Hangout Fest Secures Five- Year Contract Extension by ALYSON STOKES/REPORTER | [email protected]
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2 | LAGNIAPPE | January 29, 2015 - February 4, 2015 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••• LAGNIAPPE WEEKLY January 29, 2015 – February 4, 2015 | www.lagniappemobile.com Ashley Trice BAY BRIEFS Co-publisher/Editor Bayou la Batre Councilwoman Jennifer [email protected] Stork resigned over ethics allegations Jan. Rob Holbert 22. Co-publisher/Managing Editor 6 [email protected] Steve Hall COMMENTARY Marketing/Sales Director You have to break a few eggs to make an [email protected] omelette and move some balls to flatten a Gabriel Tynes Assistant Managing Editor 12 civic center. [email protected] Dale Liesch BUSINESS Reporter Details is opening a new interior design [email protected] studio in Spring Hill. Jason Johnson Reporter 16 [email protected] Alyson Stokes CUISINE Web & Social Media Manager/Reporter [email protected] With a menu combining Kevin Lee CONTENTS American classics and Associate Editor/Arts Editor Asian standards, Von’s [email protected] Restaurant and Grill in Andy MacDonald Cuisine Editor Bayou la Batre offers a [email protected] lot of variety under one Stephen Centanni roof. Music Editor [email protected] J. Mark Bryant Sports Writer [email protected] 18 Daniel Anderson Chief Photographer COVER [email protected] Same-sex couples Laura Rasmussen rejoiced after a federal Art Director judge ruled the state’s www.laurarasmussen.com ban on gay marriage 24 Brooke Mathis Advertising Sales Executive was unconstitutional. But [email protected] with a pending appeal, Beth Williams is there hope for equal Advertising Sales Executive [email protected] rights in one of the most conservative areas of the Misty Groh Advertising Sales Executive country? [email protected] Kelly Woods ARTS Advertising Sales Executive Home to more than Mardi Gras balls, [email protected] the Civic Center’s demise might be a Melissa Schwarz Editorial Assistant 26 mortal blow to a pair of arts institu- [email protected] tions, in Artifice. Contributors: Asia Frey • Brian Holbert MUSIC Jeff Poor • Ron Sivak “The Detour” is bringing Ken Robinson • W.T. Bankhead world-class musicians On the Cover: Equal rights by Dan Anderson to Soul Kitchen Feb. 4. LAGNIAPPE (USPS 20) is published weekly, Lagniappe speaks with 52 issues a year, Volume 13, Issue 5, every Thursday by Something, Extra Publishing, Inc. sought-after session Entered at the Mobile Post Office, 250 St. Joseph St, Mobile, AL, 36601. guitarist Mark Lettieri. Periodicals postage paid at Mobile Post Office, 250 St Joseph St., Mobile, AL 36601 and other locations. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to P.O. Box 3003 Mobile, AL 36652. Editorial, advertising and production offices are located at 1102A Dauphin St. 30 Mobile, AL 36604. Mailing address is P.O. Box 3003 Mobile, AL 36652. Phone: 251.450.4466 Fax 251.450.4498. Email: ashley- [email protected] or FILM [email protected] Actress/comedienne Jenny Slate shines LAGNIAPPE is printed at Signature Offset, 2610 Lakeview Road, Hattiesburg, Mississippi. as a woman dealing with the undesired All letters sent to Lagniappe are considered to be intended for publication. 38 results of a one-night stand. Member: Association of Alternative Newsweek- lies and Alternative Weeklies Network MEDIA All rights reserved. Something Extra Publishing, Inc. Nothing may be reprinted, photocopied or Veteran reporters were among the in any way reproduced without the expressed permission of the publishers. latest victims of another round of Individuals may take one copy of the paper free of charge from area businesses, layoffs at the Alabama Media Group. racks or boxes. After that, papers are $3 per 42 issue. Removal of more than one copy from these points constitutes theft. Viola- tors are subject to prosecution. SPORTS Area baseball and softball teams Help support Lagniappe Weekly by prepare for the season’s first pitch. becoming a “Friend with Benefits.” Scan this code for more info: 44 STYLE Boozie’s got some big men ordering fancy smoothies and more from 46 Senior Bowl. CORRECTION: A cutline accompanying a story last week entitled “Public hearing on oil storage tanks scheduled Jan. 29” incorrectly identified the photo of oil storage tanks as belonging to Plains Marketing. The tanks were actually on property owned by American Tank & Vessel, Inc., adjacent to Plains’ property. LAGNIAPPE | January 29, 2015 - February 4, 2015 | 3 GOING POSTAL After the decision to place the procession after the parade, Chief Slacabamarinico (Wayne Dean) Chief Slac opposes parade lineup announced, “Where the procession and the marchers are is where I will be.” For the first time in the 48-year history of Joe Cain Day, Chief Slacabamorinico and the Joe Cain The procession is the heart and soul of the Joe Cain Day celebration. Joe Cain Marching Society Procession, consisting of hundreds of costumed marchers, will not lead the parade. Instead, they member Ted Flott said, “We didn’t get everything we wanted but we are very pleased to be making will follow the 35-unit truck parade. our own decisions about the procession. There is now no registration or fees.” The decision by the Mobile Police Department to put the procession behind the truck parade “Judy Rayford organized the original Joe Cain Marching Society in 1971; he was VP and I was came after the Joe Cain Marching Society’s application for a separate parade permit was approved Secretary,” Dean explained. “Judy would be furious to see how far astray things have gone the last by the MPD. The Marching Society contended (unsuccessfully) that the procession should be, as it several years. He would be outraged at the effort to marginalize the procession. The procession was always had been, at the front of the parade and that it was not a “new” entity, but rather a re-orga- led by the Chief who was portrayed by Judy, then Red Foster and now by me (since 1985). That is nization of the original procession created in 1967 by local folklorist Julian “Judy” Rayford as the the original vision created by Judy, and that tradition is now in danger of being lost. As Chief, it is “People’s Parade.” my duty to honor Joe Cain and his importance to Mobile Mardi Gras and to live up to and stand up The Marching Society’s actions came after years of conflict with the Joe Cain Parading Society for the vision created by Judy Rayford in1967.” (which held the parade permit for the entire parade) over foot marcher restrictions, registration and individual marching fees of $20 each. Gerald Tomlinson Mobile P OLICE DISPATCH BY JASON JOHNSON/REPORTER | [email protected] there are two different aspects of prostitution law enforcement bama’s “big-city” mayors to share best practices and solutions to 16 arrested for prostitution, drugs in human traf- commonly see and pursues. problems facing their municipalities. ficking investigation “You’ve got your street walkers who walk up and down a The latest summit included public safety officials from each Recently, the Mobile Police Department partnered with the certain area looking to engage in prostitution, and then there are city. U.S Department of Homeland Security to conduct a joint human call girls,” he said. “They are advertising in different ways, and Stimpson was accompanied by Mobile Police Chief Jim trafficking investigation that did not yield any arrests related to you can go to them at a hotel or a residence or they come to you Barber and Rear Admiral Richard Landolt, the city’s executive forced prostitution. However, the Jan. 20-21 operation did net 16 at your hotel or residence.” director of public safety. arrests related to voluntary prostitution and possession of narcot- Barber said the vice unit works to find where prostitutes are “This is a significant opportunity to work alongside other ics. Police recovered drug paraphernalia, marijuana, cocaine and advertising, track them and make arrests. cities in Alabama to create safer neighborhoods for our citizens,” crack cocaine. As for the drug arrests — a significant portion of the recent Stimpson said in a statement. “We used the time together to share Captain John Barber, who heads the MPD’s Vice Unit, said the busts — Barber said, in his experience with vice work, “drugs ideas on how to increase safety measures in our city. Listening department has partnered in a human trafficking task force with and prostitution go hand in hand.” and learning from other cities’ successes and failures on crime the U.S. Attorney’s office in Mobile for years. Barber said the The following individuals were arrested and charged with so- and safety will move Mobile closer towards our goal of becoming task force monitors police intelligence from across the country, liciting prostitution during the recent human trafficking operation: the safest city in America by 2020.” which he said shows trends of women being trafficked for sexual Christopher Parker, Anna Marie Fernandez, Kellie Brinson, Sim- The mayors also met with Gov. Robert Bentley during the retreat. service. one Briones, Jessica Dragg, Chezleigh Grisham, Mary Mauldin, At press conference afterward, Chief Barber said the MPD According to Barber, victims of human trafficking are typi- Tracy Dickinson and Charmayne Bridges. would be working to release Mobile’s crime statistics for 2014 cally underage juveniles or girls brought into the U.S. from other Demarcus Bettis was also charged with third degree promotion later this week. countries specifically for prostitution. of prostitution. Though the department has yet to confirm them, an early crime “Luckily, after we exhausted the recent operation for two days, evaluation released by the FBI in its Preliminary Semiannual Uni- we didn’t find any human trafficking or forced prostitution in the form Crime Report showed a wane in crime across the country, area,” Barber said. “That’s good for now, but it doesn’t mean it Stimpson attends crime public safety summit with down 2.9 percent, but an uptick in violent crime in Mobile.