Lumberton Informer

Last night, at Gateway Baptist Church, Mayor Johnny Dupree helped launch the M-Pact Club's new outreach division, the W.I.S.E./T.H.U.G. (Women Inspiring Sisters for Excellence/True Heroes Under God) Coalition. There was a little murmuring among the attendees because they didn't see any of Lumberton's elected officials, but Chief Hobson did assign an officer to escort Mayor Dupree through the City of Lumberton to the event. The emcee for the event was an extraordinary young man who is wise beyond his years, "Dash" Shelby, who commended Jamyria for her "desire to be of service and . . her quest to make a positive change in a generation." Prior to the introduction of Mayor Dupree, Sharun Tribett captivated the attendees with her soul-stirring praise dance performance. Rev. Jimmy Richardson of the Pearl River Chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. introduced Mayor Dupree and presented him with the "Audacity of Hope" award. Mayor Dupree spoke to the crowd, and s

". . She is clothed with strength and dignity. She can laugh at things to come. She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arises and call her blessed, her husband also and he praises her. Many women do noble things but you surpass them all. . .a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned and let her works bring her praise at the city gate." Proverbs 31: 25-31 Dignity, grace, courage, faith-filled and strength are all words that describe Carolyn Sandifer. We will miss her quiet, courageous activism and strength but her legacy and contributions are timeless. A woman whose faith allowed her to stand for what was just and right. She cried out against discrimination in the name of equality. Carolyn led a life of extraordinary courage and strength. She did not speak her convictions publicly while failing to honor them privately.

This weekend, Jamyria Holder, founder of the M-Pact Club, hosted the 1st Annual M-Pact Club Awards Celebration. When Jamyria, aka My-My, told me of her plans to host the event, I was not certain that the event would take place, but instead of dousing her dreams, I told her that I would be more than happy to help any way I can. God gave her a vision as well as provisions to fulfill the seed that was planted in her heart. The event was quite successful.(I'm not even going to go into my rant about the fact that WDAM did not respond to the many calls and press releases regarding this program. But I guess they didn't respond because it was about something positive happening in the City of Lumberton.) The mistress of ceremonies was none other than Prophetess Andrea Hardy of New Orleans, Louisiana. Minister Deidra McLemore led the attendees in praise and worship services and later gave a rousing rendition of Mahalia Jackson's "Trouble of the World." Sis. Annie B. Holder

The other night, the board decided to pay membership dues to join the Mississippi Rural Water Association. They're doing so in an attempt to gain access to a $450,000 grant to assist with the sewer system. When the grant writer was speaking about the water feasibility or water viability study that needed to be conducted in order for the City of Lumberton to receive the grant, public works supervisor, Ben Barrett, barked that "$450,000 is a drop in the bucket. . and it's probably not worth all the trouble." At first, I was thinking that a match-free grant in any amount was worth the paperwork that's associated with getting the grant. Well, that was my feeling until the grant writer went into more details about the grant. It seems that the grant will require a lot of paper work and documentation and the water system must be deemed viable in order for the City of Lumberton to obtain the grant. Glenn Powell, grant writer, stated that citizens of Lumberton should also

Last night, there was a special called board meeting. There were only seven agenda items, but the meeting took over two hours to complete. The meeting started with a discussion on how to spend the surplus of $300,000 from the Katrina Go-Zone Project. One would think that a group that has no problem with mindlessly spending the citizens of Lumberton money would spend 45 minutes trying to get an understanding on how/where this money could be spent. The lease for the Gold Coast Skydivers is about to expire and the board has yet to get any clear understanding of how much money is being generated at the Lumberton airport. The overall consensus of the board was that they would like for the organization to remain in Lumberton, but they want the City of Lumberton to reap some of the financial benefits of the skydives since the City of Lumberton secured the grants that help make the airport operational. Now I have said many things about Stephanie Mullings, but I've realized that many of my

"We can’t expect to solve our problems if all we do is tear each other down. You can disagree with a certain policy without demonizing the person who espouses it. You can question somebody’s views and their judgment without questioning their motives or their patriotism. Throwing around phrases like “socialists” and “Soviet-style takeover” and “fascist” and “right-wing nut” -- that may grab headlines, but it also has the effect of comparing our government, our political opponents, to authoritarian, even murderous regimes. Now, we’ve seen this kind of politics in the past. It’s been practiced by both fringes of the ideological spectrum, by the left and the right, since our nation’s birth. But it’s starting to creep into the center of our discourse. And the problem with it is not the hurt feelings or the bruised egos of the public officials who are criticized. Remember, they signed up for it. The problem is that this kind of vilification and over-the-top rhetoric closes the door to

The last few days, this site was set up differently, and those that received the link will continue to receive the "invite only" posts. I hope you enjoyed the posts from the last few days and I will continue to use your e-mail addresses to send you certain posts. Thank you to those that e-mailed me and you will receive some extra posts in addition to those posted on the public forum. Now, for some of the news you may have missed. Apparently, the husband of Alderwoman Hale found out what happens to a person when he allegedly call a person by something other than the name they were given by their parents. I really don't have all the details, but in the words of Chris Tucker, "You got knocked the. . " well, you know the rest. In the meantime, despite his past behavior/conduct, he was allegedly allowed to sign a post release for some charges that were pending. I wonder why he was treated differently from anyone else that's been arrested in Lumberton? Recently, I

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Last night I found myself watching Amistad and it was an eye opener. As I sat there watching, I took note that the brutality of slavery was able to exist, in part, because of black people that were more than willing to sale members of their race for some sort of profit. Sadly, after all these years, not much has changed. Here we are what should be a post-racial America, the year 2012 and we still have black men willing to sell out their race for a profit of some sort. By now I know you know where I'm going with this post. Bobby Gibson and Timothy Johnson, for whatever reason, are modern day turn coats, would would and have sold out the residents the came out and voted them into office. This is black history month, and whenever I attend a board meeting and witness the lack of unity from those that are supposed to represent their community, I begin to wonder if the civil rights movement was a failure. It begs the question that was posed by Cicely Tyson in the Tyler Perry movie, "

Last week I was accused of moral turpitude. Gross Moral Turpitude is a Medieval legalistic term which referred to "the raping of large numbers of nuns", specifically in numbers in excess of eleven at any one time but a similar act performed on eleven or less nuns is referred simply as Moral Turpitude, and have a less strict canonical relevance. Today, the term is most often heard from sanctimonious do-gooders intent of pushing their own limited worldview onto the larger community, most often in the form of questioning the ethics and moral compass of reasonable individuals who might disagree with them and that's what I took from the conversation that was meant to put me in my place, so to speak. So let me take a few moments to tell you my views of moral turpitude. It's no surprise that some elected officials want to catagorize me as a vile person. Why? Is it because I feel that they should be held accountable to those that elected/selected them to serve. You may consid

At the last board meeting the board voted to terminate Harold Williamson. Some people in the audience didn't know who he was and what type of work he performed in the public works department. The best way I could think of to describe his duties was to refer to him as the public works department mascot because he rarely moved from the side of Roy Easley. .I guess he could be better described as Roy's ride or die chick. But this post is not about Harold, but about the statement made regarding the board's attempt to give Roy Easley another pay raise. In case you didn't know, the other employees of the public works department have only seen a fifty cent raise over the last five years, but Hale was upset that Roy Easley wasn't given another raise since the board budgeted for Roy to receive another raise, while the other workers are stuck struggling to support their families on a raise that amounts to about ten cents per year over the last five years. Instead of focusing

Mayor Holder opened the meeting by letting the public know that the funds have been released and the $9.5 million dollar senior living facility, Azalea Gardens, will soon begin construction on Camp Avenue. No comments were made during citizen's comments. Glen Powell and Gary Hickman informed the board that there's still $298,000 left in grant money that need to be used or returned to the state. The remaining funds could be used for park benches, gazebos, planting trees, bleachers, etc. Montoya Ball was granted permission to conduct the research needed to obtain the placement of a historical marker at the 5th Avenue Cemetery. Montoya informed the board that the cemetery is not registered and she would like to work to get the area registered. The board voted to have Mayor Holder sign the resolution for the 2012 CDBG Water System Grant. They also voted to advertise for a grant administrator and engineer. Mayor Holder noted that the city is not at the point that they must halt new

More Than Conquerors Foundation is announcing the tryouts for selections of 2012 summer rosters for Conquerors Basketball. Their philosophy is: It is our intent to focus on the student-athlete to teach high a high level of basketball skills for the court and to teach life lessons to be utilized on and off the court by selecting boys and girls with positive attitudes, incredible character, and a desire to excel academically. We will work hard to develop players mentally, physically and bring out the leadership and team concepts of each player. Also, we will endow participants with life skills that will equip players with the skills needed to make positive choices in life after basketball. Their mission is: To provide a positive experience for players on and off the court, focus on the true concept of student-athlete, develop and build skills/strength, instill a sense of pride, provide opportunities to compete at the highest levels of the Amature Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for colle

There will be a Life Empowerment and Business Expo held Saturday, February 4, 2012 from 8:30am until 2:00pm at the Woodall Advanced Technology Center (beside MultiPurpose Bldg. Hwy. 49 S), 906 Sullivan Drive , Hattiesburg, MS. The event will feature seminars on business, health, education, and self-development. It is designed for budding entrepreneurs, individuals seeking job promotions and personal insight. The keynote speaker, George C. Fraser, author of "Success ...Runs in Our Race," and "Race for Success" will discuss networking strategies that bring profit. A JOB FAIR and FREE health screenings will also be available. There's still time for interested vendors to join the growing list of vendors who will showcase their services or products. For more information visit http:www.ournewslebo.com .

It's been a week since the big fight(s) that took place last week at Frank Lee Homes and much of the friction has subsided, or so it seems. Most of the people fighting were males ranging from high school age to some adult males that act like they're still in high school. But someone in Lumberton should have a solution for the daily doses of chaos that take place in this little town. Certainly, I understand the reasoning behind the guys and their need to expend their energy because there's nothing for them to do here in Lumberton. We have a board that is more concerned with "having it their way" that they have totally neglected the city they've been elected to represent. The events that took place the other week should have been an awakening. There must be an awakening in our people concerning our role in God’s plan. In Lumberton, there's a church on almost every corner but for some reason, the corner has not changed. It's time to put aside any division

Lumberton native, Terry Grant is having a grand opening for his restaurant, Joe and Eggs , today in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Grant was highly recruited out of high school. He was often referred to in the news as Mr. Football especially after running for 2,700 yards and 36 touchdowns his senior year. During his freshman season with the Crimson Tide, Grant exploded for 891 yards and eight touchdowns. In 2007, Grant was the leading rusher at Alabama. While at the University of Alabama, Grant received his bachelor's degree in youth development and his Master's degree in management. After leaving Alabama, Grant was picked up by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. Now, he's the proud owner of Joe and Eggs, 104-B Hollywood Blvd. SW, Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, 32548. So, if you're ever in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, drop by and support Terry as he starts another chapter of his life.

I just got schooled about the "Politics of Grass Cutting" post that was posted yesterday. I was asked about the posting and I explained why it was posted. The post was supposed to be about the grass, but it turned into another posting about the ineffectual leadership that's running the City of Lumberton. Readers of the blog may have noticed that the post has been changed to "The Politics of Hiring" because I received some very informative information about the grass that's planted in the green areas. I learned that the grass is a winter grass and it's was planted to allow the other grass seeds to take root. The winter grass will eventually die and the new grass will begin to grow. It was also explained to me that this is the process that is used whenever new grass is planted, to ensure grass growth. So, the complaints regarding the tall grass are not warranted because the grass that's there at this moment is transitional, and will soon die out once t

The memebers of the Trinity Baptist Church will be hosting something called Bean Friday on Friday, February 3, 2012. The event will also include a free lunch in the Trinity Fellowship Hall @ 12 noon.

Over the past week, I received several calls regarding the un-cut grass in the newly designated "green areas" on Main Street. Apparently, the politics of division has effected the level of care the City of Lumberton receives from it's public works department. So, I asked around to find out what's going on in the public works department. In their defense, it's not grass-cutting season, but they're going to need some additional help once grass cutting season is in full bloom, so to speak. I asked why Michael Holder wasn't called back, at least on a part-time basis. Well, I was told that two aldermen (can you guess who they are?) said that Michael Holder left the City of Lumberton on bad terms and they would not vote to hire him again. I was at the meeting when they decided to terminate the part-time workers and Michael Holder and Perry McLemore completed their required duties. As a matter of fact, McLemore said that he wouldn't return to work if they did

In response to the antics that took place on last week, the management of Frank Lee Homes has erected two no loitering signs. There are several problems with this band-aid approach to a issue that would be better served with chemo treatments. First of all, the signs are directed towards a group of individuals that probably has no idea of the meaning of the word loitering. More than likely they think it means littering. For those not in the know, loitering is the act of remaining in a particular public place for a protracted ( prolonged - long - extended - lengthy - long-drawn) time. The second reason the signage probably won't work is the location of the signs. The migratory paths of those that chose to loiter on the corners of Myrick Avenue and North 10th Street are clearly marked by areas of dead grass, cigarette butts, plastic cups, empty soda bottles, paper plates, candy wrappers, etc. despite having a City of Lumberton trash can within reach. But for some reason, the managemen