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City & County
Gaillet Fired as Public Works Director
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba has fired Public Works Director Dan Gaillet, effective immediately. The mayor confirmed Gaillet's termination Monday afternoon following a special meeting of the city council.
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Biz Roundup
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City & County
Horhn: Farish Games 'Very Frustrating'
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Health Care
White House Official Vows Healthcare.gov Will Work Smoothly by End of November
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FDA Proposes Rules to Make Animal Food Safer
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Healthcare.gov Problems Are Target at Hill Hearing
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Tests Suggest Baby Born with HIV May be Cured
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Music
‘Cane Sugar’ and Bayous
New Orleans-based roots-rock band Honey Island Swamp Band calls its music “Bayou Americana.”
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Food
Happy (Local) Halloween
This year, shake it up a little bit by adding some local flair to your Halloween treats.
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Food
Tricky Treats
Candy-coated strawberries are a classic, and turning them into little ghosts is easier than you think.
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Style
Día de los Muertos
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FDA Reviews 2 Promising New Drugs for Hepatitis C
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Builders of Obama's Health Website Saw Red Flags
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Extremist Groups Hobble Syrian Peace Negotiations
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Health Care
Here's Why Healthcare.gov Broke Down
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Entry
Will Jackson Get Boost from $1 trillion in Black Spending?
By R.L. NaveOver the weekend, Black Enterprise magazine reported that the spending power of the nation's 43 million African Americans is expected to top $1 trillion by 2015.
BE cites a report that will be presented at a June 2014 meeting of the National Association of Black Accountants Conference. The report found that the African American population "is an economic force to be reckoned with, with a projected buying power of $1.1 trillion by 2015."
That should be good news for Jackson and Mississippi, which have some of the the nation's highest percentages of of black residents. Jackson's population is 80 percent black; Mississippi has to a 40 percent black population.
What's more, black consumers' growth outpaces the rest of the population by 30 percent, the study shows:
Between 2000 and 2009, the number of African Americans attending some college or earning degrees has grown: 45 percent of men; 54 percent of women. Households earning $75,000 or more grew by more than 60 percent, faster than the rest of the population. African American’s average income nationwide is $47,290.
So what does this all mean in business terms? It means African Americans wield tremendous buying power. The Nielsen study showed numerous shopping trends, mostly for household, health and beauty, travel, smart phones and child related items.
Hopefully, Jackson residents and businesses are in a position to take full advantage.
