- Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion to start your day informed.
In Mississippi
JTRAN workers go on strike
WJTV reports that “JTRAN union workers are set to go on strike on July 13, 2026, at 4:00 a.m.”
“According to the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local-1208, they have been unable to reach a deal with JTRAN contractor MV Transportation,” WJTV reported. “They claimed the contractor has engaged in unfair labor practices.”
“MV and JTRAN have left us with no other choice but to walk off the job. We want the citizens of Jackson to know we did not want to strike. We hope they stand with us. Our frontline bus operators who keep our city moving have been ignored for far too long by MV,” said Local President/Business Agent Charles Tornes, Jr, as reported by WJTV. “We have been willing to work with MV to avert this strike, but they continue to bargain in bad faith and refuse to address our concerns. It has become clear MV has no regard for their workers and riders.”
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Graham’s death sends GOP scrambling
The Hill reports that “the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) will have ripple effects on the GOP agenda in the coming weeks, as Washington mourns one of its most outspoken dealmakers and defense hawks.”
“Graham had risen to become one of the most influential voices among Senate Republicans since he was first elected to the chamber more than 20 years ago, becoming a top ally for President Trump. The senator’s office announced Graham died Saturday evening from a ‘brief and sudden illness’ at the age of 71,” The Hill reported. “Preliminary findings from the Washington, D.C., chief medical examiner revealed Graham is believed to have died from an aortic dissection, a tear in his artery, as a result of heart disease.”
The Hill further reported, “Jockeying has already begun for who may replace Graham in the interim and long term. He was running for reelection, setting up a short-term appointment and a special election.”
2. Maine Democrats want Schumer to stay out of Senate race
As reported by the New York Times, “Senator Chuck Schumer of New York is accustomed to getting his way in Democratic primaries for Senate.”
“But even as Mr. Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate for nearly a decade, has successfully recruited a number of nominees in marquee races this year, he is getting a clear message from his party’s voters, candidates and local leaders in all-important Maine: Stay away,” NYT reported. “In Maine, a pivotal battleground in the fight for control of the Senate, Democrats are trying to flip the seat of Senator Susan Collins, a five-term Republican. In the spring, they soundly rejected Mr. Schumer’s choice, Gov. Janet Mills. Graham Platner, an oysterman running on a progressive and anti-establishment message, forced Ms. Mills out of the race weeks before Primary Day.”
NYT continued, “Now that Mr. Platner has ended his campaign after a rape allegation that he denies, voters and state party leaders are warning Mr. Schumer and other Democratic leaders in Washington, D.C., not to intervene in the process the state party is using to replace Mr. Platner. All the leading candidates running to replace Mr. Platner have signaled interest in replacing Mr. Schumer as leader after the midterms.”
Sports
1. Ole Miss, Miss. State, Oak Grove High players selected in 1st Round of MLB Draft
The first Mississippi player selected in the MLB Draft on Saturday was Oak Grove High School outfielder Eric Booth Jr. He chosen 7th overall by the Baltimore Orioles.
Ole Miss and Mississippi State baseball programs then saw players selected in the first round of the MLB Draft as well.
For the first time in program history, two Rebels were selected in the first round of the same Major League Baseball Draft as Cade Townsend and Taylor Rabe both heard their names called in the opening round. Townsend was selected as the 23rd overall pick by the Chicago Cubs while Rabe was selected as the 30th overall pick by the Kansas City Royals. Townsend became the ninth first round pick in program history before Rabe became the 10th seven picks later.
Mississippi State third baseman Ace Reese was selected 24th overall by the Seattle Mariners. Reese is the 21st Bulldog to be selected in the first round and the first since Jurrangelo Cijntje in 2024.
Other players from the Mississippi Big 3 – 21 in all – were drafted in this year’s MLB Draft.
2. Shuckers’ Jesus Made featured in ‘Road to the Show’ docuseries
Major League Baseball and NBC Sports have debutted Road to the Show, a new five-episode documentary series providing unprecedented access to six of baseball’s brightest young stars as they navigate the path to professional baseball’s biggest stage, including current Biloxi Shuckers infielder Jesús Made.
Shuckers fans can tune in starting on June 1 on Peacock, with six episodes airing between July 1 and August 2.
Each 30-minute episode offers an intimate look beyond the box score, chronicling breakthrough performances, setbacks and personal milestones as these rising stars take the next steps in their careers. New episodes will debut on July 1st, July 10th, July 19th, July 26th and August 2nd.
Markets & Business
1. Oil futures rise as U.S., Iran return to fighting
CNBC reports that oil prices were higher on Monday morning “after the U.S. and Iran traded strikes as they contest control of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important trade routes for global energy supplies.”
“Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, advanced 3.3% to $78.48 per barrel,” CNBC reported. “U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were last seen 3.3% higher at $73.78. Prices have eased off sessions highs after rising about 5% earlier.
CNBC noted, “The U.S. military launched another wave of strikes Sunday against Iran after hitting 140 targets on Saturday, according to U.S. Central Command. The strikes are in response to an attack by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on a container ship transiting Hormuz.”
2. Aging infrastructure of concern at Strategic Petroleum Reserve sites
According to the Wall Street Journal, “The U.S. is tapping in to its national stocks of crude with abandon. The withdrawals are taking a toll on the strategic reserve system.”
“Just in the past four years, the Biden and Trump administrations have ordered the largest releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve while seeking to tamp down soaring oil prices—a total of 352 million barrels, or nearly half the capacity of the stocks,” WSJ reported. “Now, frequent drawdowns, wear-and-tear and a lack of investments are straining the reserve, according to experts. The 60 Gulf Coast salt caverns that make up the stocks can’t be drawn from or refilled at the rate at which they were designed, federal researchers found. Equipment failures have bedeviled the reserve’s managers. At one point, a well broke and caused the loss of hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude.”
WSJ added that signs of distress are mounting. “The stocks were established in 1975, and investments aren’t keeping up with the aging infrastructure, experts say. DOE officials recently told the Government Accountability Office that they are holding the reserve ‘together with ‘Band-Aids,’ and that it is uncertain how long they will hold,’ according to a GAO report published last month.”
