To set the mood at a 2004 ceremony at the state Capitol, Gov. Haley Barbour and others don sunglasses as the Republican signs into law a bill to create the Mississippi Blues Commission. Joining Barbour are, from left, Fred Carl Jr., the founder of Viking Range and the commission’s inaugural chairman; the governor’s wife, Marsha; and state Sen. David Jordan, the lead author of the bill. Jordan, a Greenwood Democrat, said he and other African Americans are unhappy to learn from a recent state auditor’s report that much of the commission’s spending was not put out for bid.
