Important state and national stories, market and business news, sports and entertainment, delivered in quick-hit fashion
In Mississippi
Auditor arrests 4 in unemployment fraud scheme
State Auditor Shad White announced Monday that Special Agents from his office arrested Felisa Suggs, Nathanial Coleman, P’Trance Fields, and Kavisia Blaylock for allegedly submitting and obtaining fraudulent unemployment funds by using the stolen identities of various inmates incarcerated within the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC).
“My office found that over half a billion dollars in illegal unemployment claims were given out during the pandemic,” said State Auditor White. “That’s why my team started Operation Payback to recover as much of that misspent money as possible.”
Agents with the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor discovered four unemployment claims submitted to MDES using the names of inmates incarcerated in the full-time custody of MDOC. Coleman and Fields allegedly took the identities of inmates to which they had close proximity while incarcerated and used their information to submit fraudulent unemployment claims. Blaylock and Suggs then allegedly used various CashApp and bank accounts to launder the fraudulently obtained funds.
Suggs, Coleman, Fields, and Blaylock each face up to $35,000 in fines and 40 years in prison if convicted.
National News & Foreign Policy
1. 5-4 SCOTUS decision allows White House ballroom construction to continue
As reported by the New York Times, “A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed construction to continue on President Trump’s luxury White House ballroom, which has been steadily rising to replace the East Wing the president tore down last fall.”
“In a 5-to-4 vote, the court said the preservationists who challenged the construction of the planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom did not have legal grounds known as standing to bring their lawsuit because they were not directly harmed by the project, estimated to cost $400 million,” NYT reported. “The majority emphasized that its order was not addressing the legality of the project and instead the question of who could sue to try to block it. But in practical terms, the order was a significant setback to the most serious legal challenge to the project, meaning the president seems likely to be able to complete construction. Halting the project now would probably require a fresh lawsuit from an individual or group with standing, such as Congress, which would be a nonstarter while Republicans control the House and Senate.”
NYT noted, “In an unusual lineup, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and the court’s three liberal justices dissented, saying the construction was ‘likely unlawful.’”
2. Abortion drug lawsuit in Texas paused until after midterms
The Hill reports that “a federal judge on Sunday paused a lawsuit seeking to revoke the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the abortion pill mifepristone until after the midterm elections.”
“Judge Reed O’Connor, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, granted a request by the Department of Justice to delay the lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of Texas and Florida until either Dec. 1 or when the FDA finishes an ongoing safety review of mifepristone, whichever occurs sooner,” The Hill reported. “Texas and Florida both agreed to the pause.”
The Hill continued, “The states are asking the court to completely roll back the FDA’s 2000 approval of the drug. Their lawsuit argues the FDA did not properly evaluate mifepristone’s safety and effectiveness. It also cites in part the federal Comstock Act, a long-dormant anti-obscenity law from 1873 that conservatives want to use to ban all mail-order abortion pills and associated medical instruments. If the court rules in favor of Texas and Florida, it could restrict access to mifepristone nationwide.”
Sports
1. Stephens out at EMCC
Longtime East Mississippi Community College Head Coach Buddy Stephens has been fired. No reason was given for the decision but speculation on social media has pointed to comments made in a recent article that ran contrary to the school administration.
Stephens was the face of the program, leading it from near obscurity to national prominence on the ‘Last Chance U’ series. Along the way, he won nine Mississippi Association of Community College titles and five national championships.
Taking over the EMCC program is second year associate head football coach/offensive coordinator Preston Rice. Rice was named the Lions’ interim head football coach effective immediately by EMCC Director of Athletics Cade Wilkerson.
Southern Miss football coach Blake Anderson addressed the media on Monday ahead of the Golden Eagles’ season opener against Alcorn State this Saturday.
Anderson said he was not yet ready to name a starting quarterback for the game as the lead man for the job, Ethan Hampton, continues to nurse a hand injury.
“If you know the kind of approach like who’s going out first, how much our guys are expected to play behind them, but in light of the injury with Ethan and how long that’s taken and just being fair to the process. Now we’re not ready [to name a starter] and don’t know that we really will,” Anderson said. “Not that we’re trying to surprise anybody. We just want to make sure we make the right decision moving forward because we don’t want to be going back and forth.”
Southern Miss opens its 110th football season against the Braves (1-0), who opened their season with a 56-7 win over Miles last Saturday.
Markets & Business
1. Treasury yields at highest point since January 2025
U.S. Treasury yields increased on Tuesday, reported CNBC, “as renewed tensions in the Middle East drove global government borrowing costs to their highest point going back to early last year.”
“The 10-year Treasury note yield — the main benchmark for mortgages, auto loans and credit card debt — rose more than 2 basis points to 4.784%, the highest since Jan. 14, 2025,” CNBC reported. “The longer-dated 30-year Treasury note yield, which tends to track geopolitical events, was also up more than 2 basis points at 5.271%.”
CNBC added, “The yield on the 2-year Treasury note, which typically moves in line with short-term Federal Reserve interest rate decisions, was flat at 4.35%.”
2. FTC sues Amazon over allegedly deceiving advertisers
According to the Wall Street Journal, “The Federal Trade Commission on Monday filed a lawsuit against Amazon.com alleging that the e-commerce giant manipulated prices businesses paid to advertise on its retail platform, reaping tens of billions of dollars for itself over seven years.”
“The lawsuit, joined by a bipartisan group of more than 20 state attorneys general, alleged that Amazon deceived advertisers by secretly raising the minimum price advertisers had to pay to place ads promoting their products,” WSJ reported. “The case, filed in a Seattle federal court, becomes the consumer-protection agency’s third major case against Amazon, which agreed to pay $2.5 billion last year to settle an earlier suit alleging it tricked people into signing up for its Prime service and made it hard to cancel the subscription. Another lawsuit alleging that Amazon engaged in illegal monopolization is headed for trial next year.”
WSJ further reported, “Advertisers allegedly suffered over $20 billion in harm by paying higher prices for ads, according to the complaint. The states, which have the authority to seek civil penalties, could attempt to claw some of that money back. States that joined the lawsuit include New York, California and Florida.”
-- Article credit to the staff for the Magnolia Tribune --
