| Friday, August 10, 2018 |
| Kids taking out mini loans prepping for Starkville's Lemonade Day | |
 | Area kids are learning what it's like to get a loan and start a business ahead of the upcoming Lemonade Day. Cadence Bank, Castleberry Properties and Mississippi State University's E-Center are teaming up to teach kids about entrepreneurship. Mini loans are given to the kiddos to open up their own lemonade stands in Starkville. So far $300 in mini loans have been handed out to those planning on making big bucks later this month. To date, 44 stands are scheduled to be set up around Starkville on August 18th. It's not too late to sign up at https://lemonadeday.org/starkville. |
| Buddy Sanders resigns as city's community development director | |
 | City of Starkville Community Development Director Buddy Sanders handed in a letter of resignation to Mayor Lynn Spruill on Thursday morning and will leave the position he has held for the last five years, effective immediately. Sanders told the Starkville Daily News on Thursday that the resignation was voluntarily tendered. "I wish the board and the citizens of Starkville the best," Sanders said. Spruill said Sanders did not provide a reason for his resignation, but said he met with the department's staff and talked with her briefly. The mayor then said the city will likely operate without a community development director for the time being, but the Board of Aldermen can always decide to take a different approach. While Sanders did not provide a direct reason for why he decided to abruptly resign, tensions flared at Tuesday's regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen due to confusion regarding presentation materials. |
| Additional complaints made against county road manager | |
| In addition to the recent lawsuit filed by a former county employee, Oktibbeha County Road Manager Fred "Hal" Baggett has a history of complaints in Oktibbeha County. Attorney William Starks of Starks Law Firm sent the Board of Supervisors an email in May, informing the board he would represent an Oktibbeha employee regarding harassment in the workplace as well as retaliation to the claim. The claim was brought forth by Superintendent of the Road Department Casey Harrison, who filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claim against the county alleging discrimination. The EEOC claim was later dismissed. Starks clarified the claim's dismissal does not indicate a lack in validity. "There are various reasons it could have been dismissed," Starks said. |
| Judge seeks a raise for Oktibbeha's public defenders | |
| Sometimes lawyers don't only fight legal battles. In Oktibbeha County, public defenders are also up against high caseloads, new court regulations and negative stigmas. In Monday's Board of Supervisors meeting, Circuit Court Judge Jim Kitchens came before Oktibbeha's representatives regarding the county's public defender salary, which is currently $37,040. "What I'm here to talk to you about today is to once again seek a raise for our public defenders," Kitchens said. "They do an excellent job. They work hard to deal with cases that are not necessarily easy to deal with." Oktibbeha County's three public defenders are Benjamin Lang, Stephanie Mallette and Mark Williamson. "My concern is, I think it's been at least 13 years since they've had a raise. And actually, it may be longer than that," Kitchens said. |
| Call grows louder for legislative special session on internet sales tax | |
 | A growing chorus of governments across the Golden Triangle is asking the Mississippi Legislature to convene a special session and consider diverting some internet sales tax revenue to the local level. Columbus was one of the first cities in the state to pass such a resolution, on July 17. Jeff Turnage, the city's attorney and president of the Mississippi Municipal Attorneys Association, drafted that resolution and has sent a boilerplate copy to cities across the state to seek their support. On Tuesday, Starkville approved the resolution. Officials discussed the possible benefits internet sales taxes, or use taxes, could generate for the city. On Monday, the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors approved a Mississippi Association of Supervisors Resolution asking the Legislature to consider sharing online sales tax revenue with counties. The state doesn't currently share any sales tax revenue -- from online or in-person sales -- directly with counties. |
| Potential special session on roads that includes lottery not without pitfalls | |
 | If Gov. Phil Bryant does call a special session to try to deal with the state's growing infrastructure woes, it is likely that he will recommend the lottery as part of the solution. In past statements, the Republican governor has proposed using revenue from a lottery as a source of revenue for transportation needs. There has been speculation that he would call a special session this month. William Perkins, editor of the Mississippi Baptist Record, said, "You can be assured we are going to fight the lottery to the end. The lottery will be no more useful to the people of the state than casino gambling, sports betting or liquor." While sports betting is just getting started in Mississippi and is expected to generate less than $5 million per year in revenue for the state, casino gambling and liquor bring in more than $200 million annually in combined revenue. Perkins said the names of the legislators who vote to enact a lottery will be printed by the Mississippi Baptist Convention to let their constituents know. |
| Gov. Phil Bryant meeting with Trump in New Jersey on prison reform | |
 | Gov. Phil Bryant is among a handful of governors and state attorneys general meeting with President Trump on Thursday in New Jersey to discuss prison reform at the state and federal level. The White House issued a statement saying Trump supports efforts to reduce criminal recidivism. "The administration has worked closely with Congress to find a solution that reduces crime, enhances public safety, and increases opportunity for those who have earned a second chance," the White House statement said, noting that the U.S. has 4 percent of the world's population, but 25 percent of the world's prison inmates. A spokesman for Bryant confirmed he would be attending the 3 p.m. meeting. Trump is spending the week at his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort. |
| Mississippi officials seek return of Medicaid overpayments | |
 | Mississippi officials are trying to get two insurance companies that manage care for patients to repay Medicaid funds. State Auditor Shad White says most of the $616,000 in overpayments from 2014 to 2017 were connected to money paid after people died or moved into long-term care. Division of Medicaid spokesman Matt Westerfield says UnitedHealthcare still owes nearly $196,000 and Magnolia Health owes almost $49,000. State officials say both companies are contractually required to return overpayments. Officials say they began asking for the money on June 1. |
| MCPP Names New Director Of Mississippi Justice Institute | |
 | Mississippi Center for Public Policy announced this week that Aaron Rice has been named the new Director of the Mississippi Justice Institute. Founded in 2016, MJI serves as the legal arm of MCPP, representing Mississippians whose state or federal Constitutional rights have been threatened by government actions. Rice replaces Shadrack White, who was recently appointed State Auditor of Mississippi by Gov. Phil Bryant. Rice earned a degree in political science from Mississippi State University and was awarded the national Truman Scholarship to pursue his graduate studies. He earned his law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law, where he focused his studies on constitutional law. Prior to joining the Mississippi Justice Institute, he built his career as a litigation attorney at Butler Snow. |
| Senator Thad Cochran's legacy unveiled Thursday | |
| The Federal Courthouse in downtown Jackson has remained nameless since it opened its doors in 2011. But now, it is officially called the Thad Cochran United States Federal Courthouse, named for the former U.S. Senator. When Senator Thad Cochran and his wife first pulled the drape to reveal his name, it didn't quite work. Kay Cochran seemed to get a kick out if it. But as they say, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again, and they did. Two building employee's brought ladders and managed to pull the remainder of the veil off. Thursday, friends and colleagues came to honor the former Senator for his service to the state of Mississippi. Former U.S.Senator Trent Lott and current U.S Senator Cindy Hide-Smith were among them. One by one, people expressed why Cochran was so deserving of this honor. |
| Young Voters Don't Like Being Called Millennials, Or Too Much Trump-Bashing | |
 | By Election Day 2020 Millennials and Generation Z will make up 40 percent of eligible voters. Right now, only 23 percent of that demographic turns out to vote, according to Ben Wessel, director of NextGen Rising. His organization is aiming to change that. NextGen partnered with Global Strategy Group and Brilliant Corners Research and Strategy over the past few months to conduct voter research on tactical messaging targeting youths with the eventual goal of more progressive victories in November. "What we've realized with young people is that for a vast majority, the decision is not Democrat vs. Republican but voting vs. non-voting," Wessel said. The findings also led NextGen to target its efforts to online, texting, community colleges, and door-to-door campaigns. Classic broadcast TV ads would be ineffective. Young people spend a lot more time online and a lot less time watching cable TV, the group found. They also discovered community colleges are an untapped resource for political activism. |
| The Arid West Moves East, With Big Implications For Agriculture | |
 | The American West appears to be moving east. New research shows the line on the map that divides the North American continent into arid Western regions and humid Eastern regions is shifting, with profound implications for American agriculture. In western Oklahoma, farmers like Benji White and his wife, Lori, have become ranchers. The Whites run 550 head on about 5,000 acres at B&L Red Angus, the family's seedstock and commercial ranching outfit near the town of Putnam in western Oklahoma. The Whites used to grow wheat and other grains, but they've stopped farming to expand the ranching business. Scientists say this shift -- from grains to cattle and turning cropland into rangeland -- could happen a lot more often. "It's just a steady progression over the last 30-something years," said Richard Seager, a climate scientist and professor at Columbia University who led new research on the 100th meridian. |
| UMMC builds state's first emergency communications center | |
 | State and federal dignitaries are among those shoveling dirt from grounds that will soon become the new Mississippi Center for Emergency Services. From this location, staff will be able to coordinate medical communication during a disaster or large-scale emergency. Former Governor Haley Barbour attended the ceremony Thursday. He says his administration could have used a center like this during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. "Our systems were obliterated. We had no cell phone service, satellite phones didn't work, hard line phones didn't work. I told Congress within two months of Katrina the first and most important thing the federal can help states with is help us develop a survivable, interoperable, broadband communications systems," said Barbour. |
| UM Pharmacy faculty members to lead Mississippi Pharmacists Association | |
| Two members of the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy have been named to leadership positions with the Mississippi Pharmacists Association. Lauren Bloodworth, clinical associate professor of pharmacy practice, will serve as the organization's president for the 2018-19 term. Phil Ayers, also a clinical associate professor of pharmacy practice, has been named MPhA's interim executive director. Both Ayers and Bloodworth are graduates of the Ole Miss pharmacy school. Ayers joined the faculty in 1997 after graduating in 1996. Bloodworth, a Batesville native, graduated in 2000, and joined the school's faculty in 2008. |
| Coast teachers paying for classroom supplies, crowd sourcing | |
 | Kristy Clark taught in the Hancock County School District on the Mississippi Gulf Coast for 15 years, but she decided to stop teaching in the spring of 2017. She said there are several things she will miss about being in the classroom -- and a lot of things she won't miss at all. One of the biggest grievances for Clark, she said, was having to use her own money to buy school supplies and classroom materials for her students. "Oh my gosh, every year you just spend so much money," she said. "It got to the point where I could easily spend $600 or more out of my pocket." It's no secret that the state's public school teachers are among nation's lowest paid. The base salary for a teacher in Mississippi is about $34,500. With no raise for public school teachers on the immediate horizon and a lack to fully fund education in the state, Clark said the demand for school supplies for students is not going to change. And, she said, teachers will continue to pick up the bill. |
| Alabama graduate's latest novel goes behind the scenes of sorority life | |
 | Southern novelist Lisa Patton was back at her alma mater to attend the dedication for her sorority's new house, an opulent, 40,000-square-foot, Georgian-style brick mansion with stately columns, custom-made-rugs and a 200-seat dining room. It was Alabama-Tennessee football weekend, and Patton, a 1980 University of Alabama graduate, caught up with several of her old Kappa Delta sorority sisters, most of whom had the same reaction when they saw the new house. "We were all wowed, and in awe," she recalls. "Yet, we were wondering, 'Lord have mercy, where do girls go? What happens next after you've gotten to live like this?'" What Patton remembers most about that day, though, is a conversation she had with a housekeeper, who told Patton a story that influenced her fourth and latest novel, "Rush," which will be released by St. Martin's Press on Aug. 21. |
| UGA hosting downtown event for new students | |
 | For new University of Georgia students perhaps feeling overwhelmed by their new surroundings, fear not. North of the Arch, which takes place 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, has you covered. The event is put on by the Athens Downtown Development Authority and the UGA Office of Government Relations. It is aimed at introducing first-year, transfer and international students to downtown Athens. Students are asked to form teams of two to six students, and receive "game cards" for the businesses participating. They will meet at a tent that will be set up across from The Grille on College Avenue. The goal is to visit at least 15 of the about 29 participating downtown Athens businesses. Students get their cards initialed at each store, and after visiting at least 15 businesses, students get their names submitted into a pot for a grand prize drawing. "We want to show them (downtown) is not that big," said Alison Bracewell McCullick, director of community relations at the UGA Office of Government Relations. |
| Louisiana high school students earning college credit up 12 percent | |
 | The number of Louisiana public high school students earning college credit rose 12 percent over last year, the state Department of Education announced Thursday. The increase is nearly 167 percent since 2012, officials said. The credit is called Advanced Placement. Louisiana has long ranked among the lowest in the nation for students who qualify. It finished next to last for the class of 2017, the latest figures available. A total of 8.5 percent of high school students got AP credit in that tally. The national average was 22.8 percent. The state launched a push in 2011 to increase the number of students earning AP credit. Those who do so boost their chances for getting a state scholarship that pays for most college tuition, called the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students. |
| U. of Florida's renovated Education Library to reopen Aug. 20 | |
 | The newly renovated University of Florida Education Library is set to reopen Aug. 20, just in time for the fall semester. Construction of the library, which is inside Norman Hall, began on Dec. 16 and marked the first time the library had been renovated since it opened on Jan. 2, 1980. The renovation of the Education Library is part of the Norman Hall Rehabilitation project, which began its first phase of renovations to the hall in December and its second phase in May. The Education Library was renovated because the area was outdated and needed to be modernized to fit what students were asking for today, said Rachael Elrod, head librarian for the Education Library. "It was pretty much completely gutted," Elrod said. The renovated library has new LED lighting to make the place brighter instead of like a dungeon as some students described it and added in a lactation room, a MAKERspace area and two extra study rooms to the space, Elrod said. |
| Former employee gets 12-year term in $351,000 U. of Florida parking scam | |
| A former University of Florida employee who last month pleaded no contest to embezzling more than $351,000 from the Parking and Transportation Services Department was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison followed by 10 years' probation. Tiffany Nichole Robinson, 37, was considered the ringleader in an operation that resulted in 27 additional arrests including some UF employees and friends of Robinson, said Darry Lloyd, spokesman for the Eighth Circuit State Attorney's Office. Robinson pleaded to 27 counts of grand theft and one count of aggravated white collar crime. A nine-year prison sentence was warranted under a scoring system based on the crimes and other factors. But Robinson's plea was made without a recommended sentence by prosecutors, and Circuit Judge William Davis opted to give a longer sentence. Police say Robinson stole money from UF by creating fake parking decal numbers and issuing fraudulent checks to herself and others as refunds for those decals. |
| Kushner team convened higher ed meeting at White House focused on accreditation | |
 | As the Department of Education refines the next phase of its higher education agenda, the White House is apparently weighing in on the new policy direction. The special office headed by Jared Kushner, a senior adviser to and the son-in-law of President Trump, held a meeting last week with officials from the department, outside higher ed groups and funders of postsecondary research, with accreditation at the center of discussions. The topic reflects the focus of a new round of rule making recently announced by the department, which wants to rethink the role of accreditors as gatekeepers of federal student aid. The meeting, one of several to take place recently, also signals a closer interest in higher education policy by the White House, which for the first year and a half of the Trump administration has largely limited its interest in postsecondary policy to work-force training issues like apprenticeships. |
| A UVa Historian Talks About Charlottesville's White-Supremacist Rally a Year Later | |
 | After white supremacists marched through the University of Virginia's campus with flaming tiki torches last summer, some students and faculty members managed to find one reason for optimism: Maybe, they thought, the nightmare would bring more people into the conversation about racism on campus. Those who had been apathetic would see that racism is not just a problem of the past and might be spurred into action. "It's never going to be the same, and that's a great thing," Devin Willis said last year. On August 11, just before the start of his sophomore year, he linked arms with other students at an iconic campus statue of Thomas Jefferson as marchers approached, shouting "Jews will not replace us" and "blood and soil." They threw their tiki torches at the students, sprayed them with pepper spray, and injured several before leaving. "People are finally coming to understand," Willis said after the incident, "that to not be racist is not enough." |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State's Nick Fitzgerald emphasizes mental acuity in comeback from injury | |
| Andrew Breiner watched it unfold Monday evening. He held his breath. Nick Fitzgerald didn't. The senior quarterback faced a heavy pass rush during Mississippi State's third practice of the preseason. Breiner, MSU's quarterbacks coach, expected Fitzgerald to eat it. With QB's being "off limits" and there being no harm in losing yards in training camp, everybody expected Fitzgerald to give himself up and take a sack. He didn't. Fitzgerald stepped up in a crowded pocket and pushed to his right. The rush now behind him, he looked to the sideline and saw green grass. He took off unharmed. Breiner sighed in reassurance. He thinks Fitzgerald did too. |
| Mississippi State's Powers Warren waited for right opportunity | |
 | When Powers Warren wrapped up his senior season at Minnetonka High School in Minnesota, he only had two scholarship offers -- from Bemidji State and Minnesota State. But instead of signing with a Division II program, Warren decided to transfer that spring to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, to help get his name out there and potentially play a year of post graduate football if he did not receive the offers he wanted. "I played spring ball there and was blessed enough to pick up a Mississippi State offer and also a preferred walk-on from Tennessee," Warren said. "I chose Mississippi State and love it here. I wouldn't have chosen anything else. It was really God telling me to go there and never settle for anything less." So the 6-foot-3 tight end signed with the Bulldogs in May of 2017 and redshirted his freshman year where he packed on 23 pounds of muscle up to 238. Warren was also a member of the scout team last fall, helping MSU's starting defense get ready for their opponents each week. |
| College Football Playoff committee announces release dates of weekly rankings | |
| The College Football Playoff selection committee announced Thursday the first CFP rankings will be released on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 6-7 p.m. central time (7-8 p.m. ET.) "We've had four very successful seasons and I look forward to a fifth," Rob Mullens, chair of the selection committee and athletic director at the University of Oregon, said in a statement. "We're in good shape heading into this upcoming year." During the meeting this week, the committee reviewed timing for the weekly announcements of its rankings, reviewed its protocol and finalized its list of members who will be recused from voting or discussions regarding selected teams. The committee will announce its first of six rankings following the ninth week of the season. The committee will convene in person, on Mondays and Tuesdays. |
| Stadium sniping exposes tensions at Vanderbilt and between athletics, academics fund-raising | |
| Long-running tensions between athletics and academics are on display once again at Vanderbilt University, with charges surfacing that the athletics side is being prevented from raising money from some donors courted by university fund-raisers. Blocking certain donors is undercutting efforts to raise funds for a new football stadium project, The Tennessean reported last week. Citing multiple sources, the newspaper wrote that a lack of progress toward a new or renovated stadium "may be self-inflicted." The situation resonates at Vanderbilt, a prestigious institution in Nashville, Tenn., where the relationship between athletics and academics has frequently been in flux over the last 15 years. The university is academically prestigious but arguably disadvantaged athletically as the only private institution competing in the keeping-up-with-the-Joneses climate of Southeastern Conference football. For all that makes Vanderbilt unique, the tensions on display provide a glimpse into issues simmering beneath the surface at many colleges and universities. |
| Georgia's football playoff expenses top $6.5 million | |
| Georgia's first appearance in the College Football Playoff pushed its postseason expenses to more than $6.5 million. The school reported costs of $6,539,844.79 for its trips to the Rose Bowl and to Atlanta for the national championship game, according to information submitted to the NCAA obtained in an open records request. By comparison, expenses for the Bulldogs' Liberty Bowl trip to Memphis in the 2016 season were $1.835 million, the school reported to its athletic board last year. Georgia's expenses for the playoff this past season were offset in part by a payout of $4.88 million from the SEC for the two games, according to athletic director Greg McGarity. Schools also receive postseason revenue from bowls and their conference. "We treated this just like any other bowl," McGarity said. "We did not change the rules or our policy and procedures. ... We were consistent as we were on any other road trip on who goes, who's invited, what they receive." |
| The Swamp to receive state-of-the-art Wi-Fi technology in 2019 | |
| Starting in 2019, Florida football fans will see a dramatic upgrade on how they can share all of their gameday experiences socially in real time and stay connected through all of their wireless devices, as the University Athletic Association has begun installing equipment for high-density Wi-Fi inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The $6.3 million project, which is in partnership with Extreme Networks and Verizon Business Markets, began in July with conduit, wiring and under seat enclosures that will house more than 1,100 wireless access points throughout the seating bowl. "We've had a variety of upgrades to our connectivity systems over the years, but this will truly be a game-changing experience for our fans," Athletic Director Scott Stricklin said. |
| Trump renews attacks on NFL players, calling for suspensions | |
 | President Trump on Friday renewed his attacks on NFL players who protest during the national anthem, claiming they "wanted to show their 'outrage' at something that most of them are unable to define." "The NFL players are at it again - taking a knee when they should be standing proudly for the National Anthem," Trump tweeted. "Be happy, be cool! A football game, that fans are paying soooo much money to watch and enjoy, is no place to protest," he continued. "Most of that money goes to the players anyway." "Find another way to protest. Stand proudly for your National Anthem or be Suspended Without Pay!" Trump added. Trump's new attack came a day after the first big slate of NFL pre-season games on Thursday night, during which players from several teams protested during "The Star-Spangled Banner." They also came the day before a weekend anniversary of last summer's violence in Charlottesville, Va., where white supremacists marched in support of Confederate statutes and clashed with counter-protests demonstrating against racism. A woman was killed when a man drove a car into a crowd of people. |
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