- 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. Treasurer sending over $1.3 million in unclaimed funds to 5,000 Mississippians
State Treasurer David McRae said Friday that his office has mailed more than $1.3 million to almost 5,000 Mississippians who had unclaimed money that was about to become unclaimable. McRae said if you receive one of these checks, cash it.
“It’s all part of my second annual “Money Match” – a pro-active outreach that I initiated last year. As the name suggests, Money Match leverages widely available public records to match and return unclaimed money to owners, without the owner having to make a claim,” McRae said.
McRae added that in just over five years, his office has return more unclaimed money to Mississippians than all previous Treasurers combined.
“In fact, of the $290 million in unclaimed money returned to Mississippians since 1982, more than half of that – $150 million – has been under my watch,” he said.
2. MSU’s Hotel Madelon now under construction
Construction formally began last Thursday on the hotel that will anchor development of the new Crossroads District between the Mississippi State University campus and the city’s Cotton District.
MSU said Hotel Madelon will be a 122-room Marriott Tribute Portfolio hotel, which will include a full-service restaurant, rooftop bar and dedicated underground parking. The hotel, located at 910 University Dr., is set to open in the summer of 2027.
The district it will anchor, including entertainment, restaurant, housing and additional parking venues, will be developed over several phases.
Hotel Madelon, named in honor of the university’s original fight song, will be a boutique hotel, celebrating the legacy of MSU and the culture of Starkville. The hotel is being positioned on a prime site that will offer stunning campus views and an overall design that will attract both visitors and locals.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Food stamp funding expires Friday as shutdown lingers on
The Hill reports that “more than 40 million low-income food stamp beneficiaries are expected to receive less help with grocery bills — or no help at all — in the coming days.”
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is threatening to withhold billions of dollars in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) contingency funding, which Congress has already allocated for emergency scenarios, if the government shutdown stretches into November,” The Hill reported, adding, “There is between $5 billion and $6 billion currently in that fund, experts say. That’s not enough to cover the estimated $8 billion in SNAP benefits due out next month, but it would allow for partial payments to help low-income Americans defray food costs.”
The Hill continued, “On Friday, however, USDA released guidance saying it won’t use those funds to cover SNAP benefits if the government shutdown extends beyond Oct. 31 — a move that appears designed to maximize the pressure on Senate Democrats to support a GOP spending bill to reopen the government. In a memo, first reported by Axios, the USDA said the reason is simple: The contingency fund was designed to respond to unforeseen events, like natural disasters, and the current shutdown doesn’t qualify because it was manufactured by Democrats. To spend the money on SNAP benefits during such an event, the USDA argues, would be illegal.”
2. Legality of Trump’s tariffs before SCOTUS
The New York Times reports that the U.S. Supreme Court’s commitment to “major questions doctrine” “will be tested next week when it hears arguments about President Trump’s tariffs program.”
“The doctrine requires Congress to use plain and direct language to authorize sweeping economic actions by the executive branch. The 1977 law that Mr. Trump is relying on, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, might seem to fail that test, as it does not feature the word ‘tariffs’ or similar terms like ‘duties,’ ‘customs,’ ‘taxes’ or ‘imposts,'” NYT reported, adding, “The major questions doctrine, a judicially created principle of statutory interpretation, follows the premise that Congress does not ‘hide elephants in mouse holes,’ as Justice Antonin Scalia put it in a 2001 opinion.”
NYT did note, “There is some reason to think the doctrine may disappear in the tariffs case.”
Sports
1. Rebels move up to No. 7
Ole Miss rose one spot to No. 7 in this week’s AP Top 25 after a win over then ranked No. 11 Oklahoma on Saturday.
Ohio State remained at No. 1 followed by Indiana at No. 2, Texas A&M at No. 3, Alabama at No. 4 and Georgia at No. 5.
Ole Miss, now 7-1, is back in Oxford this week to host South Carolina.
2. Grambling downs Jackson State
Jackson State left Las Vegas with a loss on Saturday, as the Tigers fell 26-24 to Grambling State in SWAC play. JSU is now 5-2 overall and 3-1 in conference play on the year.
JSU QB JaCobian Morgan was injured late in the first quarter and did not return, leading to the Tigers playing four quarterbacks during the game.
A pair of fourth quarter touchdowns pushed JSU to a 24-23 lead with just 2:15 to play before Grambling State connected on a last second 44-yard field goal.
JSU is back on the road this week at Florida A&M.
Markets & Business
1. Tupelo headquartered Cadence Bank to be acquired by Huntington
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Ohio-based Huntington Bancshares reached an agreement to buy a midsize southern bank for $7.4 billion, the latest sign that deals are back on the table for lenders under pressure to compete in the highly fragmented industry.”
“The all-stock deal to acquire Cadence Bank will raise Huntington higher in the ranks of super regionals, giving it around $276 billion in assets,” WSJ reported. “It further expands its presence deeper into the South, particularly Texas, where Huntington last week completed a separate acquisition of a smaller Dallas-based bank called Veritex Holdings.”
WSJ added, “With dual headquarters in Houston, Texas, and Tupelo, Miss., Cadence has roughly 400 locations across the South, bringing Huntington into 21 states. It will give Huntington top-five deposit market share in Dallas and Houston, according to the bank.”
2. Futures open week higher on U.S.-China trade news
CNBC reports that stock futures “jumped on Monday after U.S. and China officials cooled tensions over the weekend, laying the groundwork for President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping to clinch a trade deal this week.”
“The framework potentially includes a delay of China’s rare earths restrictions that caused the latest trade flare-up, a spiking of Trump’s threatened 100% tariffs on China that were to start Nov. 1 and a resumption of Chinese purchases of soybeans,” CNBC reported. “The agreement may include a resolution of the TikTok dispute with the U.S. getting a deal for the U.S. version of the social video app.”
CNBC continued, “Stocks are coming off a bullish week, with all three major indices hitting record highs last Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its first-ever close above the 47,000 mark. The S&P 500 touched 6,800 for the first time ever Friday. All three major benchmarks posted their second week in a row of gains.”
