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. With the nation's largest private prison operators earning more than $3 billion in revenue, private-prison and government watchdogs say the opportunity for the brand of corruption alleged against Chris Epps and Cecil McCrory is great.
2. Charles Barbour, a retired National Guard lieutenant colonel and a member of a royal political family in Mississippi, is running for Ward 1 Jackson City Council with a fiscally conservative platform—and advice for black families.
3. Operation Shoestring, a Jackson-based nonprofit that supports children and families, will highlight the meaning of ethical leadership at its annual Conversation About Community luncheon on Monday, Nov. 17.
4. Lawyers for the state of Mississippi asked U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves to exercise caution when deciding whether to overturn the state's ban on same-sex marriage, but the judge seemed responsive to the plaintiffs' arguments that the ban constitutes discrimination and should be eliminated immediately.
5. A Democratic lawmaker wants the Legislature to look deeper into the allegations of corruption that have ensnared longtime Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps.
6. On Oct. 6, Adam Brock filed a lawsuit in Hinds County Circuit Court alleging that signs posted in Jackson Medgar-Wiley Evers International Airport violate state law. Brock's attorneys argue in their complaint that a state law that took effect July 1, 2014, gives people with concealed-carry licenses the right to sue cities that post no-guns-allowed signage.
7. Beginning Thursday, Nov. 13, Fischer Galleries will display a new gallery of works by Mississippi artists Cathy Hegman and Stacey Johnson.
8. The Human Rights Campaign has started an initiative to advance public education and engagement of LGBT issues through advertisements, door-to-door efforts, and communication through mail and phone calls.
9. Jackson is not typically considered a mecca for models or the modeling industry in general, but with the work of people like Chanelle Renee', the creator of the Chanelle Renee' Project, and Funmi "Queen" Franklin, the founder of Thick and Proud Sisters, known as TAPS, it may become one in the near future.
10. Upon hearing the name The Bulldog, you may picture a loud sports bar with team signage everywhere. Maybe you even picture a bar dedicated to Mississippi State University. But The Bulldog may surprise you.

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