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JACKSONIAN JOHN TIERRE

J ohn Tierre, an Omaha, Neb., native and owner of Farish Street restaurant Johnny T’s Bistro & Bar, knew that, even as a child, he wanted to be an

entrepreneur. “My grandfather owned a lot of small businesses,” Tierre says. “(He) owned some bars, a couple clubs, so I’ve al-ways had it in my mind. I didn’t know the route that I was going to take, but it was a vehicle to get me where I am now.” Tierre moved to Jackson in 1995 to at-tend Jackson State University on a scholarship, majoring in business administration. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1999, he began his first business venture: a T-shirt printing company. “Initially, I owned a clothing company called Block Wear, which was really popular,” Tierre says. “It was an urban-oriented, afford-able, quality, fashionable clothing line (that pri-marily included) tops, T-shirts, sweatshirts and things of that nature.” From Block Wear, Tierre became inter-ested in a variety of businesses, beginning with a foray into the entertainment industry. “I started looking at artists, rapper, R&B singers and doing a lot of club promotions,” he says. He next opened a barbershop, Kut Facto-ry, and a beauty shop, Red Room Hair Studio, both in Ellis Plaza, before becoming interested in the culinary-arts industry. His first restau-rant was Norma Ruth’s, also in Ellis Plaza. Last year, he opened Johnny T’s Bistro & Bar. The

restaurant is named for both its owner and a mysterious blues musician. “My grandfather called me Johnny T,” Tierre says. “But from a marketing standpoint, we developed a character called Johnny T, who was the legendary blues player from the cross-roads of the south.” Tierre says Johnny T would show up to play in the Chitlin’ Circuit in a brand new Ca-dillac. While performing, he would raise the energy of the area like never before but, by the next morning, he would be gone. In his place, there would be left a guitar signed “Johnny T.” Though he developed a story for the res-taurant, Tierre did his best to hold on to the history of the building it’s in. “It was The Crystal Palace back in the for-ties, and such legends as Sammy Davis Jr., Red Fox, Cab Calloway and Lena Horne all played in this very building,” he says. “Given the op-portunity to package that history and shape it and present it to the world, I was excited.” Blues music is still at the heart of the op-eration, but Tierre points to a modern twist in the cuisine and the design of the building. Since his initial move to Jackson more than two decades ago, Tierre has become a serious devotee to the city. “When I travel the world,” he says, “I represent Jackson. ... I live down-town. I work downtown. I’m not only invest-ing my time and money; I’m serious about the whole movement of bringing Jackson to the forefront.” —Adria Walker

JANUARY 20 - 26, 2016 | VOL. 14 NO. 20

4 ............................. EDITOR’S NOTE

6 ............................................ TALKS

10 ................................ EDITORIAL

11 .................................... OPINION

13 ............................ COVER STORY

20 .......................... FOOD & DRINK

22 ....................................... 8 DAYS

23 ...................................... EVENTS

24 ....................................... MUSIC

24 ....................... MUSIC LISTINGS

25 ....................................... BOOKS

26 ..................................... SPORTS

27 .................................... PUZZLES

29 ....................................... ASTRO

cover photo of Victor Masonby Imani KhayyamC O N T E N T S

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6 Thousands of people could lose SNAP benefits if Gov. Phil Bryant doesn’t act.

20 What’s the deal with up-and-coming band Stonewalls?

25 “The book is a history of autism, and it has a very dark period. That’s just the reality of how it began. What’s powerful and inspirational about the book, we think, is how the parents fought all these dark places, and they have closed down institutions and made it possible for their children with autism to go to school. It took decades to get it done, but they got it done.” —Caren Zucker, “Unlocking ‘In a Different Key’”

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“M artin Luther King Jr. would not approve of #BlackLivesMatter. Dr. King was about bringing

people together. He would say, ‘All lives mat-ter,’” the tweet declared confidently. I saw those words the morning of Mar-tin Luther King Jr. Day. It added insult to the pain I soon felt driving through Jackson seeing the symbol of the Confederacy in our state flag in front of schools and knowing that Mississippi is one of the union holdouts that still insists on celebrating Gen. Robert E. Lee alongside King’s birthday. (Lee, by the way, was a Confederate hero who told followers after the war to mothball the rebel flag, that it was no longer a symbol to celebrate.) That jarring King Day tweet was from former U.S. Rep Joe Walsh, a white conser-vative from Illinois. His words, of course, slam the growing movement by a diverse group of Americans, many of them young, who are forcing change in traditional over-policing of citizens of color. That pushback is on behalf of unarmed black men like Eric Garner in New York City and Mike Brown in Missouri, whose body police left lying in the street for hours. It is on behalf of women like Sandra Bland who was, at best, treated like a less-than-human when stopped for not signaling a lane change; at worst, pushed to an early death in a jail cell. This movement, while vexing to many white Americans, is sadly overdue: These kinds of incidents, and disrespectful treat-ment, aren’t new; our police cultures have long reflected the wider racial prejudice in our society, which in turn has justified ex-treme use of force and racial profiling. That over-policing included stops of 4.4 million New Yorkers, more than 90 percent people of color, between 2002 and 2012 with only a small percentage found in violation of the law. And, yes, some cops also mistreat whites, but not in the same num-

bers as people of color and, perhaps even more importantly, not with white America loudly applauding them for it. I just can’t picture all the white parents who give their children toy (or even real) guns wholeheartedly blaming their child for waving it around an adult as Tamir Rice did, while defending the officer as clearly having no other options but to fire. Just like subur-ban officers who engage in hot pursuits after shoplifters, endangering innocents along the

way, that officer did have options, even if he wasn’t trained or managed well enough to know it. Policing experts can explain that to anyone actually willing to question cop ac-tions rather than routinely blaming an ado-lescent “thug” for using 12-year-old logic. Many U.S. police departments started out as slave patrols—from Mississippi to New York City—established to round up fugitive slaves and help masters control their human property. (One of the reasons Missis-sippi seceded and entered the Civil War was to make other states send back its escaped slaves, and force new states to legalize slavery to grow the U.S. slave trade and its profits). It may not be fun to face now, but early police departments really were obsessed with keeping the races separate, with whites in a superior position and people of color com-pliant. The “majority” of citizens—at least

the white ones—defended the status quo that allowed the discrimination and violence against citizens of color, down to red-lining them out of home loans and college admis-sions, even if hard-working and studious. Those practices created and grew an underclass of people trapped by poverty in violent cycles, which then justifies to many the use of over-policing and investing in jail cells to, supposedly, stop the violence (even as both actually increase it). All the while, the enforcers are often riddled with the same so-cietal implicit bias that believes certain people are more violent and less worthy of respectful treatment than the ones they’ve been taught are the upstanding ones. That means cops often reach for the most violent tool in their toolbox, as former NYPD cop and Brooklyn Borough Presi-dent Eric Adams, who is black, explained to me. In turn, cops of color pick up the same habits, such as the black officers involved in the deaths of Garner and Freddie Gray in Baltimore. So, the deadly cycle continues. Dr. King, of course, believed that all lives matter. He was also a victim of white su-premacy who pushed back on false notions about black citizens and fought an ingrained system to recognize that, indeed, black lives do matter and just as much as white ones. Due to ingrained bias and belief in the violence myth about people of color, America and our police can have a hard time accept-ing that fact, though. Even NYPD Com-missioner Bill Bratton, (in)famous for that city’s crime-reduction strategies, told me in an interview that police must communicate clearly to people of color, as well as Muslims, that they reject a “foundation of bias.” On King Day, Bratton tweeted a King photo and quote: “The time is always right to do what is right.” Bratton wrote: “The NYPD is working, every day, to turn mis-trust and separate to trust and partnership. The better we communicate, and the more

we see each other for who we are—cops and citizens alike—the tighter we close the gap.” We all have the responsibility to com-municate better. It’s useless to whitewash Dr. King goals of busting up systems built and enforced to ingrain historic inequalities and beliefs, and then rebooting on a level playing field. He fought for equitable distribution of public resources into schools and daily life (which many leaders still reject), but also so people could get to know each other as hu-man beings and stop believing the divisive lies we’ve long been told about “the other.” But none of that means denying the inequalities or engaging in nonsensical false equivalencies like we see every day, from po-lice and everyday citizens alike. This is worse since the #BlackLivesMatter movement took hold and started pushing back on police de-partments to shed the old habits and order-maintenance excuses, and provide the long-overdue training that can move departments into this century on race communications. Belittling and co-opting the “matters” theme is a dreadful way to improve commu-nication and bridge gaps—especially when it’s still tough to even indict violent cops. Not to mention, acting like saying “black lives matter” means that others’ lives don’t is a terrible exercise in critical thinking. More police, from Bratton to rookies, who actu-ally want to see the “gap” closed should chal-lenge those who belittle #BlackLivesMatter whether with #alllivesmatter, #bluelivesmat-ter or #horselivesmatter—a cringe-worthy sign used in the New York horse-carriage debate—and lead by example by holding, and pushing, two thoughts at once. To protect and serve, police must say to citizens of color: “Yes, your lives matter just as much as ours, and we will prove it.” We all need to say often that #Black-LivesMatter until every person in this coun-try, especially those paid to protect and serve all of us, start to believe and live it.

CONTRIBUTORS

Stop Tone-Deaf Attacks on ‘Black Lives Matter’

News Editor R.L. Nave roots for Jackson and for St. Louis, although not the Rams, who are dead to him. Send him news tips at rlnave@jacksonfreepress.com or call him at 601-362-6121 ext. 12. He interviewed Hinds County Sheriff Victor Mason.

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

Education Reporting Fellow Sierra Mannie is a University of Mississippi graduate whose opinions of the Ancient Greeks can’t be trusted nearly as well as her opinions of Beyoncé. She interviewed Jackson Prep’s new diversity officer.

Assistant Editor Amber Helsel graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Her life is one long series of short jokes. Oh, and she really likes food and writing. She wrote about where to buy king cake locally.

Music Editor Micah Smith is married to a great lady, has two dog-children named Kirby and Zelda, and plays in the band Empty Atlas. Send gig info to music@jacksonfreepress.com. He wrote about the book, “In a Different Key.”

Advertising Director Kimberly Griffin is a fitness buff and foodie who loves chocolate and her mama. She’s also Michelle Obama’s super secret BFF, which explains the Secret Service detail.

Art Director Kristin Brenemen is an otaku with a penchant for dystopianism. She’s gearing up for next convention season with the Crystal Tokyo Crew and some old school X-Men. She designed much of the issue.

Publisher Todd Stauffer is the author of more than 40 tech-nology books on Macs, HTML, blogging and digital video. He grew up in Dallas and is a Texas A&M graduate.

by Donna Ladd, Editor-in-ChiefEDITOR’S note

“Yes, your lives matter just as much as ours,

and we will prove it.”

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6

T ravis is the eldest of five children and still lives at home with his family. He didn’t graduate from high school, but he’s trying to turn that around now.

He is in a GED program run through the Prosperity Center in midtown Jackson. Born and raised in the area, Travis didn’t know he could qualify for the supplemental nutrition assistance program, called SNAP, when he dropped out of school and started working off and on at a screen-printing store. SNAP has helped Travis, whose name has been changed, over the last six months save some money, as well as provide for his parents and siblings. As the oldest at 21, Travis feels obligated to help at home, of-fering some of his meager income from his fast-food job to help his family pay for bills as well as sharing groceries he buys with his SNAP money. “I’ve got a big family,” he said. “You’re greedy if you’re not going to share.” SNAP benefits are for people living at the poverty line or with very low incomes, and any income a person does earn cuts into the amount of money they receive. SNAP recipients go to designated centers to receive food and vouchers. The federal government pays for the benefits, but the state must ad-minister them; in Mississippi those benefits are administered through the Department of Human Services. Each county has its own DHS SNAP office; Travis can walk to the lo-cal SNAP office in his neighborhood. When the recession hit in 2008, the federal government extended SNAP time

limits, which are typically three months over a three-year period, for several states where the need was high. Mississippi was one of those states. The time-limit waiver expired at the end of December 2015, however, and now it’s up to the governor to apply for the same time-limit waiver that would enable what the country calls “ABAWDs”—“Able Bodied Adults without Dependents”—to continue to receive food vouchers for at least another year without a three-month limit. If the governor doesn’t move on the state’s application to extend the SNAP time-limit waiver, many single adults will lose their

SNAP benefits in the next 10 months. The governor’s office did not respond to emails or calls requesting comment for this story. While unemployment is down nation-ally and in Mississippi, the state’s economic indicators show slow growth, especially in the job sector. The January Mississippi’s Business report showed a .5 percent growth in unem-ployment claims from October to Novem-ber 2015. Current SNAP beneficiaries could qualify for personal exemptions, but in order to learn if they qualify, they should head to their SNAP office soon, Warren Yoder, ex-ecutive director of the Public Policy

Wednesday, January 13 Defense Secretary Ash Carter lays out broad plans to defeat Islamic State militants and retake the group’s key power centers in Iraq and Syria, and an-nounces that a special commando force has arrived in Iraq.

Thursday, January 14 A report by a World Anti-Doping Agency panel says that IAAF leaders must have been aware of the full scale of doping in Russia but did nothing to stop it, and the track and field organization itself was riddled by corruption. … Ten prisoners from Yemen who were held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba are released and sent to the Middle Eastern nation of Oman for resettlement, putting the prison’s population below 100.

Friday, January 15 A federal appeals court rules that tobacco companies had no basis to chal-lenge a Food and Drug Administration report on menthol cigarettes, which the industry alleged was written by experts with conflicts of interest.

Saturday, January 16 The U.N. nuclear agency certifies that Iran has met all of its commitments under last summer’s landmark nuclear deal, lifting Western economic sanctions and unlocking access to $100 billion in frozen assets.

Sunday, January 17 A U.N.-appointed panel says that an estimated $40 billion is needed annu-ally to help the rapidly growing number of people needing humanitarian aid as a result of conflicts and natural disasters.

Monday, January 18 Beth Poff, executive director of the Jackson Zoo, requests the City of Jackson to help beef up security around the park after six animals were killed in late De-cember. … A committee recommends that Democrat Bob Dearing be con-firmed as winner of a contested election for a Mississippi Senate seat.

Tuesday, January 19 The Supreme Court refuses to hear an appeal from Arizona Sheriff Joe Ar-paio seeking to halt President Obama’s plan to spare millions of people from de-portation.

Get breaking news at jfpdaily.com.

by Arielle Dreher

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Ellen Collins is the director of Midtown Partner’s Prosperity Center, which offers services like GED training and life-skills courses to local residents.

by JFP Staff

Here at the Jackson Free Press, we like to keep a close eye on our analytics. They let us know how readers respond to us and shows us how to better engage with them. Here are some keywords peo-ple have searched on jfp.ms in the last week.

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Center of Mississippi said. The most recent MDHS report shows that the average benefit value for a person on SNAP benefits is $119. Unemployed, single adults will be most affected by the expiration of no time-limits on SNAP benefits, Yoder said, because unless they qualify for a person-al exemption, their benefits will be limited to a three-month time limit every three years.

Busting Stereotypes Travis and another man named A.J., whose name has also been changed, both challenge the stereotype that SNAP benefits are no more than “free handouts” for people too lazy to find a job. Both men should fin-ish their GED program by summertime, and for A.J. that time can’t come quick enough. A.J. cannot find work without a high-school diploma, and he said a GED should help him get out of the unemployment rut. A.J., 35, lives in Jackson with his sister and the rest of his family. While A.J.’s fam-ily is not legally dependent on him, he still shares his SNAP food with them. “If I got it, they got it,” he said. Travis said he is one of the fortunate ones—at least he’s getting an education, he says, and he has a job. He said many more out there that don’t have either of those things. “Because we (he and A.J.) go to school, we have better resources,” Travis said. “But there’s people out there that don’t have

a chance at receiving SNAP.” Travis and A.J. agreed that the SNAP program is critical not just for their own lives but for those they know in their GED program and in their neighborhoods. When they heard the time-limit waiver is available for Mississippi, they asked why our state would not apply for that. “If it’s benefitting our country, and if it helps the people, why would you not keep it (the program) going?” Travis said. “For the children, families and poor people.”

Scramble for Solutions Yoder guesses that about half the un-employed adults who receive SNAP in Mississippi will meet the exemption stan-dards to continue to qualify for food ben-efits without a time limit. He fears that the other half, however, will have to turn to local food shelters and nonprofit organizations for food once their benefits run out. \ The DHS report shows that 628,406 Mississippians received SNAP benefits in October 2015. The number of able-bodied

adults who receive SNAP benefits is not dis-tinguished from that number. Yoder said Mississippi’s SNAP pro-gram has one of the lowest fraud rates in the country—meaning recipients don’t sell their benefits and truthfully record their income to qualify. He worries what the consequences of not applying for the time-limit waiver will do for the state as a whole. “Without SNAP, this state would col-lapse,” Yoder said. “It props up our grocery stores, our food distributors and the whole food sector.” For single adults, Yoder said under-em-ployment translates to “slap shifts” when a person might have a part-time job but never works for eight hours a day or 40 hours per week. He said the myth that these adults are “lazy people that won’t get jobs” is not true because these adults cannot find jobs that sustain them with a livable income, and they barely have enough income (if any at all) to make ends meet in the first place. “Most people are getting modest amounts of assistance, but because they have such low incomes or are by definition very low-income, that’s the difference between making it and not making it,” Yoder said. Without SNAP, Travis or A.J. will have to use what little disposable income they have to feed themselves (for A.J. this is none right now). Yoder anticipates several organi-zations and people across the state will work

hard to combat the ill effects of those whose SNAP waivers expire soon. “This is going to be a hurricane of need and hunger,” Yoder said. “We’re asking the government to consider (the waiver).” As the director at the Prosperity Cen-ter, Ellen Collins sees people with SNAP benefits on a regular basis. The center has a partnership with the Department of Human Services, which distributes benefits on the government’s behalf. As the time-limit waiv-er expires, Collins said the services that the center offers, like GED certification courses, job-skill training and financial counseling, could become more important. SNAP recipients are not subject to the three-month cut-off if they work 80 hours per month, participate in an education or training program for 80 hours per month or are complying with a workfare program. Travis and A.J. both hope to qualify for this exemption because they are both en-rolled in the GED program. They are both planning on taking their GED test in the summer, if not sooner. Collins said the Pros-perity Center has services that can help those looking for work. “We can help you begin a job search and brush up on your employ-ability skills,” Collins said. The Prosperity Center serves the fol-lowing ZIP codes: 39202-04, 39216 and 39225 (Midtown and parts of Jackson). Comment at jfp.ms.

M alcolm White is backing down from threats he made about moving Hal & Mal’s out of Jackson, thanks to recent action

the Jackson City Council took to squelch a controversy over which downtown bars would receive so-called resort status. “We’re pleased to be included now, but nothing has changed about how I feel about the process,” White told the Jackson Free Press. That process started in the fall, when Mayor Tony Yarber’s administration asked the council to approve a resort-area plan for the new downtown Cathead Distillery. Under state law, bars have to stop selling drinks at 2 a.m., but exceptions are made for businesses in what are known as quali-fied resort areas. Giving Cathead resort status initially drew criticism from some city council mem-bers as well as downtown business owners

who felt left out in the cold. Among them was White, who has owned Hal & Mal’s for three decades and said all downtown bars

and venues should compete on a level play-ing field. The city council approved the plan for Cathead, but started work on a second pro-posal to allow existing businesses to benefit, too. After about a month of negotiations,

the council unanimously agreed Jan. 12 to submit applications to the Mississippi De-partment of Revenue for several businesses

to become qualified resort areas. All together, 10 more downtown wa-tering holes could receive resort designation from the state to stay open—and keep pour-ing booze—until the wee hours of the morn-ing. Those businesses span a relatively wide

area and include neighboring Hal & Mal’s, Martin’s Restaurant & Lounge, Jaco’s Tacos and One Block East. Also included in the plan are Johnny T’s Bistro & Bar on Farish Street, Ole Tavern on George Street, South Street Live, Club City Lights on Mill Street and The Mansion on Greymont Avenue. “This was a business idea to us. If there was going to be a conversation about resort status in downtown Jackson, Hal & Mal’s has to be part of it,” White said. In the meantime, White said Hal & Mal’s is considering whether to purchase the old railroad depot the restaurant has leased since the early 1980s. Last session, the Mis-sissippi Legislature passed a bill to give Hal & Mal’s an option to buy the restaurant. White said the repairs, including replacing the roof above the concert space, and fixing water damage on the north end of the restaurant could double the purchase price. Comment at www.jfp.ms.

New Resort Plan Satisfies Hal & Mal’sby R.L. Nave

Hal & Mal’s is staying put in downtown Jackson now that the city council has said 10 businesses could receive resort status, which will allow them to stay open later.

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“You’re greedy if you’re not going

to share.”

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DISH | education

W ith a warm smile, Adam Mangana describes his first week as the chief diversity officer at Jackson Prepara-

tory School as awesome. “One of the things I’ve been really im-pressed by is that no one here at Jackson Prep is running from the reality of its founding. But they’re excited about what Jackson Prep can do to further live out its mission of cre-ating the future leaders of the state of Mis-sissippi, and making sure they’re doing it in such a way that gives their graduates a depth and breadth of skills and perspectives that re-flect the demographics of the state,” he said. Jackson Prep was founded in 1970, when white families responded to a federal appeals court order to desegregate Mississip-pi public schools by starting private whites-only academies, often called “seg academies.” Thirty-three-year-old Mangana, a 2004 Brown University graduate from Newport News, Va., began his career as an exceptional-education teacher in inner-city Miami, Fla., for Teach For America. In 2012 he came to Mississippi to serve as director of student life and head football coach at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. In fall 2015, he became the founding principal at Midtown Charter School in Jackson. He recently talked about his plans for diversity at Jackson Prep.

What’s the biggest difference between working at a charter school and working at Jackson Prep? I was a product of public school, initial-ly, but when I began to see the difference—and it started, really, in college in terms of the approaches to the two philosophies, private school versus the public (school)—I was fascinated by the difference. One model is the model that maximizes utility; the public model is about testing, high-stakes testing. The private model is about realizing potential. The public model oftentimes will look at inputs, and the private model often-times looks at outputs. The charter opportu-nity, I felt, was an opportunity to marry those two concepts, because I think ultimately you want to be able to provide the kind of ac-cess and amazing education that you get at a place like Jackson Prep to as many Mississip-pians as possible. My hope is that charter (schools) will eventually be able to get to do that. It’s still in its infancy here in the state; there are still policies that will have to continue to evolve to be able to fully realize that dream. But it’s a very positive step, I believe, for the state. I believe the way it’s being delivered and the

cautiousness with which it’s being delivered is very appropriate. But, I’m excited to be in a job that says, “We want to be able to provide this excellent education to more people,” and more people that have not had access to this traditionally. I feel like I can create value in that regard. And having some experience in charter (schools), I understand more inti-mately the challenges facing families in Mis-sissippi trying to get their children access to a world-class education.

What was the community response to your new position? Very positive. Organizations I’ve been part of were very encouraging. They under-stood that Jackson Prep is a great institution and will only be made greater by this invest-ment, and then within this community I’ve been incredibly welcomed. It’s not that I’m surprised by that, but it’s refreshing to confirm what I believed, which is that Mississippi is ready to get past a lot of very polarized racial history, and they want to be a place that gets its stars from its scars. They’ve paid quite a bit for a lot of the mis-takes of the past, but there’s a lot of amazing things happening here, and I think Jackson Prep is a microcosm of that

What are your short-term goals? I see it threefold: Most immediately there is diversity within the (Jackson Prep) community that needs to be fully supported and fully embraced, and there are some skills and perspectives I believe that I bring to the table that can support students, families, fac-ulty that are here and still wanting to fully realize their voice here. The second piece of that immediate

action plan is around empowering students who are traditional Jackson Prep students to get involved in their community in Jackson, to be able to equip them with skills and per-spectives that will help foster relationships that are lasting and genuine in the commu-nity that they live in. I think one of the un-fortunate legacies of a segregationist mindset is that it has truly been separate, that you can live in certain ZIP codes here in Missis-sippi and not interact at all, and I think this

opportunity allows for a way to have some genuine interaction that I think will benefit all folks. Thirdly, I think there will be an imme-diate impact in an increase in visual diversity in Jackson Prep, which will be a byproduct of the investment in this work. I think Jackson Prep because of its incredible education will be more appealing. This has been one barrier to families like my family being interested in Jackson Prep.

A mention of visual diversity immediately recalls racial diversity. What is your approach to handling other types of diversity of identity? I think there is a lot of opportunity in terms of creating those supports. There is an organic sense of community that people feel, and I think there are milestones in the Jackson Prep experience that have brought the community closer. Last year there was a student who passed away at the beginning of the school year and that brought the entire community together, so there is this reflec-tion around Jackson Prep and how it sup-ports its students regardless of background. One of the major challenges for a school

of this ilk and experience is around socioeco-nomics. By all measures of diversity, the insti-tution is in different places—on race, gender, physical ability, socioeconomically, on sexual orientation—it’s in a different place on all these different measures. Institutions have their own identity, and the fact that there’s an investment in making these things better and growing the institutions’ skill set—that’s something to be celebrated. Most folks’ reaction around here is “we can’t wait, it’s about time,” that kind of ener-gy. There’s been eagerness from the commu-nity to make sure all students are supported, regardless of their background.

Does this position exist in other private schools in the area? It is the first for Mississippi Associa-tion of Independent Schools. I served in this capacity at St. Andrew’s. St. Andrew’s was founded in 1947, Jackson Prep was founded in 1970, so they’re in different places in terms of their own institutional identity. It’s exciting for Jackson Prep to be in-vesting in this because it’s a larger school, and I think that the more young people coming out of private schools in Mississippi can be truly committed to this work, the better off our state will be.

What challenges do you predict in the future? I think the challenges will be similar to what you find in our state whenever you’re trying to influence positive change. There is some small minority that is re-ally committed to the maintenance of the status quo. That’s just the nature of hu-manity. But to be super honest with you, one of the reasons why I took this role is because this school is so ready. My evaluation was that being able to be part of the work and the history of Jackson Prep in this time in its history would be a game changer for this school. And I think that many more families in the Jackson area will see the appeal of this school now, and that’s exciting. Jackson Prep is a place that’s committed to excellence, and so if you are mission ap-propriate—meaning you are committed to excellence—regardless of your background, this is a place for you. And I think this role is a clear signal that Jackson Prep wants to appeal to any students in the greater Jackson area that want this kind of education. Comment at www.jfp.ms. Send educa-tion news tips to education-reporting fellow Sierra Mannie at sierra@jacksonfreepress.com.

Adam Mangana: Jackson Prep Wants ‘Stars’ from Diversity ‘Scars’ by Sierra Mannie

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T he Mississippi Capitol became a temporary courthouse last week in a Republican battle for super-majority control of the House of Representa-

tives. Staffers arranged long tables in a rect-angle in Room 113 for the House special committee hearing in the District 79 elec-tion dispute. Then, instead of one judge at the front of the room, five representatives sat at a long table. Rep. Mark Baker, R-Brandon, the chairman of the committee and an attor-ney, sat in the middle. Rep. Linda Coleman, D-Mound Bayou, is the only Democrat on the otherwise Republican committee. At 10 a.m. on Jan. 14, witnesses from the Smith County Election Commission came up to testify before the committee in what turned out to be an over-five-hour hearing dissecting exactly what happened between Nov. 3 and Nov. 10 to about 30 af-fidavit ballots in the Smith County election.Witnesses sat at a table directly in front of the committee. Smith County Circuit Clerk Anthony Grayson was the first to take the “stand” and presented a plethora of subpoenaed docu-ments to the committee. Grayson has been county clerk for 15 years. A blue, boxy car-rier that looked like a cooler with the words “SMITH COUNTY” on the side took up most of the table Grayson sat at for over three hours, as he explained how affidavit ballots are counted and verified using the state’s electronic voting system, poll books and even paper records to find voters. The hearing played out like a make-be-lieve trial. Witnesses swore to tell the truth, but there was no Bible in sight. Grayson ap-proached the committee’s table several times to deliver documents and take back unim-portant ones. The first row of viewer seats was reserved for legislators, mainly occupied by Republicans with some Democrats on the end. The lengthy hearing eventually emptied the room out, and Room 113 was almost barren by 5 p.m. when the committee finally adjourned for the night.

Super-majority at Stake The committee is tasked with resolving the disputed election contest now famous for its November straw-drawing tiebreaker to choose a winner. Rep. Bo Eaton, D-Taylorsville, who has represented District 79 since 1996, won the tiebreaker by drawing straws in November as state law instructs. But his challenger, Mark Tullos, disputed that the election was a tie in the first place due to what he calls a secret meeting of the election commission when its members counted nine affidavit ballots that led to a tie in the first place. Tullos also says five of those ballots should not be counted

due to a violation of a rule in state law that allows voters who move within 30 days prior to the election to vote by affidavit ballot. The extensive questioning and tension in the frigid committee room on the first

floor of the Capitol building were likely due to what is at stake. If Mark Tullos is declared the winner—the committee could also dismiss his petition or call for a re-vote—the House Republicans will have a super-majority. Currently, the House of Representatives is one Republican away from having a three-fifths majority, the amount of votes required to pass tax bills. With a super-majority, House Republicans will not need permission from House Dem-ocrats to pass tax bills. Of course, the election committee is supposed to judge the dispute based on its congruence or incongruence with election law, but as the hearings on Thursday proved, retrospect is tricky in election season. Election officials from Smith County testified that about 30 affidavit ballots were collected and investigated in the days im-mediately following the Nov. 3 election. The election commission met Nov. 9 to count af-fidavit ballots, and by Nov. 10, they declared the race a tie after finding nine of those af-fidavit ballots to be legitimate. Coleman reminded the committee that they have the benefit of hindsight and documentation in this case and that evaluat-ing the work that the election commissioners did in the time they had is important. “These people did the best possible job they could do,” Coleman said. “They were really not required to do all of this cross-ref-erencing, and prior to this hearing may have not thought about that as an extra measure they were taking for counting these ballots.”

Baker agreed, save one affidavit ballot the committee found that seemed to match the criteria of another ballot that was count-ed. The ballot in question was not counted because the election-committee members

were unable to locate the changed last name of the woman who submitted the ballot in poll books or the state’s electronic manage-ment system. “This (ballot) causes me some prob-lems,” Baker said at Thursday’s hearings. By the end of Thursday’s hearing, the committee seemed to have turned to the question of counting and opening a 10th ballot. Both Eaton and Tullos’ lawyers said the vote should not be opened, counted or considered. Eaton said he believes the com-mittee will look at all the facts, as they are presented accurately, and make the deci-sion accordingly. “I have all the confidence in the world in the House of Representatives to do what’s right,” he told the Jackson Free Press on Jan. 14.

How Disputed Elections Can Go Edward Foley, an Ohio State Univer-sity professor and author of the recent book “Ballot Battles: The History of Disputed Elections in the United States,” said election disputes can get a little crazy—particularly at a state level. Foley said when the Legislature is resolving an election contest, the first ques-tion you have to ask is, “Are they resolving the dispute on merit or letting partisan poli-tics take over?” In Foley’s research for his book, he found many examples of states handling election disputes with partisanship. That is, if a Democrat was challenging a Republican who won the election, but the Legislature

was predominantly Democratic, that Demo-crat would likely win the dispute. While Fo-ley has not followed the Mississippi election disputes closely, he said which candidate is asking for help and who controls the Legisla-ture are both important to think about when discussing contested elections. On the other side, however, Foley points to cases—he found one in Michigan and one in Washington state—where local election officials did make mistakes and bal-lots weren’t counted that should have been, or the opposite. State law can clash with voter rights, he said. Some states solve disputed election contests with their judiciary branches. Minnesota, for example, appoints a tri-partisan panel of judges with one Demo-crat, one Republican and one independent (a viable party in Minnesota) to preside over disputes. The goal of the panel was to make disputes as “fair as humanly pos-sible,” Foley said. While Minnesota’s way to resolve elec-tion disputes seems revolutionary, it is not the norm. Foley said state Legislatures are the “most resistant to move things to the court” to resolve disputes. “The Legislature says, ‘hey, we want to control the process when it’s one of our seats,’” Foley said. “There has been some movement to rely on courts in the state Legislature con-text … but the (state) legislative races are kind of the last on the bandwagon.” The House special election commit-tee will meet again this week to consider recommendations for the house. They had not met again publicly by press time. If one of those recommendations is to open the 10th ballot, one woman’s vote could determine the entire outcome of District 79’s representation for the next four years. Her name is Dawn Gorey, and according to AP reports, she does not remember how she voted in the District 79 race. In Gorey’s case, the entire public may soon know how she voted if the committee decides to count and open her ballot. Foley said, in some historic instances, courts have granted voters the right to decide whether or not his or her vote is counted or made public. But it’s too late for Gorey, whose vote cannot be recalled. On the other side of the Capitol, the Senate confirmed the special election committee’s recommendation to seat Bob Dearing, D-Natchez, on Monday, Jan. 18. Dearing beat former District 37 seatholder Melanie Sojourner by 64 votes, but she chal-lenged the election, claiming misconduct.. Email reporter at Arielle Dreher at ari-elle@jacksonfreepress.com. Additional reporting by the Associated Press.

Election Disputes: No Bibles, and Lots of Swearingby Arielle Dreher

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What Rep. Bo Eaton, D-Taylorsville (left), thought was a win in November by drawing a green straw has turned into a laborious court-like hearing after Republican challenger Mark Tullos (right) challenged the election results.

LEGISLATURE: Week 2

Invest in Meaningful Workforce Training

M ississippi House Seaker Phillip Gunn, an attorney at one of the Jackson’s larg-est law fi rms, quipped this week that he recently had to call a plumber to

his Clinton home. When Gunn received his bill, he noticed that the plumber’s hourly rate was the same rate Gunn charges to give legal advice. At this year’s annual meeting of the Mississippi Energy Institute, one of the prevailing themes that emerged from the state offi cials who took the dais was the need for an educated, skilled workforce. Specifi cally, remarks from Gunn as well as his coun-terpart in the Senate, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, signaled that this legislative budget year could result in more money for workforce training at high schools and community colleges. In Mississippi, where the word “investment” too often translates to tax giveaways for mega-cor-porations, which come at the expense of adequately funded schools, we welcome any effort to set aside funds to improve education. We’re also more than a little wary of how the political discourse about educational investment seems to always stop with skilled trades (and school choice, but that’s a con-versation for another day). It’s true that young peo-ple who want to be plumbers, carpenters, welders, and mechanics deserve to have all the resources and tools they deserve to make those dreams a reality. So should kids who want to be teachers, attorneys, astrophysicists and tech entrepreneurs. Contrary to what too many of us have been taught, the economy does not consist of a two-tiered system of lower-tiered blue-collar and higher-

tiered white-collar workers; the economy is made up of people, all of whom produce and consume valuable goods and services. Former Gov. Haley Barbour made a valid point, speaking at the same event as Gunn, about the need to destigmatize blue-collar work. However, doing so will take a cultural shift in how we talk to young people about their futures. In an ideal world, workforce development would start in the early grades instead of presenting trades occupations as suitable Plan Bs to 18-year-olds unsure about what to do with their lives. In truth, pouring resources into community-college workforce-development programs is un-likely to be effective without equally enthusiastic support and investment in K-12 education. We’re painfully aware that the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, which dictates public-school funding, will not receive full funding and that the formula itself could be subjected to politically moti-vated tinkering this year. However, workforce development, which already has the backing of the Republican leader-ship, seems to be an area to build consensus. That said, any legislative proposals should be thought-ful and involve all stakeholders in the educational community, including public schools, business owners and leaders, community colleges and four-year institutions. If workforce training is one of the small per-centage of issues our legislators seem to agree on, let’s take the time and do it right. Let’s build some-thing strong and long-lasting.

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

Financially Challenged Lives Matter

M r. Announcer: “In the ghetto criminal-justice system, the people are represented by members of the newly established Ghetto Science Community Peace Keeping Unit: police of-fi cer and part-time security guard at the Funky Ghetto Mall

Dudley ‘Do-Right’ McBride; attorney Cootie McBride of the law fi rm McBride, Myself and I; and guest rookie peace offi cer Rev. Cletus, the car-sales pastor. This is their story.” Dudley Do-Right McBride: “Cousin Cootie, I know we are as-signed to keep the peace at the Financially Challenged Lives Matter protest rally at the Funky Ghetto Mall’s Pothole Parking Lot, but why is Rev. Cletus’ Double Dutch Church Bus following our Law-N-Order SUV?” Cootie McBride: “It’s not what you think, Dudley. I asked Rev. Cletus and the Peace, Prayer and Protection Ministry group to help us quell protesters’ anxiety, fear and rage.” Dudley Do-Right McBride: “In my humble opinion, people on the poor side of town have a good reason to be concerned. Too many folk are dying unnecessarily these days, like the young man in Cleveland, Ohio.” Cootie McBride: “I agree, Dudley. Nevertheless, I hope that Rev. Cletus’ ministry will help us encourage protesters to think critically, become proactive and organize effectively.” Dudley Do-Right McBride: “I hear you, cousin, but folk are still mad as 4377. I hope people won’t get the wrong idea about that bus. And, I hope that bus can maneuver around the pothole parking lot.” Cootie McBride: “Dudley, don’t worry about the bus and pot-holes. Concentrate on being a peacekeeper.” “Doink, doink!”

Nature

Why it stinks: Alex Epstein loves fossil fuels—and has the T-shirts and buttons to prove it—because, he argues, coal and crude oil make the Earth a better place. Hospital incubators, powered by coal-fi red or nuclear electric plants, to use one of his examples, help keep premature babies alive. However, Epstein’s analysis ignores the moral dimensions of kids growing up in communities (to say nothing of the underfunded schools they might attend) polluted by the production of fossil fuels. Most of all, it ignores the immorality of clinging to fi nite resources in-stead of investing in cleaner, alternative—and safer—forms of energy.10

was the need for an educated, skilled workforce.

A t first, I was sure I felt a general sense of skepticism in the crowd at Operation Shoestring’s “Con-versations About Community” at

the Jackson Convention Complex in No-vember. The panel discussion, led by WLBT TV personality Maggie Wade, featured local young people instead of well-known busi-ness or education leaders, as they often have done in the past at the annual event. But once the panelists began speak-ing, everyone seemed to realize, all at once, that we have to listen to our children. As a member of the much-criticized millen-nial generation, I’m proud to see younger people like me—teens and 20-somethings—speaking so adamantly about the issues that directly af-fect them in front of a room full of people who had long graduated, and many of whom probably had children of their own. The conversation included questions about education, such as whether unlimited mon-ey could solve education problems in Missis-sippi, how each panelist’s education differed from one another, and the main question, “If everybody cares, why are we 50th?” Traeshaun Hiley, a junior at Jackson State University, raised a point early on in the conversation that for Mississippi, some-times there isn’t a culture of success within the community. As a whole, we’ve fallen into the cycle of being OK with doing the mini-mum to get by and accepting the minimum as someone’s best. That is, we don’t hold our-selves to high enough standards or believe we can be the best. I’ve been guilty of falling into the routine: procrastinate, make an average grade, claim I’ll do better, then repeat the pattern. The difference is, I was lucky enough, as a junior and senior at Pearl High School, to have teachers who de-manded that I do better. Panelist Treshika Melvin is a graduate of Harvard University Graduate School of Education and Millsaps College, who as a Jim Hill High School student helped run the Youth Media Project at the Jackson Free Press. She told the crowd that the dis-connect is that many people don’t realize that schools produce the community. When I heard this, I was momentarily taken aback by the fact that I never, ever once thought of my education this way. Melvin’s statement reminded me of the group of friends I had when I attended a smaller school before transferring when I was 14. (I use the word “friends” loosely

here because it was more an arrangement out of convenience rather than mutual like.) Once I began taking accelerated and honors courses, the like-minded people who were my friends challenged and sup-ported me. I was never in the same classes past sixth grade. As an eighth grader, I was taking classes such as Ancient Mythology or even Algebra I in a class of sophomores. It wasn’t that I was smarter than any of my friends; my mother’s unrelenting desire

for me to be more edu-cated than she was (at the time) pushed me to be an AP student. Most of my peers didn’t have the support system that I did, nor did they have ad-equate tools and teachers to succeed. I was nearly a junior in college before I recognized the privilege that I had been afforded. Today, the like-minded people who are my friends challenge

and support me. And thanks to their edu-cation and experiences, they give back to their neighborhoods by volunteering or by working in some industry that sup-ports their families, and looking for ways to change their community. My education shaped my personal community, which makes me wonder about all of those who are left behind by a system that regularly fails them (see the failure of Initiative 42). The quality of my education wasn’t the same as those I grew up with, and my experiences differ from those I interact with every day. Until I got to thinking about it after the Operation Shoestring event, maybe I hadn’t recognized the power in privilege, whether checked or unchecked, nor had I ever realized the power in the voices of my generation. I thought that I was do-ing everything I could by checking “yes” for fully funded education, signing peti-tions and sharing Facebook posts. But caring, as Treshika Melvin said from the stage at the convention center, is an ac-tion verb that requires more than mo-mentary acknowledgments just to be passed off for another cause. Action requires effort, and effort takes time, people, and funds, and though we say we care about education and our chil-dren, our test scores and graduation rates don’t show it. If everybody cares, why are we 50th? Editorial Assistant Maya Miller is a Jackson State University graduate. She enjoys long walks through Target, running the ever-so popular Netflix marathon and social media.

Conversations about (Young) Community

MAYA MILLER

Editor-in-Chief Donna LaddPublisher Todd Stauffer

EDITORIAL

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On his first day at work as the sheriff of Hinds Coun-ty, Victor Mason found the door to his new office locked, and no one could find the keys. “As funny as it sounds,

I told somebody to go upstairs and get a house burglar,” Mason joked, referring to the downtown jail, which the Hinds County Sheriff ’s Office runs. In the end, he thought better about using a prisoner and called a locksmith. The point Mason—who did have prisoners repaint the office, which had water damage—was making about the jail is this: “There are some tal-ented people in this building.” Mason, 59, took over from Sheriff Ty-rone Lewis on Dec. 30, becoming the sec-ond African American to serve as the top law-enforcement officer in the state’s largest county by population. But Mason’s work had already begun. With Hinds County finalizing a settlement agreement with the U.S. Justice Depart-ment that will require the county to improve conditions at both the downtown jail and the Raymond Detention Center, Mason re-ceived special permission to sit in on the talk before taking the oath office. Arguably, problems with the jail over the years, which include a number of pris-oner escapes, riots and prisoner-on-prisoner violence, cost Sheriff Lewis the election. Mason knows he will also be judged on how he manages the jail, which he says involves more than keeping cell doors locked. Mason started his law-enforcement career with the Jackson Police Department, and worked for the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, JPD’s vice and narcotics, intelli-gence and youth divisions. Before running for sheriff, he worked as an investigator for the Mississippi attorney general’s office. Sitting at a desk stacked with general orders to his on-deputy deputies on issues ranging from sexual harassment to the Mis-sissippi flag controversy—“Keep your mouth closed,” he said—Sheriff Mason discussed his policies on police chases and his plans for boosting morale, lowering staffing shortages,

educating incarcerated kids and putting the talents of prisoners to work.

How did you prepare after becoming the presumptive sheriff? I started organizing on my own. I was having meetings with potential staff. We knew what we needed to do on the first day.

Your transition had to take place off site. We did our own transition, and we hit the ground running hard. ... My first day was

meeting the staff, not only in Raymond but also here in Jackson at the detention center, because you know that the jail in Raymond is my pet peeve. The person I have in place now is my jail administrator, Mary Rushing. She and I had meetings with the entire staff. I told them what I was expecting, and I told them to tell me what they were expecting. The thing was more training and the right to protect them-selves. One of the biggest things was to try to get more people in that facility. We’re still running at a high shortage right now. As it stands, we’re trying to get

more males because there are a lot of females down there. We’re very short-staffed.

The county got special permission from the U.S. Department of Justice to let you participate in the negotiations for the coming consent decree. What do you now know about what it takes to run the jail that you didn’t know before? You have to have somebody (in charge) that’s certified and competent in running the jail. You can’t just go out here and pick some-

body you know to sit behind a desk and ex-ecute plans to run a big jail like that. What (DOJ was) looking for and what I was look-ing for is somebody who’s been certified in all facets of jail procedure and monitoring.

She’s a civilian employee? Well, they’re not titled civilians; they’re titled officers. But she is not a sworn certified officer like I am.

She’s in place now? Yes, she started day one. She was a for-mer employee here so she knew exactly what

to do. We’ve been classifying because we hadn’t been classifying the inmates. We’re getting the pre-trial detainees moved, and I have meetings set up now with (Missis-sippi) Corrections Commissioner Marshall Fisher to see if we can possibly get our state inmates back.

What do you mean by classifying? You have a jail with gang members. We’ve got to separate them to keep down violence. Then you have those that are in jail for this crime or that crime. Then you have juveniles. We’re trying to get them out of there, too. They have no business (being) mixed with the big boys.

What’s the youngest age group in the jail now? I went in the cell with him, and I talked to him. I think the youngest I saw was 15 or 16, for a felony crime.

What needs to happen next? They have to be classified. That’s what we’re doing now—looking over their charges, looking over their ages. They have to be separated, and a lot of them need to be at the youth detention center, depend-ing on the crimes.

That’s a problem of the physical space at the jail? Well, yeah. One of the (housing) pods is still not operable. Pod A is still not oper-able, but they’re working on it now. It should be complete within a week. As I’ve said, I’ve been going down there every other day and making sure the work is coming along be-cause we need the space. We’ve got to have the space because when you think about it, everybody uses our jail—the surrounding municipalities use our jail. Jackson, Clinton, Bolton and everybody else. Then there are outside agencies. We have a fantastic war-rants division, and they go get people back. So we need the space.

WELCOME TO MAYBERRYThe JFP Interview with

Hinds County SheriffVictor Mason

by R.L. Nave

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After two weeks on the job, Sheriff Victor Mason is still rounding out his

When it comes to running the jail, the district attorney’s office, private attorneys, judges, the board of supervisors are involved and the sheriff’s office is the traffic cop. How do you see yourself making sure all those parts work smoothly? My role is to, first of all, keep costs down. Medical costs—that’s your biggest cost. You also have to look at the safety of the inmates. You have ones who have been in there without any type of preliminary hear-ing. You’ve got to move them out of there. That’s when the dialogue comes with the district attorney’s office: How long has this guy been in here? Let’s do something. Before long, judges are going to start releasing them. I’ve had meetings with the district attorney,

and they have been good meetings. I’ve of-fered special investigators to move these cases expeditiously. We don’t want anybody sit-ting in jail over 90 days that’s not even been looked at. I’ve offered to him: Anything you need, I’ll give it to you.

If there’s a guy in jail who’s been there 91 days and hasn’t been to the grand jury, what will do you, personally, as sheriff? We have a system in place where we no-tify the DA and the (assistant district attor-neys) and other agencies. We have a liaison over there where we are now starting to talk and say: ‘Here they are, I’ve got to have the space. Let’s get him on the docket, let’s move him on.

Does the sheriff have the statutory authority to release people who have been at the jail too long? He really doesn’t, but my thing is this: I’m just letting them know.

That you’ll release people ... According to the judges, yeah. I’ve had a couple of judges tell me they’re going to review all the arrests and all these cases, and their thing is if they’re here too long, they’re going to start RORing them—releasing them on their own recognizance.

How do you keep medical costs down when staff can’t make medical decisions for prisoners? We try to keep what we can down to a minimum. If any an inmate is sick, we have to take him to a medical facility. If it’s deemed that we can’t treat him (at the jail), we have to take him. If you have an inmate who’s go-ing to be here 12 days, why buy a bottle of 30 pills? We have a system (that) we’re moni-

toring that with the insurance people. If an inmate needs to go to Whitfield, then we go ahead and do what we need to do with that.

There’s no room at Whitfield. No, not right now. The only thing we can do is keep them in isolation.

That’s not unique to this jail or any jail, but it’s something the sheriff’s department been dealing with. How do you handle the challenges of mental illness in the jail? It’s tough. As you said, Whitfield doesn’t have the space. The only thing we can do is see to it that that person is comfortable and taken care of. I ran across a guy the another night—I was taking a tour—this young man is in jail for two homicides. I’ve talked to him, and he said They’re supposed to be taking me to Whitfield.’ All we can do is keep him comfortable and keep him fed until they say bring him on. I can’t turn him loose.

We hear things about medical issues going untreated for a variety of reasons—because staff is unsure whether they’re actually sick or because they can’t been seen by medical staff. We tell (staff) don’t ignore them be-cause it may be a problem. The last thing I want is an inmate that complained about his chest hurting and somebody giving him some Rolaids, and we later find out it was a heart attack. So whatever the complaint is, go ahead and see to the complaint. You have to do it. By law, you have to do it. When an inmate is brought in here, we make it plain and clear that you interview him on the entrance interview: Do you have any medical problems, whether you

have a cold or asthma, and it’s noted on the sheet. We’re held accountable for that.

During your campaign, you said you want to perform a formal evaluation of the jail. Is that still your plan, or will the Justice Department report stand as that assessment? I’m doing it on my own. Of course, we have to go by the DOJ’s report be-cause they’ll have to report monthly on what we’re do-ing, but I’d rather do it on my own. If I see anything wrong or irregular, that’s when I report it to my jail administrator.

How’s morale? Very good because

we’re hands on. I’ve told my people that I want them walking and talking. I look at us as a different group. We’re so personal. Don’t get me wrong, when I went in there the other night, a lot of those guys knew me because I went to school with their par-ents. The only complaint they had was it’s a little cold, and they wanted mattresses. They got mattresses the next morning. So you can’t neglect them. You have to take care of them.

Why is that important? Because they’re human. Yes, they may be inmates, but they’re still people. When you have a guy saying ‘I’m cold,’ you give him the tools to get through the night.

Are deputies still filling in shifts there? No, sir. We need them on the road. Right now, we’re trying to fill that jail up with men. In fact, we’re hiring five today.

It was either Judge Green’s order or the DOJ that said to use deputies to fill in shortages. I have a problem putting road deputies down there. Don’t me wrong, we will be flex-ible, but when I need them on the road to protect the citizens of Hinds County, I need them on the road.

Considering the staffing difficulties over the years, how is marketing the job of detention officer? How did you get five guys to apply? We had more than that. It’s just that I want them on board now. We had a lot of people apply. I don’t know how they did it. We had people who were dispatchers who applied. I wanted to see the hole that was in the wall. They’ve done some fantastic work there. They have system where if even if they got out, they have Plexiglas on the front win-dow where even if they busted the glass, they have bars outside the actual cages where they still couldn’t get out.

Is that a temporary solution? That’s permanent. I try to make my rounds myself. I went inside the cell and talk-ed to about seven guys. They got to know me, and I got to know them. The thing was, OK, we’re not going to tear up this jail. ... One guy admitted that we would get angry, and I put a cup in the toilet and flushed the toilet. I asked him why, and he said they asked for this and that and never got it. So they were acting like spoiled children. We have a system now, and they know they can’t tear up my jail because if you mess it up, you mess it up for all of us.

During your campaign, you also said that you would no longer patrol in the city of Jackson. Are you sticking with that plan? That’s JPD’s domain. Chief (Lee) Vance and I had a meeting, and the agree-ment is: We will assist you. If you need us, call us. If you go through this town now, you won’t see any of us in this town, and that’s be-cause this is JPD’s domain, and I’m not here to take over. We have a unit called civil pro-cess, and they serve summonses all over the Hinds County, including the city of Jack-son. We have a narcotics unit, but you don’t know them because they’re in plain clothes. We have a warrants division, but as far as roadblocks in the city. We need them in the county. That’s another thing I did, moved patrol (division) from the Metrocenter back to Raymond where we were.

How did Chief Vance take the news that the sheriffs would no longer double up patrols? Very well. In fact, our SWAT teams are

14

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still together, so that’s not going to change. We hire people to patrol the county. We’re county police. We’re not city police.

You don’t believe that helping Jackson police, especially in hot spots, can keep crime down in the county as well? I’m not against that. As I said, when you have small towns like Raymond, they only have limited resources. We have towns like Bolton—they only have limited resources, so during periods at a time in Bolton, for ex-ample, if it wasn’t for (the sheriff’s office), you may have one or two patrolmen to cover that whole area. Our job is to assist them in patrolling that area because they’re rural.

What crime trends are you seeing in the county? Mostly house burglaries. I’ve instructed all my people to be as aggressive as you need to be when it comes to policing. Be seen. Get out the car. Go into businesses. Go to houses and let folks know you’re there. At night, shine a light. Wave at them. And they’re doing it.

Overall, is there an upward or downward trend? In Jackson, crime is down—are we seeing any correlation with county crime? It’s still early for me. This is my second week, but I’m hear-ing that people are very satisfied. We did a checkpoint in Terry last week, and a couple came through and thanked my guys for being there. I like hearing that. I get calls all the time—we see you guys, thank you. So again, I’ve given them the go-ahead to be as aggres-sive in prevention as you can be.

You mentioned training earlier. What are deputies asking for? Taser training. In fact, the gentleman that told you to come in, he’s over the court system, and he’s getting Taser training for his people. I’ve instructed my training staff to have something every month, not just for us, but civilians also. I get women ask me all the time, ‘Do you have any self-defense training?’ They’re going to crank up around April. We have a part-time academy, and we’re trying to get the firearms range back up. Part of my promise during my campaign was to have training not just for us but for the public as well.

The department doesn’t already have Tasers? We do. I don’t know why they weren’t

issued, but I went down there last week and saw (a) wall full of them. Why aren’t they be-ing used? They’re about to crank them up now. In this environment, this climate, we have to be vigilant. Although law enforce-ment now are targets all over this country, I have vowed not to let any of my people be disrespected, much less harmed. In my first meeting with all shifts, I let them know to pick your choice of what you want, pep-per spray or Taser. It’s up to you. I can’t have a female going into a cell block by herself with 35 men. That’s a big no-no. But if she’s

trained to use a Taser or pepper spray, I wont feel as skittish. Keep in mind, we’re still short staffed, and we have a lot of women who work there, and that worries me.

Do the deputies feel that they’re a target? And how do you balance aggressive policing with offering good customer service to citizens? I’ve had meetings with all shifts. They say all they want to do is their jobs. I tell them don’t be afraid to do your job because you took oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Now, we’re going to think outside the box but not outside the law. I’m not going to have people abused. I know that now is not like it was in the early ’80s. We’re dealing with people that are on spice (and) crack. We’re dealing with people that just have attitude. We have to go with the flow, but I’m not going to have my

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officers disrespected or hurt. People have to realize we’re the county boys; we’re going to get our respect back.

You describe your leadership as hands on. What are you doing day-to-day? Well, I’m not a micromanager. My day-to-day activities consist of going out and (saying) hi to the guys, patting them on the back, going upstairs and checking on the detention centers, walking around, touching everybody. Micromanaging to me is taking it personally. If you can do your job and can do it well, I ask for three things—don’t embarrass me ... this county ... and don’t embarrass yourselves.

It sounds like you’re still putting your command staff together. I am. They are all on a 90-day grace period. It’s about business. It’s not about friendship. If I feel like you’re not up to my par, I’m going to replace you.

Who’s your deputy chief? Cheryl Matory—she’s No. 2 in command.

Do you have a public-information officer? You’re looking at him.

Really? What if there’s an emergency and the media needs information … Call me. I’ll give you my numbers.

So how do you plan to communicate with the public? On my Facebook page; I do the week-ly update. Every Saturday, you can look at it. As I’ve told other media outlets, we’re not hiding anything. You know as well as I know, in some departments, things are controlled. Eventually, you’re going to find out the truth, so just be up front with it. There are occasions, if I find corruption in this place, and I feel that it is an ongoing thing, I’ll tell you it’s a personnel matter.

Will you do a version of Comstat for reporting crime stats? We have what I call staff development. I’m bringing on an analyst to compile ev-erything that we do.

Will the department continue using the text-messaging alert system? We’re reevaluating that right now because some people say it worked, some people say it didn’t. In fact, I met with the (emergency-operations center) direc-tor because you know we’re going to a new radio system.

What other changes are you proposing? Everybody who’s hired will go through our background investigation.

Is that mainly for prospective detention-center staff? It’s really for all employees, but mainly them because I don’t know what’s going on now (as) you and I speak. There could be a bottle of Hennessey being passed over the fence by officer so-and-so. Later on, when the inmate gets mad, he’s going to tell. Well, I needed to know that day. If you have a shady background, we’ll know about it.

What will be a red flag in someone’s background? A felony or several misdemeanor arrests.

You don’t look at that now? We’re just looking at it now. We all make mistakes, but why should I hire you if you have an arrest in grand larceny? Why should I hire you if you want to apply for the evidence and you know what’s back there—dope, cash, guns, TVs. It makes no sense, so we want to hire the clean, the lean and the mean.

To what extent will you be able to bring educational programs into the jail? I just got a commitment from Cade Chapel the other day, where we’re going to have teachers taking these juveniles back to school.

Taking them where? To Raymond. We have a school down there.

Who runs it? No one now. Under the (Malcolm) McMillin administration, George Smith

was the head of it. There were 15 or 16 boys in there. After he left, the new administra-tion came in and nothing else (happened).

What funding will you need? What funding do you need if people ask you, ‘Can I teach?’ There was no fund-ing. George was the only one getting paid, and he was over the whole school. He had an assistant, but she didn’t get a big salary. Like I said, we got a commitment from Cade Chapel. We’re going to get all our churches involved. You have retired instruc-tors at home right now who are scratching at the door (asking), ‘Can I come help with your program?’

Is that only for juveniles? For now, yes. But an inmate painted this office. We have some talented people in this building. The first day, I couldn’t get in my office. As funny as it sounds,

I told somebody to go upstairs and get a house burglar. We called a locksmith, but like I said, there are some talented people in this building.

I think the president talked about re-entry programs in his State of the Union speech. You’ve got so many of these folks sitting in jail for months, sometimes years at a time. One of the things I’ve been thinking about is picking out these guys who have these talents and putting them in a pro-gram. My barber has his own business, but there are just two of them. What I dis-cussed with him is, why don’t I start with four guys who are good at cutting hair? If they can pass our program, he said he would take two of them to run his shop so he can take a day off. I’ll sign off on it: Putting these guys to work. Putting money in their pocket. Put-ting pride in their kids’ hearts so they can say my daddy is a barber and not a convict.

I’m looking at a lot of stuff right now.

What would you say is your mandate? Yesterday, I went to the (gubernato-rial) inauguration. and I was sitting on the platform with everybody. Before I could get out of there, people were coming up to me saying, ‘We want to work with you, what can we do to help you?’ We’re talking about the agriculture commissioner to the corrections commissioner. I’m looking to open the door to all these people. I want help. I’m not going to turn anybody away. When I can get a solution to solving our juvenile problem with volunteer, then I’ve done my job. Having a young man work when he gets out this jail, that’s my long-term goal right now. Not everybody who’s in jail is a bad person. They just made a mistake and got caught, and if you sit and listen to some of them, they did it to feed

their families. I’m not talking about going out here and rob-bing a bank, but for the guys that went to the store and put a steak under his coat, he was hungry. People make mistakes. They’re going to continue to making them.

What’s your policy on hot pursuits? My policy is if it’s someone who committed a murder, let’s get him. Now, if we’re going into another agency, that supervi-sor has to make sure ... [phone rings]. That was MHP (Mis-sissippi Highway Patrol). They want to work with us. If it’s a piece of bubble gum, there’s al-ways tomorrow.

I have a zero tolerance when it comes to us getting the bad guy who just took a life. If he just took a tricy-cle from Walmart, come on, that’s not worth chasing.

Is that also your policy within Hinds County? Yes. We just adopted a procedure. We’re adopting a lot of policies now.

Elections are obviously referendums, but the next one is four years away. How do you want people to measure your success? How will you measure success for yourself and the department? I want them to look at me as fixing what was broken. I want them to look at me as the guy who came and had lunch. I want them to look at me as Andy from Mayberry—he just walks the street and talks to people. Comment at www.jfp.ms/mason. Email news tips to News Editor R.L. Nave at rlnave@jacksonfreepress.com.

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Victor Mason ran for Hinds County sheriff against incumbent Tyrone Lewis by criticizing staff turnover as well as a pointing to a U.S. Justice Department investigative probe released during Lewis’ tenure.

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Twelve days after Christmas, Mardi Gras season began, which means it’s now king cake season. Here’s where you can get the treat locally.

Broad Street Baking Company (4465 Interstate 55 N., Suite 101, 601-362-2900, broadstbakery.com)Campbell’s Bakery (3013 N. State St., 601-362-4628, campbellsbakery.ms) Ramey’s Marketplace (212 E. Govern-ment St., 601-825-5748) Sugar Magnolia Takery (5417 High-way 25, Flowood, 601-992-8110)McDade’s Markets (multiple locations, mcdadesmarkets.com)The Strawberry Café (107 Depot Drive, Madison, 601-856-3822. straw-berrycafemadison.com)Beagle Bagel (4500 Interstate 55 N., Suite 145, 769-251-1892; 898 Avery Blvd. N., Ridgeland, 601-956-1773; 100 Mannsdale Park Drive, Madison, 601-856-4377)

Just Plain Good Cakes, Cheesecakes and Catering (7126 Siwell Road, Byram, 601-371-1933): Just Plain Good has king cake cupcakes.Meme’s Brick Street Bakery (104 W. Leake St., Clinton, 601-278-0635): Meme’s will have king cake cupcakes. Call for more information. Add more at jfp.ms/kingcake2016.

New Lunch Menu at Johnny T’s Bistro & Bar John Tierre, owner of Johnny T’s Bistro and Bar (538 N. Farish St.), decid-ed to mix things up near the end of 2015 by introducing a new lunch menu to his restaurant. Available Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the new menu features a daily blue-plate special for $12 that includes one meat and a choice of two vegetables with cornbread. The restaurant offers New Orleans red beans and rice or turkey necks on Tuesdays; flash-fried chicken or Angus chop steak with gravy on Wednesdays; free-range baked chicken or spaghetti on Thursdays; and Mississippi farm-raised catfish or meatloaf on Fridays. The vegetable options include garlic mashed potatoes, butter corn, black eye peas, cabbage greens, collard greens or lima beans. The menu also features a mixed green salad, Cajun chicken pasta, shrimp and grits, and more. For more information, visit Johnny T’s Facebook page or call 601-954-1323. See more food coverage at jfp.ms/food.

What’s New

Johnny T’s New Lunch Menuby Dustin Cardon, dustin@jacksonfreepress.com

King Cakes in Jacksonby Amber Helsel

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Broad Street Baking Company, among other local businesses, is currently serving king cake for Mardi Gras season.

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WEDNESDAY 1/20 History Is Lunch is at noon at the William F. Win-ter Archives and History Building (200 North St.). James G. Thomas Jr. discusses his new book, “Conversations with Barry Hannah.” Sales and signing to follow. Free; call 601-576-6998; mdah.state.ms.us. … The Chippendales’ 2016 Break the Rules Tour is at 8 p.m. at Duling Hall (622 Dul-ing Ave.). The provocative all-male dance troupe has been performing since 1975. For ages 21 and up. $40-$75; call 877-987-6487; email arden@ardenland.net; ardenland.net.

THURSDAY 1/21 Museum After Hours: Cabin Fever Film Fest is from 5:30 to 10 p.m. at the Mississippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St.). Enjoy Mississippi-produced film shorts and an exhibition of video installations. Includes a cash bar and food for sale. The Museum Store is also open late. Free admission; call 601-960-1515; msmuseumart.org. … Tim Easton and

Cary Hudson perform at 7:30 p.m. at Duling Hall (622 Duling Ave.). Singer-songwriter Tim Easton is a native of Akron, Ohio, and Cary Hudson is a former member of Blue Mountain. Lisa Mills also performs. $7 in advance, $10 at the door, $3 surcharge for patrons under 21; call 601-292-7999; email arden@ardenland.net; ardenland.net.

FRIDAY 1/22 Dancin’ Styles is from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Belhaven University Bitsy Irby Visual Arts and Dance Center (1500 Peachtree St.). Guests of all ages learn swing, salsa, Bollywood and more. The kids’ dance is at 6:30 p.m., and the main ses-sion is from 7-10 p.m. $10, $15 couples, $5 children and students, $20 families; call 601-965-1400.

SATURDAY 1/23 The Monthly Book Signing, Lecture and Brunch is at 1 p.m. at the James Meredith Community Enrichment Foundation Center (217 N. Griffith St.). Civil rights icon James Meredith speaks about his book, “A Mission from God: A Memoir and Challenge for America.” Free admission, food prices vary; call 601-918-2133. … Pro Wrestling EGO: South-ern Showcase 3 is from 7 to 9 p.m. at The Hideaway (Deville Plaza, 5100 Interstate 55 N. Frontage Road). The Nightmare Known As Jeremiah and other wrestlers compete. $10; call 208-8283; email bodyslammediaproductions@gmail.com.

SUNDAY 1/24 The Marta Szlubowska Ensemble performs 3 p.m. at Fondren Presbyterian Church (3220 Old Canton Road). The professional ensemble performs music from around the world including selections written for violin solo, accordion and strings. Free; call 601-362-3235 or 601-982-3232.

MONDAY 1/25 Finding Your Role: A Millsaps Major Moment on The-atre and Social Change is at 5:15 p.m. at Millsaps College (1701 N. State St.) Theatrical artists Kathy Williams, Sue-hyla El Attar and Topher Payne lead a panel on social change and theater for writers, performers and others interested in theater. Individual workshops Tuesday, Jan. 26, from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. Free; email theatretickets@millsaps.edu.

TUESDAY 1/26 “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” is at 7:30 p.m. at New Stage Theatre (1100 Carlisle St.). The play is about the breakdown of a marriage that comes to light at a social gathering. Additional dates: Jan. 27-29, 7:30 p.m., Jan. 30, 2 p.m., Jan. 31, 7:30 p.m., Feb. 2-6, 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 7, 2 p.m. $28, $22 seniors and students; call 601-948-3533, ext. 222; newstagetheatre.com.

WEDNESDAY 1/27 The John Donvan and Caren Zucker Lecture and Book Signing is at 5:30 p.m. at the Millsaps College Ford Academic Complex (1701 N. State St.) in the recital hall. Donvan and Zucker wrote “In a Different Key: The Story of Autism.” Free; call 601-974-1000. … The Mississippi Child Welfare Institute Conference is at 7 p.m. at the Jack-son Marriott (200 E. Amite St.). Includes a youth empower-ment session Jan. 27, and workshops Jan. 28-29. Registration required. Additional dates: Jan. 28, 8:15 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Jan. 29, 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. $125 professionals, $45 stu-dents, $200 exhibitors; call 601-979-8899; email theresia.johnson-ratliff@jsums.edu; gulfcoastsymphony.net.

SATURDAY 1/24“Tiny Titans: Dinosaur Eggs and Babies” opens at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.

SUNDAY 1/24The 2016 Winter Céilí is at Fenian’s Pub.

TUESDAY 1/26Michael Bible signs copies of “Sophia” at Lemuria Books.

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Civil rights activist James Meredith speaks at the James Meredith Community Enrichment Foundation Center on Saturday, Jan. 23.

BY MICAH SMITH

EVENTS@JACKSONFREEPRESS.COM

FAX: 601-510-9019DAILY UPDATES AT

JFPEVENTS.COM

Singer-songwriter Tim Easton performs Thursday, Jan. 21, at Duling Hall.

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Events at William F. Winter Archives and His-tory Building (200 North St.)

Jan. 20, noon. James G. Thomas Jr. discusses his new book, “Conversa-tions with Barry Hannah.” Free; call 601-576-6998; mdah.state.ms.us.

Jan. 27, noon. Author Wirt Yerger discusses his book, “A Courageous Cause: A Personal Story of Modern Republican-ism’s Birth 1956 to 1966 in Mississippi.” Free; call 601-576-6998.

Jan. 27, 7-8 p.m., Jan. 28, 8:15 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Jan. 29, 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., at Jackson Marriott (200 E. Amite St.). Includes a youth empower-ment session Jan. 27, and plenary sessions and workshops Jan. 28-29. Registration required. $125 professionals, $45 students, $200 exhibitors; call 601-979-8899; email theresia.johnson-ratliff@jsums.edu; gulfcoastsymphony.net.

Storytelling Festival Jan. 23, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., at Mississippi Children’s Museum (2145 Highland Drive). The Mississippi Arts Commission hosts the annual event featuring several storytellers. Enjoy art, music, puppet shows and a read-a-thon. Included with admission ($10, children under 12 months free); call 601-981-5469; mis-sissippichildrensmuseum.com.

‘sipp Sourced with Chef Nick Wallace Jan. 21, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Jan. 21, 5:30 p.m., Jan. 22-23, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., at Mississippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St.). Order from a pop-up menu featur-ing products from Mississippi sources. Food prices vary; call 601-960-1515; msmuseumart.org.

Mississippi Farmers Market January Hours Jan. 23, 8-11 a.m., at Mississippi Farmers Market (929 High St.). Open 8-11 a.m every Saturday in Janu-ary. Normal Saturday hours resume in February. Free; call 601-354-6573; mdac.ms.gov.

Pro Wrestling EGO: Southern Showcase 3 Jan. 23, 7-9 p.m., at The Hideaway (5100 Interstate 55 N. Frontage Road). The Nightmare Known As Jeremiah, Lukas Frost and more compete. South of 20 performs. $10; call 208-8283; email bodyslammediaproductions@gmail.com.

The Chippendales’ 2016 Break the Rules Tour Jan. 20, 8 p.m., at Duling Hall (622 Duling Ave.). The provocative all-male dance troupe has been performing since 1975. For ages 21 and up. $40-$75; call 877-987-6487; ardenland.net.

Museum After Hours: Cabin Fever Film Fest Jan. 21, 5:30-10 p.m., at Mississippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St.). Enjoy Mississippi-produced shorts and an exhibition of video instal-lations. The Museum Store is also open late. Free admission; call 601-960-1515; msmuseumart.org.

“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Jan. 26-29, 7:30 p.m., Jan. 30, 2 p.m., Jan. 31, 7:30 p.m., Feb. 2-6, 7:30 p.m., Feb. 7, 2 p.m., at New Stage Theatre (1100 Carlisle St.). The play is about the breakdown of a marriage at a social gathering. $28, $22 seniors and students; call 601-948-3533, ext. 222; newstagetheatre.com.

The Tedeschi Trucks Band Jan. 20, 7:30 p.m., at Thalia Mara Hall (255 E. Pascagoula St.). The 11-piece band is known for their modern roots style. Shannon McNally also performs. $32.5-$62.5; call 601-292-7121; ardenland.net.

Tim Easton + Cary Hudson Jan. 21, 7:30 p.m., at Duling Hall (622 Duling Ave.). Singer-songwriter Tim Easton is a native of Akron, Ohio, and Cary Hudson is a roots performer who is a former member of Blue Mountain. Lisa Mills also performs. $7 in advance, $10 at the door, $3 sur-charge for patrons under 21; call 601-292-7999; email arden@ardenland.net; ardenland.net.

Marta Szlubowska Ensemble Jan. 24, 3 p.m., at Fondren Presbyterian Church (3220 Old Canton Road). The professional ensemble performs music from around the world including selections writ-ten for violin solo, accordion and strings. Free; call 601-362-3235 or 601-982-3232.

Jan. 23, 1 p.m., at James Meredith Community Enrichment Foundation Center (217 N. Grif-fith St.). Civil rights icon James Meredith speaks about his book, “A Mission from God: A Memoir and Challenge for America.” Free admission, food prices vary; call 601-918-2133.

“Sophia” Jan. 26, 5 p.m., at Lemuria Books (Banner Hall, 4465 Interstate 55 N., Suite 202). Michael Bible signs books. Reading at 5:30 p.m. $15.95 book; call 601-366-7619; email info@lemuriabooks.com; lemuriabooks.com.

Book Signing Jan. 27, 5:30 p.m., at Millsaps College, Ford Academic Complex (1701 N. State St.). In the recital hall. Donvan and Zucker are the authors of “In a Different Key: The Story of Autism.” Free, books for sale; call 601-974-1000.

2016 Winter Céilí Jan. 24, 2 p.m.-5 a.m., at Fenian’s Pub (901 E. Fortification St.). Jackson Irish Dancers teaches traditional dances; beginners welcome. Food for sale. Free; call 948-0055; jack-sonirishdancers.org.

Tiny Titans: Dinosaur Eggs and Babies Mon-days-Saturdays through May 1. at Mississippi Museum of Natural Science (2148 Riverside Drive). The exhibit opens Jan. 23 and includes a collection of dinosaur eggs and nests, explorations stations and video presentations. $6, $5 seniors, $4 ages 3-18, children under 3 and members free; call 601-576-6000; mdwfp.com/museum.

2016 JDRF Hope Gala Jan. 23, 6 p.m., at Coun-try Club of Jackson (345 St. Andrews Drive). Includes cocktails, a seated dinner, and live and silent auctions. This year’s honoree is Harold G. Corbin of Corbin and Associates. Proceeds benefit he Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation of Mis-sissippi. Black tie optional. Limited seating. $150; call 601-981-1184; mississippi.jdrf.org.

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

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S ince the musicians of rock-and-roll band Stonewalls first became friends while attending Florence High School, they have also worked

together as band mates through various in-carnations of the group. Guitarist and bassist Zac Clarke, gui-tarist and keyboardist John David Harrison, and drummer Mitch Phillips first began the band as Johnny and the Appleseeds in 2007, not long after they graduated from high school. The group disbanded in 2010, but in 2013, the trio linked up again under the name Napoleon Avenue, adding An-drew Brewer on guitar. About a year later, the band changed its name to Stonewalls as a tribute to the father of the group’s newest member, vocalist Matthew Simonton, who joined in summer 2014. Since then, Stonewalls has broken into the local music circuit, playing at venues all over town and grabbing a nearly monthly gig at Fondren’s First Thursday. Stonewalls is also in the process of having its upcoming five-song EP, “Change the Subject,” which is slated for release in February, mastered with recording engineer Will Foley. The group’s sound, which Clarke says is unlike any other band in Jackson, ranges from guitar-laden blues-rock to classic rock, taking influence from rock groups such as Led Zeppelin and Queens of the Stone Age. At the same time, Phillips says the band doesn’t tie itself to a single style. “We’re not set in going for one specific sound,” he says. “People ask us what do we sound like, and I’m like, ‘I don’t know how to describe it.’” “Do you like music? Then you like us,” Brewer adds with a laugh. The members of Stonewalls say they try not to take themselves too seriously and to treat each other as brothers, not just band mates. They’ve learned how to balance their

music with lives outside the band, making time for work and families (Brewer is the married one in the crew). Clarke says that 2015 was a building year for the band, with three and four shows a month. The musicians spend time between shows fine-tuning new sets and interpreting songs differently to switch up the sound. “We’ll start jamming on a song … that we kind of know in the beginning where it’s going to go, but we’ll just jam on it, start playing different parts and improv,” Brewer says. Stonewalls performs original music, most of which Simonton wrote, with added help on melodies and other elements if the song doesn’t feel just right yet. “For me, it’s been an awesome cathartic release,” Simonton says. “Having somewhere to put these feelings out there and shared—that’s my goal as far as music goes.” Though the musicians don’t like to dwell on the difficulties of being an inde-pendent band, Clarke says one of the biggest challenges has been gaining a foothold in the local music scene. Thankfully, playing at lo-cal venues and events like FFT have helped broaden Stonewalls’ audience, and in the fu-ture, they hope to branch out regionally. “We’re seeing a Renaissance of local bands playing original music,” Brewer says. “People go to see this certain band because they know that all their friends like it, and they’re going to go have that experience with them. … I see it’s hard to open up people’s minds, to say, ‘Hey, come hear something you’ve never heard before. Come listen to new music,’” he says. “We’re not asking you to love it, you know, but just see if you like it.” Stonewalls perform at 10 p.m. on Satur-day, Jan. 23, at Ole Tavern on George Street (416 George St., 601-960-2700). For more information, visit stonewallsmusic.com.

DIVERSIONS | music

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(Left to right) John David Harrison, Zac Clarke, Matthew Simonton, Andrew Brewer and Mitch Phillips of Stonewalls perform at Ole Tavern on George Street on Saturday, Jan. 23.

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W hen Caren Zucker learned that her son, Mickey, had au-tism in 1996, she was ushered into a dark, misunderstood

corner of the medical world. As a journalist and producer at ABC News, she educated audiences on a variety of difficult subjects, but she and her coworker, correspondent John Donvan, began researching autism and quickly learned how little people knew. “We all know about autism now, but remarkably, back then, 16 years ago, people and even most of our colleagues at ABC had never heard of autism,” Donvan says. Like Zucker, Donvan has a family con-nection to autism. His brother-in-law, Dror Mishori, was diagnosed with autism in the 1960s in Israel, where the only solution doc-

tors gave to Donvan’s mother-in-law, Edna Mishori, was to place Dror in an institution. After visiting the institution, Edna decided that her son would never end up there. She became a prominent autism activist, build-ing schools and residences to help people with autism to receive specialized help. “Partly because we both had real con-nections to autism through our families and knew that the reality was rich and complex, we wanted to do stories that were based on real science, that were based on the real ex-periences of families and that had to do with family issues, funding issues and the devel-opment of serious therapies,” Donvan says. The first piece of the authors’ multi-part series, “Echoes of Autism,” aired as a Friday night special on “Nightline” in 2001. Even that first broadcast became an impor-tant part of the modern autism landscape, appearing in numerous court cases for sever-al years. Then, eight years ago, the journalists realized they needed a more permanent way for their research to reach people, and they began work on their book, “In a Different Key: The Story of Autism” (Crown, 2016,

$30), which hit shelves Jan. 19. “The book is a history of autism, and it has a very dark period,” Zucker says. “That’s just the reality of how it began. What’s pow-erful and inspirational about the book, we think, is how the parents fought all these dark places, and they have closed down in-stitutions and made it possible for their chil-dren with autism to go to school.” Zucker says the book allowed them to tell more of the personal stories from parents whose children were subjected to the esoteric treatment of autism in the 1950s and 1960s. Hospitals even employed shock therapy and LSD. As with Dror Mishori, the plan was usually to place them into an institution to be forgotten, but as Zucker and Donvan il-luminate in “In a Different Key,” many fam-

ilies worked against the system to provide a better life for their children. One story in the book hits close to home. Zucker and Donvan begin with the story of the Tripletts of Forest, Miss., and their son Donald, the first person in history diagnosed with autism. Although he grew up without his disorder being truly understood, Donald has led a successful life, thanks in part to the residents of Forest who embraced his differences. He received a bachelor’s degree in French from Millsaps College in 1958, and today, he travels around the coun-try and the world. He even met Donvan and Zucker in New York City for coffee and a walk down Broadway recently. “We like to say if we could bottle what-ever Forest figured out to do for Donald and send it out to everywhere else where there’s a person with autism, it would be a better world,” Donvan says. Caren Zucker and John Donvan give a lecture on Wednesday, Jan. 27, at Millsaps College’s Gertrude C. Ford Academic Complex (1701 N. State St., 601-974-1000). For more information, visit millsaps.edu.

Unlocking ‘In a Different Key’by Micah Smith

(Left to right) Authors John Donvan and Caren Zucker give a lecture and sign copies of their book, “In a Different Key: The Story of Autism,” on Wednesday, Jan. 27, at Millsaps College’s Gertrude C. Ford Academic Complex.

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DIVERSIONS | books

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M ost sports fans’ eyes will be on the two NFL games this Sunday to see who reaches Super Bowl 50, which is not a surprise because profes-sional football is the most popular sport in our

country. But the two conference-championship matchups in the NFL won’t be the only big events played Jan. 24. The Mississippi State University Lady Bulldogs basketball team will play a game that is not only an opportunity but also a

measuring stick for the a rising program. This Sunday at 4 p.m. on ESPN2, the Lady Bulldogs host undefeated No. 2 University of South Carolina, giving the former a chance to make a statement in the SEC and in women’s basketball at large. This could also be MSU’s best ar-gument for a better seed when the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament starts in late March. Last year, the Lady Gamecocks reached the Final Four and were a one-point loss to the University of Notre Dame away from reaching the championship game. South Carolina is one of two undefeated teams left in women’s basketball this season. They have had a few close games but have beaten all six ranked opponents that they have faced so far. On the flip side, the Lady Bulldogs are currently 1-2 against top 25 teams. They have lost to No. 3 University of Texas and last week to the University of Missouri, ranked No. 23. The Bulldogs did manage to beat No. 15-ranked University of South Florida. This will be the first game against a ranked foe that the Lady Bulldogs will not face on the road or a neutral site. The team not only gets a chance to show that it has arrived on a national level, but it also gets the best chance to do so with the home-field advantage. A win would show just how far this team has come in

short amount of time. A good game would help make MSU guard Victoria Vivians nationally known for the great player that we in this state already know her to be. With a win, head coach Vic Schaefer could build this program even higher. He could use that victory to lure po-tential recruits, showing them that players who come to MSU can beat the biggest programs in women’s college bas-ketball. A win against South Carolina could propel the Lady

Bulldogs to even greater highs in a season that is already on pace to be the best in the history of Mississippi State women’s basketball. The Lady Bulldogs will get a No. 18 Tennessee team at home in their next game on Jan. 28. In February, they will also face No. 9 University of Kentucky and get a rematch against Missouri at home, with one on-the-road ranked game against No. 13 Texas A&M University team sandwiched be-tween their games against the Lady Wildcats and Tigers. Beating the Lady Gamecocks could set the Lady Bull-dogs up for something special down the stretch of this sea-son. On the national level, a win could be the seen as the birth of a new women’s basketball power. A loss, if a close one, would just mean the Lady Bulldogs haven’t fully ar-rived, but a close blowout loss would show that this team has potential, even if they are not quite ready to face the top women’s programs.

The Lady Bulldogs’ Major Opportunity

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NFL Hall of Fame tackle Turk Edwards’ career ended when he twisted his knee during the pregame coin toss.

THURSDAY, JAN. 21 College basketball (6-8 p.m., SECN): Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs take on the Georgia Lady Bulldogs. … College basketball (8-10 p.m., ESPN): The Uni-versity of Mississippi Lady Rebels face the Kentucky Lady Wildcats.

FRIDAY, JAN. 22 Tennis (8-11 p.m., ESPN2): In the opening week of the Australian Open, watch the first of four tennis majors that will be played this year.

SATURDAY, JAN. 23 College basketball (1-3 p.m., SECN): The University of Mississippi Rebels look for a big win against their archrival and host, the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

SUNDAY, JAN. 24 NFL (2-5:30 p.m., CBS): Denver hosts New England in the AFC Cham-pionship Game. … NFL (5:40-9 p.m., Fox): Carolina hosts Arizona in the NFC Championship Game.

MONDAY, JAN. 25 College basketball (6-8 p.m., ESPN): Watch a Top 10 matchup from the pos-sible best conference in the country when Duke clashes with Miami in an ACC showdown.

TUESDAY, JAN. 26 College basketball (6-8 p.m., ESPNU): The MSU men’s basketball team gets a chance to make a statement on the road against a ranked South Carolina team.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 27 College basketball (6-8 p.m., SECN): The UM Rebels hit their new home court to take down an Auburn team that just upset Kentucky. When Carson Palmer and Cam Newton battle for a spot in Super Bowl 50, it will be the first time in the Super Bowl era that two Heisman Trophy winning quar-terbacks face off in a playoff game.

Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are meeting for the 17th time overall and fifth in the playoffs. It could be the final meeting between these two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks.

by Bryan FlynnSLATE

the best in sports over the next seven days

Follow Bryan Flynn at jfpsports.com, @jfpsports and at facebook.com/jfpsports.

With a win against No. 2 University of South Carolina, head coach Vic Schaefer and the Lady Bulldogs basketball team could reach new heights.

27

St. AlexisEpiscopal Church

What�  do�  you�  like�  about�  St.�  Alexis?

Mary�  Jane�  says,�  �  “St.�  Alexis�  is�  ‘come�  as�  you�  are’�  with�  nice�  welcoming�  people.”

(Pictured)�  Mary�  Jane�  &�  Helen�  Burton�  

&�  Zandrya�  Gaber

28

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www.ladyluckvicksburg.com

29

BULLETIN BOARD: ClassifiedsAs low as $20! jfpclassifieds.com

SERVICES NOTICES

TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD: Post an ad at jfpclassifieds.com,

call 601-362-6121, ext. 11

or fax to 601-510-9019.

Deadline: Mondays at Noon.

30

COMFORT FOOD from the CABIN

A pop-up menu designed to melt away winter blues

Thursday, January 21 - Saturday, January 23, 2015Available for lunch, 11 AM - 2 PM

Museum After Hours, Thursday, 5:30 PM til

THE PALETTE CAFÉ

MISSISSIPPI MUSEUM of ART

380 SOUTH LAMAR STREET 601.960.1515 @MSMUSEUMART.ORG380 SOUTH LAMAR STREET 601.960.1515 @MSMUSEUMART.ORG380 SOUTH LAMAR STREET 601.960.1515 @MSMUSEUMART.ORG380 SOUTH LAMAR STREET 601.960.1515 @MSMUSEUMART.ORG

THE

GREEN RO

OM

-Pool Is Cool-

We’re still #1!Best Place to

Play PoolBest of Jackson 2015

INDUSTRY HAPPY HOUR Dai ly �   1 1pm �   -2am

DAILY BEER SPECIALS12pm �   - �  7pm

POOL LEAGUE Mon �   - �  Fri �  Night

DRINK SPECIALSBURGERS INGS ULL BAR

GATED PARKINGBIG SCREEN TV’S

LEAGUE AND TEAM PLAYBEGINNERS TO ADVANCED INSTRUCTORS AVAILABLE

444�  Bounds�  St.�  Jackson�  MS601-718-7665

!ursday, February 11, 2016

2016 award recipients

Fax: 601-366-7122

DINE-IN OR TAKE-OUT!Sun-Thurs: 11am - 10pmFri-Sat: 11am - 11pm

WE DELIVER!Fondren / Belhaven / UMC area

WE ALSO CATER!VISIT OUR GROCERY STORE NEXT DOOR.

Start the New Year

Off Right

Voted One of the Best Places for Healthy Foods and

Vegetarian OptionsBest of

Best of

BESTOF

BESTOF

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™

Get a FREE FLAN OR SODA with your orderwhen you mention this ad!

HAPPY HOUR Tuesday - Friday 5 pm - 7 pm

1/2 off drink menu.... 2 for 1 shots

31

dulinghall.comdulinghall.com

Friday, January 29

Friday, February 12

Tuesday, February 9

Saturday, February 20

Saturday, April 23

Thursday, January 21

Thursday, February 18

Thursday, March 10

Friday, May 13

Wednesday, January 20

Visit HalandMals.com for a full menu and

concert schedule

601.948.0888200 S. Commerce St.

Downtown Jackson, MS

for a full menu and concert schedule

601.948.0888

for a full menu and concert schedule

601.948.0888

for a full menu and concert schedule

601.948.0888

OFFICIAL HOUSE VODKA

Visit HalandMals.comfor a full menu and

Visit HalandMals.comfor a full menu and

HalandMals.comfor a full menu and

OFFICIAL HOUSE VODKA

COMING UP

WEDNESDAY 1/20

JAMIE WEEMS & MARK ROEMER

Restaurant - 5 - 8 pm THURSDAY 1/21

BROTHERLY LOVE

Restaurant - 5 - 8 pm FRIDAY 1/22

Restaurant Open as Usual

SATURDAY 1/23Restaurant Open as Usual

MONDAY 1/25CENTRAL MS BLUES SOCIETY PRESENTS:

BLUE MONDAYRestaurant - 7pm - $5

TUESDAY 1/26PUB QUIZ with Jimmy Quinn

Restaurant - 7:30pm - $2 to Play

WEDNESDAY 1/27

NEW BOURBON STREET

JAZZ BANDRestaurant - 6 - 8:30 pm UPCOMING

Saturday, February 20 2016: Pell tickets available at www.thelyricoxford.com

Saturday, February 27 2016: Ardenland Presents: Strung Like A

Horse doors at 8/show at 9 tickets $8 in advance/$10 at door available at

www.ardenland.net

Tuesday, March 8 2016: CeeLo Green tickets available at

www.thelyricoxford.com

Friday, April 15 2016: Ardenland Presents: Mothers doors at 8/show at 9 tickets $7 in advance/$10 at door

available at www.ardenland.net

HAPPY HOUR$1 off all Cocktails, Wine, and BeerMONDAY-FRIDAY�  11AM-2AMSATURDAY�  4PM-2AM

NEW MENU

NEVER A COVER!

901�  E�  FORTIFICATION�  STREET601-948-0055WWW.FENIANSPUB.COM

NEVER A COVER!NEVER A COVER!NEVER A COVER!WEDNESDAY�  1/20�  

Pub QuizWITH�  LUV�  AGRAWAL THURSDAY�  1/21

SPIRITS OF THE HOUSE

FRIDAY�  1/22

JOE CARROLLSATURDAY�  1/23

DAVIS COENMONDAY�  1/25

KARAOKE WITH�  MATT�  COLLETTE

TUESDAY�  1/26

OPEN MICWITH�  BROCK�  BAILEY

1060�  E�  County�  Line�  Rd.�  

Ridgeland

601-­‐899-­‐0038WWW.BURGERSBLUES.COM

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Grilled�  ChickenSweet�  Potato�  FriesTurkey�  Burgers

CHECK THE JFP MUSIC LISTINGS FOR OUR LINEUP

HAPPY HOUR1/2 OFF BEER & DRINKS

WEEKDAYS 4PM - 7PM

I N S I D E H I D E A W A YB e s i d e P l a n e t F i t n e s s

5 1 0 0 I - 5 5 N J a c k s o n , M S

769!208!8283w w w . 4 t h g o a l . c o m

/ t h e 4 t h a n d g o a l

KARAOKE Every Friday at 8pm

#1 WINGS IN THE JACKSON AREA

Humana 22529-JFPR- Jackson Free Press FP4C Back Cover) 9.2” x 12”

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Insured by Humana Insurance Company.MSHJH2HEN

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Downtown Jackson

West of Memorial Stadium

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