My Hattiesburg

Southern Miss parking

This is not huge news, but USM parking is horrible. I thought it was as bad as it could be last year, but they have upped the ante this semester removing more parking lots in favor of tearing down the old gym. This is getting ridiculous, and the administration increasingly seems to either not care, or are out of touch with this student’s everyday needs.

This is on the heels of the University announcing a $1.3 million dollar addition to the Longleaf Trace Trail. I’m all for the trail and love what it has done for the community, but the safety of the students at Southern Miss should be more important to the administration. They need many things to improve the quality and safety of life at USM. A good start though would be more parking. Another would be a bridge across 4th street so that students and traffic aren’t put in danger by early morning pedestrians and late-evening students getting out of class. What is the student council doing about this? It’s election time, let’s see some results. They are the students connection with the administration at Southern Miss. Please improve parking!

Problems on the Lamar Board?

During Thursday’s session of the Lamar County Board of Supervisors, there was another termination, the second in little more than a year. Part-time county planner Marvin Strahan was asked to resign. As far as why, the board isn’t saying. To quote District 1 Supervisor Mike Backstrom, “We don’t like to air out our personnel problems”.

My concern is not about the terminations, it’s about what’s going on at the board. Many teachers and parents for that matter were left out in the cold when the bond issue didn’t pass. Was this because of bad management of public education on what it would do for the county? I think so, and the recent problems indicate that things are being mishandled in our county government. If they would let us know what’s going on, assumptions like this won’t be made.

Private schools on the rise

Just as public schools in Hattiesburg are in turmoil, the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Hattiesburg will soon receive money to build a new $1.5 million high school. It will be located near the elementary school. This sounds like good news for those parents in Hattiesburg that don’t want to send their kids to a public school.

Lamar schools may have to consolidate

It looks as though the Lamar bond issue is hitting some voters in the face by the fact that their school may be closing down. Baxterville Elementary is one of the first on the list. One of smallest public schools in Lamar County at 186 students, may be voted on by April 15th. Many parents can’t believe it, but solutions to this problem are as drastic as the closing. A year-long school term or a four day school week to save money.

The better solution would be repeating the bond issue which lost by only 1%. The extra tax needs to be tacked on to homes in Lamar county in my opinion. Someone living in Lamar County needs to support Lamar County schools.

Wonderful weather we’re having

70’s all this week, and the 10 day forecast is showing above 70 through next Thursday. Mild winters in Hattiesburg are usual, but at least January and February are the months that it’s time to pull out the jackets. I guess we’ll have a late winter this year, and spring break will be freezing.

Forums going strong

The My Hattiesburg forums seem to be going strong. If you have time, register over there and get in on the conversation. Soon, the blogs posted here will be automatically added as a topic in the forums so that our visitors can comment about the Think Hattiesburg opinions and information written here.

Happy New Year Hattiesburg

The best of wishes as we start 2005. 2004 was a very eventful year in my eyes, and the year in review shows have plenty to talk about. The top story of which is probably that Christians got out and voted!

Plenty of bowl games on today, and don’t forget to eat your black-eyed peas for good luck and cabbage for money in the new year.