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. Staff from the Raymond detention center and criminal defendant Christopher's Butler's old attorney, Sanford Knott, dominated much of day four of the trial of Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith for conspiracy to hinder prosecution and aid or assist Christopher Butler in his bid to get released from jail.
2. After a first failed attempt at submitting a corrective action plan to get the district off probation, Jackson Public Schools made good on its second attempt.
3. The only person to serve as both Hinds County sheriff and Jackson police chief, Malcolm McMillin, died Thursday morning at St. Dominic hospital after a long illness. He was 72.
4. You can't sugarcoat it. In the wake of the 2016 presidential campaign, these are tough, divisive times. We're all hearing a lot about how Americans don't talk to people who disagree with them, especially between races and economic classes.
5. Thanks to BP, Mississippi has additional income to spend in the 2017 legislative session. The state received its first payment from BP from the 2010 oil-spill settlement last summer.
6. Mississippi leaders may establish a new agency to ensure the quality of teachers and the programs that train them.
7. Former inmates could leave Mississippi prisons with dignity and be able to find jobs, U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett told the Mississippi House Corrections Committee last week.
8. One of Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith’s former assistant DAs agreed to testify for the prosecution in his trial for alleged tampering with wire-fraud suspect Christopher Butler.
9. The trial of Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith for alleged tampering with criminal cases began Monday, with jury selection in the morning.
10. Mississippi's six presidential electors cast their votes for Donald Trump for president and Mike Pence for vice president Monday morning at the Capitol.

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