The AP’s Jeff Amy tackled the subject of Mississippi’s declining gaming industry Saturday in a must read story. In a prior life Jeff was a business reporter and that prior experience shows in the piece he wrote. The worst of the problems are at the north Mississippi Delta casinos but also extend to the Coast to a lesser degree.
Next up is the impacts of rising flood insurance premiums on the real estate market in Florida, the Northeast and Louisiana:
Cost of Flood Insurance Rises, Along With Worries ~ Lizette Alverez and Campbell Robertson
It would be nice to see one of the mainstream media outlets covered the inherent conflicts of interest built into the flood program and the fact that the middlemen WYO insurers take a 30% slice off the top for writing the policies. Yeah, those facts add a degree of complexity to the topic but they are vital to understanding what is truly going on with the program as this is not entirely about the program underpricing risk. Unfortunately the story above, like most of them gloss over those facts, in the case of the New York Times likely in deference to their insurance advertisers.
Finally we have Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd back in the news cycle:
Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd due back in court today for continuation of bond revocation hearing ~ April Havens
Joe Sam Owen is one of the best criminal defense lawyers on the coast. It will be interesting to see how the opening round of the Jackson County political fist fight in Byrd prosecution turns out.
