The name says it all: Crook at it again.

We can add another peculiarity to former Madison County Chancery Clerk and Ridgeland Alderman Mike Crook's growing list. Some things get better with age. Crook's actions seems to get more unusual as time goes on.

He has been credited with royally screwing up the land records in Madison County during his tenure as clerk, being a lawsuit happy landlord, and attempting to conduct a coup of the TEA party movement for his own meglomaniacal purposes, among other things. Last year he refused to comply with police officers in Ridgeland, and then sued the City for arresting him over it.

But this one? This one makes all the others look positively normal by comparison.

BY: Lucy Weber

Former Ridgeland alderman Mike Crook may have figured dinner for he and his wife and a sleepover could keep him out of legal trouble over rental property, but he was wrong.

Crook was found guilty Thursday in Madison Municipal Court on two counts of violating the city's ordinance governing rental houses. Judge Dale Danks ordered him to pay $867, the maximum fine that includes $300 per count plus court costs.

Acting as his own attorney, Crook tried to convince the judge he didn't need to meet city licensing requirements because he lived at the house he owned at 127 Cypress Drive. However, Danks said tenant Tammy Thompson provided "the most compelling evidence."

"He asked if he and his wife could come over and have dinner and if he could sleep on my sofa in case the city asked if he was living there," testified Thompson, who paid $1,250 a month to live in the house for about seven months last year.

City officials said Crook, a former Madison County chancery clerk, never posted a $10,000 bond required under the rental ordinance adopted in 2008 despite numerous letters and phone calls, but he did pay the required $100 rental fee. A bond or letter of credit is used to guarantee the owner will make any needed repairs the city requires. A bond or letter from a bank for $10,000 costs anywhere from $200-$300, said Bill Foshee, the city's director of code enforcement.

"The city has 327 rental houses, and 326 of them have complied with the ordinance," Foshee said.

Crook said he intended to appeal to Madison County Court. "I'm glad to get to County Court to have a fair trial," he said.

The case against Crook marks the first time the city has taken a homeowner to court for violating the ordinance.

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New Ridgeland Zoning Ordinances take affect in October

The City of Ridgeland’s stricter requirements for new payday lenders, pawnshops and other businesses takes effect in October.

Formal approval of the zoning changes by alderman came last week. The restrictions will take effect in 30 days.

The Clarion-Ledger reports that the new rules also affect tattoo parlors, title loan businesses, check-cashing establishments, cash-for-gold entities, nail salons and bail bondsmen.

The restrictions prevents such businesses from coming within 2,000 feet of each other. Those businesses cannot exceed 3,000 square feet of space, and they can’t combine into a single office to sidestep the new rules.

Ridgeland aldermen also extended the city’s moratorium on such establishments until Nov. 2, preventing any from moving to the area until after the new zoning rules go into effect.

The new rules don’t effect those already in business.

Ridgeland aldermen originally adopted a temporary ban on these establishments in Aug. 2009. That October, the moratorium was extended for nine months for aldermen to decide whether they wanted stricter or more permanent bans.

Other areas have adopted or are considering such zoning rules.

MBJ

MC Herald: Ridgeland teen arrested on Madison burglary charge

A Ridgeland teen has been arrested by Madison police on burglary charges.

Brandon Lambert, 17, of 102 Chicot Cove, is being charged as an adult with one count of house burglary, possession of burglary tools and a switched car tag, according to a police statement.

He is being held at the Madison County Detention Center pending an initial appearance Monday. No bond has been set.

MCH

Cops Grants for Cities and Counties include money to Ridgeland and Madison County

Miss. cities, counties share cops grants

Twenty local governments, including Madison and Rankin counties and Ridgeland, will split $630,000 in federal law enforcement grants.

The grants come from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program.

"Each of these grants is intended to assist law enforcement in Mississippi to fight illegal activities, promote public safety and prosecute crimes," Sen. Thad Cochran said in a statement announcing the grant recipients.

The grants are as follows:

• City of Vicksburg/Warren County — $52,471 to purchase one police vehicle with patrol accessories.
• City of Meridian/Lauderdale County — $47,613 for the city to purchase technology to combat drug-related crime and for the county to enhance its communications capabilities.
• City of Greenville/Washington County — $47,747 to purchase equipment to improve data-gathering and communications equipment for the city and county.
• Cities of Olive Branch and Southaven — $37,597 for Olive Branch to establish a full-time traffic enforcement unit and Southaven to purchase mobile work stations for patrol units.
• City of Laurel/Jones County — $30,421 to purchase equipment for city and county law enforcement.
• City of Grenada/Grenada County — $19,135 to purchase equipment.
• City of Starkville/Oktibbeha County — $11,885 for the city and county to purchase Tasers.
• City of Tupelo — $23,620 to purchase Tasers and related equipment.
• City of Holly Springs – $21,078 to enhance officer safety, retention and equipment.
• City of Ridgeland – $10,240 to retrofit and equip a previously owned Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer to become a mobile command center.
• Leflore County — $31,468 to purchase video cameras for patrol units.
• Jackson County — $26,759 to purchase police radios and portable navigation systems for the aerial department.
• Marshall County — $21,676 to purchase and outfit a used patrol vehicle.
• Lowndes County — $19,808 to replace outdated equipment.
• Tunica County — $16,893 to upgrade patrol units with digital recording mobile systems.
• Lee County — $15,996 to update technology and improve data keeping.
• Lamar County — $13,529 to purchase new equipment and upgrade existing equipment.
• Rankin County — $11,810 to purchase portable radios.
• Panola County — $11,511 to purchase technology upgrades, including hand-held radios, laptop computers and website development.
• Madison County — $10,838 to purchase in-car laptops.

CL

Another example of why apartments in ANY municipality are a bad idea

Ridgeland apartments have 1,585 violations


City orders complex to make repairs

A Ridgeland apartment complex has 60 days to correct 1,585 code violations after the city denied the company's appeal for leniency and time.

In a unanimous vote, Ridgeland's Board of Aldermen agreed that Baymeadows Apartments had violated the city's property codes.

With Tuesday night's vote, the owners of the property must cover the costs of repairs for each violation.

The complex still can appeal for more time to complete repairs at the end of the 60 days, city attorney Jerry Mills said. If more time is needed, the business would have to go back to the city board.

The 264-unit property at 110 Pine Knoll Drive initially had appealed the violations issued by Ridgeland code enforcement officers following an inspection over a two-week period in May. The violations were found in the exterior and unoccupied units.

After the board's vote, Lawson Hester, attorney for the apartments' parent company, Baymeadows LLC, said his client will continue to make maintenance its main issue in order to meet city requirements.

Hester said his client estimated the cost of such repairs to exceed $1 million, an amount of money the company doesn't have at this point.

City officials said they are not interested in condemning the property but want the codes followed and repairs made.

With violations ranging from peeling paint and rotten wood to sewage and water leaks, the apartments were served with a notice in June by the city's community development department.

Baymeadows resident Peggy Green said she hopes the complex will make repairs.

"But I'm still going to move," she said.

Green, 31, has lived in the apartment complex for three weeks. In that time, she has dealt with problems such as mold in her refrigerator and corroded doors.

"They're really not taking care of the property," she said. "You really can't get anything done."

Latesha Fleming said she and her family have lived at the complex for about a year.

Other than two problems over that year, Fleming, 16, said she is fine living there.

"The air had been out for a while," the Ridgeland High School student said.

Fleming said it took a week for a response from maintenance after the family had complained.

"So they moved us into another apartment," Fleming said, adding that she and her family are now back in their original apartment where the "air is working fine."

In 2006, the same complex was issued 73 code violations by city officials.

Chris Ramsey, a building and code enforcement inspector for the city, said one of those violations include green water collecting in an empty swimming pool.

That same violation was found in this year's inspection, Ramsey said. After viewing recent photos from the pool, Ramsey said it appears the problem was resolved.

CL

Federal Court Rules Against Former Madison County Chancery Clerk In Lawsuit Against City of Ridgeland

Former Madison County Chancery Clerk Mike Crook has been credited with royally screwing up the land records in Madison County during his tenure as clerk, being a lawsuit happy landlord, and attempting to conduct a coup of the TEA party movement for his own meglomaniacal purposes, among other things. His most recent antics involved refusing to comply with police officers in Ridgeland, and then suing the City for arresting him over it.

Class Act.

Defense: 'No basis' to lawsuit

A federal court has set aside a clerk’s entry of default against the city of Ridgeland for failing to respond on time to an ex-alderman’s false arrest lawsuit.

Ridgeland can now proceed in defending itself against Mike Crook’s $700,000 lawsuit in The United States District Court of the Southern District of Mississippi. Crook is claiming civil rights violations, assault and battery, false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress in connection with his 2008 arrest for disorderly conduct.

In court papers, the city has said Crook’s claims have no basis.

The court’s opinion and order said Ridgeland’s failure to answer the complaint by the June 21 deadline was “neither willful nor intentional but rather was merely inadvertent.”

Saundra Strong, the city’s attorney in the case, had been given a 31-day extension to June 21 at her request.

She later filed an affidavit saying she could not respond by the extension date because of her infant fell ill and had to undergo surgery.

In 2005, Crook lost re-election to the Ward 3 alderman seat in 2005. The arrest happened 11 months prior to the 2009 municipal elections.

Crook alleged the timing of the arrest shows Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee did not want him to run for alderman in 2009.

McGee has said he cannot comment because the matter is in litigation.

Crook is also a former Madison County chancery clerk.

The ex-official entered the complaint against the city in January and filed a nearly identical amended complaint in February. The city was served with the suit about 10 weeks later.

Having not answered by the deadline, the court’s clerk made an entry of default June 2 at Crook’s behest. The city submitted its answer later the same day.

Crook’s lawsuit stems from a June 12, 2008 incident, in which he was arrested for disorderly conduct after arguing with a Ridgeland policeman about why the officer needed to see Crook’s identification.

Crook was found guilty of the charge in Ridgeland Municipal Court, but the ruling was later overturned on an appeal.

His wife, Patty, is also named as a complainant in the suit. They are representing themselves in the case.

MC Herald

Madison County tax rolls swell

Property value tops $1B for 7th straight year

Madison County's growth spurt continues as the tax rolls keep getting fatter.

For the seventh year in a row, the assessed value of real and personal property topped the billion-dollar mark. The total worth of the county hit $1.36 billion in assessed value in 2010, showing a 4 percent increase over last year, Tax Assessor Gerald Barber told the Board of Supervisors.

"There are 81 other tax assessors who would love to have these numbers," Barber said.

In today's slumping national economy, the county's growth is more than the tax assessor expected. He said he was hoping to beat 2 percent growth.

Supervisors will take the property values, which represent a percentage of true value, to prepare a budget for spending in the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.

"Going into the budget working with these numbers and the positive news that Gerald gave us means we can balance our books without a tax increase," said Tim Johnson, president of the Board of Supervisors. "Looking at 4 percent growth in this economy, Madison County is very blessed."

In addition to the county's growth, Barber also presented assessed values for the four municipalities and two school districts, and all but one showed an increase. The city of Canton's 2010 tax assessment showed a 2 percent drop from 2009, from $71.7 million to $70.4 million.

Madison and Ridgeland both experienced a 5 percent growth in value, while Flora reflected a 3 percent growth in assessed value. The Madison County school district showed a 4 percent increase over last year, while the Canton school district showed a 3 percent rise.

"In this economy, that's really, really fantastic," said David Overby, Ridgeland director of finance.

The city of Madison was the only one to show an increase in the assessed value of autos among the county's taxing districts. The value of vehicles in the city, reflected by taxes paid in car tags, rose 6 percent, compared with a 4 percent drop in the county and in the county school district, a 5 percent drop in Ridgeland and in Flora, a 7 percent drop in the Canton school district and a 10 percent decrease in Canton.

"It appears the city of Madison is still buying cars," Barber said.

The lower values in the automobile class shows that people are holding onto their existing vehicles and paying less in taxes on tags each year or they are buying less expensive cars than in the past and paying less for tags, he said.

Barber, who spoke to supervisors on Tuesday, also said the tax rolls show a decrease in new construction throughout the county, except in Ridgeland.

Madison County overall showed a drop in construction of $7.8 million, down to $35.5 million, while Ridgeland showed an increase of about $841,000 in assessed value, up to $11.7 million.

Clarion Ledger

Breaking records: Holmes Ridgeland hits new heights in enrollment

By August, the seventh parking lot–the third new one in the past few years - will be ready for the fall influx of students to the Ridgeland campus of Holmes Community College.

"Even with that in place, we won't have enough room, but that's a great problem to have," vice president Joe Adams said. "We'd rather have it overcrowded than have empty spots out there."

Empty spots in the parking lot or in the classrooms haven't been a problem, nor do they seem likely any time soon. The two-year college continues to break its records for enrollment this summer, building on growth that hits new highs each fall and spring.

Taking classes in the first summer session are 2,098 students, and the June 23 registration for the second term in July will push that number higher. Last summer's total enrollment was 1,940. Since 2007, the increase in summer enrollment has risen 33.5 percent.

"We're very busy," Adams said. "We are meeting the educational needs of both the traditional students, 18-21 years of age, which represents 55 percents of our enrollment, and the non-traditional students by offering classes during the day, evening, and online."

Bumping up summer enrollment are the students coming home from the four-year colleges they attend.

Michael Tate Webb of Madison will head back to the University of Mississippi in August as a sophomore with 12 credit hours from Holmes summer sessions added to his transcript.

Last summer he took a three-hour course at Holmes before joining the freshman class at Ole Miss.

"This is an opportunity to catch up on credits and get ahead for the year," Webb said. "Plus, it gives me something to do over the summer."

Read the entire article at The Madison County Herald

Repaving under way

Highland Colony's potholes targeted

Improvements to Highland Colony Parkway have been a year in the making but are expected to be finished quickly.

Madison and Ridgeland started planning last April to use federal stimulus funds to make improvements to portions of the roadway. By late April or early May, officials in the two cities expect to see work crews putting a smooth riding surface down by repairing the roadway base and adding new top coats.

"We were ready for them to start, like, yesterday," said Denson Robinson, public works director for Madison. "It took a long time, longer than anticipated. With federal money, sometimes is takes longer."

The money for the Highland Colony rehabilitation work comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds. The two cities, along with Madison County, Canton and Flora equally split the $2.2 million in federal money last April. Each local government got $451,699 but the Mississippi Department of Transportation is getting 15 percent from each for oversight of the projects.

"With ARRA money, there are various rules and regulations," Ridgeland public works director Mike McCollum said about the start-to-finish time. "There is a lot of paperwork, a lot of approvals to get."

Once the work starts, though, McCollum said drivers won't have to wait long for the job, stretching a little over half a mile, to be finished. "Ten days tops," he said.

Madison County Herald

Hair stylists to raise funds to help cancer patients

Hair stylists from as far away as Louisiana will converge at a Ridgeland hair salon Friday for a "Cut-A-Thon" to raise money for cancer patients.

The stylists will volunteer their time from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Colorize Hair Studio at 105 N. Central Ave., off Jackson Street in Ridgeland, with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting Hope House of Hospitality in Jackson.

Hope House is a Christian ministry that provides a place to stay and transportation at no cost for patients receiving treatment for cancer and other serious illnesses.

No appointments are taken for the Cut-A-Thon. It will be walk-in customers only. For a minimum donation of $30, each customer receives a cut and style.

Madison County Herald

Mississippi Craft Center Named Travel Attraction of the Year by Mississippi Tourism Association

Ridgeland, MS--The Mississippi Tourism Association named the Mississippi Craft Center its Travel Attraction of the Year at the Governor's Conference on Tourism in Tupelo, MS, Tuesday, March 2, 2010. Governor Haley Barbour addressed the conference and spoke of the importance of tourism to the State of Mississippi.

Accepting the award, Executive Director Julia Daily stated, "What an honor for the dedicated staff members, committed board and volunteers to receive such an award for the operation of our magnificent facility. However, it is a special honor for our talented artisans, the members of the Craftsmen's Guild of Mississippi. Their fine craft work entices travelers from all over the world, and more often than not, goes home in visitors' suitcases!"

Opening in 2007, the new Craft Center has experienced visitors from all 50 states and 27 foreign countries and is the home to the Craftsmen's Guild of Mississippi Exhibiting Members. Growing from 30 members in 1973, the Guild now boasts more than 400 members today. The Center has 250 annual craft demonstrations by master craftsmen, classes, a sales gallery, events and exhibits. The mission of the Guild is to preserve, promote, market, educate and encourage the highest standard of excellence in regional crafts.

In addition to events and exhibits, the Center has become a renowned space for weddings and corporate retreats.

4 new stores coming to Renaissance

Renaissance at Colony Park has ongoing construction and plans to add four new stores to the 2-year-old shopping center.

Ridgeland's sales tax base has remained steady while many communities are seeing heavy declines in sales tax revenue that has resulted in layoffs and loss of services.


Through January, the city had received more than $6.8 million since July 1, compared to $6.3 million in 2007, the year the center opened.

Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee says Renaissance's progress should mark the start of an uptick in interest from businesses looking for a place to locate.


More people are calling the city this year to inquire about places where a business could set up shop, not only on Highland Colony Parkway but also places like Old Canton Road and the Ross Barnett Reservoir, he said.

"It's probably not as fast as it was two years ago, but there's been an upswing," McGee said.

The Clarion Ledger

Four 'shake and bake' meth labs discovered in Ridgeland

A search warrant Madison County deputies and Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics agents served at a Ridgeland man’s residence last Thursdaym turned up four “shake and bake” methamphetamine labs, according to MBN Director Marshall Fisher.

Madison County Herald

MADISON COUNTY JOURNAL-'Trail Rangers' to patrol Ridgeland multi-use trails

RIDGELAND - City officials are calling for volunteers to patrol its multi-use trails in an effort to cut down on crime.

The "Trail Rangers" program is looking for cyclists, runners, walkers, bird watchers, photographers or anyone else who uses the trail, to volunteer.

Rangers will wear identifying apparel such as a certain colored vest or bib with the Trail Rangers logo and they will carry a cell phone. If any suspicious persons or activity are seen on or near the trail, the Ranger will call the Ridgeland Police immediately.

Madison County Page