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In Mississippi
1. Auditor White requesting $1 million less for his office
State Auditor Shad White announced Tuesday that he will request $1 million less than last year from the state’s general fund from the state Legislature for the Office of the State Auditor.
“I have repeatedly encouraged other state agencies to save money when possible and operate more like a family, cutting fat and storing money for the future,” said Auditor White in a statement. “My team and I have done exactly that over the last six years in the State Auditor’s office, and after careful review, it has given us the ability to return money to the taxpayers with no change to our capabilities as an office.”
By saving money accrued from audit fees the office must collect from the federal government and local governments, the Office of the State Auditor said it has reduced its need for general fund dollars over Auditor White’s tenure. If the legislature reduces the office’s budget by $1 million, it will not result in a staff reduction or discontinuing any audit or investigation work, the office noted.
White said he hoped lawmakers would put the money into teacher salaries, salaries for law enforcement officers, or a tax cut for taxpayers.
2. USM launches new journalism center
The University of Southern Mississippi announced Tuesday that the Roy Howard Community Journalism Center (RHCJC) – funded by the Scripps Howard Foundation for three years at $1 million a year – has formally opened for the spring 2025 semester.
According to USM, the center will serve 10 counties, including Forrest, George, Greene, Hancock, Jackson, Lamar, Pearl River, Perry, and Stone, to inform its citizenry on issues impacting their daily lives.
Nichole Cyprian, a Southern Miss graduate serving as director of the center, called the center’s establishment “an exciting new chapter for journalism in southeast Mississippi.”
“As this adventure begins, we’re working with media partners to restore public trust in the news ecosystem while also building up our ‘What is True?’ hotline, which fights disinformation and misinformation,” Cyprian said. “At the same time, we’re offering media literacy classes throughout our 10-county service area that will help build better informed and media-savvy citizens.”
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Laken Riley Act passes U.S. House
On Tuesday, the U.S. House passed legislation named after the slain Georgia student Laken Riley that would require detention of migrants arrested for theft, as reported by The Hill.
“The legislation cleared the chamber in a 264-159 vote, with 48 Democrats joining all Republicans in support. The Senate is expected to take up the legislation this week,” The Hill reported.
The four Congressmen in Mississippi split down party lines on the vote, with the three Republicans – Trent Kelly (MS 1), Michael Guest (MS 3) and Mike Ezell (MS 4) – supporting the legislation while the state’s lone Democrat – Bennie Thompson (MS 2) – voted no.
“Tuesday’s vote marked the second time in a year that the House cleared the legislation. Republicans and a small group of Democrats approved the bill in March, but it languished amid opposition in the Democratic-controlled Senate,” The Hill noted.
2. Trump sees Panama Canal, Greenland as vital to U.S.
President-elect Donald Trump remains interested in securing the Panama Canal and Greenland for the U.S.
“The Panama Canal is vital to our country,” Trump said, adding, “We need Greenland for national security purposes.”
As reported by the Associated Press, “Greenland, home to a large U.S. military base, is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally and a founding member of NATO. Trump cast doubts on the legitimacy of Denmark’s claim to Greenland. The Panama Canal has been solely controlled by the eponymous country for more than 25 years. The U.S. returned the Panama Canal Zone to the country in 1979 and ended its joint partnership in controlling the strategic waterway in 1999.”
The AP also noted that “Trump, a Republican, has also floated having Canada join the United States as the 51st state.”
Sports & Entertainment
1. Ole Miss season ticket cost increasing with 8th home game
Fresh off of a Gator Bowl win over Duke, Ole Miss Athletics is looking ahead to the 2025 season, announcing that season tickets are on the way and the price is increasing.
“Season ticket prices will increase by $25 this season due to an eighth home game added to the schedule,” Ole Miss Athletics said.
To review your required seat donation, please the program told fans to visit here.
“Seat selection will take place in early May. Seating is not guaranteed until the corresponding seat donation is made,” Ole Miss Athletics said.
2. No. 14 Bulldogs top Vandy
The No. 14 Mississippi State men’s basketball team defeated Vanderbilt on Tuesday 76-64 in Nashville.
It was the Bulldogs’ first Southeastern Conference road test of the season, moving to 2-0 in SEC play.
Miss. State is now 14-1 overall on the season and will return home for a matchup with Kentucky on Saturday. Tip time at Humphrey Coliseum is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be televised by SEC Network.
Markets & Business
1. Free speech returning to social media platforms?
Social-media companies never wanted to aggressively police content on their platforms, the Wall Street Journal reported. Now, they are deciding they don’t have to anymore.
“Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement that Meta Platforms will end fact-checking and remove speech restrictions across Facebook and Instagram shows how Donald Trump’s presidential election and the U.S. political winds that swept him into a second term have accelerated a move by social-media giants away from refereeing what is said on their platforms,” WSJ reported. “Trump ally Elon Musk led the charge starting in 2022, when he acquired the platform then known as Twitter and slashed content-policy jobs and loosened content restrictions. In 2023, YouTube and Meta halted policies that had curbed claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and Meta has cut spending on trust and safety efforts as part of Zuckerberg’s efforts to enhance efficiency.”
On Tuesday, as reported by WSJ, Zuckerberg said “Meta is getting rid of fact-checkers and, starting in the U.S., replacing them with a Community Notes system similar to one on Musk’s X platform.”
2. What jobs are on the rise in the U.S.?
FoxBusiness reports on the release of the 2025 edition of LinkedIn’s “Jobs on the Rise” report, showing jobs that are seeing notable growth in the U.S.
The 10 jobs at the top of LinkedIn’s 2025 report include:
- Artificial intelligence engineer
- Artificial intelligence consultant
- Physical therapist
- Workforce development manager
- Travel adviser
- Event coordinator
- Director of development
- Outside sales representative
- Sustainability specialist
- Security guard
Magnolia Tribune
