The Memo

Taqueria Ferrus in West Tupelo is unlike other food trucks. Not only does it remain in one location – near West Main Street and Milford – it also is open for both lunch and dinner.

On today’s weekend edition, food editor Ginna Parsons (6:43) joins Derek and Brad to talk about the food truck that serves authentic Mexican dishes. Juan Carlos Acosta and family offer a menu that includes tacos, tortas, quesadillas, Mexican street corn and flavored water.

Ginna also discusses the rest of this week’s food section. The Cook of the Week is Nena Jones of Iuka, who switched to a low glycemic index diet after being diagnosed with diabetes. She lost 64 pounds and reversed her diabetes over 10 years. Jones’ recipes include kale pesto, energy bars with  nut butter and steel-cut oats, and roasted chickpeas, among others.

Ginna also shares a BBQ sauce recipe that she said was good enough to eat with a spoon straight out of a bowl.

Also on today’s episode, photographer Lauren Wood (22:15) talks about her recent photo essay on Cherry Creek Orchards on Highway 345 in Pontotoc. Amanda and Wylie Stark’s farm has more than 70 acres of peaches, and also has blackberries, tomatoes and purple hull peas.

M. Scott Morris (28:48) reviews “Cars 3.” He said the movie has some new and fresh moments, but loses the “wow” factor of the earlier movies in the series and doesn’t come together well as a whole.

Derek (39:34) breaks down the weekend entertainment scene – Sidewalk Chalk at Blue Canoe, the “Still Straightening Nails” 3D sculpture exhibit at the GumTree Museum of Art and Tupelo Community Theatre’s youth production of “Shrek the Musical Jr.”

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The Tupelo City Council voted on Tuesday to approve the membership of the city’s new police advisory board.

The 6-1 vote clears the way for the board to hold its first meeting next week. It comes just over a year after Antwun “Ronnie” Shumpert was fatally shot by a Tupelo police officer.

Daily Journal local government reporter Caleb Bedillion (9:51) joins Derek and Brad on today’s episode to talk about the new nine-member board. It is intended to improve the standing of the police department in Tupelo, particularly among minority communities.

Also on today’s show, Derek (18:48) talks about the end for the Tupelo BBQ Duel.

Organizers announced last week that they had decided to end the popular event, which has had a seven-year run. The fundraiser for the non-profit Link Centre did not lose money, but organizers determined its costs outweighed its benefits. They said attendance and corporate sponsorships had dropped in recent years, and they felt they could find more impactful ways to raise funds.

Also, Daily Journal health reporter Michaela Morris (26:10) talks about the effect proposed Medicaid changes could have on Mississippi.

Even though the state didn’t expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, it is in line to be among the hardest hit by proposed federal funding changes. An analysis done by the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation lists Mississippi among the 11 states who are expected to have the most trouble adapting to changes in the Medicaid funding proposed in the American Health Care Act passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill proposes changing the way Medicaid is funded, shifting to block grants or a per capita cap.

Since Mississippi receives a large amount of funding from Medicaid, cuts to the program would leave the state with difficult decisions to make in terms of coverage.

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On today’s weekend edition, food editor Ginna Parsons (9:51) joins Derek and Brad and shares a recipe for sunshot salsa. Not only was it very tasty, but the concoction was filled with vibrant colors. Meanwhile, this week’s Cook of the Week – Rose Boone of Guntown – is known far and wide for her banana pudding. She also specializes in chocolate pie and fajitas.

M. Scott Morris (18:13) reviews “The Mummy.” Although the movie is not very deep and suffers from plot holes, it can provide a nice, fun ride, Scott said.

Derek (28:48) has the highlights of the weekend entertainment scene – Tupelo Community Theatre’s “Shrek Jr.” and Corinth Theatre-Arts’s “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.”

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The new Joyner Garden District designation notes the Tupelo neighborhood’s spirit and how far it has come since the 2014 tornado.

On Saturday, the neighborhood offered a self-guided tour of some of the homes and gardens rebuilt after the devastation.

Daily Journal reporter Kaitlin O’Dougherty (8:05) covered Saturday’s event and joins Brad and Chris Kieffer on today’s episode to discuss Joyner’s progress and the neighborhood’s current state.

Although many of the old trees were lost, residents have planted new trees and flowers, and many of them have added decks. Much of the work has been a collaborative effort, as the neighborly bonds have remained strong.

Kaitlin also talks about Tupelo’s Salvation Army (14:36), which is in need of food donations to restock its shelves. Right now, the organization has been relying on items it received at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and those supplies are running low.

Also on today’s show, Daily Journal Capitol Bureau chief Bobby Harrison (18:18) discusses a few upcoming committee assignments to be made by House Speaker Philip Gunn.

The House speaker typically makes committee assignments at the start of a new four-year term, but because of at least two, possibly three, vacancies, the Republican from Clinton will have an opportunity in the middle of the term to reshuffle House committees.

Bobby also talks about the state financial picture as we near the close of the fiscal year. Tax collections are well below projections, but because of other sources of revenue – lawsuit settlements from the attorney general and a new law that sweeps various fees into the general fund – the overall state revenue is slightly above the projection. However, the “sweeps law” has also placed a burden on the agencies that previously received those fees.

Photographer Adam Robison (29:18) talks about his photo recent essay on Turf Pros, a lawnmower sales and repair shop in Saltillo.

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Lula Lee’s in downtown Baldwyn has new owners who like to do things a little differently. Amanda Malagoli and her husband, Ben, are turning heads with a rotating menu and monster-size milkshakes.

On this episode, food editor Ginna Parsons discusses her story on Lula Lee’s (5:09), which opened last month. Ben Malagoli is Mexican-Italian, and the menu rotates each month between Mexican, Italian and American-style fare.

And then there are the milkshakes. They’re big, and they’ve already gotten a huge reception from the public. The shakes come in several flavors, including Red Velvet Cake, which includes a slice of cake on top.

Also today, M. Scott Morris stops in to offer his review of the “Wonder Woman” movie (15:18), starring Gal Gadot and Chris Pine. Morris said it’s one of the better entries into the DC universe.

And Derek Russel fills us in on what’s happening on the local entertainment scene (24:39), including Saturday’s fundraiser for the Tupelo Community Theatre.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

On today’s weekend edition, food editor Ginna Parsons (7:53) joins Derek and Brad to discuss this week’s food section.

She talks about Karen’s Cake Shoppe in Walnut. Karen Brown and her daughter, Lauren Hughes, work side-by-side, and they have seen the business evolve with customers now asking for more complex creations. Meanwhile, this week’s Cook of the Week is Smithville’s Marilyn Sumerford. Sumerford has a background in nutrition, and formerly worked as the dietary directory at the hospital in Amory, so she understands the value of good food in moderation. Her specialities include a raspberry cream cheese coffee cake and crispy parmesan baked chicken strips with honey mustard sauce.

M. Scott Morris (17:03) reviews “Alien: Covenant.” The movie serves as a prequel to the original “Alien.” Scott said the movie stumbles over itself, lacking a fear factor or the element of surprise.

Derek (25:14) has the highlights of the weekend entertainment scene. This week, the biggest event is the 43rd annual World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Festival and Concert to be held in Oxford through Sunday. The event highlights ragtime, traditional jazz, honky-tonk, boogie and blues piano music. It features workshops, silent movies, costumes, contests and more. This is the second year the event has been held in Oxford.

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The Corinth School District has been at the cutting edge of several innovative approaches to education.

On today’s episode, Corinth School District Superintendent Lee Childress (7:26) talks with education reporter Emma Kent about the district’s approach and why it is important to try new strategies for educating students.

Childress was the keynote speaker at Wednesday’s CREATE Foundation State of the Region meeting, and he hits upon the highlights of his remarks. The district was recently named a District of Innovation by the Mississippi Department of Education. Among its biggest changes was switching to a modified school calendar in which students begin the year in August but remain in class until the middle of June. That’s because they take three-week breaks at the end of the first- and third-nine weeks so teachers can provide real-time remediation to students who are struggling.

Beginning next year, the district will unveil Pillar Projects, comprehensive projects that will be done by fourth-, sixth-, eighth- and 12th-grade students. It will allow them to develop a digital portfolio and show what they can do with research, writing, technology and oral communication skills.

Today’s workforce demands problem solving, creativity and complex communication skills, Childress said, and it is critical for schools to find new ways to teach those skills.

Also on today’s show, Daily Journal law enforcement reporter William Moore (22:50) joins Derek and Brad to discuss the debate on whether Mississippi cities should elect or appoint their police chiefs. Although it used to be the norm to elect police chiefs, that practice has changed. Today, only 11 of Mississippi’s 275 police chiefs are elected, although nine of those are in Northeast Mississippi.

The main differences between appointing and electing chiefs are geography and qualifications. Also, appointed chiefs are accountable to mayors and boards, while elected ones only have to answer to voters every four years.

Daly Journal Capitol Bureau chief Bobby Harrison (32:02) talks about a number of lawsuits Mississippi is now facing dealing with the issue of how the state funds its schools.

One filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center on Tuesday claims the state is violating terms of its re-admittance to the Union after the Civil War by not providing an equitable education for black students.

Last week, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed another lawsuit contending a law allowing the governor to make mid-year cuts to schools to deal with revenue shortfall is unconstitutional.  A different lawsuit filed by the SPLC making its way through the judicial system challenges the constitutionality of Mississippi’s charter school law.

Meanwhile, the state Supreme Court is considering a lawsuit filed on behalf of 21 school districts by former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove contending that state law mandates the formula providing state funds to local school districts be fully funded.

Daily Journal photographer Lauren Wood (40:48) discusses her recent photo essay that chronicles the Steel Toe Magnolia clogging group in Amory.

And Derek (2:08) discusses his recent story about two Amory men who recently caught a GoPro camera while fishing at Pickwick Lake. They discovered the camera still worked, uploaded its footage onto Facebook and located the owner who had lost the camera while fishing more than three years earlier.

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