Editorials
Check out new voting machines
With little of interest or much importance on Tuesday’s ballot in East Mississippi, even the most faithful of voters might be inclined to sit this one out.
Here’s a good reason to vote anyway: Tuesday’s Democratic primary is the first opportunity for voters to use new touchscreen voting machines that have been purchased in most Mississippi counties.
The machines were purchased to get the state in compliance with the Help America Vote Act, a federal law designed to prevent a recurrence of the 2000 presidential election fiasco in Florida, when “hanging chads” entered the American parlance.
A short ballot like Tuesday’s is the perfect opportunity for voters who haven’t taken advantage of recent public demonstrations by election commissioners to get a feel for the new technology. The machines are very user-friendly, but still, voters might prefer their first experience with them to be in a low-key setting. That way, there will be some familiarity when citizens return to the polls for November’s general election.
The only contested race on Tuesday’s ballot in Lauderdale County is the choice of a sacrificial lamb to take on U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss. The Democratic contenders — all political lightweights — are state Rep. Erik Fleming, D-Clinton; Long Beach businessman and minister James O’Keefe; Hattiesburg gadfly Catherine M. Starr; and Bill Bowlin, a Hickory Flat business consultant.
Of the four, we prefer Bowlin, who has impressive academic and business credentials. The 50-year-old Bowlin obtained an MBA from Tulane and has spent a couple of decades in the private sector. He’s no stranger to the political arena, having run unsuccessfully for a Northeast Mississippi congressional seat in 1990 and 1994. Bowlin is the Democrats’ best hope against Lott, who, barring an unforeseen scandal, is a shoe-in for re-election to the Senate come November.
- Editorials
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- Sumrall's situation is a shame
- East Central Mississippi belongs on the Civil War map
- Sumrall's situation is a shame
- Who speaks to dying town dilemmas?
- While we weren't watching
- A few words for Mayor Barry
- Thanks, mayor, for standing up
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Meridian welcomes the Sesquicentennial Celebration
Sesquicentennial Celebration, you ask? I admit this is a mighty BIG word and very difficult to pronounce, but for Meridian, the meaning of this word points to our strength and endurance – as a city and as a people.
Allow me to explain.
Meridian will celebrate our 150th birthday on February 10, 2010, thus this year we rightly celebrate our sesquicentennial. I'm certain that many of you remember the Centennial Celebration of 1960. Although I was VERY young (oh, humor me), I remember that wonderful time. All or most of the Meridian men grew beards and the women wore the long dresses of the 1860 style. My mother made a dress with matching hat for me. I still have an old photo of that dressy ensemble as I sat demurely on the side arm of a sofa with my hands folded in my lap – real ladylike. It was a time of parades, school projects, community events, and a city that came together to celebrate 100 years of existence.
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My Mississippi
A decade ago, I wrote a short, stream-of-consciousness piece disputing the negative and stereotypical views the South. It quickly spread across the World Wide Web, spawned a couple of books, and a regional broadcast network’s imaging and branding campaign. Actually, it’s still making its way around the Internet.
- A Mississippi music man – a guardian angel
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