InkBlots

Bills to toughen animal cruelty laws championed by The Mississippi Press in Pascagoula/Gautier died in the House of Representatives over the past week.

Publisher Wanda Jacobs told committee members that the paper received more than three dozen letters to the editor in response to an article about Buddy last year. The paper collected more than $3,000 in reward money from local readers, as well as more than 12,000 signatures on a petition demanding stronger laws.

Some of the best college journalists in the south are in Mississippi, according to contest results from the recent Southeast Journalism Conference convention in Birmingham.

The Clarion-Ledger delved deep into the issue of the grocery tax vs. cigarette tax in Sunday’s issue…

Perspective editor Sid Salter examines the dynamics of the argument for increasing the cigarette tax for a few while lowering the cost of groceries for all.

Editorial director David Hampton concludes facts and logic support the “tax swap.”

The C-L editorial board concludes Gov. Haley Barbour is sticking to a promise at the expense of good policy and the public’s health.

Steve Gillespie has been promoted to managing editor of The Meridian Star. He had been serving as assistant editor since spring of 2005.

The work of Clarion-Ledger editorial cartoonist Marshall Ramsey will be exhibited starting later this month at the Mississippi Museum of Art. Ramsey is marking his 10th anniversary as the mordacious, on-target artist for the paper’s opinion pages.

A late-January report from the AP, credits Jackson newspapers with cracking open the case of accused murderer James Seale. Also included in this E&P roundup is background on the Jackson Free Press‘ prominent role in the investigation. SPJ and Poynter also take note.

Ed Darling, editor and publisher of The Cullman (AL) Times since June 1997, has been named president of Greenville Newspapers LLC, publisher of The Greenville Advocate and senior vice president of Boone Newspapers Inc.

Darling is a former publisher of The Natchez Democrat and a one-time member of the MPA Board of Directors. He also managed newspapers in Picayune and Meridian, as well as serving as a regional manager for Mississippi and Alabama newspapers for American Publishing Co. in the late 1990s.

The Sun Herald on Friday filed a lawsuit for access to public records and correspondence involving prisoner-abuse complaints at the Harrison County jail. Named as defendants are the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department and Harrison County Sheriff George H. Payne Jr.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre will return for the 2007 season, he told the Sun Herald in an exclusive interview this morning.

Those who weren’t at the Saturday roast of Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Khayat at the Jackson Hilton missed a great program. The Clarion-Ledger provides this wrap-up of the event, which benefited the MPA Education Foundation.