We drove along Biloxi beach yesterday. Yesterday, July 20th. Height of summer. We drove along the beach. It was empty. Absolutely nobody in the water. Very, very few on the sand. No jet skis or paddle boats or parasailing in sight. The beach is closed right now. Green algae bloom makes it dangerous for skin contact. The algae bloom is caused by the influx of fresh water from the opening of the Bonnet Carre' Spillway. The Spillway was built in the 1920s to alleviate flooding along the banks of the Mississippi River when there's been too much rain. It's never been opened twice in a season until now, and as of now, the total of days opened is its longest spell open in history.
129 dolphins have washed up dead. Entire oyster beds are dead. It's questionable if the seafood from algae bloom waters is safe for consumption. Our local news outlets are all over the story, and it has been mentioned a couple of times on a national level. Our governor, attorney general, senators, representatives and other officials have met with the Corps of Engineers to plead our Coast's case for closing the spillway to let our waters and aquatic life recover. Our state has been politely nodded at and pushed aside.
I realize there is so much involved in the situation that there is no simple solution. I just hope that our local beach merchants, shrimpers, fishermen and others will not be left destitute and that the name 'Mississippi' will not cause the higher-ups in our government to immediately ignore our needs.
I have attached a very informative article from our local paper. We're all trying to get the situation noticed.
https://www.sunherald.com/news/local/counties/harrison-county/article231398673.html
And, because you will probably find that link behind a paywall (reporters need paychecks!!) here's another, just not quite as much information:
https://www.wlox.com/2019/07/09/many-still-waiting-closing-bonnet-carre-spillway/
Showing posts with label Mississippi Coast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mississippi Coast. Show all posts
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Anyone Have Any Pull With Kroger? Anyone?
Robbie and I have a confession to make. We're in a really bad relationship.......it's a true "love-hate" relationship with Kroger. That's right, a grocery store. When we met, we both lived in cities that had Kroger grocery stores. Not only that, but there was a Kroger close to each of our respective houses. Kroger is a wonderland of a grocery store and we absolutely love it. They have a huge, always-fresh produce section, a bakery with everything you could imagine, sushi wrapped right in front of you, a deli that spans the gamut of delights, Kroger-brand items at substantial savings (yet equal or better quality), the gas savings on the Kroger card; all right, I'm going on and on, but you get the picture.
In August 2015, we moved to Biloxi, Mississippi. We were very excited to be moving to "the Coast", and truly are loving it. Except for one thing: there is no Kroger. We knew that, going in, but we hadn't had the true chance to shop at the available places week after week. There is Rouse's, out of New Orleans, a nice store that usually has some fresh shrimp and other seafood. It's one of our "standbys", as is the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, which has the freshest produce. There are also a couple of Winn-Dixies; I go there if I want to feel sad.
Kroger pulled out of the Mississippi Coast around 1995. I never really found out why, I just know that our Kroger on Highway 49 in Orange Grove became an Albertsons - and it was a fairly painless change at first. I moved away from the Coast in 1996, back in 2001 and never saw another Kroger. Never saw one, that is, until moving to Houston in 2006. Houston suburbs are the grocery store mecca. Kroger Selects, Randalls, and H.E.B. all trying to outdo one another. You can get really spoiled, grocery-wise, in Houston. When I met Robbie, we agreed that Kroger was our favorite. He had one only a couple miles from his house in Byram, outside Jackson, Mississippi. That Kroger in Byram is the one that made us realize what we were missing once we moved to Biloxi.
We didn't sell the house in Byram until a year after we bought the house in Biloxi. There were many, many trips the three hours north, to visit family and prepare the house to be on the market. In between those trips, we were living - and grocery shopping in Gulfport/Biloxi. That experience cemented the contrast between what we have on the Coast and what are lacking.
Every time we walked into Kroger in Byram, we would feel an elation in just looking around that lasted about thirty seconds. The elation would immediately turn to sighs of sadness. All of the sudden we were two wide-eyed kids in the Disneyworld of grocery stores, looking around, knowing that we could only visit briefly, never stay.
I don't know why Kroger doesn't want to invest in any properties on the Mississippi Coast. Or - maybe I do, that other K-name in 2005 left too many scars for some to ever take a chance again. We just wish Kroger were braver, kinder, were able to tough it out and give us our amazing grocery experience. If any of you out there have any pull with the Kroger company, put in a good word for the Coast. We deserve it.
In August 2015, we moved to Biloxi, Mississippi. We were very excited to be moving to "the Coast", and truly are loving it. Except for one thing: there is no Kroger. We knew that, going in, but we hadn't had the true chance to shop at the available places week after week. There is Rouse's, out of New Orleans, a nice store that usually has some fresh shrimp and other seafood. It's one of our "standbys", as is the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, which has the freshest produce. There are also a couple of Winn-Dixies; I go there if I want to feel sad.
Kroger pulled out of the Mississippi Coast around 1995. I never really found out why, I just know that our Kroger on Highway 49 in Orange Grove became an Albertsons - and it was a fairly painless change at first. I moved away from the Coast in 1996, back in 2001 and never saw another Kroger. Never saw one, that is, until moving to Houston in 2006. Houston suburbs are the grocery store mecca. Kroger Selects, Randalls, and H.E.B. all trying to outdo one another. You can get really spoiled, grocery-wise, in Houston. When I met Robbie, we agreed that Kroger was our favorite. He had one only a couple miles from his house in Byram, outside Jackson, Mississippi. That Kroger in Byram is the one that made us realize what we were missing once we moved to Biloxi.
We didn't sell the house in Byram until a year after we bought the house in Biloxi. There were many, many trips the three hours north, to visit family and prepare the house to be on the market. In between those trips, we were living - and grocery shopping in Gulfport/Biloxi. That experience cemented the contrast between what we have on the Coast and what are lacking.
Every time we walked into Kroger in Byram, we would feel an elation in just looking around that lasted about thirty seconds. The elation would immediately turn to sighs of sadness. All of the sudden we were two wide-eyed kids in the Disneyworld of grocery stores, looking around, knowing that we could only visit briefly, never stay.
I don't know why Kroger doesn't want to invest in any properties on the Mississippi Coast. Or - maybe I do, that other K-name in 2005 left too many scars for some to ever take a chance again. We just wish Kroger were braver, kinder, were able to tough it out and give us our amazing grocery experience. If any of you out there have any pull with the Kroger company, put in a good word for the Coast. We deserve it.
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