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 three members of the Jackson City Council who are running for mayor got ahead of the rumor-mill in interviews with the Jackson Free Press last week.
2. The death sentences of Michelle Byrom (pictured) and Charles Crawford have put Mississippi in the midst of the controversy over what constitutes “cruel and unusual” in executions.
3. Mississippi lawmakers have been hard at work to make lives harder on poor residents, who are the nation's poorest.
4. Since 1996, Mississippi has taken over 15 districts for various reasons, including financial mismanagement and poor academic performance, and it is set to take over more schools this year.
5. Several organizations from around the state rallied in Jackson's Smith Park Wednesday to urge policymakers to affirm the human rights of LGBT people.
6. Jackson developer David Watkins is fighting to either be a part of the team that finishes renovations on Farish Street or recover the money he put into the project, while fighting allegations from the secretary of state’s office that he committed securities fraud in 2011.
7. Stacey "Soul" Winters, owner of Soul Wired Cafe, is holding a crowd-funding campaign through Indiegogo.com to make improvements to the business.
8. Candidates fielded several rounds of questions during the NAACP-sponsored forum that focused on their plans for their first 100 days, crime reduction, abandoned property, and the metro transit system.
9. Five same-sex couples applied for marriage licenses Tuesday morning at the Hinds County courthouse in Jackson.
10. In at least the fourth mayoral debate of the short campaign season, held Wednesday night and hosted by WLBT-TV and Jackson State University, several of the candidates showed that they are solidifying their positions on a number of issues.

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