| Wednesday, April 4, 2018 |
| Steve Soltis previews New Narrative Festival at Mississippi State | |
 | Steve Soltis said Mississippi, and its people, are full of stories waiting to be told, and the inaugural New Narrative Festival at Mississippi State next week aims to help explore ways to tell them. Soltis, a retired corporate communications professional who worked more than 20 years with Coca-Cola and UPS, spoke to the Starkville Rotary Club Monday about the festival. Soltis is a member of the advisory board for MSU's Department of Communication. "The driving objective, first and foremost, is to showcase the university, Dr. Forde's department and the greater Starkville community as both conveners and curators of this changing narrative," Soltis said, "and also to talk about what's happening, why it's different, how Mississippi has a role in this and where it's going." The New Narrative Festival is set for April 13-14 at The Mill at MSU. |
| Rotarians briefed on Mississippi State's New Narrative Festival | |
 | A new conference will be held in Starkville this month celebrating the art of storytelling and the accomplishments of Mississippi in the context of the world. At the Starkville Rotary Club meeting Monday, Mississippi State University Department of Communication advisor Steve Soltis gave information on the upcoming New Narrative Festival to be held April 13-14 at The Mill Conference Center. The event will be held by the MSU Department of Communication and will feature speakers and influencers from several fields and places, many with ties to Mississippi. MSU Department of Communication Head and professor John Forde said the event would be a good way for people to come together and share stories and perspectives. "The focus of the festival is really to explore the ways that we communicate now, which are constantly changing, with a big focus on Mississippi and the impact that Mississippi's had on society," Forde said. |
| Riley Foundation awards MSU-Meridian students through scholars program | |
 | The Riley Foundation Scholars Program is currently providing scholarship support to 17 talented MSU-Meridian students. The competitive program provides two-year scholarship awards. Eligible students must have completed at least two years of study at a local community college with a grade-point average of 3.25 or higher (based on a 4.0 scale), as well as provide an essay and personal statement with their application. Chartered in 1998, The Riley Foundation works to improve the quality of life for Meridian and Lauderdale County citizens through charitable grants. Its partnership with MSU-Meridian has led to many advancements including the developments of the MSU Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts, the I. Alfred Rosenbaum Building, and the Robert B. Deen Jr. Building, all located downtown at the MSU Riley Campus. |
| Longtime Mississippi State photographer says goodbye with exhibition | |
| After 30 years, Mississippi State University's longtime photographer Russ Houston will hang up his camera and retire from the university on June 1. A Starkville native, Houston started at MSU in 1988 after a two-year run shooting for The Commercial Dispatch. He currently serves as the university's photographic coordinator, and has captured pivotal moments in the university's history both on and off the athletic field. He graduated from MSU in 1985 with a degree in broadcasting. "It was a good time," Houston said. "I've done this for 32 years, two years at The Commercial Dispatch newspaper before I came here. It seemed like it was the right time. Things were getting busier and busier, and I'm not quite as energetic as I used to be." He said the biggest change he saw in his time at MSU was moving from film to digital photography. |
| Survey asks beach-goers: 'Fun in the sun' or headache? | |
 | Would you be willing to pay $10 for an app warning about poor beach conditions ahead of your visit to coastal Alabama? A team of Mississippi State University researchers would like to know. An anonymous survey has been set up to help the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System develop data and data products that could appeal to beachgoers. The survey, which takes about 10 minutes to complete, asks beach-bound visitors and residents to provide their input on what type of factors can ruin a beach experience. "This study focuses on an expanded Gulf of Mexico beach conditions monitoring system and the value of this expansion to those individuals who frequent beaches along the Gulf Coast," said Dan Petrolia, associate professor of agricultural economics in the university's Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. |
| FOIA reveals names of SPD officers who let off Columbus patrolman for DUI | |
| Starkville's board of aldermen has no immediate plans to discipline any of the officers involved in the decision not to arrest or ticket a part-time Columbus patrolman stopped for drunk driving on March 9. Starkville Police Chief Frank Nichols, in a press conference March 21, said his officers let Columbus Police Department Officer Louis Alexander go out of "professional courtesy" -- something he indicated was common nationwide among law enforcement agencies when they stop other police officers. He said the decision not to ticket Alexander was made between the patrolman, a sergeant, a lieutenant and a captain, though he did not release the officers' names. Through a Freedom of Information Act request, The Dispatch has learned Lt. Michael Edwards and Sgt. Steven Shane Kelly were the only officers of their respective ranks listed on the duty roster for the shift when the stop took place. Patrolman Prinston Henderson initiated the stop. |
| Oktibbeha supervisor blasts road manager for excessive employee overtime | |
| Tensions flared Monday between Oktibbeha County Road Manager Fred Hal Baggett and District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller, spurred on by a disagreement about whether more than 300 hours of overtime for road workers during the winter months was necessary. Miller, during Monday's supervisors meeting, reported about 310 hours of overtime spread among 20 employees in the road department in those months. She said that amounted to about $6,200 in unanticipated costs. Miller took particular issue with much of the overtime falling to truck drivers and employees in clerical positions in the road department, rather than foremen. She called the heavy overtime, including one pay period where some workers got as many as 20 extra hours, "excessive abuse." The dispute escalated later in the meeting. |
| Governor sets April 24 as qualifying deadline for Senate special election | |
 | Candidates have until 5 p.m. on April 24 to qualify to run for the United States Senate seat vacated by the retirement of Thad Cochran. Cochran's tenure, which began in 1978, ended this past weekend when he retired in the middle of his seventh term in the U.S. Senate because of health reasons. The 80-year-old Cochran announced his intent to step down in early March. While Gov. Phil Bryant announced the qualifying deadline Tuesday morning, the Republican governor actually signed the writ Monday giving candidates until April 24 to qualify for the Nov. 6 special election to fill the rest of Cochran's term. Nov. 6 is the date of the regularly scheduled general election where the state's other U.S. senator -- Republican Roger Wicker of Tupelo -- will be on the ballot, as will all four U.S. House seats and multiple judicial posts. |
| Miss. Dem touts campaign poll saying he leads GOP candidates in Senate race | |
 | Former Democratic Rep. Mike Espy leads both Republican challengers in the race to replace retiring Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), according to a poll conducted by his campaign. A poll conducted by Chism Strategies for Espy's campaign found him leading with 34 percent of the vote, and Republicans Cindy Hyde-Smith and Chris McDaniel splitting the vote, according to the Clarion-Ledger. Hyde-Smith, who was appointed by the governor to replace Cochran until the Nov. 6 special election, is in second place with 27 percent, followed by McDaniel, a conservative firebrand and state senator, with 21 percent. Democrats believe Espy, who served in the Clinton administration as the country's first African-American secretary of Agriculture, could mount a competitive run in the deep-red state. |
| Poll: Mike Espy leads Chris McDaniel, Cindy Hyde-Smith in Senate race | |
 | A poll commissioned by Democrat Mike Espy's U.S. Senate campaign shows him leading Republicans Cindy Hyde-Smith and Chris McDaniel in a three-way race as the two Republicans split votes. The poll was taken by Chism Strategies in the days after Gov. Phil Bryant announced his appointment of Hyde-Smith to temporarily fill the seat until a Nov. 6 special election. The special election will be a general election -- no party primaries -- and is likely to result in a runoff with no candidate getting more than 50 percent. The poll was taken before Democratic Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton announced his candidacy, which could siphon votes from Espy, and Republican attorney and author Andy Taggart announced he is "seriously considering" a run. Taggart said he will likely announce a decision by the end of this week. |
| Another candidate adds drama to race for Sen. Thad Cochran's seat | |
 | Jason Shelton, the mayor of Tupelo, announced Tuesday that he will join what is becoming a packed race for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by retiring Sen. Thad Cochran. Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith has been appointed by Gov. Phil Bryant to hold the Cochran seat until a special election Nov. 6. She will be sworn in on Monday and is running to complete Cochran's full term through 2020. Shelton, a 42-year-old Democrat, said his record as mayor of the state's seventh-largest city qualifies him for the race. The field of candidates will be finalized April 24, the filing deadline announced Tuesday on Twitter by Bryant. The race is expected to draw strong national interest as Senate Republicans in Washington work to maintain majority control from Democrats and fend off conservative challengers from the right. |
| Fourth Hopeful Announces Bid to Replace Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran | |
 | A fourth candidate has declared his intention to run for former Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran's seat in the November special election. Jason Shelton, the Democratic mayor of Tupelo, announced his bid for Cochran's seat Tuesday on WTVA 9 News. It's his first run for statewide office. Shelton faces an uphill battle as he joins a field of candidates with much greater name recognition. Candidates from all parties will run together on a single ballot in November, with the top two vote-getters advancing to a runoff if no one takes more than 50 percent of the vote. Shelton believes he can cut through the political noise and reach voters with a message of promising to roll up his sleeves and do the dirty work in Washington. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race for Cochran's seat Solid Republican. |
| Jason Shelton says senate race won't distract from mayoral demands | |
| As he ramps up what's certain to be a time-consuming campaign for the U.S. Senate, involving extensive statewide travel, Jason Shelton says that he remains committed to fulfilling his duties as Tupelo's mayor. "I'm going to do my job," Shelton told the Daily Journal. Following a Tuesday announcement that Shelton will qualify as a candidate for a special election to replace the retiring Thad Cochran, multiple members of the City Council expressed concerns to the Daily Journal. These concerns centered around the extensive demands a statewide campaign will make on the full-time mayor of Mississippi's seventh largest city. "He said he could do both," Ward 5 Councilman Buddy Palmer said. "I'm not really sure how." |
| President Trump floats idea of sending military to guard U.S.-Mexico border but offers no details | |
 | President Trump on Tuesday said the military will be sent to guard the U.S.-Mexico border, further escalating his rhetoric on illegal immigration but offering few details on how and when such a plan might be implemented. Trump has for days taken to Twitter and used his public remarks to warn of threats posed by immigration, but the prospect of sending military personnel to the southern border added a new dimension to Trump's strategy, which had centered on threats to walk away from the North American Free Trade Agreement and pressuring Congress to send him funding for a border wall. Sending troops to the border is not unprecedented and has been done by previous presidents, including Barack Obama and George W. Bush, who utilized National Guard troops when concerns over security or humanitarian problems arose. |
| China raises tariffs on U.S. soybeans, aircraft and more | |
 | China on Wednesday issued a $50 billion list of U.S. goods including soybeans and aircraft for possible tariff hikes in an escalating technology dispute with Washington that companies worry could set back the global economic recovery. The country's tax agency gave no date for the 25 percent increase to take effect and said that will depend on what President Donald Trump does about U.S. plans to raise duties on a similar amount of Chinese goods. Beijing's list of 106 products included the biggest U.S. exports to China, reflecting its intense sensitivity to the dispute over American complaints that it pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. In another warning move, Chinese regulators launched an anti-dumping investigation of U.S. sorghum last month as rhetoric between Beijing and Washington heated up. |
| MLK50: 'Mountaintop' speech remembered at Mason Temple in Memphis | |
| Fifty years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. stepped up to the podium at Mason Temple Church of God in Christ as a minister, and reassured the striking sanitation workers and others seeking economic and racial justice that their battle cry was being heard around the world. A day later, as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, he was struck down as a martyr. On Tuesday, crowds packed the balcony and the ground-floor pews at Mason Temple to remember King's last night for "I AM 2018: Revisiting the Mountaintop," a commemoration sponsored by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Church of God in Christ. |
| Martin Luther King Jr. Case Is Closed, Despite Swirl Of Conspiracy Theories | |
 | Authorities have investigated the death of Martin Luther King Jr. five times since his murder in April 1968. Congress, district attorneys and the Justice Department all have concluded that James Earl Ray shot King as the civil rights icon stood on a motel balcony in Memphis. That hasn't stopped conspiracy theories from flourishing. Disclosures that King had been targeted by the FBI and its director J. Edgar Hoover for abuse and harassment gave rise to many questions about possible government involvement in his death. Three men who have investigated the crime over the past 50 years said they are confident in their conclusions -- even if some questions do linger about conspirators who themselves may have died decades ago. |
| Financial Demand Issued Against State Board of Cosmetology | |
| The Mississippi auditor is demanding that Board of Cosmetology members pay the state about $21,000 because of lax oversight in money handling. Auditor Stacey Pickering says in a news release Tuesday that his office issued demands to four current members and one former member of the board. He says they failed to ensure that deposits were made promptly for payments the board received. Pickering is seeking $4,214 each from current members Darlene Smith, Bertha Johnson, Dorothy Ennis and Glenda Honeycutt and former member Waylon Garrett. |
| New state flag lawsuit set to be filed in court Wednesday | |
 | Members of the Mississippi Rising Coalition are continuing their efforts to get the state flag removed from Ocean Springs city buildings. A new state flag lawsuit is set to be filed in federal court Wednesday in Gulfport. This action by the Mississippi Rising Coalition comes after a second video appeared on YouTube. In the 10-minute video, a voice says he represents the United Dixie White Knights. The United Dixie White Knights admitted to sending the first video to the organization last week. A press conference will take place at 3 p.m. at Ocean Springs City Hall Wednesday with the plaintiffs and lawyers for the plaintiffs. Tuesday night, several friends and supporters of the Mississippi Rising Coalition packed Ocean Springs City Hall to talk with aldermen. One even related the state flag being stained the same way as a tablecloth she held at the podium got stained at her house and is now unusable for family gatherings. |
| Jimmy Buffett to perform at Hattiesburg's Saenger Theater | |
 | Parrothead fans in the Pine Belt will be able to get tickets to a one-night-only performance by Jimmy Buffett -- come Friday when tickets go on sale. The concert will be at 7:30 p.m. April 26 at the Hattiesburg Saenger Theater on Forrest Street. Preceding the concert will be a Margaritaville-style street party outside the Saenger. Buffett, 71, is performing with his band, the Acoustic Airmen, who include Coral Reefers Mac McAnally, Robert Greenidge, Eric Darken, Nadirah Shakoor and Tina Gullickson and guest artists Sonny Landreth and ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro. Buffett has not performed in Hattiesburg in decades -- since Oct. 31, 1981 -- so fans are looking forward to seeing him perform here. Buffett attended the University of Southern Mississippi in the 1960s, earning a bachelor's degree in 1969. |
| Pearl River Community College alumnus funds two scholarships | |
 | Two Pearl River Community College students will be the recipients of a scholarship funded by Craig Griffing, a PRCC alumnus. The Zoe McGovern Griffing Teacher's Scholarship and the Craig Griffing Nursing Scholarship through the PRCC Development Foundation will assist future nursing and education students with the cost of attendance. Griffing, of Picayune, studied at PRCC and the University of Southern Mississippi before moving onto Loyola University at New Orleans to complete his Masters of Business Administration. He says it was his career in health care that led him to give back. "That's when I realized how important nurses are to the health care industry," he said. "There always seems to be a shortage of nurses, so I thought I would do my little part to help with that. I've always admired PRCC's nursing school, so I wanted to do my small part to help local people become nurses and hopefully work in the area." |
| U. of Florida set to host next controversial speaker: Dinesh D'Souza | |
 | The University of Florida in the last year has been no stranger to bringing in controversial speakers, hosting conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro and white nationalist Richard Spencer within a six-month span. Next week, they'll have another. The UF chapter of Young Americans for Freedom plans to host author Dinesh D'Souza on April 12 in the William G. Carleton Auditorium. The event will be free and open to the public. D'Souza, 56, is a conservative political commentator and author of the bestseller "The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left," which will be the focus of the event. He is also the writer and director of the 2016 film "Hillary's America," which earned D'Souza the Golden Raspberry Award for worst picture, actor and director. He taunted students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after they reacted emotionally after the Florida House voted down a ban on assault weapons. "Worst news since their parents told them to get summer jobs," he said on Twitter, and later apologized. |
| La. higher ed, public school leaders make money pitch to key committee | |
 | Stable state support is crucial for LSU to compete for Louisiana's best students, school president F. King Alexander told a panel that controls the purse-strings Tuesday. Alexander said that, after years of budget cuts, last year's standstill budget helped spark a 40 percent increase in student applications. "One year of stability has put us back on offense," he said. "We just need you guys to help us create that stable environment." Alexander made his comments to the powerful House Appropriations Committee, which is writing its version of the state operating budget for colleges and universities, public schools and other services starting July 1. Gov. John Bel Edwards, amid state budget problems, has offered a "doomsday" spending plan that would include especially deep cuts for higher education and health care. |
| Kentucky's New Budget Carries Big Consequences for Public Colleges | |
 | Kentucky's General Assembly passed a state budget Monday night, sending it to Gov. Matt Bevin, a Republican, for approval. The document has big ramifications for the state's public colleges, including millions of dollars in funding reductions and a measure that strips tenured professors of their job protections in the event of financial emergencies. Overall, the budget cuts base appropriations to public colleges by 6.25 percent over the next two years. The cut at the University of Kentucky is projected to be as high as $16 million, according to a statement from the institution. The most controversial higher-ed provision in the budget has been language that allows governing boards to fire tenured faculty in the event of program elimination. |
| U. of Kentucky gets $40M budget surprise to help finish research building | |
 | In the rush of the legislative session's last day, the University of Kentucky got a pleasant surprise: $40 million in state bonds over the next two years to help with its next big research building aimed at solving the state's health disparities. Currently known as Research Building 2, the steel skeleton going up on Virginia Avenue will house researchers trying to solve Kentucky's worst problems: cancer, diabetes, heart disease and drug abuse. The $265 million building is already half funded by the state, and half from private gifts. UK will receive $20 million in each year of the biennium. "This substantial investment in our research enterprise (and the confidence in and commitment to our work it represents) will allow us to better leverage our new research building to be opened in August 2018 and the federal government's expanding financial investment in health-related research," President Eli Capilouto said in a campuswide email on Monday night. |
| UGA faculty group will continue talks on Baldwin Hall and slave burials | |
 | A University of Georgia faculty group will continue its discussions about slave burials at Baldwin Hall, but likely not until the next academic year. Meeting in special session Tuesday, the Faculty Senate of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, UGA's largest college, voted unanimously to form an ad hoc committee on issues raised after workers unearthed more than 100 burials, likely of slaves or former slaves, as they prepared for an expansion and renovation of the North Campus building. The committee's members and its formal charge are to be decided at the group's next scheduled meeting of the academic year in two weeks. An ad hoc committee had been appointed at an earlier meeting, but the senate hadn't gone through the necessary formal process of appointing and charging the committee, Senate President Mary Bedell told the group. |
| U. of South Carolina astronomy professor helps find most distant star ever seen | |
 | A University of South Carolina professor had a hand in discovering the most distant, non-exploding star ever observed, according to a paper published Monday in Nature Astronomy. The star, which USC assistant professor of physics and astronomy Steven Rodney and his colleagues named "Icarus," is 9 billion light-years away from earth, which is 100 times further away from any other "normal" star astronomers can study. Scientists have seen galaxies and supernovae (exploding stars) from a farther distance, but never a single, non-exploding star before, Rodney said. Dozens of scientists from a total of 13 countries co-authored the paper, whose lead author was University of Minnesota astronomer Patrick Kelly. |
| Houston couple named Texas A&M 2018-2019 Parents of the Year | |
 | Brett and Courtney Turner of Houston have been named the Texas A&M 2018-2019 Parents of the Year, an honor that coincides with the university's annual Family Weekend celebration later this month. The Turners were nominated by their daughter, class of '21 student Kylee Turner, who in her nomination said her parents deserved the recognition based on the example they have set in both their home and community. According to the Texas A&M Family Weekend committee, the tradition of honoring parents of the year began in 1919 as a way to honor Aggie moms, but "later evolved into an award for Aggie parents who exemplify the Aggie Core Values of excellence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect and selfless service." The 2018 Family Weekend events will be April 13-15, featuring the annual Mom's Boutique, Texas A&M athletic events and the Family Weekend Carnival. |
| Class brings exonerees to U. of Missouri campus | |
 | Joe Amrine and Richard Jones served 17 years in prison. Lamonte McIntyre served 23 years. Reggie Griffin was behind bars for 33 years. All were wrongfully convicted and eventually freed after serving decades in prison. "Who wants to be in jail, period? Especially if you ain't done nothing?" Griffin said. Amrine, Jones, McIntyre and Griffin shared the stories of their trials and experiences in prison at a discussion Tuesday at the University of Missouri School of Law. "The Exonerated: Surviving Justice" was sponsored by the Innocence Clinic, a joint project between the MU and University of Missouri-Kansas City schools of law and the Midwest Innocence Project. Paul Litton, associate dean for research and faculty development in the MU law school, was part of a committee established by the American Bar Association that studied capital punishment, focusing on laws and practices. |
| Students' access to food still a problem on college campuses, study shows | |
 | Students continue to go hungry on college campuses. While experts differ on the scope of the problem, the issue of students lacking basic needs, both food and shelter, has gained significant traction, both politically and among university administrators. The new report released yesterday will likely restart the conversation over students' access to food -- it quickly attracted considerable media attention, even though its authors note that it can't be considered a national picture of these issues. The study, the first to include four-year colleges and universities, comes from one of the most prominent researchers on this front, Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor of higher education policy and sociology at Temple University and founder of the Wisconsin HOPE Lab. |
| Educational inequality is 'existential threat,' former ed secretary says at U. of Memphis | |
| Educational inequality is an "existential threat" to goals of the advancement of society, former U.S. Secretary of Education John King said in Memphis on Tuesday. King spoke during a panel at University of Memphis on "The Promise of Education" in the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. That educational inequality, King said, is tied to the economic inequality that plagues cities like Memphis. Joining King were Dorsey Hopson, Shelby County Schools superintendent, Karen Harrell, vice president of early childhood services at Porter-Leath, and Walter Kimbrough, Dillard University president. In the 50 years since 1968 --- when Brown vs. Board of Education, the landmark ruling calling for the desegregation of schools, existed in law but rarely in practice -- too little has changed in Memphis or across the country, the panelists said. |
| In U.S. Senate race, Hyde-Smith, McDaniel both have state Senate records to compare | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: "...Even more interesting is McDaniel's narrative that he's a 'conservative fighter with a track record in the State Senate to back it up.' An examination of the record, studying legislation in which McDaniel and Hyde-Smith were principal authors of legislation, shows that McDaniel's state Senate colleagues rejected legislation he authored more often than they did legislation Hyde-Smith authored and passed more of her legislation than his. ...Fiery 'swamp draining' rhetoric about his state Senate record from McDaniel aside, the actual numbers show that Hyde-Smith wasn't hampered from passing substantive legislation in an increasingly partisan state legislative environment by her affiliation with either party." |
SPORTS
| Diamond Dogs host Southern University | |
| Mississippi State returns home to the friendly confines of Dudy Noble Field tonight for the first time since March 21. The road was unkind to the Bulldogs, going just 2-5 over that stretch but hope to bounce back against Southern University at 6:30 p.m. Tonight will mark the first meeting between MSU and the Jaguars on the diamond but the Bulldogs (14-15) are 2-0 and have outscored SWAC opponents 28-7 this year. Southern is 8-15 this spring and is currently on a four-game skid. The Jaguars lost their last outing 6-1 against Xavier in Dallas, Texas on Friday. |
| Bulldogs beginning the Joe Moorhead era | |
| Mississippi State's Joe Moorhead is going through the same problems and having the same headaches that first-year coaches always go through when establishing the way they want their football program run. One difference: He won't be given much of a grace period to make it work. That's because the 44-year-old Moorhead has the luxury -- and responsibility -- of taking over a roster with plenty of veteran talent. The Bulldogs expect to be a factor in the SEC West next fall after returning many of the main contributors from a team that finished 9-4 last season. |
| Here's why Victoria Vivians' success at Mississippi State is no surprise | |
 | Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: "So, the question was put to me, via Twitter, just minutes after Arike Ogunboewale's miraculous shot put a dagger right through the hearts of all who bleed Mississippi State's maroon and white. The question concerned State's senior All American Victoria Vivians and it went like this: 'Four years ago, did you expect Victoria to: make the All-SEC freshman team, make the SEC All-Tournament team, make the Team USA basketball trials, be a three-time All-SEC first team selection, be a two-time All-Region selection, make the Final Four All-Tournament team, become a consensus All-American, and win the Gillom Trophy four times?' That's a long-winded question. I have a short answer. I am not all that surprised. I certainly knew she had such potential greatness in her. I knew she was special." |
| Mississippi Braves manager Chris Maloney's career has come full-circle | |
| Former Mississippi State Bulldog and Jackson native Chris Maloney has a vivid memory of his first experience playing organized baseball. He was seven, playing in what was then the North-Jackson Minor Leagues. "I fell in love with it back then and I still love it," he said. "If I ever quit loving it, I'll leave it." You can bet that won't be any time soon, especially now that he's managing the Mississippi Braves in his hometown. The Braves brought Maloney on board in December after he had managed 17 years at every level of the Cardinals organization and three with the New Orleans Zephyrs, the AA affiliate for the Houston Astros. At Tuesday's media day, he fielded several questions about being back in Jackson and being with a new club. |
| LeBron James responds to Nick Saban, says lawyers will handle dispute | |
| LeBron James isn't letting this barbershop squabble go with Alabama. A few hours after Nick Saban said the Crimson Tide's "Shop Talk" web series wouldn't bow to pressure from the NBA star's copyright infringement claim, James answered back. Speaking with reporters after the Cleveland Cavs' 112-106 win over Toronto, James was asked about Saban saying Alabama's show would go on despite a letter from James' legal team. "That's exactly what I would think he would say," James told reporters Tuesday night. "But I built UNINTERRUPTED for a reason, for us athletes to have a platform to be able to speak your mind about whatever we want to talk about." James is a few episodes into "The Shop," a series similar to Alabama's "Shop Talk." Athletes have casual conversations in barbershops with the camera as a fly on the wall recording the banter. Alabama's first episode premiered last Wednesday with Julio Jones, Eddie Jackson and Ryan Anderson joined by Nick Saban in the new barbershop built in Alabama's football complex. |
| Nick Saban is by far the highest paid public employee in U.S.: report | |
 | Nick Saban, the University of Alabama's head football coach who once held that job at LSU, is the highest paid public employee in the country, AL.com reported. With an annual salary of $11.1 million, Saban's pay far exceeds that of the country's second highest paid public employee, University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari, who makes $7.5 million, the website reported, citing GoBankingRates.com as its source. Louisiana's highest paid public employee is current LSU football coach Ed Orgeron, who ranks 18th nationally with a salary of $3.5 million, the website reported. The GoBankingRates.com rankings listed the top-earning public employee in each state. In most cases, the person hauling in the biggest paycheck is a coach at a public university. |
| Gators AD Scott Stricklin: New football facility will not have 'gold-plated toilets and waterfalls' | |
| Just to be clear, Florida Gators Athletics Director Scott Stricklin says his program's new stand-alone football facility is going to be nice, but not over-the-top ostentatious. "You don't want to be frivolous," Stricklin said on our Open Mike radio show the other day when talking about UF's $130 million in upcoming projects that include $65 million for a new football facility, $50 million for a new baseball stadium and $11 million in improvements to the softball stadium. "We're not going to have gold-plated toilets in any of these facilities. We're not going to have waterfalls in the locker rooms. ...You want to make sure you're spending in a really smart way." Still, there's no question Stricklin is trying to upgrade Florida's facilities in a hurry. |
| Colleges Dance Around Travel Bans, With the Help of Their Lawyers | |
 | This year's men's Final Four seemed to go off without a hitch. All of its participants --- Villanova, Kansas, Michigan and Loyola-Chicago --- made it to Texas without trouble. Trading the cold and rain of their campuses for the warm Texas sun probably did not bother any of them. But had, say, 11th-seeded San Diego State instead of 11th-seeded Loyola-Chicago made an improbable run to the N.C.A.A. tournament's third weekend, the Aztecs' visit to the Lone Star State might have caused a fuss. And in future years, an even more dire complication could arise: A college team might not be permitted to attend a championship event. The reason is that several states have enacted laws banning state-funded travel to certain other states because of legal climates seen as discriminatory, including those related to so-called religious freedom or bathroom bills. The states most commonly the focus of the roughly half-dozen bans are North Carolina and Mississippi. California has a law prohibiting taxpayer-funded travel to eight states, including several that frequently host college championship events: not only North Carolina, but also Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee -- and Texas. |
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