- 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 Jones County deputy clerk pleads guilty to alteration of records
Former Jones County Deputy Chancery Clerk Christy Hodge has pleaded guilty to three counts of Alteration of Records, according to the State Auditor’s office on Wednesday.
Between June 2025 and August 2025, Hodge altered and submitted bank statements to conceal $13,356.89 in public funds she converted for her personal use. The funds were later recovered and deposited into the appropriate county depository.
“Protecting taxpayer dollars is our office’s top priority. We will continue to do everything we can to prevent criminals from profiting off of taxpayer dollars,” said State Auditor Shad White.
Hodge was sentenced to three years in custody of Mississippi Department of Corrections, two years of probation, and ordered to pay $1,927.50 in fines and fees.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Confrontation or compromise: How will new Democrat majority handle Trump?
As reported by the Washington Post, “Once the euphoria fades from Tuesday night, when Democrats decisively won back both the House and Senate, their new majorities face a sobering task: figuring out how to wield their power in the final two years of President Donald Trump’s tenure.”
“With committee gavels in hand, Democrats will be empowered to investigate Trump — and many have already made clear they plan to probe all manner of alleged corruption by the president, his administration, his family and his corporate allies,” WP reported. “But Democrats also argue they cannot — and will not — only be the anti-Trump party when they take control of both chambers in January with majorities larger and more ideologically diverse than anticipated. They have repeatedly stated they must materially improve the lives of voters or risk quickly losing Congress again.”
WP continued, “The party’s policy agenda remains vague. Though Democrats pledged on the campaign trail to tackle affordability, they have been light on legislative specifics, floating broad plans to reverse Trump’s cuts to health care funding, roll back his sweeping tariff regime and block his ability to wage war in Iran. As long as Trump is still in the White House, almost anything Democrats might hope to accomplish is dead on arrival without the president’s buy-in, setting the stage for an awkward dance in which Democratic leaders are stuck negotiating with the same man for whom they are publicly demanding accountability.”
2. Thune: Republicans ‘will not stand idly by’
The Hill reported that “Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) declared early Wednesday morning that Republicans ‘will not stand idly by’ as Democrats try to reverse the actions of President Trump’s first two years in office by raising taxes or restoring spending cuts to popular programs.”
“And Thune expressed his gratitude that Trump will still be in office over the next two years to veto any legislation passed by a Democratic-controlled Senate and House,” The Hill reported.
“As we head into 2027, Senate Republicans will not stand idly by as the far-left, socialist wing of the Democrat Party attempts to unwind everything we’ve done. Thankfully, we still have President Trump in the White House, and we’ll work with him to stop the worst impulses of Democrat extremism,” the senator posted to the social platform X.
“We cannot let their fringe positions become the mainstream,” he added.
Sports
1. Northwest to host Hinds for JUCO State Championship
The MACCC and Region 23 State Championship for JUCO football in Mississippi will take place on Saturday, November 7 with kickoff set for 2 p.m.
No. 4 Northwest will host No. 9 Hinds for the championship game at Bobby Franklin Field.
Northwest is 8-2 this season while Hinds is 7-3.
Other Mississippi community colleges that remain ranked this week are No. 7 MGCCC, No. 8 East Mississippi, No. 13 Co-Lin and No. 15 East Central.
2. Echols named semifinalist for Lombardi Award
The Lombardi Award Committee announced their 12 semifinalists for the 2026 Lombardi Award on Wednesday, selecting Ole Miss defensive lineman Will Echoles to the prestigious list.
The annual award is given to the nation’s top college lineman or linebacker who embodies leadership and discipline on the field.
Starting on the defensive front for all eight games thus far for the Rebels, Echoles has accumulated 21 total tackles, including 4.0 tackles-for-loss, 1.5 sacks, two pass breakups, and three quarterback hurries. He has served as a game captain for Ole Miss in five matchups.
3. Argo named MSU Associate Head Coach for Track and Field
Mississippi State Head Coach Chris Woods announced the hiring of Rick Argro as the Bulldogs newest associate head track and field coach on Tuesday. Argro comes to MSU after spending 11 seasons with Florida State.
“Coach Argro is a man of great coaching knowledge and ability, but most of all, integrity and morals. I am happy to have Coach Argro join our staff as he has a proven record of winning, both by being part of an NCAA Champion team as an athlete as well as producing some of the top sprint talent in the NCAA over the past decade,” Woods said. “Coach Argro is hungry to challenge our student-athletes to be great on and off the track, and we are excited to see how his skills enhance the performance of our student-athletes.”
During his tenure with the Seminoles, he coached 76 All-Americans, including 43 first-team selections, 29 ACC champions and eight ACC MVPs. His athletes earned 14 All-America honors during the 2021 season, and he helped lead Florida State to the 2022 ACC Indoor Championship.
Markets & Business
1. Dow jumps 1,5000 points with futures showing another strong day ahead
CNBC reports that “the Dow Jones Industrial Average was set for another strong day on Thursday, following a rally on the heels of a sharp decline in the price of oil amid the Democrats’ midterm wins.”
“Trading on Wednesday showed investors adjusting to midterm results, which showed Democrats flipping control of the House of Representatives and Senate — securing comfortable majorities in both chambers — and a slew of governorships, too. The Dow soared 1,500 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite popped more than 1% each,” CNBC reported. “Jordan Watson, a portfolio manager at Tandem Investment Advisors, said the big rally and the rotation away from artificial intelligence names could be temporary.”
“I wouldn’t view [Wednesday’s equity trading] as an all-clear signal, but rather a call for some sanity around the amount of capital being poured into the AI infrastructure build-out and whether those investments will generate the returns investors expect.”
2. Was Tuesday a voter revolt against data centers?
According to the Wall Street Journal, “By Wednesday morning, senior leaders at OpenAI were discussing whether the [election] results meant the company would have to reset expectations regarding its data center capacity next year, according to a person familiar with the conversation.”
“Americans’ vote for candidates and ballot measures to ban or slow data center development could rein in AI’s rapid growth and become a big business problem for the companies on the edge of technological progress. It also threatens to hobble an AI boom powering the U.S. economy,” WSJ reported. “Tech companies were already struggling to secure enough computing power to meet growing demand for their products. If construction stalled, an already fragile situation could turn dire.”
WSJ went on to report, “Voters backed Democratic candidates, from Ohio and Michigan to Texas and Georgia, who have been critical of data center construction and pledged to slow or pause their rollout. More than a dozen towns in Ohio voted to halt or restrict new development. Similar bans passed in towns in Kansas, Florida and California—a near universal rejection across dozens of measures that signals growing bipartisan opposition. Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa lamented during her campaign that the state had become a ‘wild west’ for data center development. ‘It stops when I’m governor,’ the Democrat said. She called for a pause on data center construction until the Texas state legislature can pass new regulations.”
Magnolia Tribune
