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. At a forum in Jackson last week, more than 100 people descended on the Mississippi Capitol to combat what organizers called the "recent onslaught of crime in Jackson."
2. The one drawback to fall is the plethora of leaves that gather in our yards, which brings on the inevitably not-fun task of raking the piles. The city of Jackson has some do's and don'ts for disposing of your leaves.
3. SNAP, which has had many names over the years, recently became a casualty of political haggling, ostensibly in the name of fiscal responsibility.
4. New information from account-management service Manilla.com, a subsidiary of media conglomerate Hearst Corp., shows that Jackson is among the cities with the highest average student-loan debt.
5. Many Jackson streets, like Mill Street, have needed work for years and could soon get a makeover if the city’s department of public works gets the political equivalent of a steroid shot.
6. Rumors about a planned shootout at Murrah High School that originated between students on social media and escalated when local news organizations began reporting them "turned out to be largely a non-event that incited students and parents unnecessarily," Jackson Public Schools officials said Thursday morning.
7. JPS Superintendent Dr. Cedrick Gray—now in his second year at the helm of Mississippi's largest urban school district—urged parents to take better account of what their children are doing on social media.
8. All this week, staff members at the Iron Horse Grill were training, cleaning and tying up lose ends in preparation for the restaurant's grand re-opening Monday, Nov. 25.
9. Last weekend, 27 students from Brazil withdrew from Jackson State University following three incidents dating back to the summer in which the students were victims of crime.
10. The city council voted Tuesday night at City Hall on two board nominees for Jackson's beleaguered redevelopment authority.

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