- 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. Flowood students named honorable mention winners in CSPAN competition
CSPAN announced Wednesday that Jadon McGee and Jake Maggio, students at Hartfield Academy in Flowood, are 2025 honorable mention prize winners in C-SPAN’s 21st annual StudentCam competition and will receive $250 for the video, “This Crisis Is DESTROYING Small-Town America,” about the opioid crisis in Mississippi.
C-SPAN also recognized Rebecca Blakeney, an educator at the school, who served as an adviser in the StudentCam competition.
The 21st annual C-SPAN competition for middle and high school students asked participants this year to address the theme — “Your Message to the President: What issue is most important to you or your community?”
C-SPAN said it received over 1,700 entries and nearly 3,500 students participated from 42 states and Washington, D.C.
2. Yellow Creek State Inland Port to receive $12 million in upgrades
Governor Tate Reeves announced Wednesday a new $12,857,143 initiative to upgrade the Yellow Creek State Inland Port in Iuka.
He said the investment strengthens Mississippi’s role as a critical transportation hub, enhancing multimodal commerce along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and strengthening Mississippi’s waterway network spanning 17 states and 14 major river systems.
“This investment is a vital step in modernizing our port infrastructure and ensuring that Mississippi remains competitive in the global marketplace,” Governor Reeves said. “By renovating and expanding a key inland port, we are not only doubling its operational capacity but also reducing shipping costs and increasing efficiency—benefiting local businesses, creating jobs, and further solidifying Mississippi’s economic future.”
The Governor’s office said funding for this project is provided through ARC’s Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies (ARISE), which aims to drive large-scale, regional economic transformation through multi-state collaborative projects across Appalachia. ARC is investing $9,000,000 which is being matched by $2,500,000 in Mississippi State Multimodal Infrastructure Fund and $1,357,143 from the Yellow Creek State Port Authority.
3. Consumers urged to check eligibility for inclusion in drug settlement
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch is urging consumers to check their eligibility for compensation for certain generic drug purchases.
Mississippi joined 50 states and territories in seeking preliminary approval for a $39.1 million settlement with generic drug manufacturer Apotex over conspiracy to inflate prices and limit competition.
If you purchased a generic prescription drug listed here between May 2009 and December 2019, you may be eligible for compensation. To determine your eligibility, call 1-866-290-0182 (Toll-Free), email info@AGGenericDrugs.com, or visit www.AGGenericDrugs.com.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Medicaid covered same patients twice costing taxpayers billions
The Wall Street Journal reports, “Taxpayers Spent Billions Covering the Same Medicaid Patients Twice,” and adding, “When recipients signed up in two states at once, insurers often got paid by both; ‘it definitely is wasteful.’”
“Health insurers got double-paid by the Medicaid system for the coverage of hundreds of thousands of patients across the country, costing taxpayers billions of dollars in extra payments,” WSJ reported. “The insurers, which are paid by state and federal governments to cover low-income Medicaid recipients, collected at least $4.3 billion over three years for patients who were enrolled—and paid for—in other states, a Wall Street Journal analysis of Medicaid data found.”
WSJ added, “The biggest Medicaid insurer, Centene, received $620 million in duplicative payments between 2019 and 2021, the three years analyzed by the Journal. Elevance Health collected $346 million, followed by UnitedHealth Group, at $298 million, the analysis showed. Those companies, the three largest Medicaid insurers, together received more than $200 billion in Medicaid premiums last year.”
2. TikTok for reduced tariffs?
The Hill reports that President Donald Trump on Wednesday “floated reducing tariffs on China to get a TikTok divestiture deal done as the April 5 deadline nears.”
“With respect to TikTok, and China is going to have to play a role in that, possibly in the form of an approval, maybe, and I think they’ll do that,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, as reported by The Hill. “Maybe I’ll give them a little reduction in tariffs or something to get it done.”
The Hill went on to report, “The remarks followed Trump’s announcement that he is imposing a 25 percent tariff on foreign-made vehicle imports amid his larger trade war against other nations. Trump’s 10 percent tariff on imports from China took effect last month, and he increased the tariff amount by another 20 percent earlier this month.”
Sports
1. Ole Miss basketball teams set for Friday Sweet 16 games
Ole Miss basketball teams are set for their Sweet 16 games this Friday.
The men’s basketball team takes on the South Region’s two seed Michigan State on Friday, March 28 at 6:09 p.m. in State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
The women’s team goes to Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Washington to face one seed UCLA on Friday, March 28 at 9 p.m.
The men’s game is set for broadcast on CBS while the women will play on ESPN.
2. Miss. State spring men’s golf event returns to Old Waverly
Mississippi State Athletics says its spring men’s golf event will return to Old Waverly on April 14-15 as Mossy Oak, the tournament’s host venue since 2022, is undergoing renovations.
Old Waverly previously hosted the men’s tournament from 2013-21, the department said. The tournament was moved across the street to Mossy Oak in 2022 and renamed the Mossy Oak Collegiate Invitational.
Mississippi State will compete alongside 13 teams—Alabama, Cincinnati, Kansas State, Memphis, Missouri, Murray State, Ole Miss, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Tennessee, ULM and UTEP.
Markets & Business
Trump imposes 25% tariffs on cars not made in U.S.
CNBC reports that President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would impose 25% tariffs on “all cars that are not made in the United States.”
Trump said there is “absolutely no tariff” for cars that are built in the U.S., CNBC noted, adding, “The new tariffs were codified in a presidential proclamation that Trump signed in the Oval Office. They will go into effect April 2, and ‘we start collecting April 3,’ he said.”
“Trump White House aide Will Scharf said the new tariffs apply to ‘foreign-made cars and light trucks.’ He clarified that they come in addition to duties that are already in place,” CNBC reported. “Scharf said the tariffs will result in ‘over $100 billion of new annual revenue’ to the U.S.”
Magnolia Tribune
