- 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. MDAH’s Blount retiring
Mississippi Department of Archives and History Director Katie Blount has announced her retirement after leading MDAH since 2015.
Blount’s retirement will be effective June 30, 2026. Spence Flatgard, president of the MDAH Board of Trustees, said the board will begin the search for Blount’s successor immediately. He described Blount’s leadership as “transformational.”
Blount, who began her career at MDAH as a public relations coordinator in 1994, is the agency’s seventh director since 1902 and only the second woman to hold the position. Blount has more than three decades of public service in Mississippi.
2. Tupelo now has a Safe Haven Baby Box
WTVA reports that Tupelo city leaders have unveiled the city’s first Safe Haven Baby Box.
“The city installed it on the side of Fire Station No. 3 on North Veterans Memorial Boulevard, next to Veterans Park,” WTVA reported. “Baby Boxes allow individuals to safely and anonymously surrender babies. The process resembles a dropbox at a bank.”
WTVA noted, “It’s currently the only Baby Box north of Jackson.”
National News & Foreign Policy
1. National Guard deploys in D.C. to crack down on crime
The New York Times reports that “National Guard troops began to deploy in Washington on Tuesday evening as President Trump’s plan to use the federal government to crack down on crime in the city started taking shape.”
“About a dozen members of the National Guard appeared in five military vehicles near the Washington Monument as the sun set, a stark juxtaposition to a peaceful evening scene of people jogging by with headphones and walking their dogs,” NYT reported. “An Army official said troops were continuing to gather at the D.C. Armory and were expected to deploy around national monuments, and near a U.S. Park Police facility in the Anacostia neighborhood of southeast Washington.”
NYT went on to report, “Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, and Pamela A. Smith, her police chief, met Tuesday morning with Attorney General Pam Bondi and other administration officials. City officials emerged from the meeting saying they were focused on how to make the most of the federal support, and Ms. Bowser said she wanted to make sure the federal force was ‘being well used, and all in an effort to drive down crime.'”
2. Texas Senate passes redistricting plan
As reported by The Hill, “The Texas Senate passed a GOP-friendly House map on Tuesday, putting it a step closer to final passage in the state Legislature.”
“The upper chamber voted 19-2 to pass a new set of congressional lines that would give Republicans five pickup opportunities in the U.S. House ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, identical to the map the state House is trying to pass,” The Hill reported. “A group of Senate Democrats left the session, saying in a statement, ‘We walked out because this session should be about flood relief, not politics. Texans deserve leaders who put people first.'”
The Hill continued, “A Texas state House committee advanced its map earlier this month, but efforts to vote on it on the House floor have stalled as Texas Democrats remain out of the state to deny Republicans a quorum, or the minimum number of lawmakers needed present to conduct business.”
Sports
1. Ole Miss’ Perkins named to Lombardi watchlist
Ole Miss Athletics said Tuesday that football junior linebacker Suntarine Perkins has been named to the preseason watch list for the Lombardi Award, as announced by the Lombardi Award Committee.
The school said Perkins is among 54 players nationally and one of 16 from the SEC to make the watch list for the Lombardi Award, which was established in 1970 in memory of legendary coach Vince Lombardi.
Perkins is also on watch lists for the Chuck Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy, and has been named a preseason All-American by Walter Camp (second-team), The Sporting News (second-team) and Phil Steele (fourth-team).
2. USM’s Moten named to Bednarik watchlist
The Maxwell Football Club has named Southern Miss cornerback Josh Moten as one of 90 players to watch for the 2025 Chuck Bednarik Award, which honors the nation’s best defensive player.
The award is named after Chuck Bednarik, an NFL Hall of Fame linebacker and center who played his entire career with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Moten, a Marshall transfer, finished his 2024 campaign with 38 tackles and five pass breakups. He added five tackles and one interception against Ohio State, which ended up going on to win the 2024 national championship.
Markets & Business
1. Futures higher after record-setting day on Wall Street
CNBC reports that stock futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 “moved higher early Wednesday as investors come off a record-setting session that saw encouraging news on the inflation front.”
“The major U.S. indexes are coming off of a strong trading session, which saw the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite close at fresh record highs,” CNBC reported. “The S&P 500 added 1.1% to settle at 6,445.76, while the Nasdaq ended 1.4% higher at 21,681.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added about 483 points, or 1.1%, to close at 44,458.61.”
CNBC added, “Traders are now pricing in a nearly 94% chance of a rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s September meeting, per trading data from the CME’s FedWatch Tool.”
2. Used car prices rising
The Wall Street Journal reports that “people looking for deals on used cars are having to pay up more.”
“Prices for preowned cars are rising faster than for new ones, with tight overall supplies pushing more people into the used-car market. The supply crunch started during the Covid-19 pandemic, and has persisted in part because of President Trump’s tariffs,” WSJ reported, adding, “Used-car and truck prices rose 0.5% in July from the previous month, and were up 4.8% from a year earlier, according to the latest inflation report published Tuesday. That is a faster rise than for new-vehicle prices, which were flat from the previous month and up 0.4% from a year earlier.”
WSJ noted, “Sales of used EVs are at an all-time high. With more preowned EVs entering the market this year and next, buyers should have more variety, said Jeremy Robb, senior director of economic and industry insights at Cox Automotive.”
