Mississippi’s Open Government

Mississippi ranks last once again.

A recent national survey found although many states put basic public records on the Internet, Mississippi still requires people to request most documents by mail or in person, and sometimes the state requires people to pay for the records.

It’s a horse-and-buggy system in a world where people elsewhere fly first-class.

People in many states can obtain a host of information with a click of the mouse — death certificates, disciplinary actions against attorneys, child-care center inspection reports and gas-pump overcharges, for example.

Not so in Mississippi. The state has online data from only four of 20 categories examined by the Sunshine Week 2009 Survey of State Government Information Online. The study, released today, was developed by Sunshine Week, the American Society of Newspaper Editors’ Freedom of Information Committee, the National Freedom of Information Coalition and the Society of Professional Journalists’ FOI Committee.

Mississippi ranked last. It posted only state Department of Transportation contracts and projects, business-name registrations, statewide school test scores, and political-campaign contributions and expenses. Mississippi’s online data about nursing homes and hospitals had no inspection reports and therefore didn’t meet survey criteria.

I can vouche for the authenticity of this story…as a political/news/economic geek I spend a lot of time looking for information for articles…damn near impossible in Mississippi.  But they find plenty of time and money for things like re naming bridges, roads and such.  Or commend half the state on sopmething they have done even if it is just living in a county.  And then there are the busness tax cuts they go along way to keep the state llast in so many ways.

But what can we expect from a state that has a collective IQ of their waste size…….or from a state that the average schoolomg is about the 9th grade…….I guess when those to things are in play you do not need to worry about anyone needing to look up information.

But Is It Good News?

Louisiana has displaced Mississippi as the unhealthiest U.S. state and other Southern states were close rivals due to high obesity and smoking rates in new rankings that deemed Vermont the healthiest.

The overall health of Americans remained static for a fourth year, according to an annual report issued on Wednesday assessing a series of measures also including binge drinking, health insurance coverage, air pollution, infectious disease rates, crime levels and immunization coverage.

Many Southern states were clustered near the bottom of the rankings. The region has some of the highest rates of obesity, which contributes to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some types of cancer, as well as high rates of smoking, which causes cancer, lung disease, heart disease and other problems.

Mississippi led the nation in obesity at 33 percent of the population, while Colorado was lowest at 19 percent.

Now ask why none of this is being addressed by the legislature or the governor.  But they spend endless hours thanking people for service, age, championships, yada, yada.  Now is the time for Mississippians to demand that these overpaid dipsticks do the job they were sent to Jackson to do…represent the people’s will, not the special damn interests.  But what can you expect when you elect a lobbyist–if you think he has your best interests at heart…then I have land in Florida I would like to sell you.  Wake up!  Pay attention!

AL: Annexation A Good Thing?

To answer that question–in my area of MS it was not all it was cracked up to be.  I wish my fellow Gulf Coastians good luck with this one.

Two out of four areas outside Mobile voted to annex into the city Tuesday.

The city claimed victories in a section of Theodore, south of the city’s boundaries, and in the Windmill Place subdivision, just west of Cody Road.

Two other areas, one along Moffett Road and another that included two subdivisions on Snow Road, voted against joining the city.

Tuesday’s balloting marked Mobile’s third major annexation effort in the past 13 months.

In September 2007, Mobile Terrace residents voted to bring themselves and retail-heavy stretches of Airport Boulevard and Schillinger Road into the city.

And in January, the Mobile Regional Airport joined the city.

In Theodore, sales taxes at stores will increase from 7.5 percent to 9 percent. There are no stores in Windmill Place.

Property taxes in both areas will rise once a five-year grace period ends.

LA: Social Services Head Resigns

The secretary of the Department of Social Services, the agency lambasted for shelter conditions after Hurricane Gustav and troubles with a post-storm food stamp program, resigned Monday.

Ann Williamson’s resignation comes after Gov. Bobby Jindal’s pledge to deal with the most glaring troubles during a disaster response that otherwise has drawn high marks for the 37-year-old governor and his administration.

Hundreds of coastal residents using state-provided evacuation transportation arrived at north Louisiana shelters on Aug. 30 and 31 to find the facilities short of toilets and without showers. The bathroom facilities eventually arrived, with the private contractor saying the state agency did not order the portable showers until Sept. 1, the day Gustav arrived.

And in the days after Gustav, criticism of the Department of Social Services intensified when the launch of an emergency food stamp program resulted in long lines and confusion at sites throughout the state. The agency addressed many of the problems in the following days, but not quickly enough to stave off a public firestorm.

FL: Will Residents Go Green?

Rising energy costs and concern for the environment have many people considering installing alternative energy systems in their homes.

But often, after researching the price, homeowners decide against them.

County Commission Chairman Gene Valentino hopes to make it a little more bearable for Escambia County residents.

Valentino is working on a pilot program offering homeowners a financial incentive to install solar thermal water heating systems. The systems use the sun to heat water instead of electricity or gas.

And Gulf Power Co. is considering teaming up with the county to help promote green energy.

“The incentive is but a small effort on the county and Gulf Power’s part in showing our willingness to address a much greater problem with regard to the use of our fuel and energy resources nationwide,” said Valentino, who said he was concerned by rising energy costs.

Valentino is still working out the details, and it’s unknown how much of an incentive could be offered in the county’s plan.

As envisioned, phase one would be for residential properties. If it works out as planned, phase two could follow for commercial properties. The third phase targets industrial and all other properties.

LA: 3 Years After Katrina

THis is from an article found in the NY Times.

The pace of recovery is slowing in New Orleans as the city approaches the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina late this month. The next president and Congress will need to expedite assistance before the city’s mood turns from guarded optimism back to despair.

With a mélange of federal, state, city and private recovery efforts under way, it is difficult to grasp what is really happening in the stricken city. Fortunately, two reports on New Orleans’s condition have just been issued by authoritative outside organizations.

These perceptions are largely consistent with an index of progress compiled by the Brookings Institution and the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center. Their third-year report finds that the greater New Orleans area has recovered the vast majority of its pre-Katrina population and jobs but that recovery trends have slowed in the past year. Tens of thousands of blighted properties, a lack of affordable housing and thin public services continue to plague the city. Rents are 46 percent higher than before the storm.

New Orleans residents expressed mixed attitudes about their prospects. Three-fourths told Kaiser that they remained optimistic about the future even though most felt that both Washington and the American public have largely forgotten them. What is worrisome is that half of the residents are dissatisfied with or angry about the lack of progress, most think it is a bad time for children to grow up in New Orleans and 22 percent (predominantly young) are seriously considering moving away

LA: Katrina Recovery Poll

With the three-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina fast approaching, most New Orleanians are dissatisfied with the pace of rebuilding and recovery efforts, even as they remain hopeful about the city’s future, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation released today.

The survey of 1,294 New Orleans adults, conducted from March 5 to April 28, offers troubling signs regarding attitudes in the city, noting that reported stress levels are rising, perceived job opportunities are limited and more people, especially young adults, are considering relocating.

Among more encouraging findings, 74 percent of respondents said they are optimistic about the future of the city and 56 percent think recovery and rebuilding efforts are headed in the right direction.

LA: Corps Challenged

Little more than 24 hours after trees and fences began falling on the east side of the 17th Street Canal, a second legal challenge — this one in federal court — was filed to stop the high-profile Army Corps of Engineers project.

An initial hearing on the latest request for a temporary restraining order was scheduled for this afternoon in U.S. District Court.

The plaintiffs are two Bellaire Drive couples who claim the corps’ plan is an illegal taking of property without due process or compensation.

The lawsuit filed by Arthur and Lucy Sargent and George and Carol Byram had no immediate impact on the tree-cutting and fence removal along Bellaire that began Monday at the north end of the canal.

Their filing challenges the method corps representatives used to delineate the “theoretical levee toe” along Bellaire as invalid and illegal.

The canal and its levees existed long before the corps’ involvement, and because the latest surviving survey was made in the 1960s, corps engineers had to determine where the levee toes would be located if designed today.

It’s a theoretical line that has moved several times over the past year, in part, because of information provided by property owners, corps officials said.

The corps recently settled on a final demarcation line that will, in many cases, affect less private property than originally estimated.

Targeted for removal by corps officials were any trees, woody shrubs and fences that they say violate corps safety regulations by being located in either the levee proper or within six feet of the levee toe.

MS: Noise Ordinance

The Harrison County Board of Supervisors likely will adopt a noise ordinance at its next meeting after listening to public comments Monday.

No one spoke against the ordinance, but residents who live near a racetrack on Menge Avenue argued for a strict ordinance. Representatives from South Mississippi Speedway said they will work with the county to come up with a reasonable decibel level so residents won’t be bothered.

Residents at Monday’s meeting complained about the noise from the track on Saturdays, saying their doors and windows rattle and keep them from sleeping.

“This is a quality-of-life issue that affects the entire county,” said Tom Vaughn, who lives just over a mile from the track. “Before this board took action, me and my neighbors couldn’t stay home on Saturday nights. We do not want to run them out of business. We just want them to keep it quiet.”

Attorney Paul Barber spoke on behalf of the owners of the track and said they had been taking decibel readings, and the noise from the track wasn’t any louder than the 18-wheelers on Interstate 10.

My question is:  No one realize there would be noise from a race track near-by?  Do they watch NASCAR?  There are times when people are just idiots.

LA: FEMA Resident Dies In Standoff

Eric Minshew struggled with mental illness for many years and seemed to get much worse after Hurricane Katrina, according to his brother. Finally, when FEMA workers showed up to inspect his government-issue trailer, he snapped.

Police shot and killed Minshew early Wednesday after a nearly 10-hour standoff in one of the neighborhoods hit hardest by the August 2005 hurricane.

Authorities said the 49-year-old Minshew had threatened the FEMA inspectors with a gun, then fired several shots at police after they arrived. He was killed after pointing a gun at officers, police said.

Minshew had been living alone in the FEMA trailer outside his parents’ house, which had to be gutted because of damage from Katrina. He felt let down by the government, had grown frustrated over the damage and the wait for rebuilding aid, and feared his hopes of inheriting the house were slipping away, said his brother, Homer M. Minshew III.

Homer Minshew said his brother had moved in with his parents about eight years ago, with no money and no job. He had worked as a security guard, which is how he came to own a gun, Minshew said.

The house had been put up for sale by the sheriff a year ago, but Homer Minshew had held off foreclosure and was negotiating with the bank. He said the family had been awaiting aid from the state-run hurricane relief program so they could either pay off the mortgage or fix up the house and sell it.

Minshew was shot and killed after retreating to the house and barricading himself there.

FEMA spokesman James McIntyre said that he couldn’t release specifics about Minshew’s case but that the FEMA workers “were operating within prescribed procedures to perform a move-out inspection when the applicant exited his housing unit wearing a firearm.”

The officers involved have been reassigned to administrative duties during the investigation, which is standard procedure, police said.