Jackson Free Press

There's never a slow news week in Jackson, Miss., and last week was no exception. Here are the local stories JFP reporters brought you in case you missed them:

1. An 11-hour redistricting plan for Jackson wards shocked many locals, leading to accusations that Ward 3 Councilwoman LaRita Cooper-Stokes might be trying to make it easier to keep her strongly contested seat. Jacob Fuller reports. (Click link for maps of possible redrawn districts.)
2. Reporter R.L. Nave talked to new JPS Superintendent Cedrick Gray Jr. for his first JFP Interview. Read about his ambitious plans for the district.
3. The Jackson Medical Mall and its partners are almost ready to present a completed strategic plan for the Jackson Health-Care Corridor to the public. Read more in Jacob Fuller's report.
4. Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. presented his new city budget. It funds water and sewer needs, but no new raises for city employees.
5. Mississippi Power Co. announced last weekthat it had terminated a contract with a joint venture of KBR and W.G. Yates & Sons Construction, which was working on part of its $2.8 billion Kemper County project. Read more about a report that Mississippi has some of the nation's dirtiest air due to our power plants.
6. Drunk driving deaths fell dramatically from 2009 to 2010 in the state.
7. Jackson State University welcomed back Olympian sprinter Anaso Jobodwana, who represented his home nation of South Africa in the 200-meter dash in the 2012 London Olympics. He set a personal best of 20.66 seconds to win his preliminary heat, but finished eighth in the final.
8. R.L. Nave reported that Mississippi's jobless rate rose for the second straight month in July, as the state's job market continued to stall. In June, Hinds County's unemployment was at 9.1 percent, but those figures are not seasonally adjusted. Rankin and Madison counties had the fewest people out of work, with 5.9 and 7.2 percent unemployment, respectivel
9. At the Friday Forum at Koinonia Coffee House, Pastor Dwayne K. Pickett called for meeting people where they are and stepping out from behind the church's stained-glass windows. PIckett wants churches to support local businesses with cash mobs and get more involved with community children and the public-school system.
10. Find out what the Massachusetts Tea Party sent the Jackson Free Press at this link. Hint: It wasn't hummus.

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