Lumberton Informer

After I heard that the Governor of the State of Mississippi, Phil Bryant, declared April as Confederate Heritage Month I was prepared to get my flag, block and delete button ready because I knew those who claim it is heritage not hate were going to have a hoot nanny about this announcement. Then I thought about it and realized that they are entitled to their beliefs. I've been blogging for quiet some time and I know people will easily believe a lie before they believe the truth. We live in the age where information is not researched but shared at the click of a button without vetting any of the information contained in the link that was shared. If Bryant thought his declaration was such a grand accomplishment for the State of Mississippi why did he opt to announce the pseudo-celebration via the Sons of the Confederacy website instead of the Official State of Mississippi website or the Governor's website? I guess it's the same logic that have legislators fighting against a...

A new season of the Discovery Channel’s “Street Outlaws” will premiere tonight and will feature Lumberton’s own, Bobby Ducote. Bobby’s need for speed has probably made him a target of the Lumberton Police Department but he has honed his skills and has landed on the Discovery Series: “Street Outlaws: New Orleans.” The series will feature some of the Southeast’s fastest racers as they form an underground street racing league. The show will follow the exploits of a driver named Kelly, who will defend his title from the driver’s seat of his racing machine called “The Shocker.” It is said that Kelly want to put The Big Easy on the street racing map but it is my belief that Bobby Ducote and his 1971 Maverick, affectionately named “Lil Legend” will put the City of Lumberton on the map and possibly bring more attention to the sleeper city by featuring a racer from the this area. It has been noted in a press release that this season of “Street Outlaws: New Orleans” will prove to be ...

Lumberton has been in the news a lot this past week with stories ranging from the condition of the city and the possible closure of our school but that didn’t stop the students and staff of Lumberton High School from soaring. On Friday, the Lumberton High School Girls and Boys Basketball Teams won the Region 8-1A Basketball Tournaments. Congratulations to the girls, boys and coaching staff for their hard work and victories. The administration and/or location of Lumberton’s schools system may change over the next two years but #WEARELUMBERTON and we’re #PANTHERSFORLIFE.

Thursday the Senate Education Committee voted to abolish Coahoma Agricultural High School and the Lumberton school district. News of this pending decision was released days before the Hattiesburg American published its Sunday edition of propaganda. Instead of focusing on a legislative decision that would greatly impact the City of Lumberton, they opted to do a fluff story on Kent Crider; giving him front page status to continue to announce his campaign plans because none of the things discussed came to fruition but it discussed things he hoped for during his administration. Hopefully Kent will not forget to mention that Lumberton lost its school system in his campaign literature for re-election. There are some that are going to say that the elected officials of Lumberton did not have a hand in the closing of Lumberton’s school and they would be wrong. For the last 8-12 years, elected officials have been beholden to those that own the majority of the prime land in Lu...

I think this is week 2 and Danny Davis, the person responsible for the testing of Lumberton’s water supply has not returned the calls of any of the citizens concerned about Lumberton’s water system. I had several people, black and white, to call city hall to ask to speak with Danny Davis since I knew this coward would not return my calls. Needless to say, no one has received a call from Danny Davis. I guess he will go on the Lumberton Connection and proclaim that no one has called but the time he took to make his “I’m a victim” post, he could have simply called to confirm or deny the presence of led in our water system and explain why the well has not been repaired but he know he’s not required to be accountable to the concerned citizens of Lumberton because he simply don’t care if our water is safe or not because he don’t live in Lumberton’s city limits and this current administration will support his childish behavior. In light of the issues w...

Last week we received news that the Lumberton School System could be closed and students would have to attend school in Purvis or Poplarville because of SB 2498 that was introduced by Sen. Gray Tollison, chairman of the Senate Education Committee. Details were not clear so I decided to call Lamar County Superintendent Tess Smith for some clarity about the proposed changes. Let me preface this blog post by saying that Tess Smith is responsible for a multi-million dollar budget and oversees hundreds of employees. When I called, I wasn’t sure if I would get through and when she wasn’t in her office I didn’t think I would ever have my call returned because of her hectic work schedule and because I have yet to have my calls returned by Danny Davis, public works director of Lumberton that supervises 3-4 workers (including seasonal workers). To my surprise, Tess Smith returned my call and answered all of my questions. For those of you not familiar with ...

I was always warned about media bias and it is typical for any Republican to blame the liberal media for outlining their shortcomings but Sunday’s edition of the Hattiesburg American contained more fluff than a bag of freshly spun cotton candy. During the campaign, I realized that Haskel Burns was biased in his reports; especially when I noticed he placed on candidate’s picture first on every article posted about the special election. I shrugged it off and figured it was much ado about nothing but when I say Kent Crider’s photo on the front page of the Sunday edition of the Hattiesburg American, I knew it was nothing but pure propaganda; especially since it was announced days ago that the Lumberton School was targeted for closure if SB2498 passes. Reluctantly, I read the fluff piece and it was probably the most self-aggrandizing (the act or practice of enhancing or exaggerating one’s own importance , power or reputation.) In other words, pure propaganda. It is my belief ...

Slowly but surely, history is repeating itself. In a segregated South, students from Lumberton, Purvis, Sumrall, Little River and Beaumount were bussed to John Jefferson High School because of separate but unequal education. I think the Lumberton Line Consolidated School District became integrated in 1969. Based on a news report, Lumberton students are getting back on the bus and will be bussed to either Purvis or Poplarville. Senator Rick Norton (R-Hattiesburg) submitted SB2498 that would require students from Lumberton to either attend school in Purvis or Poplarville and the bill passed with a vote of 40-9. There’s all this speculation about if this bill passes but with the Republicans holding a super majority, it’s not a matter of if the bill passes, it’s a matter of when the bill passes. Again, voter apathy has led to the demise of another essential part of Lumberton. We’re a city with no police department (due to the political agenda of the current mayor and...

In light of the water issues taking place in Flint, Michigan due to poor administrative decisions, I posted a question on Facebook asking if Lumberton had any lead pipes and wondered about the quality of our water supply since there has been cuts and a failure to repair a damaged well. I also had someone call city hall to ask Danny about our water system but instead of responding, he decided to get on the closed page of a social media site to address “certain” members of the community while refusing to respond to the person that called with concerns. True to form, in his response, Danny said I never called city hall and in another case reading with no comprehension, the post clearly stated that I had someone to call city hall. Since Davis wanted me to call personally, I called city hall and posted the video of the telephone call. Guess what? No response!!! After I received the screenshots, I was amazed at the great lengths he went to disparage me and make claims th...

True to form, Crider is getting ready to show his appreciation for selecting him as the Mayor of Lumberton by raising water rates. According to Crider, the proposed water rate increase is due to an audit but if the increase is more than five-ten cents then it’s to cover the defaulted accounts created by Merlene Wall, city clerk. As I have stated and will continue to state until those blinded by the truth open their eyes, the City of Lumberton is operating from the WSOM account not the general fund. Merlene, through permission from the board members, have completely mangled the accounts because she’s incapable of comprehending the concepts of BBI; despite the continuous cost of training at the expense of the citizens of Lumberton. What that old saying, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks and she’s proven time and time again that she’s a flea bag that’s riddled with the mange and in need of an oil dip. Last week, there was much ado about nothing because someone thought I said I...

Today I had a blog post that was going to shake the poll workers and the election commissioner to their core but after the day I had I decided not to publish the post. For the first time in years, I actually experienced the favor of God and I had a breakthrough. I don’t have time to dwell on what happened and those that broke every law to make it happen. Regardless of what happened, I’m moving forward. I could go on about how Linda Knight Martin allowed the election process to be tarnished and I could talk ad nauseum about how Mary Slaughter and the other women also participated in the tainting process but what would be the point; they know what they did; the people of Lumberton and surrounding areas know what they did and their feelings towards me is very clear. What’s the point of posting conversations that were overheard at restaurants in Hattiesburg and at Lumberton city hall? They know what they said and its time out for pettiness; I will leave that to the ded...

As I’ve said many times before, there are those, usually the obtuse readers of the Lumberton Connection, that has a problem with reading and comprehension. Tuesday night I posted that I wasn’t going to attend the board meeting because of inclement weather. Later that night, I posted photos someone inboxed me of the reception. Immediately, I noticed that the reception was basically a “whites only” event and I noted that. Here’s what I posted, “Tonight, alternate building inspector, Johnny Buckley, was sworn in as Alderman, Ward 1 and afterwards a select group were invited to the “white party” reception. Noticeably absent Tommy Dukes, Jr and Cora Rogers aka the help.” Now here’s what some belligerent reader thought I said. “I was at the board meeting and was not allowed to attend the reception in the transformed executive session room because I never delete posts and that’s not true because you deleted your video talking about W-2 forms….blah, blah, blah. Now, even a...