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. Wayne Harris, one of more than 200 clemency acts Haley Barbour made in his last week in office in early 2012, was involved in a shootout with at least one other man during a cookout Thursday evening.
2. Democrats in the Mississippi Legislature began exploring issues of why people are driven to extreme acts of violence and what steps can be taken to curb that violence during a public forum on mental-health and school-safety policy at the Capitol.
3. Gov. Phil Bryant told several dozen pastors and other abortion opponents Thursday that he supports a bill that would ban the procedure once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. It's similar to a bill that was filed and killed by a Senate chairman last year.
4. A plan by Gov. Phil Bryant to establish a scholarship fund for public-school students to go to private schools drew fire from Republican members of the committee. Bryant has said in recent speeches that the program, which gives state tax credit for individuals who donate to a non-profit," empowers parents by designating privately funded opportunity scholarships for low-income families in D and F schools."
5. Jackson Public Schools Superintendent Cedrick Gray met with the Jackson City Council's Education Committee Jan. 7 at City Hall. Gray said JPS will soon communicate its plan for the next several years. He said the district must expand education for children before they reach first grade.
6. Nine candidates are running for a state Senate seat in part of Hinds County. They are Cindy Ayers-Elliot, Tamarra Grace Butler, Marshand Crisler, Sollie B. Norwood, Antonio Porter, James "Jimmy" Stewart, Kathy L. Sykes, Tommy L. Wallace II and Cassandra Welchlin.
7. On Monday, Gov. Phil Bryant, University of Mississippi Chancellor Dan Jones, Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr., and other state and local leaders came together for the ceremonial groundbreaking of the University of Mississippi Medical Center's new School of Medicine.
8. The Belhaven neighborhood in Jackson has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Department of the Interior has approved the addition of the Belhaven Historic District on the recommendation a Mississippi preservation board.
9. Mississippi lawmakers gaveled into session at noon Tuesday with a broad range of issues to debate during the next three months. They'll consider allowing widespread development of charter schools, which would be free of some state regulations, and ways to improve children's reading skills in the early elementary grades.
10. With District 4 Supervisor Phil Fisher as the lone dissenting vote, the Hinds County Board of Supervisors agreed to hire attorney Firnist Alexander as the county's lobbyist.

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