CLARKSDALE — Wayne Dowdy offered one simple, pointed message Wednesday night: The Mississippi Democratic Party is headed in a new direction thanks to the personal and financial support of its members and contributors.
Dowdy, chairman of the state party and a former Mississippi congressman, promised success this fall with the re-election of Democrats Bennie Thompson and Gene Taylor to the U.S. House and aggressive campaigns for open seats in the Mississippi Legislature.
“And we’ve got a candidate for the U.S. Senate that will mess up Trent Lott’s hair,” Dowdy said, referring to state Rep. Erik Fleming - the party nominee who is challenging Lott, a Republican who has held the Senate seat since 1989.
Dowdy’s comments highlighted a fundraiser for the Mississippi Democratic Party, an event held at the Ground Zero Blues Club in historic downtown Clarksdale. The club is owned by award-winning actor Morgan Freeman and friend Bill Luckett.
Freeman, Luckett and more than 200 other Democratic Party supporters from the Mississippi Delta and across the state attended the fundraiser. Others present included Attorney General Jim Hood, Secretary of State Eric Clark and former Govs. William Winter and Ronnie Musgrove.
Also attending were several key legislators as well as state House candidate Linda Whittington, who is running in the November special election to fill the seat left open by the death of state Rep. May Whittington of Schlater. Linda is May’s cousin.
The Clarksdale fundraiser was the first of several the party hopes to hold in each of the state’s four congressional districts. Other fundraiser dates and locations have not been determined.
Fleming, who attended the fundraiser after making a campaign stop in Rolling Fork earlier in the day, said in brief remarks at the event that it’s time for Republicans to back down.
“It’s time-out for the Old Party,” he said. “They’re not ‘Grand’ anymore.”
While folks often talk about immigration problems, he said, Mississippi has its own emigration problems — with college graduates often leaving the state for other opportunities. It’s time to stop that, he said, by making Mississippi a better place to live.
Dowdy congratulated Democrats in the Mississippi Legislature for staunchly supporting such issues as public education and fair taxes.
And the party chairman also joked with Freeman. While traveling to Clarksdale for the party fundraiser, Dowdy said, he began thinking about what happened in California when actor Arnold Schwarzenegger became that state’s 38th governor in November 2003.
“If the Republicans in California can do it, then the Democrats in Mississippi can,” Dowdy said as laughs and cheers filled the Ground Zero Blues Club. “Ladies and gentlemen, the governor of Mississippi, Morgan Freeman.
“He certainly can play the role better than Haley Barbour.”
Local News
Dowdy: Party on right track
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Local law enforcement officials honored
State Rep. Greg Snowden said he remembered as a child looking up to those "men in blue."
He said police officers in uniform were larger than life, riding in their patrol cars and carrying guns to protect and serve the population. Today, he said he is still in great admiration of the men and women who put their lives on the line every day so that citizens can feel safe. -
MPD probes vehicle crash
Evidence of a mother's desperate attempt to save her children from harm were spread all over a car lot — and could be seen on her as well in the form of bruises, cuts and scrapes.
Tuesday night, a vehicle with three children inside crashed through a plate glass showroom floor window damaging four new cars and totaling the vehicle the children were in. -
Skeleton found in residence
Members of the forensics team of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) were called to a dilapidated home in Chunky to probe the discovery of a skeleton.
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Police search for robbery suspects
Two men who reportedly robbed a woman at gunpoint in the parking lot of a local bank are still being sought.
Mike Vick, public information officer with the Meridian Police Department, said the two men approached a woman about 8 p.m. Tuesday at the ATM of Regions Bank on North Hills Street. Vick said one of the suspects was armed with a handgun and after taking an undetermined amount of cash and the victim's car keys, the two suspects fled on foot. -
City cuts payment to Watkins
The Meridian City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to cut their monthly payment to David Watkins, project developer of Meridian's new police station, by $9,999 until work resumes on the project.
The order, made during the Meridian City Council meeting Tuesday morning, included a mutual agreement between the councilmen and Watkins to reduce the project developer's monthly consultant fee of $10,000 to $1, effective Tuesday. -
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If you hear a loud, booming sound early today, between 4 a.m.-10 a.m., there is no cause for alarm.
Workers with Plantation Pipeline will be performing maintenance work on their 30-foot gasoline pipeline in the Meridian area to accommodate the widening of Highway 493. The location of the work activity will be at Highway 493 North and Oak Hill Baptist Church, just inside the city limits. -
Team Spirit
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High Honor
The flowers and balloons Crestwood Elementary School Principal Kimberly Kendrick received at school Monday were not an early Valentines' Day gift.
Kendrick has been named Meridian Public School District's 2012 Administrator of the Year – an announcement that both surprised and wowed the 17-year veteran educator when made by MPSD Superintendent Dr. Alvin Taylor. -
Master Dance Class
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Digital system promises better communication
Hopefully in the near future you won't hear someone in the emergency services ask over the radio, "Can you hear me now?"
A digital communications system, one which is being pushed by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), is a few months away and, in some cases, is already in the testing phase in Lauderdale County. - More Local News Headlines
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