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. Mississippi pastors, community leaders, activists and a Hattiesburg church have filed a federal lawsuit challenging House Bill 1523, the third legal challenge to the "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act."
2. Mayor Tony Yarber last week declared that the City of Jackson is participating in National Re-entry Month in support of citizens who have been incarcerated and are now returning to society.
3. Ward 6 Council Tyrone Hendrix helped block the mayor's effort to give a $2.5 million contract to a Los Angeles-based company June 6, citing the budget's dire condition.
4. Out of three children released under the Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Center's recent policy of not detaining young people after 21 days, one is missing, one is back in custody, and the third was released without treatment, Youth Court Judge William Skinner says.
5. The Mississippi School for the Deaf is the only school in the state that exists primarily to serve deaf children. To do it well isn't cheap.
6. Many juvenile "offenders" are routinely sent into a separate labyrinth from adult offenders in the justice system, one with its own complex problems, remedies and slowly changing standards.
7. During a June 3 gathering at Koinonia Coffee House, Mayor Tony Yarber lamented the lack of progress the City has made on infrastructure issues and blamed it on poor confidence based on past experiences with large companies, as well as political differences.
8. The Legislative Black Caucus policy committee held budget hearings last Wednesday to see how cuts to agencies' budgets will affect services and employment at the state's health and mental-health agencies.
9. Local advocates, civil-rights activists and actress Aunjanue Ellis, a Mississippi native and critic of the state flag, held a community town-hall meeting at the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center on June 9.
10. Working Together Jackson, a religious and community mega-group comprised of the heads of around 40 Jackson-area organizations, will sit down with Mayor Yarber on Monday to ask him about issues facing their constituents.

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