Forbes Magazine has released its rankings of the Best States for Business. And Mississippi is two rungs from the bottom of the barrel, spared only by West Virginia and Louisiana, uh, respectively. The Magnolia State ranked 48th, with Southern brethren in North Carolina, Texas and Virginia topping the list. The Charleston (W.V.) Daily Mail cogitates on what it all means.
Jack Davis, editor of The Courant in Hartford, Conn., has made several post-Katrina visits to the Gulf Coast. After his most recent, he offered this essay on recovery efforts and Mississippi and much of Louisiana is well on its way back. But he worries New Orleans could burn through the billions in federal aid with relatively little to show for it.
Both chambers of the Mississippi Legislature this week passed resolutions commending The Sun Herald for being awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for public service. The paper, meanwhile, is undertaking a massive five-part special to commemorate the first anniversary of the storm, while keeping a wary eye on Tropical Storm Ernesto, which, as of Sunday, was churning through the Caribbean Ocean.
The First 48 Hours: The Sun-Herald staff revisits the initial horror of the storm and the agonizing day that followed its brutal impact on the Gulf Coast near Waveland and Bay St. Louis.
Where We Are: It’s hard to say where we are a year after Hurricane Katrina, but for most people it’s in between. Dick and Nola Dickens of Long Beach are in between a travel trailer and their home. They’ve posted a sign that proclaims “We’re baaack smaller n poorer.”
Where We’re Going: The paper examines progress going forward and how long it will take the region to overcome the challenges that linger. The Governor’s Commission Report ponders: “Will we get it right this time?”
Later this week, the paper delves into stories telling of the countless volunteers and the heroic efforts of survivors.
Richard A. Schneider, new editor of the Pensacola News Journal, mulled the state of the print business while traversing U.S. 45 from Tennessee through Mississippi and Alabama to Florida and why he chose to leave his job as the top of the editorial heap at the Jackson (Tenn.) Sun in exchange for the sandy beaches of Florida. Because, he says, the News Journal “gets it.”
Clarion-Ledger executive editor Ronnie Agnew comments on the marked changes on the Gulf Coast in the time since national news crews pulled p stakes and moved recovery from Katrina off their newscasts and front pages. Coast residents knew the time would come for the obligatory anniversary obsvervances, and they’re doing their best to embrace the media now returning to the area.
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