- 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. Mississippi reaches new record high in number of jobs
Governor Tate Reeves announced Tuesday that Mississippi’s total non-farm employment reached a new record high in May with 1,195,400 jobs.
“Mississippi has one of the hottest job markets in America,” said Governor Reeves in a statement. “Our state continues to rack up win after win because our economic development strategy is working. Mississippi has more jobs than ever before, and companies are investing billions of dollars in our state. The Mississippi Momentum is not slowing down.”
Additionally, Mississippi is second in America for growth in job openings since 2020, with hiring demand up nearly 20%. The U.S. state average was -9.6%.
2. UMMC adding Doctor of Physical Therapy program in Oxford
The University of Mississippi Medical Center is bringing physical therapy education to north Mississippi, adding a Doctor of Physical Therapy program in Oxford to meet growing demand for licensed physical therapists across the state.
“Expanding opportunities for our physical therapy students makes our program stronger on both campuses,” said Dr. LouAnn Woodward, UMMC vice chancellor for health affairs. “We’re addressing the high demand for skilled physical therapists in Mississippi as part of training the next generation of health care professionals in our state.”
The School of Health Related Professions will begin offering the physical therapy program in Oxford in May 2028. Students who meet admission criteria will be eligible to apply in summer 2027 for one of 35 slots, adding to the 50 available at the Medical Center in Jackson.
The Doctor of Physical Therapy program, along with radiologic sciences and occupational therapy, is among the largest at SHRP. UMMC awarded 49 Doctor of Physical Therapy degrees to graduates at spring 2026 commencement exercises and has maintained a nearly 95% graduation rate over the past two years. Dr. Jacob Daniels, associate professor and 2016 alumnus of the program, will lead the Oxford program.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. Federal judge scraps SNAP junk food rules
Politico reports that “a federal judge on Monday scrapped a set of state pilot programs intended to restrict the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program money to purchase unhealthy foods.”
“U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee, wrote in her decision that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who oversees the SNAP program, misapplied federal law in approving requests from states to allow them to impose limits on what participants can buy with funds from the nation’s largest food aid program. Her ruling applies to Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and West Virginia,” Politico reported. “Jackson’s ruling could jeopardize one of the biggest policy achievements of the Make America Healthy Again agenda. Rollins and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have urged states to submit food restriction plans, arguing that they will improve health outcomes and that federal dollars shouldn’t be funding junk food. Kennedy also incentivized the states to apply by tying some federal rural health care funding to whether states had applied for a waiver to limit foods like soda in SNAP.”
Politico continued, “At least 23 states have applied for waivers that would allow them to limit certain foods in the SNAP program such as soda or candy, according to USDA’s data.”
2. Use of database to check voters’ citizenship blocked by judge
According to the Washington Post, “A federal judge on Monday ruled that a recently revamped version of a federal tool central to the Trump administration’s efforts to nationalize elections can no longer be used.”
“U.S. District Court Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan sided with advocacy groups that argued the recent upgrades to the program, called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, aggregated Americans’ sensitive personal data in a way that could result in voters being wrongly purged from voter rolls,” WP reported. “She said Congress had expressly prohibited the government from centralizing Americans’ personal identifying information and that the federal agencies that created the SAVE program ‘knew that the database violates those statutory protections.’”
WP further reported, “The decision is a major legal setback for President Donald Trump in his efforts to use federal agencies to encourage a nationwide crackdown on having noncitizens illegally on state voter rolls. The modified SAVE system, which critics had referred to as an unlawful centralized federal database of voter information, had been a key pillar of the second election executive order the Republican president signed earlier this year. The ruling leaves its future uncertain.”
Sports
1. Southern Miss heads out on Summer Tour
The University of Southern Mississippi’s Department of Athletics and Alumni Association is proud to announce its 2026 Summer Tour, set to begin in mid-July with stops in Mandeville, Gulfport, and Madison.
The tour will feature first-year head football coach Blake Anderson, who will provide fans, alumni, and supporters with an inside look at the future of Southern Miss Football.
Event Schedule and Details:
Northshore – Wednesday, July 15 – The Greystone
935 Clausel St., Mandeville, LA 70448
Time: 6–8 p.m. | Cost: $25
Gulfport – Thursday, July 16 – Markham Hotel
2301 14th Street, Gulfport, MS 39501
Time: 6-8 p.m. | Cost: $25
Jackson Metro– Friday, July 17 – Bridlewood Event Venue
3024 MS-22, Madison, MS 39110
Time: 6–8 p.m. | Cost: $25
2. Mississippi’s Big 3 ranked in final 2026 College Baseball Top 25
Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Southern Miss all finished the 2026 college baseball season ranked in the Top 25 according to D1 Baseball.
Ole Miss made it to Omaha for the College World Series, but the Rebels went two games and out. They finished ranked No. 7.
Mississippi State made it to a Super Regional before their season came to a close. The Bulldogs came in at No. 14 in the final rankings.
Southern Miss went two games and out at home in their Regional. The Golden Eagles finished at No. 24 in the final Top 25.
Markets & Business
1. Factory job cuts in U.S. near pandemic level
CNBC reports that “job cuts at U.S. factories ran near their highest levels since the end of the global financial crisis in 2009 and the Covid-19 pandemic as worries grew over global demand and rising costs, S&P Global reported Tuesday.”
“Though the firm’s manufacturing index ran better than expected for June, it came largely from an inventory rebuild and despite sharp job cuts that were the most since 2009 — excluding the massive labor reductions at the onset of the Covid crisis in 2020,” CNBC reported.
“While there is better news from the manufacturing sector, we remain concerned as factory growth continues to be temporarily buoyed by inventory building amid supply fears. Supply delays grew more widespread in June,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, per CNBC.
CNBC added, “Manufacturers have indicated job cuts for three of the past four months as they seek to reduce head count over costs and demand concerns.”
2. AI-related job cuts seen at large employers
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, “There is a lot of concern about how artificial intelligence is affecting work as each new month brings a wave of job-cut announcements from large employers, including Meta Platforms, Walmart and Morgan Stanley.”
“Notable June announcements: Robinhood Markets is cutting 10% of its workforce, and Oracle said it let go of 21,000 people,” WSJ reported. “Layoffs have risen for three months in a row, hitting 97,000 in May, which is the highest level for that month since 2020, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Tech has been hardest-hit, with companies letting go of more than 123,000 employees so far this year, up 66% over the same period in 2025.”
WSJ noted, “AI is upending workplaces in ways both real and whitewashed. About 4,000 workers were cut in recent weeks at Cisco as the company spends $1 billion on severance costs so it can reorient around AI, and Coinbase announced the elimination of ‘pure managers.’”
Magnolia Tribune
