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. Thousands of marathoners descended on Jackson with blues in their head, heart and step for the Mississippi Blues Marathon. Read the full story here.
2. Aaron Roux, Paul Erway and Grant Berthiaume, three wheelchair-bound participants in the Mississippi Blues Marathon, spent time Thursday at the University Rehabilitation Center at the University of Mississippi Medical Center speaking to patients.
3. Mississippi budget writers released their initial proposals for fiscal 2014 but remain months away from deciding exactly how much the state will spend on education, health care and other services. Read the full story here.
4. Mississippi's proposed health insurance exchange is in limbo because of a dispute between the governor and the insurance commissioner. Gov. Phil Bryant and Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, both Republicans, disagree about which of them has authority to create a plan and submit it for federal approval.
5. A sixth man is guilty in a hate-crime conspiracy that played out in spring 2011 in Jackson. Joseph Paul Dominick in Jackson pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit a hate crime under federal law.
6. Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. signed a $90 million contract with Siemens Corp. over the holidays for a water and sewer improvement project. The city and Siemens have been in negotiations over the contract since the Jackson City Council approved the project in October.
7. Five lesbian couples applied for marriage licenses in Forrest County this week, knowing they would be denied. Wednesday's effort was part of a national group's campaign to gain equality for gay, lesbian and transgendered people.
8. With the 2013 Mississippi legislative session starting next week, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves says he believes there's bipartisan support for charter schools and for efforts to improve children's reading skills in early elementary grades.
9. Two years ago, Tamra Morgan began a process that has resulted in the city of Clinton reducing its domestic violence cases by about half in two years. Morgan was the driving force behind putting a batterer's intervention program into the Clinton judicial system's toolkit.
10. The Farish Street entertainment district has been on metaphorical shaky ground for nearly three decades. In 2012, its developer says it was a literal lack of foundation that stopped the project from moving ahead.

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