Jackson Free Press

It’s official. Former Mississippi State University quarterback Dak Prescott is now a Dallas Cowboy. Prescott signed his rookie deal on Tuesday, along with fellow fourth-rounder Charles Tapper.

That leaves the Cowboys with one unsigned draft pick.

Prescott received a $383,393 signing bonus as part of his four-year deal. His base salary from 2016-2019 will be $450,000, $540,000, $630,000 and $720,000.

Dallas spent plenty of time with Prescott before the draft. They met with the quarterback at the Senior Bowl, NFL Combine, during a private workout in Starkville and at the Cowboys Headquarters Valley Ranch before the draft.

Prescott, who owns 38 school records, is the first quarterback Dallas has drafted since 2009, when the club selected Stephen McGee. During Prescott's career at MSU, he accumulated 11,897 yards of total offense and had a 23-10 record as a starter.

The former MSU great will battle with Kellen Moore for the backup job to Tony Romo. In college, Prescott ran for 2,501 yards and 41 touchdowns, which could make him a factor near the goal line for the Cowboys.

As injuries and age begin to catch up with Romo, the thought is that Prescott can be groomed to become the next starting quarterback. He brings arm strength and mobility to help overcome his weakness of not knowing the offense as he battles Moore for the No. 2 job.

Speaking of signing bonuses, former University of Mississippi defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche did a little bit of shopping with his. The former Rebel received $4.45 million signing bonus after inking his deal with the Arizona Cardinals, who drafted him in the first round.

The first thing Nkemdiche bought was a way to get around town. The former Rebel selected a Cadillac Escalade for his new wheels.

After buying his Escalade, the defensive tackle went shopping at a thrift store to stock up on XXXXL and XXXXXL shirts. A thrift store isn’t where you normally hear about a first-round NFL pick spending his money, but Nkemdiche isn’t your typical first-round draft pick.

Next, the new Cardinal is planning on buying a new saxophone. The defensive tackle once played the instrument at actor Morgan Freeman’s Clarksdale club Ground Zero.

While Nkemdiche still hasn’t decided if he will buy a home, he didn’t buy the panther he said he would like before the draft. The Cardinals have to be happy that their first-round pick decided on the Escalade and not the panther.

But down the road, he still could get it.

Johnson sent this statement this morning, in response to this recent JFP article. It's pasted here verbatim:

STATEMENT OF HARVEY JOHNSON REGARDING JACKSON FREE PRESS ARTICLE Having read the article in the Jackson Free Press, “Repayment of HUD Funds Emerges as Election Issue, ” I was struck by the poor attempt at political hay being made by our new councilman from Ward 2 on a matter that he should be fighting to resolve in favor of the citizens rather than quickly agreeing to write an astronomical check to a federal agency over a questionable dispute.

As a former mayor and an advisor to Mississippi towns for 40 years, I have on many occasions had disagreements with HUD about their interpretations of CDBG regulations. I have worked in and with the CDBG program since its inception in 1975, and I am therefore thoroughly familiar with the program’s objectives.

When it comes to HUD and other federal agencies, I have found that the best approach when there are questions of interpretation or disputes of facts is to vigorously negotiate and take advantage of the administrative appeal process, even if it means meeting with the HUD Secretary or the White House, to achieve a satisfactory resolution. I have gotten federal officials to change their positions entirely or greatly reduce the amounts of money in dispute.

The letter from the city to HUD referenced in the news article appears to be the culmination of a negotiation process lasting only three months, which is an extremely short period of time to resolve a dispute with HUD involving that many issues. In my mind, conceding so early and for such a large dollar amount reflects a lack of experience and understanding in dealing with HUD programs by the person or persons who, rather than stand up to the HUD bureaucracy, chose the easy path to turn over local taxpayer money , while blaming the whole thing on the guy out of office. Such an approach is a bad precedent for the city. We certainly don’t want some bureaucrat thinking he can shake us from our lunch money, just because he thinks he can.

My decision in connection with this matter would have been to refrain from throwing in the towel so quickly by casually writing a check from the city’s general fund made payable to HUD. During my previous administration the city was not intimidated by federal bureaucrats acting contrary to the best interest of our local citizens. I will bring that same determination to my next administration.

As far as I can tell, the Council has not yet voted on making payment to HUD. I encourage the Council to hold up doing so until the new mayor is sworn in this month, who hopefully will be someone with the knowledge and experience and leadership traits that will protect our taxpayers from bureaucratic overreach.

The fallout from the University of Mississippi’s loss to Florida State University continued on Tuesday, Sept. 6. Hugh Freeze confirmed to ESPN.com that starting cornerback Ken Webster and backup running back Eric Swinney are lost for the rest of the 2016 season with knee injuries.

Both injuries hurt units that lacked depth even before the season started. Those thin units showed in the Rebels 45-34 loss to the Seminoles on Labor Day night.

Webster’s injury might have turned the game around for FSU. Until he was hurt on the fourth play of the Seminoles’ opening drive, Webster allowed UM to play man-to-man coverage against the Seminole receivers and let the linebackers and defensive line stuff the run and pass rush.

During the second quarter, the FSU offense got rolling, as both teams made adjustments with Webster’s injury. The Seminoles were able to pick on weaker defensive backs all night when the Rebels tried to play man-to-man.

Freshman FSU quarterback Deondre Francois was able to pass for 419 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers against the Rebels. Webster’s injury played a big part in Francois being able to settle down and make throws in his first college start.

Webster’s teammates surrounded him just moments before being carted off the field, and then, he was still yelling words of encouragement and coaching up the defense. The Rebels defense still was able to contain FSU’s offense before the Seminoles fully figured out the team’s defense right before halftime.

The Rebels were already thin at running back after redshirt junior Jordan Wilkins was suspended for the 2016 season. They got even thinner at the position when redshirt freshman Swinney injured his knee on his first carry of the game.

While no one expected the Rebels to out-rush the Seminoles, with FSU running back Dalvin Cook being healthy at the start of the season, UM did need to run the ball to give its offense balance. FSU finished the game with 161 rushing yards to the Rebels’ 61 rushing yards.

Cook out-rushed the Rebels by himself with 91 yards on 23 carries. Akeem Judd led UM in rushing with 44 yards on eight carries.

FSU was able to build a 42:39 to 17:21 advantage in time of possession. The amount of possession showed late in the game, as the Rebels defense was worn out from being on the field for so long.

The Rebels are going to need players to step up for the rest of the season. They will have to figure out their problems quickly with the University of Alabama coming to town in two weeks.

A week after the deadline for submitting campaign-finance reports, and on the morning of Jackson city elections, Councilman and veteran attorney Chokwe Lumumba filed his campaign-finance report.

The report, dated May 6, shows that Lumumba raised $68,753 since the beginning of the year and spent $59,292, leaving the campaign fund with $17,963 in cash on hand.

Meanwhile, Lumumba's largest donor was attorney Barry Howard who contributed $10,000 while Lumumba gave himself $4,500 in two installment. Howard has given to at least one Democratic candidate for statewide office, Gary Anderson, who ran for insurance commissioner in 2007. Dr. Demitri Marshall of Port Gibson gave $2,000 and Jeannette Felton, also of Port Gibson, gave $1,000.

Several lawyers and businesses donated. Fidelity Refund and Check Cashers, whose telephone number goes to an AT&T store in Michigan, gave $300; Moore's Used Auto Sales on Gallatin Street in Jackson, gave $1,300 and La Quinta Inn and Suites gave $500. Marlboro, Md.-based Bowie Construction LLC and Jackson Fuel gave $500 a piece. A1 Bail Bond in west Jackson gave another $500.

Most of the donors listed Jackson addresses, with a smattering of Michigan and Georgia contributors. John Burge, whose address is not listed on the form, contributed $3,500. Michigan attorney Adam Shakoor, who has contributed to Democratic and Republican candidates in his home state, gave Lumumba $1,000.

Cochran Firm Mississippi, the local branch of the law office the late defense attorney who represented O.J. Simpson founded, and Precious Martin Sr. & Associates, each gave $1,000. Lumumba's law partner, Harvey Freelon, gave $1,100.

Eleven people on Lumumba's form list their address as "N/A." However, Lumumba has had at least three out-of-state fundraisers in the California Bay Area, in New York City and Washington D.C., but none of the people on the donor form list addresses near those cities.

Lumumba has explained the out-of-town fundraisers saying that fellow human-rights activists throughout the country support his candidacy. Saladin Muhammad, a North Carolina labor leader, gave $1,000. The Washington D.C.-based Black is Back coalition that advocates for reparations, single-payer health care, ending U.S.-led wars, freeing prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal and other "U.S. political prisoners/POWs/exiles" and rescinding the Patriot Act, gave $265. Eve Rosahn, who was indicted for providing a getaway car in a famous 1981 Brink's robbery, also gave $265. Prosecutors eventually dropped the charges against Rosahn, who works at a legal-aid clinic in New York City.

Advertising consumed the bulk of Lumumba's spending. He spent $13,205 with Space Age Graphics, $7,342 with WKXI (Kixie 107-FM), $3,545 with Comcast, $2,776 with YMF Media and $7,050 with Lamar Advertising.

House Minority Leader Bobby Moak released the following statement on the announcement that Harrah's will close its Tunica casino:

Jackson, MS- Today Harrah’s announced they are closing their casino in the Tunica market. This is a loss of Thirteen-Hundred (1300) Mississippi jobs, not to mention a tremendous blow to the credibility and future viability of our Mississippi gaming market. Casinos are a legal business in our state. They account for over twenty-five thousand direct jobs and, in particular, are the main reason Tunica was able to remove itself as one of the poorest counties in the nation.

Leadership in our state has refused to afford this vital industry the tax incentives and credits it offers to existing businesses or even those used to lure in new industries. We are now paying the price for this with the loss of jobs and tax revenues to local governments and the state. Contrary to popular belief, casinos are not immune to both economic downturns and the dramatic impact of the growth of out-of-state gaming operations in neighboring states such as Arkansas. We are no longer the only game in town. Regional gaming competition is not a phenomena that ends in Tunica, either. It is one of the most dangerous threats to the Mississippi gaming markets and lurks around the corner in states like Alabama, Florida and beyond.

No taxpayer funds are expended when a new casino enters our Mississippi market and creating, on average, 1,500 good-paying jobs. In return for their investment, Mississippi does not treat this industry as others within our borders. Mississippi offers no credit for hotel renovations or infrastructure, no credit for restaurant construction/improvements and does not even allow front line employee training, as other businesses are allowed to do, at the community college level - even though they pay taxes to support the community college system.

There is lacking a vision by Mississippi leadership to look at other jurisdictions and implement sound business investment incentives to take care of the casino industry that now resides in our state and foster growth and reinvestment by existing operators. With the closure of Harrah’s Tunica, we are seeing what happens when we exclude this industry from our overall state business investment model.

This industry must be allowed the opportunity to develop assets that not only help their bottom line, but state coffers as well. It has been almost 3 years since the federal government opened the door to internet gaming at the state level. Mississippi has refused to even consider allowing this to be developed in our state. While I am not asserting that internet gaming is the silver bullet that will allow gaming in Mississippi to regain its foothold, there is no doubt that it is but one tool of many that could be effectively employed to increase the attractiveness of this market to gaming-centric tourists. Harrah’s is a leader in the internet gaming effort in the halls of Congress and states around the nation. We have continually shut the …

This open letter came late on runoff night. We are reposting it verbatim. Send other "open letter" submissions (up to 1,000 words with verifiable facts and respectful tone) to [email protected].

Dear Mr. Lumumba,

We are a white couple in our early 30s that live in Ward Seven who did not vote for you. That said, congratulations on winning the Democratic primary for the Jackson mayoral election tonight. While many people in town are celebrating with you, there are many people who have many fears about the next four years.

• What is going to happen with the infrastructure issues of Jackson in all wards? (Will the large sinkhole on Old Canton Road ever get fixed?)

• Will you be fair towards advancing all wards of Jackson and uniting the city?

• Will the public schools in our area be the best (or even a good) educational option for our children?

• Will economic growth be encouraged in all wards?

• Will there be a continued (or even an increase) in wealth and opportunities leaving the city out of fear and uncertainty?

• Will crime increase in the city?

Should you be elected mayor, we—and many other Ward 1 and Ward 7 residents—would like to work with you to help achieve solution to these long-standing issues facing Jacksonians.

We have chosen to raise our family in Jackson and consciously make every effort to support local businesses and restaurants. We have been extremely saddened to hear of businesses moving out of Jackson city limits and into surrounding cities. Our hope is that others will make a similar commitment to support Jackson. However, on paper, we realize that it does not make sense for us to live in Jackson.

• Our property taxes and car tags are significantly higher than other cities in the metro area.

• With businesses moving out of Jackson, it is often difficult to not give sales tax money to other cities in the metro area. (Once Sam's Club leaves its current location, should we go to the new Madison store or the one in Pearl? We want to keep our sales tax money here, but these are the real decisions we face.)

• The crime rate and perception of Jackson intimidates many of our friends/family who don’t feel comfortable coming to our house at night.

• We don’t feel like we can send our kids to their assigned elementary school as it is a “failing” school with a level 2 rating without a multi-racial environment.

• Our roads and pipes are crumbling.

But we love it here. We love our neighbors. We love the local restaurants. We love the festivals/events. We love our church. We love the future that we believe Jackson can have.

We chose to live here to be part of a movement … moving Jackson forward. We don’t want to leave the city. So, how can we partner together, with you to help Jackson—all of Jackson?

Together, I hope we can make …

As for the debate, with all due respect to the candidates, it had the feel of a spring training baseball game, the established veterans just looking to getting in shape for opening day, the long-shots looking to do something spectacular to stand out so that they don’t get cut, and the high draft choices doing just enough, trying to gauge where they stood in the race to make the final cut.

Last week was a tough week for the college football teams in Mississippi. Nearly every team lost but Ole Miss and Belhaven. It was the type of week you just want to forget about but if you missed any of last week's action you can pick up the current issue of the JFP and read the round up or [follow this link][1]. Things don't get any easier this week for college football teams in Mississippi. Southern Miss is still searching for win one, Mississippi State faces a tough test in Texas A&M and Ole Miss will look to avoid a blowout against Georgia.

Alright, I am about to leave the office and hop on I-55 to Memphis, where I'll join up with MTV, VH1 and the Flaming Lips as the band tries perform a world-record 8 concerts in 24 hours. All the while, they will be hosting the O Music Awards, which will be broadcast for the entire 24 hours on OMusicAwards.com. I'll be taking the entire trip, hopefully. I'm definitely going to be there from Memphis to Jackson, including shows in Clarksdale and Oxford. Whether I continue on to Hattiesburg, Biloxi, Baton Rouge and New Orleans is largely up to the glorious Donna Ladd. I will be updating the blog with words and photos whenever I get the chance from the road. So as you watch the live online stream, go to the shows or do whatever life has in store for you over the next 28 hours or so, check in here for all the Flaming Lips world-record tour info you can handle.

Also, if you attend any of the shows, see the caravan pass by or run the Flaming Lips at a gas station, tell us about your experience here!

Update 5:54 p.m.: I called my contact with MTV on my way to Memphis to ask where I need to meet the media caravan. He told me that the bus was full, and I was not on the list, as Gayle from Text100 told me I was June 19. He is still going to give me passes to all of the shows, but I don't have a ride.

Gayle was extremely apologetic, and said there was something lost between her and the folks at MTV. She thought I was on the list.

Since I would have been stuck in Memphis with no ride, I came to Oxford, where I have friends going to the show. I'll be going to the show here, starting at 9 p.m. and following the band to Jackson (if my ride doesn't fall through, again).

My plan is to follow them on to Hattiesburg, and probably call it quits after that, as I don't think I'll be awake enough to drive after that. I'm pretty bummed that I didn't get on the media bus, especially after I was told that I had a spot on it. Not going to let it ruin my night, though. I'll still give you all updates from the road. I think Virginia Schreiber will take the photos in Jackson. I'm sure she'll share those as well. Check back for more updates from road, from Oxford to Hattiesburg...

Update 7:49 p.m.: I'm sitting at Ajax in Oxford. Just got a call from MTV, they said there is room on the bus after all. I already have a ride from Oxford to Jackson, and we can get to Jackson faster than caravan. So I'll get on media bus after Jackson show and follow the rest of the tour. Great to know someone got on the list and didn't care …

The campaign to elect City Councilman Chokwe Lumumba as mayor announced several endorsements from key city leaders Friday morning in front of City Hall.

Among the endorsements Lumumba received were State Representatives Earl Banks and Jim Evans and District 5 Hinds County Supervisor Kenneth Stokes and his wife, Ward 3 City Councilwoman LaRita Cooper Stokes. Former mayoral candidate Regina Quinn, who endorsed Lumumba through a press release earlier this week, was there to back up her reasons for endorsing the one-term Ward 2 Councilman for mayor.

"I'm here to strongly endorse Chokwe Lumumba to be our next mayor," Quinn said, adding that she came to her decision after "serious thought." Quinn cited a past Clarion-Ledger story that revealed that women in Jackson were being paid, on average, 73 percent of their male counterparts were for the same job.

As she said in her press release, Quinn stated she thinks Lumumba is the only candidate who will take swift action to correct what she called a "sad situation" in terms of women's pay.

After Banks and Evans pledged their support for Lumumba, Kenneth Stokes, speaking on his behalf and for his wife, who was in Chicago on Friday, took an opportunity to defend his candidate against some of the attack ads launched by his opponent in the May 21 runoff, Jonathan Lee.

The ad shows Chokwe Lumumba making a speech on Feb. 13, 2009, at what looks like a book store, where the candidate talked openly about the police, religion and the Democratic Party. The ad uses Lumumba's own words to lead viewers to believe that Lumumba doesn't like police, isn't a "Barack Obama Democrat" and doesn't believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

"(The accusations against Lumumba are) just nonsense coming out of evil people's mouths," Stokes said. "Chokwe has done more work with young people in this community, coaching basketball and mentoring them, showing them there's a better way to live. As Charles Tisdale would have said, Chokwe is a man among men. He's the type of leader who won't back down. This is Jack-town, and we need a man. I'll repeat it in case somebody didn't hear me - We need a man."

Lumumba has already said publicly that the clips from the video featured in the ad were taken out of context, that he has always supported the Jackson Police Department and that if voters watched the full video, they would see he wasn't implying what the ad infers.

Stokes finished his statement by saying he didn't intend to cuss, but that the Jackson Free Press "can kiss my ass!" He made this point with emphasis to a round of laughter from the assembled city leaders behind him. When asked after the press conference why he made the statement, Stokes said he said it because the JFP should have endorsed Lumumba, but did not elaborate more on the record. The Jackson Free Press has not endorsed a mayoral candidate for the runoff.

Lumumba concluded the …

It’s only been about five months since the inaugural Jackson Indie Music Week brought music-industry panels, podcasts and performers from every genre to about 12 venues throughout the capital city, but preparations are already underway to make 2017 Jackson Indie Music Week, which takes place Jan. 8 through Jan. 15, even larger in scale.

You want to know why people are scared of Chokwe Lumumba? Here's a good place to start.

The headline that appears on a story that the WAPT web site (www.wapt.com) reads, "Lumumba wants to remove Christopher Columbus from history books."

The headline is misleading at best.

I was at the debate last Friday night when Lumumba made the comment that we need to stop teaching our children that Christopher Columbus discovered American in 1492. "Columbus didn't discover America. America wasn't lost, Columbus was," Lumumba is correctly quoted in the story as saying.

What the story doesn't do is put the quote in context. The way it reads, you'd think Lumumba was asked about education and launched into a Christopher Columbus hate-a-thon. He was asked how we can keep students from dropping out of Jackson Public Schools, and he answered that maybe if our black youth was learning a little bit more about black culture and roots, they might be a little more interested in school and have a little bit more self-worth.

Besides, Lumumba is right about Columbus and the wording "Columbus discovered America." You can't be the first person to discover something that someone else has already found. Native Americans lived here before Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean; therefore, he cannot be the first man to "discover" America. Even if you don't believe that African people from the northern part of the continent crossed the Atlantic before Columbus—and some do—you can't deny that Christopher Columbus was not the first man to set foot in the Americas.

But the story on WAPT gets worse. It clumsily tries to explain Lumumba's beliefs, saying that he believes "people from northern Africa had been traveling to the North American continent years before Columbus did in 1492," and my personal favorite line of the story: "In fact, a Google search by 16 WAPT News shows the discovery of America is a widely disputed one."

Well, at least you did your homework.

Reached by phone Thursday afternoon, Lumumba said the headline and the idea that he wants to remove Columbus from the history books is "disappointing."

"I never said that. ... What I was really saying is that we need to add the people who came before ... . I just want the history books to accurately reflect that Columbus opened the Western Hemisphere to Europe," he said. "He did not discover it." Lumumba said he has used that line hundreds of times over the years, and said it was curious that it was just getting publicity now.

The bigger issue is that here we are, two days after Lumumba won the primary runoff, and this is the headline on local news stations. The divisiveness hit Twitter and Facebook as soon as the race was called. It hit comment sections on web sites of the JFP and Clarion-Ledger shortly thereafter. Now it is in a headline on WAPT. Where will it be in a month? A year?

For his part, Lumumba said he's …

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2012/aug/22/7816/

Since starting at the Jackson Free Press in May, I have been involved in producing 15 issues. For some of them I didn't do a lot, but others I can flip through and see the work I put in on most of the pages inside. It's very cool having a physical product for our efforts each week and see people carrying it around, but it's even better to be proud of what we're doing—not just printing words and images into a paper, but being a force that strives to make Jackson a better place.

And now, we're upping those efforts on the Internet with our new website, including these fancy blogs for staff members and anyone who wants to create one.

So what's my story? I was born in Utah to Oregonian parents, moved to Mississippi for high school and decided to stick around for college—I went to Millsaps and loved it. Then I went to graduate school in Boston and lived three blocks from Fenway Park for two years. Boston was big and wonderful and I loved so much of it, but it was difficult to feel connected to the community in a meaningful way. So when the time came to move back to Mississippi (this time, for my fiancé-now-husband's enrollment in medical school), I was actually excited.

I touched on a lot of the reasons why in my first editor's note, but when I went to the Sal & Mookie's/Parlor Market collaboration PM Pizza on Monday night, I was reminded all over again how great our city is becoming these days. To me, the event is a perfect example of why I'm glad to be back in Jackson. First of all, Liz Lancaster (who does marketing for Mangia Bene) is a great friend of mine and a fellow Millsaps alum, and I just love seeing young people (especially intelligent former Majors with open hearts and minds) become the movers and shakers in this town. Liz and everyone at both restaurants did an amazing job for the event.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2012/aug/22/7817/

Second, the community. Walking over from the JFP office, I immediately found the table of my people, and throughout the night several more people or groups came in and came over for hugs and happy greetings. Everywhere I looked I saw people I either knew well or recognized. I love living in a capital city that still manages to create those moments.

There was also an influx of players from the local kickball league, which my table immediately wanted to know more about and get involved with. A friend who is moving out of the country for a year said multiple times how great Jackson is and how jealous she was that all of us could do events like PM Pizza and local kickball leagues. This person is moving to Paris, y'all, and she couldn't stop talking about how great Jackson is.

Third, the food. Ohhh, the food. I was there …

Results from a poll conducted by the polling center at Jackson State University's Institute of Government suggest that public opinion regarding the quality of k-12 public schools locally and nation-wide is not too hot. Less than half of Mississippians, for example, said schools in the state are adequately funded, while almost 70 percent agreed better schools are generally those that are better funded.

Giving credence to the importance of successful public schools, 86 percent of Mississippians agreed that the better the education a state has, the better its economy will be.

A JSU press release stated:

The Polling Center at Jackson State University’s Institute of Government has issued its second local and national poll, this one focused on education.

A national survey of 908 adults, the poll on public education quality, programming, testing and funding was conducted Nov. 24 to Dec. 5, 2014.

Among its findings:

• Most Americans say public schools are significantly underfunded
• Majorities of Americans are willing to pay more taxes to better fund public schools
• A large percentage of Americans see public school buildings as “dangerously neglected”

In Mississippi, strong majorities surveyed (67.3%) believe that public schools are significantly (32.7%) or somewhat (34.5%) underfunded.

Moreover, in Mississippi:

• Less than half (45.9%) of Mississippians agreed that their own state adequately funds public schools;
• A majority is willing to pay somewhat more in taxes to better fund public schools – 63.7%;
• Only 27.4% agreed that public schools are funded equitably or evenly across jurisdictions;
• A strong majority (69.8%) agreed that good performing schools are generally better funded;
• A large majority (86.1%) agreed that the better public schools do, the better the economy does;
• A majority (63.3%) agreed that they seek out and support candidates who advocate for increased public school funding.

Mississippians surveyed provided only a passing grade for the quality of public education in the United States today. While 56.7% indicated the quality of public education was very good (6.7%) or good (49.8%), two-fifths, 39.7% suggested the quality was poor (33.7%) or very poor (6.0%).

Describing the quality of education in their own communities, Mississippians provided only a somewhat higher grade than they did for public schools nationally. More than one-half (58.9%) indicated the quality of education in their own community was very good (13.1%) or good (45.6%). Nearly one-third (37.6%) indicated poor (25.8%) or very poor (11.7%).

When schools are considered or declared “failing,” most Mississippians hold the local school districts and school administrators responsible – 66.2% and 55.2% respectively. Fewer hold the teachers and the state responsible – 48.0% and 34.5% respectively. Some hold the students and funding or funders responsible – 36.7% and 22.1% respectively.

Three-fifths of Mississippians polled (60.1%) indicated they would recommend graduation rates be used to measure school success. A similar percentage (69.8%) suggested student test scores be used as a metric. Fewer suggested teacher qualification and accomplishments or scholarships awarded – 41.6% and 20.6% respectively be used.

Educational infrastructure is in poor shape, the …

The word legacy is thrown around the sports world like the word love is thrown around for everything in everyday life. It seems that everyone has some sort of legacy to protect before they have even made a play at the professional level.

The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum announced the 2017 Hall of Fame class today. As usual, the class features some of the best athletes, coaches and people involved with sports in the state of Mississippi.

The 2017 class features arguably the greatest sports writer in Mississippi history, Rick Cleveland. The son of Ace Cleveland, who was a great sports writer in his own right, Rick Cleveland began writing in grade school and went on to become a seven-time Mississippi Sports Writer of the Year.

Cleveland covered sports in high school and college for the Hattiesburg American. After graduating from the University of Southern Mississippi, he went to work for The Clarion-Ledger until retiring in 2012.

Most recently, Cleveland was executive director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. He has recently returned to writing sports for Mississippi Today, and he has authored four books.

Joining Cleveland is one of the greatest football players in Mississippi history who never became one of the greatest football players ever. Marcus Dupree was a man among boys during his days at Philadelphia High School.

Dupree finished his high-school career with 5,284 yards and 87 touchdowns, which broke Herschel Walker’s national high-school record for touchdowns. He ended up choosing the University of Oklahoma over every other college in the nation.

While at Oklahoma, Dupree was Fiesta Bowl MVP and first-team All-Big Eight as a freshman. After butting heads with then-Sooners coach Barry Switzer, he decided to transfer to USM but left after being told he would have to sit out due to a NCAA transfer rule.

Dupree decided to leave college for the United States Football League and signed with the New Orleans Breakers.

The running back eventually found his way to the NFL, but injuries have robbed him of his physical gifts, and he never was the player he could have been. Dupree was the subject of ESPN’s “30 for 30” Series: “The Best That Never Was” and Willie Morris’ book “The Courting of Marcus Dupree.”

Jay Powell has been a winner at every level of baseball. He won a state championship at West Lauderdale High School, a starter and relief pitcher at Mississippi State University and won game seven of the 1997 World Series with the Florida Marlins.

When he left MSU, Powell was second on the school's all-time list with 17. The Baltimore Orioles drafted him in the first round of the 1993 MLB Draft, and he ended up playing for five different clubs during his 11-year career.

Since retiring from MLB, he returned home to become head coach at Jackson Academy. He has added a state championship as a coach to his collection.

The tiny town of Florence, Miss. produced the winningest baseball coach in SWAC history. Bob Braddy ended his career with an 824-546-3 record, as he guided Jackson State University from NAIA to Division I baseball.

Braddy won 12 SWAC championships, and …

Every Football Bowl Subdivision college wants to win its conference, but if the team can’t win the conference, it at least wants to go to a bowl game. Fans, for the most part, like bowl games, and coaches like the extra practice time and exposure.

The University of Southern Mississippi has the best shot of winning its division and conference out of the three FBS schools in Mississippi. Unfortunately, in their first loss, the Golden Eagles did as much to beat themselves as Troy University did to win.

If Southern Miss played against the Trojans like they did in their first two games of the season, USM would still be undefeated. The Golden Eagles still look like one of the better teams in Conference USA, though.

Meanwhile, this is a big weekend for the University of Mississippi with the University of Georgia coming to town. UM needs a quick turnaround after blowing a big lead to the University of Alabama last week, but the Rebels haven’t beaten the Georgia Bulldogs since 1996.

At 1-2, the Rebels still could fall to Georgia and get a chance to go to a bowl game. That isn’t a given with the schedule that UM has remaining.

After Georgia, UM hosts the University of Memphis, a team that upset the Rebels last season. Currently, the Tigers are undefeated and could be a tough game.

The Rebels have back-to-back road trips to No. 17-ranked University of Arkansas and No. 18-ranked Louisiana State University. The Razorbacks have looked tough this season, and the LSU Tigers might be dangerous if they figure out their quarterback situation.

UM hosts Auburn University and Georgia Southern University after its road games. Auburn still hasn’t found its offense, and Georgia Southern should be a win.

After that, another two-game road trip is up for the Rebels, with games against No. 10-ranked Texas A&M University and Vanderbilt University. The Aggies have started strong but are known for second-half-of-the-season swoons, while the Commodores boast a tough defense but lack a lot on offense.

The Rebels’ end the season at Mississippi State University. The Egg Bowl could see one or both squads needing a win to reach bowl eligibility.

This weekend will also put the season on the line for an MSU team with a 1-2 record. Better yet, the next five games might mean the season for the Bulldogs.

First up for the Bulldogs is a trip to the University of Massachusetts. Don’t sleep on the Minutemen. UMass trailed the University of Florida 10-7 at halftime recently before falling 24-7 to the mighty Gators.

The Minutemen trailed Boston College 13-7 at halftime before falling 26-7 to the Eagles. UMass put two halves together to beat Florida International University last weekend.

If the Bulldogs are sloppy or commit several turnovers, UMass could beat this team like the University of South Alabama did at the start of the season. The Bulldogs must …

There is plenty of high-school basketball talent in the state of Mississippi, but it doesn’t always receive attention. The major focus of Marc Rowe’s Adidas Crossroads of the South Basketball Camp is highlighting those players in our state that teams might overlook. The camp took place this past Saturday, Sept. 24, at Ridgeland High School and featured some great basketball talent from seventh through 12th grade.

“We have wide areas of our state that are really rural areas and a lot of small towns,” Rowe said. “Sometimes those kids get lost in the recruiting shuffle, or the press overlooks kids because they don’t have a chance at some exposure.”

Rowe was quick to note that a major part of college recruiting is the press that a player receives. Now, with websites such as Scout.com and Rivials.com, there are more opportunity to get noticed, but players still need a place to get that exposure.

“I traveled the country to see other camps like this one, but we didn’t have one for our state,” Rowe said. “That’s when I started this. I came back in 2008 to help kids across the state. We have kids from near Memphis from the north and all the way to the Gulf Coast from the south.”

This is the eighth camp that Rowe has held, and it might have been the biggest, as well. Rowe said 40 young athletes had preregistered, and another 60 athletes showed up that morning to take part in the camp.

The morning session consisted of tests for physical numbers and drills to help improve skills.

Players were tested in the vertical jump, shuttle speed, full-court dribble and burst. Each player did all four tests twice. Knowing these times can give upperclassmen numbers to show scouts and college coaches, and it gives younger athletes an idea of where they need to improve.

Watching the children go through the four tests, Rowe’s coaches did their best to make sure each child had the chance to put up the best numbers that he could achieve. That sometimes meant restarting a drill or a receiving a little coaching before the second run.

After the tests, coaches worked the athletes out in drills designed to help ball handling, shooting, defense, footwork and other areas.

Each coach worked his drill repeatedly until the athletes learned how to correctly perform the task. The coaches gave praise and pointers as needed as they ran the drills.

There was plenty to be gleaned from watching the drills. Nearly every young athlete struggled at following through on his shoot.

Most of the players short-armed their follow-through, which meant their shots hit the front of the rim. There were other follow-through problems, as well, such as the athletes not holding form until their shot hit the rim.

Mid-range jump shots stood out as a positive trait if you watched the drills for any length of time. Watching basketball at nearly …

October is the time of year when college football begins to show who is contenders and who are pretenders. This Saturday the SEC West will begin to find out who are contenders and who are pretenders, in earnest.

Mississippi State and Mississippi will have the focus of most of the college football world. The Bulldogs and Rebels could be dark horses for the SEC West title and a spot in the new college football playoff.

Texas A&M and Alabama (who are this week's visitors) are already favorites for both the SEC title and the playoff. The Aggies and Crimson Tide will be expected to win by most but there is no reason not to believe in the Rebels or Bulldogs.

There has been a ton of speculation about both these games. Article after article has been written and I'm sure I haven't read them all by this point.

Let me say one thing. Football is simple.

Don't get caught up in all the long drawn out breakdowns of each position. Football games are rarely won by one single player.

Both these games are going to be won or lost by the team that can control the line of scrimmage on the offensive and defensive lines, who doesn't turn the ball over and gets turnovers and being sound in the kicking game. It is that simple.

IF the Bulldogs and Rebels can control the defensive line of the Aggies and Tide on offense to give Dak Prescott and Bo Wallace time to throw and the running backs a holes to run, offense won't be a problem.

IF Ole Miss and MSU can get penetration with their defensive line against the Texas A&M and Alabama offensive line, they can disrupt the running game and get pressure on quarterbacks Kenny Hill and Blake Simmons.

One more thing on defense, both the Rebels and Bulldogs must tackle well. There is no doubt that the Aggies and Tide are going to get yards and points but don't make things easy by missing tackles and giving them free easy yards.

As much busted coverage as I have seen already this season, Ole Miss and MSU better make sure they know what coverage they are in each play. I have seen the Aggies and Tide score a few easy touchdowns this season by blown coverage.

This is nothing revolutionary. It is just sound football. Block and tackle. Cover receivers.

Mississippi State and Ole Miss have the offensive and defensive lines to control the line of scrimmage. Anyone who watched the LSU game can't deny that MSU can be the more physical team. I have no doubts the Rebels can do the same.

No turnover is really ever good but some are worse than others.

Here are what the Bulldogs and Rebels need to avoid, turnover wise. Don't turn the ball over for guaranteed points (with Alabama's field goal kicking problems, that means from the …

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2013/feb/15/10303/

Thursday, Feb. 14, I attended Jackson State student Corinthian Sanders' city council candidacy announcement on the JSU campus.

Sanders, a 20-year-old Jackson native, received permission to host his announcement from school administrators several days earlier. The fact that a students needs permission to hold such an announcement is a troubling indicator of where our Constitutional rights stand here in the United States. Apparently, the leaders at our institutions of higher learning believe they have the right to grant or deny students their 1st Amendment rights to free speech and free assembly.

Just for review the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution read as follows: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Now, the 1st Amendment doesn't expressly prohibit university officials from creating policies that abridges the freedom of speech or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, but administrators at public universities are agents of the government. Do these agents have rights to abridge freedoms that even our own Congress doesn't?

I'm not picking on Jackson State here. When I attended Ole Miss, and I assume it is still the case, there were designated "free speech zones" where students could assemble and speak as freely as they pleased. The reasoning for these designations, the university said, was to prevent free speech where it might infringe on the educational process taking place in classrooms around campus.

Again, I must have overlooked the part of the 1st Amendment that states: "unless there's a good reason to abridge such rights, such as public education taking place nearby." Besides, isn't free speech a vital part of the educational process?

Unfortunately for Corinthian Sanders, the questionable treatment of his 1st Amendment rights didn't stop with needing permission.

Sanders had a podium and speakers set up in front of Ayers Hall when I arrived about noon Thursday. Shortly after, he began playing music through the speakers. The music continued for about 30 minutes, after which another City Council candidate, mayoral candidate Chokwe Lumumba and Sander's aunt spoke briefly.

Sanders took the podium about 12:45 for his announcement. Moments after he began to speak to the crowd of 15 to 20 people, three campus police officers stopped him. Campus patrolman Troy Nix, decked out in uniform and Dolce Gabbana sunglasses, pulled Sanders to the side, in the middle of his speech, and asked if he had permission to hold his announcement there.

Not only did Sanders have to get permission to express the most basic of human rights protected by our Constitution, he had to prove that he had that permission to a police officer, because the police officer was apparently unable to confirm the permission himself. Though campus police had more than 40 minutes to check on the status …