Lumberton Informer

There will be a blood drive today at the Lumberton Elementary School. Every minute of every day, someone needs blood. That blood can only come from a volunteer donor, a person like you who makes the choice to donate. There is no substitute for your donation. The need is constant. The gratification is instant. Give blood.

A note from the Director concerning proposed cuts to the Mississippi Library Commission's funding: I wanted to take a moment to share with you how decreased funding at the Mississippi Library Commission will affect Lamar County Library System patrons. Currently 21% of the personnel expenditures at Lamar County Library System come from grants we receive from the Mississippi Library Commission. We are currently serving over 15,000 patrons a month with a staff of only 15 full time employees. Our smaller branches only have 2 full time staff members. Reducing staff hours would also mean reducing the hours that we open for business. When staff members are sick, it might mean closing the branch because there would likely be no extra staff to send to cover the branches. It would also mean cutting programming out almost completely, save for storytimes and maybe one adult program per branch because we could simply would not have the staff available to conduct them. Staff would have less t...

A troublesome portion of Highway 11 will be getting some needed repairs. Those traveling that portion of highway between Lumberton and Purvis will need to make adjustments to their travel route over the next few months. M-DOT is getting ready to start a road project on the Highway 11 underpass. John Walton Construction, based in Mobile, Alabama was awarded the contract Wednesday. A few months ago, Mayor Holder announced that the funding was available to make repairs and possibly expand the area, but they are still waiting for the railway company to approve the expansion. The crews are slated to address the drainage system that runs under the area, but there was no word on when the expansion of the area will begin. In other news, Ben Winston, District 2 Supervisor, is fighting to have an independent corporation come into Lamar County to address the re-districting issues. 2011 census data showed that over the past 10 years the county has seen a 42% increase in population. Winston made a ...

In his book "At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America," author Philip Dray wrote that "lynching became the means of killing any African-American whose status, actions or attitudes challenged white supremacy." Back in 2007, the Jena 6 were plunged into the headlines because of their response to white students who thought hanging nooses on the tree they frequented was a joke. Thankfully, the matter in Lumberton didn’t go this far, but I am certain that the students wanted some fairness to be shown in how the matter was handled. So, when you have the complexion for the connection and a mother that’s an administrator at the school; you can pretty much do and say anything (including filming a teacher’s derrière and posting it on facebook) Right before spring break, a teacher separated her students into groups and they were supposed to tell the class about their favorite hobby that started with the letter N. Well, when it came to one particular group...

A half-truth is a deceptive statement that includes some element of truth. The statement might be partly true, the statement may be totally true but only part of the whole truth, or it may utilize some deceptive element, such as improper punctuation, or double meaning, especially if the intent is to deceive, evade, blame or misrepresent the truth. Anyone that called city hall asking about their water bill deposit refunds were told that the mayor would not sign the checks. That was a half-truth. It was never mentioned that the checks were not signed because the matter was never placed on the agenda for board approval; therefore, the mayor could not sign the checks until the board approved the water bill deposit refunds. The purpose and or consequence of a half truth is to make something that is really only a belief appear to be knowledge, or a truthful statement to represent the whole truth, or possibly lead to a false conclusion. According to the justified true belief theory of knowl...

There has been quite a bit of talk that our officers are not patrolling like they should' especially since there has been a lot of distrubances taking place over the last few weeks. I am one of the last ones to take up for a Lumberton police officer, but they are doing what they can with what they have. Most of the time, there might be one officer on duty and it's impossible for them to keep up with all that's going on in this city. But the aldermen can put an end to the shortage by voting to extend the officer's hours (and ensure that they are actually paid for the hours they work), hire some part time officers or do a combination of both.I know that people like to complain about the fact that we have quite a few officers that are from Marion County. Well, the application process has been open and no one from Lumberton is applying for the positions. As many of you know, Lumberton’s 2011 Fight Season has officially begun. Now, the question is, will the board of al...

Generally, I don't respond to comments made to this blog, but I felt the need to address this comment since I am being credited with making comments about the Louisiana Club. The comment was as follows: "Johnathan, I was told something yesterday that truly hurt me. I was told that you have made ugly and quite serious comments about the people living in Lumberton, who are from Louisiana. My husband and I moved here 2 years ago and truly love it here. We've made many friends from both La and Ms, and plan to live the rest of our lives here. We're also very involved in this community...... very caring and giving. I have never had a long conversation with you, but any time I went into the library and saw you, I always said hello to you, and I enjoyed the couple times you participated with us in the cooking club. Maybe your comments might have been prompted by someone from La who said or did something personally to you. BUT please don't judge every person from La to be...

Is there any truth to the rumor that Bobby Gibson, Timothy Johnson and Rebecca Hale promised Dennis Hobson that they would make him Lumberton’s next Chief of Police? According to the information I received, Hobson was allegedly told to hang in there, keep doing what we want you to do (including turning the other way when our family is involved) and you are a sure shot for the chief position. To some, this scenario might seem far-fetched, but to those that are paying attention to what is going on in Lumberton, the scenario is all to real. This recent tip has filled in some missing pieces to the puzzle. That would explain why Bobby Gibson and Hobson are always meeting at Olen Bound’s place of business. No wonder Myrick Avenue has been transformed into the Hub City drag strip; we have our officers attending unofficial meetings with their leader. No only is Gibson serving as Mayor Pro-Tempore, but he’s apparently the supervisor for certain officers of the Lumberton Police Department. Since...

I just had a refreshing conversation with Terri and Mike from Elington, Missouri. They stated that there were here for a week attending a Medieval Festival at King's Arrow Ranch. We sat and talked for a while and I asked them about their RV and how did they like camping. They said that they enjoyed their visit and they would be leaving out on Sunday. There were a few things mentioned in our conversation that surprised me. First, they said they come down every year, they also said that they are readers of the Lumberton Informer. They were surprised to discover that I was the Lumberton Informer blogger. But that wasn't the most surprising element of our conversation. They said that there are over 3,000 people camped out at the Medieval Festival and they were coming into town to do laundry and some light shopping. I don't know if the City of Lumberton was aware of this event, but they need to find a way to bring more of these individuals into the city limits since this is a ye...

It seems that Lindsey Carter is back on the payroll in the City of Lumberton. There was never a motion to override the mayor’s veto of his termination, but he was at the last board meeting. I never heard of a veto expiring, but that was the consensus of Aldermen Gibson, Crider, Hale and Johnson. I guess Lindsey would call that a “gray area.” That’s his response when the law is not favorable towards the board. Unfortunately, he’s forgotten that he works for the City of Lumberton and not the aldermen. For instance, at the last board meeting, the aldermen came out of executive session and voted on a motion by Kent Crider to override a veto that the mayor had just issued prior to them going into executive session. Now, it’s not a stretch of the imagination to realize that Kent is either an experiment in Artificial Stupidity or he fell out of the dumb tree and hit every branch on his way down, but how inept are those that voted with him in favor of overriding the veto. Now, I will give Rebe...

Again, those in control have managed to paint Mayor Holder as Cruella Deville; the villain of Lumberton. It was stated time and time again that she does not care about the City of Lumberton and its employees, but nothing was said about the fact that Mayor Pro tempore has the authority to sign checks as well. Bobby Gibson stated that he was out of town on Thursday, but Friday morning, he and Tim Johnson were riding around the city and at no point did he stop by city hall to sign the payroll checks. How interesting. Timothy Johnson stated on News 7 that the members of the board do not disrespect Mayor Holder, but the fact that her salary was set at .99/per month is the embodiment of disrespect. So much has been said about the fact that the mayor did not want to sign the payroll checks, but I gave her a call to get an overview of all the work she performs as Mayor of the City of Lumberton. As soon as the agenda for the regularly scheduled meeting arrives, she reviews the agenda. After rev...

Mayor Holder was given the opportunity to address the concerns citizens had regarding her decision to stop signing the payroll checks for the City of Lumberton. As outlined in Miss. Code 21-39-18, “the checks shall be signed by the mayor or a majority of the members of the board of aldermen.” Contrary to what Tim Johnson stated on the news, this Mississippi law gives the aldermen the authorization to sign checks. But Bobby Gibson, Alderman at Large/Mayor Pro Tempore has the authority to sign checks as well. As a matter of fact, Bobby Gibson did not make any attempt to sign the checks when he returned from his trip to Jackson. Gibson and Johnson arrived at city hall today to tell the reporter to meet them at the library for their interview. If Gibson was concerned about the employees not receiving their paycheck, he would have been at city hall first thing Friday morning with a pen in his hand. My advice to Mayor Holder is to send out a memo to the Board of Aldermen outlining the law an...

I thought things would be different, but I have come to the conclusion that News 7 is not “On Your Side.” The reporter came to Lumberton with an agenda, and we will have to tune in tonight to see how the interview was edited. WTBS: There is no reason for the city employees to NOT receive their checks. If Mayor Holder does not sign the checks, then the responsibility falls on the shoulders of Mayor Pro Tempore Bobby Gibson and if he won’t sign the checks, then three of the aldermen can get together and sign the checks. But the only thing that’s being reported is the mayor is not signing the checks. But it’s time to put a stop to all of the in-fighting and stop making Lumberton the laughing stock of the state. The aldermen have made it clear that they are not willing to work with the mayor; they have made it clear that they do not value her work, and they made it clear that they do not recognize her as the superintending authority of this city. If I were the mayor, I would let the...

At the regularly scheduled meeting of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen, Mayor Holder informed the Board of Aldermen that she will no longer sign the checks for the City of Lumberton until the Aldermen meet with her and work on the issues that are plaguing this city. She dispersed a packet of information to each alderman that included an explanation of the law governing the issuance of warrants or checks. According to Mississippi Law 21-39-13, “the warrants or checks shall be signed by the mayor or a majority of the members of the board of aldermen, in any municipality operating under a mayor-alderman form of government.” Just recently, the mayor found out that a payroll check she had signed for Sharese Pearson was cancelled, which is confusing since our city clerk had prepared the check for the mayor’s signature. Somehow, Stephanie Mullings and Timothy Johnson made the executive decision to cancel the payroll check of Mrs. Pearson. This decision was not discussed with the mayor, who is ...

There's a new business in town and the grand opening is March 3, 2011. Diana's is a beauty supply store. They will have a variety of hair care products, wigs, extensions, fashion, etc. Business hours are Monday-Saturday, 9:00 a.m-5:00 p.m. Diana's is located in the purple building at the corner of Hwy 11 and Myrick Avenue. Her phone number is (601) 796-2770.

The meeting was pretty lengthy; they discussed the issues of the city; the department heads gave their reports and then the meeting got interesting. There were several items on the agenda that died for either a lack of a motion or lack of a second. They include, but are not limited to the following: an order to terminate Stephanie Mullings, order to hire Willy Sims, CPA to review all daily activities (checks and balance), order to hire Candle Carr as deputy clerk (will blog about this later) and order to hire Michael Holder. After a brief discussion, the board voted to go into executive session and that’s when things got interesting. While the aldermen were in executive session, a variety of discussions were taking place among the citizens of Lumberton. There was a brief disagreement among a few of the audience members and during this time Sharese Pearson was discussing an issue that she had with city clerk, Stephanie Mullings. Out of the blue, Faye Engle started telling Sharese that e...

This is a pure, mature and honest album; Artea’s voice makes you take notice. The Definition of Good Music is a beautiful journey that you don’t want to end. The overall sound is reminiscent of 90’s R&B. It’s a very chill type album and I am certain that women everywhere will enjoy Artea’s buttery smooth vocals. The songs are solid as well as believable and I’m certain that the fellas are sure to enjoy this album too. Stand out tracks include “You Don’t Know”, which gives an intimate peek into the love experience. (Vacation on the beach/ Making love on the beach/ You are so amazing/ You don’t know how much I need you/ You don’t know how much I love you) But “Nothing to Me” captures a real moment about confronting your emotions in a relationship that is in the process of ending and forces you to realize the truth that it might be over. (Now I got a problem with my girl/ She ain’t trusting me/ She ain’t trusting me/Every chance that she get she going through my ish/ There’s no privac...