| Monday, September 14, 2026 |
| Hopes high for Mississippi sweet potato harvest | |
 | While some crops have suffered through the dry and hot weather in Mississippi, the state's sweet potato crop largely got rain at all the right times and hopes are high for a good crop. Lorin Harvey, sweet potato specialist with the Mississippi State University (MSU) Extension Service, said harvest began the last week of August 2026. "It's a strong looking crop, but you can never really tell until you start digging," Harvey said. "We got timely rains, which will probably be the biggest factor for this year's success." Mississippi is known nationally for its sweet potato crop. This year, officials said farmers planted about 35,800 acres of it, an increase of almost 10%. "That's a pretty big jump in the world of Mississippi sweet potatoes," Harvey said, noting that the crop is up nearly 25% in the last five years. "I attribute this year's acreage increase to a combination of last year's poor crop yields, which resulted in high demand and higher prices, and the abysmal prices of most other commodities. It's a lot easier to justify growing more acres of sweet potatoes when it's just about the only thing that makes money." |
| Mississippi's sweet potato acreage up, yields appear to be good | |
 | While some crops suffered through hot, dry weather, Mississippi's sweet potato crop largely got rain at all the right times and hopes are high for a good crop. Lorin Harvey, sweet potato specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said harvest began the last week of August. Planting season is an involved process for sweet potatoes, but it went fairly smoothly this year. As with many row crops, sweet potatoes benefit from an early planting date. "Over the last five years, you can see a pretty clear decline in plant survival in fields that were planted after about June 12," Harvey said. "That's usually when the rain slows down and temperatures start to ramp up." This year, many farmers were able to get into the fields in late April and took advantage of cooler temperatures that let the plants get established before the summer heat. |
| Why do I talk in my sleep? A sleep psychologist explains | |
| Mississippi State University's Michael Nadorff writes for The Conversation's Curious Kids feature: Everyone sleeps, but not everyone understands much about sleep. One of my favorite parts of being a sleep psychologist is that when people hear what my job is, they always have tons of questions, like why do we need to sleep? Why do we dream? Do dogs dream? I get that one a lot, and the answer is yes! Sometimes people want to chat about their sibling they share a room with who mumbles nonsense out loud all night long. Or maybe they've been teased themselves after delivering a complete but one-sided conversation while fully asleep at a slumber party. I've studied sleep for almost two decades, and I'm still not tired of discussing different aspects of it, especially what are called parasomnias: things your body does or your mind goes through while you're asleep, such as nightmares, sleepwalking or talking in your sleep. Most are common and completely harmless; they only count as a disorder when they happen so often that they cause real problems. |
| 9/11 memorial held at Mississippi State | |
 | First responders and a fraternity worked together to host a 9/11 memorial. On the Mississippi State University campus in Starkville, a stair climb memorial was held at the Davis Wade Stadium, honoring the courage of first responders who walked the 110 flights of stairs in the World Trade Center. It was able to take place with the help of Lambda Chi Alpha. Many of the firefighters did the climb in full gear. They were not alone, as EMS, military members, police, students a members of the public were a part of the climb as well. "These men were going up crowded stairwells with people running down the stairwells to get away from what they were running towards," said training chief Brain Arnett. "They were dressed in 60 pounds of gear, carrying an additional 40 to 50 pounds of equipment and running up those stairs to what everyone else was running away from. So, to me, just to come out and do 110 stories is just to remember the sacrifice that these people made, and in some small way to try to honor that memory of being prepared, and when you're called, ready to go." |
| Starkville Utilities proposes 2% annual electric rate increases through 2028 | |
 | Starkville Utilities hopes to implement incremental electric rate increases, raising the base customer rate by about $2 annually over the next three years. Edward Kemp, general manager for the utility, said the proposed plan would generate an additional $650,000 a year that will help fund capital improvements. Even with the rate increases, however, Kemp said the electric department's Fiscal Year 2027 budget will include a $375,000 shortfall. "The story on this is really the increased (operation and maintenance costs)," he told the board of aldermen Friday during a work session at City Hall. "I know everyone has seen that and felt that whether it be doing maintenance on your vehicle or buying groceries at the store or doing any type of construction. We've certainly seen it in the electric department as well." Kemp said the proposed rate increases would be the first implemented by Starkville Utilities in a decade, though wholesale price hikes from Tennessee Valley Authority were passed onto utility customers in 2023 and 2024. Those increases ranged between 4.5 to 5%, he said. |
| Oktibbeha expects nearly $10M more in property tax revenue | |
| Supervisors adopted a $137.33 million budget Friday that projects property tax collections to generate nearly $10 million in additional revenue to fund county operations and Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District's tax request. The board approved the Fiscal year 2027 budget Friday following its public hearing at the Chancery Courthouse. Of the $10 million in additional revenue, about $5 million will fund SOCSD's tax request. The remaining $4.61 million will hopefully keep the county from tapping its cash reserves to cover any shortfall as it did the last two fiscal years, Board President and District 5 Supervisor Marvell Howard previously told The Dispatch. Even still, the budget allows the county to pull $219,551 from reserves for the general fund just in case. "(Budgeting) being an art, you tend to plan a little bit on the worse side as far as collections and expenditures are concerned," County Administrator Wayne Carpenter, who helped prepare the budget, told the board Friday. |
| Public input session planned for Starkville skate park on Sept. 30 | |
| The City of Starkville will host a public input session Sept. 30 to hear what the community has to say about a skate park planned for construction at the Starkville Sportsplex. The Starkville Community Skate Park public input session will take place Sept. 30, at 5:30 p.m. at the Travis Outlaw Center, 405 Lynn Lane. "The goal is to open the skate park's design to public suggestions and give the design firm an opportunity to gather details that will inform the final design," said Mayor Lynn Spruill. "We plan to provide a first-class skate park in Starkville, and an important step is making sure that skateboarders and other community stakeholders have a voice in the process." The $400,000 project is funded in part by a $120,000 grant from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Recreational Trails Program, with the remaining $280,000 contributed by the City of Starkville. |
| Starkville emerges as Mississippi leader in textile recycling initiative | |
| One presentation at a professional conference. One idea brought home. More than nine tons of reusable material kept out of Starkville's landfill. That's the remarkable chain of events that has positioned Starkville as one of Mississippi's emerging leaders in textile recycling through an innovative partnership between the City of Starkville and America's Thrift Stores. Since the program launched last August at the City's Think Green Recycling Center, residents have donated more than 18,216 pounds of gently used clothing, shoes, books, household goods and other reusable items. Rather than entering the waste stream, those donations are given a second life through America's Thrift Stores, which extends the life of reusable goods while supporting charitable organizations, including Make-A-Wish. |
| Full circle: Toyota Mississippi president Aaron Foster was one of the first hired 19 years ago | |
 | Aaron Foster's career at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi has come full circle. The Iuka native was among the first group hired when the plant was announced in 2007, joining the automaker as a paint engineer. After serving in leadership roles through the years across multiple departments including production, engineering, maintenance and administration, he was named Toyota Mississippi's seventh president in June. As the plant's top executive, Foster is responsible for all manufacturing and administration functions of Toyota Mississippi. "I've just been very fortunate to be able to be here from day one, and risen through the ranks and done all the jobs," Foster said. Foster's entry into the automotive industry began shortly after receiving his Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Mississippi State University, when he joined Nissan as it was starting up its plant in Canton in 2003. |
| Mississippi's Camp Shelby designated as a permissive test range | |
| The Mississippi National Guard, in partnership with the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC), announced last week that that the Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center has been designated as a permissive test range under the U.S. Army's Permissive Test Range Expansion Initiative. The initiative is designed to accelerate delivery of advanced capabilities to American warfighters by lowering barriers for commercial innovators, including non-traditional defense companies, to test emerging technologies on military ranges. "We are thrilled to partner with the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command," said Major General Bobby M. Ginn Jr., adjutant general of Mississippi and commanding general of the Mississippi National Guard. Through the initiative, companies developing systems such as drones, counter-drone technologies, long-range fires and low-cost interceptors will be able to access Camp Shelby’s extensive airspace, maneuver areas, and range infrastructure. |
| Famous storm chaser finds peace amid the chaos in his Mississippi Coast home | |
 | The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season may be off to a slower start than usual, but that doesn't mean life is less busy for Josh Morgerman, a world-renowned storm chaser and new-ish Bay St. Louis resident. In a cottage he built a few blocks from the beach, Morgerman watches, waits and tracks tropical systems across the world and updates his thousands of followers online who know him as iCyclone. It's been a little more than two years since Morgerman moved into his Hurricane House 2.0, a New Orleans-inspired cottage built with James Hardie fiber cement siding made to withstand hurricane-force winds. Morgerman decided to call the Bay home after spending a summer here in 2020, but his job is intense, sporadic and often requires split-second decisions on global travel. But when he's not loading up his car and hitting the road to track hurricanes or catching a flight to position himself in the eye of a typhoon, you might find Morgerman having brunch at the Mockingbird Cafe or biking down the beach toward Biloxi. "There is something calming about this place," Morgerman said from his sofa on a warm summer afternoon. "It's perfect." |
| Gov. Reeves announces $104 million awarded to 167 rural healthcare projects in Mississippi | |
| Hundreds of millions of dollars are being doled out to medical facilities across Mississippi as part of the state's rural health transformation program. Gov. Tate Reeves on Monday announced 167 awards totaling $104,115,146 through the program. The awards are part of Mississippi's $205.9 million first-year implementation budget, which officials said will be allocated this year. The Republican governor added that the funding will help modernize, strengthen and transform healthcare in rural communities across the state. The awards the governor announced represent the first three grant opportunities in the inaugural year of a five-year transformation of rural healthcare in Mississippi. Applications for the Mississippi Rural Health Transformation Program's workforce and psychiatric emergency services initiatives are currently being reviewed and will be announced in the next 30 to 45 days, Reeves said. Officials are hopeful that the investments will help Mississippi train, recruit and retain the healthcare professionals rural communities need. |
| How Inmates With Contraband Phones Are Scamming Families Across America | |
 | When Art Monk began getting calls and texts from In & Out Bail Bonds saying his adult child was in jail and needed help, Monk's first reaction was swift and harsh. Their relationship had been fractured for years, and Monk was in no mood to get involved in the latest crisis. "Not my problem," the 68-year-old retired engineer texted back. "He wished me dead. So I am." But soon, Monk softened. "He truly needs to be in a hospital. Not jail," he later texted the caller, who identified himself as "James." Over the coming days, Monk kept chatting with James, whose polite Southern drawl and professional concern inspired trust. Monk also started sending money via Cash App for bail, rehab and psychiatric medication. Monk handed over nearly $12,000. He would have been better off staying out of it. His grown child was indeed incarcerated, and In & Out Bail Bonds is a real business. But James wasn't a bondsman. He was an inmate himself, locked up two hours away at Washington State Prison in Davisboro, Ga. Monk had been duped, according to charges later laid out in arrest warrants secured by the local sheriff's department. Fraud is becoming the unpleasant background noise of American life. Federal Bureau of Investigation cybercrime complaints topped $20.9 billion in reported losses last year. Many originate overseas, but a surprising number come from inside the walls of U.S. prisons. |
| Hyde-Smith campaign launches fake website attacking Senate challenger Colom; Democrats respond | |
| It's no secret that political races can get heated and even down-and-dirty. But the current race for a U.S. Senate seat representing Mississippi has the Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith taking an unconventional route to criticize her opponent. Hyde-Smith's campaign announced Wednesday that it had launched a fake campaign website called "ColomForSenate.com." The URL appears as though it was created by Democratic challenger Scott Colom, and according to a press release from Hyde-Smith's campaign, the site was designed "to inform voters of Scott Colom's true platform and record." The website follows a series of attacks Hyde-Smith's campaign has levied at Colom, who is a Lowndes County-based district attorney. Hyde-Smith's campaign is also using the website to discourage moderate voters and more centrist Republicans from voting for Colom in the Nov. 3 general election. While Colom did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the website's creation, the Mississippi Democratic Party did step in and condemn the move. State Rep. Cheikh Taylor, the party's chairman, asserted that Hyde-Smith's team is resorting to such attacks because of what he described as a damaged record. |
| Pre-election agenda may prove too ambitious for Congress | |
 | With college football season in full swing, lawmakers in Congress could take up student athlete compensation issues facing intercollegiate athletics. They could follow last week's 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks with legislation to address a lapse in surveillance powers. They could try to sort through the thicket of cryptocurrency regulations. But the safe bet might be on them doing none of that. The reality is that the House and Senate don't have a lot on the fall agenda they absolutely must do before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, especially with President Donald Trump having already signed into law a continuing resolution funding the government through Dec. 11. The House is only expected to be in session for one week before members return to their districts ahead of the elections, and the chamber now appears on track to meet or beat its modern record for the earliest House members to have left in an election year -- Sept. 18 in 2014. The results of the midterms will dictate how aggressively the postelection lame-duck agenda will tack, with Democrats likely eager to push matters into calendar year 2027 if they succeed in winning back the majority in Congress, or at least the House. |
| Trump downplays calls for AI slowdown | |
 | President Trump downplayed concerns that AI could go rogue after several leaders in the tech industry called for putting the brakes on its development. Speaking to reporters at his Doonbeg golf resort in Ireland, the president said the dire warnings about AI were exaggerated and that "negative forces" are making claims about things that won't happen. "We're leading China in AI, we're the most sophisticated country in the world, and frankly, I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI, wins," Trump said. "And we can put guardrails, we can do this and that. But I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up that shouldn't be bringing it up." During an interview on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said there should not be a moratorium on the technology because "China will overlap us." Instead, Johnson said he would like for tech companies to take the lead creating safer AI. Trump's and Johnson's comments follow warnings from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who posted an essay online Saturday, calling for companies and governments to slow down how fast the capabilities of AI are improved. |
| Trump Sees Race Against China as Key Issue on AI Regulation | |
| President Trump and White House AI adviser David Sacks this weekend defended the administration's strategy of minimal regulation after the heads of the nation's top artificial-intelligence companies endorsed a coordinated slowdown in the technology's development. "We can put up guardrails, and we can do this and that, but I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up," Trump told reporters Sunday while traveling in Ireland. "And they're bringing up things that won't happen." The president reiterated his belief that the U.S. must outpace China in building AI, saying "whoever wins AI wins." AI executives have said government support would help such an initiative by giving the companies assurance that coordination wouldn't violate antitrust rules or cause other problems. Sacks said on X late Saturday that government involvement isn't needed if OpenAI and Anthropic, the two companies seen as leading the industry's development, agree to coordinate. "Stop pretending you need anyone else's permission," Sacks, a venture capitalist, said in the post. "Go ahead and pace the frontier. You are the ones setting it." Former President Barack Obama at a private fundraiser Thursday urged Democrats to develop a strategy with sensible guardrails to maximize the benefits of AI and prevent catastrophe. |
| Fed poised to clash with Trump | |
| As the Federal Reserve weighs whether to raise interest rates this week, Chair Kevin Warsh must choose between breaking markets' trust and triggering President Donald Trump's ire. Vice President JD Vance and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently joined the president in arguing for lower interest rates. But investors overwhelmingly expect Warsh to deliver on his hawkish speech in Jackson Hole last month. Disappointing them would hurt his credibility, particularly after the government said that prices beyond food and energy rose more in August than expected. The damage could be severe enough to boost borrowing costs even in the absence of a hike. "Warsh's Jackson Hole speech led the market to expect a hike if the inflation news was imperfect, and while the [consumer price index] was not concerning, it was imperfect," Goldman Sachs analysts wrote. Officials "might worry about the consequences of not hiking for market perceptions." |
| UN and FAO select USDA's Luke Lindberg to lead World Food Program | |
| Agriculture Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Luke Lindberg has won the position of executive director of the United Nations World Food Program, DTN has learned. The appointment for the Rome-based position is for five years. The intended appointment was revealed Friday in a letter Courtenay Rattray, the chief of staff to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, sent to Carla Barroso Carneiro, permanent representative of Brazil to the Food and Agriculture Organization and president of the World Food Program executive board. The most recent executive director was Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who President Biden nominated. In the letter, Rattray noted that Guterres and Qu Dongyu, the director general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, had selected Lindberg, who had been nominated by the Trump administration. Lindberg is the son-in-law of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. When his role begins, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins will have to select a new undersecretary -- a nominee who will have to undergo a Senate confirmation hearing and vote. Congress has many eligible retiring senators and congressional representatives who could fill his role. |
| Security breach at IHL affecting Office of Financial Aid occurred Monday, not Thursday when IHL made it known | |
| A security breach to the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning network, which includes the Mississippi Office of Student Financial Aid, occurred earlier this week, but it appears universities were not alerted until days later, Magnolia Tribune has learned. According to a press release issued by IHL Thursday afternoon, the Office of Student Financial Aid was impacted by the security breach but there were no reported impacts to any individual higher educational institution. John Sewell, Director of Communications for IHL, said the agency "became aware of the suspicious activity on Monday, September 7." A spokesperson for the University of Southern Mississippi confirmed to Magnolia Tribune that the school was not told of the security breach until three days later. "Southern Miss was notified by IHL staff on Thursday, Sept. 10. There have been no impacts to our operations as a result of the incident," said Jennifer Rigney, USM's Assistant Director for News and Media Relations, in an emailed response. It remains unclear what information, if any, was accessed in the security breach. |
| Mississippi tops states in student loan defaults as borrowers struggle to repay | |
 | Mississippi has the highest student loan default rate among the 50 states, raising questions about why borrowers are struggling and what the state is doing to address it. About 28.3% of federal student loan borrowers in Mississippi were in default, according to a 2026 Associated Press analysis of federal data, second only to Puerto Rico's rate of 30.9%. For most federal student loans, default occurs after at least 270 days without scheduled payments. Borrowers can eventually face involuntary collections, although the U.S. Department of Education temporarily delayed those collections in January. For J.C. Gardner, a medical student at William Carey University, student debt has affected decisions beyond repayment. "I'm a middle child. I have two sisters. They both have careers --- have families. I'm single and 28," Gardner said. "It was a trade-off, either school or family." Brian Blank, an associate professor of finance at Mississippi State University, said income can play a significant role in whether borrowers are able to repay their loans. "The way loans typically work is you're going to have some specific amount of money that you're going to be required to pay back each period," Blank said. "The more money you make, the more likely you are to have that amount of money to repay." |
| Tuscaloosa shooting injures 8 victims | |
| Eight victims were shot, three of whom sustained severe injuries, in a shooting that occurred in the late hours of Saturday night. The shooting occurred on 22nd Street, according to Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit Capt. Marty Sellers. The shooting occurred where an outdoor neighborhood block party had been held, located on the 2600 block of 22nd Street. The City of Tuscaloosa permitted the event until 10 p.m. A large crowd was present when officers arrived at approximately 10:48 p.m., and they immediately provided medical aid until Tuscaloosa Fire and Rescue and NorthStar EMS arrived at the scene. As of Sunday morning, all of the victims were reported to be in stable condition, including the three who suffered severe injuries. The Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office and The University of Alabama Police Department helped Tuscaloosa police secure and control the large crowd at the scene and at DCH Regional Medical Center. |
| Auburn University faculty protest Board of Trustees' dissolution of university senate | |
| Auburn University's Board of Trustees dissolved its faculty senate in June with little notice to faculty in order to comply with a state law that does not apply to the flagship university. On Friday, more than 100 faculty and community members gathered outside the trustees' meeting to protest the decision and warn that it could have broader consequences. "These are the voices for people coming from many parts of the Auburn family. They are current and emeritus faculty. They are students and alumni. They are staff and administrators. They are community supporters," said Heidi Hausse, a history professor and one of the organizers of the protest. Auburn's decision came a few months after the Alabama Legislature passed HB 580, putting limits on the powers of faculty senates. However, that bill specifically exempted Auburn and the University of Alabama, both of which have standing in the state constitution. |
| AU BOT approves fiscal year 2027 budget, increases student rates | |
| Kelli D. Shomaker, chief financial officer, proposed the 2027 fiscal year budget at $2.12 billion. The BOT approved a 7% increase from the 2026 fiscal year in the 2027 budget, resulting in a $143 million increase. As part of the increase, tuition, housing and dining are slated to rise in price beginning Fall 2027. Tuition will increase by 2% for Alabama resident students and 5% for non-resident students. When the floor opened for comment, Trustee Walt Woltosz brought attention to the freshman engineering student tuition, which will nearly double. Housing rates are slated to increase Fall 2027, ranging from an extra $180 to $430 per semester. "The rate increase will be used to provide adequate funds for renovation and deferred maintenance projects and continue to provide the best possible campus living experience for our students," Shomaker said. On-campus dining plans are also set to have a $20 to $35 increase starting Fall 2027. According to Shomaker, inflationary costs of food were cited as the reason for the increase. |
| Gov. Landry's interest in LSU harkens back to Huey Long. Could it backfire? | |
| Huey Long's involvement at LSU in the 1920s and '30s nearly cost the university and its law school their status as reputable institutions with legitimate credentials. Nearly a century later, Gov. Jeff Landry's interest in the state's flagship school has been cited as a reason LSU could be kicked out of the Southeastern Conference. Almost from the moment he took office in 2024, Landry has expressed an outsized interest in the affairs of Louisiana's colleges and universities -- especially LSU. And immediately, his interest has drawn comparisons to Long, an extremely powerful, populist and polarizing politician who was at various points an outspoken LSU critic, its de facto president, chair of its governing board, unofficial band director and unwanted football coach. Though fans and sports commentators often draw this comparison, they are almost always a glossed-over, glamorized version that romanticizes the long-running politicization of the university and its athletics program. Though the conflict seems to have reached a ceasefire, the governor continued to bash the Southeastern Conference and its commissioner this week, saying it's "extremely dangerous for Greg Sankey" and the league to continue threatening LSU. Landry's interest in LSU athletics -- and higher education as a whole -- intensified after he became governor in January 2024. |
| Theft is rising on campus, LSUPD gives advise on protecting items | |
| Unattended belongings can end up in the lost and found, but many LSU community members have not been as fortunate to reunite with their items as theft rises on campus. With frequent theft incidents on campus, LSUPD and community members share tips on how to keep personal belongings safe. LSU Police have stated that theft is the most common crime on campus. According to the LSU Crime Log, LSUPD has responded to 32 reported thefts across campus since the first day of class three weeks ago. However, the number of reported thefts does not cover every incident that occurs on campus. Many thefts go unreported, including the theft of Baton Rouge resident Eric Kimbrough's e-bike during the LSU-Clemson football game. Kimbrough's experience with theft is not uncommon on LSU's campus. Students also face challenges with belongings secured outside residence halls. Jessica Verdin, a junior ceramics major, had two e-bikes stolen during her freshman year while living at East Campus Apartments. Theft has also affected LSU students living at off-campus apartments. |
| Texas universities limit their brands in political ads. Dan Patrick used them anyway. | |
| Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick used three of Texas college football's best-known traditions to mock Democratic candidates in what appears to be an AI-generated campaign ad ahead of November's elections. The universities restrict how outsiders can use their brands, including in political campaigns and advertising. Patrick's ad tests whether they will enforce those rules. Officials at the University of Texas, Texas Tech and Texas A&M did not answer the Texas Tribune's repeated questions about whether Patrick had permission to use the schools' names and symbols, whether university employees or resources helped create the ad or whether they would ask his campaign to take it down. State law bars public universities from using resources to support a candidate and university officials from using their authority to influence an election. Patrick, a Republican, is one of the state's most powerful elected officials. He presides over the Senate, giving him significant influence over how much state money public universities receive. He has repeatedly threatened their funding while pushing them to abandon policies he has labeled "woke." |
| Worried About Your College Kid? Now You Can Hire a Local Mom. | |
 | On a Saturday in late August, two days before school started, Mindy Horwitz pulled up to Anthony Equale's apartment complex with the glassware she had been storing for him. When he emerged, Horwitz hugged him and then pulled out a surprise four-pack of his favorite sugar-free energy drinks. It was the kind of moment a mom might share with her child. But though Horwitz, 56, has taken to calling Equale "her very independent son," they are not related. Rather, Equale's parents, who live in Houston, have paid her about $1,600 for unlimited support since he was a college freshman at Washington University in St. Louis. Horwitz is in the business of playing a version of mom for local college students. Concierge companies offering student support have existed for decades. But in recent years, a new crop of upstarts -- such as Horwitz's company, MindyKnows; the Bama Mama in Alabama; the GA Mom in Georgia; and Campus Mom in Texas -- have met additional demand from a new generation of worried parents. Historically, college has been a time for young adults to gain a sense of independence. They run their own errands, do their own laundry, organize their own lives. That's changing, according to Monteigne Long, a co-founder of Campus Mom, who said the parents of this generation of college students are much more involved in their children's day-to-day lives. |
| IRS tax plan could imperil college finances, Moody's says | |
| The Trump administration's recent proposal to revoke the tax-exempt status of private nonprofit colleges over their diversity efforts could bring steep financial consequences for institutions, according to a report out this week from Moody's Ratings. Analysts with the ratings agency said widespread loss of tax status was "unlikely," on the assumption that most institutions would probably try to comply with the proposed rules. However, even compliance could raise their legal costs and other expenses. If colleges did lose status, the main revenue hit would be on fundraising as donors would no longer be able to make tax-exempt gifts, the analysts said. Additionally, losing the ability to issue tax-exempt bonds would be "substantially negative" for institutions, they added. While the Moody's team did not make detailed speculative estimates about the IRS plan's costs to colleges, it is clear the change would be financially bad for the higher education sector. The analysts also predicted a legal challenge to a final rule. |
| NSF moves to overhaul funding approach in line with White House priorities | |
| The US National Science Foundation (NSF) is changing how it funds research grants -- and how it decides which ones to fund -- to better align with White House priorities, according to a letter released on 10 September. "NSF is taking decisive action to meet this moment, introducing new and ambitious ideas that capitalize on the changes in the scientific ecosystem to advance our core mission," says the letter. It is signed by Brian Stone, who is standing in as the NSF's director. Since its inception in 1950, the NSF, a major funder of basic research, has solicited proposals on topics informed heavily by the scientific community. The letter describes a shift to a "portfolio-based" approach to making grants that combines traditional "investigator-driven inquiry" with "NSF-directed opportunities". The letter does not say what the opportunities will be, but states that the NSF will specify objectives but "never the method scientists must use" to achieve them. Staff members at the agency, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation, are concerned that the changes will lead to further cuts for work that has long been core to the agency's mission: discovery-focused research, led by the curiosity of scientists. |
| The 'Nonexistent' Research on AI's Benefits for Education | |
 | The introduction of artificial intelligence–powered learning tools is key to maintaining higher education's value -- at least according to the tech industry and a growing chorus of university leaders. The companies jockeying for multimillion-dollar university contracts say giving students access to such tools is essential for fostering deep learning and preparing them for a labor market increasingly shaped by AI-induced disruptions. "To thrive in this Intelligence Age, students need to build agency: the ability to learn continuously, solve hard problems, and create new economic opportunities for themselves with AI," reads a recent memo from OpenAI about why its ChatGPT Edu -- which allows students, faculty, researchers and administrators to use its large language model within a closed, secure system -- is one of the "necessary tools" for equipping institutions "to meet this moment." And many colleges and universities have taken OpenAI and other tech companies at their word. |
| Collaboration or Cheating? The Debate Over AI Use Is Dividing Scholars. | |
 | For one foreign-born professor, generative AI was a way to make minor wording tweaks, mostly to improve punctuation and grammar. Another academic offloaded nearly all his writing to an AI helper before pitching an article to a leading science journal. Somewhere in between, faculty members have turned to large language models like ChatGPT and Claude to smooth sentences, organize ideas, and condense summaries, saving time but sometimes raising uncomfortable questions. If the ideas and expertise are theirs, does it matter how much help a chatbot provided with the writing? Is it hypocritical to restrict students' use of AI but then rely heavily on it in their own scholarly and public work? How much responsibility does a scholar have to disclose how a published piece came together? Answers from the academic community are inconsistent and constantly changing. Look beneath the swirling debate and you'll see the bigger question that lies at its heart: What does it mean to be an author in an age of AI? |
SPORTS
| 'Whatever the maximum is, that's where we'll be': One-on-one with Zac Selmon | |
| Mississippi State athletics has had "ongoing conversations" about adding a jersey patch and field sponsor, MSU athletics director Zac Selmon told The Dispatch in a one-on-one interview on Wednesday. The NCAA Division I cabinet approved a proposal allowing programs to have jersey patch sponsors in January, and other SEC institutions have already taken advantage in its first year. Arkansas, LSU, Tennessee and Vanderbilt all have jersey patch sponsors across their sports programs for the 2026-27 athletic season. Selmon said State is looking at partnerships for jersey and field sponsors as another way to grow MSU's revenue stream. "That's something that's top of mind, and we're having those active conversations," Selmon said. MSU has presented corporate partnerships on a field before. It expanded its partnership with BankFirst earlier this year, displaying the company's logo along the first and third base line of Dudy Noble Field this past season. Selmon said there isn't a "clear" timetable for a sponsorship. |
| Dawgs 'Dictated The Terms Of The Fight' To Pass Huge Test | |
| It's funny. Praise feels good coming from those in your corner. However, it's oftentimes even sweeter coming from a foe. Those who love you care about your feelings. Those who oppose you are often only concerned with the facts. So, when Minnesota head football coach P.J. Fleck offered up his opinion on Mississippi State following the Bulldogs' 38-13 beatdown of his Golden Gophers on Saturday, it served as an objective opinion of what this 2026 MSU squad is capable of. "They dominated in all three phases," Fleck said of the Bulldogs. "You've got to give them all the credit in the world because they dictated the terms of the fight." Fleck wasn't asked to grade Mississippi State's team. If he had been, his postgame comments seemed to point towards an 'A' or 'A+'. That's just educated speculation of course, but there's no denying that MSU has now passed its first huge test of the season with flying colors. This was no easy task for State. |
| Kamario Taylor is blossoming for Mississippi State. A daunting SEC schedule awaits the sophomore QB | |
 | Mississippi State has found the perfect player to lead its push to reestablish a competitive program in the unrelenting Southeastern Conference. Kamario Taylor is blossoming into a star, and the sophomore quarterback has given the Bulldogs a boost of confidence and energy as they embark on their daunting SEC schedule. With a dominant performance at Minnesota in the first road start of his career on a national telecast on CBS, Taylor produced more evidence that he's one of the best quarterbacks in college football with a bright future in front of him. The sophomore had 227 yards and three first-half touchdowns on 16-for-22 passing and ran 13 times for 86 yards on the Gophers. "The way he played in the first half was about as clean and good as you can possibly play," third-year Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby said. "I'm proud of his presence, his command, his leadership." |
| Gamecocks fine-tuning mistakes of first two games as SEC play looms, Beamer says | |
 | Head coach Shane Beamer and his staff sifted through the film of the Gamecocks' 45-9 win over Towson. His main takeaway remains that, while there were certainly positives from the blowout win, South Carolina (2-0) didn't exactly play to the overall standard he expects. South Carolina came out of its Week 2 win over Towson relatively unscathed on the injury front, sans for a few bumps and bruises. After the game, Beamer said tight end Moe Brown and offensive lineman Carter Miller both didn't play in the second half due to injury. Brown dealt with a "little bit of a bruise" on his leg and Miller had a "little muscle that tightened up on him that we just couldn't get loosened up." Beamer also revealed veteran wide receiver DJ Black was held out from the game due to a "little leg tissue" injury that flared up during practice on Wednesday. On Sunday, Beamer said there were no "long-term concerns" with any injuries sustained vs. Towson. |
| Soccer: State Secures Seventh Straight Magnolia Cup Victory | |
| Mississippi State won the Magnolia Cup for the seventh consecutive year, the longest winning streak by either side in the rivalry's history, with a 4-1 victory at Ole Miss on Friday night. State (7-1-0, 1-0-0 SEC) scored three second-half goals for its highest scoring output against the Rebels in program history. Laila Murillo led the way with her third career multi-goal game. Kati Anne Shepherd tallied the game-winner, and Kara Harris added her first goal of the year. "Well, it was chippy early on, then it managed to stay chippy the entire length of the game," head coach Kevin O'Brien said. "I don't know if every SEC game feels like that, but it was two more-physical, more-direct teams playing against each other, so it was like a heavyweight fight. They slugged us. We slugged them back. I don't think it was the greatest game of soccer we've played this year, but we did what it took to pick up three points and retain the Cup. For me, as a head coach, I'm nothing but proud of these girls and the way they dug their heels in and just battled." The Bulldogs host No. 23 Florida on Friday, Sept. 18 at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network+. It will be State's first match against its former head coach and MSU's SEC home opener. |
| Volleyball: Bulldogs Sweep Memphis To Extend Winning Streak To Five | |
| Mississippi State volleyball earned their second sweep in as many days and moved to 7-1 on the season after taking down the Memphis Tigers in straight sets to conclude the Carrie Yerty Classic. One day after hitting for their best hitting percentage of the season against Alcorn State, the Bulldogs bested it, hitting .357 as a squad. The Bulldogs opened the contest on fire, hitting .700 in the first set en route to a 25-7 set victory. The Dawgs would win the second set 25-11 and concluded the day with a 25-23 triumph. The Bulldogs will return to action in the Ragin' Cajuns Classic beginning on Thursday against Louisiana. State will also take on Jackson State on Friday before wrapping the event against UT Arlington on Sunday. Thursday's match can be streamed on ESPN+. |
| LSU's Lane Kiffin tests the NCAA's limits, creating college football firestorm | |
 | Louisiana State University head coach Lane Kiffin quickly became the face of what many argue is wrong with modern college sports as the college football season approached this summer. The 51-year-old expert recruiter and protégé of University of Alabama legend Nick Saban had ditched his former playoff-bound school Ole Miss for an in-conference rival. He was boasting about LSU's deep name, image and likeness (NIL) budget, was luring elite student-athletes to Baton Rouge and was flirting with adding NFL rookies who had been cut by their professional teams to LSU's roster. After LSU was threatened with expulsion from the SEC and sued by the league over Kiffin's offseason recruiting methods, the coach backed off, agreeing last week not to add former pro players to his team. But a growing number of people around college football are pointing to Kiffin's tactics as emblematic of what they see as a lack of fairness in college sports. Kiffin's bending of the NCAA and SEC's eligibility rules, these people say, is the result of an intensifying arms race that federal lawmakers are setting their sights on regulating as part of their agenda when they return to the Capitol this week. |
| Texas Senator Ted Cruz pitches Protect College Sports Act on College GameDay, warns against what will happen without action | |
| Senator Ted Cruz sent a dire warning if Congress does not pass the Protect College Sports Act. In about five years, in Cruz's estimation, football and other sports will be in an unrecognizable state. The biggest things for Cruz are the transfer rules and a hard out on eligibility for college athletes. You get one free transfer and five years of eligibility in total, which ends regardless of how many years used once you turn the age of 24. Keeping that in place, along with an even playing field when it comes to NIL, this is the best solution for football, basketball, wone's sports and other Olympic sports, per Cruz. "There are no rules, and the situation with the transfer portal, where kids go and transfer two, three, four, five times, it's terrible for the game. It's terrible for the players. It's terrible for the schools, and it's terrible for the families," Cruz said on College GameDay. "And so the reason Congress is acting is because Congress created this problem. It was the federal antitrust laws that were used to bring the lawsuits that struck down all the rules, and so the Protect College Sports Act is bipartisan legislation that's very simple. It brings order to chaos. It protects the students, protects the student's ability to be compensated to receive name, image, and likeness compensation, I think that's only fair. It's only right." |
| FSU fires AD Michael Alford amid looming football questions | |
| Florida State fired athletic director Michael Alford on Monday, school president Richard McCullough announced. The move comes as the Seminoles grapple with looming decisions about their football program. Senior Associate Athletics Director Bruce Warwick has been appointed interim AD while Florida State conducts a national search for a permanent successor. Alford came to Florida State in 2020 to lead its fundraising arm, Seminole Boosters. A year later, he was hired as athletic director at a time when Florida State faced looming financial shortfalls and had a football program that had underachieved. Since 2022, total athletics revenue has grown 31.5%, the largest increase in department history. Florida State also invested in its athletics infrastructure, spending over $500 million a new standalone football facility, improvements to Doak Campbell Stadium and other projects. But football remains problematic. Beyond the football problems, Florida State had the highest athletic-related debt in the country for the 2025 fiscal year, totaling $437 million thanks to the infrastructure improvements. |
| Bo French doubles down on racist post made after UT win against Ohio State | |
| Texas Railroad Commissioner candidate Bo French stood by racist remarks he made Sunday on social media that included a photo of South Asian students celebrating a football game at the University of Texas at Austin, arguing the university promotes discriminatory enrollment practices that favor students of color. Speaking Monday morning on the Mark Davis Show, a mainstay conservative radio broadcast, French dismissed the backlash he garnered over his post on X from Texas Republicans, including outgoing U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. French drew swift condemnation from his party after sharing a post on X of the highly anticipated Texas Longhorns match against Ohio State. The comments drew wide condemnation from several high-profile Republicans who asked him to remove the post. The Railroad Commission is a three-member body that regulates the state's oil and gas industry. But French, who has scarcely debated the issues the Railroad Commission regulates since launching his campaign last November, vigorously defended his remarks. He said UT-Austin and other institutions have prioritized foreign students and workers, which, without evidence, said has resulted in fraud. This is not the first instance that French has been scrutinized -- or reprimanded -- by his party for his provocative online commentary. |
| Western Michigan U.'s President on How a Devastating Loss in Football Became 'a Remarkable Opportunity' | |
| The first weeks of the college football season are filled with what's often called cupcake games, in which a big powerful university runs up the score while a smaller college, often a public regional one, garners a big paycheck for the privilege of being able to play in a big stadium and get creamed. That script was almost flipped last Saturday when Western Michigan University narrowly lost to the University of Michigan on a controversial last-second play. Referees had put one second back on the clock after it had seemingly expired on a Western Michigan win. With that second restored, Michigan managed to score and walk off with a win, sparking fierce controversy and demands for the NCAA, the Big Ten Conference, and the Mid-American Conference to step in and vacate the win, awarding it to Western Michigan. In the middle of the storm, which raged all week, was Western Michigan's president, Russ Kavalhuna, who has been at his alma mater for just over a year. |
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