- 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. Miss. State Foundation sets new fundraising record
The Mississippi State University Foundation says it has set a new record for fundraising in fiscal year 2025, exceeding $260 million and growing the size of its total endowment beyond $1 billion.
According to the foundation, the achievement pushed its total assets beyond $1 billion as well, making it the second year for the foundation to exceed a quarter billion dollars raised.
Currently, the MSU Foundation maintains 6,205 awards from private scholarships. It has established 110 endowed professorships and department chairs as well.
2. Tupelo voters approve $34 million school bond
Voters in Tupelo have overwhelmingly passed a $34 million bond for their school district.
According to unofficial results, nearly 94% of voters approved of the bond issue our of over 1,600 votes cast in Tuesday’s special election.
The school district has said that the bond will not increase local taxes. The funds will be used to renovate school classrooms and bathrooms, expand two elementary schools, construct a new multi-purpose building at the middle school, and upgrade or enhance other district facilities.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Musk backing off starting own political party to support Vance in 2028?
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, “The billionaire Elon Musk is quietly pumping the brakes on his plans to start a political party, according to people with knowledge of his plans.”
“Musk has told allies that he wants to focus his attention on his companies and is reluctant to alienate powerful Republicans by starting a third party that could siphon off GOP voters,” WSJ reported, adding, “As he has considered launching a party, the Tesla chief executive officer has been focused in part on maintaining ties with Vice President JD Vance, who is widely seen as a potential heir to the MAGA political movement. Musk has stayed in touch with Vance in recent weeks, and he has acknowledged to associates that if he goes ahead with forming a political party, he would damage his relationship with the vice president, the people said.”
WSJ went on to report, “Musk and his associates have told people close to him that he is considering using some of his vast financial resources to back Vance if he decides to run for president in 2028, some of the people said. Musk spent close to $300 million to support Trump and other Republicans in the 2024 election.”
2. Gabbard revokes 37 security clearances
The Hill reports that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard “revoked the security clearances of 37 current and former intelligence officials, sharing the list in a move that prompted swift criticism that the Trump administration was politicizing clearances.”
“Being entrusted with a security clearance is a privilege, not a right. Those in the Intelligence Community who betray their oath to the Constitution and put their own interests ahead of the interests of the American people have broken the sacred trust they promised to uphold. In doing so, they undermine our national security, the safety and security of the American people and the foundational principles of our democratic republic,” Gabbard wrote on X, per The Hill.
The Hill noted, “Trump has revoked security clearances for a number of officials, including those who signed on to a letter saying the Hunter Biden laptop had the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign, as well as the clearances of attorneys working at major law firms.”
Sports
1. Banana Ball coming to Miss. State’s Dudy Noble this week
The 2025 Banana Ball World Tour is making its way to Dudy Noble Field this week.
The Savannah Bananas, “The Greatest Show in Sports”, according to ESPN, will headline the two-day event at Dudy Noble Field on Friday, Aug. 22 and Saturday, Aug. 23. The games will start at 7 p.m. each night.
“We are excited to partner with the Greater Starkville Development Partnership to bring the Party Animals to the Best Small Town in the South,” MSU Director of Athletics Zac Selmon said. “This is a fantastic opportunity for fans to enjoy a unique game at the Carnegie Hall of College Baseball and visit our incredible community and campus.”
2. MSU QB Shapen named to Unitas watchlist
Mississippi State quarterback Blake Shapen was named to the 2025 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award Watch List on Tuesday, MSU Athletics announced.
The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award is presented annually by the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, Inc. and A. O. Smith Corporation to the nation’s top quarterback who best exemplifies character, scholastic and athletic achievement.
Shapen enters his final collegiate season with 27 career starts under his belt, including a streak of 25 consecutive starts. In his career, he has thrown for 6,548 yards and 44 touchdowns with a completion percentage of 64%. Shapen was off to a fast start in 2024 before an injury ended his season.
Markets & Business
1. Mortgage, refinance demand stalls
CNBC reports that “after a significant surge in refinance demand the previous week, brought on by a drop in mortgage rates, both refinance and homebuyer mortgage application volume stalled last week.”
“Mortgage rates inched only very slightly higher, but it was enough to drop total application volume 1.4% compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index,” CNBC reported. “The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances, $806,500 or less, increased to 6.68% from 6.67%, with points decreasing to 0.60 from 0.64, including the origination fee, for loans with a 20% down payment.”
CNBC noted, “Applications to refinance a home loan fell 3% for the week but were 23% higher than the same week one year ago.”
2. OpenAI could soon be the world’s most valuable private company
According to the New York Times, “OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, is in talks to sell $6 billion in shares owned by its current and former employees to investors, in a deal that would value the artificial intelligence company at roughly $500 billion, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.”
“At $500 billion, OpenAI would become the world’s most valuable privately held company, according to data from the start-up tracker CB Insights. The San Francisco-based A.I. lab has raised billions of dollars in recent years from investors including Microsoft, SoftBank and venture capital firms, as it has raced to take the lead in the contest over artificial intelligence,” NYT reported.
NYT continued, “OpenAI is an unusual combination of a nonprofit and for-profit company. For the past 18 months, it has worked to adopt a more traditional corporate structure that would eventually allow it to go public. But Elon Musk, one of OpenAI’s founders, who now runs a rival A.I. company called xAI, is trying to block the company’s efforts to restructure through a lawsuit in federal court.”
Magnolia Tribune
