- 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. Two Ole Miss students are finalists for Rhodes, Marshall scholarships
The University of Mississippi has announced that two students are finalists for the nation’s most prestigious academic honors: the Rhodes Scholarship and the Marshall Scholarship.
Sydney Guntharp, a senior English and political science major from Hernando, is the university’s Rhodes Scholarship finalist. She is the sixth finalist in three years for Ole Miss, the school noted.
The Marshall Scholarship finalist is Sophia Toner, a Pass Christian native who is a senior in the Croft Institute for International Studies and the Chinese Language Flagship Program with a minor in Russian.
2. MDAH receives $2.5 million grant for Religion Initiative
Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded a $2.5 million grant to the Foundation for Mississippi History to support and promote Mississippi Department of Archives and History programs, activities, and projects focused on the role of religion in Mississippi history and culture.
MDAH said the grant was made through Lilly Endowment’s Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative, a nationwide effort to help museums and other cultural institutions improve the public understanding of religion. This is Lilly Endowment’s second grant to the foundation. The $2.5 million grant awarded in December 2022 launched MDAH’s work to expand religious initiatives.
MDAH noted that its Religion Initiative has three goals: attract more visitors to the Two Mississippi Museums, make archival holdings related to religion more accessible to the public, and make improvements to historic sites related to religion. As part of the initiative, archivists process and digitize significant manuscript collections related to religion, making the materials more available to scholars, historians, and the public.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. House vote Wednesday could end Democrat-backed shutdown
The Hill reports that the U.S. House returns Wednesday “to vote on a spending package to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history — an outcome widely viewed as a Republican victory over Democrats, who are now battling internally over how their firm stand on health care dissolved without a resolution.”
“Progressives are furious that a group of Senate Democratic centrists broke after 41 days to strike a deal with Republicans on a spending package that included some concessions on federal layoffs, without getting a commitment on extending expiring health care subsidies under ObamaCare,” The Hill reported.
The Hill went on to report that “Democrats think the shutdown helped their side by highlighting the GOP’s positions on health care.”
“They’re pointing to sweeping wins in off-year elections last week, and vowing to keep that debate alive heading into next year’s midterm elections, where they see health care as a boon to their campaign prospects,” The Hill added.
2. Memphis sees 46% drop in serious crimes since arrival of federal officers
According to the Washington Post, “Since late September, nearly 2,000 state and federal law enforcement officers have surged onto the streets here, helping drive down crime rates. But the crackdown has also sparked tensions in this majority-Black city, with local officials warning of jail overcrowding and racial profiling.”
“More than 2,100 people have been arrested, and serious crime, including homicides and robberies, has plummeted. Memphis police credit federal agents with helping them find elusive criminals and serve outstanding warrants in a city that has long faced one of the highest violent crime rates in the country. More drivers are renewing their vehicle tags just to avoid being pulled over amid a dramatic uptick in traffic stops,” WP reported, noting, “Since Oct. 1, as federal and state officers began pouring into the city, serious crimes have fallen 46 percent compared with the same period last year, according to data from the Memphis Police Department. Robberies and motor vehicle thefts dropped by roughly 70 percent each. Aggravated assaults were down about 50 percent. Twelve murders have been reported since Oct. 1, compared with 21 during the same period last year.”
WP continued, “Some local officials have been skeptical that the drop in crime could be maintained after the federal task force, which doesn’t yet have an end date, leaves town. People are staying home to avoid the increased law enforcement presence, including random traffic stops, but the deeper causes of crime remain, they say.”
Sports
1. Northwest, MGCCC to play in MACCC championship game
No. 4 Northwest and No. 5 MGCCC will play in the MACCC championship game on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Northwest.
The JUCO football teams are the last two standing following a Northwest playoff win over Co-Lin and a MGCCC win over East Mississippi.
2. Ole Miss’ Chambliss named a semifinalist for Maxwell Award
Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss has been named a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award, the Maxwell Football Club announced Tuesday morning. Chambliss is one of nine quarterbacks and 13 semifinalists overall for the Maxwell Award, which is in its 89th year of honoring the top collegiate player of the year.
Ole Miss Athletics said Chambliss, who transferred to Ole Miss from Division II Ferris State in the offseason, has the 9-1 Rebels at their best record through 10 games since 1962 and in the thick of the conversation for the College Football Playoff.
Chambliss owns 2,790 yards of total offense (2,356 passing, 434 rushing) and 19 total touchdowns responsible for (13 passing, six rushing), and since becoming the starter in Week Three he is averaging 338.8 total yards and 287.1 passing yards.
Markets & Business
1. Oil and gas demand could grow until 2050
As the Wall Street Journal reports, “Oil and gas demand could continue to grow until the middle of the century, according to a new International Energy Agency scenario that shifts away from previous expectations of so-called peak oil demand because of slower adoption of green technologies.”
“The Paris-based agency, which represents oil-consuming nations, said that under this scenario, demand for oil and natural gas would continue to grow to 2050, while coal goes into a decline before the end of this decade,” WSJ reported.
WSJ continued, “The IEA had previously scrapped this model and focused on one where renewables and the speedy adoption of electric cars would lead the world to wean itself from oil and gas in the years ahead. But a change in policies in the U.S. toward heavier reliance on fossil fuels and the potential for a slower-than-expected take up for EVs could now alter the calculus.”
2. Mortgage applications rise despite slight increase in interest rates
CNBC reports that as the housing market heads into its traditionally slowest season, “homebuyers are making one last gasp, likely due to more supply on the market and softening prices.”
“Mortgage applications to purchase a home rose 6% last week to their strongest pace since September, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Volume was 31% higher than the same week one year ago,” CNBC reported.
CNBC noted, “This came despite the fact that the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances, $806,500 or less, increased to 6.34% from 6.31%, with points rising to 0.62 from 0.58, including the origination fee, for loans with a 20% down payment. That rate is 52 basis points lower than it was one year ago.”
Magnolia Tribune
