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Coca-Cola Providing Recycling at State Fair

[Verbatim] JACKSON, Oct. 1, 2008- Jackson Coca-Cola Bottling Company, in partnership with the Mississippi State Fair Commission, Hinds Community College and the Hinds County Sheriff's Office, announced today plans to make recycling an option for visitors at this year's Mississippi State Fair. Jackson Coca-Cola Bottling Company employees will place 20 recycling bins, shaped like Coca-Cola bottles, on the state fairground's Midway near concession stands during the State Fair, October 1-12, 2008.

Business lobbyists eye State of the Union

AP reports that lobbyists are campaigning for a Bush mention Tuesday night: "'You tell everybody you can think to tell' in the White House, said Dan Danner, lobbyist for the National Federation of Independent Business. 'You tell the speechwriters. You tell the congressional people. You tell the policy people. You tell the public liaison people and the economic shop.' Danner's issue is what the federation calls Association Health Plan legislation. It would allow small business organizations to provide insurance for members' workers. President Bush has endorsed the idea often, but not in the State of the Union, the annual showpiece of his administration. A reference in the roughly hourlong address Tuesday night would be a declaration that the president considers the plan a priority and would send the same message to lawmakers whose 2004 session got under way earlier in the day."

Bush Facing Dreary Jobs Data in Michigan

AP reports: "Allies of Democrat John Kerry in this down-on-its-luck industrial state are armed with depressing statistics on unemployment and poverty, hoping to persuade voters to blame President Bush for the hit on their pocketbooks. In Michigan, 6.6 percent of workers are unemployed, with the strain sharpest in communities that have suffered plant closings and manufacturing cutbacks as jobs moved overseas. There is widespread anger, spreading into conservative areas, that Bush is not doing enough to keep those jobs at home or help the poor."

Markets Surge for a Second Day

The New York Times is reporting:

Dick Cheney: One of the Worst CEOs in History?

(Click on the free day pass to read the full story without a subscription.)

From Salon today: "it's clear that Cheney deserves another nomination: as one of the worst CEOs in recent American history. Of course, there are plenty of CEOs that deserve to be on that list, including Enron's Kenneth Lay, Tyco's Dennis Kozlowski and Adelphia's John Rigas. While those bosses certainly are being pilloried, Cheney's disastrous five-year-long tenure at Halliburton deserves far more scrutiny than the mainstream business press has bothered to provide."

Mississippians Get $1 Million in Foreclosure Relief

[Verbatim from Attorney General Jim Hood]Jackson, MS-Mississippi will be included in the national settlement with Countrywide Financial Corporation (CFC) that will allow eligible borrowers to participate in the company's loan modification program, announced Attorney General Jim Hood. The program went into effect yesterday, December 1, 2008, and was designed to help borrowers who financed their homes with subprime loans or adjustable rate mortgages serviced by Countrywide and originated prior to December 31, 2007. Countrywide was bought by Bank of America on July 1, 2008.

Hotel Owner Sentenced in Price Gouging Case

[Verbatim from Attorney General Jim Hood] Jackson, MS-A Jackson hotel owner has been sentenced in a price gouging case investigated and prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office, Division of Consumer Protection. Ibraham K. Khoder, age 60, (address 10713 Hill Tree) owner of the Select 10, 4639 I-55 North Jackson, MS, was cited for misdemeanor Price Gouging on September 1, 2008 during the State of Emergency Declared for Hurricane Gustav. Khoder entered a plea of no contest to the charge yesterday in Hinds County Justice Court. Judge Frank Sutton found him guilty and ordered him to pay a fine of $500, plus restitution to the consumer ($17) and court costs.

297,000-square-foot Distribution Facility Available in Baldwyn, Miss.

* 202,320 square feet -Distribution/Manufacturing

A 297,000-square-foot Distribution / Warehouse / Manufacturing facility is available 20 miles from new Toyota plant in Blue Springs, Miss.:

NAFTA Tribunals Stir U.S., Mississippi Worries

More NAFTA woes ... New York Times reports today: "Any Canadian or Mexican business that contends it has been treated unjustly by the American judicial system can file a similar claim. American businesses with similar complaints about Canadian or Mexican court judgments can do the same. Under the Nafta agreement the government whose court system is challenged is responsible for awards by the tribunals. 'This is the biggest threat to United States judicial independence that no one has heard of and even fewer people understand,' said John D. Echeverria, a law professor at Georgetown University.

More Bad Economic News—Huge Job Losses in September

The New York Times is reporting:

Stocks Rally After New Treasury Pick Announced

Good news on Wall Street for a change, per Bloomberg:

Entergy Caught with Hand in Louisiana Cookie Jar

[Verbatim, December 23, 2008] Jackson, MS--Attorney General Jim Hood announced today that the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) has found an Entergy affiliate guilty of the same illegal conduct that is included in his lawsuit recently filed against Entergy Mississippi, Inc.(EMI), Entergy Services, Inc.(ESI), Entergy Power, Inc. (EPI) and Entergy Corporation (Entergy). By order dated December 4, 2008, the LPSC found that Entergy Louisiana, L.L.C. (ELL), an affiliate of the parent company, Entergy Corporation (Entergy), improperly recovered, through its fuel adjustment clause (FAC) non-fuel costs which are prohibited by law, specifically these costs included non-fuel operation and maintenance expenses and "hypothetical SO2 allowance costs" paid to its affiliates. These "hypothetical SO2 allowance costs" were disallowed from present-January 2002.

Working Women Demand Family and Economic Policy Focus

[Verbatim] As Governor Palin and Senator Biden prepare for the V.P. debate, much attention will be paid to the role of women voters and how they may decide the outcome of the elections. In the meantime, a growing working women's movement is advocating for policies that value families at work, such as paid sick days, equal pay and the flexibility to take time off to care for a sick child or attend a parent-teacher conference. Polling shows Americans, particularly women, support these issues. While many are asking how Sarah Palin manages work and family responsibilities, advocates argue the real issue is making it possible for all workers to meet their family responsibilities without risking their jobs or their paychecks.

Indeck Magnolia BioFuel Center Breaks Ground

Indeck Energy Services, Inc. of Buffalo Grove, Ill., and Homan Industries of Fulton, Miss., ("The Partners"), invite you to attend the ground breaking ceremony for Indeck Magnolia BioFuel Center wood pellet production plant on Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 12:00 p.m., 1610 North Clark Avenue, Magnolia, MS, 39652.

Business Owners of Both Parties Supporting Obama

USA Today is reporting the surprising trend of Republican business owners supporting Barack Obama for president, ending with this quote from one: ""I would rather pay a little higher tax on a higher profit than a lower tax rate on lower profits." Here's some more:

Bloomberg: Bush Backing Down on Spending Rest of Bailout

Boomberg News is reporting that a beleaguered President Bush is backing down on spending the rest of the bailout package. The Bush administration is under fire for spending half of the bailout in ways that were not intended by Congress. Bloomberg:

Jaro, Staxx Featured in Clarion-Ledger

Cheers to Jaro and Staxx for all the hard work they do for Jackson. We're very proud.

Today, The Clarion-Ledger featured JFP photographer Jaro Vacek and John "Staxx" Tierre in a story about Staxx's company Blockwear distributing in the Czech Republic with Jaro's help. We consider Staxx a member of the family, too, having featuring his clothes several times in JFP shoots. And, last October, Charlie Braxton wrote in the JFP about Staxx, and other local hip-hop designers who are distributing nationally and internationally last October. We also featured Staff as a young businessman to watch in April.

Americans, Wall Street Shrug Off Mad Cow

Reuters reports:: Investor concerns that consumers would shun beef after last month's discovery of the first U.S. case of mad cow disease appear to have evaporated as shares of steakhouses and hamburger chains have snapped back to their previous levels.In the days following the Dec. 23 announcement, restaurant stocks fell hard on fears that meat from a cow with the deadly brain-wasting disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, had entered the food chain. Humans can contract a form of the disease known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease by eating infected beef."

Shop Local: Liz Henry, Fondren Traders

We just heard about two great retail sales—one at Liz Henry and another at Fondren Traders, both in Fondren. Both are discounting their very stuff up to 40 percent to make room for fall merchandise. Head on over there and tell 'em the JFP sent you.

Daily Journal: ‘Childers, Musgrove, Davis Talk About Crisis'

Patsy Brumfield of the Daily Journal talks to several of the state's congressionals and candidates for Congress about the financial crisis. (Interestingly, the paper's headline leaves out the name of senatorial candidate Erik Fleming of Jackson, who is also quoted in the piece. OK, we will refrain from pointing out that they left out the black candidate because we're sure it was on oversight.) Anyway: