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In Mississippi
MEMA updates severe weather impacts
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency says preliminary reports indicate there are six fatalities from the March 14-15 severe weather: one in Covington County, two in Jefferson Davis County, and three in Walthall County.
Additionally, three people are missing—two from Covington County and one from Walthall County.
MEMA has also received preliminary reports of 29 injuries statewide: 15 in Covington County, two in Jefferson Davis County, two in Pike County, and ten in Walthall County.
MEMA says damage assessments will begin soon.
MEMA encourages residents who have sustained damage from this severe weather event to do the following:
- File an insurance claim.
- Take photos of the damage to the home.
- Report damage to county/MEMA via the self-report tool.
If citizens need something as a result of the storms, MEMA encourages them to contact their county emergency management agency. A list of contacts can be found here.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Trump Admin. expels over 130 using Alien Enemies Act of 1798
The Washington Post reports that “More than half of the 261 immigrants expelled to El Salvador on Saturday were swept out of the United States using a wartime powers act, a White House official said Sunday, amid questions about whether the Trump administration flouted a judge’s order barring use of the statute to hasten deportations.”
President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, “saying he would quickly remove Venezuelans aged 14 and over who allegedly belong to the transnational gang Tren de Aragua,” WP reported.
“Since then, 137 people were dispatched to the Central American nation via the proclamation, according to the White House official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the Trump administration’s enforcement strategy,” WP reported. “The rest were removed under other federal laws, including 23 people from El Salvador with ties to the MS-13 gang and 101 additional Venezuelans, the official said.”
WP added, “U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Saturday temporarily blocked Trump from using the act to swiftly remove immigrants without a hearing and instructed officials to return any airplanes carrying them to the United States.” However, the planes were already in international waters and landing in El Salvador.
2. Trump, Putin to discuss cease-fire Tuesday
According to the New York Times, President Donald Trump “said he would speak with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Tuesday about the war in Ukraine, noting that there had already been discussions about ‘dividing up certain assets’ as the president continued to express some optimism that Moscow would agree to a cease-fire proposal.”
“I think we’ll be talking about land, it’s a lot of land. It’s a lot different than it was before the war, as you know,” Trump said, per NYT, adding, “We’ll be talking about power plants. That’s a big question. But I think we have a lot of it already discussed very much by both sides — Ukraine and Russia.”
NYT went on to report, “Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East who has been involved in the peace talks, said Sunday on CNN that he had a positive meeting with Mr. Putin last week that lasted three to four hours. He declined to share the specifics of their conversation, but he said the two sides had ‘narrowed the differences between them.'”
Sports
1. Southern Miss takes series; Ole Miss, Miss. State not as fortunate
Here’s a rundown of how the Big 3 fared on the college baseball diamond over the weekend.
- No. 13 lost 2 out of 3 against No. 3 Arkansas to open SEC play. The Rebels are now 15-4, 1-2 SEC play this season. Ole Miss will play Southern Miss on Tuesday in Pearl.
- No. 22 Southern Miss won 2 out of 3 against Old Dominion to open Sun Belt play. The Golden Eagles are now 14-6 overall, 2-1 in the Sun Belt. Southern Miss and Ole Miss will play Tuesday in Pearl.
- Mississippi State was swept by No. 11 Texas, losing all 3 games over the weekend. The Bulldogs are now 13-7, 0-3 in SEC play. Mississippi State will host Jackson State on Tuesday.
2. Ole Miss, Miss. State go dancing
Mississippi will be well represented during March Madness. At Sunday’s selection, both Ole Miss and Mississippi State were celebrating.
- Ole Miss men’s basketball team was awarded with a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They will match up with the winner of No. 11 seed San Diego State vs. No. 11 seed North Carolina on Friday, March 21 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at Fiserv Forum. This marks the 10th NCAA Tournament berth for the Ole Miss program, and the highest seed they’ve earned since 2001 when the Rebels were a three seed in the big dance.
- Mississippi State men’s basketball program tucked away its third consecutive NCAA Tournament trip under Chris Jans and will square off with Baylor during Friday’s NCAA Tournament Round of 64, as announced Sunday by the NCAA Selection Committee. The Bulldogs, the No. 8 seed in the NCAA East Region, were one of 14 SEC schools which is a single season record for a conference chosen the NCAA’s Field of 68.
- For the fourth season in a row, Ole Miss women’s basketball heard its name called on Selection Sunday for yet another trip to the big dance and its 21st NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. The No. 5 Rebels slotted in the Spokane region, begin its tournament journey on Friday, March 21 in a first-round matchup in Waco, Texas, facing off against No. 12 Ball State.
3. JSU falls in SWAC Men’s Basketball Tournament championship
No. 2 seed Jackson State fell to No. 5 seed Alabama State 60-56 in the 2025 Starry SWAC Men’s Basketball Tournament championship game Saturday night.
JSU Athletics noted that Shannon Grant led Jackson State (16-18) with 20 points and nine rebounds on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor, while Daeshun Ruffin and Jayme Mitchell Jr. each added nine points. Romelle Mansel grabbed eight rebounds and dished out six assists for the Tigers.
Ruffin and Grant were named to the All-Tournament team.
Markets & Business
1. Future down after worst week since 2023
CNBC reports that stock futures fell early Monday as the struggles that plagued Wall Street last week continued.
“Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid 118 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures dropped 0.2%, while Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.1%,” CNBC reported. “Wall Street is coming off another brutal week for equities. The Nasdaq Composite sank deeper into correction territory last week, while the small-cap Russell 2000 neared a bear market, or 20% off from its high. The S&P 500 briefly dipped into a correction as well, before snapping back above that level. The Dow had its biggest one-week drop since 2023, losing 4.4%.”
CNBC added, “Those moves come as investors struggle to keep pace with President Donald Trump’s fast-changing tariff policies, on top of growing signs of economic weakness, that have put markets in a tailspin. The uncertainty has many wondering whether the stock market correction could turn into a bear market.”
2. Dollar General to close nearly 100 stores
Dollar General Corporation announced Friday that it would be closing 96 Dollar General stores and 45 pOpshelf stores, and convert an additional six pOpshelf stores to Dollar General stores between now and next January.
“During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, the Company initiated a store portfolio optimization review of its Dollar General and pOpshelf bannered stores, which involved identifying stores for closure or re-bannering based on an evaluation of individual store performance, expected future performance, and operating conditions, among other factors,” the company’s earnings report noted.
“As we look to build on the substantial progress we made on our Back to Basics work in fiscal 2024, we believe this review was appropriate to further strengthen the foundation of our business,” said Todd Vasos, Dollar General’s chief executive officer. “While the number of closings represents less than one percent of our overall store base, we believe this decision better positions us to serve our customers and communities.”
