Wednesday, April 14, 2021   
 
COVID vaccine clinics set for Saturday in Oktibbeha County
OCH Regional Medical Center and Oktibbeha County Emergency Management are partnering for a COVID-19 vaccination clinic Saturday at various locations throughout the county. OCH staff will be administering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at three clinic sites. The locations and times for the clinic are 8 to 10 a.m. at the J. L. King Center, 700 North Long Street; 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Blackjack Missionary Baptist Church, 4907 Blackjack Road; and 2 to 4 p.m. at 16th Section Missionary Baptist Church, 5480 Old West Point Road. OCH Director of Marketing and Public Relations Mary Kathryn Kight said OCH wants to provide as many vaccinations as possible for Oktibbeha County residents, and this clinic is a prime way to distribute them. Kight said OCH has allotted 500 vaccines total for Saturday but can provide more if needed. Those wanting to receive vaccines do not have to provide insurance or a photo ID. They only have to fill out informational paperwork. "We will have the same process as if they came to the hospital (to get their vaccine)," Kight said. "We will ask them to fill out paperwork because we then have to return that information to (Mississippi Department of Health)."
 
Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District to offer summer enrichment sessions
The Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District will be offering enrichment learning experiences for students in the district throughout the summer. SOCSD Grants and Innovative Strategies Specialist Brandi Burton presented at the district's monthly meeting Tuesday evening to discuss the plans for these enhancements activities. While each session will focus on at least one core curriculum subject, students will have the opportunity to participate in topics related to lifestyle and skill-building. The session topics include accelerated learning for literacy and math and enrichment in STEM, makerspace, gardening, nutrition, writing, arts, internships for career exploration, AP camp and ACT prep. The scheduled dates are June 21-July 2 and July 12-23. The school district will also offer free tutoring sessions to up to 150 students in grades K-5 during the summer through its designation as a grade-level reading community. Tutors will be qualified Mississippi State University students, and tutoring will cover literacy components such as reading gains, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
 
Gunman fires at least 20 shots into car in Starkville neighborhood as city's streak of gun violence continues
Yet another eruption of gunfire ripped through the night air in a Starkville neighborhood Monday, causing some residents to dive for cover in their own homes. While no one was hurt, it is the latest in a string of violent incidents in Starkville. "The last 30 days are not reflective of Starkville's values," said Starkville Police Chief Mark Ballard. Starkville Police say they responded to reports of shots fired just after 9 p.m. in the area of Orchard Lane and Reed Ridge Circle. Residents say they thought they heard as many as 30 shots go off. "The timeframe, if you've got a couple of seconds, you can reel off 20 rounds," said Chief Ballard, who says investigators confirmed there were at least 20 shots fired. Residents told WCBI there were so many gunshots, it sounded like a bomb going off or someone firing a bazooka. Chief Ballard believes a car outside one of the homes was the target. The car's owner is not cooperating with investigators. "Obviously, when an individual is refusing to come forth whenever you have shots fired at your vehicle, that's a flag for us that you might be engaged in other activities," Chief Ballard said. This latest incident comes in the wake of two deadly shootings not far away. "The thing that each one of these crimes we believe have in common is a commitment of illicit drugs, a commitment of gun violence, (and) a commitment of solving disagreements via a gun," the police chief said.
 
Second teen charged in fatal Easter shooting in Starkville
Police have arrested a second 15-year-old and charged him as an adult for a fatal shooting on Easter Sunday. The Starkville Police Department arrested Coby Jones of Starkville on April 13 and charged him with murder in the April 4 death of Clifton Hester Files, 17. Jones was booked into the Oktibbeha County Jail, where he is being held on a $750,000 bond. SPD previously arrested Tyrese Macon of Starkville, on April 6, on the same charge. He is also being held in the county jail on a $750,000 bond. Police responded to the intersection of Hilliard Street and Sherman Street around 5:15 p.m. on April 4 to the report of a shooting with a possible victim. Responding officers found a deceased white male, later identified as Files. The shooting occurred inside a vehicle at the end of Sherman Street. Neither the victim nor the suspect lived in the area. Police did not say if more arrests are expected but said the incident remains under active investigation.
 
Mississippi health officer: Refrain from J&J vaccine for now
Mississippi's top public health official said Tuesday that he's telling health care providers to refrain from using the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine while federal agencies investigate reports of potentially dangerous blood clots. Dr. Thomas Dobbs said health care providers should wait for "additional guidance" from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. He said Mississippi physicians, hospitals, pharmacies and other providers who have more than 40,000 unused J&J doses on hand should hold onto it. "Patients who have already Johnson & Johnson should not be overly concerned but just be aware," Dobbs said during an online news conference. More than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered in the U.S., the vast majority with no or mild side effects. Dobbs said the risk of severe complications from vaccination is "extremely low."
 
Mississippi pauses Johnson & Johnson vaccinations after CDC reports rare instances of blood clots
The Mississippi State Department of Health is instructing physicians, clinics and hospitals to stop administering the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after reports of rare but potentially dangerous blood clots. The pause in distribution and administration Johnson & Johnson's vaccine results from guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration after six reported U.S. cases of a "rare type of blood clot" in individuals after receiving it. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is currently the only single-dose COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in the U.S. The blood clots occurred in veins that drain blood from the brain and were seen in combination with low platelet levels. All six cases occurred six to 13 days after vaccination in women between the ages of 18 and 48. One resulted in death. On Tuesday, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs stressed that residents who received the Johnson & Johnson shot shouldn't be worried about their safety because the risk period appears short and the likelihood of an adverse reaction to that specific vaccine is low -- less than one in a million based on current data.
 
Mississippi tells providers to halt use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine over rare blood clot
COVID-19 vaccination efforts in the United States were slowed by an unexpected hurdle on Tuesday after federal health agencies recommended a pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson's single-dose coronavirus vaccine after six recipients developed an extremely rare blood clot. "We are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution," Dr. Peter Marks, director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, and Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a joint statement. "Right now, these adverse events appear to be extremely rare." Health officials have said that the pause is only expected to last a few days. In response, state health departments across the country, including in Mississippi, have either instructed or advised health providers to halt the use of the vaccine while the blood clotting issue is investigated. The pharmacy giants CVS and Walgreens have also said that they will stop administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and will reschedule the appointments of affected patients as soon as possible.
 
State Auditor, AG investigating Centene on allegations it pocketed millions in taxpayer dollars
Both the state auditor and Mississippi attorney general are investigating whether Centene Corp., as a provider of Medicaid drug services, failed to disclose discounts on pharmacy services, inflated dispensing fees and received reimbursements for amounts already paid. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost made similar allegations in a lawsuit. "Corporate greed has led Centene and its wholly owned subsidiaries to fleece taxpayers out of millions," he said. "Centene has broken trust with the state of Ohio, and I intend to hold this company accountable for its deceptive practices." Asked about these allegations in Mississippi, a Centene spokesman told MCIR, "In our viewpoint, these claims are unfounded, and Envolve (a wholly obtained subsidiary) will aggressively defend the integrity of the pharmacy services it has provided." Between 2016 and 2020, the Mississippi Medicaid program paid Centene more than $1.1 billion for pharmacy services. State Sen. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven, said if Centene is "cheating in the pharmacy area, what else are they doing? We don't know because we've never bothered to look."
 
Medicaid coverage for postpartum likely to continue through year despite legislative inaction
Mississippi women who have given birth will likely continue to receive Medicaid health care coverage until at least the end of 2021 even after legislation recently died that would have extended the coverage. During the 2021 Mississippi legislative session, Senate leadership attempted to place in state law a requirement that postpartum coverage would be expanded from 60 days to 12 months for mostly low-income women. That coverage is particularly important in Mississippi, the poorest state in the nation with high rates of infant and maternal mortality. The Senate tried to include the postpartum coverage expansion in the Medicaid bill passed during the 2021 session designed to make various technical amendments to the complex federal-state health care program. The House rejected that proposal. But Matt Westerfield, a spokesperson for Mississippi's Division of Medicaid, told Mississippi Today that federal emergency orders "will likely" keep the coverage in place through 2021. Mississippi has the highest infant mortality rate in the nation with 9.07 deaths per 1,000 births, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mississippi also has the 19th-highest maternal mortality rate at 20.8 deaths per 100,000 births, according to a study released by USA Today in 2019.
 
U.S. Supreme Court denies Attorney General Lynn Fitch's motion to halt education lawsuit over Jim Crow-era language
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to act on Attorney General Lynn Fitch's motion to pause a lawsuit filed on behalf of African American parents saying the state violated federal law by spending less on majority-Black schools than majority-white ones. Will Bardwell, an attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of Black Mississippi parents, said the ruling denying Fitch's request "almost certainly means that the Supreme Court isn't going to take the case, at least for now, which clears the way for us to move forward in district court." Colby Jordan, a spokesperson for the Attorney General's office, said of last week's decision by the Supreme Court: "We are in the process of reviewing our options." Fitch was asking the nation's highest court to halt any advancement of the lawsuit in district court while her office had time to file an appeal of a narrow ruling of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals saying the case could move forward. Samuel Alito, one of the Supreme Court's more conservative justices, acting on behalf of the entire panel, rejected Fitch's request last week.
 
President Biden moves to leverage corporate America's falling out with GOP
The business community doesn't dislike President Joe Biden's proposal to hike corporate taxes to pay for a massive $2 trillion-plus infrastructure plan. They detest it. But there are some reasons to think corporate leaders are warming to Biden: They backed his Covid-19 recovery plan, which pumped billions of dollars into hard-hit industries and small businesses. They know he comes from a business-friendly state that boasts more corporations than any other. And, well, he's not Donald Trump, whose trade wars hurt companies and whose incendiary remarks on race offended them. Inside the White House, they are warming to corporate America, too. Biden and his team believe that while the two sides may be at loggerheads over tax rates, they can use business leaders to help move other policy priorities. They talk regularly with corporate America and the White House is considering forming an advisory group of business leaders in much the same way as other recent presidents, including Trump and Barack Obama. The cautious courtship between corporate America and the Biden White House could play a critical role in the president's agenda, as he advances an infrastructure bill through Congress and pushes politically-fraught policies, including on immigration, racial justice and gun violence, without lawmakers. It also reflects a seismic shift in the political landscape, where, not too long ago, Democrats found themselves trying to tamp down opposition from business leaders rather than work with them, and generally business-friendly Republicans were aligning with corporate America rather than periodically bashing it.
 
For President Biden, China Rivalry Adds Urgency To Infrastructure Push
As President Biden and his administration sell a $2 trillion infrastructure plan to Americans, one theme keeps coming up alongside dilapidated bridges, contaminated water pipes and uneven Internet access: competition with China. When Biden announced the proposal in Pittsburgh, he made sure to argue the measure would put the U.S. "in a position to win the global competition with China in the upcoming years." Biden wants the U.S. to spend more money on its physical infrastructure, as well as research and development in emerging technologies, because that's what China is doing. "[Republicans] know China and other countries are eating our lunch," Biden said later in the speech. "So there's no reason why it can't be bipartisan again." There's certainly an element of politics to the framing. In a divided Washington, concern about the growing economic and political power -- as well as assertiveness -- of China is a worry that both parties share. But the repeated references in Biden's comments about infrastructure and the proposals the White House sees as key to leveling the economic playing field with China also demonstrate how the administration is approaching both foreign and economic policy.
 
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell seeks to end feud with Trump
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is seeking to end his running feud with President Trump, which escalated this weekend when the former president insulted him as a "dumb son of a bitch" and a "stone-cold loser" for not backing his false claims about the election. Trump's comments were especially stinging as they were widely publicized and came one day after Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), gave Trump a "Champion of Freedom Award" at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. Trump lashed out at McConnell the following Saturday evening at a Republican donor event, where he blamed him for Republicans losing the White House. McConnell on Tuesday signaled he's not interested in continuing the feud that has simmered with Trump since Dec. 15, when he last spoke to the former president to inform him that he had recognized Biden as the president-elect. The Electoral College formally voted the previous day -- Dec. 14 -- to elect Biden the 46th president. McConnell has told reporters that he hasn't spoken to Trump since mid-December and now rarely even invokes the former president by name.
 
UM student housing releases six-year plan
The University of Mississippi department of student housing released a six-year strategic plan detailing improvements that the university plans to make to residence halls on campus. The plan outlines six goals, ranging from buildings improvements to fostering better on-campus living communities. The goals include enhancing the student experience through various "learning opportunities" and the reevaluation of the buildings and the department itself. Student Housing Director John Yaun said the plan will serve as a roadmap for the department for the next six years. "The goals of this process were to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the department in order to identify the key issues Student Housing needed to be thinking about in meeting the needs of students at the University of Mississippi," Yaun said. The plan includes outcomes that will be completed as soon as this year and as ongoing as 2026. Many aspects -- including mold testing each summer in Crosby, Martin and Stockard halls -- will occur annually. Yaun said that the department is beginning to focus on some outcomes outlined in the plan.
 
UAH taking first steps to create 'college town experience' with campus expansion
Two years after the plan was first introduced, the University of Alabama in Huntsville is taking the first steps to develop the Executive Plaza property the school purchased in 2017 in what's described an ambitious expansion of the campus. The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees last week approved $4.1 million for the school to demolish the abandoned buildings at the 58-acre site across Sparkman Drive from the Bevill Center. The project's master plan, in part, envisions a "lively cluster of student-focused retail, food and beverage options that builds the college town experience" as well as more campus housing, offices for UAH as well as the private sector and possibly a multi-use facility that would provide the school with its first campus home for its hockey team. Green space would be preserved for parks as well. Ultimately, it could be similar to hot spots near other campuses in the state -- such as The Strip at the University of Alabama or Toomer's Corner at Auburn University. "It's creating some town and gown atmosphere for our campus," said Todd Barre, UAH vice president for finance and administration. "UAH has grown from largely a commuter campus to a little more residential. Our students get here and there's nothing they can walk to. There's not a lot around here. We're trying to create that campus life for them."
 
U. of Tennessee cancels Johnson & Johnson vaccination appointments. What's next?
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville canceled its Johnson & Johnson vaccination appointments on Tuesday following recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration to pause use of the brand because of reports of rare but severe blood clots. The university was optimistic about the emergency use authorization of the vaccine because it would have allowed them to vaccinate the campus and community more quickly, especially as the semester comes to a close. "If you've got a limited amount of time, if you administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, you double your capability," said Dr. Spencer Gregg, director of the Student Health Center. "Because you don't have to have two vaccinations to be fully immunized, you just have to do the one." According to a release, the university plans to continue vaccinations on Friday at the Student Union with Moderna vaccines. Anyone with an appointment this week for the J&J vaccine will be contacted about rescheduling their shot to receive the Moderna vaccine on Friday. People who originally had Friday appointments will not be affected, and people planning to get their second dose of Moderna at the Student Health Center will still get their vaccines.
 
No hike in tuition at UGA, Georgia's other public colleges and universities
Students at Georgia's 26 public colleges and universities won't be hit with a tuition increase this fall. The University System of Georgia Board of Regents voted Tuesday to hold the line on tuition during the 2021-22 school year. It's the fourth time in the past six years that the system has not increased tuition. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic was a key factor in the decision, Tracey Cook, the system's executive vice chancellor for strategy and fiscal affairs, told board members before Tuesday's vote. "Holding tuition flat ... recognizes the financial hardships faced by many of our students and parents during the pandemic," she said. "USG over the past several years has remained committed to making public higher education as affordable as possible for students and their families, while maintaining results that rank our campuses among some of the best in the nation," system Chancellor Steve Wrigley added. Gov. Brian Kemp and the General Assembly did not restore the 10% budget cut the university system took last year during the early stages of the pandemic, Cook said. However, an influx of federal COVID-19 relief allowed the system to hold the line on tuition, she said.
 
LSU medical school chancellor suspended after criticism of his handling of sexual harassment claims
Dr. Ghali E. Ghali, chancellor of the LSU medical school in Shreveport, was put on administrative leave Tuesday, a day after four employees filed federal complaints alleging he suppressed sexual harassment allegations involving students and retaliated against the faculty members who brought attention to the matters. LSU interim President Tom Galligan emailed LSU Health Shreveport employees: "We have been made aware of several EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) allegations against LSU Health Shreveport. In light of this, we believe the right thing to do is to place Chancellor Ghali on administrative leave until a thorough review is conducted." Dr. David Lewis was named acting chancellor. He is currently the dean of the medical school as well as a professor and chairman of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Monday's filings with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged that one LSU Health Sciences Center Shreveport administrator spoke to and touched inappropriately 16 female medical students. The filings also alleged that the medical school's head of admissions required female students to write book reports on pornographic stories. Both of the accused administrators were close to Ghali and retired soon after the allegations were made.
 
A cook at a frat house at LSU was like a mother to the members. Years later, they paid off her mortgage.
Jessie Hamilton worked as a cook at a fraternity house at Louisiana State University for 14 years. While she was in constant motion preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner for the members of Phi Gamma Delta, commonly called Fiji, she was widely known to lend an ear when one of the young men needed her advice or care. "She was truly like a mother to us," said Andrew Fusaiotti, 52, a Fiji fraternity brother who attended LSU in the late 1980s. "She treated us like we were her own kids. She was always looking out for us." More than 30 years later, he and his fraternity brothers returned the favor. On April 3, just before her 74th birthday, a dozen Fiji members and their families surprised Hamilton with an outdoor celebration at her home in Baton Rouge and presented her with a gift of $51,765. Nearly 100 Fiji brothers contributed money to cover the outstanding balance of Hamilton's mortgage -- and then some -- so she could finally retire. Hamilton was speechless. "I couldn't believe it," she said. After working at least two jobs since she was 14, she said, she's long been ready for retirement.
 
Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Pause Throws Colleges a 'Curve Ball'
College health officials scrambled on Tuesday to comply with a federal recommendation to pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said in a joint statement that the agencies are reviewing a rare and severe blood clot in six people who received the vaccine, out of more than 6.8 million doses administered. The centers' Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is set to investigate the cases and recommends temporarily suspending use of the vaccine until that process is complete. The stoppage comes at a time when the United States' vaccination-production effort is in high gear, and many colleges have other vaccine options. "From a practical sense, it's maybe a nothing," says Michael Lauzardo, who is in charge of the University of Florida's mass-vaccination effort, which doesn't use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. "We're going to be tripping over vaccine here real soon with Pfizer and Moderna. We're going to have adequate vaccine supply moving forward." But he added: "From a psychological sense, vaccine hesitancy is a fragile thing."
 
More Colleges to Require Student Covid Vaccinations
A small but growing number of colleges will require students to receive a Covid-19 vaccine, saying it is the most assured way of returning to some semblance of pre-pandemic campus life. But by doing so, they are stepping into the increasingly politically charged debate over whether businesses and other institutions should be able to make inoculation a condition of participating in events in person. Some schools, like Texas A&M University, have balked partly out of concern that such requirements appear to conflict with federal law. Glenn Cohen, a professor at Harvard Law School, said schools are likely getting tripped up by legal language requiring the federal government to inform people they have the right to refuse a vaccine approved under an emergency-use authorization. But that right to refuse the vaccine doesn't prohibit universities to make it a condition of attendance, Mr. Cohen said. He also said many colleges have been requiring on-campus students to submit to tests for Covid-19; many of which have been approved under the emergency-use authorization as well. Texas A&M also said it was simply following Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order, "which stipulates that vaccines are voluntary for all state agencies. A&M is encouraging all faculty, staff and students to get the vaccine," the school said in a statement.
 
Students struggling but not seeking campus mental health support
For many students, spending the year with COVID has felt like being on a sinking ship, desperately searching for a lifeboat and perhaps choosing one that falters when lowered. Campus counseling centers and their staffs, meanwhile, have been like the band on the Titanic's deck, continuing to comfort others even as their own lives are at stake. That's how a friend of Barry Schreier, the communications chair for the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors (AUCCCD), describes their pandemic position. "All the things students are going through, staff is going through," says Schreier, who is also director of the University Counseling Service at the University of Iowa. "It's been a harder lift for a lot of folks this year." As students struggle, they may hear about counseling center supports but not take further action. Campus efforts were strong. Even counseling centers with tight budgets quickly pivoted to virtual operations last spring. Many created student guides to mental wellness while at home, asynchronous content such as video series and workshops, and support groups, says Schreier. However, the latest Student Voice survey, conducted by Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse and presented by Kaplan, indicates that a year into the pandemic 65 percent of students report having fair or poor mental health.
 
Academic library leaders concerned about diversity, equity, inclusion
The resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 had a measurable impact on library leaders' appreciation of the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion, a recent survey of academic library leaders from the nonprofit research and strategy group Ithaka S+R found. More academic library leaders are affirming their desire to implement antiracist policies in the wake of national racial justice movements, the survey found. But most are still concerned their personnel and collections strategies may not adequately support these objectives. Many library leaders also failed to recognize how COVID-19 budget cuts likely disproportionately impacted employees of color. The survey was conducted in the fall of 2020 and includes responses from 638 library directors at four-year institutions. It was the subject of an Ithaka S+R webinar yesterday discussing the effects of national racial justice movements on library strategy, staffing and collections. Discussions about diversity in a profession that is predominantly white have been taking place for decades, but the number of Black library leaders remains where it was 30 years ago, said Trevor A. Dawes, vice provost for libraries and museums and May Morris University Librarian at the University of Delaware.
 
Pressure mounts for President Biden to forgive student debt
While the latest Covid stimulus package and a new massive infrastructure bill are the main topics of conversation in Washington of late, President Joe Biden continues to be under mounting pressure to take action on student loan forgiveness, too. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., held a hearing Tuesday afternoon on the burden of student loan debt and urged Biden to cancel the loans as soon as possible. "America is facing a student loan time bomb that, when it explodes, could throw millions of families over a financial cliff," Warren said. "The average borrower will have to start paying nearly $400 a month to the government instead of spending that money out in the economy." Warren also discussed the racial inequities of student debt, pointing out that the median Black borrower still owes 95% of the original amount they borrowed 20 years after taking out the loans. The median White borrower, meanwhile, owes just 6% of the original amount they borrowed two decades later. Also on Tuesday, more than 415 organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Psychological Association and the Consumer Federation of America, wrote a letter to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris calling on the White House to use executive authority "to cancel federal student debt immediately."
 
Organized labor's racial narrative soundly rejected yet again
Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: Organized labor's organizing efforts in the South in recent years have focused on equating union membership with social justice. Over the last decade, that narrative has been soundly rejected in union votes and in most cases by workers with significant percentages of Black workers. The most recent example came in Bessemer, Alabama, as some 6,000 workers in Amazon's BHM1 Fulfillment Center there resoundingly rejected the organizing effort by the New York City-based Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) -- with 1,798 votes against the union and 738 in favor of it. Amazon officials said the post-election numbers reflected that "less than 16% of the employees at BHM1 voted to join the RWDSU union." ... The right-to-work states in the South like Alabama and Mississippi are the prime targets. The bottom line is that unions are in decline and are actively seeking to infiltrate Southern manufacturing and warehouse operations to survive.


SPORTS
 
Mississippi State baseball beats Arkansas State to set up Ole Miss series
Mississippi State will roll into its series against in-state rival Ole Miss riding an eight game winning streak. The No. 4 Bulldogs beat Arkansas State 18-10 at Dudy Noble Field on Tuesday night. Mississippi State (25-7, 8-4 SEC) trailed Arkansas State (9-17, 4-5 Sun Belt) through four innings, but the Bulldogs tied the game in the sixth and before going ahead for good. It didn't matter how close the game was early when Mississippi State erupted for 12 runs in the eighth, either. The Bulldogs batted around the batting order and then some in their second double-digit inning in as many games. Freshman shortstop Lane Forsythe did the heavy hitting when it mattered. He tied the game at 3-3 with a solo home run and put the Bulldogs ahead 5-3 with a two-run double that came within a foot or two of being a grand slam down the right field line. The Bulldogs are firing on all cylinders offensively with No. 5 Ole Miss (24-8, 8-4 SEC) coming to Dudy Noble Field for a three-game series starting Friday at 6 p.m. Mississippi State has scored 65 runs in its last five games.
 
Bulldogs explode for 18 runs in midweek win over Arkansas State
The final tune-up before the biggest series of the year is out of the way for No. 4 Mississippi State. While visiting Arkansas State made the Bulldogs sweat for the first six frames, the Bulldogs eventually pulverized the Red Wolves' bullpen and earned a decisive victory in a midweek contest, winning 18-10 Tuesday at Dudy Noble Field. It was the eighth straight win since Tanner Allen's promise the Bulldogs would rebound after being swept by Arkansas in late March. Now, MSU (25-7) will turn its attention to welcoming No. 6 Ole Miss for a three-game series that will play a crucial role in determining the Bulldogs' prospects for hosting a Super Regional. "Our eyes are on Ole Miss now," MSU coach Chris Lemonis said. "We're focused on having a good week of practice and getting ready for a couple key games here." "We're close," Lemonis said of the hitting coming around. "We're playing better 1-9 and the lineup is having more success." MSU is back in action for Super Bulldog Weekend against Ole Miss starting at 6 p.m. Friday at Dudy Noble Field.
 
Freshmen shine as No. 4 Bulldogs beat Arkansas State
Mississippi State's talented freshmen put on a show Tuesday night. Freshman shortstop Lane Forsythe finished 3 for 4 at the plate, including the game-tying and go-ahead hits while freshman pitcher Cade Smith struck out five batters in two innings and earned his first career win. No. 4-ranked Mississippi State beat Arkansas State, 18-10, at Dudy Noble Field. Freshmen Kyte McDonald and Kellum Clark each came off the bench and hit home runs, and second-year freshmen Logan Tanner and Kamren James also had good nights. Tanner finished 1 for 3 and drove in two runs, while James finished 1 for 3 with a stolen base and scored two runs. "He's really started to make some moves offensively in the last week," head coach Chris Lemonis said of Forsythe. "I was really pleased with him. He made some plays and his offense is really taking off right now, which is fun to see." Mississippi State (25-7, 8-4 SEC) trailed Arkansas State, 3-2, when Forsythe stepped to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning with one out. He took a ball to start the at-bat, then turned the next pitch into a line drive home run to centerfield, the first of his career, to tie the game, 3-3.
 
Mississippi State football notebook: Sherman Timbs acclimating to new position
Sherman Timbs was buried deep. When the Indianola Academy product began his career at Mississippi State, he was one of 18 defensive linemen on the Bulldogs' roster. "I was just this kid from private school coming in and just trying to stay alive out there," Timbs recalled Tuesday. But the freshman found himself under the wings of players light-years above him on the depth chart. Jeffery Simmons and Montez Sweat --- now NFL stars --- were some of the Bulldogs who helped Timbs acclimate to Starkville as the young player redshirted in 2017. "I came in with a group of studs there at D-line," Timbs said. Now, four seasons later, Timbs is still learning. The fifth-year senior has been converted to a SAM linebacker from defensive end, and he's learning from players like senior Tyrus Wheat while taking old habits into his new position. Timbs said Mississippi State's coaches began to develop him as a linebacker around last year's Egg Bowl in Oxford, and he's worked through the fall and into the spring to become comfortable in the new spot. Timbs said he's not the only one who has improved, either. Being able to hold practices and scrimmages after last spring fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic has been miles better for the team than congregating through Zoom.
 
Mississippi State softball holds off Samford for nonconference road win
Paige Cook giveth, and Paige Cook taketh away. And both actions from the sophomore second baseman helped the Mississippi State softball team to an 8-5 road win Tuesday at Samford. Cook snagged a soft liner over the bag at second to end a Samford rally in the bottom of the sixth, then provided some additional offense that would prove necessary with a three-run triple in the top of the seventh. "That's big time for some insurance runs there at the end," Mississippi State coach Samantha Ricketts said in a news release. "One thing she's really doing a lot better as she continues to go deeper in the season is learning from her at-bats. She's not letting her previous at-bats bring her down. She just continues to grind it out, something that Chloe (Malau'ulu) does a really good job for us in the leadoff. I thought she looked the same way and was able to continue to learn and know what she was going to get that fourth time she got to see that pitcher." Cook's bases-clearing hit off the wall in left field put MSU (21-16) ahead 8-3, an important extension of the lead for the Bulldogs when Samford (14-20) scratched across two runs in the bottom of the frame on an error and former MSU outfielder O'Neil Roberson's RBI groundout.
 
Mississippi State women's basketball hires assistant coaches from Michigan, Arizona
It's an important offseason for Mississippi State women's basketball. Coach Nikki McCray-Penson is pressured with making roster and staff moves that will help the Bulldogs bounce back from a disappointing showing last year. McCray-Penson has been working hard to make that happen. Mississippi State announced the hiring of two assistants to McCray-Penson's staff Tuesday. Tamisha Augustin will head east from Arizona, and Wesley Brooks will come down from Michigan. Augustin, who came within one win of a national championship with Arizona, has been hired as the program's recruiting coordinator. That position was formerly filled by Brittany Young, who is now the head coach at Austin Peay. Brooks helped Michigan reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. He replaces Scepter Brownlee, who was let go from the Mississippi State staff last week. The coaches arrive at Mississippi State less than a week after the Bulldogs landed a trio of transfers from the same family. Anastasia, Aislynn and Alasia Hayes all committed to MSU after entering the transfer portal.
 
NCAA threatens to move events out of states with anti-transgender athlete legislation
Leaders of the National Collegiate Athletic Association are throwing their economic weight and influence behind transgender athletes ability to participate in college sports by threatening to pull lucrative championship events from states with discriminatory laws. The NCAA Board of Governors released a statement Monday reiterating that it will select championship sites that are "safe, healthy and free of discrimination," following the passage of four laws, and dozens more bills under consideration, that bar transgender women from competing against cisgender women in K-12 and intercollegiate sports. Ellen Staurowsky, a sports media professor at Ithaca College and national expert on social justice in sport, said the NCAA's threat of pulling championships has had real impact on policy decisions by state lawmakers. Staurowsky noted that a slight change last year to the NCAA's Confederate flag policy, which said that championships would not be played "in states where the symbol has a prominent presence," effectively pressured Mississippi legislators and Governor Tate Reeves to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the state's flag. Reeves's resolve will be tested again after he signed legislation last month banning transgender women from participating in women's sports in Mississippi. Tennessee and Arkansas passed similar laws, and a bill in West Virginia is awaiting the signature of Governor Jim Justice, who said during a recent press conference that he would either sign it or "let it go into law."
 
No. 6 Ole Miss continues to fill Tim Elko void entering series at No. 4 Mississippi State
The Ole Miss baseball team's quest to replace the offense missing from the lineup with the absence of Tim Elko began this past week against Alcorn State and No. 1 Arkansas. While the result on the scoreboard did not go their way two out of three times, the No. 6 Rebels impressed at the plate without their captain and leading hitter, who is out with a torn ACL. In their weekend series against the Razorback pitching staff, Ole Miss (25-8, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) scored 30 runs off 46 hits and had at least 14 hits in all three games at Oxford-University Stadium. In Saturday's doubleheader, the Rebels recorded a combined 32 hits in both games. With Elko out, for at least the foreseeable future while he begins a rehab program that might allow him to return later this season without the need of surgery first, the top of the Ole Miss lineup shined against Arkansas. The offense may not be in a dire situation without Elko, as some may have feared, as the Rebels reach the midway point of the SEC schedule this weekend at No. 4 Mississippi State (25-7, 8-4). What may have suddenly become an issue is the Ole Miss pitching staff behind starters Gunnar Hoglund and Doug Nikhazy. Ole Miss now looks to turn things around after losing back-to-back series as they head to Starkville and take on a red-hot Mississippi State team that has won their last six SEC game with sweeps over Kentucky and Auburn.
 
Auburn announces A-Day attendance guidelines, ticket information
Jordan-Hare Stadium will see increased capacity for Auburn's annual A-Day game this weekend. After limiting attendance to 20 percent capacity last fall due to the pandemic, Auburn announced Tuesday that Saturday's spring game will see attendance capped at 40 percent capacity, though some sections of seats will be off-limits due to ongoing maintenance projects. Auburn's spring game will take place Saturday at 1 p.m., and while it will not air live on television, it will be streamed on SEC Network+. It will provide fans with one of their first looks at Bryan Harsin's team after he took over as head coach in late December. Auburn earlier this spring held a practice at Jordan-Hare Stadium fully open to the public, but Saturday's scrimmage will provide a more fully formed picture of the team after a full spring of work under Harsin and his staff. Tickets for A-Day this year for the general public are $10 apiece -- double the cost of recent years. Along with capping capacity at Jordan-Hare Stadium to 40 percent, everyone who attends A-Day will be required to wear a mask when entering and exiting the stadium, as well as in public spaces, such as concourses, restrooms and concessions lines. Fans are encouraged to wear them when seated.
 
Phillip Fulmer talks charity golf tournament, retirement, new Vols AD Danny White
Phillip Fulmer says he's "adjusting to retirement" and "trying to get into a routine" following his January departure as Tennessee's athletics director. "I'm just enjoying my children and grandchildren right now that I've missed so much of," Fulmer told Knox News. Part of Fulmer's routine this time of year is preparing to host his charity golf tournament. The 21st annual Phillip Fulmer Golf Classic will take place at April 23 at Avalon Country Club in Lenoir City. The 36-team tournament is sold out. Proceeds from the event benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley. "It's something that the people of East Tennessee have done a wonderful job of supporting," Fulmer said. "I'm just so appreciative." Fulmer was Tennessee's AD for more than three years before his retirement in January as part of a changing of the guard within Tennessee Athletics. Tennessee fired football coach Jeremy Pruitt for cause on Jan. 18 amid an internal investigation into allegations of recruiting malfeasance that university officials said revealed evidence of several major NCAA violations. Fulmer said he has visited with new AD Danny White, and he described him as "very thorough, very bright."



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