While Mardi Gras krewes rolled through our community inching closer to Fat Tuesday, good news rang throughout our area last week.

Before we prepare for the week ahead, let’s take a look back at some of the highlights from last week:

• Grace United Methodist Church celebrated its 65th anniversary Sunday during its regular service. The church was founded in 1950, and church members used the theme of reflection and hopeful anticipation during its service to celebrate the church’s anniversary. We congratulate the church on reaching the milestone and pray the church continues blessing the community for another 65 years.

• The City of Natchez was recertified as a retirement community through Hometown Mississippi Retirement, which is a division of the state development authority. The recertification allows Natchez to tout itself as a retirement community for the next five years. The designation, city leaders say, helps improve economic development for our area. We’re glad to see the city earn the recertification and welcome all the retirees who have joined or plan on joining our community.

• Delta-Energy Group announced plans to invest $45 million and create 91 new jobs for a production facility on a portion of the former International Paper property. The company will render shredded rubber for carbon solids and hydrocarbon liquids for use in rubber compounds. The company’s investment includes the purchase of a warehouse and 30 acres of the 478-acre former IP property. We welcome the new industry to our community and wish it the best moving forward.

Let’s bundle up this week as we continue celebrating Mardi Gras and begin another week in our wonderful community.