LAUREL, MS – The guys and I had a very productive first day back in Jones County. We interviewed a former resident of Laurel, met several curious folks and shared our story with them, had a reporter ride along with us (read this story, which has some incorrect statements) and met Tim; who later invited us to park MARV at his home and have dinner with his family.

After returning from our interview with Chip Irby and parting ways with the reporter that interviewed us, we headed downtown. We were in the search for WiFi places to set up shop and it didn’t take us long to realize that this maybe more difficult than previous locations. We parked MARV, so Jason could run down the street quick to scout the location for parking. When he returned he stated that the coffee shop we were looking for was not there and suggested we take a walk around town.  We then loaded ourselves with some MHD flyers and camera gear before heading out to take video for our documentary.

We didn’t walk but two block and could tell that downtown Laurel was in rough shape. It seems that at least every other building was abandoned and in shambles. I started to wonder what the cause of this could be? It’s a very historic downtown yet a few miles away there was a vibrant strip that had several flourishing business. The only buildings that were not in ruins were the ones that seem to be offering a valued service to the community or owned by the government themselves. Like the Jones County Justice Court building where we will have our hearing Thursday at 1pm. While on our walk we took several pics and video while I put a few MHD flyers on city vehicles to help spread the word about our upcoming trial.

After our short walk we located a McAlister’s Deli that had WiFi and set up shop to do some work. We then headed to over to Tim’s place to have dinner. It was his daughter’s 9th birthday and they (he has 4 daughters with one on the way) made us a dinner that consisted of pigs in a blanket, tater tots, cheese nuggets and green beans. Of course we then had cake and ice cream after singing Happy Birthday. The birthday girl insisted on waiting for us before having cake and we were lucky to have all of the girls sign MARV’s guestbook.  Like always the conversation was focused on our travels and principles, which the kids even contributed to. The adults stayed up a bit longer and discussed what life would be like in a voluntary society. We headed off to bed earlier than normal for MHD cause Pete and I had decided to tag along with the family to church the following morning.

Though the church scene is not my thing, I consider myself an atheist, the folks there were pleasant. Several people approached Pete and I to wish us well and said that they hoped that we get justice. One man even told us a story of how the Jones County police force charged him with DUI when he was on the side of the road with a flat tire, even though he had never taken a BAC test. Oh and he had been sober for 11 years when the encounter occurred. Stay tuned for more updates from Jones County this week including our trial on the 10th. If you happen to live in the area and have a story you want to share please e-mail us. If you see MARV parked somewhere please say hello! We’re enjoying our time with the wonderful folks of Jones County and the more time we spend here the more we want them to have a Sheriff and department worthy of its people.