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. A legislative change to Jackson's 1-percent sales-tax law would prevent a retail price increase on beer and light wine, the trade association that lobbied for the legal change said.
2. While everyone was consumed with the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, Ward 6 voters are deciding who will represent them on the Jackson City Council on Tuesday, July 1.
3. A tea party official charged with conspiring to take photos of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran's wife inside a nursing home apparently committed suicide Friday, police said, days after Cochran won a nasty Republican primary.
4. The fight for freedom of both African Americans and LGBT people, and those who are both, is the focus of the Human Rights Campaign's Freedom Summer Conference this week.
5. Junaid Hafeez, a former Jackson resident, may be executed for violating Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws. Now local friends and loved ones are helping to save his life.
6. Not even a year after opening Italian restaurant La Finestra in the Plaza Building downtown, local chef Tom Ramsey is already preparing to bring another new restaurant to Jackson, this time a traditional pizzeria.
7. Holder Properties broke ground Wednesday on what will be One Eastover Center, a five-story, 120,000-square-feet office building located in the District at Eastover along Eastover Drive and I-55 Frontage Road.
8. On Tuesday, Mississippi Republican Sen. Thad Cochran, a mainstream conservative with more than 40 years congressional experience, narrowly defeated Tea Party candidate state Sen. Chris McDaniel in Mississippi's Republican primary runoff.
9. Although challenges do exist, the perception that Jackson is not business-friendly is not true, according to many successful small-business owners.
10. Capitol Street is on its way to becoming a two-way street, but Downtown Jackson Partners is seeking additional funding—and access to the mayor—to finish rebuilding portions of the street as planned.

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