An artist’s rendering of the proposed changes and updates to the Jxn Planetarium. Image: CDFL

#JXNMS is in the news and we’ve got the good stuff! In case you missed it, here are a handful of positive, uplifting features from the past couple of weeks.

A Jackson architectural/engineering firm and an Orlando-based creative services group have been hired to provide services for the renovation of the Jxn Planetarium in downtown Jackson. The Jackson city council approved on July 6 engaging Cooke Douglass Farr Lemons Architects + Engineers for architectural design services and Falcon’s Treehouse LLC, which specializes in themed entertainment design, for exhibit design.

Jackson chef Nick Wallace has opened The Nissan Café by Nick Wallace Culinary at the Two Mississippi Museums in Downtown Jackson. “It’s a Southern-focused menu,” Wallace said, but it should be considered” ‘eclectic.’ That’s what we really are here in the South.” Café hours are Tuesday–Saturday, 9 am–3 pm, and Sunday, 11 am –4 pm.

For the first time in the history of Mississippi’s capital city, the City Council president and vice-president are women. Jackson City Council members voted 4-3… to elect Virgi Lindsay as council president and Angelique Lee as vice president.

Little Kitchen Academy (LKA), the first-of-its-kind, Montessori-inspired cooking academy for kids ages three through teen, announced it is partnering with WS Development to find the right franchise partner to bring the first Little Kitchen Academy to Mississippi. The two companies have identified a space at the iconic Highland Village in Jackson and have developed an agreement that is ready to sign. 

Leaders with the Greater Belhaven Neighborhood Foundation (GBF) announced the 17th Annual Bright Lights Belhaven Nights will take place on Saturday, August 14. The event will be from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. in the Belhaven neighborhood in Jackson. The event will feature live music on two stages, vendors, food and beverages. This year’s featured headliner is Perpetual Groove.

Do you know of a “Good News” JXN story? Send it in!

With reporting from The Northside Sun, WJTV and Jackson Free Press.