Archive for July, 2009
Council releases agenda for Aug. 4 regular meeting
Posted by admin in Local Politics & Issues on July 31st, 2009
PICAYUNE, Miss., Friday, July 31 — The City Council released the following agenda for its Aug. 4, Tuesday, regular council meeting. The meeting will be held in council chambers at city hall at 518 South Beech Street.
NOTICE OF AGENDA
CITY COUNCIL – REGULAR MEETING
TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2009 5:00 P.M.
FORMER ARIZONA CHEMICAL BUILDING, 815 NORTH BEECH STREET
1. WELCOME AND CALL TO ORDER -Mayor Ed Pinero
2. INVOCATION
3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
4. PRESENTATION
5. CONSENT AGENDA
1. Consider request to approve the minutes for the City of Picayune dated July 21, 2009.
Action Requested: Approve minutes as presented.
6. APPROVAL OF DOCKET
7. PETITION AND COMMUNICATIONS
1. Consider request to advertise resources for the City by purchasing a 2009 Football program full page ad from the Picayune Touchdown Club in the amount of $200.00.
Action Requested: Approve request as submitted.
2. Consider request from PRC 1776 to hold a Taxed Enough Already Rally on September 12, 2009 from 4:00 pm to 10:00pm (September 13th if rain) at the Historical City Hall. This will be a peaceful protest of the excessive spending by our federal government.
Action Requested: Approve as submitted.
3. Consider request from Glenda Marshall/American Red Cross to waive permit fees for John Satcher at 514 Satcher Drive. Mr Satcher is blind and disable and is having a cottage built for him.
Action Requested: Approve or deny waiver of permit fees.
8. OLD BUSINESS
1. Consider request to advertise resources for the City by purchasing a 2009 Pearl River College Football Program Ad.
Action Requested: Approve request as submitted.
9. NEW BUSINESS
A. CITY MANAGER
1. Consider resignation of B.L. Lott, Vice President, Board of Commissioners, Picayune Housing Authority, effective immediately.
Action Requested: Accept resignation of B.L.Lott
B. FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
C. GRANT ADMINISTRATION
1. Consider adopting Ordinance # 867 closing Williams Avenue and/or Easement and approve advertising the same.
Action Requested: Adopt said Ordinance and approve advertising the same.
2. Consider Change Order No. 2 to the Wastewater Infrastructure Improvements, Sanitary Sewer Evaluation Survey Contract by and between the City of Picayune and Necaise Brothers Construction, to extend the Contract time from July 15, 2009 to September 1, 2009.
Action Requested: Approve Change Order No. 2 as requested.
3. Consider Request for Cash No. 9 for engineering service relative to CDBG Downtown Improvements.
Action Requested: Approve said request for cash in the amount of $6,593.75 and authorize Mayor to sign and payment of accompanying invoices.
4. Consider request for Cash No.8 to the Mississippi Development Authority for 2006 Katrina CDBG Economic Development Avon/AGT project in the amount of $51,374.20.
Action Requested: Approve said request for cash, authorize Mayor to sign the said request and payment of accompanying invoices.
5. Consider request for cash No. 12 to the Mississippi Development Authority for 2006 Katrina Supplemental CDBG Community Revitalization Grant for the new Fire Station in the amount of $176,060.00.
Action Requested: Approve said request for cash; authorize the Mayor to sign the said request and payment of the accompanying invoices.
D. PLANNING AND ZONING
E. CODE ENFORCEMENT
1. Consider request to set a date for a Public Hearing for Property Cleanup of the following properties:
1. 414 West Canal Street
2. 213 South Abrams Ave.
3. 2210 Morris Street
4. East Canal Street parcel 617-614-002-05-041
5. East Canal Street parcel 617-614-002-05-039
6. East Canal Street parcel 617-614-002-05-040
7. Morris Street parcel 617-209-004-01-029
8. Palestine Road parcel 617-515-002-08-031
9. 120 Tate St.
Action Requested: Approve request as submitted.
F. PUBLIC WORKS
1. Consider request to order survey and (3) three appraisals for a possible sale of city property to Mr. John C. Borland.
Action Requested: Approve request as submitted.
2. Consider request to advertise for mosquito control products.
Action Requested: Approve request as submitted.
3. Consider approval change order No.1 for additional cold planing to city streets.
Action Requested: Approve change order No.1 as submitted.
4. Consider request to add additional streets to citywide overlay project.
Action Requested: Approve additional streets as presented.
G. POLICE DEPARTMENT
1. Consider request to accept donations totaling $200 for Police Summer Camp.
Action Requested: Accept donations as requested.
2. Consider request for authorization to permit out of state travel to attend Leadership Training Skills Class in Slidell, LA as required training class for supervisors.
Action Requested: Authorize out of state travel for Deputy Chief Bryan Dawsey, Capt. Lane Pittman, Lt. Jeremy Magri and Lt. Chad Dorn as requested.
H. FIRE DEPARTMENT
1. Consider request for authorization to apply for a MS State Department of Homeland Security grant and authorize Chief Keith Brown to sign said grant.
Action Requested: Approve application for grant and authorize Chief Brown to sign.
2. Consider change order #3 for construction of new fire station.
Action Requested: Approve request as submitted.
I. AIRPORT
10. MISCELLANEOUS COUNCILMEMBERS’ BUSINESS
11. CITIZENS CONCERNS
12. EXECUTIVE SESSION
1. Discussion of Board Appointments
13. RECESS
_______________________________ _____________________________
Harvey Miller, Interim City Manager Date
*Consent Agenda – All matters listed under Item 4, Consent Agenda, are considered to be routine by the City Council and will be enacted by one motion. There will not be separate discussion of these items. If discussion is desired, that item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and will be considered separately.
Note Regarding Citizen Comments – All citizens are encouraged to attend and participate in meetings of the City Council. If you wish to address the Council, please provide your name and address for the record and limit your comments to three (3) minutes. Thank you for your cooperation.
Americans with Disabilities Act – In compliance with the American’s with Disabilities Act, the city of Picayune will provide special assistance to disabled citizens upon request. All meeting rooms are accessible to the disabled. Please notify the City Manager’s Office (798-9770) at least 24 hours prior to the meeting of any other special assistance that may be needed. This advance notice will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to the meeting.
Fire chief, airport manager discuss budgets with council
Posted by admin in Local Politics & Issues on July 30th, 2009
PICAYUNE, Miss., Thursday, July 30 — Asked by the council point blank if he could cut his budget 10 percent for next 2009-10 fiscal year, Fire Chief Keith Brown told the council that he would have to “scrounge” to do so. He indicated that any fire dept. cuts, if they occur, could trigger higher business and residential insurance fire rates because rates are based on the city’s fire insurance ratings.
Brown said any drastic cuts in the fire dept. could impact city's insurance rating.
The ratings are based on adequate personnel, equipment and other factors.
Right now the city’s rating is a six. Brown and Deputy Fire Chief John Mark Mitchell said that the city is in line to receive a five rating, which would save homeowners and businesses money on insurance premiums. “We are on schedule to receive a five rating,” said Mitchell. Fire Dept. Secretary Jan Guidry also accompanied the two chiefs to the meeting.
Brown told the council he felt that, for sure, he could not cut personnel and maintain the city’s current fire insurance rating. The state fire insurance rating agency grades fire depts. throughout Mississippi and gives each city a fire insurance rating, 10 being the lowest and 1 the highest.
From left Guidry and Mitchell. Mitchell said the city was in line to get a 5 insurance rating. The city is currently a 6. A lower rating means lower insurance costs.
The rating determines the rates insurance companies are allowed to charge residents and businesses. The lower number the rating is, the lower the insurance costs.
Brown’s budget for the current year is $2.2 million and he has 39 firemen and officers. Brown flat out said there was no fat to cut, that he was giving the council a bare-bones budget with no built-in inflated figures. “What you see, is what is actually there, and what you get,” he said.
Together, the fire dept. and police dept. budgets make up 57 percent of the city’s annual budget costs. The police dept.’s budget this fiscal year was around $3 million, so together, if they remain the same as this year, the combined budgets would run about $5.2 million. The city’s overall budget this year is approximately $9.5 million.
The council also heard from Picayune Airport Manager Andy Greenwood.
Greenwood said it's possible an MDOT $797,000 grant could be obtained for overlay the 1-mile airport strip.
Greenwood told the council his budget is about $295,000. He said that the city is facing expenses of about $15,000 to restrip the runway; however, he added that he is exploring getting a Miss. Dept. of Transportation (MDOT) grant for resurfacing the airport runway. The grant would be about $797,000. He said the grant would be allocations that other airports did not use.
He said that MDOT will transfer unused funds to other facilities who need the funding.
“It’s a good chance that MDOT will do this; they have done it in the past,” he said. Greenwood said the engineer for the airport was working on the project and trying to help get the monies.
By getting the non-allocated funds from other entities, Greenwood said, “the airport won’t have to wait for federal stimulus funding.
He said that the striping of the airport could be done during the overlay project of the 1 mile airport landing strip, thus saving the city the $15,000 the striping is expected to cost the city if it doesn’t get any help.
Council wrestles with funding the parks and recreation dept.
Posted by admin in Local Politics & Issues on July 30th, 2009
PICAYUNE, Miss., Thursday, July 30 — Probably in no other area is the problem of what the city faces in stablizing its budget more obvious than in the parks and recreation budget, which was discussed in the fourth of six budget workshops held in the council chambers today at city hall.
Moreaux told the council the problem was no funds.
Ryan Moreaux, parks and recreation director, outlined the problem this way: In order to attract tournaments to Friendship Park, which is the biggest in South Mississippi and one of the biggest in the state, the facility needs to be completed with the addition of restrooms, a concession stand and additional parking spaces in the new portion of the facility, which was constructed several years ago with a $3.5 million bond issue.
The only restrooms and concession stand are located in the old portion of the park, and necessitates those using the new portion walking several hundred yards. An upgraded, completed park could attract more tournaments, which would generate a lot of business for motels and restaurants here, but without the facility being upgraded, there is little chance of attracting the tournaments and tourists.
“I don’t know who did the plans, but the buildings should have been installed first and then whatever number of fields that would have supported should have been installed. But it is not that way. We could do tournaments on the old field, but that needs upgrading, too, and phase two was supposed to upgrade the old fields, but that still has not happened,” said Moreaux. “And I don’t know when it ever will happen because we are still paying on phase one.”
Breland said the neglect of the smaller parks was a serious problem.
“What we are doing is just putting Band-Aids on everything; just trying to get by,” he said. “It was never really completed. We have an issue with parking. You have 17 baseball and softball fields, one of the biggest in Mississippi, which is a lot to maintain, what with just two guys and myself. It was a big expenditure and it’s great, but to maintain something like that takes even more.”
A 1 percent sales tax collected by the state from motels and restaurants here is rebated to the city for recreation and economic development. That is designated by state law to be set aside, and not dumped into the general fund. But under the old council the rebate went straight into the general fund. The 1 percent sales tax generates about $30,000 a month for city coffers.
City Clerk Priscilla C. Daniel said that rebate is no longer going into the general fund but is now being placed under the tourism budget and set aside for only parks and recreation and economic development. In addition, while the parks and recreation budget was set at $350,000 last year, $262,000 of that budget goes to paying off the $3.5 million bond issue needed to build the new portion of the park. That leaves annually only about between $90,000 and $100,000 to maintain the huge Friendship Park and six other smaller parks scattered throughout the city’s communities.
Bumpers: East Canal park needs upgrading and people are asking me about it.
The other six parks are: Snyder, Ben Taylor, J.P. Johnson, East Canal, Jack Read and Pat Glade parks.
Councilman Larry Breland Sr. asked Moreaux how the money was divided among the parks, after saying that it was his understanding that roughly 90 percent went to Friendship Park. “Well, whatever money we get. . .we have not had any money last year to do any capital improvements,” replied Moreaux.
Breland said some of the smaller parks are in deplorable condition and should get some of the money. He said the restrooms, concession stands and dugouts are “in a deplorable condition” in the smaller parks. “It’s a bad situation,” he added.
“Some of that $90,000 needs to be put in these other parks,” he said. “All you have to do is ride by the parks and you can see what a terrible condition they are in.”
Moreaux told Breland that the parks dept. is “hamstrung” financially and that any money he receives is used “to keep our leagues going; that’s all we can do.” He said over 2,000 kids participate at Friendship Park in sports activities.
“That’s why the smaller parks got neglected. We had hoped we could do something for them this year,” said Moreaux.
Miller: I don't think Friendship Park will ever be totally self-sufficient.
Replied Breland, “I can understand that you would use most of the funds for Friendship Park, but if you let these other parks go, when you do decide to upgrade and clean them, then your expenses will be a whole lot more than if you keep them up on a regular basis.”
Replied Moreaux, “I agree 100 percent, Mr. Breland, but it is a matter of finding the money. There are so many issues. It is such a big park.”
Here are some other comments:
Councilman Wayne Gouguet (pronounced “goo-get”): “We spent $3.5 million on it. Here we are coming back and we got problems. We might have overbuilt; we should have built what we could, and maybe built a little less.”
Breland: “If we could get these smaller parks upgraded, they would be able to generate money, too, from tournaments, but right now they are being neglected, and that’s totally wrong.”
Gouguet: Maybe we overbuilt.
Councilwoman Lynn Bogan Bumpers: “Everybody can’t go to Friendship Park; a lot of kids don’t have transportation to get there. I don’t know who planed the East Canal Park, but when you walk into the park you walk right on to the basketball court, and someone could get hit if a game was going on. There is no seating; people are asking me, What are you going to do about that? It’s good to focus on Friendship Park, but let’s also focus on these other parks, too.”
Breland: “I realize there are a lot of kids that use Friendship Park, but there are other kids who can’t utilize it for whatever reason, so we must not neglect these other parks which would offer these other kids recreation that would keep them busy and out of trouble.”
Watkins confers with Bumpers. Watkins later said he wanted to know what it would cost to upgrade parks.
Councilman Larry Watkins: “My question is how much additional revenue for city businesses is the park generating. Also I would like to know how many people from outside the city limits use the park. This must be a strictly businesstype decision based on the money we have. The park might be a greater economic benefit than what we see.”
City Manager Harvey Miller: “One thing we have to realize, however, I think, is that Friendship Park is never going to be self-sufficient. Four big tournaments a year would be a lot for us, and I don’t think that would be enough to make the park self-sufficient. If we could get the park upgraded, you are talking about bringing in a lot of money from these people coming here and participating in the tournaments. We know we have issues with our parks, but we have just not had the funding we need to address these issues.”
Breland: “I am not jumping on anybody, but I don’t believe that everyone realizes how serious this matter is with these parks. It is very serious. There were a lot of people that wanted to come to this hearing here to express their dissatisfaction with the way that those parks that I mentioned are being neglected for whatever reason. I told them this is not the time to do it. If we don’t deal with it swiftly and in a just manner, we are going to have a mess on our hands. I think you know what I am talking about.”
The council has two more budget workshops scheduled: Aug. 11 at 4 p.m. and Aug. 13 at 2 p.m. The budget by law must be finalized by Sept. 15. The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
PRCC Wildcats ranked No. 11 nationally as they go into 2009 season
Posted by admin in Local News and Features on July 30th, 2009
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Rankings don’t mean a whole lot unless you win, says Hatten
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Five Mississippi teams in top 25 list, showing strength of Mississippi’s Jr. college football league
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Perk, defending state champs and Wildcat arch-rival, ranked 2nd nationally
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Butler of Kansas ranked No. 1
POPLARVILLE, Miss., Thursday, July 30 — Pearl River Community College enters the 2009 football season ranked No. 11 in the NJCAA’s top 25 preseason poll that was released today.
The Wildcats are one of five MACJC teams in the balloting, which also included No. 2 Mississippi Gulf Coast, the defending state champions, No. 7 East Mississippi, No. 14 Jones County, and No. 19 Northwest Mississippi.
Defending national champion Butler CC ( Kan. ) is No. 1 in the poll.
PRCC head coach Tim Hatten enters his eighth season with the Wildcats and boasts a consecutive string of four MACJC titles (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006), including an NJCAA national championship in 2004. He sports a 61-13 record over the past seven seasons.
“Preseason poll recognition is great,” Hatten said, “but, in the long run, polls don’t mean a thing if you don’t produce wins on the football field. In our league, everybody we face on our schedule is a challenge.
“Five (MACJC) teams in the preseason poll goes to show you the strength of our conference.”
The Wildcats finished its 2008 campaign with an 8-3 mark, defeating East Mississippi 42-35 in the first round of the MACJC playoffs before falling to MGCCC (Perk) 52-7 in the state title bout. Last year, PRCC also fell to Gulf Coast 10-3 during in the regular season and East Central 44-38 in double-overtime.
Mississippi Gulf Coast finished its 2009 season with a 10-2 overall mark, including a lopsided 41-7 victory over Georgia Military in the inaugural Mississippi Bowl, while East Mississippi was 8-2, Jones County 7-2, and Northwest Mississippi 6-4.
School board okays application for $854,000 in Title 1 funding
Posted by admin in Local Politics & Issues on July 30th, 2009
PICAYUNE, Miss., Thursday, July 30 — The Picayune School Board approved an application for $854,000 in federal stimulus funds that will be a windfall to the city school finances. It is a grant and doesn’t have to be paid back.
Asst. Supt. Brent Harrell told the board that it has to be spent over the next two years. Additionally, Harrell said that after this block of funds are spent, the school can apply for another stimulus grant.
Shaw told the board that registration so far was going smoothly.
Wheat: That's great he said when the board approved an application for $854,000 in federal stimulus funds.
Board member Harvey Miller told the board, “That’s great news and awesome news.”
Board member Dwayne Wheat, who chaired the short session, added, “That will increase our general fund budget, and that will be great.”
The school board manages an annual budget of approximately $30 million, three times the city’s $9.5 million budget. The Picayune school system is one of the city and county’s largest employers. Approximately, 2,000 students attend school here.
The board met in a short 30-minute session at noon here in the school board chambers on Goodyear Boulevard.
The school board consist of five members: Wheat, Miller, Edward Stubbs, Tony Smith, and Patti Stewart. Stubbs and Smith were absent today. Wheat and Smith are elected and represent districts outside the city limits while Miller, Stubbs and Stewart are appointed by the city council.
Dean Shaw, former head basketball coach here, is superintendent.
In other business, the board:
– Heard a report from Renea Bullard about a home-purchase subsidy program for school employees planning to purchase a new home. Bullard, a school accountant, is administering the program, and said it is being offered by the Reach Mississippi Program under the Gulf Coast Renaissance Corp., a program set up to funnel private money into helping Gulf Coast residents rebuild after Katrina.
Bullard said the program does not involve government money. It is monies given by corporations and private individuals that is used to help Gulf Coast residents. Those qualifying can receive up to a $10,000 grant, a free gift, to help them with closing costs and a variety of fees associated with purchasing a home
However, there are guidelines for the program, Bullard told the board, and those wanting to particiapate should contact her at the school’s central office on Goodyear Boulevard to see if they qualify for the program. In addition, she said, some employees might be eligible for an additional $30,000 that would be incorporated into the mortgage loan. That would have to be paid back, however, she said. Miller said the city was also participating in the program.
– Heard a report from Shaw about the current school registration that is going on. Shaw supplied these figures to the board: Nicholson 427, Roseland Park 493, South Side Lower 159, South Side Upper 241, West Side 402; total for elementary schools 1,722.
Other totals were 7th grade 236 and 8th 197. Figures for the high school were not in the report. Shaw said these are only preliminary figures and that enrollment was continuing.
There are two businesses here that can be considered the oldest continuously run businesses in town
Posted by admin in Local News and Features on July 28th, 2009
We dropped into Commercial Printing Co., 304 W. Canal St., to pick up some printing and got into a conversation with the new owner, Joseph Sanders and his wife, Susan. We asked them did they know that they owned one of the two oldest continuously operated businesses in Picayune? They weren’t aware.
Commercial Printing and the Picayune Item are the two oldest continuously operated businesses in Picayune.
It came about this way: (If we are inaccurate in anthing, please correct us in the comments section. Also please add to this story in the comments if you have additional information.)
Susan and Joseph Sanders, owners of Commercial Printing, the second oldest, continuously run business in Picayune.
It was 1904. The lumber harvest of the virgin yellow pine, which grew all around Picayune for hundreds of miles, was well underway, and Picayune was beginning to grow, although it was still just a sleepy village with cows roaming up and down the dusty roads of the little village on what was an open range.
Eastman Francis Tate was in town and realized the potential of the little village. His grandson, Col. John H. Napier, writes in a Picayune history that Tate possessed information that there was going to be a rail spur from a large lumber mill operation laid to connect at Picayune with the New Orleans & Northeast Railroad that ran from New Orleans north through Picayune. The railroad had been constructed through Picayune in 1883.
That would make Picayune a bustling terminal at the connection busy railroads, so the village was bound to grow, reasoned Tate.
The village leaders, led by Tate, petitioned the State Legislature to incorporate Picayune into a town; that was done in 1904. Tate did two other things that were to live on long after he died in the early 1930s: He founded the Bank of Picayune and the Picayune Item.
The Bank of Picayune failed in 1976 and its healthy assets were acquired by Hancock Bank, after the FDIC facilitated the acquisition.
That left the Picayune Item as the oldest continuously run business in Picayune.
The small village experienced a growth spurt but nothing near what Tate and his business partners and associates had envisioned.
In a remembrance written years later by Jesse Ryals Furr (the remembrance was supplied to us by his daughter, Charleen Schrock), Furr wrote that about 1910 the Item shut down in Picayune and was moved to Carriere, 10 miles up the road. Furr was to later own and run the Item for 28 years. The Harbesons had established a huge lumber mill at Carriere, known earlier as Lacy, and everyone figured that Carriere would boom and grow. The Item was published in Carriere for several years under the name The Pearl River Countian. No copies of the Countian, as far as we know, exists.
In 1915-16 the real boom finally hit Picayune, and that was when L.O. Crosby Sr. came to town, purchased the Blodgett virgin pine timber tract of land that stretched all the way from Picayune to Poplarville, even north of Poplarville, covering the entire western section of the county. In five short years Picayune’s population jumped from a few hundred to over 5,000. For the next 40 years, Picayune would only grow by 2,000 residents to hit 7,000 in 1960.
The Blodgett timber tract was one of the largest virgin pine forest tracts remaining in the South. Just how Crosby acquired the tract is lost to history although he had connections to the Rowlands family, who had married into the Goodyear family, you know, the tire and rubber barons.
Crosby began cutting the virgin pine timber, and his mills would run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from 1916 to the mid-1930s until the last of the timber was cut and the Great Depression shut his mills down in Picayune. My grandfather, Robert Andrew Farrell, after whom my son, Andy, is named, worked for the Crosbys all his life, from 1918 to 1948, when he died, living in a Crosby mill house at Crosby, Miss., where he worked for Hollis Crosby, one of the three sons of L.O. Crosby Sr. The Crosbys had opened a big timber mill there, too. Robert Howell and L.O. Jr. were the other two sons.
When the mill played out here in the 1930s, hundreds of families moved to Crosby to continue working for the Crosby family. There were no other jobs. Few realize how wealthy the Crosbys were. In 1948, when L.O. Sr. died, they were reputed to be worth $80 million, which would translate into billions today. They were once one of the richest families in America. They built the stadium, the high school, the library and the hospital and gave it to the city.
We don’t know how Furr wound up here in Picayune, or from where he came, but he was here, and he recognized that there would be a need for a newspaper here, once the Crosby timber boom got underway.
Tate must have still owned the name because Furr purchased the moribund Item from him and reopened the newspaper in Picayune. It was, of course, a weekly. He was to run it for 28 years after which he sold it to Chance Cole. In order to help generate some extra revenue, Furr had began a print shop in conjunction with the Item.
The print shot gradually grew along with the Item.
In 1944, Furr, worn out from the grind, decided to sell the newspaper. Chance Cole, a West Virginia newspaperman, wanted to buy it but did not want the print shop. There was a guy in town, however, who wanted the print shop, and that was none other than, Joe Whatley, a Louisianan who had resettled in Picayune. Whatley bought the print shop, set it up separately and named it Commercial Printing. Whatley also began a radio program over WRJW that was to be an icon here for years, Joe Whatley and the Local News. Whatley recently died.
The Item is the oldest continuously operated business in the city and Commercial Printing is the second, being founded originally, not by name, in 1916, when Furr revived the Item.
Counting from 1904, the Item is 105 years old, and from 1916, Commercial Printing 93 years old.
Chance Cole held on to the Item until about 1961 when he sold it to Charlie Nutter, who was the manager of the International House (IH) in New Orleans. The IH was a sort of chamber of commerce that worked with the Port of New Orleans in an effort to attract new businesses and increase traffic to the port.
Nutter was a former AP wire service bureau chief and actually served as an AP foreign correspondent in the 1930s to Russia, once interviewing the evil dictator Stalin. I once asked Mr. Nutter what it was like talking to Stalin and what he was like. “Cold, icy, no emotion; remember he killed millions of his own countrymen,” said Nutter. “He could sign the death warrants of thousands of people, and then go to bed and sleep like a baby. The man had no conscience.”
Nutter came to Picayune because it was expected that Picayune would grow into a large metropolitan city because of the location of the NASA test site in northern Hancock Co. only a few miles southeast of Picayune. They established the buffer zone and ordered all the residents out of the zone and began construction in 1960.
Cole was criticised for selling the newspaper to Nutter because Picayune was expected to grow, and it was envisioned that the Item would shortly become a daily. It was rumored that L.O. Crosby Jr., who was a close friend of Nutter and met him at the IH, loaned Nutter the money to buy the Item.
We went to work for Nutter in 1968, and cut our jounalistic teeth under him. We will always remember the first day on the job; he came out of his office and threw a dictionary on my desk, and huffed, “Here, memorize this!” He was short-tempered and gruff, exhibiting all the traits of a rough and tumble newsman. He worked during a time when wire service reporters were aggressive characters who roamed their beats seeking a scoop or big story.
We remember he would write editorial diatribes against the supervisors, and he actually once exposed a supervisor for embezzlement. That was when the county north-south split almost became a small civil war. Some supporters of the supervisor caught Mr. Nutter at the Caesar store one day, jumped on him and beat him up.
He was transported to the Hattiesburg hospital, and the next day a hand-written editorial was delivered to the Item to be run in the next edition. The title of the editorial: “Bloody But Unbowed!”
Nutter reportedly purchased the Item from Cole for $80,000, which was a lot of money in the early 1960s. Nutter held on to the Item until about 1972 when he sold it to James Boone of Tuscaloosa, Ala., the publisher of the Tuscaloosa News, for $400,000, a lot of money in 1972. Boone was on his way to establishing a chain, and the Item was his first acquisition.
Boone owned a chain of newspapers eventually and kept the newspaper until about 1979 or 1980. About 1976, Boone also bought the Poplarville Democrat for $80,000, the same amount Nutter paid for the Item in 1961. Bill Posey was named publisher of the Democrat. Murphy Weir owned the Democrat at that time when it was sold, and his son, Butch, is now the editor. The Democrat is still owned by the Item.
About 1978, under Boone, the Item went daily. I was the managing editor at the time, and we went from two days a week publication to five days a week. So I worked on the Item as a weekly, a semi-weekly and then daily.
Along about 1979 or 1980, Boone sold both the Item and Democrat to Donald Reynolds, owner of Don-Rey Media Group; Reynolds was one of the richest men in America. Reynolds owned both the Item and Democrat for years, and when he died the Rose Law Firm acquired the Reynolds empire and with it, the Item; that’s right, the same law firm that Hillary worked for.
Later the current owners, a chain, acquired the Item and Democrat.
Reynolds paid $1.5 million for the Item in 1979, and wrote a personal check for $250,000 for the Democrat, we were told by reliable sources later on. The Item today is probably worth anywhere from $10 million to $20 million, maybe even more, quite a long way from the little four-page first issue in 1904.
We will never forget the story that Bill Posey used to tell about when Mr. Reynolds bought both the Item and the Democrat. Mr. Reynolds, who actually lived in Las Vegas on a 40-acre estate right near downtown right off the strip, boarded a private jet one day, flew to New Orleans, rented a stretch limo and rode to Poplarville.
He pulled up in front of the Democrat and walked into Posey’s little office. He stuck out his hand, shook Posey’s hand, and said, “Hello, I am Donald Reynolds.” At first it didn’t ring a bell, but then it hit Posey and he burst out, “So your the dude who bought this place.” They both laughed. Posey said Reynolds talked to him about 15 minutes. Posey asked him why he come to Poplarville. Reynolds told him, “This is the smallest property I have, and I just wanted to see it.” He then left, rode back to New Orleans, boarded his jet and flew back to Vegas. At one time he owned 69 newspapers and over 100 tv stations. His outdoor advertising holdings, which blanketed Las Vegas, was probably worth as much as his papers and tv stations. He was on the Forbes list.
We worked for Posey for about 10 years as associate editor and then became editor about 1988. I resigned in 1992 to enter the trucking industry. I left Picayune and didn’t return until about two years ago to retire. During the 1980s, I worked mainly under Dave Sims, who was Item publisher in the 1980s. Tom Andrews, former Item advertising director, is now the publisher. I worked for the Item for 25 years, as a reporter, associate editor, managing editor, and at the Democrat, as associate editor and editor.
Whatley kept the print shop, which he combined with an office supply company, for decades, and along about the mid-1970s sold it to Norman McCaskill and his brother, who worked as printers for Whatley. Norman then bought out his brother. In 1991 I purchased the shop, and kept it for about a year, and realized, that although I might be a journalist, I sure as hell wasn’t a printer. Norman graciously bought it back from me. He willed it to his grandson, Steve, who on May 1, 2007, sold it to Sanders.
Sanders has been in the printing business for 30 years and says he loves his work.
Council looking at fines to bring in more revenue; Miller says losses to out-of-state tags run by some residents “a big issue”
Posted by admin in Local Politics & Issues on July 28th, 2009
PICAYUNE, Miss., Tuesday, July 28 — City Manager Harvey Miller said today in a council budget workshop that the city’s DUI fines are too low and that the city and county were perhaps losing thousands of dollars, maybe hundreds of thousands, in taxes from residents running out-of-state tags on their vehicles even though they live in Pearl River County.
He called for a crackdown on violators.
City Court Clerk Lisa Albritton briefed council on court budget needs.
“I know this is a big issue with not only Picayune, but the county, also,” Miller told councilmen.
Added Councilman Wayne Gouguet, “That’s something I have no mercy for, license plate violators. If you don’t have a Mississippi license plate and your kids are in school, you ought to be paying the max fine.”
City court officials have upped the fines in the city, but they still are below what the county charges for running out-of-state plates. The county charges $1,050 for the violation, and Picayune has moved up its fine to $600, still way below the county’s.
One time, however, the city only charged between $100 and $200 for the violation.
While the council wants the fines raised to be in line with the county, there is little the council can do. They don’t set fine charges; the judge does.
Miller said he had talked to the Picayune chief and the sheriff, and both told him that a phenominal amount of tax monies were being lost, perhaps into triple-digit figures.
“The bottom line is it’s not fair; it’s not right,” added Miller.
Director of the Picayune Retirement Development Carol Fitzwilliam briefed council on efforts to attract senior citizens to settle in Picayune.
Miller said that even if you have a company vehicle, wherever you are domiciled is where the tag should be purchased. Miller said he knew that “for a fact” since he had at one time worked in Louisiana and drove a company vehicle.
Several councilmen said that if anyone knows of someone running an illegal tag, “they should turn them in,” even if they are a neighbor.
“It should be the max, like Gouguet says, $1,050, exactly what the county charges,” added Miller.
Lisa Albritton, municipal court clerk, who was briefing the council on the court’s budget proposals, said that although some tickets for that offense might have come across, she had not seen any recently come “across my desk.”
Miller said several tickets last year were written.
Added Miller, “I think we are losing so much revenue that the two cities, Picayune and Poplarville, the county, and the three school districts, should get together and work out some type of program to crack down on violators.
One solution mentioned was to require students registering for class to submit proof that the family vehicles carry county tags. Also, mentioned was pulling violators’ homestead exemption until they furnish proof that their vehicle tags are legal.
Miller raised the issue of low fines and wants a crackdown on tag violators.
Miller suggested that the county and city could combine an operation and have two officers, one city and one county, designated as their main duty to apprehend those violating the tag laws.
Councilman Jason Todd Lane suggested that the city and county advertise in the newspaper that they are going to crack down on violators, advertise the max fine for violation, and added, “They would probably come in and get the right tag, if we did that. We just need to call their bluff.”
“Guess who pays for the violators,” added Miller. “Those honest citizens who obey the law picks up the taxes for those that violate the law.”
Picayune and Pearl River Co. for decades have had problems with local residents running Louisiana and out-of-state tags, although they live in Picayune. Many residents work in Louisiana and the New Orleans area and wind up with Louisiana tags, which cost much less than a Mississippi tag.
The council discussed budget issues with Carol Fitzwilliam, director of Picayune Retirement Development. She is part-time and works to attract retirees to settle in Picayune. In addition, Albritton discussed the city court budget with the council.
It was the third budget workshop conducted by the council. They face three more: July 30 at 4 p.m.; Aug. 11 at 4 p.m. and Aug. 13 at 2 p.m. The council has to by law have the budget finalized and adopted by Sept. 15. After the budget is completed the council will advertise for a public hearing, at which time citizens can appear before the council and question expenditures or suggest additions. The council’s new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
Notice the chamber is empty. Only two citizens have showed up at 3 of the open council budget workshops to bone up on budget issues.
The budget workshops are open to the public, but no input from the public is allowed during the workshops. Two citizens attended the first workshop on July 21, but during the July 23 and today’s workshops, no citizens attended the open meetings.
In the Thursday, July 30, budget workshop, the council will take up the fire department and airport budgets and budgets on park and recreation. That will be held at 4 p.m.
The council is going over the budget with a fine-toothed comb. Revenues are tight and the city’s cash reserves are low. The council has been looking at an across-the-board 10 percent cut in everything, but they have cautioned that all figures are preliminary and in the process of being calculated.
If revenues don’t match expenses after the budget process is over, the council faces tough decisions.
The new council is under pressure right now, wrestling with budget issues. Recent elections put five new members out of six on the council, and all ran on platforms promising stabilizing city’s finances and balancing the budget, after a string of years of deficits run up by the old council that amounted to millions of dollars in losses.
But stablizing city finances won’t be easy, especially if city sales taxes take a dip. Sales tax rebates from the state make up one-half of city revenues.
PRCC Wildcats boast talent, depth for 2009 football season; opener is Aug. 27 but it’s on-the-road at Holmes in Goodman; first home game is Northeast Sept. 3
Posted by admin in Local News and Features on July 26th, 2009
- Hatten eyeing 8th season at Pearl River
- Rashod Henry of Lumberton probably one of best athletes to ever play at Pearl River, says Hatten
- Willie Downs of Tallahassee, Fla., was high school All-American
- Picayune sophomore Albert Richards will compliment Wildcat ground game
- Picayune’s Justin Flowers will be back at linebacker after seeing plenty action last year
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By Pearl River Community College Sports Information
POPLARVILLE, Miss., Sunday, July 26 — If Pearl River Community College’s football Wildcats don’t return to the top of the MACJC heap in 2009, it won’t be due to a lack of talent or depth. So says eighth-year head coach Tim Hatten, who has guided the touted ’Cat program to four state championships — in consecutive years from 2003 through 2006 — in the last seven seasons, as well as an NJCAA national title in 2004. Hatten, who boasts a 61-13 win-loss record at The River, isn’t one to pull punches when touting his team. He doesn’t “poor mouth” like many and his preseason sentiments get right to the point. “We’re going to be a better team than last year,” he said, noting seven offensive and seven defensive starters return. “When it comes to talent and depth, there’s no question. This group is probably the best we’ve had since I got here.” “Last year, our starting 22 were good players, but beyond that, we were average at best, but as the season progressed, we discovered that we were pretty thin on the receiving end. This go-around, that won’t be the case.” After missing out on the MACJC playoffs in 2007, the Wildcats returned to the post-season last season. Finishing second behind arch-rival Mississippi Gulf Coast in the rugged South Division, Pearl River smacked upstart East Mississippi, the North champs, 42-35 in Scooba in first-round action, then were smashed by defending state champ Gulf Coast 52-7 in the title bout. That lopsided loss marked the worst defeat in the history of Wildcat football. “Losing one like that, you have to find some positives from it,” Hatten continued. “Our returning guys are using it as a motivational tool for this year. It’s inspired them to work harder in the off-season and it’s worked.” Hatten lauded third-year assistant Leroy Frederick and second-year assistant Ervin Jackson for their efforts with the team’s summer workouts. “I can’t say enough about the job those two guys did,” he said. “They put the guys’ noses in the dirt. This was the toughest summer workout program we’ve ever had. The results are there.” Sophomore quarterback Emil Jones of North Forrest enters 2009 with a streamlined physique, dropping 25 pounds from his 6-foot-3 frame to 210 pounds, while wide receivers Desmond Ratliff of Canton and Sam Robinson of Sebring, Fla., have shed 15 and 20 pounds, respectively. “All three of those guys moved around pretty good last year, but they’ll be even better.” Jones will be joined in the backfield with returning stellar running back Rashod Henry of Lumberton High. “As the season progressed last year, Emil got better and better and I look for him to be as solid at his position as anybody in the league this season,” Hatten said. “ His trimming down is going to make him even more of a threat.” “Rashod? There’s not a lot you can say about him that hasn’t already been said,” he continued. “He’s one of the best athletes to ever play here.” High school All-American wide receiver Willie Downs of Tallahassee, Fla., is likely the brightest spot among newcomers and will definitely see starting duty along with returning starter Darnell Jackson of Houston, Tex. Freshmen receivers Javin Battle of Ft. Myers, Fla., and Tobias Irby of Oak Grove both boast talent and speed and will see plenty of action. “Our wide receiving corps is a lot deeper and could be the best we’ve ever had here.” Hatten said Bassfield freshman Larry Thompson will see action at slot back and running back behind Henry, while touting speedy sophomore Albert Richards of Picayune High as a compliment to the Wildcats’ ground game. “We also signed Kyle Kirk (Forrest County AHS) as a long snapper, but he’s has great athletic skills and will see time at receiver also.” Backing up Jones at quarterback will be freshman newcomer Melvin German of Ft. Myers, La., while Beau Underwood of Biloxi St. Patrick will also see reserve duty. “Melvin is adjusting well,” Hatten said. “He’s got a lot to learn…just like all new guys…but he’s a great athlete and is going to be solid for us.” Up front, returning starters Brent Benvenutti and Matt Matranga, both from St. Stanislaus in Bay St. Louis, anchor the offensive line. “We’re going to be young with our down guys on the offensive side, but we’ve got plenty of potential there,” Hatten said. “Talent is a plus for us.” Collin Johnson of Picayune High and Jason Seo of Oak Grove return for redshirt freshmen campaigns, while newcomers vying for starting spots include Alex Dantzler and Andrew Magee, both of Hattiesburg High, Michael Blackwell of Oak Grove, Andrew Phillips of North Forrest, and Maconnelly Piazza of Bay High. Hatten says the Wildcat defense is steeped with depth. “Our defensive line is the deepest spot on the entire team,” he said, “but we’ve also got great depth in the secondary.” Returning down linemen include Charles Deas of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and Brandon Keys of Hattiesburg High; while Scardino Daniels of East Marion and Eric Ervin of Oak Grove are back on the ends. Hatten says Darion Gabriel of Sumrall and Daniel Hayden of New Orleans (John Eret High) are stalwart defensive ends, while true freshmen down guys include Joel Clems and William Walker, both of Hattiesburg High, LaDarren Cook of Bassfield, and Cornelius Foxworth and Ryan McSwain, both of Oak Grove, are all vying for starting spots. At linebacker, Justin Flowers of Picayune High, Mitch Kennedy of Petal High, and Jeremy Smith of West Marion return after seeing plenty of action a year ago; while newcomers Shawn Moffett of Hattiesburg High and Bernard Rogers of Petal High are newcomers who are expected to have an impact. Hatten used the term “unbelievable” when talking secondary. “This will be the deepest and most talented secondary we’ve had since I’ve been here,” he said. “It’s really unbelievable the depth we have back there.” Touted sophomore Jonnie Dixon of Belle Glade, Fla., anchors the group that is glittered with super-talented newcomers, which include Jamison Hughes of Oxford (a Southern Miss transfer), Willie Mickel of Oak Grove, and Otho Foster and Scotty Woodson, both of Columbia High. Offensive weapons Downs, (Darnell) Jackson, and Ratliff, along with Underwood will also see action in the secondary. Hatten says inconsistency in the kicking game won’t be an obstacle in 2009 like it was a year ago. “Jerry Duncan was a solid punter for us last year, but our place kicking wasn’t too solid,” he said. “We’ve got two excellent guys that will handle those duties this season in Travis Bradley (Pascagoula High) and Ryan Knight (Sumrall High).” Bradley likely has the nod at place kicking, while Knight will handle punts and kickoffs. Kirk will deep snap. “I guess it sounds kind of a cliche, but you’ve got to be about as lucky as you are good to win a championship in our league,” Hatten explained. “You’ve got to keep injuries to a minimum and avoid excessive turnovers to put yourself in position to win.” “We’ve got the talent, depth, speed, and athleticism to do that. We’ve just got to have a little luck thrown in there,” he added. Hatten says Jones County and Mississippi Gulf Coast will still maintain powerhouse status in 2009, while Hinds should return to the mix with the re-arrival of head coach Gene Murphy who guided the Eagles to four straight state titles in the 1990s. “Gene stepped down as (Hinds) head coach after the 2002 season and has since served as athletic director, but he’s back,” Hatten said. “He knows how to get it done and I don’t see any reason to believe he can’t do it again.” “The South Division in our league is one of the toughest or possibly the toughest in the entire nation,” he continued. “Lose two division games and you’re probably sitting at home when the playoffs roll around. That happened to Jones last year and to us the year before. Our division is as competitive from top to bottom.” “East Central whipped us last year and they didn’t win but four the entire season,” he said Kick off times for all of Pearl River’s four regular-season home games have been moved back 30 minutes to 6:30 p.m. “With the exception of possible home playoff games, we’ve only got four this year at our place,” said Hatten, who suited up for PRCC as a wide receiver in 1983 and 1984. “You always like a partisan home crowd. It’s going to be tougher on us to play five road games during the regular season.” The Wildcats kickoff the season with three straight MACJC non-division battles, starting Aug. 27 against Holmes in Goodman before returning to Dobie Holden Stadium to face Northeast Mississippi Sept. 3. A road trip to Northwest Mississippi in Senatobia follows Sept. 10 before PRCC opens its string of six straight South Division games. Hinds visits Sept. 17 followed by a road trip to Mississippi Gulf Coast in Perkinston Sept. 24. PRCC hosts Jones County Oct. 1, then faces Copiah-Lincoln for the Wolves homecoming in Wesson on Oct. 10 marking the first Saturday contest of the season. Pearl River’s homecoming game against Southwest Mississippi follows the next Saturday on Oct. 17 before East Central plays host on Oct. 22 to wrap the regular season. The opening round of the MACJC state playoffs is set for Saturday, Oct. 21, while the state championship game is Saturday, Nov. 7. The top two finishers in the North and South division earn playoff berths with the North top seed hosting South No. 2 and the South top hosting North No. 2. Casey Cain returns for his second season as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, while Frederick will coach the secondary. John Creech returns for his seventh season coaching the defensive line, while Ervin Jackson will assist. Former Poplarville High defensive coordinator Troy Davis enters his first season as a defensive assistant. Hatten is offensive coordinator, while former Wildcat Drew Causey returns for his second season as O-line coach. Former Wildcat player Melvin Tart returns to assist on the offensive side, along with first-year assistant Marcus Jordan. Sixteen 2008 Wildcat players signed on with senior colleges last spring. (Pearl River’s entire official poster schedule is posted below so fans can run it off.)
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2009 Pearl River Community College Football Schedule
Posted by admin in Local News and Features on July 25th, 2009
2009 Pearl River Community College Football Schedule
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COMMENTARY-EDITORIAL: Tough financial decisions loom on the horizon for Picayune
Posted by admin in Commentary on July 31st, 2009
We could be wrong in our assessment and we don’t want to scare anyone here, but we have been sitting in on the city council budget workshops, and things don’t look good. There have been four workshops so far and there are two left. They have been ignored by the media and citizens have also ignored the workshops: out of four meetings only two residents have taken the time to sit in on the sessions and try to learn a little bit about city finances.
Granted, people are busy making a living and working, and financial hearings are boring, but we would have thought there would have been more than 2.
So much for touted citizen concern here. We will just tell you what we believe: Picayune and Pearl River Co. has the lowest concern and interest in its government, and one of the lowest voter turnouts, we have seen, and we have lived and travelled over the U.S. for the last 18 years. Citizen and media interests are two factors you must factor in when it comes to good government.
Quite frankly, it is this humble correspondent’s opinion that the outgoing council left a financial mess. They were taking steps to rectify the deficits, and if they had remained in office, they would have faced the same hard decisions that this council now faces.
The main reason we started this site is because we could not get the information we thought we should be getting in order to know what was going on in the city. We are no different than you; we are just a private citizen, asking questions and watching the council meet and discuss its problems, the only difference being that we come back and write down our impressions and post them on a website for everybody to read. That is simply what journalism is.
So here is the grim news. The city is broke. They have cash reserves that might would last a month if a financial emergency hit. The council has asked dept. heads to cut back 10 percent on their budgets. It remains to be seen whether dept. heads and the city manager can do this.
When they finally start trying to match revenues with expenses, and if expenses exceed revenues, you and we both know the council has two choices, cut services and city operations, or raise taxes. Now you make up your mind now; are you willing to go another tax increase, or do you want the city to cut instead of raising taxes. Hopefully, we won’t have to face this scenario, and we hope our opinions on this are wrong, because there will be pain if we are correct.
You and we both know that private businesses cut when revenues are not enough. So we ask, why would government be any different. We are deciding these issues right now on the local level, as well as, the national.
Maybe Picayune can get some big stimulus grant to pull us through; maybe sales taxes will not dip, and will make a slight rise, but don’t count on it, and from what we can discern the council is not counting on it, either.
There has been a suggestion that supervisors might could help the city with roads and parks. It would not hurt for city officials to explore that avenue in a cooperative and polite manner. Picayune citizens pay $4 million in taxes into county coffers each year. All we are asking is what is a fair amount of help for the county to give Picayune at a time when we face a budget crisis?
All we can say is stay tuned. We will continue to sit through these tedious financial meetings. But you, Mr. and Mrs. Picayune, better get interested in what is going on at city hall, because crunch time is slowly approaching, and you will be involved in these decisions, whether you like it or not.
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