So, now I don't know where anything is
By By Suzanne Monk / managing editor
Nov. 17, 2002
Finally, I couldn't stand how low interest rates had dropped and I bought a house.
A lot of people helped me out as I contemplated the largest single purchase of my life everyone from my friends and co-workers, to a patient real estate agent, to a banker who explained things two and three times, to an attorney who held my hand on closing day.
Not least on the list are my mother and daddy, who are back home in Jones County and, I am quite sure, delighted not to be packing a box, unpacking a box, hauling furniture or cleaning something this weekend.
My house is full of boxes.
I know all my stuff is in there somewhere, but I'm not exactly sure where any particular thing is. There are some furniture choices to be made, and the cats are still a little freaked out, but it feels great.
Quick takes
Divorce column: Last week's column about the divorce of "John" and "Mary" provoked a big response from readers mostly men.
I also met John along the way. He is grateful to his attorney, but said appealing his divorce was expensive as the years passed and the case moved through Lauderdale County Chancery Court, the Mississippi Court of Appeals and the Mississippi Supreme Court.
He eventually won, on all issues, and Chancery Judge Sarah Springer has been instructed to hold a new hearing into the matter. A date for that hearing has not yet been scheduled.
By the way, the attorney who successfully argued John's appeal is Henry Palmer, a former Lauderdale County district attorney and Circuit Court judge.
Settlement attempt: In August, the Meridian Civil Service Commission ordered the reinstatement of former police officer Rita Jack, who was fired amid unproven allegations that she stole money from the police station's front desk.
To date, Jack has not been reinstated. The city is appealing the CSC's decision to Lauderdale County Circuit Court a very unusual move indicative of the city's determination to prevail.
Jack said a city official inquired a couple of weeks ago if she would be willing to discuss a financial settlement on the condition that she resign immediately after being reinstated.
But, she wants her job back.
Grand jury: The 10th District Circuit Court will be in session in Lauderdale County for four weeks beginning on Monday.
A grand jury will convene in the first week. District Attorney Bilbo Mitchell said 336 cases will be presented to the 18-member panel for possible indictment. Included in that total are 111 bad checks, 17 felony DUIs and 68 cases involving illegal drugs or misuse of prescription drugs.
Looking good: Deputy David Stokes, part of the law enforcement team that provides security at the courthouse, is recovering after a mild heart attack this summer. He returned to duty in mid-October, and looks better every time I see him. Must be all that doing what the doctor told him to do.
