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. At the most recent city council meeting on May 8, the members gathered at City Hall to vote on a variety of issues from shifting budgets, to an ongoing concert and event series in Jackson.
2. The latest deadly officer-involved shooting in Jackson resulted from a traffic stop. A Jackson Police Department officer pulled over Elliot Reed, 30, and Chauncy Reed, 26, apparently brothers, in a white SUV around 1 a.m. on Wednesday at the Valero in the 900 block of Cooper Road.
3. Nearly 100 people gathered at the Pearl Street AME Church on April 26 to brainstorm what community engagement will look like for the Better Together Commission's work to study Jackson Public Schools.
4. Several wildlife and environmentalist organizations formed a coalition opposing the “One Lake” flood-control and development project just weeks ahead of when the final report is supposed to be published.
5. A new study, "Women's Access to Quality Jobs in Mississippi" that looks at how many and what kind of jobs are filled by women in Mississippi found that the pay gap, low-quality jobs and inability to move up the pay scale still affects women who are employed. For women of color, those results are even worse.
6. Two weeks ago, the Jackson City Council voted to accept Public Works Director Bob Miller's proposal to rework the Siemens Inc. contract in order to start getting accurate water bills out to customers and recoup lost revenue.
7. Sixteen of Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba's 21 appointees to the officer-identification task force gathered at The Cedars in Fondren Monday night to decide if and how the Jackson Police Department will release names of police officers who are involved in shootings, as well as the timeframe in which that would take place.
8. Mississippi Rep. David Baria, D-Bay St. Louis, who is running for Sen. Roger Wicker's seat, said he believes medical marijuana should be decriminalized and that federal prosecutors should not be in states where it is legalized.
9. The City of Jackson invited residents to give community input May 7 in City Hall about what they want to see built across from the Jackson Convention Complex.
10. Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and Attorney General Jim Hood are the obvious candidates expected to face off in the 2019 gubernatorial election if both make it past the party primaries, although neither one has officially declared his intention to run for the office.

Remember: Check the JFP Events planner for everything to do in the Jackson metro area. You can also add your own events (or send them to [email protected])! See JFPEvents.com