SunHerald.com : Cheap living on Coast is over

SunHerald.com : Cheap living on Coast is over: "The days of people of modest means living near the lapping waters of the Mississippi Sound may be drawing to an end, Barbour conceded when asked. Mississippi was one of the last places in the country where such was still the case."

SunHerald.com : Barbour declares Friday day of mourning for Va Tech students

SunHerald.com : Barbour declares Friday day of mourning for Va Tech students: "Gov. Haley Barbour, in conjunction with other governors across the nation, has officially proclaimed Friday, April 20, 2007, as a statewide 'Day of Mourning' in remembrance of the victims of the recent Virginia Tech tragedy.

As part of the 'Day of Mourning,' the Governor is asking for all bells to chime at 11 a.m. as a sign of respect for the victims and their families."

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Barbour Defends Mississippi's Share Of Federal Money For Katrina Recovery

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Barbour Defends Mississippi's Share Of Federal Money For Katrina Recovery: "Mississippi's Republican governor, Haley Barbour, dismisses criticism from the Democratic governor of Louisiana about the role partisanship might've played in getting federal relief to the neighboring states since Hurricane Katrina.

Barbour told The Associated Press that Mississippi made more reasonable requests for federal aid and is further along in distributing federally funded recovery grants to homeowners."

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: News & Video

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: News & Video: "FEMA Extends Housing Deadline Through August 2007
Governor Haley Barbour announced late Friday afternoon that FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security will extend the Katrina temporary housing program by six months through the end of August 2007. Barbour requested a year-long extension back in December. The official announcement by the Department of Homeland Security is expected early next week."

No check but local officials pleased with Barbour meeting

No check but local officials pleased with Barbour meeting: "City officials' attempt this week to persuade Gov. Haley Barbour to give them more of $500 million in Hurricane Katrina recovery money didn't result in a signed check.

'He told us, If you thought you were coming (to Jackson) to get the money, you're not,'' Gautier city councilman-at-large Jeff Wilkinson said.

Still, Wilkinson said the Wednesday meeting with Barbour and a delegation of officials from Jackson County's four cities was well worth it.

'I was pleased with the outcome,' Wilkinson said. 'We feel like our chances are better after the meeting than before.'

Wilkinson joined mayors and city officials from Ocean Springs, Moss Point and Pascagoula who raised concerns about the $500 million Gulf Regional Water and Wastewater Plan."

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Job Training Initiative Includes Free Construction Classes

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Job Training Initiative Includes Free Construction Classes: "So much to build and not enough builders. Governor Haley Barbour says rebuilding here is suffering because of a tremendous shortage of qualified construction workers. That's why on Monday the governor threw his support behind an initiative called 'I'm GREAT.' GREAT is an acronym for Gulf Rebuild: Education, Advancement and Training. The goal is to train 20,000 Gulf Coast residents from Texas to Mississippi in basic construction over the next three years."

The Sun Herald | 08/29/2006 | Barbour proclaims mourning period through Sept. 1 Flags to be flown at half-staff

The Sun Herald | 08/29/2006 | Barbour proclaims mourning period through Sept. 1 Flags to be flown at half-staff: "WHEREAS, at landfall the brunt of the hurricane's destructive force was unleashed on the Mississippi Coast, wiping out more than 80 miles of coastline and leaving in its wake 70,000 uninhabitable, often obliterated homes and destroying thousands of small businesses, schools, public buildings and infrastructure such as highways, ports, railroads, and water and sewer systems; and

WHEREAS, the storm continued inland for more than 150 miles, changing forever the State's physical landscape; and

WHEREAS, the level of devastation to human life and property was unprecedented with more than 230 Mississippians losing their lives to the fury of the storm; and

WHEREAS, the anniversary of the first year since Katrina is an appropriate time to memorialize the lives lost; and

WHEREAS, the prayers of the people of the State are with the families and friends of the victims of Hurricane Katrina, NOW, THEREFORE, I, Haley Barbour, by the authority vested in me as Governor by the Constitution and laws of the State of Mississippi, do hereby proclaim a period of official mourning in the State of Mississippi and do hereby order all flags of the United States of America and the State of Mississippi be flown at half-staff on all buildings and grounds of the State of Mississippi and all areas under its jurisdiction beginning August 29, 2006, and ending September 1, 2006."

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Barbour, Others Stress Coast Housing Needs At MPA Gathering

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Barbour, Others Stress Coast Housing Needs At MPA Gathering: "Gov. Haley Barbour and members of his recovery commission gave a positive face Friday to the efforts of government, faith-based organizations, businesses and individuals in rebuilding the Mississippi Gulf Coast but spotlighted housing as the region's most pressing need.

'Housing. Housing. Housing. Housing is such an integral factor,'' said Joe Cloyd of the Mississippi Development Authority as he joined others on a panel at the Mississippi Press Association's annual meeting in identifying housing as the major constraint to the recovery effort on the coast.

Barbour told the meeting of newspaper editors and publishers at the Imperial Palace Hotel in Biloxi that 'housing is going to be the long pole in the tent of recovery.''

Hurricane Katrina destroyed 70,000 homes and left 65,000 others with significant damage in the six counties that make up the state's coastal region, said Anthony Topazi, president and CEO of Mississippi Power Co., who also was a vice chairman of the recovery commission.

Those losses are significant, Barbour said, because 2,800 is the maximum number of houses ever built in Mississippi in one year.

'Even if we triple that it would take 10 years,'' Barbour said. 'We want to do it in five years.''"

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Governor Vetoes Cigarette-Grocery Tax Bill

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Governor Vetoes Cigarette-Grocery Tax Bill: "'People have to eat. People don't have to smoke,'' said Jennifer Cofer, division director of programs for the American Lung Association of Mississippi."

Albeit the above statement from Ms. Cofer was made in good faith and could be true in some rare instances, I found it to be ludicrous. People can also give up going to the cinema, on vacations, sending their children to private schools, paying their bills, filling vehicles with gasoline, trying their luck at gambling, and drinking alcoholic beverages. I do not advocate smoking but I do believe in freedom of choice and when it is "forced" , then others have chosen for you.

Republican Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck proposed the changes saying that the 7 percent tax on groceries is "cruel and regressive."

I agree with Governor Barbour on both issues creating a further financial burden on a state that is in recovery mode and will be for many years to come.