- 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. Interim JSU president to meet with staff, students
Interim Jackson State University President Dr. Denise Jones Gregory is set to meet with students, alumni, faculty, staff and community partners “to chart a course forward for our Dear Old College Home.”
Gregory takes over after Marcus Thompson abruptly resigned last week at a special IHL Board meeting.
“I am honored to be appointed interim president of Jackson State University. I extend my sincere appreciation to the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning for its confidence in me during this period of transition,” Gregory said. “It has been my privilege to serve Jackson State as provost, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to continue serving my alma mater in this new role. My commitment is to uphold the standard of excellence that defines Jackson State in every area of university life.”
She said as a proud graduate of JSU, she knows what this university means to the people it serves because it has shaped every part of her life.
2. USM announces new facility named after Kelly Gene Cook, Sr.
The University of Southern Mississippi announced Monday the naming of its new shared facility for services provided by DuBard School for Language Disorders and The Children’s Center for Communication and Development on the Gulf Park campus as Kelly Gene Cook Sr. Hall, in recognition of a generous $1.5 million gift from the Kelly Gene Cook Sr. Charitable Foundation.
The school said the transformative gift supports the construction of a facility designed to expand the services and impact of two of Southern Miss’ most respected clinical programs, both housed within the College of Nursing and Health Professions.
Kelly Gene Cook Sr. Hall will open the doors to vital early intervention and therapeutic services to children and families along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
With dedicated therapy rooms, classrooms and collaborative learning spaces designed to serve children with complex communication needs, it will also provide a robust training environment for Southern Miss students pursuing careers in speech-language pathology, audiology, early intervention and related fields.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Trump arrives in Saudi Arabia
The New York Times reports that “Saudi Arabia gave President Trump a lavish welcome on Tuesday, rolling out an honor guard, a team of Arabian horses and a delegation of royals and business leaders to kick off the president’s four-day tour through the Gulf, the first major overseas trip of his second term.”
“Mr. Trump was accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, among other top members of his administration,” NYT reported. “Some of America’s biggest business leaders were also on hand to attend an investment forum hosted by the Saudi government where Mr. Trump was due to speak, including Elon Musk and the chief executives of IBM, BlackRock, Citigroup, Palantir and Nvidia, among others.”
NYT noted that the trip includes stops in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
2. Democrats look ahead to next presidential primary
As The Hill reports, “The shadow Democratic presidential primary is kicking off, with potential contenders ramping up their appearances in key battleground states.”
“Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is slated to take part in a VoteVets town hall in the early-contest state of Iowa on Tuesday, while Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) is set to headline the South Carolina Democratic Party’s Blue Palmetto Dinner later this month. And Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) attended a town hall in the critical swing county of Bucks County, Pa., on Saturday,” The Hill reported, adding, “Former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz is another governor who has emerged as a leading Democratic voice in the second Trump era. The Minnesota leader is slated to headline state Democratic Party conventions in South Carolina and California.”
The Hill went on to add, “Meanwhile other Democratic governors, including California’s Gavin Newsom and Kentucky’s Andy Beshear, have sought to raise their national profiles ahead of potential 2028 runs by launching podcasts.”
Sports
1. Southern Miss moves to No. 19 in D1 Baseball Top 25, Ole Miss drops out
After a sweep over SunBelt rival Louisiana this weekend, the Southern Miss baseball team moved up to No. 19 in this week’s D1 Baseball Top 25. It is the last week of the regular season.
Ole Miss, who was at No. 24, fell out of the Top 25 after losing 2 out of 3 to unranked Mississippi State.
The Rebels have slid from the Top 10 earlier this season to now being out of the Top 25 ahead of postseason play.
2. Jacoby named new Ole Miss men’s tennis coach
Jake Jacoby has been named the new Ole Miss men’s tennis coach, the eighth head coach in program history.
Ole Miss Athletics said Jacoby’s reputation as a rising star in college coaching is accompanied by personal accolades, earning ITA Southern Regional Assistant Coach of the Year honors twice in the last three years. Serving as the associate head coach at Mississippi State since June 2019, he helped lead the Bulldogs to the NCAA Championships in each full season he’s been in Starkville, including the Elite Eight this spring.
Markets & Business
1. Futures down ahead of latest inflation report
CNBC reports that stock futures fell early Tuesday “following a big rally, as investors look ahead to a key inflation report.”
“Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 247 points, or 0.5%, weighed by a 10% decline in UnitedHealth after the company suspended its 2025 outlook. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures fell 0.2% each,” CNBC reported.
CNBC added, “The consumer price index, a broad measure of goods and services costs across the U.S. economy, is expected to remain at a 2.4% rate in April on a year-over-year basis, according to the Dow Jones consensus. Excluding food and energy, so-called core inflation is expected to run at a 2.8% annual rate, also unchanged from the prior month.”
2. U.S. economy back on familiar path after China trade deal
The Wall Street Journal reports the U.S.-China trade reset “steers the U.S. economy back on a more familiar path as the major consumer of goods, and lowers the risk of recession, economists say.”
“The new agreement also temporarily abandons an attempt to use tariff shock therapy to restore America’s status as a manufacturing powerhouse,” WSJ reported, adding that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday in announcing the temporary agreement, “Neither side wants to decouple.”
WSJ also noted, “On Monday, after that threat eased, Oxford Economics cut its recession probability to 35% from better-than-even odds previously. Oxford also increased its full-year GDP forecast by 0.1 percentage point to 1.3% in 2025, saying tariffs, supply-chain stress and uncertainty will all lead to the economy growing below its potential.”
Magnolia Tribune
