May 2013 – Page 3 – The Mississippi Link

Dems pick Lumumba in Jackson mayor runoff

May 22, 2013 Kermit 0

Jackson City Councilman Chokwe Lumumba (SHOW-kway Lu-MOOM-bah) has defeated businessman Jonathan Lee in the Democratic primary runoff for Jackson mayor.

The Clarion-Ledger reports that unofficial results show the 65-year-old Lumumba winning 55% of the vote Tuesday.

The Democratic nominee is expected to become mayor. No Republican is running, though independent candidates Francis Smith, Jr., Richard Williams, Jr., and Cornelius Griggs are on the June 4 general election ballot. The new term begins July 1. […]

Case-Price Named New Director of Childrens Center at Southern Miss

May 22, 2013 Kermit 0

Sarah Case-Price began her affiliation with The Children’s Center for Communication and Development at The University of Southern Mississippi more than a dozen years ago as a student worker.

On July 1, she will take over the reins as director.

Case-Price has served in several capacities at the center since becoming a full-time staff member in 2006 – most recently as assistant director. She takes over for acting Director Cindy Bivins, who will continue to help with the center as a volunteer. […]

Ex-Biloxi mayor still denies role in killings

May 22, 2013 Kermit 0

Former Biloxi Mayor Pete Halat, now free from prison, still says he had no part in a murder plot that led to him spending almost 16 years in federal prison.

Halat told WLOX-TV that he had “absolutely nothing” to do with the murders of Harrison County Circuit Judge Vincent Sherry and his wife, Margaret, in 1987.

Sherry and Halat had been law partners starting in 1981. Halat was elected mayor 1989, losing a re-election bid in 1993.

Halat was convicted in 1997 of conspiracy to commit racketeering, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
[…]

Brown nominated for US district judgeship in Miss.

May 21, 2013 Kermit Comments Off

President Barack Obama on May 16 nominated Jackson attorney Debra M. Brown to be a U.S. District judge for northern Mississippi.

If confirmed, Brown would be the first African-American woman to serve as a federal district judge in the state, said a spokesman for Mississippi’s senior U.S. senator, Republican Thad Cochran.

“I congratulate Debra Brown on her historic nomination and am hopeful the Senate will conduct a timely and thorough consideration of her qualifications to join the federal bench,” Cochran said in a news release. […]

Moss Point man found drowned after going overboard

May 21, 2013 Kermit Comments Off

The body of a drowned man has been found in the Escatawpa River.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department says the body of Timothy Gordon Sr. of Moss Point was found about 12 p.m. Saturday, the Mississippi Press reports.

Gordon and Curtis Goleman, a Grand Bay, Ala., resident, were on the Escatawpa River about 5 p.m. Friday when their boat hit something and both men were thrown overboard. Gordon was not wearing a life preserver. […]

New Albany police chief quits

May 21, 2013 Kermit Comments Off

New Albany Police Chief David Grisham says it’s time to step aside and allow someone else to serve as the city’s top law enforcement officer, WTVA reported.

Grisham, 61, says he feels good about leaving his department in good shape.

“Well, I’ve been here 32 years. I’ve served eight terms as police chief here in New Albany. It’s been good to me. I ‘ve enjoyed it. The people in New Albany have been good to me. I just felt that it was time to step down and let someone else have an opportunity,” he said.

Grisham has been a law enforcement officer for all of his professional career and was inspired as a high school student. […]

Miss. mayoral candidate: Radical or mainstream?

May 20, 2013 Kermit Comments Off

An attorney who was active in a black nationalist group decades ago and still refers to a client as a “former Black Panther heroine” is running for mayor of Mississippi’s capital city.

Can Chokwe Lumumba persuade voters that he’s a mainstream politician concerned about a diverse swath of people?

That’s a big question he faces businessman Jonathan Lee in Tuesday’s Democratic primary runoff in Jackson. […]

Tougaloo College plans civil rights commemorations

May 20, 2013 Kermit Comments Off

Tougaloo College is starting an 18-month commemoration of the civil rights movement, 50 years after the effort helped reshape the American political and social landscape.

The first event, a gala was Saturday night at the Jackson Convention Complex, honoring four people who founded organizations designed to help the poor or disenfranchised: Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center; Marian Wright Edelman of the Children’s Defense Fund; Dr. H. Jack Geiger of Physicians for Human Rights; and Robert “Bob” Moses of The Algebra Project. Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Roberta Flack will perform.
[…]

Candice Glover wins 'American Idol' as Randy Jackson says goodbye

May 20, 2013 Kermit Comments Off

Longtime “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson bid farewell to the Fox talent competition during Thursday’s 12th season finale, a showdown between vocal powerhouse Candice Glover and country singer Kree Harrison.

Candice Glover was crowned the new “American Idol” after defeating country singer Kree Harrison.

The booming 23-year-old R&B vocalist from St. Helena Island, S.C., looked stunned when “Idol” host Ryan Seacrest announced she bested soulful 22-year-old country singer Harrison from Woodville, Texas . The vote count was not announced. […]

Don Pelts, founder of Corky's, dies in Memphis

May 20, 2013 Kermit Comments Off

Don Pelts, who founded the Memphis-based barbecue restaurant Corky’s Ribs and Bar-B-Q and helped increase the popularity of the savory food style with a shipping and supermarket sales business, has died, a relative said Thursday.

Pelts’ son, Barry Pelts, said his father died Wednesday night, May 15, of a heart attack at age 72.

Pelts opened the first Corky’s in Memphis in 1984, serving ribs and hand-pulled pork cooked over hickory wood and charcoal. According to the company’s website, Corky’s catering business started within a year of the first restaurant’s opening. […]