| Wednesday, September 2, 2026 |
| MSU faculty member appointed to EPA Farm, Ranch and Rural Communities Federal Advisory Committee | |
 | Mississippi State's Whitney Crow is a new appointee to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Farm, Ranch and Rural Communities Federal Advisory Committee, giving the state's agriculture sector a voice in national discussions about environmental policy and its impact on farmers and rural areas. Crow, an associate professor in MSU's Department of Agricultural Science and Plant Protection, is one of 21 new members appointed to the federal advisory committee providing independent policy advice and recommendations to the EPA administrator on these issues. "Mississippi State University's faculty are widely recognized for their expertise in many different fields that support our farmers, ranchers and rural communities, and that certainly includes Dr. Crow and her work," said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. "I know she will provide exceptional knowledge and insight as a member of this important national advisory committee." Crow's expertise includes agricultural pest management and crop production, areas that closely align with several of the committee's priorities. |
| How an IPM Lecture Started One Entomologist's Career in Extension | |
 | Jermaine Perier, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of entomology at Mississippi State University. He leads a statewide extension program focused on integrated pest management (IPM) for insect pests for vegetables, fruits, and nuts with a priority for horticultural food crops for Mississippi growers. His work combines applied research, stakeholder education, and field outreach to deliver science-based insect management strategies tailored to production systems ranging from home gardens to commercial farms. Through collaboration with growers, extension agents, and research partners, Perier supports sustainable agriculture and strengthens pest management capacity across Mississippi and the broader region. He received his master's degree from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia, both in the discipline of entomology. Within the discipline, his background covers sustainable insecticide use, biological control, and microbial control for insect pest management. |
| Programs lend hand to catfish producers | |
| Mississippi raises more than half of U.S. catfish, but overseas competition, rising input costs and bird depredation are among operational and financial challenges producers face just to stay in business. Two federal assistance programs approved in July aim to extend some relief. Jimmy Avery, catfish specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the purchases will enhance supply chain mobility by reducing surplus inventory and supporting struggling producers who are warehousing fish in their ponds to wait for better prices. Ganesh Kumar, aquaculture economist with the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, said high input costs and delays in harvesting are having a negative impact on catfish farms. The domino effect of high fuel costs affects other production costs such as aeration, scaring depredating birds and fish transportation. Feed prices are over $400 per ton, further inflating production costs. Producers are encouraged to visit the local office of the USDA Farm Services Agency to register acreage and apply for these assistance programs. |
| Author, literary scholar Noel Polk honored on Mississippi Writers Trail | |
| A new Mississippi Writers Trail marker honoring internationally recognized literary scholar, editor, and professor Noel Polk has been unveiled at the University of Southern Mississippi. Polk, a Picayune native, is widely remembered as a preeminent William Faulkner scholar. Polk's editing, essays, books and teaching provided understanding of Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Ellen Douglas, Robert Penn Warren and Barry Hannah. He spent his career at the University of Southern Mississippi and Mississippi State University and edited both "The Southern Quarterly" and "Mississippi Quarterly" scholarly journals. He also co-founded the William Faulkner and Eudora Welty Societies. The organizations are dedicated to scholarships, research, and community around the lives and legacies of the two legendary Mississippi authors. The Mississippi Writers Trail pays tribute to Mississippi's cultural heritage by honoring the state's most acclaimed and influential writers. Administered by Visit Mississippi, the statewide initiative features markers commemorating the birthplaces, homes, gravesites, museums, and literary locales of Mississippi writers, inviting visitors to experience their legacy firsthand. |
| Aldermen adopt tax rate that will raise bills by 20% | |
| The board of aldermen voted Tuesday night to keep Starkville's property tax rate the same for next fiscal year, but the city still expects to generate an additional $2.1 million from collections. With separate 5-2 votes during its Tuesday meeting, the board approved a property tax rate of 34 mills and approved its budget for Fiscal Year 2027, which begins Oct. 1. Vice Mayor Roy A. Perkins, who represents Ward 6, and Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn voted against both measures. Following the meeting, Perkins told The Dispatch he voted against the mill rate because he believes the budget represents over taxation, adding that he can see ways to trim the budget without risking public safety. He did not specify any of those cuts, however, calling it a moot point. Vaughn declined to comment to The Dispatch after the meeting. Both Mayor Lynn Spruill and Ward 2 Alderwoman Sandra Sistrunk, the board's budget chair, previously told The Dispatch they could not see any way to trim the budget without making cuts to the fire and police departments, both of which are getting increases in the next year's budget. With property values expected to rise an estimated 20% next year, primarily from a reassessment from the Mississippi Department of Revenue that raised home and commercial values, the city's tax rate can remain the same and still generate significantly more revenue. |
| For this Mississippi barge line, labor is more of a concern than tariffs | |
| Conversations around the oil industry tend to focus on the places that produce it and refine it. But like anything else in the economy, there is a supply chain involved. In the U.S., that supply chain includes barges, which transport oil in its various forms around the country's waterways. Barges carry roughly 100 million barrels across the U.S. each year, and tend to be better for the environment than rail or truck transportation. Right now, war and tariffs are top-of-mind in the oil industry, but for barge companies, the worries don't stop there. Austin Golding is the CEO and president of Golding Barge Line in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He joined "Marketplace" host Kai Ryssdal to talk about how macroeconomic factors like the Jones Act waivers and the labor market affect his business. One thing that's changed, Golding said, is applicants valuing things like personal time and work-life balance over their net income. Golding Barge Line has started to adapt to that changing focus. "We've decided to really focus on how we can retain them and listen to our people as far as what they want," Golding said. "If they want more time at home, we're going to offer more schedule options." |
| Meryl Fisackerly: CEO of Golden Triangle LINK -- Vision, passion and commitment to economic success | |
| Columbus native, Meryl Fisackerly, CEcD, MEDP, CEO of the Golden Triangle Development LINK, has helped guide one of the state's most successful economic development organizations for eight years. Projects she has been involved with represent investments of $3.5 billion creating more than 1,500 jobs. "I've been hands on in all major projects that we have worked on in the past eight years," said Fisackerly. "Notable ones include Altex Tube, Terberg-Taylor, FireHawk, and the recently announced Aluminum Dynamics Recycling facility. I was involved from day one with developing the CINCO Megasite and that site is HOT. We have had lots of interest and it is just a matter of time before you see an announcement there. Hopefully, by the time this article is printed, we will have a major expansion in Starkville announced." Women are still rare in the Mississippi economic development arena. When Fisackerly got the role as CEO, she was told that she wasn't going to be able to make deals because she didn't hunt or play golf. "First, that person has never seen me work a shotgun," said Fisackerly, who attended Auburn University and Mississippi State University. "Second, that is such an outdated and out-of-touch thought. I have met with CEOs of GLOBAL companies and every time it has been in a board room, not in a back room. Business is done in a professional manner. Relationships are so important in this business, but they are developed and fostered far beyond a tee time or a skeet shoot." |
| Southern Motion files for Chapter 11 reorganization | |
 | Upholstered furniture manufacturer Southern Motion Inc. has filed a petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In a filing to obtain debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, the company said it continues to generate revenue from operations, but the revenue was not keeping pace with its costs. DIP financing is a specialized type of loan given to a company after it files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It provides immediate cash to pay for payroll, inventory and basic daily expenses, and it gives the business the financial backing it needs to build and execute a survival plan. The company said it faced "significant financial challenges" from inflationary pressure, significant rent expenditures for its six buildings, and industry headwinds. Southern Motion said it anticipates having sufficient cash from continuing operations and a proposed $5 million DIP to pay vendors, suppliers and other business partners for goods and services that they provide during the reorganization process. |
| How Hinds County push, Philip Gunn run for governor connect | |
 | Former Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn is laying the groundwork for a 2027 governor campaign, but these days his attention is largely focused on a different mission: recruiting jobs, retailers and investment to western Hinds County. Gunn, a Clinton Republican who served as speaker of the Mississippi House from 2012 to 2024, now serves as executive director of Connect West, a public-private economic development organization promoting Clinton, Raymond, Bolton, Edwards and surrounding areas of western Hinds County. He also serves on the Hinds County Economic Development Authority board. Gunn announced his candidacy for governor earlier this year, returning to the political spotlight after leaving the Legislature in 2024. In an interview with the Clarion Ledger, Gunn described Connect West as an effort by local governments, Mississippi Christian University, banks, businesses and private citizens to create a more aggressive economic development strategy than Clinton previously pursued on its own. |
| PSC commissioner pushes SNAP-for-water bills idea even after colleagues reject it | |
| The lone Democrat on the Mississippi Public Service Commission is looking to spur momentum for allowing SNAP benefits to go toward water utility bills. But the other two members of the PSC, both Republicans, rejected during a meeting Tuesday a resolution to support a change to state policy that he said would be the first of its kind. Central District Public Service Commissioner De'Keither Stamps, who announced the initiative over the weekend, said he will continue to advocate for the idea, including with a letter to Gov. Tate Reeves. "There are a lot of people who want to put more money into our (water) systems, but how about we just use the money we already receive?" Stamps asked at Tuesday's meeting, arguing that the added revenue for water systems would help prevent rate increases and keep bills affordable for customers. "People should be able to pay for the water that comes to their house, no matter the delivery system." The commissioner reasoned that SNAP recipients are already using those benefits to buy bottled water, so the state should allow that money to support Mississippi's public utilities, many of which are struggling to stay afloat financially. Even with state support, the idea would require federal approval, Stamps acknowledged. But the commissioner said officials he's heard from around the country back the proposal, and Mississippi should be the place to spearhead it. |
| Mississippi pharmacists discuss PBM reform with Senator Hyde-Smith as federal bill progresses | |
 | For another year, Mississippi's legislature has failed to pass measures to reform pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) regulations. Local pharmacists say that without changes, independent pharmacies around the state could continue to shutter. Ahead of next session, many of those pharmacists are figuring out what to do differently at the state capitol, while looking for help at the federal level to address nationwide reform. At a roundtable in Yazoo City last Thursday, U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith met with pharmacists and other local medical professionals in the state to discuss both state and federal-level issues. Hyde-Smith indicated that she'd support a bill in the Senate similar to one proposed by the U.S. House late last year. "Any legislation that addresses PBMs and the cost of prescription drugs in this country, I will be all over," Hyde-Smith told MPB News. "It is a travesty that PBMs, Pharmacy Benefit Managers, are getting away with what they're getting away with, when they are doing nothing but gouging." Last week, Republican congressmen Mike Ezell and Trent Kelly became cosponsors of H.R.6610, the Pharmacists Fight Back [in Federal Employee Health Benefit Plans Act]. Earlier in August, Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson also joined on. |
| Trump administration announces initiative aimed at putting ranchers 'first' amid beef controversy | |
| Fallout among cattle farmers continues over President Donald Trump's decision to import beef from other countries, but the White House and U.S. Department of Agriculture are now touting a new initiative they say will strengthen domestic cattle producers. Trump said Friday in a Truth Social post that he plans to break up what he called a "powerful monopoly" among large beef processors. He said he would authorize legal documents allowing farmers and ranchers to process their own beef. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins immediately praised the announcement, saying more details would be released in the coming days. On Monday, Rollins announced the Ranchers First Initiative, a package of actions the USDA says is designed to rebuild the U.S. cattle herd, expand processing opportunities, and put more resources in the hands of American ranchers. The announcement comes as the cattle industry faces continued uncertainty over the size of the nation's herd, which is at a 75-year low, and Trump's plan to increase beef imports. At the same time, Trump has not backed away from his plan to temporarily import 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef tariff-free, a move the administration says is intended to lower grocery prices but that producers have warned could put future cattle markets in jeopardy. |
| USDA cuts strip Natural Resources Conservation Service workers from local communities | |
| On a hot summer day, John Williams is walking through the vegetable farm he manages in central Illinois. "All these white tubes coming up are tree tubes," he said, "so they're little protections for newly planted trees." Hazelnut, apple and pear trees run in between the fields and around the perimeter of the property at Sola Gratia Farm in Urbana, Illinois. The farm got funding to plant them through the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a federal agency under the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The trees will help protect the farm's soil from strong winds and heavy rains, Williams said. "That'll help keep more of the soil on our land and less from running downhill," he said. NRCS staff in county offices across the nation help farmers like Williams implement practices that prevent soil erosion and improve soil health. The NRCS was founded almost a century ago in response to the Dust Bowl. But it lost nearly a quarter of its staff nationally in 2025 after President Donald Trump's sweeping cuts to the federal workforce, leaving many farmers with less access to environmental conservation practices. “The NRCS is a really great example of government in action being really effective,” said Chuck Anderas, policy director of the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, a Wisconsin-based conservation nonprofit. |
| Lawmakers ask Army to explain why it told a military unit to stop specializing in drone warfare | |
 | A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is pressing the Army to explain why it told a unit based in Europe to stop specializing in drone warfare, an order that comes as the world's battlefields rapidly evolve and military tactics increasingly rely on uncrewed systems to fight. The 173rd Airborne Brigade was building its own drones and practicing the kind of warfare that Ukraine has pioneered against Russia and that Iran has fought against the U.S. -- warfare that has killed and wounded American troops. The brigade of 600 soldiers was set up in November to be deployed anywhere that drones were needed. "We have deep concerns that eliminating this specialized drone unit will limit our ability to learn from allies, particularly the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and hinder our efforts to modernize drone warfare at the speed necessary to compete on the modern battlefield," the lawmakers said in a letter shared with The Associated Press. It requests a briefing from the Army to explain its decision and was sent Tuesday to departing Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the Army's acting chief of staff. It was signed by Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, independent Sen. Angus King of Maine and Republican Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio. |
| Hawks lament Pentagon 'churn' after Army secretary's resignation | |
 | Defense-minded lawmakers are growing concerned about leadership vacuums in the military following the resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. "I'm tired of all the churn. I want to see some stability," House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike D. Rogers, R-Ala., told reporters Tuesday. Pressed on if he's concerned about a leadership vacuum in the Army now, Rogers replied, "yes," though he declined to elaborate on his concern. Driscoll submitted his resignation to President Donald Trump on Monday, with several reports saying he detailed concerns to the president about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gutting the service's upper ranks to undermine Driscoll's Army modernization plans. Driscoll's resignation came after months of reported clashes with Hegseth. Other Republicans brushed off the Army leadership turmoil altogether. "I think Secretary Driscoll did a great job, and I think we'll get an adequate replacement," Rep. Trent Kelly, R-Miss., a House Armed Services Committee member, told reporters. "If we have an Army that a leader can't step up to the next level, we have a failed Army anyway. The Army is designed for leaders to replace leaders." |
| Trump's Call to 'Let Data Reign' Clashes with Republicans' Caution | |
| First it was beef. Then it was new tariffs. Now it's data centers. President Donald Trump's recent policy moves are making life difficult for Republicans, many of whom fear the series of economic positions could cost them control of Congress in November's midterms. Trump's love letter to data centers this week undercut efforts by Republican candidates in battleground states to align themselves with a growing bipartisan backlash against new construction of the resource-intensive projects. His remark that communities that oppose data centers are destined to become "backwards and poor" landed like a thud on Capitol Hill and on the campaign trail. "I guess I'm backwards and poor," Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett told a reporter for the outlet MeidasTouch on Monday, suggesting that new data centers ought to be built on military installations. "We need more local control. Go a little slower to get there a little faster." Data centers have become a major political issue as voters grow increasingly weary of their impact on the energy grid, utility bills and water resources. While most elected Republicans continue to cheerlead construction of new facilities, touting that they create jobs, GOP candidates in tough races have embraced restrictions on the industry, including moratoriums on new facilities and requirements that data centers cover the cost of electricity bills. |
| Trump's affordability crisis is about to hit a new level | |
 | Long-term interest rates are higher than at any point since President George W. Bush was in the White House. To Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, that's a reflection of investor confidence in President Donald Trump's economy. "Inflation expectations are flat-to-down," Bessent said during an interview on Tuesday at the G20 meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, with former Trump adviser and Fox Business host Larry Kudlow. "This is a growth story. Growth, I believe, is reaccelerating." If the administration is selling growth, voters aren't buying it. Trump's economic-approval rating has languished near historic lows for months amid frustration with cost-of-living issues that are central to the midterm elections. Now, the surge in yields on long-term government debt -- a global trend that's being driven by growing deficits, an artificial intelligence investment boom and rising energy costs due to the Iran war -- threatens to stoke that anger by pushing up rates even more on mortgages and consumer loans. Bessent calls himself the nation's leading bond salesman, but his recent efforts to bring long-term yields in line have failed to quell Wall Street's jitters about the broader forces that risk keeping inflation higher over time. |
| What Does a Bond Selloff Mean for American Consumers? | |
 | Worries about a protracted conflict with Iran, swelling fiscal deficits and rate hikes are rattling global bond markets. The potential effects on the U.S. economy stretch far beyond the Treasury market. Treasury yields -- the interest rates investors receive for holding U.S. debt -- influence how much consumers and businesses pay to borrow money. Lenders use those yields as a benchmark for setting rates on mortgages and auto loans. They also undergird yields on the corporate bonds that companies use for funding. That means the Treasury selloff risks pushing borrowing costs higher, making it even harder for Americans to afford homes and cars. If the selloff persists, that could start to affect a stock-market rally that has helped support consumer spending and the artificial-intelligence spending boom. This comes as persistent inflation puts the Federal Reserve under pressure to raise rates for the first time since 2023 -- a move that would ripple through the economy by raising short-term borrowing costs. "This is going to push mortgage rates much closer to 7%," said Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American. That "certainly will reduce affordability, particularly for the potential first-time home buyer," he said. |
| Trump officials cut political interference ban after unusual Census Bureau report | |
 | The reliability of Census Bureau information during the Trump administration is coming under question again. This month, the bureau's parent agency, the Commerce Department, quietly cut language banning political interference from the department's scientific integrity policy, NPR has learned. The removal was part of an unannounced policy revision dated Aug. 19 -- the day after the bureau issued a highly unusual report with claims about non-U.S. citizen voting from a team that, as NPR previously reported, has ties to a think tank founded by officials from President Trump's first administration. The revised scientific integrity policy applies to all agencies under the Commerce Department, including the weather data-providing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Bureau of Economic Analysis that's known for tracking the country's gross domestic product. But the change comes amid growing concerns from former Census Bureau officials and other data experts about political interference at the U.S. government's largest statistical agency, as it prepares for the 2030 national head count that's set to be used to redistribute political representation and federal funding to communities for the next decade. |
| The Conservative Radio Hosts Dominating the Airwaves | |
| When Clay Travis and Buck Sexton took over Rush Limbaugh's radio slot in 2021 following Limbaugh's death, it was hard to imagine that anyone could fill the conservative firebrand's shoes. Five years later, "The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show" is the country's number one talk radio show in its time slot, between 12 to 3 p.m. ET, according to its syndicator Premiere Networks. It reaches 550 stations and about seven million monthly listeners. The hosts' self-described "buddy-cop movie" energy -- three hours a day, five days a week, they banter about news and politics, sports and entertainment -- has helped them build a network of eight podcasts, all focused on what they see as a more moderate style of conservatism. They have fans in Congress and the White House, where two of their former employees now work, and have also become a popular stop on the conservative publicity tour, especially for book authors. As old-fashioned radio hosts, they are not always seen as key players in the podcast "manosphere," even though the program is consistently in the top charts as much as Joe Rogan and Ben Shapiro, according to iHeart media metrics. They see the show as something for an audience that may feel put off by fringe ideas or the more woo-woo trappings of their competitors. In Sexton's words, the question of the show can sometimes be: "How do we compete against the crazy?" |
| Hyde-Smith visits MCC forensic training program | |
 | U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith visited Meridian Community College to get a closer look at specialized forensic training taking place at the MCC-Riley Workforce Development Center. During the visit, Sen. Hyde-Smith toured the classroom used by RSA Forensics and learned more about the company's partnership with MCC. The Collinsville-based company provides forensic science training to law enforcement and other professionals from across the country and around the world. The partnership allows RSA Forensics to use MCC's Workforce Development facilities for its International Forensic Training Academies. Students receive focused classroom training in multiple areas of forensic examination at MCC, while some hands-on evidence processing takes place at the company's laboratory in Collinsville. Sen. Hyde-Smith's visit allowed her to see the training environment firsthand and learn how the partnership brings specialized training to Meridian. |
| City of Tuscaloosa files lawsuit against The Walk | |
| The City of Tuscaloosa filed a lawsuit against "The Walk," an apartment complex located near the University of Alabama campus, Tuesday, citing more than $100,000 in unpaid taxes. The lawsuit comes after the city declared 22 apartments at The Walk inhabitable in August, leaving several students without housing prior to the start of classes. According to the complaint filed in the Circuit Court of Tuscaloosa County, the apartment complex has paid no taxes this year nor during the second, third and fourth quarters of 2025. The city claims that the business filed quarterly tax returns during 2025 and through March of 2026, but has failed to file any returns since. The Walk currently owes at least $102,325.02 in taxes, but this does not include any payments from the second quarter of 2026. The allegations were verified by Trent Smelley, Director of Revenue Code Enforcement for the City of Tuscaloosa. The City said that it had previously sent a notice of licensure failure to the owners of The Walk, but received no response. It is unclear whether the lawsuit will affect current tenants of The Walk and University students. |
| LSU, Rhode Island receive $4M grant to expand wetlands science work | |
| Louisiana State University, in partnership with the University of Rhode Island, has been awarded a $4 million National Science Foundation grant to advance wetland science. The funding will be used to both build new planning tools and connect data from existing programs to preserve Louisiana's delta wetlands and Rhode Island's salt marsh ecosystems, according to an LSU news release. The team working on the project, dubbed EcoCare, hopes to draw more research consistency between the two different types of wetland ecosystems as well as better connect economists and legal scholars to scientific research to improve coastal modeling and restoration planning tools. The project is funded for four years, through 2030. Louisiana's lead investigator for the project, Xiaochen Zhao, said in a news release that the money will help LSU and partners such as the Louisiana Coastal Restoration and Protection Authority "combine coastal modeling, AI, wetland ecology and economic valuation to inform restoration decisions where it matters most" alongside Rhode Island researchers. |
| U. of South Carolina is serving more students than ever before, as systemwide enrollment tops 60,000 | |
 | More students are enrolled at the University of South Carolina's Columbia campus this fall than at any point in the university's 225-year history, school officials announced Tuesday. The state's flagship institution is now serving 41,650 undergraduate and graduate students in Columbia -- about 2.5% more than last fall -- after welcoming approximately 7,800 first-year students earlier this month, according to a university news release. The latest bump in students has pushed USC's systemwide enrollment -- which includes students at its two-year and four-year institutions --- to more than 60,000. "Record-setting numbers indicate that students and their families recognize the value of a USC degree," President Michael Amiridis said in a statement. "We are providing what our students need and want -- accessible, affordable and high-quality education, focused degree-to-career pathways and the best student experience in the country." USC Columbia's enrollment has grown nearly 18% in the past five years, bolstered by a flood of prospective student applications, according to the university's online enrollment dashboard. |
| Squeezed by rising costs and middle-aged malaise, parents are steering their kids to big, affordable colleges down south | |
| Everybody wishes they could relive their college years. Well, you can. Not by going back to school yourself -- that would include all the boring parts -- but by steering your college-bound kids to what you miss (or failed to experience the first time around). An example. A friend in often-frigid Chicago -- none of my buddies would fess up to any of this under their real names, so we'll call him "Carmy" -- told me that he only considered warm-weather schools. "Nothing north of Tennessee. That was the rule," Carmy said. Or consider "Jimmy." He went to a small college in chilly Connecticut back in the '90s. He sent his daughter to the University of Miami. During last fall's epic run by the Hurricanes football team, he found himself flying down to attend no fewer than four home games. (And to see his daughter.) Jimmy doesn't even like football! He was there for the tailgate. He comes back sunburned like John Candy in Summer Rental. My friends aren't alone. Two back-to-schools ago, The Wall Street Journal estimated that almost twice as many northerners were going to public schools in the South as in the early 2000s. But that story was about the kids. Go to an SEC tailgate. Go to almost any southern college that has a semblance of a football team: You will see dads in Hokas and sunburned faces. Moms in "cute boots" holding the seltzer of the moment. The kids are ripping it up, Mom and Dad close behind. |
| Wealthy Families Are Setting Up Home Bases in America's Priciest College Towns | |
| In America's higher-education corridors, the campus boundary line doubles as a lucrative real-estate border. From New York City to Los Angeles, wealthy parents have long helped drive college-adjacent market demand by purchasing residences for student children. Now these purchases are shifting from pure investment to secondary family home bases, real-estate agents say. Still, the parent playbook isn't universal; in towns such as Wellesley, Mass., traditional buyers rule the block. Beyond property values, proximity to a campus can boost local vibrancy with public lectures, arts and events. Here's how the priciest college-town ZIP Codes stack up across five categories, as ranked by median listing price according to July data from Realtor.com. (Realtor.com, operated by News Corp, developed this methodology exclusively for The Wall Street Journal.) |
| Parents are paying $95,000 for gap years hoping to give their kids an edge | |
 | Natalia Bertran was ready to spend as much as $90,000 on her son's first year in college. When the time came, most of it went to a gap year instead. Rather than move her older son into a dorm last fall, Bertran saw him off at the airport for an eight-month trip around the world with Baret Scholars. The $94,500 program pitches itself as more than time off from school, when students ages 17 to 22 spend "a year very much on." Bertran's son bungee jumped near the Victoria Falls in southern Africa, visited the Brazilian bank Itau Unibanco and coded an app -- all before heading to Bocconi University in Milan in August. "It was of course expensive," Bertran said. "But it was reasonable based on what they got." Baret knocked down the tuition price, but altogether with travel costs and spending money, she spent about $80,000. Premium gap years are becoming more appealing as some well-heeled families question whether a college degree alone -- or one from anything but a top-tier school -- is enough to stand out. Parents are willing to spend sometimes more than a year of tuition on gap programs to help compensate for what they fear college may not provide. What families get for that investment is hard to measure. |
| What's Behind the Rule-Defying Campus Resistance Against a Yale Trump Deal | |
 | Yale University students, faculty members, and alumni defied Yale protest rules on Tuesday to hold an unauthorized demonstration against the university's potential signing of a deal with the Trump administration, and against the protest rules themselves. "As Yale's fundamental principles face existential threats, we must ask ourselves: When will the university actually defend itself?" Alex Chen, Yale's undergraduate student-body president, said at the demonstration's outset. (He later clarified that he and the student-body vice president were there as individuals, and that the demonstration and its demands weren't projects of the Yale College Council.) In the wake of reported settlement talks between the Yale administration and the Department of Justice over the government's claims that the university illegally advantaged underrepresented racial minorities in admissions, Yale community members have emerged as unusually organized deal resisters. They've learned from a year of watching peer institutions, such as Columbia and Brown Universities, reach their own wide-ranging deals with the government. Tuesday's event was another example of the movement's strength and tactics. |
| For over 40 years, Mississippi workers have exceeded expectations at Raytheon | |
| Columnist Sid Salter writes: Call it the late U.S. Sen. John C. Stennis's and U.S. Rep. Sonny Montgomery's last great gifts to the people of central Mississippi. In Forest and Scott Counties, it's been a gift that keeps on giving. Back in 1983, Hughes Aircraft was still the company founded by eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes and owned by the medical institute he endowed that bore his name. The Hughes name resonated with all kinds of personal and political intrigue -- the outsized Hughes projects like the Spruce Goose, RKO Films, and Trans World Airlines (TWA). There was also the Hughes mystique, shrouded in legendary episodes of erratic, reclusive behavior and bizarre obsessions that obscured his legacy as a truly visionary aviator. But in Scott County 43 years ago, the name Hughes Aircraft resonated as an opportunity for Mississippi workers to find jobs in a less difficult working environment than in the poultry or timber industries. One large factory near Forest had shuttered a few years earlier, leaving hundreds unemployed or underemployed. The late Erle Johnston -- a former weekly newspaper publisher -- was the mayor of Forest at the time and had experience in economic development and statewide politics. Johnston used those skills and the powerful political clout of Stennis, the longtime chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, to help Forest land the Hughes Aircraft of Mississippi plant in 1983. Montgomery helped keep it and grow it. |
SPORTS
| What's New At Davis Wade Stadium In 2026, Plus Key Dates To Know | |
| Mississippi State Athletics is rolling out another wave of gameday upgrades at Davis Wade Stadium this season, building on the $9 million Mississippi State invested in stadium and gameday enhancements last year as part of a multi-year approach. This year's additions reach premium seating, retail, technology and in-stadium production, alongside a loaded fall calendar that includes Mississippi State's pursuit of a new cowbell world record on Sept. 26, when Missouri comes to town. A reminder that HailState.com/Gameday remains the one-stop planning hub for everything fans need this fall: parking, wayfinding, concessions, retail and more, all in one place. "Our fans and students are at the core of everything we do, and we are committed to building a gameday experience that reflects that year after year," MSU Director of Athletics Zac Selmon said. "The investments we made in 2025 laid an important foundation, and what we are adding in 2026 across in-stadium production, premium seating, and technology, raises the bar even higher. We believe Davis Wade Stadium is already one of the best environments in college football, and we continue to work to enhance it each year." |
| Isaac Smith excited to show MSU's defense | |
| Isaac Smith has been playing football at Mississippi State for a while. Some of its perks never get old. The senior safety will step out onto the field at Davis Wade Stadium for the fourth time this Saturday at 6:30 p.m. when the Bulldogs host Louisiana-Monroe in their first game of the season. "There's no better feeling in the world," Smith said. "Especially being back in this defense, being able to be back in Davis Wade, it's going to be electric, and I can't wait." The Itawamba AHS product made an impact in his junior year. His 64 tackles were the fourth most on the team and were complemented by three pass deflections, a sack, an interception and a fumble recovery. However, Smith was hampered by injuries as the season went on, which led to him missing two games, most of a third and the Duke's Mayo Bowl. He's healthy and ready for the opener, but the experience gave him a new mindset. "I'm going to leave it all out there in a game, nicked up or not. But playing hurt, it drives you to a different mind space, just knowing you can go out there and play hurt," Smith said. "Knowing that I'm healthy and the best I've felt, it just pushes my brain to the max capacity of what I can do out there on the field." |
| What former Zach Arnett players love about his return to Mississippi State football | |
| Mississippi State football's season opener against Louisiana-Monroe will mark the return of a familiar coach at Davis Wade Stadium. That's when Zach Arnett will coach his first game back as the Bulldogs' defensive coordinator, nearly three years after he was fired as head coach. Jeff Lebby hired him to replace Coleman Hutzler, who was fired after two seasons as the defensive coordinator. Arnett was MSU's defensive coordinator from 2020-22 under coach Mike Leach. He was promoted to head coach after Leach died in December 2022 but was fired 10 games into the 2023 season with MSU holding a 4-6 record. Arnett was an analyst at Ole Miss in 2024 and Florida State in 2025. It's created different perspectives from MSU players about Arnett's return. The players all noted the same thing about Arnett's defense. "It's aggressive," said defensive lineman Trevion Williams, who played for Arnett as a freshman in 2022. "I love the aggressiveness he likes. It's attack. He wants helmets forward and it's an aggressive-style defense. That's what we need to get back to what Mississippi State is built around." |
| Anthony Evans III is confident he can break MSU's receiving yards record. Here's how other Bulldogs have done it | |
| Standing firm behind the microphone, addressing the media at the Mississippi State football complex, a straight-faced and serious Anthony Evans III made a declaration. "Getting off to a good start, trying to be healthy. If all that happens, the record (MSU's single-season receiving yards record) will be broken," Evans said. Evans has his eye on the Bulldogs' single-season receiving yard mark, one he watched get broken by his former teammate Brenen Thompson last year. Thompson, who is now headed into his rookie year with the Los Angeles Chargers, finished last year with 1,054 yards on just 57 catches. Evans was in Thompson's shadow last season, but still shined in his role as wide receiver two. He had 67 catches for 831 yards and four touchdowns, and recorded the game-winning score in MSU's lone SEC win against Arkansas. He said staying healthy and a strong start will put him in a great position to take the record, but how did the other receivers on the record board do it? |
| Tennessee chancellor says SEC 'will not budge' on NFL rule | |
| The president of the SEC's executive committee, Tennessee chancellor Donde Plowman, told ESPN on Tuesday that the league "will not budge" on its rule that NFL players cannot return to college. Speaking on behalf of the SEC's presidents and chancellors, she made clear that the SEC is "prepared to defend our rules" and wants commissioner Greg Sankey to feel empowered to levy significant penalties. "We have a responsibility to try and lead the best we can in this time of chaos," Plowman said. "Our group is united on this. This is not a rule we will budge on." She added: "Enough is enough." Plowman's comments come amid a gripping potential showdown between LSU and the SEC over the eligibility of former NFL players who've committed to the Tigers but have yet to be formally added to the roster. Plowman stressed that the SEC presidents and chancellors are most concerned with the "narrow" issue of players returning from the NFL to college, which has emerged amid a flurry of eligibility lawsuits of players seeking a fifth year of eligibility in the wake of the NCAA's new eligibility rules. She called the return to college a "line in the sand" for the presidents and chancellors. |
| Dabo: NFL-CFB returners are 'embarrassing' for the sport, not a distraction for Clemson | |
 | Clemson football is set for a primetime matchup against the other Tigers in Baton Rouge, La., on Sept. 5, but LSU has been in the news the last two weeks for non-game related matters as coach Lane Kiffin attempts to bring in former NFL preseason camp players. Former Ole Miss tight end Dae'Quan Wright is with the team after being waived by the Cleveland Browns, and DT Zxavian Harris posted his commitment on Instagram on Aug. 24 after he was waived by the New Orleans Saints. LSU was also expected to retain former LB Jack Pyburn before the Kansas City Chiefs claimed him off the waiver wire. There's a court hearing on Thursday to determine whether the SEC can legally ban Wright and Harris from playing and penalize LSU if it defies that ban. Swinney joked at first about the situation during his Sept. 1 press conference, saying that he might get hit with a tampering charge because he watched a Browns practice in June. But when asked to go deeper on the situation, he shared his true thoughts: "I just think it's embarrassing where we are with college football, and we've been there for a while," he said. "It's a joke. There's zero rules, and when you enforce rules, somebody just goes and finds a judge and says, 'No, you can't enforce that rule.'" |
| Texas Tech is disrupting college football. But being a villain comes with a price | |
 | With a roar that shook the ground, the first plume of oil erupted from Santa Rita No. 1 on the morning of May 28, 1923, proof that oil flowed beneath the ground in the Permian Basin. Three months later, the lucky oil men sent a royalty payment of $516.63 to the owner of that original plot of land where the West Texas oil boom began: the University of Texas, some 280 miles to the east. By the time Texas Tech opened its doors in 1925, the massive oil field in its backyard had been discovered and divvied up, with some 2 million acres set aside for UT in Austin and Texas A&M in College Station, per the state constitution. Oil has been shaping the geographic and psychological terrain of Texas Tech's football rivalries ever since. For much of its history, Texas Tech was a roughneck cousin of the more well-heeled schools to the east, getting by on gumption and spite. Today, the landscape is changing. The Red Raiders have money, facilities, talent and a group of motivated boosters hell-bent on getting Texas Tech to the top. And not everyone is happy about it. "People just don't like disruptions in the way they think things should be ordered," said Cody Campbell, the former Texas Tech offensive lineman who made his fortune in the oil and gas industry and leads Texas Tech's cadre of donors. "We've certainly been a disruptor." The Red Raiders say they're embracing their role as villain. |
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