- 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. Eclipse day is here
Today is the much anticipated solar eclipse. Mississippi, while clouds could cover portions of the state, there will be a noticeable chunk of the sun occluded by the moon. For most of the state, the eclipse will begin around 12:30 pm, peak around 2pm, and end by 3:15pm.
While a solar eclipse is fun to observe, it is also very dangerous to your eye health if you stare directly at the sun. Be sure to use eclipse viewing glasses to see the event.
For more tips, visit here.
2. Rankin County NAACP calls for Sheriff’s resignation
The Rankin County NAACP is calling for Sheriff Bryan Bailey to resign.
WJTV reports that the local NAACP chapter held a town hall meeting on Saturday where leaders of the group gave an update on the recent sentencings in the “Goon Squad” cases.
Rankin County NAACP President Angela English said there is an ongoing petition to remove Sheriff Bailey. She said they have nearly 29,000 signatures, as reported by WJTV.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Trump says abortion should be left to states
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee again this election year, said in a statement on Monday that the issue of abortion and its regulation should be left to states.
“My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land. In this case, the law of the state,” Trump said in a video on Truth Social, as reported by the Washington Post.
As WP noted, “On Sunday he teased an imminent announcement on social media, saying that ‘Republicans, and all others, must follow their hearts and minds,’ while emphasizing that he supports exceptions to abortion bans for rape, incest and the life of the mother. Trump added, ‘We must use common sense in realizing that we have an obligation to the salvation of our Nation … to win elections.'”
2. Vatican, Pope say gender change threatens person’s “unique dignity” received at conception
The New York Times is reporting that the Vatican on Monday issued a new document approved by Pope Francis stating that the church believes that sex-change operations, gender fluidity and surrogacy all amount to affronts to human dignity.
“The sex a person is born with, the document argued, was an ‘irrevocable gift’ from God and ‘any sex-change intervention, as a rule, risks threatening the unique dignity the person has received from the moment of conception,'” NYT reported. “People who desire ‘a personal self-determination, as gender theory prescribes,’ risk conceding ‘to the age-old temptation to make oneself God.'”
NYT notes that “the document was intended as a broad statement of the church’s view on human dignity, which included the exploitation of the poor, migrants, women and vulnerable people.”
Sports & Entertainment
1. Miss. State, Southern Miss get series wins; Ole Miss swept by Arkansas
- Ole Miss got swept out of Fayetteville by Arkansas this weekend, losing all three games in the weekend series. The Rebels fall to 18-15 on the year and 3-9 in SEC play. They head back to Oxford to face Murray State on Tuesday and then Mississippi State starting on Friday.
- Speaking of Mississippi State, the Bulldogs are coming off of a series win over Georgia in what was a fierce battle all weekend. Mississippi State took two of the three games, improving to 21-12 overall and 6-6 in the SEC. The Bulldogs will play UAB on Tuesday ahead of their matchup with rival Ole Miss in Oxford.
- Southern Miss head back from Mobile with a series win over South Alabama. The Golden Eagles won two of three over the Jags, moving to 20-12 on the season and 8-4 in SunBelt play. USM is back at Pete Taylor Park on Tuesday to face Southeastern Louisiana before a weekend series at Georgia State.
2. Southern Miss hosts spring scrimmage
Southern Miss football held their spring scrimmage on Saturday to start Head Coach Will Hall’s fourth year in Hattiesburg.
Southern Miss Athletics provided a summary of the day that started with Dylan Lawrence breaking up a pass attempt from Florida State transfer QB Tate Rodemaker. The first scoring play came by way of a 50-yard touchdown pass from returning QB Ethan Crawford to Chandler Pittman. The next scoring play from the scrimmage portion of the practice was a six-yard touchdown pass from freshman QB John White to Jack Jackson. Redshirt freshman Austin Gonzalez added another passing touchdown after he found Keyshawn Buckley on a six-yard route. On the defensive side, Jarius Anders had an early interception and Eric Thomas, Jr. had a strip sack.
Southern Miss opens its 2024 season on August 31st at Kentucky.
Markets & Business
1. Stock futures flat to start the week
CNBC reports that stock futures were flat Monday after the market suffered a pullback last week as 2024′s rally took a breather.
“Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 12 points, or 0.01%. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.03%, while Nasdaq-100 futures fell 0.05%,” CNBC reported. “The 30-stock Dow fell 2.3% last week, posting its worst weekly performance March 2023. The S&P 500 declined nearly 1% during the period, its biggest weekly loss since early January. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.8%, suffering its fourth negative week in five.”
2. Fed rate cuts remain in question
After the latest blockbuster jobs report on Friday, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that more traders are betting the Fed may cut the benchmark federal-funds rate just once or twice this year, fewer than officials’ last median forecast of three quarter-point cuts.
“And a handful are even starting to wager that the central bank will leave rates where they are,” WSJ stated, adding, “The shift could pose a challenge to a stock-market rally built on the hope that the economy would slow enough for the Fed to lower borrowing costs from multidecade highs above 5%, but not enough to start a recession.”
