MPA/MPS Summer Convention

Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann will appear before the MPA membership during a general session at the group’s 142nd Annual Convention this month in Biloxi.

Elected last November to succeed three-term Secretary Eric Clark, Hosemann, a Republican, is a Vicksburg native. He attended Notre Dame, earned his law degree from Ole Miss and studied taxation at NYU. He is a business attorney and former partner at Phelps Dunbar LLP.

In 2006, Hosemann received the George L. Phillips Community Service Award from the US Department of Justice in appreciation for his unfailing and distinguished service as Project Safe Neighborhoods steering committee chairman and for leadership in the districts Anti Gang Initiative and Hurricane Katrina First Responder Assistance Project. He was also named one of the Best Lawyers in America by his peers for 18 consecutive years, elected President of the Jackson Young Lawyers in 1977 and Secretary of the Hinds County Bar in 1980. He is a member of the Mississippi Bar Taxation Committee, the Hinds County Bar, and the American Bar Association.

Hosemann ran for Congress in 1998, served on the US Electoral College in 2000 and chaired the Capital Foundation of the Mississippi Republican Party. He also chaired the US Department of Justice’s Safe Neighborhood Project for the Southern District of Mississippi.

Some terrific items have been donated for the 2008 Silent Auction to benefit the MPA Education Foundation. But we’re still in need of donations, so plan to bring a gift item from your newspaper that represents your community and interests. Download the donation form.

Items donated thus far include an Ole Miss football autographed by Archie and Eli Manning (courtesy of the Rankin County News); a night’s stay and dinner for two at the Beau Rivage (courtesy of Beau Rivage); a Viking blender (courtesy of Viking Range Corp.); and an iPod Shuffle (courtesy of American Profile).

Proceeds from the auction help underwrite the internships and grants for services awarded each year by the Foundation. For more information, contact Kimberly Haydu.

Blues-rock sensation Hootie and the Blowfish will perform at the Hard Rock Casino on Thursday, June 26 at 8pm. A limited number of tickets are available for the show. The group burst on to the scene in 1995 with hits from their first album “Cracked Rear View.” Some of the groups notable hits include “Only Wanna Be With You,” “Hold My Hand,” and “Let Her Cry.”

A few tickets are also available to members for Tom Jones in concert at the Beau Rivage the evening of June 26 at 8:00. To reserve a ticket through MPA’s block, contact Kimberly Haydu.

Mark Williams, publisher of the Bolivar Commercial in Cleveland, has been nominated for a three-year term on the MPA/MPS Board of Directors. His nomination will be voted on by the Board and the general membership during its 142nd Annual Convention June 26-28 in Biloxi.

Williams began his newspaper career with the Commercial in 1983 as circulation manager. In 1989 he took on additional duties as assistant to the publisher and in 1999 assumed to role of advertising manager.

He was named editor and publisher of the Commercial in 2001 following the retirement of Norman Van Liew, former MPA president and a member of the Association’s Hall of Fame.

Williams from Delta State University in 1983 with a degree in business. He currently serves as president of the Cleveland-Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce and Vice-President of the Bolivar County Literacy Council. He currently serves as a member of the MPA Education Foundation Board of Directors.

An active member of Morrison Chapel Baptist church, Williams and his wife Beverly have 2 children, Jennifer, 21, and Reed, 19.

PRESS Camp 2008 for tots and toddlers promises to be fun and entertaining during this year’s 142nd Annual Convention. The two days of activity and entertainment is open to children whose parents are attending the MPA event at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi.

Click here to download information, including a permission form and agenda.

This year’s PRESS Camp counselors are familiar to kids and parents who have taken part in the fun during recent conventions in Biloxi.

Chelsea Fortenberry worked for the Fun Factory for two years. She is a 2006 graduate of Biloxi High School where she played in the band and was on the Flag Team. During the summers, Chelsea volunteers at Camp Sunshine, a facility for physically and mentally challenged individuals. She just finished her second year at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College where she is a cheerleader and is working on her major in Elementary Education and Special Education.

Ashley Brown just finished her sophomore year at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College where she is currently working on her major in Deaf Education. Ashley has worked with the Fun Factory as an employee and camp counselor for about a year. During the summers, Ashley also volunteers as a camp counselor at Camp Sunshine.

The PRESS Camp agenda includes an off-site movie on Thursday, visits to Miramar Park and Chuck E. Cheese on Friday, and a visit to Lynn Meadows Discovery Center and swimming on Saturday.

For more information on PRESS Camp, contact Kimberly Haydu.

The cutoff date to reserve rooms at the Beau Rivage under the MPA group rate is June 3, next Tuesday. For more information or to make reservations, click here.

Pop and rock icon Tom Jones will perform at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino June 26, the opening night of the MPA 142nd Annual Convention. Showtime is 8pm and follows the MPA opening reception from 6-7:30 p.m.

MPA has blocked a limited number of tickets on behalf of members. Contact Kimberly Haydu if you are interested.

According to allmusicguide.com, Jones became one of the most popular vocalists to emerge from the British Invasion. Since the mid-’60s, “Jones has sung nearly every form of popular music — pop, rock, show tunes, country, dance, and techno, he’s sung it all.”

Some of his best known hits include “It’s Not Unusual,” “What’s New Pussycat,” “Without Love,” “Green, Green Grass of Home,” and a cover of Prince’s “Kiss.”

When visiting the Mississippi Gulf Coast for the MPA Convention next month, be sure to explore the area for great dining, shopping and recreation. Check out these statistics for the continuing recovery of the area, provided by the Gulf Coast Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

Thursday evening, June 26 is “Dinner on Your Own,” so choose wisely from the area’s many terrific restaurants.

Make your reservations for the 142nd Annual Convention at the Beau Rivage before June 3. Click here for hotel contact information and rates, or to reserve your room online.

For decades, rural areas had three great advantages in recruiting and retaining jobs: Low taxes, low land costs and low wages. The first two are not as big as they were, and the third one has largely been eliminated by economic globalization, so many rural communities are suffering economically. The Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues believes that newspapers should not only help their readers understand these issues, but look for proper opportunities to guide the economic future of their communities. That future includes the future of newspapers, so this is an area where good journalism can also be good business. But it can also present special challenges. Al Cross, director of the Institute, will talk about how to turn such challenges into opportunities.

Cross is director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky, which seeks to help rural media define the public agenda in their communities and report on regional issues. He is an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications at UK, in the Extension Title series, and says his short job description is “extension agent for rural journalists.”

He was the elected national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, the nation’s oldest, broadest and largest journalism organization, from October 2001 to September 2002, after holding several other leadership positions in SPJ. He is a member of the Ethics Committee and a director of SPJ’s Sigma Delta Chi Foundation.

Cross became the Institute’s first staff member in August 2004, after more than 26 years as a reporter at The Courier-Journal, the last 15½ as chief political writer. He still writes a twice-monthly column for the Louisville paper. His awards include a share of the Pulitzer Prize won by The C-J staff in 1989 for coverage of the nation’s deadliest bus crash.

Cross was born in Knoxville, Tenn., and grew up in Albany, Ky.

Attend Al Cross’ session over continental breakfast the morning of Saturday, June 28 at 8 a.m.