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. Family members of fallen Jackson Police Department officers placed roses on the memorial site outside of JPD headquarters in downtown Jackson Thursday, and were presented with potted peace lilies, a flower that represents innocence, harmony and purity after death.
2. Promising to build on the work of his father, Chokwe A. Lumumba announced his second mayoral bid Thursday afternoon to more than a hundred supporters gathered on the steps in green space by City Hall.
3. Hattiesburg native Benjamin Morris biked from Memphis to Jackson to hand-deliver the April 11 petition from 95 Mississippi writers opposing House Bill 1523 to Gov. Bryant's office.
4. Gov. Phil Bryant celebrated a national education award this month, but made it more about school choice than the nominating committee intended.
5. On May 19, the federal judge in the Olivia Y foster-care case approved an agreement that will postpone federal receivership as long as the state complies with the original court order and agreement.
6. At a recent public meeting, Central District Public Service Commissioner Cecil Brown said three solar plants in Mississippi were a way for Entergy to "walk before they can run" to make sure they know how solar is going to work in the state before they roll out more plants.
7. Jacob W. Howard and J. Cliff Johnson of the MacArthur Justice Center and Alec Karakatsanis of the Equal Justice Under Law organization in Washington, D.C., are part of a national movement to stop what they call “debtor’s prisons,” where people who can afford fines, often for minor offenses, have to sit in jails.
8. A small group of concerned citizens gathered in the light rain Tuesday morning on the steps of Jackson City Hall to protest the "secrecy and division" of the city government, even as Jackson City Council gathered for its regular meeting inside.
9. A group of Mississippi House Republicans emailed a letter on Tuesday directly to state Superintendent Dr. Carey Wright, asking her to step down unless the Mississippi Department of Education swiftly reverses its decision to follow the president’s guidelines on protecting transgender students’ rights.
10. The Mississippi Department of Mental Health is looking at a 4.4-percent or $8.3-million cut in state support funds for fiscal-year 2017, and the result will be a loss of services: 67 male chemical-dependency beds and 29 acute medical psychiatric beds in state hospitals.

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