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 American Health Care Act is a bad bill for Mississippians, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said at a town hall at Cardozo Middle School in Jackson Thursday night.
2. A judge blocked Mississippi officials from forcing one of the state's largest payday lenders to close.
3. Two reverends, Aaron Banks and Ernest Slaughter, who are the only Jackson City Council candidates who are competing in the May 16 run-off, each tried to convince a large crowd at the Metrocenter Mall Tuesday night that he should serve Ward 6.
4. The Jackson Public School District has a lot of work to do ahead of the June 30 deadline set for some improvements outlined in its Corrective Action Plan, which the district needs to complete to keep its accreditation and avoid a state takeover.
5. The U.S. House of Representatives made good on President Donald Trump's campaign promise of repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act last week, but the legislation could have dire impacts for Mississippi, a Republican leader says.
6. Khadafy and Quinnetta Manning are two of the 10 black Madison County residents suing the county and Sheriff Randall Tucker in a federal class-action lawsuit the ACLU of Mississippi filed this week.
7. Primary night wasn't supposed to end that way. Chokwe Antar Lumumba could not possibly beat nine Democratic opponents outright and avoid a run-off. Here's why he did.
8. A new study from the Sentencing Project found that inmates serving life or virtual life (50-plus years) sentences in the United States are predominantly and disproportionately African Americans. Mississippi's prison system is no exception.
9. Ten black Madison County residents joined the ACLU of Mississippi this morning to announce a new federal class-action lawsuit against Madison County and Sheriff Randall Tucker.
10. Credit rater Standard & Poor's Financial Services changed its outlook on Mississippi's credit rating to negative last week, concerned about weakness in state finances and the overall economy.

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