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. Charlotte Dupre, chief executive officer of the Central Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, said the hospital would benefit if state lawmakers expand the Medicaid health-care program. Read the full story here.
2. The Senate Education Committee added a proposal to to House Bill 890 saying that the state Department of Education must take over any F-rated school that doesn't reach a C rating after two years, or any F-rated school that improves to C and then ever drops back to D or F.
3. House members amended an unrelated Senate bill Thursday to allow the state Transportation Commission to raise the speed limit on some highways to 75 mph.
4. HB 546, which would have given Jackson's mayor the right to assign the majority of the commission that would oversee how the city would spend funds from a 1-percent local-option sales tax, died in the Senate Finance Committee March 6.
5. Democrats in the Mississippi Legislature sent Republican Gov. Phil Bryant a letter Wednesday, saying they want to file a bill specifying that the state will expand Medicaid only if the federal government cuts "disproportionate share" payments to hospitals.
6. The FBI said Wednesday that it has been monitoring the state investigation into the death of openly gay Clarksdale mayoral candidate Marco McMillian, but the agency didn't indicate it had opened its own investigation.
7. Seven air traffic control towers in Mississippi are among 173 scheduled to be closed nationwide in early April, as the Federal Aviation Administration shuts off funding for those services. The shutdowns are the result of the FAA's move to reduce spending by $600 million under automatic federal budget cuts known as sequestration.
8. State House members voted 70-36 Wednesday to approve the final version of Senate Bill 2183, which allows people 21 and older to brew up to 200 gallons of beer each year, as long as they live in a city or county where alcohol sales are legal.
9. A state commission voted Tuesday to allow Mississippi Power Co. to start billing customers to pay for the Kemper County power plant it's building, but not as much as the company wanted. The Public Service Commission voted 2-1 to approve a 15 percent increase this year, followed by a 3 percent increase in 2014.
10. Mississippi union members and state workers gathered at the state Capitol Tuesday to protest House Bill 1009 and Senate Bill 2734, which would allow the Mississippi Department of Human Services to contract with private vendors to collect overdue child support payments.

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