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In Mississippi

1. 142 More Mississippi Congregations Disaffiliate from United Methodist Church

On Saturday, the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church approved the disaffiliation of 142 congregations. Among the churches departing is Christ United Methodist Church of Jackson, the largest Methodist congregation in the state. Its members voted 717-112 to leave in October.

In June, the Mississippi Conference approved the disaffiliation of another 189 congregations. Since 2019, more than 7,000 churches have left the mainline Protestant denomination. A large point of division has been whether to allow blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of clergy in same-sex relationships.

The General Conference of the United Methodist Church has rules that disallow same-sex unions, but the denomination has often refused to enforce those rules, prompting more conservative congregations to leave. More than 3,000 of the churches that have disaffiliated from UMC have opted to affiliate with the Global Methodist Church, a denomination seen as more traditional in its approach to Scripture.

2. Jonathan David Hankins, Third Person Buried in Hinds County Pauper’s Field Without Notification to Family

Jonathan David Hankins was reported missing in July of 2022. The Rankin County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation to find the 39 year-old Florence resident. Unbeknownst to his family or Rankin investigators, Hankins was buried in a pauper’s field in Hinds County in August of 2022.

The family only recently discovered Hankins had died and been buried as a result of investigative reporting by NBC News. Hankins is the third person revealed to have been buried without notification to family in Hinds County.

Dexter Wade, 37, was struck and killed by an off-duty Jackson Police Department officer on March 5, 2023. The Hinds County Coroner had identified his body by March 8th. His mother reported him missing on March 14th, but did not learn of his death and burial until October of this year. Marrio Moore, 40, was found by authorities after being beaten to death, wrapped in a tarp, and left on the side of the road in February of 2023. Like Wade and Hankins, Moore was buried in the same pauper’s field. Moore’s family went eight months without knowing what had happened.

All three of the families have hired civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump to represent them, signaling the likelihood of lawsuits.

3. Maternal Mortality Rate Remains High in Mississippi

The Mississippi Maternal Mortality Review Committee released a report last week assessing pregnancy-related deaths in state between 2016-2020. The Report identified 65 “pregnancy-related” deaths, or 35.2 deaths per 100,000 live births over the five-year span.

Black women were disproportionately impacted, accounting for nearly 77 percent of pregnancy-related deaths. 49.2 percent of pregnancy-related deaths occurred between birth and 42 days after birth. 43 percent occurred between day 43 and 1 year after birth.

72.3 percent of pregnancy-related deaths were on Medicaid at time of delivery. 18.5 percent were on private insurance. 9.2 percent had unreported insurance status. 21 of the reported pregnancy-related deaths was the result of homicide (17) or suicide (4). 32 included obesity as a contributing factor, with cardiovascular disease or cardiomyopathy identified as leading contributing or underlying causes.

Pregnant women are eligible for Medicaid coverage in Mississippi with incomes up to 194 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. The Mississippi Legislature recently passed a law that expanded postpartum coverage from 60 days after birth to one full year for eligible pregnant women.

National News & Foreign Policy

1. University Presidents Under Fire for Allegedly Fostering Anti-Semitic Climate on Campus

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned on Saturday. She was followed by the chairman of Penn’s board of trustees, Scott Bok. The resignations came on the heels of recent controversy over how to balance the free speech rights of pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses with the safety of Jewish students.

Last Tuesday, Magill, Harvard University President Claudine Gay, and Massachusetts Institute for Technology President Sally Kornbluth appeared in a congressional hearing. When pressed on whether or not their schools’ codes of conduct permitted antisemitic harassment, all three leaders attempted to distinguish between arguably hateful, but permissible speech, and speech which incites violence or violates the schools’ policies on harassment, bullying or intimidation.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) led the hearing. Afterwards, she and 73 of her House colleagues called on Penn, Harvard, and MIT to replace their leadership. Congressman Mike Ezell from Mississippi’s 4th Congressional District was among the signatories.

Kornbluth received a vote of confidence from MIT’s board on Thursday. Gay remains in limbo with intense scrutiny being applied by the likes of hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman.

More than congressional pressure, Magill faced donor backlash at Penn. Financier Ross Stevens threatened to rescind a $100 million gift to the university unless Magill was removed. Stevens was joined by other significant titans of business, including Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan, Jon Huntsman, Jr. and Ronald S. Lauder (the Lauder in Estee-Lauder), who all indicated that they were, or would seriously consider, removing support unless Magill was removed.

2. Race is on in Congress to Ink Deal on Ukraine, Israel and America’s Southern Border

On Wednesday, Republicans in the U.S. Senate blocked $110.5 billion foreign aid package support by President Joe Biden and Democrats that would have sent funding to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.  

Republicans want to enhance border security at the U.S. southern border and are pressing to make sure any discussion of additional foreign aid includes border reforms. Included in the Republican wish list is a change to America’s asylum law that would make the screening process for a full asylum case more rigorous, the designation of “safe third countries” where asylum seekers could be sent, and allowing for rapid deportations to be used nationwide, instead of just at the border.

Republicans also want most asylum seekers to be detained pending final resolution of their claim, instead of being released with a court date. President Biden has requested 46,500 detention beds to be funded, an increase of 12,000 beds over current capacity. In recent days, border crossings have peaked, with over 10,000 illegal crossing per day being estimated.

The United States Senate is scheduled to conclude business this week before senators head home for the holidays. Funding to aid Ukraine in its efforts to repel the Russian invasion will run out by year’s end. Pressure is on to strike a deal by week’s end and border security increasingly appears as if it is the lynchpin of any deal.

Sports & Entertainment

1. ‘Shotime’ Becomes Highest Paid Player in North American Sports History

Two-way baseball star Shohei Ohtani’s announced ten-year, $700 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers makes him the highest paid player in Major League Baseball history. The contract also eclipses the record for any North American athlete in any sport.

Ohtani’s former Angels teammate Mike Trout previously had the richest contract in baseball at twelve years, $426.5 million. Only Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was drawing more than Trout, but Mahomes ten-year, $503 million contract puts him earning almost $20 million less per season than Ohtani’s new deal.

The 29 year-old Ohtani is a two-time league MVP and three-time All Star. He batted .304, with 44 homeruns and 95 RBIs last season. But his true value comes from the fact that he can both hit and pitch. In each of the last two seasons, Ohtani has put up at least 10 wins for Angels from the mound, with an average ERA under 3.00.

2. Ole Miss Basketball Improves to 9-0 Under Head Coach Chris Beard

In yet another nailbiter, the Rebels men’s basketball team emerged victorious Sunday night, defeating the UCF Golden Knights 70-68 to secure their ninth win on the season. The Rebels have yet to experience defeat under new head coach Chris Beard. The Rebels will face the 3-6 California Golden Bears next Saturday as they seek to keep the undefeated streak alive.

In other Ole Miss news, the Rebels football team began practicing on Saturday for their Peach Bowl contest against the Penn State Nittany Lions. The Peach Bowl will be played in Atlanta on Saturday, December 30th at 11 a.m.

On Thursday, Rebels Head Coach Lane Kiffin was named as a semifinalist for the George Munger Coach of the Year. Ole Miss linebacker Suntarine Perkins was also named to the freshman All-SEC team on Thursday.

3. Bulldogs Improve to 7-2 on Season with Dominate Win Over Tulane

Mississippi State secured its seventh win on the young basketball season, with a dominant performance over the Tulane Greenwave. The Bulldogs won by 30, 106-76, and controlled from buzzer to buzzer. State’s offense was bolstered by 10 three-pointers.

With no post-season play on the horizon, the Bulldogs football team has been busy building a coaching staff under new Head Coach Jeff Lebby. Lebby, whose reputation is on the offensive side of the ball, appears to be focusing much of his energy on building a staff that can manage the defensive side of the equation.

Coleman Hutzler and Matt Barnes have been added as co-defensive coordinators. Lebby and Hutzler worked together at Ole Miss under Lane Kiffin, with Lebby serving as offensive coordinator and Hutzler as special teams coordinator in 2021. Hutzler has spent the last two seasons coaching linebackers and special teams for Nick Saban at Alabama. Matt Barnes spent the last two seasons as the defensive coordinator for the Memphis Tigers.

Hutzler and Barnes will be joined on the defensive side of the ball by defensive line coach David Turner, who has 20 years of SEC coaching experience, including 7 years at Mississippi State under previous regimes, and cornerback coach Corey Bell, who overlapped with Lebby when he was on staff at the University of Central Florida.

While no offensive coordinator has been named — Lebby has said he plans to call the offense — a number of offensive assistants have been hired. Anthony Tucker spent two years with Lebby at UCF and will serve the roles of assistant head coach and running backs coach. Matt Holecek will coach Bulldog signal callers after two years as quarterback coach at Oklahoma. Cody Kennedy will lead the offensive line after three seasons in that role for the Arkansas Razorbacks. Jon Cooper coached with Lebby at both UCF and Oklahoma and will take over responsibilities for tight ends. Finally, former Bulldog star Chad Bumphis will stay on as wide receivers coach.

4. After Purging Most of Its Staff, Southern Miss Names Chip Long Team’s New Offensive

After finishing the season 3-9, Southern Miss retained Head Coach Will Hall, but parted ways with assistants up and down the board. On Friday, it hired its first replacement. Chip Long will serve as offensive coordinator when the Golden Eagles take the field next season.

Long served as offensive coordinator at Memphis in 2016, Notre Dame between 2017-2019, Tulane in 2021, following the departure of Hall from that same role, and Georgia Tech in 2022. He was a quality control specialist at Louisville this past season. In addition to coaching with Hall at Tulane, the two men were college teammates at North Alabama 20 years ago.

Long helped lead Notre Dame to a College Football Playoff appearance and was a finalist for the 2018 Broyles Award, given annually to the nation’s top assistant coach.

On the hardwood, the Golden Eagles are performing slightly better than their gridiron mates. The team improved to 5-4 on the season after defeating the Northwestern State Demons, 83-74, on Saturday. Guard Cliff Davis put up 24 points in the win.

Markets & Business

The S&P 500 closed 0.4 percent higher last week to post its sixth straight weekly gain. All three major indexes, the S&P, Dow and Nasdaq, closed at their highest levels of the year.

Markets have largely been driven by optimism that there could be a “soft landing” coming out of the last three years of high inflation and the Federal Reserve’s efforts to fight inflation with interest rate hikes.

The latest bit of optimism resulted from the Labor Department’s November jobs report, which showed the U.S. added 199,000 jobs in November. This marks a slowdown in job growth fom earlier in the year, but still came in higher than anticipated. The national unemployment rate fell to 3.7 percent in November.

Treasury yields, which peaked north of 5 percent on the benchmark 10-year note, have been steadily declining over the last month — a likely sign of the market’s expectation that the Fed will begin rolling back rate hikes next year.