Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion to start your day informed.
In Mississippi
1. Parts of Jackson experiencing pipe breaks, boil water notice
Some 12,000 Jackson residents are now under a boil water notice after pipe breaks occurred in the capital city, according to JXN Water.
The boil water notice affects those in the following locations:
- 39209 – West Jackson along the 49 corridor
- 39204 – West/Central Jackson along 49 corridor to Pearl River and south on east side of 55 between 55 and the Pearl River
- 39212 – South Jackson
- 39272 – South Jackson
- 39170 – South Jackson
Customers should boil water until the notice is lifted.
2. Southaven mother’s social media post makes national news
FoxNews picked up a Mississippi mother’s social media post of a write-up her first-grader received at school for saying “Jesus Christ.” The outlets said the post has garnered thousands of reactions, comments and shares.
“The post includes a photo of a ‘parent notice of disciplinary incident’ from Jan. 4 that appears to be from Hope Sullivan Elementary in Southaven, Mississippi,” FoxNews reported. “The reason for the notice was checked ‘unacceptable language,’ with the actions taken listed as ‘had conference with student’ and ‘telephoned parent.'”
FoxNews says the note from the teacher said the child “said ‘Jesus Christ’ when he dropped the Legos he was cleaning up from recess.”
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Stop gap bill keeps government open
Congress has passed another stop gap measure to keep the federal government open as lawmakers continue to work through four appropriations bills. The deadline was to be Friday, January 19th but the new deadline will now be March 1st.
Another eight bills set to expire on February 2nd will now be pushed out to March 8th.
Whether the additional time for negotiations between the two chambers and the two parties will result in a better spending package remains to be seen as the sides are deeply entrenched. However, Senate and House leaders have made headway in recent weeks.
Speaker Mike Johnson said the extra time in the stop gap measure passed Thursday is “an important part of his larger effort to secure Republican priorities on the larger government funding bills,” as reported by ABC News.
2. Netanyahu wants no part of Palestinian statehood talks
The New York Times reported Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “appeared to rule out a postwar peace process that would lead to the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state, rebuffing calls from the United States to start working toward that ultimate goal.”
According to NYT, the Biden administration and the Israeli government have not come to an agreement on how Gaza will be governed when the fighting ends. But Netanyahu is resolute in his position.
“In any arrangement in the foreseeable future — with an arrangement or without one — Israel must have security control over all the territory west of the Jordan,” Netanyahu said in a news conference as reported by NYT.
Sports & Entertainment
1. Ole Miss, Miss. State lose Wednesday
Both Ole Miss and Mississippi State men’s basketball teams lost Wednesday.
The No. 22 Rebels fell to LSU 89-80 while the Bulldogs lost 90-77 to No. 8 Kentucky.
The two are back in action on Saturday, with the Rebels heading to No. 11 Auburn and State hosting Vanderbilt.
2. Applewhite named new South Alabama Coach
Head Football Coach Kane Wommack left South Alabama earlier this week to become the new Defensive Coordinator at Alabama with new Head Coach Kalen DeBoer. Wommack’s departure opened the door for USA Offensive Coordinator Major Applewhite.
Applewhite was announced as the new Jaguars Head Coach on Thursday, likely helping retain and maintain the Mobile-based SunBelt team’s players and recruits.
One of the best offensive minds in all of college football, Applewhite has elevated South’s offensive attack since arriving on campus three years ago.
Markets & Business
1. Drug companies raise prices in early 2024
According to the Wall Street Journal, drugmakers kicked off 2024 by raising the list prices for Ozempic, Mounjaro and dozens of other widely used medicines.
Companies raised list prices on 775 brand-name drugs during the first half of January, according to an analysis for The Wall Street Journal by 46brooklyn Research, a nonprofit drug-pricing analytics group.
“The drugmakers raised prices of their medicines by a median 4.5%, though the prices of some drugs rose by around 10% or higher, according to the research group. The median increase is higher than the rate of inflation, which ticked up to 3.4% in December,” WSJ reported.
2. No more plastic shopping bags at Aldi
Aldi, currently expanding more into Mississippi, announced this week that the grocer would no longer sell plastic shopping bags.
The move eliminates the bags from all of its 2,300 stores in the U.S.
Instead, customers who fail to bring their own bags can purchase a cloth bag instead in a nod to promote sustainability and a reduction in the use of plastics.
Magnolia Tribune
