| Wednesday, May 20, 2026 |
| Cooking Matters: healthier eating on a budget | |
 | Cooking Matters is a hands-on cooking class for adults eighteen or older, families with young children, and caregivers or guardians of young children. The Cooking Matters program focuses on how to cook and prepare healthy and affordable meals for the entire family. In partnership with the Mississippi State University Extension, Cooking Matters offers a free six-week course led by trained educators. "This class is an empowering educational tool that can be utilized throughout a lifetime," said nutrition educator Grace Brinster. "Something that we encourage class participants to do is to bring home the culinary skills that we're learning in class to their friends and family." Brinster has been working with the Mississippi State University Extension Service for four years and recently moved to Pearl River County. She describes Cooking Matters as an educational tool that teaches lifelong skills like how to make healthy food choices and encourages participants to share the skills learned in class with their families. |
| Starkville man charged after hidden recording device found in home | |
| A Starkville man was arrested Monday after police said a covert recording device was discovered inside a residence on Woodlawn Road. Officers with the Starkville Police Department responded Sunday, May 17, to a report of a recording device that had allegedly been secretly placed inside the home. Police said the suspect was not at the residence when officers initially arrived. Following an investigation, officers arrested Scott Gronewold, 50, at about 11:49 p.m. Monday at his residence on Woodlawn Road. Gronewold was charged with photographing or filming another person without permission where there is an expectation of privacy under Mississippi law. Anyone with information about the case or other criminal activity is asked to contact the Starkville Police Department at 662-323-4131, Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers at 800-530-7151, or submit an anonymous tip through the department's website. |
| Tupelo Lee Industrial Park South upgrades on horizon | |
 | Lee County officials are planning to further develop the Tupelo Lee Industrial Park South, with an eye toward funding those upgrades through state grants. The Lee County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to authorize officials to sign a development grant agreement with the Mississippi Development Authority for the industrial park during its regular Monday meeting, a move that puts them in the running for a $2 million grant to go toward the improvements. Community Development Foundation President and CEO David Rumbarger hopes this groundwork will entice future commercial development. "That park has been a Top 20 park nationally over a number of years, and we've sold a lot of property out of that park," he said. "We are excited about having this potential opportunity." Dozens of companies already call the area home, including General Atomics, Hunter Douglas, Morgan Fabrics, Grammer Inc., and Mitchell Distributing. |
| Mississippi Democratic Party plans boycotts, protests in wake of SCOTUS ruling | |
| The chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party said Tuesday that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to vacate a lower court's ruling regarding legislative redistricting will be met with pre-Voting Rights Act era tactics. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated an order from a three-judge panel that forced legislative redistricting in 2025 under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in light of its ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. The resulting special legislative elections held last year saw Republicans lose their supermajority in the state Senate. The Callais case, recently decided by the nation's highest court, found that race could not be used as a determinative factor in drawing districts, changing the evidentiary standard required to sustain an alleged racial discrimination claim under the Voting Rights Act. Democratic Party chairman State Rep. Cheikh Taylor said people opposed to the ruling will practice nonviolence, such as boycotts, to protest the decision, which he says could lead to the loss of 17 seats in the Mississippi House of Representatives and 7 seats in the state Senate. During a press conference in downtown Jackson at the party's headquarters, the Democratic Party chairman called the ruling "a defining moment" in political history. |
| Mississippi Democrats fear big losses in Legislature from redistricting, vow to organize | |
| One estimate shows Democrats could lose as many as 24 seats in the Mississippi Legislature from GOP-led gerrymandering, the state party chairman said Tuesday. At a news conference in Jackson, Rep. Cheikh Taylor, Democratic Party chairman, said he has reviewed maps Republicans might adopt in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's Louisiana v. Callais ruling, which gutted part of the Voting Rights Act. Taylor said he fears Democrats could lose as many as 17 seats in the House and 7 seats in the Senate. He also cited a report published last fall in anticipation of the Callais decision by voting rights organizations Fair Fight Action and Black Voters Matter. The report said nearly half of the state's Black-majority districts, 29, could be eliminated if Republicans adopt an aggressive redistricting strategy encouraged by some in the majority party. "We will continue organizing, we will continue educating, mobilizing and building leadership in every corner of Mississippi, from the Delta to the Coast, from Jackson to the smallest rural community. Every church house and every college campus," Taylor said. "Our fight is not over, and in many ways it's just the beginning." |
| Sparks enters race for State Auditor | |
| State Senator Daniel Sparks' name has been tossed around for State Auditor for going on two years. The Republican from Belmont who once downplayed those rumors is now throwing his hat in the ring for the statewide office. "I actually went to the State Auditor a couple years ago because I kept hearing my name bubbling up and I wasn't the one bubbling it. I wanted him to understand it wasn't me," Sparks told Magnolia Tribune Tuesday morning ahead of his announcement. With incumbent State Auditor Shad White (R) now all but officially running for governor in the 2027 election cycle, Sparks has decided to run for the open seat. "I appreciate that there were people talking about it before I was talking about it," the senator said. "So I hope that that certainly means it is the right fit. And I would certainly be excited to have the opportunity to move into that role." Sparks is a two-term state Senator representing Itawamba, Prentiss, and Tishomingo counties in Senate District 5. |
| Reid Selected as UA's Next Provost | |
| Dr. Lesley Reid has been selected as The University of Alabama's next provost after serving as interim provost since November 2025. Reid will continue to provide innovative academic and administrative leadership that will propel the University to develop leaders, drive research, strengthen communities and steward resources. "Dr. Lesley Reid is a highly respected academic leader who brings to this role a deep understanding of The University of Alabama, our faculty and our academic mission," UA President Peter J. Mohler said. "Throughout her time as interim provost, she has led with thoughtfulness, integrity and a strong commitment to shared governance and open communication, empowering faculty and engaging with students. I am particularly excited about her vision focused on academic mentoring and faculty leadership across UA." A respected scholar, Reid is a criminologist whose research centers on the characteristics of places, from neighborhoods to correctional institutions, that shape safety and risk of criminal victimization. |
SPORTS
| Is big-budget spending sustainable in college sports? | |
| Few industries embrace buzzwords the way college athletics does, which is why -- with spring sports coming to a close -- the impending offseason is destined to be remembered as the moment of alleged "unsustainable" spending. From Washington athletic director Pat Chun to Michigan State athletic director J Batt to Colorado coach Deion Sanders, "unsustainable" has become the decree of recent months. Heck, everyone from Charles Barkley to Ted Cruz to Nick Saban has dropped the U-word. The place where unsustainable meets thriving is the Big Ten, which is hosting its spring conference meetings in Southern California this week. The ongoing paradox of college sports -- high ratings and loud complaining, $5 million-plus deals for players countered by concerns about how to pay them -- met with the conference's championship realities here. "What is unsustainable?" Maryland athletic director Jim Smith asked ESPN. "Is it three years? Five years? Ten years? Every time I hear when people say it's unsustainable, I'm not sure what timeframe they're talking about because clearly it keeps happening." |
| NAACP calls for Black student-athletes to boycott Southern schools amid redistricting backlash | |
 | The NAACP launched a campaign Tuesday calling on Black student-athletes to boycott Southern colleges in the wake of a Supreme Court decision last month that weakened the Voting Rights Act, leading to the dismantling of one majority-Black congressional district and a push to scrap others. "The NAACP will not watch the same institutions that depend on Black athletic prowess to fill their stadiums and their bank accounts remain silent while their states strip Black communities of their voice," NAACP National President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement. The group is urging Black recruits to withhold their commitments from a list of universities primarily within the NCAA's Southeastern Conference. The schools are in the following states: Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Georgia. The "Out of Bounds" campaign comes as voting rights advocates, across generations, are grappling with what they see as the latest blow to one of the most seminal victories of the nation's Civil Rights Movement. |
| Black leaders turn to collegiate sports in fight over Southern representation | |
 | Black leaders searching for a response to Republican-led redistricting in the South are turning to an unorthodox pressure point as their legal and political options dwindle: college sports. On Tuesday, the NAACP announced the Out of Bounds campaign, urging fan boycotts and Black student athletes to avoid committing to top public athletic programs in Southern states. It comes just one day after the Congressional Black Caucus came out against the SCORE Act, a bipartisan effort to give the NCAA renewed authority to regulate the collegiate athletic system, at least temporarily derailing the legislation. All told, it amounts to a Hail Mary campaign from Black political leaders who have little recourse in the courts, legislatures or Congress to stop a wave of redistricting targeting majority Black seats after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. The NAACP is calling on fans to avoid spending money at public universities in these states, including buying tickets to sporting events and spending money on apparel, until they "repeal maps that dilute Black voting power." |
| Flag football moves toward NCAA championship status | |
| Flag football took a big step Tuesday, receiving a formal recommendation to become an NCAA championship sport. Its first championship is projected to occur in spring 2028. The NCAA Committee on Access, Opportunity and Impact voted at its spring meeting to recommend Divisions I, II and III sponsor legislation to add a National Collegiate Flag Football Championship. The committee oversees the Emerging Sports for Women program, which aims to grow participation and competitive opportunities for women's sports across the NCAA. "Girls want to play. Whenever you give access and opportunity to an easier way to play, the better the success and numbers in participation you see," said Jacqie McWilliams Parker, chair of the Committee on Access, Opportunity and Impact and Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association commissioner. "The young women who are currently playing at our institutions, some never even thought about being able to play in college. Now they have their opportunity. As we hit the next steps to becoming an NCAA championship, I'm excited we're providing access and opportunity." |
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