Commissioner Brandon Presley wants utilities to pay interest on over billing.

Public utilities that overcharge for services should be required to pay interest on the overbilled amount, said a state official earlier this week.

Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley has called for the reform after his office successfully requested an energy company pay interest to a school district that was incorrectly billed nearly $1 million over a decade.

Entergy has since repaid the DeSoto County Schools District — with interest — after a mistake in billing was caught recently, said spokeswoman Mara Hartmann.

“I’m asking my public utility staff to make a formal review of not only Entergy’s practices but also the Electric Power Association,” said Presley, who serves the state’s northern district. “We’re going to look at all areas to make sure what happened won’t happen again.”

Presley said his insistence was able to secure the extra $236,000 in interest from Entergy to go back to the district. “Part of what I’m asking is not only to review problems but to craft a policy requiring that interest be paid when these mistakes are made,” said Presley.

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• Entergy overcharging spanned a decade (sfgate.com)
• Community Meeting Tonight in West Point with Brandon Presley, PSC (claycountymsgop.com)

PardonGate Revisited: Man pardoned by Gov. Barbour sentenced for death of 18-year old woman.

An Oxford man pardoned by Gov. Haley Barbour in 2012 has been sentenced to serve eight years in prison for causing the death of an 18-year-old woman.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports that 57-year-old Harry Russ Bostick pleaded guilty Friday in circuit court in Pontotoc County that he was under the influence of alcohol when his Ford truck struck the car of Charity Smith and killed her on Oct. 7, 2011, on U.S. Highway 278. Smith’s sister was injured.

Bostick had been indicted on three counts.

Judge James L. Roberts Jr. sentenced him to 15 years with seven suspended, five years’ post-release supervision and ordered him to pay Smith’s funeral costs.

Last January, just before Barbour went out of office, he issued pardons, clemencies and other leniency for more than 200 people. Among them was Bostick.

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Auditor Pickering returns $92K to Tishomingo County from Chancery Clerk misappropriation.

State Auditor Stacey Pickering has returned $92,583.71 to the Tishomingo County Board of Supervisors following an investigation into former Chancery Clerk Hayden Ables’ misappropriation of public funds.

The Auditor’s Office found that Ables used his position as chancery clerk to obtain personal benefit for services he did not perform. Ables submitted false documentation to the Tishomingo County Board of Supervisors to receive improper payments in violation of the laws of the State of Mississippi, and he did not reimburse the county in a timely manner regarding his employees’ payroll and failed to remit the proper amounts.

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Fox: Desoto Superintendents use of scare tactics against Charter Schools is appalling.

BY: Heather Fox @heatfox

It is appalling how DeSoto County Schools sends out mass e-mails to all staff, teachers, etc., dictating them to rally against charter schools, and then we have staff or their family members writing untruths on media venues about the education reform being considered by legislators.

The superintendent tells principals they will have huge pay cuts if this bill passes. When will these scare tactics end? DeSoto County needs to do its own research into what is being presented and what it means for the state as well as the county.

– DeSoto County would have a veto over charter schools under the current bill. There won’t be a charter school in your district unless the school board votes for it.

– 66 percent of DeSoto County residents support charter schools.

– Even good school districts can’t meet the needs of every student. Parents should have choices to find what works for their children’s needs, and educators should have additional job opportunities.

This is about what is best for the 750,000 school-age children in Mississippi, not just the 45,000 in DeSoto County. (Just under one-fourth of DeSoto students do not attend DeSoto County Schools, which speaks volumes to me.)

This is why we need appointed superintendents. Elected superintendents abuse their power, saturating the school administration and county offices with family and friends who have their own interests at the forefront while presenting to the public that their decisions are “for the betterment of our kids.” This betterment has us ranked in the bottom nationally in education.We should not be OK with that.

I applaud our governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the House and many others who are working hard to bring education reform to Mississippi.

About Heather: Heather Fox is a parent from Olive Branch. She is a past PTO leader in Desoto County Schools, and a proponent and organizer for the school choice movement in North Mississippi. Follow her on Twitter @heatfox

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Beware the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

Josiah Coleman to be sworn in as Supreme Court Justice today.

New Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Josiah Dennis Coleman will take the oath of office Monday.

Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. will administer the oath of office during a ceremony at the Gartin Justice Building in Jackson. A formal investiture ceremony will be held later.

Coleman is the second member of his family to serve on the Mississippi Supreme Court. Both his grandfather and his father were appellate court judges.

He is the grandson of the late J.P. Coleman, who served as Mississippi governor and on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. J.P. Coleman served briefly on the Supreme Court in 1950, resigning to accept appointment as state attorney general.

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Parker wins Senate District 19

Olive Branch optometrist David Parker retained his base of support from the Nov. 6 election and built on it to defeat Pat Nelson Tuesday in a runoff for the state Senate District 19 seat.

Two contests were the only items on Tuesday’s runoff ballot in DeSoto County, where election officials reported a turnout of 12.9 percent. The county has 94,335 registered voters, but 49,571 were eligible to vote in the two races. The light turnout — nearly 70 percent voted Nov. 6 — was expected since runoff elections typically draw fewer voters.

Complete, unofficial vote totals Tuesday evening showed Parker with 3,966 votes, or 62 percent, compared to 2,428 votes, or 38 percent, for Nelson. There were eight write-in votes. Nelson is a state representative from Southaven and will retain his House seat.

Parker will fill the remaining three years of the term vacated by Merle Flowers of Olive Branch, who resigned earlier this year to spend more time with his family. Flowers is a Republican, as are both Parker and Nelson; the race was nonpartisan.

Nelson and Parker in runoff to finish up run for District 19 State Senate seat.

Olive Branch optometrist David Parker and former Entergy official Pat Nelson will likely face each other in a run-off in the State Senate District 19 race.

With 37 precincts of 38 reporting, Parker captured 34.76 percent of the vote, compared to Nelson with 27.45 and 26.61 for Kevin Blackwell. Mike Smith received 11.57 percent of the vote.

“We’re very happy,” Parker said after putting out “thank you” signs well after midnight Wednesday morning. “It’s a lot of hard work to make it happen. I want to congratulate my campaign managers for all the things they’ve done to get us to this point. We’ve assembled a good team and a good plan.”

As close as the race was, other factors could still help shape the final outcome.

According to DeSoto County Election Vice Chair Danny Klein provisional and absentee resolution ballots might still affect the final outcome for the run-off.

Healthcare official and GOP chairman Kevin Blackwell sounded a conciliatory tone.

“I had a real grass roots effort,” Blackwell said. “I had no paid staff. My contributors came from real people not from corporations or PACs. I’m very pleased with all of the support I’ve had. All three of the other candidates have run a great race.”

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North MS Supreme Court race heats up with attack ads from outside groups.

A Virginia-based group reportedly bought $300,000-plus TV time this week to bash Mississippi Supreme Court candidate Richard “Flip” Phillips of Batesville.

The ad claims Phillips’ election will ensure “a huge pay day” for Mississippi’s trial lawyers.

Phillips, 65, faces 39-year-old Josiah Coleman of Toccopola on Nov. 6 in the non-party contest to replace Justice George Carlson, who will retire at the end of 2012.

Until now, the North Mississippi race has been relatively tame, although Jackson-based Business and Industry Political Education Committee sporadically airs an anti-Phillips ad comparing him to a “shark” swimming in murky waters.

Phillips’ ads, until now, promote his 40-year career as a successful attorney and community leader.

Coleman denied any knowledge of the ad.

“I have not seen the commercial and have no knowledge of it,” he e-mailed the Daily Journal. “My campaign and I do not and may not coordinate with any third parties.”

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Nunnelee campaign dollars far ahead of Democrat challenger.

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Alan Nunnelee, R-Miss., has raised $22 for every $1 earned by his Democratic challenger, Brad Morris, since the start of the campaign.

It’s the largest fundraising disparity between 1st District congressional candidates since 2006, when then-six-term incumbent Roger Wicker outraised and outspent Democrat Ken Hurt by a margin of 72 to 1.

Morris has raised $73,692 so far, including $29,817 during the past three months. That’s double what he raised in the second quarter. But he loaned himself an even larger sum: $41,345 since July and $98,104 total since the start of the campaign.

The Democrat has spent $153,825 so far this race.

With a larger political machine behind him, Nunnelee has amassed more than $1.6 million during the same time, of which $230,598 came in during the third quarter. That’s about one-third more than he raised in the second quarter.

He has spent roughly $1.5 million so far this race.

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Southaven Mayors ex sues his gay lover for alienation of affection.

The former wife of Southaven Mayor Greg Davis is seeking $1 million in an alienation of affection lawsuit against a 26-year-old Starkville man who she says broke up her marriage by luring Davis away from her.

Suzann Savage Davis claims in the suit that Jansen Fair told Greg Davis he was looking forward to a tryst in Las Vegas. The Commercial Appeal reports (http://bit.ly/RKQpqP ) the suit was filed Thursday in DeSoto County.