Business Blog

By Amy McCullough Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, says Mississippi’s green energy start-ups have a 90 percent chance of failing. That means Stion, Soladigm and KiOR, all of which are backed by Khosla Ventures, and all of which have been allocated tens of millions of dollars by the Mississippi Legislature, are very likely to [...]

Nationwide, Mississippians are hit hardest by rising gasoline prices, says CNN Money. Sure, Californians pay some of the highest gas prices in the nation at $3.92 per gallon. But for economic reasons, the Magnolia State has it much worse, even with prices at $3.42. Families in Mississippi are the lowest paid in the country, and [...]

By Amy McCullough For several weeks now the Mississippi Business Journal has been interested in Mississippi’s new role as a venture capitalist in the green energy sector (Soladigm, Stion and KIOR) and the risk that poses to taxpayers. The Wall Street Journal got Gov. Haley Barbour’s take on the matter at the recent WSJ-hosted ECO:nomics [...]

By WALLY NORTHWAY There’s an old Southern expression that goes, “I believe we got ‘er, if she don’t jump.” Well, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has more than jumped — it’s flip-flopped. Earlier this month, the GAO released a report that questions the cost of transferring the inspection of seafood from the Food and Drug [...]

By Amy McCullough Gov. Haley Barbour pointed at the difference between Mississippi’s stimulus and Obama’s stimulus at The Wall Street Journal’s ECO:nomics Conference in Santa Barbara, California, according to a post by the WSJ’s Marketwatch. Barbour said there has been “a lack of support from the White House for nuclear power, and a wrongheaded bias [...]

By Amy McCullough NOTE: Do not expect this post to make sense unless you’ve done a lot of prior reading. Previous posts this week: “Clear and convincing evidence?” and “He worked for us, but he didn’t really.” The Evans bankruptcy court trial concluded today with four hours of closing arguments. Closing briefs are due May [...]

By Amy McCullough Today the Mississippi Public Service Commission ruled from the bench that utilities cannot use their customers’ money to donate to charities. “They can however, allow customers to donate money on a voluntary basis through a check box on their bills. No longer will they be able to raise power or gas bills [...]

By Amy McCullough MVT attorney Bill Brabec made an unspecified motion on which Judge Olack declined to render judgment until the end of the trial. Brabec said the Bank of Forest had failed to present clear and convincing evidence regarding the claims of fraud and negligent misrepresentation. Evidence shows that “the title companies, when they [...]

By Amy McCullough State Rep. Scott Delano, R-Biloxi, introduced House Bill 1377 this session, which he says would prevent fraudulent schemes such as the commercial real estate Ponzi scheme perpetrated by the Evans brothers. HB 1377, which didn’t make it out of committee, would require all subdivisions, whether residential or commercial, to be filed in [...]

By Amy McCullough Attorneys for Mississippi Valley Title, the Bank of Forest and Heritage Bank gave opening statements yesterday for the long-awaited Evans trial in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Judge Neil Olack will rule on the case. There is no jury, and proceedings will continue through Friday (March 4). The [...]