Statewide News – Page 29 – The Mississippi Link

Myrlie Evers-Williams encourages UM Graduates to ‘Soar and Be Free’

Evers-Williams, who worked for more than 30 years to seek justice for the 1963 murder of her well-known civil rights activist husband, Medgar Evers, is a former chairwoman of the NAACP and is widely credited with restoring the organization’s reputation and saving it from bankruptcy. Most recently, she delivered the invocation at the second inauguration of President Barack Obama, becoming the first woman to deliver a prayer at a presidential inauguration.

“The lifelong work of Dr. Evers-Williams to keep her husband’s memory alive and to progress his dream has been pivotal in the pathway from adoption of laws calling for fairness to the adoption of fairness into our societal expectations and interpersonal relationships,” said Chancellor Dan Jones, who presented the third University of Mississippi Humanitarian Award to the speaker, honoring her and her slain husband’s memory. […]

Alyne Payton, Walter Payton’s mom, dies after long illness

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Alyne S. Payton, the mother of the late NFL Hall of Fame running back and Chicago Bears star Walter Payton, died Monday at Baptist Medical Center in Jackson. She was 87.

Family members say she died after a long illness.

Officials with Westhaven Memorial Funeral Home said services were scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, May 10 at Black’s Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Jackson. Burial was Saturday in Resthaven Cemetery in Columbia. […]

Clarksdale Caravan Music Fest this weekend

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Following the Blues Music Awards, the 7th annual Clarksdale Caravan Music Fest will be held on Saturday, May 11 and Sunday May 12 in downtown Clarksdale.

Musicians will be performing in front of Cathead, 252 Delta Ave., from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and outside the Rock & Blues Museum, 113 E. 2nd Street, from 1 to 6 p.m.

Blues fans and tourists venture down the legendary “Blues Highway 61” to Clarksdale, the site of the historic “Blues Crossroads”, to experience the individual signature blues style of the participating musicians and bands. […]

Estimated $25M in damage to buildings, vehicles

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The Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Training Academy in Pearl isn’t the most aesthetically appealing place to train officers these days, its director, Pat Cronin, concedes.

The March 18 hailstorms that struck metro Jackson destroyed 87 law enforcement and civilian vehicles parked at the academy when the storms hit, punched holes in roofing membrane above the gymnasium and smashed through more than 100 windows and skylights throughout the complex.

“We look bad,” Cronin muses. “We’ve got plastic holding tires down (on some roofing). We’ve been compromised in some areas, but we’re operational.” […]

Liddell makes no apologies for time away

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If you have tried to reach Columbus Schools Superintendent Martha Liddell at her office this school year, there’s a one-in-three chance you were told she was not in the office. In fact, there’s a one-in-three chance that Liddell wasn’t even in town.

So far during the 2012-13 school year Liddell has taken 21 trips that kept her out of the district for at least 60 of the 180 school days this year. Her contemporaries in Starkville, Lewis Holloway, and Lowndes County, Lynn Wright, have made 17 trips between them and have been away from their districts a combined 23 days.

And in a school year in which the superintendent put all “non-essential spending” on hold in January, Liddell’s extensive travels have cost the district $8,058, twice as much as Holloway has spent ($4,037 on 11 trips) and roughly four times as much as Wright has spent ($2,177 on six trips). […]

Historically black cemetery seeks upkeep help

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A Magnolia group has asked Pike County for help in maintaining a historically black cemetery.

The Enterprise-Journal reports the cemetery is on 2.71 acres and is separated from the main Magnolia Cemetery by a chain link fence. The 15-acre Magnolia Cemetery is maintained by its own association.

“People are buried out there from the 1800s,” Celia Gordon Pearson, president of United Cemetery Association, told supervisors this past week.

Pearson said there is a lot of history out there.

“I’m just going to have to get someone to go with me plot by plot and tell me who’s buried there,” she said. […]

Youth baseball facility seen as boost for economy

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Brandon Mayor Butch Lee is proposing a 2 percent additional tax on food and beverage sales at local restaurants to pay for a multi-field complex focused on baseball.

He says the goals are to allow the city’s Shiloh Park to convert more to soccer and girls fast-pitch softball.

He tells The Clarion-Ledger that a sportsplex would put his city in a position to host major regional youth sports tournaments.

Town Hall meetings are scheduled for June 4 and 6. […]

Miss. mayoral primaries narrow candidate fields

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Most Mississippi cities elect mayors this year, and party primaries Tuesday narrowed the fields of candidates.

Primary runoffs are May 21. The general election is June 4, with mayoral terms beginning July 1. A candidate must win 50 percent plus one to avoid a runoff, and otherwise the top two vote-getters advance.

In Vicksburg, The Vicksburg Post was reporting late Tuesday that Rep. George Flaggs, Jr., was easily leading five other Democratic candidates with all 11 precincts reporting. Unofficial results showed Flaggs had 2,590 votes, Linda Fondren had 1,515 and first-term Mayor Paul Winfield had 402. […]

4 incumbents out in south Mississippi

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Four incumbent south Mississippi mayors have lost their re-election bids.

WLOX reports that Gautier Mayor Tommy Fortenberry lost his Republican primary to Gordon Gollott. Gollott faces independent Edward Harding in the general election.

Mayor Jerry Alexander lost in Wiggins; Joel Miles won the GOP nomination there. […]

FBI agents arrest Canton alderman

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FBI spokesperson Deborah Madden confirmed Canton Alderman Louis Smith, who represents Ward 4, was arrested by agents at 2:30 Wednesday afternoon, WLBT reported.

Sheila Wilbanks of the U.S. Attorney’s Office wouldn’t confirm the specific charges against Smith but said a court hearing is scheduled for 1:30 Thursday afternoon. […]