EDITORIAL: An Editorial Review Of
By The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.
Dec. 31–2006
January
Hurricane Katrina dominated the Sun Herald’s editorial space during 2006, and did so from the start.
On New Year’s Day, we again questioned the wisdom of replacing the highway bridge between Biloxi and Ocean Springs with an oversized monstrosity.
Two days later, when the Mississippi Legislature convened, we called on all 174 of the state’s lawmakers to see South Mississippi for themselves. With the 2007 session set to convene on Tuesday, we renew that suggestion. The amount of work left to be done here still must be seen to be appreciated.
We also repeat our plea to the national media not to ignore, out of ignorance or indifference, the full scope and scale of the consequences of Katrina’s devastation.
February
An entire editorial page was devoted to asking the Mississippi Department of Transportation: Why won’t MDOT adhere to its own principles? We are still waiting on an adequate answer to that question.
Most of an editorial page was used to remind officials and their constituents that “nothing — absolutely nothing — requires public officials to huddle together in secret. State law specifies 11 reasons why public officials may go into executive session. State law does not specify even one reason why public officials must go into executive session.”
We commended Bay St. Louis and Waveland for seeking expert advice on a municipal merger. And we are mystified by the Stennis Institute of Government’s recent decision to postpone its analysis of such a merger.
We saluted Long Beach for adopting International Building Code guidelines — and we kept encouraging cities and county’s to accept FEMA’s revised flood maps and elevations.
The first editorial concerning the fatal beating of Jessie Lee Williams Jr. while in custody at the Harrison County jail on Feb. 4 is published on Feb. 14. It called on Sheriff George H. Payne Jr. and District Attorney Cono Caranna to make an investigation into Williams’ death their top priority. (The latest editorial concerning Williams’ death, but hardly the last, took up the entire editorial page on Wednesday of last week.)
March
We endorse — and still support — the Gulf Region Water Utility Authority, “an integrated system for water, wastewater, storm water and solid waste management infrastructure for George, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River and Stone counties.” As Leland Speed, then the executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority, put it: “We have one chance right now to get this right.”
The second editorial about the death of Jessie Lee Williams Jr. asks: “What if Williams had been a jailer? Would District Attorney Cono Caranna and Sheriff George Payne and others in law enforcement still have let a month go by without any answers?”
We endorse the idea of a national registry to track missing persons after a disaster.
By a three-to-two vote, the Hancock County Board of Supervisors adopts building codes for the unincorporated areas of the county, a safety measure voters had rejected at least twice since Hurricane Camille. It was, in our opinion, a singular act of political courage in the aftermath of Katrina.
Cash, we opine, is still the best thing you can give a public library struggling to recover from Katrina.
We take exception to The Washington Post’s suggestion that Mississippi was “looting from Louisiana” by asking for a share of federal assistance.
In recognition of Sunshine Week, we underscore our support of the public’s right to know what public officials are up to.
“Downtown Gulfport needs an elevated vision, not an elevated roadway” we declare in another editorial questioning MDOT’s willingness to cooperate with local officials in the rebuilding effort.
April
A third editorial about Jessie Lee Williams Jr. asks: When will the silence and the secrecy surrounding the Williams case be shattered? As it turns out, not until August.
Community support intensifies for MDOT “to elevate the discussion, not the roadway” in Gulfport.
Despite the obstacles, we again rally behind the notion of creating a new east-west traffic corridor in Harrison County and turning U.S. 90 into a truly scenic boulevard along the beach.
Optimism surrounds Mayor A.J. Holloway’s Reviving the Renaissance effort in Biloxi. In the months to come, we will wonder if we were overly optimistic.
On April 16 we asked: Has an Easter Sunday ever dawned on South Mississippi when the thought of resurrection was more appropriate? To arise from death is a miracle reserved for the gospels. to rise from the ruin of Hurricane Katrina may require little less than a miracle. It certainly requires faith.
We ask that the GO Zone go on a little longer — a request that Congress would grant in December.
The best “barrier island” is knowledge, we advise, as the Coast contemplates the beginning of the 2006 hurricane season.
The fourth editorial about Jessie Lee Williams Jr. asks — in headline size type: When will SOMEBODY be held ACCOUNTABLE for the FATAL BEATING inflicted on JESSIE LEE WILLIAMS JR. while he was in POLICE CUSTODY more than 12 WEEKS AGO?
May
Finally, at least in Gulfport, MDOT begins to listen to South Mississippians and lowers — literally — plans for a new highway into the downtown area.
A plea to adopt FEMA flood maps and elevations takes up the entire editorial page on May 7, under the headline: Get real about the risk.
An incorporated community dominated by casino and condo speculation and dubbed “Paradise Bay,” we are convinced, is the last thing Hancock County needs right now.
On May 14, we called on Pass Christian Mayor Billy McDonald to resign “due to his continuing lack of leadership during an unprecedented municipal disaster.” Two weeks later he said he would and, on July 1, he did.
Why, we wondered, was it taking so long to clear the debris from our waters?
We voice our objections to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians’ attempt to use their tribal status to circumvent the state’s gaming law by opening an unregulated, untaxed casino in Jackson County.
We lament the increasing loss of young life on South Mississippi roadways — and suggest ways that more lives could be saved.
June
We took comfort in the news that the trustees of the state’s public universities were determined to bring back higher education to South Mississippi. Of late, we have been uncomfortable with how the trustees are going about doing that.
We welcome the creation of the Gulf Coast Business Council, established to promote and advance the economic vitality and quality of life of our region.
We come to the defense of FEMA, contending that the agency did not invent stupid behavior and should not be held responsible for the criminality of others.
With a huge “WHOA!” on the front page, we announce our opposition to the Long Beach referendum on casinos. Most voters ignore our advice.
We continue to oppose amending the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, even to protect Old Glory.
July
One word, repeated three times — “Housing, housing, housing” — was all the headline needed on one editorial.
A fifth editorial about Jessie Lee Williams Jr. pleads for information about the investigation into his death.
We let loose on FEMA officials who insist on conducting public business in secret.
We use the front page to promote a sixth editorial demanding justice for Jessie Lee Williams Jr.
We encourage Biloxi to hold the line on casino sites.
August
On Aug. 2, a seventh editorial about Jessie Lee Williams Jr. questions the delay in releasing information about the investigation into his death. On Aug. 6, an eighth editorial acknowledges that someone in the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department is finally being held responsible for Williams’ death. On Aug. 9, in a ninth editorial, we call on Sheriff George H. Payne Jr. to address concerns about the operation of the Harrison County jail. On Aug. 30, in a tenth editorial, privatizing the operation of the Harrison County jail enters into the discussion of Williams’ death.
When, we ask, is Wal-Mart going to announce its intentions in Pass Christian? It still hasn’t.
We encourage supporters of the region’s public libraries to lobby public officials for funding.
How dare DuPont dump PFOA on Mississippi!
A series of editorials mark the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
September
We defend selling “The Good Sex Bible” at a book store in Singing River Mall in Gautier.
We champion state support of community colleges.
We want those convicted of Katrina-related fraud to be punished with more — much more — than probation. And we laud the mission of the Mississippi Access to Justice Commission.
We fear that some officials in Biloxi want to take the wheels off the Reviving the Renaissance bandwagon. Meanwhile, recovery is on a roll in Pascagoula.
October
Some Hancock County supervisors tarnish their reputations with an ill-advised attempt to hold a secret meeting.
Choctaws should compete in the South Mississippi casino market slot-to-slot — or not at all.
Expel gun-toting students from school.
A salute to Keesler Air Force Base, and kudos for KaBoom!
November
What will be the fate of the Gulfport Public Library, one of several public libraries in South Mississippi destroyed by Katrina?
A congressman from New York City asked, “Who the hell wants to live in Mississippi?” And we saluted a congressman from Mississippi — Chip Pickering — for answering.
Trent Lott is back, as he puts it, “herding cats.”
The highs and lows of rebuilding the Pass.
WHEW! Hurricane season ends uneventfully.
December
Publisher Ricky Mathews’ full-page column on Dec. 3 asks “Where does Biloxi go from here?” It leads to a series of editorials later in the month dealing with our efforts to recover, rebuild and renew our lives and landscape.
George County flushes millions of federal dollars down the drain by withdrawing from the regional water district.
Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr says “something great” may be the fate of his city’s downtown library.
Oreck keeps pouring salt in Long Beach’s wound.
The eleventh editorial of the year dealing with the death of Jessie Lee Williams Jr. asks Sheriff George H. Payne Jr.: What did you know about the abuse of inmates at the Harrison County jail? When did you know it? And what did you plan to do about it?
Perhaps 2007 will provide the answers.
The editorials described above represented the views of the Sun Herald editorial board: President-Publisher Ricky R. Mathews, Vice President and Executive Editor Stan Tiner, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Flora S. Point, Opinion Page Editor Marie Harris and Associate Editor Tony Biffle.
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.
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