| Monday, January 3, 2022 |
| Starkville's Year in Review: MSU wins national baseball championship; city adds to territory, makes big changes at parks | |
 | It was a year of triumphs and tragedies, new possibilities and persistent problems, of expansion and change. The year began with the arrival of broad availability of COVID-19 vaccinations, even as the toll of the disease has not decreased as it carries into the new year. Mississippi State's baseball team rallied spirits in its magical quest for glory. School kids will see shorter summer breaks, but more time off though the rest of the year while the city and county move forward with plans to spend a combined $16 million in federal funds intended to mitigate the toll of COVID-19. In the municipal elections, just two new members claimed spots on the board of aldermen. Here's a brief look at what made headlines in 2021: Going into the 2021 season, Mississippi State's proud baseball program had made 11 appearances in the College World Series, including two in a row. But it was the 12th CWS appearance that will stand apart in the memory of Bulldog fans. Under the guidance of third-year coach Chris Lemonis and propelled by the stellar play of pitchers Will Bednar and Landon Sims and outfielders Rowdey Jordan and Tanner Allen, the Bulldogs achieved what no other Mississippi State squad had in more than 100 years of team competition. With a resounding 9-0 win over Vanderbilt in the final game of the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, the Bulldogs claimed the school's first national championship. The title swelled MSU fans with pride and area retailers with sales of championship paraphernalia. |
| New carbon markets in Mississippi pay landowners and farmers to reduce emissions | |
 | New programs in Mississippi will pay timber and farmland owners to store carbon as part of a growing market aimed at reducing emissions and slowing climate change. Landowners can receive what are called “carbon credits” based on how much carbon they sequester, or store, in their trees or soil, rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. The landowner can then sell those credits for money through an exchange, usually to companies looking to offset their own emissions. The concept has existed for a while, but has picked up recent momentum as companies anticipate more government regulations around emissions. With an abundance of forest and a large timber industry, Mississippians are growing curious about the new potential for income. One timber carbon market exchange, a California-based company called NCX, began its first contracts with landowners in the state earlier this year. NCX is working with Mississippi State University to educate interested landowners on how they can earn credits for their trees. Tanger said the interest is taking off in Mississippi, where the timber market is a significant part of the economy relative to other states. “The whole point is to get you to postpone a harvest that you were willing or ready to do right now, or there was some risk of that possibility,” explained MSU Extension forestry economist Shaun Tanger, who’s leading the public engagement effort. Tanger said the interest is taking off in Mississippi, where the timber market is a significant part of the economy relative to other states. “There’s an abundance of working forest relative to other parts of the country, and even some other states in the southeast,” Tanger said, adding that only maybe Alabama and Georgia compete with Mississippi’s timber supply and expertise. “We just do a really good job of growing trees here.” |
| Mississippi agriculture sees record high this year | |
 | Mississippi ranked eleventh in the country for agricultural commodity value in 2021. The state is seeing a record high, reaching an estimated $8.3-billion in total commodity value. MSU Extension Service estimates that Mississippi's total agricultural value increased by 19% compared to last year. "The main cause of the increase we saw in commodity values this year was much better prices across the board. It was a much better year for farmers, but we're coming off some years with pretty low prices," said MSU Extension Service Agricultural Economist Will Maples. |
| MSU Receives Grant for Public School Teacher Training | |
| The Mississippi State University Meridian Division of Education recently received $2 million in federal grant funding through the Mississippi Teacher Residency program in support of its efforts to train public school teachers to fill more than 3,000 current vacancies. Launched in 2018, the MTR program is a free, two-year program designed to recruit underserved college students to work toward their degree in elementary education and Mississippi teacher certification, a release from MSU says. The Mississippi Department of Education administers the program, in which participants receive full scholarships, testing fees, books and mentor stipends for the academic year. MTR includes training alongside a mentor teacher, testing support, professional development, ongoing assessment and a commitment to teach in a geographical critical shortage school or district serving low-income children, racial and ethnic minorities and children with disabilities that the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted. Thirteen students graduated from the first two cohorts at MSU-Meridian in 2021. New districts joining Jackson Public Schools in the MTR program include Choctaw County, Kemper County, Lauderdale County, Louisville Municipal, Meridian, Starkville Oktibbeha and Union. |
| Starkville to purchase land to extend airport runway | |
| The city of Starkville will soon extend the George M. Bryan Airport runway. After the board of aldermen approved an option contract, it now has the opportunity to purchase the land directly south of the airport, something Airport Director Rodney Lincoln said the city has been trying to do since 2012. This land will extend the runway's length from 5,550 feet to 6,550 feet and ensure that nothing is built in close proximity to the airport, Lincoln said. "I feel really good because now we can extend our runway 1000 feet," Lincoln said. "... It's going to be safer for the aircraft." "It's a long project," Lincoln said of the amount of time that's gone into the project. "We've been working on getting this for a while." The city has 45 days to officially purchase the land, Mayor Lynn Spruill said, assuming all aspects of the negotiation work out properly regarding the land's title check and Phase 1 environmental report. The board is expected to vote to officially purchase the land at the second regular meeting in January. The cost of the land is $500,000 with the Federal Aviation Administration funding 95 percent of the purchase price and the city only having to pay $25,000. With the extension of the runway, more airplanes, especially larger ones, can fly into Starkville, Spruill said, because of lower flying minimums due to additional space. "You have more flexibility with the type of aircraft that can come in," Spruill said. |
| THE YEAR IN REVIEW: Threefoot Hotel opens after years of anticipation | |
 | After years of anticipation, The Threefoot Hotel in Meridian opened its doors on Nov. 3. The opening was announced in a news release by Ascent Hospitality, LLC, which owns the hotel. "We are proud to give the Threefoot new life as downtown Meridian's cornerstone luxury hotel," John Tampa, with Ascent Hospitality Management Company, LLC said in the release. "The building joined the landscape in the early 20th Century when Meridian was a force in railroad-dominated industry. We have brought the Threefoot back in a way that captures that luxuriant feel of the 'Golden Age of Travel' while offering modern amenities. Through the preservation and restoration, we have prioritized creating a property that serves the community as well as her visitors. The restaurant and the rooftop bar will add to the local culinary scene and bring new dining experiences to locals. We invite everyone to come and enjoy the Threefoot's transformation." The 16-story Art Deco structure built in 1929 is the tallest building in East Mississippi. The name Threefoot is an Anglicization of the builder's family name, Dreyfus. In the past five years, the building has undergone a comprehensive renovation. Many of its features have been preserved, including the mosaic work on the exterior, and the elevator lobby's marble wainscoting, flooring, mail shoot and the original art deco light fixtures. Guests are welcomed into two vestibules that feature original 1929 Victorian era brass lanterns with frosted and cranberry glass accents. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and designated a Mississippi Landmark in 2008. |
| Mississippi Department of Archives and History launches family genealogy fellowships | |
| Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) will award fellowships of up to $2,000 to support individuals hoping to locate information related to their family history using available MDAH resources. The fellowships are a part of a year-long initiative in 2022 to expand understanding of the Great Migration and its impact on Mississippi and the nation. "The Great Migration is the largest internal migration of people in U.S. history," MDAH director Katie Blount said. "Many families who left Mississippi still feel a close connection to our state. We're glad to be able to help them come back to Mississippi and research their roots." Ten research stipends of up to $2,000 will be awarded to 10 researchers to travel to Jackson and conduct three consecutive days of research at MDAH. Selected applicants may schedule their fellowships during the months of February, April, May, June and July 2022. The stipend may be used to cover travel, accommodations and other expenses accrued during the researcher's time at MDAH such as the cost of copies. The Great Migration Initiative is a partnership between MDAH and the Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA). |
| Gov. Tate Reeves: No. 1 legislative priority should be eliminating income tax | |
 | Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on Monday said cutting taxes and making Mississippi more appealing to businesses should be lawmakers' No. 1 priority for the 2022 legislative session. During an appearance on SuperTalk's The Gallo Show, a conservative morning radio show hosted by Paul Gallo, Reeves said Mississippi is already known as a business friendly state, and its handling of COVID-19 is part of the reason. "We focused on keeping businesses open and making sure that everyone across our state, but also across America, understands that we are a state that is open for business," Reeves said. "And, oh, by the way, we have a workforce that understands and values work, and gets up every day and goes to work and produces." Reeves also said eliminating the state income tax would make Mississippi more competitive for new economic development in the region. Tennessee is the only neighboring state without a personal income tax. Texas and Florida are two larger, southern states that don't have a personal income tax. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said Dec. 29 the Mississippi Senate will explore tax relief due to rising inflation, but did not say whether he is in favor of a total income tax repeal. "One of my biggest concerns is the increased cost of living for working Mississippians," Hosemann said in a news release. "Senate leadership continues to explore options to ease the burden inflation has placed on families." The Mississippi Legislature convenes at noon, Jan. 4, to begin the 2022 session. |
| Analysis: Mississippi legislators face full agenda in 2022 | |
 | Mississippi legislators begin their three-month session on Tuesday with a clear idea of several issues that will come up for debate. One of the first orders of business will be adopting a plan to redraw the state's four U.S. House districts, expanding the majority-Black 2nd District because it has lost population during the past decade. The lone Democrat in Mississippi's congressional delegation, Rep. Bennie Thompson, wanted his district to grow by encompassing all of Hinds County. Instead, the plan advanced by a Republican-led redistricting committee will stretch the 2nd District farther south along the Mississippi River and allow Republican Rep. Michael Guest to keep affluent areas of northeastern Hinds County in the 3rd District. At some point during the session, legislators will reapportion the 122 districts for the state House and the 52 districts for the state Senate, also to account for population changes revealed by the 2020 Census. This task is complicated because of the number of districts and because of the egos involved. It's likely that at least one current legislator will see his or her district dissolved to make room for a new district in a growing area. An effort to eliminate the income tax could be the biggest fight of the session. |
| Lawmakers will gavel in Tuesday for the legislative session. Here's what they'll likely tackle. | |
 | Mississippi lawmakers are expected to quickly begin their legislative session by passing bills to create a long-awaited state medical marijuana program and adopt a new congressional map. The Republican-controlled Mississippi Legislature on Tuesday will gavel in for their 2022 regular legislative session. It will likely be one of the most consequential sessions in recent state history. A number of key issues are expected to appear before lawmakers, including an overhaul of the state's tax code, the revival of the initiative process and the distribution of federal stimulus money. The legislative session is currently scheduled to span from January until early April. Here are some of the major items lawmakers are expected to deal with: Gov. Tate Reeves sets up fight over medical marijuana; Appropriating federals stimulus money; Redrawing state, Congressional district lines; and, State Parks again shape up to be a thorny issue. |
| Mississippi lawmakers to focus on marijuana, taxes, infrastructure | |
 | When Mississippi's lawmakers gather inside the state capitol at noon on Jan. 4, the 52 senators and 122 representatives are going to be in for the most jam-packed session in recent memory. On top of the traditional items legislators deal with, like setting the state budget or discussing teacher pay, lawmakers have to decide on a number of potentially transformative topics for the state. House and senate leadership haven't formally revealed their agendas for the upcoming session, but their comments since the 2021 session ended in April give an indication about what's top priority. And just because both chambers and the governor's mansion are controlled by Republicans doesn't mean every bill that passes one chamber is guaranteed to pass the other. Gov. Tate Reeves and Mississippi Speaker of the House Philip Gunn have talked for a year now about completely repealing the state's personal income tax. The pair have been outspoken on how to do it, with Gunn holding a series of hearings in August on the subject. Both men, and several other Republican lawmakers, have said eliminating the income tax will make Mississippi more economically competitive with neighboring Tennessee and other southern states like Florida and Texas. On average, personal income taxes account for roughly $2 billion of revenue for the state's general fund, according to data from the Mississippi Department of Revenue. Lawmakers would have to devise a way to offset the revenue loss somewhere else, which is where Reeves and Gunn differ. |
| The top issues lawmakers could address in 2022 | |
| The 2022 legislative session, which begins at noon on Tuesday, is shaping up as one of the most eventful in recent memory. Legislators --- 52 senators and 122 House members --- will face a litany of issues, any one of which could consume much of the time and energy of a regular session. If this year is like others, many issues that no one is talking about will become controversial and will dominate a large portion of the session. That nearly always happens --- such as removing the state flag in 2020 or stripping some of the city of Jackson's authority over the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport in 2016. With just 90 days in the scheduled regular session, lawmakers will have a chore on their hands. In no particular order, here is a list of some of the top issues facing legislators: Reinstating the ballot initiative process; Medical marijuana; Redistricting; Teacher pay; Cutting the personal income tax; A $4.2 billion surplus of funds; Critical race theory; and, Medicaid expansion. |
| Hosemann wants state to share ARPA funds with local governments | |
| Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said he would like to see the state government share its American Recovery Plan Act funds with Mississippi's local governments for capital improvements. "To be specific, Warren County got $8.8 million (in ARPA funds) and Vicksburg got $5.3 million," he said. "Between the two, they got $14.1 million. What we're talking about in the Legislature -- at least on the Senate side -- we are very interested in having this be matched with what goes in the ground. "If a city or a county decides that they want to give everyone a bonus, that's only a one-year thing and there's no need for me matching it." If a city or county wants to invest money in a capital project for long-term growth, Hosemann said, "That's something the Legislature would be interested in. The questions over how to spend the state's ARPA funds and $3.6 billion in federal infrastructure money are two of the issues pending as the 2022 session of the Legislature prepares to convene Tuesday. Those issues also include medical marijuana, the state's initiative law, redistricting and the state budget. And hovering over the state is an issue that affects not only Mississippi but the rest of the country. "My biggest concern is not how we spend this (ARPA) money, but the cost of living for families," Hosemann said. "We've had 5- and 6-percent increases over the past few months and that really eats into the spendable income for a family." Another area he wants to address is Mississippi's state parks. "Our state parks are an abysmal failure," he said. |
| Marijuana tops '22 legislative session | |
| Medical marijuana legislation, redistricting and spending $1.8 billion in federal relief monies coming to the state top the agenda as the Mississippi Legislature convenes. "I think what you'll see happen in the state Senate is the first week of the session, we will bring out a medical marijuana bill and pass it and send it to the House," said Republican state Sen. J. Walter Michel, whose district includes parts of Madison and Hinds counties. Michel said he thought a special session would have been called before the end of the year on the medical marijuana issue after the state Supreme Court in May overturned a medical marijuana Initiative 65 approved by voters in the 2020 general election. The high court sided with Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler, who challenged the process by which the measure was placed on ballots and overturned Initiative 65 approved by 58% of the overall vote in the 2020 general election according to certified election results. "We sure thought we were going to be in special session in either October or November," Michel said. "But, the only way we can go into a special session is to be called into session by the governor, and that call never happened." Gov. Tate Reeves has said he did not call a special session on the issue because he believes the amount of marijuana that can be prescribed under the proposed legislation is too high. Michel said he agrees with Reeves on the amount of marijuana allowed under initiative 65 and draft legislation developed in anticipation of a special session. Michel said the amount of marijuana allowed under both measures would be equivalent to a recreational marijuana program. Republican Rep. Jill Ford of Madison said she has a few pieces of legislation she is excited about in the upcoming session. "One, in particular, is the 'Seizure Safe Schools Act,'" Ford said. "Since one in 10 people will have a seizure at some point in their lives, it is vital for people, especially educators, to be able to know how to recognize and respond to different types of seizures." |
| Hospitals beg state for help during nursing crisis as omicron rages. Will lawmakers listen? | |
 | Though flushed with extra money, Mississippi elected officials have remained mum to the pleas of Gulf Coast health care leaders for funds to boost their systems that sit on the verge of collapse because of staffing shortages. Singing River Health System's officials said the last they've heard from state leaders is that the chief proposal to curb the statewide nursing shortage crisis is a $50 million allocation of the over $3 billion Mississippi received in federal pandemic relief cash to be dispersed to all front line health care workers. This means that every nurse, EMT, nursing home staff member and respiratory therapist, among others, would receive just under $1,000 in American Rescue Plan money to stay at Mississippi hospitals. The proposal wouldn't target the shortage and would do very little to incentivize nurses -- the bonus is a few hours pay at the increased rates hospitals are attempting to keep up with currently, a Singing River spokesperson said. While the pandemic ravaged South Mississippi and overwhelmed hospitals during COVID's fourth wave this summer, Singing River CEO Lee Bond in August proposed a plan that would use a portion of any available federal COVID relief funds to retain front line health care workers across the state. He said the reportedly leading proposal would offer a fraction of the funds and not provide what it would take to retain nurses in the state. "We understand the Legislature is working on some options, and while we are unrelenting in our plea, we are cautiously optimistic that everyone will work together to allocate closer to 25% instead of only 3% of the 1.8 billion which was intended for and required to help save our lifesavers," Bond said in a statement to The Sun Herald.] |
| City of Jackson signs letter asking Mississippi lawmakers to pass equal pay for women | |
| The City of Jackson has joined a call asking state lawmakers to pass an equal pay law. Jackson signed onto a letter by the Mississippi Women's Economic Security Coalition, a group made up of over 50 organizations across the state supporting policies that improve the economic wellbeing of women and families. "Mississippi's women are economic drivers for their families and the broader Mississippi economy," the letter from the coalition states. "Equal pay protection would benefit the whole of Mississippi." Forty-nine percent of the state's workforce are women, and women are nearly two-thirds of workers who make minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, according to the letter. In addition, more than seven in 10 work in low wage jobs that pay $11.50 an hour or less. A 2017 report by the Mississippi University Research Center found women earned 27% less than men working fulltime in Mississippi, compared to a 19% national wage gap. An equal pay law can give women a path out of poverty and provide economic security for them and their families, the letter says. The law could also add $4.15 billion to the state's economy and benefit businesses, the letter says. |
| Analysis: Jackson's rate of killings per capita ranks highest in the U.S. | |
| People are being killed at a higher rate per capita in the Capital City than any other major city in the U.S., according to a 3 On Your Side analysis of more than fifty municipalities across the country. With 153 killings thus far in 2021, the homicide rate for Jackson is 99.5 per 100,000 residents, a rate that blazes past Memphis, St. Louis, and Baltimore. The rate of killings in Jackson is three times greater than Chicago, meaning statistically, one is more likely to get killed in the Capital City than in these other municipalities. Though that surge in Jackson homicides resulted in a 17 percent jump in violent crime, according to the city, property crimes dropped by double digits. Overall, total crime this year has actually fallen 8 percent, though that has been overshadowed from the year's record number of killings. 2021 will end as the deadliest in Jackson history, eclipsing 2020′s record of 128 homicides based on individual reports supplied to WLBT from JPD. "It ain't good at all. I hope, hopefully, next year, it'll be getting a lot better," said Timothy Harris, a longtime Jackson resident. Harris remembers the violence that plagued the Capital City throughout the 1990s because he lived through it. Now he thinks other factors are making it even worse. "[We're] 40% below poverty; that's got a lot to do with it. And, you know, it's the pandemic, and people could not work and just not a lot of jobs right now," Harris said. |
| Former Trump press secretary to speak at Hernando fundraiser | |
 | Former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany will be the featured speaker at the first annual dinner titled "An Evening with Kayleigh McEnany" presented by County Seat Lunch Club on February 5 at 1 Memphis Street in Hernando. Kayleigh is the former White House Press Secretary, serving in the final year of President Donald Trump's administration. Prior to working in the White House, Kayleigh worked as the National Press Secretary for the Trump Campaign and formerly the National Spokesperson for the Republican National Committee. Before joining the RNC, Kayleigh worked as a political commentator at CNN and across cable news. Kayleigh graduated from Harvard Law School with a Juris Doctor and Georgetown University School of Foreign Services with a degree in international politics. She is now co-host of "Outnumbered" on the Fox News Channel and the author of the new book "For Such a Time as This: My Faith Journey through the White House and Beyond." "We are excited to have Kayleigh as our speaker for our first annual dinner that will also help benefit the Palmer Home," said club member Jordan Brumbelow. |
| CDC to reconsider latest guidance amid backlash, rise in cases | |
 | The highly transmissible COVID-19 omicron variant has thrown many pandemic-related plans for a loop as Americans canceled holiday plans or were left stuck in a travel nightmare caused by flight crews who could not work because they became sick. A decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week to cut isolation time in half, from 10 days to five days for asymptomatic COVID-19, was met with backlash after officials said it was due in part to allow people to return to work faster. It came one week after some companies, including Delta Air Lines, wrote to the CDC requesting such a change. Now, Anthony Fauci, the president's chief medical adviser, says the testing part of that guidance may change to now require one as officials struggle with rising cases that at times are breaking pandemic records. Appearing on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday, Fauci said the CDC was looking into amending its isolation guidelines nearly one week after it updated its latest guidance, which did not require a negative test before the five days were up. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) on Sunday praised the federal government's recent handling the COVID-19 pandemic, but said its messaging has been "a little bit inconsistent." "It's a recognition that we have to be able to manage our way through this virus. We have to get people to work the supply shortages, the staff shortages -- [those] really do a great deal of harm as well," Hutchinson said while appearing on "Fox News Sunday." |
| FDA authorizes Pfizer booster vaccine in children ages 12-15 | |
 | The Food and Drug Administration has authorized the use of a Pfizer-BioNTech booster in adolescents 12 to 15 years old. The agency on Monday also shortened the time between the completion of primary vaccination of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and a booster dose to five months from six. Finally, the FDA allowed for a third dose of vaccine in immunocompromised children 5 to 11 years of age. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle Walensky, must still weigh in with a recommendation on the FDA's announcement before the changes can take effect. "Throughout the pandemic, as the virus that causes COVID-19 has continuously evolved, the need for the FDA to quickly adapt has meant using the best available science to make informed decisions with the health and safety of the American public in mind," acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D., said in a statement. Woodcock said it is critical for the public to take "effective, life-saving preventative measures," including booster shots, during the current surge of infections driven by the omicron variant. The authorization comes in the midst of an explosion of COVID-19 cases nationwide driven by the omicron variant. Though the new strain appears milder in vaccinated people, there has been a spike in pediatric hospitalizations. Many schools have delayed the resumption of in-person classes in the new year due to the rapid rise in cases as well as faculty and staff home sick with the virus. |
| Omicron variant now dominant strain in Mississippi as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations increase | |
| The COVID-19 omicron variant is now the dominant strain of the coronavirus in Mississippi, officials with the Mississippi State Department of Health announced Wednesday, and the number of new cases and hospitalizations continue to rise rapidly. The first case of the omicron variant was confirmed in Mississippi on Dec. 6. Since then, omicron has grown to account for 59.6% of analyzed COVID-19 cases in Mississippi the week ending Dec. 25, 2021. "Omicron is significantly more contagious than delta, but fortunately it does appear to cause less severe illness," State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said during a press conference, Wednesday. "But regardless, we will continue to see additional hospitalizations and deaths, many of which could be avoided." Meanwhile, the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) reported 3,594 new COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths on Wednesday. The number of cases is up 80% from the previous week, according to MSDH. There are currently 130 long-term care facility outbreaks, 100 of which are at nursing homes. Just over a week ago, on Dec. 21, there were just 58 long-term care outbreaks. "We really are in the fifth wave now of COVID for Mississippi," State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers said. Demand for testing has increased, but MSDH Senior Deputy and Director of Health Protection for Jim Craig stressed that COVID-19 testing is widely available at physicians' offices, health departments and pharmacies across the state. |
| Members of Congress interacted with Jan. 6 rioters, Rep. Thompson says | |
 | Rep. Bennie Thompson, chair of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, said his panel has evidence of interactions between members of the House and the rioters that day but not necessarily of a significant nature. "We have a lot of information about communication with individuals who came," Thompson (D-Miss.) told host Chuck Todd on NBC's "Meet the Press" in an interview that aired Sunday. Thompson clarified that there was not evidence of House members participating in a conspiracy with rioters or offering substantial assistance -- at least not yet. "Now, 'assisted' means different things," he said. "Some took pictures with people who came to the 'Stop the Steal' rally. Some, you know, allowed them to come and associate in their offices and other things during that whole rally week. So, there's some participation. We don't have any real knowledge that I'm aware of of people giving tours. We heard a lot of that, but we're still, to be honest with you, reviewing a lot of the film that the House administration and others have provided the committee." Thompson, who said some members of Congress had provided information to his panel, said the committee wanted to hear from Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) about their activities, though he said it was not clear if his panel would or even could subpoena them. The Mississippi Democrat said that the committee is trying to learn more about the time that day in which President Donald Trump was in the White House before he released a public statement urging for an end to the attacks on the Capitol. |
| Biden to meet with farmers as he seeks to cut meat prices | |
| resident Joe Biden will meet virtually with independent farmers and ranchers to discuss initiatives to reduce food prices by increasing competition within the meat industry, part of a broader effort to show the administration is trying to combat inflation. The White House event occurs Monday afternoon as higher-than-expected inflation has thwarted Biden's agenda. Consumer prices in November rose 6.8% over the prior 12 months -- a 39-year high. Inflation has hurt Biden's public approval, become fodder for Republican attacks and prompted Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to cite higher prices as a reason to sideline the Democratic president's tax, social and economic programs. Biden is building off a July executive order that directed the Agriculture Department to more aggressively look at possible violations of the 1921 Packers and Stockyards Act, which was designed to ensure fair competition and protect consumers. Meat prices have climbed 16% from a year ago, with beef prices up 20.9%. The administration is targeting meat processing plants, which can shape the prices paid to farmers and charged to consumers. The White House issued a fact sheet saying that the top four companies control 85% of the beef market. In poultry, the biggest four processing firms control 54% of the market. And for pork, the figure is 70% for the four biggest firms. |
| Mississippi chicken farmers receive federal pandemic relief | |
| Mississippi poultry farmers who suffered losses when restaurants shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic will receive $23 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mark Leggett, president of the Mississippi Poultry Association, said the federal aid is a first. Because most chicken farmers are contract growers for poultry processing plants, they're not eligible for federal crop insurance and had not previously received any federal assistance during the pandemic despite suffering losses. "Almost in one day it seemed, all the restaurants closed," Leggett said. "That's about half of the chicken sold. Of the chicken that's not exported, about half goes to restaurants and the other half to groceries ... It was a shock back in 2020, and some growers did really suffer." USDA announced that $270 million in pandemic aid would be given to poultry and livestock contract producers nationwide. A total of $22.7 million will be distributed to 557 Mississippi chicken growers and about $400,000 to state egg contract producers who suffered pandemic losses. Leggett said there are about 1,600 poultry producers in Mississippi. Poultry (including eggs) has been the state's largest agricultural crop for nearly three decades, with annual farm production of about $3 billion a year for the last decade. Sens. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Chris Coons of Delaware led a successful bipartisan effort urging USDA to set aside the assistance for chicken farmers in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. |
| Twitter permanently blocks Marjorie Taylor Greene's personal account | |
 | Twitter again blocked the personal account used by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. -- this time permanently. The account "@mtgreenee," was cited for repeated violations of the social media platform's COVID-19 misinformation policy, Twitter spokesperson Trenton Kennedy told USA TODAY, The New York Times and The Hill, among other media outlets. Greene was banned for a lengthy post on Jan. 1 comparing American life before and after the pandemic, according to her spokesperson Nick Dyer. The post featured inaccurate claims such as masks posing a risk to children and studies showing ivermectin as a safe treatment for COVID-19. Available data does not show ivermectin is effective against COVID-19, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In a statement released Sunday, Greene called Twitter "an enemy to America." This is the fifth strike against her account, which was suspended a third time in July for 12 hours and again in August for seven days for promoting misleading information about COVID-19. Five or more strikes merit a permanent block, according to Twitter's policy. Greene's other account, @ReptMTG, remains unblocked. Greene has repeatedly condemned federally mandated measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. She compared safety protocols to the Holocaust and has been fined repeatedly for failing to wear a mask on the House floor. |
| Ole Miss alum Tucker, who prosecuted Mississippi corruption, dies at 82 | |
| James B. Tucker, an attorney who prosecuted corrupt Mississippi public officials during a 30-year career with the Justice Department, died Tuesday. He was 82. His death was announced Wednesday by the Butler Snow law firm, where he was a partner in private practice after he left government service. Tucker was retired from the firm. The announcement did not include the cause of death. Tucker earned a law degree from the University of Mississippi in 1966. After a few years of private practice in Mississippi's capital city of Jackson, he moved to Washington in 1971 to become a traveling attorney for the U.S. Justice Department. Tucker returned to Jackson in 1972 as an assistant U.S. attorney for the southern half of Mississippi. For about 20 years, he was chief of the criminal division for the district. Among the high-profile cases Tucker handled were the prosecutions of dozens of Mississippi county supervisors and private contractors in the 1980s during Operation Pretense, a probe of corrupt purchasing practices. Ray Mabus was state auditor in the mid-1980s and worked with federal authorities on Operation Pretense. He told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Tucker "was that rarest of public servants -- he always tried to do the right thing." In 2000, Tucker was appointed to serve as U.S. attorney for southern Mississippi. When Tucker retired from the Justice Department in 2001, then-U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran praised him. "I have an enormous amount of respect and appreciation for the way James Tucker has carried out the important responsibilities of his job," said Cochran, a Republican. "He was a true professional in every respect. He was completely honest and trustworthy, and he was tenacious in bringing to justice those who violated the laws of the United States." |
| USM Professor Chosen President-Elect of Mississippi Public Health Association | |
| Longtime public health professional, researcher and educator Dr. Tanya T. Funchess eagerly embraces the opportunity to serve as President-elect of the Mississippi Public Health Association (MPHA). Funchess, Assistant Professor of Public Health at The University of Southern Mississippi, has been an MPHA member for more than 15 years. Prior to becoming President-elect, she served as chair of the MPHA Health and Racial Equity Committee. "I am very honored and humbled to serve as President-elect for MPHA. I am excited to be working alongside public health professionals, decision-makers, health care leaders, academicians, faith-based organizations, and communities across this state from all walks of life, to improve the health of all Mississippians," said Funchess. Before joining the USM nursing faculty in 2018, Funchess served for 17 years at the Mississippi State Department of Health in various leadership roles, including the Office Director for Health Equity. Funchess earned her associate degree in general business from Copiah Lincoln Junior College and her Bachelor of Science degree from USM in business administration. She later earned her master's degree in management from Belhaven University; her Master's in public health from USM, and her doctorate in health administration (research focus) from the University of Phoenix, Ariz. |
| Jackson State University to begin spring semester with online classes | |
| Jackson State University has announced new pandemic adjustments for the spring semester. Starting next Monday, January 10th, faculty will teach all in-person courses in what the university describes as "an online synchronous format" until Sunday, January 23rd. In-person course options will resume on Monday the 24th. The online courses will follow the university's calendar with no changes. All returning students and visitors must provide proof of a negative PCR test that's no more than three days old before moving into campus housing. Students can also have only two guests help with moving in. Masks are still required on campus, and vaccines and boosters are strongly encouraged. |
| William Carey seeks future medical students | |
| When the William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine (WCUCOM) was founded a decade ago, it had one major focus – create primary care physicians to work in under-served areas of Mississippi and the Southeast U.S. "If your community has a good family doctor, a good internal medicine doctor, and a good pediatrician, you've got a stronger community. When people have access to medical care, you realize that prevention of problems like diabetes and obesity can begin at the primary care level," said Dr. Italo Subbarao, dean of the WCU College of Osteopathic Medicine. To help accomplish this goal, WCUCOM is now reaching out to Pine Belt school districts and students who want to become doctors. "That conversation doesn't start when they finish college and they're about to apply to a medical school," said Dr. Veronica Scott, director of WCUCOM's Office of Diversity. "We need to reach out early to students who are in high school and junior high. They need to think ahead about what courses to take. They need to be prepared for the Medical College Admission Test. They need high grade point averages in science courses. Students who don't receive guidance can find they're already behind when they apply to medical school. This is important, especially when you talk about diversity because we want to increase the number of students in our medical school from populations that are under-represented in medicine." |
| Mississippi's plan for $1.6 billion in pandemic relief for education approved by the feds | |
| The U.S. Department of Education has approved Mississippi's plan for spending pandemic-related education funds and released the last third of the money to the state. The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) fund is intended to help schools run safely throughout the pandemic and increase opportunities for students whose educational experience has been negatively impacted. The fund was first created in March 2020 in the Coronavirus Aid Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and has been replenished multiple times throughout the pandemic by federal legislation. Mississippi was allocated $1.6 billion in the latest round of ESSER funds, this time through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The state received the first $1.08 billion in late March of this year and the remaining $543 million was released to the state yesterday. The plan includes a full return to in-person learning, encouraging local vaccine drives at schools, increased individual and small-group tutoring, summer enrichment programs, and the state's telehealth program for mental health counseling. "Mississippi has prioritized in-person learning because it is the most effective way to keep students engaged, accelerate learning and address their social and emotional learning needs," said Carey Wright, Mississippi state superintendent of education. While some of these efforts -- like a return to traditional learning and encouragement of vaccine drives -- are already in place, others have been delayed. |
| Auburn, UAB to require universal masking in January | |
 | Auburn University will again require masks for all people on campus and university transportation, starting Jan. 3. The university posted its announcement Wednesday, "after consulting with local and state medical authorities." Masks are now required at Auburn regardless of vaccination status. The university also encouraged students, faculty and staff to test for COVID-19, and ensure a negative result, before returning for the spring semester. Similarly, on Tuesday, the University of Alabama at Birmingham said that, due to increased local COVID-19 transmission, everyone would need to continue to mask up in university buildings, regardless of vaccination status. The University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa currently requires face coverings for unvaccinated individuals. The Birmingham campus of the University of Alabama System currently has the highest employee and student vaccination rates, at 92% and 67%, respectively. |
| 'It's time': AU president Jay Gogue looks back on 2021 and forward to his second retirement | |
 | We sat down with Auburn University President Jay Gogue to discuss how the pandemic affected campus in 2021, what's to come with the university's search for a new president, and other changes and challenges in the new year. Answers have been edited for length and clarity. Q: How did you know it was time to step down? A: The first time I stepped down, I'd been here 10 years and so I had a great relationship with Auburn and enjoyed it all but thought it seemed like a good time to go do something different and let somebody else come in. And then, before I knew what happened, I got a call asking me if I'd be willing to come back for a while, and I said, "Sure." In all fairness, I think when I was asked to come back, the board probably would have begun the presidential search within four to six months, but COVID hit and so really there was enough uncertainty and they asked if I was willing to stay, and I said, "Sure." In the summer, we thought COVID was over and so I thought it was a good time for them to get the search done going into the fall cycle. Obviously, it's not over, but even with the variants, we've got enough experience and treatment options now that I would be surprised if the university couldn't continue to move forward without me, so it's time. |
| Faculty union asks U. of Florida administration to start spring semester online | |
 | The University of Florida faculty union has asked UF to hold the first three weeks of spring semester online in a bid to limit the spread of COVID-19 in January. In an email sent to university President Kent Fuchs on Sunday, union president and history professor Paul Ortiz requested a remote start to the term for both faculty and students "in order to assess the proper next steps to take" ahead of UF researchers' projected late January surge in COVID-19 cases caused by the omicron variant. "The prognosis for our region and for our state in general is rather grim," Ortiz said in the recent message. "I am writing to urge that the University of Florida embark on an all-hands-on-deck campaign against COVID in preparation for the spring semester." Starting online is not the union's only request. In the email, Ortiz also asked the UF administration to consider mandatory COVID-19 testing and require N95 masks to be worn on campus. Classes for the upcoming term begin on Jan. 5. University spokeswoman Hessy Fernandez told The Sun Tuesday afternoon that UF does not plan to start the semester online. She also sent a copy of a Monday letter from the State University System of Florida's Board of Governors that declared the fall 2021 semester very successful thanks to campuses' health and safety policies and procedures and individuals' responsibility and ownership "to create a safer environment for everyone." |
| Extinct shark named after LSU museum official as she retires | |
| A Louisiana State University museum official has received a unique retirement gift -- researchers in Alabama and South Carolina named a prehistoric shark species after her. Suyin Ting has been collections manager for vertebrate paleontology at the LSU Museum of Natural Science for 26 years. Her new namesake is Carcharhinus tingae, which lived 40 million years ago and was identified from fossilized teeth in the museum's collection. "I am very honored to be recognized by my peers for my work," Ting, who studied mammal paleontology, said in a news release Thursday, the day she retired. But, she added, the fact that David Cicimurri of the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, and Jun Ebersole of the McWane Science Center in Birmingham, Alabama, also identified many other specimens for the museum is much more important. Their contribution to the vertebrate paleontology collection is huge, she said. Cicimurri, curator of natural history at the South Carolina museum, and Ebersole, director of collections at McWane, spent two days at the museum in 2020, photographing specimens and gathering data. The museum doesn't have a fossil fish specialist, and they were able to identify much of the material previously labeled "fish." |
| Acadiana farmer and LSU AgCenter develop new, healthier variety of white rice | |
| Rice may soon be able to return to the plates of many Louisianans with the development of a new, more nutritious type of white rice with 53% more protein and a low glycemic index score, which was created and farmed in Acadiana. M&S Frugé Farms, a second-generation rice farm in Eunice, engineered and is distributing the new rice, called Parish Rice. The GMO-free rice has a glycemic index score of 41 out of 100, according to the company and the LSU Agriculture Center, which is the lowest of any white rice on the market. "I wanted to produce the highest quality rice possible, and I think we've done that," said Michael Frugé, owner of Parish Rice, in a release. "There are so many people whose health could benefit by switching to Parish Rice, and I'm ready to share it with as many folks as I can." The low glycemic index score means the rice does not raise a person's blood sugar as much as other rice brands. Frugé called Parish Rice a "gamechanger for anyone with diabetes" in a video produced by the LSU AgCenter. With help from the LSU AgCenter, Frugé grew a rice variety called Frontier, which had high levels of protein and a low glycemic index score. He began by selling the rice to the LSU Athletic Department before reaching out to other student-athletes and health-conscious groups. Ida Wenefrida, a rice researcher for the LSU AgCenter, said in a video that the rice's protein will be particularly beneficial for people in areas that rely heavily on rice in their diets. |
| New U. of Tennessee program strengthens success for Black and Latino men | |
 | When Amber Williams started as vice provost for student success at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in January 2020, she spent a lot of time talking to students. "We spent a lot of time just talking to students and just trying to understand their stories," William said. "Understand everything: what makes them happy, what makes them cry, what makes them frustrated, you know, all the things." During these conversations with students, Williams kept hearing about a challenge that several Black and Latino men faced: feeling isolated on campus. "They, academically, are very prepared to be successful on the campus," Williams said. "Though we were running into challenges of isolation. Not finding connections both inside and outside of the classroom. ... There (were) challenges around finding peers on campus, finding role models on campus. There were some fiscal challenges that some of our scholars had." Williams knew that feeling of isolation needed to change, so she and her team created the UT Success Academy, an academic, professional and social program designed to advance Black and Latino men's success in the college environment and beyond. Williams never thought this program would get off the ground so quickly. "This was a dream," Williams said. "To go from only a year ago -- literally only a year ago -- listening to students and them telling us their experiences to creating the program to hiring Aaron (Dixon), who's our inaugural director." |
| 'A clear danger to our community:' U. of Kentucky looks to address fake ID purchases by students | |
 | University of Kentucky police will be working with local, state and federal law enforcement to address a rise in fraudulent ID purchases by students, officials said Wednesday. Thomas "Lofton" Hazelwood, an 18-year-old freshman at UK, died from alcohol toxicity, caused by drinking before an unsanctioned fraternity event at the FarmHouse Fraternity house. Fake IDs were used to purchase the alcohol students drank that night, UK Police Department Chief Joe Monroe said during a press conference on Wednesday. The fake IDs were purchased online, Monroe said. "This practice presents a clear danger to our community, and we are committed to addressing this issue," Monroe said. Purchasing a fake ID is a felony, Monroe said. Students who have purchased fake IDs have several options, he said. "What I would encourage them to do is either to destroy those IDs or turn them into us immediately so that we can look at how that was purchased, and no charges will be placed against those individuals if they come forward and share that information with us," Monroe said. While students might not face criminal charges, they may face consequences for violating the UK Code of Student Conduct, Monroe said. Hazelwood died on Oct. 18 after being found unresponsive at the FarmHouse Fraternity house. He drank approximately 18 one-ounce shots of Wild Turkey 101 bourbon within 45 minutes, according to UK's report. This took place before the fraternity's tradition of "serenades," where members would visit sorority houses and sing to members. |
| Texas A&M continues upward enrollment trend | |
 | Texas A&M University saw an increase in enrollment from fall 2020, while Blinn College saw a nearly 5% decrease. Texas A&M reported 73,283 total students across the university's campuses in College Station, Galveston, Qatar and the Health Science Center. In College Station specifically, there were 67,133 students with undergraduates accounting for 53,876 of that total. The numbers reflect enrollment data on the 20th class day -- Sept. 24 -- when Texas A&M submits its official enrollment numbers following the clearing of students who have not submitted payment or established a payment plan, Kelly Brown, associate vice president for marketing and communications at A&M, said earlier this fall. In September, the university announced it had welcomed its largest freshman class to its campuses with 12,459. According to the university's Data and Research Services, the university had a freshman class of 12,203 across its campuses on the 20th class day with 11,120 of those located on the main campus in College Station. This is an increase of 10.2% and 6.4%, respectively, over fall 2020's freshman class enrollment. At Texas A&M, the increase is partially a result of planned growth in the College of Engineering and Mays Business School, according to a press release from the university following the first day of classes in August. |
| Colleges face question of starting semester amid COVID-19 | |
 | Remember the start of the fall semester, when college presidents spoke about how their institutions could resume normal operations? Fast-forward to the last weeks of December, and it's clear the pandemic isn't close to being gone. Omicron, a variant of the coronavirus, has spread in the United States and is now the dominant form of SARS-CoV-2 found here. Many colleges, especially those where the winter quarter or spring semester begins today, are adjusting their academic calendars. Some colleges are holding a few weeks of classes online, and some of those colleges are discouraging students from returning to campus. Other colleges have delayed the start of their semesters. Some are switching the start of the semester to online only. January terms, in which students study one subject for a few weeks, have largely gone online. Louisiana State University announced on New Year's Day that "for the first two weeks of the semester, instructors whose courses are listed in the spring catalog as being delivered face-to-face may opt to deliver their courses in synchronous (real time) fully remote, hybrid, or completely face-to-face formats. At the end of the two-week period, if the community and campus COVID-19 positivity rates are below 10 percent, the campus will resume scheduled course delivery." |
| Omicron's gut punch to groups with early 2022 conferences | |
| Academic associations resuming in-person conferences in early 2022 scrambled over the holiday break, deciding if and how to proceed amid the explosion of COVID-19 case counts. Both the Modern Language Association and the American Historical Association still plan to meet in person starting Thursday, in Washington, D.C., and New Orleans, respectively. The Association of American Colleges and Universities will meet in person starting Jan. 19 in Washington, as will the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities on Feb. 6. In contrast, the Conference on College Composition and Communication's executive committee voted to transition to an all-online conference in March in lieu of meeting in Chicago. The National Council of Teachers of English's Two-Year College English Association's meeting, held at the start of the CCCC meeting, will now be online, as well. Like the MLA and AHA, the American Economic Association meets annually in early January. Yet the AEA decided in August to hold a virtual conference once again in 2022 due to COVID-19. Peter Rousseau, the AEA's secretary-treasurer, said the rise of the Delta variant at the time posed a "public health threat to conference participants and created conditions materially affecting our ability to plan for and hold a safe in-person event." The recent arrival of the Omicron variant has only reinforced the economists' decision. But those groups moving forward with face-to-face conferences continue to cite their members' desire see their colleagues and friends in person once again, even if it's masked and socially distanced: there are no hotel bars or serendipitous elevator encounters over Zoom, they say. No association's decision about meeting in person or virtually in 2022 has been uncontroversial. |
| What the Lieber Verdict Says, and Doesn't Say, About Future Probes of Scholars' Ties to China | |
 | A federal jury took fewer than three hours to find Charles M. Lieber, a former chairman of Harvard University's chemistry department, guilty of lying to U.S. government officials about his ties to China. Lieber, whom federal prosecutors painted as chasing money and scientific prestige, was one of the highest profile academics charged under the China Initiative, the U.S. Department of Justice's probe of academic and economic espionage. Yet his conviction does little to resolve the fate of the controversial investigation, which has come under increasing criticism for its chilling effect on international scientific collaboration -- including by a former U.S. attorney who previously led Lieber's prosecution. "Guilt is individual," said Margaret K. Lewis, a law professor at Seton Hall University who focuses on China and Taiwan. "This case was about Lieber's individual behavior, and that was what the jury was required to decide, not give a ruling on the China Initiative as broader government policy." This case isn't the final nail in the coffin of the China Initiative some opponents hoped for. Before Lieber's conviction, the government had suffered several setbacks, including the dismissal of charges against a half dozen Chinese or Chinese American researchers and the acquittal of Anming Hu, a former University of Tennessee at Knoxville professor. Hu and Lieber are the only academics to have gone to trial under the China Initiative, and critics had hoped that a pair of not-guilty verdicts would send a ringing message to the Biden administration to shut down the investigation. |
| Biden extends student loan repayment pause | |
 | President Joe Biden announced Wednesday a 90-day extension of the pause on repayments for federal student loans to May 1, even as congressional Democrats seek further action. "Now, while our jobs recovery is one of the strongest ever -- with nearly 6 million jobs added this year, the fewest Americans filing for unemployment in more than 50 years, and overall unemployment at 4.2 percent -- we know that millions of student loan borrowers are still coping with the impacts of the pandemic and need some more time before resuming payments," he said in a statement. The extension of the pandemic-driven pause comes amid a surge in COVID-19 cases from the omicron variant. "This additional extension of the repayment pause will provide critical relief to borrowers who continue to face financial hardships as a result of the pandemic, and will allow our Administration to assess the impacts of Omicron on student borrowers. As we prepare for the return to repayment in May, we will continue to provide tools and supports to borrowers so they can enter into the repayment plan that is responsive to their financial situation, such as an income-driven repayment plan," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement. Biden highlighted the role of Vice President Kamala Harris in the administration's work through the Education Department on student loans. Harris, in an interview this week with CBS News, emphasized that the administration is working to "figure out how we can creatively relieve the pressure that students are feeling." |
| Colleges Brace For Onslaught Of Problematic Higher Education Bills | |
| New legislative sessions will begin this month in most states. Look for a host of bills pertaining to higher education to be filed. If recent years and the bills that have already been prefiled by legislators are any indication, higher ed leaders will be busy trying to defeat, deflect, or deflate a range of bad legislation ranging from the merely misguided to the mainly malicious. From tenure to guns, curriculum to Covid-19, state legislators will be pursuing new bills intended to end or amend a number of important campus policies. The majority of states have either already passed or will be considering various bills intended to prevent the teaching of critical race theory (CRT) and other race-related concepts at state institutions. Never mind that CRT is seldom taught outside of law schools or the occasional graduate seminar, Republican governors and legislatures are determined to burn that bridge before it's ever crossed. And all signs point to growing efforts in many states to ban or diminish other topics from college curricula. What's next on the prohibited list? Here are some likely candidates: LGBTQ-related content, the 2020 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and any topics deemed to be "divisive" or "discriminatory." Bills that would restrict college classroom content and viewpoints are becoming increasingly popular. |
| Gov. Reeves still holds some cards in regular session medical marijuana showdown | |
| Bobby Harrison writes for Mississippi Today: An early fight between the legislative leadership and Gov. Tate Reeves could be brewing if he vetoes a medical marijuana bill as he said he would do if it does not meet his specifications. Many anticipate passing a medical marijuana bill will be one of the first priorities of the Legislature in the 2022 session. Most legislators, including Speaker Philip Gunn and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, had expressed support for the governor calling a special session to take up medical marijuana after the state Supreme Court stunningly struck down the medical marijuana program approved by voters in November 2020. But the governor, who has the sole authority to call a special session, refused in large part because he said the proposal worked out by House and Senate leaders allowed for too large a quantity of marijuana to be dispensed to individuals. Reeves blocked the proposal for 2021 by refusing to call a special session. He now says he is likely to try to block the proposal in the 2022 regular session by the power of his pen -- through his veto. "As it is currently written, I don't think I will be able to do that," Reeves said referring to signing into law the bill that is expected to be offered during the 2022 session by legislative leaders. Then Reeves said, "I am hopeful we can find at least 18 senators and 44 or 45 House members willing to vote against (the number needed to uphold his veto) so we can negotiate a true medical marijuana bill in our state." |
| It's never been a better time for entrepreneurs | |
| Eric Hill, the director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach at Mississippi State University, writes for The Northside Sun: We often talk about Mississippi's problems. If you've lived here a while, you start to naturally assume we're last on the "good lists," and first on the "bad lists." Rarely do we talk about what Mississippi's true potential actually looks like. But as a 31-year-old who has now spent the first decade of my career fighting the "brain drain" status quo and helping 20-somethings build companies, I believe that Mississippi -- now -- has one of the best opportunities in the country to become a leader in creating technology companies. We just don't believe it yet. Nearly every new software company across the country outsources some or all of its code needs overseas. Software development has in large part become commoditized. Developers on either coast cost in many cases 5x what they do overseas, so the market follows price. Such is the trend in every "technology" revolution. As I've met entrepreneurs across our state, I'm always struck at their resourcefulness and ability to stretch a dollar. I'm struck by their ingenuity and stunningly powerful ideas. And yes, our cost of living and median wages position us to be highly competitive in this commodity business. By my napkin math, an investment dollar in a Mississippi company buys approximately 3x the survival time to launch a business here versus San Francisco. So what stands in our way? |
| New laws regulating agricultural facility conditions could raise food prices | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: Voters in California and Massachusetts have directly passed laws regulating the conditions in which pigs, hens, and calves are housed in industrial agriculture production facilities that may prove to be the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come for farmers, producers and consumers in the rest of the country. At a time when inflation in food prices is already a factor in the wake of the COVID pandemic, these laws could further raise retail prices for pork, eggs and veal for consumers and dictate significant expenses for producers to make their industrial farms compliant -- costs that will be passed on to the consumer. According to the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, Mississippi ranks 23rd in the nation in pork production at more than 1.02 million swine annually. But the heavyweight commercial pork-producing states are Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska and Missouri. In terms of eggs, Mississippi produced 1.41 million eggs in 2020 at a value of $260 million. ... Putting the conflict in perspective are numbers crunched by North Carolina State University agricultural economist Barry Goodwin, who found that Californians consume about 15 percent of U.S. pork production, but in turn produce only 0.12 percent. Neither is Massachusetts a pork producer of any real significance. |
SPORTS
| The World Class Archer Who Moonlights as an SEC Punter | |
 | To some, he's known as "Laughs." To others, he goes by "Hardy." His football coach calls him "Air Force" and isn't entirely sure what his actual name is. Regardless of what his nickname is at the moment, Mississippi State's Charles "Archer" Trafford V might just be the most interesting punter in the world. Before Trafford came to Starkville, Miss., with dreams of punting in the National Football League, he was a cadet at the Air Force Academy, a third-generation Eagle Scout and one of the best teenage archers in the country with an inside track to the 2020 Olympics. He's also an accomplished cellist, a catamaran enthusiast and sometimes armadillo hunter at his family's home outside of Shreveport, La. "I don't like to boast about my past," Trafford said in an interview. That's part of the reason why Mike Leach, his football coach at Mississippi State, didn't know last summer that his punter named "Archer" was once a world-class shooter in the Olympic recurve discipline who competed in 87 countries as a teenager. "I knew vaguely that he was a good archer," said Leach. After The Wall Street Journal contacted Leach for this article, he added, "I looked up the bio on him and he's shot a lot more arrows than I realized." Trafford's path to booting footballs in the Southeastern Conference is about as winding as they come, and it's impossible to understand "Archer the punter" without first knowing "Hardy the archer." |
| Mississippi State men's basketball game vs Missouri postponed due to COVID-19 issues | |
| Mississippi State men's basketball won't be heading to Missouri after all. Due to positive tests and subsequent contact tracing within Missouri's program, Wednesday's game between the Tigers and Bulldogs has been postponed, the SEC announced Monday. A makeup date has yet to be determined. The Bulldogs opened SEC play last week against Arkansas, dispatching the Razorbacks in comfortable fashion. Arkansas was without leading scorer JD Notae, who missed the action due to illness, a team spokesperson said. Mississippi State has avoided any major COVID-19 interruptions thus far. Coach Ben Howland said one player tested positive last week: freshman KeShawn Murphy, who is redshirting this season. But Howland said Murphy's roommates -- Cam Carter, Tyler Brumfield and Alden Applewhite -- all tested negative. Mississippi State's next game is scheduled to take place Saturday (7:30 p.m., SEC Network) at Ole Miss. |
| Women's Basketball Falls at No. 1 South Carolina to Open SEC Play | |
| After a pair of postponements for both Mississippi State and South Carolina, State opened SEC play on the road at No. 1 South Carolina on Sunday, falling to the top-ranked Gamecocks, 80-68. Anastasia Hayes was outstanding in her return to the lineup. The senior led the way for the Bulldogs with 15 points on 6-14 shooting. Hayes also added five boards and one assist to her totals. Joining Hayes in double-figures was Myah Taylor (15), Rickea Jackson (14) and JerKaila Jordan (16). Denae Carter led the Bulldogs on the glass with a team-high eight rebounds. This was Carter's seventh game leading the team in rebounds and fourth straight. Aislynn Hayes provided a spark off the bench with four points and four rebounds. Taylor led the team lead in steals with five and Jordan swiped four herself. Mississippi State was 11-for-12 (91%) from the charity stripe on the night. State forced South Carolina to commit 18 turnovers, 12 steals, and turning those turnovers into 18 points. The Bulldogs scored 44 points in the paint, with 14 coming on the fastbreak. The NCAA's top two shot-blocking teams each recorded four blocked shots in the contest. The game was initially scheduled for Feb. 6 and was moved up over a month after both teams had an open date due to Covid-19 protocols for their originally scheduled opponents. The sudden rescheduling of games forced the Bulldogs to travel to Columbia, S.C. the same afternoon of the game. |
| Inside Mississippi State women's basketball's last-minute schedule change | |
| So, Doug Novak, how would you describe the last 48 hours for the Mississippi State women's basketball team? "Bizarre." How so? "Got a call the other night late that this might happen," the interim MSU coach explained. "I thought there's no way they'd do something like this. And sure enough, we did." In the immediate aftermath of learning Monday's game against Kentucky was postponed because of positive COVID-19 cases and subsequent contact tracing among the Wildcats, the SEC made swift adjustments. The conference discovered that No. 1 South Carolina's opponent, Ole Miss, wouldn't be able to play either. So an impromptu matchup between the Bulldogs and Gamecocks cropped up, born out of a desire to pack as many games into a schedule that is prone for interruptions this season. But the quick turnaround gave little-to-no time for Mississippi State to prepare for South Carolina, a daunting team to face even with ample notice. "Really no prep, just heading on a plane and playing the No. 1 team in the country," Novak said. "So, pretty bizarre turn of events, and I know they're just trying to get games in, but there's a lot that goes into that. And everybody's just doing the best they can." Road trips don't normally come together in a day. But the 2021-22 season requires flexibility, and Novak noted how the behind-the-scenes work from administrators helped get the Bulldogs to Columbia, South Carolina -- even chipping in virtually. Director of basketball operations Ashley Morris tested positive for COVID-19, Novak said, so she relayed instructions to the student managers. "There're so many people that are involved in something like this, so I can whine and complain all I want about it, I really need to thank people who can make stuff happen so fast," Novak said. "Everybody had a piece in getting this thing to work out as well as it could." |
| Razorbacks trip home as fraught as SEC opener | |
| It was a long trip home for the University of Arkansas basketball team Wednesday night -- and into Thursday morning -- after the Razorbacks played at Mississippi State. First the Razorbacks had to wait for the weather to clear in Starkville, Mississippi, so their chartered plane could land to pick them up. Then they sat on the tarmac for about an hour and 45 minutes waiting to take off. It normally would have been an hour flight to Fayetteville, but after being in the air for nearly two hours because of the weather, it was determined the plane couldn't land in Fayetteville. Instead the Razorbacks flew to Oklahoma City and arrived about 1 a.m. After spending three hours in a hotel, the team left Oklahoma City at 5 a.m. on a bus and drove to Fayetteville. Because of road construction, the drive took more than four hours with the Razorbacks arriving back on the Arkansas campus at 9:30 a.m. -- nearly 14 hours after their game against the Bulldogs ended. The game didn't go much better for the Razorbacks than their trip home. Mississippi State beat Arkansas 81-68 in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams, continuing the Razorbacks' struggles at Humphrey Coliseum. Arkansas fell to 0-4 in SEC openers at Mississippi State and 7-23 overall in road games against the Bulldogs, including 2-16 since the 2000-01 season. |
| New book 'Standing Ready' recounts origin of Texas A&M's 12th Man tradition | |
| Sunday marks the 100th anniversary of the event that led to Texas A&M's storied 12th Man tradition. John A. Adams Jr., historian and author of several A&M-related books, has a new book chronicling the origins of one of A&M's most identifiable trademarks. Adams' book, "Standing Ready: The Golden Era of Texas Aggie Football and the Beginning of the 12th Man Tradition," was released on Dec. 31 and published through the Texas A&M University Press. The book recounts the events and dynamics surrounding the 1922 Dixie Classic in Dallas between Texas A&M and Centre College. The Aggies had no more backup players available due to injuries, and E. King Gill was called down from the press box onto the field and stood ready if needed. Although Gill never entered the game, his actions led to the formation of the 12th Man tradition, including A&M students standing for the entire length of home football games. "Out of this game, which was one of the hallmark games, will be one of the hallmark traditions of Texas A&M -- the 12th Man -- that will evolve over time and, of course, really stand the test of time," Adams said. "It became one of the real bases of A&M's traditions." The 12th Man tradition at A&M has evolved over the years. Jackie Sherrill created the 12th Man kickoff team in 1982, taking a group of walk-ons and forming one of the nation's top kickoff coverage units. Eventually, the 12th Man would be a title given to one walk-on player, who usually plays on special teams and is the only player that wears No. 12. |
| An All-SEC Final Is the Latest Obstacle to Expanding the College Football Playoff | |
| For eight seasons, the College Football Playoff format has shown that it is usually difficult to find two elite teams who can compete closely for the national title, much less four or more. This year is no different. New Year's Eve blowouts in the semifinals have set up a Jan. 10 title game between Southeastern Conference powers Alabama and Georgia, a sequel to their conference championship game last month. It's the seventh time in the eight seasons of the four-team playoff format that at least one team from the SEC has reached the biggest game, and exact repeat of the 2018 title game. No one is satisfied with how predictable the final weeks of the college football season have become. Yet no one can agree on how to fix it. Leaders in college athletics have generally moved toward expanding the four-team playoff -- yet that's where the consensus ends. Talks of expanding to a 12-team playoff, which gained momentum earlier this year, have recently stalled in part because of the conflicting business interests of the big conferences involved and a broadly uncertain landscape in college sports. Even proponents of the expanded playoff have seemingly shifted into neutral. "We want more teams in the playoff, [but] we're fine with four," SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in December. Friday's games hardly made the case that more games are needed to get down to the two best teams. Alabama beat Cincinnati by 21 points while Georgia bested Michigan by 23. They were the 10th and 11th of the 16 semifinal games since 2014 to be decided by 17 points or more. |
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