Tuesday Morning Random Collection of Thoughts

Good morning, and happy Election Day. I've been tied up with work through the weekend, so I haven't been able to post. I'm slammed today as well, but thought it best to throw a couple of things out there as a sign of life.

First, I'm voting for Marshand, and mostly for the same reasons Jim expressed. Jim and I did not talk about the race prior to his post, and I'm glad we both wound up on the same side. First and foremost for me is Downtown development, and I feel more comfortable with Marshand leading that charge. Right behind that is Two Lakes. I'm an unabashed fan, and even though Harvey's past rhetoric on the subject indicates a willingness to support Two Lakes, his language at last week's debate indicates he's not quite made up his mind on which flood control project he supports. That, of course, means more studies, with which Harvey is well-acquainted.

That leads me to a brief Two Lakes rant: Yesterday evening, I was able to spend some time on the roof of my building downtown with a couple of friends. Looking out over the skyline of Jackson, my friend Tye pulled up pictures of the 1979 flood on his iPhone. The three of us on the roof last night are in our early 30's, so we're too young to have experienced the flood firsthand. But with our bird's eye view of Jackson and arial pictures of the disaster, the three of us came away with a new appreciation for how destructive the Pearl River can be. (Click here for a collection of arial photos of the '79 flood.) It also impressed upon me that the refusal to control and utilize the Pearl River has been one of Jackson's greatest failures.

We've known for 30 years how destructive the Pearl can be, and we've done little but build inadequate levees. We've also known for nearly 200 years that we have a river running through the middle of our capital city, and we've done nothing at all to harness the economic power of it. Economic power that would, in time, pave our streets, educate our children, and lower crime. Generation after generation of Jacksonians have proven unable to find the time and willpower to cultivate Jackson's greatest natural resource. It's time to move forward on development of the Pearl River and transform the future of Mississippi's most important city.

Also, there's a hearing tomorrow before Judge Yerger in the Sharrod Moore case. Here's what I've noticed as odd: First, Asst. DA Jamie McBride is making all of the comments to the press on this one. Previously, Robert Shuler Smith, the DA, uttered every word. Second, there will be a hearing tomorrow on the dismissal, so the State can put on the record its reasons for ditching the prosecution.

With respect to ADA McBride now doing all of the talking, well, there's an old maxim that fits this like a glove: Victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan. DA Smith wants as far away from this as possible, as he is going to catch a great deal of bad press for indicting this case and not following through.

As for the hearing, the fact that there will be one at all is interesting to me. Cases are dismissed and orders of nolle prosequi are entered all the time without a hearing. I can't see any benefit for the DA's Office in having a hearing on the dismissal, as it simply puts the matter out there for another news cycle. My guess is Judge Yerger is requiring the hearing. That makes sense, as this is the case that led to a show cause hearing for Judge Yerger's court administrator, at which she was threatened with indictment and DA Smith sought recusal of Judge Yerger for what he perceived to be bias towards the defense. I think Judge Yerger essentially wants the State to step forward and put on the record that they're dismissing this case because they have serious problems with the evidence, not because Judge Yerger's being unfair to them. And, like getting read and delivery receipts on every email you send, that's a prudent move.

I'll discuss the timing of the dismissal in a later post.