| Wednesday, June 5, 2019 |
| Will children in your state get the support they need? It depends on the 2020 census | |
 | Heather L. Hanna , an assistant research professor and research fellow at the Social Science Research Center at Mississippi State University, writes for The Conversation: The first three years of a child's life are the most crucial for brain development. In fact, children raised in poverty have less brain tissue compared to their counterparts. The U.S. has educational and social programs that can help children in poverty succeed -- like Early Head Start, an intensive program designed to promote young children's development. Americans want children to have every opportunity to develop to their fullest potential. And yet, if the U.S. does not count all young children in the upcoming 2020 census, states will not be able to obtain enough funding to provide children with critical support. This past year, as co-director of Mississippi KIDS COUNT, I had a chance to lead a project that explored what factors might promote or discourage census participation among Mississippi families. Our project revealed some reasons why states may struggle to count all their children. |
| Person of the Day: Mississippi State's Critz Campbell | |
| The Mississippi Museum of Art recently named Critz Campbell, an associate professor of sculpture at Mississippi State University, as the recipient of its 2019 Jane Crater Hiatt Artist Fellowship. The museum awarded Campbell a $20,000 grant and will display his artwork in its 2019 Mississippi Invitational exhibit, which will be on view from June 29 through Aug. 11. Campbell, a native of West Point, Miss., specializes in creating landscapes from memory, he says, with a particular focus on cloud imagery. "For me, thinking of clouds is a representation of both time and location," Campbell says. "However, it's not about a specific moment in time, but more how cloud imagery is the sort of thing every person has seen over time." Both of his pieces in the invitational incorporate oil paint and a woodworking technique called marquetry, which involves piecing together small pieces of differently colored wood veneer to create an image. |
| EFNEP program offers a lot to 'digest' about nutrition, food safety staying active | |
 | Naomi Fulton with the Mississippi State University Extension Service office in Chickasaw County dropped by the Chickasaw County Supervisors' meeting late last month to talk about EFNEP (Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program). She wasn't seeking money: the program is funded by grant from Mississippi State University. The board gave the EFNEP nutrition educator a respectful hearing, as they should; EFNEP offers a lot of ideas well worth listening to. Don't take our word for it; the Governor's office also thinks so. Gov. Phil Bryant named May 14, 2019, as a day to recognize 50 years of successful programing by EFNEP. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) administers EFNEP); land-grant universities conduct the program in all states, U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. |
| Mayor Lynn Spruill gives state of the city at Starkville Rotary Club | |
 | Starkville has seen some good times, and Mayor Lynn Spruill doesn't see that changing anytime soon. Spruill, speaking to the Starkville Rotary Club on Monday to deliver an update on the state of the city, rolled through a list of the accomplishments the board of aldermen and her administration have accomplished in the nearly two years since they took office. During the talk, Spruill said she's "still riding high" from the success of the 1-percent tax vote for the city's parks system. The referendum for a 1-percent addition to Starkville's restaurant and hotel/motel taxes went before voters on Thursday and passed with 74 percent of the vote. The city will use the tax to fund the construction of Cornerstone Park, a tournament-ready facility with a focus on baseball and softball, and for maintenance and capital improvement projects at its existing parks. he city is also progressing in its consideration of annexing land to the east. Starkville is looking at annexing land along the Highway 182 and 82 corridors. |
| Starkville Police Chief Frank Nichols announces retirement | |
| Starkville Police Chief Frank Nichols announced his intention to retire at the end of the year during Tuesday's board of aldermen meeting. Nichols has served with Starkville Police Department since 1992 and has been police chief since February 2014. Speaking to The Dispatch after Tuesday's meeting, Nichols said he came to the decision to retire after a lot of consideration. "I wanted to actually do two more years but after thinking about, considering and praying about it, and listening to God's direction, I'm going to go ahead and be obedient and do it in December." Mayor Lynn Spruill said the city will take time before beginning to advertise for Nichols' successor. She added that Nichols' service has been an asset for the city. |
| Eastland, Barlow to speak at Delta Council | |
| Dr. Jeannie Barlow, Program Officer with the United States Geological Service (USGS) Lower Mississippi Gulf Water Science Center, and Delta Council President Woods Eastland will speak to Delta 1000 members about the region's groundwater aquifer challenges and opportunities at the Delta Council Annual Meeting in Cleveland. Barlow is currently serving as the Assistant Director for Water Availability and Use Studies at USGS, an area which covers 5 states from Arkansas to Alabama. She received a B.S. in geology from Millsaps College in Jackson, a M.S. from the University of Arizona's Hydrology and Water Resources Program in Tucson, Arizona, and completed her doctoral degree from Mississippi State University's Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Aquaculture. |
| Forecasts call for higher crest in backwater | |
| There's one thing those living along the Mississippi River, the Yazoo River and those in the Yazoo Backwater do not need right now and that is more water. Unfortunately, the forecast for this week looks extremely wet. With forecasts ranging from 3-to-6 inches of rain beginning late Wednesday, early Thursday and continuing into the weekend, predictions for water levels in the Steele Bayou are moving higher. "With what we have heard from the Corps, and their plans to likely close the Steele Bayou Structure later this week, we could be looking at levels at 98 to 98.5 feet," Mary Pope, National Weather Service hydrologist, said. "That's a lot of water expected for an area that simply cannot handle any more water." Late Tuesday, Peter Nimrod, chief engineer with the Mississippi Levee Board, released new projections for the water levels at the Steele Bayou Structure that show levels increasing to between 98.5 and 99 feet. Those forecasts of those water levels at the structure in Steele Bayou is more than current levels, and puts a number of additional homes and structures in the Yazoo Backwater Area at risk. |
| Types of jobs in banking expected to change with increasing adoption of AI | |
 | A hot topic in banking circles is how much artificial intelligence will impact employment in the banking industry. One study reported in American Banker magazine predicts that 70 percent of front-office jobs will be replaced by chatbots, voice assistants and automated authentication and biometric technology. And steep job losses are also predicted for financial management, compliance officers and loan officers as those functions are replaced by AI applications for anti-fraud, compliance, monitoring and anti-money laundering. Adoption of AI and machine learning could also be very profitable for banks. Some researchers have estimated it could increase the revenue of banks 34 percent by 2022. But will that come at the cost of job losses for many employees of banks? John Oxford, senior vice president and director of marketing, Renasant Bank, Tupelo, said he doesn't think bank employees should fear for the future. Oxford predicts the types of jobs will change; there will be a re-education and retooling within the workforce. |
| Senator Thad Cochran Honored at Multiple Observances | |
 | Northminster Baptist Church is filled with family, friends and admirers, all here to celebrate the life of Senator Thad Cochran. The love and admiration expressed for the 81-year old are palpable. Talking to guests at Cochran's visitation in Oxford, his funeral at the state capitol Monday, and at the funeral here at Northminister, he left a legacy that gained him the love and respect of many. Cochran was first elected to the House in 1972. In 1978 he was elected to the Senate, where he served seven terms. Former Mississippi Congressman Gregg Harper talks about one of the lessons he learned from the senator about working across the aisle. "Not to ever make your political differences personal, that even somebody that you disagreed with strongly on a piece of legislation, didn't have to be your enemy," said Harper. |
| Taggart 'Disappointed' That Fitch Plans to Skip AG Debates | |
| Republican candidate for Mississippi attorney general Andy Taggart criticized one of his opponents, State Treasurer Lynn Fitch, in an open letter on Monday because she does not plan to attend two debates later this week. "As candidates for attorney general, I believe we have a particular responsibility to allow the voters of our state to compare our skills and experiences as advocates---and our positions as public servants---in person and head-to-head," Taggart wrote in the June 3 letter. The Federalist Society of the Gulf Coast organized the first debate, scheduled for June 5 at William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Miss. The Mississippi Federation of College Republicans will hold the other debate, scheduled for June 7, at Southwest Community College in Summit, Miss., which is near McComb. The other Republican in the race, Mississippi State Rep. Mark Baker of Brandon, said he is "not concerned" about what other candidates are doing, but did confirm to the Jackson Free Press on Monday that he will join Taggart for both debates. |
| Attorneys spar over question of how broken is Mississippi's mental health system | |
| When asked why he agreed to spend over a year reviewing the cases of 154 Mississippians who'd used state mental health services, Dr. Robert Drake sighed deeply. Swiveling his chair in the witness stand, he faced U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves and gave a half smile. "I thought I could be helpful to Mississippi," said Drake, a New Hampshire-based psychologist. "But honestly I was surprised that the community-based system in Mississippi... I was surprised that at least the 154 patients in our review did not receive many of those services (Mississippi said were available)." Drake, who has authored more than 200 studies on mental health care, was the U.S. Department of Justice's first expert witness in its lawsuit against the state of Mississippi, which it says violates federal law by warehousing people with mental illness in old-fashioned state hospitals and failing to provide care to patients who aren't institutionalized. |
| USDA violated rules trying to move agencies out of D.C., new House report finds | |
 | In its drive to move two research-related agencies out of Washington, the USDA violated rules for reprogramming department funds, never sought public opinion and ignored appropriators' request for a cost-benefit analysis, according to a House report released Monday. The report, which will accompany the draft fiscal 2020 spending bill for the Agriculture Department, offers background on why lawmakers included provisions in the bill to bar the use of appropriated funds for moving the Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The full House Appropriations Committee will mark up the bill Tuesday. It would provide a total of $24.3 billion in discretionary funding, $1 billion more than the enacted level for fiscal 2019. The report does not have the force of law but appropriators use it to explain their actions and send messages to agencies under their jurisdiction. |
| Republicans threaten revolt, may block Trump's Mexico tariffs | |
 | Republicans are warning that President Donald Trump could face a shocking rebellion against him on the Senate floor if the president slaps Mexico with wide-ranging tariffs. At a closed-door lunch Tuesday, two Trump administration officials laid out the president's view: There is a crisis at the border and Mexico needs to stem the surge of migrants to avoid the new levies. But White House deputy counsel Pat Philbin and Assistant Attorney General Steve Engel faced brutal push-back from the GOP, according to multiple senators, with some threatening that Trump could actually face a veto-proof majority to overturn the tariffs. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters the party spent "almost our entire lunch" going back and forth with the administration and warned afterward "there is not much support in my conference for tariffs, that's for sure." |
| How A Fight Over Beef Jerky Reveals Tensions Over SNAP In The Trump Era | |
 | For roughly 40 million Americans, SNAP benefits are a lifeline. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, delivers about $60 billion in aid each year. And retailers that accept SNAP benefits are required to stock a variety of staple foods -- including a minimum number of fruits and vegetables, meat, dairy and grain options. Now, there's a controversy brewing over which foods count as staples. Should beef jerky, spray cheese and queso dip count? The Trump administration has proposed a rule that would allow retailers to include these items. Studies have shown that a lack of easy access to healthy foods -- whether it's due to living in an urban "food desert" or in a rural area with no supermarket -- is one contributor to poor nutrition and obesity. And it's also true that in some areas, convenience stores fill a gap. |
| Southern Baptist meeting: Sex abuse in the church expected to be focus | |
 | The sexual abuse crisis didn't skip Southern Baptist churches. Key leaders in the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. have spent the last year owning up to that while trying to figure out how their network of evangelical churches can do a better job of addressing and preventing sexual abuse in the future. In the wake of recent revelations illustrating how widespread the problem is, Southern Baptists will soon have a chance to enact changes that would make it easier to hold churches accountable and keep people in their pews safe. Sexual abuse in the church is expected to be front and center when thousands of representatives from the more than 50,000 Southern Baptist congregations gather June 11-12 in Birmingham, Alabama, for their big annual meeting. That focus is intentional, Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear said. Victim revelations have made it clear that Southern Baptists need to create systems that protect the vulnerable, he said. |
| EMCC Kids Culinary Camp a hit with budding chefs | |
| Columbus resident Abby Edwards attended her first East Mississippi Community College Kids Culinary Camp at the college's Lion Hills Center two years ago when she was 8 years old. She enjoyed the summer camp so much she returned again this year and brought several of her friends with her. "I love baking and my parents like it when I bring food home to them," Abby said. "I think one of my favorite things we are going to learn to make this year is going to be donuts." Children in the camp are taught to plan a menu, bake various breads and pastries, and whip up both traditional American and exotic cuisines. The first day of camp is always spent making bread, EMCC Culinary Arts Technology Program Director Shannon Lindell said. This was the first of four Kids Culinary Camps at the Lion Hills Center this summer. |
| Third grade reading gate retest shows higher pass rate | |
| More than a quarter of third-graders did not meet new state testing requirements this year to be promoted into the fourth grade, but a total of 82.8% Mississippi third–graders have now passed, as results from the first of two summer retest opportunities show. Students transition from learning to read to reading to learn in third grade and without sufficient reading skills, students may have difficulty understanding grade-level reading materials later and could fall behind. In May, results from the most recent third grade reading assessment were released by the Mississippi Department of Education and showed 74.5% of students passed this spring while 25.5% of students did not score at level three or higher and would therefore need to retest. Of the 8,941 students who did not pass the initial test, 7,445 were retested and 2,911 have passed the retest. |
| U. of West Alabama decides to freeze tuition, hoping to draw more students | |
 | Tuition rates will remain unchanged for the University of West Alabama this fall as part of an operating budget approved by the board of trustees on Monday. There were two major factors in the decision to keep tuition flat, UWA President Ken Tucker said. Tucker said an increase could negatively impact enrollment, and leaving rates unchanged would help ease the burden on first-generation college students, which are a significant demographic group in UWA's enrollment. "It will help us maintain our competitive positon because other universities this cycle are recommend freezing tuition," Tucker said. "Although, we have been recognized as being the best value for a university in the state, the margin is really thin." The University of Alabama System, which is scheduled to meet at the end of the week, announced in April plans to leave tuition rates for in-state students unchanged for the fall. |
| State hazing laws could become even tighter amid continued problems with LSU frats | |
 | After a tumultuous spring semester for LSU Greek Life that saw the ejection of two fraternities from campus and arrests or citations for 16 fraternity members over alleged hazing, the Legislature could soon further tighten Louisiana laws governing frats. Under a proposal by state Rep. Nancy Landry, R-Lafayette, universities and Greek national organizations would be required to immediately report hazing allegations to law enforcement. House Bill 443 would strip part of the law that allows universities and Greek organizations to investigate hazing allegations for 14 days before alerting police. The law would also force universities to document in writing each step they take to respond to hazing complaints, in addition to the complaints themselves. Though complaints about Greek organizations at Louisiana universities are public records, university responses to those complaints often are not documented in writing. |
| U. of South Carolina to open "smart data" artificial intelligence institute | |
 | The University of South Carolina wants to start working smarter. Later this summer, the school will open an institute dedicated to studying and developing artificial intelligence, which is sometimes abbreviated AI, the school announced Tuesday. The institute aims to use its AI research to help develop "self-improving" and customized programs for social workers, pharmacists, teachers and more, the release said. To do that, "The AI Institute plans to enlist philosophers, ethicists, public policy experts, and lawyers dedicated to exploring the societal impact of AI technology, both the good and the unintended negative outcomes," the release said. The institute will cost USC roughly $5 million over the next five years, spokesman Jeff Stensland said in an email. After those five years, USC expects money from sponsored research will fully fund the institute, Stensland said. |
| Animal rights group files complaint against U. of Florida | |
 | An animal rights group has filed a federal complaint against the University of Florida, while calling on the university to review its use of animals in research after several unusual incidents, including one in which mice were steamed to death. Stop Animal Exploitation Now, a Ohio-based animal rights group, complained May 29 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in a letter that said UF had violated the Animal Welfare Act. The complaint detailed a Sept. 16 incident in which a goat broke its neck while caught in a narrow fence, according to an Oct. 9 Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee report. The animal was euthanized. The incident was deemed an accident, according to the report by the IACUC, which oversees animal research at UF, and the fence and paddock areas were repaired to avoid future incidents. The accident was unrelated to the goat's research role. However, incident reports the animal rights group sent to UF President Kent Fuchs show other recent unusual incidents with research animals. |
| Texas A&M trees getting spruced up: Project assessing overall health, quality of campus canopy | |
 | A large-scale project is underway at Texas A&M University to record data about the nearly 11,000 trees on campus while improving their health and planting additional trees. With some campus trees -- including the well-known and beloved Century Tree -- over 100 years old and many in declining health, A&M officials and staff members designed an improvement project to assess and address the trees' health. Besides age, their health struggles include construction activities, soil issues, disease and water issues. Phillip Zellner, regional director of operations and grounds manager at SSC, said that campus growth and construction have contributed to campus trees' struggles --- and precipitated the need for a wide-reaching effort. "We're planting a new generation and trying to get age diversity in the tree canopy for campus," Zellner said. "[The effort] is mostly removing trees that are in decline and planting new trees." |
| Public higher education continues to feel pinch from Great Recession a decade later | |
 | States continue feeling the Great Recession's effects a full decade after its end, according to a new brief from the Pew Charitable Trusts, which gives a sobering look at states' current financial condition and points to significant ramifications for higher education. The deep 18-month recession, which officially ended in June 2009, led to states forgoing at least $283 billion in tax revenue between 2008 and 2013, Pew estimated. Federal stimulus money offset some of the missed revenue in the short term, and tax collections nationwide have recovered to the point where states took in 13.4 percent more in 2018 than they did a decade prior, after adjusting for inflation. But nine states still were collecting less in tax revenue in 2018 than they were at their pre-recession peak. Signs also indicate two key state funding priorities that compete with higher ed -- pensions and Medicaid -- will suck up more state spending in the future. |
| Annual survey shows online college students increasingly choosing to study close to home | |
| It's trendy to talk about how mega-universities -- high-enrollment institutions with a national footprint, typically online -- are the future of higher education. But assuming that many or most students will choose to enroll in an institution across the country or even in the next state ignores the reality that increasing numbers of online students choose to study close to home. That reality is ever clearer in Online College Students 2019, the latest iteration of an annual study from the Learning House; its parent company, Wiley Education; and Aslanian Research, a consulting firm. The survey of 1,500 current or soon-to-be students in fully online academic programs (for undergraduate or graduate degrees, certificates or licensure) has been conducted for eight years and explores their attitudes and behaviors on a range of topics. Among the most interesting data points in this year's survey appears in a section of the study about how online students decided where, what and how to study. |
| U. of Missouri System continues to rank among top universities for U.S. patents | |
 | The University of Missouri System continues to rank among the top 100 universities worldwide for number of U.S. patents generated, according to a report released by the National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association on Tuesday. The system -- which comprises four universities, in Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla and St. Louis -- was ranked 60th in the world, up 10 positions from last year's report. This is the seventh consecutive year the system has appeared in the report since it began in 2013. In total, the system acquired 41 U.S. utility patents over the past year. "Patents are a strong indicator that our research is impactful, both economically and scientifically, and they show that the work that happens at our four universities is being realized to its fullest potential," Mark McIntosh, UM System vice president of research and economic development, said in a release. |
| Retired Georgia Tech professor sues Uber and Lyft, says they used his idea | |
| A 79-year-old Atlantan claims he out-whizzed the West Coast whiz kids by about a decade in developing the concepts Uber and Lyft are built on, and he's suing the ride-hailing companies for patent infringement in federal court. Stephen Dickerson, a retired Georgia Tech engineering professor, developed in 1999 the idea of bringing cell phones, the global positioning system and digital payments together to get people around congested Atlanta, his civil suit says. His company, RideApp, filed the suit in the Northern District of Georgia last Friday against Uber and a subsidiary. He filed a similar suit against Lyft and its subsidiaries last July. That suit is in the Northern District of California. He outlined how it all works in the patent that he filed in 2000, Dickerson said by phone. The patent was owned by Georgia Tech for years, but it failed to act on it and reassigned the patent back to him in 2018, he said. "I realized, and some patent attorneys realized, that [the patent] ought to be enforced," he said. |
| New Jersey congressman vents, blasting Mississippi over so-called 'moocher state' status | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: A Democratic New Jersey congressman recently vented his contempt for so-called "moocher states" like Mississippi that receive more money from the federal government than they send back to Washington in the form of taxes. U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) who represents New Jersey's 5th District in Congress, held a press conference flanked by local officials to pat himself on the back for his efforts to win more federal grants for projects and public works in his district. The two-term representative told constituents that his office was responsible for steering 35 percent more in federal dollars to his district in 2018 than in 2017. Gottheimer classified his grantsmanship for his district as "clawing" back federal dollars for New Jersey from what he referenced as "moocher states" and singled out Mississippi as a prime example of states that receive more in federal spending than their taxpayers contribute in federal taxes. |
SPORTS
| Emotion fuels Bulldogs' push to Super Regionals | |
| Mississippi State sophomore left fielder Rowdey Jordan didn't want it. Shifting his way toward a towering fly ball hit by Miami first baseman Alex Toral, Jordan looked to senior Jake Mangum. "Take it. Take it. Take it," Mangum yelled. As the ball dove to the playing surface at Dudy Noble Field, Jordan moved under it. With the snapping noise of the ball hitting leather and a quick bobble, Jordan secured the adventurous fly out to push the Bulldogs one out away from a date in the NCAA tournament's best-of-three Super Regionals. Following MSU's 5-2 victory against Miami on Sunday, Jordan addressed the play to a chorus of laughter from the normally stone-faced Mangum, senior starter Peyton Plumlee, and MSU coach Chris Lemonis. "That's the highest ball I've ever seen in my life," he said. "I just felt like it wasn't going to come down. But (I) made the catch and felt good to get the second out." The play was merely one step in the Bulldogs' victory against the Hurricanes, but the response was telling because it showed Jordan and the Bulldogs are having fun. |
| Double plays fuel Mississippi State defense | |
| The Central Michigan baseball team was threatening. With Mississippi State leading 6-2, senior third baseman Marshall Gilbert ranged to his left and sprawled his glove out. Swiping down, he snatched a low, hard-hit grounder and flung it to sophomore second baseman Justin Foscue. With a quick transition and a snap throw, Foscue fired to sophomore Tanner Allen at first base. Just like that, CMU's threat was eliminated. For a team that struggled defensively in the middle infield early in 2019, the play was latest display of fluidity and sharpness from the Bulldogs. Last weekend in the NCAA tournament's Starkville Regional, top-seeded and No. 6 national seed MSU had two double plays in key moments. The first was the aforementioned 5-6-3 turn. The second occurred in the sixth inning Sunday in 5-2 victory against Miami. On a ball hit toward shortstop, sophomore Jordan Westburg secured it, made the transfer, and threw to Foscue at second. Tapping the base, Foscue delivered a strike to Allen for the Bulldogs' second double play of the night. "He is turning that double play and cutting down that distance as good as a guy as I have had," MSU coach Chris Lemonis said of Foscue. |
| Brewers take Mississippi State's Ethan Small in first round of MLB draft | |
| Ethan Small already has his plans set for this weekend. The Mississippi State pitcher learned Monday, though, a little bit more about his future, as the Milwaukee Brewers selected the redshirt junior left-hander with the No. 28 overall pick in the first round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft. Small, a 6-foot-3, 214-pounder from Lexington, Tennessee, is 9-2 with a 1.88 earned run average in 16 starts this season for No. 6 national seed MSU (49-13), which will play host to No. 11 national seed Stanford (45-12) this weekend in the best-of-three Super Regionals in Starkville. Small joins an organization that has developed former MSU pitcher Brandon Woodruff, who was selected in the 11th round of the 2014 MLB draft. Woodruff, a right-hander, spent four-plus years in the Brewers' minor league system before being promoted. Now in his third season with Milwaukee, Woodruff is 7-1 with a 3.82 ERA in 12 games (12 starts). |
| Mississippi State's Jake Mangum, Colby White drafted on Day 2 | |
| After seeing pitcher Ethan Small go in the first round Monday night to the Milwaukee Brewers, two more Mississippi State players were picked on Day 2 of the MLB Draft on Tuesday. For the second straight year, the New York Mets selected center fielder Jake Mangum. The switch-hitting senior went in the fourth round (118th overall), which holds a draft slot value of $487,900. It was the third time that Mangum has been drafted since arriving at MSU. The Pearl native was taken by the New York Yankees in the 30th round following his sophomore season and was also selected by the Mets in the 32nd round last year. Mangum is the Southeastern Conference's all-time hits leader. Junior relief pitcher Colby White also heard his name called in the sixth round (188th overall) by the Tampa Bay Rays. It is the first time for the right-hander from Foxworth to be drafted. His draft slot holds a $255,300 value. |
| Baseball is king in Mississippi. Is this the year the state earns a World Series title? | |
 | Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: Mississippi State, one of the nation's top teams all season long, swept through its own regional this past weekend, outscoring three opponents by a combined 23-10. The Bulldogs, 49-10, would appear to have what it takes to become the first Magnolia State team to win a national championship. They can pitch it, hit it, and field it. Amazingly, this will be four straight Super Regionals under four different head coaches. Think about it. These guys are good, really good. ... By the time you read this, 16 teams will remain in the NCAA Tournament. Two are from Mississippi. Either is capable of winning it all. When you get this far, you have proved that much. Indeed, one day, a Mississippi college baseball team will win it all at Omaha. Could this be the year? |
| Mississippi State welcomes 16 football players to campus | |
| Mississippi State welcomed 16 new football players to campus this week for the first summer term. Among those newcomers are Penn State graduate transfer quarterback Tommy Stevens, South Alabama graduate transfer punter Corliss Waitman and Louisville defensive tackle transfer Allen Love. Also enrolling from the 2019 signing class are cornerbacks Martin Emerson, Jarrian Jones and Dylan Lawrence, defensive ends Jack Harris and De'Monte Russell, offensive linemen Brevyn Jones and Nick Pendley, wide receivers JaVonta Payton, Kyziah Pruitt and Quinton Torbor, defensive tackle Nathan Pickering, safety J.P. Purvis and running back Lee Witherspoon. |
| Mississippi State's Nuno Borges named ITA Men's Tennis Player of the Year | |
| Mississippi State senior Nuno Borges was named Monday the 2019 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Men's Tennis Player of the Year. The five-time All-American (three singles honors, two doubles) and three-time Southeastern Conference Player of the Year joins Thomas Dupre as the only Bulldogs to earn the honor. Dupre received the honor in 1997 after finishing ranked No. 1 in singles. Last week, Borges became the third Bulldog to finish a season ranked No. 1 nationally in singles, joining Dupre (1997) and Marco Baron (2001). The Maia, Porto, Portugal, native is the only MSU player to earn the top billing in singles and doubles to end a season. He did so in doubles with Strahinja Rakic in 2018. He was also the only player in collegiate tennis to finish in the top 10 in singles and doubles this season. |
| Reigning national champion Anderson Peters leads MSU contingent to NCAA Championships | |
| Anderson Peters headlines a group of 10 Mississippi State student-athletes at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships this week. The reigning national champion will opens the competition for MSU on Wednesday afternoon. Peters would be just the third MSU athlete to win consecutive national titles, joining Olympian C.S. Cochran in the 440-yard (1923, 1924) and Tiffany McWilliams in the 1,500 meters (2003, 2004). Tyriq Horsford and Curtis Thompson will join Peters, marking the 14th time a school has put three finalists in the event. Only one team has swept the NCAA podium when a trio of Oregon seniors did so in 1964. There have only been 10 podium sweeps across all events in NCAA Outdoor history. The Bulldogs went 1-2-3 at the Southeastern Conference Championships in May. Competing at Mike A. Myers Stadium, Peters will get a chance to cross the Longhorns' facility record off his list while taking a shot at the all-time collegiate leader Patrik Boden (Texas - 1990). The last time he threw off that runway, he launched his NCAA-leading throw and every attempt traveled more than 80 meters (262 feet, 5 inches). |
| Women's Amateur to bring exposure to Old Waverly, Golden Triangle | |
| If mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun, as Noel Coward suggested, who goes out to a Mississippi golf course in August? The finest women amateur golfers in the world, that's who. Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point will host the USGA Women's Amateur Aug. 5-11, 20 years since the club hosted its first national USGA event, the U.S. Women's Open in 1999. Tuesday, Old Waverly Director of Golf Chris Jester visited the Columbus Rotary Club to share details of the event. "August is probably not the ideal time of year for a golf event here, but we're excited," Jester said. "We'll be ready and it will be a great event." Hosting a USGA Championship is no small honor, especially for a course located in a small market such as West Point. Whatever reservations the USGA may have had about taking an event that draws golfers from all over the world to West Point were emphatically put to rest in 1999. |
| SEC announces new bowl affiliations through 2025 | |
| The Southeastern Conference has added two bowls and dropped the Independence Bowl from its postseason affiliations. The league has partnered with the Las Vegas Bowl for three seasons between 2020-24 and with the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa, Fla., each year between 2020-25. Beginning in 2020, the Las Vegas Bowl will move into the city's new NFL stadium that will be home to the Raiders. The Gasparilla Bowl is played at Raymond James Stadium, home to the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The SEC partnership with the Independence Bowl will end after the upcoming season. The SEC has been affiliated with the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., most years since 1995, although it has not had enough bowl-eligible teams to play in the game several times, including three of the past four seasons. Played at the aging Independence Stadium, the bowl game has faced a number of obstacles in recent years, including declining attendance and the loss of three sponsors since 2013. |
| SEC, Big 12, AutoZone renew agreements with Liberty Bowl through 2025 | |
| The SEC, Big 12 and AutoZone will be sticking with the Liberty Bowl through 2025. The SEC and Big 12 on Tuesday announced a six-year agreement to remain tied to the annual game. A source familiar with the negotiations said the combined payouts for the two schools will approach $6 million starting in 2020. Last year's Liberty Bowl game paid out $4.29 million. The SEC, which has a game-high 30 appearances in the Liberty Bowl, has been tied to the game since 2006 and the Big 12 since 2014. "The Southeastern Conference has a long and storied history with the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, dating back to the founding of the Bowl in 1959. We are proud to continue our partnership and look forward to our member institutions and their fans participating in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in the years 2020 to 2025," SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said. This year’s Liberty Bowl is scheduled for 2:45 p.m. Dec. 31 on ESPN. |
| Vegas, baby! SEC, Big Ten to share bowl spot in new stadium | |
 | The Big Ten and SEC will soon be heading to the Las Vegas Bowl, taking turns facing the Pac-12 when the game moves into a new billion-dollar NFL stadium in 2020.The Big Ten, Southeastern Conference and Big 12 unveiled bowl lineups for the 2020-25 seasons Tuesday. The Las Vegas Bowl has been matching the Pac-12 and Mountain West or BYU in a game played on the first Saturday of bowl season. The new Las Vegas Bowl will be played after Christmas and receive the Pac-12's top team not participating in the College Football Playoff or a New Year's Six game. For the SEC, Las Vegas becomes the farthest point west in its bowl lineup. "The Las Vegas Bowl provides the SEC with a new and exciting destination for our student-athletes and traveling fans at a location outside our traditional geographic footprint and in a much-anticipated matchup with a Pac-12 Conference opponent," Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. |
| Big changes made to Bryant-Denny Stadium renovation plan | |
 | The plan and price for renovating Bryant-Denny Stadium has changed significantly since being announced in August. Out is the large student terrace and large scoreboard that was to cut into the south end zone upper deck, according to documents set to be presented Thursday at a Board of Trustees obtained by AL.com. Instead, the proposal calls for replacing the four corner video scoreboards with new ones approximately 60 percent larger than the existing ones. The cost of this stage of renovations is also going up to $92.5 million from the $75.5 million from the original request. Work on the first stage of the stadium renovation is set to begin after the 2019 season and be completed by August 2020. The project will be financed through a few different places including $25 million from donations to the Crimson Standard campaign launched when renovation plans were announced last August. The biggest piece of the pie will be $48.4 million in bonds. |
| Should players profit from name and likeness? Coaches, ADs weigh in | |
 | The T-shirts that sold online for $24.76 each never mention Rodrigo Blankenship's name. They didn't need to because the red helmet, mustache and signature goggles with the catchphrase "Respect the Specs" are synonymous with the Georgia kicker who burst onto the national stage during the run to the College Football Playoff championship game in 2017. Under NCAA rules, Blankenship can't profit from his name, image and likeness while still playing for Georgia, although the governing body announced last month a working group is examining the issue. Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said a reboot of the EA Sports College Football video game would be a way for athletes to get more, but "you really worry about it becoming a de facto open market in which case, why are we in the business of being at a university, why are we at a college setting?" Stricklin said opportunities for athletes in non-revenue sports will decrease if money is siphoned into further player benefits. |
| Nashville Super Regional weather forecast: Will Vanderbilt baseball be delayed? | |
| Vanderbilt baseball could deal with the threat of inclement weather all weekend for its Super Regional best-of-three series against Duke. All games will be played Vanderbilt's Hawkins Field. They are scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday and, if necessary, 2 p.m. Sunday. The National Weather Service forecast calls showers and thunderstorms likely around the time of all three games. There is a 70 percent chance of precipitation Friday night, a 60 percent chance Saturday night and 70 percent chance Sunday afternoon. The winner of the Nashville Super Regional advances to the College World Series in Omaha. Vanderbilt made the College World Series in 2011, 2014 and 2015. |
| Fantasy sports betting hits hurdles in Louisiana Legislature | |
| Louisiana voters agreed in November to legalize online fantasy sports contests for cash prizes in 47 parishes. But it's unclear if lawmakers will approve the tax and regulatory provisions required to start the betting, before the legislative session ends Thursday. Measures to outline the required rules and tax rates for online fantasy sports betting have gotten tied up in a separate House and Senate feud over whether to legalize wagering on live action sports events. In fantasy sports, people create imaginary teams of real-life sports players and score points based on how those players perform in actual games. Websites such as DraftKings and FanDuel charge an entry fee and offer payouts to winners. More than 40 states allow online fantasy sports betting. |
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