What a busy, news-filled week we’ve just had.

So much occurred that it seems like last Monday’s events must have been more than a week away. Let’s review a few of the highlights of last week.

• Children and youth kicked off a great week with wonderful performances at the annual Natchez Association for the Preservation of Afro-American Culture Martin Luther King Jr. Day luncheon. Each year, this event shows off some great talents among some our top youth who are bound to lead us to a better tomorrow.
• Natchez Inc. announced that a paper manufacturing company — von Drehle — has purchased the former Mississippi River Pulp and will not only replace approximately 80 lost jobs, but raise that total number to 100. This is great news for our community. Thank you Natchez Inc. for your work on this deal!
• Shannon Mire is back from a trip to the National Youth Leadership Forum in California, where she learned more about medical fields she one day hopes to enter. Mire is a senior at Cathedral with clear goals and a great plan to get there. Good luck, Shannon.
• The Historic Natchez Foundation hosted its annual meeting last week, showcasing panels that will be a part of the latest portion of the Natchez Trails Project. This project has been great for our downtown, and we can’t wait to see the next phase in all its glory.
• The Natchez-Adams School Board completed a routine evaluation of new Superintendent Frederick Hill, and he passed with flying colors. We think Hill has things on the right track, and we are excited about the future in the schools.

As we say goodbye to January, we can only hope the rest of 2013 is as great as its first month was.