10 Local Stories of the Week | Jackson Free Press | Jackson, MS

10 Local Stories of the Week

Willie Earl Robinson, a Democratic candidate for Hinds County District 2 supervisor has the support of Congressman Bennie Thompson and Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba. Robinson's supporters say his challenger, former Clinton fire chief, is propped up by Republicans.

Willie Earl Robinson, a Democratic candidate for Hinds County District 2 supervisor has the support of Congressman Bennie Thompson and Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba. Robinson's supporters say his challenger, former Clinton fire chief, is propped up by Republicans. Photo by R.L. Nave.

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. When Mayor Chokwe Lumumba took a stand against the composition of a commission overseeing a 1-percent sales-tax increase during his mayoral campaign last spring, he won the votes of Jacksonians tired of the state treating Jackson like a bad seed.
  2. Everyone in town seems to have an opinion on which course of action the Jackson Zoo's leadership, faced with financial obstacles, should take to ensure the longevity of what former Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. called "one of Jackson's jewels."
  3. The fields have narrowed—somewhat—and only a few contenders remain for two seats on the Hinds County Board of Supervisors.
  4. Real-estate broker The Overby Company is listing the Metrocenter Mall, excluding several attached department stores, for 
$6.5 million.
  5. One might expect Willie Earl Robinson to be riding high and ready to shout from the rooftops after landing several big endorsements in the Hinds County Democratic primary for District 2.
  6. Residents of Kemper County suspected, and now Mississippi Power is confirming, that the utility's 582-megawatt power plant will not be complete by May 2014.
  7. Oct. 1, 2013, marked day one of the health-insurance exchanges as outlined in the 2010 Affordable Care Act, aka "Obamacare," President Barack Obama's landmark health-insurance reform act.
  8. David Archie, the third-place finisher in last week's Democratic primary for Hinds County's District 2 seat, wants a new election and is suing his own party to get it.
  9. Colliers International Atlanta secured a $55-million construction loan for the Outlets of Mississippi.
  10. Mississippi Power has been busy buying up land along the Chickasawhay Creek and other waterways for reasons local residents do not fully understand.

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