- 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. State’s longest serving death row inmate seeks clemency from Reeves
WLBT/WLOX reports that attorneys for Richard Gerald Jordan have filed a petition asking Governor Tate Reeves to commute his sentence to life in prison without parole.
“Jordan’s attorneys are also requesting a 15-minute in-person or virtual interview with the state’s top elected leader,” WLBT/WLOX reported, adding, “Jordan was convicted of capital murder in 1976 and received an automatic death penalty.”
Jordan, Mississippi’s longest-serving death row inmate, was convicted in connection with kidnapping and murdering Edwina Marter, a 35-year-old wife and bank executive from Harrison County.
“Jordan is slated to die on June 25. On Saturday, attorneys asked to delay that execution, saying that the three-drug protocol used by the Mississippi Department of Corrections in the lethal injection process could cause severe pain for the prisoner,” WLBT/WLOX reported.
2. MDAH’s Blount honored by American Association for State and Local History
The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) has announced that Mississippi Department of Archives and History Director Katie Blount is the recipient of a 2025 AASLH Individual Lifetime Achievement Award.
Blount has been MDAH director since 2011. Under her leadership, the agency has
established the nationally-recognized Two Mississippi Museums—Museum of Mississippi
History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, strengthened relations with Tribal Partners
through repatriation and broken ground on the Vicksburg Civil War Visitor Center.
The AASLH awards program was initiated in 1945 to establish and encourage standards
of excellence in the collection, preservation, and interpretation of state and local history
throughout the United States.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Officials investigating more threats against elected officials in at least 3 states
As the New York Times reports, “Officials in at least three states said on Monday that they were investigating or prosecuting people for making threats against politicians, a day after the police in Minnesota arrested and charged a man over the assassination of a state lawmaker.”
“In Texas, the authorities said that an armed man who had threatened to harm lawmakers at the State Capitol had been detained. In Georgia, a man was arraigned after prosecutors said he had threatened sexual violence against two United States senators. And in Virginia, a former Coast Guard officer was arrested and accused of making threats against President Trump online,” NYT reported, adding, “The Department of Homeland Security’s annual assessment of threats to the United States said last year that politically motivated violence was among its top concerns for 2025. The number of concerning statements and direct threats against members of Congress alone more than doubled from 2017 to 2024, according to an investigation by the United States Capitol Police.”
NYT continued, “The attacks in Minnesota on Saturday killed State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, and wounded another state lawmaker and his wife. The shootings led to a manhunt for the suspect, who was captured late Sunday and charged with murder. The police said he had a list of other potential targets, including politicians in several states.”
2. Senate Finance releases updated Medicaid, other language in tax bill
The Hill reports that Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) on Monday released “the Senate’s long-awaited version of President Trump’s tax agenda, which would make the 2017 corporate tax cuts permanent, cut hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid spending and phase out renewable-energy tax cuts enacted under President Biden.”
“The text includes a provision that would require states to conduct eligibility redeterminations every six months for individuals enrolled in Medicaid under the 2010 Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion,” The Hill reported. “The Senate Finance panel has also drafted a provision that would prevent states that didn’t expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act from increasing the rate of health care provider taxes to gain more federal funding. And, beginning in 2027, the legislation would lower health care provider taxes in states that chose to expand Medicaid to 3.5 percent.”
The Hill went on to report, “Like the House bill, the Senate legislation imposes work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries beginning at 19 years old. But the Senate version says adults with dependent children older than 14 will also have to prove they work, attend school or perform community service for 80 hours a month, while the House-passed version would exempt all adults with dependent children.”
Sports
1. JSU skipper named to USA Baseball Collegiate National Team staff
Jackson State head coach Omar Johnson will be part of the USA Baseball coaching staff for the 2025 Collegiate National Team Training Camp as first base coach.
Johnson recently wrapped up his 18th season at the helm of Jackson State’s baseball program.
JSU Athletics said the staff will be split into two teams – Stars and Stripes – for its annual Stars vs. Stripes series, which will be held June 29 to July 3 at various locations across North Carolina. Following Training Camp, which features 56 of the premier non-draft-eligible collegiate players in the country, the Stars staff will lead Team USA at the 45th USA vs. Japan Collegiate All-Star Championship Series from July 8-13 at various venues across Japan. The Stripes staff will guide select players on a Collegiate National Team Prospects squad in a Fourth of July match-up with the Appalachian League Select Team in Kannapolis, North Carolina.
2. Ole Miss softball’s Binford, Brady named in Top 100 players in nation
Ole Miss Athletics is celebrating softball graduates Aliyah Binford and Lexie Brady who have been named in the Top 100 players in the nation, as D1Softball published its final Top-100 players rankings of 2025.
Binford was ranked No. 51 in the nation by the publication, while Brady was selected as the No. 92 player in the country.
Both Rebels were also named to Softball America’s Top-100 players last week, with Binford ranking No. 30 and Brady at No. 85 in the nation.
Markets & Business
1. Futures fall, oil prices up after Trump leaves G-7 over Iran conflict
The Wall Street Journal reports “U.S. stock futures fell and oil prices rallied, as investor hopes for a quick resolution to the Israel-Iran conflict dimmed, and President Trump left the G-7 summit without new trade deals.”
Before leaving for the White House as tensions in the Middle East rose, “Trump signed onto a G-7 statement calling for peace and stability in the Middle East on Monday, after initially resisting, before leaving the gathering early,” WSJ reported.
“In doing so, he abandoned several conversations on trade, aimed at easing tensions over tariffs and other issues. His meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney ended without an agreement, but Canada’s government said the two leaders had agreed to work toward a deal within the next 30 days. The two sides are expected to meet later this week,” WSJ added.
2. Kraft Heinz to remove artificial dyes by 2027
CNBC reports that Kraft Heinz said Tuesday that it will remove “FD&C artificial dyes from its products by the end of 2027, and will not launch any new products in the U.S. containing those ingredients.”
“The company said in a release that about 10% of its U.S. items use FD&C colors, the synthetic additives that make many foods more visually appealing. Kraft Heinz brands that sell products with these dyes include Crystal Light, Kool-Aid, MiO, Jell-O and Jet-Puffed, according to a Kraft Heinz spokesperson,” CNBC reported.
CNBC noted, “The decision follows pressure from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Department of Health and Human Services, led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for the food industry to pull back on artificial dyes as part of a larger so-called Make America Healthy Again platform.”
Magnolia Tribune
