Weekly Roundup: Jackson County Economic Development Foundation News Clips November 26th

Amtrak passenger route will return to Mississippi Gulf Coast

Mississippi Today
Sara DiNatale | November 22, 2022

The settlement agreement was filed Monday. The federal board tasked with deciding the route’s future was scheduled to vote on the years-long dispute in December. The board had asked the parties to first attempt mediation.  The proposed route would run two trains daily with stops in Bay St. Louis, Pascagoula, Gulfport, and Biloxi. Amtrak hasn’t run a Gulf Coast route since Hurricane Katrina.

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Enjoy some fresh air this Thanksgiving weekend at these 5 must-see Mississippi locations

Yahoo News
Lici Beveridge | November 22, 2022

The Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge is a preservation area in Jackson County between Ocean Springs and Gautier. The area provides a habitat for the critically endangered subspecies of the sandhill crane. While finding the cranes along the trail is rare, the two walking trails are open to the public. The trails offer opportunities to view other south Mississippi birds and showcase south Mississippi’s natural beauty in the native wet pine savanna.

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NAVSEA Seeks Out Potential Services to Upgrade USS Zumwald

Executive Gov
Naomi Cooper | November 23, 2022

The notice follows the deployment of the USS Zumwalt, the lead ship of the Zumwalt class, for a three-month underway in the Western Pacific. Services sought out are intended to be utilized during the ship’s maintenance availability in late 2023, according to a report from USNI News. During this period, HII‘s Ingalls Shipbuilding division will also outfit USS Zumwalt with hypersonic missiles at its shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, the report stated.

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USS Zumwalt’s Pacific Underway is ‘First Step’ for Future of the Class

Real Clear Defense
Mallory Shelbourne | November 22, 2022

Ahead of next year’s installation of hypersonic missiles, the Navy took one of its most advanced warships out for a three-month underway in the Western Pacific to test the ship’s capabilities and reliability, the commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet told USNI News.

USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000), this month, wrapped up an operational testing period in the U.S. Pacific Fleet, giving the service the opportunity to work out the destroyer’s systems and crew ahead of the upgrade period that includes outfitting it with hypersonic weapons at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss.

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Pascagoula native wins William Faulkner Literary award

Gulf Live 

The William Faulkner Literary Committee has selected Pascagoula native Martin Hegwood as the 2022 winner of the Novel Category for his manuscript titled Memphis. Hegwood’s selection was announced at the 25th annual William Faulkner Literary Luncheon, an event held each September in New Albany, where Faulkner was born in 1897. Other categories of competition included poetry, short stories, and one-act plays. The competition is limited to literary works that have not yet been published.

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Ocean Springs School District superintendent announces retirement

Fox News

The superintendent of a Mississippi Gulf Coast school district announced plans Tuesday to retire after 10 years in the post. Bonita Coleman was appointed superintendent of Ocean Springs School District in June 2012. “We all know that there are seasons to life and as I close this chapter and enter retirement on July 1, 2023, I will forever be grateful to OSSD, and the community of Ocean Springs, for welcoming me with open arms and showing me what it means to be a Greyhound,” Coleman said in a statement. “This district has been my greatest joy and I am so proud of the efforts that we have made for our children.”

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