Mayor A.J. Holloway will participate in a panel discussion titled “Resort Development Update” during the Southern Gaming Summit this week in Biloxi.
The summit, billed as the largest gaming trade show held outside of Las Vegas, takes place Wednesday and Thursday at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center. The event is expected to attract more than 2,000 gaming industry insiders and more than 400 exhibitors.
The panel featuring Holloway, which will be held Thursday morning at 10, will focus on “the overall resort development environment, outline the new projects that are envisioned for the region including the potential for new developments in the Mississippi river counties, and offer the industry’s new players a chance to outline their vision for gaming in the region.”
Besides Holloway, panelists include Gray Swoope, executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority; Webster Franklin, president and CEO of the Tunica Convention & Visitors Bureau; Marlin Torguson, chairman and CEO of Torguson Gaming Group; Robert Kelly Jr., president of Innovation Project Management; and Kimberly Smith an attorney with the firm Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens & Cannada. Moderator will be Michael Parks, senior associate of CB Richard Ellis Global Gaming Group.
Holloway’s prepared remarks – which outline the status and future of the Biloxi gaming market – will be posted on the city’s web site Thursday morning.
For more on the Southern Gaming Summit, click here.
MDOT: I-110/U.S. 90 lighting work underway
The Mississippi Department of Transportation reported today that work on repairing storm-damaged lighting at I-110 and U.S. 90 is underway.
MDOT contractors have installed all secondary power controllers and additional wiring for the site, and will begin testing the wiring Wednesday.
“At that time,” according to an MDOT engineer, “we will be able to see if any additional repairs are required. Depending on the results of the testing, the system may or may not be entirely operational this week.”
City contractors, meantime, are installing underground wiring for a new stretch of lighting between Porter Avenue and St. George Street.
Caillavet update: The new-and-improved four-lane Caillavet Street is scheduled to fully open to traffic Wednesday, May 16. The section of the roadway between Division Street and Bayview Avenue has been closed, while asphalt cures before workers install striping.
Friends of Library to host book sale
The Friends of the Biloxi LIbrary will host a book sale at the former site of the downtown Biloxi Library, 139 Lameuse St., on Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
The group has “hundreds of books to sell, many in like-new condition,” according to Biloxi librarian Charline Longino. “Interested buyers will find both adult and children’s books, hard- and soft-cover books, and both fiction and non-fiction in many subjects. Most will cost a dollar or less. Help us clear out the building and find a happy home for these worthy books.”
The downtown library, incidentally, is now operating temporarily out of a trailer at Howard Avenue and Bellman Streetr.
Children’s author, storyteller to visit Biloxi libraries
Native American storyteller Shirley G. Webb will be visiting Biloxi libraries later this month to tell stories from her book Tales from the keeper of myths: Cherokee stories for children .
Ms. Webb, who illustrates her story-telling with costume and music, will tell tales based on stories told her as a child by her Cherokee grandmother.
She will appear at the West Biloxi Library, on Pass Road, Wednesday, May 23, at 10 a.m. and at the Margaret Sherry Library, Popp’s Ferry Road, Thursday, May 24, at 4 p.m.
