- 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. Herring appointed as DA for 1st Circuit Court District
On Friday, Jason D. Herring of Saltillo was appointed as District Attorney for the First Circuit Court District by Governor Tate Reeves. The district covers Alcorn, Itawamba, Lee, Monroe, Pontotoc, Prentiss and Tishomingo Counties.
This appointment fills a vacancy created by the resignation of the Honorable John Weddle. Herring’s term will begin on October 14, 2024, and will end when the position is filled by a special election.
Herring has been a practicing attorney since 1998. He is the founder and president of Herring Chapman, PA. He previously served as the City Attorney for Saltillo from 2005 to 2012 and the City Attorney for Guntown from 2009 to 2012.
2. Fitch joins multi-state amicus brief in 2nd Amendment case before SCOTUS
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced Friday that she has joined Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador and 27 other states in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court which supports a petition for writ of certiorari, asking the Court to take up the case of Snope v. Brown.
In the case, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Maryland’s unconstitutional ban on hundreds of styles of firearms, including the AR-15, the most popular modern semi-automatic sporting rifle in America.
The AGs’ brief argues, “…there is no principled distinction between weapons that are ‘for military use’ and weapons that are ‘for private use.’ By pretending otherwise, the Fourth Circuit authorizes itself to ignore the Second Amendment whenever it thinks a weapon looks too much like a soldier’s. And this leaves citizens, businesses, and regulators guessing as to what supposedly makes an arm ‘most useful in military service’ – after all the Fourth Circuit said that even weapons with only semi-automatic capabilities may be considered best suited for military…even if the military does not actually use such weapons.”
To read the brief, click here.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Israel kills Hamas’ leader in Lebanon
The New York Times reports that the Israeli military said that it had killed Hamas’s leader Fatah Sherif in Lebanon in an airstrike in the southern part of the country. It is the latest in a series of attacks targeting the leadership of Iranian-backed militias across the Middle East.
“The Israeli military said he had coordinated Hamas’s ties with Hezbollah and worked to strengthen its presence in Lebanon,” NYT reported. “Israeli strikes have stretched deep into Lebanon in recent days and across the Middle East. Israeli forces bombarded a densely populated neighborhood near Beirut late Friday, killing Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah. They also launched attacks on dozens of Hezbollah targets on Sunday, targeting rocket launchers and buildings that Israel said had been used to store weapons.”
NYT added that Hezbollah said in a televised address on Monday that the group would name a new leader “at the closest opportunity.”
2. Americans more reliant than ever on government aid
According to the Wall Street Journal, Americans’ reliance on government support is soaring, driven by programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
“That support is especially critical in economically stressed communities throughout the U.S., many of which lean Republican and are concentrated in swing states crucial in deciding the presidential election. Neither party has much incentive to dial back the spending,” WSJ reported.
WSJ looked at government support in counties across the U.S., noting, “Many of the counties that rely heavily on government safety-net and social-program money have this in common: They are clustered in the battleground states that will decide the presidential election.”
Mississippi ranked 2nd behind West Virginia for the states ranked by percentage of population in counties receiving significant government aid.
Sports & Entertainment
1. Ole Miss falls to No. 12
The Ole Miss Rebels dropped to No. 12 in the AP Top 25 after the 20-17 loss to unranked Kentucky on Saturday in Oxford. The Rebels had been ranked as high No. 5 before suffering their first loss of the season facing their first SEC opponent of the year.
In his postgame interview, Head Coach Lane Kiffin said, “Beyond disappointing day. We started fast, then we played really sloppy and really bad in the second quarter. We started playing better on both sides in the third quarter and the game came down at the end with us having a chance to win it in every phase. All three phases had a chance to win the game or at least tie the game and didn’t do it. We didn’t make the plays, and we didn’t close them out. We had the ball up by a score and had the chance to not make it come down to a play.”
Ole Miss, now 4-1, heads to South Carolina on Saturday.
2. JSU opens SWAC play with big win
Jackson State opened SWAC play with a big 43-14 win over Texas Southern in Houston, Texas on Saturday night.
JSU scored in nearly every facet of the game using a blocked punt for a safety and a 79-yard kickoff return to go along with their consistent offensive play.
The Tigers are now 3-2 on the season and play next Saturday in Mobile against Alabama A&M in the Gulf Coast Challenge.
Markets & Business
1. Stock futures flat on last day of September
CNBC reports that stock futures were flat leading up to the final trading session of September after the major averages rose to their third consecutive week of gains.
“Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 61 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures inched down 0.2% and 0.2%, respectively,” CNBC reported. “The 30-stock Dow rose 0.3% on Friday to finish at an all-time high and end the week around 0.6% higher. The S&P 500 also gained about 0.6%, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed almost 1% during the week.”
CNBC added that, “Wall Street is on track to end September on a positive note.”
2. Port strike could strain U.S. economy further
According to CNN, members of the International Longshoremen’s Association are set to go on strike at 12:01 a.m. ET Tuesday at three dozen facilities spread across 14 port authorities. CNN said there are “few signs that a deal could be reached by the deadline set by the ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance.”
“The strike, which would be the first at these ports since 1977, could stop the flow of a wide variety of goods over the docks of almost all the cargo ports from Maine to Texas. This includes everything from bananas to European beer, wine and liquor, along with furniture, clothing, household goods and European autos, as well as parts needed to keep US factories operating and American workers in those plants on the job. It also could stop US exports now flowing through those ports, hurting sales for American companies,” CNN reported.
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