vol. 13

no. 50

FREE

September 19 - 25, 2015 daily news at jfp.ms

RUNOFF CANDIDATESON THE ISSUESNave pp 10-12

CELEBRATEMISSISSIPPI LITERATURESmith, pp 25

RUNOFF RUNOFF

JFP 2015 College

Football Preview

THE BIG FOUR,THE SMALLS, & MOREFlynn, pp 16-22

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The School With A Difference, Giving Wings To The Mind TM

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JACKSONIAN Nigel KNott

Last year, Nigel Knott got bored. The Germantown High School cor-nerback seldom had a pass thrown his way after the first quarter in the team’s

season-opener against Northeast Jones High School. He intercepted a floating spiral in those opening minutes and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown in a blink of an eye. Opposing teams conceded. For the rest of the year, they directed their passing plays toward whichever side of the field didn’t feature No. 13. By season’s end, the only people targeting Knott with any regularity were college coaches. His breakout 2014 season (112 tackles, four interceptions, one sack, and one blocked punt and field goal) affords him the option to play at any collegiate football program he wants. He is No. 39 on the ESPN 300 2016 class list, the No. 2 high-school football player in Mississippi and No. 4 cornerback in the na-tion. Knott has to make his decision by Feb. 5, 2016, National Signing Day. “It’s very exhausting, the recruiting pro-cess,” Knott says. He expresses not having a clear favorite. “I want to be 100 percent with my decision.” In June, the four-star recruit narrowed his college search to 10 eligible schools, with the two big in-state suitors, University of Missis-sippi and Mississippi State University, in the mix. Family links Knott to both the Rebels and Bulldogs. Knott’s father, David Knott, captained the UM team as a safety in the early

1990s. Knott’s older sister, Deja Givens, runs track at Mississippi State. While many Missis-sippians don’t hesitate to suggest where Knott should play, his father remains objective. “Most people suspect he pushes me to Ole Miss, but he just tells me to go where I feel comfortable,” the son says. “He says I’m going to have to be at my choice for four years, and he won’t be there with me.” Knott also has a close tie to the league he dreams of one day joining—the NFL. Chris Givens, his half-brother, plays wide receiver for the St. Louis Rams. Both players wear No. 13. Beginning his senior year, shouts of “Dandy” and “D-1” follow Knott in the hall-ways. His favorite teacher is the head football coach’s wife, Sheri Shramek, whose art class-room doors are always open to him. Before his Q-rating at Germantown ex-ploded, Knott was a struggling sophomore looking to quit football. For two straight sea-sons, persistent stress tears hampered his play and frustration was settling in. Knott approached then-defensive back coach Patrick Austin after practice one day to say it wasn’t working out. “I just wanted to get away. I was so stressed out,” he says. Austin talked Knott out of quitting, and the lanky young cornerback took on a new perspective. “Things went in a very different direction after that,” he says. —Brian Gordon

August 19 - 25, 2015 | VoL. 13 No. 50

4 ............................. EdItOr’S NOtE

6 ............................................ tAlKS

14 ................................ EdItOrIAl

15 .................................... OpINION

16 ............................ COvEr StOry

24 ......................................... fOOd

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

27 ....................................... 8 dAyS

28 ...................................... EvENtS

30 ....................................... muSIC

30 ....................... muSIC lIStINgS

31 .................................... puzzlES

33 ....................................... AStrO

cover photo of Dak Prescottby MSU Athletics Media Relationsc o n t e n t s

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9 Not a Racial Thing?The attorney for Kevin Herrington, the white Stonewall police officer at the center of the maelstrom over the death of African American horse trainer Jonathan Sanders, denies that the incident was racially motivated.

24 Mobile Food FrenzyThe Jackson Free Press explores the different food options at local mobile-food vendors.

30 Finding K. West“It’s not all about me. I want to help other local artists make a name for themselves, especially the females. Rap is such a male-dominated genre from the bottom level to the top, and I think it’s important to show that Jackson women can really bring a lot to the hip-hop genre.” —K. West, “Who Is K. West?”

4

I’m still struck by the image of a young Josh Robinson living in a car. Josh, of course, was a star running back last year at my alma mater, Mississippi

State, and he’s now an Indianapolis Colt. We can’t know if he’s going to be an NFL star, but he did have a good showing against Philadelphia in preseason play. What we do know is that the young man had gumption, passion, determina-tion to succeed, a stellar work ethic and the kind of grit that keeps you in the game when things get rough. As the news stories piled up during State’s storybook season, it was clear that, like Dak Prescott, Robinson had been through it during their childhoods. Sleeping in a car is hitting rock bottom, but he didn’t stay there. He found that inner strength to make something great of himself. And even as he started playing football, he wasn’t considered the top shelf of high-school football players and, like Prescott, wasn’t re-cruited by the richer schools. He had to claw his way to success like so many of us. And when we’re from the South, especially from less-privileged and under-educated families, we don’t always believe we can get there and hang with the people who have always be-lieved the top is their rightful place. I think about this ingrained self-defeat a lot. I came back to Mississippi in 2001 after 18 years away. Even as I had earned a master’s in the Ivy League, I had to work continually to overcome self-doubt that caused me to give up too soon more often than I like to admit, and had kept me from doing the hard work of improving my own work habits so that I could actually take advantage of my natural writing ability. This came home to me when I was at Columbia when professors challenged me to stop being lazy in both my writing and my habits. I was almost 40—and already in the middle of a journalism career—but it was the toughness and directness about my

weaknesses (time management, saving time to rewrite, seeking feedback, and too many clichés and passives) that helped turn me into a better writer and, ultimately, a teacher. In graduate school, I finally had the kinds of tough-love professors and editors who didn’t let me get away with being good-enough. When I was in Florida to report for the Village Voice during the hanging-chad standoff of 2000, I filed a story filled with wonderful descriptions of Florida and a few quotes from students.

“Enough of them palm fronds flap-ping!” my editor fired back, or something to that effect. “Go find me a story.” So I sniffed out white supremacists protesting the vote recount while waving Confederate flags and hung out with them, as some of the well-heeled Republicans drove by and flashed them secret thumbs-up. That turned out to be a pretty decent story. Sometimes we need a swift (verbal) kick to tell us we need to step up our game. Whether it’s football or media, we have to work hard, really hard to be good. Let me be blunt: At Columbia, I had to deal with the stereotype of what people expect a Mississippian to be like—which becomes a self-perpetuating prophecy when we believe those perceptions and then don’t bother to challenge ourselves to do the work to be great. At some point I had to choose: Would I allow my roots in a less-than-

excellent culture to turn me into another defensive southerner who stubbornly resists challenge and growth? Or would I embrace every challenge, even the assumptions being a white woman from Mississippi elicits, and keep driving myself into the storm? That’s when I grew my Teflon skin. Sometimes I would come home from gradu-ate school and cry, as Todd well knows, because someone strongly challenged my writing or my habits, and I even ended up going to an art therapist to help me through my self-doubt so I could stay the course. Through it all, as I challenged my own comfort zones and started facing my weak-nesses, I got tougher, growing the ability to withstand criticism and embrace it if it helped me, and shake it off when it was de-signed to hold me back. The irony was that, just as I was getting better at this and developing good national media connections and opportunities, I de-cided I needed to bring it home. It was as if I opened a vein of desire to help other young people in my home state figure out that the way to fight off our inferiority fears was by just going back in time and again. (It’s also when I embraced my mantra: Excellence is always the best response.) That is, even if we don’t grow up with high standards modeled for us, we can still make it happen ourselves. It’s not easy, folks. I often wish I’d had more teachers, mentors and professors here in Mississippi who held me to higher stan-dards sooner, who would challenge me to buck up and tell me I was screwing up; who taught focus, time management and a stellar work ethic. I, frankly, needed to hear from more adults who didn’t expect too little from me because I was a Mississippian from poor means and illiterate parents. And the ones who did believe I could do more helped put me on the path that would change my life. These days, people talk a lot about “soft skills” missing in many young workers, how

there is a softness and a lack of grit that it takes to stick with something when it’s tough or when you’re criticized so you can get bet-ter. Truth is, many older people don’t have these skills, either, because we were never taught or even barked at enough by a coach like Dan Mullen who believes in a young (or older) person’s capacity for greatness. We all need people expecting great-ness from us, no matter how old we are or what stage we are in our careers. When we get complacent, we become unhappy and maybe a bit lazy. And when that happens, our communities suffer because we’re not working hard enough to take them to the next level or believing we can get there. This week, a former intern wrote me a letter thanking me for expecting so much of him, and teaching him to embrace systems as a way to achieve his best work. “Before working with you,” he wrote, “I’ve never had someone hold me to a deadline and to such a high standard. ... I have often been able to get away with much less than my best work.” He wrote that my “no-nonsense approach” helped him “begin approaches to creativity and work I had previously shunned” because he could “rely on people to let me get away with my less than best.” I know how he feels. I needed people willing to believe in me enough to be honest with me about my work habits, and I still do from time to time. Young people like Josh Robinson got those jolts of high expectations and no-nonsense training earlier than many of us—football coaches don’t have time to sugarcoat squat—and that means he is on the road to greatness, with his homelessness a memory that helped build his character. We can all choose to travel that higher road, no matter our age. We just must be willing to face what’s holding us back and decide to conquer it head-on. We may be a little bruised before we get to the other side, but that’s where excellence lives.

CONTRIBUTORS

Swift Kicks in the Game of Life

Sports writer Bryan Flynn is a husband and stay-at-home father to a baby girl. He con-stantly wonders, “If it didn’t happen on ESPN or Disney Jr., did it really happen?” He wrote the cover package.

News Editor R.L. Nave is a native Missourian who roots for St. Louis (and the Mizzou Tigers)—and for Jackson. Send him news tips at rlnave@jacksonfreepress.com or call him at 601-362-6121 ext. 12. He wrote a news story.

News Reporter Arielle Dreher is working on finding some new hobbies. Maybe she should try spelunking. Email her story ideas at arielle@jack-sonfreepress.com. She wrote a news story.

Former editorial intern Emer-ald Alexis Ware is a senior at the University of Southern Mississippi. She has raging wanderlust and an obsession with Pinterest and all things 20-something. She wrote a food story.

Music Editor Micah Smith is an amateur virologist. He hasn’t cured any diseases, but it’s the thought that counts. He’s pretty good at understating. That was just one example. He wrote a books story.

Freelance writer Greg Pigott teaches business education at Velma Jackson High School, where he also coaches foot-ball, baseball and archery. He’s a fan of all types of music. He wrote a music story.

Editorial Assistant Maya Miller is a senior psychology major at Jackson State University. She’s learned that adulthood means choosing her own bedtime, and she’s not equipped for that responsibility just yet. She’s rockin’ our social media.

Ad Designer Zilpha Young believes in love after love. After love. Her work computer has eyes attached to it, just in case you wondered if her work com-puter had human features. She designed many ads.

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

We all need people expecting

greatness from us.

Bryan Flynn

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Evicted from the shotgun house they were living in, Sharon and her three daughters had to hit the road earlier this year, living mainly out of a car until she

was able to access funding through Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS/HIV, also called HOPWA. Sharon, who asked to keep her last

name anonymous, has been HIV-positive for 25 years. She had used HOPWA services before, but in the past two years, she thought the services had disappeared. In July, how-ever, she went back to the clinic she used to receive help from, and they referred her to a nondescript office in the Jackson Medical Mall, where a team takes applications for

housing services for people with HIV/AIDS for five counties. Individuals with HIV/AIDS and their families qualify for funding through the pro-gram. Sharon said she was desperate, and now has time to get back on her feet again thanks to the program. HOPWA funding allowed her family to relocate to a larger

house, helping them pay the deposit and the first month’s rent while Sharon looks for a job. She had time to enroll her daughters in schools and help one of them find a job. “This HOPWA agency was more than welcoming,” Sharon said. “They helped us, and they did everything I needed.” Sharon, who will turn 49 years old next

week, said the funding has given her life a new start, helping her transition back to the working world. Sharon said the HIV virus can be debilitating, sometimes hindering her from doing work that physically strains her. The HOPWA funding came at just the right time to give her time to find a job that will work for her and enable her to pay the rent and bills for her family’s new home. “I am thankful and grateful (for the HOPWA staff), and I owe it to them and other people in my situation to share my story,” she said. ‘They Get Treated Differently’ The Jackson-based HOPWA program, which reopened in mid-April, has a goal of helping 720 people. Its coordinators are hur-rying because the contract is scheduled to dry up in September, and they need to reach enough people by then to make a competi-tive and convincing case for renewal. Devin Foster is a member of that team. The main challenge for the team, the intake specialist says, is finding a balance between the need to market the program and com-plying with federal laws that require privacy of clients. To counterbalance this challenge, Foster goes out to as many community events and gatherings as possible. He leaves flyers in public places and speaks out about HOPWA program at events like Fondren’s First Thursday or community forums on Friday at Koinonia Coffee House. Many of his clients don’t have a person-al means of transportation. “We are going to start going to them,” Foster said. “We

The Jackson Zoo is finally on firm financial footing. Can it stay there? p 13

Wednesday, August 12 Four lesbian couples file a federal lawsuit against Mississippi, seeking to overturn its law banning gay couples from adopting or taking children into foster care. Thursday, August 13 The Colorado Court of Appeals rules that a cake shop cannot refuse ser-vice to a gay couple because of who they are in a discrimination case brought by a same-sex couple against the Masterpiece Cakeshop, whose owner refused to sell them a cake for their wedding recep-tion. … Rowan County, Ky., Clerk Kim Davis turns away gay couples seeking marriage licenses in defiance of a federal judge’s order that said deeply held Chris-tian beliefs don’t excuse officials from fol-lowing the law. Friday, August 14 U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry travels to Havana, Cuba, to speak at the raising of the American flag over the newly opened U.S. Embassy. … North Korea establishes a new time zone to mark the anniversary of the Korean Pen-insula’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II. Saturday, August 15 The mayors of Honolulu, Hawaii, and Nagaoka, Japan, join the com-mander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in laying wreaths at Pearl Harbor on the 70th an-niversary of the end of World War II. Sunday, August 16 Donald Trump’s campaign web-site posts his immigration platform, which includes mandatory deporta-tion of all “criminal aliens,” tripling the force of immigration officers by eliminating tax credit payments to im-migrant families residing illegally in the U.S., and making Mexico pay for a permanent border wall. Monday, August 17 The federal government gives Royal Dutch Shell the final permit it needs to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean off Alas-ka’s northwest coast. Tuesday, August 18 Two women pass the Army’s Rang-er School, becoming the first females to complete the program and earn the right to wear Ranger tabs on their uniforms. Get breaking news at jfpdaily.com.

Finding Homes for People With HIV/AIDSby Arielle Dreher

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“If you are an LGBT person living in rural America either by birth or by choice, you are inherently tough —you have to be.” — Ashlee Davis, the director of the USDA’s National LGBT Rural Summit Series, on grit.

Devin Foster, an intake specialist at HOPWA, makes sure clients feel comfortable and at ease when they come to the office.

University of Mississippi: Straight OUtta

PaStel POlOSMississippi State:

Never OUttaCOwbell

JSU: Straight OUtta

weSt JaCkSON — aNd iNtO dOwNtOwN

Southern Miss: Straight OUtta

the NaSt y bUNChMillsaps:

Straight OUttaMiShaPS

delta State: Straight OUtta

FightiNg OkraWith the premier of “Straight Outta Compton” last week, Beats by Dre launched the “Straight Outta

Somewhere” meme generator. In it, people can add their own word to the generator and a photo for the background. Here are some that we came up with for

Mississippi college football teams.

StraightOUtta FO O tball

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are going to go to them and do intake with them at their houses.” Foster said HOPWA also provides bus passes to clients so they can easily access the intake center, their jobs and new residences. Hinds County has the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases in Mississippi, so num-bers back the program’s importance in the Jackson area. HOPWA serves individuals, families and couples (in domestic partner-ships) if one member has AIDS. People with HIV/AIDS are at risk of losing housing or being kicked out of their homes because of the stigma attached to the illness, said Charles Perry, the director of the PERICO Institute, who drafted the HOP-WA proposal last year. “Once people find out folks have HIV/AIDS, they get treated differently,” he said. “So what we are finding is that jobs get threatened, housing accommodations get threatened particularly if they are renting and not owning.” Prejudice, Then Homelessness The Jackson HOPWA has helped 161 families or individuals since mid-April as of press time.

So far, 44 percent of clients have re-ceived short-term rent, mortgage or utility assistance. Other clients have qualified for permanent housing placement or short-term supported housing. Supportive services in-cluding counseling, financial counseling and job searches are available to HOPWA clients free of charge. People with HIV/AIDS can access funds specifically targeted to them in two ways in the state, depending on the county. The Jackson HOPWA serves Hinds, Rankin, Madison, Simpson and Copiah counties. The Jackson Medical Mall runs the Jackson-Metro HOPWA, funded by a HUD grant awarded to the City of Jackson. The AIDS Services Coalition in Hattiesburg runs HOPWA in the rest of Mississippi counties, with the exception of a few northern counties administered through a Memphis program. HOPWA administrators want to step in when prejudice leads to homelessness. The program is a part of the health-strength-ening collaborative in the Jackson Medical Mall, and last year, the Mississippi Health Department had served as the middleman with HUD funding, selecting the mall for the Jackson area HOPWA administrator.

On Sept. 30, the contract with the health department ends, and the City of Jackson will control HOPWA’s future. “The City will re-bid this particular project when a new fiscal year comes about and (when) our project contract ends Sep-tember 30,” Perry said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen after that.” Nicholas Mosca, the director of the STD/HIV office at the Mississippi State Department of Health, said the department used to control the state’s U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development mon-ey (which is separate from Jackson’s HUD grant) and had to bring in a consulting ser-vice to help with the housing services. Gov. Phil Bryant changed that, how-ever, so now the Mississippi Home Corps receives the state’s HUD money, allotting those funds to the AIDS Services Coalition. Mosca said the transition of Jackson’s HOPWA program to the Medical Mall took time because of the proposal process, but the Department of Health did keep a worker on the project to assist people during the tran-sition, until the contract was signed in Oc-tober. He said that the department will still want to make sure people who live with HIV

get the services they need, and will continue to refer them to HOPWA. The gap in services from last October until the clinic’s opening in April could be considered what Perry called a “desert,” or a period without service, for HOPWA clients. He is worried that depending on how the re-bidding goes, another gap in services might occur. Any gap in services is detrimental because each client has a social worker and health worker assigned to him or her throughout the whole process. Service avail-ability is key, Perry said. “When there are no services, people go homeless,” he said. In order to make a convincing case for a successful re-bidding this fall, the team at HOPWA is hoping to serve 51 percent of their quota by the end of September to prove the program’s success and importance in the community. The HOPWA office sends applications to the Jackson Medical Mall administration to review and decide what type of housing a client receives. For information about the Jackson-Metro HOPWA, call 769-251-1408.

Ashlee Davis wants members of the LGBT community to know that the U.S. Department of Ag-riculture will not discriminate

against them. Davis, who runs the National LGBT Rural Summit Series, is trying to help get the word out that “gender identity” and “gender expression” are now part of all the depart-ment’s anti-discriminatory policies. The USDA’s programs are typically marketed to farmers or agricultural workers in rural America but are available to everyone. “We are trying very hard to change people’s mindsets,” Davis said. “When (people) hear ‘rural America,’ I don’t want them to think that means one type of person: a white, rich male.” To communicate the change, Da-vis coordinated the LGBT Rural Summit event Friday at Millsaps College to facilitate conversations for the LGBT community in Mississippi and to provide awareness of grants available to supportive organizations and community members. The funds can help with a variety of needs, from affordable

housing to business grants that can be used to fund facilities and programs simply because they are in a rural or underdeveloped part of the country. Mississippi qualifies as rural America, so businesses and groups can apply for the communitygrants. Indi-viduals can also apply for affordable housing through USDA programs. Davis said she is working to make space for everybody, so anyone who applies for housing or grants through the USDA is not discrimi-nated against. Previously, Davis said, a member of the LGBT community might feel stigmatized by perceptions about the department and likely not know to apply for housing or busi-ness grants. “Our entire country was rural at one point, and somehow, some way we found a way to make space for ev-erybody,” she said. “We’re going to do it in rural America, too.” In Mississippi, progress for the LGBT community has been slow compared

to the rest of the nation, and last week, the Campaign for Southern Equality chal-

lenged the same-sex couple adoption ban—the only one of its kind in the nation—in federal court. The case, Campaign for Southern Equality v. Mississippi De-partment of Human Services, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on behalf of four same-sex couples. Roberta Kaplan is serving as the lead counsel; she also represented the plaintiffs in the Campaign for South-ern Equality v. Bryant case that began the fight to legalize same-sex marriage in Mississippi before the Supreme Court stepped in, and successfully ar-gued to overturn the Defense of Mar-riage Act before the U.S. Supreme Court last year. Perhaps surprisingly, Missis-sippi has the highest proportion of same-sex couples raising biological, adopted or stepchildren, a 2013

more USDA, see page 9

USDA Promotes Gender-Inclusivity in Jacksonby Arielle Dreher

Ashlee Davis, the director of the LGBT Rural Summit program in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said that all of USDA’s policies now include the terms “gender identity” and “gender expression” in order to not exclude the LGBT community from their services.

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“I’m looking at political leadership that reminds me of a lot of people in the 60s that were occupying government positions.” — Samuel Begley, Democratic candidate for Mississippi House District 70, on Mississippi’s governing class.

“Most people suspect he pushes me to Ole Miss, but he just tells me to go where I feel comfortable. He says I’m going to have to be at my choice for four years, and he won’t be there with me.” — Nigel Knott, Germantown High School junior cornerback, on parental influence.

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www.electsambegley.com

I have shown from my work as a lawyer on public works and economic development projects that I can build bridges.

neighborhood groups and business leaders togetherparty or zip code.My top priority will be to convince

powerful leaders from the suburbs that investing in Jackson is the right choice.

- Sam Begley

Investing in our Capital City helps the entire state.

ELECT DEMOCRAT SAM BEGLEYState Representative District 70VOTE TUESDAY, AUGUST 25TH

www.electsambegley.com

SUMMONSIN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

THE VIRGIN ISLANDS DIVISION OF ST. THOMAS AND ST. JOHN

Captain’s Command at Bluebeard’s Beach Club Owner’s Association, Inc.Plaintiff

vs.Charles Banyard.

Defendant

CIVIL NO. ST-14-CV-559

TO: Charles Banyard4209 Lakeland Drive, #247, Flowood, MS 39232

Within the time limited by law (see below) you are hereby required to appear before this Court and answer to a complaint filed against you in this action.

In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment by default will be taken against you as demanded in the complaint; judgment will be entered against

you for DEBT AND FORECLOSURE OF LIEN.

Witness my hand and the Seal of this Court this 12th day of January, 2015.

ESTRELLA H. GEORGEActing Clerk of the Court

Carol A. Rich, Esq.DUDLEY RICH DAVIS LLP

Attorney for Plaintiff5194 Dronningens Gade, Suite 3 (at Hibiscus Alley)

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 00802Tel: 340-776-7474Fax: 340-776-8044

crich@dudleylaw.com

NOTE: If served by publication the defendant is required to file his/her answer or other defense with the Clerk of this Court, and to serve a copy thereof upon the attorney for the plaintiff within thirty (30) days after the completion of the period of publication or personal service outside of the jurisdiction.

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TALK | state

Bill Ready Jr., the attorney for the white police officer who killed a black man after a traffic stop in July, has nearly four decades of experience handling

civil-rights cases. His father, William Ready Sr., is also a lawyer and has worked on civil-rights cases for 50 years. For these reasons, many in eastern Mississippi were surprised that the junior Ready took on the defense of Kevin Her-rington, the Stonewall police officer who stopped 39-year-old Jonathan Sanders on a dark road on July 8, with Sanders then dying from asphyxiation. The events that preceded Sanders’ death are disputed. At-torneys for Sanders’ family believe the in-cident was racially motivated; Herrington’s lawyer says that’s nonsense. “I’ve been involved in cases where I can definitely tell you, ‘Oh, hell yeah, something was racially motivated,’ or (that) it was motivated because a person was ho-mosexual. Oh yeah, I’ve been involved in those. This incident, I am convinced, was not racially motivated.” Online news organizations have widely reported claims from Sanders’ family attor-neys Chokwe A. Lumumba and C.J. Law-rence that Herrington used a racial slur when he encountered Sanders at the CEFCO gas station in Stonewall (an accusation the Jack-son Free Press initially declined to report without further evidence, but has since be-come the central theme in the case).

“Everybody seems to be wanting to make it a race issue between a white police officer and a black man,” Ready said, “but what makes it a race issue? Because it’s a black man and white man? I don’t see any facts or issues in this situation that makes it racial.” Lumumba and Lawrence gave their ac-count of events—which they say is based on statements from witnesses at the CEFCO gas station as well as a home near where the alter-cation between Sanders and Herrington—to the Jackson Free Press on July 13. In their retelling, Sanders was out exer-cising one of his horses when he told Her-rington to stop harassing a white man at the gas station. Attorneys said the man told them that Herrington suspended his stop and referred to Sanders as a “n*gger.” Ready said Herrington followed Sand-ers because he had reasonable suspicion that Sanders was performing a drug transaction. Ready declined to give a step-by-step re-counting of the events of that evening from his client’s point of view. Michael Street, Stonewall’s chief of po-lice, also said he couldn’t say much about the evidence in the case because of the ongoing probe by the Mississippi Bureau of Investi-gation. However, Street did say that Her-rington, a part-time police officer for Stone-wall, would have had about six months of training. Street explained that in the absence of extenuating circumstances, it is an officer’s duty to detain the suspect if there is probable

cause to suspect a crime is taking place. Ready also disagrees with the Sanders family’s attorneys about what happened when Herrington caught up with Sand-ers just off U.S. 513 near an artesian well where he let his horses drink. Ready said his client stopped Sanders and searched him for drugs. Ready says Herrington found “drugs”

and that Sanders started to run, presumably because he was already on parole. In 2003, Sanders was convicted of selling cocaine. Public records show that he was discharged from probation for that con-viction in May 2007. Sanders was arrested again in April of this year, charged with co-caine possession, and was fighting the seizure of his 2002 GMC Yukon and $2,450 in cash, court records show. Herrington dragged the running Sand-ers to the ground and then the men wrestled, Ready said. The Sanders family attorneys told the JFP that witnesses believe Sanders was running to catch his horse, which Her-rington’s blue lights startled. They say Her-rington, whose wife, Kasey, was riding in his squad car with him, caught Sanders by the headlamp around his neck and put him in a headlock for 20 minutes. Sanders’ family was notified of his death the following day; no official autopsy has been released. Also citing the MBI probe, Ready said he could not provide specifics about the evidence that exists in the case, but he stands firm that “race had nothing to do with” the death of Jonathan Sanders. “This unfortunate situation could have happened no matter if it was male or female, black, white, pink or purple,” he said. “There was a terrible result where a man died.” Comment and see all of the JFP’s stories on the Jonathan Sanders case at www.jfp.ms/stonewall.

Officer’s Lawyer: Sanders Death Not Racialby Zachary Oren Smith

Jonathan Sanders (right) died in early August after a white police officer named Kevin Herrington stopped him. Herrington’s attorney maintains that his client, who is white, was not motivated by racial hatred.

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Williams Institute study found. Despite progress in some law, discrimi-nation against the LGBT community, es-pecially in the workplace, is still legal. Some federal departments have taken the lead in changing policy language to set an example for other employers. Davis said it’s also about changing the mindset of organizations that might not consider USDA funds. “When they do their strategic outreach, we want them to think about our LGBT or-ganizations,” she said. The USDA is not only editing its poli-cies but also training its personnel. Almost 20 states have gone through training that focuses on not discriminating against people regardless of their gender identification, and Davis said Mississippi’s USDA staff likely will go through training this October. Assisted programs, like SNAP benefits (the supple-mental nutrition program, formally called

food stamps) are not included in the new anti-discriminatory policies, but Davis said the USDA intends to set an example, hop-ing the effects will trickle down to affiliated agencies. Davis said it is important to reach out to individual states, mainly by thinking about how services can help the people on the ground. “The idea is that after we leave, they can go in, sit down and fill out paperwork for a community facilities grant (through USDA),” Davis said. Mississippi Leaders Hattiesburg couple Sarah and LB Bell founded the Spectrum Center, the first LGBT community center in Mississippi, in their hometown. Their original and still long-term plan for the center is to make it a temporary housing shelter for LGBT teens. Currently, the building is functioning as a community center with movie nights, group meetings and HIV testing once a month. Within the month, LB said, they hope to function as a drop-in shelter with daytime hours. The hope is that the Spectrum Center

brings the LGBT community together, with buy-in from the community. “There is still a lot of segregation in the LGBT community, not just in the L, the B, the G and the T, but there’s also segregation based upon race, sex and class,” LB said at the summit. The couple plans to use their planned Pride Celebration on the weekend of Oct. 11 to commemorate National Coming Out Day, and by then, they hope to have a fully operational shelter. While the USDA is setting a positive example in stopping workplace discrimina-tion, there is no federal law that prevents businesses from discriminating against mem-bers of the LGBT community. LGBT advocacy groups have taken dif-ferent approaches to countering discrimina-tion. The Campaign for Southern Equality uses its legal arm to change the law with law-suits. Valencia Robinson’s organization, Mis-sissippi in Action, focuses on policy reform. “We are our own worst enemy,” she said. “We don’t know who will open up and talk to us because we’ve already shut down.”

Robinson said the LGBT community is “all over the place” and agreed with LB that groups are separated or just nonexistent in the first place. Daniel Ball, faith organizer at the Hu-man Rights Campaign, is working to create a council of church worship leaders to dis-cuss the church’s role in being inclusive of the LGBT community. “We have to help people understand the way the big picture affects them,” Ball said. “This issue affects (everyone) whether they are heterosexual or homosexual.” Davis said her Rural Summit Series is a way to let the LGBT community aware of resources that the USDA has to offer. “If you are an LGBT person living in rural America either by birth or by choice, you are inherently tough—you have to be,” Davis said. But just because you’re tough, she add-ed, doesn’t mean it needs to be a way of life, and that’s where the USDA grants and hous-ing programs can come in handy. For more information about housing pro-grams or grants visit www.rurdev.usda.gov.

USDA from page 7

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DISH | runoff

Eighteen months ago, Darrel Mc-Quirter, the former fire chief of the City of Clinton, beat a candidate backed by U.S. Rep. Bennie Thomp-

son and who also had the endorsement of then-Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, to win a seat on the Hinds County Board of Supervisors. As soon as he joined the board, his colleagues voted him president of the board, and he and a new majority coali-tion set about what they hoped would be a change to business as usual at the county. “Even though we represent our indi-vidual districts, the body as a whole is suffer-ing,” McQuirter said. “My concern was that Hinds County as a whole was hemorrhag-ing. Until you figure out how to stop that, things will get worse.” On Aug. 4, in the Democratic primary election, McQuirter finished in first place among three candidates and won 44 per-cent of votes; he faces business consultant and community activist David Archie in a runoff on Aug. 25 for District 2 supervisor. In the meantime, he’s also in the middle of tense budget hearings as the county crafts a spending plan for the coming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. He recently met the Jackson Free Press for an early breakfast at a Clinton restaurant to dish on running for reelection while shap-ing the county’s budget.

What are your priorities—for your campaign as well as the county? As far as the campaign is concerned, we’re running hard. We’ve got another race to run. We expect to be victorious in it, but right now we’re also having to deal with budget hearings. As always, the requests far exceed the county’s abilities to cover all the requests. So we’re in the process of scal-ing those down to bring them into budget. We’re looking at a $52- to $53-million bud-get, slightly below what we did last year. We have well over $8 million in requests beyond that $53 million that we’re going to have to narrow down. Our priorities would be to continue to stabilize the detention centers. The next priority would be the emergency-communi-cations system we’ve been working on that is still under state of emergency. We’re also making sure we’re cutting the budget by get-ting rid of some nonessential services and programs, perhaps.

Which programs are being looked at for cuts? It may be something within a depart-ment. If we’ve had some people who have

retired or some vacancies, it’s not guaranteed that we’ll fill those vacancies. As far as cut-ting a department, laying off or furloughs, that’s not something we feel is going to hap-pen within our budget or within this fiscal time period.

Is the county projecting a deficit? We just have to make some tough deci-sions and cut some of the requests. There are few things that we’re going to have to fund. We’re still operating under a court decree with the Henley-Young juvenile detention center. And now we’ve got a U.S. Depart-ment of Justice report that’s more than likely

going to result in an additional court decree. We’re hoping to have discussions with the Department of Justice to work out an agree-ment instead of just being handed one.

Does the changeover in sheriff affect the conversations? We don’t know who the sheriff is going to be. Whoever’s coming in has to understand that there’s a new partner at the table and that partner is the (U.S.) Department of Justice.

Looking back over your tenure, what would you count as accomplishments? Some things I wish I had done bet-ter would be to communicate what the responsibility of the Hinds County Board of Supervisors consists of. I went in, on my part, to bring stability to the board. The second (accomplishment) was to work with the sheriff and law enforcement to address

crime issues. We’ve implemented numerous preventive things to help speed up the judi-cial process.

One of the critical themes that emerged in your first campaign has re-emerged, that you’re too Clinton-centric, too close to Mayor Phil Fisher. What’s your response to that? I think it about it all the time. It’s a lie. It’s not true, but I can’t stop people from say-ing it. The mayor of Clinton has contacted me twice. The first was to sign a piece of pa-per to apply for a grant. The other one was a ribbon-cutting ceremony. In roughly 18

months, I’ve been contacted by the mayor (of Clinton) two times. On the other hand, I’ve spoken with the mayor of Jackson five times, the mayor of Edwards, Bolton, Learned and Utica, I speak to them every other month. So even though I’m a Cinto-nian, I spend very little time dealing with the mayor of Clinton on any issue. It’s amazing to me that smaller com-munities can receive more from the county than the City of Clinton (and) you have two supervisors who live in Clinton. The City of Jackson gets far more (funding from the county) than anybody, and the City of Jackson have its own fund-ing for roads, which means the City of Jack-son double dips. So for people to say I’m tied to Phil Fisher, I can’t help that I live in the City of Clinton. He’s the mayor. I worked for the City of Clinton for 30 years; that’s part of my life. I don’t run from that, I don’t hide that.

What’s your assessment of the relationship between Hinds County and the City of Jackson as well as the county and the state? The county and the City of Jackson, both of us are working through some critical issues that are very costly and involve a lot financing, but at least we’re coming to the table to talk about them. We haven’t worked them all out. There are things that cross over between the two of them that we’re going to have to address—the jail, the Henley-Young juvenile detention center, the radio-communications systems. Jackson is going through some finan-cial issues in their budget hearings that have been well publicized. Right now, what we’re doing is trying to keep from doing the same furloughs that they’re doing. … We’re disappointed in some things we requested from the state, and we were not funded in any of those areas. We requested more judges, the same thing that Rankin County requested. We requested assistance with the detention center, seeing that the City of Jackson and Hinds County receive a lot of people who have been released from other (correctional) facilities that we have to ad-dress and house. (There is) a problem with mental health as far as getting help for those who are incarcerated and need to come out. Some of the other things we requested help on: help with economic development and the Byram-Clinton corridor (and a) waste-water authority for the same project.

Four years from now, what do you hoped to have accomplished if you get another term? Four years from now, we hope to have worked with the City of Jackson to have changed the skyline of downtown Jackson—more development, more business going up. I’m hoping to have a long-term road-paving program in four years. We’re hoping to be out from under all court decrees pertaining to the detention centers. We’re hoping to have a business op-erating that employs hundreds if not thou-sands. In four years, we are hoping to have completed the Davis Road portion of the Byram-Clinton corridor. With that middle section completed, all of a sudden it opens the avenue for Jackson to land the Costcos and the Bass Pro shops. So, a heavy push on economic development. … Because with-out the rooftops, we can’t pay the bills. Read an interview with David Archie at www.jfp.ms/2015elections. Email R.L. Nave at rlnave@jacksonfreepress.com.

McQuirter: Stop Hinds County’s Bleedingby R.L. Nave

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Darrel McQuirter, the incumbent Hinds County District 2 supervisor, is fending off whispers that he’s too close to Clinton Republicans, and thinks he has helped get the county back on track. He faces David Archie in the Aug. 25 runoff.

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Community is in our DNA.

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DISH | runoff

Sam Begley, 55, a well-known player in Democratic Party and political circles who is usually try-ing to help someone get elected,

said he wants to be an “activist legisla-tor,” fighting for the city of Jackson. “The things that we’re doing inside the city are big deals for the state of Missis-sippi,” Begley said, referring to economic-development projects such as the Westin in downtown that recently broke ground. Begley faces community activist Kathy Sykes in an Aug. 25 runoff, and said he would like to serve on the House Ways and Committee, which oversees taxation. Because he’s a lawyer, he would also sit on one of the House Judiciary committees. Begley recently spoke with the Jackson Free Press about his positions.

Do you have any particular thoughts on the state Supreme Court decision on school funding Initiative 42A? I have not read the court ruling, but I know that (Initia-tive) 42 supporters were hop-ing that alternative language was not used. I think it’s still a difficult effort because of the confusion with the alterna-tives and how you get to the majority needed to pass the initiative.

Pass or fail, Initiative 42 would need to go through the Legislature. How would you use your voice as it goes through the legislative process? Regardless of whether Initiative 42 passes, we do have a formula in place, and that’s the (Mississippi) Adequate Education Program. Nobody’s really told me that for-mula needs to be changed. So you’ve got the standard by which the Legislature can deter-mine the level of funding. It would seem that the easiest thing would be to appropriate the money to fully fund MAEP. I’ve asked the question of well-meaning people on different sides of the aisle: Is there anything wrong with the MAEP for-mula that needs to be tweaked? I don’t really get an answer saying we need to throw that thing out and come up with a new way of calculating what an adequate education is. You have a right to a public education

that’s embedded in the state constitution and public policy. The Legislature has a responsi-bility to treat public education like an entitle-ment not unlike Social Security or Medicare at the federal level. You have to fund what public policy has decided what children are entitled to. And it’s not much—it’s just a sea-level education, just the basics.

Switching gears to Medicaid expansion, do you see a way for compromise between the Democratic and Republican positions? Yes, and you’ve seen it in other states where you have a Republican governor or legislature or different combinations (of the two). Mississippi is probably more acutely in need of implementing Medicaid expan-sion because we’re so poor, and hospitals and other providers are feeling the crunch. I’m hopeful that a second-term governor and a second-term lieutenant governor and others would look at public health and see that it’s a really no-brainer and a good bet given the 90 percent (federal) match.

So you think the politics will work better once we get through this cycle and President Obama is gone? At some point, the medical sector and

business community in general will say, ‘Get off this ideology, and we’ve got to look at this practically.’ We’ve got to make sure our hos-pitals and clinics are funded and our workers are provided with health care. The Medicaid expansion is one way to do that. The expansion is for people who work. They’re too poor to get into the (health-care) exchange, or they don’t qualify through

Medicaid proper, but they’re working people. They’re contrib-uting to society and paying taxes that support the funding for Medicaid expansion. It’s ironic that we let those taxes go out the door and support Medicaid ex-pansion through the Affordable (Care) Act in other states.

Are you hearing from people in the business community about how they can help advocate for either health-care access or public-education funding? More in the public-edu-cation field, I think you’ve seen some rallying. Some of that might be tied to personality. Jim Barksdale is bigger than life, so when he weighs in and writes an op-ed piece, everybody stops. We’re reminded that he was Gov. Bryant’s first economic-develop-ment director. I think the busi-ness community is waiting for the hospitals, particularly in the rural areas, to start crying uncle.

District 70 is downtown and home to a lot of businesses. What are the priorities there? One, the downtown stakeholders de-pend on the municipal government to pro-vide a water-sewer system that works, streets that work. The extent that (the) state govern-ment has some responsibility to the seat of government, to the largest city, to address infrastructure issues, we’re interested in that. Then we were interested in making sure our office buildings are occupied, and we aggres-sively sought to have state agencies lease space for business, which we thought was a bargain for the state and also kept those buildings on the tax rolls. The Capitol Street project needs some additional funding to finish out. With the (bi-) centennial of Mississippi, we’re interest-ed in renovating Smith Park, which is a not a large dollar figure but could mean a lot to have a park that’s more user-friendly. We’re interested in watching Jackson State grow.

It’s been a great story to see all of those facili-ties and buildings modernized on campus. It’s helped contribute to the growing enroll-ment; it’s an attractive campus. To have one of the buildings open up downtown is interesting. In my lifetime, to see Jackson State, which was barricaded off from the rest of the city, open and moving toward downtown, it’s a wonderful thing.

The City of Jackson has asked the Legislature for help. What do you think about these tools as a means to help Jackson? We’ve got to make the case that investing in Jackson is a very good investment. When you do that, if you provide for good streets and good infrastructure, it will attract eco-nomic development because generally speak-ing people want to move back into cities, and they want to live in downtowns if they’re hab-itable, but we need to fund repairs to an aging infrastructure. We can get a second wave of development with more people inclined to move into the city if we’ve got the structure and skeleton to make them happen.

Any of those tools more appealing than any others? If I was the governor of Mississippi, I would think it’s a shame that its capital city is operating under a consent decree with the U.S. EPA for the water-sewer system, partic-ularly because the sewage-treatment facility is a regional facility that not only treats Jackson but a large portion of Rankin County and south Madison County, too. That’s where the state ought to be heavily involved in get-ting those affairs in order, and that’s largely by looking at the path to get out from under that consent decree through making expenditures. Those are good capital expenditures that will have a return on investment for the metro-politan area. You have to have good water and sewer and infrastructure if you’re going to at-tract business to central Mississippi. International businesses are interested in what the central-business district, what the capital city, looks like. You can’t make some excuse and say just leave that alone and come over to Pearl. That’s not how someone coming from a European capital or Far East capital thinks of a state. They look at what its capital looks like. I think the state govern-ment leadership is missing the boat in not embracing that notion. Sam Begley’s runoff opponent, Kathy Sykes, canceled her interview for this issue and did not respond by press time to reschedule. See jfp.ms/2015elections for her questionnaire an-swers and other election interviews. Comment at www.jfp.ms. Email R.L. Nave at rlnave@jacksonfreepress.com.

Begley: An ‘Activist Legislator’?by R.L. Nave

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Sam Begley, a Democratic candidate for House District 70, thinks the state should help Jackson with its water-sewer problems and infrastructure needs.

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TALK | city

When it comes to the Siemens contract, Jackson officials can sometimes sound like a re-morseful customer trying to

pay off a rent-to-own agreement—they just want it to be over. Jackson continued its budget hearings this and last week with testimony from the Department of Public Works, the primary agency working with Siemens to complete what will be $91 million in work, includ-ing upgrades to the wastewater system and replacing water meters. Jerriott Smash, a public-works deputy director, reported to the council that several parts of the contract are being closed out, in-cluding $25 million in sewer work as well as the online billing system. Now, the only part that remains is to complete the installation of water meters, which was halted from Febru-ary to June. At the time, Siemens subcontrac-tors had installed about half the 65,000 wa-ter meters called for in the contract. Smash said the work reboot is ramping up slowly to ensure better quality installations. Other city departments presenting budgets, totaling $494 million, included the mayor’s office, the office of the city clerk, Jackson Zoo, police and fire departments, parks and recreation, planning, human and cultural services. The departmental budget presentations are scheduled to end Wednesday, Aug. 19, followed by public hearings and, finally, a vote in mid-September. Here are a few high-lights from the week:

Costco a Go-Go or a No-Go? No city official uttered the word “Cost-co,” but the big-box retailer, which had been flirting with building in Jackson and is now in talks with Ridgeland officials, loomed large over Tuesday’s budget hearings. The discussion comes on the heels of Ridgeland

officials announcing that Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco Wholesale Corporation is con-sidering a site on Highland Colony Parkway near the Natchez Trace. Mayor Gene McGee announced at a press conference on Aug. 17 that the Costco plan had been in the works and kept under wraps since 2014, due to a con-fidentiality agreement, when the company was also negotiating with Jackson to locate on prop-erty near Smith-Wills Stadium off Lakeland Drive. Officials from Jackson’s current and previous administra-tion who were privy to the ne-gotiations said Costco was only interested in Jackson’s Lakeland location because of the high traf-fic counts along Interstate 55 and Lakeland. Mayor Tony Yarber has said he hasn’t given up on re-cruiting Costco and still hopes the retailer will come to Jackson. In 2014, a Costco propos-al met opposition from com-munity members who voiced concerns over commercializa-tion of the area—which the city now uses for parks and museums—and how rezoning the area for commercial pur-poses would affect the new district. Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann also sent Jackson a letter saying that because the state owns the land where Smith-Wills stands, ownership would revert to the state if the city tried to use it for anoth-er purpose. The city’s planning department, which includes economic development, presented its $34.5 million budget for the coming fiscal year, an increase over the $34.2 million the council adopted last year. Eric Jefferson, the City of Jackson’s

planning director, said during his presenta-tion that neighborhoods are developing their own master plans. In addition to master plans drawn up for west Jackson, midtown and Fondren, Jefferson said south Jackson and Tougaloo are both working on plans. “The city is planning around us,” Jef-

ferson said of city government. “It’s impor-tant that the planning department leads those discussions.” Jefferson said other plans for the coming year include a home-buyer program for public-service profes-sionals such as police officers, firefighters and public-school teachers. JPD Fights Crime, Attrition In presenting his budget for the coming year, JPD Chief Lee Vance said the Hinds County jail is overcrowded, and his officers are seeing a lot of repeat offenders out on the streets. As a result, Vance said the way JPD

fights crime is having as large and visible a police force as possible. He implored council members not to slash his personnel budget. Mayor Yarber proposed a $37.1 million budget for JPD in the coming fiscal year, a cut from last year’s adopted budget of $39 million. Vance said the proposed police-

spending plan contains no funding for a recruit class this year, nor does JPD plan to buy any vehicles. The chief said the depart-ment has 32 police-officer vacan-cies and 20 civilian positions, and is struggling to retain employees. For example, the JPD’s DART team—a flex squad that can be moved around the city to accommodate Jackson’s crime-fighting needs—is down to 10 officers, Vance said. “Attrition in law enforcement is a fact of life,” Vance told city offi-cials. In the meantime, JPD has also taken on additional responsibilities. When Yarber came into office, he put code enforcement under the purview of the police department. Two other departments also made budget presentations. Beth Poff, the executive director of the Jackson Zoo, said the park is in a

good financial position and debt-free. She requested level funding from the city—the same $1.2 million appropriation the zoo re-quested last year. Ward 2 Councilman Melvin Priester Jr. said the city is in a tough financial spot and asked what would happen if the park didn’t get the full funding request. The zoo director said if the Association of Zoos and Aquari-ums, which accredits the zoo, saw the fund-ing level drop, the association might look to pull the zoo’s accreditation again. Parks and Recreation also proposed a $6.3 million budget, down from $7.7 million last year.

Budget: Council Presses on Siemens, Costco, Spendingby R.L. Nave

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Beth Poff, executive director of the Jackson Zoo, did not ask for additional funding from the city but told the city council that keeping the same level of funding will protect the park’s hard-fought accreditation.

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Rest in Paradise, Julian Bond

Budget Spitting Matches Must End

Perhaps it’s because they have children still living at home, but Mayor Tony Yarber and Ward 4 Councilman De’Keither Stamps both have a tendency to try to play the

daddy in the room. Think of a patriarch, lectur-ing members of the household on the rising cost of electricity and the importance of keeping a tidy bedroom. That’s the tone Yarber and Stamps can often take in addressing city employees and, sometimes, each other at public meetings. This can occasionally lead to spirited dis-cussion that results in good solutions for the city. Other times, it’s just awfully silly. The past few days of budget hearings have fallen more in the latter category. For example, one day this week, Yarber chided Stamps for speaking to the city’s chief-administrative offi -cer, Gus McCoy, like Stamps is McCoy’s daddy. On a different day, after a heated back and forth, Yarber said his staff would only answer council members’ questions with his permission. Let us take a moment to point out that city employees work for the people of Jackson and are not the personal property of elected offi cials, whose bosses are the citizens. Now, to be fair, this level of sniping is rare, and we understand this is due to the immense pressure of having to fi ll a projected $15-million budget shortfall in the coming fi scal year. Yarber has already proposed a one-day-per-month furlough for certain

city employees and has all but admitted that deeper cuts are likely necessary. Stamps chairs the Budget Committee, oversees the city clerk’s offi ce and says more city employees live in his far-south Jackson ward than any other. Stamps and other council members have raised fair points about the appearance that the City is continuing to spend money on things like vehicle purchases even while staring over the edge of a fi scal cliff. We understand the frustration. What we take issue with is using city employees, who keep Jackson running, as pawns in some chess match. It’s more than disturbing when elected leaders request organizational charts in a public meeting in not-so-veiled threats to target em-ployees for political retribution. Maybe more staff reductions are necessary. If the budget situation is as dire as the mayor and council members say, we agree that all options—more furloughs, layoffs, freezes on hiring and making big-ticket purchases—need to be on the table. At the same time, continuing to talk about ways to innovate and use technology better should also be part of budget deliberations. The budget cannot be held hostage or be-come the casualty of a childish, pointless spit-ting match between politicians. These are se-rious times for the City of Jackson, and those games have to stop.

CORRECTION: In issue Issue No. 49, Vol. 13, we misreported that Brent Bailey lost the Republican primary for public-service com-missioner to Tony Greer and that Leon Seals lost his Democratic primary for a Hinds County constable seat to Lawrence Duncan; both Bailey and Seals won their primary races. In the same issue, a headline misstated that early learning collaboratives would help “4th Graders” and should have said “4-Year-Olds.” The Jackson Free Press apologizes for the errors.

When we meet people who have accomplished incredible feats, it has the tendency to leave lasting, meaningful impressions. Person-ally, I’ve rarely had to chance to meet these “few in a generation” souls. My statistics include briefl y shaking hands with then-can-

didate Barack Obama at a rally at Jackson State University and former President Bill Clinton after a commencement speech at Tougaloo College. Admittedly, these handshakes were more like hand-touching, as they extended their hands to a crowd. However, my luck took a turn for the better last month. My father, Leslie McLemore, planned a short visit here to Washington, D.C., last month to view a screening of an incredibly brilliant Fannie Lou Ham-er documentary short, “This Little Light of Mine: The Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer.” My father was interviewed in the documentary and asked to participate

in a panel after the fi lm was to be premiered. So, obviously, I strutted into the screening with a false sense of confi dence because we share the same name. As I introduced myself around the room, basking in my namesake, in walked a tall, slim fi gure with the gravitas of 1,000 Leslie McLemore IIs. This fi gure was Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and civil rights titan Julian Bond. Suddenly, my asinine sense of confi dence turned into unadulterated excitement as he ventured closer to my section, navigating his way through an ocean of people attempting to introduce themselves.

Julian Bond was a fi gure I had looked up to for many, many years due to his lifelong mission to combat inequality. As one of the original leaders of SNCC, he led news coverage toward stories of violence and discrimination due to systematic racism in the South. Later, Bond turned his superior intellect and charisma into a leadership position with the NAACP, along with a career as a writer, lecturer, television commentator, professor, 20-year member of the Geor-gia State Assembly and the fi rst president of the Southern Poverty Law Center. As his accomplishments rushed through my head, I gushed to my girl-friend about the humble Bond. My excitement turned into heart palpitations when Bond took a seat, along with his beautiful wife, across the aisle from me. At that moment, I knew I would have to make a daring attempt to introduce myself and fi nally meet a “few in a generation” fi gure. I walked over to him, heart beating fast as hell, and extended my hand as I introduced myself as Dr. Leslie McLemore’s son. After shaking my undoubtedly sweaty palms, we partook in a brief but spectacular conversation. Our talk consisted of what I do for a living as well as some of my writings. We discussed how I was (now gratefully) forced, growing up, to read literature about him and other SNCC legends. We also recalled his remarkable sense of humor when I used to assist in checking my father’s AOL account as a kid. (My dad was the epitome of computer illiteracy back then). Bond would send emails to my father, which would’ve forced any man or woman to laugh uncontrol-lably, even though these emails weren’t meant to be viewed by a 12-year-old. After our brief conversation, Bond walked quietly back to his seat and closely observed the Fannie Lou Hamer documentary. I went back to my seat as well, assuming I left little to no impression on this “few in a generation” fi gure. After the screening and panel discussion, I again observed him being swamped by a sea of people, just as enamored by his presence as I was. The morning of Bond’s passing, my father and I were on the phone, refl ect-ing on the SNCC legend and his old friend. Even though my father’s heart was unquestionably heavy, he briefl y mentioned Bond telling him that he had one hell of an impressive son. My response, after hearing this, was to utter one word: “Wow.” That compliment, from a legend like Bond, is something I will never forget and will always cherish for the rest of my natural existence. Rest in paradise, Julian Bond. You deserve it. Leslie B. McLemore II is a Jackson native, now in Washington, D.C. He is a proud graduate of Jackson State University, North Carolina Central University School of Law (J.D.) and American University Washington College of Law (LL.M.).

I gushed to my girlfriend about the humble Bond.

Before I was even 10 years old, I knew the power of unification and pride. I owned it. I knew clearly that there was a responsibility on

black people who know better to educate and advocate for those who lack informa-tion or see no place for themselves in the fight for freedom, justice and equality. Black voices mattered. Even though many would try to keep us silent and trivialize our efforts, our feelings and our struggle, we still must fight. We must still cry out when injustice raises its head. That is the re-sponsibility we share. I was taught where we came from, how we got here and how the future looked for us if the past was forgotten. So today, we argue over the significance of the removal of the Confederate emblem from the Mississipi state flag. We fight about the very flag that flew in the wind as we were robbed of our heritage, of our education, of the right to vote. In Mississippi, the fact that this is still something people are willing to fight for is the very reason it must be removed. Some people want to forget the anger wrapped in the Confederate flag. Others believe that if we give too much attention to it, it appears that we have made no progress. If we do nothing, say nothing, it’ll just disappear. A few feel that even though the history isn’t pleas-ant, it’s still our history. But I wonder how many people would trade their lives to go back to that time when all the harmful, disgusting acts that flag symbolizes were all legal, tolerated or even encouraged. Those who yell every chance they get that they “don’t care about the flag” or that “the flag is not going to change anything,” are holding onto the most harmful mindsets we face today. It’s not the mindset of those who want the flag to remain. At least they’ve formed an opinion, as ill-informed as it may be. It’s those who disconnect from our history, and our ancestors, who tell the real horror story—those who can find it in their psyche to think this flag does not represent slavery and hatred, and don’t care that it still lingers over us as a reminder that we have not overcome it. Those people are the ones who cause rev-

olutions to stagnate and lose momentum. Those ideas are the ones most harmful to our history, our children and our people. I’d challenge them to dig deeper. It would be nice if people were not so self-centered that they are unable to even fathom those who suffered before us. Nowadays, there is such a separation, and it’s concerning. If we have lost the connection to our ancestors, what hope is there that we will continue this fight for justice and equality? We must stop taking things at face value. Everyone has access to information

these days, so use it. Read. Then use your heart to help direct your mind and your spirit. After doing that, if you still have no at-tachment to this struggle, maybe nothing will con-nect you to it. Through-out history, there have always been those who cri-tiqued the revolution, the boycotts, the sit-ins, the marches from the safety of their houses, much like they do today from behind their keyboards. The flag represents separation. As it flies, it re-minds this state that black

people still are not measured as equal (enough). It reminds us that it doesn’t matter what black people feel about the flag. Yes, we pay taxes; we work until we die; we cry over our dead sons in the streets; we vote—but we are still black folk in Mississippi who “just need to get over it,” they tell us. Maybe it’s not really our call to con-vince others who don’t want to care or those who say it’s just a flag to see that it’s much more. But I simply can’t imagine not having conviction. I am thankful that, at an early age, I was given enough informa-tion and exposed to enough history to have self-pride and pride in my race. It’s difficult to give someone pride in their heritage. That’s something that must be acquired internally. But once it’s owned, it’s difficult to be caught with wool over one’s eyes. There’s a clarity that comes over the mind of someone who has pride. It’s not OK to expect black people to feel like we are equal, then expect us to look up at a flag intended to represent all Mississippi-ans that billowed through the wind dur-ing a time when we were treated like we were less than a human. Funmi “Queen” Franklin Queen is a word lover, an advocate for sisterhood and the founder of HATHOR, LLC.

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Mississippi Flag: A Question of Pride

Funmi Franklin

Editor-in-Chief Donna LaddPublisher Todd Stauffer

EDITORIAL

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It reminds this state that black people still are not measured as equal (enough).

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Mississippi State BulldogsHead coach: Dan Mullen (46-31 overall record all at MSU, entering seventh season, )2014-2015 record: 10-3 overall (6-2 SEC) Stadium: Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field

Last Season Recap Last season turned out to be a perfect storm for Mississippi State. The Bulldogs had a great mix of returning players, a fa-vorable schedule and opponents with more questions than answers. That doesn’t mean the Bulldogs weren’t also a good football team. In fact, they proved themselves to be a great team, but they also took advantage of having one of the best play-makers in the SEC: quarterback Dak Prescott. Mississippi State went from unranked at the start of the season to being the first team ranked No. 1 in the leadup to the first College Football Playoffs. The Bulldogs beat three Top 25-ranked teams in three straight weeks, starting with a win over Louisiana State University on Sept. 20, followed with wins over Texas A&M University on Oct. 4 and Auburn University on Oct. 11. As MSU climbed the polls, Prescott rose in his Heisman potential. The Bulldogs started off with nine straight wins before losing three of their final four games. Mississippi State took its first loss when facing off with the University of Al-abama, who later won the SEC West and the SEC Championship Game. MSU also lost the Egg Bowl to UM and laid an egg in a disastrous third quarter in the Orange Bowl to lose 49-34 to Georgia Tech.

This Season Overview Now, the trouble for Mississippi State is coming up with an encore after its most successful season in school history. Missis-sippi State has the fewest returning starters in the SEC this season. The Bulldogs are missing three starters on their offensive line and three on the defensive line. MSU must replace run-ning back Josh Robinson, who left early for the NFL, on of-fense, but Prescott and junior wide receivers De’Runnya Wilson and Fred Ross are re-turning. Junior running back Ashton Shumpert will get the first chance to replace Robin-son. On defense, the Bulldogs return junior defensive tackle Chris Jones and senior defen-sive end Ryan Brown. Jones didn’t start last sea-son but is an NFL prospect who needs to play like one this season, and Brown, along with Jones, must be a passing and rushing threat. Linebacker Benardrick McKinney left early for the NFL, but junior linebackers Richie Brown and Beniquez Brown are re-turning. Both linebackers should be able to provide play-making ability and leadership on the defensive side of the ball. Mississippi State having to rebuild its secondary isn’t the worst thing going into this season. Last year, the Bulldogs’ second-ary was the worst part of the defense.

MSU also brings back a familiar face in defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, who is replacing Geoff Collins. Diaz left for Texas, where his career took a Texas Longhorns-sized nosedive. Be-ing back in Starkville might be what gets his career back on track.

2015 Outlook Things aren’t as bleak as they might seem for MSU. Prescott returns and will be a legitimate Heisman contender. The quarterback will have his top two targets from last season, and the running-back position has plenty of depth. If the mostly new offensive line gels to-gether quickly and can run and pass block, the offense should be fine. There will be

more pressure on Prescott to produce, but as a senior, he should be ready for the load. On defense, the Bulldogs have depth. Even if they didn’t start, a lot of those ath-letes played last season. Collins did a great job of getting playing time for backups last season all over the field. People may say a

lot about the lack of return-ing starters, but Mullen has recruited depth, and a lot of the returning players got play time last season. They now have to start and fill leader-ship roles.

Prediction Nobody will overlook Mississippi State this season. That’s not to say anyone overlooked the Bulldogs last season, but this isn’t your end-of-the-Jackie Sherrill-era or Sylvester Croom-era Bulldogs. In a lesser con-ference, MSU would keep right on rolling along, but not in the SEC. Nearly ev-ery team in the conference will improve. Fans will find

out quickly how good Mississippi State can be with LSU waiting in the second game of the season after MSU’s opener against Southern Miss. This season will be a success if the Bull-dogs win eight or nine games, but it will be a disaster if MSU manages to win just four or five games. Overall, the Bulldogs should win six or seven games and go bowling for the sixth straight season.

Folks in Mississippi will be talking about the 2014-2015 college football season for years to come. Last season was nearly dream-like for the state, as the eyes of the college football world fell on us.

Who would have believed before the season that Mississippi State University would become the top-ranked team in the country and stay there for five weeks? The Bulldogs also laid claim to the No. 1 slot in the new college-football playoff poll. As Mississippi State rocketed to the top, its rival, the University of Mississippi, rose all the way to No. 3 in the polls and stayed there for three weeks. Like the Bulldogs, the Rebels also reached one of the “New Year’s Six” bowls in the new college-football playoff format.

However, it wasn’t just the Rebels and the Bulldogs who had great seasons. Alcorn State University won its first SWAC Championship Game in football in its first appear-ance, and Delta State University reached the second round of the Division II playoffs. But not every team had banner seasons. The Univer-sity of Southern Mississippi is still trying to rebuild after its freefall from the 2012 season. Jackson State University slipped in Harold Jackson’s first year in command. Missis-sippi Valley State University continued its seemingly never-ending rebuilding project. Mississippi College struggled as it moved from Division III to Division II. Millsaps College took a tumble after successful seasons, and Belhaven Univer-sity struggled for the second year in a row, while both Hinds

Community College and Holmes Community College made it to the junior college ranks. No matter how good or bad the 2014-2015 season was for each team, it doesn’t matter this season. That was last year, and each team wants to build on what they did then. Plenty of questions need to be answered this season. Can MSU or UM take the SEC’s top spot? Can USM build itself back up? Can Alcorn State stay on top of the SWAC while JSU pulls itself back up? Can MC start gaining ground at the Division II level? Can DSU reach the playoffs again? Can Millsaps and Belhaven turn things around? Are Holm-es and Hinds going to compete at the junior-college ranks? Is this thing on? Nail-biting might ensure, but by the end of the season, we will have all the answers.

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By Bryan Flynn For more coverage, check out jfp.ms/2015footballpreview

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University of Mississippi Rebels Head coach: Hugh Freeze (54-22 overall re-cord, 24-15 record at Ole Miss, entering fourth season)2014-2015 record: 9-4 overall (5-3 SEC), sea-son ended with a 42-3 loss to TCU in the Chick-Fil-A Peach BowlStadium: Vaught-Hemingway Stadium

Last Season Recap The Rebels reeled off seven straight wins and reached No. 3 in the polls last sea-son. The team beat Boise State University to start, though the Broncos went on to become Fiesta Bowl champs. UM beat the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and the University of Memphis, both of which went to a bowl game, and pulled off one of the biggest up-sets of the season, handing the University of Alabama its only regular-season loss. There was no letdown after beating the Crimson Tide as the Rebels won against Texas A&M University and Tennessee—two more bowl teams. Then came the LSU game. The Reb-els had a chance to at least tie the game late before quarterback Bo Wallace forced a pass that ended the game as an interception. The next week, UM ended up in a shoo-tout against Auburn. Once again, the Rebels went away heartbroken as wide receiver La-

quon Treadwell broke his leg mere inches be-fore scoring the game-winning touchdown. Treadwell fumbled, and Auburn recovered to seal the win. Against the Arkansas State University Razorbacks, the Rebels looked lost and mentally drained in a 30-0 beatdown. It looked like the season would end on a perfect note after the Rebels dispatched MSU in the Egg Bowl, leaving just the Peach Bowl to finish the season. But New Year’s Eve was a nightmare for UM. In the Peach Bowl, the Rebels ran up against some angry Texas Christian University Horned Frogs, and Wallace played one of his worst games in his final college start. TCU blew out Ole Miss 42-3 to make a statement about the playoff selections.

This Season Overview The Rebels are bringing back most of their core from last season, which includes five offensive linemen and four defensive linemen. One of the biggest losses this sea-son was when the Kansas City Chiefs invited Bo Wallace to a rookie mini-camp. There are

plenty of options to replace him, including transfer Chad Kelly, who is the nephew of Buffalo Bills and Hall of Famer quarterback Jim Kelly. Whoever the quarterback is, the team will have junior offensive lineman La-

remy Tunsil leading the protection. The new quarterback will also have plenty of weapons with senior running back Jaylen Walton, junior tight end Evan Engram, senior wide receiver Cody Core, and Treadwell. The defense has to replace Senquez Golson and Cody Prewitt in the secondary, but most of the core of this unit returns. The Nkemdiche brothers, linebacker C.J. Johnson and junior safety Tony Conner

also return. Overall, the defense should be in good shape with the depth and talent that each recruiting class has added.

2015 Outlook If there ever was a season where the Rebels are going to win the SEC West title, this might be that one. UM has most of the pieces in place, and if Kelly or one of the other quarterbacks can become a re-liable playmaker, the sky’s the limit for this team. On defense, a better pass rush would be nice, but the Rebels were ex-ceptional in pass coverage last season. Treadwell and Tunsil should be healthy after their injuries last year.

Prediction This season will be a success if the Reb-els win 10 or 11 games. The non-conference schedule is soft, and road trips to Florida and MSU could help. The season will be a disaster of a season if the Rebels win six or seven games. There is too much talent not to be in the SEC West mix, and I predict that this team wins nine or 10 games.

Southern Miss Golden Eagles Head coach: Todd Monken (4-20 overall re-cord all at USM, entering third season)2014-2015 record: 3-9 (1-7 CUSA), season ended with a 45-24 loss to the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the Blazers’ last game until 2017Stadium: M. M. Roberts Stadium

Last Season Recap The rebuild job after the sud-den bottom-dropping at USM hasn’t been an overnight fix. The Golden Eagles started last season at 2-2 after losing to Mississippi State and Alabama, but the team beat Alcorn State University and Appa-lachian State University. USM lost two straight games to Rice University and Middle Tennessee State University before picking up its final win of the season against the University of North Texas. Southern Miss fin-ished the season on a five-game losing streak as injuries and lack of depth caught up with it. There was only one close game in that losing streak: a two-point loss to the Uni-

versity of Texas at San Antonio on the road. USM lost to MTSU 31-37 in the only other close loss. It was a struggle to score most of the season for the Golden Eagles. They only broke the 30-point scoring mark once in a loss to MTSU. Six times, Southern Miss failed to score more than 20 points. The good news is the Golden Eagles

more than doubled their win total to three after just one in the 2013 season. The bad

news? After going 0-12 in 2012, it looks like the school still has a long way to go to get back to the top of CUSA.

This Season Overview Southern Miss Head Coach Todd Monken will have a nice core returning on offense this season. The Golden Ea-

gles return most of their offensive line, and junior quarterback Nick Mullens is back. Whoever is at quarterback will have weapons in several re-turning receivers, including wide receivers Mike Thomas, Casey Martin, and Tyre’oune Holmes, who is back from injuries. South-ern Miss also brings back a nice stable of running backs, includ-ing Ito Smith, Tez Parks, George Payne and Jalen Richard. None of the four returning RBs proved to take the lead in the group. On defense, USM will have to hope junior-college players grow up quickly and fill the holes. The Golden Eagles lost star Ra-keem Nunez-Roches, who left

early for the NFL. One place the Golden Eagles might be strong on defense is in

the secondary with a trio of sophomores returning in Jomez Applewhite, Cornell Armstrong and Picasso Nelson Jr. Senior Brian Anderson and junior Eli-jah Parker will be back to anchor the line-backer unit. Defensive end Dylan Bradley and preseason All-CUSA senior nose tackle Michael Smith need to be playmakers on the defensive line.

2015 Outlook Things will get a lot better for the Golden Eagles if they can improve their play in the trenches. Southern Miss has struggled to block on offense, stop the run and pass rush on defense. The team also needs to pro-tect the ball on offense and force turnovers on defense. Right now, just doing the simple things will help USM best. It will also help if Mullens or Matthews plays like a star.

Prediction This season will be a success if USM wins five or more games. That would mean the Golden Eagles are knocking on the door to being back again. This season will be di-saster if Southern Miss fails to win three or more games. At this point, USM can’t give the ground it has gained to have any hope of getting back to the top of conference.

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For more coverage, check out jfp.ms/2015footballpreview

Jackson State Tigers Head coach: Harold Jackson (5-7 overall re-cord, all at JSU, entering second season)2014-2015 record: 5-7 overall (3-6 SWAC) sea-son ended with a 34-31 win over Alcorn StateStadium: Veterans Memorial Stadium Radio: 95.5 WHLH FM

Last Season Recap There was a lot of unknown about the Jackson State football program last season. Harold Jackson replaced long-time head coach Rick Comegy and brought in former record-breaking Hawaii quarterback Timmy Chang as offensive coordinator. The Tigers were also breaking in a rela-tively unknown quarterback, LaMontiez Ivy. After eight seasons of Comegy, the major question was, could Jackson lead this team to SWAC championship after two straight losses in the title game? The transition from one head coach to the next looked like the right call after the season began with wins over Florida A&M University and Virginia University of Lynch-burg. Next came a two-game losing streak to Tennessee State University and Grambling State University. Jackson State beat the Uni-versity of Arkansas at Pine Bluff to get its third win of the season, but then the wheels came off for the Tigers in the form of a five-game losing streak with the low point argu-ably coming in the form of a 27-23 loss to Mississippi Valley State. The loss to the Delta Devils broke JSU’s streak of 19 straight wins in the series. It gave Comegy a win over his former team

and started rumbling that maybe Jack-son needed to go as head coach. Just when things looked to be at their lowest, Jackson and the Tigers re-bounded to beat Texas Southern Uni-versity and eventual SWAC Champion Alcorn State University to end the sea-son. The two wins to end the season and the win over the Braves left a lot of hope that brighter days were ahead.

This Season Overview Jackson, Chang and Ivy are back this season for the Tigers, and all three have a year’s worth of experience un-der their belts. In his first full season as the starter, Ivy was very successful and should be even better this season. No matter who is quarterback for JSU, he will have the luxury of throw-ing the ball to junior wide receiver Daniel Williams, one of the best pass catchers in the nation. Joining Williams in the receiving unit are senior wide receivers Jairus Moll, Devin Fosselman and DeSean McK-enzie. The Tigers’ passing game should have no problems putting up numbers this season. JSU brings back the core of its ground game this season. Jarius Moore and Robert Johnson IV are the top returning rushers from last season. The Tigers’ offense can be even better with good play on the offensive line. Jack-son State struggled running the ball in the red zone, and protecting Ivy due to problems with the offensive line.

To add depth to the unit, JSU signed several players last offseason. Even after finishing third in the SWAC in total de-fense, last season’s defensive coordinator Derrick Burroughs was not retained for this season. New defensive coordinator Alonzo Lee will switch the Tigers from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3. The switch in defensive schemes means junior Javancy Jones and senior Teddrick Terrell will move from linebacker back to de-fensive end. Junior linebacker Stacy Nobles and defensive end Brandon Smith add expe-

rience to the unit. Jackson State will have two seniors, Robert Porter and Brandon Smith, to lead the second-ary. The Tigers also have one of the best kickers in college football in Ryan Deising, who is so good that Jackson took him to SWAC Media Days.

2015 Outlook Will the latest Jackson State team be the same one that won two straight games to open and close the season, or will it be the team that plummeted for five straight games in the middle of the season? The offense should be better with a second season in the scheme and with Ivy having a full season as a starter. It will take improved play on the offensive line for the passing and run-ning game to reach full potential. The coaching staff will have plenty of depth to work with. A nice mix of returning players and newcomers is fighting for starting jobs. Even though the Tigers

finished well in total defense, the unit needs to be better against the run. Success might be determined by how quickly the players adjust from a 3-4 to a 4-3, and also a new scheme and defensive coordinator.

Prediction This season will be a success if Jack-son State can turn its record around from 5-7 last season to 7-4, or win eight games. The season will be a disaster if the Tigers suffer a second-straight losing season.

LaMontiez Ivy

JSU

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by Bryan Flynn

Alcorn State University BravesHead coach: Jay Hopson (23-13 overall and all at Alcorn State entering fourth season)2014-15 record: 10-3 (7-2 SWAC) season ended with a 38-24 win over Southern University in the SWAC Championship GameStadium: Jack Spinks Stadium

Last Season Recap Last season, Alcorn State did something it hadn’t done since Steve McNair graced the cover of Sports Il-lustrated: It won a SWAC football championship. The Braves continued their flight up the SWAC standings under head coach Jay Hopson. In just three seasons, Hopson had Alcorn State go from the outhouse to the penthouse. There was little resistance to ASU’s march to the title last season. The Braves blew out most of their opponents with a margin of victory of 33.4 points per win. Even in Al-corn State’s three losses, the Braves only lost by an aver-age of 5.3 points. ASU could have won all three games

they lost against the Southern Miss, Grambling State University and Jackson State. SWAC Co-Offensive Player of Year John Gibbs Jr. and FCS All-American tight end Jordan Payne led ASU on offense, and the Braves led the SWAC in scoring of-fense and scoring defense last season.

2015 Outlook Alcorn State’s offense should be just as explosive this season as last with the return of Gibbs and Payne. The Braves also return eight receivers who caught at least 14 passes, including sophomore Charles Hughes and junior Jaborian McKenzie, and Tollette George comes back from injury this season. ASU’s running game will be by committee with senior Darryan Ragsdale and Arron Baker leading the way. Four of five offensive linemen return with Isaac Sampson leading the unit. There are a few holes on the defensive side of the ball for the Braves, but there are some returning players who should be playmakers. Senior defensive end Darien Moody will anchor the line.

Senior Damon Watkins leads the pack this season, and like Moody, he earned a spot on the preseason First Team All-SWAC. The secondary should be strong with seniors Quin-ton Cantue and Anthony Williams Jr. joining junior Warren Gatewood.

Prediction Every game on the schedule is winnable for No. 20 Alcorn State except for the season opener at Geor-gia Tech. It took 20 years for Alcorn State win its most recent SWAC Championship. Repeating for the Braves might be hard since no team in the SWAC has repeated as champion since Grambling State won three straight titles from 2001 to 2003. The toughest conference games are on the road at Southern and Jackson State. This season will be a suc-cess if Alcorn State is in the mix for another SWAC title, and another 10 wins are possible. This season will be a failure is this team wins less than seven games.

see more on page 20

For more coverage, check out jfp.ms/2015footballpreview

Week One: Mississippi State University at the Uni-versity of Southern Mississippi Theonlytimethisgamewascloselastyearwasrightbeforekickoff.TheBulldogswoninablowout,buttheGoldenEaglesshouldbebetterthisseasonandcouldputupafightuntilthehalftime. Bonus: Belhaven University at Millsaps College TheBlazersentertheirfirstseasonattheDivisionIIIlevel,wheretheMajorshavebeenat,asthein-townrivalssquareoff.

Week Two: Louisiana State University at Mississippi State ThiswasthegamelastyearthatletthecollegefootballworldknowtheBulldogsweresetforaspe-cialseason.YoucanbettheTigerswouldliketotakeMSUdowninthison-the-roadgame.

Week three: Mississippi Valley State University at Alcorn State University ThisisthefirsthomegameforthedefendingSWACchamps,buttheDeltaDevilswouldliketopullofftheupsetliketheydidtoJacksonStateUniversitylastseason. Bonus: Belhaven at Mississippi College AnothercloserivalrygamefortheBlazersastheChoctawslooktoavengelastseason’sloss.

Bonus: University of Chicago at Millsaps College ItisnoteveryweekthataformerBigTenschoolcomestoMississippiasUChicagodoeswhenitfacestheMajors.

Week four: Vanderbilt University at the University of Mississippi ThisgamecomesafteraroadtriptoAlabama,sotheCommodorescouldbethefirstSECwinfortheRebels,orapotentialletdowngameafterawin.

Week five: Grambling State University at Jackson State University Thisgamecouldbegreat.Twoyearsago,GramblingStatedidn’tcometoJacksonbecauseofaboycott,andGSUupsetJacksonStateinJacksonlastyear.ThisgamecouldalsoshowifJSUisreadytobattlefortheEasttitle.

Week six: New Mexico State University at UM TheGroveisalwaysagreatplacetobeduringhomecomingfortheRebels,whoshouldrolltheAg-giestothedelightofthehomefans.

Week seven: University of West Georgia at Delta State University Thisisarevengegameifthereeverwasone.Last

season,theStatesmenlosttwice,andboththoselossesweretoWestGeorgia(oneintheDIIplayoffs).

Week eight: Grambling State at Alcorn State TheteampickedtowintheSWACWest,GSU,meetstheteampickedtowintheSWACEast,ASU,inwhatcouldbeaSWACtitlegamepreview. Bonus: University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff at Jackson State ThisisthehomecominggamefortheTigers,whichmakesitamust-see.

Week nine: Jackson State at Mississippi Valley State ThisgameisonHalloween,whichisfittingsincetheDeltaDevilsgavetheTigersnightmaresintheirupsetwinlastseason.DoesJSUgetthetrickorthetreat?

Week 10: Sul Ross University at Belhaven TheBlazersfinishtheirfirstseasoninDivisionIIIathome.Willitbetheendtoasuccessorthankfullyover?

Week 11: Delta State at Mississippi College Thisistheseasonfinaleforbothschools.TheStatesmenrenewedtherivalrywithabigwinathome.CantheChoctawsreturnthefavor?

Bonus: University of Alabama at Mississippi State ThefirstlosstheBulldogssufferedlastseasonwastotheCrimsonTide.MSUgetsashotatsomerevengeathome.

Week 12: LSU at UM TheTigerswonwhenRebelsquarterbackBoWallacethrewalate-gameinterception.Wallaceisgonethisyear,sothere’snohopeatanotherpick-offending,isthere? Bonus: Old Dominion University at Southern Miss IftheGoldenEagleshaven’twonagame,thisistheirlastchancewhentheytakethefieldagainsttheMonarchs.

Week 13: UM at Mississippi State ItstheEggBowl.Doweneedtosaymore? Bonus: Alcorn State at Jackson State ThisgamecouldbeforalltheSWACEastmarbles,anditisoneofthebiggestSWACrivalrygames.Again,doweneedtosaymore?

TelluswhatgameyouaremostlookingforwardandwhyonTwitterat@JFPSportsorcommentatjfp.ms/sports.

by Bryan Flynn I fyoucoulddonothingbuttravelthestateeachweekendtowatchfootball,whichgameswouldyougosee?Ihavespentweekslookingatschedulestotellyouwhichgameswouldbethebesteachweek.Mostweeksarejustonegame,butifitisgoodenough,therewillbeabonusgameortwo.OnlygamesplayedinMississippicount.Also,everyoneofthefour-yearschoolsinthestatehavetogracethislist

atleastonce.Itwouldn’tbefuntospendallourtimeinSECcountry.

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Mississippi Valley State University Delta Devils

Head coach: RickComegy(173-96-2overall,2-9atMVSUenteringsecondseason)2014-15 season: 2-9(1-8SWAC)seasonendedwitha44-13losstoSouthernUniversityStadium: Rice-TottenStadium

Last Season Recap There was no quick turnaround from Head Coach Rick Comegy for Mississippi Valley State in his first season at the school. In fact, there was little to cheer about all season long for the Delta Devils. Mississippi Valley State started the season off with a 32-7 win over University of Faith, and things went downhill from that point. There was a five-game losing streak, and none of the games were close except for a 20-16 loss to Texas Southern. The Delta Devils shocked Jackson State for a 27-23 win for their second and last one of the season. MVSU ended the season on four-game losing streak. Scoring was a major problem as the Delta Devils only scored 20 or more points five times. The team gave up 30 or more points seven times as the defense strug-gled as much as the offense.

2015 Outlook Don’t expect a major turnaround this season. Mis-sissippi Valley State lost 19 seniors on last year’s team. The Delta Devils also didn’t have a spring practice be-cause of Academic Progress Rate sanctions. This team will be better if senior quarterback Quantavius Patter-son plays well in his full-time role as the starter after splitting time with Patrick Ivy. Senior offensive lineman and second team preseason All-SWAC Sean Brown will provide leadership up front for the offense. It will be important for the offensive line to get better after giving up 44 sacks last season. Star wide re-

ceiver Julian Stafford is gone, so returning sophomore wide receivers Joshua Rice and Keenan Daniels have to pick up their production. Junior defensive end Khalil Young will be the leader on the defensive line. In the secondary, it will depend on seniors Charles Moore and Le’Trey Jones to be playmakers.

Prediction This season will be a success if Mississippi Valley State can win two or more games with the schedule they have. Only a winless season would be a disaster, but it wouldn’t be completely shocking.

Delta State University Statesmen

Head coach:ToddCooley(16-5overallandallatDSU,enteringhisthirdseason)2014-15 season:9-2(6-1GSC)seasonendedwitha37-27losstotheUniversityofWestGeorgiaintheDivisionIIPlayoffsStadium: ParkerField-McCoolStadium

Last Season Recap Delta State had a great start to the season as it got off to a five-game winning streak. The Statesmen were only challenged once in their first five games, winning by 17 points over Valdosta State University. Then came a road trip to West Georgia for DSU. That’s when the Statesmen suffered their first de-feat of the season: an eight-point loss to the Wolves. Delta State regrouped after the loss and finished the sea-son on a four-game winning streak. A 9-1 regular season earned the Statesmen a seventh Gulf South Conference title and a bye into the second round of the Division II playoff. Last season’s arch nemesis popped up once again for DSU when West Georgia got the better of the Statesmen for the second time.

2015 Outlook Don’t expect a drop-off from Delta State this season. DSU returns 17 starters and plenty of players who saw ac-tion last season. Returning junior quarterback Tyler Sul-livan and senior wide receivers Justin Leavy and Casey Os-borne will lead the offense. The return of senior running back Eddie McCadney will bolster DSU’s ground game. Delta State had one of the best offenses in the GSC and in the nation last season. That offense will help with senior offensive tackle Mose Countryman this season. On defense, the Statesmen return key players at each level. The secondary could be the strongest unit with senior Richard Nash, junior Romelo Wilson and sophomore Trey Shaw. All three were honored last sea-son as first or second team All-GSC, and Shaw was the conference’s Freshman Defensive Player of the Year.

Prediction A second-straight playoff appearance shouldn’t be out of the question. One reason is because the Statesmen play seven home games this season. It will be a success if Delta State wins eight games and returns to the Division II playoffs and make it past the second round. This season will be a disaster if DSU fails to make the playoffs, and the win total plummets.

Mississippi College Choctaws

Head coach: JohnBland(76-36overall,1-9atMCenteringsecondseason)2014-15 season:1-9(0-7GSC)seasonendedwitha27-3losstoDeltaStateStadium:Robinson-HaleStadium

Last Season Recap Mississippi College struggled last season, which people expected as the Choctaws made their transition from Division III to Division II.

see more on page 22

From page 19 For more coverage, check out jfp.ms/2015footballpreview

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Last season showed the team’s growing pains. The team started the season on a four-game losing streak that included an opening game loss to Belhaven with 14-32. It was October before Mississippi College won a game. MC was able to blowout University of Faith for the sea-sons’ only win. MC finished on a five-game losing streak that end-ed with a loss to renewed GSC rival Delta State. Tran-sitions aren’t always the smoothest, but the Choctaws fought hard each week.

2015 Outlook Mississippi College returns 18 starters from last season’s squad and added 16 players from the junior-college ranks. This should help the second-year transi-tion to Division II. The team returns sophomore quar-terback Kyle Smith and add senior quarterback Ray-mond Cotton. MC also returns four offensive linemen, who, with a year’s experience, should help the offense be more productive. If the offensive line improves, returning senior run-ning backs Chris Ingram and James Banks should find more room to run. Mississippi College will have to find some wide receivers since none of the returning starters are receivers. On defense, MC returns four starters in the sec-ondary with juniors Reggie Bennett, Cliff Collins and Darryl Johnson, with sophomore Chris Manning join-ing them. Senior Lazarus Shelby will lead the defensive line, and senior Seth McDonald, junior Chris Ori and sophomore Kaleb Coleman head the linebacker corps.

Prediction Don’t look for Mississippi College to win a ton of games this season. The team plays in the very competi-tive Gulf South Conference, and last season, four teams from the GSC made the Division II playoffs. This sea-son will be a success if Mississippi College wins more games than last season. Things will be a disaster for the MC if they fail to win a game in their second full season at Division II.

Millsaps College Majors

Head coach: Aaron Pelch (30-19 overall, all at Millsaps, entering sixth season) 2014-15 season: 3-6 (3-4 SAA) season ended with a 19-14 loss to Rhodes CollegeStadium: Harper Davis Field

Last Season Things didn’t go as planned for Millsaps last season. The Majors brought back key pieces from a 9-1 season in 2013 but could only muster a 3-6 2014 season. Millsaps had a mix of close losses and blowouts. None of the three wins came by more than eight points. The losing season was the first for the Majors since the 2011-12 season. Strangely, two of the three wins came on the road. The lone home win came against the University of the South at Sewanee for the team’s homecoming game.

2015 Outlook Millsaps will break in a new quarterback but re-turns with junior wide receiver Rashad Simms. Joining Simms will be Beau Wells, Zachary Borne and three other players who had at least 10 or more catches last season. The Majors also return their top

three rushers, Raphael Johnson, Chandler Loy and Isa-iah Talton, to carry the ground game this season. Mill-saps gets Hunter Coleman and Austin Harris back on the offensive line. Senior linebacker Eric Martin leads the defense this season. Junior defensive lineman Alex Foust could be poised for a breakout season, and senior Drew Ward will join him on the defensive front. In the secondary, junior Benton Brown will be the returning leader. Senior Javis Aultman and junior Jared Bullock will join him.

Prediction This year will be a success if the Majors bounce back to their winning ways, but it will be a failure of a season if Millsaps gives more ground in the win column. A winning record is possible this season.

Belhaven University Blazers Head coach: Hal Mumme (137-128-1 overall, 2-9 at Belhaven entering second season)2014-15 season: 2-9 (0-5 MSC) season ended with a 39-34 loss to Bethel UniversityStadium: H.T. Newell Field

Last Season Recap Things started off well last season for Belhaven. The Blazers won their first two games under new head coach Hal Mumme. After that, the wheels fell off for him and the team. Belhaven went on to lose its final nine games. The low point had to come against Lindsey Wilson College in Kentucky. The Blazers lost that game 91-14 to the Blue Raiders. Against University of Pikeville, the Blaz-ers lost by just 10 points, and against Bethel Univer-sity in Tennessee, the team lost by just five. Those two games would mark the first time the Belhaven scored more than 30 points since the first two games of the season.

2015 Outlook Last season was the final one for Belhaven at the NAIA level. It was also a younger team with a good bit of sophomores and freshmen. This season, it looks like sophomore Clayton Webb will be taking over at quarter-back. He will have junior wide receivers Darien Thomas and Devin Odom to target. On defense, junior Syndrick Malone is the only player to notch an interception that returns in the sec-ondary. Leading tackler Alvin Vaughn also returns. Defensive back Steven Joiner led the team in sacks last season and is back as a senior. Junior linebacker Alonzo Peavy finished with half a sack less than Joiner last season. Senior Justin Munoz will join him.

Prediction Belhaven enters the Division III ranks and is transi-tioning to become a member of the NCAA. That means the Blazers leave behind Mid-South Conference and are now members of the American Southwest Conference. This season will be a success for the Blazers if the team can manage to be competitive at the Division III level and be a legitimate threat against ASC foes. A di-saster of an season would be going winless and moving to Division III.

Hinds Community College Eagles

Head Coach: Gene Murphy (164-65-5 overall, 138-45-5 at Hinds entering 29th season)2014-15 season: 5-4 (3-3 conference) season ended with a 31-30 win over Southwest Stadium: Joe Renfroe Stadium

Last Season Recap Hinds Community College started off last season with a seven-point loss to Holmes. The Eagles won two straight games after the loss before Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College beat the team. The Eagles won two more games before losing two of them. The season ended with a one-point homecoming win over Southwest Community College.

2015 Outlook The Eagles will try to get back to the top of the junior and community college world. Hinds will have to be better on defense after giving up at least 28 points in each of its four losses and five games overall. On offense, the Eagles scored 21 or more points in every game. They scored over 30 points five times last season.

Prediction The Eagles are almost always competitive in the tough Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges. Expect Hinds to once again to field a team ca-pable of winning most of the games on its schedule.

Holmes Community College Bulldogs

Head coach: Jeff Koonz (14-22 overall, all at Holmes entering fifth season)2014-15 season: 4-5 (3-3 conference) season ended with a 37-20 win over Northeast Mississippi Community College Stadium: Ras Branch Stadium

Last Season Recap The season started with a win over Hinds. A win-ning streak didn’t follow as the Bulldogs lost three straight games. Holmes broke the losing streak with a win over Mississippi Delta Community College. The Bulldogs couldn’t string together wins as they lost their next two games. Last season ended on a high note with two straight wins, including a homecoming win over Coahoma Community College.

2015 Outlook Except for a 49-0 loss to East Mississippi Commu-nity College, the Bulldogs played some close games in their losses. Holmes struggled on offense for most of the season as the team failed to score more than 21 points in its five losses. It wasn’t until a 64-6 win over Coahoma and a 37-20 win over Northeast Mississippi that the Bulldogs scored more than 30 points.

Prediction Holmes might be ready for a breakout season. The Bulldogs have five home games and only once do they play back-to-back road games. Just like with Hinds, it is always tough to win in the junior college ranks in Mis-sissippi. The Bulldogs hope to challenge the top teams this season.

From page 15For more coverage, check out jfp.ms/2015footballpreview

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One Guy Steak and Chicken is a local food truck that creates cuisine with its own take on

standard dishes. Chef and owner Kendrick Gor-don uses high-quality meat, ingredients and sauces to create his dishes. Gordon studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, taking courses in ar-eas such as sauces, and started the food truck in 2013. One dish he makes on the truck is the grilled chicken pita, which is a bed of grilled chick-en, lettuce and Gordon’s comeback-style sauce on top of pita bread. Patrons can get it with a side of homemade potato chips. The grilled chicken is marinated in Gordon’s own marinade, which includes ingredients such as red-wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce, and he cuts the potatoes into chips, fries them in peanut oil and seasons them with spices such as paprika and cayenne pepper. Find One Guy Steak and Chicken on Facebook or Instagram to check its daily menu and locations.

2 for 7 Kitchen’s ever-changing menu consists of the simplest food, but patrons through-out Jackson will find there is something for

everyone. Owners Omario and Deandrea Dow-Moore usually keep busy driving from various businesses and events, from Bright Lights, Belhaven Nights on Aug. 15 to lunches at Nucor Steel. “It’s the two of us, and together we have seven kids,” Dow-Moore says of the name of the food truck. Their children’s ages range between

1 and 17. While Omario keeps busy cooking, Dow-Moore takes orders and chats with the line of customers standing outside. When asked what the best item on the menu is, she says, “It would have to be a tie between the fried catfish sandwich and the loaded fries.” The catfish is lightly breaded, then deep-fried and placed between two pieces of white bread with mayonnaise, tomato, lettuce and pickles. The fries are crinkle-cut and made to order. They are the standard side for most of the menu items; however, customers can get them loaded with your choice of meats such as beef, chicken, or shrimp, cheese, sour cream, jalapenos, and Dow-Moore says that sometimes customers add sauteed onions or bell pep-pers. The fun thing about 2 for 7 Kitchen is that it can prepare almost anything you want, from burgers to grilled tilapia, so you can have your cake and eat it, too. For more information, find 2 for 7 Kitchen on Instagram or Facebook.

One Guy Steak and Chickenby Emerald Alexis Ware

Food Truck Frenzy

With the new ordinance the Jackson City Council passed this summer, the food-truck scene seems to get bigger every time you turn around. In response to this, the Jackson Free Press is beginning a new occasional series that features food from the different trucks and other mobile-food vendors.

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When political consultant and author Jere Nash met his friend Leila Salisbury, director of the University Press of Mississippi, for lunch at Hal & Mal’s in the spring of 2013, he didn’t see himself walking out of the res-

taurant with a two-year mission. At lunch, they came to the topic of Mississippi’s crop of excellent authors, which raised an interesting question: Why didn’t the state have an event that honors its literary community? That was the basis for the inaugural Missis-sippi Book Festival, which comes to the State Capitol Saturday, Aug. 22. “A lot of our sister states do them, and Mississippi has produced a whole lot more authors than (many) other states with successful book fairs,” Nash says. “No one had ever put together a day-long event here to celebrate people who write books and those who read them.” After pitching the idea to Lemuria Books owner John Evans with an enthusiastic response, Nash reached out to other individuals and organiza-tions, including the Mississippi Library Commis-sion and the Mississippi Development Authority, to find out if the Mississippi Book Festival would be viable. MDA Tourism Director Malcolm White even offered seed money to bring in book-festival directors from Baton Rouge, La., Little Rock, Ark., and Nashville, Tenn., to help plan. “It was sort of three phases. First, it was just getting ourselves organized, seeing what the festival would look like,” Nash says. “… The next piece was raising the money to pay for all this, and the third piece was deciding which authors to invite. Missis-sippi has just an unbelievable wealth of authors, and we had to figure out which ones we wanted to feature.” By the end of 2013, Nash established the Mississippi Book Fes-tival as a nonprofit organization and collected a board of directors with literature enthusiasts from around the state, such as Evans, Hat-tiesburg native food writer Robert St. John and book reviewer Emily Gatlin of Tupelo. The community’s excitement was clear. Where the money would come from was not. In early 2015, the state Legislature agreed to provide $45,000 to kick-start the festival’s fundraising through the Mississippi Depart-ment of Archives and History and to help the event in future years. However, the funds didn’t officially come through until late April 2015, which gave the board just under four months to arrange a large enough venue and a stellar guest list. “It’s caused us all to grow some gray hairs,” Nash says, “but so

much of this has come together not only quickly but also easily. The folks at the Legislature and the state government have been very gen-erous in letting us use the State Capitol and committee rooms inside the Capitol, as well as the grounds.” Planning the festival’s programming also turned out to be rela-tively easy. Author Greg Iles joined the fray fairly early, then thriller legend John Grisham signed on, then writer William Ferris, and after that, Nash says the remaining guests mostly fell into place. Now, 102

guest writers and 62 self-published authors from Mississippi will be at the festival’s 22 panels, which range in focuses from historical non-fiction about the Civil Rights Movement to comic and cartoon writ-ing. The event also attracted the attention of the Library of Congress, which will have a booth to display Mississippi cultural materials such as rare recordings and photographs from its collection. “We wanted to make the point that Mississippi has produced authors that cover this incredibly wide range of topics, not just liter-ary fiction, not just history and biography, and not just short stories,” he says. “All those are obviously important, but there are also authors who’ve done comics, romance, sports and outdoors, historical fiction, business books and poetry.” Nash says the hope is that the Mississippi Book Festival will be successful enough to become an annual event. And with the number of interested authors who weren’t able to make it this year, the festival might have an even smoother road in 2016. Mississippi Book Festival is Saturday, Aug. 22, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Mississippi State Capitol (400 High St.). Admission is free. For a full list of authors and panels, visit msbookfestival.com.

8 DAYS p 27 | MUSIC p 30

A Time to Readby Micah Smith

Political consultant and author Jere Nash helped organize the first-ever Mississippi Book Festival, which takes place Saturday, Aug. 22, at the Mississippi State Capitol with some heavy-hitting names in attendance.

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MISSISSIppI on the pAgeby Micah Smith

The Magnolia State has more than its fair share of authors and books. Here are a few recent highlights.

“One Mississippi, Two Mississippi: Methodists, Murder & the Struggle for Racial Justice in Neshoba County” by Carol V.R. George (Oxford University Press, 2015, $29.95)Spinning a web of true stories that spans four decades, George creates a “micro-history” of the Methodist church’s struggles amidst a white supremacist-dominated Neshoba County that’s every bit as engrossing as it is moving.

“Mississippi Moonshine Politics” by Janice Branch Tracy(The History Press, 2015, $19.99) A dry state or anything but? Utilizing historical accounts and state records, Tracy dives into the formation of Mississippi’s bootleg empire during the state’s extended period of Prohibition and the corruption that followed.

“Shoulder Bones” by Mary B. Sellers(Blooming Twig, 2014, $17.95) If you had to describe Sellers’ collection of short stories in a single word, the best choice would be “complicated.” Equal parts eerie, whimsical and reflective, “Shoulder Bones” bottles Mississippi youth and the many complex themes that entails.

“Casey’s Last Chance” by Joseph B. Atkins (Sartoris Literary Group, 2015, $19.95) Atkins delivers full doses of classic noir in his latest novel about a two-bit hustler turned into a would-be assassin. “Casey’s Last Chance” is a vintage-style tale of cops, crooks and those caught in the middle, with a sense of dread that coils tighter at every turn.

“Once in a Lifetime: Reflections of a Mississippi First Lady” by Elise Winters(University Press of Mississippi, 2015, $28) Throughout his governorship of Mississippi, William F. Winter changed a number of lives, but none more than that of his wife. The former first lady recounts moments of trial and triumph as she sought to make a difference beyond the customs of her position.

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WEDNESDAY 8/19 History Is Lunch is at noon at the William F. Winter Archives and History Building (200 North St.). Photojour-nalist Kate Medley discusses the Southern Foodways Alli-ance’s Counter Histories series of documentaries chronicling sit-in movements across the South. Free; call 601-576-6998.

THURSDAY 8/20 The Museum After Hours Pop-Up Exhibition is 5:30 to 10 p.m. at the Mississippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St.). See video game and comic-themed works from artists featured at OffBeat. Some artists include Ken Patterson, Jas-mine Cole, Rhis Harris, Justin Ransburg and Ariss King. The outdoor urban arcade opens at dusk. Free, with cash bar and food for sale; call 601-960-1515; msmuseumart.org.

FRIDAY 8/21 The Back to School Show is at 8 p.m. at CS’s (1359 1/2 N. West St.). The annual concert features music from Nossiens, Passing Parade and Silent G, gifts from local busi-nesses (must show college ID), free merchandise from record labels Elegant Trainwreck and Homework Town, and more. $5; find “Annual Awesome Super Cool Woooooooo Back to School Show” on Facebook; elegant-trainwreck.com.

SATURDAY 8/22 Mississippi Craft Show is 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Mississippi Trade Mart (1200 Mississippi St.). The fourth annual event includes handmade art and crafts for sale, entertainment and more. Proceeds benefit 9 Lives Cat Rescue, Mississippi Horses and Copiah Animal Shel-ter. Additional date: Aug. 23, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tickets sold at the door. $7 (cash only), children 12 and under free; call 601-790-0654; email admin@mscraftshow.com; ms-craftshow.com. … Mississippi Book Festival is 10 a.m. at the Mississippi State Capitol (400 High St.). Includes panel discussions with authors, a book sale and more. The keynote speaker is renowned author John Grisham. Free; call 769-717-2648; email info@msbookfestival.com; msbookfestival.com. … PM Burger 3 is 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. at Parlor Market (115 W. Capitol St.). Purchase signa-ture burgers, fries and beer, and enjoy a car show until 4 p.m., and music from Ethel, Rooster Blues, Taylor Hildebrand and Young Valley. Cathead Late Night from 11 p.m.-2 a.m. at Albert’s. No cover until 4 p.m., then $5; food and drinks for sale; call 601-360-0090.

SUNDAY 8/23 Saltine’s One-Year Birthday Bash is at Saltine Oys-ter Bar (622 Duling Ave., Suite 201). The celebration includes an oyster-eating contest, free birthday cake, $1 and other drink specials available all day long. No cover; call 601-982-2899; saltinerestaurant.com.

MONDAY 8/24 Devery Anderson signs copies of “Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement” at 5 p.m. at Lemuria Books (Banner Hall, 4465 Interstate 55 N., Suite 202). $45 book; call 601-366-7619; email info@lemuriabooks.com; lemuriabooks.com. … The Charles Smith Wine Tasting is 6 to 8 p.m. at Amerigo Italian Restaurant (6592 Old Canton Road). Sample four wines from the Charles Smith Winery paired with bruschetta and tiramisu. Reservations required. $21 per person plus tax and tip; call 601-977-0563; amerigo.net.

TUESDAY 8/25 The eTech Conference is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Clyde Muse Center (515 Country Place Parkway, Pearl). Industry leaders, educational professionals and economic development agencies host workshops for business owners. Includes full-day Adobe software training for designers and developers. Registration required. Vendor space available. $50, $300 vendors (includes three attendee tickets); call 601-813-0480; etechconference.com.

WEDNESDAY 8/26 History Is Lunch is at noon at Old Capitol Museum (100 S. State St.). Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour discusses his book, “America’s Great Storm: Leading through Hurricane Katrina.” Free; call 601-576-6998. … Author Andrew Malan Milward signs copies of his book “I Was a Revolutionary” at 5 p.m. at Lemuria Books (Banner Hall, 4465 Interstate 55 N., Suite 202). Andrew Malan Milward signs books. $24.99 book; call 601-366-7619; email info@lemuriabooks.com; lemuriabooks.com.

FRIDAY 8/21Hit a Home Run for Special Olympics is at Trustmark Park in Pearl.

WEDNESDAY 8/19BYOW: Bring Your Own Wax is at Offbeat.

SATURDAY 8/22A Good-Vibe Only Affair is at Center Stage.

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Jasmine Cole and other featured artists present video game and comic-inspired work at the Museum After Hours Pop-Up Exhibition on Thursday, Aug. 20, at the Mississippi Museum of Art.

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jFpEvENTS.coMDevery Anderson discusses his book, “Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement,” Monday, Aug. 24, at Lemuria Books.

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COMMUNITYHistory Is Lunch Aug. 19, noon, at William F. Winter Archives and History Building (200 North St.). Photojournalist Kate Medley discusses the Southern Foodways Alliance’s Counter His-tories documentary films chronicling sit-in move-ments across the South. Free; call 601-576-6998.

BYOW: Bring Your Own Wax Aug. 19, 5 p.m., at Offbeat (151 Wesley Ave.). Bring your own records and play them from 5 to 8 p.m., whether you’re a pro DJ or an amateur. The best guest DJ wins a discount on his or her next Offbeat pur-chase. At 8 p.m., local DJs present half-hour sets of their favorite gems. Free; call 601-376-9404; find the event on Facebook; offbeatjxn.com.

Interpersonal Violence Community Confer-ence Aug. 22, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., at Brandon First United Methodist Church (205 Mary Ann Drive, Brandon). Topics include domestic violence, sexual assault and sex trafficking. Ideal for health professionals and social workers. CEUs available. Registration required. Free self-defense workshop for women ages 16-22 from 1-4 p.m. $20, $65 with CEUs, free workshop; call 601-984-1300; email cgoss@mscvp.org; umc.edu/celive.

Mississippi Craft Show Aug. 22, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Aug. 23, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., at Mississippi Trade Mart (1200 Mississippi St.). The fourth annual event includes handmade art and crafts for sale, entertainment and more. Benefits 9 Lives Cat Rescue, Mississippi Horses and Copiah Animal Shelter. Tickets sold at event. $7 (cash only), chil-dren 12 and under free; call 601-790-0654; email admin@mscraftshow.com; mscraftshow.com.

KIDSEvents at Mississippi Children’s Museum (2145 Highland Drive)• Sid’s Science Club Aug. 20, 10-11 a.m., Aug.

25, 2-3 p.m. The popular PBS Kids character Sid the Science Kid appears in conjunction with Sid the Science Kid: The Super-Duper Exhibit! Included with admission ($10, children under 12 months and members free); call 601-981-5469; mississippichildrensmuseum.com.

• Sayonara, Sid the Science Kid! Aug. 23, 1-2 p.m. The event celebrates the closing of the “Sid the Science Kid” exhibit and the opening of the exhibit “Hello from Japan” in September. The drumming group Shirohato Taiko performs. Included with admission ($10, children under 12 months and members free); call 601-981-5469; mississippichildrensmuseum.com.

FOOD & DRINK‘sipp Sourced with Chef Nick Wallace: Revenge of the Noodle Aug. 20, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Aug. 20, 5:30 p.m., Aug. 21, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Aug. 21, 5:30 p.m., at Mississippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St.). Order from a pop-up menu featuring products from Mississippi sources. Food prices vary; call 601-960-1515; msmuseumart.org.

PM Burger 3 Aug. 22, 11 a.m.-11 p.m., at Parlor Market (115 W. Capitol St.). Purchase burgers, fries and beer. Car show until 4 p.m., and music from Ethel, Rooster Blues, Taylor Hildebrand and Young Valley. Cathead Late Night from 11 p.m.-2 a.m. at Albert’s. No cover until 4 p.m., then $5; food and drinks for sale; call 601-360-0090.

Plantation Rum Tasting Aug. 22, 3 p.m., at BRAVO! Italian Restaurant & Bar (Highland Vil-lage, 4500 Interstate 55 N.). Sample four vintage rums and a new rum, Plantation Pineapple Rum. RSVP. $40 per person; call 601-982-8111; email chrisr@bravobuzz.com; bravobuzz.com.

SPORTS & WELLNESSHit a Home Run for Special Olympics Aug. 21, 5 p.m., at Trustmark Park (1 Braves Way, Pearl). NFL legend Brett Favre’s Hometown Heroes take on Gov. Phil Bryant’s Braves at the charity softball game. Rosters include local celebrities. $10-$15; call 932-8788; specialolympicsms.org/homerun.

STAGE & SCREENA Good Vibe Only Affair Aug. 22, 8 p.m., at Center Stage (1625 E. County Line Road, Suite 410). Los Angeles entertainer Terrell Moses is the emcee. Enjoy stand-up comedy from Rita B. and music from Karen Brown. BYOB. Wear upscale attire. Limited tickets. For ages 21 and up. $15 in advance, $20 at the door; call 601-624-8992.

CONCERTS & FESTIVALSGrits & Soul Aug. 20, 8 p.m., at Hal & Mal’s (200 Commerce St.). The Valley Roots and Hon-eyboy & Boots also perform. $8 in advance, $10 at the door; call 601-292-7121; ardenland.net.

Scraper Gang Live Aug. 21, 6 p.m., at Hops & Habanas (2771 Old Canton Road). The multi-genre concert features performances from hip-hop collective Scraper Gang, The CUT and DJ Dony-ale. Free; call 769-572-4631; thehoodhippie.com.

Hazlehurst Aug. 22, 8 p.m., at Big Sleepy’s (208 W. Capitol St.). The New Orleans rock and roll band performs. The Stonewalls also perform. $5; call 863-9516; email bigxsleepy@gmail.com; find the event on Facebook.

LITERARY & SIGNINGSReading and Book Signing Aug. 20, 6 p.m., at Jackson State University’s Margaret Walker Center (Ayer Hall, 1400 John R. Lynch St.). Authors include Sterling Plumpp (“Home Bass,” “Velvet Babop Kente Cloth”) and Patrick M. Oliver (“Turn the Page,” “You Don’t Stop on My Own”). Free admission, books for sale; call 601-979-3935.

Mississippi Book Festival Aug. 22, 10 a.m., at Mississippi State Capitol (400 High St.). Includes panel discussions with authors, a book sale and more. The keynote speaker is author John Grisham. Free; call 769-717-2648; email info@msbookfestival.com; msbookfestival.com.

CREATIVE CLASSESMississippi Book Festival Cutup and Craft Preview Aug. 20, 5:30-10 p.m., at Mississippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St.). The all-ages community craft project involves bringing used books to create artwork in the shape of Missis-sippi. Free; call 601-960-1515; msmuseumart.org.

EXHIBIT OPENINGSMuseum After Hours Pop-Up Exhibition Aug. 20, 5:30-10 p.m., at Mississippi Museum of Art (380 S. Lamar St.). See video game and comic-themed pieces featured at Offbeat from artists such as Ken Patterson, Jasmine Cole, Rhis Harris, Justin Ransburg and Ariss King. Outdoor urban arcade opens at dusk. Free with cash bar and food for sale; call 601-960-1515; msmuseumart.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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Jackson hip-hop artist Kimberly West, known to her fans simply as K. West, has stayed busy since the release of her debut album, “He Say

She Say,” in 2012 and her 2013 follow-up, “Married to the Hustle,” which featured singles and music videos “I Remember” and “Irrelevant B*tches.” West scored accolades at the Jackson Hip-Hop Awards in January and the Jack-son Music Awards in July, earning the title of Female Hip-Hop Art-ist of the Year from both competitions. Now, she’s preparing to ask the capi-tal city a simple question: “Who Is That?” West recorded her latest single and soon-to-be-released music video, “Who Is Dat,” with the help of label K.M.G.O.P., a merging of Jackson-based hip-hop groups Optimo Palace and Kaotic Muzik Group. She plans for the single to appear on her untitled upcoming EP, which is scheduled for an October release. “I have really ma-tured as an artist. My first album was really personal,” West says. “This song and album are about more every-day situations that we all face. I want people to be able to listen to this and think about them-selves when they step into any social situation. People see you and only want to know one thing—who is that?” While longtime fans know that West makes use of both her rap abilities and her singing voice to deliver her signature style and raw emotion, it’s not always common knowledge. She says that many people who have listened to her upcom-ing tracks were surprised to find out that the breathy, soulful melodies and sudden, attacking rap verses both came from the same performer. “People act shocked when they hear the track and hear that it’s me singing,” West says. “People didn’t know I could sing. It makes my music more diverse and helps me grow as an artist.” Adding to that diversity, West also brought in fellow Jackson hip-hop artists Krissi Dior and Mona Goodie 2 Shoe as featured guests on “Who Is Dat.”

“It’s not all about me,” she says. “I want to help other local artists make a name for themselves, especially the fe-males. Rap is such a male-dominated genre from the bottom level to the top, and I think it’s important to show that Jackson women can really bring a lot to the hip-hop genre.” When West releases “Who Is Dat” as a downloadable single on Aug. 22, fans will also be able to a watch a music video

for the new track on YouTube. The video isn’t all about showing off West’s new, more mature image, either. Several children and families from the area appear in the music video, which she says is just a way to show apprecia-tion to the city that lifts her up. “I think in the last 18 months, I have shown that I really enjoy what I do. I love performing, but I love involving the community, as well,” West says. “It really means a lot to me to be able to touch so many families in the Jackson community.” K. West’s “Who Is Dat” is available Sat-urday, Aug. 22, on iTunes, Amazon and Google Play. Her previous albums, “He Say She Say” and “Married to the Hustle,” are available now on those platforms. For more information, follow her on Twitter and In-stagram @kshowstopinwest or like her K. Showstoppin West fan page on Facebook.

DIVERSIONS | music

Who Is K. West?by Greg Pigott

Jackson native, singer and rapper K. West’s new single, “Who Is Dat,” which comes out Saturday, Aug. 22, shows her fans the progression of her music.

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August 19 WednesdAy

Bonny Blair’s - Open Mic 7:30 p.m.Fitzgerald’s - Johnny Barranco

4:30 p.m.; Hunter Gibson & Chris Link 8 p.m.

Hamp’s Place - Best in Hip-Hop w/Aziatikk Blakk

Kathryn’s - Larry Brewer & Doug Hurd 6:30 p.m.

Kristos, Madison - Jason Turnershucker’s - Waylon Halenunderground 119 - Big Easy Three

6:30 p.m. free

August 20 thursdAy

Big sleepy’s - Hodera 8 p.m.Burgers & Blues - Todd Thompson

5:30 p.m.City Grille, Madison - Brian Smith

5:15 p.m.Fenian’s - Spirits of the HouseFitzgerald’s - Johnny Barranco

4:30 p.m.; John Powell 8 p.m.Georgia Blue, Flowood - May DayHal & Mal’s - Grits & Soul w/ The

Valley Roots & Honeyboy & Boots 8 p.m. $8 advance $10 door ardenland.net

Kathryn’s - Andrew Pates 6:30 p.m.

Kemistry - Tropical Night w/ DJ Salsa 10 p.m. free

M Bar - Sippin & Trippin Comedy Show w/DJ Shanomak 8 p.m. free

offbeat - The CUT & Slangston Hughes 8 p.m.

shucker’s - Larry Brewer & Doug Hurd 7:30 p.m.

soulshine, ridgeland - Stace & Cassie 7 p.m.

underground 119 - Stevie Cain 5:30 p.m. free Joe Carroll Duo 7:30 p.m. free

August 21 - FridAyAmeristar Bottleneck Blues Bar,

Vicksburg - Kent Burnside 9 p.m. free

Burgers & Blues - Chasin’ Dixie 6 p.m.

Country squire - Matthew ClarkCs’s - Annual Awesome Super

Cool Woooooooooo Back to School Show feat. Nossiens, Passing Parade & Silent G 8 p.m.

F. Jones Corner - The Blues Man 9 p.m. free; King Edward midnight $10

Fenian’s - Southern GrassFitzgerald’s - Johnny Crocker &

Johnny Barranco 8 p.m.Georgia Blue, Flowood - Shaun

PattersonGeorgia Blue, Madison - Jim

TomlinsonHamp’s Place - Best in R&B &

Southern Soulthe Hideaway - Deez Notez &

Fade 2 BlueIron Horse Grill - The Vibe Doctors

Jazz Project 9 p.m.IsH - L.V. & BandKathryn’s - Sole Shakers Trio 7 p.m.Kowboys 43, Canton - Joe KendallM Bar - Flirt Fridays w/DJ 901 freeMartin’s - Colin Lake 10 p.m.Miller’s, Brandon - Chad Perryole tavern - EDM Party w/ DJ

Reign

reed Pierce’s, Byram - Snazz 9 p.m. free

shucker’s - Barry Leach (deck) 5:30 p.m. free; Hunter & The Gators 8 p.m. $5; Sid Thompson & DoubleShotz (deck) 10 p.m. free

soulshine, Flowood - Andy Tanas 7 p.m.

soulshine, ridgeland - Matt Hines 7:30 p.m.

underground 119 - Sherman Lee Dillon 9 p.m. $10

August 22 sAturdAy

Ameristar Bottleneck Blues Bar, Vicksburg - Kent Burnside 9 p.m. free

Big sleepy’s - Hazlehurst 8 p.m.Burgers & Blues - The Pieces

6 p.m.

Duling Hall - Ben Marney & Homecookin’ Reunion w/ The Crooked Creek String Band 8 p.m. $20 advance $25 door ardenland.net

F. Jones Corner - The Blues Man 9 p.m.; Sherman Lee Dillon & The MS Sound midnight $10

Fenian’s - Scott Albert JohnsonGeorgia Blue, Flowood - Larry BrewerGeorgia Blue, Madison - Andy Tanasthe Hideaway - Battle of the

BandsKathryn’s - The Axe-Identals

7 p.m. freeM Bar - Saturday Night Live w/DJ

Shanomak freeMartin’s - Friends Fly South 10 p.m.McB’s - Hound Dog Lucy Presents

David Sims & Friends 8 p.m. free

ole tavern - Riverside VoodooParlor Market - PM Burger 3 feat.

Taylor Hildebrand, Rooster Blues, Young Valley & more 4 p.m.

Pelican Cove - Sid Thompson & DoubleShotz 7 p.m.

Pop’s saloon - Chase Tyler Bandreed Pierce’s, Byram - Snazz

9 p.m. freeshucker’s - Acoustic Crossroads

(deck) 3:30 p.m. free; Hunter & The Gators 8 p.m. $5; Doug Frank (deck) 10 p.m. free

soulshine, Flowood - Barry Leach 7 p.m.

soulshine, ridgeland - Shaun Patterson 7:30 p.m.

underground 119 - Ori Naftaly 9 p.m. $10

August 23 - sundAy1908 Provisions, Fairview Inn

Knight Bruce 11 a.m.Burgers & Blues - Brandon Greer

4:30 p.m.Char - Big Easy Three 11 a.m.

the Hideaway - Mike & Marty’s Jam Session

Kathryn’s - Gator Trio 6 p.m. freeMartin’s - Rutabaga Jam 7 p.m.seafood r’evolution, ridgeland

Howard Jones Jazz Trio 11:00 a.m.

shucker’s - Axe-Identals (deck) 3:30 p.m. free

sombra Mexican Kitchen - John Mora 11 a.m.

table 100 - Raphael Semmes 11:30 a.m.

Wellington’s - Andy Hardwick 11 a.m.

August 24 - MondAyHal & Mal’s - Central MS Blues

Society (rest) 7 p.m.Julep - Joey Plunkett 7:30 p.m.Kathryn’s - Barry Leach 6:30 p.m.Last Call sports Grill - I Love

Mondays w/DJ Spoon $3 after 9:30 p.m.

Martin’s - Open Mic Free Jam 10 p.m.

one Block east - Comedy Night Club 7 p.m.

August 25 - tuesdAyCapitol Grill - Aaron CokerFenian’s - Open MicFitzgerald’s - Johnny Barranco

4:30 p.m.Julep - Black Water BoogieKathryn’s - Stace & Cassie

6:30 p.m.Margarita’s - John Mora 6 p.m.Pelican Cove - Jason Turnerunderground 119 - Jesse Robinson

6:30 p.m.

August 26 WednesdAy

Bonny Blair’s - Open Mic 7:30 p.m.Fitzgerald’s - Johnny Barranco

4:30 p.m.; Steve Williams 8 p.m.

Hal & Mal’s - New Bourbon Street Jazz Band 6 p.m. free

Hamp’s Place - Best in Hip-Hop w/Aziatikk Blakk

Kathryn’s - Kern Pratt Trio 6:30 p.m.

Martin’s - Young Valley 10 p.m.shucker’s - Andrew Patesunderground 119 - Howard Jones

Jazz Quintet 6:30 p.m. free

MUSIC | live Music listings are due noon Monday to be included in printand online listings: music@jacksonfreepress.com.

Cou

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Ar

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Silent G will be a part of CS’s Back to School show Friday night.

Get regional picks, new releases and other music news

every week at The Music Blog at jfp.ms/musicblog.

Contact info at jfp.ms/

musicvenues.

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Across1 Arachnid abodes5 ___ San Lucas9 Exam for jrs.13 “It’s a dry ___”14 Become best buds?15 “It’s ___ Quiet” (Bjork remake)16 Air France airport17 Bubbly Nestle bars across the pond18 Taken-back auto19 Daniel Defoe’s “___ Flanders”20 Chess closer21 Completely crush a final exam22 NFL’s Patriots?

25 Gator tail?27 “Chandelier” singer28 “Antony and Cleopatra” killer29 Jenny with a diet program31 “Oh, for Pete’s ___”34 “Bleh!”37 Garbage bags for an action star?41 Inflationary figure, for short42 DVR button43 Extremely cold44 Get, as the bad guy46 Note a fifth higher than do48 Mid-seasons occurrence?49 Digit for a bizarre MTV host?55 It’s just an expression

56 Rug-making need57 TV talking horse, for short60 Classic TV kid, with “The”61 “___ bet?”62 “Fame” actress and singer Irene63 Bachelor finale?64 “Card Players Quarreling” artist Jan65 “The ___-Bitsy Spider”66 Leonine outburst67 “West Side Story” faction68 Say no to

Down1 “For ___ the Bell Tolls”2 Dulles Airport terminal designer Saarinen3 Members of the major leagues4 French pen, or LG smartphone5 Oxy competitor6 Heart hookup7 Showed disapproval8 Yoga class chants9 Prickly critter10 Actor Charlie or Martin11 Jellied garnish12 Canine, e.g.14 Disney classic of 194221 Crunch targets23 Catholic title, for short24 “New Soul” singer ___ Naim25 “America’s Got Talent” feature26 Release, like a rap album30 Turning into a hockey rink, e.g.32 Busy-bee link33 Arch holders35 Observe36 Caitlyn’s ex38 Stand ___ Counted (U.K. news site for millennials)39 Inuit word for “house”40 ’60s activist gp.

45 Common tat locale47 “Yeesh ...”49 River near the Vatican50 “___ Billie Joe”51 Mazda roadster52 Bring delight to53 Trio of trios54 89 years from now, in the credits58 Beginning for “while”59 “The Banana Boat Song” opener

61 Banker’s newspaper, for short©2015 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com)

“A Bit of Foolery” —remember who comes first.

Last Week’s Answers

Last Week’s Answers

For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800 655-6548. Reference puzzle #733.

BY MATT JONES

BY MATT JONES

“Greater-Than Sudoku”For this ‘Greater-Than Sudoku,’ I’m not giving you ANY numbers to start off with! Adjoining squares in the grid’s 3x3 boxes have a greater-than sign (>) telling you which of the two numbers in those squares is larger. Fill in every square with a number from 1-9 using the greater-than signs as a guide. When you’re done, as in a normal Sudoku, every row, column and 3x3 box will contain the numbers 1-9 exactly one time. (Solving hint: try to look for the 1s and 9s in each box first, then move on to the 2s and 8s, and so on). psychosudoku@gmail.com

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VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):‘’On or about December 1910, human character changed,’’ wrote English author Virginia Woolf in 1924. What prompted her to draw that conclusion? The rapidly increasing availability of electricity, cars and indoor plumbing? The rise of the women’s suffrage movement? Labor unrest and the death of the King? The growing prominence of experimental art by Cezanne, Gauguin, Matisse and Picasso? The answer might be all of the above, plus the beginning of a breakdown in the British class system. Inspired by the current astro-logical omens, I’ll borrow her brash spirit and make a new prediction: During the last 19 weeks of 2015, the destiny of the Virgo tribe will undergo a fundamental shift. Ten years from now, I bet you will look back at this time and say, “That was when everything got realigned, redeemed and renewed.”

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):“The greatest and most important problems of life are all, in a certain sense, insoluble,” said psychologist Carl Jung. “They can never be solved, but only outgrown.” I subscribe to that model of dealing with dilemmas, and I hope you will consider it, too—especially in light of the fact that from now until July 2016 you will have more power than ever before to outgrow two of your biggest problems. I don’t guarantee that you will transcend them completely, but I’m confident you can render them at least 60 percent less pressing, less imposing and less restricting. And 80 percent is quite possible.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21):Hundreds of years ago, Hawaiians celebrated an annual holiday called Makahiki. It began in early November and lasted four months. No one worked very much for the duration. There were nonstop feasts and games and religious ceremonies. Community-building was a featured theme, and one taboo was strictly enforced: no war or bloodshed. I encourage you Scorpios to enjoy a similar break from your daily fuss. Now is an especially propitious time to ban conflict, contempt, revenge and sabotage as you cul-tivate solidarity in the groups that are important for your future. You may not be able to make your own personal Makahiki last for four months, but could you at least manage three weeks?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):Located in Ann Arbor, Mich., the Museum of Failed Prod-ucts is a warehouse full of consumer goods that com-panies created but no one wanted to buy. It includes caffeinated beer, yogurt shampoo, fortune cookies for dogs and breath mints that resemble vials of crack cocaine. The most frequent visitors to the museum are executives seeking to educate themselves about what errors to avoid in their own companies’ future product development. I encourage you to be inspired by this place, Sagittarius. Take an inventory of the wrong turns you’ve made in the past. Use what you learn to create a revised master plan.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” Virtually all of us have been guilty of embodying that well-worn adage. And according to my analysis of the astrological omens, quite a few of you Capricorns are currently embroiled in this behavior pattern. But I am happy to report that the coming weeks will be a favorable time to quit your insanity cold turkey. In fact, the actions you take to es-cape this bad habit could empower you to be done with it forever. Are you ready to make a heroic effort? Here’s a good way to begin: Undo your perverse attraction to the stressful provocation that has such a seductive hold on your imagination.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):“Everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks on it,” confessed the late, great author David Foster Wallace. Does that describe your experience, too? If so, events in the coming months will help you break the pattern. More than at any other time in the last 10 years, you will have the power to liberate yourself through surren-der. You will understand how to release yourself from overwrought attachment through love and grace rather than through stress and force.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):“Most people love in order to lose themselves,” wrote Hermann Hesse in his novel “Demian.” But there are a few, he implied, who actually find themselves through love. In the coming months, Pisces, you are more likely to be one of those rare ones. In fact, I don’t think it will even be possible for you to use love as a crutch. You won’t allow it to sap your power or make you forget who you are. That’s good news, right? Here’s the caveat: You must be ready and willing to discover much more about the true nature of your deepest desires—some of which may be hidden from you right now

ARIES (March 21-April 19):You’d probably prefer to stay in the romantic, carefree state of mind. But from what I can tell, you’re ripe for a new phase of your long-term cycle. Your freestyle rambles and jaunty adventures should now make way for careful introspection and thoughtful adjustments. Instead of restless star-gazing, I suggest patient earth-gazing. Despite how it may initially appear, it’s not a comedown. In fact, I see it as an unusual reward that will satisfy you in unexpected ways.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20):In accordance with the current astrological omens, I recommend the following activities: Sing a love song at least once a day. Seek a message from an ancestor in a reverie or dream. Revisit your three favorite childhood memories. Give a gift or blessing to the wildest part of you. Swim naked in a river, stream or lake. Change something about your home to make it more sacred and mysterious. Obtain a symbolic object or work of art that stimulates your courage to be true to yourself. Find relaxation and renewal in the deep darkness. Ruminate in unbridled detail about how you will someday fulfill a daring fantasy.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):The ancient Greek epic poem “The Iliad” is one of the foundation works of Western literature. Written in the eighth century B.C., it tells the story of the 10-year-long Trojan War. The cause of the conflict was the kidnap of Helen of Troy, reputed to be the world’s most beautiful woman. And yet nowhere in “The Iliad” is there a description of Helen’s beauty. We hear no details about why she deserves to be at the center of the legendary saga. Don’t be like “The Iliad” in the coming weeks, Gemini. Know everything you can about the goal at the center of your life. Be very clear and specific and precise about what you’re fighting for and working towards.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):The comedian puppets known as The Muppets have made eight movies. In “The Great Muppet Caper,” the muppets Kermit and Fozzie play brothers, even though one is a green frog and the other a brown bear. At one point in the story, we see a photo of their father, who has the coloring and eyes of Kermit, but a bear-like face. I bring up their unexpected relationship, Cance-rian, because I suspect that a similar anomaly might be coming your way: a bond with a seemingly improbable ally. To prepare, stretch your ideas about what influ-ences you might want to connect with.

Homework: Were you told there’s a certain accomplishment you’ll never be capable of? Ready to prove that curse wrong? Testify at FreeWillAstrology.com.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):English author Barbara Cartland published her first novel at age 21. By the time she died 77

years later, she had written more than 700 other books. Some sources say she sold 750 million copies, while others put the estimate at two billion. In 1983 alone, she churned out 23 novels. I foresee a Barbara Cartland-type period for you in the coming months, Leo. Between now and your birthday in 2016, I expect you to be as fruitful in your own field as

you have ever been. And here’s the weird thing: One of the secrets of your productivity will be an enhanced ability to chill out. “Relaxed intensity” will be your calming battle cry.

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