| Wednesday, May 20, 2026 |
| Protect property from heavy termite swarms | |
 | Heavy swarms of Formosan subterranean termites in south Mississippi have recently created lots of buzz on social media. Swarms have appeared primarily in coastal counties, but on the evening of May 13, a large swarm postponed a high school softball championship game in Hattiesburg. Santos Portugal, urban entomologist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the appearance of these invasive, cellulose-eating insects is right on time. Formosan subterranean termite swarmers appear in Mississippi in late April through June. What caught people off guard was the size of the swarm. "It was one of the largest swarming events that many Mississippians have seen in quite a while, and maybe ever," Portugal said. "People were tagging me in videos. Friends were calling me." Formosan subterranean termite swarmers emerge for a few hours after sunset, often after a daytime rain event to find a mate and start a new colony. In heavily infested areas, these swarmers can be a nuisance because they are highly attracted to light, often interrupting outdoor nighttime activities. |
| Plans progress for housing, mixed use projects in Starkville | |
 | Aldermen approved initial development plans Tuesday for two projects that could bring new housing and commercial opportunities to the city's west side and downtown. During their regular meeting at City Hall, aldermen approved an initial plat for Sterling Ridge, a proposed single-family subdivision near the intersection of Mockingbird Road and Highway 182, and a final plat for Barter Row, a planned mixed-use redevelopment near 300 University Drive. Mayor Lynn Spruill said she was glad to see continued investment in housing opportunities across Starkville and is hopeful for more downtown residential development. Developer Charles Morgan's plans for Sterling Ridge call for 163 single-family homes on roughly 51 acres west of the city. Downtown, Brett Brasher of Neel-Schaffer submitted plans for Barter Row, which would develop property encompassing the existing Regions Bank building as well as four other nearby lots surrounding Reeds of Starkville into a mixed-use development with residential and commercial space. During the meeting, the board also approved a perpetual easement with Mississippi State University to allow construction of a multi-use pedestrian and bicycle path near the Highway 12 bypass and Garrard Road. The path will connect to an existing trail near the Garrard Road and Old West Point Road intersection and is a major component of the city's planned roundabout project near Walmart Neighborhood Market, City Engineer Cody Burnett told The Dispatch. |
| Cooking Matters: healthier eating on a budget | |
| Cooking Matters is a hands-on cooking class for adults eighteen or older, families with young children, and caregivers or guardians of young children. The Cooking Matters program focuses on how to cook and prepare healthy and affordable meals for the entire family. In partnership with the Mississippi State University Extension, Cooking Matters offers a free six-week course led by trained educators. "This class is an empowering educational tool that can be utilized throughout a lifetime," said nutrition educator Grace Brinster. "Something that we encourage class participants to do is to bring home the culinary skills that we're learning in class to their friends and family." Brinster has been working with the Mississippi State University Extension Service for four years and recently moved to Pearl River County. She describes Cooking Matters as an educational tool that teaches lifelong skills like how to make healthy food choices and encourages participants to share the skills learned in class with their families. |
| Starkville man charged after hidden recording device found in home | |
| A Starkville man was arrested Monday after police said a covert recording device was discovered inside a residence on Woodlawn Road. Officers with the Starkville Police Department responded Sunday, May 17, to a report of a recording device that had allegedly been secretly placed inside the home. Police said the suspect was not at the residence when officers initially arrived. Following an investigation, officers arrested Scott Gronewold, 50, at about 11:49 p.m. Monday at his residence on Woodlawn Road. Gronewold was charged with photographing or filming another person without permission where there is an expectation of privacy under Mississippi law. Anyone with information about the case or other criminal activity is asked to contact the Starkville Police Department at 662-323-4131, Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers at 800-530-7151, or submit an anonymous tip through the department's website. |
| Starkville makes up ground, Columbus lags behind sales tax projections | |
| Both Starkville and Columbus saw an increase in general sales tax collections this month, but Columbus is still on pace to fall just shy of its $12 million projected budget for the fiscal year. Meanwhile, Starkville is now poised to exceed its $10.3 million projected budget by more than $100,000. Both cities' budget cycles began Oct. 1. West Point, whose fiscal year began July 1, is still on track to exceed its $2.9 million projected budget by nearly $145,000. Sales tax diversions run on a three-month window. Taxes are collected by retailers in the first month, sent to Mississippi Department of Revenue the next and then disbursed to cities and counties the third. Therefore, May reported collections reflect sales from March. Starkville collected $966,406 in sales taxes this month, up 6.55% from May 2025 collections of $903,089. This marks a 22.46% increase from last month's collections of $789,144. So far this fiscal year, the city has collected $6,950,845 in sales tax revenue, a 3.46% increase from this time last year ($6,718,182). At its current pace, Starkville is expected to exceed its $10.3 million projected budget by about $126,267. Year-to-date, Starkville has collected $2,226,565 in restaurant sales tax revenue, marking a 3.6% increase from this time last year ($2,149,083). |
| Record Memorial Day weekend travel expected despite high gas prices | |
| Even with prices at the pumps the highest they have been since 2022, travel experts are expecting a busy Memorial Day weekend with millions of Americans packing up and gassing up the cars for road trips. AAA Mississippi spokesperson Don Redman said Tuesday the automobile association is "staying with" its national forecast issued earlier this month that projects 45 million domestic travelers between Thursday, May 21, and Monday, May 25. "A lot of the plans were booked before the war with Iran," Redman explained, pointing to the surge in gas prices since the U.S. and Israel first attacked Iran in February. "Though the gas prices are higher, I think that when people look at their overall travel budget or vacation budget, gasoline overall doesn't play that big of a role." For Mississippians, Redman said popular destinations will be local beaches, as well as sandy spots in Alabama and Florida, along with Gatlinburg, Tenn, and Branson, Mo. While the current price of gasoline – about $4 for a gallon of regular fuel in Mississippi and about $4.50 nationally -- is not expected to ruin many Memorial Day vacations, Redman did say if a decrease doesn't happen in the coming months, travel projections may decline for post-summer holidays. |
| Tupelo Lee Industrial Park South upgrades on horizon | |
 | Lee County officials are planning to further develop the Tupelo Lee Industrial Park South, with an eye toward funding those upgrades through state grants. The Lee County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to authorize officials to sign a development grant agreement with the Mississippi Development Authority for the industrial park during its regular Monday meeting, a move that puts them in the running for a $2 million grant to go toward the improvements. Community Development Foundation President and CEO David Rumbarger hopes this groundwork will entice future commercial development. "That park has been a Top 20 park nationally over a number of years, and we've sold a lot of property out of that park," he said. "We are excited about having this potential opportunity." Dozens of companies already call the area home, including General Atomics, Hunter Douglas, Morgan Fabrics, Grammer Inc., and Mitchell Distributing. |
| This Gulf Coast city stages a downtown comeback: luxury apartments, hotels, restaurants, more | |
 | Restaurants are opening. Hotels are rising. Developers are planning to build more apartments and shops. It is part of a downtown resurgence in Gulfport, the largest city on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The growing scene could be the start of a new era in Gulfport's city center -- a once-bustling nightlife hub that fell quiet during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, vacant buildings are filling with businesses and word of investment opportunities is spreading. "People are really beginning to get it," said Carole Lynn Meadows, chair of the Gulfport Redevelopment Commission. "There are possibilities here." The largest project expected to transform downtown Gulfport is the construction of a $105 million mixed-use town center. The development, called Channel South, will include retail shops, more than 100 luxury apartments and a 114-room Marriott Tribute hotel at the intersection of U.S. 90 and 49. Opening is slated for 2027. Leaders hope Channel South will lure more visitors and young professionals to the growing city of 76,000 people. It is also an example of surging development across the Gulf Coast, where towns of all sizes are scrambling to accommodate tourists and second-homeowners moving in from Louisiana and around the country. |
| Sparks enters race for State Auditor | |
| State Senator Daniel Sparks' name has been tossed around for State Auditor for going on two years. The Republican from Belmont who once downplayed those rumors is now throwing his hat in the ring for the statewide office. "I actually went to the State Auditor a couple years ago because I kept hearing my name bubbling up and I wasn't the one bubbling it. I wanted him to understand it wasn't me," Sparks told Magnolia Tribune Tuesday morning ahead of his announcement. With incumbent State Auditor Shad White (R) now all but officially running for governor in the 2027 election cycle, Sparks has decided to run for the open seat. "I appreciate that there were people talking about it before I was talking about it," the senator said. "So I hope that that certainly means it is the right fit. And I would certainly be excited to have the opportunity to move into that role." Sparks is a two-term state Senator representing Itawamba, Prentiss, and Tishomingo counties in Senate District 5. |
| Mississippi Democratic Party plans boycotts, protests in wake of SCOTUS ruling | |
| The chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party said Tuesday that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to vacate a lower court's ruling regarding legislative redistricting will be met with pre-Voting Rights Act era tactics. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated an order from a three-judge panel that forced legislative redistricting in 2025 under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in light of its ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. The resulting special legislative elections held last year saw Republicans lose their supermajority in the state Senate. The Callais case, recently decided by the nation's highest court, found that race could not be used as a determinative factor in drawing districts, changing the evidentiary standard required to sustain an alleged racial discrimination claim under the Voting Rights Act. Democratic Party chairman State Rep. Cheikh Taylor said people opposed to the ruling will practice nonviolence, such as boycotts, to protest the decision, which he says could lead to the loss of 17 seats in the Mississippi House of Representatives and 7 seats in the state Senate. During a press conference in downtown Jackson at the party's headquarters, the Democratic Party chairman called the ruling "a defining moment" in political history. |
| Mississippi Democrats fear big losses in Legislature from redistricting, vow to organize | |
| One estimate shows Democrats could lose as many as 24 seats in the Mississippi Legislature from GOP-led gerrymandering, the state party chairman said Tuesday. At a news conference in Jackson, Rep. Cheikh Taylor, Democratic Party chairman, said he has reviewed maps Republicans might adopt in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's Louisiana v. Callais ruling, which gutted part of the Voting Rights Act. Taylor said he fears Democrats could lose as many as 17 seats in the House and 7 seats in the Senate. He also cited a report published last fall in anticipation of the Callais decision by voting rights organizations Fair Fight Action and Black Voters Matter. The report said nearly half of the state's Black-majority districts, 29, could be eliminated if Republicans adopt an aggressive redistricting strategy encouraged by some in the majority party. "We will continue organizing, we will continue educating, mobilizing and building leadership in every corner of Mississippi, from the Delta to the Coast, from Jackson to the smallest rural community. Every church house and every college campus," Taylor said. "Our fight is not over, and in many ways it's just the beginning." |
| Bennie Thompson pushes back on redistricting at Jackson town hall | |
 | In his first appearance in his home state since Mississippi's top politicians began calling for his district to be redrawn, U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson told pews of Jackson residents that Black voters have always made their way through attacks from Republicans. On May 18 at a town hall on redistricting, Thompson recounted the story of the first Black elected official he met as a young man when he went to Mound Bayou, his wife's hometown. "For the first time in my life, I saw a mayor who looked like me. I saw a school superintendent of education who looked like me," Thompson said. "I saw a chief of police who looked like me. I thought, this has to be heaven. They said, 'No, this is just a town that was founded by slaves who decided to determine their own destiny.'" If it hadn't been for the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, Thompson said, Mound Bayou would still have the state's only Black elected officials. Now that the Supreme Court has essentially gutted one of the sections of that federal law, Thompson warned, people that want to "do harm" to Black voters "see this as an opportunity to do it." Thompson joined three Democratic state legislators from Jackson, Sen. Sollie Norwood, Rep. Zakiya Summers and Rep. Grace Butler-Washington, for a town hall at Pearl Street AME Church to explain what redistricting is and what it could mean in Mississippi. |
| Southern sweep reinforces Trump's primary power | |
 | Tuesday's flurry of primary elections underlined the strength of President Trump's endorsement among Republicans, with his chosen candidates winning key races across the South. It also set the stage for general election races that will determine whether Democrats can take advantage of Trump's record-low approval numbers to score some upsets in typically hostile territory. In Alabama, retiring Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) clinched the Republican nomination for governor, setting him up for a rematch of sorts with the winner of Tuesday's Democratic primary, former Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.). Trump-backed Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) appears on track to succeed Tuberville in the Senate, beating Navy SEAL Jared Hudson and Attorney General Steve Marshall by double digits on Tuesday. The race for second place has not been called, but Moore will face with Hudson or Marshall in a runoff, with the winner heavily favored in November. In Kentucky, all eyes were on the 4th Congressional District race, where Trump-endorsed challenger Ed Gallrein bested Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) in the most expensive House primary in history. Trump-backed Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) won the GOP battle to replace retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). |
| Trump's Endorsement Machine Steamrolls Republican Dissent | |
 | President Trump delivered a clear message to Republicans in Tuesday's primaries: Cross the president at your own peril. His powerful primary endorsements have left behind a battered trail of fellow Republicans judged disloyal by Trump -- maverick Indiana legislators, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, and now Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, whom Trump labeled "an obstructionist and a fool." Trump's triumph in Tuesday's Kentucky congressional primary, which saw Republicans reject Massie in favor of a Trump-backed challenger, Ed Gallrein, served as the latest reminder of the president's enduring grip on his Make America Great Again base. Massie frequently clashed with the president and broke with him over spending and the Iran war, and was instrumental in forcing the president to release the Justice Department's files in the case of Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender. It was also a shot across the bow to any Republicans considering putting distance between themselves and Trump ahead of a challenging midterm election that many predict will see Democrats take control of the House. Trump, undaunted by political headwinds, has made it clear that his coattails are the only way through a Republican primary. |
| For Vance and Rubio, the road to 2028 takes a turn through the White House briefing room | |
 | The earliest signals of a presidential race normally involve such subtle and behind-the-scenes positioning from candidates that it's been dubbed in political circles as the "shadow primary." But the early Republican race to succeed President Donald Trump in just over two years' time seems to be already playing out in one of the most public forums possible: the White House press briefing room. Vice President JD Vance, who is seen as one of the GOP's strongest potential candidates for president in 2028, stepped up to the lectern on Tuesday, holding the spotlight for 54 minutes as he took questions from reporters. It was five minutes longer than the turn taken two weeks ago by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the person currently seen as Vance's possible chief rival -- or running mate -- in 2028. Vance and Rubio were tapped to fill in as temporary replacements for White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who is on maternity leave. The chance to parry questions before news cameras on a wide range of subjects was a high-profile opportunity to reintroduce themselves to the public and try to make a nascent case that they should be elected commander-in-chief. |
| Single Gen Z women outpace Gen Z men to homeownership despite overall decline in first-time buyers | |
| Single Gen Z women are outpacing their male counterparts when it comes to buying a home. They accounted for 35% of all homebuyers in their generation, while single Gen Z men represented 18%, according to survey data from the National Association of Realtors. NAR surveyed people who bought a home between July 2024 and June 2025. The survey included homebuyers from several generations, from Gen Z, ages 18-26, to the Silent Generation, ages 80 to 100. No other generation had a bigger share of single women homebuyers than Gen Z. Experts say there is no one-size-fits-all answer to why across the generations single women outnumber single men as homeowners. Women now are outpacing men in college attendance, which can lead to higher incomes, said Jessica Lautz, NAR's deputy chief economist. They tend to have a strong desire for homeownership as a way to secure their independence, something they historically could not easily do alone. "It wasn't until the 1970s where women were legally protected to have a mortgage on their own," Lautz said. "And they have embraced this and been very strongly embracing this." |
| Rare cast-iron casket from 1800s unearthed at Asylum Hill Cemetery in Jackson | |
 | Archaeologists excavating remains from the site of the Asylum Hill Cemetery on the University of Mississippi Medical Center campus have unearthed a rare, fully preserved cast-iron casket dating back to the late 1800s. The rusted casket, which weighed nearly 200 pounds and was sealed with 24 heavily corroded bolts, was discovered in March by a six-member excavation team near the ridge of the cemetery. Researchers say the find is unlike anything uncovered since the excavation project began. Dr. Jennifer Mack, lead bioarcheologist, said cast iron caskets were uncommon in institutional cemeteries because of their cost. "We have seen in the patient records where someone has said, well I can't get my loved one, but we are going to wire this much money for the purchase of a casket," said Mack. "It wasn't uncommon for people to send the money for a burial here, but the cast iron casket is just a particularly pricey example of that." According to Mack, it is possible the individual's family purchased the casket with plans to reclaim their loved one, but those plans may have changed. |
| Reid Selected as UA's Next Provost | |
| Dr. Lesley Reid has been selected as The University of Alabama's next provost after serving as interim provost since November 2025. Reid will continue to provide innovative academic and administrative leadership that will propel the University to develop leaders, drive research, strengthen communities and steward resources. "Dr. Lesley Reid is a highly respected academic leader who brings to this role a deep understanding of The University of Alabama, our faculty and our academic mission," UA President Peter J. Mohler said. "Throughout her time as interim provost, she has led with thoughtfulness, integrity and a strong commitment to shared governance and open communication, empowering faculty and engaging with students. I am particularly excited about her vision focused on academic mentoring and faculty leadership across UA." A respected scholar, Reid is a criminologist whose research centers on the characteristics of places, from neighborhoods to correctional institutions, that shape safety and risk of criminal victimization. |
| The U. of Florida Rejected a Former DEI Champion. Will Stuart Bell Face the Same Fate? | |
 | In June 2020, Stuart R. Bell, then-president of the University of Alabama, made a striking announcement: The Tuscaloosa campus's Confederate monument, which for generations had been seen by Black students and faculty as a piercing reminder of the university's slave-owning history, would be removed. "Teaching and learning about the impact of racism that has suppressed and marginalized our Black students, colleagues, friends, and communities is an important part of our mission," Bell said. "This is a defining moment for our country and our university." Bell's announcement took place in front of the campus auditorium, where Gov. George Wallace 57 years earlier had famously attempted to physically block the enrollment of two Black students, a move aimed at delivering on his campaign promise to keep in Alabama "segregation forever." Between 2020 and 2024, Bell executed one of the most robust and successful diversity plans in the nation at Alabama, according to records, interviews, and an analysis of federal data. On Monday, Bell was announced as the sole candidate for the presidency of the University of Florida. |
| U. of Florida graduate assistants reach tentative deal, but new laws threaten union | |
 | The University of Florida's Graduate Assistants United brokered a tentative agreement with the university after three years of negotiations. Contract negotiations between the university and the union, which currently represents over 4,200 teaching, research and graduate assistants, stalled last year after UF repeatedly denied the union's request to increase 9-month contract employees' minimum stipend from $16,000 to $26,000, and 12-month contract employees' minimum stipend from $21,333 to $34,000. But the parties agreed to compromise earlier this year with a $20,600 minimum stipend for 9-month employees and $27,467 minimum stipend for 12-month employees. The union also negotiated expansions to paid and parental leave from 8 to 12 weeks, bereavement leave, stronger academic freedom and anti-discrimination protections, and more transparent offer letter language around contract renewal. Hannah Jacobs, one of UF-GAU's co-presidents and co-lead negotiators, told The Sun the stipend increases fall short of a livable wage, but it's progress. |
| Anti-hazing law nears final approval in Louisiana | |
| The Louisiana Legislature has approved a bill to combat college hazing by increasing penalties, training and reporting requirements for schools and campus organizations. House Bill 636, authored by Rep. Vanessa LaFleur, D-Baton Rouge, is known as the Caleb Wilson Hazing Prevention Act. The measure is named for the 20-year-old Southern University student who died in a hazing incident last year. Five people have been indicted in connection with Wilson's death during a February 2025 pledge initiation for Omega Psi Phi fraternity. The chapter has been removed from Southern's campus, though it has the option to appeal and return. LaFleur's bill advanced from the Senate on a 37-0 vote Monday after getting House approval earlier this month on a 104-0 vote. Present for the bill's passage Monday were Wilson's parents, Corey and Urania Wilson, who senators presented with American and Louisiana flags. |
| UA System schools seek ask Board of Trustees to approve tuition and fee increases | |
| University of Arkansas System institutions will ask the system's Board of Trustees to approve tuition and fee increases for the 2026-27 academic year this week. The UA's flagship campus in Fayetteville is seeking an increase of nearly 4%, which would be similar to its 3.89% increase for the 2025-26 school year. UA's tuition and mandatory fees rose 3.66% in 2024-25. Under the university's proposal, tuition and fees for 2026-27 would total $10,916, up from $10,497 in 2025-26. Rates are based on 30 undergraduate credit hours and in-state tuition. The price per semester credit hour for undergraduate Arkansas residents would increase from $269.75 to $277.84. Nonresident undergraduates would pay significantly more -- $1,020.11, or roughly $50 more than they paid in 2025-26. Total undergraduate mandatory fees would be $86.03 per semester credit hour, up nearly $6 from 2025-26, but the university would not charge a general student fee to support the Department of Athletics. Students, state lawmakers and others have expressed concern recently that UA might begin charging students more to shore up financial support for athletics. |
| U. of South Carolina, Clemson froze in-state tuition in 2020. So why do they cost $8K more a year now? | |
 | Since 2019, the South Carolina General Assembly has sent the state's public colleges and universities additional money each year in exchange for a promise to hold tuition flat for in-state students. The arrangement has ensured that Palmetto State residents pay no more for classes at Clemson or Carolina today than they did six years ago, even as in-state tuition rates nationally have increased nearly 14%, or about $1,500, over the same period. But some lawmakers suspect that universities have jacked up other costs to offset the tuition money they're leaving on the table. Student housing and dining costs are rising, and the imposition of mandatory new athletics fees at both Clemson and USC in recent years has only magnified concerns. Both Clemson and USC now estimate that an in-state undergraduate who lives on campus will spend about $40,000 annually, all-inclusive. That's about $8,000 more than the same student would have spent six years ago, despite the fact tuition hasn't budged. A spokesman for the University of South Carolina said the state's flagship school had not raised other costs to get around the tuition freeze. "The increase in housing and meals are not to make up for tuition," USC spokesman Jeff Stensland wrote in an emailed statement, adding that students pay no more than the average U.S. consumer for either commodity, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. |
| Advising the College Search in the Age of AI, TikTok and Anxiety | |
 | In the ever-changing world of admissions, what is the best way to support a student applying to college? That's the question hundreds of independent college counselors came together to ask during the Independent Educational Consultants Association's 50th annual conference at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor this week. The work of these counselors -- or IECs, as they're known in the industry -- looks very different now than it did when the association formed in 1976, as institutions and students acclimate to the high cost of attendance, the rise of AI and an increasingly anxious student body. At the same time, the college consulting field is growing, Stephanie Simpson, who started as IECA's CEO last December, told Inside Higher Ed. And it's becoming more accessible and affordable to a wider range of students. Simpson and Lisa Carlton, the association's incoming president, who started her career as an IEC almost 20 years ago working with neurodivergent students, sat down with Inside Higher Ed at the Hilton to discuss what the work of IECs looks like today. |
| College career path 'over' as skilled trade get 30% pay bump, recruitment giant says | |
| The days of going to college to secure a lucrative career are over, as skilled trade workers have seen a 30% wage bump in the past few years, the CEO of the world's largest recruitment firm told CNBC. Sander van't Noordende, CEO of Dutch staffing giant Randstad, recommended the skilled trades career track to young people in an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Wednesday. "I would say the days of going to college and doing something in an office, they are over," Noordende said. "You've got to be smarter than that. I think technology, any kind of technology, is still a good career trajectory. "The skilled trades are coming up rapidly. I would say you can make a good career and good money in skilled trade. That's definitely a career track," he added. Specialized skilled trade roles are now offering salaries that compete with traditional office jobs, with wage growth up 30% in the U.S. in the past four years, up 21% in the Netherlands, 18% in Germany, and 9% in the U.K, according to Randstad's latest data shared with CNBC. "The digital revolution requires a massive physical foundation," Noordende previously told CNBC in March. "The debate around AI's impact on the labor market often focuses entirely on...whether generative models will displace white-collar jobs. But a critical reality is being completely overlooked: AI cannot build its own data centers." |
| Congrats, new grads! Welcome to job market hell. | |
 | When Audrey Hasson started her freshman year at Carnegie Mellon University in 2022, ChatGPT was still locked inside a lab. As she graduated this month, Hasson and her peers are casting off into a world where many believe they're cannon fodder in the artificial intelligence revolution. Hasson's father, a caricature artist, asked her for the first time a few months ago whether AI might wreck her job prospects. "There's a perception right now that it's impossible to get a career as a graduate in computer science," said the 22-year-old Hasson, who is from Ellicott City, Maryland. For 15 years after the Great Recession, young Americans flooded into college computer science programs to grab a stable, high-paying career. AI now threatens to undermine that dependable path to a secure future for the Class of 2026. Young software coders are predicted to be among the first to get whacked in AI job destruction. Carnegie Mellon's computer science grads offer a window onto the dueling trepidation and excitement of Generation GPT, a cohort that will help shape the future of AI and in turn be reshaped by it. |
| These Companies Say AI Is Reviving Entry-Level Jobs, Not Killing Them | |
| Employers have singled out AI in recent years as a reason to cut back on hiring college graduates. Now some companies are flipping that narrative, saying AI is boosting their need for entry-level workers. In one of the biggest surveys on employers' graduate hiring plans this year, nearly three times as many executives at companies using or exploring AI said they were increasing junior-level hiring in 2026 than cutting back. Those using AI most extensively were the most bullish, according to Strada Education Foundation, which surveyed about 1,500 employers. The findings suggest that what companies expect their youngest workers can do for them is evolving as fast as AI itself. More than 40% said AI was bringing more complexity and analytical responsibility to those jobs as the technology takes over more of the rote, administrative tasks traditionally assigned to new graduates. That companies embracing AI are increasing entry-level hiring might seem counterintuitive. Not to Bryce Strauss, co-founder of Nominal, which builds software for engineers in sectors like energy, aviation and satellites to operate hardware. One new engineering graduate -- without being instructed -- built an analysis tool with AI that her whole team uses now, he said. Leaning in to entry-level workers "has blossomed into one of the best decisions we have made." |
| 25 States Sue Ed Department Over Grad Student Loan Limits | |
| Half the states in the country and Washington, D.C., sued the Education Department Tuesday, asking a judge to vacate the agency's decision to subject students in all but a few graduate programs to the most stringent new federal loan limits. At stake is students' access to their desired careers, universities' ability to charge them what they deem a degree should cost and the nation's supply of health-care workers, among other matters. The states -- all led by either a Democratic governor or a Democratic attorney general -- that filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Maryland seek to overturn parts of ED's rule implementing loan limits created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). That law, which Congress passed last summer, ended the Grad PLUS program, which allowed grad students to borrow up to their full cost of attendance. OBBBA replaced that with loan caps that would limit "graduate students" to borrowing $20,500 per year, or $100,000 in total, and "professional students" to borrowing $50,000 per year, or $200,000 in total. ED's rule -- which was finalized April 30 and is set to take effect July 1 -- defines which degrees go into which category. The lawsuit contends that it does so illegally, in a way that contradicts Congress's intent. |
| As international graduate student enrollment falls, US schools scramble to fill the hole | |
 | When nearly 2,000 students, many of them from abroad, received their graduate degrees on a recent sun-splashed afternoon at the University of New Haven in Connecticut, it might have been the last graduate student commencement of its size on the campus for some time. The school, which grew its graduate student enrollment with popular programs in engineering, business, and public health, has lost some 3,000 graduate students from abroad over the past two years. When new international graduate students arrive this fall, they will number only in the dozens rather than the hundreds. A variety of factors conspired to force this major shift in the school's student body, but they have in common the policies of President Donald Trump. The administration's goals of restricting legal immigration and pushing back against critics on U.S. college campuses combined to reshape who is filling college classrooms across the country, experts say. |
| DOL rescinds Biden-era overtime rule, formalizing return to 2019 salary threshold | |
| The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division announced Thursday it was rescinding the embattled Biden-era overtime rule, more than a year after federal courts vacated the 2024 regulations. The rule took effect Friday. The 2024 rule raised the earnings threshold to qualify for overtime to $844 per week in July 2024, from the 2019-issued threshold of $684 per week. It was then set to increase again to $1,128 per week on Jan. 1, 2025, and would have increased periodically from then on. In late 2024, two Texas district courts vacated that year's final rule. After DOL dropped its appeals of the decisions earlier this month, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the cases and the orders remain final judgments, DOL said. This rescission of the 2024 final rule is unsurprising given President Donald Trump's administration signaling it would revisit the rule, Keith Kopplin, co-chair of Ogletree Deakins' wage and hour practice group, and Zachary Zagger, senior marketing counsel at Ogletree, said in a blog post. |
| Second-generation jurist brings impactful tenure on the federal bench to a close at age 85 | |
| Columnist Sid Salter writes: When President Ronald Reagan appointed Tom Stewart Lee to the federal bench some 42 years ago last week, the usual national advocacy groups that spar over federal judicial appointments were hard-pressed to generate much opposition or support for the nomination. That's because most of his judicial experience came in rural Scott County, Mississippi, as a county prosecutor, youth court judge, and municipal judge. ... The Lees had carved their own sphere of influence in Mississippi politics and jurisprudence. Judge Lee is the scion of a family of distinguished Mississippi jurists from Scott County. His brother, the late Roy Noble Lee Sr., was appointed to a vacancy on the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1976 and served until 1993, serving as chief justice from 1987 to 1993. The Lee brothers' father, the late Percy Mercer Lee, preceded his sons as a lawyer, district attorney, Circuit Court judge, and later as a justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court from 1950 to 1965 – serving the final two years as chief justice. Lee's appointment reflected a number of Cochran-backed judicial appointments as the state's senior senator, which brought dignity and enlightenment to Mississippi's federal bench. |
SPORTS
| Baseball: No. 16 Bulldogs Begin SEC Tournament Against Mizzou | |
| Mississippi State spent the regular season building the kind of résumé that makes May matter. Now the 16th-ranked Diamond Dawgs get their first chance to add to it in Hoover. No. 8 seed MSU opens SEC Tournament play Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. against Missouri at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium and televised on SEC Network. The 16th-seeded Tigers eliminated No. 9 seed Ole Miss with a 10-8 victory on the opening day of the tournament. The Bulldogs (39-16) have handled well Mizzou recently. MSU leads the all-time series 16-7 and swept the Tigers to close out the regular season last year in Columbia. The Diamond Dawgs erupted offensively for 25-7, 13-3 and 12-1 victories with the final two games ending after seven innings. The Bulldogs will hand the ball to sophomore left-hander Tomas Valincius, who has been one of the SEC's most reliable arms for most of the spring. Valincius is 9-2 with a 3.04 ERA, 112 strikeouts and only 17 walks in 80 innings. He will oppose Missouri left-hander Brady Kehlenbrink, who enters 3-9 with a 6.69 ERA, 92 strikeouts and 21 walks. |
| Mizzou baseball stuns Ole Miss for first SEC Tournament win in nine years | |
 | Oftentimes in SEC play, a starting pitcher's performance can be the key to success. Things like endurance, command of the zone, and limiting base runners early help determine momentum. For Mizzou, Josh McDevitt has been as solid as they come all year, so it was no surprise the coaching staff turned to him with the season on the line. The other starter in Tuesday's game between No. 17 Ole Miss and Mizzou in the first round of the SEC Tournament was Wil Libbert, who transferred to the Rebels this past offseason after starting 11 games for Mizzou last year. Both starters were reasonably sharp, but the bats generally prevailed Tuesday in a back-and-forth game in Hoover, Alabama. Mizzou, the No. 16 seed, pulled off the 10-8 upset over No. 9 seed Ole Miss. It was the Tigers' first SEC Tournament victory since 2017. The Tigers will move on to play Mississippi State at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in Round 2 of the tournament. |
| Men's Golf: State Fires Program's Best NCAA Tournament Round In Winston-Salem Regional Day Two | |
| Mississippi State made history in round two of the NCAA Winston-Salem Regional, firing a 12-under 272 – the lowest NCAA Tournament round in program history. The Bulldogs sit in fourth with an overall score of 18-under 550. Garrett Endicott caught absolute fire in day two, carding the best round of his decorated college career with a 7-under 64. This marks Endicott's 81st career round of par or better, which breaks Ford Clegg's program record. Endicott's day was bogey-free with five birdies and an eagle. This is the third round of 64 in his career at MSU but the first to reach the 7-under-par mark. He will enter the final round in fourth overall. Dain Richie put together a 3-under 68, his seventh-consecutive round in the 60s. Richie birdied three of his first four holes, but after giving up two shots, he rebounded nicely with two birdies in his final six holes to finish the day in a tie for sixth. Jackson Skinner shot a 2-under 69 for his 15th round of par or better this season, carding seven birdies on the day to make his way inside the top 20. Jackson Cook played steady golf with an even-par 71 while Ugo Malcor finished State's lineup with a 3-over 74. |
| Senators think they hold the key to a college athletics bill demanded by Trump | |
 | After House talks imploded this week over the fate of a college athletics bill, senators now believe they have the upper hand in shaping a sweeping package that would enact new rules for a multibillion-dollar industry that has been destabilized by years of political and legal battles. Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Maria Cantwell of Washington, the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, have been spending hours every day for the past week at the negotiating table. "Both of us, I believe, want to get to 'yes,'" Cruz said in an interview Tuesday. "There's a real crisis in college sports and if Congress doesn't act, we are going to see continued damage." Cantwell, in a separate interview Tuesday, agreed talks were progressing: "Everybody's working hard." It would be a major achievement if Cruz and Cantwell can land a deal that their House counterparts have repeatedly fumbled. The stakes are especially high for Cruz, who still isn't ruling out a presidential bid in 2028 and has sought to use his chairmanship of the Commerce Committee to flex his policy chops. |
| Is big-budget spending sustainable in college sports? | |
| Few industries embrace buzzwords the way college athletics does, which is why -- with spring sports coming to a close -- the impending offseason is destined to be remembered as the moment of alleged "unsustainable" spending. From Washington athletic director Pat Chun to Michigan State athletic director J Batt to Colorado coach Deion Sanders, "unsustainable" has become the decree of recent months. Heck, everyone from Charles Barkley to Ted Cruz to Nick Saban has dropped the U-word. The place where unsustainable meets thriving is the Big Ten, which is hosting its spring conference meetings in Southern California this week. The ongoing paradox of college sports -- high ratings and loud complaining, $5 million-plus deals for players countered by concerns about how to pay them -- met with the conference's championship realities here. "What is unsustainable?" Maryland athletic director Jim Smith asked ESPN. "Is it three years? Five years? Ten years? Every time I hear when people say it's unsustainable, I'm not sure what timeframe they're talking about because clearly it keeps happening." |
| Big Ten commish says a 24-team playoff would make regular season more meaningful, not less | |
| Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti painted his conference's 24-team College Football Playoff proposal as a way of making the regular season more meaningful -- not less -- and said he's surprised he keeps having to explain that to a stout group of critics who favor a smaller expansion. "When I was in baseball, we never had to convince people that keeping more people in the race is better for everybody," Petitti, who helped shepherd in playoff expansion when he was with Major League Baseball from 2008-20, said Tuesday. "But I feel like, in this space, we're being asked to do that." Petitti met with reporters on the second day of the league's spring meetings. He spelled out the reasoning behind the push for a 24-team playoff and projected a sense of unanimity among his coaches and athletic directors in favor of doubling the tournament from its current 12-team format. He once again said there was no real love in his league for what the Southeastern Conference prefers -- a move to 16 teams that, under one scenario, would put every playoff team in action on the first week. In what might have been the week’s biggest eye-opener, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said on “The Paul Finebaum Show” that at his own league meetings in Florida next week, he expects “a lot of our coaches, a lot of our athletic directors and probably some others (will) think 24 is the right direction.” |
| Big Ten's Tony Petitti stumps for 24-team CFP, says 16 hard no | |
| In a rare meeting with reporters Tuesday at the Big Ten spring meetings, commissioner Tony Petitti gave his first extensive public comments in support of a 24-team College Football Playoff model, making it clear the league has no interest in pursuing a 16-team format. If the SEC doesn't pivot from its 16-team preference and support the Big Ten's proposed model, Petitti said the Big Ten will take a hard no stance on 16 for 2027 and beyond. "We've had zero conversation about 16," he said. "Plan B is what we have now. We would stay with what we have now." For the current 12-team model to change, the Big Ten and the SEC have to agree on the format. The SEC will hold its spring meetings in Destin, Florida, next week, and some coaches and athletic directors have spoken in favor of a 24-team field, but commissioner Greg Sankey and the league's presidents and chancellors have continued to favor 16 -- at least for now. For almost an hour Tuesday evening, Petitti spoke with a small group of reporters in a conference room at the posh Terranea Resort about a variety of weighty issues facing college athletics, from the involvement of Congress and the White House to NIL and the overall football calendar. No topic loomed larger, though, than the future of the CFP. |
| Big Ten's Tony Petitti on move to 24-team College Football Playoff -- 'If we have to wait, it's OK. We'll wait.' | |
| Tony Petitti left no doubt or wiggle room: The Big Ten wants a 24-team playoff or bust. During an hour-long news conference with reporters on Tuesday, as Big Ten administrative spring meetings wound down here on the Pacific cliffs, the league's commissioner sent a clear message about the future of college football's postseason. "There is a deep commitment to 24," he said. And if the SEC doesn't agree immediately this year, that's OK too. The College Football Playoff would then remain at 12. "If we have to wait, it's OK. We'll wait," he said. The SEC and Big Ten, for a year now, have been locked in a disagreement over the future playoff format. This year, the postseason will remain at 12 teams, but executives must decide before a Dec. 1 ESPN deadline for 2027. According to a memorandum of understanding that the conferences and Notre Dame signed in March 2024, the Big Ten and SEC must agree on a format for it to be adopted. SEC administrators gather next week near Destin, Florida, for their version of their annual spring meetings. But the conference's position on a playoff may not be clear until June, when the CFP's governance committee next meets in person. Playoff media consultants are expected to present a valuation of a 24-team field then. |
| Big Ten explores self-governance model as College Sports Commission sputters | |
| Ross Bjork is done waiting. The Ohio State athletic director stood outside the Big Ten's spring meetings this week and laid out, plainly, where he believes his conference -- the biggest and richest in college sports -- is headed if Washington, D.C. keeps stalling and the College Sports Commission continues to sputter. "We cannot govern nationally right now," Bjork said. "There are too many extenuating forces. So, can we have a subset at our conference, but we're still going to play each other?" No one is shying away from the conversation in the Big Ten. At a luxury resort tucked into the cliffs along the Pacific Coast, conference officials spent three days discussing a future in which the Big Ten governs revenue-sharing deals itself, setting its own rules built on the foundation of a legally defensible framework. This contingency plan -- or idea -- will grow legs if the CSC's slowly evolving enforcement arm needs a jolt and the federal help they have sought in Congress falls through in the near future. |
| NAACP calls for Black student-athletes to boycott Southern schools amid redistricting backlash | |
 | The NAACP launched a campaign Tuesday calling on Black student-athletes to boycott Southern colleges in the wake of a Supreme Court decision last month that weakened the Voting Rights Act, leading to the dismantling of one majority-Black congressional district and a push to scrap others. "The NAACP will not watch the same institutions that depend on Black athletic prowess to fill their stadiums and their bank accounts remain silent while their states strip Black communities of their voice," NAACP National President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement. The group is urging Black recruits to withhold their commitments from a list of universities primarily within the NCAA's Southeastern Conference. The schools are in the following states: Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Georgia. The "Out of Bounds" campaign comes as voting rights advocates, across generations, are grappling with what they see as the latest blow to one of the most seminal victories of the nation's Civil Rights Movement. |
| Black leaders turn to collegiate sports in fight over Southern representation | |
| Black leaders searching for a response to Republican-led redistricting in the South are turning to an unorthodox pressure point as their legal and political options dwindle: college sports. On Tuesday, the NAACP announced the Out of Bounds campaign, urging fan boycotts and Black student athletes to avoid committing to top public athletic programs in Southern states. It comes just one day after the Congressional Black Caucus came out against the SCORE Act, a bipartisan effort to give the NCAA renewed authority to regulate the collegiate athletic system, at least temporarily derailing the legislation. All told, it amounts to a Hail Mary campaign from Black political leaders who have little recourse in the courts, legislatures or Congress to stop a wave of redistricting targeting majority Black seats after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. The NAACP is calling on fans to avoid spending money at public universities in these states, including buying tickets to sporting events and spending money on apparel, until they "repeal maps that dilute Black voting power." |
| Flag football moves toward NCAA championship status | |
| Flag football took a big step Tuesday, receiving a formal recommendation to become an NCAA championship sport. Its first championship is projected to occur in spring 2028. The NCAA Committee on Access, Opportunity and Impact voted at its spring meeting to recommend Divisions I, II and III sponsor legislation to add a National Collegiate Flag Football Championship. The committee oversees the Emerging Sports for Women program, which aims to grow participation and competitive opportunities for women's sports across the NCAA. "Girls want to play. Whenever you give access and opportunity to an easier way to play, the better the success and numbers in participation you see," said Jacqie McWilliams Parker, chair of the Committee on Access, Opportunity and Impact and Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association commissioner. "The young women who are currently playing at our institutions, some never even thought about being able to play in college. Now they have their opportunity. As we hit the next steps to becoming an NCAA championship, I'm excited we're providing access and opportunity." |
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