CD: College Board leader: We’re not talking consolidation

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

JACKSON — More than 200 supporters of Mississippi’s historically black universities packed a Capitol committee room Thursday, all hoping for answers about what the future holds for the schools in these tough economic times.

Dozens of students and alumni filled rows of wooden chairs and stood in aisles and along walls. After a nearly two-hour budget presentation by Higher Education Commissioner Hank Bounds, Democratic Sen. Alice Harden of Jackson finally asked the question the crowd wanted to hear: What is the College Board’s position on Gov. Haley Barbour’s proposal to merge Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State universities into Jackson State University?

“Go on now,” one man called from the audience.

“There has been no conversation about that particular subject,” Bounds answered. “Our focus has been on building business models for eight institutions to weather the storm.”

As College Board president Scott Ross stepped to the microphone, some spectators leaned forward in their chairs.

“Based on private conversations that we’ve had with members of the Legislature as well as many public comments that we’ve seen by members of the Legislature, we have assumed that the merger idea is dead on arrival in this Capitol, and there is no reason for us to discuss it,” Ross said. “And we haven’t.

Read complete article at Commercial Dispatch.

CD: Lawmakers weigh in on school district merger plan

JASON BROWNE

State legislators continue to talk about what they’re not going to do with regard to education.

While the state faces a $400 million budget shortfall this fiscal year, lawmakers are tasked with solving an even bigger financial mess for fiscal year 2011. But even after the Senate passed a resolution Wednesday giving Gov. Haley Barbour power to make another 10-percent budget cut to agencies, both houses continue to struggle to find ways to trim the state’s education budget.

The latest idea to get shot down, following university mergers, is the governor’s recommendation to merge one-third of the state’s 152 school districts. Lawmakers point out no actions can be completely written off until the session is finished, but they insist support for district consolidation is negligible.

“I don’t see any groundswell in the House or Senate to consolidate school districts,” said Sen. Terry Brown, R-Columbus. “That doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen.”

Read complete article at Commercial Dispatch.

CD: As frozen pipes begin to thaw, area plumbers and water companies scramble to fix leaks, other problems

ALLEN BASWELL

As a result of the recent frigid temperatures the Golden Triangle and other area of Mississippi have experienced, plumbers and public service workers have been busier than normal dealing with frozen and busted water pipes to homes and businesses.

Todd Gale, General Manager of Columbus Light and Water, said as of Tuesday, his department has responded to more than 200 calls from customers with pipe problems, including one at City Hall.

“On Tuesday, we got a call from City Hall saying they had a busted water pipe in their basement area. They had over four to six feet of water, and we had to cut off the water in order to clean it up. Everything is in working order,” he said.

Gale said when his workers come across a major break in a water line, they work to repair it immediately,

“Any small leak that customers experience can be reported to our office, and we will go from there,” he said.

Read complete article at Commercial Dispatch.

CD: Residents should ready for single-digit temps, possibility of sleet, snow

ALLEN BASWELL

Amid the arctic blast of winter weather that has put a vise-like grip on this area, people should make preparations in order to take care of plants, vegetation, water pipes and themselves.

Forecasters say residents should brace for subfreezing temperatures and the potential for nasty driving conditions in the coming days. Temperatures could drop as low as zero by this weekend in extreme northeast Mississippi.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for portions of east and north central Mississippi today and a winter weather advisory for other parts of the state.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Ariel Cohen said north Mississippi could see accumulations of as much as 2 inches of snow Thursday. Snow, sleet and freezing rain were expected in central Mississippi with smaller chances of frozen precipitation further south.

The conditions could lead to hazardous driving conditions and school closings in parts of the state.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation is preparing for ice on bridges and other hazardous conditions with dozens of workers and equipment on standby.

Read complete article at Commercial Dispatch.

CD: Brr! It’s cold in north Mississippi, and getting colder

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

It’s painfully cold in Mississippi and it’s going to get worse.

Residents should brace for subfreezing temperatures and the potential for some nasty driving conditions in the next few days. Low temperatures could hit single digits in parts of the state with a possible wind chill of 0 degrees in north Mississippi by Friday.

National Weather Service meteorologist Ariel Cohen said there’s a 90 percent chance of snow in north Mississippi as early as Wednesday night. Watch out for possible snow, sleet and freezing rain in central Mississippi late Wednesday and into Thursday and showers in the south with a smaller chance of snow, he said.

Forecasters aren’t sure how much snow could fall. Cohen said it could be as much as 1-2 inches in north Mississippi.

Read complete article at Commercial Dispatch.

University mergers: You knew it was coming

The talk is on again about merging universities in the current economic climate. The Ledger reports about very preliminary discussions, citing a MSU/MUW and DSU/Valley combo as the most probable.

Good thing? Bad thing? Can the state support 8 higher ed institutions?

Fun with redistricting

Oktibbeha County has a lot in common with Franklin County, right? According to this article, redistricting the third Congressional district into a slash across the state makes sense, lumping them under the same representation.

NEMS360: Slugburger part of Northeast Mississippi

NEMS360.com profiles the famous slugburger in a piece from late last week.

by Carlie Kollath/NEMS Daily Journal

While America has the hamburger, Northeast Mississippi offers a distinctly different option – the slugburger.

The slugburger – or the doughburger – was a product of the Great Depression, when cooks added extenders like flour, potato flakes, corn meal or grits to stretch the meat, which could be pork or beef. The formed patties were then deep fried and served on a bun with pickles, mustard and onions.

Local lore has several different stories for the name “slugburger,” but the most popular says the name came about in reference to the cost of the burger – 5 cents. Back then, a “slug” was slang for a nickel.

Decades have passed, and the doughburger has hung on in Northeast Mississippi. It is celebrated at two local festivals: the Dudie Burger Festival, which marked its fifth year in May, and the Slugburger Festival in Corinth, which marked its 22nd year last week.

“It really is a regional delicacy,” said Kelly Rinehart, the director of Corinth’s Main Street program. “I don’t know of any other place that has them. Maybe some transplants might serve them, but they are pretty regional.”

There isn’t much difference between a slugburger or a doughburger, but Rinehart recommends checking the menu to see what the restaurant calls it before making a faux pas and ordering a doughburger at a slugburger joint.

Kenneth McGehee, curator of the Oren Dunn Museum, which hosts the Dudie Burger Festival, agreed. But he leans toward calling them doughburgers – the category he thinks Tupelo-created Dudie burgers belong.

“There’s not that much of a difference, but Dudie burgers are so much better,” he said with a big laugh.

At most doughburger places, beef burgers also are sold, but you have to specify you want a beef burger. Rinehart says slugburgers are by far more popular than beef burgers in Corinth, but nationally, beef burgers are feeling the love.

May is National Burger Month. Web sites abound with exaltations about the food in all its various forms.

Burger clubs are spread throughout the country, with The New York Times writing about burger clubs in the Big Apple several times. In fact, in May, the Times and New York Magazine wrote about the Burger of the Month Club and Burger Club New York.

Magazines like the Food Network Magazine frequently do stories on the nation’s best burgers. In the June/July issue of the periodical, popular chef Bobby Flay picked out the burgers he thought were the “most exciting, interesting, wacky or otherwise fabulous” in each state. They were called the “one burger you absolutely have to try in every state.”

Mississippi’s burger? The slugburger at White Trolley Cafe in Corinth. For 85 cents, it’s a bargain compared with others listed upward of $10.

CD: ‘Critical’ time for state’s crops

JULY 6, 2009

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

JACKSON — Mississippi farmers who saw vital planting time washed away by persistent spring showers are now in desperate need of rain as heat and abnormally dry conditions threaten to reduce grain crop yields significantly.

The wet weather that kept farmers out of the field had already dimmed the prospects of a stellar planting season, experts say. Since that time, the rain has been replaced with heat and dry conditions as grain crops, especially corn, have hit a critical period.

In May, Ernie Flint, an agronomist for the Mississippi State University Extension Service, was worried about heavy showers with the planting of summer crops crawling at a slow pace.

“Did we ever do a roundabout there,” said Flint, a farm extension agent for Carroll County, which is located in the Mississippi Delta and Attala County, which just on the edge of the Delta. “There are people in my area that haven’t had a measurable rain in almost two months. When it quit, it quit entirely.”

With most corn already through the germination and seedling and reproductive stages, farmers need rain for the crop to complete its kernel development.

Read complete article at Commercial Dispatch.

Looks like the lights will be kept on

The Legder is reporting that our esteemed elected leaders have finally done their job and agreed on a budget.

Maybe they can start NOW working on next year’s budget, since it has taken almost 6 months to get this one done.

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