| Monday, April 6, 2026 |
| MSU Horticulture Club hosts annual spring plant sale April 10 | |
 | The Mississippi State Horticulture Club has been hard at work for months -- planting, propagating and pruning -- in preparation for their annual plant sale that's just two weeks out. Months of preparation are led by the club's greenhouse manager, who works with advisors and members to review past results, order supplies, develop plant care schedules and coordinate outreach. Hunter Waring, horticulture sophomore from Westlake, Ohio, is proud of the team's work and excited to showcase new additions for shoppers. "We've made an effort to include more native plants this year," he said. "(We're) showcasing the benefits of incorporating the natural beauty of Mississippi and the Southeast in home landscaping." The Mississippi State University Horticulture Club will host its annual spring plant sale on April 10 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and April 11 from 8 a.m. to noon, while supplies last. The sale will be on MSU campus at the Dorman Greenhouses off Stone Boulevard at 32 Creelman Street. |
| Viral SEC Shorts creators present at MTA Spring Summit | |
| Two men sit side by side on a couch in an unfamiliar scene. They wear opposing T-shirts, one donning the powder blue of Ole Miss, "Oxford" stamped in red letters across the front, and the other wearing Mississippi State's maroon, "Starkville" in white letters. "We asked the towns of Oxford and Starkville, Mississippi, to make each other's tourism commercials," a narrator overhead says. "They gladly accepted the challenge." As you can imagine, the video continues with a series of jabs, jokes and roasts from the respective teams. For a commercial produced for Visit Mississippi, an organization that promotes tourism to the state, it's an interesting approach. But "those who get it, get it," said commercial writers Robert Clay and Josh Snead. The pair behind the viral SEC Shorts video series headlined Mississippi Tourism Association's Spring Tourism Summit held Wednesday at The Mill at MSU. |
| Starkville tourism looks to grow with Main Street revitalization, other projects | |
 | Officials in the city of Starkville hope an ongoing 18-month project to transform its downtown and to better connect it to the campus of Mississippi State University, alongside some other projects, will help bolster the city's tourism. And there are few Starkville fans as enthusiastic as Paige Hunt, the director of tourism of The Partnership, which comprises the Starkville Convention & Visitors Bureau, Starkville Main Street Association, Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority, and Starkville Area Chamber of Commerce. "Starkville has been marketing ourselves as 'Mississippi's College Town' for more than a decade, and I think it's such an accurate representation of what we have to offer," she said. "Most people know us as home to Mississippi State University and the amount of pageantry and events that brings with football, baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, football, tennis, all the things." But the city is much more than that. This week, tourism leaders from across the state attended the Mississippi Tourism Association Spring Travel Summit, where Hunt was able to show exactly what there was to offer. |
| TSA PreCheck enrollment returns to Golden Triangle Regional Airport | |
| Looking to skip the security lines? Golden Triangle Regional Airport will host a Transportation Security Administration PreCheck enrollment event from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m. each day April 7-10 in the passenger terminal. PreCheck status allows travelers to access quicker security check-in when flying at more than 180 airports across the country. They may not have to remove laptops and other large devices, 3-1-1 liquid bags, belts, shoes or jackets during security. Enrollment requires a $76.75 fee, though status is maintained for five years. The application process must be completed in person at the airport. To make an enrollment appointment, visit gtra.com and click on the PreCheck banner. |
| Tailors and dressmakers retire their pincushions as US demand for skilled sewers grows | |
 | Hunched over a sewing machine, Kil Bae is hemming a dress inside his Manhattan tailor shop when a new customer stops by with a vintage Tommy Hilfiger jacket he wants taken in. The modeling agent paid $20 at a thrift store for his reversible bomber style that's plaid on one side and red on the other. He's willing to spend $280 to have it slimmed down. Alteration requests with such a price disparity would have seemed odd a few years ago, the tailor says, but are helping to keep the bobbins bobbing at his one-man shop, 85 Custom Tailor. Bae carefully examines the cotton jacket before moving in to pin it, circling the customer like a sculptor with a chisel. He started training as a tailor at age 17, in his native South Korea. Now 63, he's part of a shrinking breed in the U.S., where professional sewers, dressmakers and tailors are aging out of the workforce as their services find fresh demand. "I recommend this job to young people because this one cannot be AI'd," Bae said, noting artificial intelligence is automating pattern making but so far can't replicate a tailor's handiwork. But like engraving, repairing musical instruments and many other skilled trades, creating and fitting garments to individual specifications hasn't attracted enough entry-level workers over the years to replace the professionals retiring their pincushions after decades of performing their craft. |
| Southwest Mississippi native author featured at LA Times book festival | |
 | A novel by an author native to Southwest Mississippi has been selected as a feature work for the LA Times Festival of Books 2026. Crime novelist Charles Rogers will be the featured author at the Olympus Story House booth during the festival, and is also the featured author in the festival's magazine. Now a resident of College Station, Texas, Rogers grew up in the Centreville area, on the Wilkson-Amite County line. He attended Southwest Mississippi Community College in Summit, then The University of Southern Mississippi, before living "all over the country," working in retail and public relations. Upon retirement, he focused on writing what he loved -- crime fiction. His third novel, "The Community Files: Reclaiming Your Community," is the novel chosen to be featured at the upcoming book festival. The 31st annual LA Times Festival of Books will be April 18-19 on the campus of the University of Southern California. |
| Jackson State alumna selected as first woman president of Texas College | |
 | Jackson State University is celebrating alumna SherRhonda Gibbs after she was selected as the 24th president of Texas College. According to Jackson State, Gibbs is the first woman chosen to lead Texas College since the institution was founded in 1894. Jackson State said Gibbs earned a doctorate in business administration with a concentration in management from the university. Texas College is a historically Black college in Tyler, Texas. |
| Bill would prevent Louisiana colleges from banning students from carrying pepper spray on campus | |
| A proposal at the Louisiana State Capitol would prevent public universities from banning pepper spray and other chemical sprays on campus. House Bill 195 comes after a separate proposal that would have allowed guns on campus was pulled back, shifting the conversation to less-lethal options. The bill would allow students to carry chemical spray for self-defense without bringing firearms into the equation. Some supporters say this approach strikes a better balance between safety and campus security. "I certainly will like chemical spray better than allowing students to have guns on campus," said Rep. Freiburg. For many students, the idea of having pepper spray readily available isn't new, but they say protecting that right matters. Noelle-Grace Wirima says it's a simple tool that can make a big difference in how safe students feel walking around campus. |
| LSU will bring changes to UNO academics | |
 | After months of speculation about what the University of New Orleans' transition to the LSU system would mean for faculty and students, LSU has revealed plans to modify or cut several academic programs. The changes will affect programs in art, international studies and education. The announced changes include eliminating or changing five undergraduate programs and four graduate programs and are the first indication of academic shifts as UNO becomes part of LSU. The transition, which becomes official July 1, was floated in hopes of stabilizing the university, which has struggled with low enrollment and a glaring budget deficit. "These changes are not about reducing opportunity, rather, they are about strengthening it," UNO President Kathy Johnson said in an email to faculty, staff and students. "We are aligning our academic portfolio with where student demand is growing and where career opportunities are strongest, while continuing to honor the disciplines that define us." |
| Mizzou's multicultural organizations to lose direct stream of university funding | |
 | The University of Missouri's multicultural umbrella organizations will no longer receive designated university funding starting July 2026. On Friday, the Division of Student Affairs met with five major multicultural student organizations: the Legion of Black Collegians, Association of Latin American Students, Asian American Association, Queer Liberation Front and Four Front. "The University is taking calculated steps to push minority students further away from the Mizzou stratosphere," LBC said in an Instagram post Sunday. Student Affairs informed the organizations that they will be reclassified as Recognized Student Organizations, or RSOs, meaning they will be able to apply for funds through the Organization Resource Group, which oversees funding for the majority of student organizations on campus. |
| More states adopt college entrance exam touted by conservatives despite concerns | |
 | An upstart college entrance exam -- designed to be an alternative to the ACT and SAT and featuring works from ancient Western civilization -- is gaining support from the Trump administration and conservatives in red and purple states. In recent months, the Pentagon decided to accept the Classic Learning Test for U.S. military service academies and scholarships at other colleges around the country. Indiana enacted legislation in March requiring its state universities to consider CLT scores, along with those from the SAT and ACT. And the North Carolina university system agreed to take the CLT, including at its flagship campus in Chapel Hill. Since its creation in 2015, the CLT has been embraced by many Christian schools, home schooling families and educators in the classical education movement who want children to study foundational texts that they say helped shape American history and culture. |
| Judge halts Trump effort requiring colleges to show they aren't considering race in admissions | |
| A federal judge has halted efforts by the Trump administration to collect data that proves higher education institutions aren't considering race in admissions. The ruling from U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in Boston on Friday granting the preliminary injunction follows a lawsuit filed last month by a coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general. It will only apply to public universities in plaintiffs. The federal judge said the federal government likely has the authority to collect the data, but the demand was rolled out to universities in a "rushed and chaotic" manner. "The 120-day deadline imposed by the President led directly to the failure of NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) to engage meaningfully with the institutions during the notice-and-comment process to address the multitude of problems presented by the new requirements," Saylor wrote. he Education Department has defended the effort, arguing taxpayers deserve transparency on how money is spent at institutions that receive federal funding. |
| Judge Halts Feds' Admissions-Data Push -- for Some Colleges | |
 | A federal judge on Friday issued a preliminary injunction halting the Trump administration's collection of admissions data from about 200 public colleges, ensuring that the legal battle over the government's unprecedented demand for information about applicants will continue. In his ruling, Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts wrote that a lawsuit challenging the new Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement, or ACTS, would likely succeed. The plaintiffs, he wrote, had presented sufficient evidence that the federal government's admissions-data mandate was "arbitrary and capricious" -- and that colleges would suffer "immediate irreparable harm" if forced to comply. The preliminary injunction applies only to public institutions in the 17 states that jointly filed the March lawsuit against the secretary of education and the Office of Management and Budget. |
| Governments have relied on artificial intelligence for years | |
| Columnist Bill Crawford writes: How "artificial intelligence" (AI) will affect our future is the raging question. You have to wonder why. Federal and state governments have used AI for years, and we know how well that works. Take our state legislature and the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) for example. As you should know, PERS continues to struggle financially despite excellent investment returns. To gain a thorough overview with striking graphs, read Jackson Jambalaya's summary of PERS financial dilemma. Since 2001, the legislature has applied its own artificial intelligence to resolve the problem. One Jambalaya reader described that process well: "The Legislature refuses to believe the actuaries and instead does rain dances and consults witch doctors." Those actuaries have told legislators for years that PERS cannot rely on investment earnings to resolve its shortfall. Instead, it will take significant increases in revenue via employer contributions or direct legislative infusions over time. This session, both the senate and house considered direct infusions, but, drum roll please, none were approved. |
SPORTS
| Former MSU pitcher oversees Artemis launch as mission manager | |
| Artemis II Mission Manager Matthew Ramsey played for Mississippi State in the early 1990s as a pitcher before leaving the team to pursue his engineering education. Ramsey, a Hernando native, graduated from MSU with a 1992 bachelor's and 1993 master's degree in aerospace engineering. He joined NASA in 2002, where he has been for more than two decades on guidance and navigation systems, the Ares I and V rockets, and now the Space Launch System Program for the Artemis missions. Another MSU alum, Parker Glass, worked on the project for NASA's Exploration Ground Systems, overseeing the budget development and allocation for the launch. Glass is a 2018 graduate from MSU, and he later earned a Master of Business Administration degree in 2022. |
| President Trump signs order intended to stabilize college sports, threatens lost federal funding | |
| President Donald Trump tried to put some teeth into his latest attempt to save college sports. The threat of cutting funding to cash-starved schools that don't comply is real, even if the stricter rules Trump wants to come out of the executive order he signed Friday could take a while to figure out. In the order signed hours before the women's Final Four tipped off one of the biggest weekends in college sports, Trump went after eligibility rules, transfers and the spiraling costs associated with an industry that now pays its players millions of dollars per year. He called on federal agencies to ensure schools are following the rules and threatened to choke off federal grants and funding -- a similar approach his administration has taken to force universities around the country to alter policies involving diversity, equity and inclusion, transgender rights and even the kinds of classes they offer. |
| Executive order aims to limit NCAA athletes to 5 years, 1 transfer | |
| President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday designed to limit how long athletes can play college sports and how often they can transfer between schools. The order directs the NCAA to create rules that mandate college athletes can play for "no more than a five-year period" and allows them to transfer schools only once before they graduate without having to sit out a season. The rule changes are scheduled to go into effect Aug. 1. A school that plays an athlete who doesn't meet these new limits could risk losing its federal funding. The order also states that the NCAA should update its rules to create a national registry for player agents and create policies that prevent schools from cutting scholarships or other opportunities for women's and Olympic sports in order to pay their athletes. |
| College sports is in turmoil. LSU, SEC schools are creating a joint class to study it. | |
| In the Wild West of name, image and likeness deals, transfers and revenue sharing rocking college athletics, LSU and nine other SEC schools are coming together to create a class where students will study the turmoil. LSU will offer the brand-new joint course this fall in the Ogden Honors College known as HNRS 3100: The Future of College Athletics. "It's something that is very necessary in this current state of college athletics," said Joshua Jackson, Assistant Professor of Sport Communication in the Manship School of Mass Communication. "We all love to pretend that we know more than what we really do. This gives our students an opportunity to really learn what they do and what they don't know." The course will follow a hybrid learning model, with some classes taking place on Zoom with all of the partnered SEC schools to hear from guest speakers in sports industries. |
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