- 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. MEMA shares preliminary severe weather assessment
MEMA is working with local communities to assess damage from the severe weather over the last 36 hours. There are reports of homes damaged, trees down, roads blocked, and power outages due to the storms. MEMA notes that there has been one death (Scott County) and one injury (Grenada County) reported. Statewide, counties have reported 72 homes have been damaged.
MEMA released the following preliminary assessment, noting that it will change as as the process continues:
· Grenada – 1 injury, 3 homes
· Hinds – 6 homes
· Marshall – 9 homes
· Scott– 1 death, 45 homes
· Warren – 3 homes
· Yazoo – 6 homes
2. JSU’s Dean of Students honored
Jackson State University’s Dean of Students Laquala C. Dixon, Ph.D., was named the 2024 NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education Black Diaspora Knowledge Community (BDKC) Sankofa Award recipient.
The Sankofa Award is presented to a senior student affairs officer who has provided support and commitment to the BDKC by demonstrating the meaning of Sankofa, which “teaches us that we must go back to our roots in order to move forward.”
Dixon joined NASPA in 2013 and, for four years, has served as a member of the BDKC leadership team, formerly the African-American Knowledge Community. She began as the Region III representative and was ultimately appointed to serve as the HBCU liaison for the BDKC.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. FBI Director warns Congress of elevated threats
On Thursday, FBI Director Christopher Wray told a U.S. House panel that the bureau is concerned about the possibility of an organized attack in the United States similar to the one that killed scores at a Russian concert hall last month, Reuters reports.
“Looking back over my career in law enforcement, I’d be hard pressed to think of a time where so many threats to our public safety and national security were so elevated all at once,” Christopher Wray said, reported by Reuters. “But that is the case as I sit here today.”
As Reuters noted, “The March 22 attack on a concert hall in suburban Moscow killed at least 144 people, the deadliest in Russia in 20 years. A branch of the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility, but Russian President Vladimir Putin, without citing evidence, has sought to blame Ukraine.”
2. Trump gaining ground among black voters
More black men said they plan to back Donald Trump this fall, according to a recent Wall Street Journal poll of seven swing states.
The Wall Street Journal reports that some 30% of black men in the poll said “they were either definitely or probably going to vote for the former Republican president.” That is up from 12% of black men nationwide that voted for Trump in 2020, as recorded by AP VoteCast and noted by the WSJ.
“In the WSJ poll, 11% of Black women said they were either definitely or probably going to vote for Trump. In 2020, the AP poll found, 6% of Black women nationwide backed Trump,” WSJ reported as well.
Sports & Entertainment
1. Masters tee times pushed back due to weather
The Masters is set to begin today, but tee times are being pushed back as severe weather moves through Augusta.
A weather update from the tournament says the first round will begin at 10:30 a.m. ET off the No. 1 tee. Updated tee times are available here. The Honorary Starters Ceremony will begin at 10:10 a.m. ET and patron gates will open at 9:30 a.m. ET.
2. Ole Miss to host Grove Bowl Games
Instead of a traditional spring football game, Ole Miss is hosting a skills competition in the Grove Bowl Games on Saturday, April 13, at 3 p.m.
Admission is free at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for the culmination of spring practices, and gates open at 2 p.m.
The team says all competition in the Grove Bowl Games will be offense vs. defense with points applied to the skills tests in addition to the scoring in a 7v7 competition.
Head Coach Lane Kiffin has also announced that competitive eater Joey Chestnut will be hand for a hot dog eating contest.
Markets & Business
1. Higher inflation a problem for desired Fed rate cuts
In the wake of Wednesday’s inflation news, the New York Times reports that “instead of the ‘soft landing’ that many economists thought was underway — a situation in which inflation slows as growth gently calms without a painful recession — analysts are increasingly wary that America’s economy is not landing at all.”
“If inflation gets stuck at an elevated level for months on end, it could prod Fed officials to hold rates high for longer in an effort to cool the economy and ensure that prices come fully under control,” NYT reported.
2. Ford recalls Broncos, Escapes over gas leak
CNBC reports that Ford is recalling nearly 43,000 small SUVs because gasoline can leak from the fuel injectors onto hot engine surfaces, increasing the risk of fires.
“The recall covers certain Bronco Sport SUVs from the 2022 and 2023 model years, as well as Escape SUVs from 2022,” CNBC notes. “Ford says in documents filed with U.S. safety regulators that fuel injectors can crack, and gasoline or vapor can accumulate near ignition sources, possibly touching off fires.”
Magnolia Tribune
