WASHINGTON — Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) are pressing the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) to establish a public information campaign to alert homeowners to the potential fire hazards posed by corrosive drywall imported from China.
Cochran and Wicker are among six Senators who today asked the USFA, an agency within the Federal [...] [...]
JACKSON — Gov. Haley Barbour says he prefers strengthening construction along Mississippi’s coastal counties to lower insurance rates rather than subsidizing insurance policies through the wind pool program.
“Since Katrina I have emphasized the need to build back stronger than before,” Barbour said. “Working with the insurance commissioner, we’re putting $20 million into helping people upgrade [...] [...]
JACKSON — Gov. Haley Barbour has vetoed a wind pool bill because he says it is unnecessary.
The bill did not include any money.
It would’ve added two years to a plan that diverted $20 million in insurance premium tax revenues into the Mississippi Windstorm Underwriting Association Reinsurance Assistance Fund, commonly called the wind pool.
The original diversion [...] [...]
The Feb. 2010 Mortgage Monitor report, released by Lender Processing Services Inc., shows that while delinquency rates in the U.S. have risen to historic highs, the pace of deterioration has slowed. However, the nation’s housing market remains far from a full recovery, and Mississippi has the third-highest non-current loans in the nation.
Based on data extrapolated [...] [...]
LOS ANGELES — The National Association of Home Builders says its housing market index slipped in March, as harsh winter weather and competition from foreclosed properties hurt builders’ sales prospects.
The Washington-based trade association said Monday its index slipped two points to 15, back to its January level.
Readings below 50 indicate negative sentiment about the market. [...] [...]
TUPELO — Copeland & Johns Inc, of Jackson is building a new facility for Community Bank in Tupelo. The site is at the intersection of North Gloster Street and Lakeshire Drive.
The cost of the project was not disclosed.
Copeland & Johns estimates completion of construction by July 1. Jackson-based Dean and Dean/Associates Architects designed the three-story, [...] [...]
JACKSON — Congress Street Bar & Grill will take over the space recently vacated by Tye’s Restaurant & Bar on the corner of Congress and Amite streets in downtown Jackson’s Plaza building.
Debbie Rankin, also owner of Basil’s downtown, said she hopes to open the new casual dining venue in mid-April. Congress Street will be open [...] [...]
The nation’s nonresidential building construction sector lost 9,600 jobs in February, according to the March 5 employment report by the U.S. Labor Department. Since Feb. 2009, the sector has shed 101,700 jobs, or 13.3 percent.
Employment in nonresidential construction now stands at 661,600.
Hit the hardest was the nonresidential specialty trade sector, which lost 34,900 jobs last [...] [...]
MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST — The U.S. Senate has approved two amendments to expand and extend Gulf Opportunity Zone (GO Zone) tax benefits that are important to Gulf Coast recovery, according to U.S. Senators Roger Wicker and Thad Cochran.
The Senate accepted the two amendments by unanimous consent as part of the Tax Extenders Act (H.R. 4213), [...] [...]
MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST — The Mississippi Development Authority Disaster Recovery Division (MDA DRD) and the Gulf Coast Housing Resource Centers have launched an online listing of all available affordable rental units provided through MDA’s Small Rental Assistance Program (SRAP), Public Housing Assistance and Long Term Workforce Housing (LTWH) programs.
“This initiative called, the Housing Entry and [...] [...]
