Jackson Free Press

10 Local Stories of the Week

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. Walnut Grove has cleaned up its act. That's the message from top officials with the beleaguered privately operated prison and the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
2. Mayor Tony Yarber issued a statement to the citizens of Jackson Thursday in the form of a letter rebuking the City Council's April 21 vote against his proposal to declare an emergency in response to the city's infrastructure problems.
3. Prosecutors on Wednesday dismissed capital murder charges against Willie Jerome Manning, 46, for the deaths of two Starkville women in 1993 as Manning continues fighting his conviction in a separate case.
4. In a political environment filled with law-school grads and long-in-the-tooth politicians, Jelani Barr's bid for the Capitol might seem like a long shot, but the underdog has been driving across the state explaining why he believes Mississippi needs a common man representing them.
5. Mayor Tony Yarber and the Jackson City Council plan to ask for a formal hearing to contest the approval of a wastewater facility that could take a bite out of the city’s budget.
6. State Rep. Lataisha Jackson, a Como Democrat, points to the experience of Florida, which is reconsidering its third-grade gate testing, as a reason Mississippi should have postponed the testing.
7. In a response filed as part of a Mississippi Supreme Court case, Alison Kelly and the Hinds County Public Defender's Office called Weill's charges against Kelly "extreme."
8. This year's Best of Jackson winner for Best Local Pizza and Best Hangover Food, The Pizza Shack, has seen one store close and a few more open over the past month.
9. A conservative political-action committee called the United Conservatives Fund wants to limit how long some Mississippi officials can serve in office.
10. Republican Gov. Phil Bryant on Thursday vetoed a bill that some lawmakers said would move Mississippi away from the Common Core academic standards adopted by this state and many others.

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