Lumberton Informer

Today, we officially celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday; a day set aside to show that we are thankful for the many blessings bestowed upon our lives. Every day there’s a reason to be thankful even if it’s nothing more than being thankful for being among the living. Today, people will travel near and far to be with their families and enjoy a fest. During this time, I can’t help but think of families that have great memories of these gatherings but at the same time, they’re grieving because a beloved member of their family has transitioned into eternity. Regardless if this is your first Thanksgiving without a loved one or your tenth, there are still moments when sadness take over and you must grapple with establishing new memories while embracing old memories. I am thankful that I will be eating dinner with my beloved aunt, Helen Williams, in Hattiesburg and we will share food, stories of old family gatherings and create new memories. There’s no doubt that we will pr...

Unofficially, the field of candidates for the Lumberton Mayoral race has been whittled down to three candidates: David Kent Crider, Jonathan F. Griffith and Jerry Walters. For some reason, the others that picked up packets changed their minds about having their names placed on the 12-15-15 ballot. I don’t know when the potential candidates will be certified but there’s not going to be much time to campaign. Somehow, each candidate will need to find an effective way to convey their campaign message and urge residents to get out and support them. I am nervous and excited about the prospect of potentially becoming the next Mayor of Lumberton. For years, I have demanded accountability and transparency at city hall. Now, I’m in a position where I can get a different perspective and find out why our elected officials are not working together to advance the City of Lumberton. Someone asked if I thought my blog would be a hindrance in my bid to become Mayor and I tho...

Tuesday, November 24, 2015, 5:00 p.m. is the deadline to submit your paperwork to be included on December 15, 2015 ballot to run for Mayor of Lumberton. So far, two candidates have submitted their paperwork, Kent Crider and Jerry Walters. By the time this post is published, you can add Jonathan F. Griffith, the Lumberton Informer to that list of potential candidates. I thought long and hard about this decision. I prayed about entering the race, I picked up a packet, prayed, tore up the packet, prayed, picked up another packet and still and prayed some more. I held on to the packet and then people started coming by the house to offer their support and signatures so I got up finished gathering the signatures needed to enter the mayoral race. I’ve tried to get a list of those running but of course they’re being very protective of the list of candidates. I don’t know who all turned in their packets but I guess the names will be released tomorrow sinc...

When it comes to politics in Lumberton, the people seem to have the memory of a goldfish. I was told that Kent Crider was one of the first persons to pick up a packet to enter the mayoral race and apparently he was the first person to return his packet with the required signatures because he’s already campaigning. It’s rumored that Crider is talking to others that a planning on running in an effort to avoid splitting of the votes. I’m guessing that John Fairley is not one of the potential candidates he’s talking to. For years, the City of Lumberton has been plagued with a poor representatives and Kent Crider has been a part of that problem for the last 6 years and now he wants to be mayor. Interesting. When the board held the special called meeting to allow Alderwoman Rogers to serve as interim mayor and set the date for the special called election, I knew Crider had something up his sleeve because it was the first time he attended a board meeting with a clean shirt. Ge...

There’s no “I” in team but there’s always a leader and this year, Daylon Burks holds that distinction. Last week, the Lumberton Panthers won the first round of the play off games, defeating French Camp to make it to the next level. Throughout this seaon, Burks has continued to defy the odds and emerge as a leader. A recent sports writer had this to say about Burks: “Daylon Burks has flown under the radar in the Pine Belt area, due mostly to other standouts, Isaiah Woullard, Detric Hawthorn, Josh Miller and Jordan Duncan. But make no mistake, he belongs in the same breath. In the Panthers’ win over French Camp in the opening round of the class 1A playoffs, Burks rushed 28 times for 385 yards and four touchdown. Burks has rushed for almost 2,400 yards in the year as well as tacking on 30 rushing touchdowns.” Burks has truly etched his place into the annals of Lumberton’s glorious football history. The Panthers will look to Burks and rely heavily on his talents, skills and lea...

I think this will be the last post about Merlene Wall this week because I don’t want a root of bitterness to spring forth. Besides, if I’m going to get bitter, it’s not going to be because of a unknowledgeable slore. One of the main reasons Merlene was able to fake us out so long was because she had access to the vast knowledge of a code charter municipality possessed by former mayor, Miriam R. Holder. When Ben Winston took office, there was no doubt that he was clueless and had no regard for laws. Merlene tried to hold on to the little knowledge she retained but it was not working in her favor. Thankfully, she has a board that just as clueless as her. I know there will be other posts regarding Merlene but I don’t want to dedicate too many blog post about her because I don’t want to become jaded. I still marvel at the fact that Merlene went into court, lied under oath and tried to have me jailed for expressing my first amendment rights. Wait, the lies started long befo...

I’m still thinking about the fact that I was hauled into court to defend my freedom of speech. When Joe Montgomery helped me draft my response as a favor to one of his friends, he advised me that the matter would probably be dismissed and I would never go to court. Well, we all know that wasn’t how the story ended. I actually had to go to court, deal with an gag order and waited almost a month to get a judgement on this matter. I never thought I would lose but I think the case was drawn out because they thought they would at least drain me financially. Little did they know, my attorney did not charge me so their attempt to leave me drowning in legal fees failed just as miserably as their case. Now that I have a moment to reflect on what happened, I realized that Merlene Wall, a person that moved to South Mississippi to retire had the support and stamp of approval from a group of individuals I’ve known my whole life: Ben Winston, Bobby Gibson, Tommy Dukes ...