| Tuesday, October 27, 2026 |
| Starkville man charged with aggravated domestic violence, kidnapping | |
 | A Starkville man has been arrested on aggravated domestic violence and kidnapping charges following a disturbance at a residence Friday night, according to the Starkville Police Department. Officers responded around 11:56 p.m. Oct. 23 to Wildwood Estates at 1384 Louisville St. after receiving a report of a disturbance in progress. Police said officers could hear an active disturbance coming from inside the residence when they arrived. Officers entered the home and arrested 40-year-old George Peterson of Starkville. Peterson was charged with domestic violence-aggravated assault and kidnapping. The victim declined medical treatment at the scene, according to police. The incident remains under investigation. |
| Trump campaigns in Mississippi, highlighting Republicans' challenges | |
 | President Donald Trump campaigned Monday in Mississippi, as he continued a closing midterm rally blitz that has highlighted Republicans' challenges ahead of an election that could drastically shift power in Washington and statehouses across the country. "I'm here because Cindy's doing great, but I just got to make sure. I can't take a chance," Trump told the crowd, his voice audibly hoarse, as he worked to boost Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who is facing a surprisingly stiff challenge from Democrat Scott Colom. Colom was spotted at the rally site, too, creating the rare spectacle of Trump's staunchest supporters interacting directly with a figure the president would soon go on to denigrate as a "Marxist radical" and "fake" and "shameless phony who pretends to be a moderate" from the stage. Mississippi, among the nation's most reliably Republican states, is not where the Republicans envisioned needing a late-October stop from the president. But Colom is one of many Democratic underdogs who have managed to expand the House and Senate battleground maps because of widespread voter discontent over inflation, the Iran war and other aspects of Trump's second presidency. |
| SpaceXAI facing $6.1M in potential environmental penalties | |
 | SpaceXAI is facing $6.1 million in potential civil penalties from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. According to its quarterly report with the Securities and Exchange Commission filed on Thursday, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality issued notices of violation in August to MZX Tech, SpaceXAI's parent company. The notices claim the company disturbed the land across its three Southaven sites without stormwater permits from the state. MDEQ is seeking civil penalties of up to $25,000 per day, with preliminary claimed exposure of approximately $6.1 million. MZX said in the filing that it is cooperating with MDEQ and is in discussions to resolve the matters through a single agreed order. Separately, the NAACP has filed a lawsuit over the gas-fired turbines on Stanton Road, alleging violations of the Clean Air Act's environmental permitting requirements. On Tuesday, a federal judge in Mississippi rejected the federal government's attempt to end the NAACP lawsuit. |
| U. of Alabama celebrates its contributions to Artemis missions at Texas A&M game | |
 | The University of Alabama commemorated its role in NASA's Artemis II mission at this weekend's game against Texas A&M. NASA astronauts and U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., held a plaque honoring a university flag that traveled more than 685,000 miles to the moon and back as part of the mission. The university played a crucial role in the mission through software developed on campus that helps calculate and design spacecraft trajectories, according to a previous UA news release. The Astrodynamics Software and Science Enabling Toolkit, developed in Dr. Rohan Sood's lab, evaluates safe trajectories for NASA's ongoing and future missions, including Artemis I and II. NASA used the toolkit to analyze the trajectory of Artemis I's Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, which helped boost the Orion spacecraft toward the Moon. "When they detach the ICPS, engineers need to know whether it may come back to Earth or can be safely disposed of in space," Sood said. |
| AU awarded $22 million to establish Kay Ivey Institute for Civic Leadership | |
| The governor's office announced that the State of Alabama awarded $27 million to Public School and College Authority (PSCA) projects on Oct. 21. Of the total, Auburn University will receive $22 million, and the Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences will receive $5 million. A press release from the office of the governor said the funds came from interest that has accrued since the original issuance in 2020. They also note that this additional commitment and personal championing add to more than $1.9 billion in PSCA funds that Gov. Kay Ivey has donated during her 10-year tenure as governor. "The [PSCA] funding allows us to make generational investments in the classrooms that are fostering future generations. There is simply no task more important than equipping our young people with the best opportunities to succeed," Ivey said. The funds were officially approved during a meeting of the PSCA where President Christopher B. Roberts appeared with other representatives for a photo with Ivey. |
SPORTS
| Everything Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said about Mississippi State, Kamario Taylor and more | |
| Out with one Mississippi school capable of putting a hurt on Texas. In with another. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said a lot in his Monday press conference, mostly comments centered on his Longhorns and the state of his program coming out of a victory over then-No. 7 Ole Miss (5-2). But Sark also took time to preview this Saturday's game against Mississippi State (4-3), of course. And in some ways, it's a similar challenge to what the No. 11 Horns (5-2) just faced in combatting the Rebels' Trinidad Chambliss. If he plays (foot injury), MSU's Kamario Taylor can be just as much of a headache to contain as Chambliss was supposed to be heading into last weekend's matchup. It's not just Taylor, either. It's the slew of playmakers Mississippi State boasts and what that offense is capable of when it's humming, even if it isn't at the moment coming in with three consecutive losses. "I think the first thing with Mississippi State is fast," Sarkisian said. "It kind of blinks into my head. They play really fast. I think they snap the ball with an average of 27 seconds still left on the play clock. That's how fast they want to snap the ball. They spread you wide with their splits and they play fast on the perimeter. And I felt like that hurt us last year in the game at their place, their speed, their splits, their ability to play in space. And then the quarterback decision-making and the accuracy of the ball, I think, is something that helps their scheme. Kamario has that." |
| Prescott says NFC East 'right in front of us' as Cowboys end 2-game slide | |
| Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has been around long enough to know there was added importance to Monday night's game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Having lost two straight to fall to 2-4, Prescott helped make sure the streak ended, throwing three touchdown passes in the Cowboys' 38-21 win. The Cowboys averted a three-game losing streak, kept pace with the 4-2-1 New York Giants in the NFC East and at least temporarily interrupted the unease that was developing around the team. "We say the division's right in front of us. It is as long as we win," Prescott said. "And if you lose another game, then you're probably checking to see what New York's doing. You're probably checking and watching the other teams more than we should. So yeah, I mean you got to win games, got to win division games. How big of a game this was, understanding how much they're hurt on their offensive side, yeah, huge road win for us." |
| Ahead of Rome tipoff, basketball powerhouse Villanova embraces 'Pope Leo effect' | |
| At Villanova University, all roads -- or at least many of them -- seem to lead to Rome, thanks to famed alumnus Pope Leo XIV and the school's growing ties to the Vatican. Even its vaunted basketball program is getting in on the act. "We certainly have a bigger footprint there now than we used to," said the Rev. Peter Donohue, Villanova's president. "People do know who we are, just because it's the pope's school." The pope graduated from Villanova with a degree in mathematics in 1977. He belongs to the Augustinians, the religious order that founded the university near Philadelphia in 1842. Now his alma mater is finding new and inventive connections to his papacy. On Sunday, the men's and women's basketball teams from Villanova will open the season in Rome with a Catholic university matchup, playing Notre Dame 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) from the Vatican in what organizers are calling the Eternal City Tip-Off. The doubleheader comes only weeks after Villanova hosted a sustainability conference in Rome and awarded a cardinal with the inaugural Pope Leo XIV Sustainability Medal. |
| Pat McAfee blasts U. of Utah after 'College GameDay' visit: 'I think I hate this place' | |
| ESPN personality and "College GameDay" commentator Pat McAfee did not enjoy his visit to the University of Utah this past weekend. That seemed clear when McAfee ended the broadcast by saying, "I'll never see you again, hopefully." But he confirmed it on Monday during "The Pat McAfee Show." "I've enjoyed this college football season -- did not enjoy the University of Utah. Did not enjoy it," McAfee said. Why? A post from the University of Utah's official Instagram account. "Right before I go out there, I see that the university's Instagram page ... they put out a video, 'Can you do an impression of Pat McAfee?' "One kid goes, 'Ah, he's corny,' and another kid calls me 'creepy.' OK, if these kids would have done this on their own blogs, all good. Everybody's taking shots at me for everything. I get it. ... The university puts that out as I'm about to go do an infomercial for the place?" The Instagram post has since been deleted. |
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