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. Mayor Tony Yarber announced his campaign for another term for the first time publicly at the weekly Friday Forum at Koinonia Coffee House, urged on to make the statement from former mayoral candidate, Jonathan Lee, an organizer of the group.
2. Mississippi public-school districts can no longer use funds to pay their administrators' fees to the Mississippi Association of School Superintendents without forfeiting their state funds.
3. On May 26, the Family Research Council awarded Gov. Phil Bryant the first ever "Samuel Adams Religious Freedom Award," praising the passage of Mississippi's 2014 Religious Freedom Act and House Bill 1523.
4. Disagreements about where to dump sludge byproduct from the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment plant ended in a stalemate between the two branches of the city government during Tuesday's meeting of the Jackson City Council.
5. Bill Chandler, executive director of Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, says that a law such as SB 2306 would not only have a financial impact on the state, but threaten public safety and local communities throughout Mississippi, and is a punitive solution in search of a problem.
6. The Center for Violence Prevention in Pearl has an emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence, and Executive Director Sandy Middleton has received several calls asking her to house rescued human trafficking victims in her emergency shelter.
7. The Jackson Redevelopment Authority moved forward last Wednesday to develop a deal to build a new hotel downtown near the Jackson Convention Complex by notifying the City of Jackson of its intent, and criticizing recent articles in another newspaper about the companies involved in the deal.
8. Johnnie McDaniels, executive director of the Hinds County Youth Court, said that patterns of repeat offenses are the result of “gaps” in the juvenile-justice system.
9. MAC Construction LLC, one of the principal subcontractors for the City of Jackson’s notorious $90-million contract with Siemens, filed a suit against the large company for damages.
10. After almost two years on the job, Jackson's Director of Public Works Kishia Powell tendered her resignation to Mayor Tony Yarber's office last weekend.

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