- 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. Beryl has south Texas in sight
Hurricane Beryl is set to cross the Yucatan Peninsula on Friday and reenter the Gulf of Mexico.
The once Category 5 storm is now showing maximum sustained winds of 100 mph. It is forecast to decrease to a Tropical Storm before restrengthening to a hurricane as it approached landfall in northern Mexico or southern Texas early next week.
2. Foster parents needed in Mississippi
WHLT/WJTV reports that officials with the Mississippi Department of Child Protective Services (CPS) said they are in urgent need of more foster parents. According to CPS, there are around 4,000 in state custody, but there are only 2,000 licenses foster homes in Mississippi.
“Roy Logan, a foster home recruiter, said the biggest challenge is finding more foster families who are willing to take in siblings and older children and teens. Mississippi is also in need of specialized foster care parents for children with special needs,” the TV stations reported.
The report noted that the current shortage of foster homes has caused CPS to place children in hotels until they can find a home.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Biden to sit for ABC News interview
President Joe Biden is traveling to Madison, Wisconsin, to rally Democratic voters, Reuters reports, and while there will sit for an ABC News interview Friday, “part of a flurry of events over the next week aimed at showing Americans he still has the stamina to run against Republican candidate Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 election.”
“While Biden insists he is staying in the race and that his health is not faltering, he is under enormous pressure to step aside and open a path for his 59-year-old vice president, Kamala Harris,” Reuters reported. “The ABC interview offers the likelihood of unscripted comments from Biden, who relies heavily on the use of a Teleprompter for his public remarks.”
2. Starmer could soon be the new U.K. Prime Minister
Elections in the U.K. have vaulted the center-left, social democratic Labour Party to power for the first time in 14 years, while voters banished the Conservatives to the opposition. In doing so, a new Prime Minister will be on tap. That party leader appears to be Keir Starmer, reports the Washington Post.
“Starmer didn’t get into electoral politics until he was 52. That was just nine years ago, in a country where many members of Parliament began plotting their rise to power in university days,” WP reported, adding, “Critics who were bested by Starmer in intraparty brawls call him an opportunist. His allies credit him with purging members who had contributed to the public sense that Labour had ‘an antisemitism problem.’ Starmer also tracked to the center to make the party electable once again.”
WP notes that Starmer’s supporters dare hope that he will be a transformative leader.
Sports & Entertainment
1. Ole Miss golfers compete in Ireland
Ole Miss men’s and women’s golfers Michael La Sasso and Caitlyn Macnab will represent the Rebels at the 2024 Arnold Palmer cup from July 5-7 in Lahinch, Ireland.
La Sasso has been selected to represent the United States, while Macnab will represent the International contingent, according to the Ole Miss Athletic Department. Ole Miss is one of seven schools in the nation to have both a male and female golfer appear in the event.
The annual tournament includes both men’s and women’s collegiate golfers from the United States taking on International colleagues in a team competition. Currently, Team USA leads the all-time series 14-12-1.
2. Wilks named first-team Academic All-American
Southern Miss baseball announced this week that Slade Wilks has not only picked up All-America honors for his play in the field but he’s been recognized for his accomplishments in the classroom as the Golden Eagle also earned first-team 2024 Academic All-America as selected by College Sports Communicators.
Wilks paced the Golden Eagles offense this past spring with a .336 average to go along with a team-high tying 20 doubles, a triple, as well as 14 home runs and 69 RBI, both team bests. He finished his career with a 36-game hitting streak, which ranks No. 2 in the school’s history.
The Columbia, Miss., native also collected a 3.571 grade point average in business administration.
Markets & Business
Jobs report likely to show slowing payroll gains
CNBC reports that Friday’s jobs report is expected to show slowing payroll gains as concern rises about the broader U.S. economy.
“Payroll gains so far in 2024 have totaled 1.24 million, down about 50,000 a month below the same period a year ago. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect the report, to be released Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET, to show growth of 200,000, down from the 272,000 reported for May,” CNBC reported. “In historical terms, the pace of job gains is still solid. But there are signs bubbling underneath that conditions could be getting softer and possibly pointing at broader economic weakness down the road.”
