- 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. Ole Miss receives $2.6 million for online counseling, preschool curriculum programs
Ole Miss has announced that their Clinic for Outreach and Personal Enrichment and the Growing Healthy Minds, Bodies and Communities initiative in the School of Education received $1.5 million and $1.1 million grants, respectively, from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
The university said the funds will expand two programs that provide free online counseling services to youth across the state and share an evidence-based preschool curriculum with teachers.
“This grant is enabling us to become more accessible to everyone,” said Alicia Stapp, program co-founder, assistant chair of teacher education and associate professor of health and physical education at Ole Miss. “We’re working on curriculum manuals and exploring ways to provide mass quantities of our learning resources, like our meal kits, family engagement events and classroom tower gardens, in an affordable, deliverable way.”
2. Coast man sentenced to 260 months in prison over fentanyl
WLOX reports that 35-year-old Terry Lynn McNeal, Jr. of Pascagoula “is slated to serve 260 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.”
“Court records state McNeal sold fentanyl on at least three different occasions between February and April of 2024,” WLOX reported. “After those sales, a search warrant was executed at McNeal’s home where agents found over 100 grams of fentanyl and over 500 grams of methamphetamine.”
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Russia, Ukraine continue fighting as cease-fire talks underway
President Donald Trump has spoken with both the Russian and Ukrainian presidents this week trying to negotiate a cease-fire between the two. Yet, fighting continues in the region.
ABC News reports that “Russian authorities reported a ‘massive’ Ukrainian drone attack on the Engels airbase in Saratov Oblast overnight, with Russia’s Defense Ministry claiming to have downed 54 drones over the area.”
“In total, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have downed 132 Ukrainian drones over seven Russian or Russian-controlled regions on Wednesday night into Thursday morning,” ABC News reported. “Ukrainian authorities, meanwhile, reported a major Russian overnight bombardment of the central city of Kropyvnytskyi, with more than 30 explosions reported.”
2. Florida lawmakers look to overhaul property taxes
The Wall Street Journal reports that Florida’s leaders are considering a far-reaching remedy to cut the soaring costs of owning a home: ditching property taxes.
“Killing property taxes is unlikely. Such a move would leave the state more reliant on its sales tax and strip local governments of revenue to fund everything from schools to social services. But the idea is gaining political traction, reflecting the strain homeowners are under,” WSJ reported. “The property-tax system is among the top issues under discussion in the legislative session that began this month. The attempted overhaul represents one of the most serious efforts ever. A full repeal would be the first such move in the nation.”
WSJ noted, “Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis urged the Legislature in his recent State of the State address to provide relief from such taxes.”
Sports
1. Miss. State set to play Baylor in NCAA Tournament
Mississippi State’s men’s basketball team is set to take on Baylor in the NCAA Tournament this Friday, March 21, at 11:15 a.m.
State has won three of the four previous meetings with the Bears which include both in the postseason at the 1990 and 2018 NITs.
The Bulldogs head into the tournament with a 21-12, 8-10 SEC record this season.
2. Ole Miss to take on North Carolina in NCAA Tournament
Ole Miss men’s basketball will play North Carolina on Friday, March 21, at 3:05 p.m. in the NCAA Tournament.
This marks the 10th NCAA Tournament berth for the Ole Miss program, and the highest seed they’ve earned since 2001 when the Rebels were a three seed in the big dance.
The Rebels are 22-11, 10-8 in SEC play this season.
Markets & Business
1. Putting the brakes on federal support for EV?
The Washington Post reports that “Republican plans to scrap nearly all federal support for electric vehicles could kneecap the nascent industry, auto industry experts say, just when more Americans are considering buying an EV and car companies are planning big investments.”
“Ending federal EV tax credits, weakening tailpipe pollution rules and slashing funding for charging stations — as President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have proposed — would slow EV sales and trigger a wave of factory shutdowns and canceled investments, according to energy policy and auto industry researchers,” WP reported.
WP went on to add, “These moves would delay, but not prevent, the gradual shift from gas-powered cars and trucks to EVs in the United States.”
2. “Transitory” back in Fed speak
CNBC reports that, “Economic projections the central bank released Wednesday indicate that while officials see inflation moving up this year more rapidly than previously expected, they also expect the trend to be short-lived.”
“The outlook spurred talk again about ‘transitory’ inflation that caused a major policy headache for the Fed,” CNBC reported. “At his post-meeting news conference, Chair Jerome Powell said the current outlook is that any price jumps from tariffs likely will be short-lived.”
“It can be the case that it’s appropriate sometimes to look through inflation, if it’s going to go away quickly, without action by us, if it’s transitory,” Powell said. “That can be the case in the case of tariff inflation. I think that would depend on the tariff inflation moving through fairly quickly and, critically, as well on inflation expectations being well anchored.”
Magnolia Tribune
