- 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. See if you are owed unclaimed life insurance benefits
The Mississippi Insurance Department is encouraging Mississippians to utilize the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Life Insurance Policy Locator to see if they are one of many who may be missing out on millions of dollars in life insurance benefits that remain unclaimed.
The free online tool helps consumers find their deceased loved one’s life insurance policies and annuity contracts.
MID stated that in 2024, more than 1,600 Mississippians used the Life Insurance Policy Locator Tool to find more than $37 million in lost policy benefits. It has helped more than 7,500 Mississippi consumers claim more than $161 million in benefits since its inception in November 2016.
To find a lost policy, use the Life Insurance Policy Locator here.
2. Guest named conferee for House as appropriations talks continue
Third District Congressman Michael Guest has been named by House Speaker Mike Johnson as one of the Republican conferees with the Senate on the 2026 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Legislative Branch Appropriations Acts.
“I am honored to serve on the Committee on Appropriations and to be selected as a conferee. This role gives me an opportunity to further advance the priorities of Mississippi’s Third Congressional District,” Guest said. “Thank you to Speaker Johnson for giving me this opportunity.”
According to Guest’s office, this marks the first time since Fiscal Year 2019 that regular appropriations bills will proceed to a conference committee between the House and Senate, demonstrating renewed action to restore regular order.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Three officers dead, 2 wounded after Pennsylvania shooting
The Washington Post reports that five law enforcement officers “were shot Wednesday afternoon while responding to a domestic investigation in York County, Pennsylvania, according to state police.”
“Three officers were killed in the shooting in North Codorus Township. Two officers were injured and remain hospitalized. They are in critical but stable condition, state officials said. Police shot and killed the suspect, whom authorities did not identify; nor did they state a motive,” WP reported.
“They were there to follow up on an investigation that began yesterday. The general heading of that investigation, I would say, would be domestic-related,” Col. Christopher Paris, the Pennsylvania State Police commissioner, said during that briefing, as reported by WP.
“He added that authorities were holding back information until they could serve related search warrants.”
2. Democrats barreling toward shutdown
As Politico reports, “Democrats are gearing up to reject a GOP stopgap funding bill and potentially spark a government shutdown. What happens then, no one seems to know.”
“Two weeks ahead of the key deadline, party leaders are staking out a rhetorical hard line demanding that their Republican counterparts come to the negotiating table to discuss concessions on health care and other issues,” Politico reported, noting, “Still, under tremendous pressure from their base to show that they are willing to fight President Donald Trump, Democrats are flirting with a politically risky shutdown without a firm exit plan or even an idea of what victory might look like.”
Politico continued, “Democrats could lose some of their own members on the GOP bill. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has already vowed to support it, and several other Democratic senators have yet to put themselves in the ‘no’ column with the whip effort still underway.”
Sports
1. Belhaven starts season 1-1
Belhaven Football is off to a 1-1 start to their 2025 season.
The Blazers won their opening week game against Millsaps 50-24 before dropping their first road trip last Saturday to Trinity 49-0.
Belhaven returns home to Jackson this Saturday to take on No. 19 UW-River Falls. Kickoff is set for 11:30 a.m.
2. USM men’s golf picks up tourney title
Southern Miss men’s golf took home their first team championship on Tuesday afternoon posting a three-round total of 827, 13-under par, at the Waynesville Inn and Golf Club of Waynesville North Carolina.
Southern Miss said the team rounds out the event recording rounds of 275, 276, and 276 to end up finishing on top.
The Golden Eagles are set to play in the Badger Invitational hosted in Madison, Wisconsin marked for September 22-23.
Markets & Business
1. Futures jump Thursday after Fed acts
CNBC reports that stock futures jumped on Thursday “as investors rotated back into their favorite technology stocks now that the Federal Reserve has lowered rates and signaled more cuts are on the way.”
“During a news conference following the decision, Fed Chair Jerome Powell put a damper on investor hopes that the central bank would be on a lengthy rate-cutting path this year, as he called the latest cut ‘risk management,'” CNBC reported. “In fact, policymakers are predicting two more reductions this year, but just one in 2026, while traders had priced in two to three more cuts next year.”
Before the opening bell Thursday, CNBC reported “S&P 500 futures traded higher by nearly 0.9%, while Nasdaq-100 futures gained 1.1%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 326 points, or 0.7%.”
2. Recession risk down with Fed rate cut
The Wall Street Journal reports that “whatever probability you put on recession a few weeks ago, it should be lower now that the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates.”
“The cut was just a quarter percentage point, to a range of 4% to 4.25%. Still, the mere fact of the cut and the likelihood of more to come show that the Fed is now prioritizing growth in a way that makes a recession much less likely,” WSJ reported.
WSJ noted that “investors correctly figured the Fed would shift priorities from inflation to jobs. As expectations of rate cuts grew, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note’s yield tumbled from 4.4% to just above 4%, and the two-year yield fell even more.”
Magnolia Tribune
