Jackson Free Press

HERE COME THE CROSSES: Right to Life of Jackson has changed its name to Pro-Life Mississippi and is planning a slate of activities to lobby the Legislature, especially to give health-care workers the right to opt out of participating in an abortion procedure. On its Web site, the group announced that it is again erecting 2,000 crosses on the Capitol lawn, an act that raised a few anti-establishment eyebrows last year (but not of Gov. Ronnie Musgrove). They are meeting Saturday, Jan. 17, at 11 a.m. at the Capitol to erect the crosses. The Candlelight Memorial for the Unborn will be held Saturday, Jan. 24 at 6 p.m. amid the crosses on the lawn. …

WASHINGTON, MISS.: As the JFP goes to press, the Haley Barbour inaugural madness is getting underway—an estimated price tag of $1.5 million brings to mind the swaggering (and rainy) inauguration of George W. Bush in 2000 when cowboy boots and furs lined Pennsylvania Ave. (Here, even the press passes are Texas-sized, making us feel like we're wearing small billboards.) On Monday, Jan. 12, Barbour hosted a "Haley's Comment Off-the-Record" press party at the newly renovated Union Station, leading JFP staffers to anticipate just what would happen in downtown Jacktown that we couldn't report. Alas, no one jumped out of a cake, or threatened anyone, or even passed out Maker's Mark Jell-o shots. Maybe the lights were too bright. We got free coolers, though. Oops, that's a secret. … AREN'T Y'ALL TIRED?: Meantime at the Capitol, the tort-reform lobby may not be able to run every trial lawyer out of the state this session, but they are winning some small victories already. For one, Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck split the Judiciary Committee into two halves: one for civil and one for criminal because—wink, wink—they were overloaded with work. Word has it, though, she just wanted the hands of Sen. Bennie Turner, D-West Point—a civil rights activist sympathetic to the right-to-sue crowd—off civil justice. Now, he's chairman of the criminal division of the committee, at a distance from civil-justice decisions. … ROBERT CLARK DAY: Just-retired House Speaker Pro Tempore Robert Clark Jr. will be honored by his alma mater, Jackson State, on Jan. 15 at 10 a.m. during its 35th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Convocation. At 11:45 a.m., during the Isaac Byrd "For My People" Awards Luncheon, panelists including former Gov. William Winter, Dr. Leslie McLemore and Rep. Percy Watson will discuss Clark's impact on Mississippi politics. Clark was the first black elected to the House since Reconstruction. Will Campbell, author of "Robert G. Clark's Journey to the House: A Politician's Story," will moderate. … CUT OFF AT THE PASS: Industry won at least a temporary victory by ensuring that Sen. Dewayne Thomas, a Jackson trial attorney who won a screecher over tort-reform sweetheart Richard White, wasn't yet seated in the chambers. Industry lobbyists have been raising scads of money to launch a re-election bid due to alleged mishandling of ballots on Election Day. Attorney General Mike Moore certified Thomas the winner in November by 104 votes. … MARLBORO MAN IMPEACHED: They're finally getting around to making House and Senate legislative offices smoke-free (more than a decade after Hillary outlawed cigs in the White House.) Even the cloakroom is prohibited for potential puffers on a break from law-making. The move follows the smoke-free trend that is catching on in the state; the Jackson City Council voted in December to make public areas in the city smoke-free (exempting smoky restaurants and bars). The Mississippi Health Advocacy Program is urging the Legislature to go farther, making it cost-prohibitive for smokers and raising some needed moola at the same. The group's recent study found that raising taxes on cigarettes by 50 cents would encourage at least 14 percent of adult smokers to quit as well as 18 percent of teenage smokers. The timing might be right: A 2003 survey of Mississippi by the John C. Stennis Institute of Government found that nearly 72 percent polled said they would either strongly support (33 percent) or support (24 percent) a 50-cent tax increase on a pack of cigarettes. (More Republicans, 60 percent, than Democrats, 57 percent, supported the hike). … LOVE HIM OR HATE HIM: The hottest Barbour appointment poop in Jackson seems to be the firing of Frank Melton as the head of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. While many folks say he was unqualified, over-zealous or worse, others believe he was a welcome strong-arm in the drug war. A custodian at a JPS middle-school said it was the biggest mistake Barbour has made, yet. … BEST NAME OF A BARBOUR APPOINTEE: "J.K. 'Hoopy' Stringer." Hands down.