| Tuesday, March 13, 2018 |
| Hosemann says he doesn't plan to run for secretary of state | |
 | Delbert Hosemann said Monday he might be on future election ballots, but most likely not for his current office of secretary of state. "I might be on the ballot somewhere, but I don't anticipate it being as secretary of state," Hosemann said in response to questioning from the media during Monday's luncheon meeting of the Mississippi State University Stennis Institute of Government/capitol press corps. But the Republican also said he had other interests and goals in terms of state government, so he indicated he might be on the ballot for another office. Hosemann talked of the importance of improving the education level of Mississippians during Monday's luncheon. |
| Mississippi Secretary of State Hints at Run for Other Office | |
 | Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann says he's not running for his current office again but won't say what he's running for next. Hosemann, speaking Monday to the Capitol press corps and Mississippi State University's Stennis Institute of Government, said that after three terms in office, he has met his goals as secretary of state and thinks it's time to move on. The Republican said he still has "great interest" in the state and voters may see his name on a future ballot. "I don't know that we won't be on the ballot somewhere, but I don't anticipate it being secretary of state's office," Hosemann said. Hosemann wasn't saying whether he'd run for U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran's seat this November, the lieutenant governor's post in 2019 or something else -- at least, not on Monday. |
| Hosemann sets his sights on higher office | |
 | Delbert Hosemann gave one of his strongest hints that he will seek higher office by declaring Monday that he will not run for a fourth term as secretary of state. Speaking at a luncheon Monday for the Capitol press corps, Hosemann quipped that he thought he could trust a group of 10-year-olds before saying that he believes he's accomplished his goals as secretary of state, which oversees elections, securities and business regulations. "Y'all hired me to do the business laws. Y'all hired me to update 16th section land; we've done that. (Voters) hired me over voter ID, and that's been accomplished. There were a whole series of things that I started out to do, and I think I've done those and I think it's time for somebody else to step in to the secretary of state's role," Hosemann, a Republican, said when a reporter asked about his political future. |
| Mississippi Governor Nixes Stricter Real Estate License Rule | |
| Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant is vetoing a bill that would have created stricter requirements for real estate brokers to earn licenses in the state. House Bill 1476 would have required Mississippians to be active, licensed real estate salespeople for three years before qualifying for the real estate broker's exam and license. Mississippi currently requires a year's experience. Both the House and Senate passed the bill in February. Bryant, in a Friday veto message, called the requirement "over-burdensome." He said his policy is to encourage economic competition and "use the least restrictive means necessary to protect consumers." |
| Flaggs in D.C. to talk about new port | |
| Mayor George Flaggs Jr. hopes a second March visit to Washington, D.C., provides another opportunity to seek federal funding for a new port for Vicksburg on the Mississippi River. "I'm going to try to get in to make some contacts on lobbying for money for the port," he said, adding he will attempt to meet with officials at the Department of Transportation, Congress and the Trump administration. Flaggs is in Washington this week attending the National League of Cities Congressional City Conference. He was in Washington last week as a member of a group of Warren County officials and business leaders visiting the state's congressional delegation, and to also attend the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative Annual Capitol Conference. A proposed $125 million multimodal port for Vicksburg was first presented during a February meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump's infrastructure committee attended by Flaggs and Gov. Phil Bryant. |
| McDaniel considers options after Cochran announcement | |
 | Second-time U.S. senatorial candidate Chris McDaniel slammed the record of incumbent Roger Wicker at a campaign rally in Gulfport. McDaniel also pushed back at smear tactics and unwanted outside influence. Because the retirement of Sen. Thad Cochran, McDaniel, who lost to Thad Cochran four years ago in a bizarre primary battle, has some decisions to make. He is now back on the campaign trail with even more options. "And, here we are again. Together again," McDaniel told the crowd at Faith Baptist Church. Now, he could make a run at the special election for that seat in the Nov. 6 special election. He's considering it because he believes Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is affecting the plot. "I want all options on the table," McDaniel said. "I'll tell you why. It's not about a race at this point. It's about telling Mitch McConnell to get out of our state at this point." He said he doesn't feel rushed to make a decision. |
| House Panel's Initial Report Says No Collusion With Russia | |
| Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee have completed a draft report concluding there was no collusion or coordination between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia, a finding that pleased the White House but enraged Democrats who had not yet seen the document. After a yearlong investigation, Texas Rep. Mike Conaway announced Monday that the committee has finished interviewing witnesses and will share the report with Democrats for the first time Tuesday. Conaway is the Republican leading the House probe, one of several investigations on Russian meddling in the 2016 elections. The Senate Intelligence Committee, which is also investigating the Russian intervention, is expected to have a bipartisan report out in the coming weeks dealing with election security. |
| Trump ousts Tillerson, will replace him as secretary of state with CIA chief Pompeo | |
 | President Trump has ousted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and replaced him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo, orchestrating a major change to his national security team amid delicate negotiations with North Korea, White House officials said Tuesday. Trump last Friday asked Tillerson to step aside, and the embattled top diplomat cut short his trip to Africa on Monday to return to Washington. Pompeo will replace him at the State Department, and Gina Hapsel -- the deputy director at the CIA -- will succeed him at the CIA, becoming the first woman to run the spy agency, if confirmed. In a statement issued to The Washington Post, Trump praised both Pompeo and Haspel. |
| Farmers want some of Trump's TV time | |
 | Farmers fretting over White House trade policies will aim to appeal directly to President Donald Trump during his favorite shows on Fox and MSNBC. The effort by farmers, a key part of the president's base, will be the first to appeal directly to the president in his living room. The advertisement, which starts Wednesday and runs through the month, will air during Fox and Friends, Lou Dobbs and Morning Joe -- some of Trump's favorite shows for distilling the day's news, said one source familiar with the planning of the campaign. U.S. farmers hope to make the case that foreign retaliation to Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum and other pending trade restrictions will have a potentially devastating impact on their exports, if China and other trading powers decide to ratchet up tariffs on soybeans, wheat and other farm goods. |
| Cybercrime: Rise in cases catches some local police agencies unprepared | |
 | In practically the blink of an eye, Maggie Irizarry lost about $1,300 to thieves. But the culprits weren't robbers who broke into her Miami home. They were hackers who connived their way onto her Lenovo laptop. Because of that, local police balked at getting involved. Irizarry's only recourse was to plead for mercy with her bank and credit card company in hopes of recovering her loss. Hundreds of thousands of Americas are victims of cybercrime every year. Yet only 15 percent of cyber fraud victims ever report the crimes to law enforcement, the FBI says. Many victims -- those who have lost hundreds or thousands of dollars -- feel they have nowhere to turn. The truth is they often do not. Most local and state law enforcement agencies are not equipped to track down cyber crooks. The FBI is swamped and must prioritize big cases. |
| Neither Black Nor White in the Mississippi Delta | |
 | If you drive through the Mississippi Delta on a typical, achingly hot summer day, you pass former cotton plantations where thousands of black people were enslaved, and as sites where men and women struggled, and all too often died, during the civil rights movement. It is easy to understand why the blues was born here. While the story of the Delta was, and in some ways still is, one of inequality and segregation between white and black people, there was another little noted community in their midst in the 20th century: a community of Chinese-Americans. Gilroy and Sally Chow's family takes the football rivalry between the University of Mississippi and Mississippi State seriously. So seriously that they now sit in opposing stands to keep the peace between family members who back opposing sides. |
| Ole Miss students react to proposed state tax increase on cigarettes | |
| Mississippi lawmakers are working to discourage children and adults from continuing, or starting, the unhealthy habit of smoking by proposing an increased tax on cigarettes. Legislators recently drafted five bills to propose the tax increase, but all five bills had failed as of Feb. 21. One of those bills, S.B. 2701, looked to increase cigarette taxes and relocate the profit towards the state's Medicaid costs. However, Mississippians in favor of a tax increase aren't ready to throw in the towel just yet. A bond bill, S.B. 3048, still remains and has the potential to be revised to increase cigarette taxes from the current 68 cents per pack to $1.50 per pack in late March. Joel McKay, a University of Mississippi student and regular smoker, said that a tax increase would be an effective way to discourage the purchase of cigarettes. "I spend too much on cigarettes as it is," McKay said. |
| U. of Southern Mississippi students warned: 'Don't be stupid' on spring break | |
 | Cancun. Cozumel. Destin. Daytona Beach. Wherever University of Southern Mississippi students head for spring break this week, three words will be echoing in their heads: Don't be stupid. That was the message from officials at the university's Moffitt Health Center. They sponsored "Don't Be Stupid" week last week with messages to students to make good decisions during spring break. Tips on safe sex, responsible drinking and sun and travel safety were provided each day during the lunch hour at Thad Cochran Center. "We plan this event for the week before spring break so the educational information we give students is still fresh on their minds as they start their spring break activities," said Melissa Roberts, the center's executive director, in an email. "These topics are chosen to help the students make wise decisions in protecting themselves and avoid risky behaviors, especially in regards to sex, drugs and alcohol." |
| UGA crafts exhibit also a women's history lesson | |
 | An exhibit at the Georgia Museum of Art traces the history of the University of Georgia's craft program, but it's also a lesson on the history of women at UGA. The exhibit, scheduled to run through April 29, showcases the work of some of the men and women who have taught or worked in textiles, metals and ceramics at the university. Last week, the three women who curated the exhibit shared some of that history as they led a special Women's History Month tour of the exhibit. The exhibit in a way mirrors that history, and how it has been forgotten. The formidable Lamar Dodd is often credited as the founder of a UGA art department, and today UGA's Lamar Dodd School of Art bears his name. But it was actually a woman, Mildred Ledford, who headed UGA's brand new department for fine and applied arts in 1927, explained Annelies Mondi, deputy director of the Georgia Museum of Art. Mondi was co-curator of the exhibit, "Crafting History: Textiles, Metals and Ceramics at the University of Georgia," with art professor Mary Hallam Pearse, chair of the UGA art school's jewelry and metalwork program, and independent scholar Ashley Callahan, a former curator of decorative arts at the Georgia Museum of Art. |
| Will more art help explain U. of Kentucky's controversial mural? These two artists have a plan | |
 | Two nationally recognized artists will come to the University of Kentucky this month to publicly present their ideas for art that might contextualize a controversial mural in Memorial Hall that has drawn complaints from black students and faculty. The proposals of Karyn Olivier and Bethany Collins will mark the final step in a selection process started in 2015 when UK President Eli Capilouto shrouded the fresco following complaints about artist Ann Rice O'Hanlon's depiction of slaves and native Americans in her 1934 fresco about the founding of Lexington. A group of students who met with Capilouto said the mural was one of many issues that concerned them, including diversity, financial aid, retention and achievement gaps. The mural, which was commissioned as part of the Public Works of Art project of President Franklin Roosevelt's administration, covers one wall of the lobby of Memorial Hall, UK's most iconic building on campus. |
| Education Dept. Wants to Block States' Student-Loan Rules; States Are Fighting Back | |
 | The U.S. Education Department wants states to defer to federal oversight of the companies that service the billions of dollars in student loans that it issues, but the states are not going down without a fight. In a final notice published on Monday in the Federal Register, the department outlined its interpretation that the federal government, not the states, is responsible for overseeing loan servicing. But several state legislatures are considering -- or have passed -- bills to tighten the rules governing the companies, and the department's new interpretation would pre-empt those laws. Several consumer advocates and state attorneys general quickly voiced their displeasure with the department's interpretation after it became clear on Friday that the department would use a broad reading of its authority. And two Democratic attorneys general said they would disregard the guidance. |
| Colleges are still trying to grasp meaning of Europe's new digital privacy law | |
 | A German student uses your website to apply for admission. An alumnus who lives in Italy makes an online donation. A faculty member spends a sabbatical in France and communicates with colleagues back home. These routine digital interactions -- common in most higher education institutions -- will subject colleges in the U.S. to the European Union's comprehensive privacy rules, which go into effect May 25. Many experts believe American colleges are not prepared -- and could face steep fines as a result. The E.U.'s General Data Protection Regulation will impact any organization worldwide, including U.S. colleges and universities, that processes data relating to people in Europe. Speaking at the Educause conference in Philadelphia late last year, Gian Franco Borio, a lawyer who gives legal counsel to the European Association of Study Abroad, said that the GDPR would almost certainly affect all U.S. higher education institutions. Failure to comply with the new rules could cost U.S. institutions more than $23 million in fines. But despite these sharp teeth, few colleges appear to be prepared. |
| What College Students Really Think About Free Speech | |
| To some, free speech on college campuses appears to be under attack, but what do the students themselves think? A study released on Monday offers some answers based on a survey of more than 3,000 of them. The survey, a collaboration among five groups, finds that college students feel increasingly stifled on campus and online, and while they equally value free speech and inclusivity, they wrestle with how best to balance the two. "What you see is a generation that's struggling with really deep questions about how to be a pluralistic society and a pluralistic campus and how to be an open society and an open campus," said Sam Gill, vice president of communities and learning at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which led the effort with Gallup, the polling company. The debate over speech on campus may be growing less relevant, however, with a majority of students saying that most political and social discussion now takes place online, even if they may not feel particularly good about that shift. |
| Wrist slap for Tate Reeves his biggest setback | |
| Longtime Mississippi journalist Charlie Mitchell writes: "On March 1, the state Senate said no to the leadership's plan to change how state money is distributed to public K-12 schools. Next came the weekend. On March 5, Thad Cochran, Mississippi's senior and super delegate to the U.S. Senate announced his resignation. Because we live in a one-story-at-a-time world, the vote on school funding didn't get the media ride it deserved. It was cool, though, when, during debate on the House-passed rewrite, Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, casually made a motion to send H.B. 957 back to committee. Perhaps it even surprised Bryan when eight Republicans joined the 18 other Democrats in supporting his motion. Two Republicans were absent and two didn't vote, and, because the deadline for committee work has passed, the legislation was shelved 27-21, at least until next year. Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, predictably, blamed the press." |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State women earn No. 1 seed for NCAA Tournament | |
 | March Madness is officially underway in college hoops and the women's basketball championship run for Mississippi State will start on its home floor for the third-straight season. The NCAA selection show revealed on Monday night that the Bulldogs will host the first two rounds of the tournament yet again. This time, they'll do so as one of four No. 1 seeds. A top seed in the NCAA Tournament is a first for any MSU hoops team. The Bulldogs joined UConn, Notre Dame and Louisville as the top seeds in the tournament. "We're so proud of the kids," Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer said. "I appreciate the committee's consideration. Our schedule was very, very difficult. I'm thrilled that we'll be able to have 10,000 people in here for an NCAA Tournament game." |
| Mississippi State women get No. 1 seed, will play Nicholls in first round | |
 | The Mississippi State women's basketball team added another piece of history to an already accomplished season Monday night. After winning its first Southeastern Conference regular-season title and completing the first undefeated regular season by a SEC team in 20 years, MSU earned a No. 1 seed for the first time in program history. As the top seed in the Kansas City Regional, MSU will play host to No. 16 seed Nicholls at 5 p.m. Saturday (ESPN2) at Humphrey Coliseum. No. 8 seed Syracuse (22-8) will play No. 9 seed Oklahoma State (20-10) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday (ESPN2). The winners of both games will play Monday at a time to be announced. The winner of that game will advance to the Sweet 16 in Kansas City. MSU defeated Oklahoma State 79-76 on Dec. 3 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge in Starkville. It beat Syracuse 76-65 on Dec. 21 at the Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas. |
| Bulldogs earn No. 1 seed in Kansas City Regional | |
| Mississippi State's quest for its first national championship will run through the Kansas City Regional. But there will be a stop in Starkville first. The Bulldogs earned a No. 1 seed for the first time and will host the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament at Humphrey Coliseum. "They've earned the No. 1 seed and I appreciate the committee rewarding them with that," said MSU coach Vic Schaefer. "Now we've got to go defend it, that's the bottom line. You're still going to get everybody's best game plan and go against some really good players." MSU will be in first-round action Saturday against 16th-seeded Nicholls State at 5 p.m. on ESPN2. The Bulldogs (32-1) are making their 10th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and their fourth under Vic Schaefer. |
| Analysis: Mississippi State women's basketball's NCAA tournament bracket | |
 | Many Mississippi State fans exhaled Monday night at Humphrey Coliseum when UConn and South Carolina were announced in the Albany region during the women's basketball NCAA tournament reveal. They exhaled again when it was learned that the Bulldogs wouldn't have to travel to Spokane, Washington. When ESPN finally announced the teams in the Kansas City region, there was little suspense left, but the celebration for MSU's fourth-straight NCAA tournament appearance was on. After losing in the national championship last year, the road back for MSU (32-1) starts against Nicholls State (19-13) at 5 p.m. Saturday (ESPN2) at Humphrey Coliseum. Here's a breakdown of Mississippi State's bracket and its path toward possibly reaching Columbus, Ohio. |
| UConn, Irish, Louisville, Miss St Top Seeds in Women's NCAAs | |
| UConn is back in a familiar place -- the No. 1 overall seed in the women's basketball NCAA Tournament. Joining the Huskies as top seeds are Notre Dame, Louisville and Mississippi State. The Huskies enter as the lone unbeaten team and will be vying for their 12th national championship. It's the ninth time that UConn has entered the NCAAs undefeated, including last year when the Huskies went in as the overwhelming favorite before their 111-game winning streak ended with a loss to Mississippi State in the Final Four. Mississippi State is a No. 1 seed for the first time in school history. The Bulldogs won their first 32 games this season before losing to South Carolina in the SEC title game. With most of their players back from last season's runner-up finish -- including Morgan William, who hit the game-winner in overtime to knock off UConn -- the Bulldogs hope to make another deep NCAA run. |
| No. 1 seed State gets manageable tournament draw | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: "ESPN's NCAA Women's Basketball Selection Show broadcast began Monday night with a replay of Mississippi State point guard Morgan William's 'shot heard round the world.' You know, the one that ended UConn's record winning streak in last year's NCAA semifinals. And one of the announcers said this: 'Just goes to show that anybody can win any game on any given night' in the NCAA Tournament. Whoa... No, sorry, it does not. What it showed was that Mississippi State, on a given night, was good enough to beat UConn. Very few teams are. Women's college basketball is not nearly as deep in quality teams as the men's game. In reality, probably five or six teams are capable of winning it all in the Final Four that will be played in Columbus, Ohio." |
| S-E-C! League lands conference-record 8 teams in NCAAs | |
| The Southeastern Conference's push to improve in men's basketball finally has paid off in record fashion. The conference best known for cranking out national champions in football landed a league-record eight teams in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. That easily topped the six teams the SEC has put into the tournament nine times, most recently in 2008. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey quickly took to Twitter to remind everyone of the league's record haul. "We are proud to have an @SEC record 8 teams in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament," Sankey wrote. "This achievement is a reflection of the commitment our universities have made to support men's basketball. Good luck student-athletes, coaches & fans during #March Madness. #ItJustMeansMore." |
| Sources: Kermit Davis top candidate to be Ole Miss basketball coach | |
| The conference tournaments and Selection Sunday have come and gone, and a month has passed since Andy Kennedy initially announced he was stepping down at Ole Miss. So where do things stand with Ole Miss' coaching search? Well, all signs are pointing to Middle Tennessee State's Kermit Davis, per multiple sources. While Davis is certainly the leading candidate, another source insisted Ole Miss has not completed its search. MTSU will host Vermont in the first round of the NIT at 7 p.m. Tuesday night. Davis has spent the past 16 seasons at Middle Tennessee State and has appeared in three NCAA Tournaments. The Blue Raiders beat Ole Miss by 19 points in Murfreesboro this season and by 15 in Oxford last season. |
| Ole Miss planning to cast 'wide net' in search for women's basketball coach | |
| Ole Miss' search for its next women's basketball coach is about to ramp up. The program joined the men's team in the market for a new coach March 2 when the school announced it and Matt Insell mutually agreed to part ways after an inconsistent five-year tenure. Insell will receive a buyout of $570,000 payable over the final three years that remained on his contract, athletic director Ross Bjork said. As for what's been going on since then, Bjork said Ole Miss spent much of last week "just gathering a lot of information" and "talking to a lot of industry contacts that we have" about the job with teams around the country still waiting to play in the NCAA Tournament or the Women's National Invitation Tournament. Bjork said the ideal candidate will be a "unifier" that can establish a clear identity for a program in need of a talent upgrade. |
| Basketball coach Thad Matta meets with Georgia | |
| Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity dropped off at the Athens-Ben Epps Airport on Monday the person who just might be the school's new men's basketball coach. Former Ohio State coach Thad Matta and one his daughters were headed for a flight to Indianapolis, where Matta lives, after spending the day meeting with Georgia officials on campus. McGarity said he wished a reporter wasn't waiting on them at the airport, but Matta didn't seem bothered. He offered a pleasant "no comment" when asked if Georgia had offered him the job. McGarity, who was not accompanied by any other Georgia representatives, also declined any comment. McGarity fired former men's basketball coach Mark Fox on Saturday. Thad Matta spoke to his older brother about the Georgia job. |
| Sessions Not Plotting Crackdown on March Madness Pools | |
 | Enforcement actions against office March Madness pools will not be a priority for the Justice Department this year, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Monday. "Well, Alabama and Auburn both got in, so we're not suing them right now," Sessions told radio host Hugh Hewitt when asked about the potential of federal lawsuits against "bracketologists." "It was a fabulous year for Alabama basketball," Sessions said. |
| How the NCAA's March Madness Windfall Makes Its Way to Colleges | |
| For most Americans, the arrival of March means the welcome return of office pools and Cinderella stories. But for college athletic departments, March Madness signals another tradition: payday. The National Collegiate Athletic Association's annual men's basketball tournament is as lucrative as ever for the association and its member institutions. According to recently released financial statements, revenue earned by the NCAA surpassed $1 billion for the first time ever in the 2017 fiscal year, with the sale of basketball television rights accounting for 80 percent of the haul. If past is prologue, much of this year's March Madness revenue will be redistributed to the top-performing colleges and their parent conferences. According to financial data for the 2016 fiscal year, the NCAA made $788 million in cash payments to colleges and their associated athletic conferences that year -- with most of the money going to Division I members. |
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