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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

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. An 11-hour redistricting plan for Jackson wards shocked many locals, leading to accusations that Ward 3 Councilwoman LaRita Cooper-Stokes might be trying to make it easier to keep her strongly contested seat. Jacob Fuller reports. (Click link for maps of possible redrawn districts.)
  2. Reporter R.L. Nave talked to new JPS Superintendent Cedrick Gray Jr. for his first JFP Interview. Read about his ambitious plans for the district.
  3. The Jackson Medical Mall and its partners are almost ready to present a completed strategic plan for the Jackson Health-Care Corridor to the public. Read more in Jacob Fuller’s report.
  4. Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. presented his new city budget. It funds water and sewer needs, but no new raises for city employees.
  5. Mississippi Power Co. announced last weekthat it had terminated a contract with a joint venture of KBR and W.G. Yates & Sons Construction, which was working on part of its $2.8 billion Kemper County project. Read more about a report that Mississippi has some of the nation’s dirtiest air due to our power plants.
  6. Drunk driving deaths fell dramatically from 2009 to 2010 in the state.
  7. Jackson State University welcomed back Olympian sprinter Anaso Jobodwana, who represented his home nation of South Africa in the 200-meter dash in the 2012 London Olympics. He set a personal best of 20.66 seconds to win his preliminary heat, but finished eighth in the final.
  8. R.L. Nave reported that Mississippi’s jobless rate rose for the second straight month in July, as the state’s job market continued to stall. In June, Hinds County’s unemployment was at 9.1 percent, but those figures are not seasonally adjusted. Rankin and Madison counties had the fewest people out of work, with 5.9 and 7.2 percent unemployment, respectivel
  9. At the Friday Forum at Koinonia Coffee House, Pastor Dwayne K. Pickett called for meeting people where they are and stepping out from behind the church’s stained-glass windows. PIckett wants churches to support local businesses with cash mobs and get more involved with community children and the public-school system.
  10. Find out what the Massachusetts Tea Party sent the Jackson Free Press at this link. Hint: It wasn’t hummus.

Remember: Check the JFP Events planner for everything to do in the Jackson metro area. You can also add your own events (or send them to events@jacksonfreepress.com)! See JFPEvents.com

Watch for the annual JFP College Football Issue hitting the streets Wednesday!

Read staff and reader blog posts at jfp.ms/weblogs (yes, you can register on the site and start your own blog!)

MFP Solutions Lab logo

The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.