- 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. AccelerateMS, Hinds Community College partner to address critical workforce shortages in the construction and industrial trades
AccelerateMS, Mississippi’s lead office for workforce development strategy and coordination, and Hinds Community College, on Friday, established a strategic partnership designed to set a new statewide standard for how Mississippi supports new, expanding, and existing industries.
The announcement, held at the Hinds Community College Jackson Campus, was attended by local and state leaders, workforce and education professionals, and representatives from key Mississippi industries.
The collaboration focuses on addressing critical workforce shortages in the construction and industrial trades — professions essential to building the infrastructure powering Mississippi’s regional and statewide growth.
Through the agreement, the two organizations will jointly develop and deliver high-quality, industry-aligned training opportunities that prepare Mississippians for priority occupations identified by the State Workforce Investment Board, AccelerateMS, and employer partners.
2. MEMA encourages citizens to prepare for freezing temperatures
MEMA is encouraging Mississippians to prepare for potential cold weather and freezing temperatures this week.
The National Weather Service is forecasting freezing temperatures Sunday night into Monday morning, with a significant freeze Monday night into Tuesday morning.
With temperatures dropping below freezing for much of Mississippi, MEMA said now is a good time to prepare for the winter months ahead.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Trump touts sending “everyone” $2,000 from tariff revenue
As The Hill reports, “President Trump announced on Sunday that most Americans will receive ‘at least’ $2,000 from the tariff revenue collected by the Trump administration.”
“Trump’s statement, made early Sunday on his Truth Social platform, comes after the White House defended his sweeping use of tariffs before the Supreme Court this past week, where the justices appeared skeptical of the president’s broad use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act,” The Hill reported.
The Hill went on to report, “In an interview Sunday on ABC News’s ‘This Week,’ Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told host George Stephanopoulos that he hasn’t spoken to Trump yet about his proposal but that ‘the $2,000 dividend could come in lots of forms, in lots of ways’ that do not just resemble direct stimulus checks.
“It could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president’s agenda,” Bessent said, per The Hill. “You know, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security. Deductibility of auto loans.”
2. Trump pre-emptively pardons Giuliani, Powell, Eastman
According to the New York Times, “President Trump has granted pre-emptive pardons to Rudolph W. Giuliani and others accused of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, according to an official familiar with the matter.”
“The official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said on Monday that those pardoned include John Eastman, a lawyer who advised Mr. Trump’s 2020 campaign, and Sidney Powell, a conservative pundit who was briefly a public face of his campaign,” NYT reported.
NYT continued, “The presidential pardons, which would only apply in federal court, are largely symbolic. None of those named are currently facing federal charges, and the pardons cannot shield them from ongoing state-level prosecutions.”
Sports
1. Ole Miss remains at No. 6 in AP Top 25
Following a dominate performance against non-conference opponent The Citadel on Saturday, Ole Miss football remained at No. 6 in the latest AP Top 25, sitting pretty at 9-1 with two games remaining in the regular season.
The Top 5 all remained the same as well in the Top 25, with Ohio State leading the way, following by Indiana, Texas A&M, Alabama and Georgia.
There was some interesting movement in the latest poll. Texas jumped to No. 10 while James Madison took the No. 24 spot and USF came in at No. 25.
2. JSU crushes Valley in Itta Bena
Jackson State traveled to Itta Bena and crushed SWAC opponent Mississippi Valley State on Saturday 42-3.
Jackson State said its offense piled up 458 yards on the night including 217 yards rushing. They were led by Ahmad Miller with 91 yards on 19 carries, while Travis Terrell Jr. finished with 56 yards on 10 carries a touchdown. Donerio Davenport added 29 yards on seven carries and a touchdown in the win.
Meanwhile, Jared Lockhart finished with 241 yards passing on 21-of-27 with a pair of touchdowns. He connected with 10 different receivers including Ja’Naylon Dupree who finished with 58 yards on four receptions and Jency Riley Jr. who finished with 33 yards on three receptions.
Markets & Business
1. Deal to end shutdown sends futures up to open week
CNBC reports that stock futures rose on Monday “after Senate lawmakers took a critical step towards a potential deal to end the historic U.S. government shutdown.”
“Concerns over the shutdown have driven consumer sentiment to its lowest level in more than three years, just above its worst-ever, according to a University of Michigan survey released on Friday,” CNBC reported. “Due to the closure, federal agencies are no longer releasing many key economic reports, including the Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index, which were scheduled for release this week.”
CNBC added, “The shutdown has added to angst in the stock market, which is coming off a rough week because of mounting concerns over too-high valuations in stocks tied to artificial intelligence. The Nasdaq Composite posted its worst week since the tariff-driven selloff in April, losing 3%. The S&P 500 lost 1.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial average shed 1.2% for the week.”
2. USM College of Business and Economic Development award winners announced
The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) College of Business and Economic Development held its prestigious Business Excellence Awards on November 7, recognizing exceptional achievements in entrepreneurship and alumni impact.
The awards luncheon honored distinguished individuals in three categories: Entrepreneur of the Year, Alumnus of the Year and Young Alumnus of the Year. The honorees were:
- Keith and Melissa Saucier were recognized as the 2025 Entrepreneurs of the Year. Owners of Keith’s Superstores, the Sauciers have 43 store locations with additional sites currently under construction. They are also the owners of Keithco Petroleum, BRJ Oil Co., Saucier Enterprises, Shop Local Mississippi, and Mississippi Made & More.
- Retired Maj. Gen. Steve Ainsworth was recognized as the 2025 Alumnus of the Year. A two-time Southern Miss graduate and longtime banking executive, Ainsworth retired in 2024 as executive vice president and managing director for Cadence Bank, where he focused on financing corporate entities, mergers and acquisitions, and specialized lending transactions.
- Ashton Williams, CPA, was honored as the Young Alumnus of the Year for his early career success in corporate finance. Williams serves as vice president of finance at Codaray Construction, where he has played a vital role in the company’s rapid growth of increasing revenues by more than 200% over the last five years.
Magnolia Tribune
