- Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion to start your day informed.
In Mississippi
Ole Miss Giving Day brings in $1.34 million
Ole Miss has announced that its recent Giving Day 2025 saw 2,685 donors combine to give $1.34 million to bolster the University of Mississippi.
“This year, Ole Miss students, parents, alumni, friends, faculty and staff members united to contribute 3,221 gifts. Resources gained during the sixth annual Giving Day will strengthen the Ole Miss student experience, academic programs and community offerings,” the university said.
“When I think of how much one gift can influence the lives of our students, I am continually grateful and humbled at the transformational impact our Ole Miss community can have together,” Chancellor Glenn Boyce said in a statement. “Resources secured during Giving Day will allow us to continue expanding access to Ole Miss in our state and across the nation while empowering our students to achieve beyond their wildest dreams.”
National News & Foreign Policy
1. White House releases Trump’s physical report
President Donald Trump “remains in excellent health,” according to a release from the White House physician following the president’s annual physical, as reported by FoxNews.
“President Trump remains in excellent health, exhibiting robust cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and general physical function,” read the release by Navy Capt. Sean P. Barbabella, the physician to the president.
FoxNews noted, “Trump underwent the physical on Friday morning at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the release noted, which included ‘diagnostic and laboratory testing’ and ‘consultations with fourteen specialty consultants.’ The release included Trump’s vital statistics, noting that the president is 75 inches tall, weighs 224 pounds, has a resting heart rate of 62 beats per minute, a blood pressure of 128/74 mmHg, a pulse oximetry of 99% on room air, and a temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.”
2. Democrats hope to exploit GOP division over possible Medicaid cuts
The Hill reports that the 70-page budget plan approved by Republicans in both chambers “contains few policy details, and it mentions Medicaid only once.”
“But it instructs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid, to locate $880 billion in spending cuts over the next decade. That’s mathematically impossible, the Congressional Budget Office says, without cutting Medicaid, which provides health coverage to more than 70 million people,” The Hill reported.
The Hill went on to add, “Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other GOP leaders maintain they can reach that number by weeding out waste, fraud and abuse in the program. But Democrats and many health care advocates disagree… Democrats are hoping to exploit the sharp GOP divisions over the value of Medicaid and how deeply Republicans should cut its funding.”
Sports
1. Big 3 baseball weekend roundup
Here’s a rundown of how Mississippi’s Big 3 college baseball programs fared over the weekend in conference play:
- No. 6 Ole Miss lost 2 out of 3 to No. Tennessee in Oxford. The Rebels are now 27-9 overall and 9-6 in the SEC. They will host Arkansas Little Rock on Tuesday at 11 a.m.
- No. 23 Southern Miss took 2 out of 3 from homestanding Texas State. The Golden Eagles are now 24-12 overall and 10-5 in the Sun Belt. They will play Tuesday at Southeastern Louisiana at 6 p.m.
- Mississippi State took 2 out of 3 from No. 12 Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The Bulldogs are now 22-14 overall and 5-10 in the SEC. They host Southern University on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
2. Valley’s James selected for NCAA Basketball Coaches Academy
Mississippi Valley State University Athletics has announced that basketball coach Jason James has been selected as one of only 45 coaches nationwide to participate in the 2025 NCAA Basketball Coaches Academy.
Hosted by the NCAA National Office in Indianapolis, IN, the academy will take place May 7–9, 2025, and offers a transformative educational experience for rising stars in basketball coaching.
The invitation-only program is designed to sharpen leadership skills, foster a deeper understanding of the coaching profession, and provide unparalleled opportunities to connect with industry leaders and peers from across the country.
Markets & Business
1. Futures rise after Trump’s tech tariff exemption
CNBC reports that stock futures rose Monday “as a surprise U.S. tariff exemption from President Donald Trump gave tech names a lift to start the week.”
“Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 422 points, or 1.1%. S&P 500 futures gained 1.5%, while Nasdaq-100 futures moved 1.8% higher,” CNBC reported. “Trump exempted smartphones and computers as well as other devices and components like semiconductors from his new ‘reciprocal’ tariffs, according to new U.S. Customs and Border Protection guidance issued late Friday.”
CNBC added, “However, those advances may be held in check after Trump and his Commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, then suggested Sunday that the exemptions aren’t permanent, stirring up more tariff uncertainty. Trump said in a Truth Social post that these products are still ‘subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’”
2. WSJ on how the U.S. lost its manufacturing dominance
A new report from the Wall Street Journal focuses on how the U.S. lost its place as the world’s manufacturing powerhouse.
“In the 1950s, around 35% of private-sector jobs in the U.S. were in manufacturing. Today, there are 12.8 million manufacturing jobs in the U.S., an amount equal to 9.4% of those private-sector jobs,” WSJ reported. “President Trump says his sweeping tariff regime is aimed at bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. Economists are skeptical that tariffs could make that a reality, and worry that the damage they create will outweigh any benefits.”
As WSJ notes, “After the 1950s, manufacturing’s role in the U.S. economy began to slip. Some of this came about merely because Americans were becoming more affluent, and devoting more of their spending to services, such as travel, restaurants and medical care… There were ups and downs with recessions and recoveries, but from the mid-1960s through the early 1980s, manufacturing employment essentially leveled off, as services jobs grew and grew… A lot of production shifted to states in the South, where labor costs were lower. Around this time, less developed parts of the world, where labor costs were much lower, began dialing up manufacturing of nondurable goods in Latin America and Asia…”
Magnolia Tribune
