| Friday, February 15, 2019 |
| Big crowd comes out for Mississippi State's 'Science Night at the Museum' | |
 | It was a packed crowd at Mississippi State Wednesday night and but it wasn't for an ball game, instead it was for "Science Night at the Museum." Those who came out tonight got a chance to receive hands-on learning experience in a variety of fields including chemistry, anthropology, and astronomy, just to name a few. Students and professors at MSU were on hand to perform demonstrations and at their respective booths. The marks the third year in a row MSU has held this event. "We're all getting together and put together different displays for families and their kids to interact with and learn some cool science stuff," said Dr. Angelle Tanner, an associate professor at MSU. |
| C Spire, Mississippi State collaboration forges an intriguing job training blueprint | |
 | Former Mississippi Gov. William Winter, a lifelong advocate of advancing educational and job training opportunities, has often repeated this simple but cogent observation: "The only road out of poverty and economic dependency runs past the schoolhouse door." The path to economic growth and enhanced opportunity in Mississippi's private sector must begin in elementary and secondary education, and continue seamlessly through the workforce training capabilities of our stellar community college system and on to the research and development expertise of our higher education system. Seizing on this opportunity, C Spire, a Mississippi-based diversified telecommunications and technology services company, and the Mississippi State University Research and Curriculum Unit's (RCU) new Center for Cyber Education have formed a public-private partnership called the C Spire Software Development Pathway. |
| Mississippi State Team Unveils Smartphone App for Testing Lumber Stiffness | |
| A team of scientists from Mississippi State University's Forest and Wildlife Research Center have developed and released a smartphone app that uses soundwave or vibration measurements to determine the stiffness of a given piece of lumber, a quality that relates to its strength. To measure a piece of lumber with the "Smart Thumper" app, users are directed to set the board they intend to test on a pair of sawhorses, then set the sample's specifications. They can choose to run a soundwave test, holding the phone close to the board while it is hit with a hammer, or a vibration test, where the phone is placed on the sample and then gently vibrated vertically. Readouts include the frequency of the soundwave or vibration, a stiffness rating, and the equivalent wood grade. |
| OUR OPINION: Mississippi State's Camp Kesem provides service opportunity | |
 | The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal editorializes: We are excited about a unique service opportunity coming soon to Mississippi State University. The university announced last week it had been successful in its bid to add a local chapter of Camp Kesem. The national organization is dedicated to supporting children impacted by a parent's cancer through free summer camps at college-based chapters. Mississippi State was one of 12 schools competing to be awarded a chapter through online voting, a cause that drew great support from students, faculty, staff and others in the MSU community. The university led the online voting for most of the process, and joins Auburn University, Denison University, Miami University and Montana State University as new chapters. The MSU chapter will be the first in Mississippi. |
| Georgia Blue restaurant, bakery coming to Starkville | |
 | A new restaurant and bakery are coming to downtown Starkville. Brent Robinson, vice president of concept and development, confirmed to The Dispatch via email that Georgia Blue plans to open two locations in Starkville, though he did not respond to questions regarding details and timelines. Mayor Lynn Spruill said plans were for Georgia Blue to place a bakery at South Jackson Street, in the front part of the old Mississippi Motors building that now houses King's Kraft Butchers in the back. Georgia Blue's restaurant will be in the building north of the bakery, with an open-air courtyard between the two. Elsewhere in Starkville, Midtown Outfitters reopened in its new store Tuesday. The apparel store moved from its Russell Street location to 327 Hwy. 12 W. Midtown Outfitters offers Mississippi State apparel and customizable shirts, shoes, coolers, hats and more. Check out the new store Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. |
| Weather, possibly budget delaying Partnership School | |
| More delays have pushed the completion of the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District's Partnership School with Mississippi State University beyond a fall 2019 opening date. How much these delays are due to weather or budgetary issues, though, remains unclear. SOCSD Superintendent Eddie Peasant told The Dispatch on Tuesday that weather delays had pushed the project, which will be a campus for grades 6-7 at MSU, to the end of the year. That will keep students from starting school there in August as had been planned. "It's not going to be complete until the end of this year, around November," Peasant said. Construction first ran into trouble in August 2017 when weather concerns, primarily Hurricane Harvey, drove up the cost of construction materials, causing an overall increase of about $2 million and resulting in the district revising its completion timeline from November 2018 to March of this year. |
| Starkville to hold public hearings for hunting ordinance change | |
| The city of Starkville will consider changing its ordinance on the discharge of firearms within city limits to match a state statute allowing firearm use on certain properties in annexed territory. At last week's meeting, aldermen voted 6-1, with Ward 6's Roy A. Perkins opposed, to call for two public hearings, at the Feb. 19 and March 5 board meetings. The board had considered amending the ordinance to allow hunting on properties of a certain size, after Ward 5 Alderman Patrick Miller said a constituent approached him to ask if they could continue to use some of their land, near the Highway 82 bypass, for hunting. The land is in the area the city is considering for annexation, and consultant Mike Slaughter told aldermen other cities have made similar allowances. Miller told The Dispatch the landowner who prompted the discussion was the most recent to mention the concern to him but it's a concern he's heard repeatedly from citizens throughout the board's annexation considerations. |
| Blaming Political Climate, Trumps Give Up on New Hotels | |
 | In the early months of the Trump administration, with the president no longer running his family business, his eldest sons embarked on a plan to roll out two new hotel lines in dozens of American cities. It reflected the ambitions of "the next generation of the company," President Trump's son Eric said at the time. Now, in a striking reversal, the Trump Organization is no longer pursuing the signature initiative, according to company officials. Plans for the two hotel chains, Scion and American Idea, are to be shelved indefinitely, most likely for the remainder of the presidency. As a practical matter, that means calling off just one agreement, in Mississippi, though two years ago the Trump Organization said it had as many as 30 potential deals in the pipeline. The only new hotel deal the Trumps had announced was in the Mississippi Delta, a remote region unlike anywhere the company had done business. The Trumps planned to collaborate with local hoteliers, the brothers Dinesh and Suresh Chawla, on one Scion and as many as three American Idea hotels. |
| Mississippi expected 1,000 jobs at a Gulfport shipyard. But the deal is dead. | |
 | The deal is dead between the state and Topship, an affiliate of oil-services company Edison Chouest Offshore of Louisiana, for a shipyard on the industrial seaway that was supposed to create 1,000 jobs. In 2016, the state pledged $36 million in grants, plus a host of tax incentives, in exchange for Topship's agreement to create the jobs -- with average pay of $40,000 a year -- on property the Mississippi State Port Authority bought. The state has not paid out any of the incentives. The agreement was voided in December, when Topship failed to hit benchmarks that required a $68 million investment and completed construction, said Melissa Scallan, public relations manager for the Mississippi Development Authority. She said Topship proposed reducing its investment to $34 million and the number of jobs to 250, but the incentive package the Legislature approved called for the higher numbers. |
| Sen. Chuck Younger: Proposed pay raise for teachers should be higher | |
| Local legislators expressed disappointment Friday with two bills in the Mississippi Legislature affecting education, one of which aims to increase salaries for public school teachers and the other which -- had it not died in committee -- would have raised the pay for school board members. Senate Bill 2770, which raises teachers' salaries by $1,000, passed in the Senate Wednesday and will next head to the House for consideration. If passed by the House and signed by the governor, it could affect up to 35,000 educators in public schools across the state. The pay raises will be phased in over two years. But Sen. Chuck Younger (R-Columbus) said the raises should be higher. "It's just stupid," he told The Dispatch Friday. "One thousand dollars is just not enough. Hopefully, they can raise the amount in committee. It ought to be, at the very least, $1,500. That would pay for a nice vacation, at least." |
| Tate Reeves' own poll shows he's 'substantially' ahead of Jim Hood in governor's race | |
 | Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves' internal campaign polling on his bid for governor this year says he has a substantial lead over presumptive Democratic front-runner Attorney General Jim Hood, contradicting other recent polling publicly released. A poll commissioned by Reeves' campaign shows him leading Hood 51 percent to 36 percent, "when leaners are included." A recent Mason-Dixon Polling survey showed Hood over Reeves 44 percent to 42 percent, with 14 percent undecided. Most publicly released polls since the Reeves-Hood match-up became clear have shown the race neck-and-neck or with Hood having at least a slight edge. The poll surveyed likely -- not just registered -- voters with a split of 32 percent Democrats, 49 percent Republicans,16 percent independents and 3 percent not identified. Of those surveyed, 31 percent were over age 65, 28 percent were African American and 52 percent were female. |
| Mississippi ACLU head to run for state attorney general | |
| The executive director of Mississippi ACLU announced plans Thursday to run for state attorney general. Jennifer Riley Collins, 53, of Clinton is the first Democrat to make her intentions known. Two Republicans, state Rep. Mark Baker of Brandon and state Treasurer Lynn Fitch, have announced plans to seek the office. Attorney General Jim Hood is running for governor. Collins, a native of Meridian, received her undergraduate degree from Alcorn State University. She received a Master in Criminal Justice Administration from the University of Central Texas and a law degree from Mississippi College School of Law. She has been executive director of the Mississippi ACLU since 2013. She is also vice president of advocacy for the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. She has a long military career in the U.S. Army and Reserves. Collins will make her official announcement Friday at 10:30 a.m. in the Community Room at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. |
| Dem Lt. Gov. Hopeful Voted for Abortion Ban So White Dems Don't Go Extinct | |
| Hit with a wave of anger from his own party after he voted for a bill that essentially bans abortions after six weeks, Mississippi House Rep. Jay Hughes offered a defense: He did it so white Democrats like himself don't go the way of the dinosaur. Yesterday, the Oxford lawmaker, who is a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, voted with eight other Democrats and most Republicans to pass House Bill 732, which bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. Doctors can detect heartbeats as early as six weeks, making it a de facto ban on almost all abortions. The heartbeat bills include exceptions for cases where a pregnancy imperils a woman's life, but an effort by some lawmakers to amend the Senate bill to also include exceptions for rape and incest failed. Cindy Hornsby, a Mississippi voter who supports abortion rights, confronted Hughes in a Facebook message. In response, he told her he "voted pro-life before and did again yesterday." She posted screenshots of his reply. |
| Mississippi abortion law: Hattiesburg Republican votes 'no' | |
| She's a moderate conservative. She's a Christian. She's pro-life. She's one of 15 women in the Mississippi House, which has 122 members. And she's the only Republican lawmaker in the House and Senate who voted against the controversial "heartbeat" abortion bill. Rep. Missy McGee, R-Hattiesburg, is getting support from her constituents for her decision, including from a pro-life family who struggled with fertility. McGee is one of 36 lawmakers in the House Wednesday to vote against the bill, which would ban abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected. Eighty-one voted for the ban, which could mean an abortion would be outlawed as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. McGee, who voted last year in support of a 15-week abortion ban, told her constituents her reasoning for voting against this bill on Facebook. McGee took Toby Barker's seat after he became mayor of Hattiesburg. "I cannot support legislation that makes such hard line, final decisions for other women; because, in fact, there are painful and heart-wrenching circumstances that do arise and should allow a woman to confer with her faith, her doctor and her family to make what will surely be one of -- if not THE -- most difficult decision of her life," McGee said. |
| Tommy Gollott's impact as senator will be felt long after he retires | |
 | The longest-serving state lawmaker in Mississippi's history may be retiring, but the legacy of Biloxi Sen. Tommy Gollott's work will last long after he leaves the capitol. With 52 years of service, Gollott has built a lot of things from the ground up. "I've always considered Sen. Gollott not just a friend but an ally in someone that always believed in what the mission of this facility was," said Coast Coliseum Executive Director Matt McDonnell. He said Gollott was involved from the very beginning when the legislature created the Coliseum Commission in 1968. "Out of all the individuals that were a part of the beginning, he's probably one of the few remaining people that we can honestly point to and say, you know what, without your help, this wouldn't have been a reality," McDonnell said. In 1994, he built another big thing by turning a small bureau into what is now known as the Department of Marine Resources. "He was, I guess you could say, the father of it," said DMR Executive Director Joe Spraggins. In building the department, Gollott helped the department begin to build the Coast. |
| The dead earmarks society: Congress gave up pork years ago. Now it could be making a comeback | |
 | From the outside, they looked like a collection of political misfits akin to the characters from "The Breakfast Club." This peculiar little crew of lobbyists, ethics watchdogs and government spending hawks included the likes of Public Citizen's Craig Holman and former House member-turned-lobbyist Jim Walsh. Instead of serving Saturday detention, like the high schoolers of the 1985 hit movie, they spent their meetings nearly a decade ago seeking compromise on one of Congress' most politically fraught but powerful tools: earmarks. But their efforts in 2010 flopped. Not because they couldn't agree on a set of principles aimed at cleaning up the embarrassing corruption scandals of the mid-2000s that led to jail time for lawmakers, but because in 2011, when Republicans took control of the House, they banned the practice altogether. The Senate followed. Now, however, with House Democrats eyeing a return to earmarking their chamber’s appropriations and possibly other bills, the quiet campaigns on and off the Hill are slowly emerging — as are the counterefforts to keep earmarks out. |
| Trump declares national emergency to unlock border wall funds | |
 | President Donald Trump on Friday declared a state of emergency on the southern border and immediately direct $8 billion to construct or repair as many as 234 miles of a border barrier. The move -- which is sure to invite vigorous legal challenges from activists and government officials -- comes after Trump failed to get the $5.7 billion he was seeking from lawmakers. Instead, Trump agreed to sign a deal that included just $1.375 for border security. In addition to the funds Congress has appropriated, the White House will seek to redirect $3.6 billion from a military construction fund, $600 million from a Treasury Department drug forfeiture fund and $2.5 billion from a Pentagon drug prevention program, acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told reporters Friday. Since 1976, presidents have declared 58 national emergencies. One was declared during the Iraq war in 1990, and another was invoked after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. |
| Amazon's Retreat on New York City Headquarters Followed Unexpected Backlash | |
| Amazon on Thursday canceled its plans to build an expansive corporate campus in New York City after facing an unexpectedly fierce backlash from lawmakers, progressive activists and union leaders, who contended that a tech giant did not deserve nearly $3 billion in government incentives. The decision was an abrupt turnabout by Amazon after a much-publicized search for a second headquarters, which had ended with its announcement in November that it would open two new sites -- one in Queens, with more than 25,000 jobs, and another in Virginia. Amazon's retreat was a blow to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, damaging their effort to further diversify the city's economy by making it an inviting location for the technology industry. The agreement to lure Amazon to Long Island City, Queens, had stirred intense debate in New York about the use of public subsidies to entice wealthy companies, the rising cost of living in gentrifying neighborhoods, and the city's very identity. |
| First Charlottesville, now Oxford: Protesters will march next Saturday | |
 | Two groups that participated in the 2016 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, have organized a protest in Oxford on February 23. The rally in Charlottesville left three dead, 35 injured and the nation in a state of racial, social and political turbulence. Members of the Confederate 901 and the Hiwaymen, a self proclaimed patriot group, are protesting removal of the Confederate flag and Colonel Reb from football games, the removal of the state flag on campus and the creation of historical contextualization plaques on campus among other things. "We're taking a stand for Ole Miss values such as the Confederate monument and the Mississippi state flag," said Billy Sessions, who founded Confederate 901 and attended the Charlottesville rally. He is not an Ole Miss alumnus or a parent of an Ole Miss student. |
| Reported sexual assaults on campus increase five-fold in past decade | |
| The number of reported sexual assaults of University of Mississippi students in Oxford has increased five-fold since 2008, according to crime reports from the University Police Department. Though the cause of the increase is not known, some officials say an increase in survivors reporting the assaults and not just an increase in incidents contributed to the rise. During the past 10 years, 143 sexual assaults have been reported to UPD, with the highest rates on campus occurring at Crosby Hall and Stockard Hall. "Our main focus is training to make sure that people know what their resources are on campus, that they can report to Title IX (or other resources)," Title IX Coordinator Honey Ussery said. "Seeing an increase in numbers is not necessarily a bad thing." The years of increased reporting coincide with a concerted effort to encourage dialogue about and end the stigma surrounding sexual assault. At the center of this effort is the student organization Rebels Against Sexual Assault, which was founded in 2015. |
| New student complex approved for tract near U. of Arkansas campus | |
 | A student-based housing development has been approved by the Tuscaloosa City Council with fewer bedrooms than originally planned. HERE Tuscaloosa, formerly named Here! Tuscaloosa, received the unanimous blessing of city leaders on Tuesday. The council vote was needed because the developers were seeking to use the bonus height provision afforded under the planned unit development guidelines for projects built just west of Bryant-Denny Stadium on lots of 1 acre or more. The estimated $80 million development is expected to have 430 bedrooms in a total of 255 units in studio, one-, two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom configurations. A total of 435 parking spaces will be provide on-site with two floors of underground parking and, once complete, this development will replace the 107 bedrooms currently on the 1.63-acre site on the northwest corner of Sixth Street and Frank Thomas/12th Avenue. Francisco Rios, the vice president of investments for CA Ventures, said the company keeps coming back to Tuscaloosa because of the demand for student-based housing, the University of Alabama's status and the school's projected trend of continued student population growth. |
| Nine LSU fraternity members accused of hazing after DKE fraternity chapter closes | |
 | Nine members of LSU's Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity are facing criminal accusations of hazing and other related offenses after its national organization --- one of the oldest fraternities in the nation --- announced the sudden closure of its LSU chapter last month. The arrests came amid the university's ongoing quest for increased safety within its Greek system following the hazing death of an LSU freshman in fall 2017, which sparked widespread concern about unsafe practices and lenient penalties for the students responsible. LSU spokesman Ernie Ballard III issued a statement Thursday morning confirming the nine arrests. He said they resulted from hazing incidents "that are alleged to have taken place in the fall of 2018." The counts range from misdemeanor principal to criminal hazing to felony second-degree battery. |
| Kentucky universities, colleges could opt out of troubled pension system under bill | |
 | Kentucky's regional universities and community college system could opt out of the state's troubled pension system under a new legislative proposal, but it could be a very expensive proposition for them. House Bill 358, filed by Rep. James Tipton, R-Taylorsville, would allow Eastern Kentucky University, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Western Kentucky University, the Kentucky Community Technical College System, and the Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corporation to opt out of the Kentucky Employees Retirement System. To do so, they would have to pay the full cost of current and retired employees in the system, along with the cost of actuarial studies that would determine the amount owed. The University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville already have their own defined-contribution retirement systems and are not affected by the bill. |
| Texas A&M President Michael Young: 'Shocking content' discovered in past yearbooks | |
 | Texas A&M University President Michael K. Young acknowledged in a message Thursday that past A&M yearbooks included photos that depicted blackface, misogyny and "other shocking content," which he called "offensive and inappropriate." An email to students, which was also posted on Young's website and social media, stated that a team of archivists at Cushing Library began digitizing every page of every Texas A&M yearbook in 2013. While scanning the pages, the team was "unequivocally appalled" by some of the photos included and grappled with whether to censor the content or refrain from scanning the pages to prevent embarrassment to the school. According to Young's message, the team followed the example of the Library of Congress and digitized the books exactly as they were printed, to stick to the "commitment for the protection of the record of history, regardless of our view and perspective decades later." |
| It's back: U. of Missouri announces re-establishment of Graduate School | |
 | The University of Missouri's Graduate School is back in business, Provost Latha Ramchand announced in an email to the MU community Thursday. The Graduate School has been re-established as an academic and administrative unit with former associate vice chancellor for graduate studies, Jeni Hart, immediately moving into the role of dean and vice provost for graduate studies. The school will serve the same purpose of the former Office of Graduate Studies and, additionally, serve as the academic home to the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, the Genetic Area Program and graduate programs offered via the MU Informatics Institute, the email said. As an academic and administrative unit, the Graduate School will be able to provide resources to graduate students that the office, which was solely an administrative unit, couldn't and will be able to advocate for graduate program and student needs. |
| A decade after recession, colleges take divergent hiring paths | |
 | A new research review finds that since the recession, hiring patterns for new full-time faculty members have fluctuated considerably at public four-year doctoral and master's institutions, while they have barely budged at public baccalaureate institutions. The study, released Thursday by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR), based in Knoxville, Tenn., recounts the economic realities of higher education in the decade since the recession: enrollment that spiked and then fell for most types of colleges, government support that has failed to keep pace with enrollment, and a resulting shift in which institutional funding increasingly comes from tuition dollars. In the new report, CUPA-HR said that before 2008, new hires of full-time faculty at public master's and doctoral institutions were "rapidly growing." But after the recession hit, there was a notable decline in full-time hires -- a decline that continued until 2016, when institutions began to increase new hires. By contrast, hires of these instructors at public baccalaureate institutions remained relatively steady, if limited, over the entire period. |
| Study documents economic gains from liberal arts education | |
| You've read the stories about liberal arts college grads doomed to a life of poverty, paying back their student loans while living in their parents' basement. And if you've been reading Inside Higher Ed, you have read about studies questioning that narrative. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has now released a new analysis by two economists that examines the questions of the economic payoff of a liberal arts college education. The study makes no claims that liberal arts grads outearn those in, say, engineering. But the report says the claims that a liberal arts degree isn't worth its cost or will hurt a graduate's career prospects prove untrue. Specifically, the report says attending a liberal arts college for most students leads to meaningful economic mobility. "Critics claim that a liberal arts education is worth less than the alternatives, and perhaps not even worth the investment at all. They argue that increasing costs and low future earnings limit the value of a liberal arts education, especially compared to alternative options such as pre-professional programs that appear to be better rewarded in the current labor market," says the report. "Existing evidence does not support these conclusions." |
| In Dealing With Campus Hunger, One Solution Is to Tell Students Where They Can Get Help | |
 | A recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that in the face of a growing campus hunger problem, many colleges are taking matters into their own hands by starting campus programs like food banks and meal-sharing services. Joy Kostansek, a graduate student in anthropology and sociology at Ohio University, is one student leader who is helping university administrators mitigate what some call "food insecurity," or uncertainty about where a next meal will come from. In 2018, the university became one of a few institutions with a campus location that accepts Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamp, benefits. The campus food bank is stocked with fresh produce from a student farm and offers micro-loans to students who need emergency funds. |
SPORTS
| Baseball Announces Schedule Change for Opening Weekend | |
| With the threat of inclement weather on Sunday, the Mississippi State baseball program has announced that it will now play a single game on Friday (Feb. 15) and a doubleheader on Saturday (Feb. 16) to open the new Dudy Noble Field. The opening day schedule will remain the same, with the pregame ceremonies surrounding the opening of the "Carnegie Hall of College Baseball" beginning at 1:30 p.m. and first pitch against Youngstown State coming at 4 p.m. In addition, legendary head coach Ron Polk will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at 3:40 p.m. On Saturday, State will play a pair of games starting at noon, with game two beginning 45 minutes after the conclusion of game one. Sunday's game ticket can be used for entry into the games Saturday, but will be honored as general admission or standing room only tickets. All Saturday reserved seat tickets will be valid for entry into the reserved seating areas. |
| Bulldogs open new stadium, Lemonis era today | |
| The start of a new baseball season is always cause for celebration at Mississippi State. However, opening day 2019 ushers in much more pomp and circumstance than usual. Not only are the 14th-ranked Bulldogs coming off a memorable run to the semifinals of the College World Series, but they are also breaking in a new $55 million stadium and a head coach. MSU will open the finally finished version of Dudy Noble Field today at 4 p.m. and will debut coach Chris Lemonis at the same time, in a series opener against a first-time opponent, Youngstown State. "It's going to be a crazy weekend," Lemonis said. "I'm ready for them to say 'Play ball' and for all that to be to the side so I can sit in there and coach and watch these guys play. But it is exciting." |
| 'A dream come true': J.T. Ginn ready for freshman season at Mississippi State | |
| Two and a half weeks before it was announced, sophomore left-fielder Rowdey Jordan called it. At Mississippi State baseball media day on Jan. 26, head coach Chris Lemonis wasn't ready to name his starting pitching rotation. Fans and media alike wondered if freshman J.T. Ginn would be a weekend starter. On the same day Lemonis said he didn't know, Jordan had a hunch. "He will be," Jordan said. "I'll say that right now." Turns out Jordan was correct. Ginn gets the ball in Mississippi State's second game of the season Saturday at 2 p.m. versus Youngstown State. Seven months ago, Ginn was forced to make a decision that could have prevented him from ever stepping onto the mound at Dudy Noble Field. The Brandon High School product was drafted 30th overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers in June's 2018 MLB draft. One month later he decided to turn down the selection -- and $2.4 million -- to become a Diamond Dawg. |
| Freshman Reggie Perry arrives as a 'Dog | |
| Reggie Perry finally will play a game in Walton Arena when Mississippi State faces the University of Arkansas basketball team on Saturday night. Arkansas fans would have preferred to see Perry, a 6-10, 245-pound freshman forward, in Walton Arena since the start of the season and in a Razorbacks uniform. Perry, a McDonald's All-American and consensus five-star recruit, committed to Arkansas in August of 2016 before his junior season at Thomasville (Ga.) High School. A little less than a year later on July 5, 2017, Perry announced he was decommitting from Arkansas. Two weeks later he committed to Mississippi State, and he signed with the Bulldogs in November of 2017. "He's a skilled forward that rebounds the ball well and can score and passes the ball well," Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson said on Thursday. "A good basketball player -- and he's playing really good right now." |
| No. 5 Mississippi State stunned at home by Mizzou | |
| It had been 718 days since Mississippi State last tasted defeat on its home floor. However, that didn't seem to matter much to Missouri. The Tigers walked into Humphrey Coliseum on Thursday night and handed the fifth-ranked Bulldogs a 75-67 loss, snapping a 32-game home winning streak that dated back to Feb. 26, 2017. The loss also ended the Bulldogs' 26-game SEC winning streak within the regular season. "I just think they had a great plan and we really struggled guarding off the bounce tonight," said MSU coach Vic Schaefer. "That was probably our worst defensive effort of the year, by far. You're going to lose the horse game against Missouri. For us, we really let them have a lot of open shots." The Bulldogs are bound for No. 22 Texas A&M on Sunday at 1 p.m. on SEC Network. |
| Mississippi hunters No. 1 at harvesting mature deer | |
| According to the Quality Deer Management Association, Mississippi hunters are No. 1 when it comes to harvesting mature deer. In QDMA's Whitetail Report 2019, 77 percent of antlered deer harvested in the 2017-2018 season were 3-1/2 years old or older. That put Mississippi at the top of the list for the fourth consecutive year. Arkansas hunters came in second place at 74 percent and Louisiana took third place at 73 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, Wisconsin harvested the lowest percentage of 3-1/2-year-old bucks at 12 percent. The second lowest state was New York at 19 percent with Vermont and Tennessee in a tie for third at 20 percent. The news came as no surprise to Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Deer Program coordinator William McKinley. "Overall, it's basically what we've seen in the past," McKinley said. "Mississippi hunters are choosing to let deer reach older age classes. That is very evident." |
| New Orleans Saints quarterback, Drew Brees, to visit Clinton in April | |
| The NFL's all-time leader in passing yards, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees will serve as the keynote speaker at Mississippi College's Spring scholarship dinner on April 30. One of the private university's signature events, the dinners raised more than $3.6 million for MC student scholarships since 2008. The dinner at Anderson Hall begins at 6 p.m. that Tuesday. Earlier in the day, Brees is expected to speak to students, and take questions from the media at a news conference. Athletic Director Mike Jones is elated No. 9 will visit MC Choctaws Country. "What an honor it will be to have such a high-caliber athlete and human being as Drew Brees to come to our campus." There are strong Mississippi College links to the Saints. Former Choctaws football standout Fred McAfee is a New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame member. The Philadelphia, Mississippi native remains on the Saints staff in the personnel office. |
| SEC Media Days returns to Hoover, date and schedule released | |
 | SEC Media Days is returning to Hoover. The Southeastern Conference announced Thursday its annual football media days will take place July 15-18, returning to the Hyatt Regency Birmingham-Wynfrey Hotel, which has hosted the event all but once since 2001. The SEC Network and ESPN will again broadcast the four-day event. Last season was the first since 2009 where both SEC Championship Game participants were accurately predicted at the event. It was only the second time in history, and first since 1994, where both game participants and eventual champion were predicted correctly. In 2017, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey announced the 2018 version of the event was moving to Atlanta at the College Football Hall of Fame. At the time, the SEC’s decision to move the annual media days out of Hoover would cost the Birmingham metro area an estimated $600,000. |
| Ole Miss Athletics' reserve fund took a $16 million hit during bowl ban | |
| Ole Miss Athletics has taken a financial blow over the past couple of years, according to Director of Athletics Ross Bjork. The Athletic Department comes No. 24 nationally in revenue and has an annual budget of $117 million, which has almost doubled in the past five years. Despite the increases, there's one area that Ole Miss has taken a loss in. The "reserve fund," as Bjork calls it, is down from where it was a few years ago. Although Bjork sounded concerned about season ticket sales, he mentioned another way to generate revenue for the "reserve fund" that appears to be more lucrative and productive for the university in the long run. "It comes down to fundraising," Bjork said. "There's no limit on fundraising. We have a ton of proposals out there now that could, in many ways, be transformational for our program." It's unclear what those proposals are, but Bjork seemed confident in their potential. |
| Good news for Dawn Staley, Gamecocks: NCAA approves USC host site for tournament | |
 | Should South Carolina women's basketball earn the right to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, the Gamecocks have been granted a waiver by the NCAA to do so in Charlotte, the program announced Thursday. The need for a new venue was necessitated by the fact that the team's home arena, Colonial Life Arena, will host the NCAA men's tournament on the same weekend. NCAA rules require schools to apply for a waiver to host at any site more than 30 miles away from campus. USC would play in Halton Arena, on the campus of UNC-Charlotte. The 9,100-seat arena hosts Charlotte 49er basketball games during the season. "We looked at an extensive list of venues. Some seating-wise just didn't, we think, have the capacity. Some were not available. It was a long list that we went through, and Charlotte was on the list from the very beginning and it worked out timing-wise that their building was going to be available," athletic director Ray Tanner said. |
| U. of Florida opens sports science research space in Hawkins Center | |
 | Since its opening in 2016, the Otis Hawkins Center at Farrior Hall has provided academic and personal development for University of Florida athletes. Within those walls, more support will come in the field of sports science. UF's Athletic Association unveiled its new athletic research collaboration space in the Hawkins Center at an open house this week. The space will serve an area where UF deans and faculty members can propose and embark on sports science research projects aimed at enhancing the health and performance of Gator student athletes. UF sports science projects in the past have ranged from improving mechanics to preventing and diagnosing concussions. UF team physician Dr. Jay Clugston said having an on-site research space where athletes gather can help expand research efforts. "I'm more excited, not just about continuing what we are doing, but just adding," Clugston said. Clugston said UF's athletes have been supportive in serving as research subjects. |
| Former Vanderbilt AD David Williams was at his best at funerals | |
 | Vanderbilt athletics director David Williams sat at his desk across from football coach Bobby Johnson and senior staff members, all quiet and grim-faced after learning of the death of a player the day after Christmas. It was 2004, and 21-year-old running back Kwane Doster had died in a random shooting while sitting in the backseat of a car in Tampa, Florida. The Vanderbilt athletics family was in a state of shock, but Johnson recalled Williams straightening up in his chair and whispering softly, "We're going to do the right thing here. We'll take care of people." Williams, whose funeral will be Friday at The Temple Church in Nashville, was always at his best in comforting those dealing with death. It was a burden he had to bear often at Vanderbilt, which lost at least six athletes to death during his 16-year tenure as athletics director. "Whenever we lost one of those kids, it took a piece of David's heart," Vanderbilt baseball coach Tim Corbin said. "He felt that pain, and it showed on his face. But he put that aside and spoke with such a soft voice in those times. When a situation was grave, David was at his best." |
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