FROM THE MBJ NEWSROOM
Business Blog
- USM, MSU do well among ‘Most Popular National Universities’
- Obama set to open up 38 million acres in Gulf to oil, gas exploration
- Iuka's J.P. Coleman State Park Wins Transient Boat Grant
- CNBC: KiOR 'bleeding cash'
- Carter Commentary: Getting us back to 'Made in America'
- Mississippi refreshes state website
- Trent Lott Endorses Mitt Romney
NATIONAL BUSINESS NEWS
Smith named president of Daniel Coker 
Roy A. Smith Jr. still remembers vividly when he first walked into the law firm of Daniel Coker Horton & Bell, P.A. as a prospective new-hire in 1982. He was fresh out of law school, where he served as student body president. With that on his résumé, it should come as little surprise that other firms [...]
THIS WEEK IN THE MBJ
Judge puts release of Barbour’s pardoned prisoners on hold
AN MBJ INVESTIGATION: DHA UNDER FIRE
Records: DHA paid Delta Council $1M for ‘administrative’ services

TODAY'S TOP STORIES
MDOT freezes city’s road funding due to auditor’s investigation of Davis
- Sara Lee closing plant; 150-plus workers left unemployed
- IP Casino lays off ‘dozens’ of workers in ‘right-sizing’
- Lawmakers debating new charter school legislation
- Hancock Holding might pay less for merger with Whitney
- Hawaii man charged with post-Katrina investment scheme
- Fitch puts Mississippi Valley Title on ‘Rating Watch Negative’
- Interior Department to sell offshore gas leases in June
- Property owner balks on homeless shelter project
- Keesler FCU gets five-star rating from Bauer Financial
MBJ INSIDERS
DIGITAL EDITIONS
Read the Jan. 16 issue of the MBJ online 
- Read the Jan. 9 issue of the MBJ online

- Read the Jan. 2 issue of the MBJ online

Must be a subscriber to view | Subscribe nowEDITORIALS
MBJ EDITORIAL: Hoping Christmas was merry and the New Year is happy 
Cleaning up from Christmas is a ritual that can last for several days as the kids — and parents — play with their new toys in the living...
- MBJ EDITORIAL: Big questions for Kemper County coal plant come down to who knew what and when

TECHNOLOGY
Moog Master 
Electronic keyboardists today from Lady Gaga to Brandon Flowers owe their careers to Bill Hemsath. While he was never a voice coach, talent...
- Infinity Science Center complete, exhibition work continues, Spring 2012 opening

- THE TECH 21

- TECH GADGET GUIDE

QUESTION & ANSWER
Q&A: Keith Jasper, founder and president, Vsporto 
Madison native Keith Jasper is founder and president of Vsporto, a start-up company focusing on team-specific, 24-hour online sports radio stations....
- Q&A: Bill Rayburn, Co-founder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of FNC Inc.

- Q&A: Dr. Martha Saunders, President, University of Southern Mississippi

- Q&A: Richard Sun, Vice chairman and chief strategy officer, Best Tech Brands

- Q&A: Eddie Smith, Co-founder, Tremoto

LAW & ACCOUNTING
In the middle of long lineage of CPAs 
Despite good salaries and job prospects in the field, sometimes college students are less than keen about going into the field of accounting....
CARTOONS
Cartoon – January 16, 2012 
- Cartoon – January 9, 2012

- Cartoon – December 26, 2011

- Cartoon – December 19, 2011

MARKET SECTORS
BANKING & FINANCE - Market Sector
Top Story
Hancock Holding might pay less for merger with Whitney
GULFPORT — Hancock Holding Corp. says it’s on track to spend less than previously projected to wrap up its merger with the former Whitney National Bank, with profit rising in the fourth quarter. The parent of Hancock Bank and Whitney Bank said it earned $19 million in 2011’s fourth quarter, up from $17 million in the [...]
MANUFACTURING/PRIVATE COMPANIES - Market Sector
Top Story
Sara Lee closing plant; 150-plus workers left unemployed
SHANNON — Sara Lee says it will close a plant in Shannon by the end of March putting 155 people out of work, according to a report by WTVA-TV. WTVA says in an email it received from Illinois-based Sara Lee, the company says the work done in Shannon will transfer to plants in Kentucky and Missouri. The [...]
ENERGY - Market Sector
Top Story
Interior Department to sell offshore gas leases in June
GULF OF MEXICO — The Department of Interior says it has set a June date for the next Gulf offshore oil and natural gas lease sale. The sale will include all available unleased areas in the Central Planning Area offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The sale will take place in New Orleans on June 20. The proposed lease [...]
HEALTH CARE - Market Sector
Top Story
Property owner balks on homeless shelter project
VICKSBURG — Plans for a transitional shelter for homeless people near the former ParkView Regional Medical Center have been scrapped. But planners tell the Vicksburg Post they will look for another site. Owners of the property where the former medical complex sits “weren’t interested in making it available for it anymore,” said Tina Hayward, executive director of [...]
GAMING/HOSPITALITY - Market Sector
Top Story
IP Casino lays off ‘dozens’ of workers in ‘right-sizing’
BILOXI — IP Casino has laid off employees at its Biloxi gambling house. General manager Jack Bernsmeier tells The Sun Herald the layoffs were modest and was “in the dozens.” Bernsmeier says the layoffs this week were across all departments. He says those workers can apply for jobs at 16 Boyd casinos in six states. Boyd operates Sam’s [...]
REAL ESTATE - Market Sector
Top Story
Hawaii man charged with post-Katrina investment scheme
MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST — Federal officials say a man in Hawaii has been charged by a grand jury in connection with an investment scheme related to rebuilding projects in areas of Mississippi affected by Hurricane Katrina. A Justice Department news release from the Jackson FBI office identifies the man as 54-year-old Dan Doyle, a resident of [...]
EDUCATION - Market Sector
Top Story
Lawmakers debating new charter school legislation
JACKSON — With even opponents conceding that a bill expanding charter schools in Mississippi is likely to pass, lawmakers are trying to hash out details of a new law. The alternative public schools promise high academic performance in exchange for freedom from rules governing regular public schools. But witnesses told House and Senate members yesterday that [...]
AGRICULTURE - Market Sector
Top Story
USDA allocates emergency funding in wake of natural disasters
ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Mississippi landowners and communities will have access to more than $5.46 million in emergency funding to restore land and property damaged in floods, tornadoes and other natural disasters last year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its allocation of $308 million in federal emergency funding approved by Congress last November as part of [...]
NEWSMAKERS
Biggest Loser’s Patrick House partners with WellnessPlus
- William Pittman Andrews has been named director of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art
- Former Mississippi State place kicker joins Community Bank in Tupelo
- Harlow, Kirkpatrick, Sorge named to SPR Hall of Fame
- Alcorn State’s Dania has work published by International Journal of Business and Social Sciences
- Fellowship named for Truett S. Bufkin
- Don Smith inks deal as new marketing coordinator for People Lease
- Ebersole honored for service at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- Wilson elected to EVP for Georgia Power
- Stribling, Upton ink deals with Cadence Bank







