Published: June 28, 2007 10:49 am            

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Well, Mr. “Hicktown” himself will be here this afternoon in concert in downtown Meridian. Jason Aldean will be performing in the Miss 101 Downtown Throwdown. Come on, most of you out there, even those who aren’t country fans, probably heard “Hicktown” once and thought, “Hey, that reminds me of growing up here.”

Sorry for the week off; I was in Biloxi last week for the Mississippi Press Association annual convention. When I found out we were staying at the Beau Rivage, I assumed I would at least have Internet connection to update my blog. Think again. Not only was there no wireless, the only way to connect to the Web was to bring your own Ethernet cord. Who does that? Not me, obviously.

But I will say this: the Beau Rivage is a great place to stay, aside from the lack of Internet connection. The first thing I noticed when I arrived in my room was a flat screen television. Now that may be common for most folks to see in a hotel room, but that was a first for me.

It’s amazing where the coast is so soon after Hurricane Katrina. I realize it’s been nearly two years, but I saw a lot of progress. Last week was the first time I had traveled back to the Mississippi Gulf Coast since I covered Katrina for Gannett. What I saw in the days that followed Katrina likely will haunt me for the rest of my life — dead bodies, flat landscape where homes once stood, people walking around in a daze, lives destroyed.

Last week, I was impressed with how put together everything in Biloxi seemed to be. I think Mississippians should be proud, for the most part, with the progress that’s been made. I realize many Mississippians still have a long way to go and the path to reconstruction hasn’t been the easiest for everyone, but from an overall standpoint, things look promising on the coast.

Gubernatorial candidates John Arthur Eaves Jr. (Democrat) and incumbent Haley Barbour (Republican) both addressed the print press during the three-day convention. I didn’t see anything that told me this could be a close race. It will be interesting to see how Eaves’ campaign progresses. I’m curious if he’ll be able to mount a serious charge. One thing to watch: his spiritual approach in this race. It’s clear one of his main platforms is his faith in God. It will be interesting to see how Mississippi voters respond to a Democratic candidate with such a strong faith-based campaign.

        

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