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DAVE’S WORLD
By David Howell
I can still remember the security officer at the beef plant in Oakland during a visit over two decades ago. He looked like Wilford Brimley in the movie, The Firm, one of John Grisham’s early books that was turned into a movie. Remember, Brimley played the villain, the security guy who chased Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise) across Memphis.
I was ushered into a private room by this guy, a gruff, plain-clothes security officer who interrogated me about the pictures. I guess he saw me snapping picture after picture of the beef plant in operation.
I handed him the camera and he fumbled with it a minute before asking me to show him the pictures. Thankfully he didn’t have a card reader for my camera and, I was dismissed. I didn’t look back as I headed to my car and made a hasty exit.
The Herald was probably the only media outlet that toured the facility and took pictures during the brief time cows were processed. I had accepted an invitation from then State Director of the United States of Agriculture’s Office of Rural Development in Mississippi, Nick Walters, to join him for a tour of the plant. USDA had several million invested in the infrastructure and it was an excellent opportunity for a politically aspiring Walters, who already had a couple of failed state election bids under his belt, to get some great publicity after he had been appointed to the post by President George W. Bush.
Ironically Walters was later indicted for having a personal interest in an USDA loan he was pursuing for Natchez Regional Medical Center and for lying to federal officials about it. He ended up pleading guilty to a misdemeanor and I haven’t seen his name on a ballot since.
But I digress, a few weeks after my visit the beef plant closed its doors and the stink across the state prevailed for years. Looking back, the $55 million in state-backed loans that ended up on the taxpayers’ tab turned out to be a good investment for Yalobusha County. The plant was re-purposed and has grown to one of the largest employers of the county. Hundreds of employees work at the Oakland plant, and millions have been paid in taxes during the last 17 years.
Switching gears, I think the grand opening for the Gums Crossing bridge next week will be a first. I can’t recall covering a grand opening for a bridge during my career, but the ceremony is certainly worthy considering the Herculean effort to build it.
Supervisor Gaylon Gray expressed a little concern now that the project is almost completed, wondering how I was come up with news for the paper with the bridge saga almost ever. He accused me of writing a story about the progress (or lack of progress) on the bridge when it was a slow news week.
I told him don’t worry, something else will come along sooner than later.
