The recent decision on our state flag here in Mississippi has left an aftermath of derision and controversy. There are those who still wish to replace the flag by “any means necessary” in spite of a fair, democratic vote. One of the main calls for a new state flag, both before the vote and after, is that business will simply not invest in Mississippi with a symbol of racism flying in its sky. I believe the debate is still open on whether that is or is not true. However, there is another problem in our state, another impression of Mississippi, that IS going to scare off businesses and that is totally based on fact: the reputation of Mississippi as the new “Tort Hell.”

Reader responds to Hirst Column

After reading your editorial on guns and violence in your May, 2001 issue, I was deeply affected-but not in a positive way. Your words read as if you were the homecoming queen of your school, never subjected to teasing or ridicule of any kind. If you had been, you might understand more the affect that ìbullyingî can have on young, insecure child. You say that words are just that, words, and that strong children can just ignore them. That is the problem. Children are not strong. They are insecure and desperate to fit in, or at least be left alone. Making fun of a young person because the are overweight, or smart, or quiet, or a little confused about their sexuality, or even just a little bit different that what in considered “normal” is not a rite of passage, it is torture.

By Allen Roark DBJ Contributing Writer

Former Mississippi State Auditor and Clarksdale attorney, Pete Johnson, was recently selected by President George W. Bush as federal co-chairman of the newly established Delta Regional Authority. The DRA is a government organization aimed at providing multi-state region federal assistance.

By Julie Speed DBJ Contributing Writer

Boosted by the profit potential and security of the crop insurance program, cotton crop plantings were up this spring.
“Our farmers are 85% planted in cotton, with about 70% emerged. Rice? Probably 90% planted, with 85% up. In soybeans, we’ve got about 90% planted, 80% emerged. In corn and sorghum, it’s 100% planted, 100% emerged, wheat is fully matured, and we’ll start cutting in about two weeks,” says Guy Wilson, county agent for Washington County, in mid-May. “We’re off to a good start.”

By ROBERT MCFARLAND, JR. DBJ Contributing Writer

It’s quite a mystery. Whether there’s something in the water, or just an abundance of talent (probably the latter), the state of Mississippi has, and has had, outstanding representation in our nation’s capitol. One need only think of Trent Lott, Thad Cochran, Mike Espy, among many, many others. Now a new native son, a Delta son at that, can be added to the illustrious list of Mississippi movers and shakers in our nation’s capitol. Chris Henick, born and raised in Yazoo City, has the ear of none other than President George W. Bush. His life journey, from an idyllic Delta boyhood to the most prestigious address in the world, is one of perseverance and dedication.

BY DR. TONY L. HONEYCUTT

The invention of education and training predates the invention of the Internet, the computer, or the slide projector. It even predates, by thousands of years, the invention of the writing pen or the blackboard. But the original instructional method is still in use today: Provide a context in which a person can perform a skill or use knowledge; give them good directions that allow them to try it; praise their successes; then reinforce it to ensure that they keep doing it successfully.

BY JACK CRISS DBJ Executive Editor

A celebration of the past with an eye toward the future. This was the sentiment that summed up Mississippi Valley State University’s recent Founder’s Week gala, held at the Itta Bena campus the week of April 22-28.
Dr. Roy C. Hudson, vice-president for University Relations at Valley State, says that “I think this year’s Founder’s Week festivities were very much in keeping with the traditions and highlights of our University. But at the same time, we highlighted the new energies and new directions we wish Valley State to take,” Hudson adds. “We really expanded our horizons this year with the caliber of national figures and celebrities we brought to the campus for Founders Week,” Hudson notes, referring to guest speakers actor Ed Asner, NFL star and Valley alum Ashley Ambrose, performer Melba Moore, among many others.

BY DON B. JAMISON DBJ Contributing Writer

Allen Holdeman, owner of Holdeman & Sons of Indianola, has been in business in the Delta for 35 years. Recently, however, he has expanded his business of dirt work to include a new service: snail control.
According to James Steeby, an area extension agent for aquaculture with the National Warm Water Aquaculture Center, snails are one component of a serious problem. “What’s come up in the last couple of years is a particular parasite that is attacking our catfish. The common name would be trematode of catfish,” says Steeby. “This parasite is brought in by white pelicans, but it has a life cycle going through the snail. The snails are a host to the parasite. The snails in turn infect our fish which causes small fish mortality and, in larger fish, makes them feel so poor that they have no appetite so we’re not getting growth there. By eliminating the snails in the pond we can pretty well keep the parasite off of our fish.”

BY MIKE LAVIN DBJ Contributing Writer

Sometime in the early 1980’s, Greg Hood began hand waxing diaphragm calls in a shed outside his uncle’s home. Though customers placed nearly one thousand orders in two years, he never once fathomed what success loomed over the horizon. However, it should not surprise anyone. As owner and chief operator of Southern Game Calls in Clarksdale for the last seven years, Hood has employed a strikingly simple yet distinctive business practice to which he credits his prolonged growth: know your product.

BY ALLEN ROARK DBJ Contributing Editor

Located in the heart of the Delta, Bolivar County offers up some of the best the region has to offer. From great hunting and farm land, to the charm and sophistication of Cleveland and Delta State University, Bolivar County is an example of an area that covets its tradition yet keeps a progressive eye to the future.
Mayor Martin King of Cleveland, who recently won a first primary and faces a general election in November, is one of the leading cheerleaders of his community. Mayor of Cleveland since 1969, King says that “the people are the great assets of this town. That and the fact that we have one of the leading educational institutions in Mississippi with Delta State really combines to make Cleveland shine. Our growth here in town parallels that of the growth of Delta State.

BY MARY ELLEN POWELL DBJ Contributing Writer

Health care in the Delta is seeing both boom and bust times in the year 2001. Many hospitals laud the addition of new facilities, administration, medical staff and services, but others feel the pressure of dwindling revenues.
Tri-Lakes Medical Center in Batesville is one of those hospitals that is enjoying a brand new facility. Tri-Lakes relocated to its new facility at the first of April and Tri-Lakes Administrator and CEO Richard Manning says that the transition has been smooth.
“We have a had a good response from the community and a good crowd at our open house. It speaks well of our community that we are able to provide a facility such as this to meet the health care needs of our area’s residents,” says Manning.

BY MARY ELLEN POWELL DBJ Contributing Writer

The things that affect farmers are often beyond a farmer’s control, but Ken Middleton say that it is the life he loves
Farming in Mississippi today is as small as a Delta town, but as big as the world. Today, the number of farmers is shrinking while the factors that affect the industry have become more and more far flung in nature.
Ken Middleton and his family have been in Mississippi since the state was a territory. His grandfather began farming their land in Glen Allen in 1943. Today, he and his father farm that same land while his mother does a good bit of the bookkeeping. Other than his time at Mississippi State University where he earned a degree in biology, Middleton has always lived and worked in that small Delta community.

BY C.W. “BILL” HERNDON, JR.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was implemented by Canada, Mexico and the United States on January 1, 1994 and established mechanisms to reduce and/or eliminate trade barriers and tariffs for most goods, including agricultural products. NAFTA has many passionate opponents and proponents that either blame this trade pact for many economic problems or credit it for various aspects of economic growth. While NAFTA has influenced many different dimensions of our nation’s and state’s general economy and agricultural sectors, this trade agreement has neither been the sole cause of the ills nor of the benefits realized during the past seven-plus years. It is important to note that NAFTA is really a combination of three bilateral accords: one between Canada and the U.S., another involving Mexico and the U.S. and, a third between Canada and Mexico. Each treaty strives to liberalize and, thus, increase trade.

BY MARY ELLEN POWELL DBJ Contributing Writer

Farming is an unpredictable profession dependent on factors as fickle as the weather and the favors of the federal government. The risks of farming, however, do not stop with that industry alone. They extend to other businesses in an agriculturally-based economy such as the Delta.
“If the farmers aren’t making money, no one is making money; from the farmers to the tractor suppliers to the chemical company to the Ramada Inn on Friday night–poor agricultural times affect business,” says Todd Wright, new car sales manager for England Motor Company in Greenville.