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In Mississippi
1. MDAH awards grants for local preservation projects
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) announced the award of grants totaling more than $97,000 to eight preservation projects in seven Certified Local Government (CLG) communities across the state on Friday.
The scope of work for awarded projects ranges from professional assessments, as with the evaluation of three National Register-listed buildings for future use by the City of New Albany, to more advanced phases of rehabilitation, as with the Lundy House project in Lexington.
Per MDAH, the 2024 grants are:
- Aberdeen, $10,000.00, High Street Community Center professional assessment.
- Aberdeen, $10,000.00, second Neuberger Library rehabilitation.
- Greenwood, $10,000.00, Confederate Memorial Building and Greenwood Carnegie Library professional assessments.
- Hattiesburg, $18,000.00, Historic Site Management Tool map viewer upgrades.
- Lexington, $13,000.00, Lundy House rehabilitation.
- New Albany, $12,558.10, Benjamin F. Ford School, old police station, and light, gas, and water building professional assessments.
- Ocean Springs, $15,000.00, historic guidelines and district updates.
- Woodville, $9,400.00, Polk’s Meat Market rehabilitation.
2. Ingalls-built Coast Guard cutter commissioned in South Carolina
The Coast Guard welcomed its newest cutter into the fleet, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Calhoun (WMSL 759), on Saturday during a commissioning ceremony in South Carolina at Coast Guard Base Charleston, presided over by Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan.
Construction of Calhoun began in 2019 and the cutter was officially delivered to the Coast Guard in October 2023 from Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. After deploying in support of oil spill response and counter migration, Calhoun arrived at its homeport in North Charleston on Dec. 3, 2023. The commissioning of Calhoun officially places the cutter in service for the Coast Guard and marks the most significant milestone of the cutter’s life to date.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Opening statements in Trump trial begin today
Now that the jury has been selected, the first criminal trial against a former U.S. President is set to begin today in New York.
Opening statements will be made Monday in the hush money case against Donald Trump.
According to the New York Times, “Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office are expected to say that Mr. Trump orchestrated a scheme to suppress stories that could have damaged his 2016 campaign. Mr. Trump’s former fixer, Michael D. Cohen, was involved in suppressing some of those stories, including when he paid $130,000 to a porn star who said she had sex with Mr. Trump a decade earlier.”
2. Israel intelligence chief resigns
Israel’s chief of military intelligence tendered his resignation on Monday, becoming the country’s first senior official to step down in acknowledgment of the security and intelligence failures that enabled Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, this according to the Wall Street Journal.
“Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, the head of the military’s intelligence directorate, will leave his position after he requested to resign, the military said. Haliva, a 38-year veteran of the military, said in a resignation letter he would leave as soon as a replacement is appointed, a process that could take at least several weeks,” WSJ reported.
Sports & Entertainment
1. Miss. State, Southern Miss win series; Ole Miss falls to Georgia
Here is a rundown of the Big 3’s weekend series:
- Ole Miss avoided the sweep by Georgia, winning game 3 in their weekend series after dropping the first two. The Rebels, now 21-18 overall and 6-12 in SEC play, host North Alabama on Tuesday before a weekend series with Alabama.
- Mississippi State swept Auburn on Super Bulldog Weekend in Starkville. The Bulldogs moved to 25-14 on the season and 9-8 in SEC play. State will face Memphis on Tuesday before a weekend series versus Vanderbilt.
- Southern Miss took two of three from ULM this weekend, pushing the Golden Eagles to 25-15 overall and 12-6 in Sun Belt play. USM will play Tulane on Tuesday before a weekend series against the Ragin’ Cajuns at Louisiana.
2. Bianco picks up 1,000th win
Ole Miss head baseball coach Mike Bianco became one of only 21 active NCAA DI coaches with 1,000 career wins on April 20, 2024, as the Rebels defeated Georgia in game two of a doubleheader in Athens.
According to Ole Miss Athletics, on his road to 1,000 wins, Bianco has delivered 18 postseason appearances, including eight Super Regional berths, a pair of trips to the College World Series, and the first national championship in program history. He has racked up 900 victories at Ole Miss and holds a 1,000-603 (.624) overall record for his career. Those 900 wins are the most in Rebel baseball history and rank third all-time among coaches in the SEC.
Bianco was hired to be the 20th head coach of the Ole Miss baseball program on June 7, 2000 after three successful seasons at McNeese.
Markets & Business
1. Stock futures higher ahead of Monday open
Stock futures pushed higher Monday, according to CNBC, as Wall Street looks to find its footing following a steep sell off for tech companies.
“Futures tied to the S&P 500 rose 0.6%. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.75%, while those for the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 189 points, or 0.5%,” CNBC reported. “The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell 3.05% and 5.52% last week, and are each on six-day losing streaks. The Nasdaq fell 2% on Friday alone, with chip giant Nvidia sinking 10%, leading a slew of losses for Big Tech names.”
2. Giant investment companies dominating Wall Street
The Wall Street Journal reports that giant investment companies are taking over the financial system.
“Top firms now control sums rivaling the economies of many large countries. They are pushing into new business areas, blurring the lines that define who does what on Wall Street and nudging once-dominant banks toward the sidelines,” WSJ reports, adding, “The firms—such as Blackstone, Franklin Templeton, BlackRock and KKR—are becoming more complex and more similar to one another all at once. Investors say this creates risks that markets have never encountered before.”