- Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion to start your day informed.
In Mississippi
MSDH hosting job fair on Wednesday
The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) is hosting a job fair to help fill critical staffing needs in clinical, administrative and support areas.
Applicants are encouraged to visit the Jackson Medical Mall on Wednesday, August 26, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The location is 350 Woodrow Wilson Avenue in Jackson.
Applicants should bring a copy of their resumes. MSDH staff will be onsite to provide applications and answer any questions.
For more information on MSDH employment opportunities, visit https://msdh.ms.gov/jobs
National News & Foreign Policy
1. SCOTUS eases path for Trump’s mail-in voting executive order
According to the Washington Post, “A divided Supreme Court on Monday eased the path for an executive order by President Donald Trump that would impose sweeping new restrictions on mail-in balloting for November’s midterm elections, but the complex and fast-moving legal fight is not over.”
“The executive order would bar the U.S. Postal Service from sending mail-in ballots to voters not on lists of citizens created by federal agencies. States also would be obligated to send the ballots in envelopes that can be tracked to thwart fraud,” WP reported. “With just over two months to go before pivotal elections, the high court’s ruling — which overturned a lower court judge’s block of the president’s order— won’t be the last word on whether it will be allowed to go forward.”
WP continued, “The case now returns to the lower courts, and a key part of the executive order remains blocked because of a ruling in separate litigation that must also be resolved for the order to go into effect before November.”
2. Trade talks hit roadblock between U.S., Canada
Politico reports that “President Donald Trump on Monday announced the U.S. will impose a 50 percent tariff on Canadian vehicles, steel and other items next year, after trade talks between the two countries collapsed last week.”
“On January First, 2027, Tariffs on all Cars, Trucks, both large and small, Automotive Parts, and Steel, will be increased to 50″ percent, he wrote on Truth Social. “Build in the U.S. and there are ZERO TARIFFS. Canada will be treated like a State no longer!” the president wrote.
“The four-month grace period is likely aimed at triggering a new round of talks, but at this point, both governments are digging in. A 50 percent U.S. tariff on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian imports went into effect Saturday morning after Washington and Ottawa failed to reach a trade deal to lower tariffs and other trade barriers,” Politico reported. “In the aftermath, both countries blamed the other for the breakdown, saying they made last-minute demands and changes that tanked the deal.”
Sports
1. Chambliss, Lacy Heisman campaign hits Times Square
Ole Miss is celebrating its football stars on one of the world’s biggest stages this preseason with digital billboards featuring Rebels standouts Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy lighting up Times Square.
Beginning Monday, the school said visitors to New York City will see Ole Miss branding and prominent displays spotlighting Chambliss and Lacy in one of the largest billboard showcases by a collegiate program in recent years. With nearly 300,000 people passing through each day, Times Square is among the most photographed and socially shared locations in the U.S., making it a powerful place to capture attention and connect with football fans.
Ole Miss Athletics added that the two-week billboard run is part of Ole Miss’ H6I5MEN promotional effort supporting Chambliss and Lacy as they enter the 2026 campaign among the players drawing attention for national awards.
2. Alcorn’s Haney named to Aeneas Williams watchlist
Alcorn Football defensive back Tayvion Haney has been named to the Aeneas Williams Award 2026 Preseason Watch List. The announcement came on behalf of the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.
The preseason watch list includes 16 of the nation’s best defensive backs in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Division I college football.
Alcorn Athletics said Tayvion Haney, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound senior from Little Rock, Arkansas, signed with Alcorn in December 2022, out of Parkview High School. Haney was tabbed a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Preseason all-conference second team defensive back announced during the league’s annual media day event in July. Last season, Haney finished with 29 tackles (23 solo), adding a team second-most six pass deflections in the process. That allowed him to finish ninth on the team in total tackles for the Braves.
Markets & Business
1. Buc-ee’s CEO on business environment in red vs. blue states
As FoxBusiness reports, “Buc-ee’s CEO suggested recently that the Texas-based travel center chain may be done looking into blue districts, saying some communities do not appreciate what the company brings while conservative states offer business-friendly and family-oriented values.”
“Arch ‘Beaver’ Aplin III, the company’s president and co-founder, made the comments during the grand opening of Buc-ee’s newest location in Benton, Arkansas on August 17. The chain is known for its expansive gas stations, famously clean restrooms and in-house food offerings,” FoxBusiness reported.
“I’m starting to realize life’s too short to try to build in places that people don’t appreciate what you’re bringing, versus a place like this where people do appreciate what you are building,” he said.
Conservative states typically promote business-friendly and family-oriented policies that align with Buc-ee’s values, Aplin said.
“That leadership, that concept, that idea of conservative, business-friendly, family-oriented concept works so much better if it trickles down from the very leadership from the top at the governor’s office, at the congressman, at senator, at the mayor, the representatives,” he said.
2. Gold hits highest level since mid-May
Gold prices are broadly stable after hitting their highest level since mid-May on Monday, reports the Wall Street Journal. Investors await U.S. inflation data and a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh later this week.
“In early European trading, New York futures are flat at $4,696.40 a troy ounce,” WSJ reported. “Gold prices retreated in Asian afternoon trade, on a firmer dollar and Treasury yields, says Bas Kooijman, chief executive and asset manager of DHF Capital S.A. in a note.”
“Renewed U.S. fiscal concerns, uncertainty around Treasury-market credibility and the dollar index remaining below 99 kept demand firm, despite the U.S. 10-year yield staying close to 4.7%,” analysts at Sucden Financial say, per WSJ. “Gold now needs to hold above $4,700 an ounce to preserve the stronger tone.”
