| JFP Mobile | Jackson, Mississippi

Jackson Recognized, Again, for Business Climate

Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. send out a statement this afternoon, announcing that Jackson has again been recognized for the city's strong business climate, as it has several times in recent months. Johnson stated, verbatim:

JPD Receives New Cars, Battles Burglaries

The Jackson Police Department will be distributing 53 new marked patrol vehicles to precincts beginning next week, Assistant Chief Lee Vance announced at a command staff meeting this morning, the largest single purchase of new vehicles he can remember. Vance instructed precinct commanders to begin developing ways to encourage responsible use and protection of the cars.

Dea Dea Baker

When Dea Dea Baker graduated from the University of Colorado in 1978 with a business degree, she never thought she would leave her adopted home of Boulder to come back to her hometown of Jackson. Love, however, had other plans for Baker.

Servia Fortenberry

If anyone is more American than apple pie, it would have to be Servia Fortenberry. Fortenberry, 39, is a native of Magnolia, Miss., and mother to two sons, Malcolm Williams, 18, and Edward Howard, 10. She became a Jackson transplant in 1997 when a truck lost control on a rainy day and hit her eldest son, putting him into a coma and a body cast for more than six weeks at a Jackson-area hospital. The accident forced her to move to the city where she became a temporary office worker at the mayor's office, and eventually worked her way into a permanent position. She decided to stay in Jackson permanently.

Chism Links Democratic Gains to Demographics

Political consultant Brad Chism predicts future Democratic gains in Mississippi, despite losses in the Nov. 2 elections, if Republicans continue to alienate minority voters over the next few decades.

Mississippi Unemployment Rate Dips in August

August unemployment numbers in the Magnolia State dropped below 10 percent, with a seasonally unadjusted rate of 9.5 percent, representing 121,300 people, which is 1 percentage point lower than the state's July rate. Mississippi's August numbers are 0.1 percent lower than the national rate of 9.6 percent. The state is also one of 16 states reporting a decrease in joblessness across the U.S.

Commission Loosens Kemper Conditions

A majority of the Mississippi Public Service Commission revised their April 29 decisions yesterday that would have capped the cost of a Kemper County coal plant at $2.4 billion, raising the approved construction costs to $2.88 billion. In March, Mississippi Power Company, which wants to build the plant in Kemper County, estimated that costs could potentially rise as high as $3.2 billion. The company argued that the $2.4 billion limitation forced shareholders to finance any costs above that amount, and told reporters that they could not build the plant under that condition. The PSC reported in its decision today that the company claimed lenders and investors would find the deal unpalatable unless ratepayers footed the bill.

Downtown Group Questions Liquor Store

A group of downtown residents are questioning if a proposed liquor store in the Old Capitol Green mixed-use district meets sustainable building requirements.

Hinds Pushes Bonds for Sleep Inn, Valley Title

Hinds County Supervisors approved using federal stimulus bonds for two private development projects today. Supervisors approved a motion to provide $2 million in Recovery Zone Facility Bonds to the Jackson-based LEAD Group, LLC, which is constructing a Sleep Inn on Gallatin Street in downtown Jackson. The board also voted to provide $1.76 million from the same bond fund as an incentive to develop the Mississippi Valley Title building.

Supes Address Emergency-Tech Delays

Hinds County emergency responders may have to wait another six months before technology that traces the location of cell phone 911 calls is available. Gaps in communication are to blame for the county's delay in implementing the technology, Blake Wallace, executive director of the county's Economic Development District, told the county Board of Supervisors today.

Soda Tax Will Fizzle Out

Sweetened drinks add to the problem of childhood obesity, according to Andrew Hysall, associate vice president of advocacy and public policy for the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign for Healthy Kids. A proposal to add a 2-cent per ounce tax to those beverages has little chance of getting through the Mississippi Legislature, however.

Business News: Renovations and Closings

Eley Guild Hardy Architects celebrated the opening of its downtown Jackson office Nov. 18. The firm moved into the former Union Planters Bank building at 329 E. Capitol St. this fall after a $1.7 million renovation. The building had been vacant for several years after Regions Bank acquired Union Planters in July 2004.

Easter Weekend Events

Start the weekend off by supporting Jackson's art scene. TALK dance Company presents Handel's "Messiah" and Copeland's "Rodeo" tonight at 8 p.m. at Jackson Academy's new Performing Arts Center. Proceeds from the performance will go toward "Merging Musical Worlds," TALK's international tour of Russia in May. To start your search for the weekend's best entertainment, visit Best Bets.

Joe Troupe

Joseph Randall Troupe, better known as Joe, was a veteran, a skilled carpenter and a powerful motivator. Troupe died Friday after battling lymphoma. He was 67. Troupe's wife, Mary Troupe, is the executive director of the Mississippi Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities. She credits him with helping her live a normal life in spite of being wheelchair bound.

Protesters: HBCU Merger Cannot Happen

Alumni, students, and advocates for historically black colleges and universities marched to the state Capitol from the Mississippi State Fairgrounds today to recognize the birthday of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and to protest Gov. Haley Barbour's recent proposal to merge Mississippi Valley State University and Alcorn State University with Jackson State University.

Marilyn Blackledge

Mississippi Food Network's Director of Development Marilyn Blackledge has had to work hard to raise additional funds this year after the organization's member agencies reported a 30 percent increase in demand for food across the state. Blackledge raises money to keep more than 100,000 people in central Mississippi from going hungry every month.

Gwendolyn A. Magee

Textile artist Gwendolyn A. Magee never intended to tell stories through intricate needlework, but after taking a quilting workshop to make quilts for her family, she discovered an outlet for her creativity.

Barbour Contradicts on Coal Plant

Speaking at a biofuels conference this morning, Gov. Haley Barbour re-affirmed his support for construction of a $2.88 billion experimental coal plant in Kemper County while criticizing a federal energy bill that imposes a carbon-limiting policy on power-production companies.

Helen LaKelly Hunt

Women's activist Dr. Helen LaKelly Hunt believes that Christianity and feminism go hand in hand, and is using that idea to advance women's rights.

Chris Roebuck

When a friend dared Chris Roebuck to audition for "Fiddler on the Roof," while he was a student at Mississippi College, he never expected that experience would lead to a career in theater.

All results / Stories

Sort By

Date

Authors