- 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. No Jackson water rate decision from Wingate
U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate has not decided on whether to grant a water rate increase for JXN Water yet, telling both the utility and the city to continue to gather more information before he issues an order.
The City of Jackson has opposed a water rate increase, instead wanting JXN Water to focus on billing and collections issues.
JXN Water, however, contends that a rate increase is needed to continue to repair and replace lines that the city allowed to go unmaintained for years.
2. Jackson narrows Police Chief search to 4 candidates
The City of Jackson announced Wednesday that the final four candidates for the position of Chief of Police for the Jackson Police Department are RaShall Brackney, Joseph Daughtry, LeJon Roberts and Wendell Watts. They were selected from an original pool of 32 applicants from across the country, which was narrowed to seven semifinalists and then to the current group of four finalists through a structured, multi-stage review process.
The City engaged the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), a nationally recognized police research and policy organization, to assist in their search.
Mayor John Horhn will now conduct individual in-person interviews with each of the four finalists this week. In addition to the mayoral interviews, the City said a separate Police Chief Search Committee panel, appointed by Mayor Horhn, will hold in-person interviews with each candidate, allowing for multiple perspectives and a deeper evaluation of leadership style, experience, and community-focused policing approaches.
The City will then complete its final evaluations and announce the selected candidate afterward.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. House will vote to override two Trump vetoes on Thursday
The Hill reports that U.S. House will attempt to override President Trump’s vetoes of two GOP-backed bills Thursday, “a move that could showcase GOP division.” Yet, as reported, “A White House official said that the votes do not indicate any disunity with the White House and House GOP.”
“The two bills concern niche issues: one to fund a pipeline delivering clean water to southeastern Colorado and another granting the Miccosukee Tribe authority to manage part of the Florida Everglade,” The Hill reported. “The bills were seen as so bipartisan and uncontroversial that they passed through Congress by voice, without a recorded vote. Both bills passed the House in July and the Senate in December.”
In the Colorado instance, “Trump in a statement cited the cost of the pipeline as his reasoning for vetoing the bill, arguing that he is committed to preventing taxpayers from ‘funding expensive and unreliable policies,’” per The Hill. As for the Miccosukee Tribe, they “clashed with the Trump administration over the ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ immigration detention facility in Florida. The tribe joined a lawsuit that argued authorities did not follow laws requiring environmental review before building the facility in the wetlands. Trump said in his veto statement that the tribe has ‘actively sought to obstruct reasonable immigration policies’ that the American people voted for.”
2. Trump talks Venezuela, oil
According to the New York Times, “President Trump said on Wednesday evening that he expected the United States would be running Venezuela and extracting oil from its huge reserves for years, and insisted that the interim government of the country — all former loyalists to the now-imprisoned Nicolás Maduro — is ‘giving us everything that we feel is necessary.’”
“Only time will tell,” he said, when asked how long the administration will demand direct oversight of the South American nation, with the hovering threat of American military action from an armada just off shore, NYT reported.
“We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” Mr. Trump said during a nearly two-hour interview with NYT. “We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.”
Sports
1. Are you ready? It’s game day for the Rebels
Mississippi is rallying around the Ole Miss Rebels as they take on Miami in the Fiesta Bowl Thursday night in Arizona as part of the semifinal round of the College Football Playoffs.
This is the first time in program history that the Rebels will play in the Fiesta Bowl.
A win would send the Rebels to the National Championship game where they would face either Indiana or Oregon.
Ole Miss and Miami have met only three times in the all-time series. The Rebels lead the series 2-1, with all three previous games having been played in Miami. The last time the Rebels faced Miami was in 1951, which resulted in a loss for Ole Miss.
Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. CT and it will air on ESPN.
2. USM’s Allen named Perfect Game preseason All-American
Southern Miss senior right-handed pitcher Colby Allen was named to the second-team All-America honorees by Perfect Game Wednesday.
Southern Miss Athletics said Allen, who was chosen as a relief pitcher, appeared in 29 games with two starts and posted a 7-4 record with 12 saves and a 3.63 ERA last season. Those numbers included 77 strikeouts and only 17 walks in 67 innings of work. His save total ranked No. 10 nationally, while his total appearances were No. 22 in the country. His season saves total also tied for fifth best at the school, while his 19 career saves hold a No. 7 ranking at Southern Miss.
The school added that Allen earned first-team All-Sun Belt honors last spring, while also collecting ABCA/Rawlings All-South Region first-team as was a NCBWA third-team All-American. He was one of just two Sun Belt players listed on the three All-America teams.
Markets & Business
1. Trump’s $1.5 trillion defense budget proposal sends defense stocks up
Global defense stocks rallied on Thursday, CNBC reported, “extending gains after U.S. President Donald Trump called for a $1.5 trillion defense budget in 2027.”
“After the long and difficult negotiations with Senators, Congressmen, Secretaries, and other Political Representatives, I have determined that, for the Good of our Country, especially in these very troubled and dangerous times, our Military Budget for the year 2027 should not be $1 Trillion Dollars, rather $1.5 Trillion Dollars,” he wrote in a TruthSocial post late Wednesday, per CNBC.
“This will allow us to build the ‘Dream Military’ that we have long been entitled to, and, more importantly, that will keep us SAFE and SECURE, regardless of foe,” Trump said.
2. Trump wants ban on institutional investors purchasing single-family homes
As reported by FoxBusiness, “President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced plans to ban institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes in what he sees as a means of improving affordability for Americans.”
Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform that, “For a very long time, buying and owning a home was considered the pinnacle of the American Dream.”
“It was the reward for working hard, and doing the right thing, but now, because of the Record High Inflation caused by Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress, that American Dream is increasingly out of reach for far too many people, especially younger Americans.”
“It is for that reason, and much more, that I am immediately taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes, and I will be calling on Congress to codify it,” Trump said.
FoxBusiness noted, “Large financial institutions like Blackstone have purchased thousands of single-family homes since the 2008 financial crisis spurred a wave of home foreclosures. Firms are increasingly investing in rental homes, which have outperformed other commercial property sectors like offices and retail in recent years amid rising borrowing costs and shifts in work patterns.”
