak-willed, passive, mild.” Rather, it referred to great power that was under rigorous control. For example, soldiers’ warhorses were considered praus. They heeded the commands of their riders, but were fierce warriors that fought with tireless fervor. In this spirit, Scorpio, I’m predicting you’re about to get very “meek”: offering your tremendous force of will and intelligence in disciplined service to a noble cause.

(Thanks to Merlin Hawk for the info I used in this ‘scope.)

What if you didn’t feel compelled to have an opinion about every hot-button issue? Try living opinion-free for a week. Report results by going to Freewillastrology.com and clicking “Email Rob.”

Last Week’s Answers

BY MATT JONES 57 Kind of view 59 Oval segments 61 He hosts “Good Eats” 65 Tackle box item 66 Bullfighting cheer 67 “Lost” actor M.C. 68 Does something 69 Hallucinatory stuff 70 Most worldly-wise

58 Quatrain rhyme scheme 59 “So that’s your game!”

60 ___-A-Fella Records 61 Co. founded by Steve Case 62 Inseparable 63 “Fantastic Mr. Fox” director Anderson 64 Major paper, for short

©2010 Jonesin’ Crosswords For answers to this puzzle, call: 1900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute.

Must be 18+. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800-655-6548. Reference puzzle #0489.

Down

“Have You Lost Weight?”--why yes, yes I have.

December 1 - 7, 2010

Across

38

1 Croatia’s capital 7 Special effects used in “Avatar,” e.g.

10 Deck quartet 14 “The Little Mermaid” villain 15 That ship 16 Battery unit 17 Goes for some quick lunch 19 Gold medal runner Zatopek 20 Go back and forth 21 Hosp. scanner 22 Prefix meaning “notion” 25 Less likely to catch on 27 Bite with tiny teeth 30 ___ Carta 32 Greek cheeses 33 “Am ___!”

34 2010 “SNL” host Poehler 35 Bourbon measures 37 Summer hrs., in South Carolina 38 Treasure hunt need 39 Clock setting for most of TX 40 Cobb and Pennington 42 Slowing, in music: abbr.

43 Guinness Book suffix 44 Phrase often followed with “it’s nothing” 46 Compass pt.

47 Vail runner 48 Lerner’s musical partner 49 Head-scratching question 51 Org. that gives out 9-digit IDs 52 Not mourned (for) 54 ___-bitsy 55 Pester

1 ___ Island (industrial area of Detroit) 2 Abbr. at the top of sheet music 3 Former name of a cookie-selling org.

4 Applies, like ointment 5 “Who ___ wants a piece of me?”

6 Made some sheepish noises 7 Kitschy growable gift 8 “Stay away from amateurs!”?

9 Pique condition?

10 State with firmness 11 Fascination with a certain URL ending?

12 Yale alumnus 13 Cardinals insignia 18 Removal of totally false graffiti?

21 ___ Butterworth’s syrup 22 “Let me clean up first...”

23 Patterned fabrics 24 Basic Cairo bed?

26 “Rocks for Jocks” type of class 28 Disinfecting solutions 29 Craft where things get fired up 31 16 NFL teams 36 “But ___ realized...”

41 NASCAR-sponsoring additive 45 Posted in the center of the action, perhaps 48 Schlep 50 Gulf of Mexico structure 53 Metallic sounds 56 Pops the question

BY MATT JONES

Last Week’s Answers

“Sum Sudoku”

Put one digit from 1-9 in each square of this Sudoku so that the following three conditions are met: 1) each row, column, and 3x3 box (as marked by heavy lines in the grid) contains the digits 1ñ9 exactly one time; 2) no digit is repeated within any of the areas marked off by dots; and 3) the sums of the numbers in each area marked off by dots total the little number given in each of those areas. For example, the digits in the upper-rightmost square in the grid and the two squares directly to its left will add up to 20. Now quit wastin’ my time and solve!!! psychosudoku@hotmail.com

STEFANIA POMPONI BUTLER

dining

by Katie Stewart

Cost-Effective Abundance

T

he holidays are a time of enjoying family and celebrating abundance. But if you find yourself in a tight spot financially, the cost of the Christmas meal can make your holidays feel a bit less plentiful. With a little planning and creativity, the holiday dinner doesn’t have to leave you strapped for cash. Here are some ideas for a delicious, healthy dinner that costs less, reduces waste and leaves your family healthier.

Potluck. If you find yourself preparing the Christmas meal by yourself, it can require quite a bit from your grocery budget.

This year, determine early who your guests will be, and ask them to bring a dish. Perhaps they can bring their version of a traditional Thanksgiving food. (Be sure to have a meal plan so that you don’t end up with five green-bean casseroles.)

Cook from scratch. Creating your Christmas meal out of real ingredients is healthier, tastier and often cheaper. While it may be more labor-intensive on the front end, your body, your taste buds and your budget will thank you. In my kitchen, I make one exception to this rule: Canned pumpkin does not taste any different than a fresh-carved pumpkin, and it saves hours of messy work.

Buy seasonal. Out-of-season foods are often expensive and much less tasty than fresh-from-the-vine local vegetables.

When you’re preparing for your Christmas feast, check out the various farmer’s markets in our area. They offer fresh produce that is healthy and grown locally. You can likely meet the person who harvested your dinner.

Thankfully, many of our traditional Christmas foods are in season, including winter squash and sweet potatoes.

Count your guests. If you’re hosting 10, don’t cook for 20.

Many holiday recipes yield much more food than you will actually eat. Think about cooking smaller portions. Make one or two desserts instead of five or six. You’ll end up with fewer leftovers, which often get thrown out several days after Christmas.

If You Like Piña Coladas . . .

I

PINA COLADA BREAD PUDDING WITH RUM SAUCE 4 cups heavy cream or whole milk 1-1/2 cups crushed pineapple, drained 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted 1-1/2 cups sweetened, flaked coconut 1-1/2 cups chopped pecans 1/2 cup golden raisins 2 cups frozen piña colada mix, thawed 2 tablespoons vanilla 2 teaspoons nutmeg 2 tablespoons cinnamon 2 cups of sugar 3 eggs, lightly beaten 1 loaf of day-old French bread, cubed (about 6-8 cups loosely packed)

by Lisa LaFontaine Bynum

have had a can of frozen piña colada mix hanging out in my freezer for months. I’m tired of looking at it. I need to do something with it. I know, I know, the obvious choice would be to get some rum and little paper umbrellas and make drinks. But it’s the holidays. I’m in the mood for hot chocolate, spiced rum cider or mulled wine, not a cold, fruity drink.

I begin to brainstorm. Dump it into a cake batter?

Coconut-flavored cookies? The more I think about it, the more bread pudding seems like the obvious choice.

Food historians date bread pudding back to the 11th or 12th century as a way peasants used stale bread.

Original versions were made with water instead of heavy cream, making them economical. Today, bread pudding has shaken off its humble roots and gained a reputation as a comfort food.

The key to a tasty bread pudding is to use bread that will hold up well to liquid. Sandwich bread becomes mushy and you end up with gummy bread pudding. Any crusty bread such as French, ciabatta or sourdough work well, however, and lend a unique flavor and texture. For something more luxurious, try using brioche or pannetone, a fruit-filled Italian sweet bread.

Using stale bread is also important because it more readily absorbs liquid. If you don’t have stale bread, try drying it out in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or leaving your bread out on the counter overnight. Bread cubes should be measured loosely, not packed in the measuring cup. Varying the proportion of liquid to bread will change the denseness of your dish.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except the bread. Mixture should be moist but not soupy.

Fold bread into mixture and stir until bread is thoroughly coated. Pour into greased 9-by-12-by12-inch glass baking dish.

Allow mixture to sit in the refrigerator for a minimum of two hours to allow the bread to soak up the custard.

Place pudding in a cold oven. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour and 15 minutes, until top is golden brown. Serve warm with rum sauce, ice cream or whipped cream.

Serves 18-20.

RUM SAUCE

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 egg, lightly beaten Rum to taste, about 3 tablespoons LISA LAFONTAINE BYNUM

Eliminate tradition. While most of our Christmas recipes come from long years of tradition and family get-togethers, is there that one recipe that always yields uneaten leftovers each year? If there is a traditional Christmas food that few in your family actually like, consider eliminating it. Less cost, waste and guilt will result.

pletely different meal altogether. Once the alternative route is opened, you have endless possibilities. How about jambalaya?

Seafood? Pasta? Chicken? Though traditions are strong, taking a year off from the traditional turkey could be fun, creative and frugal.

Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla. Slowly stir in the egg, and then add the rum. Heat and stir over low heat about five minutes. Serve warm over individual pudding servings.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

from our roastery, to your cup. voted best coffeeshop in jackson 2003-2010

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Consider alternatives. Though Tofurky is the obvious vegetarian alternative to turkey, you may want to consider a com-

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Eslava’s Grille

SUNDAY

Seafood, Steaks and Pasta

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coffee houses

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Cups Espresso Café (Multiple Locations, www.cupsespressocafe.com) Jackson’s local group 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.

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.

11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

A Metro-Area Tradition Since 1977

Lunch: Fri. & Sun. | 11am-2pm Dinner: Tues. -Sat. & Sun. | 5pm-9pm

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

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1290 E County Line Rd (next to Northpark Mall) Ridgeland, MS 39157 | 601-983-1253

Jackson 1801 Dalton Street (601) 352-4555 Fax: (601) 352-4510

FULL LUNCH $9.00 with tax

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Broad Street Bakery (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!

Campbell’s Bakery (3013 N State Street 601-362-4628) Breakfast, lunch and bakery. Cookies, cakes and cupcakes are accompanied by good coffee and a full-cooked Southern breakfast on weekdays in this charming bakery in Fondren.

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

For Heaven’s Cakes (4950 Old Canton Road 601-991-2253) Cakes and cupcakes for all occasions including weddings, parties, catered events. Owner Dani Mitchell Turk was features on the Food Network’s ultimate recipe showdown.

Beagle Bagel (4500 I-55 North, Suite 145, Highland Village 769-251-1892) Fresh bagels in tons of different styles with a variety of toppings including cream cheese, lox, eggs, cheese, meats and or as full sandwiches for lunch. Paninis, wraps and much more!

Pizza Mellow Mushroom (275 Dogwood Blvd, Flowood, 601-992-7499) Pizzas of all kinds, munchies, calzones, grilled hoagies, salads and more make up the extensive and “eclectic” menu at Mellow Mushroom. Award-winning beer selection.

The Pizza Shack (1220 N State St. 601-352-2001) 2009 and 2010’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. Great beer specials!

Sal & Mookie’s (565 Taylor St. 601-368-1919) Pizzas of all kinds plus pasta, eggplant parmesan and the local favorite: fried ravioli. Best Chef, Best Dessert, Best Kid’s Menu & Best Ice Cream in the 2010 Best of Jackson.

mexican/LaTin american

Entree, 2 Sides, Bread & Beverage 168 W. Griffith St. • Sterling Towers

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Tues. - Fri. 11am - 3pm, Closed Sat. 182 Raymond Rd. in Jackson, MS Telephone: 601-373-7707 E-mail: lumpkinsbbq@comcast.net

Fuego Mexican Cantina (318 South State Street,601-592-1000) Next to Club Fire in downtown, Fuego is Jackson’s all-new Mexican restaurant—complete with the monster menu! Nachos, fajitas, tacos, enchiladas, chimichangas, combo plates, even veggie options,are offered right alongside the margarita pitchers you expect. Arriba!

King Tortas International Deli (1290 E. County Line Rd, Ridgeland, 601-983-1253) Bakery and taqueria; try the fried plantains!

VeGeTarian High Noon Café (2807 Old Canton Road in Rainbow Plaza 601-366-1513) Fresh, gourmet, tasty and healthy defines the lunch options at Jackson’s own strict vegetarian (and very-vegan-friendly) restaurant. Daily lunch specials -- like Mexican day and the seaside cakes on Fridays -- push the envelope on creative and healthy; wonderful desserts!

iTaLian BRAVO! (4500 Interstate 55 N., Jackson, 601-982-8111) Wood-fired pizzas, vegetarian fare, plus creative pastas, beef, and seafood specials. Award-winning wine list. Bravo! walks away with tons of Best of Jackson awards every year.

Cerami’s (5417 Lakeland Drive, Flowood, 601-919-28298) 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!

Fratesi’s (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!

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Cool Alâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (4654 McWillie, 601-713-3020) A Best of Jackson fixture, Cool Alâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s signature stacked, messy, decadent, creative burgers defy adjectives. And donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget the fries, from curly to sweet potato with a choice of spices.

Fenianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pub (901 E. Fortification St. 601-948-0055) Classic Irish pub featuring a menu of traditional food, pub sandwiches and beers such as Guinness and Harp on tap. Free live music most nights; Irish/Celtic bands on Thursdays.

Stamps Superburgers (1801 Dalton Street 601-352-4555) Huge burgers will keep you full until the next day! The homestyle fries are always fresh, cut by hand using white potatoes with traditional, lemon pepper, seasoning salt or Cajun seasoning.

Fitzgeralds at the Hilton (1001 East County Line Road, 601-957-2800) Top-shelf bar food with a Gulf Coast twist like Gumbo Ya Ya, Pelahatchie artisan sausage and cheese antipasto. Grilled oysters; fried stuffâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;oysters, catfish, shrimp, seafood or chicken!

Hal and Malâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (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 dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s blackboard special. Plus sandwiches, burgers, nachos and other staples.

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.

Martinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 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.

Time Out Sports CafĂŠ (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.

Ole Tavern on George Street (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.

Poets Two (1855 Lakeland Drive, Suite H-10, 601-364-9411) Pub fare at its finest. Crabcake minis, fried dills, wings, poppers, ultimate fries, sandwiches, po-boys, pasta entrees and steak. The signature burgers come in bison, kobe, beef or turkey!

Sportsmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lodge (1120 E Northside Dr. in Maywood Mart) 601-366-5441 Voted Best Sports Bar in 2010, Sportmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t disappoint with plenty of gut-pleasing sandwiches, fried seafood baskets, sandwiches and specialty appetizers.

Underground 119 (119 South President St. 601-352-2322) Jumbo lump crabcakes, crab quesadillas, beef tenderloin parfaits, orange-garlic shrimp, even â&#x20AC;&#x153;lollipopâ&#x20AC;? lamb chops. Add a full bar and mix in great music. Opens 4 p.m.-until, Wed-Sat. Wing Stop (952 North State Street, 601-969-6400) Saucing and tossing wings in a choice of nine flavors, Wingstop wings are made with care and served up piping hot. Every order is made fresh to order; check out the fresh cut seasoned fries!

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707 N. Congress Street Downtown Jackson â&#x20AC;˘ (601) 353-1180 Open 11am-2pm, Sunday thru Friday

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Hickory Pit Barbeque (1491 Canton Mart Rd. 601-956-7079) The â&#x20AC;&#x153;Best Butts in Townâ&#x20AC;? features BBQ chicken, beef and pork sandwiches along with burgers and poâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;boys. Wet or dry pork ribs, chopped pork or beef, and all the sides.

Lumpkins BBQ (182 Raymond Rd. Jackson 866-906-0942) Specializing in smoked barbeque, Lumpkinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s offers all your favorites for on-site family dining or for catered events, including reunions, office events, annivesaries, weddings and more.

HAPPY HOUR 2-6pm Everyday! â&#x20AC;˘ HALF OFF Select Apps!

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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.

Ichiban (153 Ridge Drive, Ste 105F 601-919-0097 & 359 Ridgeway 601-919-8879) Voted â&#x20AC;&#x153;Best Chineseâ&#x20AC;? in 2010, cuisine styles at Ichiban actually range from Chinese to Japanese, including hibachi, sushi made fresh with seafood, and a crowd-pleasing buffet.

Pan Asia (720 Harbor Pines Dr, Ridgeland 601-956-2958) Beautiful ambiance in this popular Ridgeland eatery accompanies signature asian fusion dishes and build-your-own stir-frys using fresh ingredients and great sauces.

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southern cuisine Mimi’s Family and Friends (3139 North State Street, Fondren) 601-366-6111 Funky local art decorates this Fondren eatery, offering cheese grits, red beans & rice, pork tacos and pimento cheese, among many others. Breakfast and lunch, new days are Tuesday-Sunday.

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

The Strawberry Café (107 Depot Drive, Madison, 601-856-3822) Full 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) 2010 Best of Jackson winner for fried chicken offers a sumptious buffet of your choice of veggies, a salad bar, iced tea & one of three homemade desserts. Lunch only. Mon-Friday, Sun.

steak, seafood & fine dininG Eslava’s Grille (2481 Lakeland Drive, 601-932-4070) Danny Eslava’s namesake feature Latin-influenced dishes like ceviche in addition to pastas, steaks, salads and other signature seafood dishes.

Rocky’s (1046 Warrington Road, Vicksburg 601-634-0100) Enjoy choice steaks, fresh seafood, great salads, hearty sandwiches and much more in the “polished casual” dining room. Open 24/7 in the Riverwalk Casino.

Parker House (104 South East Madison Drive, Ridgeland 601-856-0043) European and Creole take on traditional Southern ingredients. Crawfish, oysters, crab and steaks dominate, with creative option like Crab Mac ‘n Cheese, Oysters Rockefeller and Duck Jezebel.

mediterranean/Greek/indian

December 1 - 7, 2010

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Gluten free pizza available by request

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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.

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.

Mezza (1896 Main St., Suite A, Madison 601-853-0876) Mediterranean cuisine and wood fired brick oven pizzas. Come experience the beautiful patio, Hookahs, and delicious food. Beer is offered and you are welcome to bring your own wine.

Something Shiny

by Phyllis Robinson and Mitchell Davis Photographs by Marlon J. Ivy

E

ven little kids like jewelry that’s sparkly and shiny. But we don’t come to fully appreciate the beauty of the glitz until we’re adults. Jewelry is something that can be worn just to jazz up an outfit or as a symbol of your love and devotion to another person. Put jewelry on your shopping list this holiday. You won’t disappoint.

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Blue enamel earrings, $47, and blue enamel bracelet, $159, LilMcKH Jewelry

Green enamel framed pendant with freshwater pearls, $285. and green quartz earrings, $95, LilMcKH Jewelry

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Brown agate slice pearl necklace, $249, and brown agate slice earrings, $92, LilMcKH Jewelry

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Leather freshwater pearl necklace, $65, B. Fine Art Jewelry Copper flower with turquoise earrings, $36, B. Fine Art Jewelry

Bottlecreek glass necklace, $55, Blues Candy Dichroic piece sterling silver necklace, $75, Blues Candy

Stacked rhinestone bangles, $59 each, Azul Denim John Wind “Classic Sorority Gal” initial bracelet, $70, Persnickety Senegalese medallion necklace, $45, Afrika Book Café Vgandan coconut earrings, $15, Afrika Book Café Multi-layered necklace, $50, Lipstick Lounge White ceramic antique-faced bracelet, $60, Lipstick Lounge Antique silver studded ring and bracelet, $55, Pink Lamborghini Feather ear-lace by Jasmine Watts, $45, Pink Lamborghini

WHERE2SHOP

Afrika Book Café (404 Mitchell Ave., 769-251-1031) Azul Denim (733 Lake Harbour Drive, Suite E, Ridgeland, 601-605-1066) B. Fine Art Jewelry and B. Liles Studio (215 W. Jackson St., Ridgeland, 601-607-7741) Blues Candy by Elizabeth Robinson (Fondren Corner Building, 601-212-6635, call for appointment) LilMcKH Jewelry Gallery & Atelier (200 Commerce St., above Hal and Mal’s, 601-259-6461, call for appointment, www.lilmckhjewelry.com) Lipstick Lounge (304 Mitchell Ave., 601-366-4400) Persnickety (2078 Main St., Madison, 601-853-9595) Pink Lamborghini (310 Mitchell Ave., 601-366-6403)

jacksonfreepress.com

Ornate feather earrings by Jasmine Watts, $40, Pink Lamborghini

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Not Empty Handed A

by Pamela Hosey Photographs by Meredith Norwood s you make your holiday party rounds, don’t show up empty handed. Be sure to bring a gift for your host or hostess.

1 “Beyond Grits and Gravy” cookbook, $19.95, Quail Ridge Press 2 Harmony Honey made in Flora, $8, AG Museum 3 Goats milk soap, $4.25, AG Museum 4 Personalized tree serving platter, $9.95-$19.95, Apple Annies Gift Shop 5 Bubbling Bath Crystals, $25, Bath Junkie 6 Exfoliating Salt Scrub, $30, Bath Junkie 7 Jigger with bottle opener, $15, BellaChes 8 Silver wreath, $106, BellaChes 9 Ole Miss ornament, $10, Bridgette’s 10 Elf on a Shelf, $29.95, Bridgette’s 11 “Zen Artistry,” $45, A Daisy A Day 12 “Paradise Found,” $75.95, A Daisy A Day 13 Timeworks watch clocks, $94, Mosaic 14 Fideaux and Thibodeaux dog treats, $7.50, Mississippi Gift Company 15 Copperworx MS ornament by Terri Dallriva, $13, Mississippi Gift Company 16 Sugar and Creamer Jade by Woods Brothers, $25, Mississippi Gift Company 17 Angels made from reclaimed wood and antique tins, $69, Relish 18 Votivo candles (five scents available including Icy 19 Blue Pine, Red Currant and Christmas Sage), $34, Treehouse Boutique

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Sunday & Monday

December 1 - 7, 2010

15% off Deep Tissue & Relaxation Massage

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WHERE2SHOP

for Cosmetologists, Massage Therapists, Barbers & Estheticians

2084 Dubarton Drive

(Behind Penn’s on Lakeland)

Jackson MS 39216 601.896.6022

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A Daisy A Day (Highland Village, 4500 Interstate 55 N., Suite 194, 601-982-4438); Apple Annies Gift Shop (106 Autumn Ridge Place, Suites 5 and 6, Brandon, 601-992-9925); Bath Junkie (The Renaissance at Colony Park, 1000 Highland Colony Parkway, Suite 3007, Ridgeland, 601-605-6606); BellaChes (The Renaissance at Colony Park, 1000 Highland Colony Parkway, Suite 7004, Ridgeland, 601605-2239); Bridgette’s Monograms & Gifts (2725 N. State St., 601-362-9947);

Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum Gift Shop (1150 Lakeland Drive, 601-432-4500); Mississippi Gift Company (300 Howard St., Greenwood, 800-467-7763, www.themississippigiftcompany.com); Mosaic (Fondren Corner, 2906 N. State St., Suite 102, 601-7132595); Quail Ridge Press (Based in Brandon, 601-825-2063, www.quailridgepress. com); Relish (1716 Highway 51, Suite D, Madison, 601-898-1028); Treehouse Boutique (3008 N.State St.,601-982-3433)

The Convenient Kitchen

by Katie Stewart

Chambord French press, $40, Everyday Gourmet

Coffee Grinder/French Press. Not only is French press coffee more delicious than drip coffee, it takes up a very small space on our counter. We can store a coffee grinder and French press in less space than a coffeemaker, and our morning coffee tastes better.

Dutch Oven. When youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re making a stew, soup or meat dish, a Dutch oven is invaluable, as it can be used on the stovetop and in the oven, as well as on the table as a serving dish. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re heavy, sturdy and last forever.

Stand Mixer. Stand mixers are expensive, so they arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t great for last-minute purchases. However, if you do any amount of baking, they are a fantastic investment.

As one who has made cakes entirely by hand without a mixer, I am thankful for mine, which sits prominently on my counter and gets used at least twice a week.

Its functions are many, but the basic model mixes, whips and kneads. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re willing to purchase attach-

ments, you can make ice cream, pasta, ground meat and fresh squeezed juice.

Bread Machine. This is one appliance that takes up a good bit of space on the counter, though it has only one function; however, I have found that it saves time as well as money. We now eat delicious, healthful bread that is made with real ingredients. All I have to do is put in the components and let the machine work its magic.

There is one major appliance that we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have in our kitchen: a microwave. To be honest, we own one, but it remains stored most of the time. In my effort to make healthy, home-cooked, inexpensive food, I found that I was using the microwave less and less, and it was becoming a huge waste of space.

Our journey in frugality has led us to eat better and use our time and space more wisely. And in that we are blessed.

Le Creuset Dutch ovens, $48 (enamel-onsteel stock pot) or $303 (large enameled cast iron), Persnickety

Cuisinart automatic bread maker, $134.99, Belk

Cuisinart Coffee Grinder, $26, Everyday Gourmet (Ridgeland location) Viking professional stand mixer, $369.95 (on sale), Viking Cooking School

Spice Carousel, $35.99, Organizers

WHERE2SHOP Duralex mixing bowls, $2.50$23.50, Everyday Gourmet

Belk (Northpark Mall, 1200 E. County Line Road, Ridgeland, 601-957-8525) Everyday Gourmet (1625 E. County Line Road, Suite 500, 601-977-9258) Organizers (Highland Village, 4500 Interstate 55 N., Suite 174, 601-981-1973) Persnickety (2078 Main St., Madison, 601-853-9595) Viking Cooking School/Everyday Gourmet (The Township at Colony Park, 1107 Highland Colony Parkway, Suite 111, Ridgeland, 601-898-9292)

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n our endeavors to live simply and cut back our food spending, my husband, Mason, and I have found how important it is to cook at home. A delicious homemade meal tastes so much better and is even cheaper than eating a meal at a fast food restaurant. Part of the motivation for cooking at home, however, is having good tools that make your time in the kitchen rewarding.

In addition to the challenges of eating on a budget, we also have the challenge of a small living space. Not only does everything in our kitchen have to be useful, but it has to fit adequately in our space, leaving us room to cook. We achieve this by owning kitchen appliances and utensils that perform multiple tasks and take up little space.

Mixing Bowls/Serving Bowls. We have a set of 10 glass bowls that nest inside each other. Because they are attractive as well as practical, they can go straight from the kitchen to the table. This saves space, time and dishwashing.

45

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For the Gents W

hether buying for your husband, son, father, boyfriend or boss—these gift ideas are sure to bring a smile to his face this holiday season.

1

1 Assorted flasks, $20-$29, BellaChes

by Pamela Hosey photographs by Meredith Norwood

2

2 Felt B16 bike, $1,999.99, The Bike Rack 3 Collegiate accessories, $7.99-27.99, Brock’s 4 Wilson Profile Power 13-piece set, $299.99, Edwin Watts Golf 5 Gretsch Catalina Maple-Fusion drum shell pack 5-piece, $799, Mississippi Music 6 Toyuomi Batman Returns prop replica cowl, $650, Heroes and Dreams

3

7 “Kingdom Come” graphic novel set, $17.99, Heroes and Dreams

4

5

8 Mississippi collegiate sport balls, $4.256.49, Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Gift Shop 9 “The Ballad of Brett Favre” CD, $10, Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Gift Shop 10 Jackson State University jacket, $100, Oleta’s 11 Greek wooden paddles, $26.00-65.00, Oleta’s

8

12 Men’s sports coat, $195; silk ties, men’s dress slacks, $69.95-$195, $65-$95; shirts, $79.95-$150; silk pocket squares, $29.95$69.95, Kinkade’s Fine Clothing

7

6

9

WHERE2SHOP

BellaChes (The Renaissance at Colony Park, 1000 Highland Colony Parkway, Suite 7004, Ridgeland, 601-605-2239); The Bike Rack (2282 Lakeland Drive, Flowood, 601-420-8498); Brock’s Gift Center and Beauty Salon (1220 E. Northside Dr., Suite 300, 601-366-9343); Edwin Watts Golf (820 E. County Line Road, Suite C, Ridgeland, 601-956-8784); Heroes and Dreams (5352 Highway 25, Suite 1650, Flowood, 601-9923100); Kinkade’s Fine Clothing (Olde Towne Square, 126 W. Jackson St., Suite 2B, Ridgeland, 601-898-0513); Mississippi Music (1001 Sara Lane, Flowood, 601-922-1200); Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Gift Shop (1152 Lakeland Drive, 601-982-8264); Oleta’s Gifts, Greek & Baskets (579 Highway 51 N., Ridgeland, 601-856-8886)

10

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jacksonfreepress.com

Kinkade’s offers complimentary alterations on their clothing.

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