Jack Weatherly
MS Business Journal
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Past articles by Jack:
Sweetie Pie’s Norman has murder-for-hire case granted continuance
By JACK WEATHERLY James Timothy “Tim” Norman has been granted a continuance in his murder-for-hire trial in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Missouri. Norman was charged in the St. Louis shooting death in 2016 of his 18-year-old nephew, Andre Montgomery, on whom Norman had taken out a $450,000 life insurance policy that named Norman as the sole beneficiary. The death led to an FBI… → Read More
Sweetie Pie’s owner’s run-ins hardly a recipe for good life
Sweetie Pie’s at 110 E. South St. in Jackson — Photo by JACK WEATHERLY By JACK WEATHERLY It might have seemed that James Timothy “Tim” Norman couldn’t possibly encounter more legal problems. But he has. And the latest legal entanglement could put the owner of Sweetie Pie’s soul food restaurant in prison for a number of years. Norman, 41, has been charged by the FBI with conspiracy to commit… → Read More
Sweetie Pie’s owner arrested in alleged murder-for-hire scheme
James Timothy “Tim” Norman, owner of Sweetie Pie’s restaurant in Jackson, has been arrested by the FBI and is being detained in the Madison County Detention Center for an alleged murder-for-hire scheme in which his nephew was slain in 2016, according to WLBT News. WLBT reports as follows, based on a complaint filed by the FBI on Aug. 11 in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Missouri. “According… → Read More
Golf recovering from coronavirus handicap
Three of state’s links make top 100 in ‘Courses You Can Play’ By JACK WEATHERLY Golf is making a comeback across the country after the initial impact of the coronavirus. The lure of fresh air and sunshine the smell of new-mown grass has people thinking about shots and scores again. (Ninety-eight percent of all courses – public or private – are now open, according to Golf Advisor.) And rankings.… → Read More
Armored car maker to invest $2.3 million, create 30 jobs
CITE Armored is increasing its presence in Mississippi by establishing van-production operations in Batesville. The project is a $2.3 million corporate investment and will create 30 jobs by the end of 2021. CITE Armored, currently located in Holly Springs, manufactures and services armored cars, SWAT vehicles and supply vehicles for organizations throughout the United States and worldwide,… → Read More
St. John: Purple Parrot closing won’t stop Fondren project
The closing of the Purple Parrot Cafe in Hattiesburg “has absolutely nothing” to do with Robert St. John’s plans for Ed’s Burger Joint in the Fondren District in Jackson. By JACK WEATHERLY The closing of the Purple Parrot Cafe in Hattiesburg “has absolutely nothing” to do with Robert St. John’s plans for the Fondren District in Jackson. Yes, the coronavirus pandemic had something to do with… → Read More
2nd quarter outlook for 2020 economy in state takes a definite upswing, URC says
By JACK WEATHERLY Mississippi’s economy is responding positively to the loosening of coronavirus pandemic restrictions The outlook issued recently by the University Research Center (URC) of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning calls for the gross domestic product (GDP) to contract 4.1 percent in 2020. The GDP is the total monetary value of goods and services produced. But how is… → Read More
Call of water, road fueling sales of boats and RV’s
Eddie Smith, owner of Duncan Marine, shows off a 20-foot Ranger bass boat. / Photo by Jack Weatherly By JACK WEATHERLY It’s too much of a good thing in a bad situation. Sales of recreational vehicles and boats have hit records across the nation and Mississippi. That came after the first coronavirus lockdown and then the lifting of it. People had been isolated in their homes and naturally wanted… → Read More
Patels unveil $40 million mixed-use project across from their new Fondren hotel
By JACK WEATHERLY It’s as if Chico Patel were trying to upstage himself. Patel, co-founder of the Wealth Hospitality Group, formerly Heritage Hospitality Group, revealed a plan this week for Fondren Landing, a $40 million to $42 million condominium/apartment and retail project. In the same conversation, Patel said the Homewood Suites hotel will open July 27. The 125-room hotel is across State… → Read More
Central Miss. houses are a ‘sellers market’
» Some going for above listed price By JACK WEATHERLY Buyers are snapping up houses in central Mississippi, sometimes paying more than the listed price. And houses are staying on the market for a shorter period, according to the Central Mississippi Realtors Association, which represents 10 counties. The median sales price rose 5.5 percent in May, compared with a year earlier, the association… → Read More
Restaurants turn to neighborhoods during downturn
By JACK WEATHERLY Some restaurants have taken deliveries one step further by making visits to neighborhoods. The strategy is enabling them to partially offset losses due to the corona virus pandemic lockdown And some of them may continue to use the strategy after the pandemic passes. Penn’s even prepares its fish and chicken on site. Penn’s, which was founded by Roger Penn in 1967 and now has a… → Read More
Homeowners turning to gardening during lock-down
By JACK WEATHERLY > ‘Dig into the soil, delve into the soul.’ – Ray Bradbury ‘Dandelion Wine’ Mississippians stuck at home during the corona virus lock-down are turning to gardening for food and therapy. Plant nurseries across the metro Jackson area are reporting record sales in some cases. “Business has increased exponentially,” said Graham Neeld, assistant manager at Madison Garden Center.… → Read More
Dillard’s closes 200 stores, all six in Mississippi
BEFORE YOU GO… … we’d like to ask for your support. More people are reading the Mississippi Business Journal than ever before, but advertising revenues for all conventional media are falling fast. Unlike many, we do not use a pay wall, because we want to continue providing Mississippi’s most comprehensive business news each and every day. But that takes time, money and hard work. We do it… → Read More
Auto insurers giving premium credits because of outbreak
Auto insurers will give Mississippians a break on their insurance premiums to reflect the fact that during the corona virus pandemic they have traveled far less than usual, especially since Tate Reeves and other governors issued stay-at-home orders. Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said in an interview on Tuesday that he expects all auto insurers to issue premium credits. One of… → Read More
JACK WEATHERLY — ‘Blackwood’ takes us on a journey into the darkness
> ‘In the midway of this our mortal life, I found me in a gloomy wood, astray.’ – Dante’s Inferno, Canto 1, lines 1, 2 William Farris Smith has taken two Southern jokes and turned them on their literary heads. Kudzu and ghosts are not worthy of serious fiction unless in the hands of a master storyteller, such as Smith in his fifth and latest work of fiction, “Blackwood.” Set in Mississippi in… → Read More
Mississippi auto dealers dealing with ‘moving target’ of spreading virus
Tim Adams, new vehicle sales manager for Herrin-Gear Toyota, gets a breath of fresh air. — Photo by Jack Weatherly By JACK WEATHERLY Auto dealerships have been declared an essential business by Gov. Tate Reeves. But that does not mean they are getting a free ride. In fact, their road is getting bumpier as the potentially fatal corona virus pandemic spreads across all 50 states, and the rest of… → Read More
Northpark Mall becomes a hall of echoes during pandemic
By JACK WEATHERLY You could play Frisbee golf in the biggest mall in Mississippi. There was virtually no business going on Saturday afternoon in the 958,000-square-foot mall on the Ridgeland side of County Line Road. Many of the mall’s 92 tenants were closed due to the corona virus pandemic. Others were open but had few customers. Dillard’s was open but there were only a handful of shoppers. The… → Read More
Retailers know that it takes more than a ‘village’ to make it through tough times
Joe Ulmer, owner of Beagle Bagel Bakery, and Danielle Bledsoe, ‘everything person.’ By JACK WEATHERLY It may take more than a village to survive the corona virus. Highland Village shops are taking creative approaches to stay in touch with and serve their clientele. Linsey Armstrong, director of marketing for the venerable collection of shops in northeast Jackson, had just finished participating… → Read More
Shops, restaurants at Renaissance try new ways to survive
Morgan Brashier (left), a manager at Biaggis restaurant at the Renaissance, hands a meal to Charlie Jones. — Photo by Jack Weatherly By JACK WEATHERLY “Our usual advertising theme is ‘your dining and shopping destination.’” “Now we say: ‘We’re your curbside dining and shopping destination,’” Jan Mattiace jokingly said in an interview on Wednesday. But the corona virus epidemic’s disruption of… → Read More
Tupelo No. 2 ‘micropolitan’ area in one survey, No. 102 in another
By JACK WEATHERLY Two recent reports on “micropolitan” areas are markedly different because of how they measure economic strength. Oxford ranked No. 8 among 542 areas whose populations range from 10,000 to 50,000 in a report from the Policom Corp. Oxford is not even mentioned in a ranking of such areas in a report from Site Selection magazine. Tupelo was ranked 102nd in the Policom survey. Site… → Read More