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10 Local Stories of the Week

No matter what happens with the U.S. Supreme Court and the effort to close the Jackson Women’s Health Organization (pictured), groups like Planned Parenthood, whose Hattiesburg clinic does not perform abortions, plan to defend women’s access to not only abortion but every kind of reproductive care from contraception to STD and cancer screening. It’s not an easy fight in Mississippi, though. Trip Burns/File Photo

No matter what happens with the U.S. Supreme Court and the effort to close the Jackson Women’s Health Organization (pictured), groups like Planned Parenthood, whose Hattiesburg clinic does not perform abortions, plan to defend women’s access to not only abortion but every kind of reproductive care from contraception to STD and cancer screening. It’s not an easy fight in Mississippi, though. Trip Burns/File Photo

By Dustin Cardon

Monday, February 1, 2016

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. City Council President and Ward 2 Councilman Melvin Priester Jr. rolled out a new ordinance to regulate transportation-network companies like Uber at the city council's Rules Committee on Jan. 25.
  2. Several pro-state-flag organizations including the Magnolia State Heritage Campaign and the Dixie Alliance held a rally outside the capitol on Jan. 19 to “save the state flag.”
  3. Regardless of the state's appeal of the JWHO case, the fight for reproductive health in Mississippi will continue in the Mississippi Legislature, as organizations including Planned Parenthood plan to defend women's access to not only abortion but every kind of reproductive care from contraception to STD and cancer screening.
  4. ALEC's 2016 report "Rich States, Poor States," whose lead author, Arthur Laffer, is considered the father of supply-side—sometimes called trickle-down—economics, ranks Mississippi No. 41 out of 50 states in economic performance.
  5. Speaking at Koinonia Coffee House on Jan. 22, Pieter Teeuwissen, attorney for the Hinds County Board of Supervisors, said a proposed "megasite" in Hinds County is likely to draw tax incentives from state lawmakers.
  6. Almost a month after the Mississippi House convened, Speaker Philip Gunn announced committee assignments on Friday, Jan. 29.
  7. Grant Callen, president of Empower MS and a strong supporter of vouchers and charter schools, spoke at the Capitol for the National School Choice Week rally on Tuesday.
  8. State Sen. John Horhn, D-Jackson, filed a bill asking state lawmakers to take an up or down vote to keep or change the Mississippi state flag, the last to bear a symbol of the Confederacy.
  9. Leroy C. Smith, a Denver-based developer, made his pitch on Wednesday for why he is the person who should take on redevelopment of Farish Street.
  10. David Chandler, executive director of the state's foster-care system, said his agency needs more funding from the Legislature to fill hundreds of additional job positions the agency needs.

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