Fourth Congressional District Congressman Democrat Gene Taylor on Wednesday took exception to an article that ran in the Wednesday Item concerning the Tuesday campaign swing of his opponent, GOP challenger Steven Palazzo, through Picayune.

Palazzo visited Picayune, shaking hands with prospective voters, and looking for an office in which to locate a campaign headquarters for the Southwestern portion of the fourth district.

Taylor pointed out in a email to the Item that the story said he had not visited Picayune and Pearl River Co. (PRC) since a January appearance at a Pearl River Community College town-hall meeting in January.

Said Taylor, “I would like to correct an inaccuracy that appeared in an article published in the Picayune Item on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010. The paper erroneously stated that my scheduled visit to the Picayune Drug Co. on Thursday would be my first since January.”

Taylor is scheduled to appear today at the Picayune Drug Co., 110 Hwy. 11 North, at 2 p.m.

He continued, “Throughout 2010, I have visited as well as worked closely with a number of Pearl River County constituents and businesses.”

He outlined seven instances of working with PRC constituents and visits here since January:

— In February, he helped arrange the donation from Paul’s Pastry Shop to send 150 “of their famous King Cakes” to troops deploying to Afghanistan, he said.

— In May, he said, he hosted the Fourth Congressional Art Contest at Pearl River Community College. Kayla Lee, a junior at Pearl River Central High School at Carriere, won Best of Show in the 4th Congressional District Arts Competition, for her work “Tidal Pool”. Her work is hanging for a year in the U.S. Capitol tunnel with the top artwork from the other 434 congressional districts, said Taylor.

— In June, Taylor said that he attended the Blueberry Jubilee in Poplarville.

— He said he regularly walks the big box stores, visiting with constituents and that he has visited Applied GeoTechnologies (AGT) and Rheogistics here twice this year.

— He said that right after the Deepwater Horizon sunk, that he contacted AGT and Bell Avon and tried to get them involved in helping BP because he knew they had technologies that could help solve the spill.

— Taylor said that he obtained $198,000 for emergency generators for Highland Community Hospital in Picayune that would allow their medical equipment to remain operational during a power outage.

— And Taylor said that in July the House approved a $750,000 request by him for the Ridge Road Extension project, the top priority this year in PRC planning. He added that the bill is awaiting action by the Senate.

Taylor said he has been working closely with his constituents in PRC since January and said thank you “for the opportunity to set the record straight.”

Taylor and Palazzo are squaring off for a Nov. 2 confrontation in the mid-term elections. Libertarian Party candidate Tim Hampton and Reform Party candidate Anna Jewel Revies will be on the ballot, too. Both Hampton and Revies are from Hattiesburg.

Taylor lives in Bay St. Louis and Palazzo is a native of Biloxi. Palazzo, who owns a CPA firm in Biloxi, is also a State Legislator.