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. Third graders around the state improved their scores on the reading assessments required for promotion to the fourth grade this year. Statewide, 93.2 percent of third graders passed the test, an increase from the 92 percent that passed last year.
2. Gov. Phil Bryant's ties to "Brexit Boys" went beyond his connection to Nigel Farage; after he met Arron Banks and Andy Wigmore with the Leave.EU campaign, Bryant helped Banks' company bring a data project to the University of Mississippi.
3. For the last month and a half, City of Jackson officials have been trying to fix the Siemens, Inc. billing system that left 20,000 customers "stranded" in the system, many getting water without paying for it.
4. Michael Guest and Whit Hughes held watch parties on June 5 for the primary elections. The two will face each other in a June 26 run-off.
5. Ruby Burns-Ward said Pelahatchie Mayor Ryshonda Harper Beechem created an environment of fear in City Hall, so she left a job she loved.
6. Gov. Phil Bryant seemed prepared to fight to keep control over Mississippi's foster-care system last week after attorneys representing the children asked U.S. District Judge Tom Lee to hold the State in contempt of court and to turn over the system to a court-appointed receiver.
7. MDOC is one of 10 certified purchasing offices in the state. Ross Campbell, director of purchasing, travel and fleet management in the Department of Finance and Administration, said the distinction allow an agency to issue a request-for-proposal for commodities or services.
8. The Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees announced three finalists vying to lead the second-largest district in the state on Monday afternoon.
9. Gov. Phil Bryant alluded to the possibility of a special session for infrastructure funding, if the U.S. Supreme Court allows states to start collecting use tax from online retailers.
10. Almost $200,000 is going back to Hinds County governmental organizations from the sale of 228 tax-forfeited properties.

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