Nothing Says Class Like a Bottle of Dom at Hooters

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Hooters restaurant chain has a $200 check ready for FEMA, reimbursement for a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne bought with hurricane relief money last year.

FEMA will be happy to have the money back.

The champagne, purchased in San Antonio, Texas, was among numerous examples of improper spending of relief money for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita cited earlier this week by the Government Accountability Office.

The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, found at least $1 billion in disaster relief payments by the Federal Emergency Management Agency were improper and potentially fraudulent because the recipients provided incomplete or incorrect information when they registered for assistance. (GAO report)

Besides the bottle of champagne, the GAO uncovered records showing $1,000 from a FEMA debit card went to a Houston, Texas, divorce lawyer, $600 was spent in a strip club, and $400 bought "adult erotica products," all of which auditors concluded were "not necessary to satisfy legitimate disaster needs." (Full story)

"It bothers me as an American that resources that were intended to help victims of this tremendous tragedy were spent this way," said Hooters Chairman Bob Brooks, referring to the champagne from Hooters.

"Even if it's in my restaurants, it's still not right. If FEMA will let me know where to send the check I'll get the $200 out right away," Brooks said in an announcement from Atlanta, Georgia.

FEMA spokesman Aaron Walker responded, "We will more than welcome the check from Hooters and appreciate their recognition in helping true disaster victims."

Following Katrina, Brooks sent one of his Hooters Air 737s loaded with supplies into the Gulf Coast disaster area.

The restaurant chain also donated $225,000 to the Red Cross Katrina relief fund.

Starkville development to change face of city's east entrance

Proposed development to change face of city's east entrance
By BEN BOUNDS/Starkville Daily News

The Planning and Zoning Commission approved a zoning change Tuesday night that could dramatically change the face of the east entrance to the city of Starkville.

Pending final approval of the rezoning by the Starkville Board of Aldermen, construction of Phase I of the mixed use development known as Stateside will begin around the first of the year in 2007.

In what has been described as an unparalleled development, Stateside Group, LLC, in conjunction with Barranco Architecture and Interior Design, on Tuesday unveiled plans to construct a five story facility featuring commercial property on the first floor and luxury condominiums on the top four floors.

The building, which stands 75 feet tall from the ground up, will be the first phase for the 12.76 acres bordered by Collegeview Street to the north, Highway 12 to the east, University Drive to the South. A proposed site plan for the full site includes a hotel, office building, two restaurants and a bank.

Stateside will front University Drive directly across from Highway 12 from Mississippi State University and the Hunter Henry Center on the east edge of Starkville.

“The idea for Stateside was inspired by developments in other college towns along the East Coast like the University of Georgia in Athens, the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and should serve as a retirement development for older alumni wanting to return to Starkville,” developer Bill Smith of Stateside Group, LLC said.

The Phase I development will consist of over 86,000 square feet of total space, 55,000 of which will be residential condominiums and 15,000 will be commercial space for lease.

Condominiums will range from approximately 1,200 to 2,400 square-feet of living space with two or three bedrooms and two full bathrooms, and will range in price from $399,500 to $675,000. Penthouse units are located on the fifth floor and start at $675,000.

Commercial space on the ground level will include a mixture of restaurants and retail stores. There will be controlled access to basement level parking, and each residence will have one secure, deeded and covered parking space with additional parking spaces available on site. Penthouse residences will come with two deeded, covered parking spaces.

“The concept for Stateside came from the Cotton District,” Smith said. “To be honest with you, we are plagiarizing. We like the freedom the Cotton District offers to walk around from residences to restaurants to retail shops. The concept is pedestrian-family and lends itself to the retirement community.”

Smith said the group had been pushed to get the project under way by former MSU President Charles Lee in order to create a corridor from Main Street/University Drive to the university campus with sidewalk dining and bicycling that was pedestrian-friendly and could be seen as a drawing point for the university and the city.

Jamie Wier of Barranco Architecture said Stateside will serve as a gathering place where residents and public could come together.

“The Stateside development should reflect the characteristics of Downtown Starkville and compliment the university,” Wier said. “There will be a green space to separate walking pedestrians from parking and traffic. The building will have an aged look, as if it were nearly 100 years old already.”

Stateside Group, LLC will have to seek a variance on the city's current height restrictions, but outgoing City Planner George Rummel and Fire Chief William Grantham said the Fire Department already has a new $1 million fire truck on the way that will be able to put out fires up to 90-100 feet.

Smith said the group will also take into consideration the effects of the new development on the residences on what will be called Camp Avenue and drainage detention to prevent flooding of Aiken Village, Mississippi State's married student housing complex located to the north of the site off Collegeview Street.

Oxford Board Allows Rooftop Bar

By Errol Castens
Daily Journal Oxford Bureau

OXFORD - City aldermen tentatively approved plans Tuesday for a rooftop bar on a Tex-Mex restaurant proposed for one of the few vacant buildings downtown.


Approving a motion by Ward 6 Alderman Jon Fisher, the vote to license the use of city air space for a fire escape is contingent on the developers' satisfying the city's building and legal professionals regarding safety and security.


Restaurateur Jim Bulian, whose Old Venice Pizza Company is next door, had proposed opening the restaurant and bar in the old Denton Furniture building, which had most recently been the home of Off Square Books.


No existing ordinance would prohibit the rooftop bar, but Bulian's representative said the project's viability required being able to use city air space for a rooftop fire escape. Putting an emergency egress inside the building would eliminate 20 to 32 seats, said architect Corey Alger, each worth an estimated $10,000 in revenue annually.


The decision came after several weeks of agonizing over the safety of a rooftop bar, unauthorized entry via the fire escape and even discouragement at having yet another bar open while Oxford and the University of Mississippi work to overcome what has been termed "a culture of alcohol."


"I wish we didn't have a rooftop bar É but since other people are doing it, it's hard to single you out," said Ward 1 Alderman Pat Patterson.


Mayor Richard Howorth has openly opposed the exception for Bulian's project.


"If we grant this, we're essentially granting everybody on that five feet the right to do whatever they want to do," he said. "We're trying to beautify the back of the Square. Five feet is precious."

Grisham's Next Book to be Nonfiction

John Grisham’s next book will be nonfiction and due out in October.

It will deal with the life of Ronald Williamson, a former Major League baseball player prospect who was convicted and sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit. After 12 years in prison, Williamson was freed in 1999. He died five years later.

Grisham, the former Mississippi legislator and best-selling novelist, learned of Williamson’s story by reading his obituary in The New York Times.

“Not in my most creative hour could I imagine a story as compelling as Ron Williamson’s,” Grisham is quoted on the Web site of his publisher, Doubleday. The author has received full cooperation from the Williamson family.