- 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. Moss Point raising taxes 9-mills, increasing utility fees to offset deficit
The City of Moss Point is raising taxes and fees in hopes of offsetting a $2 million deficit, WLOX reports.
“Moss Point officials held a public hearing Thursday evening regarding their upcoming budget, starting October 1, the beginning of the 2024-2025 fiscal year,” WLOX reported. “A plan including a $6 increase in the minimum water bill, a $4 increase for garbage pickup, and a 9-mill increase in ad valorem taxes, was presented as a way to get the budget balanced.”
WLOX added that after the public hearing, and despite opposition in the crowd, the Board of Aldermen adopted the ad valorem tax levy.
2. Ag Dept. launches “Freshly Picked” podcast
The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce (MDAC) has launched a new podcast series called Freshly Picked, the agency announced Thursday. The podcast spotlights specialty crops in Mississippi, with each episode focusing on a different agricultural commodity and featuring special guests with expertise on growing, maintaining and serving specialty crops.
Specialty crops are defined as fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture and floriculture items.
MDAC kicked off the podcast series with an introductory episode featuring special guests Donna Yowell, Executive Director of the Mississippi Urban Forest Council and Organizer of Flower Growers of Mississippi, and Paige Manning, Bureau Director of MDAC’s Market Development Division. As an expert flower grower, Yowell provides listeners with insights into Mississippi’s horticulture industry.
Listeners can find new episodes every Thursday throughout the fall season at www.msfreshlypicked.com, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or other major platforms.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Hunter Biden pleads guilty to federal tax charges
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to federal tax charges Thursday, heading off a trial that was expected to further shine an unflattering light on his past business dealings and freewheeling lifestyle.
“At the outset of Thursday’s court proceedings, Biden’s lawyer proposed an unusual deal where President Biden’s son would maintain his innocence while conceding that the evidence was sufficient for a guilty verdict. Prosecutors said they were shocked by the proposal of a so-called Alford deal and wouldn’t support any plea without an admission of guilt,” WSJ reported. “Later Thursday, a lawyer for Biden came back from a break and told Scarsi his client would abandon the Alford plea and plead guilty without any negotiated deal with prosecutors working under special counsel David Weiss.”
WSJ went on to add that Judge Mark Scarsi told Biden “the charges come with a maximum sentence of 17 years in prison and a maximum fine of more than $1 million.” Sentencing is set for December 16.
2. Special counsel’s case against Trump to ramp up in October
Politico reports that a federal judge has given Special Counsel Jacks Smith until September 26 to detail what his team says will be a “comprehensive” slate of evidence detailing former President Donald Trump’s alleged conspiracies to subvert the 2020 election.
“Now that the Supreme Court has returned the case to the trial court, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan released a schedule Thursday for next steps. She largely agreed with a proposal a lawyer from Smith’s office laid out earlier in the day to have prosecutors kick off the next round of proceedings by making a detailed submission about what proof they want to present of Trump’s guilt if the case goes to trial,” Politico reported. “Chutkan described Smith’s submission as an ‘opening brief’ intended to support his argument that Trump is not immune from the criminal charges, despite the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the matter. Trump’s response to that brief will be due Oct. 17, and his lawyers similarly promised to pack it full of new information drawn from secret grand jury transcripts and other unreleased documents.”
Politico notes that Smith “will have the opportunity for a final reply on the presidential immunity issue Oct. 29 — one week before Election Day.”
Sports & Entertainment
1. Ole Miss, Miss. State, Southern Miss ready for Week 2 matchups
Mississippi Big 3 return to action Saturday for Week 2 of the college football season. Here’s what’s on tap for Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Southern Miss.
- No. 6 Ole Miss (1-0) kicks off at home against Middle Tennessee at 3:15 P.M. The game will be aired on the SEC Network.
- Mississippi State (1-0) travels to Tempe, Arizona for a matchup with Arizona State. Kickoff is set for 9:30 P.M. and will be aired on ESPN/ESPN+.
- Southern Miss (0-1) is back in Hattiesburg and will host Southeastern Louisiana for a 6 P.M. kickoff. The game is being aired on ESPN+.
2. Judge sends NCAA settlement back for more negotiations
According to the Washington Post, a preliminary approval hearing to settle House v. NCAA — the antitrust case that could bring revenue sharing to college athletics — ended without anything resembling preliminary approval.
“Instead, Judge Claudia Wilken told the sides to ‘go back to the drawing board,’ particularly over language regarding third-party name, image and likeness (NIL) payments from booster-funded groups known as collectives,” WP reported.
As noted by WP, “The first settlement draft calls for the NCAA and its members to pay $2.78 billion in damages to past and current athletes, who are suing over various restrictions on compensation. It also creates a landscape-altering model in which schools could directly share up to a certain amount of revenue with athletes starting in the fall of 2025. The cap would be somewhere between $20 million and $23 million that first year, then continue to rise.”
Another try could come within the next three weeks.
Markets & Business
1. Jobs report has investors looking for clues
CNBC reports that S&P 500 futures fell on Friday as investors look to Friday’s key jobs report for further clues about the state of the U.S. economy.
“Futures tied to the broad market index were down 0.6%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 118 points, or 0.3%. Nasdaq 100 futures slid 1.1%,” CNBC reported, adding, “The August jobs report is set for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones are calling for nonfarm payrolls growth of 161,000 and a slight decline in the unemployment rate to 4.2%. The report is expected to inform the Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy decision later this month.”
2. Tishomingo Connect deploys Adtran to expand fiber network in rural Mississippi
Adtran announced Thursday that Tishomingo Connect, a subsidiary of Tishomingo County Electric Power Association (TCEPA), has deployed its Mosaic One SaaS solution to enhance rural broadband access. By doing so, Adtran said Tishomingo Connect is ensuring more households and businesses can benefit from its broadband service.
The company stated that Tishomingo Connect’s strategic investment in Adtran’s high-capacity fiber access platform ensures they can leverage extra capacity as data demand rises. With Adtran’s scalable XGS-PON OLTs and SDX Series optical network terminals, offering up to 10Gbit/s symmetrical data rates, network expansion is seamless and rapid. Additionally, Adtran’s SDG 800 Series service delivery gateways deliver high-speed Wi-Fi 6 performance, guaranteeing robust connectivity for an increasing number of household devices. Mosaic One further empowers Tishomingo Connect with actionable intelligence, enhancing subscriber experience and optimizing operations through a comprehensive view of customer interactions. AI-driven insights enable timely maintenance and reduce service disruptions, improving network reliability and cutting operating costs.
