Tuesday, November 28, 2017   
 
Mississippi lawmakers seek higher reserves, less spending
Top Mississippi lawmakers on Monday proposed small cuts for most state agencies this coming year, seeking to put more money in reserve. The recommendations would mark another decline in state spending after sharp midyear cuts in fiscal 2017, followed by more cuts when the 2018 budget was written. That lack of money has sparked tuition increases at community colleges and public universities, has weighed on K-12 education spending, and has been blamed for some layoffs and service cutbacks. The Joint Legislative Budget Committee adopted a plan that would cut more than 1 percent from overall state spending in the 2019 budget year, which begins July 1. Spending from state-generated revenue sources would fall below $6 billion for the first time since 2014. The committee's recommendations, although influential, are typically altered during the legislative session.
 
Legislative leaders propose additional cuts
The 14-member Legislative Budget Committee is proposing another round of state budget cuts -- albeit slight ones -- for the upcoming fiscal year beginning July 1. The Budget Committee, which includes Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and Speaker Philip Gunn, released its $6 billion proposal Monday in advance of the 2018 legislative session, which begins in January. The proposal calls for spending $76 million, or 1.3 percent, less than what was appropriated in the 2017 session for the current fiscal year. "This is the beginning of the process," Reeves said, indicating during the legislative session additional funds might be available to deal with some issues. The total recommended cut to the eight public universities, including the University of Mississippi Medical Center, will be $18.7 million, or 2.8 percent, while the cut to the state Department of Education will be $6.6 million, or 3.9 percent.
 
More Mississippi budget cuts proposed; leaders unapologetic
Most state agencies would see cuts again for the coming fiscal year in the proposal adopted Monday by legislative leaders as lawmakers seek to deal with an anemic economy and tax cuts, sock away more reserves for emergencies and keep credit rating agencies happy. "If you define the success of our state by how much money our government spends, then you ain't gonna be happy with this budget recommendation," Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves said. The plan calls for state spending of nearly $6 billion -- $76.1 million, or 1.3 percent, less than the current year. It calls for "deleted funding" for 2,687 vacant state government positions -- those that have been vacant for six months or more. Some highlights of the legislative budget recommendation adopted Monday: Universities: $347 million, 4 percent cut (this includes $10 million of expenses not recurring for the coming year) and Community colleges: $228 million, 1.2 percent cut.
 
Legislative proposal calls for more budget cuts for most state agencies next year
Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, just before announcing the legislative budget committee's recommendations to cut most state agencies' budgets next fiscal year, began Monday morning's meeting with a warning. "If you define the success of a state by how much money its government spends, then you probably ain't gonna like this morning's report," Reeves said. "If, however, you believe that government, like everyday Mississippi families, must live within its means, spend only recurring revenue for recurring expenses, choose not to borrow money we cannot afford to pay back, and also choose not to spend money we do not have, then this year's legislative budget recommendation is a good start to the FY2019 budget process." With that, the fiscal year 2019 budgeting process for more than 100 state agencies and departments, which provide public services to Mississippians, continued.
 
Public safety crisis: More cuts to state crime lab budget
The state crime lab and medical examiner's offices are facing nearly $300,000 in combined cuts, even as state officials have warned staffing shortages in these departments are bringing Mississippi to the brink of a public safety crisis. The cuts -- $248,000 for the state crime lab and $24,000 for the medical examiner's office -- were part of the legislative budget committee recommendations for fiscal year 2019 announced Monday. The report recommended an overall general fund reduction of 1.2 percent or $66.1 million, with cuts to most agencies or departments. But Marshall Fisher, commissioner of public safety, said the cuts to the crime lab, which analyzes crime scene data, and the medical examiner's office, which determines a cause of death, are particularly dangerous in Mississippi, which has the second highest homicide rate in the nation, per capita.
 
Republicans quietly poised to flip Senate seat on Tuesday
Republican operatives for weeks have quietly been working to flip the seat formerly held by Democratic Sen. Bill Stone, the Senate minority leader who resigned earlier this year for a job at a local utility company. Tuesday's runoff special election between Sharon Gipson of Holly Springs and Neil Whatley of Potts Camp will decide whether Republicans will grow their three-fifths supermajority in the Senate. Special legislative election candidates do not officially declare party affiliation in accordance with state law. When asked by the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal last month which party the candidates would caucus with if elected, Gipson said she would vote with the Democrats. Whaley, however, hadn't publicly stated whether he'd vote with Democrats or Republicans. But in an interview with Mississippi Today on Monday, Whaley inferred he would vote with Republicans. "I haven't decided 100 percent yet," Whaley said. "I've got a tendency, you know, which way I lean, but I'd rather not say until after tomorrow."
 
Senate GOP making last-ditch changes to tax plan
Senate Republicans are rushing to change their tax overhaul just days before a planned floor vote, with GOP leaders trying to appease at least a half-dozen holdouts. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can lose only two votes and still pass the bill by week's end. The last-minute modifications underscore the speed with which leadership is moving and the narrow margin for error on the party's top legislative priority. Two critical Republican swing votes, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Bob Corker of Tennessee, on Monday left open the possibility that they could vote against the tax plan in a key committee vote scheduled for Tuesday if changes weren't made to their liking. That would tank the bill before it could reach the floor, putting more pressure on leadership to quickly make revisions.
 
In the South and North, New (and Vital) Civil Rights Trails
In the last few years a loud debate has raged across the country over what to do with Confederate statues. While those arguments are focused on whether to tear down or remove monuments, other government officials, nonprofit groups and entrepreneurs have been more quietly constructing new ways to focus on the history of civil rights. Some efforts, like the US Civil Rights Trail, are intended to bring more attention to existing sites. Others are building new structures that better explain what took place in the past. In Jackson, Miss., the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum is scheduled to celebrate its opening on Dec. 9 with food trucks, live music, free museum tours and speeches by civil rights veterans. The museum includes eight galleries that explore the experience of African-Americans in Mississippi from the end of the Civil War until today.
 
U. of Alabama's Million Dollar Band fundraising brings in $36K in a week
It only took 10 days for the University of Alabama's Million Dollar Band to raise 90 percent of funds needed to buy new instruments. The effort is the first project for UA Crowdfunding, an online fundraising platform for groups at UA. With more than 400 members, the band is the largest student group on campus. The band began accepting donations Nov. 17 with the goal of reaching $40,000. By Monday, donors had contributed just more than $36,000. Andy Green marched in the Million Dollar Band between 1986 and 1990 as a member of the drumline. He said he was more than happy to contribute when he received an email about the fundraising campaign. "I can say, without hesitation, that the friendships and bonds I made with folks during that time are some of the most important in my life, and are with me to this very day," he said. UA Crowdfunding will eventually allow donors the opportunity to support a variety of different projects created by those within the UA community. Supporters can make gifts of any size and track the overall progress of projects.
 
U. of Alabama Gallery debuts selections from Blount Collection of Art
The University of Alabama Gallery will debut a selection of paintings and sculptures from the never-before-seen Blount Collection of Art starting Wednesday in the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center in downtown Tuscaloosa. The exhibition, titled "Multifarious: Eclectic Selections from the Blount Collection of Art," features 27 works in a variety of mediums and genres. "I tried to pick a wide selection so that people could get a sense of the breadth of the collection," said Karen Kennedy, the director of the University Gallery and curator of the exhibit. According to Fred Whiting, the director of UA's Blount Scholars Program, the collection, which is composed of more than 50 pieces, was donated by the Blount Foundation to the program in 2003.
 
LSU renames well-known campus street named after Confederate admiral
LSU on Monday changed the name of the street in front of the African American Cultural Center from one remembering a Confederate admiral to one honoring all military veterans. But the university said the name change was not part of any overall plan to rid reminders of the Confederacy from the Baton Rouge campus. Rather, its part of a modernization effort to add physical addresses to campus buildings, called the Roadway Master Plan, LSU said in a prepared statement. Raphael Semmes was the only Confederate out of the 28 roads that were renamed by LSU. "There's always consideration about changing inappropriate names," said Dereck J. Rovaris Sr., LSU's vice provost for Diversity & Chief Diversity Officer. "But there have been no formal discussions by the university."
 
U. of Missouri wants to increase new undergrad enrollment to 6,000 by 2023
The University of Missouri doesn't just want to build enrollment by 2023 -- it also wants to increase how many students are coming back, finishing degrees and landing jobs within six months of graduating. A forum for students, faculty and staff Monday drew about 140 people to Memorial Student Union, filling Stotler Lounge, with dozens standing along the back and sides. Many took notes and asked questions as the MU Strategic Enrollment Management Committee revealed five goals to be met by 2023. The session was led by committee co-chairs Pelema Morrice, vice provost for enrollment management and strategic development, and newly appointed College of Arts and Science Dean Patricia Okker. Attendees asked practical questions about achieving the goals and wanted more context on how MU ranked in comparison to its peers in the academic Association of American Universities and the athletic Southeastern Conference.
 
DeVos says U.S. has emphasized four-year degrees at the expense of work-force training
The Trump administration's higher education policy to date has consisted largely of undoing what it inherited -- rolling back, for instance, ambitious Obama era regulations on for-profit colleges and campus policies on sexual assault. Observers looking for an affirmative, forward-looking agenda have been hard-pressed to find much so far. But Education Secretary Betsy DeVos this month provided as a clear a sense as observers have yet seen of her vision for her department's role in, and agenda for, postsecondary education, with a set of comments signaling a shift in emphasis from education to training. In two separate forums this month, she said students have for years received a message that "the only path for a successful life" is through a four-year degree. But the increasing diversity of the student population -- and the relatively small proportion of students enrolled full-time at four-year institutions -- points to the need for greater attention to alternatives involving skills training, she said.
 
Elitists, crybabies and junky degrees: A debate over higher education funding
Frank Antenori shot the head off a rattlesnake at his back door last summer -- a deadeye pistol blast from 20 feet. No college professor taught him that. The U.S. Army trained him, as a marksman and a medic, on the "two-way rifle range" of Afghanistan and Iraq. Useful skills. Smart return on taxpayers' investment. Not like the waste he sees at too many colleges and universities, where he says liberal professors teach "ridiculous" classes and indoctrinate students "who hang out and protest all day long and cry on our dime." "Why does a kid go to a major university these days?" said Antenori, 51, a former Green Beret who served in the Arizona state legislature. "A lot of Republicans would say they go there to get brainwashed and learn how to become activists and basically go out in the world and cause trouble." Antenori is part of an increasingly vocal campaign to transform higher education in America. Though U.S. universities are envied around the world, he and other conservatives want to reduce the flow of government cash to what they see as elitist, politically correct institutions that often fail to provide practical skills for the job market.
 
The Gender Gap in College Education: Poor Girls Are Leaving Their Brothers Behind
Across socioeconomic classes, women are increasingly enrolling and completing postsecondary education, while, even as opportunities for people without a college education shrink, men's rates of graduation remain relatively stagnant. In 2015, the most recent year for which data is available, 72.5 percent of females who had recently graduated high school were enrolled in a two-year or four-year college, compared to 65.8 percent of men. That's a big difference from 1967, when 57 percent of recent male high-school grads were in college, compared to 47.2 percent of women. Women from low-income and minority families especially have made great strides in recent decades.
 
Treating symptoms no cure for mass murder disease
Longtime Mississippi journalist Charlie Mitchell writes: "When a patient shows up with an ailment, a doctor is sometimes able to cure the ailment. At other times, the doctor is limited to treating the symptoms resulting from the ailment. Doctors know the difference. Take a broken arm as an example. A doctor can reposition the bones in proper alignment and let nature take its healing course. That fixes the ailment. Take the common cold as a different example. A doctor's attention will be on treating the fever, aches and congestion that are consequences of the infection rather than the infection itself. As it happens, America, as a whole, has a festering ailment. It's called mass murder. From a tiny house of worship in small-town Texas to an outdoor concert near the heart of one of America's busiest cities, people are being mowed down for absolutely no reason."


SPORTS
 
Local Mississippi State alumni OK with life after Mullen
When former Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen disembarked an airplane in Gainesville, Florida early Monday morning to become the new coach of the Gators, local MSU alumni were despondent. But not quite defeated. "I was upset at first, I'll be honest. But I think we're in a good position compared to a lot of other (Southeastern Conference) schools looking for coaches," said Sullivan Ford's Will Thibodeaux, a member of the Mississippi State University Lincoln County Alumni Association. Brookhaven Academy's Brian Emory, president of the alumni association, said Bulldogs fans have faith in their new athletic director -- former baseball coach John Cohen. "I'm at peace with Mullen leaving, and the reason I'm OK with it is because of John Cohen," he said. "He is such a professional administrator, I have no doubt he and MSU president Dr. Mark Keenum will find a great coach for the football program."
 
Jeremy Pruitt to Mississippi State? How this Ohio chef went viral
Jeremy Pruitt is the defensive coordinator for Alabama. He's reportedly emerged as a candidate for Mississippi State's head coaching job, now that Dan Mullen's gone to Florida. Pruitt's Twitter account is @CoachJPruitt, where he has nearly 30,000 followers. Jeremy Pruitt is not the only Jeremy Pruitt. Another Jeremy Pruitt is a 30-year-old country club sous chef from Columbus, Ohio, he told SB Nation. He now lives in Dayton and is a huge Ohio State fan. He is not a football coach. His Twitter account is @jgroove1, where he had just over 500 followers as of 10 p.m. ET Monday. Monday evening, a handful of Mississippi State fans started tweeting at Sous Chef Jeremy Pruitt, urging him to come to Starkville.
 
Fed up with moldy UF office, professor tweets jab at school priorities
The floor of one University of Florida professor's office has rotted so completely that he says he'd fall through if he tried to jump on it. Michael McDonald, an associate political science professor has moved into a colleague's office in Anderson Hall as UF makes repairs to the weather damage, accelerated by Hurricane Irma. He has gone to the doctor with respiratory issues that he thinks stem from an abundance of black mold found in the room. But months after Irma, McDonald remains frustrated with the school's pace and apparent priorities. On Monday, as newly minted Gators football coach Dan Mullen tweeted a photo from a private plane, McDonald sent this tweet to his 25,600 followers. "All you need to know about higher education priorities: @UF's new football couch (sic) is traveling to Gainesville on a private jet. I've been forced out of my office for months due to mold issues from hurricane water damage." He then corrected his "couch" typo, joking that UF's football team "has played like a soft piece of over-stuffed furniture under recent overpaid coaches." He didn't expect the tweet to strike a nerve.
 
Mullen welcomes challenge of high Florida expectations
As it turns out, Dan Mullen has been Gator a lot longer than anybody knew. Growing up in New Hampshire, he became a big Steve Spurrier and Florida football fan watching the Gators play on television. "Always grew up a huge (Spurrier) fan and was always a huge Florida Gator fan," Mullen said. "I grew up in New Hampshire so it's snowing and freezing cold outside, and there's Coach Spurrier with his visor on in the sunshine, and it's beautiful and what am I doing here in New Hampshire." Well, Mullen is no longer in New Hampshire, he's in Gainesville. And he's no longer just a Gator, he's the head Gator -- Florida's new head football coach. On Monday, he walked into his new office for the first time and sat down at what he calls his dream job. Mullen's dream job comes with a dreamy contract --- six years for $36 million, making him the second-highest paid coach in the SEC behind Alabama's Nick Saban, who is the highest paid coach in college football at just over $11 million a year.
 
Acceding to Fan Outrage, U. of Tennessee Draws More Critics
The University of Tennessee at Knoxville's decision this week to scrap the hiring of Greg Schiano as its next head football coach appears to mark a rare capitulation to public outrage and illustrates the long tail of a sexual-abuse scandal that dates back six years. When news broke over the weekend that Tennessee was poised to name Mr. Schiano, a defensive coordinator at Ohio State University, as the Vols' head coach, fans and some state lawmakers were furious. They seized on a disputed claim that Mr. Schiano had failed to report Jerry Sandusky, then an assistant football coach at Pennsylvania State University, for sexually abusing a boy in the early 1990s, during Mr. Schiano's years as a coach there. The unfolding drama at Tennessee is a potent example of a public veto of an administrative decision, and no one has come out looking good. John Currie, the university's athletics director, issued a statement on Monday that did little to elucidate the rationale for Tennessee's decision not to hire Mr. Schiano.
 
U. of Tennessee Chancellor Beverly Davenport didn't sign agreement with Schiano
University of Tennessee Knoxville Chancellor Beverly Davenport didn't sign a memorandum of understanding between the university and prospective hire Greg Schiano, according to a spokesman, thus calling into question the legality of the document. Vice Chancellor for Communications Ryan Robinson said Davenport didn't sign the memorandum, reportedly signed by Athletic Director John Currie and Schiano just before a deal to hire him as head football coach fell through on Sunday. A copy of the memorandum was not immediately available Monday. Earlier in the day Monday Davenport issued a statement on the university's handling of the offer with Schiano, who is currently Ohio State's defensive coordinator. "I deeply regret the events of yesterday for everyone involved," Davenport said in the statement. "The university remains steadfast in its commitment to excellence, and I look forward to John Currie continuing the search to bring the next head football coach to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville."
 
How does AD John Currie pivot past Sunday's fiasco with Greg Schiano?
On the day Tennessee athletic director John Currie fired Butch Jones, he promised to spearhead "an exhaustive search" that would produce a coach who could "propel Tennessee to championships." That challenge looks more difficult after Sunday's hiring fiasco. Early in the day, it looked like Currie had found his man, Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano. By the end of the day, the position remained vacant after backlash from fans, politicians, business owners and some donors caused the deal with Schiano to unravel. Currie, who has never hired a football coach, is left to pitch this program to potential hires who know that blowback and social media reaction derailed a previous deal. That should make for a much harder sell. Knoxville is left looking like a tinderbox. "They've spooked them all," one source told Sports Illustrated's Bruce Feldman, adding that "it's a hot mess."
 
Why did Ole Miss hire Matt Luke after a national coaching search?
Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork spent the last few weeks traveling around the country to talk to eight candidates about the Rebels' head football coaching vacancy --- a position held down for a season by interim coach Matt Luke. Yet, Bjork's search ended Sunday where it began when he and Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter removed Luke's interim tag and officially introduced him as Ole Miss' permanent head coach Monday. That's because Luke "fit our criteria," Bjork said. Luke interviewed with Bjork for three hours on Friday and again Saturday morning, laying out the most thorough plan for success of all the candidates, Bjork said. That included changing the culture of a program that lost former coach Hugh Freeze amid an escort scandal, served a bowl ban this season as part of the self-imposed sanctions stemming from the NCAA's investigation and is still awaiting word on any more possible sanctions from the Committee on Infractions.
 
Texas A&M regents to discuss coaching vacancy Thursday
The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents is set to convene in a special meeting Thursday to discuss a potential successor to football coach Kevin Sumlin. According to the meeting's agenda, the regents are expected to discuss "legal and personnel issues relating to [the] football program, including issues relating to appointment of [a] new head coach." No action is planned. Sumlin was fired Sunday after six seasons and a 51-26 record with the team. Regent Tony Buzbee, who has been a critic of Sumlin this season, said in an email interview Monday that regardless of who leads the team, the Aggies will be there to lend their support. The Houston attorney was a vocal advocate for Sumlin's removal as head coach this season.
 
A&M's firing of football coach Kevin Sumlin means another big buyout for a Texas school
Texas A&M University football coach Kevin Sumlin may have had his pride wounded when he was fired this weekend. But financially, he'll be no worse off. Thanks to a raise and contract extension awarded to him in 2013, Sumlin is still entitled to the $10 million he would have been paid if he hadn't been fired by A&M, according to his employment contract. That means Sumlin will join the ranks of several other coaches from Texas who will be paid millions by state schools not to lead their teams anymore. According to his contract, Sumlin earned a base salary of $5 million per year. His deal entitled him to all that pay through the end of his contract -- Dec. 31, 2019 -- unless he was fired "with cause" for some kind of criminal or NCAA rules violation. Sumlin was accused of no wrongdoing when he was dismissed; he simply didn't win enough games. With a little more than two years left on the deal, Sumlin is owed more than $10 million. What's more, there's no clause in the contract allowing A&M to reduce what it owes Sumlin if he gets a new job at a new school.
 
Sources: Four coaches near top of U. of Arkansas search
Four leading candidates have emerged for the vacant head football coaching position for the Arkansas Razorbacks. Sources close to the search who spoke on the condition of anonymity indicate Memphis Coach Mike Norvell, Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables and SMU Coach Chad Morris are high on the radar for the Razorbacks, who also have interest in Auburn Coach Gus Malzahn. Norvell, Venables and Malzahn are preparing for conference championship games Saturday. Sources also said the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville assistant coaches were informed by interim athletic director Julie Cromer Peoples during a meeting Saturday that a new head coach could be named by the middle of next week.
 
SEC advises fans to look out for counterfeit championship game tickets
The SEC Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium is sold out, and the SEC released statements on Sunday and Monday warning fans to be on the lookout for counterfeit tickets if they purchase through a secondary market. Fans can purchase verified tickets at www.secticketoffice.com. It's the only authorized fan-to-fan ticket marketplace, the SEC said in the release. There will also be a ticket validation window at Mercedes-Benz Stadium starting at 10 a.m. Saturday. The window will be at the main box office. The SEC also provided information on distinguishing features for valid tickets. Tickets have an SEC holigraphic foil strip on the back of the ticket. The SEC circle logos and letters in the foil will appear and disappear when the ticket is rotated back and forth. On the front of the ticket, the white letters and blue triangular panels are embossed.
 
Over the hedge: Cleanup of field damage begins after Iron Bowl celebration
Following Auburn's victory in the Iron Bowl on Saturday, when fans flooded onto the field, photos and videos depicted fans jumping into the bushes surrounding Pat Dye Field as they scrambled to join the crowd on the turf. After a weekend of celebration, the recovery process begins. Damage is comparable to the 2013 Iron Bowl, when fans swarmed the field after Chris Davis raced its full length to return a blocked field goal for a touchdown on the last play of the game. Saturday's game marked the first time Auburn defeated No. 1 Alabama since that Kick Six game. "The extent of the real damage will not be seen until the spring, when the Bermudagrass breaks dormancy," Eric Kleypas, director of athletic turf and grounds at Auburn University, said Monday. "Then, we will know if the field can recover without the need for sod." Restoring the field at Jordan-Hare Stadium to its pre-Iron Bowl status will take some time, as crews will work on it until next football season.
 
Report: Adidas points finger at Pitino in response to suit
Adidas, the athletic apparel company sued by former Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino for breach of contract, has asked a federal judge to dismiss the suit and suggested the coach was "both aware and supported the scheme" that has engulfed the Cardinals program, according to a report Monday by WDRB.com. In Pitino's suit days after his firing by Louisville last month, the coach blamed Adidas for its role in the federal corruption investigation and sought damages. An Adidas executive was named in the criminal complaint filed in September. Pitino was implicated, but not named in the criminal complaint, as having facilitated a payment from the Adidas executive to the family of a recruit. Pitino has not been charged. Adidas terminated its personal services contract with Pitino on the same day he was fired by Louisville.
 
MUW hires women's soccer coach
The Mississippi University for Woman has announced the hiring of Gray Massey as the school's first woman's soccer coach. Massey comes to MUW from East Central Community College where he has served as head soccer coach for the past five seasons. He guided the Lady Warriors to the semifinals in Region 23 for the first time in school history and his 2014 team was named the National Academic Team of the Year. Prior to coaching at ECCC, Massey was the head coach of the girl's and boy's soccer teams at Florence High School.



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