Change is news and that is the commodity I trade in each week.
Sara and I, and half-a-dozen people employed at the Clarksdale Press Register, thank you for doing business with us.
I’m one of those who really enjoys his job. It’s important, it does make a difference and it does change people and communities.
I was up until late this week preparing this edition for you. We’ll meet again next week on these pages.
The Gandhi protest
Yes, we heard about the Gandhi protesters shortly after the statute went up on the Courthouse lawn this past summer.
Your Clarksdale Press Register checked into the threat of a lawsuit and found nothing filed.
We had someone come in the office this week wanting us to print a story about their concern. He wanted it done a certain way.
We explained we don’t make the news, we report it. We also told him if he wants to tell us how to do it, buy an ad.
He did.
I love capitalism and the First Amendment. They work so nicely together.
Spring Planting
How do you like that picture on the front page of those boys riding those spring toys on a spring day in Clarksdale?
Sara and I raised four boys and it’s neat to watch the sap rise in them each spring.
Fall is an older man’s season. Spring was made for boys.
Juke Joint
The Juke Joint will be here in about a month.
The very first time Sara and I were in Clarksdale, was Juke Joint 2019. You know, the one where it rained cats and dogs and y’all still threw a fine Delta party for about 20,000 folks.
We obviously were impressed with this spot called Clarksdale. Like so many who come to Juke Joint, we look around, see if we like it and then move in.
All I hope this year is the weather is better and those 20,000 who stayed away the past two years come back for a day of music, a meal and something in a mug.
Tax Season
We have a 16-Page Coahoma County tax list in this week’s paper. We urge you to read it and hope your name is not on the list.
My mother-in-law used to read the tax list and sigh as she saw the names of folk much more wealthy than her on the roll.
Momma Reid said she always paid her bills and taxes are a bill that comes around once a year.
I’ve always felt I get a lot for my taxes. Sure, I would love to pay less, but I drive on decent streets, I feel safe in my home and I live better than 97-percent of the rest of the world.
We don’t realize how good we have it in America and Clarksdale.
Ethics
Do you remember Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood?
I got to know Jim when I lived in Chickasaw County. I also got to know his daddy, Jimmy Hood, who was the school board attorney there. His brother Tom Hood is Executive Director of the Mississippi Ethics Commission.
I always said Jim’s job as Attorney General was to catch crooks and put them in jail. I also said Tom’s job as head of the Ethics Commission was to explain to politicians why something they were doing is illegal.
I understand a thief who just wants something. I don’t understand a man who believes in his heart it is Ok to break the law.
The difference is ethics and few in public office have them now days.
Floyd Ingram is Editor of your Clarksdale Press Register. Please say hi to him if you see him walking around town or call him at 662-627-2201 and ask him to go for a stroll.
