| Tuesday, March 26, 2019 |
| New TigerShark unmanned aircraft expands capabilities of MSU's Raspet Flight Research Laboratory | |
 | Mississippi State University's Raspet Flight Research Laboratory is expanding its vast unmanned aerial systems research and support capabilities with the acquisition of two of the latest TigerShark XP3 aircraft. Raspet's purchase of the two aircraft---built by NAVMAR Applied Sciences Corporation -- along with associated radio and computer equipment, represents a total investment of approximately $2 million, and will substantially increase Raspet's UAS core flight research capabilities. The TigerShark's cost is covered in part by grant funding from federal research projects aimed at making UAS safer. According to Raspet Lab Director Dallas Brooks, these UAS will "allow our team to carry more equipment, fly at higher altitudes and for a longer period of time, which increases our ability to meet the needs of our federal research partners, as well as to directly support Mississippians in times of emergency." |
| John Forde gives New Narrative recap at Rotary | |
 | With the second annual Mississippi State New Narrative Festival and Conference, presenters from across the state and beyond came to hear what is actually happening in Mississippi. Mississippi State University Department of Communication professor and department head John Forde discussed this year's event and plans for future New Narrative Festivals at the Starkville Rotary Club. Approximately 100 people were registered for the festival this year, including several current MSU communication students. Some of the presenters included MSU President Mark Keenum, Mississippi Country music performer and songwriter Steve Azar and Hattiesburg chef and restaurateur Robert St. John, among many others. He said the main focus of the event was changing outdated and negative perceptions about Mississippi. |
| Mississippi teacher pay raise 2019: Lawmakers say they have the money | |
 | Legislative budget leaders said the state economy is percolating and concluded they have more money -- a total of $202 million -- than first projected for the current and coming budget years. They said teachers, university and community college employees and rank-and-file state workers will likely reap the benefits in raises. They also said they expect year-over-year "level funding" for most state agencies, many of which have seen major cuts in recent years. House Speaker Philip Gunn said a teacher raise that was first pitched as $500 a year phased over the next two years will likely end up a raise of $1,000 starting in the coming year. Gunn presided over the Joint Legislative Budget Committee on Monday. The committee adopted revised revenue estimates for the current and coming state budget. This is typically one of the last steps before lawmakers set a roughly $6 billion state budget. Gunn said he's hopeful lawmakers can finish their work and end their regular session ahead of schedule this week, as early as Wednesday. |
| $1,000 for teachers, pay raises for many state employees included in tentative budget agreement | |
| Mississippi's public school teachers are expected to receive a $1,000 pay raise starting with the new fiscal year on July 1 under the budget agreement being hammered out between House and Senate negotiators, House Speaker Philip Gunn said late Monday. Under the still developing plan, many state employees and community college and university staff also would receive raises, though not as much as school teachers, Gunn, a Republican from Clinton, said. Both Gunn and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, who presides over the Senate, spoke confidently late Monday that legislators could begin voting on a final budget proposal later this week. Reeves, though, provided far fewer details of what the budget agreement would look like than did the House speaker. Late Monday, Gunn and Reeves, along with other members of the Legislative Budget Committee, met to raise the revenue estimate for the current fiscal year, which started July 1, by $125.3 million. They raised the estimate by $56.2 million for the upcoming fiscal year. |
| Where will the state's money go? Legislators address questions | |
 | With less than a week left in the legislative session, Brookhaven's three lawmakers met with local constituents to go over some of the hot topics they've tackled in Jackson these past few months. District 39 Sen. Sally Doty, District 92 Rep. Becky Currie and District 53 Rep. Vince Mangold met with about 75 people at Mitchell's Events and Catering at an annual breakfast hosted by the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce. What the state's money will fund seems to be the biggest concern the three legislators faced. Mangold, a poultry and cattle farmer finishing his first term, said he foresees a pay increase for the state's teachers. "I believe in my heart a raise is coming," he said. Currie, a registered nurse employed with Kindred Home Health and Hospice, said teachers won't be the only group to see a hike in their paychecks. She said all state employees, many who have not received raises in a decade, will get it this year. |
| Bill to make it harder to sue property owners nearly stalled over fears of unintended consequences | |
| Legislation to provide landowners and business owners protection from lawsuits when someone is injured by a third person on their premises was approved 31-20 last week in the Senate and was sent to Gov. Phil Bryant who is expected to sign the bill into law. The passage of the Landowner Protection Act is no surprise. On the other hand, the lateness in the process of the bill making it through the legislative maze and reaching the governor's desk is a bit surprising to legislative observers. Earlier in the session, the bill appeared to be on the fast track. Proponents of the legislation were adamant in fending off efforts to slow the progress of the bill, which opponents said might have unintended consequences. Sen. Josh Harkins, R-Flowood, the primary author of the legislation, said he had filed similar legislation several years and it was never the intent to do anything but to provide protection for landowners from actions of third parties. |
| Effort to protect identity of nonprofit donors passes amid charges it opens door to 'dark money' in state politics | |
| The nonprofit Mississippi Center for Public Policy says legislation it has advocated for to protect the identity of donors to nonprofit groups will have no impact on the state's campaign finance laws. Others are not so sure. The legislation "will open the biggest loophole since we passed campaign finance disclosure in Mississippi," said Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson, who dealt with the campaign finance laws when he served in the Secretary of State's office before being elected to the Legislature. The bill has passed both chambers of the Republican-controlled Mississippi Legislature primarily along partisan lines and is now pending the signature of Gov. Phil Bryant. Rep. Jerry Turner, R-Baldwyn, is the author of the bill and said it is not the intent of the legislation to circumvent the state's campaign finance laws. |
| AP Analysis: With residency rules, no carpetbaggers wanted | |
 | How long should someone live in Mississippi or a particular district, county, or city before they are eligible to run for office? Lawmakers say years, and they're applying the requirements to more elective offices. Senate Bill 2030 , which awaits Gov. Phil Bryant's signature or veto, would for the first time require that someone live in a county, city, county supervisor's district, or city alderman's ward for at least two years before they could be elected to office to represent that area. Cities with a population under 1,000 would be excluded. Those are similar to requirements to run for legislative offices under the state constitution, which requires someone to live in Mississippi for four years and to live in the district for two years. That's the strictest requirement nationwide, according to a 2016 comparison by Eugene Mazo, a Rutgers University law professor. |
| Congressman Michael Guest: Mueller report over, let's move forward | |
 | Mississippi Third District Congressman Michael Guest says the findings of the Mueller Report should put the allegation of Russian collusion with the Trump campaign to rest. According to a summary from Attorney General William Barr, Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion. Republicans, along with the Trump Administration, say the report lifts the cloud of suspicion over the presidency. But Democrats and some Republicans are demanding the full report be released for their review. Guest agrees in principle. "I think anything that is not classified or was not obtained by grand jury subpoena should be issued to not only Congress but I believe that the public should also get to see it," said Guest. |
| Federal prosecutors charge Michael Avenatti with fraud and extortion | |
 | Michael Avenatti, the former attorney for adult-film star Stormy Daniels, has been charged with bank fraud and extortion, federal prosecutors in California and New York announced on Monday. Avenatti was arrested the same day in New York, according to multiple reports. The frequent critic of President Trump had earlier announced a press conference for Tuesday "to disclose a major high school/college basketball scandal perpetrated by Nike" on Twitter. The Central District of California said Avenatti also defrauded a Mississippi bank by submitting false tax returns to obtain $4.1 million in loans for his law firm and coffee business in 2014. He is also alleged to have submitted a fictitious partnership tax return for his law firm as part of the loan applications. |
| Hank Bounds leaving role as U. of Nebraska president; says job was 'the privilege of a lifetime' | |
| Hank Bounds is departing as president of the University of Nebraska system, The World-Herald has learned. Bounds later announced the move in a statement. "I am writing to let you know that together with my family, I have made the difficult decision to step down as president of this great university," Bounds, 51, said in the statement. "We plan to return to the South, where much of our family lives, late this summer. I won't be walking away from education, as one of the major goals in my career has always been to bring quality educational opportunities to all. Education transformed my own life, and I will continue to work to help young people experience that same transformative power." Before coming to Nebraska, Bounds served as commissioner of higher education at the Mississippi State Institutions of Higher Learning. |
| Hank Bounds to Step Down as President of U. of Nebraska System | |
 | The president of the University of Nebraska system, who was embroiled a few years ago in a free-speech controversy that built tensions among state lawmakers, university administrators, and faculty members, will step down this summer, according to a letter posted Monday on the system's website. In the letter, Hank M. Bounds did not say whether that controversy, which resulted in a graduate student's being permanently removed from teaching, had influenced his decision to leave the post he has held for almost four years. It appeared more likely that the long hours of the job and the stresses of dealing with three state budget cuts during his presidency were bigger factors. Bounds wrote that the job, while rewarding, had become "personally demanding." |
| Activist Shaun King visits Delta State University | |
| Delta State University hosted social activist and writer Shaun King for its annual Winning the Race conference on Monday. This is the sixth year for the forum which focuses on race relations. A website for the conference says the event is dedicated to promoting racial healing in the Mississippi Delta, a region that stills bears the scars of systemic discrimination. "As a magnetic element of the Black Lives Matter movement, King helps us see our present place in the larger current of American History," Winning the Race Co Chair Temika Simmons said in a statement. With more than a million Twitter followers, King is known for utilizing the social media network for racial justice campaigns. In August 2018, King shared a video of a Mississippi hospital employee repeatedly calling a Flowood doughnut shop worker a racist slur. The employee was subsequently fired. While King's campaigns have been credited with several arrests, the former Intercept columnist has also encountered scrutiny for his fundraising efforts. |
| UGA fraternity suspended over racist video | |
| A University of Georgia fraternity is being investigated over a video showing some of its members mocking slavery and using a racial slur. The university's Student Government Association said in a statement Friday that they were aware of a video circulating on social media that shows members of a Greek organization "using racist language and engaging in behaviors that mock the suffering of enslaved peoples," according to media reports. The university said on Twitter that the fraternity was suspended by its national organization. The national chapter for the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity said in a statement that the students have been expelled and the organization is "disgusted, appalled and angered," by the incident. |
| Ex-LSU professor's firing over classroom profanity, sex life discussions affirmed by appeals court | |
 | A former LSU professor was rightfully fired in 2015 for using profanity in her classroom and discussing her sex life and the sex lives of students in her elementary education classes, a federal appellate court has ruled. Teresa Buchanan, a tenured professor who specialized in early childhood education and trained elementary school teachers, had appealed U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick's January 2018 dismissal of her civil rights lawsuit. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed Friday with Dick that LSU did not violate Buchanan's free speech rights by firing her because she was not speaking on a matter of public concern. "We agree with the district court here that Dr. Buchanan's use of profanity and discussion of her sex life and the sex lives of her students was not related to the subject matter or purpose of training Pre-K-Third grade teachers," Circuit Judge Jacques Wiener Jr. wrote for a three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based court. |
| Group says Tulane student was targeted for his political beliefs after door burned, TUPD investigating | |
| The Tulane University Police Department has issued three warrants for arrest after a dormitory door was slightly burned in an incident that a campus group says targeted one of its members for his political views. According to TUPD officials, three Tulane students set a plastic sign attached to a door on fire just after midnight Saturday in the Weatherhead Hall dormitories. Warrants for aggravated arson have been issued for each of the students, two men and one woman, officials said. TUPD officials said as the investigation continues, it is not clear what motivated the sign burning. However, the political group Young Americans for Liberty, a libertarian organization with chapters at several colleges across Louisiana, said the burning was meant to target one of their Tulane chapter members. |
| Study finds public universities focus out-of-state recruitment on high schools that are wealthier and whiter than the population | |
 | The scandal in college admissions has focused attention not just on alleged illegal activities involving bribery and fraud, but also on the many legal advantages enjoyed by applicants who are more wealthy and more likely to be white than are those in the population at large. A report being issued today suggests that leading public universities contribute in a significant way to these advantages with their recruitment of out-of-state students -- and, to some extent, with their lack of recruitment of in-state students as well. The report focuses on the high schools at which public universities recruit outside their state. The study finds that these high schools are more likely than not to be high income and largely white. Further, a disproportionate number of the high schools visited are private schools. "Despite a historical mission of social mobility for meritorious state residents, public research universities increasingly enroll an affluent student body that is unrepresentative of the socioeconomic and racial diversity of the states they serve," the report says. "Mainstream policy debates about the causes of access inequality focus on 'deficiencies' of students and K-12 schools." But the report -- funded by the Joyce Foundation -- says this approach is at best incomplete and may be seriously flawed. |
| College admissions scandal enters next phase: New charges, more deals coming? | |
 | Defendants in the sweeping college admissions cheating scandal began appearing in Boston court amid growing questions about how many would cooperate with authorities and which other parents could get swept up in the scandal. Some of the parents named in the charges are under pressure from federal prosecutors to make deals, which could occur in the coming week as the defendants go to court. Sources familiar with the case but not authorized to discuss it say several additional parents and their attorneys have been informed they are subjects of the federal inquiry. While 33 have been charged, the sources say prosecutors have sent subpoenas to high schools in Southern California with names of students whose parents have not been charged -- which suggests authorities are preparing to expand the number of prosecutions. |
| Betsy DeVos launches investigation into college admissions scandal | |
 | The Education Department has opened investigations into eight universities tied to the sweeping college admissions and bribery scandal unveiled by federal prosecutors earlier this month, according to individuals familiar with the investigation. Department investigators are examining whether any of the universities violated any laws or rules "governing the Federal student financial aid programs" or "any other applicable laws," according to a document reviewed by POLITICO. If the department decides that any of the schools violated federal education regulations, it could assess penalties, which at the most extreme would include cutting off an institution's access to Pell Grants and federal student loans. The letter was sent to the presidents of Yale University, Wake Forest University, the University of San Diego, Stanford University, Georgetown University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles. |
| Duke University pays $112M to settle faked-research lawsuit | |
| Duke University will pay $112 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit after federal prosecutors said a research technician's fake data landed millions of dollars in federal grants, the school and the government said Monday. The private university in Durham submitted claims for dozens of research grants that contained falsified or fabricated information that unjustly drained taxpayer money from the National Institutes of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies, the U.S. Justice Department said. The school said it is repaying grant money and related penalties. The lawsuit was first filed in 2015 by whistleblower and former Duke employee Joseph Thomas. The Justice Department took it over afterward. The suit claims the faked research was conducted by former research technician Erin Potts-Kant, who was supervised by pulmonary medicine researcher William Michael Foster. |
| Duke Whistleblower Gets More Than $33 Million In Research Fraud Settlement | |
 | Duke University is paying the U.S. government $112.5 million to settle accusations that it submitted bogus data to win federal research grants. The settlement will also bring a $33.75 million payment to Joseph Thomas, the whistleblower who drew attention to the fraud when he worked for Duke. Thomas, a former Duke lab analyst, sued the university on behalf of the federal government, saying that a Duke researcher fudged data to help the university win and keep lucrative grants from two agencies, the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency. The dozens of grants in question covered the study of the lung function of mice. The Justice Department says Thomas' lawsuit alleged that "between 2006 and 2018, Duke knowingly submitted and caused to be submitted" claims to federal agencies that were unknowingly paying grant money for falsified research data. It adds that while the agreement settles the court case, it does not mean Duke has been determined liable. |
SPORTS
| Valley visiting No. 2 Mississippi State tonight | |
 | Before No. 2 Mississippi State welcomes 12th-ranked LSU to town on Thursday, the Diamond Dogs have some in-state business to take care of tonight. MSU (22-3) hosts Mississippi Valley State at 6:30 hoping to keep its midweek mark unblemished on the year. Freshman right-hander Eric Cerantola (3-0, 3.72 ERA) will take the mound for Mississippi State while the Delta Devils counter with sophomore southpaw Nicholas Johnson (2-0, 4.00) making his sixth start of the season. The Bulldogs are a perfect 26-0 all-time against the Delta Devils, including a 5-0 victory during their last meeting in Starkville in 2017. |
| Mississippi State's Jordan Westburg selected SEC Player of the Week | |
| Jordan Westburg had multiple hits in four of Mississippi State's five games last week and was selected as the SEC's Player of the Week on Monday. Westburg went 10 for 21 at the plate with three doubles, two home runs, 11 RBIs, eight runs scored and one stolen base over the five-game span. The sophomore shortstop from New Braunfels, Texas is hitting .365 on the year with 10 doubles, two triples, three homers and 25 RBIs. Westburg joins teammate Elijah MacNamee as Bulldogs that have earned SEC Player of the Week this season. JT Ginn has twice been honored as Freshman of the Week. |
| Inside another brilliant week for Mississippi State Bulldog baseball | |
| Since the last installment of the Bulldog Brushback, Mississippi State scored 61 runs, had 74 hits and won four of five ballgames. The Bulldogs (22-3, 4-2 SEC) have won both of the SEC series they've played so far, each one coming against a ranked opponent. Here are some reasons why No. 4 Mississippi State is continuing its torrid pace to start the season. ... There is no time to rest in the SEC. The Bulldogs have one midweek game against Mississippi Valley State (5-8) on Tuesday night before the No. 15 LSU Tigers (17-7) take a trip to Dudy Noble Field for a three-game series starting Thursday. LSU comes in having lost its most recent SEC series to No. 6 Georgia (21-3). The Bulldogs took two of three from the Tigers. Before that, LSU had won six games in a row, including a three-game series sweep of Kentucky. |
| Sweet 16 now the norm for Vic Schaefer, Mississippi State | |
| In 2016, Mississippi State fans were over-the-moon elated to be making the school's second trip to the Sweet 16, after getting there for the first time ever in 2010. Now that the Bulldogs have advanced that far for four straight seasons -- coupled with Vic Schaefer leading MSU to national championship appearances the last two years – reaching the Sweet 16 has simply become expected in Starkville. "I don't think anybody understands how hard it is," Schaefer said. "It's so hard. When we lose a game, it's like the sky's falling around here. I would rather have it that way than the other. I think, again, it's what makes it special here." Just as they have the three previous seasons, the Bulldogs breezed through the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament while hosting inside the friendly confines of Humphrey Coliseum. State surged past Southern 103-46 on Friday and downed Clemson 85-61 in the second round on Sunday. The top-seeded Bulldogs will play No. 5 seed Arizona State at the Sweet 16 in Portland, Oregon, on Friday. |
| Vic Schaefer to crowd after State's big win: 'We're not done' | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: While ESPN interviewed a couple of his stars at mid-court, Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer took the public address microphone and addressed the crowd of 9,994 late Sunday night at Humphrey Coliseum. Schaefer thanked his seniors. He recited some of their amazing accomplishments, and then he thanked the crowd. "You've been special for these players," Schaefer said. "I hope you know they love you as much as you love them. And I hope you also know: We're not done." No, the Bulldogs are not. Top-seeded State trounced Clemson 85-61 Sunday night to move to 32-2 on the season and into the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16. State will play Arizona State Friday night at Portland. Clemson finished the season 20-13. |
| Paul Mainieri: For LSU baseball, short week 'couldn't have come at a worse time' | |
| A problem that began during fall practice has stretched well into the spring. As LSU baseball continues its most difficult stretch of the season Tuesday night against McNeese State, sore arms plague the pitching staff. Eight pitchers are unavailable because of either season-ending surgery or varying levels of soreness. LSU knew before the first game some wouldn't play, but coach Paul Mainieri thought others would contribute heavily to the pitching staff this year. "We're pretty limited with our arms," Mainieri said. The soreness in LSU's arms started during fall practice. It became such a problem that Mainieri shut down the majority of the pitching staff until practice resumed in January. LSU enters a short week --- the Tigers begin their weekend series Thursday night at Mississippi State -- with 12 healthy pitchers. |
| What Greg Byrne said about Alabama's basketball coaching search | |
 | University of Alabama director of athletics Greg Byrne held a nearly-impromptu press conference on the school's search for a new men's basketball coach on Monday, describing a process that would not consider geography, "wow" factor or, within reason, expense -- but would place a strong emphasis on NCAA compliance in the past, present and future. "Today's climate of men's basketball is very unique," Byrne said. "There are ongoing legal issues with the FBI and ongoing NCAA investigations and we don't know how all that will play out at this point." "We are going to keep the University of Alabama's reputation at the forefront of what we do." Byrne addressed no specific candidates in the 20-minute press conference, although the above statement seemed to scuttle discussion about former Louisville coach Rick Pitino, a popular name in social-media discussion since the decision to part ways with former head coach Avery Johnson last week. Pitino, now coaching professional basketball in Greece, has said repeatedly that he has not committed NCAA violations but Louisville has vacated NCAA appearances from its Pitino days with other matters still to be determined. |
| Missouri files appeal brief with NCAA | |
 | Missouri filed a 64-page brief Monday with the NCAA Appeals Committee, the next step in the process of MU appealing sanctions issued by the NCAA on Jan. 31. Following a two-plus year investigation that ended in January, an NCAA Committee on Infractions panel found that a former Missouri tutor performed academic fraud on behalf of six Tiger athletes between summer 2016 and fall 2017. As a result, the NCAA issued Missouri a one-year postseason ban for football, baseball and softball; recruiting restrictions for all three programs; a 5 percent reduction in scholarships for all three sports for the 2019-20 academic year; a vacation of records in which ineligible athletes competed; and a fine of $5,000 plus 1 percent of the football, baseball and softball budgets. "We believe that the penalties our programs received were a clear abuse of the committee's discretion based upon existing NCAA bylaws," athletic director Jim Sterk said in a news release. |
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