Mississippi Today and Anna Wolfe looking at corruption in Jackson.
edit: or in Bennie Thompson’s office.
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OT: Jackson Zoo
- Thread starter She Mate Me
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edit: or in Bennie Thompson’s office.
Not familiar with her, but it looks as though, you are skeptical., Sort of.
With Jackson, that percentage might be generous. I think Lumumba only received around 13k votes last time and won in a landslide.
Anna Wolfe and Mississippi Today win Pulitzer Prize for “The Backchannel” investigation
Anna Wolfe won the Pulitzer Prize for her series The Backchannel, which uncovered Mississippi’s sprawling $77 million welfare scandal.
mississippitoday.org
I share your opinion, and I find their lack of interest in exposing a man who is so clearly acting in his own interest and not in the interest of Jackson to be disgusting. If they care they would expose this man, so I have to conclude they do not actually care.
Jxn corruption got nothing on Canton.
We can live with corruption when city services work, but when city leaders are corrupt and incompetent....
Beth Poff used to run the zoo.
She did more good by hustling donations from anywhere she could get it.
She retired around 10yrs ago and the zoo has been on a downhill trajectory ever since.
Not to say it wasn’t before she Arrived, but she was able to refresh it while she was there.
Had to drop her name because she got the funding for one of my favorite jobs in my career by refreshing the landscape in various places of the zoo.
I’ve got a few pictures of my old crew with animals photobombing them.
She did more good by hustling donations from anywhere she could get it.
She retired around 10yrs ago and the zoo has been on a downhill trajectory ever since.
Not to say it wasn’t before she Arrived, but she was able to refresh it while she was there.
Had to drop her name because she got the funding for one of my favorite jobs in my career by refreshing the landscape in various places of the zoo.
I’ve got a few pictures of my old crew with animals photobombing them.
And this is why he doesn't want to do anything that truly benefits the city. Seems he would look at the numbers and realize that Jackson won't be a 'white' city for a long long time, even if we start seeing an immediate turnaround of white flight. So why would he care if there was some additional influx, since he said he prefers living in a majority black city, and Jackson will remain a majority black city for the rest of his lifetime at minimum? Well - he knows that the route to to him being kicked out of office would come a good bit sooner than any type of of balanced demographics, because the influx would vote at a much higher clip.
For Jackson to ever change, it's going to have to get a mayor that truly cares about Jackson and sacrifices his own re-election to make a difference. If it ever got that.....if it ever just got a glimmer of hope of the state and city working together to make just a few areas of the city cool.....then that place could transform itself. But that's the story of MS.....if if if if if, this that and this.........and continue to make bad decisions.
Memphis sunk a ton of money in the zoo around 89-91 (?) and it has paid off well.
Hometown friend was interning with Plato Touliatos (Trees by Touliatos) who had the contract for the landscaping.
Always seems to have a great crowd even in the less than desirable weather related days.
Doesn’t hurt that you don’t have to drive through an are where you are concerned for your wellbeing either.
Memphis is good, Birmingham is good, New Orleans is good, Atlanta is good, Fort Worth is good.
Even friggin' Gulf Breeze, FL has a cool small zoo. I hear Gulf Shores has one too but haven't been. Gulfport has an aquarium.
The fact that Jackson can't even have this simple attraction is the biggest indictment there is.
When I was growing up, about 70 years ago, I had cousins in Hattiesburg and Jackson that I would visit in the summer. One would take me to the zoo, and honestly I don't remember which one it was, but one thing I do remember was the animals being held in tiny enclosures just big enough for them to take about 3 steps and then turn around. It was horrible. I hope they're better now.
Tony was a big christian guy. He had a strict rule where he would only go back to the private rooms with dancers named Chastity, Angel, Harmony, Epiphany, etc...
Sounds like Kamper Park in Hattiesburg. Yeah, it was a little rough in the 80s/90s - I think it's better for everyone these days.
If that's the one near downtown on Hardy Street or whatever, it's actually really good. They've done a lot with it. I've been to both within the last couple of years and there's no comparison between it and the death march feeling you get walking around the Jackson Zoo. Which makes me sick, because I used to love the Jackson Zoo when I was little. There was nothing better than getting a snow cone at the little round house and watching monkeys climbing up and down that mountain. Sucks.
It is so obvious that the best thing for the animals and the city is to close that facility.
So, knowing that, how obvious is it that there's some other, more sinister, reason it's still open?? I honestly think what's going on in Jackson borders on evil.
Wow completely forgot about that, brings back some memories for sure.
The best thing I always thought for the zoo was for it to be given to Mississippi state. Let the school run it and do research and practice veterinary on “exotic animals”. This would make our vet school even more prestigious and would make the zoo better.
I have no idea if such a thing was ever something State would have considered, but it seems like a good idea.
Sadly, the time where it could have done some good is clearly gone.
Hattiesburg Zoo has a water park and you can drink. Plus, it's a short walk to Keg and Barrel. They do a ton of special things like camping at the zoo etc. for the kids. Several kid programs.
It's really taken off since Johnny Dupe Free is no longer the mayor.
I agree with you on everything in and around Jackson. I used to chalk it up to incompetence, but now it sure seems like maleficence. It would be yet another national embarrassment for Jackson and the mayor - besides the water crisis, the trash contracts, the DA scandal, for years we have been the largest municipality in the country without a movie theater. Now we'd add to that list by being the largest metro area without a zoo. But unfortunately, I don't think that matters to the mayor. That's not why it's still open. He doesn't embarrass easily.
He does however, want to stay in power. The simplest answer to me on why it's still there even though it's hemorrhaging money is that this time the crisis would negatively affect the mayor's constituents in that part of town. There's not much to hold onto out there, so for now at least they still have the zoo. If they close it down, you have a huge swath of the city that has nothing but desolation and despair. Nothing else is even open in that part of town. It's damn depressing. It might actually be so bad to close it that it affects people voting for him. So... my guess is he won't let it close until at least November 2025.
Lots of things have taken off positively since Dupree left. Toby has it going on down there.
Back then the Jackson zoo would attract families from 40-50 miles away on weekends. Church and school field trips were numerous. Jackson was safe and there were numerous other things to do while you were in town.
ETA: best snow cones ever !
I'd like to think there are people out there without a monetary interest in it staying open that actually give a damn if it's open, but I don't think so. And I don't really think closing it hurts him politically.
What I'd dig into hard is how is the $1.5 million or so being spent out there is being spent. I highly doubt a large percent is going to the animals and the few dozen customers they get daily.
My favorite quote from Warren Buffet's multi billionaire partner Charlie Munger, who was known for his incredible shrewdness, was...
"Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome"
I think the incentive out at the zoo is the money it gets from the city. They clearly don't care about the animals (I don't mean the competent zookeepers) or the patrons. They prove it daily.
The incentive is money and the outcome is keep it open as long as possible without actually running it. Follow the money.
I grew up in Jackson in the 80s/90s and fondly remember trips to that zoo.
I feel like Jackson as a hometown must be what's it's like as a Vanderbilt alum and football fan. Everyone around you in the same conference keeps getting better. You watch every year HOPING you can also get better. You hope the people with the power and money can actually make it happen. But ultimately you just end up with the same 3-9 record every year and watch Alabama/Georgia/Texas get all of the good stuff.
I legit wonder what we can all do to make Jackson better because it would benefit the whole state, but I'm not smart enough to know what that is.
I feel like Jackson as a hometown must be what's it's like as a Vanderbilt alum and football fan. Everyone around you in the same conference keeps getting better. You watch every year HOPING you can also get better. You hope the people with the power and money can actually make it happen. But ultimately you just end up with the same 3-9 record every year and watch Alabama/Georgia/Texas get all of the good stuff.
I legit wonder what we can all do to make Jackson better because it would benefit the whole state, but I'm not smart enough to know what that is.
It really is a puzzler why Jackson is struggling. Maybe someday we'll figure it out.
Yea. When I see a cash only business, the first thing I think of is IRS trouble and they had their electronic processing levied for funds.
Vanderbilt is at least in the SEC, which keeps it afloat. Jackson has no such life preserver. Well, maybe because it's in the US I suppose.
TateR understands, for sure. It's really crazy that we had Republicans inside the state trying to get him out of there over the last 12 years.
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As sad and crazy as this may sound, having Marshall Ramsey do a cartoon showing the Zoo box office taking cash only with the ticket guy having pockets stuffed full of cash.... that would do it.
We use to take school field trips from Meridian. I loved going to the Jackson zoo when I was a kid.
Geeeeeeezus.....
kingfish1935.blogspot.com
Worldcom Math Comes to Jackson
It appears the Lumumba administration is practicing the accounting that made Worldcom and Enron famous - for the wrong reasons. WLBT's Ant...
kingfish1935.blogspot.com
Looked for a place to report a bad zoo… found the zoo accreditation website. Shocker, but the Jackson Zoo isn’t accredited.
Is there a worse state capital than Jackson? Can’t imagine so.
Is there a worse state capital than Jackson? Can’t imagine so.
Factually.....no, there absolutely is not. Overall, I'm sure Jackson (metro) punches above Montgomery, but at least Montgomery created an entertainment district. And plus, the state of AL is obviously doing better and bigger than MS so more things flow through its capital. There are smaller ones but none as incompetent.
Port au Prince is the only one that comes to mind.
Geeeeeeezus.....
Worldcom Math Comes to Jackson
It appears the Lumumba administration is practicing the accounting that made Worldcom and Enron famous - for the wrong reasons. WLBT's Ant...
I'll say it again. The interesting part is not the pathetic revenue. It's where the over a million dollars annually goes.
Wow... that is wild.Geeeeeeezus.....
Worldcom Math Comes to Jackson
It appears the Lumumba administration is practicing the accounting that made Worldcom and Enron famous - for the wrong reasons. WLBT's Ant...
Also, I had to look it up after reading that, and yes, the CFO for the city of Jackson really is named "Fidelis". Can't make that up.
Pretty soon it'll prolly be Inmate #xxx Fidelis...
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