- 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. USM confers honorary doctorate to Magee
The University of Southern Mississippi announced this week that it conferred an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, upon Clarence Edward Magee during its Spring 2025 Commencement Ceremony.
The university said that the honorary degree recognized Magee’s lifelong dedication to education, civil rights, and community service throughout Mississippi and beyond.
“Mr. Magee has excelled as a teacher, administrator in agricultural and nutritional services, in industry, business and civic services,” said Dr. Eddie Holloway, USM senior associate provost for community and belonging. “Perhaps more so, his work with civil rights national organizations has been supreme and impactful on our local community, the state of Mississippi and the nation. He has been a giant among the vast number of educators and leaders who have lived and worked in Hattiesburg and throughout Mississippi.”
2. Biloxi Post Office named in memory of fallen officer
WLOX reports that the United States Post Office in downtown Biloxi is now named in memory of Robert McKeithen, who was killed in the line of duty in 2019.
“This is something that we’ll always come in and remember Robert when we walk in the door,” Biloxi Police Chief John Miller told WLOX. “The plaque has actually been in for a while now. We were glad to see it was hung.”
WLOX noted that Chief Miller “credited U.S. Senator Roger Wicker and Congressman Mike Ezell for getting this approved at the federal level.”
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Trump meets with Syrian leader
The New York Times reports that President Trump met on Wednesday with the new president of Syria, Ahmed al-Shara, “a day after announcing that the United States would lift sanctions on the country in a major shift in U.S. policy.”
“It was the first time in 25 years that the leaders of the two countries had met, and another sign that decades of diplomatic isolation for Syria were ending,” NYT reported. “The two leaders spoke for about half an hour in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ahead of Mr. Trump’s summit with top officials from six Arab countries, a White House official said. The encounter represented a stunning turnaround for Mr. al-Shara, who once led a branch of Al Qaeda before he broke ties with the jihadist group and sought to moderate his image.”
NYT went on to report, “Mr. Trump told the Syrian leader that he ”has a tremendous opportunity to do something historic in his country,’ according to a summary of the meeting from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. Mr. Trump also urged the Syrian leader to take steps to normalize relations with Israel and tell ‘all foreign terrorists to leave Syria,’ according to the summary.”
2. New book points to Biden’s decline, staying in race for Harris’ failed campaign
Comments by David Plouffe, former President Barack Obama’s campaign manager in 2008 and a senior advisor on Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign, in a new book out titled, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” has raised eyebrows around D.C. The book is authored by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson.
FoxNews reports that “Plouffe said that Harris’ brief campaign against Trump turned into ‘a f—ing nightmare,’ pointing the blame on Biden.”
“A senior White House aide described in the book that ‘we attempted to shield him from his own staff so many people didn’t realize the extent of the decline beginning in 2023,'” FoxNews reports, adding, “‘Original Sin’ details the 2024 election cycle and how Biden’s team orchestrated a cover-up to hide just how severely his mental faculties had suffered. The book is one of several that detail Biden’s decision to run in 2024 and assert the dramatic decline of his cognitive function.”
Sports
1. Ole Miss bests UT Martin in midweek contest
Ole Miss baseball took down UT Martin in Oxford Tuesday, winning 11-5.
The Rebels dropped out of the D1 Baseball Top 25 this week following the weekend series with Mississippi State that saw Ole Miss lose 2 out of 3 to their rivals.
Ole Miss (35-17, 14-13 SEC) will now play No. 6 Auburn Thursday night, kicking off the final series of the regular season.
2. Rose, Jackson no longer banned from MLB
ESPN reports that “Pete Rose, Joe Jackson, seven other members of the 1919 Chicago “Black Sox”, six other former players, one coach and one former owner are now eligible to be voted on for the Hall of Fame after commissioner Rob Manfred removed them from Major League Baseball’s permanently ineligible list.”
ESPN went on to report: “Hall of Fame chairwoman Jane Forbes Clark said in a statement: ‘The National Baseball Hall of Fame has always maintained that anyone removed from Baseball’s permanently ineligible list will become eligible for Hall of Fame consideration. Major League Baseball’s decision to remove deceased individuals from the permanently ineligible list will allow for the Hall of Fame candidacy of such individuals to now be considered.’
ESPN added, “Due to Hall of Fame voting procedures, Rose and Jackson won’t be eligible to be voted on until the Classic Era Baseball committee, which votes on individuals who made their biggest impact prior to 1980, meets in December of 2027.”
Markets & Business
1. Minerals for muscle?
CNBC reports that the resources deal between the U.S. and Ukraine “is expected to lay the ground for further so-called ‘minerals for muscle’ agreements.”
“Ro Dhawan, CEO of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), a trade body representing roughly one-third of the global industry, said the U.S.-Ukraine deal is not the first and certainly won’t be the last bilateral agreement where minerals and geopolitics mix so closely,” CNBC reported.
“We’re at a turning point in the way minerals are a part of the global conversation. We’ve seen the first act, probably, with Ukraine, and I think there are a few more twists and turns to come in the way that this now starts to take shape,” he added, per CNBC.
CNBC added, “Critical minerals refer to a subset of materials considered essential to the energy transition. These minerals, which tend to have a high risk of supply chain disruption, include metals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements.”
2. Corn Dog 7 opening stand-alone location in Laurel
Corn Dog 7, renowned for offering its nostalgic fairground food year-round, has announced plans for a stand-alone second location in Laurel. The new restaurant will complement the existing location in Sawmill Square Mall.
The new building is part of the City Center Square development. It is scheduled for a soft opening in late June.
The area has seen an uptick in tourism-related businesses serving families traveling to and from nearby beaches, making now the perfect time to launch a second location, said Stephen McKinney, who founded Corn Dog 7 with his father, L Ray McKinney.
“We’ve been serving Laurel since 1981 and have built quite a following with our Sawmill location,” said McKinney. “Laurel and the surrounding areas have been good to us, and we have seen increased traffic from both the after-school crowd and families coming through on vacation.”
Magnolia Tribune
