- 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. Tropical Storm Bertha prompts warnings on Mississippi Coast
Tropical Storm Bertha has formed in the Gulf of America, looking to bring rains and localized flooding to South Mississippi over the next two days.
A tropical storm watch has been upgraded to a warning in the latest advisement from the National Hurricane Center.
Bertha looks to be moving parallel to the coast, eventually making landfall in south Louisiana early Thursday morning and then move into Texas.
2. Indigenous Cooking Demonstration to be held Saturday in Natchez
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History announced Monday that the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians will host a free Indigenous Cooking Demonstration on Saturday, July 25, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The demonstration is free and open to the public. The site is located at 400 Jefferson Davis Boulevard in Natchez.
The event will feature Rebekah Scott, a descendant of Natchez, Cherokee, and Creek ancestry, and David Comingdeer, a descendant of Cherokee ancestry, who will share traditional Indigenous foodways and cultural practices.
Scott will demonstrate how to prepare Three Sisters stew and cornbread while discussing the agricultural significance of the “Three Sisters”—corn, beans, and squash—which were traditionally planted together because each crop supported the growth of the others. These staple foods formed the foundation of many Indigenous dishes throughout the Southeast.
Comingdeer will demonstrate the construction and use of a traditional corn pounder, a handcrafted wooden tool similar to a mortar and pestle that was historically used to grind dried corn into cornmeal or flour for cooking.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. U.S. military deaths could further escalate Iran conflict
The Hill reports that “fears are growing that the deaths of three U.S. servicemembers over a 24-hour period this weekend could push President Trump toward further escalation, even as both sides leave diplomatic doors open.”
“The servicemembers’ deaths bring the U.S. death toll in the Iran war to 17 since the conflict broke out in March. Since the U.S. military began daily waves of strikes against Iran on July 7, nearly 100 service members in the U.S. Central Command (Centcom) theater have sustained injuries, with 96 percent of them returning to duty, the Pentagon said Monday,” The Hill reported. “Trump’s former national security adviser Victoria Coates said the deaths of the servicemembers marked ‘a new phase’ in the war.”
“It’s a very sobering event but I think it brings back to us the seriousness of this engagement, the viciousness of the Iranian regime,” Coates said, referring to the Iranians as “increasingly desperate.”
2. Democrats drive opposition to data centers, Politico poll finds
Politico reports that their polling shows Americans’ attitudes towards data centers is souring.
“While growing opposition to the sprawling, server-packed data hubs is coming from both sides of the political aisle, it’s especially evident among Democrats, whose opposition to the projects has grown much faster than antagonism from Republicans, according to the July survey conducted by the independent polling organization Public First,” Politico reported. “The new poll found that 41 percent of Americans would oppose a data center being built within three miles of where they live, up from 28 percent in the January survey. The number supporting those projects dropped during the same period, from 37 percent to 24 percent.”
Politico continued, “In January, people who said they had voted for Harris in 2024 were split on the question of data centers: Thirty-six percent said they would support a data center being built close to their home, and 33 percent said they would not. By July, 53 percent of Harris voters opposed building a data center nearby. Just 22 percent said they would support it.”
Sports
Ole Miss men’s basketball to tour, play in Puerto Rico
Ole Miss Athletics says the men’s basketball program will travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico, for a six-day tour from August 2-7. The trip will be highlighted by two exhibition contests.
The Rebels will square off with a pair of Puerto Rican teams on Tuesday, August 4 and Wednesday, August 5 inside Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Both exhibitions will provide the Rebels with valuable live-game experience during the off-season to evaluate the team’s development.
The school said the tour will be put on by Complete Sports Management is an all-encompassing sports events and marketing agency whose services include the creation of global sporting events, sponsorship and hospitality packages. In addition to CSM, former NBA player, Carlos Arroyo, is scheduling both games.
Markets & Business
1. Trump raises Canadian tariffs by 50%
CNBC reports that the “U.S. is imposing additional 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian goods in response to alleged trade discrimination against multiple U.S. products and industries, senior Trump administration officials said Monday.”
“President Donald Trump signed three proclamations Monday targeting different sets of Canadian imports with the steep tariffs in response to separate areas — motor vehicles, alcohol and dairy — where the U.S. says it has been treated unfairly, the officials said in a call with reporters,” CNBC reported. “The tariffs, which fall under the rarely used Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, are set to take effect 30 days after the signings, according to the officials.”
CNBC noted, “Last week, Trump tore into Canada over the wildfires blazing through northwestern Ontario, which led to major air pollution issues across large areas of the U.S. mainland. Claiming the issue has harmed the U.S. to the tune of billions of dollars, Trump wrote on Truth Social that those costs ‘must of necessity be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying.’”
2. Fed revises inflation gauge
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, “An acceleration in the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation has some officials warning that higher interest rates might be in order.”
“A bit of relief, though, is on its way—not from prices themselves, but the way they are measured. The agency responsible for publishing the Fed’s preferred measure, the price index of personal-consumption expenditures, plans to revamp how it handles three components,” WSJ reported. “The effect, according to economists, will be to lower core PCE inflation. The core rate excludes food and energy to gauge underlying price pressures better. Economists estimate that when the revised approach is rolled out in the August data set to be published Sept. 30, core PCE inflation will be about two-tenths of a percentage point lower than under the old formula.”
WSJ further reported, “That will eliminate some of the unusual discrepancy that has opened up between the PCE rate and the better-known consumer-price index. Annual core CPI inflation was 2.6% in June. Economists estimate core PCE was 3.3%. Usually, CPI inflation runs slightly above PCE inflation. The latter is higher now in part because of software and investment-management readings, which will likely show lower increases after revisions.”
Magnolia Tribune
