The final battle of the session occurred in the House, where Rep. Jim Ellington blasted a resolution designating April 22 as “Mississippi Earth Day.”
Ellington, R-Raymond, objected to a portion of the resolution that dealt with the “combat of ‘Global Warming.’ ” He said nobody knows whether global warming exists. But state Rep. John Mayo, D-Clarksdale, urged support: “If we do anything now to protect the environment, you’re making a cleaner world for your children and grandchildren.”
“People are really tore up about this up in Tiplersville,” an unsmiling McCoy said before the resolution was OK’d on a 70-26 vote.
Across the aisle, Sen. John Horhn, his head wrapped in a towel, pretended to be a fortune teller in a spoof about some of the events over the past three months. A joke about freshman Sen. Kenny Wayne Jones, D-Canton, who earlier in the session spoke about his knowledge of marijuana from the floor, got some of the biggest laughs.
“Ten pounds ain’t that much weed,” said Horhn, holding his head and speaking in a mock Indian accent. “What did Kenny Wayne Jones say to the authorities as he was being led away?”
About 9:40 a.m., state Rep. Billy Broomfield, D-Moss Point, seemed to sum up the mood of the day. “I’m ready to go home,” he said to no one in particular.
Clarion Ledger
4/19/8
Magnolia Tribune
