Ellington

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. House Speaker Philip Gunn's staff revealed proposals to get more funding to roads and bridges—which they hope to be included in a special session Gov. Phil Bryant called for June.
2. Mississippi officials took part in a ceremony Thursday celebrating the designation of the state Capitol as a National Historic Landmark.
3. Attorney General Jim Hood released a a consumer's guide to solar power Wednesday that explains both the tax breaks and true costs of installing solar panels, as well as how not to be scammed.
4. Chokwe Antar Lumumba likely claimed the Jackson mayor's seat, winning the Democratic primary by a landslide against other candidates, drawing more than twice the votes as the second-place candidate.
5. Due to federal budget cuts President Donald Trump is pushing, Mississippi faces the loss of funds for rehabbing crumbling buildings, economic-development projects, youth services, and repairing streets and drainage problems.
6. In the most recent session, lawmakers allocated more than $20 million of the Mississippi Department of Education's funds for schools around the state that received "A" or "B" grades as well as schools that improved a letter grade from 2015 to 2016.
7. Hinds County Sheriff Victor Mason and Supervisor Peggy Calhoun recently discussed the importance of mental-health services and diversion programs for Hinds County residents entering the criminal-justice system.
8. The Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus announced that it is boycotting a regional meeting that its own state is hosting this summer, to protest the rebel emblem on the state flag.
9. On Monday night, the Mississippi GOP sent out an apparently-worried email about the possibility of Chokwe Antar Lumumba winning the capital city's mayor's race, leading the Lumumba to campaign to respond on Twitter.
10. Advocates for workers' rights, including the Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights and the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, gathered at the Mississippi Capitol on Friday, April 28, to honor those who died on the job and organize for reforms in the state

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