Jackson Jambalaya

me thinks they were still in jail at the time.

they were.

So why weren't they brought while in custody to clean up the mess.

come on kf they were vamps goth was so 2004

I'm with you. They should have also marched those punks out at half time dressed in prison garb to apologize.

Hope nobody accidentally spills a soda on that field.

Meaning I find the felony charge an over reaction.

Had the kids really want to fuck over the field -- which it doesn't appear to me was their intent -- they could have easily damaged the hallowed artificial turf beyond a quick repair with less total effort and in 1/4th the time than the sophomoric spray paint job.

Agree, felony charges are a bit over the top and bet they drop them down. It is horrible in this day and age the stuff we did as kids you now go to jail for. It seems we have forgotten about childhood. I agree, its bullshit. Kids should be able to make mistakes and not have the rest of their lives ruined because some folks want to burn them at the stake.

What's even more outrageous is that no bond was set. Another example of our pissant suburbs using bond as punishment.

It's called Mississippi. Stupidity reigns supreme.

1:15 ftw.

it took experts to clean it up. what a kneejerk reaction. this expensive prank isn't worth runing two kids lives over. they will be punished, but don't count on them getting convictions.

our pissant suburb.....yeah, do the crime here and stay to do the time. Being juveniles, this is the only time they will do and we help the legal community earn a fee. Our way to spread the wealth.

besides, whats a habeas corpus among friends?

How could the authorities make them do anything? They haven't even had a trial yet, let alone been found guilty.

Principal can.

2:55, bond is not supposed to be a punishment. The punishment part comes after a conviction. The purpose of bond is to secure the defendant's presence at trial--nothing else. This has been the law for ages, yet many in the little suburb communities use bond as punishment.

It's a damn shame that in the year 2010 we have to resort to the habeas process just to get a reasonable bond set.

And if you object to my use of the term "pissant," feel free to substitute "ignorant redneck" in its place.

See, this is when I think stockades have their purpose. I would have no problem sticking these two in stockades next year by the Pearl stands, with security personnel of course, so they could get ridiculed. They wanted attention? Give it to them in spades.

There is also nothing wrong with the police or Pearl muni judge giving temporary custody of these kids to the principal as part of their bond and said principal making them help clean up their mess and apologize to the crowd.

I agree. This was a kid's prank and should be punished as such. No felony. Hopefully this will put the fear of God in them so that they won't do anything this stupid again but who amongst us would have thought about it being artificial turf and so expensive? I had no idea they had artificial... In my day, you just cut the darn grass next week and it was gone. I also think they should have to live thru a few football practices. I knew from the beginning it wasn't a player... Players have more respect for the field no matter whose it is.

August 28, 2010 4:36 PM wrote:
"In my day, you just cut the darn grass next week and it was gone."

In my day, a day of only grass fields, you go over to the opposing field a couple weeks in advance with a couple bags of fertilizer and a push spreader. You carefully dispatch the fert in the letters of your school and by the time your rival realizes what has happened it is too late to fert the whole damn field to obscure your handiwork.

But, I suppose, in Pearl or Brandon they'd arrest you on the charge of felony lawn fertilization.

remember, for every head sitting in the jail each day the county will get a check from the FEDs. It pays to keep the jail as full as possible each day. Goofy school kids make pretty good inmates.

kf, you are a complete fool and a joke of graduate of a law school. you are a simple minded muck raker. please remove youreself from this planet and move on to whatever moon you desire has an atmosphere you could suck in. fool. idiot. moron. drivel promoter.

Must be a slow day at the Fondren Bugle blog.

6:06PM Wow. That was a waste of your time sir. I do hope that the time you took may one day the be the time you wish for, or your wife wishes she had back...ahem...sorry, I should be "bugle-friendly"....or your boyfriend wishes he had back.

OK, I'm intimidated. I need to know...

Who graduated from Fondren Cups here?

BTW that sounded like Rich.

This might have been asked and answered, but what's a public school system doing with $700k turf on the football field? I thought every public school system was struggling for funds and laying off teachers.

Pretty heavy-handed reaction by the authorities, particularly with no bond. Not exactly Solomon sitting on the bench in Pearl.

7:29PM that was absolutely the most insightful comment here today, yesterday, and approaching all time in my mind.

Rankin County is NOT the place to eff up the artificial football field before the big game.

And $500,000 to $700,000 for the artificial field? The mind boggles.

The outrage to me isn't over the prank, it's over the fact that a freaking HIGH SCHOOL spent 700K on a goddamn football field. I wonder how many teachers and tutors that money could have paid for. Freaking inbred rednecks and their bullshit priorities. Kids failing and this kind of bullshit goes on? I think this just put me over the top. KF, use the FOI thingie and find out how the hell this got approved so we can punish the REAL CRIMINALS.

KF, use the FOI thingie and find out how the hell this got approved so we can punish the REAL CRIMINALS.

Better have a big jail because it is happening all over the state.

How about this from Petal?

The stadium, which cost $7 million-plus, can hold approximately 8,500 people and features one of the largest video boards in the state as well as three 680-pound bronze panther statues.

Get that? One of the largest video boards in the state for high school football.

Of course you never see education spinners like Nancy Loony Bird or Susan Womack or Cecil Brown or David Blount condemning these expenditures when they have their collective hands out wailing mo' money, education needs mo' money.

The kids aren't Goth wanna-be's. The kids wore black and red shirts Friday for the pep rally. They are just regular kids whose prank went way overboard.

And, BTW, Pearl is a separate school district, not in the Rankin County system. They can spend their money on whatever they want. Brandon High School doesn't even have their own football field yet. Still using the one at the middle school (old high school).

Turf fields for high schools is becoming the norm. I know these all have turf:

Madison Central
Northwest Rankin
JA
Prep (new this year)
Clinton
Petal
Oak Grove
Pearl

The private schools can do what they want. Their customers are the ones paying the freight. The public schools are a different matter altogether. Agree with 7:32. Where are the public education mouthpiece's? Are 3/4 of a million cutting edge turf fields what they mean by fully funding education? Hypocrits.

If you're going to go down that route then you need to ask how much the boosters paid. Many times they raise money for these projects.

Are the boosters also paying for the 24/7/365 security to protect these fields from teenage pranks? Are the boosters paying for the additional electricity to run large video boards?

Nice try, 8:44. But doesn't matter what district it is, it's still public. Now if you had said it didn't matter what JA or Prep or hell even cute little ole Pillow paid since they are private, then you would be correct. But ANY public school district should be held accountable for questionable extracurricular expenses when teachers are getting laid off.

The next time we get a "We gots to spend mor on education for these kids" we need to bring up the 3/4 million dollar rug. How could any school board in this day and time justify that kind of expense? "I'm sorry Ms Jones, got to send ya to the house. We got to pay for the jumbotron. Next year we may get on ESPN!"

IF you are so going to be so judgemental about artificial turf in Pearl, there are other schools in the area that have same. At least I know I am same when I shut my doors at night. WE have nice subdivisions,shopping etc. and just hop over to dogwood and the only store missing is a Dillards and I for one do not need one. If I want to do real shopping leave the Jackson Metro area period. Lived in Pearl 10 years and no crime in my neighborhood. The kids will punished. They were just being stupid as most teenagers are until they mature. Whats the matter about the artificail turf? Jealousy????

Schools with artificial turf are also able to rent the fields out to other schools and organizations in order to keep from having cancellations for games. Soccer, especially, uses the artificial turf for tournaments. That helps pay for the "bills" you harp on.

I didn't know you had such a vocal Pearl readership. Of course, 5:33AM is wrong, but interesting they posted.

point 1- I believe most schools that purchase these fields/facilities receive most of their funding from private donations,boosters. At least in know that is how Clinton funded the majority of theirs.
point 2- As far as the severity of the punishment of the kids who vandalized the field at Pear; I think it comes down to setting an example. If kids know they are looking at a felony charge/jail time and not just community service, it may deter future acts like this and the one at Petal's field. An example needed to be made and they are just the unlucky ones.

9:07 - So Clinton paid for a MAJORITY of their field with private donations? What paid for the rest of it - public funds?

And, all these "private donations" for athletic facilities - guess these same donors are unwilling to contribute for educational activities. That's what they have Brown, Blount and others for.

1:33- I am not totally sure. Bond money? Grant? I don't know. But our school district made the investment into our athletic facilities and they are of the best in the state. Our academics are of the best in the state, also. So, no sense in arguing the point of "why is all this money being spent on athletics and education suffering?" It is possible to have nice facilities and not lose anything in the academic department.

We all know that stupid pranks are common in high school, but the prank turns into a crime when kids go too far and damage property that requires a lot of money in repairs. It's a felony because it exceeds the amount defined by law. Anyone who gave their time to fundraising for the turf or anyone who donated the money to provide it, might have a different opinion than those who feel it's only a prank. Let a kid come to your house and pour paint all over your new wood floors or all over your stained driveway-then see if you'd call it a prank!

School pranks have gone too far lately. I heard about a parent renting WLBT's helicopter and flying it over JA's practice field while throwing out papers with messages from Jackson Prep's football team. The only problem was it was a JA dad who got cold busted for renting the chopper in an attempt to fire up JA's team by printing these threats like they were coming from JP's players. I'm sure the money he spent could've been put to better use by donating it to CARA or some worthy cause. Sounds like he has too much time on his hands! Too bad it wasn't recently and they could've shoved some of the extra papers in our new traffic reporter's mouth! I can't stand listening to that woman's voice!