| Thursday, July 2, 2026 |
| MSU Riley Center receives endowment gift from Meridian's Davidson family | |
 | A new endowment from Marty and Linda Davidson of Meridian will support the continued operation and mission of Mississippi State University's Riley Center, MSU announced. The couple made their gift through the Community Foundation of East Mississippi. The endowment supports the Riley Center's operations and ongoing mission. The MSU Riley Center is located on the MSU-Meridian campus in downtown Meridian. The facility includes a theater with seating for nearly 1,000 and draws more than 80,000 visitors and 100 events per year to the city. It hosts nationally known artists and entertainers, educational conferences, and middle school and high school student events. The center also engages with a network of restaurant, retail and hotel enterprises. "Their generosity strengthens our ability to create memorable experiences for everyone who walks through our doors," said Morgan Dudley, MSU Riley Center executive director. "They are helping ensure we can continue to be a place where community, education and the arts thrive together, and we are profoundly thankful for their support and their belief in the Riley Center's impact." |
| Mississippi State partners with Uwill for free mental health support | |
 | Mississippi State University (MSU) will partner with Uwill, a leading mental health and wellness solution for colleges and students, to provide students with free, confidential, 24-7 telehealth access to licensed mental health support and on-demand wellness resources. This service started on July 1, 2026. "At Mississippi State, we are committed to making sure students have the support they need to thrive academically, personally and emotionally," MSU Vice President for Student Affairs Regina Hyatt said. "This partnership with Uwill will be a great addition to our amazing Student Counseling Services staff to ensure our students have resources available whenever and wherever they need them. By adding another layer of support, we are helping students build resilience, navigate challenges and succeed both inside and outside the classroom." |
| Watermelons, blueberries devastated by summer rain | |
 | Sources from an MSU press release say that, while some areas of Mississippi are still experiencing drought, recent double-digit rainfall in southern portions of the state devastated fruit and vegetable crops. Watermelons and blueberries are primarily grown in the southern half of the state, and growers there have seen high yield losses. "Some watermelon growers say they lost as much as 90% of their crop," said Heath Steede, Mississippi State University Extension Service agent in George County. "Others say their losses fall somewhere between 60% and 90%." Both Steede and Eric Stafne, Extension fruit and nut specialist based in Poplarville at the South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station, said they have received at least 30 inches of rain during mid-May to mid-June. Some areas have gotten even more. Farmers are losing even the remaining percentage of melons that were harvested. Vegetable crops in the area were also affected. Row crops, on the other hand, are faring much better. |
| Veteran TV broadcaster Marcus Hunter joins WTVA 9 News team | |
 | WTVA is excited to announce the addition of veteran news broadcaster Marcus Hunter. Hunter will serve as WTVA's weekday evening anchor, alongside anchor Daniella Oropeza and Chief Meteorologist Chelsea Simmons. His official first day on the anchor desk is Thursday, July 2. However, WTVA will formally introduce him on-air on Wednesday evening. The Columbus native is a veteran in the broadcast TV industry. Hunter spent 10 years in Memphis, Tennessee, eight years in Jackson and most recently anchored and reported at WCBI in Columbus. He's also a professor of practice at Mississippi State University, where he teaches broadcast journalism classes. |
| A group of farmers walked into the Oval Office. A policy fight broke out. | |
 | A group of farmers walked into the Oval Office last week expecting to smile as the president signed an executive order supporting the popular farming practice called regenerative agriculture, a method cheered by the Make America Healthy Again movement as an alternative to pesticides. Instead they were greeted by a virtual buzzsaw as President Donald Trump also brought in a top advocate who opposed the policy, prompting a live debate between top advisers, Cabinet secretaries and farmers. The roughly hour-long meeting, which ended with the president signing the executive order, provided a vivid illustration of the president's freewheeling governing style in action. The scramble showed that policy, even when it's the product of months of work and widely supported among top brass, can face an uncertain fate up until the moment the president puts his thick black marker to the page. "I thought the farmers ... were going in there just for a photo opportunity," said Jonathan Lundgren, a former scientist for the Department of Agriculture who runs a regenerative farm in South Dakota. "I didn't think that it was actually important that we had to convince the president to sign the executive order -- and we did." They were up against Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, which represents over 5 million farmers -- a prized constituency for Trump -- and who often has the president's ear. |
| Trump honors Theodore Roosevelt at new library site | |
 | President Donald Trump compared Theodore Roosevelt's tenacity and grit to America at the dedication of the former president's presidential library July 1 in Medora, North Dakota. "As America turns 250 years old, we look at this remarkable man and we recall that with effort, determination and drive there is nothing that Americans of competence can't do," he said. In a more than hour-long speech in 80-degree weather, Trump told stories of Roosevelt's strength and masculinity, despite a childhood plagued with asthma. The privately-run library focusing on Roosevelt's presidency is holding events for donors starting July 2 and will open to the public July 4. Trump announced that the library will receive $750,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support its first year. The library also received a $5 million grant this year from the Interior Department, now run by former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. Trump was accompanied on the tour by Burgum and Robbie Lauf, the library's executive director. He told reporters he was getting ideas for his own presidential library. "It's been really very inspiring. They've done a fantastic job with the museum," he said. |
| Workforce Pell Grant program ramping up in Mississippi | |
 | Mississippians looking to seek a degree or training in a high-skill, high-wage job will soon be able to apply for Workforce Pell Grant funds. Expanded access to the federal aid within Mississippi follows approval of a policy by the State Workforce Investment Board that will be used for recommendations for approval of those Workforce Pell Grant programs, Gov. Tate Reeves (R) announced. After the Workforce Pell program was approved by Congress in 2025 to expand access to the federal aid, Reeves asked AccelerateMS to work with the Mississippi Office of Workforce Development to coordinate in the program's implementation. Implementation of the new program begins today, July 1, and opens the door for Mississippians to use federal aid to get training through certain workforce education programs as short as eight weeks. Requirements state the short-term programs must be approved on the state and federal level. Those programs are expected to train people for in-demand jobs that offer high wages and require a high amount of skill. According to information posted on the Accelerate MS website, specific job titles eligible for the program could include EMTs, welders, machinists, pipefitters, plumbers, commercial truck drivers, heavy equipment operators and power line technicians. |
| State gives K–12 teachers earlier access to money for classroom supplies | |
| As the first day of school inches closer, Mississippi education officials are making it easier for K-12 teachers to access the money the state gives teachers to set up their classrooms. The Education Enhancement Fund, or EEF, procurement card program, which was established in 2012, gives every teacher $748 -- around $25 million in total -- to buy supplies for their classrooms. However, a report released last year by State Auditor Shad White's office concluded that $17.8 million of that money is locked when "teachers need it most" because the cards weren't activated for districts until Aug. 1, as required by state law. That meant teachers, in some cases, had to dip into their own pockets to purchase the supplies or start the year without things they needed. This year, the education agency is making the money available to districts on July 15 and shifting to a digital wallet platform instead of dispersing physical cards for payments. |
SPORTS
| Football: Kamario Taylor Welcoming High Expectations | |
| Did you open up any social media channels last weekend? If you did, you couldn't miss it. Mississippi State quarterback Kamario Taylor was down at the Manning Passing Academy turning heads and getting the college football world talking. "He's impressive in every way," one reporter posted of Taylor. "I'm buying as much stock as I possibly can," wrote another. Praise for Taylor was abundant and coming from all corners of the football-covering universe. Taylor is of course getting ready for his first full season as the starting signal caller for the Bulldogs. As the top-rated quarterback recruit in MSU history, he needed no help amplifying the expectations for him in Starkville. |
| Men's Hoops In Battle 4 Atlantis Field | |
| The Mississippi State men's basketball program had another piece of its 2026-27 non-conference schedule come into focus announced on Wednesday. The Bulldogs will be joined by Memphis, Penn State and Wake Forest at the Battle 4 Atlantis on November 25 and November 27 at the Imperial Arena in Paradise Island, The Bahamas. Game matchups, game times and television network assignments will be announced at a later date. State has already announced a SEC/ACC Challenge home matchup with Georgia Tech on December 2 in addition to a road trip to Marquette on December 12 to start a home-and-home series that has a return game at Humphrey Coliseum in 2027-28. Mississippi State is now accepting season ticket deposits for the 2026-27 season at www.HailState.com/tickets. |
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