Magnolia Mornings: April 17, 2025

• 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. Ocean Springs denied wetlands permit for beach walkway

As reported by WLOX, the Commission of Marine Resources has decided to deny the wetlands permit sought by the city of Ocean Springs to build a 10-foot-wide pedestrian walkway on East Beach from Weeks Bayou to Halstead Road.

“After winning court battles and securing funding, the city still needed a wetlands permit from the Department of Marine Resources,” WLOX reported, adding, “Dozens of Ocean Springs residents came out to share a unified message: a beachfront sidewalk is not about safety.”

“Putting a sidewalk where it’s proposed to be at will only increase traffic and that’s not mitigating the safety issues whatsoever. And it’s not about conservation,” attorney Jim Reeves said, as reported by WLOX.

2. AG announces sentencing of Romanian nationals in multistate card skimming scam

Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced Wednesday the sentencing in federal court of Romanian nationals Alexandru Ionut Gheorghe and Marian Aurelian Neacsu on one count each of Illegal Possession, Production, or Trafficking in Device-Making Equipment for placement of skimmer devices on credit card readers.

This case was investigated by the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi. 

It is estimated that disruption of this crime group prevented more than $37.6 million in potential fraud losses, the AG office said.

In June 2024, the Attorney General’s Office began receiving reports about the discovery of skimmer devices at various stores in central Mississippi. These devices are slipped over credit card readers at stores we use every day and are used to steal financial information from cards swiped on them. The Attorney General’s Cyber Fraud Task Force began investigating leads that would ultimately determine the location of more than 15 installed skimmers throughout Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana.

National News & Foreign Policy

1. District judge finds cause to hold Trump administration in contempt over deportations

Despite his order being lifted by the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg “found probable cause Wednesday to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for willfully disobeying his order to immediately halt deportations under the rarely used Alien Enemies Act and turn around any airborne planes,” reports The Hill. The Trump administration said it plans to appeal.

“We plan to seek immediate appellate relief. The President is 100% committed to ensuring that terrorists and criminal illegal migrants are no longer a threat to Americans and their communities across the country,” White House spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote on the social platform X, per The Hill.

The Hill noted, “Boasberg is an appointee of former President Obama who was previously nominated to a local court by former President George W. Bush.”

2. California sues to stop Trump tariffs

As reported by Roll Call, California sued President Donald Trump and members of his administration Wednesday to stop the import tariffs levied under a 1977 law, “saying the statute doesn’t give the president the emergency powers he used to justify the action.”

“The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California asks the judge to find the tariffs unlawful and void them. The complaint says the International Economic Emergency Powers Act doesn’t authorize the use of tariffs,” Roll Call reported. “Trump used IEEPA for a range of his tariffs, including the reciprocal tariffs that he ordered on April 2 and paused a week later. But a 10 percent baseline tariff remains in effect, as does a 145 percent tariff on goods imported from China.”

“President Trump’s unlawful tariffs are wreaking chaos on California families, businesses, and our economy — driving up prices and threatening jobs. We’re standing up for American families who can’t afford to let the chaos continue,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a joint statement with Attorney General Rob Bonta, per Roll Call.

Sports

1. Macnab wins SEC individual women’s golf title

Ole Miss Athletics announced that for the first time in program history, Ole Miss women’s golf has an individual SEC champion.

Caitlyn Macnab shot to the top of the leaderboard following a tremendous third round 65 (-5) at the 2025 SEC Women’s Golf Championship on Wednesday to secure top medalist honors.

Ole Miss notes that the team finished stroke play in fourth place with a three-day total of 839 (-1) following its best round score of 277 (-3) at Pelican Golf Club. The Rebels, who advanced to their fifth match play appearance in six of the last conference championships, will square off against Mississippi State in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

2. JSU football championship fan rings now available

Want to wear a piece JSU history? Here’s your chance.

Jackson State University football fans will have the opportunity to purchase a championship fan ring beginning this week, commemorating the 2024 HBCU National Championship and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championship.

Fans can click here to purchase their rings beginning today for $450, and all orders must be submitted by May 15. All orders submitted will be processed and the rings will take up to 13 weeks to produce.

Markets & Business

1. Trump wants Fed rate cut, chairman gone

CNBC reports that President Donald Trump on Thursday again called for the Federal Reserve to lower rates and even hinted at the “termination” of Chair Jerome Powell.

“The ECB is expected to cut interest rates for the 7th time, and yet, ‘Too Late’ Jerome Powell of the Fed, who is always TOO LATE AND WRONG, yesterday issued a report which was another, and typical, complete ‘mess!’ Oil prices are down, groceries (even eggs!) are down, and the USA is getting RICH ON TARIFFS. Too Late should have lowered Interest Rates, like the ECB, long ago, but he should certainly lower them now. Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!” wrote Trump on TruthSocial.

“Indeed, the European Central Bank has been cutting rates as it tries to boost growth in the region. The ECB is expected to lower rates again later on Thursday,” CNBC reported, adding, “The post comes a day after Powell delivered a speech at the Economic Club of Chicago in which he noted that the administration’s tariffs put the central bank in a tricky spot as it decides whether to tame inflation or boost growth.”

2. Manufacturers seek regulation cuts

FoxBusiness reports that the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) wants the Trump Administration to cut dozens of regulations. The group said U.S. manufacturers are spending $350 billion annually just to comply with federal regulations alone.

 “NAM identified 44 regulations across the 10 agencies that the manufacturers group said Trump should consider revising or rescinding,” FoxBusiness reported, noting, “The effort is part of recommendations to Congress and the administration ‘to implement a comprehensive manufacturing strategy that includes making the 2017 tax reforms permanent and expediting permitting reform to unleash American energy,’ according to the manufacturing association.”