Rep. Cecil Brown (pictured), a Jackson Democrat, called Medicaid a "huge deal" that will dominate the legislative session, which convenes in January. Gov. Phil Bryant has been emphatic in his opposition to Medicaid expansion, citing costs as the reason. Photo by Trip Burns.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
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:
- After spending $34,000 in taxpayer funds to poll Mississippi voters Nov. 6, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann's new exit poll has confirmed what voter ID opponents have been saying all along: Those most at risk for disenfranchisement under voter ID laws are black, poor or young.
- The NCAA, with the help of JSU and five other pilot participants, is putting big money into the 930 Initiative, which will focus on trying to find out what universities can do to help those student-athletes earn their degrees in four years, or stay and complete their degree requirements after they exhaust their athletic eligibility.
- The Mississippi Sierra Club is warning about a controversial power project sending electricity ratepayers over the "Kemper Cliff." Drawing a comparison with the ongoing and potentially calamitous congressional budget deadlock, state Sierra Club Director Louie Miller believes going ahead with a 582-megawatt lignite-coal plant in Kemper County could also have dire consequences for customers of Mississippi Power Co.
- When the Jackson Free Clinic wanted to expand its facilities, the Community Fund of Greater Jackson helped make it happen. Read the full story here.
- The newly formed Mississippi Health Care Access coalition plans to press the Legislature to expand the federal-state Medicaid program, which federal law now allows. Read the full story here.
- Sarah Kavanagh is behind an online petition to remove a potentially toxic chemical from sodas and sports drinks that are popular with her friends and family. Read the full story here.
- The state Board of Education approved a report calling for the closure of Hinds Agricultural High School in Utica. The report calls for changing Coahoma Agricultural High School north of Clarksdale into an early college high school where students could earn a high school diploma and college credits. And it says Forrest County Agricultural High School in Brooklyn should continue as it is currently structured.
- Full Spectrum South is moving forward with its plans to build a mixed-use development downtown, despite the county refusing to help fund the project. The company announced it has signed long-term leases with the state on the building that currently houses Hal & Mal's and a 2.74-acre tract of land behind that building where Full Spectrum plans to build 1822 Square, the first phase of the larger Old Capitol Green development plan.
- Gov. Phil Bryant says scrapping Mississippi's tort reform laws would hinder economic development and cost the state the jobs that it brings. He makes the argument in new court papers that ask a federal court to uphold the constitutionality of a $1 million cap on non-economic damages.
- The Jackson City Council finally came to an agreement with the mayor to approve contracts with a financial advisory team for the city's water-system improvement project. The contracts include $400,000 to hire bond counsel and financial advisers for the city's $90 million contract with Siemens Corp.
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