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Elephant in the Hotel Room

The Rev. Ronnie Crudup ended the Dec. 16 Jackson Redevelopment Authority's special meeting on a positive note. "We believe we are going to get a convention center hotel very shortly," he said, soon after the JRA board voted to decline all existing proposals on the table.

Online Tax Debate Looming

Sidewalks, busy sidewalks. In the air, there's a feeling that the economy might finally be picking up momentum if trends during the holiday shopping season are any indication.

Supremes Question Kemper

In all the pages of court records regarding a dispute between environmentalists and an electric utility company--pages that one Mississippi Supreme Court justice characterized as the most voluminous he has seen in his eight years on the court--one important piece of information eluded the justices.

AT&T Admits Defeat, Newk's Expands

AT&T has agreed to end its bid to acquire T-Mobile after complaints that the merger would take AT&T from one of the largest wireless providers in the nation to a powerhouse that controlled 40 percent of the national market.

Old Capitol Green Could Get $13 Million

The long-delayed Old Capitol Green downtown development project drew a little closer to fruition this morning.

JRA Rejects Two Bids for Convention Hotel

An Austin, Texas, developer publicly threw its hat into the convention-center hotel ring this morning with a presentation to the Jackson Development Authority. TCI, a Dallas-based company that currently owns the land across the street from the Convention Center, also gave a presentation as expected.

Smokin' the Polls

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is smoking the polls. Well, one poll anyway. The Raleigh, N.C.-based firm Public Policy Polling, which Democratic pollster Dean Debnam founded, unveiled its findings Friday, Dec. 9. The poll shows Barbour's approval rating inside the state is 60 percent, the highest of any state governor; only 29 percent of Mississippians polled disapprove of Barbour.

Another Landfill?

R. L. Nave

All day long, hulking trucks rumble along North County Line Road to dump loads of rubbish at one of the area's two waste dumps. At the north end of the road sits Republic Services Inc.-operated Little Dixie Landfill; at the far south end is a rubbish landfill, which Madison South Rubbish Landfill Inc. owns. Between those facilities lies a 160 acre-parcel of land where Mike Bilberry wants to put a third landfill.

They're Crafty

They say that handmade gifts mean so much more to the recipient. They also mean a lot to the artists who craft the items as well as to the local economy, especially now. The Mississippi Craft Center Gallery in Ridgeland, and others like it around the country, is having a banner sales year.

Creative ‘Coworking' Comes to Jackson

Creative Distillery hasn't quite finished setting up its new office on the third floor of Banner Hall. A few walls are still awaiting paint and an empty corner in the kitchen needs a refrigerator. But Melia Dicker points to high ceilings and big windows that will make the new space an environment to encourage creativity.

Can Sacred, Secular Coexist on Farish?

Despite popular beliefs, churches are not ivory towers. Or, as the Rev. Dr. Hickman Johnson put it: "The church should not be cloistered somewhere because it has to be holy. The dichotomy between the secular and the sacred is not real."

Big Changes at Koinonia

If his ability to juggle a phone interview while whipping a breakfast bagel is any indication, Nate Coleman is going to make one heck of a restaurateur. Coleman, a Jackson native and trained culinary chef is bringing a new eatery to the capital city that will occupy Koinonia's space, according to a new release from the coffee shop.

Hinds Balks at Madison Landfill

A decade-long controversy over the placement of a landfill on North County Line Road could soon draw to a conclusion. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, which must grant NCL-Waste LLC a permit to move forward with plans for a 100-acre municipal solid-waste disposal site, will hold a public hearing Thursday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. at Tougaloo College's Holmes Hall.

Our Anti-tax Governor Just Endorsed Online Sales Tax

I can't say I disagree with this: The Hill is reporting that Haley Barbour endorsed it in a letter to lawmakers today, urging them to close a loophole that lets online retailers forego sales taxes that are sorely needed at home (and hurts local businesses):

The Penguin Takes Flight

The Penguin, a restaurant at One University Place, will have its grand opening this Thursday at 3 p.m. The restaurant (1100 John R. Lynch St., Suite 6A) serves a casual lunch menu with daily specials and more sophisticated dinner entrees, such as duck a l'orange and steaks. A reincarnation of a restaurant that was located in the same area in West Jackson that closed in the early 1980s, The Penguin is open Monday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Visit thepenguinms.com or call 769-251-5222 for information.

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