| Friday, June 17, 2022 |
| Watermelon for sale? Juneteenth ice cream? Some Black leaders warn there is a wrong way to celebrate. | |
 | On Friday, Juneteenth NY launched its 13th annual festivities, a celebrated tradition in New York City commemorating the nation's newest federal holiday. The theme, "Unity in the Black family Unit," is a nod to this year's holiday landing on Father's Day and includes performances, local vendors and a fashion exhibit highlighting emerging Black designers. "For Saturday, we will highlight our Kings of Kwanza, honoring 25 men of color doing fantastic work in the Black community," said Athenia Rodney, founder and executive director of Juneteenth NY. "On Sunday, we're going to start with traditional activities like Libation and honoring ancestors." For Rodney and others who have observed Black freedom for many years, Juneteenth is about recognizing Black leaders and Black culture. That's why they are increasingly concerned about how Americans with no history of observing Juneteenth will celebrate the new federal holiday. They warn Juneteenth should not become another American holiday about buying things, even as there have already been some high-profile missteps, with Walmart's Juneteenth ice cream and the Children's Museum of Indianapolis' Juneteenth watermelon salad sparking outrage. Some Black people said they are wary of non-Black communities taking the lead on Juneteenth celebrations. "Anything that has to do with history needs to be written, illustrated, drawing, put to music for our personal tragedy and not for somebody from the outside to do that for us," said Alexander Bostic, an art professor at Mississippi State University's College of Architecture, Art and Design and the illustrator of the children's book "Free at Last: A Juneteenth Poem." "From the 1800s into the present, we can see how the Black image has been commercialized." |
| Area Main Street associations, members earn state awards | |
 | Main Street associations and members across the Golden Triangle have been recognized for their work over the last year by the Mississippi Main Street Association. Main Street Columbus, Starkville Main Street Association and West Point Main Street were invited to a luncheon Thursday in Jackson to celebrate the best Main Street directors, board members and volunteers. Starkville Main Street Association took home the title of Outstanding Creative Fundraising for the Cash "Cal" October Fundraiser. The fundraiser included a skeleton figure named Cal, which was short for calcium, floating around to different area businesses. Businesses paid $100 each to have Cal visit them for the day, which included a Facebook post of the five-foot tall skeleton. The proceeds raised benefitted the Starkville Main Street Association. |
| Mary Means Business: Moving to Starkville, there's a new gift shop in town | |
| Moving to Starkville, there's a new gift shop in town. Old Main Mercantile Shop, 201 Academy Road, Suite 5, is officially open. The shop is under joint ownership between three couples: Will and Mandi Sanders, Seth and Anna O'Nan and Aubrey and Charlotte Corley. Old Main Mercantile Shop is the sister store to Hair of the Dawg Wine and Spirits. "We wanted a sister store to sell items that would compliment anyone with their home bar and for entertaining," Mandi Sanders said. "The idea for the store grew from there inspired by our love for food and fun." The shop sells craft beers, seltzers, premixed cocktails, charcuterie boards, artisanal meats and cheeses, glass ware, teas, coffee, candles, gifts and more. You can check out the new shop Monday through Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. |
| Indictment: J5 partners fraudulently received more than $2M in federal funds | |
| Local business partners Jabari Edwards and Antwann Richardson have been indicted by a federal grand jury for multiple charges related to misusing more than $2 million in Paycheck Protection Plan and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program funding. The indictment was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi on Wednesday. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office and other agencies raided J5's office at Court Square Towers on Second Avenue North on Thursday morning. According to the indictment, Edwards and Richardson are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud and seven counts of money laundering. Edwards also is charged with two counts of making false statements. Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud both carry a maximum sentence of up to 30 years and up to a $1 million fine. False statement carries a maximum sentence of five years and up to a $250,000 fine. Money laundering carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of not more than twice the amount of criminally derived property. |
| Inside Mississippi's Craft Beer Industry | |
| When it comes to craft brewing in Mississippi, Cam and Cain Roberds were the new kids on the block in 2015. 3 On Your Side was there for the grand opening of their Chandeleur Brewing Company in Gulfport. Seven years later, their brewery is not only surviving but thriving. "We do anywhere around that $10,000 mark just in beer inside the taproom every week," said Cain Roberds. Their secret to success: Not only the product, but their investment in the community with annual events like ChandyFest, celebrating the founding of Chandeleur Brewing. Except for a slight dip in 2020, the number of craft breweries operating in Mississippi, per year, is steadily on the rise. Right now, there are 18 craft breweries in the Magnolia State. And consider this: According to the Brewers Association, craft breweries have a 344-million dollar impact in Mississippi. In May 2022, Jackson attorneys Matthew McLaughlin and Conner Reeves co-founded Fertile Ground Beer Company in the Belhaven Town Center. The building once housed the laundry service for Baptist Hospital and is now being re-purposed for new businesses like Fertile Ground, now the new kid on the block in Mississippi Craft Brewing. "You know, I think Jackson is ready for, you know, a brewery of this size and to have a place to go and to drink locally made beer," Conner Reeves said. "We're excited to sort of [having] to be there for everyone that's already in the craft beer, but hopefully people that aren't quite sure about craft beer yet. You know, we can be that space. And I know we're gonna have some beers, they're gonna like too. So, we're excited about showing them." One thing Reeves and the others agree on: Craft beer in Mississippi is here to stay. |
| 31 honorees recognized by Mississippi Heritage Trust for preservation | |
 | Saving historic buildings not only takes a lot of work, but it also takes creative minds to turn an eyesore into a shining star. The Mississippi Heritage Trust recently recognized the efforts of some of those who have made a difference in their communities in the realm of preservation. The awards also are given to leaders in education, legislation and other ways of keeping the state's history intact for future generations. Among this year's winners is the Smith Drug Co. in Hattiesburg, one of several sites in the city's Sixth Street Museum District. The city also was recognized for making historic preservation a priority -- a commitment that has been in effect through city ordinances for nearly 40 years. The award was given by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in addition to the Heritage Trust. |
| Caterpillar Relocation to Texas Extends U.S. Manufacturing's Southern Shift | |
 | Caterpillar Inc.'s planned relocation of its global headquarters to Texas from Illinois comes as the equipment maker and other companies expand their manufacturing bases south. Manufacturing employment has been on the rise in many Southern and Southwestern U.S. states in recent years, according to federal data, as companies target the regions for new factories, plant expansions and corporate bases, seeking what some executives have said is a growing available workforce and cheaper real estate. Florida, Texas and Arizona increased their manufacturing employment the most in the five years through 2021, according to the Labor Department, while New York, Washington and Illinois lost the most manufacturing workers over that same period. Companies investing in southern parts of the country have cited benefits including growing workforces, more affordable housing, availability of physical infrastructure and quality educational systems. Some Southern and Southwestern state lawmakers have worked to make their states friendly to new or established manufacturers, letting companies deduct energy spending from sales-tax bills, for example, or providing exemptions from local property taxes and tax credits that can be resold to other businesses. Over the past decade, Caterpillar has invested in manufacturing sites far from its decadeslong Illinois home, expanding factories that make smaller machines in North Carolina, a remanufacturing factory in Mississippi and, most recently, in May, a $24 million, 24-job expansion for a factory that makes engine blocks in Texas. |
| Day of Service: First Lady, Miss Mississippi partner to clean up Vicksburg | |
| As part of a statewide day of service, Mississippi's First Lady Elee Reeves will be in Vicksburg on Saturday to volunteer with visiting royalty. Reeves, in collaboration with Miss Mississippi 2021 Holly Brand, Keep Mississippi Beautiful and Volunteer Mississippi, will begin the day of service at the Vicksburg Convention Center and work to clean the surrounding streets in the downtown Vicksburg area. Reeves and Brand will be joined by the 31 candidates competing in this year's Miss Mississippi Competition, with each young woman representing her individual hometown, city and community. "I'm incredibly excited to help host this day of service," Reeves said. "Volunteerism is key to bettering the lives of others and helping to foster a stronger sense of community." In recognition of the First Lady's announcement of the cleanup effort that will take place in downtown Vicksburg, the governor, in a proclamation, declared June 18, 2022, as "Mississippi Serves -- A Day to Volunteer" and is encouraging all Mississippians to volunteer for a service project across the state on Saturday and to make volunteer service as part of their daily lives. |
| Auditor says he pulled no punches in welfare fraud probe | |
| Shad White takes exception to suggestions that he went light on former Gov. Phil Bryant in the state auditor's investigation into Mississippi's massive welfare fraud. "If there's anybody who doubts that we would fully investigate this case, ... they're wrong," White said during a stop Wednesday at the Commonwealth on his way to a fundraiser in Cleveland for his planned reelection campaign next year. During a 50-minute interview, the state auditor defended his handling of the case, which he has called the largest public corruption case in his office's history. Although he didn't speak specifically to questions about Bryant's knowledge of the funneling of welfare money to causes supported by the governor, including a pharmaceutical start-up, White said it was not in his power to decide whom was charged by state prosecutors. "Auditors are fact finders. We investigate, we identify facts, communications, financial documents, all of these things that form the body of evidence of cases. Then what do we do with them? We take them to prosecutors ... and they then determine who they would like to charge out of that body of facts," he said. "We don't make decisions about who gets charged or who does not," said White, noting that he remains under a state judge's gag order that bars him from discussing many particulars about the scandal. The Republican state auditor also emphasized the bipartisan nature of those involved in the investigation, discounting suggestions that members of his party were being spared scrutiny. The Hinds County district attorney, Jody Owens II, is a Democrat, and a Democratic administration in Washington currently runs the Justice Department, under whose auspices the FBI and U.S. attorneys operate. |
| NAACP branch loses lawsuit challenging Doug Evans jury selection process in Mississippi | |
 | A county NAACP branch and its members do not have a right to prevent a Mississippi prosecutor with a recorded history of racial bias from striking them from future juries, a panel of federal judges on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday. The panel ruled 2-1 that the Attala County Branch of the NAACP did not have sufficient standing to sue District Attorney Doug Evans because they had not yet been discriminated against by the prosecutor and weren't sure they reasonably could be in the future. "As we have already analyzed as to the four individual Plaintiffs, eligibility for jury service is not enough," Circuit Judge Leslie Southwick wrote. "The members of the county chapter cannot demonstrate an imminent threat that they will be struck unconstitutionally from a petit jury by Evans." The organization and its members initially filed the suit against Evans in November 2019 and sought an injunction to stop him, the prosecutor for the state's fifth circuit court district, from excluding Black people from serving on juries. The suit wanted a court to monitor the jury selection process. Evans is perhaps best known for prosecuting Curtis Flowers, who is Black, six times and winning four convictions in connection with the 1996 murder of four people in the small town of Winona. Two convictions were for individual slayings and two were for all four killings. The two other trials ended in mistrials. Each of the convictions Evans won was later overturned by a combination of state and federal courts over findings of misconduct by prosecutors, including multiple determinations by those courts that Evans unconstitutionally struck prospective jurors because they were Black. |
| Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus calls for ban on high-capacity rifles | |
 | Mississippi's Legislative Black Caucus is calling for Congress to ban high-capacity rifles. That's the word from MLBC chair State Senator Angela Turner Ford as Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate are negotiating on a gun package. All but one member of the Legislative Black Caucus are Democrats. That member is a former Democrat turned Independent. In a release issued by the Legislative Black Caucus on Thursday, Senator Turner Ford stated that as U.S. congressional leadership debates increased gun safety measures in Washington, D.C., the MLBC hopes citizens will reach out to the state's delegation and urge them to support legislation to ban and restrict the sale, possession, and civilian use of military style assault rifles "because it makes sense to do so." "I am aware of the Second Amendment's rights for gun ownership, but the average civilian should not be allowed to own or possess military style rifles capable of firing up to 45 rounds per minute," Senator Turner Ford said. "These guns often have magazines holding 30 or more bullets. Such power should be reserved for trained police and military only." Mississippi U.S. Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith are awaiting the actual bill language before committing on the measure. Both have expressed their reluctance to infringe on the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens who own guns. |
| Grant funding becomes sticking point in gun negotiations | |
 | A key sticking point in the negotiations over a bipartisan gun violence package being drafted in the Senate has become how states can use grant money in that package. The framework released Sunday called for grant money to help states implement "red flag" laws, which allow law enforcement and family members to petition courts to temporarily remove firearms from people who show signs of becoming dangerous to themselves or others. But Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, began suggesting publicly this week that states that don't have red flag laws -- and don't want them -- should be able to access the funding for other purposes like assisted outpatient treatment, which is a court-ordered treatment for those who have a history of not adhering with mental health treatment. Assisted outpatient treatment, which is permitted in 47 states, is often used as a condition of severely mentally ill individuals remaining in the community, rather than being hospitalized or incarcerated. Only Connecticut, Maryland and Massachusetts do not permit such treatment. Nineteen states, by contrast, have red flag laws, but they're not always enforced because of lack of funding and training for law enforcement. "I'm sure the other states are going to want to try to get some access to some of that financial support for the programs they have since they decided not to do red flag laws," Cornyn told reporters Tuesday. Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn., who is leading negotiations for Democrats, told reporters Wednesday the issues can be overcome. Murphy, Cornyn and other senators met Thursday and hope to have a deal by the end of the week. |
| Mike Pence Plots 2024 Bid as Jan. 6 Hearings Remind Voters of His Break From Trump | |
| As the House committee investigating the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol focused almost entirely Thursday on the role Mike Pence played in averting a constitutional crisis, the former vice president was far from Washington. Rather than watch the hearing, Mr. Pence was in Ohio, campaigning for Gov. Mike DeWine and a Republican congressman -- the latest step in a carefully managed re-emergence onto the national political scene as he appears to lay the groundwork for a 2024 presidential campaign. "Ultimately, I believe that most Americans understand that we did our duty that day under the Constitution and the laws of this country," Mr. Pence said in an interview of his actions on Jan. 6, when he rebuffed pressure from then-President Donald Trump to reject electoral votes for Joe Biden. It was the most visible break Mr. Pence displayed after four years of loyalty to Mr. Trump. Committee members said the president's resulting actions helped trigger an attack that included calls for the vice president's hanging. Mr. Pence, nonetheless, indicated he isn't interested in relitigating the 2020 election as Mr. Trump has since he lost, to the frustration of some GOP leaders. Mr. Pence's travels illustrate the challenge he would face in another election as he grapples with the legacy of the Trump administration. Some analysts and Republican strategists question whether he could pull it off. Mr. Pence, 63 years old, wants to remind people of Trump-era policies---"Trump-Pence," as he tells audiences---while offering a contrast with the former president's steady boil of controversy. He is betting that enough Republicans want to move beyond relitigating the 2020 election and focus on providing voters an alternative to Democrats in what is a favorable climate. |
| Jan. 6 panel leaders prepare to call Ginni Thomas | |
 | Leaders of the Jan. 6 select committee say the time has come to interview Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, about her connections to Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the election. Panel Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) agreed Thursday that the committee needed to delve into Thomas' role. Thompson's comments and Cheney's agreement -- confirmed to POLITICO by an aide -- coincided with news reports suggesting Thomas had been in touch with at least one key architect of Trump's bid to cling to power: Attorney John Eastman. "At this point, the information we have come upon ... it's time for us to invite her to come and talk," Thompson told reporters Thursday. The emails might come up "at some point" in their hearings, he said, though they were still in the "discovery phase." An invitation to Thomas might come in the next few weeks, he added. Thomas told the conservative-leaning Daily Caller later Thursday she was open to testifying. "I can't wait to clear up misconceptions. I look forward to talking to them," she said. |
| The AP Interview: Biden says recession is 'not inevitable' | |
 | President Joe Biden told The Associated Press on Thursday that the American people are "really, really down" after a tumultuous two years with the coronavirus pandemic, volatility in the economy and now surging gasoline prices that are hitting family budgets. He said a recession is not inevitable and bristled at claims by Republican lawmakers that last year's COVID-19 aid plan was fully to blame for inflation reaching a 40-year high, calling that argument "bizarre." As for the overall American mindset, Biden said, "People are really, really down." "They're really down," he said. "The need for mental health in America, it has skyrocketed, because people have seen everything upset. Everything they've counted on upset. But most of it's the consequence of what's happened, what happened as a consequence of the COVID crisis." Speaking to the AP in a 30-minute Oval Office interview, Biden addressed the warnings by economists that the United States could be headed for a recession. "First of all, it's not inevitable," he said. "Secondly, we're in a stronger position than any nation in the world to overcome this inflation." The president said he saw reason for optimism with the 3.6% unemployment rate and America's relative strength in the world. "Be confident, because I am confident we're better positioned than any country in the world to own the second quarter of the 21st century," Biden said. "That's not hyperbole, that's a fact." |
| Mortgages hit 14-year high as Fed hikes rates to curb inflation | |
 | Mortgage rates skyrocketed this week, soaring to their highest levels since 2008. The unexpectedly speedy escalation has had a chilling effect on the U.S. housing market, increasing pressure on an economy already hounded by unremitting inflation. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the most popular home loan product, jumped to 5.78 percent this week, up from 5.23 percent a week ago, according to Freddie Mac data released Thursday. The more than a half-percentage-point rise was the biggest one-week jump since 1987. The jump came in anticipation of the Federal Reserve's rate hike this week. The Fed hiked interest rates by the sharpest pace since 1994, to curb soaring inflation. Consumers have been facing higher prices in nearly every facet of their lives. Now higher mortgage rates are limiting their housing choices or pricing them out altogether. The housing boom that had been fueled by low rates is beginning to subside. Prices have yet to moderate, propped higher mainly by low inventory. Low rates fueled the revival of the U.S. housing market after the Great Recession and have helped drive home prices to record levels. But after the pandemic sent rates to historical lows, rates have been on a tear. The 30-year fixed average, which started the year at 3.22 percent, hit 4 percent in March and 5 percent five weeks later. Although economists had expected rates to rise, they have escalated far more quickly than they had predicted. |
| 'Clearly behind the curve': CEOs sour on Powell over inflation fight | |
| Corporate leaders are in a sullen mood, with surveys showing that spiking inflation, the specter of nosediving sales and the threat of recession are driving down CEO confidence. While much of that anger has been directed at President Joe Biden for citing corporate greed as a trigger for inflation, there's now another target for their frustration: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The complaints about Powell are not so much about this week's interest rate increase, the single biggest hike in three decades, which Wall Street investors initially cheered before sending stocks tanking again Thursday. Instead, executives are focused on what they see as Powell getting the persistence and scope of inflation so wrong that he and his Fed colleagues are now being forced to overcompensate on rate increases that could blow the economy into a sharp slump. "He is obviously playing catch-up, 100 percent," said Gary Cohn, the former president of Goldman Sachs who served as a top economic adviser to President Donald Trump and is in regular contact with many of the world's top executives. "He was clearly behind the curve and clearly late, and the runway for a 'soft landing' for the economy is now much shorter and narrower." Corporate trust in the Fed matters because the level of confidence can drive hiring and spending decisions, just as it affects consumer behavior. A Conference Board survey this week showed CEO confidence in the second quarter dropped for the fourth straight time and is at its lowest level since the onset of the pandemic. Big banks like Wells Fargo are downgrading their views on the economy and increasing recession warnings. |
| Number of Americans who believe in God dips to new low: Gallup | |
 | Belief in God among U.S. adults has reached a new low, according to Gallup poll results released Friday. A large majority (81 percent) of Americans say they believe in God, based on the poll conducted May 2-22, but that number has dipped 6 points from a consistent 87 percent from 2013-2017. Over 90 percent of Americans said they believed in God from 1944 to 2011, the number stabilizing at a high of 98 percent from 1944 through the 1960s. About 17 percent of American adults told Gallup that they do not believe in God, while the remaining 2 percent said they were unsure. The Gallup Values and Beliefs poll found that the decrease in theism has been driven by young adults and those on the political left. Both groups' belief in God has dropped by 10 percent or more compared to the 2013-2017 average for their demographics. These groups are also those least likely to say they believe in God in comparison to other demographics. The Gallup poll marks a notable change in belief in God, although a sizable majority of Americans still say they have faith. However, recent polls show that while high rates of theism remain with only a modest decline, traditional religious structures are declining faster, according to Gallup. |
| FDA authorizes coronavirus vaccine for young kids with shots likely next week | |
| More than a year and a half after the oldest Americans gained access to coronavirus vaccines, the nation's youngest citizens are poised to start getting shots next week, a move made possible when federal regulators Friday authorized vaccines for children as young as 6 months. For many parents and pediatricians, the Food and Drug Administration clearing of two vaccines -- one by Moderna and the other by Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech -- comes as a huge relief. Friday's authorizations arrived two days after a panel of external advisers unanimously recommended that the agency greenlight vaccines for the last age group eligible for a shot of protection against the virus. "Many parents, caregivers and clinicians have been waiting for a vaccine for younger children and this action will help protect those down to 6 months of age," FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf said in a statement. "As we have seen with older age groups, we expect that the vaccines for younger children will provide protection from the most severe outcomes of COVID-19, such as hospitalization and death." The vaccines for young children arrive at a critical moment in the nation's quest to vanquish the virus, with vaccination levels overall flagging even as covid-19 hospitalizations reach their highest average level in more than three months. And they come a few months before the fall, which, along with the winter, could feature another deadly surge of covid cases. Their first opportunity, if all goes as expected, will be early next week, following what are expected to be favorable recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday. |
| Hub City to add more sidewalk on West 4th | |
 | The City of Hattiesburg announced plans to finish off the sidewalk network/multi-use pathway near the University of Southern Mississippi's northwest corner. The $500,000 allocation of federal dollars will bend the North 38th Avenue pathway back east and down the southern edge of West Fourth Street to North 34th Avenue. The 8-foot-wide multi-use path is a part of the Hattiesburg-Petal-Forrest-Lamar MPO Bicycle Pedestrian Master Plan. The goal is to make traveling to and from campus safer than it currently is. Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker was joined by Congressman Steven Palazzo, Hattiesburg Council President Jeff George and University of Southern Mississippi representatives in announcing the project Wednesday afternoon. "This federal funding will advance infrastructure that supports pedestrian and bicycle access near the USM campus," said Barker. "It would not be possible without the leadership, advocacy and seniority of Congressman Palazzo and his staff, and we are grateful for his support." On any given day, students, faculty and staff travel along 4th Street between campus buildings on both the northern and southern sides of West 4th Street. This project would provide a safer connection for travel for this entire area. "Obtaining congressionally directed spending requires a community-wide effort, and this funding was secured with the dedication and hard work of Mayor Barker and his office," said Palazzo. "The West 4th Street Sidewalk project is a key addition to the ever-growing Hub City and the Southern Miss campus... the safety of students and the citizens of Hattiesburg is of the utmost importance, and I'm excited to see everyone benefit from this new multi-use pathway." |
| Delta State University dean found dead in Boyle residence | |
| The death of Delta State University's Dean of Music is currently being investigated as a homicide after her body was found on June 14 in a Boyle residence. 57-year-old Dr. Karen Fosheim was discovered lying on the ground with signs of suffocation around 5:15 p.m. after Boyle Police Officer Justin McClain received a call for a welfare check at a house near North Brooks Avenue. "Dr. Karen Fosheim was a well-respected educator and valued member of the Delta State family. As Chair of the Music Department and Professor of Music, she lived an accomplished professional and personal life filled with the music she loved, and that she passed on to her students. She will be sorely missed," Delta State University President William N. LaForge said in a written statement. Currently, a person of interest has been taken into custody in connection to the case. |
| DeSantis' 'Stop Woke Act' faces court test as universities become targets. At issue: free speech | |
 | Gov. Ron DeSantis' "Stop Woke Act" is facing its first federal court test after weeks of being celebrated by the political right for restricting race-based teaching and training in schools, universities and workplaces. But not all conservatives are lined up behind the Republican governor. A civil liberties organization, which has sided with Florida Republicans in the past on campus speech issues, is among those now condemning DeSantis' approach. "It's intended to chill speech," said Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). "The entire point of the new law is to set out certain categories or concepts that the state disdains and says you can't introduce." Much of the debate over Stop Woke has centered on public schools and businesses. But the law may be the most significant among several measures DeSantis signed which put his imprint on higher education in Florida, not only restricting speech but also adding new limits on tenure for Florida professors and changes to how public colleges and universities are accredited. Draft legislation shaped by the governor's office also suggests that DeSantis may want even more control over faculty hiring at colleges and universities if he wins re-election in November, heightening anxiety in Florida and across the nation's higher ed community. |
| Ex-U. of Arkansas professor sentenced to year in prison for lying about Chinese patents | |
| A former professor at the University of Arkansas was sentenced Thursday to one year and a day in prison after pleading guilty to one count of lying to the FBI about patents filed in China listing him as a co-inventor. Simon Saw-Teong Ang, 65, of Fayetteville, was ordered to self-report to a designated prison by July 20. He will remain free until then. The sentencing followed a January plea agreement in which prosecutors agreed to dismiss 55 counts of wire fraud. Prosecutors alleged that Ang failed to disclose to government funding agencies -- and to UA -- his ties to China and Chinese companies. Most of the wire fraud allegations had to do with Ang's pursuit of NASA and U.S. Air Force research grants. Also dismissed as part of the plea deal were two counts of making a false statement in application and use of a passport, as well as another count of making a false statement. In total, 58 out of 59 counts against Ang were dismissed. At Ang's request, U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks, who presided over the sentencing hearing, said he would recommend that Ang be sent to the low-security federal prison in Texarkana, Texas. On Thursday, Brooks noted that, although Ang was not violent and had no criminal history, the charge to which he pleaded guilty was serious. According to court documents, 24 patents in China were filed under Ang's name or Chinese birth name. The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where Ang worked as a professor, required employees to promptly furnish to the university "full and complete" disclosures of inventions, and university policy provided that it -- not individual inventors -- would own all inventions created by those subject to the policy, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Arkansas. |
| College Station may house Amazon Prime Air Drone Facility | |
 | The City of College Station could potentially house an Amazon Prime Air Drone Facility, which would allow Amazon products of a certain criteria to be delivered directly to people's homes via drones. The city's Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved rezoning at 400 Technology Parkway along Texas 6 near Texas Avenue during the Thursday night meeting. Engineering Services and Construction Inspections Manager Anthony Armstrong told the commission that the applicant, Amazon, requested the zoning district change from research and development to a planned development district in order to provide small consumer aerial distribution. Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp spoke out in favor of the rezoning and said supporting Amazon's request is beneficial to the Texas A&M community. "The Amazon Prime Air Drone Facility would put College Station at the forefront of this in the nation. These would be only two places in the United States who would design this technology for the rest of the country and perhaps the rest of the world," he said. "We are no stranger to drones ... we believe drones are going to be very much our future. As only two places in the country -- at least for awhile -- that are going to do this, we are going to show this technology and prove this technology to the rest of the world." |
| Crowder Hall, home of U. of Missouri's military programs, among campus buildings added to demolition list | |
 | The University of Missouri last year quietly added Crowder Hall to its list of historic campus buildings set to be demolished as part of the university's Space Reduction and Strategic Relocation Plan. The building houses the university's Military Science Department and ROTC programs. The building wasn't on the initial list of buildings in the plan, and there was no news release issued when it was added. A divestment of the building to MU Health Care was listed in a February 2021 plan update. No date for the building's demolition has been set, says Uriah Orland, MU spokesman. "It's a very fluid kind of plan," Orland said of the late addition. "We're always assessing." Buildings on the list are included based on the cost of deferred maintenance and other factors, Orland said. "We cannot continue to maintain buildings that do not meet today's standards," Orland said. Word of the planned demolition reached David O. Smith in Alexandria, Virginia, who wrote in a letter to the Tribune that the decision appears to have been made secretly. "Crowder Hall is much more than an old university building requiring maintenance," Smith wrote. "It is a visible symbol of the university's commitment to the military and ROTC, a tangible memorial to the tens of thousands of Mizzou Army veterans who received their initial military training in it building before going off to war in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq." Smith is a 1969 graduate of MU and was active duty in the Army for 31 years. He's a member of the Army ROTC Alumni Board. He hopes the decision is reversed, Smith said. |
| Bowling Green Fraternity Brothers Sentenced in Hazing Death of Student | |
 | Five men convicted on charges relating to the March 2021 hazing death of a 20-year-old Bowling Green State University student were sentenced in Ohio on Thursday, with three of them receiving jail sentences of up to 28 days. The men, who are between the ages of 20 and 22, were among eight who were indicted in connection with the death of Stone Foltz, a sophomore who died three days after attending an off-campus Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity initiation. Prosecutors said he drank a liter of whiskey at the event. Paul A. Dobson, the Wood County prosecuting attorney, said that he was glad the court agreed "that some of the men involved in this case needed to see the inside of a jail cell." To finally start seeing the case come to a close, he added, was gratifying. But Mr. Foltz's parents, Cory and Shari Foltz, said in a statement released Thursday that while the sentencing of the five men may be a conclusion for some, there would be no closure for their family until hazing was "permanently eradicated" on college campuses. "Universities and Greek organizations must be held accountable," they said, adding that it was not just their own son, but many other students who had been "tragically injured or killed because people in power refuse to protect them." |
| The life and legacy of Freeman Hrabowski | |
 | Ever since he was a child in segregated Birmingham, Ala., Freeman Hrabowski has had a love for education. As a boy, he found joy in solving math problems and voraciously read tomes of poetry and prose handed down by his parents -- both teachers -- who always emphasized the importance of education. The lessons he learned from them---as well as in segregated classrooms and Black churches fighting for change -- shaped his ambitions to become an educator and ultimately led him to the University of Maryland Baltimore County, where Hrabowski has spent more than three decades as president. The other guiding force in his childhood was activism. Navigating his own experiences with discrimination at a young age, Hrabowski found strength in the fight for equality gripping Birmingham. In the classroom and on the streets, Hrabowski sought a better life. And as the long-serving president of UMBC, he's spent 30 years trying to change the lives of others through the transformative power of higher ed. Now, as Hrabowski prepares to retire, he is looking back at his years as president and a lifetime of service. At the same time, he is peering ahead to what the future holds for UMBC and his successor. |
| George Washington University to stop using 'Colonials' name by 2023-24 | |
| George Washington University will retire its "Colonials" moniker, a name intended to honor its namesake but that has long been criticized as a term that glorifies colonialism, officials announced Wednesday. In a statement, university officials said the use of the name has divided the community and can "no longer serve its purpose as a name that unifies." Officials said they will continue to use the moniker until a new name is introduced, a change expected to come by the 2023-24 school year. The announcement comes almost two years after the university established committees to consider requests to shed the moniker and rename the school's student center. The building, formerly called the Cloyd Heck Marvin Center -- named after a university president who advocated for segregation -- was renamed last year. The Colonials name, introduced in 1926, has been a ubiquitous part of the GWU experience. The sports teams are the Colonials. Students schedule medical appointments at the Colonial Health Center and exchange Colonial Cash for meals and laundry services. Mark S. Wrighton, who became interim president in January, commended the university's "principled" approach to this decision. "I was impressed by the principled and collaborative approach of the special committee, and it was clear this process was driven by research and robust engagement with the community," Wrighton said in a statement. "While some may disagree with the outcome, this process has determined that changing the moniker is the right decision for our university." |
| Why Fewer High-School Graduates Are Going Straight to College | |
 | Nationwide, fewer high-school seniors are choosing to enroll in college immediately after graduation. In some states, not even half of high-school graduates are pursuing higher education, according to the latest data available. For many states, this shrinking number comes as another grim sign for college-enrollment prospects and for future work forces -- especially since students who do not enroll right away are less likely to earn college degrees at all. Recent state reports in Indiana, West Virginia, Arizona, Kansas, and Tennessee highlighted significant declines in college-going rates, which reflect the percentage of public high-school graduates who enroll in college within a year. The drop is even larger across the board for low-income students, for Black and Hispanic/Latino students, and for men. While college-going rates have been steadily declining over the past decade, the trend during the pandemic has been "unprecedented," according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The national college-going rate for 2020 graduates dropped by four to 10 percentage points, with high-poverty secondary schools experiencing more severe declines, from 55 percent to 45 percent between 2019 and 2020. The Chronicle talked to enrollment experts, state higher-education officials, and college counselors to figure out why this drop is happening and what can be done. They pointed to barriers like cost, lack of support in high school, mental-health concerns, competing options, and a shifting perspective on the benefits of college -- all of which disproportionately affect disadvantaged students. |
| Should colleges worry about lower high school standards? | |
| It's no surprise at this point that the pandemic had a negative effect on current college enrollment levels. But a recent study from the Brookings Institution examined how the past few years affected high school graduation and student entry into college -- the end of the pipeline between K-12 and college. Higher Ed Dive talked to Douglas Harris, a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings and one of the report's authors. Harris is also an economics professor and chair of public education at Tulane University, a private nonprofit institution in New Orleans. He discussed the findings and what clues they might offer for college leaders looking to reverse enrollment declines. |
| Critics say campus sex assault rules fall short and need an overhaul | |
| What Karla Arango says started as a dorm-room sexual assault got even worse as word spread around campus. Her attacker's fraternity brothers snubbed her, she says, whispering about her in the cafeteria, blocking her phone number and unfriending her on social media. Soon her grades were slipping. Arango's experience in her first year at Northern Kentucky University highlights what experts see as deep-seated problems with Title IX, the 1972 federal civil rights law that prohibits sexual discrimination in education. It turns 50 this month. Heralded as a game-changer for female college athletes, the law also is supposed to protect sexual assault and harassment accusers such as Arango, giving them options like changing dormitories or even getting their attackers removed from the school. In practice, the law's protections fall short, accusers and advocates say. Polarizing regulations finalized under former President Donald Trump have discouraged students from coming forward with abuse allegations. Those who do face a live hearing and cross-examination by a person of their alleged attacker's choosing. The rules also narrowed the definition of sexual harassment and allowed colleges to ignore most cases arising off campus. President Joe Biden and other critics say the rules, finalized in 2020 by then-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, fail to adequately protect sexual assault victims, deter them from reporting misconduct and go too far in shielding the accused. Biden is expected to announce new rules as soon as this month. |
| Americans support student loan forgiveness, but would rather rein in college costs | |
 | As President Biden inches toward an announcement on federal student loan forgiveness, a new NPR/Ipsos poll has found slightly more than half of Americans support what has been reported to be Biden's likeliest path: forgiving up to $10,000 per person. But an overwhelming majority -- including a majority of those with student loans -- said the government should prioritize making college more affordable over forgiving existing student loans. The nationally representative poll of 1,022 Americans was conducted between June 3 and 5, and included an oversample of more than 400 student loan borrowers. The margin of error is +/- 3.3 percentage points for all respondents and +/- 4.8 percentage points for those with student loans. A majority of the general public (55%) supports forgiving up to $10,000 of a person's federal student loan debt. But the more generous the relief, the more that support narrows. Forty-seven percent of all respondents said they support forgiving up to $50,000 in debt, while 41% expressed support for wiping the slate completely clean for all borrowers. Support for debt relief was, not surprisingly, far higher among borrowers themselves. "One thing that comes through really clearly with this poll is that those closest to the issue, people that currently hold student loan debt, are in a very different position from the American public as a whole," says Mallory Newall of Ipsos. |
| Understanding Biden's Options on Student Loan Forgiveness | |
| President Joe Biden has been considering forgiving some government student loan debt. Such a move that could help alleviate the weight on borrowers of $1.6 trillion in federal education debt, a figure that has more than tripled in the last 15 years. As a candidate, Biden had said he supported a plan for Congress to take action, but with no movement on the horizon there, some Democrats are pressuring him to use his executive authority, which could bolster the party's base before the November elections. The most frequently cited version of what's under consideration would involve forgiving $10,000 per borrower. It's a notion that has been welcomed by some, and called both too much and too little by others. In the meantime, Biden has been taking more targeted actions. According to Education Department data as of March 2022, more than 45 million borrowers hold federal student loans, including parents who borrowed for their children's college education, as well as about 30 of Biden's own senior staffers. The administration has not yet settled on the proposal's contours, but aims to focus relief on lower- and middle-income individuals. |
| Senate approves Joint Consolidation Separation Act for student loan borrowers | |
| The Senate has approved a proposal that would allow borrowers stuck with student loan debt linked to a spouse or ex-spouse to separate those loans. For many, it could also open a path to having their loans erased as part of a federal loan-forgiveness program. If approved by the House and signed by President Biden, the legislation would close a loophole created in the 1990s that allowed married couples to consolidate their student loans for a lower interest rate. Congress shuttered the program in 2006, but never passed a way to separate the loans. Almost two decades later borrowers are still shackled to each other – even in cases of divorce. And in some cases, borrowers are responsible for debt that was linked with a former abusive spouse. An extra benefit for some borrowers is that they may now become eligible for the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The program allows long-time civil servants such as teachers and firefighters who qualify to have their loans forgiven. The proposed Joint Consolidation Loan Separation Act approved by the Senate on Wednesday would allow borrowers affected by spousal consolidation to separate their loans based on the initial percentage they brought in. |
SPORTS
| Bulldogs Again Excel In The Classroom | |
| Mississippi State has excelled inside the classroom once again. With a departmental GPA of 3.09 over the spring, Bulldog student-athletes have now achieved a collective GPA of 3.0 or higher in an impressive 10 straight semesters. In all, 10 of Mississippi State's teams put together a GPA of 3.0 or better. The women's tennis program garnered the highest mark with its team GPA of 3.62. The group was closely followed by men's tennis, as the squad touted a 3.57. The 16 total student-athletes that make up the men's and women's tennis squads all earned placement on the Bulldog Honor Roll, which requires a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Mike Leach's football team had 48 players on the Bulldog Honor Roll. On the women's side, MSU soccer set the pace with 31 garnering the accolade. Every sport on campus had multiple Bulldog Honor Roll members. In all, 234 MSU student-athletes (64.5 percent) achieved spots on the Bulldog Honor Roll. Of those, 40 individuals also earned Top Dawg status with a perfect 4.0 GPA. A dozen of MSU's programs boasted at least one Top Dawg honoree with 11 teams having multiple Top Dawgs. |
| Mike Leach on QB 'hot shots', expectations at Mississippi State coaches tour | |
| When Mike Leach takes the stage with a microphone in hand, fans expect him to deliver. They expect his one-liners or lengthy stories about whatever comes to mind. So when alumni gathered in Jackson for the latest stop on the Road Dawgs tour Thursday, they anticipated Leach providing entertainment. "I came here to see you," a fan told him before the event. The Mississippi State football coach gave them what they hoped for. It started with a question about his Air Raid offense. With so many moving pieces -- the quarterback progressing, the offensive line blocking and the wide receivers creating space -- what's the most important piece? "The quarterbacks already think they're hot shots, so I don't have to tend to that as much," Leach joked, much to the pleasure of the crowd. Athletic director John Cohen joined Leach, men's basketball coach Chris Jans and women's basketball coach Sam Purcell on stage. Cohen dove into the progress Leach's program has made through two seasons. He noted MSU's three wins against teams which finished in the top 25 last season – the first time that has been accomplished at MSU. Cohen anticipates the upward trend to continue. "Don't you love when your AD says you're doing a good job and you're going to be better next year," Jans asked Leach. "Yeah, no pressure," Leach joked. "To be honest, I got to thinking we could've got that other Top 25 win if we had a kicker." |
| T&L Exclusive: John Cohen on NIL, Facilities, and Your Messages to Him | |
| Podcast: Summer time means the Mississippi State coaches are on the road meeting fans across the state, and John Cohen is right there with them. The head Bulldog spoke with Brian Hadad on what fans tell him as they meet up this month, and his thoughts on the fast changing landscape of college athletics. |
| Mississippi State basketball hosting TCU in 2023 Big 12/SEC Challenge | |
| Chris Jans got some clarity for his first schedule with Mississippi State basketball. MSU will host TCU on Jan. 28 in the annual Big 12/SEC Challenge, the SEC announced Thursday. The Bulldogs are 1-3 in the challenge since it started in the 2013-14 season. Last season, Mississippi State suffered a 76-50 loss at Texas Tech. Mississippi State lost in the inaugural Big 12/SEC Challenge against TCU 71-61 at Humphrey Coliseum. The teams met again in the 2014-15 season when TCU won at the Corpus Christi Coastal Classic. The Horned Frogs are coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance where they nearly advanced to the Sweet 16. However, an overtime loss against 1-seed Arizona eliminated TCU in the second round. The Bulldogs return five players -- guard Shakeel Moore and forwards Cameron Matthews, Tolu Smith, KeShawn Murphy and D.J. Jeffries -- from last season's roster. Jans added four players from the portal and a pair of incoming freshman. Mississippi State has two scholarship spots remaining. |
| Five takeaways from Mississippi State athletics in 2021-22 | |
| Last week's NCAA outdoor track and field championships officially closed the door on the 2021-22 academic year for Mississippi State athletics. A strong showing on the track at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, capped an overall uneven year for the Bulldogs. Sports like softball, volleyball and women's golf put up stellar seasons. The football team made strides despite a young roster, and women's basketball impressed despite having just seven players and an interim coach. But a disappointing year for men's basketball and a baseball team going first to worst put a damper on MSU's athletic success. Here are five takeaways from how the Bulldogs fared in 2021-22. |
| What commissioner Greg Sankey said about how SEC tracks growth of sports betting on its teams | |
| The SEC has seen the rise in more gambling across different sports over the last five years. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey when asked about the new reality gambling brings to college athletics, said Olympic sports like volleyball, soccer, softball and even gymnastics are not immune from having bets placed. "It was football and men's basketball and women's basketball in the postseason and baseball in the postseason if you go back five years," Sankey said during a Q&A session at the Associated Press Sports Editors summer conference on the campus of IUPUI. "Now it's all those sports all season long, incredible volume and it's volleyball, and its soccer and its softball. I haven't heard the gymnastics report for us yet but those are very different realities and dynamics that are emerging around us." Within the SEC 11 state footprint, four states (Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee) allow sports betting along with more than half of the states in the country. Sankey said the SEC uses a monitoring service, US Integrity, to keep track the data and any issues that could arise from sports gambling. "In a time when our young people are continually seeking more mental health support as a society if we are not open and attentive to the reality being creating from sports gambling then we are abdicating our responsibility," Sankey said. "This is a significant factor in their lives that has been introduced. ... It affects our coaches as well, plenty of pressure there at our level, they accept that but this is a changing dynamic that we have not at all been attentive, too." |
| Home run rate at dizzying pace as College World Series opens | |
| If the College World Series is like the first two rounds of the NCAA baseball tournament, fans in the outfield seats at Charles Schwab Field are going to take home lots of souvenir balls. The 424 home runs hit in regionals and super regionals already are a tournament record, and at least 14 games remain to be played in the CWS. The eight-team event opens Friday with No. 5 national seed Texas A&M (42-18) playing Oklahoma and No. 9 Texas (47-20) meeting Notre Dame (40-15). Saturday openers match No. 2 Stanford (47-16) against Arkansas (43-19) and Mississippi (37-22) against No. 14 Auburn (42-20). Omaha's cavernous ballpark hasn't surrendered many homers since it opened in 2011. There were 28 in last year's CWS, the most since the move from the old Rosenblatt Stadium. Based on what's happened across college baseball through super regionals, that number is in jeopardy even though the wind is forecast to blow in most of the CWS. Coaches and officials point to a confluence of factors contributing to the surge. Players are older and more developed at the plate because the NCAA offered an extra season of eligibility to athletes whose 2020 seasons were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, fewer juniors have left to play professionally the last two years because the Major League Baseball draft was reduced to five rounds in 2020 and now is at 20, half as many as there were from 2012-19. |
| Louisiana changed its law on paying college athletes. Here's what it means for LSU. | |
 | When the state Legislature passed Louisiana's first law on name, image and likeness last summer, it thought there would be guidance from the NCAA. The bill restricted booster involvement and prevented schools from facilitating deals, a logical step at the time. There was one problem. The NCAA provided almost no guidelines other than outlawing the use of NIL deals in exchange for playing at a certain school, or "pay-for-play." With no federal legislation, schools in states with sparse laws or none at all had more leeway, turning the space into chaos. Louisiana's law morphed into unintended handcuffs when NIL deals became the next recruiting battleground in major college sports. As a result, LSU advised the Legislature on amending the NIL law, which Gov. John Bel Edwards signed this week. It went into effect last Friday. LSU subsequently changed its NIL policy to match the law Thursday at a board of supervisors meeting. The school now sees itself on a level playing field with its Southeastern Conference rivals. With LSU expected to implement a wider NIL program moving forward, we broke down what the amendments changed, the implications of the law and what LSU can do with fewer restrictions. "The intent is not to allow a booster organization to pay a prospective student-athlete as a recruiting inducement," Taylor Jacobs, the head of LSU's NIL department, said last month. "It is to allow the opportunity for someone who is involved in a booster organization who has a valid business to participate in a name, image and likeness deal." |
| Mizzou notebook: MU athletics evolves its NIL program after statewide bill signed Thursday | |
| One of the biggest storylines shaping the future of college athletics has now begun to take shape at the University of Missouri. Missouri state law changed in regard to student-athletes' name, image and likeness on Thursday, when Gov. Mike Parson signed into law a bill that allows schools to be more involved in the NIL process. Senate Bill 718 allows for "postsecondary institutions and associated employees to assist with opportunities for student-athletes to earn compensation for their name, image and likeness," the governor's office said in a news release. After the legislation was signed, Missouri athletics immediately sprang into action. MU announced an evolution of its NIL program, with the creation of a Tiger-specific marketplace on Opendorse, a platform that helps athletes find deals. In addition, fans will now be able to donate to Advancing Missouri Athletes, an NIL collective. Missouri athletics will also increase education for players, as is required by the new law, with a three-day NIL "experimental learning program." The program will be put on in conjunction with MU's Griggs Innovators Nexus, School of Journalism, School of Law and Trulaske College of Business. "As an institution, we will help our Tigers maximize NIL opportunities within the framework of the updated legislation and NCAA rules," Missouri athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois said in a statement. "We look forward to collaborating with our university partners and providing a new NIL-related educational curriculum." |
| DI Transformation Committee forwards initial recommendations to DI Board | |
| The Transformation Committee agreed today on a set of recommendations it will forward to the Division I Board of Directors for review and approval. The recommendations represent an important and appropriate first step toward transforming Division I athletics and better supporting the sustainability of college sports. Among the recommendations are adjustments to transfer rules and updates to the Division I infractions process to promote time-efficient outcomes, focuses the time and resources of all involved on a modernized set of shared principles and rules, and holds accountable those who are directly involved in the rule-breaking while minimizing impact on student-athletes who were not involved. Transfer recommendations, intended to stabilize the transfer environment, would require additional accountability for schools that receive transfer student-athletes and provide student-athletes with a window of time to enter the Transfer Portal each year in order to be eligible to compete in the following year. Some of the changes to the infractions process would include incentivizing cooperation of all parties, additional investigative tools and more flexibility within confidentiality rules. Now, the committee will focus on student-athlete benefits and minimum expectations for all Division I members. The Transformation Committee is co-chaired by Greg Sankey, Southeastern Conference commissioner, and Julie Cromer, athletics director at Ohio University. "College sports continues to face many challenges, and we need to move quickly to update our rules and make infractions more efficient so we can focus our attention on Division I membership expectations and, most importantly, benefits for student-athletes," said board chair Jere Morehead, president at the University of Georgia. |
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