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gators tumble
Symphonic treat
Brandon sweeps VHS on the court
SATU R DAY, F e b r ua r y 4, 2012 • 50¢
Mississippi Orchestra to perform in city
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Ever y day Si nC E 1883
JPD makes arrest in attack on Vicksburg man By John Surratt jsurratt@vicksburgpost.com A Jackson man has been accused of aggravated assault and armed robbery in the Sunday attack of Fred Jackson, a Vicksburg man who was severely beaten by two men while he was working at a salvage yard in Jackson. Jackson police spokeswoman Colendula Green said Friday that detectives
Fred Jackson
Jontez Garvis
arrested Jontez Garvis, 29, in the attack, which was captured by video surveillance cameras. She said Garvis
was being held without bond at the Hinds County Jail in Raymond, pending an initial appearance. Green would not say how police identified Garvis as one of the assailants. She said police are looking for the second man involved in the attack. Jackson, 62, 627 Wright Road, remains unconscious at University of Mississippi Medical Center where he has been since the attack. His
brother, Noel Jackson Sr., said Friday that his brother developed breathing problems Friday and was again placed on a respirator and given pain medication. “I’m very happy they caught the guy,” Noel Jackson said. A $13,500 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest the attackers. His tragedy was multiplied Thursday when some-
one broke into his home and stole jewelry, small appliances, clothing and gifts and trashed other items. Fred Jackson was attacked and robbed Sunday while he was kneeling down to weld a gate at Tri-Miss Services, a salvage yard at 416 Woodrow Wilson Drive. Surveillance video showed two men wearing hoodies enter the yard, come up behind Jackson and hit him several times in the head
Ex-city cop charged with sexual battery
Rain or shine
By John Surratt jsurratt@vicksburgpost.com
Eli Baylis•The Vicksburg Post
John Hood takes advantage of the brief pause in rain to go for a 5-mile run through the Vicksburg National Military Park Friday. The National Weather Service called for a chance of showers and thunder-
storms today with a high near 74 and lows tonight in the 40s, and mostly cloudy skies Sunday with a high near 60.
Study: Facebookers get more than they give By The Associated Press NEW YORK — The goodytwo-shoes among us say it’s better to give than to receive. That’s not true for the average Facebook user, though. A new study out Friday found that the average user of the world’s biggest online social network gets more than they give. That means more messages, more “likes” and more comments. Yes, even more “pokes.” Behind all that is Facebook’s relatively small
group of “power users,” who do more than their share of tagging, liking and uploading. The report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project comes two days after Facebook filed for a $5 billion initial public offering of stock that could eventually value the company at $100 billion. Key to that mammoth valuation will be Facebook’s ability to convince advertisers they can make money from the billons of connections and interac-
tions that people partake in on its website and beyond. Though Pew’s findings don’t address the commercial side of people’s activities, they shed important light on how people use the site and what they get out of it. The study is the product of Pew’s analysis of Facebook users’ activities in November 2010. It consisted of data that Facebook provided to Pew after 269 users gave their permission. Those users were identified through a random telephone survey about broader Inter-
net issues. The researchers found that about 20 percent to 30 percent of Facebook users fell into the “power user” category, though they tended to specialize in different types of activities on Facebook. Some of them sent a lot of friend requests, while others tagged more photos than the average user. Only 5 percent were power users in every activity that Pew logged. The way this plays out See Facebook, Page A7.
Taliban leader sent letter to Obama By The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar wrote to President Barack Obama last year indicating an interest in talks key to ending the war in Afghanistan, current and former U.S. officials told The Associated Press. The letter purportedly
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from Omar was unsigned. It was passed through a Taliban intermediary in July and intended for the White House. The previously undisclosed communication was considered authentic by people who saw it, but skeptical administration officials said they cannot determine it actually came from Omar.
WEATHER
The Obama administration did not directly respond to the letter, two officials said, although it has broadened contacts with Omar’s emissaries since then. Sources who described the letter did not disclose its precise contents, but one current and one former official said it addressed Taliban willingness to
build trust with the United States. One official said Omar complained that the United States had not done enough to establish good faith for negotiations, such as arranging the release of Taliban prisoners held in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. See Obama, Page A7.
TODAY IN HISTORY
1789: Electors choose George Washington to Today: be the first president of the United States. rain; high of 74 1861: Delegates from six southern states that tonight: had recently seceded from the Union meet in rain; low of 50 Montgomery, Ala., to form the Confederate Mississippi River: States of America. 33.6 feet 1972: Mariner 9, orbiting Mars, transmits imRose: 0.5 foot ages of the red planet. Flood stage: 43 feet 1974: Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst is A7 kidnapped in Berkeley, Calif., by the Symbio-
with a blunt object. Hedrick said his injuries included several skull fractures and severe head trauma, adding that he was robbed of about $500, a paycheck and a his cell phone. The $13,500 reward was composed of a $2,500 reward offered by Central Mississippi Crime Stoppers, and $7,500 from Tri-Miss, $2,500 from other Jackson recycling businesses and $1,000 from the Jackson family.
A former longtime Vicksburg police officer was charged Friday with sexual battery, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said. David D. “Bo” McLeod, 37, 285 Rawhide Lane, surrendered late Friday morning to county officials after being charged in a warrant for a sexual battery that occurred Jan. 25. He was later released on $5,000 bond. McLeod, who was employed with the Vicksburg Police Department from 1998 to 2003 and from 2009 to 2011, is a member of the eight-county North Central Narcotics Task Force based in Greenwood, which includes Claiborne and Yazoo counties. He was a patrol officer and a K-9 officer for the Vicksburg Police
Department. He is now working as an agent for a multicounty narcotics task force. He has David D. been placed “Bo” McLeod on administrative leave with pay, pending the completion of the investigation, task force director Chuck Harris said. Pace said McLeod was charged in a warrant based on an affidavit signed by the woman, adding she was not someone McLeod had dealt with as a narcotics agent. He said the woman called 911 just before 5 a.m. Jan. 25, said she had been assaulted sexually by a man, and identified McLeod. See McLeod, Page A7.
Inmate asks courts to stop execution By Holbrook Mohr The Associated Press JACKSON — Condemned inmate Edwin Hart Turner’s lawyer told a federal judge Friday that a corrections policy prevented Turner from getting tests that could prove he’s mentally ill and ineligible for execution. Turner, 38, is scheduled to be executed Wednesday at 6 p.m. for killing two men during a robbery spree in 1995 in Carroll County. His attorneys are trying to block the execution in U.S. District Court in Jackson. They’ve also filed different arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court. Turner was in the courtroom Friday, wearing one of the red jumpsuits issued to death row inmates, a raincoat and shackles. He’s a short, balding man and his face is severely disfigured from a self-inflicted gunshot wound when he was 18. His attorneys have said in court
nese Liberation Army. 1976: More than 23,000 people die when a severe earthquake strikes Guatemala with a magnitude of 7.5, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. 1982: President Ronald Reagan announces a plan to eliminate all medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe. 1983: Pop singer-musician Karen Carpenter dies in Downey, Calif., at 32.
filings that Turner put a rifle in his mouth and pulled the trigger in one of several suicide attempts that, they say, underscore his mental illness. James Craig, a lawyer with the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center, argued in the federal court in Jackson that a Mississippi Department of Corrections policy that dates Edwin Hart to the 1990s Turner has prevented Turner from getting independent tests and exams that could prove he’s mentally ill. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that executing a mentally ill person amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, which is forbidden under the Constitution. Craig asked U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves to See Inmate, Page A7.
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