| Friday, July 8, 2022 |
| MSU Summer Scholars campers ready to take their production to the stage | |
 | It is showtime for a group of campers at Mississippi State University. 37 students have spent the last three weeks at the annual Summer Scholars Camp. The theater camp immerses students in acting, singing, and dancing classes while also preparing them for a production. The students not only perform, but they also write the play. And this year, for the first time, all of the music is original. "They've written the entire show -- all the music. Then the rest of the camp comes and we start dancing and acting and doing the play as a whole. And it's just been fantastic," said assistant director Louis Codling. Campers say their experience at Summer Scholars is about more than perfecting their performance skills. They say the close community they form is the best part. "It's definitely the people. And we get really close and tight-knit. I come from Nashville every year and it's because they create such a supportive environment," said Ansley Preston. Cooper Snell from Starkville added, "When you spend two weeks seeing people every single day, you really do make a connection with them. Theater is fun. I enjoy theater, but it's the people here that make it such a good camp." The Summer Scholars will perform their original musical play "Hit or Myth" Friday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 12 p.m. at the McComas Theatre on the MSU campus. It's free and open to the public. |
| Concerns over parking remain for Main Street redesign | |
 | The Kimley-Horn firm's Main Street master plan presentation drew mixed reactions from a crowd of citizens and business owners Wednesday evening at Starkville Community Theater. The presentation was meant to communicate to Main Street Association members what direction the redesign is heading and get feedback. Kimley-Horn, a North Carolina-based planning and design firm, was tapped to draw plans for a redesign of Main Street. The board of aldermen approved a contract with the firm in November. Since then, the firm has been performing studies and considering community input to finetune its master plan for the project. Work is expected to cost $10 million, Mayor Lynn Spruill said. The city has a commitment of $1 million from the Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority, as well as $3.25 million in state and federal appropriations. To cover the remainder, Spruill said options such as issuing bonds, pursuing grants or using American Rescue Plan Act money are all on the table. Architects on Wednesday emphasized the potential return on investment for the city -- pointing to other cities where completed projects had yielded significant returns -- and making downtown a pedestrian-focused destination. Alaina Prentice Phillips, owner of Merle Norman and Luna Bella, told The Dispatch after the meeting the redesign will be good for Starkville long term. "There will be some growing pains, but anything in life you have to work hard for and I think it'll be really pretty," she said. |
| Goings On with Grant: Industry investing $9.5M to move in old Gulf State plant | |
| We love to see new jobs and opportunities come to our Golden Triangle. Columbia Industries, an oilfield and solid waste equipment manufacturer, is relocating its manufacturing operation to Starkville from Hillsboro, Oregon. The relocation comes with an initial investment of $9.5 million and will create 62 new jobs. The new facility will be housed in the former Gulf State manufacturing facility at 101 Airport Road. Production is set to begin in September. The Mississippi Development Authority, the city and Oktibbeha County are assisting with the project. "Everyone wants to participate in this right, which is for us a big deal. It's not like, 'Oh well, you move here and figure it out.' It's been a very welcoming experience," Columbia Industries President Tom Moss said. It is still undecided if company headquarters will move with the new facility, according to Moss. |
| Waste management, commercial equipment company coming to West Point soon | |
 | Ingram Equipment Company an environmental, waste management, and commercial equipment company, will be opening its first Mississippi location later this fall in Columbus. The new service center will be housed within the Golden Triangle Waste Services Property and will be fully staffed with multiple mechanics, a full-time parts representative, and a fully stocked parts department. "We are very excited about having a closer physical presence to our clients and customers across the state with this expansion," IEC General Manager and Vice President Keith Johnson said. IEC is the environmental, waste-management and commercial equipment dealer for 14 manufacturing partners in Alabama, Mississippi and the Florida panhandle. The company plans to begin operations in Mississippi in the early part of September. IEC has been family owned and operated since 1979. "We are ready to hit the ground running in our newest location with the speed, agility, and exceptional customer service that defines who we are as a company," CEO Jeff Martin said. |
| Wade Litton: CEO of Wade Inc. and New Delta Council President | |
 | Wade Litton is the fourth-generation member of his family to lead Wade Inc., a 113-year-old company which operates fourteen John Deere dealerships in the Mississippi Delta. He is only the fifth person to serve as president and CEO of Wade Inc. He is also the third-generation member of his family to serve as president of the Delta Council, an area economic development organization covering all or parts of nineteen counties. At age forty-one, he is a young leader who follows on the heels of Patrick Johnson, the previous president of Delta Council who was forty-seven when he served. "I think Wade will be energetic and a breath of fresh air, just as Patrick Johnson was this past year," says Mike Sturdivant, a Tallahatchie County agricultural producer who is a past president of Delta Council. "Wade has done a great job with his other positions on Delta Council. He will continue on a broader scale to bring attention to the Delta statewide, regionally and nationally. He is in the position of knowing what is happening in the Delta." Litton says his priorities as president will be to continue to build on the goals that Delta Council has for the area, and try to get even more engagement from the people who live in the Mississippi Delta to be a part of the Delta Council's work to improve the economy and quality of life of the Delta. |
| ALDI opening later this summer | |
 | Grocery retailer ALDI is working toward opening its sixth Mississippi location in Meridian this summer. ALDI Loxley Division Vice President Heather Moore said in a statement that the company is hoping to open later this summer with a specific opening date to be announced. "We are excited to confirm we are planning to open our first ALDI store in Meridian, Mississippi in the Meridian Crossroads Shopping Center later this month," Moore said. "We will reach back to share more specifics, including the store opening timing, when available." The opening of a Meridian location comes as part of a nationwide expansion of 150 new ALDI stores, 20 of which will be in the Southeast. To support its expansion, ALDI also announced the opening of a new distribution center in Loxley, Alabama. Additional stores in Mississippi are planned in McComb, Ocean Springs and Starkville for a total of nine locations throughout the state. ALDI currently has locations in Corinth, Horn Lake, Olive Branch, Southaven and Tupelo. |
| 'It's a Bud Light State': Mississippi Alehouse helps bring craft beer to DeSoto | |
| Mississippi is a "Bud Light state," not a craft beer state, said Derric Curran, the owner of Mississippi Alehouse in Olive Branch. "The laws in Mississippi are tricky when it comes to having a brewery," Curran said. "The laws are kind of difficult, so there aren't very many in the state, and the ones that were in the state, a lot of them are shut down now, so there's only a few." Mississippi laws have long prevented breweries from flourishing in the state. Until 2012, people had to travel outside the state to sample beers with higher alcohol content and it wasn't until 2017 that a law passed allowing small breweries to sell beer on the premises. A 2019 article by the magazine Beer Connoisseur ranked Mississippi as the worst state in the nation when it came to the beer scene and the number of breweries. Despite this, Curran opened Mississippi Alehouse in 2017 and has seen success, celebrating the breweries fifth birthday in June. "We opened up as a craft beer bar with 11 tabs," Curran said. "Basically, this whole thing started because there wasn't a cool place to go hang out and have a good beer in Olive Branch...We just did it because there wasn't one. There wasn't one here, so we did it." This year, DeSoto County Tourism reached out to Mississippi Alehouse with the idea of a partnership. The beer, called "Top of the Sip" is a light pilsner that JR Kent, who brews beers next door to the Mississippi Alehouse, said is an easy drinking beer. DeSoto County, and Olive Branch, have been very helpful during the process of opening the brewery and then in October of 2020, the brew pub next door, Curran and Kent said. |
| A new Mississippi shopping destination? 140 acres is for sale next to Buc-ee's site on the Coast | |
 | When the Coast's first Buc-ee's opens, chances are it won't be alone off Interstate 10 in Pass Christian -- and it could become a shopping destination. Beau Box Commercial Real Estate recently listed an adjacent 140-acre plot up for sale. The proposed commercial site would be the size of about 105 football fields, including endzones. The Pass Christian property could end up including retail, lodging, medical, industrial and an office park, a release from Beau Box Commercial Real Estate says. "The plan is to widen the existing overpass to five lanes over I-10, which will help the site to attract regional and national users," said Beau Box President and CEO Beau Box. "That being said, we have had great interest from all types of potential users so far." The plot is located at the northwest quadrant of Menge Ave. and Interstate 10. Brown, Mitchell & Alexander, Inc.'s Project Engineer Dax Alexander said, "Harrison County has needed a commercial park of this size for a long time." Alexander said "the location is perfect and utilities are available for a regional business center and the Menge Commercial Park will finally fill the void." |
| US employers add a solid 372,000 jobs in sign of resilience | |
 | America's employers shrugged off high inflation and weakening growth to add 372,000 jobs in June, a surprisingly strong gain that will likely spur the Federal Reserve to keep sharply raising interest rates to cool the economy and slow price increases. The unemployment rate in June remained at 3.6% for a fourth straight month, the Labor Department said Friday, matching a near-50-year low that was reached before the pandemic struck in early 2020. The past year's streak of robust hiring has been good for job seekers and has led to higher pay for many employees. But it has also helped fuel the highest inflation in four decades and heightened pressure on the Fed to further slow borrowing and spending. Many employers are still struggling to fill jobs, especially in the economy's vast service sector, with Americans now traveling, eating out and attending public events with much greater frequency. The Fed may regard the June job gain as evidence that the rapid pace of hiring is feeding inflation as companies raise pay to attract workers and then increase prices to cover their higher labor costs. The persistent desire of many businesses to hire and grow is providing a bulwark against the likelihood that the economy will tip into recession over the next year. Even if a downturn does occur, the healthy job and pay growth of the past year could help keep it relatively brief and mild. |
| 'Quite likely the worst is over': What to know about the current state of the COVID pandemic | |
 | Coronavirus cases are rising in the U.S. -- again. Thirty states reported more cases in the latest week than in the week before, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. That has also led to a rise in hospitalizations, with hospitals in 18 states reporting more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier. Twenty-three states had more patients in intensive care beds, and 15 states reported more deaths than a week earlier. Although the increase in cases doesn't appear to approach the meteoric levels of previous waves, health experts say what's being recorded is likely an undercount because of underreported test results. Aubree Gordon, associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, says the worst of COVID-19 may finally be behind us, barring the emergence of any new variants. Experts say there have been no signs of a new variant. A study published in Nature this week found wastewater-based surveillance can detect emerging variants of concern up to two weeks earlier than clinical sequencing. "Hopefully we will see that severity (of disease) continue to decrease and the rate of infections and number of cases will come down as well," Gordon said. "We're at the point in the U.S. where it is quite likely that the worst is over." |
| ANALYSIS: Brandon Presley still quiet on future political plans while passionate from the stump | |
 | Brandon Presley may not be saying if he's running for governor, but he sure is acting like it. The self-described Democratic populist who is north Mississippi's elected utility regulator gave a passionate speech in the shadow of the historic Jacinto Courthouse at an annual Independence Day festival that could have almost been a stump speech for governor. "Mississippi's got a lot of great assets," Presley said. "Our people are number one. There's a candidate who ran for governor years ago that had a great slogan that said, 'Mississippi -- a state too rich to be poor.' And we're a state too rich to be poor." Presley can easily say that he's just worried about performing his current job, and for anyone who knows the former mayor of Nettleton, passionate speeches are the norm from him. But does a public service commissioner typically comment on abortion policy and how the state should move forward from banning the procedure? "Being pro-life is not only about protecting the unborn, and I'm for that," Presley said. "But it's also caring about the ones that are born, that are here, that are suffering in a rural community today in the grips of addiction." Many political observers in the state are wondering if Presley will run for governor next year because of his ability to break convoluted policy down into simple terms, his infectious personality and his grip on rural voters in Northeast Mississippi. But on Monday, he still refused to disclose his future campaign plans. "The only thing I'm hunting for right now is some air conditioning," Presley told the Daily Journal, making a reference to the sweltering July heat. |
| Lone Mississippi abortion clinic seeks legal path to reopen | |
| Attorneys for Mississippi's only abortion clinic filed papers Thursday asking the state Supreme Court to block a new law that bans most abortions and to let the clinic reopen next week. The clinic, Jackson Women's Health Organization, is at the center of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and took away women's constitutional protection for abortion nationwide. A Mississippi law that took effect Thursday bans most abortions, and the clinic performed its last procedures Wednesday. Clinic attorneys are making the same arguments that a trial court judge rejected Tuesday as the clinic tried to block the law from taking effect. They said that in 1998, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that the state constitution has a right to privacy that includes abortion. "Absent relief, Mississippians will continue to be denied their rights under the Mississippi Constitution to privacy and bodily autonomy, as they are compelled by the State to endure the risks of pregnancy and bear children against their will," clinic attorney Rob McDuff wrote. It was not immediately clear when the conservative state Supreme Court would consider the appeal. |
| Mississippi abortion clinic asks state Supreme Court to let it re-open | |
| On the same day that almost all abortions became illegal in Mississippi, the state's lone abortion clinic is asking the state's highest court to allow it to resume offering patients access to the procedure. The clinic, represented by attorneys from the Mississippi Center of Justice and the Center for Reproductive Rights, petitioned the Mississippi Supreme Court on Thursday to suspend the enforcement of Mississippi's "trigger ban" on abortions. "We are doing all we can to allow the clinic to keep serving patients," said Rob McDuff, an MCJ attorney representing the clinic. "We hope the Mississippi Supreme Court will abide by its prior ruling that the Mississippi Constitution protects the rights of women to make their own decisions in matters of childbirth." The justices who sit on the Court are nonpartisan, but the majority have adopted a conservative judicial philosophy. One justice is a former Republican state lawmaker and another was previously involved in GOP politics. The nine judges will now decide if the Legislature's abortion restrictions run afoul of the Mississippi Constitution or whether they should overturn the Court's prior precedent. It's unclear if the justices will invite oral arguments to discuss the clinic's request or simply issue an opinion based on written briefs from the parties involved. |
| Jackson's Women's Health Organization files appeal over abortion ban | |
 | Jackson Women's Health Organization is continuing its fight to keep providing abortions, one day after the procedure became illegal in Mississippi. The clinic, which had been the last in the state to perform abortions, lost their attempt halt the ban Tuesday. Lawyers for the clinic had asked Special Chancery Judge Debbra K. Halford to grant them an injunction, which would have allowed them to continue performing abortions while they pursued a legal fight over whether the state constitution protects abortion access. The clinic's case hinges on a 1998 state supreme court decision that found a right to an abortion was based on Mississippi state law. Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade only impacts federal law, the clinic argues the state court's decision remains in place. The state argues that the state court's decision was heavily influenced by Roe v. Wade and that it should no longer be considered good law. Halford sided with the state. A date has not yet been set to hear the clinics appeal, and in the meantime abortion remains illegal in Mississippi. |
| Mississippi's just-closed abortion clinic asks state's highest court to allow it to reopen | |
| Jackson Women's Health Organization, which was the state's only abortion clinic before it was forced to close Thursday, is asking the Mississippi Supreme Court to allow it to reopen next week. The request is based on the state Supreme Court's 1998 decision that said the Mississippi Constitution provided women the right to an abortion. That decision has not been overturned and supersedes laws passed by the Legislature banning abortion in most instances, attorneys for the abortion clinic argue. The petition filed Thursday with the Supreme Court comes on the heels of Tuesday's ruling by Chancery Judge Debbra Halford of Franklin County refusing a request for a temporary restraining order allowing the clinic to remain open. The filing before the Supreme Court noted that Halford opened the hearing on Tuesday with a prayer by a specially-appointed chaplain: "Lord, we pray for the presence of your Holy Spirit in this courtroom today ... We seek your truth, not our own. We seek your wisdom, not our own. Bless and inspire Judge Halford in her deliberations and judgments here today." In the filing before the Supreme Court, the clinic said Halford "abused her discretion" by basing her ruling on what she believed the Supreme Court would do. "That reasoning is contrary to the rule of law and to this Court's authority to have the final word on the meaning of the Mississippi Constitution," the filing said. |
| Two Mississippi district attorneys pledge to not prosecute abortion cases | |
| Two district attorneys from Mississippi have stated that they will not prosecute community members over abortion cases despite the implementation of the state's newest trigger law. The trigger law completely bans abortion across the Magnolia State except in confirmed cases of rape or if the mother's life is at risk. Despite the recent certification of the law and the overturning of the landmark Roe v. Wade case, attorneys Jody Owens and Shameca Collins have expressed that they will be joining 90 other district and state attorneys from 31 states to not prosecute abortion-related cases. In Mississippi, Owens serves as the district attorney in Hinds County and Collins is District Six's attorney for Adams, Amite, Franklin, and Wilkinson counties. The two district attorneys signed a statement, which was later published on June 24 by Fair and Just Prosecution, saying that they pledge to not prosecute people who seek, provide, or aid an individual in receiving an abortion. |
| Hosemann names board appointees for Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund | |
 | The Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund will consider projets which aim to improve state parks, increasing access to public waters, and enhancing conservation of fish and wildlife resources. Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann named his three appointments to the seven-member board today: Denny Terrell of Kosciusko (1st Supreme Court District), Joe Cloyd of Ocean Springs (2nd Supreme Court District), and Mat Lipscomb of DeSoto County (3rd Supreme Court District). "These individuals bring a keen business sense, strong work ethic, and a love of Mississippi's outdoors and natural spaces to the table. There is much work to do, especially in our state and local parks, which have the potential to be premier tourism spots for Mississippians," Hosemann said. "I look forward to seeing how this board's decisions will positively impact one of our state's most important assets -- our outdoor spaces." Terrell is President of Ivey Mechanical Company, LLC, which builds quality HVAC, plumbing, and process piping systems. Cloyd is a managing member of several businesses, including two boutique hotels in Ocean Springs. Lipscomb is managing partner of Higginbotham Insurance. |
| Gunn, White memo to House Republican Caucus suggests Yates plans switch to GOP | |
| On Thursday, Y'all Politics first reported that Mississippi Republican Speaker of the House Philip Gunn and his Speaker Pro Tempore Jason White would be hosting a fundraiser slated for September for progressive backed Democrat-turned-Independent State Rep. Shanda Yates. This was to be in support of her re-election efforts in House District 64 in 2023. However, following that report, Speaker Gunn and Pro Tem White issued a joint memo to the House Republican Caucus addressing the matter, noting that they would no longer be hosting the event for Yates after the reservations expressed by many in the House GOP Caucus. Despite Rep. Yates' "liberal ideas" and casting some "liberal votes," Speaker Gunn and Pro Tem White indicate that she is considering joining the Republican Party. They say they should not have agreed to host Yates' event unless she switched. "In hindsight, as your elected Speaker and Pro Tem, we should not have agreed to host the reception unless she switched her party affiliation. We believe she is considering joining our party and hope she will," Gunn and White tell the House Republicans. |
| Biden medal picks push partisan issues, and bipartisanship | |
 | For Megan Rapinoe and Simone Biles, receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Thursday was not just about collecting another piece of hardware. The decorated athletes have stood atop podiums around the world, but this time they weren't recognized for what they did on the pitch and in the gym. Instead, they were recognized for off-field achievements. President Joe Biden praised Biles, a 25-year-old gymnast, in the packed East Room of the White House as she became the youngest person to receive the highest civilian honor. The ceremony included all the pomp and celebration of a White House event, and it was the first time Biden presented the nation's highest civilian honor during his term, though he received one by surprise in 2017 when President Barack Obama gave it to his vice president. In addition to Rapinoe and Biles, 15 other people from the worlds of culture, innovation, business and public service were honored Thursday. The honorees put a face on some of the most controversial issues in the U.S. as Americans continue to struggle with partisan gridlock, institutional racism and sexism, and deadly gun violence. Soccer star Rapinoe, whose World Cup-winning team declined an invitation to the White House when Donald Trump was president, is regularly criticized in conservative media for kneeling during the national anthem and voicing support for transgender athletes. But Biden also displayed respect for bipartisanship, with two Republicans -- former Sens. Alan Simpson and, posthumously, John McCain -- among the recipients. The group also included Democratic former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who became the leader of a national activist group battling for stricter gun laws after surviving an assassination attempt. |
| Biden to outline new steps aimed at bolstering abortion rights | |
 | President Biden is planning to outline additional steps aimed at bolstering abortion rights on Friday morning, two weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, as many Democrats have called on him to respond with bolder and more urgent action. Biden, joined by Vice President Harris, plans to deliver a speech from the Roosevelt Room at the White House on his efforts to protect access to reproductive health-care services. He is also planning to sign an executive order that, according to a statement released late Thursday by the White House, will attempt to safeguard access to abortion medication and emergency contraception, protect patient privacy and bolster legal options for those seeking access to such services. The order directs Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to submit a report within 30 days that would address many of those items. Becerra is also charged with finding ways to increase public outreach so that those seeking reproductive health-care services, including abortion, know how to access them. In a nod to some of the legal battles that could come, Biden is also directing the attorney general and the White House counsel to convene private pro bono attorneys, bar associations, and public interest organizations to encourage legal representation for those seeking or offering reproductive health services. Legal assistance has been a chief concern among some abortion rights advocates. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.) urged the Biden administration on Thursday to "pull out all the stops," point out legal obstacles that could prevent Michigan residents from seeking services in Canada or from bringing medication back from across the border. |
| Blinken: Abe's assassination 'profoundly disturbing' | |
 | Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday called the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo a "shocking" and "profoundly disturbing" event that represented "such a strong personal loss for so many people." Speaking at the G-20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Bali, Indonesia, Blinken said he had conveyed to his Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi the United States' "very deep condolences" on Abe's death, which came hours after he was shot while giving a speech in the western city of Nara. Blinken, appearing alongside South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, went on to describe Abe as "an extraordinary partner and someone who clearly was a great leader for Japan ... but also so admired as a global leader." Abe, who resigned from office in September 2020 because of health problems, "brought the relationship between ... the United States and Japan to new heights" and was "a leader with great vision for what a free and open Indo-Pacific region could look like," Blinken said. "I have to just say, finally, that our thoughts are really with all of his family and his friends," Blinken added. "We really, really deeply mourn ... the loss for his family, the loss for his friends, the loss for the people of Japan, the loss for the world." Former President Donald Trump also mourned the assassination of Abe, who was the first foreign leader to meet the then-president-elect at Trump Tower in New York in November 2016. Abe's death is "Really BAD NEWS FOR THE WORLD!" Trump posted on his Truth Social social media platform. |
| Food Insecurity Hits Rich Countries as Inflation Makes Basics Unaffordable for Many | |
 | Rampant food inflation is roiling the world's least-developed nations. It is also hitting poor people in rich countries. Matsentralen Norge, a food-bank operator in oil-rich Norway, says it is distributing 30% more food compared with the same period in 2021, a year that in itself saw sharply higher demand because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Food-bank usage is on the rise in the U.S., too, while grocery stores report customers there are trading down, buying more store-brand food and avoiding more expensive meat and fish. In Britain, the pain has been especially stark. The U.K.'s overall inflation rate hit 9.1% in May, compared with the same month a year ago, the fastest rise in prices for a member of the Group of Seven, the club of rich economies. Food prices rose 8.5% in May. "We're seeing real food poverty for the first time in a generation," John Allan, chairman of Tesco PLC, Britain's biggest grocery chain, recently told the British Broadcasting Corp. The price rises have roiled poorer countries, helping trigger unrest that toppled Sri Lanka's prime minister and protests in the Middle East. The United Nations World Food Program has warned that some 2.46 billion people, or around 30% of the world, face moderate or severe food insecurity, which it defines as lacking regular access to enough safe and nutritious food for normal growth, development and a healthy life. But in rich countries, the smaller a person's income, the more one spends on food, too. In the U.S., for instance, households in the lowest income quintile spent 27% of their income on food, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Those in the highest income quintile spent 7%. |
| UM professor first in pharmacology school to hold title of Triplett-Behrakis Endowed Professor | |
| Joshua Sharp, an associate professor of pharmacology with the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, has been appointed as the school's Triplett-Behrakis Endowed Professor. Supported by the Triplett-Behrakis Endowment Fund, the professorship was created to recognize, retain or recruit outstanding faculty members. The faculty member is selected by the school's dean, in consultation with associate deans. Sharp, who holds a joint appointment in the university's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, will be the first School of Pharmacy faculty member to hold the title. He will be provided with a $25,000 annual fund to support his research. "Dr. Sharp is more than deserving of this award," said Donna Strum, Ole Miss pharmacy dean. "He has excelled in research and scholarship since joining the university in 2015, and I'm excited to see how he can use this professorship to further that work." Sharp is both an educator and researcher, actively conducting his own research while mentoring fellow faculty, staff and both graduate and undergraduate students. He was previously recognized by the School of Pharmacy with the Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc. Faculty Award in 2021 and the New Investigator Research Award in 2018. |
| 'Hero' Mississippi football player will have thousands for college after saving girls, cop | |
| A Pascagoula High junior being hailed as a hero for saving four lives over the Fourth of July weekend will soon have a large portion his college education paid for after over 500 people donated to a GoFundMe. Corion Evans, a football player and member of Pascagoula High School's Class of 2023, helped save three girls early Sunday morning after the vehicle the girls were riding in drove off a boat launch into the water and started sinking. Evans also saved a Moss Point police officer who went in to help the girls. Evans' bravery immediately attracted lots of news attention, with his story appearing on People.com, USA Today and ABC news, among others. Evans was also honored with a Certificate of Commendation for his efforts by Moss Point Mayor Billy Knight and the Moss Point Board of Alderman at a Tuesday board meeting according to a press release from the Moss Point Police Department. Moss Point Police Chief Brandon Ashley said in a statement, "We commend Mr. Evans' bravery and selflessness he displayed by risking his own safety to help people in danger. If Mr. Evans had not assisted, the situation could have turned out differently, instead of all occupants being safely rescued." |
| U. of South Alabama resolves complaints over faculty costumes | |
 | The University of South Alabama has resolved complaints about two costumes worn by a dean (who has since become a faculty member) and another member of the faculty that offended many people on campus. The Halloween party, at the business school, was in 2014, but photographs of it surfaced last year. The then-dean, Bob Wood, came dressed as a Confederate soldier. He told the university that the costume was "one of the few available costumes at the costume shop." The professor, Alex Sharland, came dressed "in a black robe with a white barrister's wig similar to those worn by British judges. He carried a noose and whip as props, which he said were meant to signify that he portrayed George Jeffreys, the British 'hanging judge' from the 17th century," the university said in a statement of findings about the two cases. On Wood's case, the university said: "Dr. Wood elected to follow the ... informal adjudication process. The unanimous conclusion of the complainants was that Dr. Wood should return to university duties while engaging in the activities outlined below which are consistent with principles of restorative justice, an approach focused on repairing harm and restoring community." Aaron Terr, senior program officer at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, was critical of the way the university handled the incident. |
| A new COVID strain was discovered in Louisiana. Here's how LSU found the first 4 patients. | |
 | Four people in Louisiana are confirmed to have contracted new subvariants of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, the first known cases of these subvariants in the United States. The Precision Medicine Laboratory at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans says it had identified three cases of BE.1 subvariant and one case of BF.1 subvariant in tests performed on patients in Louisiana at the end of June. It will be mid-July before health officials know how quickly the new subvariants spread and whether they are especially troublesome. LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine head of genetics Dr. Lucio Miele said in an interview that it isn't known how the subvariants surfaced in Louisiana first. Miele suspected that it could have come from an animal or a mutation within a COVID-positive patient entering the state from outside Louisiana. "Whether these particular subvariants are more transmissible than the already very transmissible ones that are spreading in our area, we don't know yet," he said. "This is precisely why we are conducting this kind of monitoring and sequencing viral isolates from various parts of the state all the time." |
| Appeals court will take up the case of UF charging fees during the coronavirus campus shutdown | |
| A state appeals court this month will wade into a dispute about whether the University of Florida should refund fees to students who were forced to switch to remote learning in 2020 during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal is scheduled to hear arguments July 20 after an Alachua County circuit judge last year refused to dismiss the potential class-action lawsuit. At least two other state appellate courts have taken up similar cases from other schools -- and reached different conclusions. A key issue in the cases is whether schools breached contracts by not providing on-campus services in 2020 after students had paid fees. The University of Florida disputes that an "express" contract existed with plaintiff Anthony Rojas, who was a graduate student in 2020. As a result, it contends Alachua County Circuit Judge Monica Brasington should have dismissed the case. Generally, state agencies are shielded from lawsuits by the legal concept of sovereign immunity. But sovereign immunity does not provide protections from breach-of-contract claims. In arguing that it did not breach an express contract, UF contends the case should be dismissed because of sovereign immunity. Numerous similar cases have been filed against other schools in Florida and across the country. |
| Gov. McMaster tells donor's family he will not let U. of South Carolina lose its barrier island to UGA | |
 | Gov. Henry McMaster says South Carolina won't be giving up a Beaufort County barrier island to the University of Georgia. The governor said in a voice message that the state will honor the commitments it made when Pritchards Island was donated to the University of South Carolina in the 1980s. The message was left with family representative Martha Rhodes, whose grandfather, Philip Rhodes, donated the island. "South Carolina will live up to every single thing that is in the agreement, which is between the... university and your grandfather," McMaster said in the Wednesday voicemail. He reiterated his backing during a later call. The State and Island Packet reported last month that Rhodes and her family believed USC was not honoring its commitments. Under the agreement Philip Rhodes reached with USC, control of the island could transfer to the University of Georgia if USC didn't follow the donor's wishes to use it for scientific research and education. The University of South Carolina Development Foundation, which currently owns the Pritchards property, also reached out to the Rhodes family Wednesday about USC's future use of the island. Martha Rhodes said Thursday the family was "so encouraged and impressed" with the steps taken by McMaster and the USC Development Foundation. "We feel confident that the Rhodes family will be an integral part of ongoing discussions," she said. |
| Youngkin's push to be involved in chancellor search succeeds | |
| Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has rankled Democratic state lawmakers and some higher ed advocates by seeking to influence the search for a new chancellor of the state's community college system. Some see his intrusion in the search as part of a broader, more heavy-handed approach to overseeing the state's colleges and universities and trying to set their agenda and control their policies and practices. Youngkin has been pushing the Virginia State Board for Community Colleges to involve his administration in the search process for the system's new chancellor after Glenn DuBois, the former chancellor, announced his retirement last summer. The board relented last week and agreed to put a nonvoting representative of Youngkin's administration on the search committee after he sent members a strongly worded letter saying they could fully "commit" to the search or leave their roles. Douglas Garcia, the incoming board chair and chair of the chancellor search committee, said in a statement last week that the board was "committed to working with the governor and his team." Some community college faculty members are disturbed by the governor's involvement in the chancellor search process and its implications for the future leadership of the system. |
| College Board no longer disclosing AP test results by ethnicity, state | |
| The College Board used to annually publish granular breakdowns of how students scored on its Advanced Placement, or AP exams. And Jon Boeckenstedt, vice provost for enrollment management at Oregon State University, would painstakingly download each data set to translate into a more digestible format on his admissions blog. The testing provider's reports represented an in-depth dive into the assessments, which can earn K-12 students college credit if they receive a high enough score. The College Board would share a state-by-state look at how high school students performed on the tests, as well as demographic data, so anyone in the public could see how students -- based on their ethnicity -- fared. So detailed were these summaries that one could look, for instance, Black students' average score on the AP Biology test up for any given year. That was up until 2021, when the College Board stopped releasing most of those data points. It still posts the number of students who tested, and how many scored in exams' range of 1 to 5, a 5 being the highest mark. But the public could no longer sort test results by ethnicity. Higher Ed Dive could find no evidence the College Board announced the change. It also appears to have scrubbed that type of data from its website archives. |
| More workers without degrees are landing jobs. Will it last? | |
| Troy Groom, of Hyattsville, Md., was browsing social media this spring when he read something that made him perk up: Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced in March that the state government would strip bachelor's degree requirements from thousands of job listings. Groom had left Bowie State University when his first daughter was born. That daughter now has a college diploma. Groom still does not. But he had gained experience and credentials: a two-decade rise in retail and a suite of computer networking certificates that led him to three years of information technology contracting gigs. When Groom interviewed for his first IT job, he heard the dispiriting sentence that trips up so many careers: "I'm looking for someone with a bachelor's degree." But the hiring manager at that job looked past the unchecked box and took Groom on as a configuration management analyst. Thanks to a tight labor market, more good jobs are opening up to workers who lack a bachelor's degree. A month after Maryland's announcement, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) directed government agencies in his state to embrace hiring workers for skills, not degrees. Private sector employers have been rolling back B.A. requirements, too. A bachelor's degree still holds prestige as a ticket to the middle class, but its value has received increasing scrutiny. In the last several years, rising tuition and student loan debt have led more Americans to reconsider an investment in postsecondary education. When Gallup asked Americans in 2019 about the value of college degrees, just 51 percent answered "very important," down from 70 percent in 2013. |
| The Historically Black College Reconsiders the Studio Art Program | |
 | The fourth edition of H. W. Janson's "History of Art," long the standard introductory text in art history courses, is over 850 pages long, with more than 1,000 illustrations, weighing in at over seven and a half pounds. During the fall of 1992, when the artist Derek Fordjour was 18 years old, he lugged the book to class at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn with earnest intentions of pursuing an artistic career. The child of Ghanaian immigrants who had made a home in Memphis, Fordjour had absorbed his parents' work ethic and respect for education. But something was missing for him in that hefty tome: nearly the entire history of Black art in America. "I was angry," Fordjour says. "I was an angry student because I really didn't see any models at that time, in the '90s at a major art school, that evidenced Black artists." He left Pratt a couple years later and eventually found his way to Morehouse College, the renowned historically Black institution located in Atlanta. "Morehouse set me straight," he says. "It said, 'Hey, you are part of a rich lineage of Africans in America who have been deeply invested in art making.'" Without America's historically Black colleges and universities (H.B.C.U.s), that lineage of Black art making would be lost, or if not lost, then mostly relegated to myth and to memory. These institutions served -- and still serve today -- as keepers of tangible materials of culture and as training grounds for generations of artists and art historians, curators and conservationists. Such success has come in spite of tremendous disadvantages: dramatically lower funding when compared to predominantly white institutions, and less support from state and federal government and from private industry. But things are beginning to change. In 2020, the philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donated hundreds of millions of dollars to H.B.C.U.s with no strings attached, part of nearly $6 billion directed to colleges, nonprofits, and charitable organizations. Scott's $25 million gift to Alcorn State University, for instance, more than doubled the Mississippi school's endowment overnight. |
| Minoritized Students, Already Stressed, Now Worry About Abortion | |
| As the dust settles from the Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, experts are growing increasingly concerned with the negative impact the decision that overturned Roe v. Wade may have on the mental health and well-being of college students, particularly those from marginalized communities including first generation students, LGBTQ+ students, and students with fewer resources. "This is a generation that's seen a lot of progress in justice and equality, like marriage equality, but it's shifting," said Dr. Sharon Custer, director of family science and social work field education, partnership specialist, and community justice and wellbeing liaison at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. "There's a layer of pending doom, that this isn't a good time to emerge into adulthood. It feels like a giant leap backwards, and it impacts their hope, and depressive and anxious feelings." Denying abortion to those seeking care has been shown to not only increase an individual's anxiety, it also decrease their satisfaction in life and self-esteem. "Ninety-five percent of people do not regret the choice to terminate their pregnancies," said Dr. Laura Erickson-Schroth, chief medical officer of The Jed Foundation (JED), a nonprofit organization working to improve mental health and prevent suicides among young people. "In addition to affecting individuals negatively, the larger political change of banning abortions sends a message to people that they don't have autonomy over their own bodies anymore." Erickson-Schroth added that the Dobbs decision will place extra barriers and burdens onto those already negatively impacted by discrimination. |
| How Fetal-Tissue Research Became the Focus of One State's Budget Impasse | |
 | A yearslong dispute between anti-abortion activists and University of Pittsburgh researchers over fetal-tissue research made it to the highest levels of state government this year and briefly blockaded Pennsylvania's $42-billion budget. The budget impasse was partly the result of an amendment passed by GOP members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives last month that would have required the University of Pittsburgh to cease any research involving fetal tissue. If the university didn't meet that requirement, it would have forfeited about $150 million in tuition aid for in-state students. Pitt declined to make anyone available for an interview, but the university notes on its website that it complies with rigorous federal and state laws in this area, and that its scientists have used fetal tissue to study treatments "for HIV, AIDS, and cancer. For example, by learning how the placenta protects the fetus against viral infections, researchers are able to keep more mothers and their babies healthy and safe." Since 2001, Pitt has conducted 31 individual research studies using human fetal tissue, according to figures from the university. But the move by several state legislators to withhold a highly ranked research institution's tuition aid over fetal-tissue research is getting renewed political attention in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that removes the constitutional right to abortion. Opponents of abortion have long opposed the use of fetal tissue collected from elective abortions, arguing that it encourages medical providers to perform abortions or that the procedures are inhumane. |
| Justice Department Urges Judge Not to Dismiss College Financial Aid Antitrust Case | |
| The Justice Department weighed in Thursday on an antitrust lawsuit against 17 colleges and universities, challenging the schools' legal arguments in a request to dismiss the case. The lawsuit, filed in Illinois federal court in January and seeking class-action status, names as defendants prestigious institutions including Columbia University, Vanderbilt University and the University of Chicago. According to the suit, the schools engaged in price fixing and unfairly limited aid by using a shared methodology to calculate applicants' financial need. Schools are allowed under federal law to collaborate on their formulas, but only if they don't consider applicants' financial need in admissions decisions. The suit alleges these schools do weigh candidates' ability to pay in certain circumstances -- for instance, by giving an edge to donor families or when pulling applicants off a waitlist -- and therefore shouldn't be eligible for the antitrust exemption. In a court filing known as a "statement of interest," the Justice Department pushed back on the schools' claim that they're protected as "unwitting conspirators," unaware that other member schools aren't need-blind. The Justice Department's filing doesn't explicitly back the plaintiffs, it just urges the judge to not throw the case out at this stage. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State golfer, Caledonia product Hunter Logan to join MSU teammate Davis at U.S. Amateur | |
| Hunter Logan became the second Mississippi State men's golfer to qualify for the 122nd U.S. Amateur after winning his qualifier on Wednesday in Oxford. Logan will join Harrison Davis at the prestigious tournament on Aug. 15-21 in Paramus, New Jersey. The Steens native played a career round at the Ole Miss Golf Club. Logan collected six birdies and back-to-back eagles in his opening round to card a 9-under 63. He was an impressive 4-under on par-4 holes and 6-under on par-5s, both of which led the field. In the second round, he played consistently to secure his lead, going 18 holes without a bogey. In the 36-hole qualifier, he was only over par once, when he needed four strokes on the par-3 No. 12 tee in the first round. Logan, who led MSU in stroke average this past season, held a four-stroke lead over the next qualifier. His opening round was better than his collegiate bests for 18 holes (67) and 18 holes relative to par (5-under) and his victory would top his runner-up finish at this year's Mossy Oak Collegiate. The 122nd U.S. Amateur will be hosted by The Ridgewood Country Club and Arcola Country Club. Two stroke-play rounds of 18 holes will take place on Aug. 15-16 before the field is cut to 64 for match play. On the women's side, MSU golfers Abbey Daniel and Hannah Levi both qualified for the U.S. Women's Amateur. The event will be held from Aug. 8-14 at Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington. |
| 'They didn't really have to sell too much': Mississippi State baseball adds Aaron Nixon | |
| Aaron Nixon was enjoying dinner with his family in Omaha, Nebraska, last year when he noticed a group of fans sporting Mississippi State gear walk by. Then another wave of maroon and white passed. And another. Nixon was in town for the College World Series as a freshman on yet another Texas team seeking a national championship. But for all the success the Longhorns have had in the sport, Nixon was fascinated by the plethora of Mississippi State fans who traveled in hopes of watching the Bulldogs win their first. It's a memory that stuck with Nixon and made Chris Lemonis' pitch easy when convincing the right-hander to transfer to Mississippi State on July 1. "They didn't really have to sell too much," Nixon said. Nixon grew up in McAllen, Texas, just 30 minutes north of the Mexico border. The transfer process this summer was his first intensive experience as a recruit because in high school he committed to Texas before his freshman year. He received attention from various Big 12 and SEC schools. But between Dudy Noble Field and the food he had in Starkville, the decision was easy. Nixon's announcement came less than two weeks after the Longhorns were eliminated from the College World Series on June 19. Pitching coach Sean Allen was fired the following day. |
| Field house of dreams: Jeffery Simmons gives back at Noxubee County High School | |
| Bryson Kelly was in fifth grade when Jeffery Simmons won his final state championship at Noxubee County High School. That was 2015, when Simmons capped a four-year run with the Tigers featuring three MHSAA titles. Kelly idolized Simmons then. Not much has changed. "I look up to him now," said Kelly, now a senior offensive tackle for Noxubee County. "He's my hero now." It was easy to see why Thursday as Simmons, a standout defensive tackle for the Tennessee Titans, continued giving back to his alma mater. After two years bearing his name, Noxubee County's practice facility was officially dedicated in Simmons' honor Thursday afternoon as the Jeffery B. Simmons Field House. Gone were the bent bars and chipped weights Simmons remembered from his time at the school. Gone was the peeling paint. Everything was brand new for a Tigers team in need -- all thanks to Simmons. "My goal was to make this field house look brand new by putting new weights in it, trying to get a new paint job and all that," Simmons said. It was a goal Simmons said he held ever since getting to the NFL as a first-round pick in 2019. He kept his old school's substandard equipment and shoddy practice fields in mind as he signed a rookie contract worth more than $12 million. On Friday, Simmons will use his oversized golden scissors to cut another ribbon -- this one in Starkville, where he played college football. He will be the namesake of a new turf football field at the Starkville Sportsplex, where Simmons will host his third annual camp Friday and Saturday. |
| Why Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium got first AstroTurf field upgrade since 2012 | |
| When football fans return to Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium for football in September, they'll be a greeted by a new playing surface that's as bright as their pregame optimism. Last month, the stadium was furnished with a new AstroTurf field in the company's RootZone 3D3 blend. Not only does the vibrant, green color stand out, it's also got a firm cushion with grass-like traction to increase durability while minimizing injury risk. "It mimics natural grass more than any other synthetic surface out there," stadium general manager Thomas Carrier said. "A lot of synthetic fields have a lot of infill in them. This one doesn't. It has much less rubber in it because the system is designed to be the cushion." It's the first field upgrade since 2012, when the last AstroTurf was installed. Carrier said that most turf fields have a shelf life of 10-12 years, and the previous turf looked darker because the rubber pellets kept nesting on top of the fibers. The durability will help maintain the stadium, which is also used for the Southern Heritage Classic, AutoZone Liberty Bowl and other festivals during the year. The Classic, which features Jackson State and Tennessee State, will serve as the field's official debut on Sept. 10, a week before Memphis' home opener with Arkansas State. The turf, which has fibers made of polyethylene and nylon, was funded by the city of Memphis. |
| Report: SEC Network to televise Auburn basketball's Israel tour | |
 | Bruce Pearl has gotten his wish, as Auburn men's basketball's three-game tour of Israel in August is set to be televised on SEC Network, according to a report. On Thursday, CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein reported that the network would televise the Tigers' games during their trip from July 31 to August 10. Auburn is slated to play both the Israeli U-20 Team and Israeli Senior National Team in a three-game slate, with games against the U-20 team on Aug. 2 and 6, and one game against the senior national team on Aug. 8. Games are to be played in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, though no tip-off times have yet to be released. "It's huge," Pearl said of the trip during an AMBUSH event in Montgomery on May 3. "That's part of the timing, is when you do have four or five new guys coming in and the opportunity to be live together, travel together, see things together; learn the Bible together; learn history together. That's why we're doing it, as much as anything." The head coach also talked about the trip as what he hoped would be the first steps in an annual college basketball event in Israel. Pearl coached the USA Maccabi team to a gold medal at the 2009 Maccabiah Games in Israel. Auburn assistant coach Steven Pearl was on the playing roster. "I'd love the idea of two to four college basketball teams going to Israel, playing in some sort of games every August and I'm going to work towards that, even though Auburn won't be in it," Pearl said. "I'm going to work towards trying to create that tournament." |
| Why Tennessee wants to sell 70,000 football season tickets by 2026 | |
 | Almost three-quarters of Neyland Stadium was filled by Tennessee football season-ticket holders in 2016. Athletics director Danny White thinks the Vols can return to that level, selling at least 70,000 season tickets annually by 2026. The rebuild of the fan base is one of the key goals in UT's five-year strategic plan released Thursday. UT sold 52,236 season tickets in the 2021 season. It averaged 67,488 in the five seasons before the pandemic limited capacity in 2020. The 2016 season touted 73,116 tickets sold when the Vols had a 9-4 record in coach Butch Jones' fourth season. It suggests the Vols could reach 70,000 again under the right conditions. "Those are aggressive goals, but I expect that we'll pass them," White said. "We looked at a lot of historical stuff. We've hit 70,000 before, and it wasn't that long ago. "I know attendance is an issue nationally. But what I'm learning about this fan base and what I saw happen last fall after coming out of a pandemic and all the challenges we've had competitively, I'm not sure that the trends nationally apply to Vol nation." Neyland Stadium capacity will decrease from 102,455 to 101,915 for the 2022 season after renovations are completed. But there still will be room for the season-ticket base to grow. In the five-year plan, the largest projected increase in season-ticket sales is 2024, when Oklahoma will return to Neyland Stadium. UT coach Josh Heupel led the Sooners to the 2000 national title as a Heisman Trophy runner-up quarterback. |
| Pac-12 facing uncertain future after losses to Big Ten | |
| The Pac-12 can make a case as the most successful conference in collegiate athletics, amassing more than 500 NCAA championships while leading the nation in titles 56 of the past 62 years. But when it comes to the biggest moneymakers, football and men's basketball, the "Conference of Champions" has come up short for years. The lack of success, particularly in football, combined with the conference's media rights missteps have put the Pac-12 on shaky financial footing, opening the door for two of its marquee schools to jump ship. Now, with the loss of UCLA and USC to the Big Ten in 2024, the conference and its remaining member schools face an even more uncertain economic future. "You have exploding costs on one end and your revenue sources are being decimated, which is a tremendous pressure," Smith College economics professor Andrew Zimbalist said. "On the other hand, what do you do? Well, something pretty radical I think is going to have to happen." The Pac-12′s dilemma has been building for years. Once a powerhouse football conference, the Pac-12 has been a bit player in the national championship conversation of late. |
| Remembering James Caan, 'Brian's Song' and coming of age | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: Gifted actor James Caan died today at the age of 82, leaving behind a remarkable list of memorable characters he played on the big screen and television. Yes, and today, upon hearing the news, I feel a good bit older. Younger viewers likely will remember Jimmy Caan from playing Will Farrell's daddy in "Elf." His most famous role, surely, was that of Sonny Corleone in "The Godfather," perhaps the greatest movie ever made. But I will always remember him best for his role as Chicago Bears football player Brian Piccolo in "Brian's Song." There's a story there. Today, I'd like to tell it. "Brian's Song" came out on television in 1971. It was the ABC Movie of the Week, and it hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks. I was 18, trying my best to become a man. I watched with my brother Bobby and my mother on the console TV in the den of our Hattiesburg home. I wasn't expecting much, to tell you the truth. TV movies usually weren't especially good in those days. I didn't know much about Caan's work, and Billy Dee Williams, his co-star, was yet to become as widely known as "Brian's Song" would make him. ... So we watched and the film not only drew us in, but gripped us and gripped us tightly. |
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