Wednesday, July 24, 2019   
 
4-H Club continues to grow and give life lessons
Head. Heart. Hands. Health. For over 100 years, the 4-H Club has been teaching young people to navigate their way through life combining by making the best use of all four. MSU Extension Agent Trent Barnett has been involved with 4-H for 20 years and he said its lessons are just as vital today. "It's important to have our young people active, in today's world a young person needs a project or an activity. And a lot of free time with our adolescence and our teenagers is just not good cause someone is wandering around looking for something to do," said Barnett. He said 4-H helps them develop skills and habits that can last a lifetime. "It just meets all those needs by doing that and learn a lot of responsibility by working on their projects, whether that be a sewing project to enter in our exhibit contest, or whether it be a photography project, or whether it be one of the livestock projects here," said Barnett.
 
Hospital association floats plan for Medicaid reform
Mississippi Hospital Association has a plan in the works to reform the Medicaid program in the state under the Affordable Care Act and expand health care coverage, Tim Moore, president and CEO of Mississippi Hospital Association, told Starkville Rotarians at their regular meeting Monday. The plan, MississippiCares, seeks to assist non-disabled Mississippians between the ages of 19 and 64 who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but don't earn enough to be eligible for Affordable Care Act Marketplace premium tax credits. Between 163,000 and 300,000 Mississippians are affected. Moore said the plan could help solve problems beyond limited health care, including high administrative costs, uncompensated care, hospital bankruptcy and a reduced workforce. "We don't want any more of the same," Moore said. "Let's do something different, which is what we're trying to propose." To be enacted, the plan requires state legislative action and federal approval.
 
Road project to four-lane connection between auto plants in Mississippi, Alabama
An 8.3-mile, four-lane divided arterial highway will help link the Toyota Mississippi plant in Blue Springs and the Toyota-Mazda plant under construction in Huntsville, Alabama. The $52.4 million project was announced by Mississippi's two Republican U.S. Senators, Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith, and GOP 1st District Congressman Trent Kelly. The U.S. Department of Transportation grant will support the construction of the segment of Mississippi Highway 76 that will connect it to Mississippi Highway 25 in Itawamba County which is the last stretch between the automotive plants that is not four lanes. State Route 76 forms a part of the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) in Mississippi. The $96 million project will complete the final portion of the ADHS Corridor V runs from Interstate 55 in Batesville to Interstate 24 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, connecting intermodal facilities in the three states, including the Port of Huntsville and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.
 
Nissan directors say reforms, job cuts are coming
The newly tapped directors to strengthen corporate governance at Nissan promised to turn the Japanese automaker's ailing business around but said Wednesday that extensive job cuts designed to drive a recovery are also coming. Nissan's brand image has been battered by the financial wrongdoing scandal of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn, who is awaiting trial in Japan. Motoo Nagai, a former banker and a new outside director overseeing audit, told reporters Wednesday the job cuts will be announced this week under a new scenario to drive growth. Japanese media have reported that Nissan Motor Co. will slash 10,000 jobs. Nagai did not give details. The directors acknowledged that Nissan's U.S. operations suffered from a mistaken strategy that pursued maximizing sales volume, relying on incentives and fleet sales, or rentals.
 
Mississippi employer payrolls again set new record in June
Preliminary data show Mississippi's employers set another new record for payrolls in June. Payrolls -- which are economists' top labor market indicators -- rose slightly to 1.17 million people in Mississippi last month. That's 14,000 more than in June 2018. The state's unemployment rate held steady at 5% from May to June. That's above June 2018's 4.7% rate. The number of people who reported having a job rose, as did the number of job seekers. The number of unemployed people rose above 63,000, up slightly from May.
 
New bill would pay Coast fisherman for losses after Bonnet Carre opening, algae bloom
A bill proposed by Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith would help seafood workers on the Coast after a devastating season because of the opening of Bonnet Carre Spillway and invasion of algae bloom in the Mississippi Sound. Hyde-Smith plans on introducing the Commercial Fishing and Aquaculture Protection Act of 2019, a bill that would establish a revenue-based disaster program to "either replace or serve as an alternative to the fishery disaster relief provided by the Department of Commerce." The bill is co-sponsored by Republican Sen. John Kennedy. Seafood workers on the Coast have told the Sun Herald that this has been the worst shrimp season they've seen in more than four decades. Oyster beds have been depleted, as the species cannot live in the Mississippi South with the intrusion of fresh water from the opening of the spillway. The bill says the Secretary of Commerce would provide support payments if actual total gross revenue for a given year falls below 85% of the average total gross revenue for the three previous years.
 
Debate Replay: GOP candidates for governor spar over Medicaid, taxes
The three candidates hoping to secure the GOP spot in the race for Mississippi governor faced off Tuesday night in their only televised debate ahead of August's primary. Lt. Governor Tate Reeves, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller, Jr., and State Rep. Robert Foster debated in primetime at the WJTV studios. The event was moderated by Byron Brown, Melanie Christopher, and Gerald Harris. One of the biggest issues that separated the candidates came on Medicaid expansion and accepting federal money. Waller and Reeves went in two different directions. "We have to do it," said Waller. Waller said he'd support a form of "Mike Pence reform" on expansion for Mississippi. Reeves quickly responded he wasn't for that plan. "I'm opposed to Obamacare expansion in Mississippi. I don't care what you call it," responded Reeves.
 
What we learned from the Mississippi Republican gubernatorial debate
A Tuesday debate between Mississippi's three Republican gubernatorial candidates showed contrasting perspectives on where the state's economy stands, and how aggressively the state's next leader should change course to fix infrastructure and health care. Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves described a state generally heading in the right direction after his eight years in office with Gov. Phil Bryant. But state Rep. Robert Foster pointed to an economy growing more slowly than surrounding states. And former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Waller Jr. proposed fixes for Mississippi's broken roads, struggling hospitals and underfunded schools. Hosted by WJTV-TV in Jackson, Tuesday's event was the only televised debate before the Aug. 6 primary. If necessary, a runoff will be Aug. 27. Reeves skipped the first two debates attended by Waller and Foster. There have not been debates in the eight-candidate Democratic race featuring Attorney General Jim Hood and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith.
 
Reeves gently crosses swords with Waller and Foster, shifting tactics in the final weeks
The state of the state of Mississippi is -- well, it depends on which Republican candidate for governor you ask. Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves said Tuesday during the only televised debate with all three GOP candidates before the Aug. 6 primary that he is running for governor because the state "is heading in the right direction" and he wants to help ensure Mississippi "reaches its full potential." During the hour-long debate held at the studios of WJTV in Jackson and carried live on television outlets throughout the state, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. said he sees the economic condition of the state differently -- saying he is not satisfied with "the status quo." Waller told the television audience, "I believe the people of Mississippi deserve better." Another candidate on the debate stage -- state Rep. Robert Foster of DeSoto County -- most pointedly addressed Reeves.
 
Michael Watson, candidate for state elections chief, sought to toss African American votes in 2014
State Sen. Michael Watson, a Republican candidate for secretary of state, was part of a legal team that sought to invalidate what they called "illegal and fraudulent" African American votes in a 2014 U.S. Senate runoff, arguing that blacks voting in the Republican primary cost state Sen. Chris McDaniel the election. Watson was one of three attorneys McDaniel hired in the summer of 2014 to file an election challenge claiming that the campaign of then-U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran convinced -- and at times coerced, the McDaniel lawyers argued -- African Americans to vote against McDaniel in the runoff. On Aug. 4, 2014, McDaniel's lawyers filed a 425-page challenge in Jones County Circuit Court arguing through documents that McDaniel should be declared the primary's winner because of "voting irregularities," including African American "crossover votes." Watson’s role in the McDaniel challenge comes into focus as he pursues the job of overseeing all elections in Mississippi
 
Robert Foster utilizes Facebook advertising as highest campaign expenditure
Where candidates choose to spend their time and money will often have a direct correlation to their reach in the public. Gubernatorial candidate Robert Foster has taken a route that wouldn't have been seen say 10 years ago. In the July 10 campaign finance reports, Foster's disbursements showed that his single largest campaign expenditure throughout the entire campaign was through the popular social media site, Facebook. That's more than consultants, travel, personnel, TV ads, sign expenses and other expenses normally associated with a statewide political campaign. He additionally spent over $4,000 on Twitter this cycle accounting for nearly $30,000 of the $125,000 total spend for his campaign. That totals 24 percent of expenditures. Spending campaign dollars on social media advertising may be a new concept, but it is one that is being accepted and utilized by other candidates as well.
 
DHS, in midst of leadership transition, failing to monitor spending of public dollars, child care center safety standards
Mississippi Department of Human Services isn't properly monitoring the spending of some federal public assistance dollars reserved for the state's most vulnerable citizens, the state auditor's office found in an annual report released Monday. The department doesn't "compile basic, required documents, like a comprehensive list of grant recipients," said a release from the office. The department passes roughly $150 million of the more than $1 billion it receives in federal funds to these private nonprofits and organizations. "If you don't have a comprehensive list of your subgrantees, you can't monitor who you don't know you gave money to," said Stephanie Palmertree, financial and compliance audit director for the state auditor's office. "In that case, you don't know if they're using the program funds correctly, if the subgrantee might have fraud in their system ... you don't know if those costs are even allowable."
 
Mississippi gets $1.4 million from Equifax settlement
Mississippi will get $1.4 million as part of a nationwide settlement with Equifax following a 2017 data breach. On September 7, 2017, Equifax, one of the largest consumer reporting agencies in the world, announced a data breach that affected more than 147 million consumers---nearly half of the U.S. population, including 1.3 million Mississippians. Breached information included Social Security numbers, names, dates of birth, addresses, credit card numbers, and in some cases, driver's license numbers. According to Attorney General Jim Hood, people affected by the massive data breach will receive 10 years of credit monitoring and may be eligible for restitution following a $600 million multi-state settlement reached with the consumer reporting agency by attorneys general across the country.
 
GOP pushback puts Trump judicial nominee at risk
President Trump's pick for an influential appeals court seat is facing rare pushback from Republican lawmakers and conservative groups. Their skepticism is raising questions about whether Judge Halil Suleyman Ozerden, nominated to fill a vacancy on the 5th Circuit, will be confirmed even as GOP leaders say they are moving forward with his nomination. Senate Republicans have placed a premium on confirming Trump's nominees to the circuit courts, setting a record for the pace of approving appeals judges during the first two years of his presidency. Judicial nominations are a top priority for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) because the judges have the final word on hundreds of cases each year. But GOP senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee are raising red flags over Ozerden. the gathering storm around Ozerden comes after Michigan attorney Michael Bogren withdrew his district court nomination after pushback from conservatives. However, a significant difference between the two fights is that Bogren came from a state with two Democratic senators. Ozerden would fill a Mississippi seat on the 5th Circuit, meaning Republicans would have to go against GOP Sens. Roger Wicker (Miss.), an adviser to McConnell, and Cindy Hyde-Smith (Miss.) if they want to dismiss Ozerden.
 
Mueller testifies his investigation didn't exonerate Trump
The testimony of former Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III -- long the center of partisan debate in Washington -- started with members of the House Judiciary Committee seeking a more measured tone. Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-New York, focused his statement on Mueller's long career in public service to bolster the former FBI director as "a model of responsibility" who conducted the special counsel probe with "remarkable integrity." Nadler pointed out in his opening remarks that Mueller's 22-month investigation netted 37 indictments and forfeitures of as much as $42 million "so that the cost of your investigation to the taxpayers approaches zero." The comments seemed directed at President Donald Trump, who said he wouldn't be watching the testimony but tweeted attacks Wednesday before the hearing against Mueller and the House process.
 
Mueller refutes Trump's 'no collusion, no obstruction' line
Former special counsel Robert Mueller pushed back against President Donald Trump's characterizations of his 22-month investigation, telling lawmakers on Wednesday that he did not evaluate "collusion" with the Russian government, and confirming that his report did not conclude that there was "no obstruction" of the probe. "The president was not exculpated for the acts that he allegedly committed," Mueller told the House Judiciary Committee, adding that Trump could theoretically be indicted after he leaves office. "We did not address 'collusion,' which is not a legal term," Mueller added. "Rather, we focused on whether the evidence was sufficient to charge any member of the campaign with taking part in a criminal conspiracy. It was not." In his opening statement, Mueller foreshadowed a tightly scripted hearing on the findings contained in his 448-page report, which chronicled dozens of contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia, as well as 10 potential instances of obstruction of justice by Trump.
 
Justice Department launches antitrust probe of Big Tech
The U.S. Department of Justice opened a sweeping antitrust investigation of big technology companies and whether their online platforms have hurt competition, suppressed innovation or otherwise harmed consumers. It comes as a growing number of lawmakers have called for stricter regulation of or even breaking up the big tech companies, which have come under intense scrutiny after a series of scandals that compromised users' privacy. President Trump also has relentlessly criticized the big tech companies by name in recent months. He frequently asserts, without evidence, that companies such as Facebook and Google are biased against him and conservative politicians. The Justice Department did not name specific companies in its announcement. The focus of the investigation closely mirrors a bipartisan probe of Big Tech undertaken by the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust.
 
As Climate Changes, Taxpayers Will Shoulder Cost Of U.S. Payouts To Farmers
Most farmers who grow big commodity crops like corn, soybeans and wheat buy crop insurance. It's a good deal for them; the federal government actually covers about 60 percent of the cost of the premiums. In fact, the federal government spends, on average, about $8 billion a year subsidizing crop insurance for farmers. That number could be a lot bigger this year. Officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture are expecting up to $1 billion in "prevented planting" payments to farmers in Henry's situation. At the end of the season, more claims will arrive from farmers who planted seeds but ended up with poor harvests. Some people fear that this year's flooding is a taste of the future. There are billions of dollars riding on this. Scientists, of course, say climate change is happening, although the precise effects -- for example, on rainfall in the Midwest -- are harder to predict. A team of researchers at the USDA just released a study of how the changing climate could affect those crop insurance payouts.
 
Brandon Theesfeld apprehended at Memphis gas station
More information is coming in surrounding the apprehension of Brandon Theesfeld, the 22-year-old facing a murder charge in the death of Ally Kostial. At 9:30 a.m. on Monday, officers with the Memphis Police Department took Theesfeld into custody at a gas station in South Memphis. Theesfeld's cellphone and credit cards were being being tracked by investigators, which led them to the gas station. MPD took him into custody for additional questioning before he was transported back to Oxford. The apprehension came almost exactly two days after Kostial's body was found by Lafayette County Sheriff deputies, who were on routine patrol in the Buford Ridge area of Harmontown.
 
Man charged in death of Ole Miss student who graduated from Lindbergh High
A 22-year-old man has been charged with the murder of an Ole Miss college student from St. Louis. Brandon A. Theesfeld was formally charged in the shooting death of Lindbergh High graduate Ally Kostial, 21, at hearing Tuesday morning before Lafayette County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Howorth. Like Kostial, her accused killer also was a student in the School of Business Administration at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. Along with teaching fitness classes, Kostial was a part of her school's golf club and was active in sports such as cheerleading and track most of her life, according to one of her best friends, 21-year-old Casey Hendrickson. Hendrickson, an incoming senior at the University of Missouri, grew up with Ally Kostial in their Lindbergh neighborhood and described her as a ray of sunshine. The two were planning to run in a marathon together. "She was the happiest and most positive person in the world," Hendrickson said. "The light that she brought into this world was amazing."
 
Fort Worth man is suspect in killing of U. of Mississippi student
A 22-year-old Fort Worth man was in custody Tuesday in Mississippi, accused in the death of an Ole Miss student. Brandon Theesfeld was booked into the Lafayette County Jail in Oxford, Mississippi, at 3:43 p.m. Monday. He is charged with murder. He appeared before a judge Tuesday along with his attorney Swayze Alford of Oxford, but bail will be decided later, the Associated Press reported. A person who answered the telephone at Alford's office said Tuesday he would not be making a comment on the case. The body of Alexandria "Ally" Kostial, 21, of St. Louis, Missouri, was found Saturday in Harmontown, Mississippi, near Sardis Lake, according to the AP and other news reports. Theesfeld attended Fort Worth Country Day from 2012 to 2014, according to school records. He did not return to the school because of academics and he did not graduate from Fort Worth Country Day. Theesfeld graduated in 2016 from San Marcos Academy in San Marcos, Texas. He attended the private Christian preparatory institution for two years, according to the school.
 
'I know my son is innocent:' Father of man accused in murder of Ally Kostial releases statement
Lafayette County Sheriff's Department officials have arrested and charged a man with the murder of a 21-year-old female Ole Miss student. 22-year-old Brandon Theesfeld, of Texas, was booked into the Lafayette County Jail at 3:43 p.m. Monday and charged with murder. Theesfeld went before Circuit Court Judge Tuesday morning for an initial appearance where he received his formal charges. He will have a bond hearing on Wednesday morning. The Lafayette County Sheriff's Department issued a statement Tuesday that said that they will release further details when they deem it appropriate. Brandon's father Daniel Theesfeld released a statement to WMC's Kendall Downing saying: "I know my son is innocent. And I have reasons to believe that I can't share anything now. But I would ask everybody to please give him the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise."
 
William Carey School of Pharmacy granted 'candidate' accreditation status
The William Carey University School of Pharmacy is one step closer to being fully accredited. The school was granted "candidate" status by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education. This is the second step in a three-step process that will be finalized after the inaugural class graduates. WCU's first pharmacy students were admitted in July 2018 and will graduate with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree in May 2021. "I am extremely pleased that we were able to achieve the next level of accreditation -- 'Candidate' status," said Dr. Michael Malloy, dean of the WCU School of Pharmacy. "The faculty, staff, students, the community and the university have done an excellent job in creating a quality program that allows us to be on schedule to earn full accreditation and serve the needs of the Gulf Coast and entire state of Mississippi." The School of Pharmacy is located near Biloxi on WCU's Tradition campus.
 
Pearl River Community College requires mumps vaccine after outbreak
When students return to classes at Pearl River Community College for the fall semester on Aug. 19, they will once again be in close quarters with their fellow classmates. "People who reside on campus together are in the library -- in the dining hall together -- there is a lot of opportunities for them to spread infection," said college President Adam Breerwood. Students spreading infection is one thing Breerwood doesn't want -- especially since there was a multi-case mumps outbreak on the PRCC baseball team in April 2017 that even affected the coach. The outbreak is what prompted PRCC to start a new requirement last fall. "Currently, we require all first-time dorm students to submit two proofs of MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccinations," said Delana Harris, the college's director of marketing and communications in an email. "They are due on the Friday of the first week of classes." Breerwood said the vaccination policy is necessary as PRCC students travel all over the world during this summer break.
 
Brookhaven teen Lucie LeBlanc bonds with science
A Brookhaven Academy student has traveled far and wide for opportunities during the summer. Lucie LeBlanc, a senior at Brookhaven Academy, has stayed busy over her break. "It really helped me open my horizons," she said. LeBlanc, 17, traveled to compete in the International Science Fair in Phoenix, Arizona, back in May. She spent the week learning about advances in science and meeting other students from around the world. She earned a research grant from Janet Donaldson, a microbiology professor at the University of Southern Mississippi. She'll continue her research at Southern closer to the end of the summer. Her experiment focused on commercial yogurts and if the probiotics in them could fight against pathogens. LeBlanc placed first at the regional science fair held at USM in Hattiesburg, automatically advancing her past the state fair and earning her a spot in the International Science Fair.
 
Reports: Tuscaloosa police chief to step down to take top UA System security job
Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steve Anderson will reportedly be stepping down from his post to take a security position at the University of Alabama System. ABC 33/40 and WBRC in Birmingham, both citing anonymous sources, reported that Anderson will be resigning as Tuscaloosa's top cop effective Aug. 30. Anderson, who has served as police chief since October 2008, could not be reached for comment by AL.com. Tuscaloosa police spokesman Lt. Teena Richardson said she could not confirm the report but said Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox scheduled a press conference for 9 a.m. Wednesday at City Hall. Kellee Rhinehart, vice chancellor of communications for the UA System, said the system has conducted a nationwide search for a successor to outgoing Director of System Security Randy Perkins but could not confirm that Anderson or anyone else has been hired to replace the retiring Perkins.
 
U. of Alabama business college to induct six into hall of fame
The University of Alabama Culverhouse College of Business will induct six into the Alabama Business Hall of Fame this fall, including Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn A. Hewson. The other inductees are Charles A. Collat Sr., of Birmingham; Gary P. Fayard of Atlanta; Joe W. Forehand, of Dallas, Texas; Lonnie S. McMillian, of Madison (awarded posthumously); F. Michael Reilly, of Tuscaloosa. The six will be honored during a celebration on Nov. 7, at Haven in Birmingham. Hewson, a UA alumna from Bethesda, Maryland, joined Lockheed Martin more than 35 years ago as an industrial engineer. She is chairwoman, president and CEO of the aerospace company. UA plans named its new business building after her following a $15 million donation.
 
LSU professor on new football locker room: 'This state values athletics more than academics'
The LSU professor who helped ignite arguments around the school's new football locker room and other improvements said Tuesday the issue points up how athletics trumps academics in Louisiana. "It seems to me that academics are even less important to us than they were 20 years ago," said Robert Mann, professor of mass communications at LSU and a veteran of the political arena himself. "We have largely abandoned higher education in this state compared to where we were 20 years ago," said Mann, who worked for former Gov. Kathleen Blanco and U.S. Sen. Russell Long, both Democrats. What sparked the bickering was the announcement that LSU was opening a nearly $28 million Football Operations and Performance Nutrition Center, including a state-of-the-art football locker room. The work was financed with private dollars from the Tiger Athletic Foundation.
 
U. of Arkansas response in rape case judge's focus
A two-hour court hearing Tuesday in a lawsuit against the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville focused on the response by campus officials to a student's report of rape. The woman suing the university in federal district court reported the rape as a 19-year-old student in October 2014 and, in her lawsuit filed in 2016, claims that UA acted with "deliberate indifference." The hearing followed a motion seeking a summary judgment for the university. U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III -- who at times openly disagreed with attorneys on both sides of the case -- said Tuesday that it would take some time to rule on the motion in what he called "one of the oldest cases on my docket." A university attorney Tuesday defended steps taken by campus officials. "Several individuals on the campus responded to help" the student who reported the rape, said Joe Cordi, associate general counsel, arguing that those efforts showed that there was no "deliberate indifference."
 
U. of Florida hires director to increase campus security
The University of Florida has hired the man who will lead the university's efforts to heighten security with new security software for cameras, increased camera coverage on campus and placing automated electronic access controls on buildings. Joseph Souza, 51, will be the first director of UF's new Physical Security Department. The university conducted a nationwide search for the director, choosing Souza for his more than 15 years in the industry and work in campus security, said Curtis Reynolds, UF's vice president for business affairs. "We were glad to get him," Reynolds said. "His breadth of knowledge and understanding for security trends and practices will make him effective on campus." Souza previously worked as the assistant director of the Department of Security at the University of Central Florida, where he oversaw construction of the school's Global Security Operations Center.
 
Has College Gotten Too Easy? Time spent studying is down, but GPAs are up
An astonishing number of students start college in America without finishing it: Roughly 40 percent of college enrollees don't go on to get a degree within six years of starting to work toward one. The good news is that in recent decades things have gotten a bit less bad. By one calculation, at four-year state schools that didn't make the top 50 public universities in U.S. News & World Report's rankings, the graduation rate within six years rose from about 40 percent for students starting in the early 1990s to about 50 percent for students starting in the late 2000s. (The phenomenon was not limited to non-elite schools.) When Jeff Denning, an economist at Brigham Young University, started looking closely at the data on college-completion rates, he was a bit perplexed by what, exactly, was driving this uptick.
 
Penn Law condemns Amy Wax's recent comments on race and immigration as others call for her ouster
Amy Wax is in trouble again, this time for her comments on race and immigration. The Robert Mundheim Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania reportedly argued at a conference last week for "taking the position that our country will be better off with more whites and fewer nonwhites." More than 1,000 student groups and individuals affiliated with Penn have signed a petition calling for Wax to be relieved of all teaching duties. Wax's dean, Ted Ruger, the Bernard G. Segal Professor of Law, on Tuesday condemned her remarks. "At best, the reported remarks espouse a bigoted theory of white cultural and ethnic supremacy; at worst, they are racist," Ruger said in a statement. "Under any framing, such views are repugnant to the core values and institutional practices of both Penn Law" and Penn. Wax's recent comments, first reported by Vox, came at the inaugural National Conservatism Conference. The event was hosted by the Edmund Burke Foundation and headlined by National Security Adviser John Bolton, Fox News host Tucker Carlson and tech billionaire Peter Thiel, among others.
 
Will Democratic Socialism notion guarantee Trump win?
Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: American politics has unfortunately long since devolved into a predictable battle between voters on the nation's east and west coasts and in the largest cities who are predominantly liberal/progressive/socialist and rural voters in the nation's "flyover" sections of the South, the Midwest, and other "heartland" areas who are predominantly conservative/evangelical/capitalist. Yes, there are wide exceptions to those generalizations, but history shows that ideological divide widening since the Reagan years as conservatives and liberals alike gravitated to the extremes of their political philosophies leaving consensus and compromise -- governing if you will -- more and more elusive. As a child of the Cold War and one who traveled behind the former Iron Curtain before capitalism and the jeans and cable television it embodied helped bring that curtain down, the notion of serious American politicians peddling their wares under the actual banner of Democratic Socialism seems bizarre at best.


SPORTS
 
While Mississippi State tight ends add a new dimension, passing woes remain a concern
There was audible excitement in Mississippi State senior tight end Farrod Green's voice. Speaking with reporters in a suite above the ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham-Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama last week, Green spoke on his expected role entering 2019. "Coach (Joe) Moorhead's offense requires the tight ends to do a lot of things," Green said. "So we put it on ourselves to work hard and demand more of ourselves. And I'm kind of holding everyone in the room accountable to be ready to make that play, whatever it is -- blocking, catching the ball -- just being that guy, that great teammate." While Green was used sparingly in the passing game in 2019, notching just 81 yards on 11 catches, utilizing the tight ends is a logical starting point in sorting out MSU's much-maligned passing game from a year ago. In Moorhead's two seasons at Penn State prior to taking the job at MSU, tight ends heavily factored into his offensive system.
 
Mississippi State men's basketball nonconference schedule released
The nonconference schedule is set for the Mississippi State men's basketball team. MSU will host seven teams at Humphrey Coliseum before league play begins, all of which won at least 19 games a year ago. In addition, Mississippi State faces a New Mexico State squad that gave Auburn a scare in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last year on Dec. 22 at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson. The Bulldogs (23-11 overall in 2018-2019) open the season against Florida International Nov. 5 in Starkville, followed by Sam Houston State (Nov. 8), Louisiana-Monroe (Nov. 14) and New Orleans (Nov. 17). Other home nonconference contests include Louisiana Tech on Dec. 5, Radford on Dec. 18 and Kent State on Dec. 30. MSU has won 22 straight nonconference games at the Humphrey Coliseum, the longest active streak in the Southeastern Conference.
 
Blue Mountain baseball adds Luke Alexander to coaching staff
Blue Mountain College has hired Luke Alexander as an assistant baseball coach, the school announced Tuesday on social media. Alexander played high school baseball at Belmont and college baseball at Mississippi State, where he was a student assistant last season. "He's a household name for a lot of people in Northeast Mississippi, especially if you're a Mississippi State fan," said Blue Mountain athletic director Will Lowrey. "I've known Luke and his family for a long, long time, followed his career, coached against him, even coached him when he was young. He is a phenomenal young man with a great career ahead of him, and we're very, very fortunate to have him."
 
Former LSU teammates Tyrann Mathieu, Patrick Peterson donate $1M each to football facilities
Former LSU teammates Tyrann Mathieu and Patrick Peterson each donated $1 million to the football program's facilities, the school announced Tuesday. LSU's new locker room and performance facility will be open to a media tour Wednesday morning. "I'm truly inspired that I'm in a position to give back to my school, a school that I really feel helped me find myself and helped me define myself," Mathieu said in a video released by the university. Peterson echoed Mathieu's comments, saying: "Giving back has always been my main goal when I could make it to the position I am in today." LSU has recognized Mathieu's contributions by renaming its players lounge after him. In addition to his donation to the facilities, Mathieu also started a scholarship fund.
 
Tommy Tuberville says he would not take salary if elected to Senate
Former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville told Republicans at a campaign stop in Montgomery today that he would not take a paycheck if he's elected to the U.S. Senate and would help President Trump fix problems Tuberville said result from a departure from Christian values and practices such as school prayer. "I'm a politician's worst nightmare. I don't need the money, I don't need the job and I ain't going to be politically correct," Tuberville said, drawing applause at a lunch meeting of the River Region Republicans at Farmer's Market Cafe. Tuberville said he was financially secure after a career that included head football coaching jobs at Ole Miss, Auburn, Texas Tech and Cincinnati and would donate his salary to a foundation, possibly one that supports hospitals. "I want to do this for the people of the country," Tuberville said. "We're in trouble. We don't need people who are going up there and taking paychecks. It means a lot to me to give back."



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