InkBlots

Former Indianola Enteprise-Tocsin editor and publisher Jim Abbott appeared as the moderator this weekend on C-SPAN II BookTV. Abbott introduced a panel discussion on the book “Cotton and Race in the Making of America” by author Gene Dattel.

Dattel’s book presents a social and economic history of the role of cotton in the United States. The greatest export crop of the country for 130 years, its cultivation fed the textile industry and allowed the U.S. to broker independent trade with Europe. However, the production of cotton was also marked by slave labor and the author recounts that the prevalence of slavery was linked to where cotton was often grown. He was joined in discussion by civil rights activists Carver Randle and Lee Daniels. This event was held November 11, 2009, at the B.B. King Museum in Indianola.

The Carroll County School Board is not allowed to ban recording of its meetings, according to attorney general’s opinions and an expert in open meetings law. The board may choose to stop taping meetings itself, though, said Leonard Van Slyke, attorney for the Mississippi Center for Freedom of Information.

By a 3-2 vote, the board decided Monday to cease recording its meetings and destroy all the tapes it has made.

In a 2005 opinion to the Lowndes County School Board in a similar incident, Attorney General Jim Hood said a board could adopt reasonable rules to prevent disruption of its meetings but “a flat prohibition against taping is unreasonable and violates the intent of the open meetings law.”

What is the majority on the Carroll County School Board scared of? Are they so unconfident of some of their muleheaded ways that they want to keep them from being fully and completely documented?

The problem isn’t confined to small communities like Carrollton. The Sun Herald during a recent interview with a local elected official encountered yet again an assumption that just won’t die: What’s said in secret must remain a secret.

Since news of Tiger Woods’ sex scandal broke in early December, the hunt has been on for one of the world’s most recognized athlete. Having stepped out of the spotlight since admitting his infidelity, Woods has been reported to be seeking treatment for sex addiction in Arizona or South Africa, depending on which cyber source you believe.

The latest online reports place him in Hattiesburg.

We must take each story with a grain of salt, of course, especially when the rumors so clearly conflict with each other. (He’s in rehab in Arizona! No, he’s at Arnold Palmer’s house. No, he’s in rehab in Mississippi!)

Without a report from a reliable source — a wire service, a newspaper — we haven’t been able to glimpse what Woods’ mind set has been since the scandal broke. And we’re not likely to know until Woods returns to the PGA Tour, if then.

The state Ethics Commission on Friday delayed a decision on whether the University of Southern Mississippi was wrong when it denied the Hattiesburg American’s request for information on a $112,500 settlement the school made with a former graduate assistant. The newspaper in October filed a public records request with USM seeking documents related to USM’s settlement with Colleen Speaker, a former women’s tennis graduate assistant.

Writes Tim Kalich, editor and publisher of The Greenwood Commonwealth in the Jan. 17 edition: “Police Chief Henry Purnell wants Greenwood’s citizens to believe that this city experienced an unprecedented drop in violent crime and burglaries last year. Sorry, Chief. I don’t buy it…

“We contend that Purnell is violating state law by not making the individual crime reports accessible. Almost two years ago, the Mississippi Legislature closed a loophole in the state’s Public Records Act that some police chiefs and sheriffs had been abusing by withholding the incident reports on the excuse that the crime was ‘under investigation.’”

The Clarksdale Press Register has a new publisher.  Jay Strasner moved to Clarksdale from the Searcy (Ark.) Daily Citizen, where he served as editor.

Matt Guthrie, former publisher of The Petal News and Lamar Times, has been named publisher of the Delta Democrat Times in Greenville. All three papers are owned by Jackson-based Emmerich Newspapers.

Prior to returning to Mississippi, Guthrie was publisher of the Fayette County News in Georgia. He succeeds Ed Nichols, who at the time of his departure was also publisher of the semi-weekly Clarksdale Press Register.

The Monitor-Herald in Calhoun City published its final edition on Dec. 31, ending a 110-year run in the small Calhoun County community. According to the MPA archive, the paper first published July 19, 1900 and was founded by Thomas Martin Murphree. A one-year subscription at the time cost $1.

The Murphree family continued to operate the paper until the mid 1990s when it was sold to Boone Newspapers, Inc. The paper was owned by Journal Publishing in Tupelo for the past few years.

In a time when newspapers across the country are making cutbacks and whittling down staff members, Star-Herald managing editor Leslie Dees is proud to say that The Star-Herald made changes and improvements with the help of readers, staff and advertisers.

From the Ballot Access News Blog: The December 28 issue of the Biloxi, Mississippi, Sun Herald, has this story about Brian Moore’s ongoing lawsuit to settle the exact deadline for candidates to file presidential elector paperwork to be on the ballot. The lawsuit is more than a year old, and is far from being settled. This is apparently the first time that any newspaper in Mississippi has mentioned the case.