- 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. AG announces $1.5 million to support victims of human trafficking
Attorney General Lynn Fitch has announced the distribution of nearly $1.5 million from the Victims of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation Fund to nine organizations that help human trafficking victims become survivors.
These awards bring the total distributed for human trafficking victim services to $11 million since the Legislature created the Fund in 2020.
The Legislature created the Victims of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation Fund through HB 1559 during the 2020 Legislative Session to provide funding to direct service providers for trafficking victims throughout Mississippi. By statute, funding comes from assessments for convictions of certain crimes, donations, and legislative appropriations.
2. Auditor arrests 3 for unemployment fraud
State Auditor Shad White announced Tuesday that Special Agents from his office arrested Chadwick Stubbs, Blair Stubbs, and Shinka Stubbs as part of a detailed investigation into unemployment compensation fraud called Operation Payback.
Chadwick Stubbs, Blair Stubbs, and Shinka Stubbs allegedly submitted fraudulent claims to obtain unemployment funds by using the identities of thirteen different inmates who were incarcerated with Blair and Chadwick Stubbs at the time the claims were submitted to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
If convicted Chadwick, Blair, and Shinka Stubbs face up to $36,000 in fines and up to 45 years in prison.
3. Jackson State’s Robinson receives Barry Goldwater Scholarship
Jackson State’s Mia Robinson has been named the institution’s first recipient of the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship, a historic milestone for the university’s academic and research community.
Robinson was among 454 scholars nationwide selected for the 2026–2027 academic year from a highly competitive pool of more than 5,000 college sophomores and juniors. Widely regarded as the nation’s preeminent undergraduate award for students pursuing research careers in science, engineering, and mathematics, the Goldwater Scholarship recognizes individuals with exceptional promise as future leaders in research.
Established by Congress in 1986, the Goldwater Foundation commemorates Senator Barry Goldwater and has awarded more than 11,600 scholarships to date.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Fifth Circuit allows Ten Commandments in Texas classrooms
As reported by the Washington Post, “An appellate court ruled Tuesday that Texas may require that public school classrooms display the Ten Commandments, a significant win for the conservative campaign to break down the legal walls between church and state and inject more religion into the public square.”
“The 9-8 ruling came from the conservative Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans,” WP reported. “The case is widely expected to head next to the Supreme Court, where the conservative majority has been steadily removing restrictions on government support for religion.”
WP went on to report, “Texas passed its Ten Commandments law in 2025, one of several efforts in recent years to infuse religion into public education. The Texas Board of Education, for instance, has also approved Bible-infused teaching materials and the state lets chaplains serve as school counselors.”
2. Democrats push through gerrymandered Virginia congressional redistricting
The New York Times reports that “Democrats’ success in pushing through one of the country’s most aggressively gerrymandered congressional maps on Tuesday in Virginia represented the latest example of the party’s willingness to take the gloves off as it seeks to win back control of Congress and thwart President Trump’s agenda.”
“It was a stark reversal for a party that has decried partisan gerrymandering for years,” NYT reported. “But Democrats said that the new map, which could flip as many as four Republican-held seats blue, was necessary to counter similar G.O.P. efforts in Texas and other states.”
NYT continued, “Even getting the measure on the Virginia ballot required some parliamentary trickery. Without the two-thirds vote needed in each house to call a special legislative session last year, Democrats instead seized on a budget session called by Glenn Youngkin, then the governor and a Republican, to schedule the referendum.”
Sports
1. Big 3 pick up midweek wins
No. 15 Mississippi State, No. 17 Ole Miss and No. 18 Southern Miss all picked up midweek wins on Tuesday. Here is a recap of the action.
- Mississippi State’s Vytas Valincius delivered the decisive swings with a pinch-hit RBI single in the sixth inning and with a three-run homer in the eighth, lifting the Bulldogs (31-10) to a 6-2 victory over Memphis in Starkville. Mississippi State returns to SEC play for Super Bulldog Weekend hosting unranked defending national champion LSU for a three-game series starting Friday at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+.
- Ole Miss used a four-homer inning to propel them to a 19-2 victory in seven innings over Murray State in Oxford. The Rebels (30-12) launched a season-high five home runs against the Racers. Ole Miss plays host to No. 5 Georgia this weekend with the first game slated to start at 6:30 p.m.
- Southern Miss’ Kyle Morrison lofted a 2-2 pitch into right field with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to provide the game-winning single that lifted the Golden Eagles (29-12) to a 5-4 victory over Tulane in Hattiesburg. Southern Miss returns to action Friday when they travel to South Alabama in a three-game league series that starts 6:30 p.m.
2. JSU to introduce new men’s basketball coach
The Jackson State University Division of Athletics will hold a press conference to formally introduce head men’s basketball coach Trey Johnson on Monday, May 4.
The press conference is set for 10 am inside the Lee E. Williams Athletics & Assembly Center. It is open to the public.
Johnson, who was named as head coach on April 15, served as the Associate Head Coach at Jackson State over the past four seasons and he has been instrumental in developing top talent and mentoring All-SWAC performers.
Markets & Business
1. Stock market keeps rising even as turmoil persists. Why?
From day traders to hedge funds, the Wall Street Journal reports that “investors are once again running full-speed into stocks and loading up on risk.”
“A skeptic could find plenty cause for gloom: Oil tankers still can’t freely traverse the Strait of Hormuz. The two sides were still trading threats when the next round of U.S.-Iran peace talks was put on pause. President Trump said Tuesday he would extend the cease-fire, but the U.S. would continue to blockade Iranian ports. Yet the three major U.S. stock indexes have marched back to prewar levels and then some. The tech industry’s Magnificent 7 gained $2.5 trillion in market value over a recent eight-day stretch. Speculative bets are back,” WSJ reported. “Doubters warn that markets are increasingly driven by you-only-live-once bets and momentum-chasing algorithms, and, as a result, are getting dislocated from reality—or at least oblivious to bad news. A flood of information has left even the biggest traders struggling to parse fact from fiction. At the same time, Wall Street is confident that markets are a constraint on Trump—that he will do what he needs to reverse a selloff, even if that means walking back a social post from the day before.”
WSJ noted, “Grizzled investors say the run-up merely confirms the age-old wisdom of keeping money in markets through turbulence. Near-term threats pale in comparison to a U.S. economy that has weathered crisis after crisis in recent years, often with help from Washington. America’s massive oil and gas output also shields the U.S. economy from the shocks that boosted inflation and slowed growth in the 1970s.”
2. Mortgage rates drop, boosting demand
According to CNBC, “Mortgage rates dropped for the third straight week, boosting demand from both homeowners and home buyers.”
“The spring housing market had been looking like a letdown, but there appears to now be new life,” CNBC reported. “Total mortgage application volume rose 7.9% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.”
CNBC added, “The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances, $832,750 or less, decreased to 6.35% from 6.42%, with points decreasing to 0.61 from 0.62, including the origination fee, for loans with a 20% down payment.”
