- 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. UMMC clinics remain closed Monday, Tuesday from cyberattack
The University of Mississippi Medical Center clinics will remain closed statewide Monday and Tuesday, the system said Sunday.
“Medical Center teams continue to respond to the Feb. 19 cyberattack alongside federal and state agencies and national experts in cybersecurity. Our phone systems and ability to receive or send emails remain down or unreliable.,” UMMC stated in a release. “The UMMC Emergency Departments and hospitals in Jackson, Madison County, Grenada and Holmes County are open and caring for patients. The Medical Center is actively working on a solution for patients who need to contact us with routine medical and/or medication needs.”
UMMC has contacted patients receiving ongoing time-sensitive care to arrange treatment.
2. Fitch announces sentencing in child exploitation case
Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced Friday the sentencing of Steven Dessino, 46, of Biloxi, Mississippi, for distribution and possession of child sexual abuse material.
The case was investigated by the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Biloxi Police Department. It was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi.
Fitch’s office said on February 18, 2026, U.S. District Court Judge Taylor McNeel sentenced Dessino to 12 years and 7 months in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, with 20 months of post-release supervision. Dessino was ordered to pay $37,000 in restitution and will also have to register as a sex offender upon release.
Dessino’s arrest was the result of an undercover operation initiated by Attorney General’s Office.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Tuesday’s State of the Union comes with DHS still shut down
As The Hill reports, “Lawmakers are coming back to Washington, D.C., Monday ahead of President Trump’s State of the Union address with no signs of a deal immediately in reach to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).”
“Today marks the tenth day that DHS has been without funding after the two parties were unable to reach an agreement amid a major debate over the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies,” The Hill reported. “Both houses of Congress have been out of session for the past week but now return to the Capitol to try to resume talks and hear the president’s annual speech in which he will lay out his vision for the year.”
The Hill noted, “Most of DHS’s employees are still working, as they’re considered essential despite the funding gap, but they’re working without pay.”
The State of the Union Address is set for Tuesday night, February 24.
2. Violence erupts in Mexico over killing of cartel boss
The New York Times reports that the Mexican government “said it killed the nation’s most wanted cartel boss on Sunday, setting off a wave of fires and violence across the country as cartel operatives sought to exact revenge in an unsettling show of force.”
“Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as ‘El Mencho,’ was the longtime leader of one of Mexico’s most powerful cartels, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and was widely regarded as one of the country’s most violent criminal figures,” NYT reported. “He presided over a criminal enterprise that has expanded rapidly over the past decade, producing and selling drugs, extorting local businesses and terrorizing communities across the country.”
NYT continued, “Mr. Oseguera’s killing plunged Mexico into a highly tense moment that could unleash a surge in violence. Past captures of cartel leaders have set off wars between the government and cartels, as well as between opposing factions jockeying for power in the beheaded criminal group.”
Sports
Big 3 all sweep the weekend
No. 4 Mississippi State, No. 20 Southern Miss and Ole Miss all swept their weekend three-game series.
MSU sent Delaware home and moves to 8-0 on the season while Ole Miss did the same against Missouri State to also move to 8-0.
Southern Miss traveled to Texas for the Round Rock Classic where they defeated Baylor, Purdue, and No. 11 Oregon State
All three return to action on Tuesday, with MSU taking on Austin Peay, Ole Miss battling Southeast Missouri State, and Southern Miss facing Alabama.
Markets & Business
1. Futures fall on Trump tariff news
CNBC reports that U.S. stock futures “fell on Monday after President Donald Trump said he’s raising his global tariffs to 15% from 10% following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the president’s ‘reciprocal’ tariffs. The new tariffs heightened market uncertainty about the outlook for inflation and global growth.”
“Those moves come after Trump on Saturday said he would increase global tariffs to 15%, up from the 10% he announced on Friday,” CNBC reported. “Trump said the duties would go into effect immediately, though it was unclear whether any official documents had been signed regarding the timing.”
“I, as President of the United States of America, will be, effective immediately, raising the 10% Worldwide Tariff on Countries, many of which have been ‘ripping’ the U.S. off for decades, without retribution (until I came along!), to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level,” Trump wrote, with CNBC noting, “Trump also warned that additional levies would be coming over the next few months.”
2. Florida seeing $4M-per-hour wealth migration into state
According to FoxBusiness, “While hubs like New York and California descend into what Florida Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mark Wilson calls a ‘death spiral,’ the Sunshine State is officially open for business as a global superpower. With more than $4 million in wealth flowing across its borders every single hour, Florida has leapfrogged Spain to become the 15th-largest economy in the world — and Wilson says the state is just getting started.”
“Part of the secret sauce in Florida is that we’re all on the same page,” Wilson told Fox News Digital. “The business community, our elected leaders, we understand that economic growth — growing the private sector and shrinking the public sector — that’s good for everyone in Florida. So we have 23.5 million people here, and we want to create economic opportunity and good jobs for everyone who wants to be in Florida.”
“I always say, if Florida was a stock, I’d be investing everything I had in it. It’s because of our economic diversification strategy and our focus on growing business and growing jobs,” he continued, per FoxBusiness.
Magnolia Tribune
