- Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion to start your day informed.
In Mississippi
Former Columbus Councilman, private contractor arrested by Auditor’s Office
Joseph Mickens Jr., former Columbus City Councilman, and Marcus Dawson, private contractor, were arrested this week by Special Agents from the State Auditor’s Office for allegedly rigging the bid process to secure flooring contracts for Mickens in exchange for future city-awarded HVAC contracts for Dawson.
Mickens and Dawson allegedly rigged the bid for a flooring job approved by the Columbus City Council to ensure Mickens’ flooring company could win the job and receive payment. The two then allegedly lead city officials to believe Dawson’s company was completing the flooring job instead. Dawson then allegedly laundered payments from the city through his official bank accounts before transferring the money to Mickens.
Mickens faces up to 30 years in prison and $505,000 in fines if convicted. Dawson faces up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines if convicted.
All persons arrested by the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, the office noted.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Bipartisan bill to end clock changing hits roadblock in Senate
As reported by The Hill, “President Trump is renewing pressure on Senate Republicans to pass a House-approved bill to make daylight saving time permanent, but the effort is running into stiff opposition from GOP senators whose states would be plunged into early-morning darkness during the winter.”
The Hill reported that Trump, in a Wednesday post on Truth Social, said “people are sick and tired of having to change their clocks twice a year,” claiming it “costs Millions of Dollars” and could be “bad for your health in the anxiety it creates.”
“The House passed the bill a month ago to make daylight saving time permanent with a strong bipartisan majority of 308 to 117,” The Hill continued. “But Senate Republicans from different states have argued that the change would force kids to wait for school buses in the dark and twilight on cold winter mornings.”
2. Group sues American Medical Association over access to Medicare billing codes
The Washington Post reports that “a health care advocacy group on Thursday sued the American Medical Association in an effort to get more transparency over the association’s billing codes, which guide billions of dollars in health care payments.”
“PatientRightsAdvocate.org hopes to republish the codes online and allow the public to search them free,” WP reported. “The group, which has pushed for health care transparency, is challenging the AMA’s copyright over its billing-code system, known as the Current Procedural Terminology or CPT. The codes are used by Medicare and states to determine how much reimbursement physicians and other health care practitioners receive for services.”
WP further reported, “Advocates, medical groups and lawmakers have long questioned the AMA’s role setting health care payments, and the Trump administration is seeking public input on whether it should stop using the AMA’s codes.”
Sports
1. Ole Miss’ Thomas lands on Butkus Award watch list
Ole Miss linebacker Keaton Thomas was named to the preseason watch list for the 42nd annual Butkus Award, as announced by the Butkus Foundation on Thursday.
The honor is presented each season to the nation’s top collegiate linebacker.
Ole Miss Athletics said Thomas joined the Ole Miss program during January of 2026 and participated in spring drills after transferring from Baylor. The Jacksonville, Florida native spent two seasons with the Bears, starting 25 games and totaling 217 tackles, 14.0 TFLs, 3.5 sacks, two interceptions, two defensive touchdowns, and six pass breakups.
2. Shuckers release 2027 season schedule
With the playoffs looming around the corner in Biloxi, the Shuckers and Minor League Baseball announced the coast baseball team’s complete 2027 schedule this week.
The 2027 schedule includes 69 games at Keesler Federal Park during the team’s 12th season.
For the first time since 2023, the Shuckers will open the season at home, with Opening Day scheduled for Friday, April 2, against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, as part of a three-game series.
Fans can renew and purchase 2027 Season Ticket Memberships here, which includes up to 50% off day-of-game pricing and premium membership benefits throughout the season.
Markets & Business
1. S&P sets new record high
CNBC reports that “stock futures were mixed early Friday after a record-setting session, with two of the three major benchmarks on pace for their third consecutive weekly advance.”
“The S&P 500 on Thursday hit an intraday all-time high of 7,816.70. The benchmark also closed at a record. The tech and communication services sectors were among the big winners in the index, rising roughly 1% each,” CNBC reported. “With more than 90% of S&P 500 companies having posted second-quarter results, earnings growth from the year-earlier period is tracking around 50%, according to FactSet.”
CNBC added, “The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are headed for their third straight weekly advances. Heading into Friday’s session, the former is up 0.5%, while the latter has advanced 0.4%. The Dow, meanwhile, is down 0.4% week to date.”
2. Tyson Foods scales back operations amid cattle shortage
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Tyson Foods is planning on closing a major beef processing plant and selling another, the latest moves by the meatpacking giant to pull back from the beleaguered beef business.”
“The Arkansas-based company said it was shuttering its Joslin, Ill., plant, which employs more than 2,000 people and can kill about 3,000 cattle a day. It separately aims to sell its Pasco, Wash., facility that can slaughter about 2,000 cattle a day. Tyson also said it was planning to close a large beef-packaging facility in Utah,” WSJ reported. “U.S. meatpackers are under enormous financial pressure because of a yearslong cattle shortage, with domestic supplies falling to their lowest level in 75 years, sharply driving up costs for meat processors. Consumer demand for beef has remained strong, helping propel prices to record levels and making beef the face of food inflation over the past 12 months.”
WSJ noted, “Tyson’s moves come after the company earlier this year closed a Lexington, Neb., beef plant, one of the industry’s largest, and halved production at a Texas plant. Taken together, the exits this year would amount to Tyson shedding roughly one-third of its previous beef-processing operations. The company now plans to ramp operations back up at the Texas facility.”
