| Friday, December 2, 2022 |
| Mississippi State University showcases a new aircraft | |
 | The crew at the Raspet Flight Research Lab at Mississippi State University unveiled the Teros UAS to members of the Starkville community Thursday morning. "The Teros is an 18 hundred pound uncrewed aircraft with a 44-foot wing span about 400 pounds of payload and can fly for about 24 hours without refueling," said director of the research lab Tom Brooks. Leaders at Raspet and the University are proud of Mississippi State's position in unmanned aircraft development. "We proudly conduct that work every single day supporting our federal partnerships to ensure that when uncrewed aviation integrates into the national airspace; it's done so in a safe and responsible way," said Brooks. Teros also has applications in agriculture, utility monitoring, meteorological research, and search and rescue missions. |
| Two Mississippi Museums to celebrate 5-year anniversary December 9-10 | |
 | It's been almost five years since the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum opened in Jackson, and since then, over half a million people have visited the Two Mississippi Museums. To celebrate, the Two Mississippi Museums will be hosting a free celebration on Friday, December 9, and Saturday, December 10. The event will include admission to the museums, live music, food trucks, and trackless train rides for children. "In celebrating this fifth anniversary, we acknowledge the wealth of opportunity and wisdom these museums gave us," Two Mississippi Museums Director Pamela D.C. Junior said. "More than 500,000 people have come together to listen, investigate, learn, and reflect on our Mississippi history. We look forward to continuing this journey with all of you, for many more years to come." Construction of the Two Mississippi Museums, which totaled $100 million, was funded by the Mississippi Legislature along with generous support from private donors, such as the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. "The Two Mississippi Museums preserve the painful stories and truths of our ancestors and are a testament to the deep resolve we have to healing our communities," Rhea Williams-Bishop, director of Mississippi and New Orleans programming for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, said. |
| Sharks and events at Mississippi Aquarium in Gulfport could draw people across state lines | |
 | The Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans is closed for the next six months for a $41 million makeover, and that could be an opportunity for the Mississippi Aquarium in Gulfport to draw new visitors. "We're actually looking at that right now," said Kurt Allen, chief executive officer of Mississippi Aquarium on Beach Boulevard in Gulfport. "We get a really good number of people coming out of Louisiana," he said, and he is looking at that market and how Gulfport can support it while the New Orleans aquarium is getting its upgrade. "People think we're competitors. We think of ourselves as collaborators," he said of the neighboring state aquariums. When Hurricane Ida hit New Orleans in 2021 and caused damage to the aquarium and power outages, some of the species from the Audubon Aquarium were moved to Gulfport, he said. Allen said he always looks at the two collections when adding species or attractions to see how best to grow. When the New Orleans attraction reopens, it will have a new name -- Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium, officials said. The IMAX screen will be gone to make more room for insects and butterflies and upgrades will be made to the aquarium. New Orleans isn't the only aquarium getting upgrades. Gulfport will have word of three new exhibits and additions next year that he can't announce just yet, Allen said. |
| Mississippi lawmakers to propose one-time tax rebate in 2023 | |
| The Mississippi legislature passed the largest tax cut in state history during the most recent session, and in spite of challenging economic times, they've managed a $1.5 billion surplus. At least two lawmakers -- Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann and Senate Appropriations Chairman Briggs Hopson -- think it's time to give some of that money back. "I proposed last year, and I will propose this year a tax rebate, which is a one-time payment. You're not going to break the budget by doing that. We know there are enough funds to be able to utilize that," Hopson said. "I feel like, especially if we end up in a recession next year, the opportunity to get some funds out and get it in people's pockets will help them absorb some of the high costs of products." Hosemann backed Hopson in offering a one-time rebate to Mississippi's taxpayers, saying that the state is in the best economic shape it's been in since 1817. "We're going to give them some of their money back," Hosemann said. "And it ought to be given back to them." As for how much would be go back into the pockets of taxpayers, Hopson said it would depend on income. "Anybody that paid an income tax would get some measure of relief, and then, there would be a cap on the top end." |
| Governor's Office of Military Affairs releases plan to grow Mississippi's defense economy | |
 | The Governor's Office of Military Affairs (GOMA) and the Mississippi Defense Initiative (MDI) at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) have announced plans to strengthen and grow Mississippi's defense economy in their report titled "The Future Fight: Mississippi's Defense Economy Strategic Plan." The recently released plan was developed to capitalize on trends in national defense and the security arena. The plan presents an economic and community development approach to growing the defense industry and strengthening defense communities. Governor Reeves said this new strategic plan is about laying the foundation for our state to compete for new and relevant defense investment. "Mississippi is proud to be a leader in the defense industry," Reeves said. "We want our research centers to develop military technologies, our manufacturing sector to produce them, and our military installations to deploy them. Mississippi and our economic engine stand ready to support our military in any way we can." According to the plan, Mississippi ranks 35th in population, but ranks 22nd in total defense spending. The defense economy represents 6.5% of Mississippi's overall gross domestic product (GDP). Haimes A. Kilgore, Program Director at MDI, said Mississippi's defense economy is a pivotal factor in our overall state economy, with 6.5 percent of our GDP coming from defense. |
| Perry County native, USM grad new commander at Camp Shelby | |
 | Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center has a new commanding officer. Perry County native and University of Southern Mississippi graduate Col. William "Lee" Henry became commander during a traditional ceremony at Camp Shelby Thursday afternoon. His military service began more than 31 years ago and he was most recently the director of military support for the Mississippi National Guard. He takes over for former commander Col. Rick Weaver, who led Camp Shelby the past two years. "You see the different commanders that are able to start something and they're never able to finish it, but I've been here long enough that I've been able to see things that have been in conception model, beginning, construction and completion," Col. Weaver said. "And now, as Colonel Henry comes in, he's gonna continue to push that forward." Weaver's next post will be in Jackson, as director of the construction and facilities management office for the Mississippi National Guard. "I am super excited," Henry said. "Camp Shelby is home for my family and I. We started out here, we grew up in the area and I'm looking forward to taking it into 2030 and beyond." |
| Legislature poised to clash over postpartum Medicaid again next year | |
 | The two chambers of the Mississippi Legislature appear headed toward another fight over a proposal to give new mothers increased health coverage under Medicaid. Senate Medicaid Chairman Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, told reporters after a hearing on Thursday that he "absolutely" intends to file a bill during the 2023 legislative session that would give new mothers postpartum Medicaid benefits for up to a year after giving birth. The Thursday committee heard from multiple medical experts about the benefits of increasing postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days -- the state's current policy -- to a full year. "We're just kind of preaching to the choir on this side," Blackwell said of his hearing. "But hopefully, there's evidence out there now that the House can now go back and review." Past testimony from health leaders has fallen on deaf ears in the House of Representatives. House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, has consistently opposed efforts to give qualified mothers additional postpartum Medicaid benefits, calling such additions a form of "Medicaid expansion," which he opposes. The House leader previously told reporters he would consider supporting postpartum benefits when the state Division of Medicaid publicly supports the policy. "They are the agency that's supposed to be the experts on the matter," Gunn said of the state agency. "So they are the ones that we look to to guide us on that." Wil Ervin, an administrator at the Division of Medicaid, told lawmakers on Thursday the agency won't recommend lawmakers either welcome or oppose postpartum extension coverage. Health leaders testified the money state leaders spent on expanding postpartum care would be repaid in both lives and tax dollars. |
| Postpartum Medicaid extension would cost Mississippi $7 million | |
 | A bipartisan committee of Senate lawmakers is seeking to extend post-partum Medicaid benefits from six weeks to a full twelve months. During a hearing held by the committee, doctors shared their expert knowledge on how this change could benefit parents, children and the state. Dr. Anita Henderson is President of the Mississippi Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. She says parents in states with extended postpartum Medicaid benefits are more likely to seek preventative medicine, which can help them avoid major health problems down the line. "So for care for their high blood pressure, care for their diabetes, care for all those chronic medical problems increase when they have access," says Dr. Henderson. "And traditionally, about half of all moms in the postpartum period do not keep that six week post partum visit, and that is an important visit." Women's bodies undergo major changes during pregnancy, where organs shift, immune systems weaken, and nutrients are shared with the fetus Doctors say bodies need time to recover from those changes after giving birth. "Some of these can be linked directly back to the physiology of pregnancy which does not return to normal in some women for up to a year after the birth of their child," says Dr. Martin Tucker Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He says everyone who gives birth is at a greater health risk, especially those who have pre-existing conditions." |
| Extending postpartum coverage to Mississippi mothers 'a no brainer,' key lawmaker says | |
| Mississippi can spend about $7 million a year to keep mothers and newborns healthier, or continue to spend tens of millions more dealing with the fallout of having the worst infant and maternal mortality and morbidity in the country, health experts told lawmakers Thursday. "This reminds me of that Midas commercial: Pay me now, or pay me later," said Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, chairman of the Senate Medicaid Committee. "The cost later is obviously significantly more. The relatively minimal amount to provide this care compared to the cost later -- it's a no brainer in my mind." Blackwell's committee on Thursday heard testimony from numerous health experts on benefits of increasing the length of postpartum Medicaid health coverage for mothers from 60 days to a year -- as most states have done or are considering. Postpartum coverage has been extended for mothers in all states during the federal pandemic health emergency but will end when the national emergency is ended, which is expected to happen soon. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann has vowed the Senate in the 2023 legislative session will again push for extending postpartum coverage. Early this year, Speaker Philip Gunn and the House leadership blocked three Senate attempts to extend the coverage. Gov. Tate Reeves has been noncommittal on the issue. But all three leaders have noted a need for policies to help new and expecting mothers and newborns after a ban on abortions is expected to add at least 5,000 more births in Mississippi each year. |
| This Mississippi leader is not conservative enough for Chris McDaniel. Will McDaniel run? | |
 | Chris McDaniel, a longtime Republican state senator and two-time challenger to statewide GOP incumbents, says he is tired of Republican leaders in Mississippi not being conservative enough, singling out Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, whom he referred to as a "Republican in name only." McDaniel, of Ellisville, said his frustrations with Hosemann -- who presides over the state Senate -- may motivate another primary challenge against a prominent Republican leader when statewide elections ramp up next year. "It's a general consensus to conservatives in the chamber that he is the roadblock to conservative reform in the state. Now, they're never going to say that. They're never going to say it out loud because to do so would invite retribution," McDaniel said. McDaniel said he is openly considering running against Hosemann, but he has not made a decision yet. Regardless, he plans to run for something in 2023. "I'll either run for reelection to my Senate position, or, as I said earlier, all the other options are still on the table as well, but certainly I'll be running for something," McDaniel said. One of the main issues McDaniel takes with Hosemann's leadership is the number of Democrats who chair Senate committees. He said it is just one sign of Hosemann giving Democrats what they want, at times at the expense of his fellow Republicans. |
| Express Grain Terminals: Farmers: When will we be paid? | |
| Attorneys for farmers in Express Grain's ongoing bankruptcy are seeking information on when they can expect money owed to them to be paid. Three farm groups filed a joint motion Thursday asking for a status conference. These groups are composed of dozens of farmers with an interest in Express Grain's ongoing affairs. "The intent of this Joint Motion is to manage expectations as to the future distributions to farmers and other parties-in-interest who have not been made whole," the motion said. "To that end, the Movants and this Court require additional information." Express Grain, the former grain storage and processing company, filed for bankruptcy in September 2021. The announcement by the company, which had been one of Leflore County's fastest-growing, stunned the community. Express Grain initially planned for reorganization, but those hopes fell apart as the company and its president, John Coleman, were accused of submitting fraudulent documents to state regulators. Meanwhile, farmers and creditors engaged in a legal battle for the rights to the money produced by Express Grain's wind-down operations. Farmers argued they were owed money for grain they delivered to the company, but creditors -- mostly large financial institutions -- argued the company sold the grain to them in exchange for financing. A settlement between the two sides was negotiated earlier this year, with farmers receiving under $9 million, or roughly 16% of the $57 million that was being fought over. The joint motion notes that some farmers have been paid but others haven't. The farmers seek information on scheduling for future payments. |
| November jobs report: Unemployment rate held steady at 3.7% with 263,000 jobs added | |
 | U.S. employers added 263,000 jobs in November as hiring remained sturdy despite rising interest rates, high inflation and mounting recession worries. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.7%, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg estimated that 200,000 jobs were added last month. The report likely will not be welcomed by a Federal Reserve looking for the supply of available workers to increase and job and wage growth to throttle back to cool inflation that, at 7.7%, is just modestly below a 40-year high. And that could mean continued aggressive interest rate hikes aimed at tempering price increases, a development that likely would batter stock markets that have rallied on hopes of slowing rate increases. In November, the share of adults working or looking for a job edged down to 62.1%, leaving it well below the pre-pandemic level of 63.4%. The labor force participation rate generally had been rising since 2020 as workers returned to a hot labor market after caring for children or staying idle because of COVID-19 fears. But that share has roughly held steady this year, underscoring that most Americans intent on returning to the workforce have done so, especially baby boomers who retired early during the pandemic. That could keep pay increases elevated as employers compete for a more limited pool of workers, forcing companies to raise prices further to maintain profits. Still, a labor market that was blistering earlier this year is losing some steam. Most economists are forecasting a recession next year as the Fed continues to hike rates, leading some companies to leave positions vacant when employees leave and freeze hiring. |
| Senate clears rail labor agreement, rejects sick leave | |
 | The Senate passed a resolution Thursday that would put in place the rail labor agreement reached by the White House, railroads and labor unions in September, but rejected a separate measure to provide an additional seven days of sick leave to workers. The rejection of the sick leave resolution serves a blow to rail union workers who held up the bargaining process and have threatened to strike Dec. 9 unless they get the additional sick leave. The passed resolution would prevent unions from striking by imposing a contract agreement. The Senate voted 80-15 to pass the labor resolution, which would enact contract agreement provisions including one of the largest wage packages in nearly five decades, according to its advocates, as well as increased health benefits. The resolution now heads to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it. "I want to thank Congressional leadership who supported the bill and the overwhelming majority of Senators and Representatives in both parties who voted to avert a rail shutdown," Biden said in a statement released by the White House after the vote. "Congress' decisive action ensures that we will avoid the impending, devastating economic consequences for workers, families, and communities across the country." |
| AP sources: Biden tells Dems he wants SC as 1st primary vote | |
 | President Joe Biden has declared that Democrats should give up "restrictive" caucuses and prioritize diversity at the start of their presidential primary calendar -- dealing a major blow to Iowa's decadeslong status as the state that leads off the process. In a letter Thursday to the rule-making arm of the Democratic National Committee, Biden did not mention specific states he'd like to see go first. But he has told Democrats he wants South Carolina moved to the first position, according to three people familiar with his recommendation who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. The president's direction came as the DNC rules committee gathered in Washington on Friday to vote on shaking up the presidential primary calendar starting in 2024. Members now expect to approve new rules putting South Carolina first, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada on the same day a week later. Georgia and Michigan would move into the top five as new early states, and each would hold primaries in subsequent weeks, committee members say. The two battlegrounds were critical to Biden's 2020 victory over then-President Donald Trump, who had won both states in his 2016 White House campaign. Much of the rest of the country would vote as part of Super Tuesday soon afterward. Such changes are set to come after years of calls from many top Democrats for the voting calendar to better reflect the party's deeply diverse base than mostly white Iowa, which holds the country's first caucus, and New Hampshire, which holds the first primary. |
| Trump expresses solidarity with Jan. 6 rioters who stormed the Capitol | |
 | Former president Donald Trump expressed solidarity with the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, sending a video of support to a fundraising event Thursday night hosted by a group called the Patriot Freedom Project that is supporting families of those being prosecuted by the government. "People have been treated unconstitutionally, in my opinion, and very, very unfairly, and we're going to get to the bottom of it," he said in the video, which appeared to have been shot at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. "It's the weaponization of the Department of Justice, and we can't let this happen in our country." Trump, who last month announced a 2024 White House bid, pledged that in coming months, he would take a close look at what he characterized as "a very unfair situation." The Patriot Freedom Project advertises itself as "a non-profit organization providing legal, financial, mental-health, and spiritual support for individuals and their families -- including young children -- who are suffering at the hands of a weaponized justice system." Trump repeatedly has made clear that he stands with the mob that stormed the Capitol to stop Congress from counting the electoral votes for Joe Biden's win in the 2020 presidential election. In September, Trump said he would issue full pardons and a government apology to the rioters, some of whom violently attacked law enforcement to stop the democratic transfer of power. The insurrection, the worst attack on the seat of U.S. democracy in more than two centuries, left four people dead, and police officer Brian D. Sicknick, who had been sprayed with a powerful chemical irritant, had two strokes and died the next day. About 140 members of law enforcement were injured as rioters attacked them with flagpoles, baseball bats, stun guns, bear spray and pepper spray. |
| Appeals Court Halts Special-Master Review of Trump Mar-a-Lago Documents | |
 | An appeals court has ordered an end to the "special master" process for reviewing documents seized from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence, delivering a major boost to the Justice Department's continuing criminal investigation. In a 3-0 decision issued on Thursday, a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta said Mr. Trump's objections to the search should have been promptly dismissed on jurisdictional grounds. The unanimous decision faulted U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida for delaying the Justice Department's investigation so that a court-appointed arbiter, known as a special master, could review the seized materials and decide whether some of them were privileged and should be kept from federal investigators. "The law is clear. We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant," the three-judge panel wrote. Doing so, it wrote, would amount to a "radical reordering of our case law limiting the federal courts' involvement in criminal investigations." The judges added that Mr. Trump shouldn't be entitled to any special treatment because of his status as a former president. "To create a special exception here would defy our Nation's foundational principle that our law applies to all, without regard to numbers, wealth, or rank," the panel said. The three judges on the panel -- Chief Judge William Pryor, Judge Britt Grant, and Judge Andrew Brasher -- were all nominated to the bench by Republican presidents. Mr. Trump appointed Judge Grant and Judge Brasher. Former President George W. Bush appointed Chief Judge Pryor. |
| Russia and Ukraine are fighting the first full-scale drone war | |
| A war that began with Russian tanks rolling across Ukraine's borders, World War I-style trenches carved into the earth and Soviet-made artillery pounding the landscape now has a more modern dimension: soldiers observing the battlefield on a small satellite-linked monitor while their palm-size drone hovers out of sight. With hundreds of reconnaissance and attack drones flying over Ukraine each day, the fight set off by a land grab befitting an 18th-century emperor has transformed into a digital-age competition for technological superiority in the skies -- one military annals will mark as a turning point. In past conflicts, drones were typically used by one side over largely uncontested airspace to locate and hit targets -- for example, in U.S. operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East. In the battle between Russia and Ukraine, drones are integrated into every phase of fighting, with extensive fleets, air defenses and jamming systems on each side. It is a war fought at a distance -- the enemy is often miles away -- and nothing bridges the gap more than drones, giving Russia and Ukraine the ability to see, and attack, each other without ever getting close. Drones have become so critical to battlefield success that at times they are used to take out other drones. |
| What we know about the deadliest U.S. bird flu outbreak in history | |
 | The U.S. is enduring an unprecedented poultry health disaster, with a highly contagious bird flu virus triggering the deaths of some 52.7 million animals. The culprit is highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI. It has ravaged farm flocks and chicken yards in 46 states since February, when the first cases were reported in commercial flocks. It's the worst toll on the poultry industry since 2014-2015, when more than 50 million birds died. That earlier outbreak also started in the winter -- but while that ordeal was over by the following June, the current outbreak lasted through the summer and has surged anew. "I'm hopeful that this is not the new normal for us," Dr. Richard Webby, director of the World Health Organization's Collaborating Center for Studies on the the Ecology of Influenza in Animals, tells NPR. Some birds have died from the disease itself, but the vast majority are being culled through flock "depopulation," to try to stop the virus from spreading. That includes millions of chickens and turkeys in barns and backyards that had been raised to provide eggs or meat. The losses stretch across the U.S., and they're deepest in the country's middle: More than 1 million birds have been killed in each of 11 states that stretch from Utah to the Midwest and on to Delaware, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Unlike the 2014-15 outbreak, this one is being driven by wild birds, not by farm-to-farm transmission. If you like to eat chicken, you're in luck. This version of the influenza virus doesn't affect "broilers" -- chickens raised for meat -- as badly it does "layers" -- table-egg laying hens -- and turkeys. "For whatever reason, turkeys and layer birds tend to be more susceptible" to the virus, says Amy Hagerman, an assistant professor at Oklahoma State University who specializes in agricultural economics. |
| Man charged with murder of Ole Miss student released on bond | |
| The man charged with first-degree murder in the case of a University of Mississippi student who has been missing since early July was released on a $250,000 bond Thursday. Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., 22, faces a murder charge for the suspected killing of 20-year-old Jimmie "Jay" Lee, whose body has yet to be found after his July 8 disappearance. Lee was well-known in the LGBTQ community of the town of Oxford, and his disappearance sparked fear among students and residents. Herrington was arrested two weeks after Lee vanished. Lee was last seen at an apartment complex in Oxford. In August, Judge Grady F. Tollison III initially denied bond for Herrington. Third Circuit Court District Attorney Ben Creekmore and Herrington's defense attorney reached an agreement for Herrington to become eligible for bond while surrendering his passport and wearing an ankle monitor, WMC-TV reported. Herrington has maintained his innocence since being charged. In October, he filed a lawsuit against Lafayette County Sheriff's Department, claiming he was being held in jail without direct evidence to implicate him in Lee's murder. |
| Country music star Morgan Wallen to perform at Ole Miss | |
 | In an unprecedented event, Ole Miss Athletics announced Thursday that contemporary country music superstar Morgan Wallen will headline a concert in April 2023 at Vaught-Hemingway stadium as part of his "One Night at a Time" world tour. This is the first time that a major musical event has performed at the Vaught. Months removed from the performance in late April, the campus is already buzzing with excitement. "Best news I could have ever received on the Thursday before finals," a UM student said under Ole Miss Athletics' announcement on Instagram. Wallen, a 29-year-old Tennessee native, has a music career that spans nearly a decade. Massively successful, Wallen is known for penning and performing smash hits in the country and bro-country genre. Despite massive commercial success, Wallen's time in the limelight has been repeatedly marred by his inability to keep himself out of controversy. Most infamously, Wallen was caught on camera using a racial slur. The video of Wallen using the n-word, filmed in January 2021, surfaced the following month. The incident resulted in a deluge of public criticism -- several radio stations, music platforms, artists, associations and even his own record label condemned and severed ties with him, though most have since been restored. Despite fans rushing to his defense, Wallen issued an apology shortly after the video surfaced. Many noted that his streams and album sales surged in the months following the incident. Though many are looking forward to the concert, others in the Ole Miss community are questioning whether allowing Wallen to perform here is the right thing to be doing. |
| What it means to be a new teacher in 2022: 'I'm a student teaching students' | |
| It's 7 a.m., and 23-year-old Maria D'Angelo is in her car in New York City, waiting for street parking to open up outside the school where she's a student teacher. "Granted, there is a parking lot there that I could pay for," said D'Angelo. "But it makes me wake up early to look for parking every single day." Like you might expect from someone willing to wait 20 minutes to parallel park, D'Angelo, who majored in economics, is very budget-minded, and first considered a job in finance. "I had to have an internal talk with myself and realize that 'you do love teaching. The money really doesn't matter,'" D'Angelo said. D'Angelo starts her first job teaching preschool in Queens later this month. She expects to make around $65,000. That's a bit higher than the median wage for elementary school teachers across the U.S., which is $61,400, and more than double the median wage for preschool teachers, which is $30,210. D'Angelo eventually hopes to specialize in special education, but now, she says: bring on the four-year-olds. There are just under 7.8 million people working in American public schools, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That includes roles like bus drivers and cafeteria workers, as well as teachers. The education workforce is still much lower than where it was in February 2020. Districts, flush with cash from federal Covid relief funds, are looking to hire, and new teachers are figuring out what it means to work in schools in the wake of a pandemic. There's a lot at stake early in a teacher's career. According to an analysis of pre-pandemic data by the non-profit Learning Policy Institute, at least 19% of teachers quit within their first five years. |
| Soaring into a new stage: Southeastern Raptor Center names new director and celebrates 50th anniversary | |
 | Auburn University's Southeastern Raptor Center celebrates its 50th anniversary and looks to the future with the hiring of a new director, Wade Stevens. "I'm just really excited about all the opportunities here," Stevens said. "There's just so much untapped potential." For 50 years the Raptor Center has been a division of the College of Veterinary Medicine and is known for training the eagles that fly over Jordan-Hare Stadium before football games and for providing education, rehabilitation and conservation efforts for raptors. The center rehabilitates injured and orphaned wild raptors including hawks, owls, eagles, falcons, kites and vultures and conducts educational programs throughout the Southeast promoting awareness and appreciation for birds of prey. Stevens previously worked for the City of Orange Beach in Alabama for 26 years where he had a variety of different leadership roles in public safety and wildlife protection. His wife Paula is a teacher at West Forest Intermediate in Opelika and they have twins, a daughter and son, who are both sophomores at Auburn University. tevens work with wildlife began around 1994 and the first animal he ever rehabilitated and released was a red tail hawk. "Raptors were kind of the very beginning and from there it just kind of diversified into just about everything we had there on the coast," he said. "A lot of the early work focused around sea turtle programs and marine mammal strandings." Stevens then helped to build the Orange Beach Wildlife Center from the ground up. Once the position for director of the Raptor Center became available, he jumped on the opportunity. |
| U. of Kentucky to remove, relocate controversial mural | |
| University of Kentucky president Eli Capilouto announced Nov. 22 the Board of Trustees has set aside funds to make university spaces more inclusive, including removing and relocating the controversial mural in the university's Memorial Hall. The mural has been a topic of debate over the years because of the depiction of African Americans in the 1934 fresco by Ann Rice O'Hanlon. The removal is part of millions authorized by the board to renovate university spaces. Capilouto said he is working towards making the university a more inclusive space, especially during the recent events where a white student was caught on video repeatedly using racial slurs towards a Black student. "For many, Memorial Hall is an iconic building in the heart of our campus. For many others, it is a space where a mural, in place since the 1930s, depicts in a distorted fashion the way enslaved people and other marginalized peoples were treated in Kentucky," Capilouto said in a statement. Capilouto announced the intention of removing the mural in June 2020, but met with a lawsuit that Kentucky author Wendell Berry filed against the university and criticism from the National Coalition Against Censorship. According to the lawsuit, the mural is a publicly-owned piece of art that promotes education, and it would be unsafe to remove. The university is in mediation with Berry which is delaying establishing a time for removal or setting a spot for relocation of the mural, said Jay Blanton, the university's spokesperson. He said the president is forming a group to get suggestions on the programming and design of the space. |
| Why does Florida have so many failed leadership searches? | |
 | Hurricane Ian ripped through Florida this fall, prompting Florida Gulf Coast University to postpone its presidential selection process when the storm delayed the finalists' visits to campus. Weeks later, the search imploded in failure when two of the three finalists suddenly withdrew their candidacies. What really blew the search off course, critics say, wasn't a hurricane but rather Florida's politics. Some 150 miles away, the University of South Florida underwent its own failed search for a provost and has since rebooted the effort, announcing that none of the first-round finalists were still under consideration. These two failures come on the heels of challenges hiring a president at Florida International University, as well as a search for the chancellor position at the State University System of Florida that yielded only eight applicants -- and ultimately went to former Republican state senator Ray Rodrigues. Critics blame the failures on the politics of Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, who has focused on reining in colleges that he believes are bastions of liberalism. Those who have overseen the failed searches offer contradictory claims or are simply not saying anything at all. Draft legislation has also shown that DeSantis has ambitions to strip institutions of autonomy and give state officials more control over higher education, including over hiring and curriculum. Now critics say the DeSantis administration's efforts are actively harming higher education recruitment in Florida as public universities struggle to fill top administrative posts and hire faculty. |
| As enrollment falls and skepticism grows, some colleges are cutting prices | |
| Bright fall hues and neatly manicured lawns frame redbrick buildings and a white wooden church steeple on a peaceful New England main street with a view of the White Mountains in the distance. It's an unlikely setting for a high-stakes gamble that could help drive dramatic change to a contentious issue: how, and how much, Americans pay to get a higher education. Colby-Sawyer College, a nearly 200-year-old institution that inhabits a campus in the heart of this bucolic town, has announced that it will lower its tuition next year for undergraduates by 62 percent, from $46,364 to $17,500. Already, as enrollment erodes and public skepticism mounts about the need for a degree, the pace of annual increases in tuition and fees -- which for years rose three times faster than the cost of everything else -- has for the first time since the early 1980s slowed to a rate that's well below inflation. Now some higher education institutions are starting to lower their prices. "There was a time when colleges and universities could price with impunity, when there was always sufficient demand that they could raise what they charged and be sure that people were going to find a way to pay," said Will Doyle, a professor of higher education at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College of Education and Human Development. "But that time appears to be over." |
| Applying to College, and Trying to Appear 'Less Asian' | |
 | When it came time to fill out his college application form, Max Li chose not to declare his race. Even though he knew his last name sounded Chinese, he selected "prefer not to say." Clara Chen was advised to avoid the Advanced Placement exam for Chinese because college admissions officers might assume, based on her last name, that she already spoke the language, which could undermine the value of her score. She took the test for Advanced Placement French instead. When Marissa Li was growing up, she loved playing competitive chess, and spent hours studying the matches of some of her favorite players, like Bobby Fischer. But on her college application, she barely mentioned her interest in the game because she was afraid that it might come across as too stereotypically Asian. "It is a little sad now that I think about it," Ms. Li, 20, said in a recent interview. "I wasn't really able to talk about the activities that meant the most to me." In October, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a lawsuit brought by Students for Fair Admissions that accused Harvard of systematically discriminating against Asian American applicants. That lawsuit seems to have confirmed what many Asian American teenagers have quietly thought for years, as they downplayed aspects of their identity or changed their hobbies or interests as part of an effort to appear, as students, parents and college admissions counselors said, "less Asian." Asian Americans are a hugely diverse, complicated group, and students don't fit into cookie-cutter stereotypes. But in the high-stakes competition for spots at elite colleges, in which so much of an applicant's life must be boiled down to 500 or so words, many Asian American students are acutely aware of what not to be. |
| U.S. Supreme Court Will Take Up Biden's Debt-Cancellation Plan | |
 | The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the legality of President Biden's loan-forgiveness plan, which is currently blocked by a lower court's injunction. The justices will hear oral arguments in February, according to a court order on Thursday. Biden's plan would cancel $10,000 in student-loan debt for individual borrowers who earn less than $125,000 a year and for households that make less than $250,000. Pell Grant recipients would get up to $20,000 shaved off their debt. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the program would cost $400 billion over the next three decades. Nearly 26 million borrowers have applied for relief from the program since its announcement, in August, and 16 million applications have been approved by the U.S. Education Department. But court rulings have prevented any debt from being canceled, frustrating borrowers and leaving college financial-aid offices inundated with questions. The program has stopped accepting applications while the court battles play out. Last month a federal judge in Texas ruled the program unlawful, saying it infringed on Congress's power. Days later, in a separate lawsuit against the program, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, in St. Louis, also ruled against the Biden administration, extending a hold the court had placed on the program in October at the behest of six Republican-led states. In response, the U.S. Justice Department petitioned the Supreme Court to lift the Eighth Circuit's injunction. The injunction remains in effect pending oral arguments in the case, Biden v. Nebraska, No. 22-506. The Supreme Court typically issues its highest-profile rulings in May or June each year. The court said it would be considering whether the six Republican-led states have standing to bring the case and whether the plan exceeds the secretary of education's authority. |
| Supreme Court takes up debt-relief lawsuit | |
| The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether the Biden administration's plan to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student loans for eligible Americans is legal. Last month, the Biden administration asked the court to lift an injunction currently blocking the debt-relief plan. If the court wouldn't lift the injunction, the administration wanted Justice Brett Kavanaugh to grant a petition for a writ of certiorari and for the Supreme Court to hear the case on an expedited schedule. Kavanaugh handles emergency applications for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which issued the injunction. "Only prompt review by this court would avoid the prolonged uncertainty that the Eighth Circuit's sweeping injunction would otherwise inflict on millions of vulnerable borrowers," Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote in a court filing this week. Oral arguments in the case will be held in February as part of the court's current session; meanwhile, the injunction remains in place, according to the court's announcement Thursday. Several other lawsuits challenging the plan are still progressing through the federal court system and could soon reach the Supreme Court as well. Most recently, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied the administration's request that it block a district judge's ruling vacating the debt-relief program. |
| Senators introduce legislation to bolster Title IX protections | |
 | Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) will introduce new anti-harassment legislation Thursday that aims to strengthen Title IX protections for student survivors of sexual assault or harassment. The Students' Access to Freedom and Educational Rights (SAFER) Act would bring Title IX, which prohibits educational institutions receiving federal funding from discriminating based on sex, more in line with Title VII, which prevents sex discrimination in the workplace, according to details of the bill, shared first with The Hill. Standards for Title IX sexual harassment complaints are currently far higher than those applicable to workplace sexual harassment lawsuits, with Title IX plaintiffs required to prove they were subject to "severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive harassment" that school administrators were aware of but failed to act on. In contrast, under Title VII, a plaintiff experiencing harassment by a coworker or other non-supervisor must only show that their employer knew about the harassment and responded negligently. Casey and Hirono's SAFER Act would amend Title IX and other statutes prohibiting sex-based discrimination to remove "unreasonably burdensome" standards for private harassment lawsuits seeking damages. Thursday's bill would also bolster protections against harassment based on sex – including sexual orientation and gender identity – and improve institutional supports for student survivors. It also calls for the development and administration of a climate survey on K-12 students' experiences with domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment and stalking. |
SPORTS
| Chris Jans seeing buy-in from Mississippi State players, fans amid 7-0 start | |
 | Before Chris Jans could say a word at his first Dawg Talk radio show on Wednesday night at Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux, a woman in a maroon Mississippi State sweatshirt seated at the bar grabbed hold of her cowbell and rang it loudly. The excitement of the MSU fan base toward its new men's basketball coach was already apparent. Jans, hired in March from New Mexico State, has drawn praise from just about everyone associated with Mississippi State, and his early winning ways are proof of that. The Bulldogs (7-0) can match their best start in five years with a win over Mississippi Valley State (1-7) at 1 p.m. Saturday, and Jans wants to secure as big a crowd as he can for the Magnolia State's only Division I basketball game that day. Informed Walk-On's would open at 8:30 a.m. Saturday for the U.S. men's soccer World Cup round of 16 game against the Netherlands at 9 a.m., Jans floated a double-dip to those in attendance Wednesday. "It'll be a really good segue -- get your breakfast in here, maybe a little pregame, come to the Hump at 1 o'clock as we play then," he said. Mississippi State has averaged a little over 6,000 fans in each of its first four home games, roughly two-thirds of the capacity of the under-construction Humphrey Coliseum. That number is likely to grow if the Bulldogs keep winning, particularly once they enter Southeastern Conference play Dec. 28 against Alabama. So far, Jans acknowledged in a media session earlier Wednesday, Mississippi State has impressed him. But there's more to be done. "We're just scratching the surface of what we could be and should be, in my opinion," Jans said. |
| Why Mississippi State women's basketball guard Anastasia Hayes is embracing new roles | |
| Mississippi State women's basketball coach Sam Purcell looked down at the box score after his team's win against Colorado State on Nov. 20 and smirked. He wasn't smiling at the 71-66 final score or the 12 points he got from forward Jessika Carter. He was looking at Anastasia Hayes' numbers, but he wasn't happy about the 18 points she scored. Purcell's exuberance was due to the 10 rebounds the 5-foot-7 point guard snatched. "I'm all smiles," Purcell said. "I'm so happy for her." Hayes knew she'd get that reaction from the first-year coach. Purcell meets with the points guards once a week, and rebounding is a major talking point − even with players such as Hayes who is the SEC's returning leading scorer. With each rebound in the win over the Rams, Hayes glanced over to the bench -- reciprocating Purcell's excitement. "He has been challenging me to get rebounds," Hayes said. "He said at least our guards get three, four rebounds, and he told us to look at him when we get those rebounds. Today, I told him, 'Well, that's 10, coach.' " Hayes' journey to Starkville was a winding road. |
| Mississippi State football's offensive line gets boost with Kameron Jones' 2023 decision | |
| Mississippi State football players have flooded social media feeds this week. The words, "Run it back" are the constant theme, which bodes well for MSU fans. Linebacker Nathaniel Watson and defensive linemen Jaden Crumedy, Jordan Davis and Nathan Pickering have announced their intent to return next season for their final seasons of eligibility. The offense joined the fun Thursday. Offensive lineman Kameron Jones is returning next season to use his extra COVID-19 season granted by the NCAA. Jones started 12 games for Mississippi State at right tackle this season, though he only played 12 snaps in the Egg Bowl before leaving with a foot/leg injury. That came after starting at left guard last season. Jones joined MSU in 2018 and redshirted his freshman season. He didn't see any game action in 2019 before starting six games in 2020. Jones is a Starkville native and attended Starkville High School. |
| Jordan Davis becomes latest Mississippi State football defender to announce 2023 return | |
| Mississippi State's defense got even more good news Thursday. A day after linebacker Nathaniel Watson and defensive tackle Jaden Crumedy announced on social media they would "run it back" in 2023, defensive end Jordan Davis made the same announcement. "I push myself to the limit," Davis wrote. "I dedicate myself to this craft. Let's run it back." The graduate student from Memphis returned to action in 2022 after an ACL tear sidelined him for the entire 2021 season. In 10 games, Davis recorded 25 tackles, including 2.5 for loss. He forced a fumble in the season opener against Memphis. Davis's return bolsters a defensive line bringing back Crumedy and nose tackle Nathan Pickering, who tweeted after last week's Egg Bowl win over Ole Miss, "(c)an't wait to play this game again next year in Davis Wade." Pickering officially announced Thursday afternoon he would return in 2023. |
| Williams Voted SEC Football Scholar-Athlete Of The Year | |
| Mississippi State senior wide receiver Austin Williams has been named the SEC Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year by a vote of the league's head coaches, it was announced Thursday (Dec. 1). Williams is a two-time first-team Academic All-American and has posted a 4.0 cumulative GPA during his time at Mississippi State. He is currently working on his third degree. He was previously selected as a member of the 2022 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class and is a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which is college football's premier scholar-athlete award. Williams earlier this year was named the 2021-22 SEC H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the highest honor an SEC athlete can earn in any sport. A native of Ocean Springs, Miss., Williams has 32 receptions for 269 yards and five touchdowns this season. He is also ranked second for the lowest drop rate of any active SEC wide receiver with a minimum of 100 targets since 2019 (2.0 percent). Williams is the first Mississippi State student-athlete to earn SEC Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors since the award's inception in 2003. He was named to the SEC Football Community Service Team on Wednesday. |
| Mississippi State football DB Emmanuel Forbes declares for NFL Draft | |
| Mississippi State football defensive back Emmanuel Forbes is foregoing his senior season and has declared for the 2023 NFL Draft, he announced via social media Thursday night. "Deciding to play for Mississippi State has been one of the best decisions I have ever made," Forbes wrote. "I have grown off the field just as much as I have developed on it." Forbes did not announce anything regarding his status for MSU's bowl game. Forbes' six interceptions this season are tied for the most in the nation. He returned three of those for touchdowns. Of his 14 career interceptions, six have been returned for touchdowns -- an FBS record. Forbes is a native of Grenada and attended Grenada High School, where he was a four-star prospect, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. This marks the second straight season MSU has had a corner forego his senior season for the NFL. Last season, Martin Emerson did so and was taken in the third round of the NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. |
| Mississippi State cornerback Emmanuel Forbes declares for 2023 NFL draft | |
| Mississippi State cornerback Emmanuel Forbes will forgo his senior season and declare for the NFL draft, Forbes tweeted Thursday evening. The Grenada native turns pro after a standout three-year career in Starkville. "Deciding to play for Mississippi State has been one of the best decisions I have ever made," Forbes' post read. "I have grown off the field just as much as I have developed on it." Forbes tied for the national lead in interceptions this season with six. He set Southeastern Conference and FBS career records with six interceptions returned for touchdowns. He finished with 14 interceptions in his career with the Bulldogs. A number of Bulldogs have elected to return for 2023, including linebacker Nathaniel Watson, defensive tackle Jaden Crumedy, defensive end Jordan Davis and right tackle Kameron Jones. Forbes won't be one of them, but he'll head to the professional ranks with a shot at being a mid-round pick or better. |
| Cowboys QB Dak Prescott addresses Jerry Jones desegregation photo: 'Give grace' | |
| Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott encouraged others to "give grace" after being asked about a photograph of a 14-year-old Jerry Jones in attendance at a desegregation effort in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. "Obviously we can be more empathetic and give grace to one another, regardless of race," Prescott told reporters. "From the times we've come from to where we are now, thinking about the growth we've had. "As a guy who is completely biracial, Black and white, it's easy for me to speak on race on one side or another." The Associated Press photo shows the Cowboys owner with a group of white students trying to block Black students from entering North Little Rock High School. Like Jones, who addressed the photograph at length last Thursday, Prescott noted that the photograph is from 65 years ago. "I mean, look at the man's resumé since then, right?" said Prescott. "As I said, give grace." Jones has said that he was just a bystander in the photo and didn't participate in trying to deny Black students entry into the school. "I'm sure glad that we're a long way from that," Jones said. "I am." Prescott agreed, saying "unfortunate things come up from the past, pictures, and they show how far we've come." |
| College Football Playoff expands to 12 teams in 2024 season | |
| Over the past 25 years, college football's postseason format for crowning a national champion has grown from two teams to four and now, starting in 2024, to 12. For a sport that started in 1869 and spent most of the 20th century using bowls and polls to determine who was No. 1, evolution has hit warp speed, racing from Bowl Championship Series to College Football Playoff 2.0. "The times change, things change," CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock said. "Things have moved pretty quickly relative to the last 153 years." The CFP announced Thursday it will expand to a 12-team event in two years, completing an 18-month process that was fraught with delays and disagreements. It is a momentous step that will bring in billions of dollars in television revenue and change the very fabric of the postseason. The announcement came a day after the Rose Bowl agreed to amend its contract for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the last hurdle CFP officials needed cleared to triple the size of what is now a four-team format. "I never gave up," Hancock said. Expansion is expected to produce about $450 million in additional gross revenue for the conferences and schools that participate. The CFP's current 12-year contract with ESPN runs through the 2025-26 season. CFP officials have said they would like to explore having multiple broadcast partners in the next cycle. |
| College Football Playoff expansion: What you need to know | |
| Finally. A process that began with a news release on June 10, 2021, came to a resolution this week when the College Football Playoff announced Thursday it will expand the sport's postseason to 12 teams in time for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. A whole new set of challenges began this fall, when the 11 presidents and chancellors who comprise the CFP's board of managers took control of the process and voted in early September to expand the field to 12 teams in 2026. Since then, the presidents urged the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick to figure out a way to do in time for the 2024 season. This week, it all hinged on the Rose Bowl -- the most storied and traditional bowl -- relinquishing its request that the CFP guarantee the bowl its traditional New Year's Day time slot at 2 p.m. PT in the next contract, which begins in 2026. "It's no secret that we were down to the final minutes of the fourth quarter," CFP executive director Bill Hancock said. "And there was no overtime. And if we hadn't reached an agreement, there's no question in my mind that we would've continued the four-team playoff through the 2024 and 2025 seasons. No question in my mind. But we're here to celebrate the fact we did reach an agreement. I feel a little bit like every coach who says we're going to celebrate this for 24 hours and we'll get started on next week. That's what will happen here. There are lots of details to put together for [2024], but I'm delighted we get the opportunity to put those details together." How did they finally come to an agreement with the Rose Bowl? Who benefits the most from the new deal? And what comes next? |
| Sugar Bowl likely headed for all-playoff future within CFP | |
 | After this season, the Sugar Bowl appears headed for an all-playoff future. The College Football Playoff announced Thursday that it will expand to 12 teams in 2024. It also included confirmation that the Sugar Bowl will serve as quarterfinal games in 2024 and 2025 -- and although future seasons are not yet set in stone, Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley said he had been given "every reasonable assurance" that the Sugar Bowl will continue to be part of the 12-team playoff format. "This is a very good day for the Sugar Bowl, for the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana," Hundley said. "Every Sugar Bowl will be of national significance and consequence. It's hard to see that in any way but being positive." The Sugar Bowl was already a CFP semifinal in 2023, the last season for the current system. Thursday's change means that this year's game will be the sixth and final Sugar Bowl to match the top non-playoff teams from the Southeastern Conference and the Big 12. That arrangement has been in place since 2014. Hundley said details in the Sugar Bowl's current contract with the SEC and Big 12 have yet to be resolved, but he anticipates no problems. "Our partnership with the SEC and the Big 12 has been extremely good," Hundley said. "The playoffs have created some unintended consequences and taken some of the luster off of all the bowl games. "But when you look at the matchups we've had ... you realize we've been very fortunate." |
| Auburn grads, students say Hugh Freeze hire reflects school handling of rape cases: 'Embarrassing' | |
 | When Madeline Burkhardt, a third-generation Auburn University graduate, heard about the school's hire of head football coach Hugh Freeze, she pulled out her notes app and started typing a letter. She felt someone should know the story of her grandmother, Mary Rosser Burkhardt, who was one of a small number of female graduates in the 1930s. Burkhardt grew up hearing her grandmother's tales of greasing down the railroad tracks before a big game. If anyone spoke during the alma mater song, she would shush them, Burkhardt said. "No one disrespected my grandmother's alma mater," she wrote. "I write to you today because I will not allow you to disrespect mine." Burkhardt is one of many Auburn alumni who have pushed back against the university's hire of Freeze, who has been accused of inappropriate conduct during his time at Ole Miss and Briarcrest Christian School, and who received widespread backlash for appearing to harass a sexual assault survivor. For some, the issue is not just with an individual hire -- but also what Freeze's hire says about Auburn's response to sexual violence on or near campus, and who is considered a role model on campus. Over the past year, Auburn also has been criticized over its handling of allegations against a former dean and over reports of sexual assault. "Survivors often have their voices stifled or fully muted by those in power," Burkhardt wrote. "I know that my grandmother and the other Auburn women who came before me would not want me to be quiet. This isn't my grandmother's vision for her beloved alma mater, and it surely isn't mine." |
| SEC commissioner Sankey says he looks forward to working with Freeze again | |
| SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said he spoke with new Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze on Thursday, and said he's looking forward to working with him again as part of the conference. Sankey spoke on a teleconference Thursday in the leadup to the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. He said the phone call he shared with Freeze early on Thursday was "very positive." Freeze coached at Ole Miss from 2012-2016, and left the school amid scandal surrounding his personal conduct but also scandal surrounding his program's operation within NCAA and SEC rules: Ultimately 27 of Freeze's wins at Ole Miss were vacated over a series of recruiting violations. In April 2016, Laremy Tunsil told reporters on draft night flatly that he accepted money from an Ole Miss coach during Freeze's time as head coach. Sankey said he talked with Freeze in recent years, after his departure from Ole Miss. "I look from this point forward," Sankey said on Thursday's teleconference. "We're informed by people's pasts. Hugh and I actually had an individual phone call earlier today, very positive. That's not the first phone call he and I've had in the last five years." Freeze was formally introduced as Auburn's head coach at that press conference Tuesday morning. He is now working to build a coaching staff with the opening of the transfer portal looming Dec. 5. |
| Schools increasingly giving disgraced coaches second chances | |
| The questions came one after another the moment Xavier announced it was bringing back Sean Miller, its former and wildly successful basketball coach. The guy who had been fired by Arizona and left in his wake multiple NCAA violations. Most of them were of the variety of: "What were you thinking?" Athletic director Greg Christopher went on the defensive, calling the allegations "troubling." He said Xavier maintains a program of "high integrity" and that Miller had learned from his mistakes. Yet the Musketeers are hardly the only one taking chances on coaches with checkered pasts these days. Just this week, Auburn hired once-disgraced Liberty coach Hugh Freeze to lead its football team, raising plenty of eyebrows on the Plains. It begs the question: Has the line of acceptability when it comes to hiring coaches shifted as the stakes soar ever higher, to the point where a successful coach who may have once been persona non grata is now greeted with open arms? How toxic is too toxic? "That's an interesting question, and I think it is 100% situational with the school," said Kyle Bowlsby, who runs Bowlsby Sports Advisors, a search firm that assists colleges and universities through the hiring process. The creation of name, image and likeness legislation that allows college athletes to profit for the first time has made what was once an NCAA violation a key sales point or recruiting pitch. And when penalties do arise, the NCAA has been reluctant to hand down the sort of long-ranging punishments that hit athletics programs hard. |
| Sports Betting Companies Advertise on College Campuses -- but Not to Students, They Say | |
| With the rise of sports betting, one playing field has become a dividing line in the U.S. gambling industry: college campuses. Caesars Entertainment Inc. has signed marketing deals with the Louisiana State University and Michigan State University athletics programs, giving the Las Vegas-based sports-betting operator access to advertise in college stadiums and other sports facilities and in digital and broadcast sports content, among other rights, according to the company. Financial terms of the deals haven't been disclosed. Meanwhile, gambling regulators have also considered stricter rules about advertising to people younger than 21. Some states with legal sports betting have attempted to build a barrier by banning wagers on in-state university teams. Some gambling executives have said sponsorship deals with universities should be off-limits. The National Collegiate Athletic Association has hosted education sessions about the risks of sports wagering on about 60 college campuses over the past year, in partnership with a nonprofit funded by gambling company Entain PLC. Caesars executives say the deals with universities give the industry access to college alumni and older fans who can bet legally, and steps are taken to avoid marketing to the under-21 crowd. Caesars has agreed to fund gambling education for students as part of the agreements, the company said. Eric Hession, president of Caesars Digital, said the LSU deal is about reaching alumni and older LSU fans, and the company is committed to marketing only to people 21 and older. LSU Athletics said in a written statement that the program is proud of the Caesars partnership, and the revenues generated from the deal are reinvested into student-athletes. |
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