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 Joint Legislative Budget Committee announced its proposed fiscal-year 2018 budget on Thursday: a reduced overall budget of $5.66 billion for the fiscal year that begins in July 2017. Fiscal year 2017's budget is about $5.75 billion.
2. A group of Jackson State University students is working to educate its peers about the nation's growing national debt and how it affects their financial futures in the U.S.
3. The Hinds County Board of Supervisors passed a preemptive agreement for renovations to the sewerage system in downtown Jackson in an effort to avoid any problems that might come up between them and the Mississippi Development Authority over improvements that are part of the downtown Westin hotel development.
4. The Education Commission of the States, a Colorado-based education policy research center, has named Gov. Phil Bryant as chair-elect.
5. Public-health officials are addressing HIV risk factors nationally and in many states, but Mississippi lags other states in the information it collects.
6. For many kids, going to the doctor for an annual wellness check can be a pain. But for Children's Health Insurance Program-covered patients who haven't gotten their check-ups yet, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Mississippi is incentivizing the trip with its Kicks for Kids program.
7. U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael T. Parker on Tuesday ordered the merger of a 2010 lawsuit that challenges the state's mental health care for children and an earlier federal suit over mental health care for adults.
8. Former Mississippi lawmaker Cecil McCrory asked Thursday to withdraw his guilty plea in a long-running prison corruption case, saying he is innocent and is requesting a jury trial.
9. The Jackson mayoral race begins at the end of December, but already there are shenanigans with the candidates' and potential candidates' websites.
10. When the City Council passed its legislative agenda at its last regular meeting on Nov. 29, the members sent a message to the state legislature that emphasized the need for the state's investment in its capital city.

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