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. Jackson Police Chief Lee Vance said he would be open to speaking with lawmakers in the coming legislative session about the need for increased education funding as an extra crime-fighting tool.
2. Mississippi middle- and high-school students are slowly adapting to more rigorous College and Career Ready standards, state test results released on Thursday show.
3. The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled Lauren Czekala-Chatham's divorce legal in concurrence with the ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage in June.
4. As the dust continues to settle on the failed education-funding Initiative 42, new battle lines appear to be forming over the formula Mississippi uses to fund public schools.
5. If you woke up Wednesday morning feeling like it was just another day, it's because voters largely voted to preserve the status quo on Election Day.
6. Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber recently accepted $19.5 million from Mississippi Department of Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall for infrastructure projects in Jackson, including those in the 1-percent sales tax master plan.
7. Dr. Carey Wright, the state superintendent, says Mississippi’s education system is headed in the right direction—despite mixed results and funding woes.
8. Treshika Melvin is among the participants in Operation Shoestring’s annual Conversation About Community on Nov. 12 in Jackson, which organizers say will get into the nuts and bolts of public-school underfunding.
9. The Jackson City Council has again shot down a proposal to award a roughly $13.6 million contract to remove years worth of sludge from a wastewater treatment plant.
10. South Louisiana-based coffee chain CC's Coffee House arrived in Mississippi about six weeks ago.

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