Biloxi post-Katrina-rebuilding survey

Survey: 80 percent of Biloxians satisfied with city direction, progress

More than 80 percent of Biloxians think the city is on the right track, and just as many people say they are satisfied with ongoing progress of the city’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
The results are from a poll of 500 Biloxi residents made by Market Research Insight, a company that has conducted more than 5,000 public opinion surveys over 30 years.

Dr. Verne Kennedy, who conducted the survey, says it has a 4.5 percent error factor, meaning it has a more than 95 percent accuracy rate compared to a survey of every single resident of the city.

“Biloxi citizens were very responsive,” Kennedy said, “and only 54 people who listened long enough to learn what the survey was about declined to participate.”

Mayor A. J. Holloway said he was pleased that Biloxians felt the city was headed in the right direction, but he noted the survey also pointed out areas of continuing concern.

For instance, the ongoing debate over new residential development was reflected in the survey:

50 percent of the respondents felt satisfied with the quality of new residential developments in Biloxi, while 32 percent were dissatisfied and nearly 19 percent were uncertain.

62 percent favored rebuilding using “scattered site” low-income homes, with 30 percent in opposition and 8 percent uncertain.

Top issues with Biloxians: more affordable housing (15 percent), improving traffic flow (12 percent), and more business development and jobs (8 percent). Notably, 12 percent were uncertain about the most important issue.

The survey represents the completion of the first phase of the city’s update of its comprehensive plan, a policy statement that guides future growth and development in the city, and considers such quality-of-life issues as transportation, housing, land use, recreation and historic preservation.

The year-long comprehensive plan process is being guided by Wallace Roberts and Todd, a planning firm that has done extensive work in Baltimore; Charleston County and Hilton Head, South Carolina; Coral Springs, Fla., East Hampton, NY, and other cities.

This process will include numerous public hearings and outreach, and it will be followed up with an update of the city’s Land Development Ordinance, which will help facilitate goals identified in the comprehensive plan.

The entire process is expected to cost about $650,000 and will be funded by grants.

Among the other results of the poll:

60 percent of respondents were satisfied with the quality of commercial developments in Biloxi; 33 percent were dissatisfied and 7 percent were uncertain.

Of the 33 percent dissatisfied: 17 percent said there was too much commercial development, 16 percent said too many condominiums were being built, and 15 percent felt there were too many casinos and “didn’t like gambling.”

20 percent of the respondents said the friendly people and Southern hospitality were the things they liked best about Biloxi, while 13 percent said they like the proximity to the water and another 13 percent said they were “born in Biloxi or it feels like home.”

Among the biggest concerns about Biloxi’s rebuilding: affordable housing (10 percent), the slow pace of recovery and lack of rebuilding along the beach front (8 percent), affordable homeowner’s insurance (8 percent).and three issues at 7 percent each: too many casinos, too many condos, and poor roads and traffic congestion. Of note, 9 percent were uncertain of their biggest concern about Biloxi’s rebuilding.

73 percent of the respondents favored mixed residential and commercial development for east Biloxi, while 19 percent thought resorts should dominate east Biloxi.

65 percent of those surveyed favored relocating the CSX railway.
Three-quarters of those surveyed felt Back Bay Boulevard should be extended to U.S. 90 on Point Cadet.

Biloxi <-> Boston

I wish I were still in Biloxi...forever.

Mississippi license plates

Hurricane Katrina debris removal in Biloxi

The numbers are regarding Katrina storm debris removed from the city of Biloxi.According to debris-monitoring firm Neel-Schaffer, the city's FEMA-supported debris removal effort, which ended Aug. 29 and had a price tag of more than $81.5 milion, saw 2.98 million cubic yards of debris removed from the city. That's enough debris to cover a football field and stand 139.7 stories high.

The breakdown on the debris:

• Burnable: 458,390 cubic yards.
• Concrete, non-burnable: 2.488 million cubic yards.
• Appliances: 33,391 cubic yards.
• Electronics: 534 cubic yards.

To see more details on the debris-removal efforts in Biloxi, click here.

6-month post-Katrina statistics

At the six-month point in the storm recovery process in Biloxi, here were the available numbers:

• 3,167 – number of students in Biloxi public schools when classes resumed Sept. 26 (compared to 6,125 enrolled pre-storm). Five months after the storm, enrollment was at 4,321.
• $54,795 – amount of gaming tax city would be collecting per day if casinos were operating ($20 million a year; 35 percent of city’s annual operating revenue)
• $92,000 – amount city agreed to pay in July 2005 for a $10
  million business interruption insurance policy in the
  event casinos were shut down by a storm
• $500,000 – amount of gaming tax state lost each day Biloxi casinos after Katrina.
• More than 2.08 million cubic yards – amount of storm debris that had been removed from city streets and public rights-of-way since the storm. This amount of debris would cover a football field with and stand more than 97 stories high. City leaders estimate that about 75 percent of the debris had been removed six months after the storm.

• More than 5,000 – total number of building and repair permits the city had issued five months after the storm.
• $50 million – initial estimate on cost of removing debris from city rights of way (number will increase with removal of debris from private property, which is in the offing)
• 52 – Number of confirmed storm fatalities in Biloxi, as reported Jan. 31 by Harrison County Gary T. Hargrove. Of the 53 confirmed fatalities in Biloxi, a figure that includes one unidentified male, Hargrove said the average age was 58, with youngest being 22 and oldest, 90; and 14 were females and 39 were males.
• Sale taxes generated in Dec '04: $1.169 million
• Sale taxes generated in Dec. '05: $948,122

Biloxi recovery news

Some numbers as Biloxi enters the 24th month after Hurricane Katrina:

• The city's Community Development Department has issued nearly 20,000 permits of one type of other in the past 23 monthys, but a few of the key figures: A total of 303 new single-family home building permits have been issued in the past 23 months, accounting for an estimated $44 million in new-home construction. That’s a post-Katrina average of more than 13 new-home construction permits a month.
• More than 3,984 overall building permits have been issued for storm repairs, triggering nearly three times as many permits for electrical, plumbing and mechanical work for each residential building permit. The total valuation of the residential storm-repair permits: $61.8 million.
• Of the 2,500 or so temporary trailer permits issued by the city since Aug. 29, 2005, only about 450 trailers are believed to be in use today in Biloxi. The number of FEMA temporary trailer parks in Biloxi has dropped from 13 to a half-dozen.
• A total of 466 commercial building permits have been issued, for an estimated value of $333.4 million.
• Gaming revenue figures for casinos in Biloxi has set new records in one form or other in eight of the past 10 months, beginning with September 2006, when Biloxi casinos recorded their largest monthly revenue figure in the city’s 15-year history of legalized gaming.
• As of July 22, the city had hauled off more than 2.94 million cubic yards of debris, which would create a debris field large enough to cover a football field and stand more than 138 floors high. The city estimates that more than 98 percent of the Katrina debris has been removed.
• The city’s latest projection to FEMA is that debris removal and disposal in Biloxi will cost $79.7 million. To date, the city has spent $61.2 million and has been reimbursed $49.7 million. A few pending aspects of the debris removal effort, such as removal and disposal of the fishing bridges are Point Cadet and Back Bay, will account for nearly $4.5 million of the $79.7 million figure.

some Mississippi facts

Hmm, I may have posted this once before: sorry if I did.

Be happy that you live in the great state of Mississippi.

Mississippi leads in obese adults.

The Mississippi Gulf Coast, from Biloxi to Henderson Point, is the largest and longest man-made beach in the world.

Mississippi was the last state to illegalize moonshine.

The Ringier-America company in Corinth, MS prints National Geographic.

The world's only cactus plantation is located in Edwards, with more than 3,000 varieties of cacti.

Mississippi has more tree farms than any other state.

Mississippi has more churches per capita than any other state.

Norris Bookbinding Company in Greenwood is the largest Bible rebinding plant in the nation.

H. A. Cole in Jackson, MS, developed the cleaning product Pine-Sol.

Pine-Sol is manufactured only in Pearl, MS.

Dr. Tichenor created Dr. Tichenor's Antiseptic in Liberty, MS (not in South Louisiana as commonly believed).

Four cities in the world have been sanctioned by the International Theatre/Dance Committee to host the International Ballet Competition: Moscow, Russia; Varna, Bulgaria; Helsinki, Finland; and Jackson, Mississippi.

David Harrison of Columbus owns the patent on the "Soft Toilet Seat." Over one million are sold every year.

The first football player on a Wheaties box was Walter Payton of Columbia.

The Teddy Bear's name originated after a bear hunt in Mississippi with President Theodore Roosevelt. President Roosevelt refused to shoot an exhausted and possibly lame bear. News of this spread across the country, and a New York merchant capitalized on this publicity by creating a stuffed bear called "Teddy's Bear."

H. T. Merrill of Iuka flew the first round-trip transoceanic flight in 1928. The flight to England was made in a plane loaded with ping-pong balls.

The birthplace of Elvis in Tupelo includes: a museum, a chapel, and the two-room house in which Elvis was born.

The world's oldest Holiday Inn is in Clarksdale.

Blazon-Flexible Flyer, Inc., in West Point, manufactures the best snow sled in the country, the Flexible Flyer.

Greenwood is the home of Cotton Row, which is the second largest cotton exchange in the nation and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Emil and Kelly Mitchell, the King and Queen of Gypsies, are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Meridian. Since 1915, people from all over the world have left gifts of fruit and juice at their gravesites.

The 4-H Club began in Holmes County in 1907.

The Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg is the largest research, testing, and development facility of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

On April 25, 1866, women in Columbus decorated the graves of Confederate and Union soldiers in Friendship Cemetery. This gesture became known as Decoration Day, the beginning of what we observe as Memorial Day.

Shoes were first sold as pairs in 1884 at Phil Gilbert's Shoe Parlor in Vicksburg.

Inventor James D. Byrd of Clinton holds seven patents and developed the plastic used as a heat shield by NASA.

Mississippi University for Women in Columbus was the first state college for women in the country, established in 1884.

Every commercial airliner has at least one hydraulic component manufactured by Vickers in Jackson.

The McCoy Federal Building in Jackson is the first federal building in the United States named for a black man. Dr. A. H. McCoy was a dentist and business leader.

Hat Maker John B. Stetson learned and practiced hat making in Dunn's Falls, MS.

The oldest field game in America is Stickball, played by the Choctaw Indians of Mississippi. Demonstrations can be seen every July at the Choctaw Indian Fair in Philadelphia, MS.

Alcorn State University, in Lorman, is the oldest black land grant college in the world.

The International Checkers Hall of Fame is in Petal.

Natchez was settled by the French in 1716 and is the oldest permanent settlement on the Mississippi River. Natchez once had 500 millionaires, more than any other city except New York City. Natchez now has more than 500 buildings that are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Captain Issac Ross of Lorman freed his slaves in 1834 and arranged for their passage to the west coast of Africa. They founded the country of Liberia.

Oliver Pollock was the largest individual financial contributor to the American Revolution. He invented the dollar sign ($). He is buried near Pinckneyville.

Resin Bowie, the inventor of the Bowie Knife, is buried in Port Gibson, MS.

Liberty was the first town in the country to erect a Confederate monument, in 1871.

The Pass Christian Yacht Club is the second oldest yacht club in North America, founded in 1849.

The Mississippi Legislature passed one of the first laws in 1839 to protect the property rights of married women.

The Natchez Trace Parkway, named an "All American Road" by the federal government, extends from Natchez to just south of Nashville, Tennessee. The Trace began as an Indian trail more than 8,000 years ago.

The Mississippi Delta is the birthplace of the Blues, which preceded the birth of jazz, the only other original American art form.

The Vicksburg National Cemetery is the second-largest national cemetery in the country. Arlington National Cemetery is the largest.

D'Lo was featured in Life Magazine for sending proportionally more men to serve in World War II than any other town of its size; 38 percent of the men who lived in D'Lo served.

In 1894, Coca-Cola was first bottled by Joseph A. Biedenharn in Vicksburg.

Mississippi was the first state to outlaw imprisonment of debtors.

Belzoni is the Catfish Capital of the World. Approximately 70 percent of the nation's farm-raised catfish comes from Mississippi.

Fred Montalvo owns the company that makes “Icee” drinks from Edwards.

Peavey Electronics, in Meridian, is the world's largest manufacturer of musical amplification equipment.

Proportionally more Mississippians were killed during the Civil War than from any other Confederate state.

Serving during Reconstruction, Hiram Revels was the first Black U.S. Senator.

The first Parents-Teachers Association was founded in Crystal Springs, MS.

Babe Ruth's last home run was hit off a Mississippian, Guy Bush of Tupelo.

List of famous Mississippians

Soulja Boy, Batesville
Dick Stephens, Pontotoc
Dana Andrews, Covington County
Earl W. Bascom, Columbia
Lacey Chabert, Purvis
John Dye, Amory
Morgan Freeman, Greenwood
Gary Grubbs, Amory
Beth Henley, Jackson
Jim Henson, Greenville
Anthony Herrera, Wiggins
Eddie Hodges, Hattiesburg
James Earl Jones, Arkabutla
Simbi Khali, Jackson
Daniel Curtis Lee, Jackson
Kris Lee, Louisville
Shane McRae, Starkville
Gerald McRaney, Collins
Parker Posey, Laurel
Eric Roberts, Biloxi
Sela Ward, Meridian
Oprah Winfrey, Kosciusko

Artists

Earl W. Bascom, sculptor, Columbia
George Ohr, "Mad Potter of Biloxi"
Walter Inglis Anderson, painter, Ocean Springs

Athletes

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (Chris Jackson), Gulfport
Lance Alworth, Brookhaven
Dizzy Dean, Wiggins
Earl W. Bascom, Columbia
Dennis Ray "Oil Can" Boyd, Meridian
Ralph Boston, Laurel
Jeff Bowman
Terrell Buckley, Pascagoula
Reggie Collier, D`Iberville
Joseph (Joe) Pierre Courtney, Jackson
Erick Dampier, Jackson
Jim Dunaway, Columbia
Marcus Dupree, Philadelphia
Eric Moulds, Lucedale
Brett Favre, Kiln
Charles Gavin, Laurel
Litterial Green, Pascagoula
Louis Edward Green, Vicksburg
Lancaster Gordon, Jackson
Bobby Hamilton, Columbia
Phillip Hampton
Othella Harrington, Jackson
Lindsey Hunter, Utica
Belton Johnson
Steven Lombardi
Deuce McAllister, Morton
Steve McNair, Mount Olive
Archie Manning, Drew
Shane Matthews, Pascagoula
Steve Newsome, Columbia
Jerious Norwood , Jackson
Joe Owens, Columbia
Roy Oswalt, Weir
Jeremy Patrick
Eddie Payton, Columbia
Walter Payton, Columbia
Justin Reed, Jackson
Jerry Rice, Starkville
James Robinson, Jackson
Eugene Short, Hattiesburg
Purvis Short, Hattiesburg
Jackie Slater, Jackson
Calvin Smith, Bolton
Jimmy Lee Smith, Jackson
Lake Speed, Jackson
Dmitri Young, Vicksburg
Antonio Mcdyess, Quitman
Claude Passeau, Lucedale
Al Jefferson, Monticello
Clarence Weatherspoon, Crawford
Sammy Winder, Madison
Ruthie Bolton, Lucedale

Authors/Writers

Earl W. Bascom, Columbia
Lerone Bennett, Jr., Clarksdale
Larry Brown, Oxford
Hodding Carter
Craig Claiborne, Sunflower
Gerald Ellis
William Faulkner, New Albany
Shelby Foote, Greenville
Richard Ford, Jackson
Barry Hannah, Clinton
Thomas Harris
Beth Henley, Hattiesburg
J. R. Johnson
Muna Lee, Raymond
Justin Mapp, Brandon
D. J. McCornik
Willie Morris, Jackson
Lewis Nordan, Forest
Walker Percy
William Alexander Percy, Greenville
William Raspberry, Okolona
Eudora Welty, Jackson
Tennessee Williams, Columbus
Richard Nathaniel Wright, Roxie
Stark Young, Como
Carolyn Haines, Lucedale

Civil Rights Leaders

Vernon Dahmer, Hattiesburg
Charles Evers, Decatur
Medgar Evers, Decatur
Fannie Lou Hamer, Ruleville
T. R. M. Howard, Mound Bayou
James Meredith, Kosciusko
Dianna Freelon-Foster, Grenada

Entrepreneurs/Business Leaders

Jim Barksdale (former CEO Netscape Communications Corporation)
Harry A. Cole, Jackson (inventor of Pine-Sol)
Hartley Peavey (founder Peavey Electronics)
Robert Pittman (founder MTV, former CEO and COO AOL)
Fred Smith, Marks, MS, founder and CEO of FedEx

Inventors

Joseph Newman, Lucedale
Earl W. Bascom
Elizabeth Lee Hazen

Military Figures

Charles Read
Nathan Bedford Forrest

Musicians/Composers

Glen Ballard, Natchez
Afro Man, Hattiesburg
David Banner, Jackson
Lance Bass, Laurel
Big Bill Broonzy, Scott
Jimmy Buffett, Pascagoula
R. L. Burnside, Harmontown
David L Cook, Pascagoula
Sam Cooke, Clarksdale
James Cotton, Tunica
Arthur Crudup, Forest
Bo Diddley, McComb
Willie Dixon, Vicksburg
Faith Hill, Jackson
John Lee Hooker, Clarksdale
Big Walter Horton, Horn Lake
Son House, Riverton
Guy Hovis, Tupelo
Mississippi John Hurt, Teoc
Carl Jackson, Louisville
Elmore James, Richland
Skip James, Bentonia
Robert Johnson, Hazelhurst
Tommy Johnson, Terry
Junior Kimbrough, Hudsonville
B. B. King, Itta Bena
Kris Lee, Louisville
Yung Money, Rolling Fork
Little Milton, Inverness
Brandy Norwood, McComb
Alexander O'Neal, Natchez
Charley Patton, Edwards
Elvis Presley, Tupelo
Charley Pride, Sledge
Leontyne Price, Laurel
Jimmy Reed, Duleith
Del Rendon, Starkville
LeAnn Rimes, Jackson
Jimmie Rodgers, Meridian
David Ruffin, Whynot
Jimmy Ruffin, Collinsville
Britney Spears, McComb
William Grant Still, Woodville
Ike Turner, Clarksdale
Newt Rayburn, Oxford
Lisa Stewart, Louisville
Conway Twitty, Friars Point
Muddy Waters, Rolling Fork
Bukka White, Houston
Big Joe Williams, Crawford
Sonny Boy Williamson II, Glendora
Cassandra Wilson, Jackson
Howlin' Wolf, West Point
Tammy Wynette, Tupelo
Lester Young, Woodville
Three Doors Down, Escatawpa
Mickey Gilley, Natchez

Politicians

Haley Barbour, Yazoo City
Ross R. Barnett, Standing Pine
Marion Barry, Itta Bena
Theodore Bilbo, Poplarville
Thad Cochran, Pontotoc
Jefferson Davis
James Eastland, Sunflower
Pat Harrison, Crystal Springs
Trent Lott, Grenada
Sonny Montgomery, Meridian
Charles W. Pickering, Jones County
Chip Pickering, Laurel
John E. Rankin, Itawamba County
Hiram Revels
John Stennis, DeKalb
Bennie Thompson, Bolton
James Vardaman, Yalobusha County
Jamie L. Whitten, Cascilla
William Winter, Grenada
Blanche Bruce
Gene Taylor, Bay St. Louis
James Z. George, Carrollton
Dianna Freelon-Foster, Grenada

Other luminaries

Red Barber, sportscaster, Columbus
Richard Scruggs, attorney, Pascagoula

http://www.mississippiscv.org/mississippi_facts.htm
http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-mississippians

Biloxi Indian tribe history

Biloxi Indian Tribe History

Biloxi. A name of uncertain meaning, apparently from the Choctaw language. They call themselves Taneks haya, "first people."

A small Siouan tribe formerly living in south Mississippi, now nearly or quite extinct. The Biloxi were supposed to belong to the Muskhogean stock until Gatschet visited the survivors of the tribe in Louisiana in 1886 and found that many of the words bore strong resemblance to those in Siouan languages, a determination fully substantiated in 1892 by J. Owen Dorsey. To what particular group of the Siouan family the tribe is to be assigned has not been determined; but it is probable that the closest affinity is with Dorsey's Dhegiha group, socalled. The first direct notice of the Biloxi is that by Iberville, who found them in 1699 about Biloxi bay, on the gulf coast of Mississippi, in connection with two, other shall tribes, the Paskagula and Moctobi, the three together numbering only about 20 cabins (Margry, Dec., iv, 195, 1880). The Biloxi removed to the west shore of Mobile bay in 1702. In 1761 Jefferys spoke of them as having been north east of Cat island, and of their subsequent removal to the north west of Pearl river Hutchins, in 1784, mentions a Biloxi village on the west side of the Mississippi, a little below the Paskagula, containing 30 warriors. According to Sibley (1805) a part of the Biloxi came with some French, from near Pensacola, about 1763, and settled first in Avoyelles parish, La., on Red river, whence they "moved higher up to Rapide Bayou, and from thence to the month of Rigula de Bondieu, a division of Red river, about 40 miles below Natchitoch, where they now live, and are reduced to about 30 in number." Berguin-Duvallon (1806) mentions them as in two villages, one on Red river, 19 leagues from the Mississippi, the other on a lake called Avoyelles. He also refers to some as being wanderers on Crocodile bayou. Schoolcraft said they numbered 55 in 1825. In 1828 (Bul. Soc. Mex. Geog., 1870) there were 20 families of the tribe on the east bank of Neches river, Tex. Porter, in 1829 (Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, 111, 596), gave the number as 65 living with the Caddo, Paskagula, and other small tribes on Red river, near the Texas frontier, and in 1846 Butler and Lewis found a Biloxi camp on Littler river, a tributary of the Brazos in Texas, about two days' journey from the latter stream. After this little was heard of them until 1886. According to Gatschet there were in that year a few Biloxi among the Choctaw and Caddo, but he visited only those in Avoyelles parish, La. In 1892 Dorsey found about a dozen of the tribe near Lecompte, Rapides parish, La., but none remained at Avoyelles. From the terms they used and information obtained Dorsey concluded that prior to the coming of the whites the men wore the breechcloth, a belt, leggings, moccasins, and garters, and wrapped around the body a skin robe. Feather headdresses and necklaces of bone, and of the bills of a long-legged redbird (flamingo?) were worn, as also were noserings and earrings. The dwellings of the people resembled those found among the northern tribes of the same family, one kind similar to the low tent of the Osage and Winnebago, the other like the high tent of the Dakota, Omaha, and others. It is said they formerly made pottery. They made wooden bowls, horn an, bone implements, and baskets.

Tattooing was practice to a limited extent. Descent was through the female line, and there was an elaborate system of kinship. The charge of cannibalism was made against theme by one or two other tribes; this, however, is probably incorrect. Dorsey recorded the following clan names:

Itaanyadi
Ontianyadi
Nakhotodhanyadi

Mississippi's heath ranking

From America's Health Rankings - 2005 Edition:

Overall Rank: 49

Change: up 1

Strengths:

• Ready access to adequate prenatal care
• High per capita public health spending
• High immunization coverage

Challenges:

• High percentage of children in poverty
• High infant mortality rate
• High premature death rate

Significant Changes:

• In the past year, the incidence of infectious disease decreased by 13%
• In the past year, the percentage of children in poverty increased by 15%
• Since 1990, the prevalence of obesity increased by 106%
• Since 1990, the prevalence of smoking declined by 24%
• Ranking: Mississippi is 49^th this year; it was 50^th in 2005.

Strengths:

Strengths include ready access to adequate prenatal care with 81.3 percent of pregnant women receiving adequate prenatal care, high per capita public health spending at $197 per person and high immunization coverage with 83.6 percent of children ages 19 to 35 months receiving complete immunizations.

Challenges:

Mississippi is among the bottom five states on eight of the 18 measures. Challenges include a high percentage of children in poverty at 30.7 percent of persons under age 18, a high rate of motor vehicle deaths at 2.4 deaths per 100,000,000 miles driven, a high prevalence of obesity at 30.9 percent of the population, a high rate of deaths from cardiovascular disease at 408.1 deaths per 100,000 population, a high infant mortality rate at 10.1 deaths per 1,000 live births and a high premature death rate with 10,889 years of potential life lost before age 75 per 100,000 population.

Significant Changes:

• In the past year, the incidence of infectious disease decreased from 26.0 to 22.5 cases per 100,000 population.
• In the past year, the percentage of children in poverty increased from 26.6 percent to 30.7 percent of persons under age 18.
• Since 1990, the prevalence of obesity increased from 15.0 percent to 30.9 percent of the population.
• Since 1990, the prevalence of smoking declined from 31.1 percent to 23.6 percent of the population.

Health Disparities:

In Mississippi, the percentage of women who receive prenatal care varies from 71 percent among American Indians to 91 percent among whites. Cancer is xxxx (data not available).

Clinical Care:

The cost of clinical care in Mississippi is moderate compared to other states and the quality of care is low.

State Health Department Web Site:
www.msdh.state.ms.us/

nice Biloxi pictures

Of the old days...well, at least the '60s and/or '70s:

East Biloxi, aka "the Point." It's the point of the Biloxi peninsula. Across the now-defunct bridge is Ocean Springs. Oh, it's so different now, not even counting Hurricane Katrina's destruction. No casinos, just shrimp boats and companies, as there were when my family moved to Biloxi in 1979.

This is a picture of the Broadwater Beach Hotel, so highly thought of. Presient Nixon stayed there after Hurricane Camille, on his visit to the coast. The President Casino had taken over lately, but the hotel has recently been razed, having been so damaged by Katrina. Sad.