Jackson Free Press

Permit Hearing for Fairview Inn
The city's Planning Board will hold a hearing Wednesday, Nov. 17, on a permit application that would allow the Fairview Inn to apply for a permit to operate a public restaurant. The bed-and-breakfast located on North State Street includes a restaurant, Sophia's, that was open to the public from 2003 to 2009. Last year, the Mississippi Supreme Court granted a legal challenge to the restaurant by four neighbors who argued that the city's permit for the restaurant constituted illegal "spot zoning." In July, the City Council approved amendments to city ordinances that created a zoning category for historic houses with a bed-and-breakfast and public restaurant. Next week's hearing is on the inn's application for a use permit under the new amendment.

The hearing is at 1:30 p.m. in the Warren Hood Building at 200 South President St.

UMMC Joins $7M Tech Study
The University of Mississippi Medical Center will join a $7 million study of new technology for testing especially drug-resistant bacteria infections. QuantaLife, a two-year-old, California-based biotech company, will pay UMMC $1.2 million over five years to compare results from the company's prototype to industry standard machines.

UMMC's infectious disease faculty will use QuantaLife's prototype machine to test samples from patients for the presence of bacteria known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. MRSA is responsible for 60 percent of staph infections in hospitals. QuantaLife officials say that technology in their prototype devices could cut the cost of testing samples for MRSA from $20 to $2, while also reducing wait time and the machine's size.

QuantaLife's study is funded by a $7 million grant from the National Institute of Biological Imaging and Bioengineering.

Obesity Conference Kicks Off
The Global Obesity Summit 2010, a joint project of UMMC and the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership, starts tomorrow at the Jackson Convention Center. The conference features presentations by obesity researchers, policymakers and public-health professionals. Registration for the event closed Oct. 31.

Bottoms Up In North Fondren
Jackson has a new gay nightspot, taking the place of an old one. First-time club owner James Weeks opened Bottoms Up in the old location of Jack and Jill's, at 3911 Northview Drive. In addition to a dance floor and bar, the club has a cabaret room with drag shows. Bottoms Up currently serves beer only, but Weeks said that the club will serve liquor and food soon.

Bottoms Up is open Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., and Friday and Saturday, from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. 601-362-8818