- Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion to start your day informed.
In Mississippi
Municipal primary runoff elections being held today in 28 cities
Voters in 28 Mississippi cities will return to the polls today in the Municipal Primary Runoff Elections.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
Check with your local city clerk or election commission to find out if there is a runoff election in your ward or city at-large today, and then go vote!
National News & Foreign Policy
1. SCOTUS weighing religious-rights cases
As the Washington Post reports, “The debate over parental rights and religious freedom returns to the Supreme Court this week in a case testing whether families have a right to pull their kids from public school lessons featuring LGBTQ+-themed books at odds with their religious beliefs.”
“The lawsuit over story time and books with titles such as ‘Uncle Bobby’s Wedding’ and ‘Love, Violet’ touches on the type of diversity and inclusion efforts the Trump administration has targeted on college campuses, and in government and private businesses. It is one of three major religious-rights cases on the Supreme Court’s docket this term,” WP reported.
WP noted, “The court will consider next week whether states can directly fund religious schools, in a closely watched case involving a proposed Catholic charter school in Oklahoma. The justices are also set to decide whether Wisconsin must extend a tax exemption to the social services arm of the Catholic Church — a decision that could have implications for other large, religiously affiliated employers such as hospitals.”
2. Office of Special Counsel drops inquiry into fired probationary workers
The New York Times reports that the Office of Special Counsel “will drop its inquiry into the more than 2,000 complaints that the Trump administration had improperly fired probationary employees, according to emailed notices received by five workers and reviewed by the New York Times.”
“The agency, the Office of Special Counsel, told affected employees that it had concluded that it could not pursue the claims of unlawful termination in part because they were fired not for individual cause, but en masse as part of President Trump’s ‘governmentwide effort to reduce the federal service,'” NYT reported. “The decision effectively eliminates one of the few avenues government employees had to challenge their terminations.”
NYT continued, “Several challenges to the firings are making their way through two separate federal courts and another administrative body charged with considering appeals to personnel actions, the Merit Systems Protection Board. The court challenges have led to the reinstatement of thousands of other fired probationary employees, but those decisions were later overturned in appeals, leaving the workers in limbo.”
Sports
1. Ole Miss, Miss. State set for Governor’s Cup game in Pearl
No. 23 Ole Miss will take on in-state rival Mississippi State in the Governor’s Cup baseball game Tuesday night at Trustmark Park. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. in Pearl.
Both teams are coming off of series losses over weekend, with the Rebels dropping two games out of three to South Carolina and the Bulldogs doing the same against Florida.
Ole Miss dropped from No. 11 in last week’s D1 Baseball Top 25 to No. 23 after the disappointing series.
Tuesday’s game will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
2. Miss. State announces key football weekends this fall
Mississippi State Athletics has announced their marquee football weekends for the 2025 season, highlighted by Homecoming and Bulldog Family Weekend.
- First Saturday in StarkVegas
Saturday, September 6 vs. Arizona State
– First Saturday 4 Packs are on sale now. Fans can purchase four tickets and a parking pass starting at $49 here. - Bulldog Family Weekend
Saturday, September 20 vs. Northern Illinois
– Families can register for family weekend on May 1. More information will be available at family.msstate.edu/familyweekend. - Homecoming
Saturday, October 25 vs. Texas (presented by Regions Bank)
– A full list of Homecoming events will be available at a later date. - Military Appreciation Day
Saturday, November 8 vs. Georgia (presented by Ford)
– Join the Dawgs at Davis Wade as Mississippi State honors the service and sacrifice of our military heroes.
Markets & Business
1. Stocks fall as Trump blasts Powell
The Hill reports that the stock market “sold off sharply, and volatility spiked up Monday after Trump blasted Powell, whom he appointed as Fed chair in 2018, as a ‘major loser’ and demanded he cut interest rates ‘NOW.'”
“The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 971 points, losing 2.48 percent, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite suffered similar percentage drops. At the same time, the yield on 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasurys climbed as investors digested Trump’s criticism of Powell,” The Hill reported. “The strength of the U.S. dollar also dropped Monday, reaching its lowest level since 2022.”
The Hill added, “A Republican strategist warned that Trump’s efforts to pressure Powell are likely to backfire, as have past efforts to intimidate the independent Fed.”
2. Oil companies locating prized engineering jobs in India
The Wall Street Journal reports that Chevron, BP and other big oil companies are offshoring prized engineering jobs to India where engineers are paid salaries about a third or fourth of U.S. counterparts.
“Chevron, BP and other oil companies are offshoring more specialized white-collar positions and related work to lower-cost labor pools in countries such as India, while cutting thousands of jobs elsewhere,” WSJ reported. “The shift, alongside a string of mergers and cost-cutting, has thinned the companies’ ranks of skilled U.S. workers. It has also disrupted the industry’s pecking order, which for decades has been topped by specialized engineers whose positions were more insulated during oil busts.”
WSJ went on to add, “Hiring for skilled posts in the U.S., meanwhile, has slowed to a pace typically associated with an oil downturn, recruiters say.”
