| Wednesday, August 1, 2018 |
| 'Old' YMCA building re-opened on Mississippi State campus | |
 | It's out with the old and in with the new, to an extent, at Mississippi State. A ceremony was held to re-open the "old" YMCA building on campus. University staff are excited to re-open this historic building just before the start of the new school year. "We are especially excited from the student affairs perspective because this was the students' home, a place where they could come and relax and have fun. The post office was here. There were lots of things here that brought students into this space, so we're really excited to be back in the space and hope students will rediscover it as a place that they can call home again, said Regina Hyatt, Vice President of Student Affairs. The building has been serving the university since 1914. |
| Live penguins to highlight Mississippi Aquarium fundraising gala | |
 | Construction on the $93 million Mississippi Aquarium kicked off in Gulfport in May and now the public has a chance to support the aquarium at a September gala which will feature live music, cocktails, food -- and live penguins. Sponsored by Hancock Whitney Bank and the aquarium, the event -- dubbed the "Splash Bash" -- is set for Sept. 21. While state, local and BP settlement funds are powering construction of the facility, the Mississippi Aquarium Foundation is seeking to raise some $15 million to go toward education and outreach programs, research projects and the creation of a research and conservation endowment. Located on 5.8 acres on U.S. 90, the aquarium will feature some 80,000 square feet of exhibits and is expected to draw an estimated 487,000 visitors per year, generating $340 million in local revenue, according to an economic impact study completed in 2017 by the University of Southern Mississippi, which will serve as an aquarium partner, along with Mississippi State University. |
| CEO Joe Max Higgins: Trust critical for LINK to bring industry to Starkville | |
 | Golden Triangle Development LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins says economic development is often about trust. At a joint meeting between the LINK, Starkville board of aldermen, Oktibbeha County board of supervisors and Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority board on Monday, discussion focused for a long time on how to strengthen that trust. On the one hand, Higgins said, the LINK has to trust that it has an idea of what officials, especially from the city and county, want when it comes to offering deals to prospective businesses. In Clay County and Lowndes County, he said, the LINK has that comfort level -- Lowndes supervisors don't want to see requests for tax exemptions for any project that's not at least $5 million, while Clay supervisors want the LINK to bring them any project that wants to invest in the county. "I do (know) in the other places," Higgins said. "I don't have that comfort here." |
| 3 months after opening, the Max aims to pick up the pace | |
 | After three months with The Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience, parking hasn't been as scarce as expected nor has business boomed in downtown Meridian. For both issues, Mark Tullos, the CEO and president of The Max, asks for patience. "In my experience of opening museums, there's never a dramatic takeoff," Tullos said. "It's a slow incline over one to two years. You have to get the word out there." In the three months since the museum opened, Tullos said the center has been doing a lot of "buttoning up," or addressing the little details, and were now "ready to start the advertising push." "We really want people to have a wonderful experience their first time and every time," Tullos said. Since the Max opened, sales tax collections in Meridian haven't seen the bump that many hoped for or expected. |
| Large crowd expected for Neshoba County Fair political speaking | |
 | The most anticipated Neshoba County Fair speeches will come from Attorney General Jim Hood and Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves. Even though the two men haven't officially announced their candidacy, there's strong speculation they will both run for governor in 2019. Syndicated political columnist Sid Salter says they are expected to draw in hundreds of people who want to hear what the men have to say and get to know them in a more personal setting. The Neshoba County Fair has always been a political stump for politicians to come out and get to know the people they represent. "People can actually see the candidate live, in person, under pressure and in a difficult venue," Salter says. "It's usually hot, they are usually sweating. It's unscripted. There's no do overs on this. If you deliver a good speech that's great, if you blow it, you just blew it." Attorney General Hood will speak at 10:20 Wednesday morning. The lieutenant governor speaks at 10:40 a.m. |
| Officials say high-speed internet service should be statewide | |
 | Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Sam Britton is calling for high-speed internet to reach residents in all parts of the state. Britton said in a statement Tuesday that Mississippi is ranked 49th in connectivity, and that nearly 30 percent of the state's residents lack broadband service. Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley is among those who see electric cooperatives as a way to increase access. Mississippi law currently bans electrical cooperatives from offering internet service. Presley, a Democrat representing the state's northern district, says he expects lawmakers to consider dropping that ban in 2019. |
| Finance reports open window into brief Jason Shelton senate campaign | |
 | Federal campaign finance filings by Jason Shelton offer a peek into his short-lived bid for the U.S. Senate. During the month-or-so he was a declared candidate in a special election to replace the now-retired Thad Cochran, Shelton received a total of about $61,000 in campaign donations and loaned his own campaign about $14,000, all while spending about $57,500 on the campaign. As of the campaign finance filing date, the Shelton campaign had returned about $14,500 in donations. Some donors declined to take offered refunds, according to Shelton and a campaign consultant, Brad Morris. The Tupelo mayor looks like he'll take a financial loss from his brief foray into federal politics. At the close of the last federal campaign reporting period in June, the campaign only had about $3,000 in cash on hand, and Shelton's personal loans to the campaign had not yet been paid back. |
| Trump feud with Koch network exposes rift between populist forces and establishment GOP | |
 | President Trump's tight grip on the Republican Party is being openly challenged by the powerful network of ideological conservatives linked to billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, splaying out long-simmering tensions over the party's future just months before the midterm elections. Trump on Tuesday dismissed the mounting criticism of his trade and immigration policies from Koch and his allies as the battle cry of a faction that has "become a total joke in real Republican circles." "I don't need their money or bad ideas," Trump wrote on Twitter, adding, "I have beaten them at every turn." The Koch network pointedly declined to endorse Trump as a presidential candidate in 2016. But this latest feud -- following last weekend's gathering at which Koch-affiliated officials sought to distance their operation from Trump -- has exposed the rift between a president pushing his party toward populism, and establishment Republicans espousing the long-standing policy of free trade. |
| Facebook Identifies an Active Political Influence Campaign Using Fake Accounts | |
 | Facebook said on Tuesday that it had identified a political influence campaign that was potentially built to disrupt the midterm elections, with the company detecting and removing 32 pages and fake accounts that had engaged in activity around divisive social issues. The company did not definitively link the campaign to Russia. But Facebook officials said some of the tools and techniques used by the accounts were similar to those used by the Internet Research Agency, the Kremlin-linked group that was at the center of an indictment this year alleging interference in the 2016 presidential election. The jolting disclosure, delivered to lawmakers in private briefings on Capitol Hill this week and in a public Facebook post on Tuesday, underscored how behind-the-scenes interference in the November elections had begun. |
| Campaigns Grapple With Cybersecurity as Russian Threat Looms | |
 | Amid increased warnings of Russian interference in the midterm elections -- and evidence that hackers are targeting candidates -- congressional campaigns are trying to balance cybersecurity with the demands of competitive contests. That's especially difficult for small House campaigns. But experts warn that such campaigns, particularly in competitive races, are prime targets for hackers and foreign adversaries. Take Minnesota's 8th District, one of 10 Toss-up House contests according to Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales, where two Democrats have noticed Russian interest in the open-seat race. Traffic originating from Russia started increasing on Joe Radinovich's campaign website around the time the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party was conducting its endorsement process in the 8th District in northeastern Minnesota. |
| Jackson State explores possible safeguards against 3D printed guns | |
 | A federal judge has temporarily stopped the release of downloadable blueprints for 3D printed guns. The original plan would've allowed the downloads to start Wednesday, and it's been sparking controversy across the country. "Initially when you hear about you can print a gun with 3-d printers, your gut is...you get nervous about it," explained Jackson State University's Chief Information Officer Dr. Deborah Dent. There's a fine line as the school examines the policies that will dictate whether students can access the sites with those 3D gun blueprints and what items they can print on the 3D printers. "We are seeking guidance from IHL and the Attorney General's office because we always have to weigh because we are a university we have to weigh individual rights versus public safety," noted Dent. "So, we're looking at this really, really closely." JSU has four types of 3D printers in their engineering building. |
| U. of Arkansas appoints top research officer | |
 | Daniel Sui, a division director at the National Science Foundation and professor in Ohio State University's Department of Geography, has been named the top research officer at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Sui, 53, will begin Oct. 1 as vice chancellor for research and innovation, working with UA faculty members and others outside the university to try to boost research, UA announced Tuesday. State leaders have spoken about research as a way to help the economy. In the most recent National Science Foundation ranking of research spending, UA ranked highest out of all Arkansas universities and 130th nationally with about $145 million in spending. Sui takes over for Jim Rankin, who left to become president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Sui will earn $300,000 yearly, Camilla Shumaker, UA's director of science and research communications, said in an email. |
| Developer '100 percent' sure 688 U. of South Carolina students will have beds before classes start | |
 | Despite a delay in construction, the newest luxury complex for University of South Carolina students is set to open by Friday, one of the project's top developers said Tuesday. Roughly 100 students were set to move into 688-bed Empire Columbia last Friday, but the building wasn't ready, said Beejan Savabi, a partner at Park7 Group, the company that owns that property. Students who were affected by the delay are either being offered a prorated rebate on their rent or being housed in a hotel paid for by Park7, Savabi said. "For the most part, everyone is moving in on time, except for the handful supposed to move in last Friday," Savabi said. "(It is) for sure, 100 percent, going to be open by the time school starts." In an exclusive tour given to The State, Savabi promises the wait will be worth it. |
| Texas A&M Transportation Institute team in race for automated-vehicle research funding | |
 | Cars don't yet drive themselves, but the Texas A&M Transportation Institute has been chosen to be in the front seat of research funding to improve the safety of autonomous vehicles. Alongside research experts at the University of Houston, the University of Michigan and Detroit-based Touchstone Evaluations, TTI's team will compete with four other research teams for $35 million in funding sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through 2023. "To be selected for this, we carefully put together a team of renowned researchers and scientists from across the country who have a unique balance of expertise, research capabilities and facilities," said Michael Manser, TTI's Human Factors Program manager and a senior researcher. Manser said that when many people think of autonomous cars, they "think of pushing a button and then the car drives itself," but he cautioned that such technology is likely "many decades away." |
| Texas A&M graduate's roadside plea for job opportunity goes viral | |
| After months of trying to break into the tech industry in Silicon Valley and eventually becoming homeless, Texas A&M graduate David Casarez had arrived at a "make-it-or-break-it" point in his life, he said. On Friday, Casarez stood at a busy median in Mountain View, California, dressed in slacks, a dress shirt and a tie, holding a sign that read, "Homeless. Hungry 4 success. Take a resume." Casarez caught the attention of passer-by Jasmine Scofield, who took a picture of him and his resume and posted the photos to Twitter. Scofield's post read, "Today I saw this young homeless man asking for people to take a resume rather than asking for money. If anyone in the Silicon Valley could help him out, that would be amazing. Please [retweet] so we can help David out!" The post went viral, receiving more than 200,000 "likes" and over a 100,000 retweets. Since that day, Casarez said has been inundated with about 200 job offers. |
| U. of Missouri suggestions may sharply reduce freshmen in frat houses | |
 | Most fraternities cannot or will not meet recommended academic and lifestyle standards that would allow freshmen to continue to live in chapter houses, University of Missouri Dean of Students Jeff Zeilenga said Tuesday. The requirements -- including a ban on alcohol, maintaining high grades and hiring a live-in house director -- are among the highest profile recommendations in a task force report released Tuesday. The 15-page report is a response to a consulting report from Dyad Strategies, delivered in October, that found the Greek system at MU was plagued by poor oversight and risky behavior. "Right now no one would meet the criteria," Zeilenga said in an interview. The three-tiered system would be implemented for the fall semester of 2019, if approved. |
| Penn State fraternity member sentenced to house arrest in hazing death | |
 | The first of more than 20 defendants charged in connection with the hazing death of Timothy Piazza will not be spending time in jail. Ryan Burke, 21, of Scranton, was sentenced to three months house arrest in Lackawanna County, 27 months of probation, 100 hours of community service and fined $1,000, according to the Centre Daily Times. Burke was the first defendant to plead guilty in the death of 19-year-old Readington resident Piazza at a Penn State fraternity in February 2017. In June, Burke pleaded guilty to hazing, four counts of unlawful acts relative to liquor, malt and brewed beverages and licenses, and one count of purchase, consumption, possession or transportation of liquor and malt or brewed beverages. In emotional victim impact statements, parents Jim and Evelyn Piazza asked for stricter laws against hazing. |
| Internal documents show MDOT execs repeatedly whitewashed staff assessment of safety | |
 | Alan Lange writes for Y'all Politics: In response to a Mississippi Today request for public records, obtained by Jackson Jambalaya, email evidence suggests that MDOT executives repeatedly whitewashed staff assessments of the safety needs of a frontage road for local residents. Those executives opted instead to use the media requests as another opportunity to bludgeon the state legislature over lack of funding for "priority projects." This comes on the heels of an article written by Mississippi Today with the sinister sounding title 'Public Funds for Private Use' where certain emails were selected from an ongoing negotiation with the Oak Ridge Home Owners Association over right of way for that road, to portray the proposed project as unnecessary, wasteful and politically leveraged. |
| Election stakes high for state's farmers | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: While it's easy to get caught up in the lunge-and-parry of personality politics in Mississippi's 2018 congressional elections, the fact is that this election cycle is fraught with issues and concerns that are very real to Mississippi voters, and that's particularly true for Mississippi farmers, ranchers and producers. I had an opportunity to speak to the Mississippi Farm Bureau's Summer Commodities Conference last week in Natchez, and during the drive down, I was taken by the number of yard signs I saw on family farms. Those signs by and large didn't endorse a particular candidate, but offered a message to all candidates: "We Farm. We Vote." There are, according to the Mississippi State University Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine, some 36,200 farms in Mississippi comprising 10.7 million acres. Some 16,355 of those farms represent the sole occupation of the families living and working on them. |
SPORTS
| Mark McLaurin, Mississippi State secondary ready to turn the page | |
 | Defensive lines entrance coaches, fans and reporters in the SEC as much as any other position group. Just ask Joe Moorhead. The ability to control the line of scrimmage in the SEC is paramount. It's always been a run-first conference, and even as college football continues to develop as a pass-happy sport, the emphasis here remains on stopping the opposition's ground game. But potent passing plays can sink a team just as quickly as Aeris Williams or any other talented running back in the country can take a long scamper to the house. Mississippi State knows all about it. |
| Courtney Robicheaux to bring experience to Mississippi State soccer team | |
| Courtney Robicheaux knows what it feels like to be counted on. In her first three seasons with the Mississippi State women's soccer team, Robicheaux has been a constant on the field. In that time, she learned valuable lessons from more experienced teammates and grew into a key piece of the Bulldogs' defense. This season, Robicheaux hopes to take what she has learned and to pass it on to a young team that features five seniors, 15 freshmen, and three transfers on its 29-player roster. The Bulldogs will have to find a way to replace the leadership and production lost due to the graduation of Mallory Eubanks and Catalina Perez. Robicheaux said she is prepared to handle that challenge. "I have always been a lead-by-example person, and these past two years I definitely have had to get better at leading vocally," Robicheaux said. "That was a main area of growth for me. I worked at it all year and I think I have gotten better." |
| Former Bulldog Brent Rooker hailed by Southern League | |
| Brent Rooker, the former Mississippi State slugger, was named Southern League hitter of the week on Monday. Rooker, a first baseman for the Chattanooga Lookouts, hit .500 (13 for 26) last week with three homers and seven walks in seven games. "Obviously, I saw the ball really well last week," he told milb.com. "It's improve or get lost around here, so I'll keep working to improve like I always have." For the season, Rooker is hitting 278 with 20 home runs in 101 games for the Minnesota Twins Double-A team. He's hitting .313 since June 1 and .412 in his last 10 games. |
| U. of Florida players, local men had fight, ongoing conflict | |
| An incident report released Tuesday by the Gainesville Police Department shows an ongoing conflict between University of Florida football players and a local group of men that may have led to a late May confrontation involving Airsoft guns. The incident report, filed by Cpl. M.J. Brown, said tensions between between Devante Zachery, a 21-year-old gambler known as "Tay Bang," and several Florida football players could have started after a February bar fight. In the report, Zachery alleges a string of incidents between him and his friends and the football players. Florida said it was aware of the situation. "We understand GPD has followed up last week's UPD report with a background report that has Devante Zachery as its primary source," UF spokesman Steve McClain said. |
| Updates coming soon to U. of Kentucky's Memorial Coliseum | |
 | While Kentucky's athletic department mulls potential long-term fixes for an aging campus icon, it is going ahead with some upgrades in the near future. Those updates -- an, expansive video board atop the front entrance and a full-feature ribbon board on the north end of Memorial Coliseum -- were included in an email about season ticket renewals for women's basketball. "These upgrades are the first steps in our plans to enhance the fan experience in Memorial Coliseum," UK told season ticket holders, noting that the upgrades could include obstructed views for several sections of the coliseum. A feasibility study of the 68-year-old venue had a hefty price tag for updates and upgrades for the historic facility, which is home to women's basketball, volleyball and gymnastics. |
| How College Sports Killed Summer Vacation | |
| College sports fans are inured to the notion of top-notch football teams spending their summers on campus. After all, football is a strikingly high-exposure sport, worth billions of dollars to the colleges and, eventually, millions to the best of the players if they sign with a pro team. But in recent years, many lower-profile college sports have become virtually year-round affairs, too. Athletes routinely forgo summer break to remain on campus and hone their skills as they work jobs or internships that they do not have time for during the traditional academic year. Others take classes that will minimize their academic burden during their competitive seasons. "I think the majority of coaches would probably say they would like to have their team around all year," said Connie Price-Smith, Mississippi's track and field coach. |
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