- 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. BLEOST approves part-time officer bridge program
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety announced Thursday that the Board of Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training (BLEOST) approved Rule 9.5 for filing with the Secretary of State’s Office.
The rule establishes a pathway for currently certified part-time law enforcement officers to obtain full-time certification through demonstrated competency, training equivalency, and sustained service.
DPS said the rule recognizes prior completion of an approved part-time training program and provides officers the opportunity to pursue full-time certification through evaluations conducted by accredited full-time training academies. The initiative is aimed at strengthening law enforcement agencies across Mississippi by expanding opportunities for qualified officers to advance their careers and continue serving their communities.
“This is a great change to help our part-time officers achieve full-time status through the proper evaluation and training process that needs to be done to help increase our public safety in local communities across the state,” said Lee County Sheriff Jim H. Johnson.
2. Rural hospital legislation passes U.S. Senate, heads to House for consideration
The U.S. Senate late Wednesday approved the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Reauthorization Act (S.4460) by unanimous consent, making it available for consideration by the U.S. House of Representatives.
U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith cosponsored the measure as it reauthorizes a federal health program that currently supports six rural Mississippi Hospitals.
Introduced by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), S.4460 includes a five-year reauthorization of the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration (RCHD) program that would allow rural hospitals to continue using innovative Medicare hospital payment models that improve financial sustainability and support health care access.
Hyde-Smith’s office noted that in November 2024, CMS agreed to enroll additional hospitals, which led to Greenwood Leflore Hospital, Magee General Hospital, and Wayne General Hospital joining the program in April 2025. Other RCHD hospitals in Mississippi include Anderson Regional Medical Center in Meridian, Highland Community Hospital in Picayune, and Marion General Hospital in Columbia.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Former CDC director expects Ebola outbreak to spread in Africa
As reported by The Hill, “Former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield said Wednesday he suspects the spreading Ebola outbreak in Africa will spread across three new countries and become a ‘very significant pandemic.’”
“I suspect this is going to become a very significant pandemic, probably going to leak into Tanzania, leak into southern Sudan, maybe leak into Rwanda,” Redfield said during an appearance on NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports,” per The Hill.
The Hill continued, “A majority of the Ebola cases are in Congo and Uganda. Local health officials in the two nations reported 536 suspected cases, 105 probable cases, 34 confirmed cases and around 134 suspected deaths from the outbreak, according to the CDC.”
2. Thune sends Senate home after fiery GOP meeting
Talking Point Memo reports that Senate Majority Leader John Thune sent the chamber home for Memorial Day on Thursday after a fiery meeting among Senate Republicans.
“’We will pick up where we left off,’ Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters after a lengthy private Republican conference lunch on Thursday, which reportedly ended with Thune telling Senate Republicans that they were being sent home to start their Memorial Day recess early,” TPM reported. “The House quickly followed suit, dropping its plans for a Friday vote on the reconciliation package that includes funding for immigration enforcement.”
At issue for Senate Republicans is the recently announced $1.7 billion DOJ Anti-Weaponization Fund “to compensate people who feel they’ve been wronged by the judicial system,” TPM noted, as well as “$1 billion in additional Secret Service and White House funding tied to Trump’s ballroom project.”
Sports
1. Miss. State out of SEC tournament, losing 5-3 to Georgia
No. 16 Mississippi State lost to No. 4 Georgia 5-3 on Thursday in the Bulldogs’ second day of play in the SEC Baseball Tournament.
While Mississippi State (40-17) outhit Georgia 9-8 and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, the Bulldogs could not complete the comeback after falling behind by three runs midway through the game.
Mississippi State now awaits its postseason fate. NCAA Regional sites will be announced Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. and the NCAA Tournament Selection Show starts Monday at 11 a.m. on ESPN2.
2. Southern Miss faces Troy Friday in Sun Belt Tournament
No. 8 Southern Miss will take on Troy in the Sun Belt Baseball Tournament Friday at 11 a.m.
If the top seeded Golden Eagles (41-14) lose, they will then play again Friday at 6:30 p.m. versus South Alabama. If they win Friday morning, Southern Miss will advance to play Saturday at 12:30 p.m. where they will play the winner of Troy vs. South Alabama.
The conference championship game is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.
Markets & Business
1. Futures up as markets head to another winning week
CNBC reports that stock futures “ticked higher early Friday as Wall Street looked set to cap off a winning week despite heightened volatility.”
“The S&P 500 is up 0.5% week to date despite increased market swings, putting the benchmark on track for its eighth straight weekly gain,” CNBC reported. “That would be its longest since a nine-week winning streak that ended in late 2023.”
CNBC added, “The Dow has climbed 1.5% this week and is headed for its third positive week in four. The Nasdaq Composite has added 0.3%, on pace for its seventh weekly advance in the past eight weeks.”
2. SpaceX IPO solidifies Musk’s control of company
The Wall Street Journal reports that “Elon Musk holds so much power at SpaceX that it is nearly impossible to fire him or make other significant corporate changes without his support.”
“That isn’t going to change for investors in the company’s initial public offering,” WSJ reported. “Musk will have a nearly unprecedented level of control at a public company of its size, which is expected to reach a valuation of at least $1.5 trillion. The SpaceX founder, who serves as chairman, chief executive and chief technical officer, controls roughly 85% of the voting power at the satellite builder, rocket-launch provider and artificial-intelligence developer.”
WSJ further reported, “SpaceX’s ownership structure gives different rights to various groups of investors. Individual investors will be able to buy Class A shares, which have just one vote apiece. Meanwhile, Class B shares carry 10 votes for each share owned, according to a securities filing Wednesday. Musk holds around 94% of Class B shares.”
