| Tuesday, October 6, 2026 |
| SEC Student Pitch Competition heads to Mississippi State | |
 | Ideas take center stage when student entrepreneurs from across the Southeastern Conference come together for the 11th annual SEC Student Pitch Competition October 19-20. Mississippi State University's Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach will host the 2026 competition, as students pitch their entrepreneurial ventures and compete before a panel of judges. It will include two preliminary rounds and one final round featuring the top three teams from the prelims. The top three teams will receive an award designed to help propel their businesses. The competition challenges students at the undergraduate and graduate level to communicate the purpose, potential and impact of their businesses in a concise and compelling pitch. Beyond the competition itself, the event provides students with valuable experience in entrepreneurship, communication and business development while connecting them with fellow student entrepreneurs from across the SEC. |
| Gateway to Ag Careers Scholarships Announced | |
| Seven students have been selected to participate in this year's Gateway to Ag Careers program, hosted by AgGateway and sponsored by the AgCIO Roundtable, with additional support from Syngenta. The selected students -- including Mississippi State University's Anslee Boyd and Ella Britt -- will attend the 2026 AgGateway Annual Meeting and Conference, November 9-11 in Nashville, to engage with attendees, sit in on educational sessions, and learn more about the many career opportunities that agriculture has to offer. "We're excited to be hosting these exceptional students at the 2026 Annual Meeting and Conference," says Brent Kemp, AgGateway President and CEO. "Interest in the program has continued to grow over the years, and participants bring a wide range of interests and disciplines to the program." AgGateway started the program because agriculture's long-term sustainability will rest on its ability to attract the best and brightest among the next generation of college graduates to build long-term careers in the industry. |
| Farish Street Green opens in Jackson to cool and revitalize historic area | |
| After years of planning, the Farish Street Green, an urban forest and outdoor event space, opened Monday in Jackson. The project on Farish Street between Amite Street and J.R. Meredith Drive was created by 2C Mississippi, in collaboration with Communities of Shalom, Mississippi State University's Jackson Community Design Center, and the Jackson Redevelopment Authority, which owns the three lots. The historic area was identified as one of Jackson's hottest areas through heat mapping efforts that began with a volunteer Heat Watch in 2020. The Green features approximately 100 newly planted sycamore, bald cypress, and eastern redbud trees, which will form a cooling canopy as they grow. The planning and community co-design were supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The USDA Forest Service funded the green infrastructure, while CoBank and Nissan contributed to additional elements. Landscape architecture and construction were completed by TREE Urban Design + Landscape Architecture, Master Masons Inc., and Southern Horticulture Company, with Southern Agriculture and Forestry Group serving as the certified arborist. |
| Lawmakers hear FY 2028 budget requests from state agencies | |
| The Joint Legislative Budget Committee met last week as lawmakers prepare for the upcoming 2027 legislative session which begins in January. Members of the committee heard from agency heads who presented their budget requests for Fiscal Year 2028. As is the norm in these annual preliminary budget meetings, most agencies requested increased spending. Some of the increases sought include: $93 million for the Institutions of Higher Learning. Increases are being sought for a variety of line items from the agencies, including state staff salaries and investment into specific services or projects. Notably, the Department of Health requested level funding, meaning no increase year-over-year in their $90 million budget. The Department of Finance and Administration also requested level funding in their $102 million budget. The joint committee will reconvene on November 4 to review the Legislative Budget Recommendation and adopt a Fiscal Year 2028 revenue estimate. |
| Republicans and Democrats find a unifying target: Pharmacy benefit managers | |
 | Amye Joseph says America's political polarization has made it an "interesting time" in her Tennessee household. She and her husband, Charlie, have been married for 35 years. She's a Republican. He's a Democrat. But their shared disenchantment with profit-driven healthcare has provided a unifying target: pharmacy benefit managers, known as PBMs. The Josephs' frustration is focused on CVS Health. The conglomerate, which reported $400 billion in revenue last year, includes a major health insurer (Aetna), one of the country's dominant PBMs (CVS Caremark), and America's largest retail pharmacy chain (CVS Pharmacy). "We hate CVS. I'm going to be straight-up," Amye Joseph said. She laments the lack of face-to-face interaction with pharmacists, prices that seem to rise without explanation, and pressure from the couple's CVS Caremark drug plan to use CVS stores instead of their local pharmacy. "They're not even a middleman," she said. "They're a money grab for CVS." PBMs were conceived as a way to manage prescriptions and hold down costs. But these middlemen have become bipartisan punching bags, accused of sucking up profits at the expense of employers, governments, and patients. And while healthcare debates still divide Democrats and Republicans in Washington, D.C., taking on PBMs has become a unifying cause in an era of widespread frustration over rising healthcare costs. |
| Delta State named top music business school by Billboard for 5th year in row | |
| For the fifth year in a row, Billboard magazine has named Delta State University's Delta Music Institute as one of the top music business schools in the world, Delta State officials announced Monday. The unranked annual list, which has not been released in full yet, is expected to have Delta State alongside other schools such as Abbey Road Institute in London, Berklee College of Music in Boston and Spain, Belmont University in Nashville, and Middle Tennessee State University. Each year, schools are selected on industry recommendations, alumni success, faculty credentials, and information provided by the institution, combined with research of Billboard staff. "Being recognized by Billboard for five consecutive years is an extraordinary honor for the Delta Music Institute and for Delta State University," DMI Director Dr. Richard Tremmel said. "This recognition reflects the dedication of our faculty and staff, the accomplishments of our students and alumni, and our continued commitment to providing students with relevant, hands-on preparation for careers throughout the entertainment industry." |
| South Carolina colleges can apply to offer new Pell Grants aimed at in-demand trades. So far, none have | |
| Nursing and medical assistants, mechanics and commercial truck drivers, welders and construction equipment operators. These are among the South Carolina careers newly eligible for low-income, federal education grants. But so far, colleges and trade schools in the Palmetto State have yet to seek approval for training programs under the recently expanded Pell Grant program. The U.S. Department of Education has signed off on 21 programs in six states -- Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, Texas -- since July, under new Workforce Pell grants. While Pell Grants have existed for a long time, the Trump administration's hallmark tax cut legislation -- the "One, Big, Beautiful" law -- opened up the financial aid to non-degree, certification programs as short as eight weeks long. Final federal rules were not released until May 18. South Carolina's employment agency opened up its first round of applications about a month and a half later. "That gave states and colleges only a few weeks to understand the requirements and begin putting the program into place," said Kelly Steinhilper, spokeswoman for the state technical college system. So, the lack of applications at this stage is not unexpected, she added. Colleges have a lot of hoops to jump through to qualify. |
| Michael Jordan makes $10 million commitment to UNC School of Social Work in honor of his mother | |
 | Six-time NBA champion and former North Carolina Tar Heels star Michael Jordan has made a $10 million commitment to the UNC School of Social Work in honor of his mother, Deloris P. Jordan. It's the largest single gift in the School of Social Work's history and will expand the reach and impact of the Global Social Development Innovations Center, according to a release Monday. The center will be renamed the Deloris P. Jordan Global Social Development Innovations Center and the Jordan Institute for Families. It will provide financial scholarships for Master of Social Work students. Jordan played for the Tar Heels from 1981-84, making the game winning shot in the 1982 NCAA Championship game as a freshman. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1986. "I'm proud to support the social workers who are on the ground each and every day helping people navigate challenges, find opportunities and build stronger communities," Jordan said. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State has a tradition so loud the SEC once banned it: A story of cowbells | |
 | No definite, factual origin story exists. The most popular one at Mississippi State is that a cow wandered onto the field during a game -- maybe in the 1930s, maybe against rival Ole Miss -- and it led to a comeback. After first trying to bring back the cow as a good-luck charm, students settled on cowbells, and a tradition was born. The most annoying tradition in the SEC, per many opponents, including the Auburn coach who led a 36-year ban on the cowbells. And the most beautiful tradition, per the Mississippi State fans who have passed the cowbells through generations, flouting that 36-year ban, and now ringing legally for 16 years ... per specific instructions, including from a classic Saturday Night Live skit. To be clear, there are no longer cows roaming around the Mississippi State campus, which looks like any other SEC campus, and Starkville, by major college standards, has a suburban neighborhood feel. But the cowbells will always remain as an ode to the past, and part of the school and football team's DNA. "It's such a communal symbol," Mississippi State athletic director Zac Selmon said. "And it is pretty loud." |
| Weather Alters MSU Baseball Exhibition Schedule | |
| Impending tropical weather has forced Mississippi State to alter its baseball exhibition schedule this weekend. The Diamond Dawgs were set to take on Auburn on Friday and Southern Miss on Saturday in the Hancock Whitney Coast Classic. Mother Nature had other ideas and will now move MSU's exhibition with Auburn to Thursday at 6 p.m. at Keesler Federal Park and the contest against the Golden Eagles has been canceled. All tickets for Friday's game will be honored on Thursday night. Tickets for Saturday's game can be exchanged for Thursday's game at the Keesler Federal Park box office. For those who are unable to attend either game, fans can contact the Biloxi Shuckers ticket office. Gates for Thursday's game will open at 5 p.m. State also has two other exhibition games on the schedule this fall. The Bulldogs play Western Kentucky on Oct. 18 in Jackson, Tennessee before closing out their fall slate at home hosting Little Rock on Oct. 30. |
| What's next in SEC's lawsuit vs LSU? | |
 | The ball remains in the SEC's court as the conference's legal battle against LSU continues. Per court filings on Monday, Sept. 28, an order has been filed by presiding Judge Annemarie Carney Axon requesting the SEC respond by or on Tuesday, Oct. 13 to LSU's motion to have the lawsuit dismissed. Judge Axon's order also requested a reply, "if any," from LSU by Tuesday, Oct. 20. The bottom line? If the SEC is going to keep its lawsuit against LSU alive, a decision may be made by Oct. 13. Then, LSU will have the option to respond depending on what the SEC replies. A federal hearing was scheduled to take place at Hugo L. Black United States Courthouse in Birmingham on Sept. 9, but was cancelled and set to be rescheduled in a separate order. At the hearing, Axon was originally expected to rule on the SEC's request for a temporary restraining order against LSU. Following the postponed hearing, tensions briefly cooled when the SEC released a statement indicating the two sides were working toward a resolution. That changed after the conference learned of LSU's motion for dismissal on Sept. 25. "We are deeply disappointed that this filing came amid efforts to reach a resolution with LSU that would address our other member universities' concerns about LSU's commitment to the conference's rules and shared governance responsibilities," the SEC said in a statement. "Those concerns remain unresolved." |
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