- 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. Pearl hopes to attract replacement team once Braves leave town
The Mississippi Braves are in their final season in Pearl before heading to Georgia. Local and state leaders are working to fill that void at Trustmark Park by attracting another minor league baseball team.
WLBT reports that Spectrum Capital – the company that owns the park – is working to recruit a new minor league team to the park.
Pearl Mayor Jake Windham told WLBT that “the city of Pearl and Rankin County pushed for legislation that authorizes them to contribute one-and-a-half million dollars annually to the facility.”
The legislation, however, has not been acted on by lawmakers as of yet.
2. Ocean Springs annexation approved by court
The City of Ocean Springs won their legal fight to annex portions of Jackson County east of their city limits, giving the city key I-10 access.
The city had already invested heavily in the area, with a sportsplex and new high school.
During the transition period, residents in the area will be notified of city services and what the annexation means for them. Ocean Springs police and fire have already begun patrolling the annexed area.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Foreign aid bills pass U.S. Senate 79-18
The U.S. Senate passed the foreign aid spending bills for Ukraine, Israel and more on Tuesday following the legislation’s passage in the House over the weekend.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the $95.3 billion spending package sends ammunition and military equipment to Ukrainian soldiers and fortifies Israel’s missile defense systems, while also forcing the sale of Chinese-controlled TikTok in the U.S.
“The 79-to-18 vote brought to a close months of wrenching debate over Ukraine that sharply split the Republican Party, with rank-and-file members openly rebelling against their leaders,” WSJ reported. “The fight also called into question both how far the U.S. would go to defend the country, now in the third year of trying to repel Russia’s invasion, as well as America’s leadership role in the world.”
Mississippi’s two Republican Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith voted to approve the measures.
Fifteen Republicans voted no on the legislation along with two Democrats and one Independent, Bernie Sanders.
2. Trump to see nearly $1 billion boost in TruthSocial stock
The New York Times reports that former President Donald Trump “is in line for a windfall after the stock price of Trump Media hit performance targets in its first few weeks of trading, raising the value of his already sizable stake.”
“Mr. Trump is already the largest shareholder of Trump Media & Technology Group with 79 million shares, a stake currently worth nearly $3 billion. He’s now due 36 million more shares under what is known as an ‘earnout,’ additional stock that would push the value of his stake to roughly $4 billion,” NYT reported.
Sports & Entertainment
1. Mid-week Big 3 baseball scores
Here’s how the Big 3 came out in their mid-week matchups in Tuesday college baseball action:
- Ole Miss defeated North Alabama 9-4 in an afternoon game in Oxford on Tuesday. The Rebels will host Alabama beginning on Thursday in a 3-game SEC series.
- Mississippi State traveled to Memphis on Tuesday to tame the Tigers by a score of 6-4. The Bulldogs head to Vanderbilt for their 3-game SEC series in Nashville starting on Friday.
- Southern Miss went down to Tulane on Tuesday and came away with an 11-6 win. The Golden Eagles return to Hattiesburg for a 3-game Sun Belt series against Louisiana set to begin on Friday.
2. East Central snaps Pearl River win streak but PRCC remains atop the standings
The No. 2 team in the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges baseball standings, East Central upset No. 1 Pearl River last week in their two-game series. Pearl River was previously undefeated in conference play.
Pearl River remains in first place in the conference with a 22-2 record and 43-7 overall. But East Central is making noise at No. 2 with a 20-4 conference record and 44-4 overall.
At the bottom of the standings, Coahoma finally picked up its first conference win of the season, beating Southwest after losing 22 straight conference games.
Markets & Business
1. UnitedHealth hack one of worst to hit American healthcare
As reported by Reuters, UnitedHealth Group said on Monday that hackers stole health and personal data of potentially a “substantial proportion” of Americans from its systems in February.
“The intrusion at its Change Healthcare unit, which processes about 50% of U.S. medical claims, was one of the worst hacks to hit American healthcare and caused widespread disruption in payment to doctors and health facilities,” Reuters reported.
Reuters notes that the disclosure suggests patients’ healthcare information remains vulnerable.
“An initial review of the compromised data showed files with protected health information or personally identifiable information ‘which could cover a substantial proportion of people in America,’ the company said in a statement on its website,” Reuters reported.
2. Second annual Mississippi Aerospace and Defense Symposium to be held at Ole Miss
The Mississippi Enterprise for Technology, or MSET, and the Aerospace and Defense Alliance of Mississippi, known as ADAM, are partnering with Ole Miss to present the second annual Mississippi Aerospace and Defense Symposium, April 30-May 2.
The event, as announced by Ole Miss, will connect industry, academia and the public sector in the hopes of creating new opportunities.
The goal of the symposium is to help develop the aerospace and defense industry in Mississippi, said Davis Pace, MSET President and CEO. The three-day symposium will include speakers and panelists such as Gov. Tate Reeves, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker and Col. Christian Patterson, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center commander, alongside representatives from NASA, the Mississippi Air National Guard and others.
