- 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. Hinds to graduate first class in Electric Lineman Program
Hinds Community College’s first class in the Electric Lineman Program will graduate this semester to the promise of well-paying careers. Instructor Craig Davis said it was clear that Hinds students wanted the program.
Graduates of the program will be ready to begin a career with an electrical utility company and will be able to work on electrical power lines safely and efficiently.
It is a 16-week program that meets Monday through Friday on the Raymond Campus where the program is housed, from 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. and Fridays, 8 a.m.-11:30 a.m. There are 16 slots for students each semester. The next class starts Jan. 13, 2025. The total cost of the program is $3,025. Davis said there are possible funding opportunities and scholarships that qualified students can apply for.
2. Breeze now offering direct flight to Orlando from Gulfport-Biloxi
A new direct flight from the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport to Orlando, Florida was announced on Tuesday by Breeze Airways. The company said fares will start at $49 one-way on Thursdays and Sundays.
“We’re thrilled to add additional service from Gulfport-Biloxi,” said David Neeleman, Breeze Airways’ Founder and CEO. “We’re now offering three routes to Las Vegas, Tampa and Orlando.”
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Israel vows retaliation for Iran attack
The New York Times reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retaliate against Iran for firing waves of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday. In addition, “Israel’s military said it was sending more troops to join its forces that have begun an invasion of southern Lebanon.”
“Israeli officials said the missiles Iran fired on Tuesday had mostly been intercepted by air defenses and with the help of the United States and other allies. Mr. Netanyahu said Tuesday night that Iran, a longtime adversary, had ‘made a big mistake’ and would ‘pay for it,'” NYT reported. “He gave no details, but in April Israel fired missiles at Iran in response to a barrage launched by Tehran.”
NYT noted that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps “said the hourlong assault was retribution for the recent assassinations of the heads of Iranian proxy groups, Hezbollah and Hamas.”
2. WHO expert says control smartphones like tobacco
Politico reports that the World Health Organization’s Natasha Azzopardi Muscat said countries should consider regulating digital devices like smartphones in a similar way to tobacco products, to combat social media’s rising negative impact on young people’s mental health.
“With increasing evidence that problematic gaming and social media behavior is on the rise among adolescents in Europe, countries should take inspiration from other areas of public health where legislation has helped address potentially damaging habits — such as tobacco laws, she said,” Politico reports. “Measures including age limits, controlled prices and even no-go zones worked for regulating tobacco, so they could be taken as an example for how to curb damaging use of handheld devices like smartphones, Azzopardi Muscat, director of country health policies and systems at WHO Europe, told POLITICO on the sidelines of the European Health Forum, in Gastein, Austria.”
Sports & Entertainment
1. Miss. State soccer boasts highest ranking in program history
Mississippi State soccer is making history, climbing two spots to a program-best No. 7 in this week’s United Soccer Coaches Poll. The Bulldogs also rank No. 6 in the TopDrawerSoccer Poll and have earned a No. 5 spot in this week’s NCAA RPI Rankings.
The Bulldogs are off to a 9-1-0 start to the 2024 season. Mississippi State is just one three programs (No. 2 Duke and Rutgers) in Division 1 to allow only two goals through the first ten matches, maintaining a strong presence on both sides of the ball.
State now boasts its highest rankings in program history, surpassing the previous marks set earlier this season.
2. Mississippi Mud Monsters coming to Trustmark Park
The new Frontier League expansion baseball team coming to Pearl’s Trustmark Park now has a name – the Mississippi Mud Monsters.
The name was chosen after an online fan vote over the past few weeks.
“It’s official, y’all! After an epic showdown and over 5,600 votes, give it up for your new team, the Mississippi Mud Monsters!!” the team’s Facebook page announced.
Team logos and other team related info is expected to be released to the public soon.
Markets & Business
1. Skydweller Aero performs uncrewed autonomous flight test at Stennis
Skydweller Aero has successfully completed the initial uncrewed autonomous flight test campaign of its Skydweller Unmanned Aerial System, the company said on Tuesday. A series of uncrewed flight tests – with the two longest being 16 hours and 22 ½ hours – were launched from the company’s facility at Stennis International Airport in Kiln, Mississippi.
“This campaign is one more step towards bringing extreme flight endurance to the world, demonstrates the feasibility of remaining airborne for weeks to months using solar energy and batteries, and is another significant milestone in the development of the Skydweller aircraft and its high reliability autonomous vehicle management system,” the company said in a statement.
The company added that the campaign was initiated under a Joint Concept Technology Demonstration (JCTD) by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research & Engineering (OUSD R&E) and sustained by a Cooperative Research & Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) to evaluate Autonomous Maritime Patrol Aircraft (AMPA).
2. Who is ILA’s union boss?
The Wall Street Journal profiled International Longshoremen’s Association union boss Harold Daggett, calling him a “profane 78-year-old.”
“In his fourth term as president, Daggett is leading the union into its most militant stance yet after decades of combative, bare-knuckles contract battles with ocean carriers,” WSJ reported. “Daggett, who has the broad shoulders of a former dockworker and a raspy voice that comes from years of shouting at labor rallies, is now throwing himself behind an effort to win a historic increase in pay and an effort to get dockworkers around the world behind his goal of halting automation in its tracks and establishing longshore labor as a formidable partner in global trade.”
“We’re going to show these greedy bastards you can’t survive without us!” Daggett shouted to cheers from the crowd in a speech filled with profanities and warnings about the threats automation poses to workers, WSJ reported.
