Some of the available stories for May 2000
Publisher's Commentary
Clinton Administration's plan to
create a
Delta Regional Authority deserves
questioning
Conventional wisdom, which seems sorely lacking these days, says that
if it walks like a duck, flies like a duck and quacks like a duck, you
can generally assume that you are dealing with a waterfowl of some sort.
Unless of course it is a duck that has been created by the Federal
Government, in which case this particular duck would be articulated in
focus groups and designed by someone who likely had a Doctorate in duckology.
More...
Higher Education Center in Greenville
hires director
Director of continuing education at DSU will become director
BY Hugh D. Palmer
Delta Business Journal
Marjorie Taylor, Delta State University’s Director of Continuing Education
has been selectedto become the new director for the Higher Education Center
in Greenville.
The center is the combined efforts of Delta State University, Mississippi
Valley State University, and Mississippi Delta Community College. The purpose
of the center is to offer the non-traditional student population the opportunity
to obtain an education. Many of the students who will attend courses at
the center will be those who are unable to attend classes
during the traditional scheduled times due to work schedules, family
obligations, or unable to travel to one of the three campuses. Taylor will
report to the Vice President of Academic Affairs at Delta State.
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Reader says I-69 no pork barrel
project
I have read and re-read the 2-4-2000 letter (Clarion - Ledger) from
Jason G. Horne that was headlined "I-69 Nothing but a "pork barrel project"
stuck in the cotton fields."
I submit that it is a serious mis-judgment on his part to assume
that "many live in the Delta because there are not a lot of InterStates
running through it."
More...
Cuban American agenda makes pawn
of Elian
Did the Delta dodge a bullet?
BY NANCY COTTEN HIRST
Contributing Editor, Delta Business Journal
Many people whose intentions are totally honorable would like to see
Elian Gonzalez stay in this country. Certainly no American, given
the choice, would opt to live under a regime like that of Cuba. However,
it is time to put away emotionalism, which is always more acute when a
child is involved, and assess this situation for what it is.
I feel great sympathy for the anti-Castro Cuban Americans, who have
spent more than two generations hoping to see the political situation in
Cuba change.
More...
Foundation for the Mid South raises
hopes
Gov. William Winter
One of the most significant but not highly publicized initiatives in
the Delta region over the last ten years has been the work of the Foundation
for the Mid South. Launched in 1990 by a small group of business
and civic leaders from Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi, the Foundation
has succeeded in bringing substantial additional philanthropic dollars
to the three states.
More...
Tallahatchie Correctional Facility
BY RICHARD MASSEY
DBJ Contributing Writer
Earnest L. Taylor, the Texas native who will supervise the 1000-bed,
medium security Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Tutwiler has
been busy for the last two months making sure that the prison’s May 15
opening goes off without a hitch.
More...
Getting healthy gets easier
in Tunica County
Plans are in motion for the construction of a Health
and Wellness Complex in Tunica County
BY MARY ELLEN POWELL
Contributing Writer, Delta Business Journal
The leaders of Tunica County are taking advantage of the tax revenues
brought in by the gaming industry to do many things to benefit the
county’s residents. One such project is the planned construction
of a health and wellness complex to adjoin the existing G.W. Henderson,
Sr., Recreation Complex located south of the Paul Battle, Jr., Arena
and
Exposition Center on U.S. Highway 61 North.
More...
Several lifetimes all rolled
into one
Entrepreneur, spy, lawyer, FBI agent, casino owner-all
of these describe Fernando Cuquet of Wayside
BY MARY ELLEN POWELL
Contributing Writer, Delta Business Journal
If you look to the left as you travel south down Highway 1 at Wayside,
you will see beautiful, historic Belmont plantation. The home itself
causes the passerby to wonder about its origins and what may have happened
within those walls since it was built prior to the Civil War. The
most interesting aspect of the home, however, may be the man behind the
antebellum mansion’s two-year renovation.
More...
Mississippi Arts Institute set
for June at Delta State University’s Bologna Performing Arts Center
BY Cindy Coopwood
Managing Editor, Delta Business Journal
Delta State University is gearing up for the Mississippi Summer Arts
Institute 2000, which will be held on campus beginning in June.
The program is a presentation of the Janice Wyatt Summer Arts Institute
named for the wife of long-time DSU president emeritus, Dr. Kent Wyatt.
Mrs. Wyatt has been diligent in her support of arts education and was instrumental
in making the Bologna Performing Arts Center a reality five years ago.
More...
Mississippi Delta Railroad
BY RICHARD MASSEY
Contributing Writer, Delta Business Journal
If purchase negotiations flow as smoothly as did the legislative action
during the 2000 regular session, then there is a good chance that Coahoma
County will be successful in its bid to purchase the Mississippi Delta
Railroad.
With the Coahoma County Railroad Bill having been signed into law by
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove on April 3, the county, if the purchase is made, will
have clear-cut authority to operate the railroad as far south as Swan Lake
in Tallahatchie County.
More...
DEQ’s new director shares concerns
in the Delta
BY Elizabeth Reid
Contributing Writer, Delta Business Journal
Charles H. Chisolm, recently appointed as the new chief of the Mississippi
Department of Environmental Quality, took time from his hectic schedule
to answer questions about challenges in the Delta and other relevant issues.
More...
New business coming to Clarksdale
BY RICHARD MASSEY
Contributing Writer, Delta Business Journal
In late March, a New York businessman whose company specializes in
the manufacture of molded fiberglass products took the plunge and located
a manufacturing plant in Clarksdale.
John D’Amico, the Chief Executive Officer of Pennsylvania-based Molded
Acoustical Products of Easton, Inc., (MAP) made the decision to establish
a plant in Clarksdale after a large contingent of Mississippi leaders convinced
him that it was a good idea.
More...
From expos to expansions, Greenville’s
economy builds on momentum
Plant closures only bump in road;
expansions abound
BY Elizabeth Reid
Contributing Writer, Delta Business Journal
With economic development activity in a wide range of industries, Greenville’s
economy continues to gain strength.
“Industrial activity for first quarter 2000 has been significantly
higher than in previous years,” says Tommy Hart, executive director of
the Industrial Foundation of Washington County. “That is a good indication
that business is continuing to develop and our competitive features are
beginning to attract a higher number of firms to consider Washington County
as a
site location.”
More...
DRMC in Greenville designated
Level II regional trauma center
BY KAREN BRYANT
Contributing Writer, Delta Business Journal
Delta Regional Medical Center is among five hospitals in the state
to be designated as a Level II regional trauma center by the Mississippi
State Department of Health. The centers are part of the newly created Mississippi
Trauma Care System, a statewide system made possible by the 1998 passage
of a bill authorizing the Department of Health to develop such a
system. The bill also established a Trauma Care Trust Fund to provide
funding for the system.
More...
Milburn Growers provides Delta
farmers good start for planting season
Dekoka Davidson is one of a few female seed sellers in
the Southeast
BY Elizabeth Reid
Contributing Writer, Delta Business Journal
RULEVILLE – Dekoka Davidson mingles easily with the guys in the field.
As general manager for Milburn Growers, a seed company based in the Delta,
it’s her job to make sure farmers have the best quality seed well before
planting time.
Davidson moved to the Delta 20 years ago. After marrying her husband
Rudy, a farmer, she stayed at home on the family farm to work with him
for the subsequent five years.
More...
How will TMDLs affect Delta farmers?
BY Julie Speed
Contributing Writer, Delta Business Journal
In the wake of a federal consent decree between the Environmental Protection
Agency and the Sierra Club that filed a lawsuit over Mississippi’s TMDL
program, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality is stepping
up efforts to identify pollutants that would affect water quality in the
Delta.
More...
Rain provides mixed blessing for
crops
BY LINDA BREAZEALE
MSU Ag Communications
Many Mississippi fields needed rain, but the early April deluge may
have provided more long-term water for the streams and lakes than for farm
soils.
Six to 8 inches of rain fell across much of the state the first few
days of April, with some reports near 10 inches.
“Unfortunately, when you get this much rain in such a short time, most
of the water runs off into ditches and streams,” said Erick Larson, agronomist
with Mississippi State University’s Extension Service. “After the ground
is soaked, water intake slows causing additional rainfall to runoff. There
is not much difference in the amount absorbed into the soil when it comes
from 10 inches in a short time or 1 1/2 inches from a slower rain.”
More...
Experts say catfish farming not
a water pollutant source
BY Julie Speed
Contributing Writer, Delta Business Journal
STONEVILLE - Catfish ponds are not point sources for water pollutants
and have even improved the downstream water quality in many cases, say
aquaculture specialists.
“Over the last six or seven years, we’ve looked at characterizations
of discharge of water from catfish ponds and have found a very low number
of possible pollutants compared to how much food is produced,” said Craig
Tucker, a fishery biologist with Mississippi State University and director
of the Southern Regional Aquaculture Center at the Thad Cochran National
Warmwater Aquaculture Center in Stoneville.
More...
Commodity outlook replay of 1999
BY Julie Speed
Contributing Writer, Delta Business Journal
Same song, third verse. Agricultural economists predict a third year
of weak commodity prices for the U.S. farm economy, particularly in the
Delta.
“The outlook for cotton prices are not very rosy right now,” said cotton
farmer Kenneth Hood in Bolivar County. “Even though we have a fairly good
domestic use, which looks like it will be up, the total acres being planted
with the projected 19.4 million bale crops is keeping cotton prices trading
within a very narrow range.”
More...
Cotton production: Is wider better?
BY D.W. PARVIN, F.T. COOKE,
AND DUDLEY STEPHENS
Introduction: Additional width can be achieved by adding rows
(8 to 12 in this example) and/or by changing planting pattern (solid to
full skip in this example). Table 1 indicates how width is increased
when picker size is changed from 4-row to 6-row and from 6-row solid to
6-row full skip. Similar information is provided for selected planters
and cultivators.
More...
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