Several subjects for this week’s column:
The latest federal government shutdown lasted 48 days, the longest in history. No doubt this was a hardship on many federal workers, but if you had 48 days worth of money saved, it was a 48-day paid vacation.
The federal workers who were furloughed during the 48 days will be reimbursed for back pay.
So for those who think these shutdowns save taxpayer money, think again.
Belhaven Northsider Pete Perry is on the board of the One Percent Infrastructure Sales Tax Commission. This was passed in 2014 to deal with our deteriorating roads.
I’m pleased to note that several streets in my neighborhood of LOHO are being repaved. And multiple streets in Belhaven and downtown are also being repaved.
Ironically, a few years before this new sales tax, the City of Jackson set aside multiple mills just for the road maintenance. But during budget cuts during the administration of former Mayor Harvey Johnson, the millage for roads maintenance was eliminated.
It didn’t take long for the potholes to proliferate. Repaving dropped to almost nothing, causing an uproar that led to the passage of the one percent infrastructure sales tax.
So the city cut out the millage just to replace it with a regressive sales tax. Meanwhile, our roads went to pot. It would have been better if the millage had been left intact.
Now, the city leaders need to reinstate a regular millage for repaving and let the infrastructure tax improve our roads rather than just serving as a maintenance vehicle.
I talked with Jackson engineer Hibbett Neel at a recent party. He is chairman emeritus of Neel-Schaffer Engineering that operates 38 offices across nine states.
Neel says Jackson (and other cities) could save millions by replacing their conventional stop lights and street lights with LED lights. They consume 80 percent less power and last three times longer. What a no brainer.
Neel also mentioned raised plastic street markings that last far longer than paint and would greatly improve road safety. Street markings in Jackson are pathetic and dangerous.
Common sense projects such as this result when you have a professionally staffed public works department with leadership. Let’s hope Jackson under Mayor Horhn can start making such progress.
Now that daylight savings is over, pedestrians need to be careful to use lighting or reflective clothing when walking.
Over the last few weeks, I have been amazed at how many people are walking down unlit streets with nothing to display their presence. To an older person, these people are practically invisible.
Gemini AI says, “Night vision deteriorates with age due to changes in the pupil size, a decrease in the density and effectiveness of light-sensitive rod cells in the retina, and a clouding or yellowing of the eye's lens (cataracts). By age 60, eyes can need three times more light to see than they did in their twenties. One study found subjects aged 40 and older had a 30% to 60% reduction in night vision efficiency.”
Making matters worse many pedestrians wear headphones so they don’t hear approaching cars. If the car is electric it’s hard to hear even without headphones.
This is a recipe for getting run over. Pedestrian deaths have risen much faster than overall traffic fatalities, increasing by 78% from 2009 to 2023.
When I see a nearly invisible pedestrian, I want to stop my car and tell them, “Do you realize that you are practically invisible to a 4,000 pound car driving 25 miles an hour?
The risk of a pedestrian being killed by a car going 25 mph is 12 percent. At 35 mph, the risk is 25 percent. Given the low cost of reflective clothing or wearable LEDs, you’ve got to have a death wish to walk without display lighting.
I need to write an open letter to the voters of New York City warning them of what’s to come now that they have elected the radical Zohran Mamdani to the office of mayor.
For Jacksonians, we’ve been there, done that. Eight years ago Chokwe Lumumba promised to make Jackson the most radical city on the planet. We thought it was just campaign rhetoric.
Eight years later, he was booted out of office by voters, but not before we had to boil water for months and watch trash pile up in our streets. Meanwhile, the FBI arrested him for taking bribes from drug dealers.
Speaking of drug dealers, how about the FBI arresting 14 law enforcement officials in the Delta for taking bribes from drug dealers? Talk about fulfilling every stereotype about corrupt cops. It’s sad to see this happen.
But what grabbed me the most was the FBI stating they began the sting operation after hearing complaints from drug dealers that cops were hitting them up for bribes.
I’m all for arresting corrupt law officers, but since when does the FBI respond to drug dealer complaints? How about arresting the complaining drug dealers? And exactly how does a drug dealer complain to the FBI. You can’t make this stuff up.
Speaking of drug dealers, I have a theory about the rapid decline in the murder rate in Jackson which roughly coincides with the arrest of the Jackson mayor and Hinds County DA for taking bribes from drug dealers for protection.
As long as you don’t deal drugs and engage in extramarital affairs, you are extremely unlikely to get shot in Jackson.
Why do competing drug dealers kill competitors? To make more money. The more money at stake, the more likely killings will take place. If you can deal drugs without worrying about getting arrested, it’s more lucrative, as would be the case if the mayor and DA are taking bribes.
Now that they have been arrested, drug dealing in Jackson is not as good a deal, so the killings over drug territory has declined.
