- 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. Noem visits North Mississippi
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem landed in Tupelo on Monday to assess winter storm damage in North Mississippi as FEMA, military leadership, first responders and linemen continue to work to recover from the ice storm that blanketed the area.
Noem’s visit on Monday came days after she was initially scheduled to visit last week.
She met with Governor Tate Reeves and key agency heads who are leading the state’s response.
Reeves said on social media, “The state of Mississippi continues to operate a coordinated, whole-of-government response to the severe winter weather. Thank you to all of our partners for helping Mississippi recover from this historic storm.”
2. 61st annual Dixie National Livestock Show and Rodeo gets underway
Commissioner Andy Gipson announced the schedule of the 61st annual Dixie National Livestock Show and Rodeo which start today. All events take place on the Mississippi State Fairgrounds.
The Dixie National Junior Round-Up Livestock Shows featuring 4-H and FFA students from across the state kicks off first Tuesday and then the lamb and sheep shows will take place on Wednesday.
Gipson said in conjunction with the nationwide America250 celebrations, this year’s Dixie National will take on a special patriotic focus.
Events of the 61st Dixie National Livestock Show and Rodeo run through Sunday, February 22, 2026. The Dixie National Rodeo, the largest rodeo east of the Mississippi River, takes place Friday, February 13, through Saturday, February 21, inside the Mississippi Coliseum at the State Fairgrounds.
Rodeo Entertainment this year includes:
- Friday, February 13, at 7:00 p.m. – Ole 60
- Saturday, February 14, at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. – Bayker Blankenship
- Sunday, February 15, at 2:00 p.m. – Joe Nichols
- Wednesday, February 18, at 7:00 p.m. – Tanya Tucker
- Thursday, February 19, at 7:00 p.m. – Waylon Wyatt
- Friday, February 20, at 7:00 p.m. – Muscadine Bloodline
- Saturday, February 21, at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. – Mark Chesnutt
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Trump pushes House Republicans, Democrats to support funding deal
As The Hill reports, “Votes in the House on Tuesday to end a partial government shutdown pose tricky political challenges for both Republicans and Democrats.”
“On the Republican side, a procedural vote to tee up the funding package will test President Trump’s ability to unify the GOP’s razor-thin House majority behind his play call,” The Hill reported, adding, “Trump on Monday pushed members to drop their demands for changes and get the funding bill to his desk.”
“We need to get the Government open, and I hope all Republicans and Democrats will join me in supporting this Bill, and send it to my desk WITHOUT DELAY. There can be NO CHANGES at this time,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday, per The Hill. “We will work together in good faith to address the issues that have been raised.”
The Hill continued, “House Democrats, meanwhile, must decide if they can support even temporary funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) amid the national uproar over Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis…”
2. Clintons reverse course, agree to testify before House Oversight Committee on Epstein
The New York Times reports that “Bill and Hillary Clinton agreed on Monday to testify in the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, capitulating to the demands of its Republican chairman days before the House was expected to vote to hold them in criminal contempt of Congress.”
“In an email sent to Mr. Comer on Monday evening, attorneys for the Clintons said their clients would ‘appear for depositions on mutually agreeable dates’ and asked that the House not move forward with a contempt vote, which had been slated for Wednesday,” NYT reported.
NYT went on to report, “For Mr. Clinton to testify in the Epstein investigation would be nearly unprecedented. No former president has appeared before Congress since 1983, when President Gerald R. Ford did so to discuss the celebration of the 1987 bicentennial of the enactment of the Constitution. When Mr. Trump was subpoenaed in 2022 by the select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, after he had left office, he sued the panel to try to block it. The panel ultimately withdrew the subpoena.”
Sports
1. Southern Miss baseball season tickets sell out
Southern Miss Athletics announced Monday a sellout of its baseball season ticket allotment for the fourth-straight year at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field, which includes a program-record Standing Room Only season tickets.
For those without season tickets, the Southern Miss Ticket Office will make available a limited number of bleacher and standing room only tickets for all home single games this season. There is also some group deck availability remaining for the 2026 campaign.
The Southern Miss baseball season gets started at home, Friday, Feb. 13, when they entertain UC Santa Barbara. Game time is set for 4 p.m.
2. Ole Miss women’s golf finishes second in Puerto Rico
Ole Miss Athletics shared that the No. 15 Ole Miss women’s golf team secured their fifth top four placement of the season Monday with a T2 finish at the Puerto Rico Classic.
The Rebels posted (847, -17) with Kajsalotta Svarvar and Mary Miller both placing inside the top 15 individually.
Ole Miss had the second lowest team round of the day (281, -7) behind No. 10 Vanderbilt who posted nine-under. It marks back-to-back second place finishes for Kory Henkes and the Rebels at the Puerto Rico Classic.
Markets & Business
1. SpaceX acquires xAI
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Elon Musk said SpaceX acquired xAI, a deal that combines his powerful rocket-and-satellite business with his artificial-intelligence startup that is facing steep competition.”
“SpaceX confirmed the deal Monday, posting a memo Musk sent out about the arrangement on its website,” WSJ reported. “The combined company is valued at $1.25 trillion, people familiar with the matter said.”
“SpaceX has acquired xAI to form the most ambitious, vertically-integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth,” Musk, the top executive at both companies, said in the memo, per WSJ.
WSJ noted, “The combination brings together a mature and dominant company in SpaceX, with one that is in a nascent stage. SpaceX operates a fleet of reusable rockets, spacecraft that ferry astronauts to orbit, and Starlink, the world’s largest satellite fleet that provides broadband internet to millions of customers worldwide.”
2. Indexes rose Monday
CNBC reports that major stock averages “rose across the board in the regular session” on Monday.
“The 30-stock Dow jumped about 515 points, or 1.05%. The S&P 500 advanced 0.5%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained almost 0.6%,” CNBC reported. “Hot artificial intelligence infrastructure stocks Sandisk, Western Digital and Seagate all ended the session higher. However, Nvidia fell nearly 3% after The Wall Street Journal reported late last week that the chip company’s plans to invest in OpenAI have stalled.”
CNBC added, “Investors this week are digesting more than 100 S&P 500 companies reporting earnings results.”
