Better MS Report

The Clarion-Ledger: We might not want to call it the Mississippi Miracle just yet, but news that state revenue has perked up should end some “poor mouthing” by politicians that there won’t be enough money to adequately fund education next year. State government ended the fiscal year June 30 with about $62 million in the [...]

The Clarion-Ledger: At the annual convention of the Mississippi Press Association in June, Gov. Haley Barbour took a great deal of pride in his support of expanding the port at Gulfport. It’s understandable. It was a big gamble in 2005, but it’s one he was willing to take and it appears that, when all is [...]

THE NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI DAILY JOURNAL: Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. said Monday it would challenge allegations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that the company committed safety violations at its plant in Tupelo. Last week, OSHA recommended the Findlay, Ohio-based tiremaker, along with two of its maintenance contractors, pay a $254,900 fine for 25 [...]

THE NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI DAILY JOURNAL: Steve Manley, the CEO of Universal Asset Management, spent his vacation day hauling several tons of aircraft parts from Arkansas to his company’s new warehouse in the Tupelo Lee Industrial Park South. “I do what needs to be done, even sweep if I have to,” he said as the trailer [...]

The Mobile Press-Register: Mississippi’s manufacturing sector received a “C+” grade in a report that ranks several areas of states’ economies that are crucial for the success of manufacturing and logistics. The 2011 Manufacturing and Logistics Report Card, prepared by the Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research, based its grades on three variables: [...]

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. and two of its maintenance contractors with 25 safety violations at the company’s Tupelo plant, including exposing workers to hazards associated with combustible dust. Proposed penalties total $254,900. OSHA opened a December 2010 [...]

Jackson Free Press: B.B. King Blues Club has signed a lease deal with Farish Street developer Watkins Development, LLC. John Reeves, a member of the Jackson Redevelopment Authority, confirmed the deal this morning that aims to put a Beale Street mainstay in Jackson. “It’s been a long road getting this project from the drawing board [...]

Sid Salter, syndicated columnist: There several perfectly logical reasons that Mississippi’s state employees didn’t face the same kind of in-your-face attacks during the 2011 legislative session as their colleagues did in Wisconsin and other locales. First, Mississippi state workers don’t have collective bargaining rights. Mississippi is and will remain for the foreseeable future a “right-to-work” [...]

The Clarion-Ledger: Clinton Fire Capt. John Thurman was on duty when he died of an apparent heart attack on the track outside his station in 2009. But Thurman’s widow, Joe Ann Thurman, has been denied the $65,000 killed-in-the-line-of-duty death benefit payment by the state. A Hinds County Circuit judge this month upheld the Mississippi Public [...]

The Associated Press: Unemployment rates fell last month in more than three-quarters of the nation’s states, adding to evidence that companies are feeling more confident in the U.S. economy. The Labor Department said Friday that unemployment rates dropped in 39 states in April. It’s the largest number of states to see decrease since November 2003. [...]