10 Local Stories of the Week | Jackson Free Press | Jackson, MS

10 Local Stories of the Week

Mayor Tony Yarber and Public Works Director Kishia Powell (pictured) want the council to approve a contract with Charlotte, N.C.-based Raftelis Financial Consultants Inc. valued at $200,000.

Mayor Tony Yarber and Public Works Director Kishia Powell (pictured) want the council to approve a contract with Charlotte, N.C.-based Raftelis Financial Consultants Inc. valued at $200,000. Photo by Trip Burns.

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. Robert Shuler Smith, the Hinds County district attorney, empanelled the grand jury that delivered a damning report of Sheriff Tyrone Lewis's supervision of the Raymond Detention Center.
  2. Jackson taxpayers will pay an out-of-state contractor at least $200,000 to audit several aspects of the city’s water-and-sewer finances.
  3. On Thursday, the Mississippi State Supreme Court heard arguments from the legal teams of state Sen. Chris McDaniel and U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran regarding the 20-day deadline to file election challenges.
  4. Even in this age of political correctness, we rarely insist that men be part of conversations about how to end domestic violence, and we certainly don't encourage men to talk to each other about stopping violence.
  5. This fall, McComb's teachers began the mammoth task of preparing students for new tests based on the Common Core State Standards adopted by more than 40 states, including Mississippi.
  6. The Jackson Police Department announced Tuesday that it will launch a new anonymous crime-tip system on Oct. 15.
  7. Local design and letterpress company Thimblepress is a finalist in the 2014 Martha Stewart Living American Made Awards.
  8. A federal jury awarded a Jackson developer $600,000 from the City of Jackson following a jury trial Thursday afternoon.
  9. Mississippi is the only state in the country where the rate of its medically uninsured citizens has risen after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
  10. Chef John Currence applies his influence in the food world to many of issues that affect Mississippi, such as equality for all and the state flag.

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