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. D.A.R.T. works as JPD's "troubleshooting" unit by patrolling areas of the city that may be experiencing a more-than-average amount of crime, typically dealing with property crime or drug reinforcement.
2. Helm Place, an 88-townhome, affordable-rental housing project that includes a 4,000-square-foot community center, is set to begin construction in the Farish Street Historic District by mid-to-late April, according to the project's Oxford-based developer, Chartre Consulting Ltd.
3. Rickey Cole, the chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party, said Dems certified former Republican Bill Marcy to run as a Democrat because he met all the state legal requirements.
4. Hinds County officials and attorneys for children detained at the county's Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center are again at odds over how much improvement has taken place at the youth jail in the past two years.
5. Numerous teenagers in the Jackson area are already making a difference in their communities, and soon they will be affecting the world. These 16 teenagers, as well as their peers, are preparing themselves to further their dreams and visions.
6. District 4 Supervisor Tony Greer said the county spends roughly $45 per day to house prisoners at the Raymond Detention Center, where more than 90 percent of detainees are picked up in the city of Jackson, adding up to $9.1 million per year.
7. Nathan Coughlin, owner of Nathan's Salon and Nathan's at Great Scott, will bring a new hairstyling option to Jackson with the opening of Vamp the Blow Dry Bar in Fondren Plaza at the end of May.
8. Information from the city clerk's office shows that Tony Yarber captured 53.7 percent of more than 38,000 ballots submitted to Chokwe Antar Lumumba's 46 percent. Overall turnout was also higher in last night's runoff than in the April 8 election, with an additional 2,237 people participating; Yarber's margin of victory was 2,424 more votes over Lumumba.
9. On Thursday, April 24, the 35th Annual Telly Awards were announced, and two MSOS ads about voter ID took home bronze prizes—one in political-issues/campaign advertising and one for public service. The Tellys only award silver and bronze prizes.
10. Ravi Gupta's Reimagine Prep is one of three applications the Mississippi State Charter School Authorizer Board will consider this week.

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