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In Mississippi
1. Auditor says Miss. Dept. of Education fails to report on afterschool evaluations
The State Auditor’s office released a new report this week that claims millions in federal grant funds continue to flow from the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) to nonprofits and school districts to operate afterschool programs for children, even as MDE has failed to publish federally mandated evaluations for years.
As shared by the State Auditor’s office, in fiscal year 2024, the nonprofits and school districts analyzed in this report spent over $11 million of Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) grant funds to provide afterschool care to students. The Auditor said MDE requires subgrantees to collect and submit performance data. MDE is then required to use those for an annual statewide program evaluation. MDE has failed to publish this required report to the federal government since November 2022.
Analysts at the State Auditor’s Office emphasized other findings, too, such as:
- Subgrantees may have violated state and federal regulations by engaging external evaluators who were not independent. One grantee hired an individual who worked for the nonprofit arm of the organization being evaluated, causing a potential conflict of interest.
- Moreover, attendance data for the centers grouped participant attendance in multi-day and multi-hour increments. This means that a student who showed up one day or only a handful of hours each month would be included in the same “attendance bucket” as someone with perfect attendance.
2. Thompson skips State of the Union
Congressman Bennie Thompson was among nearly 70 Democrats who skipped the State of the Union address Tuesday night.
“Many have asked whether I plan to attend the State of the Union Address. The answer is NO,” Thompson posted on Facebook. “I will not sit and listen to more of the same false promises and political theater.”
Despite not attending, Thompson later shared a rebuttal of President Donald Trump’s address, saying, “Once again, we heard self-congratulation instead of accountability. This was another attempt to rewrite reality, and I am not surprised by what we witnessed tonight. It only confirms that we, as Democrats, must stay engaged and stand firm.”
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Senate Democrats continue to block Homeland Security funding
The Hill reports that “Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), ensuring the shutdown of the agency will drag on through this week as both sides dig in.”
“Senators voted 50 to 45 on invoking cloture on the motion to proceed to a full-year DHS spending bill. It needed 60 votes to advance,” The Hill reported. “Appropriators had struck a deal on the bill in January, and it passed the House with the support of six moderate Democrats. But the shooting of Alex Pretti by immigration agents in Minneapolis upended the funding fight and led Senate Democrats to spurn the agreement, setting the stage for the ongoing impasse.”
The Hill noted, “Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.) was the only Democrat to vote with every Republican in favor of the measure. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) returned to the chamber for the first time this month after recovering from a brief hospitalization with flu-like symptoms.”
2. Federal judiciary wants control of courthouses as repairs linger
As reported by the New York Times, “For years, the judicial branch has complained that when it comes to hundreds of federal courthouses, the executive branch is a bad landlord, letting storied buildings fall into disrepair.”
“On Tuesday, a leader of the judiciary’s administrative body told Congress that the condition of courthouses has gotten so bad that lawmakers should intervene and give the nation’s judges control over their own spaces,” NYT reported.
NYT continued, “The matter ‘has reached a crisis point after decades of inadequate management and oversight,’ Judge Robert J. Conrad, the secretary of the courts’ policymaking body, wrote in a letter to lawmakers. The letter proposed draft legislation to establish a new ‘Judiciary Buildings Service’ that would take over courthouses and other judicial facilities from the General Services Administration, the executive branch agency responsible for their custody and management.”
Sports
Big 3 keep winning
No. 4 Mississippi State, No. 12 Southern Miss and No. 25 Ole Miss all won their Tuesday night games, after sweeping their weekend series days earlier.
Mississippi State overwhelmed Austin Peay 16-3 in seven innings at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, pushing the Diamond Dawgs to 9-0 on the season.
Two grand slams propelled Southern Miss to a 14-4 win over Alabama in eight innings at Pete Taylor Park/Hill Denson Field in Hattiesburg.
Ole Miss run-ruled Southeast Missouri State, 13-3 in seven innings, thanks to a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh at Swayze Field in Oxford.
The teams now prepare for their weekend opponents. Mississippi State will play in the Amegy Bank College Baseball Classic in Texas against Arizona State, UCLA and Virginia Tech. Southern Miss heads to Louisiana Tech for a three-game weekend series. Ole Miss travels to Texas for the BRUCE BOLT College Classic against Baylor, Ohio State and Coastal Carolina.
Markets & Business
1. Consumer confidence rebounds in February
FoxBusiness reports that “consumer confidence ticked higher in February as American households’ expectations for the labor market improved.”
“The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index rose 2.2 points to 91.2 in February from an upwardly revised 89 in January. The January data was initially reported as 84.5, the lowest level since May 2014,” FoxBusiness reported. “Economists polled by LSEG estimated the February reading for the index would come in at 87.”
FoxBusiness went on to report, “The Conference Board’s present situation index declined overall, with views of current business conditions dipping to 0.7%. Perceptions of employment conditions improved slightly, with the labor market differential, the share of consumers saying jobs are ‘plentiful’ minus the share saying they’re ‘hard to get,’ increasing by 0.6 percentage points to 7.4%.”
2. Treasury yields higher after State of the Union address
U.S. Treasury yields were higher on Wednesday, CNBC reported, “as investors weighed President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, which largely focused on the economy.”
“At 5:07 a.m. ET, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was up 2 basis points at 4.053%. The 30-year Treasury bond yield was 1 basis point higher at 4.703%. The 2-year Treasury note yield also added 1 basis point to 3.473%,” CNBC reported. “One basis point is equal to 0.01%, and yields and prices move in opposite directions.”
CNBC added, “Investors will now shift attention to some economic data coming in the week including mortgage rates on Wednesday, weekly initial jobless claims on Thursday, and the producer price index on Friday.”
Magnolia Tribune
