- 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 adding plane to AirCare fleet
The University of Mississippi Medical Center AirCare flight team is expanding its fleet with the addition of a fixed-wing aircraft and is looking to hire 10 additional medical staff members to support the new service.
The aircraft, a Pilatus PC-12 provided through UMMC’s partnership with Global Medical Response, will become the fifth vehicle in the AirCare fleet, expanding the program’s ability to provide in-state and regional patient transport.
AirCare routinely receives transport requests involving patients who require specialized care not readily available in their local communities. The addition of a fixed-wing asset strengthens UMMC’s ability to support these missions across Mississippi and the surrounding region, including long-distance transports from neighboring states to UMMC’s Level I trauma center and other advanced specialty services.
2. Mississippi Lottery player wins $750,000, another wins $50,000
Memorial Day brought big wins for Mississippi Lottery players Monday night, with one ticket in Pontotoc winning the $750,000 Mississippi Match 5 jackpot and another player in Tillatoba scoring a $50,000 Powerball prize.
The Mississippi Lottery said the Match 5 jackpot-winning ticket was purchased at Warrior Express and matched all five numbers drawn Monday night to claim the game’s estimated $750,000 jackpot prize, one of the largest Mississippi Match 5 prizes won since the game launched in 2021.
The other winner was from a Powerball ticket purchased at Liberty Travel Plaza matched four out of five white balls plus the Powerball to win $50,000 in Monday’s drawing.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Paxton trounces Cornyn in Texas GOP runoff
The Washington Post reports that “four-term Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who once came close to becoming majority leader in the Senate, lost a primary challenge to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday, ending a bitter race driven by a MAGA insurgency that ballooned into the most expensive Senate primary in history.”
“Cornyn became the second Republican senator to lose his seat in less than two weeks after President Donald Trump endorsed against him. Before Sen. Bill Cassidy (R) lost in the Louisiana primary earlier this month, no senator in either party had lost a primary since 2017,” WP reported, adding that Paxton “will now have to reconcile withSenate Republicans, who had fervently backed Cornyn in the primary, arguing that he would be easier to defend in a general election against the Democratic nominee, state Rep. James Talarico.”
WP noted, “Democrats have not won a statewide race in Texas since 1994.”
2. Congress ending bi-annual clock changing?
As reported by The Hill, “Last week, the language of the Sunshine Protection Act, introduced by Florida Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan, was included in a larger transportation funding package under consideration by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The package received a roll call vote of 48 yeas and 1 nay to head to the full House.”
“It puts the U.S. a step closer to potentially observing year-round daylight saving time,” The Hill reported. “Trump spoke highly of the bill after its committee passage, writing on Truth Social about the costs associated with having to change clocks around the U.S. He also said he was “going to work very hard” to ensure the Sunshine Protection Act becomes law.”
Nineteen states, including Mississippi, “have also been awaiting the chance to stop changing their clocks,” The Hill further reported. “At present, states can opt to observe standard time year-round. Only Hawaii and most of Arizona have done so.”
Sports
1. Southern Miss moves up to No. 7 in latest Top 25
The Southern Miss Golden Eagles moved up one spot to No. 7 in this week’s D1 Baseball Top 25 rankings, solidifying its place in the Top 10 programs across the nation this season.
On3 reported of Southern Miss, “It was a busy week for Southern Miss, playing five games in the Sun Belt Tournament. Rain made that even more difficult, but they still went 4-1 and defeated Louisiana in the championship on Sunday. Southern Miss fully established itself as a top ten team in D1Baseball’s top 25.”
As for the other members of Mississippi’s Big 3, Mississippi State and Ole Miss both dropped one spot in this week’s Top 25, with State falling to No. 17 and Ole Miss to No. 18.
All three programs will open NCAA Region play this Friday, with Southern Miss and Mississippi State hosting regionals while Ole Miss travels to Lincoln, Nebraska.
2. PRCC advances to NJCAA DII Baseball World Series Semifinal
Pearl River (48-11) advances to the NJCAA DII Baseball World Series Semifinal, defeating Madison with a walk-off two-run home run to cap a stunning 6-4 victory in Enid, Oklahoma on Tuesday.
Trailing for seven innings on the World Series stage, the Wildcats stormed back to get the victory and send them to the semifinals Thursday at 3 p.m. against an opponent to be determined.
The two other Mississippi programs in the series – Jones and East Central – lost earlier in the week and were eliminated.
The entire 2026 NJCAA Division II Baseball World Series will be streamed live on the NJCAA Network. A day pass costs $12, a tournament pass is available for $35 and an all-access pass costs $100. Games will also be available over the air in Pearl River County by tuning into 1320-AM and 106.9 FM. The radio broadcast is also available at WRJWRadio.com and by downloading the WRJW app.
Markets & Business
1. Meta slashing nearly 1,400 jobs, focusing on AI initatives
FoxBusiness reports that “Meta’s artificial intelligence overhaul is now hitting one of the country’s largest tech corridors, with the Facebook parent company preparing to cut nearly 1,400 workers across Washington state.”
“New filings submitted to Washington state officials show Meta will begin terminating employees in Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond and remote positions starting July 22 as the company restructures operations around AI initiatives,” FoxBusiness reported. “The filings provide one of the clearest looks yet at how Meta’s broader workforce overhaul is affecting employees on the ground after the company announced plans last week to eliminate roughly 10% of its workforce while shifting thousands of workers into AI-focused roles.”
FoxBusiness continued, “The layoffs affect a broad range of positions, including software engineers, data scientists, content designers and IT staff, underscoring how deeply Meta’s restructuring effort is reaching into its technical workforce.”
2. BP ousts chairman over bullying employees
According to the Wall Street Journal, “BP has removed its chairman, Albert Manifold, after the oil major’s board was told that he was verbally abusive and bullying toward employees, and had mishandled company information, according to people familiar with the matter.”
WSJ reported that the London-based company said Tuesday that its board had unanimously decided that Manifold should no longer serve as chair, and that he would depart immediately.
“The board has been surprised and disappointed to learn of governance oversight and conduct issues it deems unacceptable and has taken decisive action,” said Amanda Blanc, the company’s senior independent director, per WSJ.
Magnolia Tribune
U.S. military says it carried out ‘self-defense’ strikes in Iran, including on missile launch sites
