We deliver important state and national news, market and business news, sports and entertainment in an informed, breaking news format.
Mississippi
1. JTRAN workers strike in Jackson
WJTV reports that JTRAN suspended service throughout Jackson on Wednesday, September 4, due to a union strike.
“Strikers picketed outside the company’s headquarters on Highway 80. Local Amalgamated Transit Union President Charles Tornes Jr. said the strike was due to safety concerns,” WJTV reported, noting that “MV Transportation has been managing fixed route and paratransit services for the city of Jackson since January 2024.”
WJTV added, “MV Transportation called the strike ‘unnecessary and counterproductive.’ The union said it had made ‘numerous inaccurate or unsubstantiated accusations’ and was correcting the record.”
2. Reeves hosts installation ceremony for Mississippi National Guard’s new adjutant
On Friday, Sept. 6, Governor Tate Reeves will host a command installation ceremony to welcome Maj. Gen. Bobby M. Ginn Jr., the new adjutant general of the Mississippi National Guard.
Guinn is Mississippi’s 53rd adjutant general and will assume command of the Mississippi National Guard, succeeding Maj. Gen. Janson D. Boyles, who served in that position for eight years.
The event is scheduled to take place at 9 a.m. in the Mississippi State Capitol’s second floor Rotunda.
National News and Foreign Policy
1. Trump raised $130 million in August, but Harris still leads.
The Trump campaign announced in August that it had raised $130 million, “a staggering sum, but still nowhere near closing the gap in funding between it and Vice President Kamala Harris,” Politico reported.
“The Trump campaign said it had about $300 million in cash on hand at the end of the month, down from $327 million the previous month as the campaign ramped up its efforts toward the final stages of the race,” Politico reported, noting that “Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a memo on Sunday that the Harris campaign has raised $540 million since entering the race, a total that is likely to keep it comfortably ahead of the Trump campaign.”
Trump and Harris are scheduled to hold their first, and likely only, debate on Tuesday, September 10.
2. 14-year-old boy kills two students and two teachers in Georgia
FoxNews reports that the FBI “confirmed that the suspect who killed two students and two teachers and injured nine others at a Georgia high school on Wednesday had been under surveillance as a possible threat since last year.”
“On Wednesday, authorities identified Colt Gray, now 14, as the gunman who shot and killed two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School. Gray turned himself in to authorities and was taken into custody after the assault,” Fox News reported, adding, “Authorities said he is expected to be charged with murder as an adult. Investigators are still trying to determine if anyone was specifically targeted, but are not aware of any known links between Gray and the victims.”
Sports and Entertainment
1. Belhaven and Millsaps face off in season opener
Belhaven and Millsaps are scheduled to open the 2024 season with a matchup between the schools on the Millsaps campus on Thursday.
In the 2023 season, the Blazers finished with a team-best season record of 9-2 and a 7-1 record in conference play in 11 games.
The Majors went 1-9 in their final game, with their only win coming against Birmingham-Southern. Millsaps then hired new head coach Brandon Lechtenberg and seven new assistant coaches.
2. Southern Miss releases non-conference basketball schedule
The Southern Miss University men’s basketball team released its full non-conference schedule for the 2024-25 season on Wednesday afternoon.
Times and television networks are subject to change. All times are listed in Central Standard Time.
2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule
October 22 – New Orleans EXH
October 28 – Jackson State University (EXH)
November 4 – Bowling Green
November 7 – At UAB
November 12 – Loyola New Orleans
November 20 – South Dakota State University
November 24 – Montana State University
November 25 – vs. Abilene Christian (Bozeman, Montana)
November 30 – Milwaukee
December 5 – University of Alabama
December 10 – Tulane University
December 14 – vs. Ole Miss (Mississippi Coast Coliseum)
December 17 – Lamar
December 30 – William Carey
February 8th – MAC-SBC Challenge
Markets and Business
1. More companies are withdrawing from human rights campaigns
A growing number of companies are seeking to “divest” their employment and other practices with the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights lobbying group that has actively, and sometimes aggressively, pushed diversity efforts in the workplace. In a recent article on the divestitures, The Wall Street Journal specifically cited Ford, Coors Light, Harley-Davidson, Tractor Supply, Brown-Forman (maker of Jack Daniel’s) and Lowe’s.
“The attention given to the HRC, and especially its equality rankings, marks a shift in efforts to moderate diversity efforts in the private sector,” The Wall Street Journal reported. “Companies faced pressure this year primarily over race- and ethnicity-based workplace and funding programs, including wage incentives, grants and supplier contracts. But some companies, including Bud Light brewer, have suffered backlash from consumers outraged by their LGBTQ support.”
“Ford, Molson Coors and other companies will stop contributing data to the Corporate Equality Index produced by the Human Rights Council Foundation,” the Journal noted, adding, “HRC said it will continue to evaluate and score companies that don’t provide information to the index. The group has already begun penalizing companies for recent anti-LGBTQ positions.”
2. Employment hits record low as layoffs rise in August
Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported Thursday that layoffs surged in August to the highest number for the month in 15 years, while job creation so far this year is at its lowest on record, CNBC reported.
“75,891 job cuts were announced this month, up 193% from July. While this is only 1% up from the same month in 2023, it’s the highest number for an August since 2009, when the economy was still emerging from the worst of the global financial crisis,” CNBC reported. “On the employment front, companies announced 6,101 new jobs, up nearly 2,500 from July but down more than 21% from August 2023. Job announcements so far this year are about 80,000, the lowest total since 2005.”
CNBC added, “The biggest increase in planned job cuts came in the technology sector, where companies announced 41,829 job cuts, the most in 20 months, according to Thursday’s report.”