Letters, package prices going up

The price to ship your letters and packages is going up in the new year.

Starting Jan. 21, 2024, the price for a First-Class Forever U.S. Postage Stamp will increase from 66 cents to 68 cents, according to the U.S. Postal Service.

The prices for domestic postcard stamps will also increase by two cents from 51 cents to 53 cents and international postcards will increase from $1.50 to $1.55. 

In addition to stamp prices increasing, the price to send priority mail and other postal services will also increase on Jan. 21. (WHTM 12/29/23) Changes coming to US Postal Service prices in 2024 (msn.com)

Boeing warns of 737 MAX lose bolts

Boeing is asking airline carriers that fly its 737 MAX - Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines - to check for loose bolts within the rudder control system of its 737 MAX airplanes, the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed Dec. 28. 

The announcement stems from the discovery of a bolt with a missing nut during a routine inspection of “a mechanism in the rudder-control linkage,” the FAA said.  

“The company discovered an additional undelivered aircraft with a nut that was not properly tightened,” the agency added.

Carriers are being instructed to examine the “specific tie rods that control rudder movement for possible loose hardware,” according to the FAA.

Boeing estimates the inspections to take around two hours. Aircraft operators also routinely conduct tests prior to takeoff that would alert them to any issue with the rudder, Boeing added.

A representative for Boeing, in a statement shared with Nexstar, said the manufacturer will remain in contact with the FAA amid inspections.

“The issue identified on the particular airplane has been remedied,” Boeing said. “Out of an abundance of caution" Boeing is recommending operators inspect these airplanes and inform the company of findings. (WJW 12/28/23)

Goodbye 2023, hello Mardi Gras

BILOXI, Miss. - Goodbye 2023, and hello Mardi Gras! 

It’s almost time to throw those beads and get ready to flood the streets of Coastal Mississippi with floats and cheers.

“It’s almost Carnival time,” said Coastal Mississippi Mardi Gras Museum Executive Director Anna Harris. “Carnival starts on Epiphany. So, we celebrate on January 5th, we’re having our Twelfth Night celebration here in Biloxi.” 

The 12th-night celebration commemorates the official beginning of the highly-anticipated Carnival season, a time of year rooted in the Christian tradition.

“If you know about the 12 days of Christmas, they end on Epiphany, when the wise men came and found the baby Jesus,” explained Harris. “That begins the season of Carnival which runs through Mardi Gras day, the day before we begin Christian Lent on Ash Wednesday.”

Mardi Gras Museum Board of Trustees President, Susan Hunt, said her grandfather is the one who brought the Mardi Gras spirit to the Gulf Coast. He created what is now known as the Gulf Coast Carnival Association, the oldest carnival in the state of Mississippi. This year marks the association’s 116th year. 

Hunt now spends her days giving back to the community her grandfather built. 

The museum and Main Street Biloxi are teaming up for the Twelfth Night celebration to be held on Jan. 5 at 5:30 p.m. in front of City Hall. Featured music by the Bucktown All-Stars starts at 7 p.m. (WLOX 12/30/23)

Dec. 31 history: Roberto Clemente

Dec. 31 history

In 1879, in the first public demonstration of his incandescent lightbulb, American inventor Thomas Alva Edison lights up a street in Menlo Park, New Jersey. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company ran special trains to Menlo Park on the day of the demonstration in response to public enthusiasm over the event. 

In 1972, Roberto Clemente, future Hall of Fame baseball player, is killed along with four others when the cargo plane in which he is traveling crashes off the coast of Puerto Rico. Clemente was on his way to deliver relief supplies to Nicaragua following a devastating earthquake there a week earlier.

In 1984, Bernhard Goetz, the white man who shot four young Black men on a New York City subway train, turns himself in at a police station in Concord, New Hampshire. Goetz claimed that the men were trying to rob him and that he had acted in self-defense. At the time, New York was in the midst of a crime wave and Goetz was viewed by some people as a hero, an ordinary citizen fighting back against his supposed attackers. 

In 1999, the United States, in accordance with the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, officially hands over control of the Panama Canal, putting the strategic waterway into Panamanian hands for the first time. Crowds of Panamanians celebrated the transfer of the 50-mile canal, which links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and officially opened when the SS Arcon sailed through on August 15, 1914. Since then, over one million ships have used the canal.

In 1999, Boris Yeltsin, the first president of the Russian Federation, resigns after eight years in office. The presidency passes to the prime minister, Vladimir Putin, a former intelligence officer who will quickly become the central figure in Russian politics and play a major role in global affairs in the new century. (History.com 12/31/23)

Dec. 30 history: Gadsden Purchase

In 1853, James Gadsden, the U.S. minister to Mexico, and General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the president of Mexico, sign the Gadsden Purchase in Mexico City. The treaty settled the dispute over the location of the Mexican border west of El Paso, Texas, and established the final boundaries of the southern United States. For the price of $15 million, later reduced to $10 million, the United States acquired approximately 30,000 square miles of land in what is now southern New Mexico and Arizona. 

In 1875, Mississippi state senator Charles Caldwell was assassinated by a mob of white men in Clinton, just west of the state's capital in Jackson. The blacksmith had been one of the 16 black Republican delegates who participated in the 1868 Constitutional Convention, which wrote a constitution to integrate public schools, legalize interracial marriages, give the vote to all adult men and ensure property rights, regardless of race or gender. Mississippi voters, however, rejected the constitution.

In 1903, a fire in the Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois, kills more than 600 people on December 30, 1903. It was the deadliest theater fire in U.S. history. Blocked fire exits and the lack of a fire-safety plan caused most of the deaths.

In 1922, in post-revolutionary Russia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is established, comprising a confederation of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine and the Transcaucasian Federation (divided in 1936 into the Georgian, Azerbaijan and Armenian republics). Also known as the Soviet Union, the new communist state was the successor to the Russian Empire and the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism.

In 1936, in one of the first sit-down strikes in the United States, autoworkers occupy the General Motors Fisher Body Plant Number One in Flint, Michigan. The autoworkers were striking to win recognition of the United Auto Workers (UAW) as the only bargaining agent for GM's workers; they also wanted to make the company stop sending work to non-union plants and to establish a fair minimum wage scale, a grievance system and a set of procedures that would help protect assembly-line workers from injury. In all, the strike lasted 44 days.

In 1968, The Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Washington, ran an advertisement on this day in 1968 for a concert at Gonzaga University featuring "The Vanilla Fudge, with Len Zefflin" - a concert of which a bootleg recording would later emerge that represents the first-ever live Led Zeppelin performance captured on tape. (History.com 12/30/31)

Governor makes MDA appointments

Governor Tate Reeves announced a series of new appointments at the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA). 

Reeves appointed William “Bill” Cork as Executive Director/Chief Economic Development Officer, PJ Waldrop as Chief Operations Officer, and Steven McDevitt as Chief Investment Officer. 

Cork has been the MDA Deputy Director and Chief Economic Development Officer since 2020. Prior to serving at MDA, Cork’s 30- year economic and industrial development career included roles as the CEO of the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission and owner of his own consulting and real estate companies. 

Cork also led sales operations for ICF Consulting after working on military base redevelopment with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers throughout the 1990’s.

Waldrop has served as the Director of the Governor’s Office of Military Affairs since the office’s creation in 2021. He worked with the Defense Community Development Council, the Installation Commander’s Council, the Mississippi National Guard, and the Mississippi Congressional Delegation on a variety of projects to support our defense economy. 

McDevitt has served as the Deputy Commissioner of Finance at the Mississippi Department of Public Safety (DPS) since 2020. 

Prior to joining DPS, McDevitt worked 12 years in state government, including Deputy Director and Bond Advisory Director for the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration.  (Governor's Office (12/28/23) Governor Announces New Appointments to MDA - The Gazebo Gazette

New safety law for offshore workers

One new law going into effect on January 1 can help add a layer of security for those working offshore. 

House Bill 398 aims to help aid in search and recovery efforts by making it mandatory for those traveling via aircraft to oil rigs to wear life jackets that are equipped with personal locator beacons. 

The vests will have satellite synced devices that can send an S-O-S signal to rescue agencies. 

This comes after recent accidents in the Gulf of Mexico showed that there's a need for more protection for offshore workers. 

Micheal Moncla, President of Louisiana Gas and Oil Association says this bill is a step towards creating some peace of mind for the industry and families. (KATC 12/28/23) A GPS life vest law is implemented for offshore workers traveling to the Gulf (katc.com)

Econ development grant for Marion

MARION COUNTY, Miss. - The Mississippi Development Authority is helping boost economic development in Marion County with a new $420,000 grant to be used to complete a master plan for the Marion County AirPlex/IndustryPlex, a 2,000-acre site that was once part of the Columbia Training School property. 

The Marion County Economic Development District hopes the area will attract many new businesses one day. "We anticipate that there will be multiple 50-acre, 100-acre sites that we will be able to market," Lori Watts, MCEDD executive director told WDAM. 

"It is a good site for connectivity, to get goods in and out, for manufacturers and various industries that could use that."  

Watts says work on the master plan will begin in January and take about two years to complete. (WDAM 12/28/23)

Funneling trash to the GoM

The Mississippi River drains more than 40% of the continental U.S. How much trash was being funneled down river to the Gulf of Mexico? 

A group of researchers and environmental advocates wanted to find that out when they began a litter analysis of a handful of cities along the river. 

In fall 2023, they released the "first-ever snapshot of the state of plastic pollution along the Mississippi River."

Between 2021-22, volunteers from St. Paul, Minnesota; the Quad Cities area in Iowa and Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; Greenville and Rosedale, Mississippi; and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; logged trash they found into theUniversity of Georgia's Debris Tracker app. 

The study came on the heels of a2018 commitment from mayors along the river to reduce plastic and trash. 

The study was also meant to raise people's awareness of the river's role in keeping other waters clean, said Jennifer Wendt, plastic waste reduction campaign manager for the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative — the mayors' group that worked on the study.

Here's what to know about the study results, what's next for reducing plastic and trash along the river and how you can keep plastic out of important waterways. 

About 80,000 litter items were logged during the study's data collection period. WaPlastic was the No.1 material found in and around the river, making up 75% of the total trash. Paper and lumber was next at 9%, followed by metal at 7%, glass at 5%, and personal protective equipment like masks at 2%. Mississippi River funnels trash from heartland to ocean - Mississippi Today

Census projects population growth

The U.S. Census Bureau has projected the U.S. population will be 335,893,238 at midnight EST, on Jan. 1. This represents an increase of 1,759,535 (0.53%) from January 2023, and 4,443,957 (1.34%) from Census Day on April 1, 2020. 

In January 2024, the United States is expected to experience one birth every 9.0 seconds and one death every 9.5 seconds. The net international migration is expected to add one person to the U.S. population every 28.3 seconds. 

The combination of births, deaths and net international migration increases the U.S. population by one person every 24.2 seconds.  

The projected world population on Jan. 1 is 8,019,876,189, an increase of 75,162,541 (0.95%) from New Year’s Day 2023. During January 2024, 4.3 births and 2.0 deaths are expected worldwide every second. 

The Census Bureau’s Population Clock displays simulated real-time growth of the U.S. and world populations. (US Census 12/28/23)

Regional aero/aviation jobs

Multiple civilian jobs at military sites in Mississippi. $23k-$31k Civilian Military Jobs in Columbus Afb, MS (ziprecruiter.com) 

* GE Aerospace EHS, Facilities, Maintenance - Supply Chain Co-Op - Fall 2024 GE Aviation, Batesville, Miss. GE Aerospace EHS, Facilities, Maintenance - Supply Chain Co-Op - Fall 2024 at GE | Ziprecruiter 

LWFC meets Jan. 4 in Baton Rouge

The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission will meet at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 4 at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries HQ in Baton Rouge. 

The agenda will include:

1. Receive and Consider a Resolution Adjusting the Boundary and Acreage of Biloxi Marsh WMA – Cole Garrett, General Counsel
2. Receive and Consider a Notice of Intent for Rule Changes Establishing Season Dates and Associated Rules and Regulations for the 2024-26 Hunting Seasons – Tommy Tuma, Biologist Director
3. Receive an Update on White Lake Conservation Area – Larry Reynolds, Biologist Director
4. Receive and Consider a Notice of Intent to Establish Rules and Regulations to Allow Ecotours on Certain WMAs – Steve Smith, Operations Program Manager
5. Election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman

A live audio/video broadcast of this meeting will be available via Zoom. To view via webinar, register at: https://wlf-la.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OYVIGV5DS7aPd2saCxSoSA

$66.7M HII DDG 1000 mod contract

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Pascagoula, Mississippi, was awarded a $66,748,385 cost-plus-incentive-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-23-C-2324 for the DDG 1000 Modernization Period execution. This contract modification includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of the contract modification to $70,766,285. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Mississippi (95%), and other locations below 1% (collectively totaling 5%), and is expected to be completed by September 2025. Fiscal 2024 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $28,905,713 (82%); and fiscal 2024 operation and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $2,000,000 (18%), will be obligated at time of award, of which $2,000,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-23-C-2324). (Awarded Dec. 27, 2023)

* Peraton Labs Inc., Basking Ridge, New Jersey, has been awarded a $9,499,993 modification (P00009) to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract HR001122C0024 to support the Mission-Integrated Network Control (MINC) program. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $24,125,825 from $14,625,832. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia (10%); Basking Ridge, New Jersey (56%); Colorado Springs, Colorado (6%); Cambridge, Massachusetts (22%); Woburn, Massachusetts (4%); Memphis, Tennessee (1%); Miami, Florida (0.5%); and Sherman Oaks, California (0.5%), with an expected completion date of February 2025. Fiscal 2023 research, development, test, and engineering funds in the amount of $41,168 are being obligated at time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity. (DoD 12/29/23)

Regional year in the rearview

In a regional year in review - in a nutshell - begins with a January start on a controversial footing when Rep. Trey Lamar (R-Senatobia) proposed a bill in the Mississippi House of Representatives that would create a new court system within Jackson's Capitol Complex Improvement District. 

HB 1020 would take authority over cases, in that part of the city, from local elected officials. SB 2889 was a matching bill. Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba says the two bills, aimed at curbing the independence of Jackson, "reminds me of apartheid." 

* Naval Air Station Meridian, Miss., and community leaders gathered Jan. 30, to celebrate the base's 60th founding anniversary. Capt. Timothy Brent Moore noted how proud he was of the partnerships between the base and the community. NASM's milestones achieved are a testament to those relationships, he said. 

* Keeping with that Navy theme, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday visited a pair of Gulf Coast shipbuilding operations Jan. 26.

At Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., Gilday toured the future Navy ships Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29) and Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125). Gilday last visited Ingalls last March the christening of Jack H. Lucas, the Navy’s first Flight III destroyer. 

CNO also visited Austal USA's complex in Mobile, Ala.

* On the controversial academic agenda, Jackson State University's faculty senate voted Jan. 27 to uphold a "no confidence" resolution regarding President Thomas Hudson and various leaders of the administration. 

The day before that vote, President Hudson was selected among the 2023 Top CEO by the Mississippi Business Journal. 

Strike Two: Jackson State was ranked among the 2023 Best Online Bachelor’s Programs by U.S. News & World Report. Hudson was dismissed.

YEAR OF THE TORNADO

On Jan. 25, at least four tornadoes touched down in Louisiana as storms swept the state, including a 90-mph EF-1 twister that damaged three mobile homes in Ventress, sending three people to a local hospital.

On March 24, an EF-4 tornado all but flattened the town of Rolling Fork in the South Delta of Mississippi killing 21 people. 

Later in the month, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden were in Mississippi to visit and talk with residents of the tornado-damaged Rolling Fork community. 

CARBON CAPTURE & LSU 

In January, LSU announced it had become the first university in the U.S. to offer a formal concentration in carbon capture, utilization and storage - a technology lauded by state and industry leaders despite controversy on the public's eye - through its petroleum engineering department. 

Carbon capture and sequestration is a process in which carbon output from a plant is captured, compressed and sent via pipeline deep underground to be stored, rather than emitted into the air. The technology has grown in popularity since Congress approved $3.5B to support carbon capture and sequestration projects in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Louisiana has become a hotbed for these projects.

* Enviva is one step closer to having a wood pellet plant here in Stone County, Miss., after the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to approve an MOU, a fee-in-lieu tax agreement and enter into a Development Infrastructure Program grant agreement with the Mississippi Development Authority. 

It was happening as 350 Stone County residents signed a petition to have more accountability to ensure Enviva follows emission regulations. 

The board said that was the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality's job. 

Stone County is giving Enviva financial incentives to build, including a 10-year fee-in-lieu agreement - instead of paying taxes, Enviva will pay a fee. After the deal expires, the company will start paying regular taxes.

Enviva hopes to begin construction and open the plant in 2024. 

Enviva's website calls itself the "world’s largest producer of sustainable wood pellets, a renewable alternative to coal. Wood-based bioenergy is part of an all-in renewables strategy to reduce carbon emissions and limit dependence on fossil fuels."

* On March 30, the University of Southern Mississippi celebrated its 113th anniversary. It was all part of USM’s annual Founders’ Day. 

* The U.S. Interior Department has sent $353M to Ala., La., Miss. and Texas under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) for wells drilled in federal waters off those states. 

Louisiana got $156M in revenue from offshore O&G production in the Gulf of Mexico for FY 2022. Most of the money is scheduled for hurricane risk reduction projects. Each state’s share is determined by which wells are within 75 miles of their coastlines. Alabama is to receive $49.7M. Mississippi is to receive $51.8M.

Shipbuilding

Ingalls Shipbuilding division delivered the first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), to the Navy on June 27. Delivery of DDG 125 represents the official transfer of the ship from the shipbuilder to the Navy. 

* The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) hosted the Transatlantic Shipbuilding and Maritime Conference on June 28 at the University’s Gulf Park Campus in Long Beach that included 10 German shipbuilding and maritime industry suppliers. 

* In August, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) Vicksburg District recognized 150 years of service to the nation with a formal celebration at district headquarters. 

COASTAL BIZ

A cooperative alliance grain agreement was signed Aug. 29 between officials of the Port of South Louisiana (Port SL) and the Ukraine Sea Port Authority.

RWE Offshore US Gulf LLC, a US subsidiary of the German energy conglomerate RWE, offered a high bid of $5.6M for the offshore rights to acreage in federal waters near Lake Charles, La., in the first-ever Gulf Coast wind lease auction on Aug. 29. 

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management also offered nearly 200,000 acres near Galveston, Texas, but no firms submitted bids for that area.

BOEM, which oversees offshore wind leasing, awarded roughly 102,000 acres about 44 miles from Lake Charles to RWE Offshore US Gulf. Later in 2023, RWE withdrew its proposals.

* Capchem Technology USA Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Shenzhen Capchem Technology Co., announced in November it is evaluating plans to invest $350M to build an integrated carbonate solvent and lithium-ion battery electrolyte manufacturing facility in Ascension Parish. 

The project would create the largest facility of its kind in the United States and support the growth of domestic lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle supply chains.

RAIL SERVICE START

The return of passenger rail service along the Gulf Coast from New Orleans to Mobile, Ala., moved one step closer to reality on Sept. 21 when the Federal Railroad Commission authorized a $178M grant to improve the tracks and build a new platform at the Alabama site. The announcement means the service, which has been suspended since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, could resume as early as the first quarter of 2024. 

* In November, a new “last mile” Amazon facility was announced it was coming to Oktibbeha County, near Starkville, Miss. The “last mile” status of the facility set to be located within the NorthStar Industrial Park means that it will be the final stop for packages before they hit the doorsteps of customers in the area.

* In December, the Port of New Orleans says (Port NOLA) it will receive $73.77M from the federal government to assist in building the Louisiana International Terminal (LIT) project, which is designed to provide an efficient gateway for the movement of cargo on the Mississippi River and the inland waterways of the nation.

O&G SALES LEASE

After months of legal wrangling, the latest Gulf of Mexico oil and gas auction happened Dec. 20 with 26 companies submitting $441.9M worth of bids to lease tens of millions of acres for offshore drilling. 

Of that total, $382M represented successful bids, according to BOEM officials. More than 72M acres were made available. The auctions allow companies to lease space in offshore waters and explore for oil and gas. 

The American Petroleum Institute, the nation's largest oil and gas lobbying group, said those bid total was the highest for an offshore auction in nearly a decade. 

Offshore O&G auctions will be few and far between in the near future because the Biden administration’s next five-year plan for offshore leasing calls for three offshore auctions through 2029, all in the Gulf of Mexico. None will be held in 2024. 

Looking ahead to 2024. there appears to be jitters among various size companies nationally, according to a recent Resume Builder survey, and based on responses from 900+ firms. 

An overwhelming number of companies indicated layoffs are to be expected, but not all companies or industries are equally at risk. 

While 42% of midsized and 39 percent of large companies indicated layoffs ahead, only 28% of small firm business leaders said the same. 

Industry-wise, construction (66%) and software companies (65%) were far the most likely to predict layoffs. 

Information, retail and finance and insurance will likely see some turmoil, with 44% of information and retail companies and 38% of finance companies indicating potential layoffs. 

However, the Golden Triangle appears to have a "golden" opportunity for major economic news. Golden Triangle growth: A look at area's 2023 economic progress (wcbi.com)

Hang in there. Here's hoping 2024 brings more prosperity and good health throughout the region.

v/r Rod Duren, Editor

Youth mentorship training Jan. 9

Dr. David May, a sociology professor at Mississippi State University, will discuss mentorship during a Jan. 9 training and education session at Ochsner Rush Health in downtown Meridian as part of a new program targeting youth gun violence and injury prevention. 

The mentor training is part of a program being launched through a partnership between Ochsner Rush Health and Project Inspire aimed at addressing the rising violent crime among at-risk youth. The program focuses on youth intervention, mentorship and career development in helping to achieve its goals. 

The mentor training/education session will be held from 5-8 p.m. on Jan. 9 in the Third Floor Cafeteria Conference Room, known as the Window Seat Cafeteria, located in the Ochsner Rush Ambulatory Care Center. Dinner will be provided. 

May serves as a professor in the Department of Sociology at MSU and a faculty member with Mississippi State’s Center for Cyber Innovation. 

Originally introduced by University of South Alabama Health in 2017, Project Inspire is a semester-long, hospital-based injury prevention program aiming to reduce violence among at-risk youth by combining trauma center exposure, mentorship and career development. 

Through an ongoing partnership with the Meridian Youth Court, local juvenile offenders will gain unique insight into the consequences of gun violence through tours of Ochsner Rush Health’s trauma services. They will also receive Stop the Bleed® training and participate in community service projects. 

Anyone interested in attending the training session on Jan. 9 is asked to RSVP by contacting DeFatta at jason.defatta@ochsner.org. Anyone who is unable to attend the dinner meeting in person can join via Zoom. Contact DeFatta for more information. 

Project Inspire is currently looking for mentors to work with the youth. Learn more at ochsnerrush.org/inspire. They can sign up to help with the program or sign up to become a sponsor or make a donation. (Meridian Star 12/28/23)

Dec. 29 history: Woody Hayes

 Dec. 29 history

In 1812, the American frigate USS Constitution engaged and severely damaged the British frigate HMS Java off Brazil during the War of 1812.

In 1851, the first Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in the United States was founded in Boston.

In 1890, the Wounded Knee massacre took place in South Dakota as an estimated 300 Sioux Indians were killed by U.S. troops sent to disarm them.

In 1940, during World War II, Germany dropped incendiary bombs on London, setting off what came to be known as “The Second Great Fire of London.”

In 1978, during the Gator Bowl, Ohio State coach Woody Hayes punched Clemson player Charlie Bauman, who’d intercepted an Ohio State pass. (Hayes was fired the next day.)

In 1992, the United States and Russia announced agreement on a nuclear arms reduction treaty.

In 2006, word reached the United States of the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (because of the time difference, it was the morning of Dec. 30 in Iraq when the hanging took place). In a statement, President George W. Bush called the execution an important milestone on Iraq’s road to democracy.

In 2007, the New England Patriots ended their regular season with a remarkable 16-0 record following a 38-35 comeback victory over the New York Giants. (New England became the first NFL team since the 1972 Dolphins to win every game on the schedule.)

In 2016, the United States struck back at Russia for hacking the U.S. presidential campaign with a sweeping set of punishments targeting Russia’s spy agencies and diplomats.

In 2021, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted in New York of helping lure teenage girls to be sexually abused by the late Jeffrey Epstein; the verdict capped a monthlong trial featuring accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14. (Maxwell would be sentenced to 20 years in prison.)

In 2022, Brazilian soccer legend Pelé, winner of a record three World Cups and standard-bearer for “the beautiful game,” died at age 82.

'Terrifying' SW flight back to NOLA

Houma, La.-resident Lauren Fletcher, 57, considers herself an experienced traveler having flown more than 100 times and endured plenty of turbulence and bad weather. 

But she called the bird strike that crippled the engine of her Tampa-bound Southwest Airlines flight last week out of New Orleans as the most frightening flying experience by far. 

The impact on a bird strike caused one of the Boeing 737's engines to fail, sending smoke into the cabin and forcing the plane to circle back to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport for an emergency landing. 

Fletcher and her daughter, Annelle, 21, were seated near the front of Southwest Flight 554. There were 164 passengers on the plane. James Cornett, 50, of Trinity, Fla., was sitting in an exit row near the right wing. 

The plane was off the ground barely two minutes when passengers heard a "big explosion," Lauren Fletcher said. "It sounded like a bomb hit the plane." 

Bewildered passengers began noticing smoke filtering into the cabin. 

After a few minutes that some said felt like an eternity, a pilot announced they'd suffered a catastrophic failure of engine one. Like most commercial jets, the plane has two. 

Tom Gregory, of New Orleans, was flying with his parents and his 10-year-old daughter. She'd been quite brave until a woman screamed out: "I don't want to die." 

Passengers were scared, Little among them.

Little put his working knowledge of airplanes to use, explaining to the passengers the plane still had one engine and should be able to return to the New Orleans airport. 

Still, Amee Cornett texted her son in Tampa: "If something happens, I love you." 

As the plane banked back towards the airport, an anxious and intoxicated passenger became combative. 

"He got up, put his backpack on and started walking up and down the aisle. He said he was getting off the plane," said Little, whose friend persuaded the man to sit down. 

Passengers in front spotted Lake Pontchartrain during descent. 

"They thought we were crashing into the water, and they ripped their life vests out from under the seat," he said. 

Flight attendants asked everyone to get into a precautionary crash position. 

The crew then began a methodically chant: "Heads down. Stay down. Heads down. ... " 

"It was eerie," Annelle Fletcher said of the refrain, which continued until the wheels touched ground.  Then, the passengers gave their pilots and flight attendants a round of applause. 

After taxiing back to the gate, the relieved but shaken passengers disembarked, many in tears. 

"(T)here was a lot of hugging and crying," Gregory said, and quite a bit of unexpected camaraderie. 

It took Southwest agents five hours to line up another flight to Tampa, but not everyone re-boarded. 

Little's wife and friends outvoted him, and the group opted to rent a car to return to Florida. (NOLA.com 12/28/23) Passengers describe terror after plane struck bird | News | nola.com

$887M EMS contract for Austal

Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., recently received an $867.6M undefinitized contract award (UCA) for final design and construction of three Expeditionary Medical Ships (EMS) from the Navy. 

The 361-foot EMS catamarans will be manufactured in Austal USA’s aluminum manufacturing line following completion of the last Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF 16). 

The EMS, an Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) variant, is designed to be a cost-effective, dedicated medical ship optimized to provide patient holding, stabilization, evacuation, and transport in support of Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO), Austal officials said. 

The ships will feature 223 berths for crew, 34 acute care beds, six acute care isolation beds, 14 ICU beds, six ICU isolation beds, and three operating rooms. 

The EMS design features a shallow draft of 15 feet, which enables greater reach and allows for direct access to austere ports. The flight deck will accommodate military aircraft, including the V-22 and H-53K. 

Austal USA has delivered 13 EPFs, a predecessor to the EMS design, to the Navy.  

The company is preparing to deliver the first EPF Flight II, the future USNS Cody (EPF 14), which features Role 2E medical capability, and has two more Flight II vessels under construction. (Work Boat 12/28/23) 

Lasting memories of La. 2023

Burying time capsules to celebrate Lafayette's Bicentennial 200th year. 

2023 is nearing the end but some folks are making sure the memories last a lifetime. (KATC 12/28/23) Burying time capsules to celebrate Lafayette's Bicentennial 200th year (katc.com)

Miss. unemployment drops to 2.6%

GULF COAST, Miss. - The Mississippi Department of Employment Security latest unemployment figures released Dec. 28 show the state’s unemployment rate for November dropped to 2.6%. 

It’s the lowest rate for a single month since recording began in 1990. In October, the unemployment rate was 2.8%. 

In November 2022, the statewide unemployment rate was at 3.5%.

Most of the lower six counties in South Mississippi were under 3% this month. (WLOX 12/28/23) Unemployment rate under 3% in South Mississippi (wlox.com)

New laws taking effect Jan 1 in La.

 New laws taking effect Jan 1 in Louisiana (WDSU 12/28/23) New laws taking effect Jan 1 in Louisiana (wdsu.com)

Appeals court slams parish judge

A Louisiana state appeals court has found that a St. John the Baptist Parish judge violated state law in attempting to hold trials in January to determine how much the state must pay for some properties it expropriated for construction of the $309M Maurepas Swamp freshwater diversion project. 

Two 5th Circuit Court of Appeal panels, ruling in different expropriation cases, found that 40th Judicial District Judge Vercell Fiffie improperly attempted to set trials in both cases after earlier rulings ordered him to grant the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority’s expropriation requests under the state’s “quick take” provisions. 

Those allow the state to determine the value of seized property, and then provide landowners up to a year to challenge the state’s prices. (NOLA.com 12/29/23) Appeals court stops trials involving Maurepas diversion land | Courts | nola.com   

Biden administration gives La. regulators new power

The Biden Administration is handing Louisiana regulators new power to attract and approve carbon capture projects at a time when the state’s influential energy sector wants to make the Gulf Coast a hub for the rapidly expanding industry. 

Louisiana will be able to issue permits for wells that store carbon dioxide, a critical component of carbon capture and removal technology. 

In all but two other states, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for permitting. 

Proponents of the change say it will speed up approvals of new projects that are critical for reducing climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions. (The AP 12/28/23) Feds grant Louisiana power to approve carbon capture wells | Environment | nola.com

$450K Port Bienville site grant

KILN, Miss. - Governor Tate Reeves’s office announced that Mississippi is investing $450,000 in a site development grant to Port Bienville and Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission (HCPHC). This site development grant will advance the development requirements for the 475-acre Site #1 at Port Bienville.

Current investments to expand rail and water capacity strengthen the port's position for new industry and the grant will help identify needs with wastewater infrastructure for new industry and perform necessary design to permit the wetlands and reduce the timeline for new industry at Port Bienville. according to HCPHC Executive Director Blaine LaFontaine. 

Port Bienville will receive $450,000 for a wastewater capacity study, pre-engineering to increase wastewater capacity, and engineering and design to permit Site #1 for new industry at Port Bienville. (WXXV 12/28/23) Port Bienville Receives $450,000 Site Development Grant - WXXV News 25 (wxxv25.com)

Harder to access public records

A collaboration between The Associated Press and CNHI News has found it’s getting harder for the public to access information at the local government level in many states, including at school districts, townships and county boards. 

Open government advocates say high fees, delays and outright refusals from local governments are often the cause. 

Few states compile data on public records requests and laws governing open records differ by state, making a comprehensive analysis difficult. 

However, a review by David Cuillier, director of the Brechner Freedom of Information Project, from data provided by non-profit news site MuckRock found that between 2010-21, local governments’ compliance with records requests dropped by 21%. (The AP 12/21/23) Locked out of local government: Residents decry increased secrecy among towns, counties, schools | AP News