Friday, March 8, 2019   
 
MSU Idea Shop officially opens in downtown Starkville
Downtown Starkville has a new hub for entrepreneurship and innovation after the Thursday grand opening of the Mississippi State Idea Shop. MSU and city of Starkville officials held a ribbon cutting ceremony to formally open the Idea Shop, a 2,000-square-foot Main Street facility that includes the Turner A. Wingo Maker Studio and the MSU Retail Product Accelerator. The Idea Shop was made possible through private support, as well as the USDA Rural Business Development Program. It is part of the MSU Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach and operated by the College of Business and School of Human Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. MSU President Mark E. Keenum said facilities like the Idea Shop help make downtown Starkville the home of entrepreneurship in Mississippi. "We are charged with trying to help prepare young people to get a job, but through our entrepreneurship program, we're allowing our students to not just get a job but to create jobs, even jobs that don't exist today," Keenum said.
 
County Road 11: Dunn-Seiler Museum at Mississippi State University
We spotlight a museum on the Mississippi State University campus in the Department of Geosciences that take visitors back millions of years on this week's County Road 11. The Dunn-Seiler Museum houses an extensive mineral, rock and fossil collections that help visitors get an idea of what the earth could have looked like thousands and even millions of years ago. "They're drawn in by such a big, glorious looking thing, and then they start looking at the cabinets and they see a lot of things that they might not have seen before," said Amy Moe Hoffman, the chairperson for Mississippi State's Museums & Galleries Committee. "Fossils and organisms that don't exist anymore that is really different from what we have today." he Dunn-Seiler Museum on the MSU campus links modern day Mississippi to its prehistoric past. It's a Mississippi geology lesson millions of years in the making, but providing lots of things you can learn in only a few minutes.
 
Grain bin simulator, rescue training hosted in Monroe County
The Mississippi Farm Bureau and Mississippi State University Extension Service in Monroe County hosted a grain bin safety simulator and rescue training in Prairie. With the risk farmers face as they enter large grain bins, the goal of Thursday night's event was to prevent injuries and death by promoting safe bin entry procedures. These include: maintaining quality grain, testing the bin atmosphere for toxic gases and wearing proper safety equipment. "Unfortunately, there is not a whole lot of information out there on how to properly get somebody out of an entrapment," Safety Specialist Brenton Moseley said. "The average entrapment is over three and a half hours, so it causes physical exhaustion to mental exhaustion, and we try to cover it all from our farmers to our first responders."
 
Mayor, aldermen talk Starkville annexation at Lunch and Learn
A Lunch and Learn session, hosted by the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, offered a chance for city officials to discuss annexation with residents as Starkville continues work on an annexation ordinance. Mayor Lynn Spruill gave a presentation -- the same that consultant Mike Slaughter, who has been working with the city since it began its annexation study, presented to aldermen in early February -- during the Lunch and Learn. The presentation touched on a variety of topics, from how Starkville's population will change to the number and type of housing units in the proposed annexation area, to the number of street lights needed for the new area and how much sales and ad valorem taxes it's expected to generate. The new area, which has been split into two study areas, extends east along the Highway 12 and 182 corridor to Highway 82 and Clayton Village. It also extends south on the east side of Mississippi State University's campus to San Marcos Drive.
 
Mississippi Farm Bureau Woman of the Year helps grow knowledge of agriculture
If there was ever a superwoman of agriculture in Mississippi, it has to be Cala Tabb of Eupora, who was named Mississippi Farm Bureau Woman of the Year in 2018. She and her husband, Billy Tabb, recently spent four days lobbying on trade and farm policy in Washington D.C. Several years ago, the couple won the Young Farmers & Ranchers Achievement Award from Mississippi Farm Bureau and then went on to compete against winners from other states to win the national award from the American Farm Bureau Federation. Cala was named Monsanto Southeast Farm Mom of the Year in 2017. Cala has a full-time job as the librarian at the Eupora Elementary School and the Eupora High School. Billy farms about 2,500 acres in four counties growing cotton, corn, peanuts, soybeans and wheat. The couple has four children, ages 6, 11, 12 and 14. Cala feels one of the main reasons she got picked for Farm Bureau Woman of the Year is that she does a lot of ag education in her libraries.
 
Delta farmers fear lower profits with backwater flooding
More bad news for the Mississippi Delta, which is already impacted by flooding. Experts now say it could be worse than expected, with backwater flooding rising to 97.5 feet. That's the highest it's been since 1973. Nearly 500 thousand acres of Mississippi farmland are underwater. Farmer John Phillips says 75 percent of his land will be inundated by waters from flooding in the Yazoo backwater. John Phillips said, "If you can see far enough on the other end of that field, it's out of water, but you can't plant it cause this ends underwater and you're scared to plant that cause it will go underwater." Losing a planted crop to a flood is the worst situation, so now farmers just wait, but time is running out. With the Mississippi set to crest next week, new information suggests it could then fall and rise again, sustaining that level for almost four weeks. That would pushing planting well into April for farmers, who are watching water levels closely as they relate to their bottom line.
 
Public Service Commission funds potential natural gas expansion in rural areas
Natural gas lines could expand to rural areas across the state this year, thanks to a $5 million fund set up by the Public Service Commission. Northern district commissioner Brandon Presley said Atmos Energy agreed to forego $5 million in immediate profits to create infrastructure in rural areas and build a new customer base. In the past, utilities would ask rural customers to pay the price of running lines in isolated areas. Under the new program, if enough people show interest in one area, Atmos could use PSC funding mechanism to run the lines, then pay the money back over time. "This is all driven by the number of houses that want the service," Presley said. "If they are interested, they need to contact our office." Presley said they have also had calls from residents in Starkville, Grenada, Tunica and Hernando about the possible expansion.
 
Voter awareness initiative culminates in downtown Jackson art gallery
If you were an artist commissioned to draw a mural representing your hometown, what would it look like? The secretary of state's office posed that prompt to classrooms around the state as part of a contest to engage children with the electoral process and spark Mississippi pride through creative expression. Today 47 winning pieces were unveiled at a gallery in Jackson State University's Capitol Street building. The winners were among thousands of submissions for the "Promote the Vote" contest. "We asked them to view your city and how you want it look in the future: what do you perceive Mississippi to be?" said Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann. "I always believed that most of the decisions about the future are made at the kitchen table." This year marked the first in the program's 22-year history that the secretary of state partnered with JSU and Mississippi Public Broadcasting's education arm.
 
Governor to Reeves: Back CID Legislation
Mississippi's top elected leader is urging Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves to push through legislation authorizing "community improvement districts" or CIDs. Gov. Phil Bryant said he texted the lieutenant governor on Thursday night encouraging him to back the legislation, which is popular with many Northsiders. "As a conservative, it is direct democracy. People decide their own fate, for their own communities, with their own money," he said. With CIDs, neighborhoods would to form special districts, tax homeowners within those districts and use the funds specifically to make improvements within their respective areas. Bryant said he's encouraging as many senators as possible to vote for the measure and is working with Reeves to determine the best strategy for pushing CID legislation through.
 
Mental health courts may still survive
Sen. Sally Doty, R-Brookhaven, said she is hopeful that mental health courts survive as part of an overall criminal justice bill, though a committee she vice-chairs allowed a standalone mental health courts bill to die. Rep. Becky Currie's bill to create mental health courts died in the Senate Judiciary A Committee Tuesday, which Doty serves on as vice-chair. "I am hopeful that the specialty courts will survive," Doty said. "Of course, the issue is always funding. It takes money to provide the specialty services that these courts may require." Currie believes the mental health court system can save the state money. She envisions a court system for the mentally ill similar to drug court. The court system could ensure treatment and keep those suffering from mental illness out of jail. "Every legislator believes it will be a good thing for the state and mentally ill patients," she said. "I hate that the bill died because I wanted to make sure that it passed and we begin to care for our mentally ill patients and not continue to let them fall through the cracks."
 
Graphene 'summit' to be held in D.C.
American business and industry leaders will join U.S. government officials and international graphene leaders for the American Graphene Summit to be held in Washington, D.C., May 21-22. Sen. Roger Wicker (R., Miss.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, will be the keynote speaker. Participants will focus on shaping the architecture surrounding graphene technologies and evaluating its potential impact on the U.S. and the global economies. At a thickness of only one atom, graphene is the strongest and thinnest material in the world. "Graphene is a material with enormous potential," Wicker said in a news release. Participants will discuss its use in markets such as automotive, aviation, oil and gas, telecommunication, health care, and electronics.
 
Trump on Manafort's lighter-than-expected sentence: 'No collusion'
President Trump offered his first reaction Friday morning to a lighter-than-expected four-year prison sentence delivered to his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, stating the judge felt there was "no collusion" between his campaign and Russia. "Both the Judge and the lawyer in the Paul Manafort case stated loudly and for the world to hear that there was NO COLLUSION with Russia," Trump wrote on Twitter. "But the Witch Hunt Hoax continues as you now add these statements to House & Senate Intelligence & Senator Burr. So bad for our Country!" The judge, T.S. Ellis III, did not actually state that there was no evidence of collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia, merely instead telling prosecutors and other assembled onlookers at Manafort's hearing Thursday that the businessman did not face any charges related to collusion.
 
U.S. Economy Loses Steam, Adding Only 20,000 Jobs; Unemployment 3.8 Percent
The U.S. economy added only 20,000 jobs -- far less than expected -- last month, the Labor Department said Friday. But the unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent from January's 4 percent and earnings growth picked up. The increase in jobs was below the 180,000 projected by private analysts and the smallest gain since September 2017. February's was dramatically smaller than January's revised increase of 311,000 and December's revised 227,000. Average earnings in February were 3.4 percent higher than a year earlier, growing to $27.66 per hour. That's a noticeable pickup from January's year-over-year gain of 3.1 percent. Economists have been looking for signs that wages are growing more given the low unemployment rate and employers finding it difficult to fill positions. The drop in the unemployment rate to 3.8 percent in part reflected the return of federal workers who were furloughed in January due to the partial government shutdown, the Labor Department said.
 
Survey finds college presidents more upbeat about finances, race and higher ed's image
College presidents overwhelmingly agree that Harvard University is justified in defending its use of affirmative action in admissions -- but far fewer believe it will prevail in its lawsuit. Campus leaders largely believe Obama administration rules on sexual assault paid too little attention to the rights of the accused -- and that the Trump administration's response would edge too far in the other direction. And presidents express more confidence in the 10-year financial stability of their campuses than they have at any point in the last six years -- but nearly one in seven says his or her campus could close or merge within five years. The survey -- to which 784 chief executives of two- and four-year institutions responded -- finds presidents expressing more confidence (sometimes ever so slightly more) on some key issues, even as significant worries remain.
 
Ole Miss Chancellor Responds as Support Grows for Relocation of Confederate Monument
Two weeks after a pro-Confederate rally rattled the University of Mississippi's campus, the Associated Student Body Senate voted unanimously on Tuesday in support of removing a statue of a Confederate soldier from the center of the campus. The growing movement to excise a prominent piece of Confederate iconography in Mississippi suggests that such efforts may remain strong even in the Deep South, where such symbols are legion. Following the vote, the interim chancellor, Larry D. Sparks, said in a written statement on Thursday that the relocation was an "important decision and issue for our university." Because the monument is a historical landmark, the university would have to first consult with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and provide justification that the cemetery would be a suitable location, Sparks said in the statement. The university would then need to submit an agenda item to the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi State Institutions of Higher Learning, he said.
 
Interim Chancellor Larry Sparks breaks silence, questions about the statue remain
The faculty senate unanimously joined the call to relocate the Confederate monument from the Circle to the Confederate cemetery on campus by passing a resolution on Thursday, but the debate over who has the jurisdiction to move the statue continues. "The Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) is the governing authority for all public universities in Mississippi, including the University of Mississippi," Caron Blanton, the Communications Director for Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, said. That designation as the governing body would give the IHL the ability to decide on the relocation of the monument. Stacey Lantagne, Vice Chair of the faculty senate and assistant law professor called this assertion into question before the vote on Thursday. "I personally think there's a decent argument to be made that (the governing body) is all of us," she said. "The IHL doesn't make that decision. The courts make that decision."
 
Ole Miss Student and Faculty Groups Vote Unanimously to Relocate Confederate Statue
Nearly two weeks after basketball players at the University of Mississippi knelt during the national anthem in protest of a pro-Confederate rally that ended on campus, the student government voted unanimously to move a prominent statue of a Confederate soldier. The resolution passed, 47-0, to thunderous applause in the Associated Student Body senate on Tuesday night. The faculty senate unanimously passed a similar measure on Thursday evening. The statue, at the pointy end of a teardrop-shaped traffic circle that leads to the university's main administrative building, is among the first things drivers see when approaching the campus. William Hall, a junior who writes for the school newspaper, disagreed with the students' approach. The matter should be settled with a campuswide referendum, he said. "High achievers within the student body," he said, "are making decisions for the student body as a whole. The average student doesn't have a say."
 
City approves UM's request to close road, with stipulations
The University's request to close Gertrude Ford Boulevard this summer for a construction project was granted by Oxford's Board of Aldermen, but with certain stipulations attached. During Tuesday's regular meeting the board agreed with the school's recommendation of closing the road entirely instead of making it one lane while they work to construct a new retaining wall. The wall is being built on the west side of the road, similar to what currently exists on the right side. Original discussions between the city and the University centered around using a flagman and one lane of traffic flow, but the debate between which option would be better during Tuesday's meeting ended up falling on the side of closing the road all together. An approval of the request came with revised terms form what the original proposal sent by the University planning department. Alderman Janice Antonow was opposed to closing the road completely, citing other projects had traffic still flowing throughout their duration.
 
Natasha Trethewey to deliver fifth annual Bettye Jolly Lecture at Welty House and Garden
Gulfport native Natasha Trethewey, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and two-term U.S. Poet Laureate, will deliver the fifth annual Bettye Jolly Lecture on the lawn of the Eudora Welty House and Garden in Jackson Friday evening. "Bettye would be overwhelmed," Jeanne Luckett, communications consultant for the Eudora Welty Foundation, said. "She was quite a literary figure herself. She would be thrilled that we're having a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and beautiful soul in Natasha to be doing this lecture. I'm sure she'd be very honored by it." Cosponsored by the Visiting Writers Series at Millsaps College, the annual lecture was originally founded by a book club that grew out of a Millsaps Topics Seminar taught by Suzanne Marrs. In 2015, the book club partnered with the Welty Foundation to honor Jolly, "one of our very faithful volunteers," who died of cancer.
 
Jackson Prep makes history and other subjects come alive with virtual reality programs
The Jackson Preparatory School is doing some unique things with its virtual reality (VR) laboratory. The school is using VR programs to enhance teaching while also training students in the rapidly-growing industry that is expected to have an economic impact of $100 billion by 2021. Adam Mangana, director of the Extended Reality Lab at Jackson Preparatory School, has been invited to go around the country and present programs about the VR program at Jackson Prep. There have also been representatives from schools from New York to California interested in visiting to learn how VR is being taught and integrated into the school community at Jackson Prep. Jackson Prep is also creating a VR curriculum for students and teachers. The intention is to create an institute where teachers can be trained and equipped to run VR programs across the state.
 
U. of Kentucky to cut 12 jobs and two statewide archeological programs
Twelve University of Kentucky employees will lose their jobs -- and the state will lose numerous archaeological resources -- amid a restructuring of the Department of Anthropology. Under a plan announced by the College of Arts and Sciences, UK will eliminate the Kentucky Archaeological Survey and the Program for Archaeological Research, which work on numerous public and private archeological projects around the state. Those programs are currently under the anthropology department's William S. Webb Museum, which houses archaeological collections and artifacts at a building on Export Street. The affected employees -- seven full-time and five part-time -- were informed last week of the changes by Arts and Sciences Dean Mark Kornbluh. "We have a hard time understanding why he's doing this and he's never been able to give us an explanation that is sufficient," said David Pollack, co-director of the Kentucky Archaeological Survey. Most of the salaries are funded through outside contracts and grants, Pollack said.
 
U. of Tennessee prof heads to White House with American Workforce Policy Advisory Board
Marianne Wanamaker, associate professor of economics at the University of Tennessee's Haslam College of Business, will be at the White House on Wednesday for the first meeting of President Donald Trump's American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, according to a news release. The advisory board is to make recommendations to the President's National Council for the American Worker, established by executive order in July 2018. The 25-member board is co-chaired by the president's daughter Ivanka Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. "The board aims to develop and implement a strategy to revamp the American workforce for the well-paid, in-demand jobs of the 21st century," its official description says. "The board also will promote private-sector investments in American workers," according to the announcement of Wanamaker's appointment.
 
Luke Rankin to be U. of South Carolina's next student body president
University of South Carolina voters have spoken: Luke Rankin is set to be the next student body president. Rankin, a junior political science major, defeated junior sports and entertainment major Lyric Swinton in a runoff election that ended Wednesday. "I was ecstatic. It's still very, very surreal," Rankin said of when he learned he had won. "I'm so honored to have won and can't wait to get to work." USC's student body president is in an especially important position this year, current student body president Taylor Wright said in a previous interview. That's because the student body president gets to set the tone between the students and the incoming president and provost. Current USC president Harris Pastides is retiring at the end of July and Provost Joan Gabel was chosen to be president of the University of Minnesota.
 
U. of Alabama students elect new SGA president
University of Alabama students elected a junior from Selma as the new Student Government Association president on Thursday. Harrison Adams, who is studying economics and finance, defeated Marquis Hollingsworth, a junior from Homewood studying general business, in the SGA presidential race. Approximately 34 percent of students voted Thursday for the SGA executive offices and senate officers. Sophomore Hunter Scott defeated John Martin Weed in the race for vice president of financial affairs. In uncontested races, Douglas Martinson was elected executive vice president; Alexandra Sample, executive secretary; Allison Bailey, vice president of academic affairs; Demarcus Joiner, vice president for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Brooks Payne, vice president for external affairs; and Jason Rothfarb, vice president for student affairs.
 
U. of Missouri ups online degree offerings with communications, sociology and more
In response to majors that are in-demand and rising in popularity, the University of Missouri will be offering nine new online degrees starting in August. The new bachelor's degrees being introduced are communication, information technology, psychology, sociology and English. The graduate-level degrees added to the offerings include biological engineering, industrial engineering, care management and dispute resolution. The MU School of Law is opening the Midwest's first online master's program in dispute resolution. With the addition of these new degrees, MU will be able to offer a total of 125 degree options, more than any other university in the state. "These additions to the online portfolio are a testament to MU's status as a leader in online education," MU Provost Latha Ramchand said in a media release.
 
Clemson closes university theater because of bat infestation
The bats came back. For the second year in a row, Clemson University has closed its performing arts center because of a bat infestation, according to a news release. Shows scheduled for the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts have either been canceled or moved to another venue off campus, Clemson said in the news release. In 2018, the theater was closed from March 30 through April 27 after "a free-tailed bat colony ... had roosted in a wall," the university said in the release. A Clemson official said the performing arts center was infested with bats last year, but the current issue "seems to be much more limited in scope," the Greenville News reported. In 2018, bats were first spotted flying around the theater during a ballet performance, according to the newspaper. "Only about 6 percent" of captured bats have rabies, according to The Washington Post. But Clemson reminded the public "not to interact with ... touch ... or harm" bats, which are protected by federal law.
 
A Free Speech Purist Opts Not to Use the N-Word
Geoffrey Stone, Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor of Law at Chicago, is something of a free speech purist. He chaired the committee that wrote the much-emulated Chicago statement on campus speech, for example, and he's not afraid to make students uncomfortable if it helps them learn. Until this week, that included saying the N-word in during a First Amendment law lecture he often gives on the fighting-words doctrine. That's the legal line between free speech and words that would incite immediate violence or retaliation. Stone has previously argued that saying the N-word to illustrate it is useful. This week, however, after meeting with a group of students who were hurt by his recent use of the word, Stone said that he won't say it anymore. "This is really important -- this is not about censorship, or about anybody telling me what to do or not to do," he said. "This is something on which students have enlightened me. And that's great."
 
House passes criminal justice reform
Mississippi newspaper publisher and columnist Wyatt Emmerich writes: Earlier this year, President Trump signed into law The First Step Act, a first step toward criminal justice reform. The goal is to reduce the sky-high U.S. incarceration rate, which is five times higher than other developed countries in the world. The Mississippi Legislature is likely to pass similar reforms at the state level. House Bill 1352, the Criminal Justice Reform Act, passed 110-5 and now goes to the state senate. Phil Bryant called for criminal justice reform in his last state of the state address, so he is sure to sign any legislative efforts into law. The state reforms are far more important than the federal reforms because 2,000,000 prisoners are in state and local prisons compared to 225,000 in federal prisons. Mississippi has one of the highest incarceration rates in the nation, which means it has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. There must be a better way.


SPORTS
 
Bulldogs eager to make SEC tourney history
Vic Schaefer has guided Mississippi State women's basketball to heights the program has never been before over the past three seasons. The Bulldogs have been in back-to-back national championship games and claimed the past two SEC regular-season championships. But one thing MSU has not done during that historic run is win the SEC Tournament. South Carolina has beaten the Bulldogs in three-consecutive SEC Tournament championship games. State begins its quest to secure that elusive title today against Tennessee at 11 a.m. on SEC Network after receiving a double bye as the tournament's No. 1 seed. "We're getting ready to go to Greenville this weekend and see if we can't do something there that we've never done before," Schaefer said. The fifth-ranked Bulldogs are 27-2 and a lock to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament in Starkville. However, the team refuses to rest on those laurels and enters the SEC Tournament as motivated as ever.
 
Why the SEC Women's Basketball Tournament means more for Mississippi State
The mood inside Humphrey Coliseum was pretty nonchalant Tuesday afternoon. Vic Schaefer, Jazzmun Holmes, Anriel Howard and Teaira McCowan sat in front of the media to answer questions. They didn't look like a quartet that had just won a regular season SEC Championship outright two days prior. All four of them earned All-SEC honors from the Associated Press and the conference's coaches an hour or so before they stepped up to the table, too. Schaefer won coach of the year; McCowan was named player of the year and was the only unanimous selection to the All-SEC first team; Howard was also named a first-teamer; and Holmes made first team all-defense, as did McCowan. And yet, hardly any of them cracked a smile. There was a reason for that. Schaefer and McCowan laid it out simply. "We have a lot of work and unfinished business," Schaefer said. "I don't think we're satisfied at all. There are a lot of goals out there for us and some things that we've never accomplished before that are still in front of us."
 
Lady Vols show some 'grit' to beat LSU in SEC tournament
Some life was detected in the Tennessee women's basketball program Thursday. Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick called it grit. Whatever it was, it worked. The Lady Vols defeated LSU 69-66 on Thursday in the second round of the SEC tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena and enhanced their chances of making the NCAA tournament. "You could tell the kids were together when they're having their own conversation," Warlick said. "And it's an intelligent conversation about basketball about what they need to do." Was Warlick worried? "My gut was killing me on the way over here," said Warlick, now in her seventh season as coach of the Lady Vols. The Lady Vols will now face No. 1 seed Mississippi State (27-2) on Friday (noon ET, SEC Network).
 
Wet forecast leads to college baseball schedule shuffle
Mississippi's Big Three college baseball programs have done a pretty good job handling what opponents have thrown at them this season. Mother Nature is proving to be a much trickier opponent. For the second week in a row, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Southern Miss have altered their weekend series schedules to try and sidestep rain and severe weather that is in the forecast. Mississippi State and Maine will play a doubleheader Friday at Dudy Noble Field, beginning at 3 p.m. The finale of the series is at noon on Sunday. Mississippi State (12-1) has won eight consecutive games, with half of those coming against Top 25 opponents. Win No. 8 in the streak came Wednesday, 14-1 over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, as Justin Foscue went 4-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs and three runs scored. Marshall Gilbert also doubled and drove in three runs for Mississippi State.
 
Mississippi State baseball welcomes winless Maine
No. 7 Mississippi State will have its final weekend tune up prior to SEC play, welcoming winless Maine to Dudy Noble Field for a three-game series. With thunderstorms expected on Saturday, the Bulldogs and Black Bears will play a doubleheader today beginning at 3 p.m. and wrap up the series at noon on Sunday. MSU (12-1) enters the weekend as the winners of eight straight. The Bulldogs are sporting a .296 team batting average and scoring 8.2 runs per game while getting excellent pitching efforts as well. The staff has an ERA of 1.45 with opponents hitting just .173 against them collectively. State has six hitters batting above .350, including regulars Jordan Westburg (.360), Justin Foscue (.358) and Jake Mangum (.352). Foscue leads the club with four home runs and is tied with Mangum for the team lead in hits with 19. "He's a real professional," said MSU coach Chris Lemonis of Foscue.
 
Mississippi State's Tony Hughes happy to help with tight ends
When Tony Hughes returned to Mississippi State in December, the title he was given was "assistant coach." At the time, Joe Moorhead only had one vacancy on his staff, for a tight ends coach. Although Hughes had experience coaching that position at Ole Miss in 2007, a vast majority of his 33-year career has been spent coaching defense -- including a seven-year stint as the Bulldogs' safeties coach. Moorhead had four more assistant coaches go elsewhere during the offseason but decided to use Hughes as his tight ends coach, along with the title of associate head coach. "I'm excited to be able to coach tight ends in coach Moorhead's offense," Hughes said. "The tight ends have a very unique responsibility to be blockers, receivers and do a lot of different motions and movements. But when you look back at the tape from last year, they all performed well as a unit and most of that group is coming back."
 
Texas Rangers: Rafael Palmeiro gets statue at Mississippi State
Rafael Palmeiro fell off the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot five years ago. He's essentially an outcast from Major League Baseball. The organizations where he put together the bulk of a stellar career, the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles, don't seem interested in honoring him. And Palmeiro is OK with that. He understands why. He's the one who became baseball's first superstar to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2005. But not everyone in the baseball world is distancing themselves from Palmeiro. His alma mater, Mississippi State, unveiled a statue of Palmeiro's "sweet swing" alongside his former teammate, Will Clark, at the recently remodeled Duly Noble Field at Polk-DeMent Stadium last month. "You think of people who have statues on their college campuses -- Bear Bryant, Nick Saban, Jackie Robinson -- I wouldn't say I compare to those names, but when you have a statue in front of your baseball stadium, you've made it," Palmeiro told the Star-Telegram. Palmeiro, 54, called his college career the "most memorable" of his playing days. He and Clark were known as "thunder and lightning" for a Bulldogs team that reached the College World Series in 1985.
 
FBI wiretap reveals LSU's Will Wade discussed 'offer' with convicted middleman: reports
A phone conversation recorded by the FBI between LSU coach Will Wade and basketball middleman Christian Dawkins includes Wade openly speaking about a "strong-ass offer" he made in the recruitment of current LSU guard Javonte Smart in 2017, according to a report from Yahoo Sports. According to the report, Wade appeared to sound frustrated that a third party affiliated with Smart's recruitment hadn't yet accepted Wade's "offer." Instead, Smart's verbal commitment to LSU was apparently being delayed because Wade believed he hadn't given the third party "enough piece of the pie in the deal" and instead "tilted" the offer toward Smart and his mother. An LSU spokesman denied to comment about the report to NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. ESPN confirmed the Yahoo report, and uncovered another phone call between LSU's coach and Dawkins.
 
Rep. Mark Walker wades into fight over student-athlete compensation
Playing sports is almost like a full-time job for many big-name college athletes, but they're routinely blocked from making money off their fame. Rep. Mark Walker is hoping Congress can change that. The North Carolina Republican, a former college athlete himself, announced plans to introduce a bill next week that would let student-athletes be financially compensated for the use of their name, image and likeness in commercial products. His bill would change the definition of a "qualified amateur sports organization" in the tax code to prohibit the NCAA from restricting such compensation, Walker said in an interview with the Raleigh News and Observer. Walker stressed that his bill does not require a university or the NCAA to pay students for their athletic performance. Walker's push arrives amid mounting legal and political pressure put on universities to rethink their treatment of student-athletes.



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