Magnolia Mornings: February 26, 2024

• Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion to start your day informed.

In Mississippi

State mourns loss of soldiers after helicopter crash

On Friday, what the Mississippi National Guard called a routine training flight turned tragic as two soldiers were killed when their helicopter went down near Booneville in Prentiss County.

The soldiers have been identified as 36-year-old Chief Warrant Officer 4 Bryan Andrew Zemek and 42-year-old Chief Warrant Officer 4 Derek Joshua Abbot.

The AH-64 Apache carrying the two guardsmen went down around 2pm.

“Today at approximately 2 p.m., the Mississippi National Guard experienced an Apache AH-64 helicopter crash during a routine training flight in Prentiss County. Tragically, both Guardsmen on board did not survive. Safety crews are currently working the scene of the crash with local authorities,” Governor Tate Reeves shared on social media. “Please join @firstladyofms and me in praying for the two Guardsmen and their families. Mississippi will always be grateful for their service, and we will never forget them.“

National News & Foreign Policy

1. Trump beats Haley in her home state of South Carolina

Nikki Haley was Governor of South Carolina before becoming former President Donald Trump’s pick as U.N. Ambassador. Her campaign was hoping to have a better showing in her home state on Saturday, even giving Haley a narrow win. That was not to be.

Trump has thus far swept through every Republican caucus and primary where delegates could be designated, winning in convincing fashion. The decisive victory over Haley in South Carolina means he is on track to wrap up the nomination within the next few weeks should he maintain that momentum.

There are no obvious or likely wins ahead for the Haley campaign. Yet, following the loss on Saturday, she has pledged to carry on into Super Tuesday next week.

2. RNC chairwoman to resign next week

Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who has led the party for seven years, will step down after next week’s Super Tuesday’s GOP primaries amid pressure from former President Donald Trump, the party’s frontrunner to win the 2024 nomination.

McDaniel’s resignation is planned to come at the GOP meeting in Houston, Texas, to “allow our nominee to select a Chair of their choosing,” she said in a letter.

Earlier this month, Trump said he was backing North Carolina GOP Chair Michael Whatley in as the next RNC chairman and his daughter-in-law, Lara, as co-chair.

It is not uncommon for party leadership to shift once there is a clear presidential nominee. However, what is different about this one is that it was Trump who backed McDaniel’s rise after the 2016 election.

Sports & Entertainment

1. Good weekend for college baseball in Mississippi

Mississippi’s Big 3 all won their series on the diamond over the weekend.

Southern Miss topped Missouri State and now sits a 6-2 on the season, while Mississippi State improved to 4-4 taking the series from Georgia Southern.

Ole Miss, also 4-4 on the season, took the series win over High Point University.

2. State, Southern Miss win; Ole Miss loses

Mississippi State extended its winning streak in men’s basketball on Saturday, beating LSU 87-67. The Bulldogs are now 19-8 on the season and 8-6 in SEC play. They will play No. 17 Kentucky on Tuesday.

Southern Miss won 82-71 over Louisiana in the Golden Eagles’ last home game of the regular season. USM is now 16-13 overall and 9-7 in the Sun Belt with two away games remaining, the first against South Alabama midweek.

Ole Miss dropped another key game down the stretch, losing to No. 20 South Carolina 72-59 on Saturday. The Rebels are now 19-8 on the season and 6-8 in the SEC. Ole Miss will host No. 13 Alabama on Wednesday.

Markets & Business

1. Company says technical error to blame for outage

AT&T is blaming an error in coding on last week’s phone outage that left thousands across the U.S. without service.

“Based on our initial review, we believe that today’s outage was caused by the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network, not a cyber-attack,” the company said.

Many speculated that the outage could have been caused by bad actors. However, AT&T has said there was no malicious intent. But the FBI has been in contact with the company.

“Should we learn of any malicious activity we will respond accordingly,” the FBI said.

2. Stocks little changed ahead of opening

CNBC is reporting that stock futures were little changed Monday after key stock benchmarks reached record highs and investors awaited inflation data slated for release later this week.

“Stocks are coming into the final week of February on a high note after the major indexes achieved key milestones and registered winning weeks with help from Nvidia’s blockbuster earnings,” CNBC reported. “The blue-chip Dow closed at an all-time high, the S&P at one point in the session broke above 5,100 for the first time, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite touched a 52-week high in Friday’s session.”