Mississippi
Magnolia Mornings: December 13, 2024
- 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. MDA recommends 10 Coast Restoration projects
The Mississippi Development Authority recently received 91 applications for project funding requests through the Mississippi Gulf Coast Restoration Fund. The agency is now seeking legislative approval for ten projects totaling nearly $29.33 million in potential funding. Those projects are:
- Tomaston Medical Park Phase 1A Development – Creating a Medical Center of Excellence in Woolmarket (Total Project Cost: $15,611,874) – submitted by BEST Holdings, $1 million in GCRF funding recommended for approval
- Commercial District Phase IV (Total Project Cost: $2.4 million) – submitted by city of Diamondhead, $1 million in GCRF funding recommended for approval
- Town Commons Park Development Phase 3 (Total Project Cost: $10,546,355) – submitted by city of Gautier, $2,217,475 in GCRF funding recommended for approval
- Pascagoula Riverfront Development (Total Project Cost: $3.95 million) – submitted by city of Pascagoula, $2.568 million in GCRF funding recommended for approval
- Downtown Redevelopment Plan, Phase 3 – Restated and Amended for 2024-2025 (Total Project Cost: $3.6 million) – submitted by city of Pass Christian, $2 million in GCRF funding recommended for approval
- George County Industrial Park – Water System Expansion Project (Total Project Cost: $1.287 million) – submitted by George County Board of Supervisors, $1,029,600 in GCRF funding recommended for approval
- USM Research and Teaching Vessel (Total Project Cost: $18,044,271) – submitted by Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, $2.5 million in GCRF funding recommended for approval
- Stennis International Airport Site 1 Hangar Development (Total Project Cost: $8.5 million) – submitted by Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission, $5 million in GCRF funding recommended for approval
- Harrison County Development Commission GST Site (Total Project Cost: $5,016, 453) – submitted by Harrison County Development Commission, $4,013,163 in GCRF funding recommended for approval
- Pearl River County Industrial Park Speculative Building (Total Project Cost: $10 million) – submitted by Pearl River County Board of Supervisors, $8 million in GCRF funding recommended for approval
2. Mississippi Poultry Association donation to go to Food Network, Salvation Army

Mississippi’s poultry and egg companies are kicking off the holiday season by donating 59,500 pounds of chicken meat and 129,000 eggs to charities of Governor Tate Reeves’ choosing.
Governor Reeves has directed this generous donation of 369,200 servings of protein to the Mississippi Food Network and Salvation Army.
“I’m grateful to the Mississippi Poultry Association for always stepping up to help ensure no Mississippi family goes hungry during the holiday season,” said Governor Reeves. “The Mississippi Food Network and the Salvation Army do a tremendous job serving Mississippians, and I thank them for accepting this donation to help end hunger in our state.”
National News & Foreign Policy
1. House passes bill to expand federal judiciary despite Biden veto threat

Politico reports that the U.S. House passed legislation, “largely along party lines, to expand the federal judiciary by more than 60 seats despite a veto threat from the Biden White House.”
“The bill — co-authored by Biden ally Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) — passed the Senate unanimously earlier this year. But Democrats have cried foul about the House taking it up post-election, once it became clear President-elect Donald Trump would have the first opportunity to fill some of the newly created positions,” Politico reported, adding, “House Democrats mounted an eleventh hour whip campaign against the legislation once the White House voiced its opposition on Tuesday. In the end, though, 29 Democrats supported it. The final tally was 236-173.”
Politico went on to note that under the legislation, “the new seats would be rolled out over the course of three presidential administrations, in theory to offer both parties the possibility of filling some of the slots.”
2. FBI informants were among crowd at Jan. 6 Capitol riot

According to the BBC, a newly released Department of Justice report says “more than two dozen FBI informants were in Washington DC ahead of the riot at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, but no full-time undercover agents were present or took part in the riot itself.”
“The report said none of the agency’s informants were authorised to enter the Capitol or join the riot, but four did enter the building,” the BBC reported, adding, “26 ‘confidential human sources’ – or paid informants – were in Washington on the day of the riot. Three of them had been tasked with gathering information for domestic terrorism cases who might have been going to the rallies on 6 January, one of whom entered the Capitol building. The remaining 23 had not been directed to be in the area and did so on their own initiative.”
The report also noted, “Of the 26 in total, four confidential sources entered the Capitol during the riot. Another 13 entered the restricted area around the Capitol – a security perimeter established in preparation for election certification on 6 January. None of the confidential sources who entered the Capitol or its environs were among those criminally charged with trespassing.”
Sports & Entertainment
1. Huff introduced as new Southern Miss HC

Charles Huff was officially introduced to the Southern Miss community on Thursday on the Eagle Walk at The Rock.
Huff, who won the Sun Belt Conference Championship at Marshall last Saturday, told the crowd he wasn’t coming to play around but to win through discipline, focus and effort.
Terms of his contract released on Thursday show Huff will earn $950,000 annually as the USM head football coach and will have access to an assistant coach pool of $1.75 million and a staff pool of $600,000. Incentives for winning the conference, making the CFB playoffs and more were also included in Huff’s contract.
The Huff era at USM will kickoff next August with a home game versus Mississippi State.

The SEC college football schedules for the 2025 season have been released. Here’s a look at the Ole Miss and Mississippi State slate of games:
Mississippi State
Aug. 30 – at Southern Miss
Sept. 6 – Arizona State
Sept. 13 – Alcorn State
Sept. 20 – Northern Illinois
Sept. 27 – Tennessee
Oct. 4 – at Texas A&M
Oct. 11 – Open Date
Oct. 18 – at Florida
Oct. 25 – Texas
Nov. 1 – at Arkansas
Nov. 8 – Georgia
Nov. 15 – at Missouri
Nov. 22 – Open Date
Nov. 29 – Ole Miss
Ole Miss
Aug. 30 – Georgia State
Sept. 6 – at Kentucky
Sept. 13 – Arkansas
Sept. 20 – Tulane
Sept. 27 – LSU
Oct. 4 – Open Date
Oct. 11 – Washington State
Oct. 18 – at Georgia
Oct. 25 – at Oklahoma
Nov. 1 – South Carolina
Nov. 8 – The Citadel
Nov. 15 – Florida
Nov. 22 – Open Date
Nov. 29 – at Mississippi State
Markets & Business
Low-income consumers still feel weight of inflation, higher prices

While some might say the economy has reached a much-vaunted “soft landing,” the Wall Street Journal reports that low-income consumers aren’t feeling any of that.
“Dollar stores, a bellwether for that group’s spending, started seeing signs of belt-tightening from their core consumers earlier this year. That trend has only continued into the latest quarter,” WSJ reported. “They say their customers are waiting to shop for products at the last minute for occasions such as Halloween and spending less toward the end of the month, when their budgets are depleted.”
WSJ reports that “price increases have been more pronounced for need-driven categories like rent, medical care and utilities than for discretionary ones such as clothes, furniture and new cars,” adding, “the inflation burden might be even higher for low-income households because they have less flexibility to adjust their spending as prices go up.”
Mississippi
Mississippi Lottery Mississippi Match 5, Cash 3 results for July 16, 2026
Odds of winning the Powerball and Mega Millions are NOT in your favor
Odds of hitting the jackpot in Mega Millions or Powerball are around 1-in-292 million. Here are things that you’re more likely to land than big bucks.
The Mississippi Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 16, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mississippi Match 5 numbers from July 16 drawing
02-09-28-33-35
Check Mississippi Match 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 3 numbers from July 16 drawing
Midday: 8-1-2, FB: 5
Evening: 8-7-4, FB: 5
Check Cash 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 4 numbers from July 16 drawing
Midday: 2-0-5-6, FB: 5
Evening: 5-3-9-0, FB: 5
Check Cash 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash Pop numbers from July 16 drawing
Midday: 14
Evening: 10
Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Story continues below gallery.
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
Winnings of $599 or less can be claimed at any authorized Mississippi Lottery retailer.
Prizes between $600 and $99,999, may be claimed at the Mississippi Lottery Headquarters or by mail. Mississippi Lottery Winner Claim form, proper identification (ID) and the original ticket must be provided for all claims of $600 or more. If mailing, send required documentation to:
Mississippi Lottery Corporation
P.O. Box 321462
Flowood, MS
39232
If your prize is $100,000 or more, the claim must be made in person at the Mississippi Lottery headquarters. Please bring identification, such as a government-issued photo ID and a Social Security card to verify your identity. Winners of large prizes may also have the option of setting up electronic funds transfer (EFT) for direct deposits into a bank account.
Mississippi Lottery Headquarters
1080 River Oaks Drive, Bldg. B-100
Flowood, MS
39232
Mississippi Lottery prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing date. For detailed instructions and necessary forms, please visit the Mississippi Lottery claim page.
When are the Mississippi Lottery drawings held?
- Cash 3: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
- Cash 4: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
- Match 5: Daily at 9:30 p.m. CT.
- Cash Pop: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Mississippi editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Mississippi
Mississippi homeowners blame a noisy data center plant for sleepless nights. The mayor’s advice? “Consider selling.”
It was 4 a.m. on a Sunday and 46-year-old Jason Haley was once again wide awake.
The suburban silence that Haley had grown used to in his two decades as a resident of Southaven, Mississippi, had, for the last few months, been replaced by a constant whirring, like an airplane hovering over his home, he said.
The noise keeping Haley awake was coming from a plant powering Elon Musk’s xAI data centers in the area, according to a lawsuit filed in June against the company and its subsidiary, MZX Tech. Haley and two other Southaven residents, who live within a mile of the plant, allege in the suit that “near-constant” noise and vibrations are causing negative physical and psychological health effects.
The filing comes amid growing resistance toward data center development, with the majority of Americans opposing local construction of a data center, according to a Gallup poll published earlier this year.
Similar disputes are playing out across the country, like in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, where a lawsuit this month filed by residents alleges a data center emits “unreasonable and excessive noise” onto residents’ properties and in Lowell, Massachusetts, where noise from a data center’s cooling center “disrupts neighbors’ sleep,” according to an April suit.
There are more than 4,000 data centers in the U.S., according to a recent United Nations report. To power the data centers, developers are building their own plants, sometimes with little warning to residents like Haley.
Haley reached out to Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite about the noise in emails he shared with CBS News. In one last November, he urged Musselwhite to drive through the neighborhood “and take a listen to the constant high pitch noises.”
“I am aware of the noise and working on a solution with xAI officials,” Musselwhite had responded to Haley an hour later. “It is a problem,” he said in another email later in the day.
But soon, another sleepless night rolled around and Haley was emailing the mayor again.
“Anyone else I can reach out to?” Haley wrote to Musselwhite. “It’s almost 4 am and I can hear it from my bed. The high pitch and roaring combined is full force at this time. My ears are ringing. I can’t live in this. How was this ever approved?”
“I don’t care that this is Elon’s project”
Just north of Southaven, which sits on the Mississippi-Tennessee border, xAI’s data center Colossus went online in Memphis in September 2024. The company dubbed it “the world’s largest AI supercomputer.”
By late July 2025, Musk was announcing that another data center, Colossus 2, was set to begin operation in the area within weeks.
Days later, an announcement popped into the Facebook feeds of Southaven residents: An energy facility that had been dormant for decades will be revived to support xAI’s expanding data center operations in the area, Musselwhite said.
The post was met by a flood of comments, with some lauding the development and others expressing concern about the plant’s impact on the environment and strain on local resources.
Meanwhile, Haley started hearing sounds.
“My first thought was somebody’s got a leaf blower going all the time,” he said.
By December, the noise had become a fixture. He started getting headaches, stopped getting sleep and slipped into feelings of hopelessness and depression. The noise was inescapable, he said, and despite his best efforts to drown it out (sleeping with earplugs, getting a box fan for white noise), it continued to drone on.
So Haley began speaking up — at city government meetings, on Facebook and through TikTok, where he posts videos of himself measuring the noise with a sound meter. He later became involved in a grassroots coalition called Safe and Sound, drawing awareness to concerns surrounding xAI’s undertakings in the region.
The “activist” label is one he’s reluctantly accepted.
“I’ve never been into any kind of activism, never really kept up with politics a whole lot,” he said. “I’m just a guy that has a problem with this noise, and started speaking out and trying to raise awareness.”
When he emailed Musselwhite about the noise again in December, his message came with a disclosure: “I am not a republican or democrat, I don’t care that this is Elon’s project. I didn’t know whose it was when I started complaining about the noise that started in August.”
Musselwhite responded a few days later.
“As I mentioned to you in the public meeting, you seem to be a reasonable person,” he said. “I will give you some unsolicited advice from an older man, be careful with whom you associate so you don’t damage your credibility.”
By January, xAI was expanding its footprint with a third data center in Southaven, MACROHARDDR. As residents like Haley continued pushing back online and in city meetings, Musselwhite had a new message.
Southaven, he said in a Facebook post, was “under attack by all who choose to oppose Elon Musk because of his high-profile political stances.” He warned residents to “beware of the smokescreen of radical politics.”
In his emails to Haley, Musselwhite continued to acknowledge the noise as a problem.
“The noise issue is one of my highest priorities and I have been in detailed discussions with xAI and many independent professionals to resolve this,” he wrote in March.
But in the same email, he offered Haley more advice: “I know they want houses for employees, so you may want to consider selling your home.”
CBS News made multiple attempts to speak with Musselwhite and did not receive a reply.
Migraines, ringing ears and sleepless nights
Moving isn’t Haley’s preference, but he said he is in the financial position to do so if he chooses.
That’s not the case for everyone.
A little over a decade ago, 31-year-old Taylor Logsdon bought a home for her growing family in Southaven and began building her life around it.
“We loved it here,” she said. “It was peaceful, it was quiet, didn’t have to worry about nothing.”
But that was before the noise, so loud, she said, that it sometimes shakes her home. Logsdon, who is also involved in the Safe and Sound coalition and is suing xAI with Haley and one other Southaven resident, said she has experienced migraines and anxiety as a result of the noise.
She said she has persistent ringing in her ears and so do her children. A full night of sleep has become rare for the family.
“I would move tomorrow if I could,” she said, adding that she needs to save money before she can afford to move.
Her children, all under the age of 13, are having trouble staying awake at school.
“One of them is extra angry all the time — never, never has been that way, but he’s just irritable like all the time,” she said. “I feel like I’m snappier too.”
xAI spent millions of dollars trying to mitigate the sound with a sound wall, a berm and evergreen trees, Musselwhite said in a February Facebook post.
“It still hasn’t helped. It hasn’t even put a dent in it,” Logsdon said.
People living in areas where there is “constant humming or buzzing” report headaches, stress and sleep disturbance, said Dr. Samoon Ahmad, a clinical professor of psychiatry at New York University.
A 2023 study found that environmental noise exposure can lead to adverse associations for cardiovascular disease and mortality, diabetes, hearing impairment, neurological disorders and adverse reproductive outcomes.
“People think of annoyance as an abstract term,” Ahmad said. “It’s not an abstract term because it has real physiological ramifications.”
The World Health Organization recommends less than 40 decibels of annual average nighttime noise outside of bedrooms to prevent adverse health effects. Haley has recorded noise levels over 60 decibels as late as 10:15 p.m. from his Southaven backyard.
Musk’s Memphis
Even before Logsdon and Haley decided to take action against xAI, Musk’s growing presence in the Memphis area garnered attention from advocacy groups over health and environmental concerns.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed a lawsuit in April against xAI claiming the Southaven plant emits “significant” amounts of harmful pollutants from its 27 gas turbines, which has since increased to 59, according to a court filing reviewed by CBS News. The NAACP has also filed an appeal to challenge the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality’s decision to issue an air permit allowing the Southaven plant to operate 41 permanent methane gas turbines. An independent study found their operation would increase air pollution in an area already grappling with a disproportionate number of asthma-related emergency room visits.
CBS News has reached out to xAI for comment.
Musk’s investment in the latest Southaven data center brings his company’s contribution to the area to $20 billion, according to the office of Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves. The governor called it “the largest economic development project in Mississippi’s history.”
Musk’s financial footprint has also extended beyond the data centers — MZX Tech donated over $1.3 million to the Southaven Police Department in February, according to the donation agreement obtained by CBS News, and has offered half-priced Starlink for those in the Memphis region.
But Logsdon says the cost to her and her family’s health has her wondering why it feels like her city is willing to “hurt the few to get the benefits.”
“We were not a failure town before,” Logsdon said. “It’s not like our economics were terrible here.”
Southaven had a median household income of over $70,000 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau — $20,000 more than the state average.
Logsdon, currently a stay-at-home mom, will be searching for work this fall so she and her husband can start saving up to move away from the plant. For now, her goal is a full night’s sleep.
“I hope that my family can go back to having our normal,” she said. “Being able to sleep at night, being able to enjoy my backyard, being able to go swimming.”
Mississippi
GPS data tracks boat Mississippi teen Nolan Wells was on before he went missing
GPS data from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, obtained by CBS News, tracks the movements of the boat that carried Nolan Wells to Horn Island on July 4. Wells was found dead after going missing following an outing on the island.
The vessel left a dock at approximately 9:56 a.m. that morning and arrived at Horn Island at 11:14 a.m. CBS News has previously reported that Wells was not on the boat when it departed the island.
According to the GPS data, the boat left Horn Island at 4:31 p.m. and returned to its original departure dock. It then traveled into Fort Bayou around 5:52 p.m. before returning to the dock at 6:06 p.m.
Later that evening, the boat went to the Fort Bayou boat launch at 7:19 p.m., according to the MSDMR report. From there, it traveled over land — presumably towed by a vehicle — to the Biloxi, Mississippi, residence of the boat’s owners.
The MSDMR report indicates that the boat’s owner, his mother and one other individual who was reportedly with Wells on the day of the incident have cooperated with the investigation.
The department’s report ends on July 5, following notification that the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office would take over as the lead investigative agency.
Wells, 18, was last seen on July 4 on Horn Island, where he had taken a boat trip with friends to celebrate the holiday, officials said. Wells traveled to the island with his friends but did not return to the mainland with them that afternoon, Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter has said.
He was last seen on the island at 3 p.m., according to attorney Ben Crump’s office. His mother reported him missing later that night and a search began.
His body was discovered July 6 off the coast of the island, which is about 10 miles south of the Mississippi mainland, following a search that involved the U.S. Coast Guard, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and the National Park Service.
Dental records confirmed the body was Wells, Jackson County coroner Bruce Lynd told CBS News. An autopsy took place on July 7, Lynd said, but the results were not immediately made public. Wells’ body was flown to Washington, D.C., for an independent autopsy, according to Crump.
Wells’ parents have said they don’t believe their son would’ve stayed behind on the island by choice when his friends left by boat.
“No, he wouldn’t. Nolan always stays with the group,” Elmore Wonsley, Nolan’s father, told “CBS Mornings” last week. “If you be with me, you come back with me. So that I don’t understand, and with me being a parent, if I was in that situation, I would have told them, ‘You’re going to get back on this boat with me because I don’t want to answer to your parents if something happens to you.’”
When directly asked if he believed Nolan was left behind on the island, his father responded, “Yes. I don’t believe he decided to stay on the island by himself. It just doesn’t — that’s not his character.”
Wells went to Ocean Springs High School and was a rising sophomore on Southwest Mississippi Community College’s football team. Crump said Wells was a good swimmer.
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