- 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. Ole Miss students raise over $300,000 for Children’s of Mississippi
University of Mississippi says students donned costumes, shared dance moves and made memories to raise a record $305,211.38 during the 2026 RebelTHON fundraiser.
For the past 14 years, Ole Miss said its students have gathered in late winter to dance the night away, all for a good cause: Mississippi’s children, specifically, the patients at Children’s of Mississippi hospital.
This year, the university said its RebelTHON, part of the nationwide Dance Marathon program, surpassed the organizers’ goal of $300,000.
2. PSC to recognize weather professionals
The Mississippi Public Service Commission will host “Weathering the Storm: A Reception Honoring Our Weather Professionals” to recognize the service provided by weather professionals in Mississippi’s Northern District before and during Winter Storm Fern.
The PSC stated in its announcement, “Through accurate forecasting, clear communication, and timely public updates, these Northern District professionals help families prepare, support emergency response efforts, and ensure communities across the region remain informed during challenging conditions. In the aftermath of Winter Storm Fern, the Commission will formally express its appreciation for the professionalism, dedication, and public service demonstrated to protect life and property across North Mississippi.”
The event is set for Wednesday, March 12, at 10:00 a.m. in New Albany.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Hillary Clinton denies ever meeting Epstein, Bill Clinton next to testify
As the New York Times reports, “Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday denied ever meeting Jeffrey Epstein or knowing anything about his crimes during a more than six-hour, closed-door deposition in front of the House Oversight Committee, which briefly devolved into chaos after a Republican lawmaker leaked a photograph of the proceedings to a right-wing blogger.”
“Mrs. Clinton arrived to testify under oath at the Center for Performing Arts in Chappaqua, N.Y., defiant about being compelled to participate in the panel’s investigation into Mr. Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019,” NYT reported, adding, “In a day’s worth of questioning that she later called ‘repetitive’ and unproductive, Mrs. Clinton told the committee that she did not recall ever encountering Mr. Epstein and ‘never flew on his plane or visited his island, homes or offices.'”
Former President Bill Clinton is slated to testify before the House Committee on Friday. NYT notes, “Mr. Clinton’s scheduled deposition on Friday will be the first time a former president has been compelled against his will to testify before a congressional committee.”
2. State Financial Officers uncover billions in fraud, waste
FoxNews reports that “a coalition of conservative state financial officers says it has already uncovered and stopped billions in taxpayer waste and is pledging to partner with the White House to root out corruption nationwide.”
“In a Thursday letter to the White House, the State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) praised President Donald Trump’s focus on what he called fraud scandals that have ‘resulted in tens of billions of dollars being stolen from American taxpayers,’ writing that such corruption ‘shreds the fabric of a nation,'” FoxNews reported. “SFOF CEO OJ Oleka told [Vice President JD] Vance that the group’s 40 conservative state treasurers, auditors and comptrollers across 28 states stand ready to support the administration’s anti-fraud mission, noting they collectively oversee more than $3 trillion in state funds.”
FoxNews went on to report, “The letter accompanied SFOF’s inaugural 2025 Oversight Report, which claims that affiliated state financial officers safeguarded more than $28 billion of waste, fraud, and abuse in 2025 alone.”
Sports
1. NCAA looks to address tampering after Clemson, Ole Miss drama
According to Sports Illustrated, “Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger reports that an NCAA committee is looking to propose some stiff new penalties in regard to targeting. It may be not a minute too soon.”
“While tampering has reared its head periodically, a highwater mark likely came in January, when Clemson coach Dabo Swinney called a press conference to essentially publicly accuse Ole Miss of tampering with transfer Luke Ferrelli. Swinney named names and gave details and all but laid a trail of bread crumbs for the NCAA straight to the Rebels,” SI reported.
SI went on to report, per Dellenger, “The NCAA committee is expected to recommend the following additional penalties for adding transfer outside of the NCAA’s strict portal window: prohibiting the head coach from all football and administrative duties (including coaching, recruiting, and running team meetings) through the sixth game of the season, fining any schools violating the rule 20% of their total football budget, requiring offending schools to reduce their number of roster spots by five for the next season, regardless of whether the offending coach or coaches are retained.”
2. MSU’s Parnov ties program record at SEC Championships
Mississippi State track and field standout Alla Parnov scored the first points in the SEC Championships meet, with her sixth-place finish in the pole vault.
Also making her SEC debut, Parnov jumped a season’s best of 4.15m, tying the program record and earning three points for the women’s squad, MSU Athletics noted.
Markets & Business
1. Futures slide ahead of inflation report
CNBC reports that stock futures “slipped on Friday after down day for the S&P 500, as traders looked ahead to an inflation reading.”
“Downbeat reactions to key tech earnings pressured the broader market on Thursday,” CNBC reported. “The S&P 500 lost 0.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 1.2%. The 30-stock Dow ended the session higher by 17 points, or less than 0.1%.”
CNBC added, “Looking ahead, investors are anticipating the release of January’s producer price index, a measure of wholesale inflation. Economists polled by Dow Jones see the headline reading coming in at 0.3%, while core PPI, which excludes energy and food prices, is also anticipated to land at 0.3%.”
2. Deal to shield citizens from data centers’ energy costs still unclear
Politico reports that the Trump administration “is ramping up the sales pitch for its plan to shield Americans from data centers’ energy costs,” but it is still unclear what is in the President’s proposal.
“A day after President Donald Trump touted his proposal in the State of the Union, and a week before tech companies are expected to flock to the White House for a signing ceremony, even some Republicans pushing to prevent the AI boom from driving up electricity costs said they were still asking the administration for details. Companies including Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Meta and OpenAI were also silent on the specifics,” Politico reported. “The unanswered questions included whether the administration has even finished negotiating with the tech industry on a deal requiring the data companies to shoulder their own energy costs. Nor was it clear whether that agreement, which Trump repeatedly described as a ‘pledge,’ would be binding or have any force of law.”
Politico continued, “The voluntary agreements are expected to mirror pledges the companies already made with utilities and data center operators, said one person who spoke on background because they did not have permission to discuss the arrangement.”
Magnolia Tribune
