- 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. Governor requests federal disaster declaration for March storms
Governor Tate Reeves announced Tuesday that he is requesting a Major Disaster Declaration from President Donald Trump for Individual Assistance and Public Assistance for counties impacted by the severe storms, flooding, straight-line winds, and tornadoes on March 14 – March 15, 2025.
During that timeframe, the state experienced 18 tornadoes, and sadly, seven people lost their lives.
Mississippi is requesting Individual Assistance for the following 14 counties: Carroll, Covington, Grenada, Holmes, Issaquena, Itawamba, Jasper, Jefferson Davis, Leflore, Marion, Montgomery, Pike, Smith, and Walthall. According to the Governor’s office, FEMA-validated numbers show that in those 14 counties, 233 homes were destroyed, 208 homes received major damage, 230 had minor damage, and 92 homes were affected.
The 17 counties included in the request for Public Assistance are: Calhoun, Carroll, Covington, Grenada, Humphreys, Issaquena, Itawamba, Jefferson Davis, Lee, Leflore, Marion, Pike, Prentiss, Sharkey, Smith, Walthall, and Washington. These 17 counties have met the damage threshold requirements to be eligible for Public Assistance, with an estimated total of approximately $18.2 million worth of damage.
2. McElhenney named Criminal Information Center Director
Eric “Jason” McElhenney has been named Director of the Criminal Information Center, a division under the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, by Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell.
McElhenney will oversee Mississippi’s primary conduit for information exchange with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) National Criminal Information Center (NCIC) system, as well as for other national data exchanges and statewide law enforcement information exchange within Mississippi.
Prior to joining the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, McElhenney served as the Wing Executive Officer at the 186th Air Refueling Wing, Mississippi Air National Guard in Meridian, Mississippi. He began his law enforcement career when he enlisted into the 186th Security Police Squadron and rose through the ranks to become the Commander of the Security Police Squadron before moving on to other military assignments. He is also a veteran law enforcement officer with over 25 years of full-time and part-time law enforcement experience serving as a Patrol Officer, Field Training Officer, Detective and Lieutenant.
DPS said McElhenney is a graduate of the Mississippi Law Enforcement Academy, the 225th Session of the FBI National Academy and holds both a bachelor’s and master’s Degree from Mississippi State University.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Democrats win in Wisconsin while Republicans hold House seats in Florida
Nationally watched election on Tuesday turned out to be a mixed bag.
Republicans won two special elections for U.S. House seats in Florida while Democrats celebrated a win in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race. However, votes in Wisconsin also backed a measure to add Voter ID into their state constitution.
“While Democrats lost both special elections in Florida, the party clearly overperformed, narrowing the margins considerably in deep-red districts,” The Hill reported. “The results heartened Democrats, who have struggled to coalesce around a unified message since Trump took office. If Tuesday proved anything, it’s that the party is still willing to organize and turn out in large numbers even if there’s frustration with the Democratic leadership.”
2. White House crunching the numbers on Greenland
The Washington Post reports that the White House “is preparing an estimate of what it would cost the federal government to control Greenland as a territory, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.”
“While Trump’s demands elicited international outrage and a rebuke from Denmark, White House officials have in recent weeks taken steps to determine the financial ramifications of Greenland becoming a U.S. territory, including the cost of providing government services for its 58,000 residents, the people said,” WP reported. “At the White House budget office, staff have sought to understand the potential cost to maintain Greenland if it were acquired, two of the people said. They are also attempting to estimate what revenue to the U.S. Treasury could be gained from Greenland’s natural resources.”
WP noted, “One option under analysis is to offer a sweeter deal to the government of Greenland than the Danes, who currently subsidize services on the island at a rate of about $600 million every year.”
Sports
Big 3 mid-week baseball roundup
Mississippi’s Big 3 college baseball teams played their mid-week games on Tuesday. Here’s how they turned out:
- No. 9 Ole Miss beat Jackson State 18-7 in Oxford. The Rebels head to Kentucky for a weekend series beginning Thursday night.
- No. 13 Southern Miss took at 13-7 win over Tulane in Hattiesburg. The Golden Eagles travel to Marshall for their weekend series starting on Friday.
- Mississippi State won at Memphis, downing the Tigers 5-3. The Bulldogs are back in Starkville this weekend for a series against South Carolina.
Markets & Business
1. All eyes on Trump’s “Liberation Day” with tariff announcement
The Wall Street Journal reports that all eyes are on President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements.
“At 4 p.m. ET, Trump is due to announce the contours of a sweeping tariff plan in a Rose Garden address. He has declared April 2 ‘Liberation Day’ for U.S. trade policy,” WSJ reported. “Investors have been on edge. The S&P 500 has fallen 8.3% from its all-time high and just finished its worst quarter since 2022, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq has tumbled around 14% from its record.”
WSJ added, “The tariff fight has ignited worries about a slowdown in economic growth, driving a steep selloff in shares of small companies and sending the yield on the 10-year Treasury note to its lowest level of the year Tuesday.”
2. Mortgage rates, demand haven’t budged
CNBC reports that mortgage rates “have barely budged in the last month. That, and a broader concern among consumers about the state of the economy, has also kept mortgage demand muted.”
“Total mortgage application volume dropped 1.6% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index,” CNBC reported. “The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances, $806,500 or less, decreased to 6.70% from 6.71%, with points increasing to 0.62 from 0.60, including the origination fee, for loans with a 20% down payment.”
CNBC went on to report, “Applications to refinance a home loan dropped 6% for the week and were 57% higher than the same week one year ago. The annual comparison is so large because the total volume is so low. Mortgage rates were 21 basis points higher the same week one year ago.”
3. Magee General acquiring South Central Regional
On Tuesday, Magee General Hospital’s Board of Directors announced to providers and staff the plans to formalize the hospital’s relationship with South Central Regional Medical Center through an acquisition process anticipated to officially commence this summer.
The two entities have worked together as part of the SCRMC consortium since July 2023 under an administrative services agreement, which has provided an effective platform for collaboration opportunities.
“The organizations have completed a period of due diligence, resulting in a definitive transaction that will unite Magee General and South Central in the near future,” said the Board Chairman, G. Bennett Hubbard, Jr. “This integration will place the Magee hospital in a stronger position to navigate the challenging and evolving healthcare landscape while providing a strategy to move additional physicians and specialized services into our community – ultimately improving long-term staffing and increasing access to care.”
Magnolia Tribune
