- 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. Auditor White pitches education proposals to Lt. Gov. Hosemann in letter
State Auditor Shad White released a letter he sent Monday to Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann recommending ways state government can put more K-12 education dollars into teachers’ salaries and the classroom.
“If a business had a declining number of customers but their overhead costs kept going up every year, they’d eventually go bankrupt. But in government, when we have a declining number of students and increased overhead costs, many policymakers ignore the problem. We must change this. Common sense says money spent in the classroom is what matters most,” White wrote to Hosemann.
Auditor White proposed a bill that would require 50% of all new education funds to go towards teacher salaries, which would result in over $400 million going to teacher salaries – a $13,000 pay raise for teachers.
“Alternatively, you could cap the amount of administrative spending for any district that is shrinking in size. There are several ideas like this worth considering,” White added.
2. Belhaven’s Singing Christmas Tree come to life Dec. 6-7
The oldest singing Christmas tree tradition in the United States began at Belhaven University, and this year will mark the 92nd performance of Belhaven University’s Singing Christmas Tree.
Since 1933, the tree frame grew taller, electric lights replaced candles, voices were amplified, and singers were added every year. Today, the metal and wood structure holds over 100 choir singers.
The free, two-night event is scheduled for December 6-7 at 7:30 p.m. in the Belhaven Bowl Stadium.
Depending on the Christmas carol, lights on the tree change colors in various patterns and create a visual spectacle for listeners. Dance majors, dressed as angels with lighted wings, join the performance for certain songs.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. How long will the Trump tax cuts be extended?
The Hill reports that House Republicans are pushing back on Senate GOP negotiators over how long to extend President-elect Trump’s tax cuts, which are due to expire at the end of 2025.
“Sources familiar with the early discussions between Senate and House Republicans say the House GOP is floating the idea of a four-year extension of the law so that its impact on the federal deficit, as determined by the Joint Committee on Taxation, won’t give House conservatives sticker shock,” The Hill reported, adding, “A tax package with a smaller price tag would be easier to pass through the House and would require fewer offsets to placate conservatives who are worried about the political optics and fiscal implications of adding more than $4 trillion to the debt.”
The Hill also noted that “Senate Republicans, who will be operating with a comfortable 53-seat majority next year, want to extend the expiring Trump tax cuts for at least another 10 years.”
2. MSNBC, CNN among networks seeing their ratings plummet after Trump victory
According to FoxNews, several outlets have seen ratings plummet following Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
“MSNBC posted its lowest ratings in 25 years in the week following the 2024 presidential election with an average of 487,000 total viewers. CNN managed only 337,000 average total viewers to finish fifth among cable networks,” FoxNews reported, noting, “The Washington Post reported on Sunday that liberals were turning off the news in their cars, on their phones and at home.”
“It’s depression. Fatigue. or some are just tired of being lied to with some of the most hyperbolic dishonest rhetoric you will ever see on any network. And there are so many other options for not just liberals but all news consumers out there in the form of podcasts or huge free speech platforms like X. Those viewers may not come back this time,” Fox News contributor Joe Concha told Fox News Digital.
Sports & Entertainment
1. Miss. State men’s basketball earn No. 25 spot with 5-0 start
For the third consecutive season under head coach Chris Jans, Mississippi State has earned an Associated Press Top 25 ranking announced Monday.
MSU Athletics says the Bulldogs (5-0) enter this week’s poll ranked at No. 25 and have started each of the last three seasons with at least a 5-0 mark under Jans. State has been ranked at some point inside the AP top 25 during each of Jans’ first three seasons.
It marked the fourth time in program history that the Bulldogs have been ranked among the AP top 25 in three consecutive seasons.
2. Ole Miss LB Paul named Butkus Award finalist
Ole Miss football junior linebacker Chris Paul Jr. has been named one of five collegiate finalists for the 2024 Butkus Award, as announced by the Butkus Foundation on Monday morning.
Ole Miss Athletics says Paul Jr. was chosen alongside Clemson’s Barrett Carter, UCLA’s Carson Schwesinger, Oklahoma’s Danny Stutsman and Georgia’s Jalon Walker. Paul Jr. is looking to become the second Rebel to win the award alongside Pro and College Football Hall of Fame member Patrick Willis, who won collegiately in 2006 and professionally in 2009.
This is the 40th year of the Butkus Award, which is handed out annually to the top linebackers at the professional, collegiate and high school levels in honor of legendary Chicago Bears linebacker, Dick Butkus.
Markets & Business
1. Trump plans tariff increases to combat illegal border crossings, drugs
On TruthSocial Monday, President-elect Donald Trump wrote, “On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”
Trump added in a subsequent post, “I have had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States – But to no avail. Representatives of China told me that they would institute their maximum penalty, that of death, for any drug dealers caught doing this but, unfortunately, they never followed through, and drugs are pouring into our Country, mostly through Mexico, at levels never seen before. Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America.”
The Wall Street Journal wrote of Trump’s new tariff pledges that they “send a clear signal that he wants to rewrite the terms of North America’s free-trade pact and follow through with plans to hit China with tariffs, demonstrating to allies and adversaries alike that he is serious about renewing confrontation over a global trading system that he believes costs the U.S. dearly.”
2. Walmart rolls back DEI policies
The Washington Post reports that Walmart, the world’s largest private employer, “said it will roll back initiatives aimed at enhancing DEI, or diversity, equity and inclusion, at the workplace, as such programs face growing legal scrutiny and conservative backlash.”
“The retailer will replace the term DEI with ‘belonging’ and no longer consider race and gender when choosing suppliers — a practice it leaned into in the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Walmart will discontinue DEI training offered by the Racial Equity Institute, a consultancy that offers corporate training services focused on racial inclusion and diversity,” WP reported.
3. Morgan named Big Dog by N2
The N2 Company, America’s leading publisher of niche magazines, has announced that local Mississippian Tay Cossar Morgan has earned the prestigious 2024 “Big Dog Award” – an honor given to only one of the more than 400 Stroll magazine publishers each year. The Big Dog is N2’s most anticipated award and one of the oldest, dating back to 2009 when the company had fewer than 30 publishers nationwide.
Morgan is the franchise owner and publisher of four Mississippi monthly lifestyle publications, each mailed directly to large neighborhoods with some of the highest home values in the state.
Morgan owns the Stroll publications in Bridgewater (Ridgeland, MS), Lake Caroline (Madison, MS), Wellsgate (Oxford, MS) and Eastover (Jackson, MS). There is also a sister Stroll publication in Reunion (Madison, MS).
