| Monday, July 13, 2026 |
| MSU Space Cowboys win International Rocket Engineering Competition championship | |
 | According to an MSU press release, Mississippi State's Space Cowboys Rocketry Team is celebrating its victory as champions of the recent 2026 International Rocket Engineering Competition last month. Competing in Midland, Texas, against more than 140 collegiate teams from 16 countries, the MSU team secured the competition's highest honor in late June during the organization's 20th season. "Winning the overall championship was incredible, but what makes it even more meaningful is doing it during the Space Cowboys' 20th anniversary," said Shreyas Narsipur, the team's faculty advisor. "Bandit was named to honor Outlaw, our first rocket, and I think this team showed just how far generations of Space Cowboys have brought this program." The championship represents one of the most significant milestones in the program's history. Founded in 2006, the Space Cowboys competed in their first launch with Outlaw, establishing a tradition of student-led innovation. This year's rocket was named in honor of that first flight vehicle, paying tribute to the program's legacy while carrying it to new heights. |
| Research identifies farming practices that improve irrigation efficiency | |
 | Mississippi State scientists are building on two decades of irrigation research to identify production practices that help growers save water while improving crop yields. Dave Spencer, plant and soil sciences associate professor and scientist in the university's Mississippi Water Resources Research Institute, is studying how tillage, row spacing, fertility management and irrigation practices affect crop productivity and water use at the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station's Black Belt Branch in Brooksville. This project builds on more than 20 years of irrigation research at the university's Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville where Drew Gholson, plant and soil sciences associate professor and MAFES scientist, has studied how conservation practices affect soil moisture, irrigation demand and water-use efficiency in cotton production. Findings from the Stoneville study, recently published in Agricultural Water Management, showed cover crops improved water-use efficiency in cotton. |
| MSU research identifies farming practices that improve irrigation efficiency | |
| Mississippi State scientists are building on two decades of irrigation research to identify production practices that help growers save water while improving crop yields. Dave Spencer, plant and soil sciences associate professor and scientist in the university's Mississippi Water Resources Research Institute, is studying how tillage, row spacing, fertility management and irrigation practices affect crop productivity and water use at the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station's Black Belt Branch in Brooksville. The Brooksville team is comparing conventional and conservation-based production systems to determine which practices use water most efficiently while maintaining or even improving productivity. Soil moisture sensors, runoff samplers and irrigation equipment installed across 27 research plots allow scientists to track water movement and measure water-use efficiency. Researchers are evaluating wide- and narrow-row spacings, alternative nitrogen management strategies and no-till, reduced-tillage and cover-crop systems in corn-soybean and corn-cotton rotations. |
| Riley Center announces 2026 season lineup | |
 | The stage at the MSU Riley Center will once again welcome some of the biggest names in entertainment as the venue announces its 2026 Fall Performing Arts Series lineup. The upcoming season will feature five performances spanning Broadway, soul, pop, blues and rock, including Tony and Emmy Award winner Kristin Chenoweth, Grammy Award-winning vocalist Lalah Hathaway, Arrival From Sweden: The Music of ABBA, five-time Grammy winner Keb' Mo' and legendary rock band Little Feat during its Last Farewell Tour. "We are committed to presenting outstanding performances, serving our community and creating experiences that inspire, entertain and connect people through the arts," said Morgan Dudley, MSU Riley Center director. The season opens Saturday, Aug. 22, with Kristin Chenoweth, whose career has included Broadway, film, television and concert performances. Chenoweth earned a Tony Award for her role as Glinda in the original Broadway cast of "Wicked" and has performed at some of the world's most renowned venues. |
| FEMA Announces Millions in Federal Funds to Train Community Officials on Disaster Preparedness and Response | |
| FEMA recently made $90 million dollars in federal funding available to develop and deliver targeted, high-quality training courses for state, local, Tribal Nation, and territorial emergency managers and first responders. These community officials are on the frontlines of the nation's response to multiple threats, hazards and disasters. By ensuring they have access to high-quality training courses, FEMA empowers community officials to take charge of their own disaster management and emergency response. FEMA made $1.9 million available to Mississippi State University through the Alliance for System Safety of Unmanned Aircraft Systems through Research Excellence cooperative agreement. Mississippi State University will use it to develop and deliver high-quality FEMA training related to unmanned aircraft systems -- also known as drones. These courses cover how to use the technology during disaster response, such as for real-time data collection or coordinating air operations. |
| Mississippi tax-free weekend draws Mid-South shoppers looking to stretch back-to-school budgets | |
| Back-to-school shopping season is in full swing, and thousands of Mid-South families are taking advantage of Mississippi's annual sales tax holiday to save money on school essentials before classes begin. Retailers at Tanger Outlets in Southaven reported strong crowds Friday, with many expecting even heavier traffic throughout the weekend. While fashion is a priority for some students, others are focused more on the financial relief the tax holiday provides. Makayla Richmond, a Horn Lake resident preparing to begin her freshman year at Mississippi State University, said this year's shopping experience feels different because she's paying the bills herself. "It's different this year because the other year, I wasn't paying for my own stuff," Richmond said. "But this year, I paid for my own stuff. So if I can save money, I'd rather save money." |
| Retired MSU art instructor spending more time creating, showing work | |
 | Many artists create by transferring images they've seen onto canvas. Others find what comes to be on canvas is created from experiences. For him, artist Brent Funderburk believes the genesis of a painting starts with an experience. "I walk and watch," said the nearsighted, North Carolina-born artist. "I love nature. Experiences interest me more than pictures or objects." Being nearsighted very early on had a profound effect on Funderburk's artistic vision. While details at a distance can be lost to him, his ability to see things up close is keen. "Still," an exhibit of Funderburk's paintings and drawings will be on display through August 29 at Gumtree Museum of Art. It comes as no surprise to learn that as much as he loves art, Funderburk may be even more passionate about teaching. For 36 years, he was a faculty member of Mississippi State University's Department of Art. |
| Lauderdale County Tourism sees hotel numbers grow | |
| The first half of 2026 brought several large events to Lauderdale County, and tax revenue from local hotel stays reflect an increase in traffic through the area. Data show more than $55,000 in new hotel tax revenue over the previous year, which reflects a roughly 7.2% increase. Visit Meridian Executive Director Laura Carmichael said that figure is likely above 8% once the most recent numbers are added to the equation. The first six months of the year have been busy, and there's no sign the rest of the year will slow down. Multiple conferences, concerts, events and more are scheduled through the end of the year and into 2027. The MSU-Riley Center recently announced its new season of performances, a new exhibit "Building Your World" by artist John Jennings is open at The Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience and Smithsonian exhibit "Spark! Places of Innovation" is being hosted at Soulé Steam Museum through August. 15, are just three of many activities and events scheduled throughout the community. |
| Wilder hired as development director for Dispatch | |
 | Former city of Columbus grant writer/administrator Susan Wilder has been hired as director of development and philanthropic strategy for The Dispatch. Her first day will be July 20. In this newly created role, Wilder will be responsible for designing, building and executing the fundraising infrastructure for The Dispatch, as the newspaper seeks to add more philanthropic dollars to its revenue stream to support high-impact reporting projects. Wilder worked the last two years for the city, handling millions of dollars in grants for various projects. She was instrumental in securing funds for the Dr. John "Jack" Kaye Cretaceous Fossil Park on Luxapalila Creek and the Alva Temple Museum at Columbus-Lowndes County Airport, among many other projects. Peter Imes, publisher for The Dispatch, said while The Dispatch's circulation and advertising revenue remain strong, Wilder's position is meant to meet the innovative demands of local journalism. |
| Do We Really Feel This Lousy About the Economy, or Is a Key Survey Broken? | |
 | A key survey of American consumers is scraping bottom, showing they've never felt this lousy about the economy, even at the height of recessions or when the Covid pandemic raged. Is the survey itself the problem? That's what a growing number of critics, including several economists, say. They've pointed to methodology changes in the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index as bugs in the machine, saying they are skewing the results. On Friday, Michigan's Surveys of Consumers, which has been polling U.S. households since the 1940s, pushed back, saying the survey is sound. Instead, low sentiment likely reflects a profound shift in mood since Covid struck, according to survey director Joanne Hsu. "It shouldn't be too surprising that people felt differently about the world, including the economy, after the pandemic," she said. In 2024, Michigan moved to conducting its surveys via the web, rather than via cellphone -- a response to the ongoing problem surveyors face in reaching people by phone. Some critics think this made the sentiment index more downbeat, in part because research has shown that when people are surveyed online, they tend to be more negative. |
| Legislators expect special session on youth court reform as deal nears | |
| Legislative leaders are close to finalizing a deal on reforming Mississippi's youth court system and expect Gov. Tate Reeves to call them into a special legislative session soon, according to multiple lawmakers and negotiators involved in the discussions. It's unclear how wide-ranging the reforms to the court would be and when exactly the special session would take place, though several legislators speculate it will happen later this month. Reeves' office did not respond to a request for comment. The reason for the special session is that lawmakers debated a youth court reform bill during their 2026 regular session. The reform package also contained a measure extending the "repealer" in existing law on how confidential youth court records can be shared between courts, state agencies, attorneys and law enforcement. When a repealer, or sunset clause, is included in a state law, the law or a section goes away on a specified date unless the Legislature votes to reenact it. Because the Legislature didn't pass a measure extending the repealer, those confidentiality measures and other youth court laws expired. |
| Data centers lowered electric bills in some places -- for now | |
| Two-thirds of Americans think new data centers will increase electricity costs, according to a Harvard poll conducted last year. There's a logic to that belief: Data centers use tons of power, and average electricity prices have risen 39% nationally over the past five years, according to economic data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But a recent study from the Electric Power Research Institute, a non-profit research organization funded by government, academia, utilities, and the private sector, finds that new data centers weren't the main cause of that increase. Replacing aging grid infrastructure, recovering from natural disasters like wildfires and hurricanes, and fluctuating natural gas prices drove electricity prices higher, according to additional research from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and The Brattle Group. In fact, facilities powering AI and other digital platforms put downward pressure on electricity prices. But as data centers continue to grow, that trend may be starting to reverse. |
| A New Foe Has Emerged for Data Centers: Farmers | |
| America's farmers and cattle ranchers are raising red flags about the potential drain on local resources that the data-center construction boom poses to rural regions of the farm economy. The agriculture industry is warning that the AI-focused facilities are gobbling up farmland acreage, electricity and water needed to raise livestock and grow crops. "It's almost like the wild west to see who gets there first," said Philip Nelson, president of the Illinois Farm Bureau and a fourth-generation corn and soybean farmer in Seneca, Ill. Tech companies are investing unprecedented sums of money to finance a construction boom across the U.S. of huge data centers to fuel America's AI ambitions, largely in rural areas. Data center projects have been touted as a new source of growth for small towns and flyover country. While the precise number of data centers on farmland is difficult to determine, there are an estimated 5,000 finished or under-construction data centers across the U.S., according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. Farmland is an attractive target for technology companies. Data centers need large amounts of flat land and access to water and energy, the same as farmers do. |
| Lindsey Graham, defense hawk and four-term senator, dead at 71 | |
 | Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a long-standing foreign policy hawk who became a close ally of President Donald Trump during his final years, has died at 71 "from a brief and sudden illness," according to his office. Graham, who was first elected to represent South Carolina in the Senate in 2002 after spending four terms in the House, has played a key role in pushing legislation that advances the second Trump administration's agenda across the finish line. A foreign policy hawk, Graham, who was seeking a fifth term in November, spent many of his last days in Congress emphasizing the importance of the Trump administration's actions in the Middle East. Graham's death also comes after a recent visit to Ukraine, where he spoke with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Senate Majority Leader John Thune was among the first to respond to the news overnight. "As South Carolina's senior senator, Lindsey fought passionately for the Palmetto State. He was a trusted adviser and colleague to me and many others, and numerous presidents and heads of state have relied on his counsel. His influence on the federal judiciary, our national defense, and his beloved South Carolina will be felt for generations," the South Dakota Republican posted on X. |
| Oxford, UM receive FEMA funds | |
| Oxford and the University of Mississippi have received additional federal funding to reimburse costs associated with recovery from the severe winter storm in January. The funding was approved through the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Public Assistance program, which helps state and local governments recover eligible costs for emergency response and disaster recovery efforts. The University of Mississippi received approximately $1.5 million for debris removal efforts and emergency protective measures, while the city of Oxford was approved for approximately $1.3 million for debris removal. The reimbursements help offset costs incurred during cleanup following the January ice storm, which caused widespread damage, hazardous road conditions and extensive debris throughout the region. Local officials said the latest approvals represent only a portion of the financial assistance expected from disaster recovery efforts. |
| PILLAR Leadership Institute program's recent graduates include two staff of Delta State University | |
| Two employees of Delta State University have completed the PILLAR Leadership Institute program at Mississippi State University. PILLAR stands for Promoting Innovation, Leadership, Learning, Advancement, and Resilience. It is designed to cultivate leadership across Mississippi. Tameka Curry-Bryant, Director of Engagement and Advocacy, and Khadeisjh Dailey-Halsell, Administrative Assistant for Destination Graduation, both from DSU, are two of PILLAR's most recent participants.The program involved coursework on emotional intelligence, strategic planning, financial literacy, and workplace dynamics. |
| Alabama university professors, researchers oppose proposed federal grant overhaul | |
 | A federal proposal to restructure how billions of dollars in grant funding are distributed has drawn thousands of comments, with Alabama researchers among those voicing concerns about the changes. The federal Office of Management and Budget is proposing restrictions on how grants are distributed for agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts, National Science Foundation and the Department of Education to "improve transparency, accountability and oversight." The proposal calls for senior appointees to evaluate funding proposals, diminishing the role of peer review. The University of Alabama chapter of the American Association of University Professors called the proposed changes "an extreme and dangerous attempt by the federal government to insert politics into science" in a statement to AL.com. Ellen Eaton, a scientist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, wrote that requiring grant applicants and federally funded scientists to conform to an administration's political priorities "risks transforming scientific review from an objective process into a political one." |
| OU Vice President of Marketing and Communications resigns | |
| The University of Oklahoma's Vice President of Marketing and Communications Jennifer Hollingshead has resigned after three years at the university. In a press release Wednesday, the University of Texas at Dallas announced Hollingshead as its new vice president for communications and marketing effective Sept. 1. Hollingshead was appointed at OU in 2023. She led the charge for centralization of OU's Division of Marketing and Communications as part of its strategic plan and further development of the OU brand. Notable events at OU during Hollingshead's tenure include the renaming and restructuring of OU's former DEI office, the university's transition to the Southeastern Conference and an OU student gaining national attention after contesting a failing grade on a Bible-based essay. Prior to her time at OU, Hollingshead served at Rutgers University as vice chancellor of marketing and communications. She also served as the interim vice chancellor of marketing and communications and chief communications officer at the University of Missouri. |
| The University Where Kirk Died Ponders How to Remember His Killing | |
 | The pilgrims come every day to Utah Valley University, wandering through the sunny hillside campus in search of the spot where Charlie Kirk was assassinated. Some cry and say a prayer when they find the sunken plaza where it happened. Others come to snap selfies and livestream, squinting at the rooftop of the student center 400 feet away, where prosecutors say a man took aim with his grandfather's bolt-action rifle and killed Mr. Kirk at a crowded event in September. "It feels reverent," said Teresa Seeley, 42, who made a point to visit this week while her daughter was competing in a volleyball tournament at the university. "Somebody lost their life. Here." Utah Valley University does not want to be defined by Mr. Kirk's killing. But well before hearings began this week on whether to try Tyler Robinson, 23, for the assassination, the 48,600-student campus in Orem had become a pilgrimage site -- and a magnet for conspiracy theorists and assassination tourists. It is also wrestling with a divisive new quandary: How to commemorate the shooting that thrust a commuter college little known outside Utah onto the world stage. |
| Can Colleges AI-Proof Their Students? | |
 | In the age of AI, machines may be able to do a range of brainwork and tasks, like gathering and analyzing data or writing a report. So what crucial skill is left for colleges to cultivate in students, to enable them to stay ahead of the machines? That skill is critical thinking, says José Antonio Bowen, a former college president. Learning how to question the output of a large language model, and how to weigh it against reality, will be crucial, argues Bowen, a co-author of Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning. "We should be saying, 'By the way, students, that thing we just did, which I'm going to call critical thinking, is also called 'AI literacy.' We can rename that, because that is the skill that people want." Many people describe the future of college education in similar terms: Students, they say, will have to learn to think critically -- and not let the bots' quick and easy answers erode whatever cognitive skills they already have. Even some employers, who in the past have complained that graduates have lacked job-specific skills, have recently advocated for a broader focus on "durable skills" and the liberal arts, viewing them as vehicles for teaching students how to ask deep questions and ponder the accuracy of the answers. "Those are skills that everybody teaches in every class, even without AI," Bowen says. "We teach asking better questions, evaluating answers, creativity, critical thinking. We teach those things already." But do we? |
| As college graduates fret over jobs, what's actually coming is a record shortage of workers | |
| Even as job seekers fret about artificial intelligence and tech behemoths announce massive layoffs, Matt Walsh is finding it surprisingly hard to help technology companies hire certain kinds of workers. That's what Walsh's recruiting firm, Blue Signal, does. And in specialties including semiconductor production, "the unemployment rate is probably negative 20 percent," the CEO of the Phoenix-based search company said. "It's ridiculous. There just aren't enough people." College graduates booed commencement speakers who hyped AI, which has steadily reduced the number of entry-level jobs available, and Meta cited AI when laying off more than 8,000 workers in May. But economists are sounding alarms that the AI talk is masking a different problem. It's not that there won't be enough jobs, these experts say -- it's that the United States is already facing what's projected to be the biggest shortage of workers in its history. Among the trends that have been leading to this moment: a mismatch between the careers college graduates are pursuing and the kinds of jobs employers are struggling to fill. Far fewer students are majoring in health care fields than are needed to meet demand, for instance. |
| Is Anthropology Hopelessly Politicized? | |
| A month ago, 10 high-profile scholars released a document -- titled "Report on the State of Scholarship in the Humanities and the Humanistic Social Sciences" -- that lit up a million scholarly group chats. The chancellors of Vanderbilt University and Washington University in St. Louis, vocal critics of the purported politicization of higher education, charged the group with evaluating a number of disciplines for signs of political skew. The conclusion: All the fields showed "a deterioration in scholarly standards fueled by the substitution of political criteria for properly scholarly criteria in the assessment of research and a more general repudiation of longstanding ideals of rigor and objectivity." But one field was singled out as "the most extreme case" --- anthropology. Compared to philosophy, sociology, history, literary studies, and music studies, the discipline showed "a pervasive repudiation of ideals of objectivity together with a toxic intellectual climate in which reasonable dissent on politically charged topics is routinely suppressed and punished." Six days after the report went online, the AAA fired back with a full-throated defense. "Anthropologists welcome rigorous critique of the discipline," wrote its president, Carolyn M. Rouse. |
| Researchers worry a Trump rule could end U.S. scientific dominance | |
 | For two decades, Carmen Guerra has tried to detect cancer early by screening for it in the communities most impacted by the disease, including older adults, lower-income people, and racial and ethnic minorities. Now she's concerned that a proposed rule from the White House Office of Management and Budget could make her research ineligible for federal funding because it identifies health inequities. If her funding is cut, she worries that many cancers will get caught later, leading to more premature deaths. Guerra, a physician and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, is one of thousands of researchers who have been sounding the alarm about a proposed Trump administration rule that would make sweeping changes to how federal grants are awarded. When the Trump administration proposed the rule, "I felt a pit in my stomach," Guerra said, adding that the details were so troubling she couldn't read it in one sitting. "This potentially could mean the end of many careers, including my own." The changes would give White House political appointees more power over hundreds of billions of dollars in discretionary grant funding, diminishing the traditional role of scientific peer reviewers. |
| Yale Faces Rising Pressure to Resist a Settlement With the Trump Administration | |
| Fiery remarks from U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal are raising the heat on Yale University's president amid negotiations with the Trump administration. Yale is under scrutiny after a Justice Department investigation said its medical school discriminated against white and Asian applicants. A growing group of faculty, students and alumni -- including Yale Law grad Blumenthal -- are urging the university's leaders to resist making a settlement. During a Friday afternoon meeting with students and faculty, Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, said he had been "told very reliably" that Yale made a second settlement offer to the administration, after the first was rejected. He reported that he has spoken to Yale President Maurie McInnis twice. "We're at a legacy-defining moment," Blumenthal said. "Yale will be regarded either as a beacon and a fighter for academic freedom or as the weakling who succumbed and obeyed." The tensions at Yale come two months after the Justice Department's findings, which were part of a Trump administration probe into alleged racial bias at medical schools. |
| Twenty years later, Thad Cochran's vision of Delta Health Alliance still impactful, CEO says | |
| Karen Matthews, president and chief executive officer of Delta Health, writes for Mississippi Today: For many Mississippians, the late Sen. Thad Cochran's legacy is measured in roads, buildings, research centers and federal investments that changed communities across our state. But one of his most enduring accomplishments -- the Delta Health Alliance -- began with a simple idea: if Mississippi was going to improve the health of its residents, it had to start in the Mississippi Delta. Few places in America have faced the persistent challenges found in the Delta. Generations of residents have struggled with limited access to healthcare, high rates of chronic disease, poverty and educational barriers. These challenges were not isolated problems. They were interconnected, reinforcing one another and limiting opportunities for entire communities. Sen. Cochran understood that reality. Working alongside leaders from the Delta Council, he helped champion a vision that would eventually become Delta Health Alliance. |
SPORTS
| Two Bulldogs Taken During First Day Of MLB Draft | |
| A pair of Mississippi State players had their dreams come true during the first day of the 2026 MLB Draft on Saturday. Third baseman Ace Reese was selected 24th overall by the Seattle Mariners while reliever Ben Davis went in the fourth round (104th overall) to the Colorado Rockies. Reese is the 21st Bulldog to be selected in the first round and the first since Jurrangelo Cijntje in 2024, who coincidently was also drafted by the Mariners. The junior from Canton, Texas is the highest third baseman drafted in school history. Reese's home run tally in 2026 ranks fourth in a single season in school history while his 45 homers over the past two years are tied for ninth all-time at MSU. Davis also played two seasons in Starkville after transferring in as a two-way player from Itawamba Community College. The Booneville senior was selected second team All-SEC this season. Davis is the 15th pitcher from State that has been selected over the past three drafts. |
| Mariners draft third baseman Ace Reese at No. 24 overall in 2026 MLB draft | |
| The Mariners selected Mississippi State third baseman Ace Reese with the No. 24 overall pick in the 2026 MLB draft on Saturday. Pundits projected the Mariners to take a college pitcher in the first round, as they have done the previous two years, but they instead chose the 6-foot-4, 21-year-old third baseman who played the past two seasons for the Bulldogs. "I was super blessed. I've never been to Seattle, so I'm pretty pumped to get out there and see that, I've heard it's beautiful," Reese said. "It was an awesome experience, everything I've dreamed of." "We're extremely excited to get a player of Ace Reese's caliber," Mariners scouting director Scott Hunter said. "What we feel is one of the best pure college power bats in this draft. I mean, he's got a track record of success." "The information that comes back from our analysts show that he's probably one of the top three hitters in the country, and it profiles as a guy that's going to go out and have success right away," Hunter said. "I don't want to ever put a timetable on a player, but to do the things he was doing in the SEC, which is a totally different animal of baseball these days for college sports, it's really impressive." |
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