10 Local Stories of the Week - Jackson Free Press

On Wednesday, Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson asked the Justice Department to investigate Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Jeff Weill for holding public defenders in contempt of court. Photo by Trip Burns.

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. Derrick Johnson, president of the Mississippi NAACP, wants authorities to determine whether the hanging death of a black man in Claiborne County was the result of a hate crime.


2. Journalist Claude Sitton, 89, died last Tuesday in Atlanta, his place of birth. Between May 1958 and October 1964, Sitton covered the storied "Race Beat," which was the Jim Crow Era Deep South, for The New York Times.


3. On Wednesday, Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson asked the Justice Department to investigate Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Jeff Weill for holding public defenders in contempt of court.


4. The City of Jackson is hemorrhaging cash at its Water and Sewer Business Administration. Detailed in a report completed by an independent consulting firm hired last fall, the losses are primarily due to bad management practices and could even involve malfeasance at the WSBA.


5. Through the K.I.N.G.S. Leadership Institute, Cassio Batteast mentors African American boys and young men to become sought-out leaders in the community.


6. Michael Thomas, the chief-financial officer for Jackson State University, said March 6 that while a long-sought domed multi-use stadium is still in the school's long-range plan, JSU's legislative priorities are to seek funding for two new schools, one of  public health and another for social work.


7. Residents living near Colonial Country Club concerned about a proposed development in their north Jackson neighborhood can breathe a little easier—for now. The Jackson City Council has shelved a request to rezone the property.


8. The Pine Cone gift boutique opened its new home in Deville Plaza next door to Deville Camera Monday. The Maywood Mart store will remain open through the end of March before everything moves to the new location.


9. The uninsured rate in Mississippi and other states that have resisted expanding health-care access is falling slower compared to states that have expanded Medicaid, a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shows.


10. Construction is underway for the state-of-the-art Grammy Museum® Mississippi, a sister campus of the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles that’s being built on the campus of Delta State University.

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