| Tuesday, February 8, 2022 |
| Chief Justice discusses faith, intervention in court system | |
 | Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Randolph recalls the moment he gained the strongest motivation for his law career. When his first grandchild was born in August 2003, he said the way he viewed life was changed forever. He held her in his arms for the first time and believed applying Christian principles was the best way to improve the state's court system. "I told my wife that day, if we don't get people into the court system that believe in God and go to Sunday school and church and do the right thing, this child is not going to have a life that we've enjoyed," Randolph told Starkville Rotarians on Monday. Completing his 27th full-through Bible reading this year, Randolph said the law and constitution are not much different from the Bible. Randolph said as chief justice, he believes in free choice because the constitution says people have the freedom to choose how to live their lives. "If you want to be a Christian, be a Christian, and if you don't, there are some penalties for it, but that's your choice," Randolph said. "Our constitution says it's your choice which church you want to go to." To keep one person at a Mississippi state penitentiary costs $18,000 per year, but through this program, only $1,200 is spent per year on criminals because they work to pay for their fines, counseling and other fees throughout the program. Randolph said this has saved the state $586 million over the last 10 years because offenders are out working jobs rather than sitting in Parchman not paying taxes. "Intervention courts are about accountability," Randolph said. Aside from his faith, Randolph told Rotarians about the state intervention court system. This court allows non-violent drug offenders the opportunity for work and treatment rather than the typical prison alternative. |
| New county court could force administration offices to relocate | |
| The new county court is in need of office space, but the county has run out. Circuit Clerk Tony Rook told the board of supervisors on Tuesday it would be best to house county court with circuit court, which is located in the courthouse annex on Main Street, in order to keep records for both courts under one roof. However, that would necessitate relocating the county administration and board of supervisors' office space to a different facility. Due to Oktibbeha County exceeding a population of 50,000, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves approved the creation of a county court in January. This court will be a middle court between justice and circuit courts and also oversee youth court. Circuit Clerk Tony Rook said he sees the court fully operating in 12 months, but with the creation of a new court comes new personnel. Three candidates qualified to run for county court judge in the Nov. 8 election. Along with the elected judge, the court will need a court reporter and administrator -- both hired by the judge -- and individual criminal, civil and youth clerks. Currently, no office space is available in the courthouse annex on Main Street. After speaking with all three circuit court judges, Rook said they collectively believe circuit and county courts must reside together. "We believe we can schedule the current circuit courtrooms to coexist with county court and youth court," Rook said. "However, we must still create space with staff, which is one of the large challenges. The judges and I have spoken in detail about this, and we all unanimously agree that it is critical for all personnel (related to the courts) to be located under the same roof." |
| Technology startups in Mississippi getting traction in the market and with investors | |
 | Technology is important both because of its effect on every job and every industry and because technology startups have been shown to be great wealth and economic development engines, said Tony Jeff, CEO of Innovate Mississippi, which provides services to entrepreneurs, investors, job seekers and service providers. "Technology permeates every industry and every profession and is changing how jobs are done, even for those who don't think they are 'in technology'," Jeff said. "Knowledge economy jobs are better paying and more attractive to many workers and they are critical to a balanced economic development strategy. That's not to say that they should be the only focus, but a focus on knowledge economy jobs should be an important part of any economic development strategy." Knowledge economy jobs are also the types of jobs that stem the "brain drain" problem, with many of Mississippi's college graduates leaving the state for good jobs. Jeff said many Mississippi natives, even those who left the state immediately after college, could be attracted back if good career opportunities were available to them. The pandemic initially had negative effects on many different kinds of businesses, and certainly made it more challenging for startup companies. But Jeff said after an initial lockdown for a couple of months, the startup scene in Mississippi has really picked up. |
| Analysis: Mississippi wants to dole out tax dollars as venture capital to startups. What could go wrong? | |
 | Mississippi lawmakers are considering getting into the venture capital business, using your tax dollars to float startup businesses. What could go wrong? Well, if history is any guide -- plenty. The last time the state tried this, millions of dollars were misspent and stolen, no new businesses got started, somebody went to prison, and the state spent years trying to untangle what went wrong. Taxpayers would've been better off if someone had taken their money down to the boats and played craps with it. First, the new proposal: With the American Rescue Plan Act, Congress earmarked $10 billion to reauthorize the State Small Business Credit Initiative. This initiative was first created in 2010 after the Great Recession, and funded with $1.5 billion in federal tax dollars to help stimulate small business entrepreneurship through loans and investments. Mississippi got about $13 million back then and, like many other states, just created small business loan programs. Some states also used the money for venture capital, but Mississippi did not in part because it was a relatively small amount and also in part because of its past massive boondoggle mentioned above -- but more on that later. Now, Mississippi is set to receive about $52 million. And the Mississippi Development Authority is asking lawmakers to give the agency authority to stand up a private nonprofit and create a venture capital fund with part of the money. |
| House Minority Leader Robert Johnson III remains focused on Democratic policy priorities | |
 | Democratic lawmakers are outnumbered in the House and Senate in Mississippi, but leaders say they are continuing to push for their major party goals. House Minority Leader Robert Johnson of Adams County says he has been involved in conversations with conservative leadership about tax reform. He says these discussions influenced tax cuts for low-income residents, such as a lower grocery and car tag tax. "We'll replace the money we are losing on income tax with money that we're going to get from businesses we've been giving a break to for 20, 30 years or more. And so I'm comfortable with that balance being struck and comfortable with the idea that we won't lose money and still have money available." Conversations are also ongoing about if the state will expand Medicaid. Speaker of the House Phillip Gunn opposes expansion, while Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann supports offering broader coverage to those who need Medicaid the most. Representative Johnson says if Medicaid was expanded, it could help rural hospitals across the state stay open and offer better care. But he says it may take some time. "The hospitals pay a tax every year. And they're paying a tax and they're also losing money because we haven't expanded Medicaid. So one of the things we could do, we could give at least a two or three-year tax abatement that the hospitals don't have to pay and they can use that money to reinvest and pay employees. And we can afford to do it, so they can at least stay open until we can come to some reasoning about Medicaid expansion." Representative Johnson says the state must also address failing infrastructure to ensure that people across the state have access to businesses, education, and healthcare. |
| Mississippi House Democratic Leader says eliminating state income tax 'doesn't make much sense' | |
 | Mississippi House Minority Leader State Representative Robert Johnson (D) spoke at the Stennis Capitol Press Forum in Jackson on Monday about the 2022 Legislative session and the priorities of the Democratic Party. Rep. Johnson started the lunch by posing the question: "As a legislature, what are we trying to achieve? We're not making this place better for our children, we're not making this place where people want to live, what are we doing?" The Democrat Leader said a necessary part of his job is to be able to work with others. Johnson mentioned how, though he doesn't always agree with Speaker of the House Philip Gunn, he considers the Republican leader a good friend and said that it is important to be able to have discussions and talks with one another. "I'm a Democrat, and I've found myself in a predicament from time to time with being on the wrong side of what Democrats wanted, but what I thought was best for people," Johnson said. "As we move this state forward, as we try to, we need to find places that we can agree. I'm in a majority Republican legislature, a super majority, and so when the Speaker of the House calls me and says can we sit down and talk about an issue, I find a way to talk about it." As to specific issues that lawmakers have been debating, Rep. Johnson said that eliminating Mississippi's income tax "doesn't make much sense" long term. But looking at in the short term, Johnson believes that it gives him the opportunity to be in a room with the Speaker to discuss the state's surplus to figure out what he and Democrats can do for people in Mississippi. |
| Jackson Senators Push for Big Funding for Jails, Police Over Reversing Crime Causes | |
| Multiple gunshots rang out during lunch break in downtown Jackson on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. The State of Mississippi-funded Capitol Police, who said the shots came from a fully automatic weapon, discovered a white Infinity riddled with bullets and found a man and a woman with gunshot wounds at the scene. Officers took the two victims, who were in stable conditions, to a nearby hospital. The incident happened hours before Gov. Tate Reeves presented his 2022 State of the State address on the steps of the Mississippi Capitol, a few blocks away. Reeves cited the gunfire event while asking for increased Capitol Police spending, reeling out the capital city's recent homicide numbers -- 128 in 2020 and 156 in 2021. "And just today, less than four blocks from where we sit, less than one block from the governor's mansion, we had a shootout in the middle of the day," he said. "That is unacceptable." "That is why I've championed an expansion of the scope of our Capitol Police force to support local law enforcement and to bring peace back to Jackson," he added. "That's why I proposed doubling the size of our Capitol Police force, so there will be more boots on the ground as you perform your shifts in the Capitol Complex Improvement District." Two days after Gov. Reeves' presentation proposing the doubling of Capitol Police, five state senators representing parts of Jackson held a press conference at the Capitol -- Sens. Sollie Norwood, D-Jackson; John Horhn, D-Jackson; David Blount, D-Jackson; Walter Michel, R-Ridgeland; and Hillman Frazier, D-Jackson. They outlined a four-pronged legislative plan they argue will help deal with rising crime in the city. |
| Ethics Commission rules that open meetings law was not violated in redistricting effort | |
| The Mississippi Ethics Commission dismissed a complaint alleging the Legislature's Joint Redistricting Committee violated the state's open meetings law in developing a plan to redraw the four U.S. House seats. The eight-member Ethics Commission, which is responsible for hearing allegations of public officials violating the open meetings law, said there was no violation because the Redistricting Committee never met behind closed doors with a quorum present, according to affidavits from Rep. Jim Beckett, R-Bruce, the chair of the committee, and from vice chair Sen. Dean Kirby, R-Pearl. "A meeting is an assemblage of members of a public body at which official acts may be taken upon a matter over which the public body has supervision, control, jurisdiction or advisory power," the commission wrote in its opinion dismissing the complaint. "Official acts, including deliberations, may only be taken when a quorum of the public body assembles." For the committee to have a quorum, which is needed to conduct official business, six House members and six Senate members must be present. The ACLU has the right to appeal the Ethics Commission ruling to a state court. It already is likely that the NAACP and others will challenge the congressional redistricting plan in federal court. The new map was approved by the Redistricting Committee late last year and ultimately passed by the Legislature in January. |
| Supreme Court sides with GOP in Alabama election map case | |
 | The Supreme Court put on hold a lower court ruling that Alabama must draw new congressional districts before the 2022 elections to increase Black voting power. The high court order boosts Republican chances to hold six of the state's seven seats in the House of Representatives. The court's action, by a 5-4 vote announced Monday, means the upcoming elections will be conducted under a map drawn by Alabama's Republican-controlled legislature that contains one majority-Black district, represented by a Black Democrat, in a state in which more than a quarter of the population is Black. A three-judge lower court, including two judges appointed by former President Donald Trump, had ruled that the state had likely violated the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting the political power of Black voters by not creating a second district in which they made up a majority, or close to it. Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Samuel Alito, part of the conservative majority, said the lower court's order for a new map came too close to the 2022 election cycle. Chief Justice John Roberts joined his three more liberal colleagues in dissent. The justices will at some later date decide whether the map produced by the state violates the landmark voting rights law, a case that could call into question "decades of this Court's precedent about Section 2 of the VRA," Justice Elena Kagan wrote in dissent. That decision presumably will govern elections in 2024 through the end of the decade in Alabama and could affect minority political representation elsewhere in the country, too. |
| MS04: Internal poll shows Congressman Palazzo with sizeable lead in GOP primary | |
| An internal polling memo obtained by Y'all Politics for the Steven Palazzo campaign from Republican pollster Glen Bolger shows the South Mississippi Congressman with a substantial lead heading into the 4th Congressional District GOP primary in June. The poll from Public Opinion Strategies was conducted between December 11-14, 2021, and was released to the Palazzo campaign on January 13th. Bolger is a nationally known Republican pollster who has regularly polled in Mississippi. Of the 400 interviews conducted of likely Republican voters in the 4th District, Palazzo has a 98% name ID and over two-thirds of voters (67%) are favorable to him. Palazzo again faces a crowded field in the 2022 midterm Republican primary. Four candidates have already qualified to challenge the incumbent. They are Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell, State Senator Brice Wiggins, Clay Wagner, and Raymond Brooks. Others have expressed an interest in running but have yet to file their qualifying papers. One of those is Carl Boyanton who ran against Palazzo in 2020. The Palazzo campaign polling memo shows that Ezell is the only candidate among the challengers who have any significant name ID in the 4th District, pulling in 53% and gaining 17% favorability among respondents. Wiggins and Wagner were the only other candidates above 20% name ID, with the State Senator at 27% and the former Coast banker at 22%. Wiggins' favorability was reported at 11% with Wagner's at 4%. |
| House Plans Stopgap Spending Bill as Government Shutdown Approaches | |
 | House leaders scheduled a Tuesday vote to extend a temporary government funding measure through March 11, buying time for negotiators to work out a comprehensive fiscal 2022 package after a prolonged deadlock over how much to allocate for military and nondefense spending. House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.) said that negotiators are "close to reaching a framework government funding agreement, but we will need additional time to complete the legislation in full." An interim law currently funds the government through Feb. 18. Absent congressional action, many parts of the government would shut down starting at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 19. The Senate hasn't set a time to vote on companion legislation after the measure clears the House. House and Senate appropriators have been haggling over spending for weeks, but have been unable to bridge key differences, particularly over overall spending levels. With the expiration of the 2011 Budget Control Act, the two parties have less incentive to abide by the principle of parity in military and nonmilitary spending increases. The 2011 law was designed to force compromise by triggering automatic spending cuts in the absence of an agreement on defense and nondefense funding. |
| Government commission: Synthetic drug trafficking a 'national security' emergency | |
 | A government commission tasked with developing solutions to the U.S. synthetic opioid crisis called Tuesday for urgent action after warning that spiraling overdose deaths threaten U.S. "national security and economic well-being." The commission's much-anticipated findings echo President Joe Biden's Dec. 15 declaration that the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids into the U.S. constituted a national emergency. The Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking, convened in May 2020 to develop a "strategic approach to combating the flow of synthetic opioids into the United States," called for a decisive shift in U.S. policy to reduce the rising numbers of synthetic opioid overdose deaths. The synthetic opioid fentanyl, a drug approved for pain treatment, killed more than 64,000 Americans from April 2020 to April 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A recent Stanford-Lancet study warned that the U.S. synthetic opioid overdose death toll could rise to 1.2 million by 2029. The Commission's report includes 76 recommendations that provide the Biden administration a blueprint to reduce the supply of illicit synthetic opioids produced and exported by Mexican drug cartels using Chinese-manufactured raw materials. “This all goes back to China,” said Rep. David Trone (D-Md.), the commission’s co-chair. “China needs to do things differently like enforcing their anti-money laundering laws, preventing Chinese chemical manufacturers from exporting these legal precursors to known trafficking operations in Mexico, regulating the industry itself and [regulating] appropriately the other synthetic opioids that are out there.” |
| GOP frustration mounts as Trump focuses on Jan. 6 | |
 | Republicans are growing increasingly frustrated by former President Trump's renewed focus on the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on Capitol Hill, worried that it could throw a wrench into their midterm plans as they seek to retake Congress. Barely over a month ago, Trump was talking up his administration's success with the coronavirus vaccines. But in recent weeks he tacked back to focusing on the 2020 election and the insurrection, claiming former Vice President Mike Pence could have "overturned" the election and floating pardons for the rioters. That red-meat rhetoric is expected to play well with Trump's hardcore base, but Republicans say it's not effective for winning over the swing voters the party needs this November at a time when President Biden's low approval ratings are blowing wind in the GOP's sails. "It doesn't make sense to me in the current political climate. While almost every Republican on the ballot wants to be talking about the present and the future, inflation, the economy, schools and parents, he seems focused on talking about the past," said GOP strategist David Kochel. "It just really gets in the way of what's working right now for Republicans." Republicans for more than a year have grimaced over Trump's rhetoric surrounding the Capitol riot, which unsuccessfully sought to overturn President Biden's 2020 victory. But Trump has doubled down in recent weeks on his bombast. |
| Along with attention, GOP House firebrands attract primary fights | |
 | Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Madison Cawthorn and Lauren Boebert have built national reputations and raised millions of dollars by flouting political norms. Now the MAGA axis of the House freshman class is attracting Republican challengers who say that, with the GOP in position to win control of the House majority, Republican voters in Georgia, North Carolina and Colorado deserve representatives who want to pass laws rather than pick fights on Twitter. That's a direct attack on their high-profile opponents. It's also a version of a conversation taking place in Republican primaries across the country as the GOP struggles to determine how much of former President Donald Trump's in-your-face political style to adopt into the party's DNA. With state and national party committees moving to denounce elected Republicans willing to publicly distance themselves from Trump or push too hard against his baseless allegations that the 2020 election was stolen, those disagreements hinge on style more than policy differences. "My message is on effectiveness, and focusing on what can be done in the district," said Jennifer Strahan, the owner of a health care consulting company challenging Greene in the GOP primary in Georgia's 14th District. "It's not about being a celebrity." |
| Top White House scientist resigns over treatment of colleagues hours after conduct called out | |
 | A top White House scientist has announced he is resigning, hours after the administration faced repeated questions about why Dr. Eric Lander hadn't been fired over his treatment of coworkers at the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Calling himself "devastated" for hurting is colleagues, Lander said he could no longer be effective in his role. "The work of this office is far too important to be hindered," Lander wrote in his resignation letter Monday. Lander said he would leave by Feb. 18 to "permit an orderly transfer." White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden accepted the resignation "with gratitude" for Lander's work on the pandemic, Biden's Cancer Moonshot initiative, climate change and other top priorities. "He knows that Dr. Lander will continue to make important contributions to the scientific community in the years ahead," she said in a statement. Hours earlier, reporters had pushed Psaki during the daily White House news conference to explain why Lander had not been fired despite Biden's zero-tolerance pledge on staff conduct. Psaki said senior White House officials conveyed directly to Lander that his behavior was "inappropriate" and that corrective actions were needed. A workplace complaint last year prompted an internal review that found evidence Lander, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and science adviser to Biden, bullied staffers and treated them disrespectfully. On the first day of his administration, Biden directed his political appointees to treat everyone with "dignity and respect" and warned that if they don't, "I will fire you on the spot." Politico first reported the allegations against Lander, whose position was elevated to Cabinet rank by Biden. |
| The W will serve as host for county, state spelling bee | |
| Mississippi University for Women will serve as the host for the Lowndes County Spelling Bee and the Mississippi Spelling Bee. The Lowndes County Spelling Bee will be at 9 a.m. Wednesday while the Mississippi Spelling Bee will be at 10 a.m. March 12. Both events will be held in Rent Auditorium. "The W is honored to have the opportunity to host the Lowndes County and the state spelling bees," said Melinda Lowe, director of the Office of Outreach & Innovation and the coordinator of education for The W's School of Education. "Competitions like these allow for young students to develop self-confidence, communication and public speaking, and the ability to thrive under pressure. Therefore, our goal at The W is to provide a supportive environment that will enable each contestant to shine on stage." The Columbus Lowndes Chamber of Commerce (CLCC) and the CLCC Education Committee will run the Lowndes County Spelling Bee, which will feature 28 contestants from 13 schools. Due to COVID-19 physical distancing guidelines, the event won't be open to the public. Each contestant will be allowed to have up to three guests attend the event. There are 35 Mississippi counties that represent 214 schools registered with the E.W. Scripps Company, which runs the Scripps National Spelling Bee, that could qualify for the state-level competition. The county bees are being held this month across the state to determine who will qualify for the state bee. |
| UM English Department to host reading with 2021 American Book Award honoree Carolyn Forché | |
| The Ole Miss English department is set to host a book reading on Thursday with award-winning author and activist Carolyn Forché. Forché, a 2021 American Book Award honoree, is a noted author, poet and activist whose work has been compared to Pablo Neruda and Philip Levine. The Detroit native published her first book of poetry, Gathering the Tribes in 1975. The book was published by the Yale University Press won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award. Following its publication Forché received a Guggenheim Fellowship, traveling to El Salvador to study human rights abuses during the country's civil war. Her latest work, In the Lateness of the World, was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in poetry. Forché will read from In the Lateness of the World, as well as her memoir, What You Have Heard is True, in the Weems Auditorium at the Khayat Law Center starting at 7 p.m. |
| U. of Alabama honors first Black student next to former KKK leader. Many are outraged. | |
| When Hilary Green received tenure at the University of Alabama, she knew exactly how she wanted to celebrate. The associate professor of history visited the campus' historical marker dedicated to the university's first Black student: Autherine Lucy Foster. There, Green posed for her first professional photos as a tenured professor. "I know whose shoulders I was standing on," Green said. "Without her, I wouldn't be where I stand today." The university's board of trustees announced Thursday that a campus building called Graves Hall would be renamed to honor Lucy Foster. But beside her name, the name "Graves" will also remain, honoring former Alabama Gov. Bibb Graves, who was once a Ku Klux Klan officer. As Green learned about the board's decision, one painful thought lingered: "A Black woman alone was not enough to have her own building." The move to rename the building Lucy-Graves Hall has sparked outrage among many professors, students and alumni who argue placing Lucy Foster's name beside a former KKK member taints her legacy. "They're clearly trying to appease our students of color and students who believe in diversity while still holding onto that violent, racist legacy they're unwilling to relinquish," said Sidney Sheppard, a 2021 UA graduate who was part of a yearslong, student-led movement to rename the building after Lucy Foster. "They preach social justice and equity yet they still hold onto Graves's name so tightly." |
| An Alabama Building Honors a Klan Leader. Officials Are Adding a Black Student's Name. | |
 | In a move intended to address its history of segregation, trustees at the University of Alabama agreed last week that a building named for David Bibb Graves, a former governor and Ku Klux Klan leader, will also carry the name of Autherine Lucy Foster, who in 1956 was the first Black person to attend the school. The decision to rename the building Lucy-Graves Hall was made on Thursday, exactly 66 years after Ms. Foster started classes on the university's campus in Tuscaloosa, Ala. It was part of an initiative that the university has undertaken as institutions across the country are re-examining the names of buildings associated with racism and slavery. The decision drew a swift backlash. The student newspaper, The Crimson White, said the building should not bear the name of a person who endorsed white supremacy at any time. In an editorial on Thursday, it said the decision was a "cowardly compromise that presents the illusion of forward momentum while clinging to a racist past." Since it was formed in 2020, the university's building renaming group has stripped the names of other Klan members and supporters of slavery from buildings on the Tuscaloosa campus. Morgan Hall, named for John Tyler Morgan, a former Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon, became English Hall. Nott Hall was renamed Honors Hall, shedding an association with Josiah Nott, a pro-slavery physician. |
| U. of Alabama plans to develop state-of-the-art fashion and design facility | |
 | Plans are in the works to bring a state-of-the-art fashion and design facility to the University of Alabama campus. UA's College of Human Environmental Sciences plans to build Drummond Lyon Hall, which will house its fashion retailing and apparel design program. Construction on the Colonial Drive building is expected to begin in the fall, pending final approval from the UA board of trustees. The building is being named after Terri Drummond Lyon, a 1986 UA graduate, in honor of her support for the project. "This is a tremendous opportunity to provide our students with the best resources and facilities to create their pathway to success in fashion and design," Lyon said in a news release. "It is my honor to be one among many who are answering the call to support CHES and the university, and to help bring their vision for the future of the apparel and textiles program from conception to reality." The 25,000-square-foot building will become part of a College of Human Environmental Sciences hub, which will include nearby Adams and Doster halls. The project has been made possible by raising $4 million dollars in charitable gifts with the support of UA alumni, the College of Human Environmental Sciences Leadership Board and other supporters. UA said the facility will stand out when compared with apparel design and fashion merchandising programs offered at other Southeastern Conference schools. |
| He thought he wanted to work with big cats, but then Andrew Hopkins 'fell in love' with raptors | |
 | When Andrew Hopkins came to Auburn University about 15 years ago to study zoology, he thought he wanted to work with big cats. "I've always had an interest in working with big cats, but Auburn doesn't have an opportunity to work with big cats, so I took the next best thing I could get, which was raptors," said Hopkins, who grew up in Athens, Ala. "Then I just really fell in love with raptors while I was out there." He took advantage of the eagle fight course and the hands-on experience and training opportunities the Southeastern Raptor Center provides. Today, Hopkins, 32, is the center's assistant director of raptor training and education. Last week, the Auburn Chamber of Commerce Hopkins from the Southeastern Raptor Center the winner of the Auburn-Opelika Tourism Partnership Award at its annual meeting. "It's just great to see how much the Auburn community has over the last few years really come to appreciate the Raptor Center a lot more," Hopkins said. In the award presentation, Anna Hovey, president and CEO of the Auburn Chamber of Commerce, said Hopkins "has taken the time to learn about these animals, care for them and serve with them as ambassadors for Auburn University." According to the Chamber, the Raptor Center offers about 300 shows per year, drawing more than 12,000 people. That's not counting the nearly 90,000 people who witness the eagle flight tradition at each Auburn football game. |
| If this bill passes, Kentucky colleges must freeze tuition over 4 years for in-state students | |
 | A bill filed in the Kentucky House of Representatives would require public universities in the state to freeze tuition for four years with each incoming class. HB452, the Kentucky Student Tuition Protection and Accountability Act filed by Rep. William Lawrence (R-Maysville), would require all public, four-year institutions funded by the state to set tuition and fees for each incoming class, and then freeze those rates for four years. The freeze would apply to in-state students who enroll at the institutions. The bill was introduced in a House committee last week. Citing the rising rates of tuition, Lawrence said the bill is about affordability for Kentucky college students. The bill also would require institutions to set their mandatory student fees by March 1 of the preceding school year, and would add student and faculty members to the boards of trustees at several universities. "Investing in education is one of the most impactful decisions we can make for the future success of our children," Lawrence said. "HB452 will ensure Kentucky families will have the ability to better budget for their children's education, and it fosters the security our students need to fully focus on building a better future." |
| Red flags trailed ex-UCLA lecturer across elite universities | |
| A trail of red flags about his behavior toward women followed Matthew Harris on an academic journey that took him to three of the nation's most prestigious universities -- Duke, Cornell and then the University of California, Los Angeles. Former graduate classmates at Duke and Cornell, where he studied before becoming a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA in recent years, described him as inappropriate and creepy, with obsessive behaviors like sending excessive emails and text messages to some women that became harassment and, in at least one case, sexual harassment. Another said she changed her morning routine at Duke for weeks after Harris learned her schedule and texted her messages like, "I'm here, where are you?" Last week, a SWAT team in Colorado arrested Harris after he allegedly emailed an 800-page document and posted videos threatening violence against dozens of people at UCLA, prompting the school to cancel in-person classes for a day. The so-called manifesto contained numerous racist threats and used the words "bomb," "kill" and "shoot" more than 12,000 times. Harris is expected to appear in court on Tuesday. Taken together in the years since major mass shootings at Columbine High School, Virginia Tech and elsewhere, the students' allegations at three top-tier colleges raise questions about the line between uncomfortable and actionable behavior, a university's duty to encourage the reporting of it, and an institution's obligation to prevent it from occurring at another school. |
| George Washington U.'s President Called the Posters 'Offensive.' Now He Says They're Protected Speech. | |
 | Posters that satirize the 2022 Winter Olympic Games by calling attention to the Chinese government's human-rights abuses sparked a free-speech firestorm at George Washington University over the weekend. The university's interim president, Mark S. Wrighton, initially called the posters personally offensive and vowed to identify the students responsible for putting them up. But on Monday, after critics accused him of censorship, Wrighton reversed course, writing in a statement the posters were protected speech. The five posters that appeared in campus buildings on Thursday were designed by Badiucao, a Chinese-Australian artist and activist whose political cartoons are critical of the Chinese Communist Party. The university's Chinese Students and Scholars Association was among the groups contending that the posters insulted China and discriminated against Asians. Wrighton responded, in a message that was leaked on Twitter, that he was "saddened by this terrible event," and he said the university "will undertake an effort to determine who is responsible." Wrighton wrote that "I treasure the opportunity to work with talented people from all over the world, including China." He thanked the students for writing him directly and said the university would remove the posters as soon as possible. The posters come at a time when many students and scholars are suffering from anti-Asian slurs and discrimination, and are demanding greater protection. |
| University students flock to supply chain majors | |
| Not long ago, most people probably didn't think much about the supply chain. We didn't have to. But with port slowdowns, manufacturing delays and other pandemic-caused constraints in the past couple of years, you might say we are all a little more supply chain aware these days. That's playing out in higher education too. At some universities, the supply chain management major is suddenly hot. These programs were seeing increased enrollment before the pandemic, but at some institutions, even more students want in. Back in the '90s, Kelly Lynch worked in supply chain management for the automotive industry. One night, while watching television with his wife, an episode of the show "Friends" caught his attention. It's the one in which Rachel gets a job as an assistant buyer at Bloomingdale's department store, and, as Lynch remembers it, she was excited because she loves shopping. "And that was her motivation," Lynch said recently. "'Well, anybody can do this, right?'" I kind of laughed, and I remember saying to my wife, 'If it was only that easy.'" Lynch now directs corporate and student relations in the department of supply chain management in the Broad College of Business at Michigan State University -- one of the top programs in the country. He said applications to the program are up by more than 10%. "We're attracting students who may have never thought of supply chain management." "We've gotten a deluge of requests for insight and perspective," said Shay Scott, professor in the supply chain management department and executive director of the Global Supply Chain Institute at the University of Tennessee. |
| Digital Books Hasten Decline of Campus Bookstores | |
 | Spurred by cost savings and the increasing migration to digital books, many universities are closing brick-and-mortar bookstores.The University of California, Santa Cruz, uses much of the space in its former campus bookstore to house a resource center for students with disabilities. Virginia Wesleyan University turned its bookstore into a merchandise shop with printing services and a post office. Jackson College, a community college in Jackson, Mich., has transformed its bookstore into a convenience store that also sells electronics. The University of Alaska Anchorage used its bookstore's old footprint to create a one-stop shop for student enrollment needs. These are just a handful of the dozen-plus institutions that have closed or transformed campus bookstores in recent years, largely for financial reasons or because of the difficulty of managing them. As students have migrated online to buy books, the profits of campus bookstores have plummeted, prompting college administrators to shut down the stores and pursue deals with full-service online providers of textbooks and other course materials, such as Akademos. Akademos and a similar online textbook provider, BibliU, have been at the ready with alternatives for institutions looking to outsource the hard work of managing book inventory and selling texts -- and to do so affordably. Jeff Nelson, vice president of industry collaboration and development for the National Association of College Stores, said he has spoken with an increasing number of college leaders in recent months about transitioning to a digital bookstore. Nelson said colleges had gradually been transitioning to digital bookstores, but the pandemic dramatically accelerated the trend because of a greater reliance on digital content. |
| College enrollment continues to slide as free tuition and loan forgiveness stall | |
| Nearly 1 million fewer students have enrolled in college since the beginning of the pandemic. Between the sky-high costs and hefty the student loan debt, would-be freshmen are struggling to see the value in a degree. At the same time, more companies are hiring workers straight out of high school, amid an ongoing labor shortage. Nationwide, fewer students went back to school again this year, dragging undergraduate enrollment down another 3.1% from last year, according to a recent report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center based on data from colleges. The number of undergraduates in college is now down 5.1% compared to two years ago -- a loss of 938,000 students, the report found. Initially, congressional Democrats' Build Back Better Act included a provision to make community college tuition-free for two years -- a move President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have been advocating since the campaign trail -- but the legislation hit a wall after Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., said he would not vote for it. "Free community college is no longer part of that package," the first lady said at the Community College National Legislative Summit Monday. Federal student loan forgiveness was also left out of the Build Back Better agenda. A spokesperson for the White House said the president continues to explore what debt relief actions can be taken administratively. In the meantime, Biden has extended the payment pause for student loan borrowers that has been in effect since March 2020. Payments are expected to restart in May. |
| Reducing red meat consumption in campus dining halls | |
| Beans instead of beef, falafel in place of pork, burgers bursting with grains. These are just a few of the changes found in some college dining halls, where cafeteria workers are serving up food with a side of sustainability from menus that consider climate change alongside student nutritional needs. As the climate crisis worsens, with rising temperatures and water levels, colleges are trying to build out sustainability initiatives to lessen their carbon footprints. And at some colleges, that effort is playing out on students' dinner plates. Given the effects on the planet of meat production -- which is not as damaging as burning fossil fuels, but still a significant contributor to carbon emissions -- some colleges are pushing more plant-based options and scaling back on red meat. These efforts are coupled with broader sustainability initiatives that consider the role food production and consumption play in generating greenhouse gases and filling landfills. Across the nation, in beef country, sustainability efforts play out a little differently. Montana State University, a college with a strong agricultural program, isn't focused on reducing red meat consumption but rather on where its ingredients come from and how they're used. "At this point in time, about a quarter of all of our food purchased is from the state of Montana," said Kara Landolfi, supply chain manager at MSU. "We will continue to try and expand that as more ingredients are accessible to us, and as we're able to integrate them into our menus." |
| Why Biden wants more U.S. students to become butchers | |
| Yavapai College, situated amid the ranchlands of the Verde Valley in central Arizona, wants to start training local students to become butchers and meatpackers. The Biden administration wants to help. The community college would develop a workforce so ranchers could send their meat to local packing plants instead of to the four giant companies that control 80 percent of meat processing nationwide. School officials are planning to apply for grants that President Joe Biden's Agriculture Department is handing out in an effort to spur competition in the industry and promote sustainable local agriculture. Training local workers would also help address longstanding agricultural labor shortages that have been exacerbated by years of stalemates over immigration reform in Washington. But the grant program will also test whether it's even possible to convince a significant number of American students -- especially those seeking college-level training -- to commit to manual labor that's now overwhelmingly performed by immigrants. "What we expect are interesting partnerships with community colleges, junior colleges, land-grant universities helping to create that workforce," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told POLITICO while on a recent trip to western states to promote the $1 billion from the American Rescue Plan that the administration is spending to promote competition in meatpacking. "You can probably train the processing side of this in a matter of months, but butchering takes probably years... and to do that, we need resources to be able to incent the community college to buy the processing equipment where young people can be trained." |
| The Latest College Scorecard Update Is Out. Individual Institutions Are Back in the Spotlight. | |
| The U.S. Department of Education on Monday updated its signature tool for researching college affordability and return on investment, making it once again possible to see how much alums of individual colleges earn after graduation. The institution-level earnings data was among the metrics removed from the College Scorecard in 2018, during the Trump administration. With the update, a search of four-year colleges in Massachusetts, for example, results in a list of institutions automatically ordered by highest earnings. Olin College of Engineering leads the group, with median annual earnings for students who began college there 10 years ago at $133,000. On the other end of the spectrum is Northpoint Bible College, with median earnings of $33,000. Also restored by the update is context about how each institution's graduation rates, median earnings, and average annual net price match up with similar institutions nationally. The updated scorecard is likely to further fuel national conversations about whether college degrees pay off, though it may offer more nuance than has been available in past versions. The new version of the scorecard now shows the share of graduates of individual institutions who earn more than the typical high-school graduate. The update also includes disaggregated median earnings by family income, dependent status, and gender. |
| Is not-nutty elections bill a possible outcome? | |
| Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford writes: "This is nuts," began a Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal headline on a story about proposed election law changes in Mississippi. Well, you've got to be a little nutty to even read election laws, much less understand them. That's why my friend Pete Perry gets paid to analyze and testify in court on state and local election procedures. The Journal article described a proposal by Republican Sen. Jeff Tate of Meridian to give Republican Secretary of State Michael Watson powers to audit state and local election procedures. Democratic Sen. David Blount of Jackson questioned aspects of the bill saying, "this is nuts." ... I read details in Powell's bill until my eyes began to glaze over. So I asked my friend Pete his thoughts. He gave me enough details to restart the glazing. But here is the gist of what he said. ... Generally, he sees nothing "egregious" in the bill, saying it seeks to identify and fix mistakes that often occur in election procedures. Noting he has "conducted more than four dozen ballot box inspections in more than a dozen different counties in the state," he said there are "very few counties where the elections are well run and in accord with required procedures." He added that reporting results to the Secretary of State and "risk limiting audits" once every four years might cause local officials to do better. He was OK with the Secretary of State intervening when audits discover problems saying, "Someone needs to intervene." |
SPORTS
| In offense-heavy SEC, Brad Cumbest says Mississippi State's hitting can improve this year | |
| It's a scary thought for teams nationally and perhaps one difficult to fathom, but Mississippi State outfielder Brad Cumbest says with confidence MSU's national title team could've played better. "I think (this season) can be better than last year's team," Cumbest said. How so? "Hitting-wise," he says. "I think we'll be better hitting than last year. You probably think I'm crazy, but we never played our best baseball last year on the 2021 team." State was a team that got hot at the right time – firing off 10 wins in 13 games after two games and two losses in the SEC tournament. In that stretch, MSU scored 7 runs per game. But the overall numbers underscore more of what Cumbest means. State was in the middle of the SEC or worse in batting average, slugging percentage and home runs. MSU lost its top two guys to the MLB draft in Tanner Allen and Rowdey Jordan. But with the plethora of players returning with enhanced experience combined with an influx of young talent, head coach Chris Lemonis seconds the notion of his team's offense taking a step forward this season. And it'll have to, he added. The SEC was stacked with pitching last season, but the likes of Arkansas' Kevin Kopps, Vanderbilt's Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker, Ole Miss' Doug Nikhazy and MSU's Will Bednar are gone while much of the conference's offensive talent is back. |
| Bulldogs Lead Paradise Invitational After Record-Breaking First Round; Second Round Suspended Due to Darkness | |
| The Mississippi State women's golf team opened the first round of their 2022 calendar portion of its season on Monday with exceptional first-round performances to take an early lead in the Paradise Invitational. The second round was halted due to darkness with three holes left to play and will resume at approximately 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. As a team, State broke the record for the lowest first round in school history with 15-under (273). 15-under is also the second-lowest round in team history (18-under in 2020). When play was suspended with three holes to go in the second round, Mississippi State was in first place shooting 20-under. The Bulldogs were led by two top-10 performances through the first round in Julia Lopez Ramirez and Blair Stockett. Freshman Julia Lopez Ramirez used the first round of the Paradise Invitational to etch her name into the Mississippi State record books two more times. In the first round, Lopez Ramirez sunk nine birdies on her way to carding the lowest individual first round in school history with 8-under (64). 8-under is the second-lowest round in school history. Lopez Ramirez entered the stoppage in first shooting 13-under. Blair Stockett recorded the second-lowest first round of her career and the 10th lowest first round in school history with 4-under par (68). Stockett entered the stoppage tied for eighth shooting 5-under. Mississippi State will continue play with approximately three holes to go on Tuesday at 7:20 with the third round starting immediately after. |
| Ole Miss athletics turned a profit in COVID pandemic 2021 fiscal year | |
 | The first full fiscal year under the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic wasn't as costly to Ole Miss as it could've been. According to Ole Miss athletics' NCAA financial report, the Rebels total operating revenue for for the 2020-21 fiscal year (July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021) was $127,394,340. The athletic department's total operating expenses cost $109,763,195, meaning Ole Miss brought in about $17 million more than it spent. For comparison, Ole Miss reported total operating revenue of $105,875,209 and total operating expenditures of $113,008,288 the previous fiscal year. This means Ole Miss cut spending by about $4 million and increased revenue by approximately $22 million in a fiscal year that occurred entirely within the COVID-19 pandemic. Per information shared with the Clarion Ledger by Ole Miss senior associate athletic director for finance Angela Robinson, the athletic department budgeted to make $113.6 million and to spend $120.5 million. These budget figures were submitted later in the fiscal year than budgets normally are because of pandemic uncertainty. As such, the figures were decided upon before the SEC announced how many football games would be played in 2020 or Mississippi revealed a plan for stadium capacities. Nevertheless, the Ole Miss athletics department still made approximately $13.7 million more than expected and spent approximately $10.8 million less than expected. The biggest reason for this is contributions from the SEC. Every SEC school received a one-time supplemental payment of $23 million, ballooning the SEC money Ole Miss received north of $37 million. |
| Olivier Nkamhoua to have ankle surgery, unlikely to return this season for Tennessee | |
| Olivier Nkamhoua will likely miss the rest of the season for Tennessee basketball. The Vols junior forward will undergo surgery to repair a left ankle injury suffered at South Carolina on Saturday. "It is really sad for all of us with Olivier because he has become such a huge part of this program and team," Vols coach Rick Barnes said Monday. Nkamhoua was averaging 8.6 points and 5.6 rebounds this season. He started all 22 games for the No. 18 Vols (16-6, 7-3 SEC), who face Mississippi State (14-8, 5-4) on Wednesday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2). "Thank you to everyone and all the prayers and the wishes," Nkamhoua wrote on Twitter. "Time to lock in for the bounce back." Nkamhoua left in the second half of UT's 81-57 win against South Carolina. He drove on South Carolina forward A.J. Wilson, then spun in the paint and tossed a layup off the glass. He landed awkwardly on his left ankle. "He's emotional about it," Barnes said. "But we talked about someway, somehow, this is going to be a blessing in disguise. .. The very first thing, when he was told that he would be out, before they even really got the diagnosis back, the first thing he said is, 'I don't believe I don't get to practice tomorrow.'" Tennessee's main forward rotation has been with Uros Plavsic, John Fulkerson and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield. Jonas Aidoo could see more minutes, Barnes indicated. |
| New statement: Auburn investigating possible lapses in policy and procedures in athletics | |
| The Auburn University administration is investigating potential lapses in university policy and procedures in athletics, the school clarified in a statement released Monday, also saying that officials are moving swiftly. The statement comes as reports swirl around head football coach Bryan Harsin, who has seen division emerge between his players in his short time at Auburn. "The Auburn administration is judiciously collecting information from a variety of perspectives, including our student-athletes, and moving swiftly to understand any issues in accordance with university policies and procedures," the statement reads. "Decisions regarding the future of Auburn and its Athletics programs, as always, are made in the interests of our great university and in fairness to all concerned. We do not make institutional decisions based on social media posts or media headlines." Auburn school president Jay Gogue told the university board of trustees Friday that the administration was involved in what was going on with football and that his office was working to "separate fact from fiction." Lt. Gen. Ron Burgess, Auburn University executive vice president, has conducted interviews with departures from the program, per a report by ESPN published Friday -- which could include any of 20 football players who have left the program in recent months, or defensive coordinator Derek Mason, who made a surprising move to leave Auburn for Oklahoma State, or Austin Davis, who Harsin hired to be offensive coordinator before Davis quit after just 43 days. Harsin is on an apparent vacation in Mexico. On3 reported Sunday morning that Harsin was asked to return to Auburn to discuss the investigation, but he declined. |
| Schools brokering name, image and likeness deals adds layer to college conundrum | |
| Talmage Gunther wasn't expecting an ordinary Thursday in August, amid the often painful monotony of preseason camp, to become the most emotional day of his college football career. The BYU walk-on wide receiver knew something strange was afoot when he walked into the Cougars' team facility after practice to find boxes of protein bars stacked above eye level throughout the room. A few minutes later, Nick Greer, CEO of Built protein bars and a BYU alum, was offering to change Gunther's life with an endorsement deal. In exchange for promoting the company at two in-person events and on social media, Greer was offering to pay each of the team's walk-on players enough money to cover tuition. Less than six weeks after the NCAA changed its rules to allow college athletes to profit from their names, images and likenesses, BYU became the first school to broker a teamwide deal on behalf of its athletes. Greer worked directly with Gary Veron, an associate athletic director who oversees the department's NIL program, to set up the details of the endorsement. In quieter circles around the NCAA, though, the announcement also set off alarm bells. If BYU can facilitate a deal to help Gunther and his young family by covering his cost of attending college, what's to stop another school from lining up sponsorship deals worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for its athletes? And if a school starts asking its boosters to sponsor athletes, at what point does the sponsorship cross the line into a payment that is no different from a salary with some creative accounting? |
The Office of Public Affairs provides the Daily News Digest as a general information resource for Mississippi State University stakeholders.
Web links are subject to change. Submit news, questions or comments to Jim Laird.
