A FROWN FOR THE MISSISSIPPI SENATE TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE, which this week passed Senate Bill 2606 that would allow local governments to bypass newspapers and post legal advertisements to their own websites.

Thankfully, the Accountability-Ethics-Transparency Committee tabled the double-referred bill, pending further study this summer. The companion House Bill 1369, however, is still being considered by the House Municipalities Committee and faces a Tuesday deadline.

Layne Bruce, executive director of the Mississippi Press Association, states: “These are dreadful bills dropped under the guise of saving taxpayer money on public notice advertising. In actuality, public notice rates are set by statute at pennies per word and have not been increased in 22 years. They also are a tiny fraction of any government entity’s overall budget.”

As we wrote earlier this week, the bills are a bad idea for a number of reasons, but primarily we oppose the bills on the grounds of government accountability. It is not a good idea for a government body to have sole responsibility and control over posting its own public notices.

Even with the best intentions, government bodies can fail to meet their responsibility of conducting business in open.

In Lauderdale County, for example, we have noted the Board of Supervisors’ reliance on executive sessions to conduct business. The Board has not posted meeting minutes on its website since March 28, 2019. In addition, the Board has not caught up in publishing several months of claim dockets in The Meridian Star. It suspended publication of the claims dockets in June 2019 before resuming on Feb. 12. State law, 19-3-35, requires counties to publish the dockets in their local newspapers monthly.

We hope these are cases of oversight and not intent to keep information from the public.

We again urge you to contact your legislators and state your support of open government and your opposition to these bills.

A CROWN FOR THE PROSPECT OF MORE APARTMENTS coming to downtown Meridian.

Commonwealth Development Corporation of America, based in Wisconsin, said this week its intent to purchase the Hulett Furniture Building and add 32 apartments downtown.

While financing still needs to be finalized, we think it’s a great idea to have more people in downtown apartments, which tend to draw young people starting their professional careers. Downtown living increases the foot traffic for businesses, encourages other businesses to locate here and reduces the threat of crime as it increases positive activity in the city.

A CROWN FOR MERIDIAN PASTOR TODD TILGHMAN who wowed judges and a national television audience Monday night on NBC’s “The Voice.”

Tilghman’s performance of Bob Seger’s “We’ve Got Tonight” was stunning and his back story of raising eight children while pastoring Cornerstone Church in Meridian has been spreading through social media and mainstream media alike.

We wish this 41-year-old pastor success as the show continues and thank him for helping to point a spotlight on Meridian.

A CROWN TO THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF EAST MISSISSIPPI, which presented more than $90,000 in grants to local non-profits on Thursday.

We’re thankful to be part of such a generous community.

A CROWN FOR THE MERIDIAN DOWNTOWN OPTIMIST CLUB for the 73rd year of its Pancake Jubilee.

The club made more than 10,000 pancakes along with money to support youth activities in the community.

Beyond our love of pancakes and the sweet syrup that covers them, the meal sustains community spirit in a gathering we look forward to each year.