Public to get look at preliminary Renaissance report

Residents throughout Biloxi will get a firsthand look at the handiwork of 200 of their fellow Biloxians who have been meeting for weeks to consider options for Biloxi’s long-term recovery.

Organizers of the city’s Reviving the Renaissance initiative have scheduled three town hall meetings to present their preliminary reports. The meetings are:

Monday, May 22 at 6 p.m. – City Hall, Lameuse Street.

Tuesday, May 23 at 6 p.m. – Center Stage Theater, Rue Petit Bois.

Wednesday, May 24 at 6 p.m. – Biloxi High School, lecture hall, entrance is at south side of building.

Retired Lt. Gen. Clark Griffith, whom Mayor A.J. Holloway tapped Feb. 26 to chair the initiative, will lead presentations at the three meetings, which are held in east, west and north Biloxi.

“We definitely need input from the community about the ideas that we’re going to be presenting as potential recommendations,” Griffith said. “We’ve been working on these the better part of 2½ months.”

Committees of volunteers – as many as 200 Biloxians who either came forward or were sought out by the mayor and City Council members – have been meeting to discuss such quality of life factors as affordable housing, transportation, public education, historic preservation, tourism and seafood- and marine-related issues.

“We think we’re on track,” Griffith said. “Most committees have met once a week for anywhere from one to two hours. It’s just wonderful how they’ve captured two things: They’ve taken a look at what was in the Governor’s Commission to see what was realistic and doable for Biloxi. Then, they looked at other recommendations that the committees members brought up. As we explored certain things, other areas came up.

“I think we have some good ideas, but we still have to go back to the three main objectives we got from the mayor: It’s going to be a realistic plan, with a realistic timetable and a realistic price tag. We’re holding each of the recommendations up to that.”

Those with high-speed online access can see a video of the mayor’s original charge to the Reviving the Renaissance committees by clicking here.

To learn more about the initiative – including organizational charts, committee members and minutes from individual meetings – click here.


Hands On offers free advice on mold removal

Hands On Gulf Coast will offer another free workshop to teach residents how to remove mold from their own homes. The session will be Saturday, May 13 at 2 p.m. at Main Street Baptist Church, 321 Main St., Biloxi.

Read more about the how-to session by clicking here.

Katrina-Bush fund to host clergy, religious leaders

The interfaith advisory committee of the Bush-Katrina Fund will hold an informational meeting for clergy and leaders of houses of worship on Saturday, May 20, at 9:30 a.m. at Biloxi High School.

To read more about the meeting,
click here.

First Lady presents $50,000 grant to city

The City of Biloxi, which First Lady Laura Bush named as a Preserve America community several years ago, has been awarded a $50,000 grant to help preserve and market the city’s historic properties.

City Historical Administrator Bill Raymond traveled to Washington to accept the grant. Find out more about Preserve America and uses of the matching grant by
clicking here.