| Monday, June 20, 2022 |
| Early in harvest, Mississippi watermelons looking good | |
 | Mississippi's watermelons are looking good as the state's harvest season opens, the Mississippi State University Extension Service says. "Melon quality is good," said agent Heath Steede. "The dry weather we've been having hurts other crops, but for watermelons it has been what we needed. We haven't had any excess water, which makes them less sweet." Steede said in a news release Friday that the seven farmers he works with in George County are "pulling them pretty hot and heavy." He noted that the juicy melons are plentiful across the Southeast this year, so wholesale prices are down from previous years. Watermelons need rain early in the growing season, but too much rain later on can dilute sweetness and introduce disease. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Crop Progress and Condition Report said on June 12 that Mississippi's watermelon quality is 67% good and 31% fair, according to the extension service. Harvest is 10% complete compared to 7% at this time last year. Most of Mississippi's watermelons are grown in the southeast, but some grow in the north. Reid Nevins, an extension agent in Lowndes County, said production is on track for the one commercial grower there. |
| Summer is the season for a sweet watermelon | |
 | Watermelon production in Mississippi is off to a good start in the early days of harvest season. "Right now, everything looks really good," said Heath Steede, Mississippi State University Extension agent in George County. "They're pulling them pretty hot and heavy right now." So far, weather conditions have been favorable. Fields have gotten the right mix of rain and clear skies. Watermelons require a balance of rain, sun and warm weather to reach peak size and sweetness. Rains early in the growing season help melons grow to the proper size, but too much rain later on can introduce disease and cause the crop to ruin. Cloudy skies also reduce melon sweetness. Most of Mississippi's watermelons are grown in the southeast portion of the state. However, north Mississippi does produce some watermelons. Reid Nevins, an Extension agent in Lowndes County who has one commercial producer in his county, said production is on track for the area. Watermelon crops in north Mississippi will not be ready until around July 4. "I don't know of any problems with watermelons. I haven't gotten any calls for that," Nevins said. "I've had a lot of calls about tomatoes, though." |
| Friends, family celebrate life of late Meridian Officer Kennis Croom | |
 | Hundreds gathered Saturday afternoon at Shelton State Community College to celebrate the life of Kennis Croom, a Tuscaloosa native and Mississippi-based police officer who was killed last week in the line of duty. Friends, family, community members and law enforcement officers from across West Alabama and Mississippi, where Croom served with the Meridian Police Department, joined Saturday's service to pay their respects to Croom. Croom, 30, died June 9 while responding to a domestic disturbance call. A suspect has since been charged in connection to the crime and Croom has been named a hero for saving the life of four children before he was killed. Croom was born and raised in Tuscaloosa and is the son of former Tuscaloosa City Clerk Tracy Croom and the Rev. Dr. Kelvin Croom, now the senior pastor at Tuscaloosa's College Hill Baptist Church and an ex-defensive back for the Crimson Tide and legendary Alabama coach Paul W. "Bear" Bryant in the 1970s. He's also the nephew of Sylvester Croom, a standout center for the Crimson Tide from 1972-74 who went on to become the first Black head football coach in the Southeastern Conference when he was hired in 2004 by Mississippi State University and, earlier this year, was selected as part of the 2022 class of the College Football Hall of Fame. |
| Extreme Heat Hammers Nation's Midsection With Little Relief in Sight | |
 | The intense heat broiling parts of the U.S. with above-average temperatures will stick around for at least another week, the National Weather Service said Saturday. More than 25 million people from the northern Plains to the Southeast remained under heat alerts over the weekend, the NWS said. Temperatures from Nebraska to North Dakota will range from the upper 90s into triple digits, roughly 20 degrees higher than average for mid-June, according to NWS meteorologist Marc Chenard. The heat dome will shift again over the weekend, likely bringing record highs to the central and Southeast parts of the country, he said. The same sizzling heat last week killed thousands of cattle in the nation's heartland and led to dozens of hospital visits. U.S. public-health departments warned last week about heat-related illnesses, including heat stroke and heat exhaustion, because of the high temperatures and humidity. The parched conditions are expected to continue through June, Mr. Chenard said. "Not everyone is going to be hot every day," he said. "But the expectation is that this heat will linger across the northern Plains and then settle into the central Plains, the Mississippi Valley and the Southeast for the next couple of weeks." |
| Daily Journal hosting brain drain forum June 30 | |
 | Retaining skilled professionals is an ongoing issue throughout Mississippi, where brain drain has caused rural areas to shrink and young workers to flee the state. But Northeast Mississippi, while still battling these same issues, has found some success in growing population centers and helping to maintain a strong workforce. On June 30, a panel will explore the issues that can battle brain drain and how different sectors of the community -- including industry, small business, education and nonprofits -- can do their part. The forum, which is free to attend, will take place at 6 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Tupelo. Seating is limited. Hosted locally by the Daily Journal through support from the Mississippi Press Association, the Mississippi Humanities Council and The Relevance Project, the forum will feature panelists David Fernandes, president of Toyota Mississippi; Rob Hairston, director of projects for the Community Development Foundation; and Scott Waller, CEO of the Mississippi Economic Council. Daily Journal Executive Editor Sam R. Hall will serve as moderator. "Often the best ideas come from a broad, diverse discussion, which requires more points of view than we could possibly represent on a stage," Hall said. "That's why we're encouraging people to come with plenty of questions and ideas." |
| Stocks Historically Don't Bottom Out Until the Fed Eases | |
| Another week of whipsaw stock trading has many investors wondering how much farther markets will fall. If history is any guide, the selloff might still be in its early stages. Investors have often blamed the Federal Reserve for market routs. It turns out the Fed has often had a hand in market turnarounds, too. Going back to 1950, the S&P 500 has sold off at least 15% on 17 occasions, according to research from Vickie Chang, a global markets strategist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. On 11 of those 17 occasions, the stock market managed to bottom out only around the time the Fed shifted toward loosening monetary policy again. Getting to that point may be painful. The S&P 500 has fallen 23% in 2022, marking its worst start to a year since 1932. The index declined 5.8% last week, its biggest decline since the pandemic-fueled selloff of March 2020. And the Fed has only just gotten started. After approving its largest interest-rate increase since 1994 on Wednesday, the central bank signaled that it intends to raise rates several more times this year so it can tamp down inflation. In the coming week, investors will be parsing data including existing-home sales, consumer sentiment and new-home sales to gauge the economy's trajectory. U.S. markets are closed Monday in observance of Juneteenth. "I don't think the rate of the decline in the market will continue at this pace, but the idea that we're approaching the bottom -- that's really hard to come up with," said David Donabedian, chief investment officer of CIBC Private Wealth US. |
| New laws in Mississippi take effect July: What you need to know | |
 | The state's newest laws will take effect July 1, including tax cuts, medical marijuana and a new official state song. The Mississippi Legislative session, which ended in April, also saw the legislature pass a record budget, as states throughout the nation are flush with federal cash. The state's $7.32 billion budget, more than 9% larger than the previous one, was buttressed by $1.5 billion in federal relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. Over $295 million in available federal funding was left on the table, but the legislature will have another opportunity to spend that money next session. One aspect of ARPA funding the legislature approved ended up being carved out through a veto by Republican Gov. Tate Reeves --- $50 million that had been set aside for capital improvements at University of Mississippi Medical Center. In vetoing the measure, Reeves cited disputes between the state-owned hospital and private insurance providers, specifically Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi. "There is little reason that Mississippi taxpayers should radically increase the commitment to further subsidize the operations of UMMC to the detriment of competitors," Reeves said in a statement. Reeves has also had public disputes with UMMC's dean, LouAnn Woodward, after she criticized his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, though Reeves did not cite that as a reason for cutting the funding. |
| New headquarters announced for Capitol Police as planning for agency's expansion continues | |
| Next month, millions appropriated by state lawmakers will start flowing to bring about major changes within Capitol Police, including additional funding for officers and a new headquarters for the agency. "Our goal is to be, like I've said in the past, a full-fledged operating police force within the city of Jackson, within the Capitol Improvement District. Our goal is not to take away any jurisdiction from the city," said Sean Tindell, commissioner for the state's department of public safety. The Capitol Complex Improvement District covers around seven percent of Jackson, according to a 3 On Your Side analysis. Tindell said they're moving forward with the first phase of transforming the former Wright and Ferguson funeral home downtown into a new Capitol Police headquarters. The agency is also working on plans for additional hardware and personnel so officers with that agency can answer 911 calls for service directly, instead of those calls being forwarded from JPD or the Hinds County Sheriff's Office, which adds to their response time. "Right now, Chief [Bo] Luckey [has] been there for about three weeks. He's still doing his initial assessments on priorities and things that we need to address first," Tindell said. "And so I'm confident that he's going to come to me with a plan on that, and we'll move forward with it." They're also being more proactive on getting crucial information out to the public. "There's an open line of communication that has been established between Capitol Police, the media, and the public. And I think that is very good to operate by," Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones said. "I look forward to working with the chief of the Capitol Police, men and women on Capitol Police as well, because that is an addition to law enforcement presence and personnel here in Hinds County." |
| Money pours into MS03, MS04 runoffs for some | |
 | With two Congressional Republican incumbents fighting for survival in a June 28 runoff in Mississippi, money has started to pour into those races with the vast majority of it in favor of incumbents Congressman Michael Guest of the 3rd District and Congressman Steven Palazzo of the 4th District. Their respective challengers, newcomer Michael Cassidy and Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell, are having a bit more difficulty keeping pace in the less than three-week sprint between the Primary and the runoff. The biggest spend in the Mississippi Republican Primary runoff so far has come from the Congressional Leadership Fund, a Super PAC, that is spending over $350,000 in opposition to Congressman Guest's opponent Michael Cassidy. That TV buy has carpeted the airwaves in the 3rd District as of late. Another Super PAC, Mississippi Victory PAC, has dropped $65,000+ in direct mail and radio ads so far targeted against Cassidy. Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison in an earlier piece errantly attributed the Mississippi Victory PAC as belonging to Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, but it is in fact an independent Super PAC. Michael Guest has raised over $288,000 in terms of new money that has come in since the Primary. Additionally, on June 8, his pre-primary report already had $293K cash on hand. A substantial number of political action committees have donated in the runoff as well as notable contributors such as former Governor Haley Barbour. |
| Ezell and Palazzo to debate on Friday | |
| Incumbent Congressman Steven Palazzo and challenger Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell are set to debate on Friday, June 24. The highly anticipated debate comes after a primary that featured seven GOP candidates. Palazzo finished with 31.6% of the votes while Ezell came out with 25.1%, ultimately forcing the upcoming June 28 runoff. Even though Palazzo finished nearly six points ahead of Ezell, every other Republican primary candidate has come out in support of the sheriff. The debate can be watched live on WLOX at 7 p.m. CT on Friday before re-airing on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT |
| What a Roberts compromise on abortion could look like | |
 | When the two sides in the abortion debate squared off at the Supreme Court last fall, they agreed on one thing: There was no middle ground. Now, any hope abortion rights supporters have of avoiding a historic loss before the court lies with Chief Justice John Roberts crafting an unlikely compromise. In the wake of POLITICO's report last month on a draft majority opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, Roberts would have to convince at least one of his five Republican-appointed colleagues to sign on to a compromise ruling that would preserve a federal constitutional right to abortion in some form while giving states even more power to restrict that right. Can Roberts thread that needle and how would he do it? The Supreme Court has been very tight-lipped since the leak of the Roe opinion draft, and the court never comments on opinions ahead of time. But a deep dive into Roberts public speeches and commentary at court arguments may offer somewhat of a roadmap to what a Roberts compromise might be on Roe if he is able to find one at the 11th hour. The court could issue its abortion ruling any time in the next two weeks, before the justices leave town for their usual summer break. The central organizing principle for a Roberts opinion is likely to be one he has articulated many times: that the court shouldn't issue a sweeping decision when a more modest one would do. |
| As Jan. 6 chair, Thompson builds on a lifetime of defending the vote | |
 | Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) first landed in politics not to get votes but to get people registered to vote. It's a mission that brought him from signing up voters across rural Mississippi, to serving as mayor of the 521-person town where he still lives and travels every weekend, to the halls of Congress. It has also stayed central to him as he leads the House investigation into the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021 -- an effort that fundamentally sought to reject the will of voters whose rights he's fought to protect. At the first meeting of the Jan. 6 committee in prime time, Thompson's opener was surprisingly personal, talking about life in Bolton, Miss. "I am from a part of the country where people justified the actions of slavery, the Ku Klux Klan and lynching. I'm reminded of that dark history as I hear voices today try and justify the actions of the insurrectionists on Jan. 6," the 74-year-old lawmaker said. It's a lived experience that those who know Thompson well say is the foundation for how he approaches his role leading the committee. "Here is a person who was raised and still lives in what most people consider even today the cradle of the Confederacy, this man who is now trying to save a democracy from which he was excluded, and his people were excluded for so very long," Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge, a former House colleague of Thompson's, told The Hill. |
| Donald Trump leads lively, controversial day of speeches in Southaven | |
 | As part of the American Freedom Tour, several high-profile conservative figures joined former president Donald Trump at the Landers Center on Saturday, where they spoke about inflation, the Afghanistan withdrawal and the possibility of another presidential run for Trump in 2024. The Landers Center, the largest indoor arena in Southaven, held a near-capacity crowd which erupted in cheers as Trump walked onto the stage. Perhaps to be expected, Trump touted his accomplishments while poking fun at his political opponents. "When I was president, America was respected like we have never been respected before," Trump said. "But it only took 17 months for Joe Biden to turn it into a total catastrophe. But we can restore our country to greatness." While Trump teased a run for president in 2024, he has not yet made an official announcement to do so. The American Freedom Tour has not been a campaign rally, but a for-profit event that has been hosted in cities across the country. Trump did not speak until nearly 3:30 p.m. on Saturday but several speakers mirrored much of what the former president said earlier in the day. Perhaps as a surprise, Mississippi governor Tate Reeves spoke to the crowd as well, delivering a very conservative message on his desire to end abortion and the teaching of critical race theory in Mississippi schools. |
| In Southaven speech, Trump hints at 2024 presidential run | |
 | Former President Donald Trump teased a future run for the White House during a visit to Southaven, Mississippi, on Saturday and continued to call the Jan. 6 Committee hearings a "witch hunt." The former president, speaking during a stop on the for-profit American Freedom Tour, spent time lingering on his electoral defeat in 2020, disputing the results and repeating false claims of voter fraud. "In 2024, we are going to take back our magnificent White House," Trump said. The crowd of several thousand at the Landers Center rose in applause and chanted "USA, USA." Trump meandered from topic to topic during his hourlong speech. He criticized President Joe Biden for rampant inflation and spent time dwelling on the design of Air Force One and U.S. aircraft carriers. He repeated his frequent attacks on Democratic leaders and criticized the few Republicans who have dared oppose him publicly, including U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney -- one of two Republican members of the Jan. 6 committee. Throughout his speech, Trump, like the speakers who came before him, predicted a Republican landslide in the midterm elections this fall. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves gave a short speech that differed little from the typical Republican attacks on Biden, blaming the president for inflation, the retreat from Afghanistan and the shortage of baby formula on store shelves. Reeves was effusive in his praise of the former president, describing the difference between Trump and Biden's presidency as two different nations. |
| Biden takes a spill on a morning bike ride at the beach | |
 | President Biden tumbled to the ground while on a morning bike ride near his vacation home here Saturday, falling as his shoes apparently got caught in the toe cages as he tried to stop. "I'm good," he quickly declared, as Secret Service agents came to his aid. He fell while approaching a waiting crowd and, after popping back up, he spent several minutes talking with onlookers and then answered a few questions from reporters. Asked about lifting tariffs on China in light of stresses on the U.S. economy, he joked, "I'm not going to talk to you on my vacation." He added that he plans to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping "soon" and said that he's still determining what to do about tariffs. He also said that he was "happy with the progress" on gun legislation before getting on his bike and riding away. The president and the first lady, Jill Biden, are in Rehoboth Beach, where they have a vacation home, as they mark their 45th wedding anniversary. The two were bike riding together Saturday morning on paths around Cape Henlopen State Park, but the first lady had gone ahead before the president fell. It isn't the first time Biden has taken a spill. He fell in December 2020 while chasing his dog Major at his home, resulting in an injury that required him to wear a medical boot for several weeks. He has also tripped while walking up the steps of Air Force One. Critics use each instance to raise doubts about the fitness of the nation's oldest president, although, in this case, it was an occurrence that many cyclists who clip in or have a toe cage have experienced. |
| Court rejects Trump-era EPA finding that weed killer safe | |
| A federal appeals court on Friday rejected a Trump administration finding that the active ingredient in the weed killer Roundup does not pose a serious health risk and is "not likely" to cause cancer in humans. The California-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to reexamine its 2020 finding that glyphosate did not pose a health risk for people exposed to it by any means -- on farms, yards or roadsides or as residue left on food crops. Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, the most widely used herbicide in the world. Pharmaceutical giant Bayer, which acquired the herbicide's original producer Monsanto in 2018, is facing thousands of claims from people who say Roundup exposure caused their cancer. Roundup will remain available for sale. According to an agency spokesman, EPA officials are reviewing the 54-page ruling "and will decide next steps.″ The Supreme Court is also considering whether to hear an appeal from Bayer that could shut down thousands of lawsuits on the cancer claims. Bayer said in a statement Friday night that EPA's 2020 conclusion "was based on a rigorous assessment of the extensive body of science spanning more than 40 years.″ The company believes that EPA "will continue to conclude, as it and other regulators have consistently concluded for more than four decades, that glyphosate-based herbicides can be used safely and are not carcinogenic,″ the statement said. |
| Juneteenth celebrations emphasize ending racial disparities | |
| After Opal Lee led hundreds in a walk through her Texas hometown to celebrate Juneteenth this weekend, the 95-year-old Black woman who helped successfully push for the holiday to get national recognition said it's important that people learn the history behind it. "We need to know so people can heal from it and never let it happen again," said Lee, whose 2 1/2-mile (4-kilometer) walk through Fort Worth symbolizes the 2 1/2 years it took after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation ending slavery in the Southern states for the enslaved people in Texas to be freed. A year after President Joe Biden signed legislation making June 19 the nation's 12th federal holiday, people across the U.S. gathered at events filled with music, food and fireworks. Celebrations also included an emphasis on learning about history and addressing racial disparities. Many Black people celebrated the day just as they did before any formal recognition. A Gallup Poll found that Americans are more familiar with Juneteenth than they were last year, with 59% saying they knew "a lot" or "some" about the holiday compared with 37% a year ago in May. The poll also found that support for making Juneteenth part of school history lessons increased from 49% to 63%. Yet many states have been slow to designate it as an official holiday. Lawmakers in Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and elsewhere failed to advance proposals this year that would have closed state offices and given most of their public employees paid time off. |
| IHL authorizes pay raises for Mississippi higher ed faculty | |
| Faculty at Mississippi universities will see pay raises this coming school year, after the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees approved increased spending on salaries at the regular board meeting Thursday. The raises comes as IHL is pursuing pay increases for professors over the next several years, with the goal of bringing salaries to the regional average. Ultimately, the decision of how to spend this additional money, whether through increasing existing faculty pay or hiring additional people, is up to each university. "The Board has authorized higher salary spending," said IHL spokesperson Caron Blanton via email. "Whether and how much of that will actually be spent is up to the universities." At the IHL board meeting on Thursday, John Pearce, associate commissioner for finance, said IHL appropriated about $57 million for pay raises, which he estimated could amount to an average 4.6% salary increase for faculty at the eight universities. Last year, Pearce said faculty received an average 2.5% salary increase. The funding increases are part of IHL's six-year plan to bring faculty salaries in line with neighboring states, Pearce said at the meeting. To that end, the IHL will be asking the Legislature for a 6.4% increase in the upcoming fiscal year. At the meeting, Alfred Rankins, the IHL commissioner, said he appreciated lawmakers for allocating enough funds to make the pay increase possible. |
| Mississippi not done spending historic settlement for HBCUs | |
| Mississippi still has money left to spend from the 2002 settlement that was supposed to desegregate the state's public universities, according to the budget presentation at the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees meeting Thursday. The settlement stems from Ayers v. Fordice, a 1975 class-action lawsuit that alleged the state of Mississippi was systemically underfunding Mississippi's three historically Black universities, Jackson State University, Alcorn State University and Mississippi Valley State University. After nearly thirty years of litigation, the state and the private plaintiffs, led by U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, settled in 2002. Mississippi agreed to pay the three HBCUs about $417 million in additional funding over the next 20 years for capital improvements, endowments, and summer school programs. That money was projected to run out at the end of this month, but on Thursday, the IHL board members approved the additional allocation of funding, about $1.6 million, that the universities had not spent. IHL also allocated another $3 million in interest from an endowment that the settlement created, which the board will allocate in perpetuity. Ever since the lawsuit was settled, many advocates have maintained the payout was not enough to bring the HBCUs to a level playing field with Mississippi's predominantly white institutions. Alvin Chambliss, the attorney who brought the lawsuit, didn't want to settle, but the state of Mississippi cut a deal over his objections. Chambliss's sentiment is echoed today by many HBCU alumni, faculty and administrators. |
| Auburn University alumnus preparing for adventure with prestigious appointment to Antarctica | |
| The pursuit of adventure and a desire to fulfill a higher purpose has led Auburn alumnus Marc Tunstall through an illustrious career in the military and government agencies, and now is taking him across the globe to the frozen tundra of Antarctica. The 1990 Auburn University graduate has enjoyed a varied and meaningful career since his days on the Plains, spending roughly two decades as a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Marines and U.S. Coast Guard and another 10-plus years working as an aviation compliance supervisor for the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Aviation Services (OAS). Tunstall's next journey will take him to Antarctica, where he will begin serving as station manager of the McMurdo Station for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Polar Programs Antarctic Infrastructure and Logistics Section in September. In that role, Tunstall will oversee the station's day-to-day operations, managing and supporting more than 1,000 scientists and contractors during the Antarctic summer that runs through February. His duties will include providing oversight for the station's wastewater treatment plant, fire department, dorms and dining hall, supporting and managing safety for the NSF scientists' field research expeditions and serving as the station's emergency operations center director. |
| 50 years of Title IX: A look at LSU's recent history with anti-sex discrimination law | |
 | No discussion of Title IX in Baton Rouge would be complete without an examination of LSU's recent history with the federal law, which forbids institutions from discriminating based on sex and requires them to investigate reports of sexual misconduct and domestic violence on campus. LSU has been involved in several Title IX cases in the past few years, and the U.S. Department of Education last year opened an investigation of LSU's handling of sexual misconduct complaints. That probe started after the school hired Husch Blackwell, a law firm specializing in higher education issues, to conduct an independent review of LSU's Title IX policies and procedures. That review came amid complaints that LSU had mishandled incidents for years. The Husch Blackwell report, 150 pages long, said the university had failed to properly report and investigate allegations of sexual misconduct and domestic violence on campus. It also led to the temporary suspension of executive deputy athletic director Verge Ausberry and senior associate athletic director Miriam Segar. The report also highlighted complaints against football players, four of whom were arrested and six who faced university sanctions. LSU president William Tate IV says the school has worked hard to comply with 18 recommendations made in the Husch Blackwell report. Three candidates for the role of LSU's next vice president for inclusion, civil rights, and Title IX will travel to campus in the coming days for interviews. During their visits, according to LSU officials, candidates will meet with a variety of campus groups and will each present at public forums open to the entire LSU campus community. |
| Investigation upholds U. of Florida accreditation | |
| An accreditation committee cleared the University of Florida's name after a monthslong investigation following its possible restriction of academic freedom. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, which accredits universities across the southeast U.S., determined Thursday UF has operated with integrity as they take steps to protect academic freedom. "While there are still unresolved concerns among individuals at the institution regarding complex aspects of how conflict of interest, conflict of commitment, and consideration of viewpoint may erode academic freedom, the institution has endeavored in good faith to put safeguards and corrections in place," the report read. The SACSCOC Special Committee began its investigation in November after news outlets reported the university restricted professors to testify in a voting rights case. SACSCOC visited the university in April before finalizing its findings. It carefully observed the internal investigation launched by UF President Kent Fuchs as he created a Task Force to review the situation and determine whether UF violated academic freedom. The association's report said Fuchs and faculty leadership recognized the problem and quickly crafted short and long-term actions to resolve it. The report also recognized the efforts UF has made to help its community understand the new procedures, but it noted concern about state legislation "regarding censorship in the classroom." |
| How Biden student loan forgiveness would impact Tennessee residents | |
 | One in 8 Tennesseans are waiting to hear if President Joe Biden will forgive some portion of federal student loan debt. How much debt the government would forgive per borrower is still up in the air -- in May, the Washington Post reported that the White House was planning to forgive $10,000 per borrower. Knox News spoke to higher education experts to learn who in Tennessee would benefit from a $10,000 loan forgiveness plan. According to federal data from December, Tennessee residents have $31.4 billion in student loan debt. That's about $2 billion higher than the average of $29 billion per state, according to data complied by the Education Data Initiative. Across the U.S., there's a $1.606 trillion outstanding federal student loan balance. More than 43.4 million people have federal student loan debt, making it the second-highest consumer debt category after mortgages, according to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Federal Student Aid. A substantial share of that student debt is loans taken out for graduate and professional degrees for professions like doctors and lawyers. "That's a little bit of a different animal than undergraduate student debt because these are people who probably have a little bit more earning power, and they've experienced college already versus someone trying it for the first time," said Robert Kelchen, a higher education professor and the head of the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. |
| College Station City Council approves VeoRide use in city and on A&M campus | |
 | The City of College Station officially allows the use of electric scooters, also known as electric micro-mobility devices, for residents in College Station and on the Texas A&M University campus, after the city council voted unanimously to expand its shared micro-mobility ordinance. Previously the ordinance was known as a Dockless Bike Share Program, however during a previous meeting the council issued guidelines for the newly named micro-mobility ordinance. The ordinance allows the bike-share vendor, VeoRide Cosmo, to place electric sit-down scooters on the A&M campus and in specified other areas of the city through a geo-fence, according to Vanessa Garza, planning administrator for the city's Bicycle, Pedestrian and Greenways Program. "The dockless bike share program ordinance was originally [created] because of the introductory of Texas A&M's bike share program back in 2018," she said. "Originally A&M used an operator named Ofo, and we learned a lot with Ofo, and there were definitely a lot of things that we wanted to change. We wanted to include an abandonment fee because devices, bikes and scooters, were being left all over the city. Since that time, A&M introduced a new operator VeoRide, and they and A&M have been great to work with." |
| U. of Missouri professor: Job market still favors job-seekers, but recession fears could change that | |
 | The labor market in Columbia remains one marked by a low unemployment rate with more job openings than applicants, said Peter Mueser, chancellor's professor in the University of Missouri Department of Economics. The June 8 unemployment rate in Missouri was a low 3.4%, he said. The Federal Reserve on Thursday hiked interest rates by .75%, the largest increase since 1994 in an attempt to slow the economy and bring down inflation. The Fed is attempting a soft landing for the economy, but recession concerns are increasing, Mueser said. "The high inflation is causing increased expectations of a recession," Mueser said. A national recession would affect Missouri and put the brakes on the job market, he said. He's not predicting a recession, but it's a possibility, he said. MU 2021 graduates had success in landing jobs, if that was their goal. The annual career outcomes survey in March reported that 95% of recent graduates achieved a successful career outcome within six months of graduation. The successful career outcome is described as being employed, continuing their education, or volunteer or military service. Almost 80% of 2021 graduates took the survey. It showed that 62.5% of them were working full-time, 10% were employed part-time and 20% were continuing their education. Another 5% were still looking. |
| U. of Missouri appoints Jay Sexton as new director of Kinder Institute | |
 | Jay Sexton was appointed director of the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy, according to a University of Missouri news release Thursday. Sexton will replace Justin Dyer, who served as director since the institute's establishment in 2015, the release said. Dyer was recently appointed director of the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, a newly founded organization. "Dr. Sexton is a globally renowned scholar," MU Provost Latha Ramchand said in the release. "His work at University of Oxford and University of Cambridge prior to joining the Kinder Institute gives him a unique perspective on American democracy and forces that both shape it and are influenced by it." Sexton has been a part of the institute since 2016 and currently holds the Rich and Nancy Kinder Chair in Constitutional Democracy, the release said. He is also a professor of history at MU. The Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy is an interdisciplinary academic center at MU supported by $35 million in gifts from the Kinder Foundation, the release said. Promoting excellence in teaching and scholarship about American constitutional and democratic principles, the institute supports the research of MU faculty and students who are interested in the theory, practice and history of constitutional democracy, the release said. "We applaud the selection of Jay Sexton, who has been an important part of the institute for the last few years," Rich Kinder, chairperson of the foundation, said in the release. |
| Confirming Faculty Fears, Purdue's Board Chair Says Trustees Chose President Like a Business | |
 | When Purdue University's trustees announced their new president this month, they left out some key information: how and why they had chosen that person. What made the event even more surprising was that the trustees announced the retirement as president of Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., who has led the university for a decade, at the same time they named his successor, Mung Chiang, Purdue's dean of engineering and executive vice president for strategic initiatives. Picking a college president is often described as the most important responsibility of a governing board, but that task is usually accompanied by at least a modicum of transparency and input from constituents, including faculty, staff, and students. The stealthy move to name a new president at Purdue has set off alarm bells nationally as the latest example of trustees' willingness to ignore the core values of shared governance. While it's the Board of Trustees' responsibility to hire the president, doing so without buy-in from campus constituents can lead to a backlash and a lack of trust in the new leader, said Leigh S. Raymond, a professor of political science and president of the American Association of University Professors' chapter on the West Lafayette campus. While searches for college presidents have become more secretive in recent years, Purdue's governing board may have set a new precedent for opacity. Not only was no search announced publicly, but the board did not even tell Chiang and other possible candidates that they were under consideration, said Michael R. Berghoff, the board chair. |
| Mitch Daniels weighing return to politics | |
| Mitch Daniels is eyeing a political encore. The former two-term Indiana governor, who came to the brink of announcing a 2012 presidential bid in 2011 before backing out over family concerns, announced last week that he would step down as president of Purdue University at the end of this year after nearly a decade, shocking the campus. Now, longtime loyalists and friends say the 73-year-old former director of George W. Bush's Office of Management and Budget is warming up to the idea of a return to politics, batting around a potential third gubernatorial run in the Hoosier state's open 2024 contest. Current Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Daniels ally and his handpicked party chairman during his administration, is term-limited from running again. "He's fascinated by the idea," Mark Lubbers, Daniels' longtime confidante and top political adviser early in his gubernatorial administration, told POLITICO in an interview Thursday while on an annual golf trip with Daniels at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.V. He said the two "discussed" recent speculation in Indiana media that Daniels could mount a return to the political stage after his turn in academia. "We have NOT discussed policy or politics of a run," Lubbers later added in a text. "Suffice to say he would never do it unless he felt there were ambitious policy objectives. You've heard him say before that he likes BIG ideas. He would have no interest ever in running to just hold the seat again. Not his style." Daniels did not return voicemail or text messages seeking confirmation. A Purdue University spokesman declined to comment, citing Daniels' vacation. |
| Mississippi officials did what South Dakota leaders couldn't -- block Medicaid expansion | |
| Bobby Harrison writes for Mississippi Today: The South Dakota Republican leadership, like many of their counterparts in Mississippi, oppose accepting federal funds to provide health insurance for primarily the working poor. In South Dakota, the Republican leadership tried to prevent approval of an upcoming citizen-sponsored ballot initiative that would mandate the expansion of Medicaid if passed by voters in November. In a preemptive move, South Dakota legislators placed a constitutional amendment on the June party primary election ballot that would have required any citizen-sponsored initiative going forward (such as Medicaid expansion on the November ballot) to garner the approval of 60% of voters instead of the customary majority vote to pass. South Dakotans rejected the constitutional amendment earlier this month, setting the table for their likely approval in November of the citizen-sponsored initiative to expand Medicaid to provide health insurance for primarily the working poor. In Mississippi, if not for the action of elected officials, a proposal to expand Medicaid also most likely would have been on the upcoming November ballot. But unlike in South Dakota, the aim of the elected officials in Mississippi was not to stop Medicaid expansion, though that was one result of their actions. |
| What will happen with abortion in Mississippi if Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade? | |
| Sam R. Hall writes for the Daily Journal: A recent Wall Street Journal editorial looked at the complicated opinions surrounding abortion and the expected overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court. According to the editorial, a Gallup poll showed that 55% of Americans identify as pro-choice, while a WSJ poll found that 68% of Americans don't want SCOTUS to completely overturn Roe. The editorial goes on to say that while those numbers -- on their face -- point toward strong support for abortion rights, digging deeper into polling shows that support for abortion goes only so far. For instance, the Gallup poll said "67% of Americans say abortion should be 'generally legal' in the first three months of pregnancy. But it falls precipitously to 36% in the second trimester and 20% in the final trimester." At the heart of the case before the Supreme Court -- Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization -- is the Mississippi law that essentially bans abortion after 15 weeks. Of the law, the WSJ editorial says, "Mississippi is presumably more supportive of the state's post-15 week ban than is the nation as a whole." That's likely a true statement, but it stood out to me because of recent questions we posed to our subscribers and the surprising responses we received. |
SPORTS
| With or without the Bulldogs, College World Series tailgate goes on for Mississippi couple that has been going to Omaha since 2007 | |
| Though it isn't her preference, sometimes it's just easier when the Bulldogs aren't here. Traci Maloney can use a little cruise control this time of year. Tailgating is hard work. Mississippi State isn't in this College World Series field. The Bulldogs didn't get the chance to defend last year's national championship after injuries and inconsistency left them out of the postseason. The purpose of business at Charles Schwab Field is to crown a champion. In the next week and a half, someone will replace Mississippi State. Until then the College World Series is also a celebration of the sport. Traci and Paul Maloney, MSU fans from Jackson, figured that out a few days after Justin Pigott pitched the 2007 Bulldogs into the winner's bracket in Tallahassee. Soon winning a road regional at Florida State they were the home team in a super regional against Clemson. MSU won that super in two games and was booked in Omaha before Ole Miss had thrown its first pitch in the Tempe Super Regional against Arizona State. The Bulldogs' run to Omaha, after a 15-13 SEC record, was as improbable then as the Ole Miss run this season. "We were the only SEC team here that year," Maloney recalls. They had a splendid time and were back in 2008 even though the Bulldogs weren't. It was in 2009, when Southern Miss represented Mississippi, that the tailgate shifted gears. |
| How Mississippi State prepared Brewers' Ethan Small for MLB debut at Wrigley Field | |
| Ethan Small stood atop the mound inside Wrigley Field. The former Mississippi State baseball ace, with adrenaline rushing through him and sweat dripping from beneath his yellow and blue Milwaukee Brewers cap, scoured the environment around him. The brick backstop sat in front of him. The green ivy provided an iconic backdrop. A sea of fans wearing red and blue shirts, jerseys and hats surrounded him. He couldn't find an empty seat in the Chicago cathedral of baseball. Nearly 40,000 spectators looked on as Small made his MLB debut. The nerves of reaching his goal overtook him, but the atmosphere of a raucous crowd on a sizzling May afternoon in Wrigley didn't scare him. Four years at Dudy Noble Field and two trips to the Men's College World Series prepared him for his biggest moment. "That's the one cool thing about Mississippi State is you play in front of giant crowds all the time, especially if you go to Omaha," Small said. "Wrigley is a little bigger than that, but thankfully I had some experience pitching in front of crowds." Small's debut was short-lived: 2⅔ innings, two runs, four strikeouts and four walks. The MLB allows for teams to add a player to the active roster ahead of doubleheaders, which is typically utilized on pitchers. The Brewers knew it was coming, so they informed their No. 8 prospect two days before the May 30 twin-bill against the Cubs. Brewers all-star reliever Josh Hader was complimentary of Small's arsenal postgame, and he noted Small's return to the big leagues would come soon. |
| Peyton Manning in Omaha for College World Series despite Tennessee baseball's absence | |
| Maybe Peyton Manning is a Notre Dame baseball fan? The Vols legend was in Omaha on Friday at the College World Series, watching the Fighting Irish's game against Texas in the first night of the eight-team tournament to decide college baseball's national champion. The Pro Football Hall of Famer also attended last year's College World Series to watch the Vols' first appearance in Omaha since 2005. Manning, whose "Omaha" audibles were popularized during his playing career, was wearing an Omaha cap. Manning's Omaha Productions has a relationship with ESPN, the broadcasters of the CWS, to produce content including the ManningCast alternate feed during Monday Night Football. Manning was also in attendance for Notre Dame's win over Tennessee baseball in Game 1 of the Knoxville Super Regional. The Irish won two of three in the best-of-three series to eliminate the top-seeded Vols and advance to the CWS. Tennessee baseball had its best-ever regular season in 2022, finishing 49-7 and 25-5 in the SEC. The Vols won the SEC Tournament in Hoover, sweeping the tournament and regular-season conference titles. Tennessee swept through the Knoxville Regional, but a Saturday win over Notre Dame was nullified by bookend season-ending losses to the Irish. |
| How Missouri's 'off and running' NIL collective represents next step for Mizzou athletics | |
| The state of Missouri on Thursday took its next step into the future of college athletics. Dennis Gates, Robin Pingeton, Eli Drinkwitz and Desiree Reed-Francois gathered around Gov. Mike Parson's desk as he signed SB 718 into law. That law now allows "postsecondary institutions and associated employees to assist with opportunities for student-athletes to earn compensation for their name, image and likeness," part of the bill states. Away from Jefferson City, Advancing Missouri Athletes Chief Executive Officer Greg Steinhoff made another step. AMA opened publicly for fans. Missouri athletics now has its own NIL collective. That represents the next step for MU in the ever-evolving topic of NIL, even if the school has no direct part in the collective. Now, fans can personally contribute to the Tigers' football and men's basketball athletes. This all happened in a span of a few hours Thursday, as Parson signed the bill, MU announced its own enhancements to its NIL policies, and AMA officially went public for Tigers fans. The bill signed allows MU coaches and employees to be more engaged with NIL opportunities. AMA operates aside from that, as Steinhoff understands there are still more steps to take in terms of rules and regulations. What mattered Thursday is that he understands the rules at hand. "Like most new ventures, there's very little regulation," Steinhoff said. "The states have established the collectives. The NCAA has two primary rules that we all have to make sure that we're abiding by, but they operate independently of the university as required by state statute." |
| College Sports' 'King Of NIL' Is Racking Up Endorsement Deals At A Small HBCU | |
| Less than three weeks after the NCAA began allowing athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness last July 1, Alabama football coach Nick Saban announced that "our quarterback already has approached ungodly numbers" -- nearly $1 million in endorsements, he said, maybe a bit overzealously. But the player with more marketing deals than perhaps anyone else in college sports -- a whopping 69 over this past year -- isn't a Crimson Tide signal-caller. Nor is he an LSU Tigers cornerback or a Michigan Wolverines defensive end or, for that matter, a Duke Blue Devils power forward. No, the self-proclaimed King of NIL is a track-and-field athlete and running back who has played 11 career games for Norfolk State, a small, historically Black university on the Virginia coast. "At Power 5 schools, people might make almost $500,000, or more. I know that I'm at a small school, so I know that I'm not making that," says Rayquan Smith, a 20-year-old rising senior with three years of playing eligibility remaining. "So I was like, okay, I know I can't make this much [per deal], but how many deals can I make and add up to that?" Smith hasn't cracked six figures yet, says his marketing agent, Freddie Berry of Berry Athlete Representation, but his business has come a long way in the 12 months that NIL deals have been permissible for college athletes. |
| As Title IX turns 50, it plays a surprise role in transgender athlete access debate | |
 | On the spring day when Lia Thomas made history by winning an NCAA swimming championship as a transgender female, protesters gathered outside the arena to do what protesters normally do. Chant. Wave signs. Wear T-shirts with slogans. "Support fair sports," they yelled. Thomas, who transitioned in college, was too fast, too strong, too male to race against cisgender women, they insisted. Their complaint was typical of a backlash that has grown louder as transgender female athletes become more common and successful. Critics have raised all the predictable issues regarding fair play, biology and gender identity. In demanding stricter eligibility rules and separate categories for transgender women, they have latched onto an unexpected justification. Title IX. The federal law, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this week, has long been synonymous with inclusion but now must account for a constituency that wasn't part of the conversation in 1972. The argument goes like this: Every time a transgender woman earns a roster spot or wins a medal, she is denying her cisgender opponents of a federally protected opportunity. More than a dozen states have passed laws banning transgender females from girls' and women's competition through high school and, often, college. "This legislation is just a way to honor those people who worked hard to get Title IX," said Wendy Schuler, a Wyoming lawmaker and former college basketball player who sponsored legislation in her state. "For 50 years we've had the opportunity to compete as females and I just would hope we continue that fight." For many women who have struggled to achieve athletic equality, the issue feels urgent. For the transgender community, it is agonizingly personal. |
| World swimming body effectively bans transgender women from women's events | |
 | FINA, the world governing body for swimming, has voted to effectively ban transgender women from participating in women's swimming competitions. The vote -- with 71.5% approval at the FINA Extraordinary General Congress 2022 in Budapest -- was the latest salvo in an ongoing fight over whether trans athletes should compete according to their gender identity or their sex assigned at birth. "We have to protect the rights of our athletes to compete, but we also have to protect competitive fairness at our events, especially the women's category at FINA competitions," FINA's president, Husain Al-Musallam, said in a statement. Under the policy, transgender women must show that "they have not experienced any part of male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 or before age 12, whichever is later," a move that effectively eliminates their eligibility to compete in the women's category. Tanner Stages describe the physical changes people undergo during puberty. FINA said it was necessary to use sex and sex-linked traits to determine eligibility criteria because of the "performance gap" that appears between males and females during puberty. "Without eligibility standards based on biological sex or sex-linked traits, we are very unlikely to see biological females in finals, on podiums, or in championship positions; and in sports and events involving collisions and projectiles, biological female athletes would be at greater risk of injury," the policy reads. The group said it devised the policy in consultation with athletic, scientific and legal experts. |
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