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. The Jackson Convention Complex was packed Saturday for the memorial services for Chokwe Lumumba, who died Feb. 25 at the age of 66.
2. The first two individuals to formally announce that they will participate in the special election for mayor of Jackson are both veterans of city government—former Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. and Ward 6 Councilman Tony Yarber.
3. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigations is reviewing policies of the Madison Police Department after its officers engaged in a high-speed pursuit through the streets of Jackson on Sunday, Feb. 23.
4. Bill Chandler, a veteran labor organizer, is calling it ironic that during this 50th-year commemoration of Freedom Summer, Mississippi legislators are trying to turn back the clock on gains for workers' rights.
5. Over the years, Malcolm White's Mal’s St. Paddy’s Parade has grown into the third largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the nation and the single largest annual event in the Jackson metropolitan area.
6. After an inactive year, the 48 Hour Film Festival returns to Jackson in 2014, giving opportunities to budding and professional filmmakers alike.
7. Jennifer-Riley Collins, executive director of the ACLU of Mississippi, believes the so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act holds open the potential for legalized discrimination despite the House's removal of a controversial provision.
8. The Mississippi Senate decided Tuesday to assert its authority over women's reproductive health decisions when it passed HB 1400, a bill that prohibits abortions after 20 weeks.
9. Dr. James E. Keeton, Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine at UMMC, spoke at the opening of the new MIND Center clinic.
10. In announcing his plans to seek the mayor's office this week, Sen. John Horhn touted two decades worth of his legislative accomplishments.

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