| Wednesday, June 29, 2022 |
| Miller rebuffs public call to step down as supes president | |
 | District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller's attempt to change a board order related to the Oktibbeha County Lake dam after it was approved drew a public call for her to step down as board president. Less than five minutes into Monday evening's board of supervisors meeting, District 3 Supervisor Marvell Howard asked Miller, who was attending the meeting by phone, to relinquish the president's role. "There is an item in our packet of an obvious attempt of the board president to change a board order without majority consent from the board. I think it needs to be addressed," Howard said. "Also, by her own admission, in an email she sent today, this is not the first time that she has done this. And from reading the email she sent, it seems she has changed board orders in the past without majority consent. ... I think it's such a serious action that she should step down as board president." Miller refused, not even responding to Howard's allegations during the public session, and no action was taken on the matter. After the meeting, Miller told The Dispatch she felt "singled-out" by Howard. She said she has no intention of stepping down as board president. "This is not the first time I have experienced Supervisor Howard's verbal abuse," she said. "As the only woman on the board, it is obvious how he singles me out." |
| Some car dealerships having tough time getting brand new cars on the lot | |
 | The COVID-19 pandemic made its mark on several sectors and while some have gotten back on their feet; others are still being hit in one shape form or fashion. Car lots may have vehicles on their lot, but several dealerships aren't getting in newer models. Unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic has played a part in putting an extended wait time on getting those new vehicles onto the lot. "What COVID did was a microchip plant shut down over in China which stopped it and it has been shut down again here recently with another covid outbreak, but at the end of the day what's it's done is change the industry to an order first industry," said general manager at Cannon Ford of Starkville Chris Keene. Keene said that even the people that ordered ahead of time aren't getting the new. "The manufacturer took on so many orders here recently that they've had to close order banks. You can't even order 2022's on any of our models now, so now we've had to do a wait list on our 2023 models," said Keene. All the cars on Cannon Fords lot are used, and Keene said that since the pandemic those prices have increased. People that want specific makes, models, and colors for a car are encouraged to find what they want and order it now; the same goes for trucks. |
| Restaurants try to stay afloat during inflation | |
 | Restaurants are struggling to keep open signs in the windows and plates on tables as inflation continues to affect businesses. Selina's Bar and Grill has been open since February in Houston. Owner Selina Chandler said being the new business on the block is challenging. "We've had our slow days," she said. "Some days are booming and with work slowing down, that has affected us a lot; but I'm assuming it's like that everywhere." Patrick Fontaine, the executive director of the Mississippi Hospitality and Restaurant Association, said that inflation may be a concern for restaurants for the remainder of the year. He said in the first four months of this year, food costs have gone up 26.1% for restaurants. "Under normal conditions, restaurant owners will increase their meal prices to compensate for the increase of prime cost," he said. "However, the consuming public is facing the same inflationary pressures." Fontaine added that in the first four months of this year, labor costs went up 12.5%. |
| Statewide industries discuss dealing with inflation, rising interest rates | |
 | Persistent inflation and rising interest rates were both topics up for discussion during the second day of the 91st Annual Municipal League Conference. City leaders from across Mississippi are gathering at the Coast Coliseum for three days of educational sessions. About 200 companies set up shop in the vendor hall to promote their unique services to city officials, but at the moment, they're all experiencing one thing in common. "Supply's extremely low. Demand's extremely high," Josh Parker with Puckett Power told WLOX. "We've had several price increases this year, several more to come." Lee Frederick with the Mississippi Department of Transportation said he believes it's a culmination of the record-high fuel prices and the pandemic. "Obviously, the cost of everything: construction, labor, you know, everything. It's all tied to fuel. It's all tied to a labor shortage," he said. "We've had several projects where we've had to reject just due to costs. We've had a engineers estimate and then the initial bids came in excessively high." From roads to houses, it's not easing up. "People are looking at manufactured housing because they can actually get more house for less money," said Jennifer Hall, the Executive Director of the Mississippi Manufactured Housing Association. Her group is made up of about 48 manufacturers that ship ready-made homes to our state. However, things are changing with rising interest rates. "We were offering that 3 to 4. We're now the 6%, same as site built," she said. "So, this is going to affect a lot of people whether or not they will be able to buy a home, and everybody wants that dream to come true of owning their own home." |
| Commissioner John Caldwell holds up $100 million in local infrastructure projects | |
 | An elected transportation official from north Mississippi on Tuesday has delayed the state being able to spend $100 million on emergency infrastructure projects that will allow counties and municipalities around the state to rehab their crumbling roads and bridges. State law requires a unanimous vote by the commission before the $100 million in Emergency Road and Bridge Repair funds can be released. John Caldwell, the state's northern district transportation commissioner, voted against awarding the projects at the commission's regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday morning because he said he did not have enough time to review the proposed project list. "The project list on the surface looks reasonable," Caldwell told the Daily Journal. "But it's a long list and a lot of variables. Essentially, I was only having a few working days in the middle of a chaotic week to review the list." The first-term transportation commissioner also said there were "internal communication issues" with MDOT staff that caused him to vote against the measure, but he declined to specify what the communication issues were. Brad White, executive director of MDOT, told the Daily Journal that he feels like the MDOT staff did "phenomenal work in a very short amount of time," given the circumstances. "The results of that scoring process were provided to the three commissioners, the advisory council and others a week ago," White said. "And Commissioner Caldwell was the only one who expressed a need for more time -- and he didn't do that to me until today." |
| Caldwell holds up $100M emergency road, bridge money for cities and counties | |
 | Northern District Transportation Commissioner John Caldwell postponed the disbursement of $100 million to cities and counties for emergency road and bridge needs Tuesday saying he wanted more details on how the funds were being divvied. Caldwell said he had told Mississippi Department of Transportation staff he wanted data on how the projects were selected before voting on them. Because he said he did not have that information, he voted against approving the list of projects Tuesday at the monthly Transportation Commission meeting. The other two commissioners -- Tom King of the Southern District and Willie Simmons of the Central District -- voted to approve the funds, but the law creating the Emergency Road and Bridge Fund in a 2018 special session mandated a unanimous vote of the commission to spend the money. "We will get it worked out," Caldwell said after the meeting. "I asked them (staff members) not to put it on the agenda if they did not have the data. I did not think they were." In earlier rounds of funding for the program, MDOT was able to use some of the money -- about a third -- on state projects. But in this year's session the Legislature, flush with money, provided more direct funds to MDOT and decreed that the entire $100 million it allocated to the emergency fund go only to county and city projects. |
| Guest wins Republican nomination for U.S. House seat | |
 | Michael Guest on Tuesday won the Republican nomination for U.S. House in Mississippi's 3rd Congressional District. The two-term incumbent representative beat back challenger Michael Cassidy, a former Navy pilot, to secure his spot on the ballot in the Nov. 8 general election. Guest, who is running for his third term in office, thanked his supporters for their votes in a statement posted to his Facebook page. "Thank you to all our friends, family, and neighbors who helped us over these last three weeks," he said. "We are ready to work hard to earn your vote in November!" In a statement posted to his campaign's Facebook page Tuesday night, Cassidy said he had called Guest to concede the election and thanked his supporters for their efforts. "I called Congressman Guest earlier this evening to congratulate him on his win," Cassidy said. "I want to thank everybody who supported my campaign and believe in me and our cause." Despite losing the runoff election, Cassidy outperformed Guest among Lauderdale County voters. The Lauderdale County Circuit Clerk's office reported unofficial numbers showing Cassidy received 3,208 votes compared to Guest's 2,993 votes. In total, just 14.74% of eligible Lauderdale County voters participated in Tuesday's runoff election. |
| The Tale of Two Mississippi Republican Congressional Runoffs as Told by the Numbers | |
 | Now that the dust has settled and the Republican nominees have been chosen for Mississippi's three Congressional Districts that held runoff elections on Tuesday, one thing is clear: voter turnout won the day for 3rd District Congressman Michael Guest while it sank 4th District Congressman Steven Palazzo. On June 7th, the total votes cast in the Republican Primary in the 3rd District was 49,507 with challenger Michael Cassidy pulling in 48% to Congressman Guest's 47% in the 3-man race. Last night, Guest alone nearly drew the total number of votes from three weeks ago, raking in over 46,000, according to unofficial results. That means that Guest drove 23,000 more people to the polls on Tuesday than he did the first election when he won 23,675 votes. Cassidy's voter turnout by and large remained flat between the two election days. On June 7th, the newcomer pulled in 23,047 votes compared to an unofficial total of 22,479 votes in the runoff. In all, unofficial results show 68,813 votes were cast on Tuesday in the runoff, an increase in voters of over 19,000 from June 7th that saw a total voter turnout of 49,507. In fact, results show that Guest pulled in 67% of the vote and won every county in the 3rd District except Lauderdale and the sliver of precincts in Jones County. It is rare that a runoff draws more voters than the initial election, but that result is likely due to Guest's campaign ratcheting up after a slow start, his fundraising both at home and from Republican leadership, and Cassidy's questionable policy platforms that raised concerns in the minds of conservative voters once brought to light. |
| Ezell unseats Palazzo, Guest fends off Cassidy in Mississippi midterm runoffs | |
| U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo, representing Mississippi's 4th District, became the first incumbent congressman to lose in a party primary in recent state history when he was defeated Tuesday by Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell in the Republican primary runoff. Another incumbent congressman, Michael Guest of the 3rd District in central Mississippi, easily survived a runoff challenge from former Navy pilot Michael Cassidy in the Republican primary. In the west Mississippi 2nd District runoff Tuesday, Brian Flowers defeated Ronald Eller and will run in the November election against incumbent Democrat Bennie Thompson, the state's only African American U.S. House member. Guest, a former district attorney representing Madison and Rankin counties in suburban Jackson, actually trailed Cassidy, a campaign novice, in the first primary vote. But in the runoff, the Republican establishment and the Guest campaign, which apparently had underestimated Cassidy, waged an intensive campaign, easily outdistancing Cassidy. Late Tuesday with results still coming in, Guest had a commanding 67% to 33% lead over Cassidy. In the 3rd District, Cassidy ran as a Donald Trump conservative, but Guest attacked his conservative principals in late campaign ads. Cassidy, a Lauderdale County resident, had touted on his campaign web page various social spending programs, such as a universal health care proposal. Cassidy later renounced those programs, but not before giving Guest campaign fodder. |
| Five Takeaways From Tuesday's Elections | |
 | The biggest question heading into Tuesday's primaries was whether Democrats would be successful in guiding Republican voters to choose weak nominees for the general election. In Illinois, Democrats' biggest and most sustained investment succeeded, but in Colorado, Republicans chose candidates who didn't have nominal primary support from across the aisle, setting up several general elections that are expected to be very competitive. Elsewhere, far-right candidates remade Republican politics down the ballot in Illinois, while incumbents who aren't facing ethics inquiries coasted to victories. And a special election in Nebraska was far closer than anyone expected. And in other states, several members of Congress who were thought to be endangered prevailed: Representative Michael Guest of Mississippi, a Republican who was dogged by his vote for a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. But there are lines voters won't let candidates cross. Representative Steven Palazzo, a Mississippi Republican, lost a runoff after the Office of Congressional Ethics concluded he had misused campaign money, including directing $80,000 toward a waterfront home he was trying to sell. Mr. Palazzo fell to Mike Ezell, a sheriff. |
| Hit over ethics charges, Palazzo loses Mississippi primary | |
 | Mississippi GOP Rep. Steven M. Palazzo lost his seat Tuesday in a primary runoff against a Jackson County sheriff who attacked him for alleged ethical lapses and "no-show" representation in Washington. Sheriff Mike Ezell was leading Palazzo, 53 percent to 47 percent, when The Associated Press called the race at 8:55 p.m. Eastern time with an estimated 84 percent of the vote counted. Ezell has spent his career in law enforcement and was first elected to the sheriff's office in 2014. He campaigned as an "America First" candidate who supported law enforcement, gun rights, and former President Donald Trump's plan to build a wall along the southern border. He also described himself as "100 percent" opposed to abortion rights. Palazzo tried to step up appearances in the district during the three-week runoff contest, pointing to his record of inviting constituents to telephone town halls, and agreeing to a debate last week, the first time he had debated an opponent since he was elected 12 years ago. Palazzo reported $337,000 in contributions since the primary, compared to $171,000 for Ezell. Palazzo has faced ethical scrutiny for allegedly spending campaign money on personal expenses, asking official staff to perform personal and campaign-related tasks and misusing his position to boost his brother's Naval career. Palazzo is the fifth Republican to lose a primary this year. Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis was also defeated Tuesday, and Reps. Tom Rice of South Carolina, Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina and David B. McKinley of West Virginia lost earlier primaries. |
| Mike Ezell defeats incumbent Steven Palazzo, securing GOP nomination for US Congress seat | |
 | The crowd at the Grand Magnolia Ballroom was hushed so the announcement could be made that Washington had just called the runoff election in the 4th Congressional District for Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell. The word came Tuesday at 8:25 p.m., about the time incumbent Steven Palazzo arrived at his campaign event at Patio 44 in Gulfport. Associated Press confirmed the win around 9 p.m., when 84% of the vote was counted and Ezell had 54% of the vote to Palazzo's 46%. According to the unofficial results, Ezell swept Hancock, Harrison and Jackson Counties on the Coast. Palazzo is a Gulfport native. Ezell said that never in his wildest dreams did he thing he would be standing among his supporters Tuesday night. "I just wish I had the words to say thank you --- thank you so much from the bottom of my heart," he said. "My parents raised me to work hard ... and to take care of other people. And that's what I've done my whole life and I will continue to do that." Palazzo called Ezell to concede shortly at 9:20 p.m. Tuesday. "I congratulated him. I told him he won the lottery tonight, and it's very rare," Palazzo said. Asked if he'll run for office again, Palazzo said: "I'm going to take it one day at a time now." |
| Brian Flowers, Who Called Bennie Thompson Treasonous, Wins GOP Nod | |
| Republicans in Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District have nominated Brian Flowers, who has accused incumbent Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of "treasonous" activities, to run against him in November's elections. Flowers defeated Ron Eller in Tuesday's Republican primary runoff. Thompson leads the U.S. House Select Committee on January 6th's investigation into the 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection. But on his campaign website, Flowers claims the incumbent is "trying to intimidate American patriots by persecuting hundreds of protestors that are being held as political prisoners since approximately January 6, 2021." On his website, Flowers also claims that "there are many more oath-breakers than oath-keepers in Washington" who have provided "treasonous assistance" to undocumented immigrants, "and that includes Bennie Thompson." Thompson is the state's only Black or Democratic member of Congress and he leads the U.S. House on Homeland Security. "As a Congressman, Brian Flowers will work with the growing remnant of patriots in Washington and throughout America to stop the invasion and the treason in a Constitutional manner," Flowers' website says. In an interview with the Mississippi Free Press earlier this month, Flowers said he considers Thompson "treasonous" because he does not support more restrictive immigration policies. The incumbent supports immigration reform, including a "path to citizenship" for some undocumented immigrants. |
| Feds accuse Mississippi student of bullying Saudi dissidents | |
| Federal prosecutors have charged a Saudi man living in Brandon with lying to federal officials, according to a complaint unsealed Tuesday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York. Ibrahim Alhussayen is accused of submitting false statements to federal officials about using an Instagram account to intimidate Saudi citizens living in the United States and Canada who are known critics of the Saudi Arabian government. According to the complaint, Alhussayen claims he works for the Saudi royal family. The complaint was first reported by The Daily Beast. The prosecutors also believed that Alhussayen had multiple screenshots on his phone of tweets posted by Jamal Khashoggi, who was a former columnist for The Washington Post. U.S. intelligence concluded that Khashoggi was killed by Saudi agents in 2018 because he was critical of the Saudi government. It's unclear how long Alhussayen has lived in the Magnolia State, but court documents say he has been living in the United States since at least 2013 on a student visa. Alhussayen's LinkedIn account states that he was attending Jackson State University for graduate work, but the complaint also states that he had attended the University of Mississippi in Oxford. |
| Former Gov. Phil Bryant should be sued over misspent welfare funds, civil defendant argues to court | |
| A civil defendant in Mississippi's massive welfare misspending scandal is arguing that if he's being sued, so should former Gov. Phil Bryant. That is just one explosive nugget included in a Friday court filing from Austin Smith, nephew to the now disgraced former welfare director John Davis and a former contractor of Nancy New's nonprofit. The state is suing Smith for nearly half a million dollars. Through a written statement Tuesday, Bryant rejected the notion that he should be held civilly responsible in the scheme. The latest filing aims to demonstrate that Bryant had a close relationship with Davis and New and is just as responsible for the scheme. Without a bid or application process, Mississippi Department of Human Services, a department under the governor's office, selected New's nonprofit to receive tens of millions of welfare dollars, which they spent with little oversight. "The most plausible reason for this massive transfer to New and her companies is the friendship between Bryant and New. There was no 'full and open competition' for this massive federal funding as required," the filing reads. Denton Gibbes, a spokesperson for Bryant, defended the former governor in a fiery retort Tuesday. In response, Jim Waide, the Tupelo attorney representing Smith, noted that some lawyers take the approach that if you "deny something strongly enough, people will believe it." |
| After losing battle to preserve Roe v. Wade, Mississippi's last abortion clinic is moving to New Mexico | |
| Shannon Brewer has lived in Mississippi her entire life, but when she realized the U.S. Supreme Court was about to upend her life's work, she didn't think twice about trading her state's lush wetlands for a ragged mountain range. At 50, Brewer has worked nearly half her life at what became Mississippi's last abortion clinic -- whose lawsuit against a statewide ban at 15 weeks into a pregnancy prompted the U.S. Supreme Court's monumental decision last week eradicating Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion in the United States. Now, her clinic is closing its doors for good, as will those in Texas and numerous other states. As the executive director of Jackson Women's Health, Brewer says she saw the writing on the wall after the high court heard arguments in her clinic's case. In December, she began searching for other places she could provide abortion care. Though a stark contrast politically, geographically and culturally from Mississippi, New Mexico was the obvious choice. Without hesitation, she made plans to uproot her life to the Land of Enchantment. "I'm not even perplexed about it," Brewer said Monday morning with a dismissive shrug, clicking away at her laptop in what will soon be the Las Cruces Women's Health clinic. "I've raised my kids, they're all grown, and this is what I've been doing, and this is what I want to continue doing." Brewer's team picked Las Cruces, about 40 miles north of El Paso, because of its proximity to Texas and its lack of abortion care. They found an old dentist's office in the city this spring and hope to have their new clinic open next month. |
| Protesters from both sides of abortion debate line up outside Mississippi Capitol | |
| Days after the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, protesters from both sides of the abortion issue lined up outside the Mississippi State Capitol. The protest was originally being held by the Party of Socialism and Liberation, but some anti-abortion protesters showed up, too, to let their voices be heard. The ruling was in response to Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which under the state's trigger law, is scheduled to close on July 7. But a legal expert said Mississippi's last abortion clinic could remain open longer than expected. Lawyers representing the clinic in Jackson filed a lawsuit to stop the trigger law, which bans most abortions in Mississippi. "My initial take is the lawsuit has merit to it," Mississippi College School of Law professor Matt Steffey said. According to the lawsuit, the trigger law violates the state constitution, which has an implied right to privacy, including the right to an abortion. "As long as the case isn't overruled, any statute prohibiting abortion, as the six-week ban in the trigger law does, would seem to be in conflict," Steffey said. Steffey said there's one problem with that argument. The 24-year-old Mississippi Supreme Court decision lawyers are pinning their hopes on, draws heavily on Roe v. Wade, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional. "And I assume the state will argue that that case really isn't good law. Now that Roe has been revisited, the Mississippi Supreme Court should revisit their understanding of the state constitution," Steffey said. Steffey believes the facility could stay open for months as the case makes its way through the courts. |
| Cassidy Hutchinson Says Trump Demanded to Be Driven to the Capitol on Jan. 6 | |
 | Then-President Donald Trump had been told that some of his supporters were heavily armed when he urged them to march to the U.S. Capitol and sought to join them in trying to stop President Biden's election win, according to new testimony that a former White House aide gave to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. Cassidy Hutchinson, a onetime top aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, also testified Tuesday that she was told that Mr. Trump wanted to be driven to the Capitol and wrestled for the steering wheel with the Secret Service when his order was refused. At the end of a midday rally on the Ellipse on Jan. 6, the president told supporters he would join them in a march toward Congress as lawmakers were certifying Joe Biden's 2020 presidential victory. While Mr. Trump didn't end up going down Pennsylvania Avenue, Ms. Hutchinson's testimony disclosed the purported extent to which he wanted to reach the Capitol. Some Trump supporters later surged through police lines to storm the building. Ms. Hutchinson's testimony in person and by videotape during the two-hour hearing was among the most dramatic to emerge from the series of committee presentations that began earlier this month. As Mr. Meadows's top aide, Ms. Hutchinson had a birds-eye view of the interactions between Mr. Trump, his allies such as Rudy Giuliani and members of Congress. She got her start in Washington interning for Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 House Republican, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas). She also worked at the Office of Legislative Affairs, which acts as a liaison between the White House and lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Ms. Hutchinson's testimony to the House select committee painted a picture of a White House aware of the potential for danger on Jan. 6, when both houses of Congress gathered to certify Mr. Biden's win. |
| How the Jan. 6 panel's star witness drew a roadmap for Trump's culpability | |
 | The Jan. 6 select committee made a big bet on Cassidy Hutchinson. She delivered on Tuesday -- and then some. With what may prove the most damning testimony about a sitting president's actions in American history, the former right hand of ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows stitched together every element of the panel's case against Donald Trump. The Capitol riot committee has painted the former president's potential criminal culpability for his effort to overturn the election in stark hues: investigators have portrayed Trump fuming atop an increasingly conspiracy-addled West Wing and working to corrupt the peaceful transfer of power at any cost. Yet it was their sixth hearing that most clearly cast Trump as a uniquely pernicious force, thanks to a soft-spoken but bell-clear witness. "I was disgusted," Hutchinson said of Trump's behavior on Jan. 6, particularly after he tweeted an attack on Mike Pence as the then-vice president was fleeing rioters who'd called for his execution. "It was unpatriotic. It was un-American. We were watching the Capitol building get defaced over a lie." While Trump and his allies rejected her assertions as "hearsay" or, in Trump's case, simply false, the former president's allies have offered limited pushback so far to any of the specific evidence and recollections she presented. And much of what she described has been corroborated by others. |
| Trump wanted armed supporters allowed into Jan. 6 rally and to lead Capitol charge, aide says | |
| Then-President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021, wanted his armed supporters to pack his Ellipse rally that day and grew so angry when the Secret Service would not allow him to lead the mob's charge up Capitol Hill that he tried to grab the steering wheel away from a Secret Service agent before lunging at the neck of his top bodyguard. Those were among the many bombshell anecdotes Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and a special assistant to Trump, revealed Tuesday during historic and gripping testimony before the House Jan. 6 select committee. The 26-year-old Hutchinson testified that Trump was aware of the threat of violence at the Capitol before taking the stage at his "Stop the Steal" rally and vigorously wanted to be a part of the procession to the legislative complex. What's more, she claimed White House counsel Pat Cipollone and other West Wing legal advisers were extremely worried about potential criminal exposure. She told the select committee that Meadows, prior to the riot day, was aware violence at the Capitol was possible. He allegedly told Hutchinson "things might get real, real bad on Jan. 6." Meadows has refused to testify before the select panel. As the day began on Jan. 6, Cipollone warned Hutchinson outside the executive mansion not to allow Trump to go to the Capitol. "Please make sure we don't go up to the Capitol, Cassidy. Keep in touch with me. We're going to get charged with every crime imaginable if we make that movement happen," Cipollone said, according to Hutchinson. Cipollone had previously told Hutchinson he was concerned about possibly obstructing justice, defrauding the electoral count or that it would look like the White House was "inciting a riot." The former top White House lawyer also has refused to testify. |
| Trump's wrath at Jan. 6 committee has McCarthy in awkward spot | |
 | Former President Trump complained Tuesday that a surprise Jan. 6 committee hearing lacked "cross-examination," again putting a spotlight on the top House Republican who he says left him largely defenseless. The committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol abruptly announced Tuesday's hearing with just one day's notice. Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, was the sole witness. Hutchinson delivered bombshell testimony. Under oath, she recalled being told that Trump had attacked a Secret Service agent in an attempt to reach the Capitol on Jan. 6. Trump claimed her story was "fake," "sick" and "fraudulent." "There is no cross-examination of this so-called witness," Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. "This is a Kangaroo court!" Although Trump's post directly targeted Hutchinson, it was also an implicit criticism of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield). Trump has repeatedly blamed McCarthy for allowing Democrats to create a select committee with seven Democrats and only two Republicans, both of whom were chosen by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco). McCarthy told Fox News this week that he made the "right decision" and that he and Trump are "all good." |
| NATO calls Russia its 'most significant and direct threat' | |
| NATO declared Russia the "most significant and direct threat" to its members' peace and security, as the military alliance met Wednesday to confront what NATO's chief called the biggest security crisis since World War II. It also promised to "step up political and practical support" to Ukraine as it fights off Russia's invasion. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy chided NATO for not embracing his embattled country more fully and asked for more weapons to defeat Moscow's forces. Russia's invasion of its neighbor shattered Europe's peace, drove NATO to pour troops and weapons into eastern Europe on a scale not seen since the Cold War, and was set to give the defense organization two new members in Sweden and Finland. "President (Vladimir) Putin's war against Ukraine has shattered peace in Europe and has created the greatest security crisis in Europe since the Second World War," said Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. U.S. President Joe Biden, whose country provides the bulk of NATO's military power, vowed the Madrid summit would send "an unmistakable message ... that NATO is strong and united." Still, strains among NATO allies have also emerged as the cost of energy and other essential goods has skyrocketed, partly because of the war and tough Western sanctions on Russia. There also are tensions over how the war will end and what, if any, concessions Ukraine should make to stop the fighting. |
| War, Weather Endanger Global Food Supplies, Farm Leaders Say | |
| War and weather are imperiling global food supplies, according to U.S. agriculture officials and executives, as rising food prices drive shortages and protests around the world. The pressures are playing out this year as conflict in Eastern Europe disrupts exports from Ukraine, one of the world's top crop producers, and drought and poor weather afflict major crop-growing regions. "We've actually got two crises," said Erik Fyrwald, CEO of pesticide and crop-seed maker Syngenta, at The Wall Street Journal's Global Food Forum on Monday. "The food security crises and the climate crises." Mr. Fyrwald said weather extremes are growing, with heat, drought or flooding challenging farmers in the U.S., Europe, Australia and India. That has being exacerbated, he said, by Russia's war in Ukraine, which has upended world grain markets and pushed up food prices across the world. Rising food prices are prompting unrest, as disruptions in the flow of crops from Ukraine compound existing stress on global supplies of grains and other goods. The head of the United Nations World Food Program has warned outright food shortages are possible in 2023 if Russia continues to block Ukraine's crop exports. On Monday, U.S. Agriculture Department Secretary Tom Vilsack called for Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea to be opened to export grain out of the war-torn country to help ease the food-supply crunch. Trading needs to resume to free up storage space for the country's farmers, he said, and the U.S. needs to look for ways for it to increase its own crop production. |
| FBI opens sweeping probe of clergy sex abuse in New Orleans | |
| The FBI has opened a widening investigation into sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans going back decades, a rare federal foray into such cases looking specifically at whether priests took children across state lines to molest them, officials and others familiar with the inquiry told The Associated Press. More than a dozen alleged abuse victims have been interviewed this year as part of the probe that's exploring among other charges whether predator priests can be prosecuted under the Mann Act, a more than century-old, anti-sex trafficking law that prohibits taking anyone across state lines for illicit sex. Some of the New Orleans cases under review allege abuse by clergy during trips to Mississippi camps or amusement parks in Texas and Florida. And while some claims are decades old, Mann Act violations notably have no statute of limitations. The FBI declined to comment, as did the Louisiana State Police, which is assisting in the inquiry. The Archdiocese of New Orleans declined to discuss the federal investigation. "I'd prefer not to pursue this conversation," Archbishop Gregory Aymond told the AP. The probe could deepen the legal peril for the archdiocese as it reels from a bankruptcy brought on by a flood of sex abuse lawsuits and allegations that church leaders turned a blind eye to generations of predator priests. "This is actually a big deal, and it should be heartening to victims," said Marci Hamilton, a University of Pennsylvania professor and chief executive of Child USA, a think tank focused on preventing child abuse. "The FBI has rarely become involved in the clergy sex abuse scandals. They've dragged their feet around the country with respect to the Catholic Church." |
| USM Center dedicates memorial to veterans who died by suicide | |
 | A new memorial at the University of Southern Mississippi remembers veterans who died by suicide. A "Suicide Awareness and Remembrance (SAR)" flag and granite marker were placed at the Center for Military Veterans, Service Members and Families earlier this month. "We average up to 22 suicides a day for our veterans, which, if you do the math, that's about one suicide every 65 minutes," said Jeff Hammond, director of the USM Center for Military Veterans, Service Members and Families. "It's serious, it's sad and it's almost epidemic in my heart and I just wanted to do something to call to mind, to call attention to what's happening here, because there are so many families who are suffering through this." Missouri Air Force veteran Kevin Hertell designed the SAR flag in memory of a family member who took his own life. "For us to do our part, as far as raising awareness of suicide and actually remembering them, I think is important, it's important looking back in that regard and important looking forward," said Michael McGee, veteran outreach director for USM. If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide or would like emotional support, then call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255. |
| Delta State receives $638K grant from Bower Foundation | |
| Delta State University's Robert E. Smith School of Nursing has been given a three-year, $638,000 grant from the Bower Foundation to provide support for upcoming nurses through a Summer Nursing Profession Program. The program is set to begin in July 2022 and will take a month to complete. Participants that are selected for the program will be given math and science content, ACT preparation resources, test-taking strategies, study skills, stress and time management techniques, and financial literacy. During the first year of the program, only Delta State students will be eligible to become a Bower Scholar; however, the program will expand to include students enrolled in courses for a nursing major at community colleges during year two. In year three, the program will expand again to include high school students between 10th through 12th grade who are interested in nursing. "We are so grateful to the Bower Foundation for an opportunity to offer this pilot program at Delta State University," said Delta State's Dean of Nursing Dr. Vicki Bingham. "We are excited about the outcomes that will be achieved and anticipate this program to serve as a model for other nursing programs throughout the state." |
| WLBT, Gray Television break ground for Jackson media training center | |
| Top leaders with Gray Television broke ground Tuesday for the first ever media training center to bring more diversity and inclusion in the broadcast industry, focusing on students from historically Black colleges and universities across the state. The Gray Media Training Center, which will be built at WLBT's downtown Jackson complex, will cost more than a million dollars to complete. Though it won't be completed until the spring, ten students from HBCUs in the state have already been chosen to begin the training program in the fall. That center -- the first of its kind in the broadcast industry -- is something WLBT Vice President and General Manager Ted Fortenberry came up months ago. Fortenberry said he hopes the center will increase diversity and inclusion within the news business at a time when some newsrooms don't reflect what their communities look like. Tuesday's unveiling of renderings for the new center took place at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Gray Senior Vice President of Local Media Sandy Breland said it was a fitting locale for the announcement. "We're launching this project today in a wonderful and sobering facility that pays tribute to the Mississippi civil rights movement that changed the nation, and honors the men and women who used their voices at great cost to impact change," Breland said. "To the students that will take part in this program, this new training center: you, too, have a voice. And this is an opportunity for you to have a positive impact." |
| Columbus High School valedictorian receives $1M in scholarship offers | |
| Madisyn Turner is the third person in her family to graduate as the valedictorian from Columbus High School and to graduate from high school with an associate's degree already in-hand. While participating in extracurricular activities and maintaining good grades in her high school courses, Turner was also taking six college courses each semester in order to also complete her associate's degree in psychology summa cum laude from East Mississippi Community College. She didn't just stop there, though. Turner also received more than $1 million in scholarship offers from several colleges and universities to continue her education. She is the daughter Brian and Aubra Turner, and her older sister Marian Turner was the CHS valedictorian in 2019. Her cousin Avani Poindexter was last year's 2021 CHS valedictorian, and they all attend the same church, Turner Chapel AME Church. "(Marian) has always inspired me to just keep going, to always be your best and to always achieve the highest achievements," Turner said. "She inspired me to keep going and be like her and become valedictorian for my class as well." Turner will head to Washington, D.C. in the fall to attend Howard University, but she won't be surrounded entirely by strangers. While she is looking forward to meeting new friends, she has family in the area and two cousins that attend Howard. She has officially been offered a spot on the Howard University choir, too. |
| JAUnt Golf Cart Service provides accessible transportation on Auburn's campus | |
| Auburn University's door-to-door golf cart service for students, faculty and staff with disabilities or medical conditions, otherwise known as "jAUnt," will gain two golf carts for its fleet in fall 2022. The addition will bring the golf cart fleet to a total of eight standard golf carts and one wheelchair-accessible golf cart. The golf cart service was launched in fall 2011 with the goal of providing accessible transportation across Auburn's campus to students, faculty and staff with any disability or medical condition that may make traveling difficult. At the time of its founding, jAUnt's fleet consisted of three standard golf carts, one wheelchair-accessible golf cart and less than 10 drivers. According to Christi Burnley, office supervisor for Auburn University Transportation Services, jAUnt faced many challenges in its first few years of service, including old golf carts that broke down often. "We jokingly referred to them as being on their last wheel. We had situations in which a driver couldn't even get out of the parking deck with the cart because the charge wouldn't hold," Burnley said. In 2019, Auburn University Transportation Services took over jAUnt and replaced the golf cart fleet in its entirety. "It took some time to get them in, but once we were able to, it was great," Burnley said. Throughout the 2021-2022 school year, jAUnt transported 4,522 passengers, a number Burnley said is managed by strategic scheduling. |
| Auburn professor recalls 1982 discovery of Appalachiousaurs montgomeriensis in central Alabama | |
 | It's July 2, 1982, and the temperatures in central Alabama are heading into the 90s. Auburn University professor David King is driving along county highways for a project, stopping to map and sample sediment in the area. He's trying to figure out what the environment looked like when the area was covered with water. It's a day like many others: King has loaded up his vehicle with plenty of water, ice, and his field tools. He got an early start -- he knows it's going to be hot. The process after he gets to a bend on Old Pike Road is painstaking. "I look at the odometer on the car and write how many tenths of a mile these places are from the last road junction," King said. "I'm marking all these spots, and then I go back and look at them, take a sediment sample and I look for fossils." King said he shakes his head just thinking about that day 40 years ago -- the odds of discovering a new dinosaur species, the most complete skeleton of a tyrannosaur that had been discovered in the Eastern United States. He was an assistant professor at Auburn, less than two years in the position, and he had received a grant to do this project. "At this one outcrop there was just a lot of bones, and pieces of bones," King said. "There was a small bone that was a foot bone, so I could tell if it was a significant fossil." The place he's talking about used to be a hill but now is a relatively flat spot on the side of the county road. Back in 1982, the highway had just been rebuilt, and the bulldozer had cut through the hill in just the right spot that the bones could be seen peeking out. |
| Amberjack count: tags worth $250 to Gulf, S Atlantic anglers | |
| Scientists are trying to get a better estimate of greater amberjack populations in the South Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, and this means the chance at a $250 catch for anglers. Although the popular sport and table fish are not overfished in the South Atlantic, they are in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries division. "Understanding how these two separately managed stocks are connected is vital for enacting proper management guidelines," according to a news release from the University of South Alabama. Greater amberjack are big silver fish named for the long amber line along each side from nose to first dorsal fin. They can grow up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) long and 200 pounds (90 kilograms), though up to 40 pounds (18 kilograms) is most common, according to NOAA Fisheries. As part of the Greater Amberjack Count, scientists led by Dr. Sean Powers of the University of South Alabama plan to tag 750 greater amberjack with yellow-and-red plastic tags. Congress provided $5 million each to NOAA Fisheries and the National Sea Grant College Program for the study. Another $2.7 million in matching funds come from the 13 institutions where the 18 scientists work, including Auburn University, Texas A&M University and Louisiana State University and the University of South Florida. Also involved are Sea Grant programs from several states ranging from North Carolina to Texas. |
| U. of Florida's Graduate Assistants United occupies Fuchs' office, asks for two week bargaining extension | |
| About 50 students sat in shifts outside University of Florida President Kent Fuchs and UF Provost Joe Glover's offices Tuesday, the last day of the bargaining session for graduate assistant wages. Protestors occupied the floor while working on laptops, writing in notebooks and checking their phones on Tigert Hall's second floor from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to protest low wages. Neither the President nor the Provost was present to receive the documents detailing Graduate Assistants United's research, so GAU co-presidents Rachel Hartnett and Bryn Taylor presented GAU research to their secretaries instead. Hartnett said GAU asked UF for a two-week extension. She hoped the documents would convince Fuchs and Glover to offer GAs a better contract. UF did not have a comment about Tuesday's protest. GAU planned the protest inside Tigert Hall after its members blocked its doors with a banner June 17 and marched through the Reitz Union to Tigert Hall May 23. Emory Wellman, a 29-year old UF Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences PhD student and GAU member, said she makes more than the minimum stipend and still struggles with expenses at times. She sat comfortably on the floor in front of Fuchs' office with her shoes off, organizing her research projects and trying to imagine how her peers live off a lesser salary than hers. |
| How safe is data in a period tracking app? What U. of Kentucky law professor says about privacy | |
 | Worried about the safety of their data, some people have called for users to delete menstrual cycle tracking apps from their phones after Roe v. Wade was overturned Friday. Users of health tracking apps have posed several questions on social media about what the Roe v. Wade decision means for their data, like if it could be used in a court case or to bring legal action against a person who got an abortion. However, one simple thing users can do right now is carefully go over the terms of service agreement for these apps, said Paul Salamanca, a University of Kentucky professor with a background in constitutional law. That will provide them with information about how their health data is being used. "If you're anything like me, you normally don't read them," Salamanca said. "People don't read them. I think most people assume that they're giving up a little bit of privacy." The apps are considered a private company, and what they can do with your data will be outlined in the terms of service agreement. In most cases, you will be giving up some level of privacy when using these apps, but that may not mean personal details are at risk of being revealed outside of the company, Salamanca said. For the government to obtain data from these apps, Salamanca said it would need a warrant. The Fourth Amendment gives citizens protection from unreasonable searches and seizures, and that extends to your data. The 2018 court case Carpenter v. United States set precedent for that, where the Supreme Court ruled that cell phone data was protected by the Fourth Amendment. |
| Texas A&M helps Robb Elementary students in Uvalde | |
 | Texas A&M former students and others are providing funds and donations through the university's School of Education and Human Development for students at Robb Elementary in Uvalde to attend Aggie STEM Camps this summer. Ten students from Uvalde CISD will have the chance to attend Aggie STEM Residential Camp. Jeff Blanton, A&M Class of 1982 and President of Britt Rice Electric in College Station, and other sponsors are covering camp costs for students. C&J Barbeque will provide meals. A&M former students Todd and Stephanie Routh have plans to donate for students to attend Aggie STEM Day Camp and cover costs for students' families to stay nearby during the duration of the camp. "This combined effort exemplifies the Aggie spirit of stepping up to help others in their time of need," Michael de Miranda, dean of A&M's school of education and human development, said in a release. "We hope to provide a bright light in a moment of darkness for these students and their families." A shooting May 24 at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde claimed the lives of 21 people, including 19 children. |
| Top campus safety and security investments students want | |
 | For many prospective college students, campus safety and security doesn't emerge as a major factor in enrollment decisions. According to the Student Voice survey conducted in May, only 27 percent of undergraduates say they considered it a great deal. But for an additional 38 percent, it got some consideration. That "some" response matches up with Gianni Quattrocchi's experience in touring Temple University in Philadelphia before COVID hit. During that visit, he recalls getting the sense of it as a safe and secure urban campus. "There were security guards in every building and officers walking about," says Quattrocchi, who grew up in a nearby suburb and was paying attention to how safe he felt because crime is more prevalent in cities. Safety worries and awareness living in an urban environment, he has found, are directly related to the type of hometown students are from. Mirroring the Student Voice findings reported here, students at Temple say they feel safest on campus during the day, and safety concerns increase when walking on campus at night or when in the areas around campus. Other highlights of the Student Voice survey, conducted by Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse with support from Kaplan, include that: When asked about how they would prioritize additional funds available for campus safety and security, students are drawn most to an indirect effort: expanding mental health supports to help prevent incidents. The second most identified priority from the list of 12 options is improved lighting on sidewalks. |
| Are Coke and Pepsi Campuses Bad for Public Health? | |
 | At the University of Florida, all Pepsi drinks must be served in Pepsi-approved cups, which are usually branded, although plain glasses are OK for catering. At Arizona State University, athletes, coaches, and entertainers performing on campus may publicly consume only "limited" amounts of non-Coca-Cola drinks and only if they hide the name of the other brand. Milk may not immediately leap to mind as a competitor to soda, but Rutgers University nevertheless has a rule about it. Milk can be sold on Rutgers' campus only if it's fresh and unbranded. These are some of the strings attached to each university's contract with soda giants Coca-Cola or Pepsi. Colleges have signed so-called pouring-rights contracts with soda companies since the 1990s, exchanging promises to advertise and sell a company's drinks in return for hefty cash payments and other perks. But it has always been difficult to tally just how prevalent such agreements are and what their specific terms tend to be. Now, a new study offers one of the most comprehensive looks yet at pouring rights at the United States' largest public universities. t turns out that soda marketing agreements are almost ubiquitous at big state colleges. One of the most common terms they have are simple sales incentives: 95 percent of contracts that researchers analyzed rewarded colleges for selling more drinks or penalized them for not meeting a minimum sales quota, or both. "That's very concerning to us," said Eva Greenthal, an analyst at the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the lead author of the study, which published online last month in the Journal of American College Health. "Contracts that create environments where the university stands to benefit financially through successful marketing that leads to increased sales" are problematic, she said, and put "the campus community's health at risk." |
| Persistence rose for students starting college in fall 2020 | |
| The majority of students who started college in fall 2020 came back for their second year, according to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. While the persistence rate of 75 percent didn't quite reach the pre-pandemic level of 75.9 percent, it increased 1.1 percentage points compared to the students who first enrolled in fall 2019. The report, released Tuesday, evaluated first-year persistence and retention rates for first-time college students. Of the first-time students who persisted to fall 2021, 66.4 percent stayed at the institution where they started or completed a credential there the year they enrolled, while 8.6 percent transferred to another institution to continue their studies. That transfer-out rate for first-time students was an improvement after dropping from an average of 9.2 percent before the pandemic to 7.7 percent in fall 2019. Full-time students were more likely to transfer out (8.3 percent) compared to part-time students (7.9 percent). Robert Kelchen, a higher education professor and head of the department of educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, agreed that the news laid out in the report was mixed, given the students who persisted were "probably more likely to get through anyways" and persistence still has yet to fully rebound. |
| The Red State University Blues: When elected officials impose their political views, how should a public university respond? | |
| Across the country, elected officials in red states are seeking to impose their political views on public universities. Even as they decry liberal cancel culture, they're leveraging the threat of budget cuts to scale back diversity initiatives, sanitize the teaching of American history, and interfere with university policies and appointments. In Georgia, the governor's appointees have made it easier to fire tenured professors. Florida passed a law requiring public universities to survey faculty and students annually about "the extent to which competing ideas and perspectives are presented," and allowing students to record professors' lectures as evidence of possible bias. In North Carolina, the Republican-dominated legislature, through its control over key positions, is "inappropriately seeking to expand [its] purview into the day-to-day operations" of state campuses, the American Association of University Professors reported in April. In Texas, the lieutenant governor and conservative donors worked with the state university's flagship Austin campus to start an institute "dedicated to the study and teaching of individual liberty, limited government, private enterprise and free markets," according to The Texas Tribune. Perhaps reflecting such tensions, the average tenure of public university presidents has declined from nine years to seven over the past two decades, and they are increasingly being fired or forced to resign. |
| Will the Fall of 'Roe' Change the College-Going Landscape? | |
| The Supreme Court's decision on Friday to overturn Roe. v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the cases that defined abortion as a constitutional right, will negatively affect many students' ability to attend and finish college in the years to come. Research shows that women from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely than other students to take breaks from their studies to care for children. Less well-known, though it has been speculated about, is the impact the ruling will have on students' -- and staff and faculty members' -- choice of college. For some students, the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization compounds other factors -- such as laws against critical race theory and attempts to pass anti-transgender bills -- that make them feel unsafe in a swath of states, affecting the list of institutions they choose to apply to or attend. But scholars and administrators say the vast majority of college students enroll near where they live for reasons that Dobbs may not change. Some researchers and higher-education administrators have speculated that the overall effect on college enrollment will not be very noticeable. "The overwhelming majority of students go to a college within 100 miles of their home," said Terry Hartle, senior vice president for government relations and public affairs at the American Council on Education. "That hasn't changed for generations. It's hard to imagine any single event changing that." |
| George Washington University to keep Clarence Thomas on payroll after Roe backlash | |
| George Washington University will not cancel Justice Clarence Thomas' constitutional law class or fire him, despite backlash against his concurring opinion in the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, the university announced on Tuesday. "Debate is an essential part of our university's academic and educational mission," it said in a statement addressed to "the George Washington University Community." GWU has "received requests from some members of the university" and others that they fire Thomas, an adjunct professor who teaches a constitutional law seminar, the statement said. "Just as we affirm our commitment to academic freedom, we affirm the right of all members of our communities to voice their opinions," the statement said. However, the university added, the justice's views don't represent those of the school. The letter specifically addressed criticisms of Thomas' argument that the substantive due process doctrine is a "legal fiction," a belief on which he doubled down in his concurring opinion overturning the constitutional right to an abortion. Substantive due process precedents include rulings in favor of contraception access, same-sex relationships and same-sex marriage -- rulings that Thomas suggested the court "reconsider" in his concurring opinion. |
| Title IX protections for pregnant students in post-Roe America | |
| The Biden administration's attempt to advance protections against sex-based discrimination and harassment on college campuses through a Title IX proposal came just 24 hours before the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion. In the eight states that have so far banned abortions, and the 22 states where bans are expected soon, pregnancy rates among college students are expected to rise. Many colleges will now have to grapple with new questions of how Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 applies to students seeking academic accommodations to access abortion, especially for college students who will now have to cross state borders to legally terminate a pregnancy. According to a 2013 study, 20 percent of individuals said that they got an abortion because having a child would interfere with their future opportunities, including education. College-aged individuals, of whom 92 percent are under the age of 24, are among the most likely demographic to seek abortion care. Title IX---the federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination at all federally funded colleges -- requires colleges to provide academic accommodations for medical needs related to pregnancy, abortion and miscarriages. These protections were created so that pregnant students can continue their education without significant disruption. Recently, additional protections for pregnant students were proposed under the Biden administration's new Title IX rules. As access to abortion becomes increasingly limited across the nation, many college Title IX offices will have to address new questions of what services they are able to provide, including the possible need to travel out of state for abortion care. |
| Want a neat, antiseptic death penalty policy? That's never been how Death Row works | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: In some circles in recent weeks, there seems to be some unease about the approach of a new law that authorizes Mississippi Department of Corrections employees to decline the method of execution for Death Row inmates sentenced to be executed for their crimes. We're not talking about whether the death penalty should be imposed as punishment for crimes -- the moral argument. We're not talking about disparities in who receives the death penalty based on race or economic status -- the fairness argument. We're not even talking about Mississippi's failures to fund a credible, working indigent defense and post-conviction appeal process -- the due process argument. No, we're tut-tutting about the procedural argument. There are objections to giving discretion to the MDOC personnel charged with actually carrying out the sentences our state judicial system that mandates imposition of the death penalty for certain crimes. We're fretting over MDOC personnel deciding whether they execute a condemned inmate by lethal injection, lethal gas, electrocution or by use of a firing squad. ... As one who has witnessed executions at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, please allow me to point out the absolute absurdity of the notion that we ever had or ever will have a neat, antiseptic method of execution in which there is a guarantee of no pain or suffering on the part of the inmate. |
SPORTS
| Men's Hoops 2022-23 SEC Matchups | |
| The Mississippi State men's basketball program had its 18 SEC matchups set for the 2022-23 season announced Wednesday by the league office. The Bulldogs will take on Missouri and Tennessee twice in addition to permanent opponents of Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina for the eighth straight season. The SEC will release game dates, game times and television information at a later date. The last time State and Tennessee met twice during the regular season was in 2016-17. However, the Bulldogs have faced the Volunteers in three of the last four SEC Tournaments. Missouri has been a more common rotational assignment for the Maroon and White as the two teams will square off in a home-and-home series for the third time over the last four seasons. The Bulldogs have won six straight and 11 of the last 12 meetings over the Tigers since 2014-15. Mississippi State plays host to NCAA Tournament qualifiers Alabama, Kentucky, LSU and Tennessee in addition to Florida, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Texas A&M at Humphrey Coliseum. Road tilts for the Bulldogs include NCAA Tournament Elite 8 participant Arkansas, defending SEC regular season champion Auburn, Georgia and Vanderbilt along with Alabama, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Tennessee. The Mississippi State Athletic Ticket Office is accepting new season ticket deposits for just $50 for the upcoming the 2022-23 season. A new season ticket deposit will provide purchasers with the opportunity to secure their spot inside The Hump immediately following season ticket renewals. Current season ticket holders will receive a renewal later this summer. |
| Mike Leach receives extension through 2025 from Mississippi State football | |
| Mississippi State head football coach Mike Leach has received a two-year contract extension, MSU confirmed Tuesday morning. Leach's new contract now runs through the 2025 season, a four-year term that is the longest allowable by Mississippi law. His original deal was for four years at $5 million per season. The former Texas Tech and Washington State coach has gone 11-13 in two seasons in Starkville, making a bowl game in 2020 and 2021. The Bulldogs beat Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl in Leach's first year and lost to Texas Tech in the Liberty Bowl last December. Leach's extension comes ahead of what could be a promising year for the Bulldogs, who return quarterback Will Rogers and a host of talent on offense and defense. MSU showed some of its potential last season, winning games against NC State, Texas A&M, Kentucky and Auburn. But a tough schedule could limit Mississippi State's success in 2022. The Bulldogs traded in Southeastern Conference doormat Vanderbilt for defending national champion Georgia on their slate, and they will travel to Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU and Kentucky while hosting Georgia, A&M, Arkansas and Auburn. |
| Southern Miss football, basketball coaches like Sun Belt move | |
 | Southern Miss football coach Will Hall believes that his Golden Eagles are bound for a conference that will become the best Group of Five football league in the country. Southern Miss' move from Conference USA to the Sun Belt is set to take place Friday. Whether Hall's prediction comes true or not, he feels his program is joining a conference that can give the Golden Eagles a strong platform. "It allows you to feel comfortable that we're on solid ground, if you will," Hall said. "I think this league will sustain." Speaking to the Hattiesburg American earlier this month, Hall embarked on a school-by-school appraisal of football's place at USM's 13 Sun Belt peer institutions. Appalachian State? It's clear that the football program there means plenty. Louisiana? The recent success speaks for itself. James Madison? Just look at the FCS dominance. The conclusion: Southern Miss will share a conference with competitors who hold similar values and share traditions. "Football really matters at all of these schools and has forever," Hall said. Hall joined other coaches on campus in emphasizing the importance of the Sun Belt's more condensed geographic footprint. The 1,010-mile journey to El Paso to play UTEP is no longer on the travel itinerary. |
| Lady Vol Boost (Her) Club returns, here's what it means for Tennessee fans | |
 | Name, image, and likeness deals are expanding for Tennessee Lady Vols and their fans, too. East Tennessee native Terri Holder has brought back the Lady Vol Boost (Her) Club, which is possible because of the NIL legislation that has become a central piece of college athletics. The original version of the club was dissolved in 2012 when the women's athletic department was combined with the men's and all donations fell under the Tennessee Fund. Holder aims to represent all 10 Tennessee women's teams by the end of 2023. "Almost every kid coming into college now, that's one of the recruiting questions," Holder said. "Hey, what are the NIL deals in Tennessee?" Holder has worked with UT compliance to get the new version of the Boost (Her) Club up and running, but the club is a separate entity from the University of Tennessee. The club is also separate from Holder's Lady Vols store, Orange Mountain Designs, through which Holder has signed a number of athletes to NIL deals. Holder said she felt like her passion waned on the retail side of things the last few years, but through starting the club, she found it again. "To be honest, and it may sound corny, but I always go back to if (basketball coach) Pat Summitt was still here, what would she be thinking about all this?" Holder said. |
| Big 12 chooses Brett Yormark to replace Bob Bowlsby as commissioner | |
| The Big 12 has named Brett Yormark to be its next commissioner, the conference announced Wednesday. Yormark has served as COO of Jay Z's Roc Nation since being promoted to the position in January. He was previously co-CEO of Roc Nation Unified, a global licensing division within the agency, along with his brother, Michael. Yormark joins the Big 12 on a five-year contract with an expected starting date of Aug. 1, the conference said. The move marks an out-of-the-box hire for the Big 12 amid the vastly changing collegiate landscape. Yormark has little experience at the college sports level. He did, however, spend nearly 15 years with Barclays Sports and Entertainment, including as CEO, before leaving for Roc Nation in 2019. Yormark won't be the only Power 5 commissioner with a background outside of college sports. Before taking over as Pac-12 commissioner, George Kliavkoff had been serving as the president of entertainment and sports for MGM Resorts International since 2018. Speaking before Wednesday's announcement, Kliavkoff declined to comment on reports speculating about the next Big 12 commissioner but said he has known Yormark for "a long time." "We ran in the same media circles when I was in New York working in media and in sports," Kliavkoff told ESPN's Heather Dinich on Tuesday. |
| Americans are deeply divided on transgender rights, a poll shows | |
 | Americans are widely opposed to allowing transgender female athletes to compete on women's and girls' sports teams, and, according to a new NPR/Ipsos poll, are deeply split along partisan lines on questions of transgender rights. The NPR/Ipsos poll shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans (63%) are opposed to allowing transgender women and girls to compete on teams that align with their gender identity, while 24% overall support that. Among Democrats, opinion is fairly split: a plurality, 46%, support trans female athletes' right to compete on women's and girls sports teams, while 41% oppose it. Independent voters oppose trans female athletes right to compete by 3:1 (21% support; 63% oppose). Among Republicans, support plummets to just 4%, while 88% oppose. According to Ipsos Vice President Mallory Newall, that tiny percentage of Republican support demonstrates how potent messaging on this issue has proved to be. "For leaders in the Republican Party, [trans women and sports] has become a very powerful talking point," Newall says, "and what our polling's showing is that it's resonating with a significant majority of their base." The sharp divisions between Democrats and Republicans on questions of transgender rights, says pollster Mallory Newall of Ipsos, mirror the intense partisan splits seen on social issues across the board. "It's just one of the myriad examples in our society right now of how our partisan affiliation is truly the lens at which we look at all issues," Newall says. |
| Controversy continues to follow LIV Golf and its players ahead of tournament near Portland | |
 | You can say this much for LIV Golf: The new Saudi-backed organization and its players certainly know how to generate headlines -- and controversy. The tour, which makes its U.S. debut Thursday at Pumpkin Ridge outside of Portland, has quickly become known for contentious exchanges between media asking about Saudi Arabia's horrendous track record on human rights and players who mostly refuse to acknowledge said track record. That continued Tuesday afternoon, as Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed and Pat Perez attended the day's second news conference and proceeded to get visibly annoyed with every non-golf question. When asked about various local politicians who have voiced opposition to LIV being in Oregon given who's funding the tournament, Perez said, "I understand the topics you're trying to bring up and they're horrible events. But I'm here to play golf." Perez did not clarify what he meant by "horrible events," though it's likely the 2018 death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed inside the Saudi consulate, would be included. To more general concerns about LIV's connection with Saudi Arabia, Koepka said people are "allowed to have their opinions, we've heard it, everybody has. Our only job is to play golf. We're trying to grow the game." But Koepka and Perez didn't care for the question about if, in aligning themselves with Saudi Arabia, were they actually alienating fans and potentially harming growth of the game? "We haven't asked them (the fans)," Perez snapped. "We don't know. You go ask them." |
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