| Thursday, May 18, 2023 |
| When Does 'Saving' Animals Become Unhealthy Hoarding? | |
 | It's a wonderful thing to try to save stray animals, but for some people it can turn into a form of hoarding that's dangerous for pets and humans alike. People who "hoard" animals may feel like they're saving them, but caring for many pets may take a toll on their well-being and that of the animals they take in, according to a new study. "Although most folks with hoarding disorder collect objects, for some folks their main struggle is having more animals than they can care for," said lead author Mary Dozier, an assistant professor of psychology at Mississippi State University. "Most research on animal hoarding has focused on extreme cases," she said in a university news release. "We wanted to look at what normative patterns of animal ownership look like, particularly in a rural setting, and if there were any trends we could discover related to animal health." To do that, Dozier and her colleague Ben Porter examined a decade's worth of records from MSU's College of Veterinary Medicine. The study looked for the number of cats and dogs per household and indicators of animal health. This included positive indicators, such as dental visits, and negative ones, such as hydration problems. Dozier said people who have animal hoarding disorder may not recognize that these tendencies are impacting the health of their pets. |
| 'Snip and Spay Clinic' one of humane society's expansion projects | |
 | An Oktibbeha County Humane Society expansion under construction will bolster the organization's spay/neuter and animal transportation services. This week, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals announced it would provide a $900,000 grant dedicated to the expansion of OCHS's shelter at 510 Industrial Park Road into the OCHS Animal Support Center. The total cost for the project is estimated at $1.2 million. "The support center is not just describing a building," OCHS Executive Director Michele Anderson said. "... We're expanding our programming, and it's basically going to be our campus. We're focusing on expanding our transport capacity and tripling our spay and neuter efforts." Anderson said OCHS acts as a "hub" for its 17-county service area, as the humane society regularly helps other shelters in the region with animal transportation and snip and spay services. Anderson said the grant will help with building two new facilities on the north side of the OCHS campus, including a new OCHS Snip and Spay Clinic and the VanLandingham Kennel Building, which will house the humane society's animal transport service. She said the two new buildings will be added to the south end of the campus. OCHS celebrated the groundbreaking for the Animal Support Center on Monday with Mayor Lynn Spruill and representatives from ASPCA. The center is expected to be open by fall. |
| Goings on with Grant: Coffee Depot opens June 5 | |
| I don't know about you, but a fresh cup of coffee in the morning always hits the spot, and the same sentiment goes for new coffee shops popping up in Starkville. Coffee Depot, located in the old BJ's Family Pharmacy location at 223 S. Jackson St., will open June 5, owner Sarah Morgan Pellum said. Pellum told me the latest coffee shop on the bulldog block finished construction and renovations in April and has been hiring since early May. The Depot has even been hosting small soft openings to test out some of its bakery options with its full menu of coffee mixtures. I can't wait for a classic cafe mocha and a blueberry scone, but that's just me. "​​We are just trying to perfect all of our recipes before we open," she said. If you would like to get in on this early bird special of sorts, Pellum said you can visit Coffee Depot Thursday and Friday from 7 a.m.-6 p.m. "It is really exciting," Pellum said. "I've been dreaming about this for the past year. So, for it to be actually happening and to be serving people is really fun." |
| Neel-Schaffer acquisition of Calvert-Spradling gives firm foothold in Clay County | |
| Calvert-Spradling Engineers Inc., a civil-engineering firm based in West Point, has merged with Neel-Schaffer, Inc. and added Clay County and West Point to the firm's Golden Triangle operations. Neel-Schaffer's North Mississippi Manager, Kevin Stafford, told The Dispatch the merger took immediate effect Feb. 10 after a short acquisition period beginning in late 2022. "Prior to the merger, Neel-Schaffer had offices in Columbus and Starkville only, and we didn't do any work in West Point," Stafford said. "With the merger, we basically picked up Clay County and West Point. They complemented us because they did a lot of work in areas that we were not. However, with them being one office and one firm, they were also limited to the staff that they had, whereas we have two in the Golden Triangle (already) and Neel-Schaffer has 38 offices all over the southeast, so they can now have a much deeper pool of resources." Calvert-Spradling was founded by Bob Calvert and Stanley Spradling more than 40 years ago and has provided civil engineering and surveying services for municipalities, counties, state agencies, utilities and institutions. |
| Vicksburg National Military Park to receive upgrade | |
| Ulysses S. Grant's ingenious campaign to capture Vicksburg in 1863 was one of the most pivotal events of the Civil War and one of the most storied military expeditions in American history. Plans are underway to tell this remarkable story in a new interpretive center that will be built and administered by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH). The Mississippi Legislature, with leadership from Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann and Senator Briggs Hopson, recently appropriated $10 million to MDAH to begin planning for what ultimately will be an $80 million facility funded through a public-private partnership still being negotiated with the National Park Service, Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign, Warren County, and the city of Vicksburg. Vicksburg National Military Park, which was established in 1899 to preserve the site of the siege of Vicksburg, is the most visited historical attraction in Mississippi with more than half a million visitors annually. However, the current visitor center was built in the 1960s and is so outdated that many visitors simply skip it altogether. A new state-of-the-art Civil War interpretive center is long overdue. Gettysburg has one, and Vicksburg needs one. A modern interpretive center will continue to tell the history of the 47-day siege itself, with its pounding artillery from the Union army and navy forcing civilians into makeshift caves, newspapers printed on wallpaper, tunnels dug and loaded with explosives, hand-to-hand combat, and eventual surrender of Confederate forces to the Union. But there is so much more to the story. |
| Oxford businessman, state politico dead in Arkansas plane crash | |
 | Oxford businessman and politico Johnny Morgan is dead following a plane crash Wednesday in rural Arkansas. Multiple sources close to the family told the Daily Journal that Morgan was flying his twin-engine Beech King Air E-90 from Oxford to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to be serviced when it crashed in a heavily wooded area. Morgan left the Oxford University Airport at 11:27 a.m. May 17. The Washington County (Arkansas) Sheriff's Office said they received reports of "an airplane that lost altitude and possibly crashed" in the south part of the county around lunch time. The wreckage of the plane was located around 3:40 p.m. Morgan was well known in both the business and political communities. He is best known around the state for hosting the annual "Good Ole Boys and Girls" event in his tractor shed off Highway 7. Since its founding nearly 25 years ago, it has become a must-attend for anyone with political aspirations seeking votes in north Mississippi. This year's event is scheduled for late October, right before the general election. Remembrances and condolences also started pouring in on social media Wednesday. "Yesterday evening, my friend Johnny Morgan and I visited in Oxford. Today, he is the victim of a tragic accident. Our State and Johnny's legions of friends have lost laughter, a warm smile, a brilliant businessman, and a community and political leader. So very sad," Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said on Twitter. |
| Mississippi sends National Guard to US-Mexico border, GOP governor says | |
 | Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Wednesday that he has mobilized a National Guard unit to help with security at the U.S. border with Mexico. "What happens at the border doesn't stay there. Drugs and people are trafficked to every state in the nation -- including Mississippi," Reeves, a Republican, wrote on Twitter. "To keep Mississippians safe and limit the impact of our nation's open borders, the Mississippi National Guard's 112th Military Police Battalion has been mobilized and is supporting Customs and Border Protection officers and agents along the Southwest border." Reeves' announcement came a day after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he planned to send more than 1,100 National Guard soldiers and law enforcement officers to Texas to assist with border security between the U.S. and Mexico. DeSantis is expected to announce that he's running for president. Mississippi does not share a border with Mexico, but Reeves blamed President Joe Biden's administration for people and drugs crossing the border without authorization. "Every state has become a border state," wrote Reeves, who is seeking reelection this year. |
| Who is cutting the biggest checks for the Mississippi governor's race? | |
 | When both Republican Gov. Tate Reeves and Democratic challenger Brandon Presley posted record fundraising totals last week for the January-April reporting period, some notable names and big donors were featured on their lists. While both candidates had big checks written for them, Reeves raised his more than $1.7 million -- compared to about $1.35 million for Presley -- with far more large donors. According to analysis of their donor lists, 1.4% of Reeves' donations were less than $200, compared to 28.2% for Presley. Both campaigns saw their largest donations coming from Political Action Committees. Reeves received $50,000 from Mississippi Association of Realtors PAC, while Presley got $250,000 from Friends of Mississippi Hospitals PAC. When counting each individual contribution equally, more than 90% of donations to the Reeves campaign came from Mississippi residents, compared to about 78% for the Presley campaign. Real estate developer and former Democratic Mayor of Jackson J. Kane Ditto gave $1,000 to Reeves. Tate Taylor, Los Angeles-based but Jackson-born director of films including "The Help" and "Get On Up," gave Reeves $2,500. Presley garnered financial support from the state's most recent Democratic governor, Ronnie Musgrove, to the tune of $5,000. Also donating $5,000 to Presley was bestselling author John Grisham, who now lives in Virginia but was once a Democratic member of the Mississippi House of Representatives. |
| Top GOP brass works to keep peace after Gov. Tate Reeves opines on lieutenant governor primary | |
| Party leaders and campaign staffers scrambled this week after incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves over the weekend appeared to suggest that only one conservative is competing in the hotly contested GOP primary for lieutenant governor. Reeves told Mississippi Today at a Saturday event in Lee County that he will not endorse either leading candidate -- incumbent Delbert Hosemann or challenger Chris McDaniel -- in the lieutenant governor's race, but opined that a spirited campaign would be healthy for the state Republican Party. "We've got a conservative candidate running, and they're going to talk about the issues," Reeves said. "And we'll see how that comes out." When pressed to clarify if he thought one of the contenders in the election was not a bonafide conservative, Reeves demurred and offered a vague description that one of the candidates has pushed for certain issues over the past decade, though he declined to specify the issue or which candidate he was referring to. "What that means is we have two candidates that are running," Reeves said. "We all know the issues that one of the candidates has focused on over the last 10 years. And so, again, I'm focused on my own campaign." The comments stirred several top Republicans to speculate if Reeves was tacitly lending support to McDaniel over the incumbent Hosemann in the state's most watched primary. |
| Chris McDaniel's campaign filings raise questions as statewide candidates rack up nearly $5 million in four months | |
| While most of Mississippi's candidates for statewide office have raised nearly $5 million since January, an incumbent elected official and a political action committee question if Chris McDaniel has raised as much as he claims, and whether he did so legally. McDaniel, a Republican state senator and candidate for lieutenant governor, claims to have raised more than $677,000 in just four months, but his incumbent challenger has asked the attorney general's office to investigate McDaniel's filings and contributions. In a letter filed two weeks ago, legal counsel for Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann's campaign claimed the political action committee Hold the Line had received two illegal campaign contributions totaling $465,000 from a corporation. McDaniel serves as that PAC's director. Hold the Line then contributed that $465,000 to the Committee to Elect Chris McDaniel. Hosemann's campaign claims those contributions, which came from the American Exceptionalism Institute, Inc., violates Mississippi's campaign finance laws prohibiting corporations from donating more than $1,000 a year to a candidate or PAC. A cursory search on the Secretary of State's website found no record of a "statement of organization" for the Committee to Elect Chris McDaniel, which could also be a violation of state law because it would mean McDaniel accepted contributions through a committee that was not registered with the state. |
| News site CEO apologizes to Mississippi ex-Gov. Bryant over welfare comments | |
| An executive at a news organization has apologized to former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant for remarks she made about him and the misspending of welfare money that was intended to help some of the poorest people in the U.S. Mississippi Today published the apology from its CEO, Mary Margaret White, on Wednesday, a week after Bryant threatened to sue the nonprofit news website. Bryant said in a certified letter May 11 that White made a "false and defamatory" statement about him when she spoke at a journalism conference in February. "I misspoke at a recent media conference regarding the accusations against former Governor Phil Bryant in the $77 million welfare scandal," White wrote Wednesday. "He has not been charged with any crime. My remark was inappropriate, and I sincerely apologize." White also wrote that she requested that the video of her comments at the conference be retracted. A spokesman for Bryant, Denton Gibbes, said Thursday that the former governor's legal team was reviewing White's statement and had not decided whether to sue Mississippi Today. Mississippi law says anyone who intends to sue for libel or slander must give written notice before a lawsuit is filed, and that a news organization has 10 days to issue a correction, apology or retraction. |
| MS Today CEO Apologizes For Saying Bryant 'Embezzled' Welfare | |
| Mississippi Today CEO Mary Margaret White apologized today for claiming that former Gov. Phil Bryant "embezzled" welfare funds as part of the State's $77-million welfare scandal in a note posted on the publication's website Wednesday. The apology comes after the former governor threatened to sue the news outlet over their CEO's remarks. "I misspoke at a recent media conference regarding the accusations against former Governor Phil Bryant in the $77 million welfare scandal. He has not been charged with any crime," she wrote. "My remark was inappropriate, and I sincerely apologize." During a Feb. 22, 2023, media panel at the Knight Forum in Miami, Fla., White told an audience of journalists that Mississippi Today was "the newsroom that broke the story about $77 million welfare funds ... being embezzled by a former governor and his bureaucratic cronies and used on pet projects like a state-of-the-art volleyball stadium at Brett Favre's alma mater." The nonprofit newsroom won a Pulitzer Prize for reporter Anna Wolfe's local-news coverage of the welfare scandal on May 8. After White's remarks resurfaced in several reports around that time, Bryant's lawyer Billy Quin sent Mississippi Today a notice of suit on May 10 accusing her of defamation and demanding retractions and apologies within 10 days. The letter also demanded apologies from Wolfe and Mississippi Today Editor Adam Ganucheau for later claiming the publication had never claimed Bryant was guilty; neither has apologized. |
| Mississippi Today CEO issues apology to Bryant over 'inappropriate' comments | |
| The CEO of Mississippi Today has issued an apology over comments she made alleging former Governor Phil Bryant is behind the state's infamous welfare scandal. "I misspoke at a recent media conference regarding the accusations against former Governor Phil Bryant in the $77 million welfare scandal." Mary Margaret White said in a statement. "He has not been charged with any crime. My remark was inappropriate, and I sincerely apologize." The apology from White comes after Bryant released a letter stating his intentions to file a defamation lawsuit against Mississippi Today, citing remarks made by White during a February panel discussion hosted by the Knight Foundation. The comments from White came even though Bryant has not been charged with any crimes related to the scandal. Bryant's letter -- which was also addressed to editor-in-chief Adam Ganucheau and reporter Anna Wolfe -- requested that Ganucheau and Wolfe also issue public apologies over statements the two made during a recent podcast in which Bryant's attorney says inaccurately represents his client's connection to the case. At this time, it remains unclear if the former governor plans to move forward with his lawsuit against Mississippi Today. |
| Mississippi Today CEO issues public apology to Phil Bryant | |
| Last week, former-Governor Phil Bryant issued a notice of intent to sue Mississippi Today for defamation. The letter notice is required under Mississippi law and affords the accused defamer ten days to correct the record and apologize. At the center of the case made by Bryant's attorney, Billy Quinn, in the notice were comments made by Mississippi Today CEO Mary Margaret White while sitting on a conference panel. White told the audience at the conference that her newsroom had broken the story of Bryant embezzling. White issued a public apology on Wednesday night. By issuing the apology, White may have removed some potential liability from Mississippi Today. Under Mississippi law, a correction within ten days can take punitive damages and attorney's fees off the table if the defamation suit proceeds. At this stage, it is unclear if, or when, such a lawsuit would be filed. Bryant does not have to file right away but could wait until the statute of limitations (deadline to file a suit) is near. |
| Mississippi Rep. Banks pleads guilty to false statement on tax return | |
| A longtime Mississippi lawmaker faces up to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal charge of willfully making a false statement on a tax return -- a conviction that does not preclude him from seeking reelection this year. Democratic Rep. Earle Banks of Jackson appeared before U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate and admitted he had failed to report more than $500,000 of income from the 2018 sale of real estate. Sentencing is set for Aug. 21. Banks, 68, is funeral director and attorney. He has been in the House since 1993. "Mr. Banks has cooperated with the U.S. Attorney's Office, and today he had an opportunity to speak directly to the judge," his attorney, Rob McDuff, said in a statement Wednesday. "He admitted his mistake in failing to report on his tax return the proceeds from the sale of this land that been in his family for many years." Banks is unopposed as he seeks reelection this year in House District 67, which is entirely in Hinds County. Conviction of many felony charges disqualifies people from holding public offices in Mississippi, but convictions for manslaughter or violating federal tax laws do not prevent people from seeking or holding office, including a legislative seat. |
| Attorneys agree to pause federal litigation for water violations in Mississippi's capital | |
| Attorneys for the federal government, Mississippi and the state's capital city have agreed to request to delay litigation from a complaint filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that said the city wasn't meeting standards for providing reliable drinking water. In a Wednesday court filing, government attorneys asked for a six-month stay, which would be the second such order. It's part of a broader federal push to fix Jackson's water system, which nearly collapsed last summer and continues to have problems with broken pipes and leaks. In November, the Justice Department filed a complaint on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, arguing that Jackson has failed to provide drinking water reliably compliant with the Safe Drinking Water Act. An agreement between federal officials and the city put that litigation on hold for six months. U.S. District Court Judge Henry Wingate then appointed Ted Henifin, who spent 15 years managing a sanitation district in Virginia, to manage Jackson's water system on an interim basis. Officials in the Democratic-led city say the city's water problems come from decades of deferred maintenance and underfunding. Republican state leaders say the problems stem from mismanagement at the city level. |
| Federal grand jury indicts man for threatening Sen. Roger Wicker | |
| A Benton County man who allegedly threatened to kill U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker has been indicted. William Carl Sappington, 58, of Hickory Flat, was indicted on a single count of threatening a federal official according to documents filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Oxford. The charge carries up to 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. Sappington is scheduled to be arraigned Monday May 22 before Magistrate Judge Roy Percy. During a preliminary hearing earlier this month, Percy ordered Sappington held in federal custody until trial. Prosecutors say Sappington went to the Hickory Flat home of the senator's cousin on April 26 and said he wanted to get in touch with Wicker. Sappington said he intended to kill the senator because of his involvement in an incident he had with law enforcement back in 2014. Sappington was injured while being arrested for aggravated assault in February 2014. A police dog bit his arm, and law enforcement carried him to a trauma center hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, for medical care. Sappington feels he was kidnapped and that jurisdiction laws were violated because he was taken over state lines without a hearing. |
| Google vs. Section 230: Supreme Court sidesteps question some feared could break the internet | |
 | The Supreme Court on Thursday dodged a thorny debate over whether Big Tech companies such as Google can be sued for their recommendations in a case some experts warned could fundamentally change the way the internet works. At issue in Gonzalez v. Google was a controversial law known as Section 230, which has been widely interpreted as shielding websites from lawsuits for user-generated content. The question for the court was whether recommendations -- such as a suggestion for the next video to watch on YouTube -- are covered under that law. The bottom line was that the decisions would likely make it harder for people to sue tech companies for abetting in terrorism but the high court left for another day broader questions about Section 230. The family of a 23-year-old American killed in a 2015 terrorist attack in Paris sued Google, which owns YouTube, for promoting videos dealing with the Islamic State group. But instead of dealing with the Section 230 issue raised in that case directly, the court decided another, related dispute involving a Jordanian man killed in an ISIS attack in Istanbul in 2017. His relatives, who are U.S. citizens, sued Twitter, Google, and Facebook for aiding and abetting the Islamic State group in violation of a federal law. The question in that case was whether the platforms could be held liable for aiding the group under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Because the Supreme Court ruled Thursday in the Twitter case that the families could not sue the companies under the law, there was no need to decide whether the Big Tech firms could raise Section 230 as a defense against such a suit. |
| Party leaders optimistic as debt limit negotiators get to work | |
 | Negotiators tapped by President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy to hash out a debt limit compromise were racing against the clock Wednesday to get some principles down on paper that could be written into legislative text in time for votes as early as next week. Both the president and his chief GOP counterpart on Capitol Hill said they thought a deal was possible. Biden is scheduled to return Sunday from his trip to Japan for the G-7 summit, telling reporters at the White House on Wednesday he'd be back for "final negotiations" and that he'd hold a press conference upon his return. "I'm confident that we will get the agreement on the budget, that America will not default," Biden said. "Every leader in the room understands the consequences if we fail to pay our bills." Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, and Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young are negotiating on the president's behalf, while Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., and McCarthy aides are representing the speaker. McCarthy said Wednesday a deal by Sunday was "doable," but still slammed Biden for traveling during the negotiations. |
| That Gen Z midterm boost for Democrats might be real | |
 | Democrats avoided an electoral wipeout in the 2022 midterms. One way they did so was by reassembling a history-defying coalition of young voters who turned out at rates more commonly seen in presidential elections, according to a new study of voter-file data according to a new study of voter file data. The Democratic data firm Catalist found that these voters bested 2018 turnout levels in states with the most competitive races for governor or Senate -- and they overwhelmingly favored Democratic candidates, even if the overall political environment swung to the right. Like other studies of the 2022 electorate -- which mostly rely on surveys of voters on or around Election Day -- the Catalist report finds that Democrats increased their support among women voters over 2020. Abortion is cited as a key factor in that shift: Polls and registration data show that Democratic women were more motivated to vote after the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision. The Catalist report does offer some warning signs for the party, particularly a drop in turnout among Black voters. But it mostly suggests that close, high-turnout elections continue to be the norm since Donald Trump's election in 2016. Both sides are highly activated to participate in both presidential elections and years in between. That means we could be headed to another year of record or near-record voter turnout in 2024, even if both candidates wind up being unpopular. |
| Biden, Japan's Kishida meet ahead of G-7 summit, vowing to 'stand strong' against global threats | |
| President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met Thursday aiming to showcase the strength of their alliance ahead of a Group of Seven summit where leading democracies will tackle the challenges of Russia's war in Ukraine, North Korea's ballistic nuclear threats and an increasingly forceful China. Biden recalled that Kishida said during a January Washington visit that the world faced one of the "most complex" security environments in recent history. "I couldn't agree with you more," Biden told the Japanese prime minister as they sat with their aides at a conference table. "When our countries stand together, we stand stronger and I believe the whole world is safer when we do." Kishida noted that the global tensions had brought the U.S. and Japan closer together, that "the cooperation has evolved in leaps and bounds." The Kishida family's home city of Hiroshima will host the gathering of major industrialized nations known at the G-7. The setting of Hiroshima, where the U.S. dropped the first nuclear bomb in 1945 during World War II, carries newfound resonance. Members of the G-7, which also includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the European Union, are grappling with the territorial ambitions of Russia and China, two nuclear powers. |
| DeSantis expected to formally enter presidential race next week | |
 | Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to file his paperwork to run for president next week, with a formal announcement event to follow soon after, according to multiple media reports. DeSantis' campaign filing is timed to coincide with a fundraising blitz in South Florida, where he will gather top donors next week. His formal announcement could come the following week in Dunedin in the Tampa Bay area, where he grew up. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the governor's presidential announcement plans, which have been confirmed by other media outlets. DeSantis has been edging toward a presidential campaign for months. A federal political action committee supporting DeSantis, Never Back Down, has been hiring campaign staff and running television ads. DeSantis traveled to Iowa, a key early voting state, over the weekend and rolled out lists of endorsements in recent days from leaders in Iowa, New Hampshire and Florida. Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and House Speaker Paul Renner were among 99 lawmakers in DeSantis' home state who endorsed the governor this week, countering the 11 endorsements former President Donald Trump has among Florida's congressional delegation. The rivalry between Trump and DeSantis began heating up last year as it became clear a presidential primary matchup was looming. That should intensify after DeSantis formally enters the race next week. |
| Alabama's Tuberville finds himself at center of storm on abortion, white nationalism | |
 | Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) has placed himself at the center of a growing storm touching on abortion, the military and white nationalism, irritating colleagues and turning himself into a more high-profile political target. The former Auburn University football coach turned first-term Alabama senator has annoyed fellow Republicans with a hold on military promotions, earning rare criticism from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) -- who loathes to publicly criticize a fellow GOP senator. He then made his troubles worse by criticizing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a local NPR interview for wanting to get "the white extremists, the white nationalists" out of the military. Pressed on those remarks, Tuberville said he'd call white nationalists "Americans." Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) pounced on those comments from Tuberville, one of former President Trump's most vocal advocates in the Senate, labeling them "revolting." Tuberville's battle with the military is about the subject of abortion, an issue that has repeatedly helped Democrats in elections and hurt Republicans since the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Tuberville has effectively blocked promotions for roughly 200 senior military officials in key regions over the Pentagon's abortion policy, which allows service members to take leave and provides travel reimbursements for those who need to travel to get an abortion. That is a more common need since the end of Roe. At the heart of Tuberville's arguments on abortion and in the white nationalism remarks is that the military is moving in the wrong direction, specifically on recruiting and readiness. |
| Brick-and-mortar casinos set another quarterly revenue record | |
| Casinos, sports betting sites and online gambling companies are raking in record revenue, according to new data this week from the American Gaming Association, the trade group for the legal gambling industry. Sports betting revenue is rising fastest, up 70% since last year -- but it's still old-fashioned, brick-and-mortar casinos that bring in the most cash. The first full year of the pandemic was pretty rough for casinos, said Casey Clark at the American Gaming Association. But then in 2021, they set a revenue record. "Which was bested in 2022, with another record year," Clark said. "And now Q1 of 23, shows another quarterly record." One factor that might be drawing people into casinos: all of the advertising for online sports betting that seems to be everywhere these days. "It may have increased the amount of gambling that regular or heavy gamblers are doing," said Rachel Volberg, a professor at UMass Amherst, who studies the casino industry. |
| U. of Southern Mississippi and Seatrec hope to improve hurricane forecasting | |
 | The University of Southern Mississippi and energy company Seatrec announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding aimed at improving hurricane forecasting by using renewable power technology. This involves deploying floats into the Gulf of Mexico to help them track the temperature of the ocean by gathering electricity readings. This is part of the Blue Navigator Program led by Hailey Bathurst. She said she thinks this is the beginning of a new era in underwater technology. "It's going to open a lot of doors," Bathurst said. "Hopefully, this is going to be the first of many and will see a lot more technology come to fruition moving forward." Bob Coniglione, senior ocean enterprise program manager at the USM Marine Research Center, said the new technology will be impactful. "It gives forecasters an idea of where the warmest water is," Coniglione said. "Heat content in the ocean is what drives a lot of hurricanes, strength-wise, and some directionally. That's a good indicator of where the hurricane is going to go, how intense it's going to get, just based on the temperature." These instruments will take measurements three times a day to track water temperature, which scientists believe can lead to severe hurricanes. |
| Eight Ole Miss students earn Fullbright Awards | |
| Eight University of Mississippi students have earned Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards, the most ever in university history. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program partners students with universities and schools from more than 140 nations around the globe to promote international study and cross-cultural dialogue. The selective program is available to seniors, graduate and doctoral students from the United States. Ole Miss students have garnered 59 Fulbright awards since the program began in 1946, said Vivian Ibrahim, director of the Office of National Scholarship Advisement. "This is huge," Ibrahim said. "This is the most Fulbrights we've ever had, and the students are just fantastic. I can't tell you how excited I am for them." Along with the eight awardees, the university also has two alternates and a Fulbright U.K. Summer Institute awardee. Along with promoting cross-cultural exchange, these awards put the university well on its way to becoming a top Fulbright Award-producing institution, Ibrahim said. Although Ole Miss hasn't yet earned this distinction, Ibrahim said she believes it could be on the horizon. |
| William Carey medical school to graduate 87 Saturday | |
 | Dozens of students soon will graduate this weekend from The College of Osteopathic Medicine at William Carey University. Two of those graduates grew up in Hattiesburg and plan on practicing medicine in their hometown. Lindsay Batista and Alkesh Patel are both Oak Grove High School graduates who decided to attend medical school at William Carey University. Batista also got her undergraduate degree from William Carey and will do her residency in Jackson. She said she plans on practicing in south Mississippi. "It definitely feels like it's a long time coming," Batista said. "There is a light at the end of the tunnel and I'm glad to have finally reached it. It's a bitter sweet journey. I'm sad to see it come to an end, but I'm really, really excited for what's ahead." Patel graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi before attending medical school at Carey. He's do his residency at Merit Health Wesley in Hattiesburg and plans on practicing in the Hub City. Both Batista and Patel said they hope to practice emergency care. Eighty-seven degree candidates are expected to receive diplomas Saturday. |
| Northwest Mississippi Community College awarded $3.5M for workforce training programs | |
| Governor Tate Reeves announced on Wednesday that the state of Mississippi is investing $3.5 million into Northwest Mississippi Community College's Concourse Workforce Training Center. The funding will be used to develop new programs that focus on training Mississippians for the jobs of the future. Areas such as robotics, automation and control engineering, mechatronics, and industrial maintenance will be the primary focus of the programs. "We've made record investment into workforce development and because of that, Mississippi has the lowest unemployment rate in our state's history," Reeves said. "This investment will help train students on the complex technical skills needed to pursue careers that are in high demand and pay above-average wages. Programs like these are attracting new businesses and new investment to our state, and they are a major reason why Mississippi has momentum." An estimated 136 Magnolia State residents will be trained per year for occupations in a range of industries including manufacturing, electric vehicle development, automotive, and more. |
| 'It's really dangerous': Campus pedestrian accidents spark LSU students into action, safety measures | |
 | Biking down Highland Road last weekend, LSU student and junior kinesiology major Chandler Power didn't even see the car coming. "There's one place on Highland where there's construction and the sidewalk was blocked, so I was riding and thought for sure this car that was very far away would see me," he said. "They didn't see me, didn't care or thought they had enough room but it was close." Power narrowly avoided being hit, but the incident is one that LSU students on campus have either experienced or heard about firsthand. An analysis of LSU Police data found that 41 pedestrians were hit on campus in five years from 2013 to 2018. At least four suffered incapacitating injuries, including a woman placed in a medically induced coma for two weeks after a spinal injury. Ten other pedestrians suffered injuries the LSU Police Department described as "moderate" during that period, with 15 more complaining of possible injuries. Since March 11, LSU Police have reported 44 hit-and-run incidents in their daily crime log. A total of 41 cases have been either cleared or closed, with three incidents still open cases as of May 12. Many of these incidents have taken place at busy intersections near campus, mostly crossing Highland Road or Nicholson Drive. Power said that despite a few close calls, he doesn't feel unsafe walking or biking on campus and makes sure to pay attention when traveling through busier areas on campus. "It just depends on where I'm at; some places are no problem and you just wait for the light and go, trusting that everyone is going to follow the rules," he said. "Other places, especially Nicholson and Burbank where they have those five-way traffic deals going on, that's pretty scary." With pedestrian safety remaining an issue through the years, a group of LSU journalism students in 2022 decided to do their part in raising awareness about the problem. |
| UGA sees increase in animal treatment complaints, says issues self reported and corrected | |
 | The University of Georgia has seen an increase in citations from the US Department of Agriculture for animal welfare regarding the animals in their labs and educational facilities in recent years. Under the Animal Welfare Act, USDA inspectors routinely do surprise inspections to make sure organizations are in compliance. There have been four of these inspections since the start of 2021, turning up eight critical and six non-critical incidents regarding animal welfare. From 2014 through 2019 (there were no listed inspections in 2020), there were no critical incidents. The reports caused an animal rights group, SAEN, to file a complaint against the university with the USDA and call for UGA to lose National Institute of Health funding. A spokesperson for the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service did not answer specific questions on whether the department has taken any action on the SAEN complaint, but did provide general information on the investigation and enforcement process. UGA follows all standards of the Animal Welfare Act, wrote Greg Trevor, associate vice president and university spokesperson, as well as the Public Health Service Policy and National Research Council Guide use and treatment of lab animals and third-party accreditation from Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International. |
| Texas A&M helps students quickly 'level up' to a new career in teaching | |
 | A national shortage of qualified teachers has inspired Texas A&M University-Central Texas to innovate creative solutions for this growing problem. The result? A recently launched Alternative Teacher Certification Program intended to fast-track students onto a whole new career path. Teachers often cite the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of their students as the most important reason why they choose to enter the profession. "Generally, most teachers go into the field because they have a love of working with children and adolescents, and are also wanting to help their students gain the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in life, whatever career they might choose," says Linda Black, coordinator for the program. "Many teachers also have a passion for a certain subject areas, and they want students to realize the advantages that understanding that subject can bring." Designed with recent college graduates, job changers and nontraditional students in mind, the graduate-level Alternative Teacher Certification Program got underway last summer. "We have approximately 40 students in different phases of the program right now, which is a great number for a beginning program in just one calendar year," Black points out. |
| A prof falsely accused his class of using ChatGPT. Their diplomas are in jeopardy. | |
 | Students at Texas A&M University at Commerce were in celebration mode this past weekend, as parents filed into the university's Field House to watch students donned in cap and gown walk the graduation stage. But for pupils in Jared Mumm's animal science class, the fun was cut short when they received a heated email Monday afternoon saying that students were in danger of failing the class for using ChatGPT to cheat. "The final grade for the course is due today at 5 p.m.," the instructor warned, according to a copy of the note obtained by The Washington Post. "I will be giving everyone in this course an 'X,'" indicating incomplete. Mumm, an instructor at the university's agricultural college, said he'd copied the student essays into ChatGPT and asked the software to detect if the artificial intelligence-backed chatbot had written the assignments. Students flagged as cheating "received a 0." The email caused a panic in the class, with some students fearful their diplomas were at risk. One senior, who had graduated over the weekend, said the accusation sent her into a frenzy. She gathered evidence to prove her innocence -- she'd written her essays in Google Docs, which records timestamps -- and presented it to Mumm at a meeting. The student, who spoke to The Post under the condition of anonymity to discuss matters without fear of academic retribution, said she felt betrayed. "We've been through a lot to get these degrees," she said in an interview with The Post. "The thought of my hard work not being acknowledged, and my character being questioned. ... It just really frustrated me." (Mumm did not return a request for comment.) Michael Johnson, a spokesman for Texas A&M University at Commerce, said in a statement that no students failed Mumm's class or were barred from graduating. He added that "several students have been exonerated and their grades have been issued, while one student has come forward admitting his use of Chat GTP [sic] in the course." |
| Summer is prime time for construction projects on the U. of Missouri campus | |
 | The University of Missouri is undertaking and continuing several construction projects this summer while few students are on campus, according to an MU news release. Rollins Street will be closed from College Avenue to Hitt Street for underground utility repairs. One lane will be open for students moving in for the fall semester. Parking Structure 7, next to the MU Hospital and NextGen, and the MU Hospital parking garage will close for installation of automated direction signage showing available parking on each level. The intersection of Hospital Drive and Tiger Avenue will close for the construction of a roundabout. Drivers should follow posted detour signs. Several parking lots will partially close for asphalt and concrete repairs. Champions Drive will have periodic lane closures next to the General Services Building for water line repairs. MU also listed continuing projects and anticipated completion dates. Completion of the football indoor practice facility is expected this summer. The renovation of Pershing Hall is expected to be completed in December. The MizzoRec outdoor fitness area will wrap up in the fall, as will repairs to Neff Hall. The demolition of Mizzou North will finish in February 2024. The MU Children's Hospital is expected to be completed in the spring of 2024. Filling the fourth floor of the NextGen Precision Health Building will wrap up in spring 2024. Also slated to finish in spring 2024 is an addition to the Veterinary Medicine Diagnostic Laboratory. |
| Longtime U. of Missouri law prof named dean of School of Law | |
 | Paul Litton will be the new dean of the University of Missouri School of Law, according to an MU news release Wednesday. Litton will succeed Lyrissa Lidsky, who stepped down last July and returned to the University of Florida to teach. Litton has served as interim dean since then; his new title takes effect June 1. He joined the MU faculty in 2006 and has worked in various roles, including as director of the Office of Academic Integrity and associate dean for research and faculty development, according to the release. His academic research focused on the intersection of law and philosophy. Litton has been integral in recruiting nationally renowned scholars to join the faculty, including Brent Filbert, director of the Mizzou Law Veterans Clinic, and Andrea Boyack, the school's Floyd R. Gibson endowed professorship. He has also raised private donations to improve classroom and experiential spaces throughout Hulston Hall, where the law school is based. His annual salary for his 12-month appointment will be $355,000, according to an MU spokesperson. |
| Despite opposition by Ohio State board, anti-DEI bill passes | |
 | In a rare move, the Ohio State University Board of Trustees has publicly opposed sweeping state legislation that will profoundly alter higher education in the state through a number of reforms that touch on multiple areas of campus life. The pushback landed one day before the legislation passed the State Senate on a 21-to-10 vote Wednesday, with Republicans largely voting in favor and Democrats in opposition. The bill will now move to the Ohio House. Ohio Senate Bill 83, sponsored by Republican senator Jerry Cirino, takes aim at mandatory diversity training, partnerships with Chinese universities and faculty unions' right to strike. It will also establish a new evaluation system for students to rate professors with an emphasis on how faculty have eliminated bias from their classrooms. In addition, SB 83 will create a posttenure-review process and establish instructional workload policies dictating minimum course loads, among other things, for faculty members at state universities, as well as shorten the terms of trustees serving on governing boards. Cirino has argued that his bill essentially rescues free speech and academic freedom, which he believes have been suppressed at Ohio's public universities by a "woke ideology" that has led to an all-out assault on the First Amendment. Other supporters of SB 83 have argued that the bill is a necessary counterpunch to liberal indoctrination on college campuses that will recenter the mission of state universities to better serve students. |
| Biden is just 'pop' at granddaughter Maisy Biden's graduation from the U. of Pennsylvania | |
| Joe Biden took a brief break from being president on Monday to focus on being "pop," attending his granddaughter Maisy Biden's graduation from the University of Pennsylvania. Maisy is the youngest daughter of Hunter Biden and his former wife, Kathleen Buhle, who both attended the ceremony. Also present were Maisy's older sisters, Naomi and Finnegan, first lady Jill Biden, and the Bidens' daughter, Ashley Biden. Before the commencement, some students waved at the president and took photos. He waved back and pumped his fist. But other than that, Biden was just another face in the crowd, albeit a very recognizable one. The family sat stage left, apart from the rest of the audience. Idina Menzel, the actress and singer, delivered the commencement address, even belting out a few lines of a song from the musical "Rent." After the ceremony, Biden and his family went to a lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant. |
| A Divisive Governor Hits the Commencement Circuit. For Some Students, He's Not Welcome. | |
 | It's not unusual for politicians to speak at public colleges' graduation ceremonies. But this year, one governor's controversial education policies have drawn protests and petitions from students decrying how an event meant to be celebratory turned hurtful. Glenn Youngkin, the Republican Virginia governor who made the culture war central to his 2022 election campaign, is slated to speak at George Mason University on Thursday. Earlier this month, he delivered an address at Old Dominion University's commencement. At both public institutions, students circulated petitions that collected thousands of signatures. In each case, the petitions took aim at the administrations and asked them to reconsider their decisions to invite Youngkin. The events showcase a now-familiar dynamic. Colleges boast of the welcoming environments they strive to provide for students, but their autonomy is being threatened by some Republican lawmakers who have targeted diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and even exerted control over curricula. Such lawmakers aren't guaranteed a warm welcome on campus, and colleges are left to manage sensitive relationships with the state and their students. |
| UC Berkeley spreads the gospel of data science with new college, free curriculum | |
 | They comb through troves of legal records and video evidence to challenge wrongful convictions. They organize medical data to help personalize health treatments for better care. They scrutinize school test scores to investigate inequities. Finding safe drinking water is easier thanks to an analysis tool they created. UC Berkeley's faculty and students are marshaling the vast power of data science across myriad fields to address tough problems. And now the university is set to accelerate those efforts with a new college, its first in more than 50 years -- and is providing free curriculum to help spread the gospel of data science to California community colleges, California State University and institutions across the nation and world. As data floods society faster than ever before, demand has surged for specialists who can organize and analyze it with coding skills, computing prowess and creative thinking. To meet the "insatiable demand," as university officials put it, UC Berkeley will open a College of Computing, Data Science and Society. The University of California Board of Regents is expected to approve the plan Thursday, following approval by its Academic and Student Affairs Committee on Wednesday. A new college building is scheduled to open during the 2025-26 academic year and will house the data science major, first offered five years ago, with other degree programs in computer science, statistics, computational biology and computational precision health. Some of the programs will be run jointly with the Berkeley College of Engineering and UC San Francisco. UC Berkeley says no new state funds will be required; the campus has raised private funds for 14 new faculty positions and about $330 million so far in gifts for the new building. |
| U. of Idaho seeks to buy University of Phoenix for $550 million | |
| The University of Idaho and the University of Phoenix have announced a plan, pending "proper approvals," for the public university to purchase the private for-profit university for $550 million, according to the Idaho's institution's website. It is expected that the transaction would be completed by early 2024. Initially, University of Phoenix would operate separately in a 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the University of Idaho. University of Phoenix would remain an independent educational institution operated by its own president and leadership team, the website states. "There are areas of future collaboration and integration that we will explore and evaluate together. We will take the time to do this right for all involved," the website states. The seller would also provide $200 million in cash that would transfer to the not-for-profit corporation, according to the website. The not-for-profit corporation will acquire all the assets of University of Phoenix, "including a high-capacity, well-developed digital education platform and a few remaining leases for physical locations. A few of University of Phoenix's campuses remain open but are expected to migrate to a fully online modality," the website states. According to the website, Idaho taxpayers will not pay for this purchase. "The transaction is being paid for by bonds issued by the not-for-profit entity," the website states. |
| New rule targets college programs that leave grads with low income, high debt | |
| College programs that leave graduates underpaid or buried in loans would be cut off from federal money under a proposal issued Wednesday by the Biden administration, but the rules would apply only to for-profit colleges and a tiny fraction of programs at traditional universities. The Education Department is calling it a significant step toward accountability for the nation's colleges. With more students questioning the value of a degree, the measure aims to weed out low-performing programs and assure students the cost of tuition will pay off in the long run. "Investing in a college degree or career certificate is supposed to pay off -- instead, too many students are getting ripped off every single year," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a call with reporters. Opponents, however, say the scope is too narrow to help most students. Known as gainful employment, it revives an Obama-era policy that was dismantled by the Trump administration before it took full effect. It was enacted amid a federal crackdown on for-profit colleges that contributed to the closure of several chains accused of fraud, including Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute. |
| Biden administration releases new gainful-employment rule | |
| About 5 percent of programs required to prepare their graduates for gainful employment would fail the Biden administration's new rule, Education Department data released Wednesday evening show. The affected programs, many of which are at for-profit institutions, risk losing federal financial aid. The Biden administration released its long-awaited gainful-employment rule Wednesday evening as part of a 1,000-page package of regulations that also includes rules on financial responsibility, administrative capability, certified procedures and ability to benefit. The rule is similar to what the administration proposed last year during negotiated rule making; it requires programs to show that graduates can afford their yearly debt payments and that they are making more than an adult who didn't go to college. The department said the gainful-employment rule would protect more than 703,000 students per year "from attending these failing career training programs." The regulations apply to programs at for-profit institutions as well as nondegree programs in any sector. Higher education groups opposed that list during public comments. The American Council on Education said it was still reviewing the regulations Wednesday evening. The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities said it was not yet prepared to comment. |
| Better Data on Graduates' Earnings Is Coming Soon to a Dashboard Near You. Will It Make a Difference? | |
| About a decade ago, the higher-ed world rallied around the notion of access. Everyone should go to college! Then it was completion. What's the point of everyone going to college if too many will drop out, saddled with debt? Now a different concept has taken hold: value. How can colleges demonstrate that what they offer is worth the effort and expense? Attempts to determine the value of a college degree or credential have led to a recent surge of legislative efforts at both the federal and state levels to improve the data available to students on postgraduation earnings. Last month, a bipartisan group of U.S. representatives and senators reintroduced the College Transparency Act, which passed the House last year and would make sweeping changes to the data collected and collated by the U.S. Education Department, and allow for a much more detailed understanding of students' economic outcomes. Several states, including Colorado, Ohio, and Texas, are attempting to improve their outcomes data, too. After years of frustration and false starts, governments and college leaders may be on the cusp of being able to quantify the value of a degree or credential at a granular level -- right down to a particular program at a certain institution, complete with details about student demographics. While everyone has been figuring out how to improve earnings data, another question has gone less examined: Who is actually using these analyses? |
| English Universities Warned They Are 'At Risk' If They Rely On Chinese Students | |
| Universities in England have been warned they could be putting their financial stability at risk by relying too much on fee income from Chinese students. China is the largest source of international students at U.K. universities, but relations between the two governments have come under increasing strain in recent months. This raises the prospect of a sudden interruption to the supply of overseas students, and a corresponding loss in fee income, potentially putting the future of some universities at risk, according to England's higher education regulator. The Office for Students (OfS) has written to 23 universities with high numbers of Chinese students, asking them to produce contingency plans in the event of a sudden loss of income. "International students bring enormous economic, cultural and educational benefits to higher education in England," said OfS chief executive Susan Lapworth. There are around 150,000 students from China studying at U.K. universities, making up more than a quarter of all non-E.U. students, making them a sizeable source of fee income. But there have been increasing concerns in recent years over the cost of recruiting students from China, notably the risk of political interference and compromises on academic freedom. A House of Commons report warned that China was seeking to undermine academic freedom in the U.K. by influencing course content and who is invited to speak on campus. |
SPORTS
| Bulldogs Win Morgan Hill Regional, Advance To NCAA Championship | |
| No. 18 Mississippi State punched its ticket to the 2023 NCAA Men's Golf Championship on Wednesday after winning the Morgan Hill Regional as the only team below par. Four Bulldogs finished among the top 15 individuals. Joining MSU in advancing were BYU, No. 7 Florida State, Baylor and No. 6 Pepperdine, with the Bulldogs shooting four strokes better than BYU. State led the field for the most team birdies in the tournament with 49. It was MSU's third tournament title of the year as a team, and the Bulldogs' NCAA regional victory in program history. The Bulldogs will make their fourth championship appearance in school history and first since 2008. "I'm at a loss for words, to be honest," head coach Dusty Smith said. "We knew we were prepared and we knew it was a tough tournament, but our guys went out there and played some great golf and just competed. [They] competed so well this week, and I just couldn't be happier for the guys. They put so much hard work in, and they left it all out on the line. For us to come out regional champions is pretty special." The NCAA Championships will be held on May 26-31 at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, and include a field of 35 teams and seven individuals. The field will be cut to 15 teams and nine individuals following three rounds of stroke play. After five rounds, the top eight teams will advance to match play and the individual stroke play champion will be crowned. |
| Diamond Dawg Gameday: hosts Texas A&M | |
| The Mississippi State Bulldogs return to Dudy Noble Field to close out the 2023 season against Texas A&M in a three-game SEC series. The series opener is slated for a 6 p.m. first pitch on Thursday. The three-game series will be broadcasted on SECN+. The SEC series will also be carried on the Mississippi State Sports Network powered by Learfield along with a live audio stream via HailState.com/Listen. Jim Schlossnagle is in his 2nd season as the head coach of the Aggies. He holds a 74-42 record at Texas A&M and a career mark of 885-435 for his 22-year career. Texas A&M enters the weekend with an overall record of 30-22 while going 12-15 in conference play. As a team, the Aggies are hitting .271 with 68 home runs on the season. The Texas A&M pitching staff holds a team ERA of 5.67 on the season. Nathan Dettmer will start Thursday night for the Aggies and holds a 6.32 ERA in 57 innings. He is 1-3 on the season. The Dawgs and the Aggies meet for the 40th time when the series opens on Thursday at Dudy Noble Field. The last time Texas A&M came to Starkville was 2021 and Mississippi State earned a three-game sweep. The first matchup between these two programs was in 1907. |
| All you need to know ahead of Mississippi State's regular season-finale series against Texas A&M | |
| For head coach Chris Lemonis and the Mississippi State baseball team, the path to the postseason isn't simple. The Bulldogs, looking in from the outside of qualified Southeastern Conference tournament teams, need some help around the league to secure their spot in Hoover. But they also need to take care of their own business at home against Texas A&M. MSU's record sits at (26-24, 8-19 SEC). The Bulldogs are unranked in this week's D1baseball.com Top 25 poll. Texas A&M's record sits at (30-22, 12-15 SEC). The Aggies are unranked in this week's D1baseball.com Top 25 poll. MSU's RPI is 43 and Texas A&M's RPI is 40. MSU's postseason hopes hinges on what it can do against the Aggies, as well as needing some help around the SEC, too. The Bulldogs currently sit two games behind Missouri and Georgia for the final SEC Tournament spot in Hoover. The simplest way MSU can get it is if it sweeps Texas A&M this week, while Auburn sweeps Missouri and LSU sweeps Georgia. Tiebreakers in any scenario for MSU would go to the team with the best head-to-head record against the conference's highest seeded team, since Missouri and Georgia are in the SEC East. |
| Texas A&M reliever Brandyn Garcia has found confidence in himself as season progressed | |
| Nowadays when Texas A&M reliever Brandyn Garcia struts through the locker room, he does so with shoulders back, head held high. There's a different swagger about the transfer left-hander that teammates say they notice. Some of that comes from his performance of late, which includes giving up six runs in his last 13 appearances. That's why head coach Jim Schlossnagle has put his confidence in Garcia, using him in pressure-filled situations more often over the last month. Garcia would argue that he needed to find confidence in himself before the success on the field could manifest itself. "I believe I've always had the stuff and always had the capability to do what I could do in the future and what I'm doing now," Garcia said. "I just had to believe it with everything in my heart and everything in my head. I think that's the biggest difference for me." Garcia's emergence as a closing option out of the bullpen has enabled Schlossnagle to move veteran lefty Will Johnston into A&M's starting rotation that has struggled this season. As the Aggies (30-22, 12-15) try to move further away from the NCAA tournament bubble, Schlossnagle said ace Nathan Dettmer and Johnston are locks to start this week at Mississippi State (26-24, 8-19) in the final regular-season season for both teams. For his part, Garcia has allowed two hits and one run over his last three appearances combined. Both he and left-hander Evan Aschenbeck will be key contributors this week against Mississippi State and next week at the SEC tournament in Hoover, Alabama, Schlossnagle said. |
| Zac Selmon: AD talks Mississippi State baseball, basketball extensions | |
| Mississippi State athletics director Zac Selmon, who was hired to replace John Cohen in January, made his first splash this month when he gave men's basketball coach Chris Jans a raise and contract extension. A few days later, he did the same with women's basketball coach Sam Purcell. Fresh off a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances, the moves came as no surprise with Mississippi's maximum contract length sitting at four years for state employees. But for a first-time AD, the efficiency in locking up a pair of successful coaches was noteworthy with MSU looking to build its brand in basketball. He discussed the moves Tuesday at the Country Club of Jackson -- the latest stop on MSU's Road Dawgs Tour featuring Selmon and football coach Zach Arnett. "The upward trajectory of both Coach Jans and Coach Purcell -- it's special what they did in Year 1," Selmon said. "I know they're just getting started. I want to make sure we're always going to be proactive in what we do for our coaches ... We really want to make sure you don't need to go anywhere else besides Mississippi State to be elite." |
| Former MSU Bulldog visits Boys and Girls Club in Meridian | |
 | Former Mississippi State Bulldog, Tolu Smith, visited the Boys and Girls Club of East Mississippi, as he gears up for the NBA Draft. The 2023 SEC First Team member, out of Bay Saint Louis, took the time to talk with the kids about his journey in life and what the Boys and Girls Club meant to him. "Man, it means everything man. The Boys and Girls Club holds a special place in my heart. It built the foundation of who I am today. I wouldn't be who I am today without the Boys and Girls club" Smith said. Smith added that it was an honor and a privIlege to play for the Mississippi State Bulldogs as a native of the Magnolia State. Today was doubly special for the Boys and Girls Club of East Mississippi, as they recognized some high school graduates from the area, who were involved with the Club. They took pictures with Smith, and they talked about what the club meant to them as well. |
| U. of Tennessee planning an entertainment district built around Neyland Stadium | |
 | The University of Tennessee is planning an ambitious Neyland Entertainment District that would transform the area around the iconic football stadium and along the Tennessee River waterfront. The initial development would feature a boutique hotel, condominiums and a conference space to tie together Neyland Stadium and Thompson-Boling Arena. The public-private partnership could eventually include a tabletop area above the existing G10 parking garage for tailgating, restaurants, retail and other entertainment. It could be a money-making opportunity for the university. But UT athletics director Danny White told Knox News that enhancing the experience of Vols fans is the top priority. "We're always looking to generate as much (revenue) as we can to support our athletics department," White said. "But the bigger goal out of this is our fan experience. We have the biggest and best fan base in college sports. "And with the proximity of two iconic venues -- Thompson-Boling Arena and Neyland Stadium -- we've got an opportunity to do something really special from a fan experience standpoint." White said UT and Knoxville need to take advantage of the riverfront. It's an idyllic part of the campus scenery. And on gamedays, it gets plenty of attention as home to the Vol Navy, the famous group of Tennessee fans who tailgate on boats of all sizes. |
| Auburn AD John Cohen: 'We've had conversations with Under Armour' | |
 | Auburn athletics director John Cohen told reporters Wednesday night he is beginning to look into the school's future with Under Armour. The Tigers have been affiliated with Under Armour since 2005, and signed a 9-year contract extension worth $78 million in 2015. However, the "exclusive negotiating window" between the two parties expires on Sept. 1, after which Auburn would be free to seek out another apparel provider. Cohen, Auburn's AD since October, said during an alumni event at the Great Wolf Lodge in LaGrange, Ga., that his department is beginning to formulate a plan on the future of its apparel deal. "We've had conversations with Under Armour," Cohen said via On3 Sports. "My knowledge of the history of this relationship is a little bit limited, although I'm getting information from our coaches, student athletes and our fans have an opinion. We're doing a lot of research. We will do our due diligence and be ready to have conversations about the future of Auburn and our apparel partner. We'll see where it takes us in the future." Auburn is among more than a dozen FBS schools contracted to Maryland-based Under Armour. |
| Texas House passes bill restricting the college sports teams transgender athletes can join | |
| The Texas House gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a bill that would prohibit transgender men from competing on men's college sports teams and transgender women from joining women's college athletic teams. Flanked by female Republican House members all wearing bright pink, Rep. Valoree Swanson, R- Spring, said the bill is about "fairness" for female athletes. "This legislation is not about participation. This legislation is not about restricting anyone's opportunities," Swanson said. "This legislation is about intercollegiate athletic competition. We are here to ensure there is fair play at the highest, most competitive levels of college athletics." Democrats made multiple unsuccessful attempts to kill the bill on technicalities and failed to add several amendments that would've watered it down or voided it. The vote was 93-49, with three representatives present but not voting. Eleven Democrats voted in support of the legislation, though Rep. Jarvis Johnson, D-Houston, later said on social media he voted for the bill due to a machine error and would change his vote. Three of the Democrats who voted for SB 15, Rep. Tracy King, D-Batesville; Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston; and Rep. Shawn Thierry, D-Houston, also voted for Senate Bill 14, which would ban doctors from providing transition-related care to children. |
| EA Sports College Football game to pay players for likeness if they opt in | |
| College football players will benefit financially from the use of their likenesses when EA Sports brings back its college football game for the first time since 2013. The gaming company says it wants "to bring an EA SPORTS college football experience back to our fans," and will allow student-athletes to opt in or opt out of having their likeness included. Those that opt in will receive compensation. The company confirmed Wednesday that players who decide to opt out of EA Sports College Football will be replaced by generic avatars. It declined to discuss financial terms of the deal, such as whether more popular players will be compensated differently than less-known ones or whether their popularity will be tracked, and said its goal is to have all Division I FBS programs represented. EA Sports last issued a college football game in 2013. The company says this version is expected to be made available in the summer of 2024. |
| ESPN Plans to Stream Flagship Channel, Eyeing Cable TV's Demise | |
 | ESPN is laying the groundwork to sell its channel directly to cable cord-cutters as a subscription-streaming service in coming years, according to people familiar with the matter, a shift with profound implications for the company and the broader television business. Executives at ESPN and its parent, Disney, for years have said it was inevitable that the sports-TV channel would one day be available as a stand-alone streaming service. Now, as consumers increasingly cut the cable-TV cord, the company is actively preparing for that shift under a project with the internal code name "Flagship," the people said. The company has set no firm timeline for the change. ESPN would continue to offer the TV channel after launching a streaming option, the people familiar with the matter said. Still, the change could have a major impact on cable-TV providers, since ESPN is one of the main attractions of the cable bundle. The providers pay to carry the ESPN channel and would have to compete with the new streaming service. Every big media company is carrying out a tricky shift from the traditional TV business, which has been very lucrative, to a streaming world where the economics are more uncertain. Consumers for decades have paid for large bundles of channels under long-term, hard-to-cancel cable contracts. ESPN has begun securing flexibility in its deals with cable providers to offer the channel directly to consumers, the people said. The financial terms of those deals couldn't be learned. The company is having similar discussions with pro sports leagues as those rights deals come up and has secured the same flexibility from at least two major leagues, the people said. |
| ADs tell ACC commissioner Jim Phillips – 'We're all in this together' | |
| ACC commissioner Jim Phillips wrapped up three days of spring meetings with a message of unity, saying his league athletic directors have told him "we're all in this together." The week started with reports of seven schools having their own discussions about the league's grant of rights and finding a path forward, but ended with Phillips and athletic directors publicly messaging that they will all work together to find solutions to the issues facing the league -- starting with closing a massive revenue gap with the SEC and the Big Ten. Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina, Miami, Virginia, Virginia Tech and NC State all had conversations among each other -- taking athletic directors left out of the discussions by surprise. Phillips said the athletic directors from those seven schools assured him, "We're all in this together. We believe in the ACC and we want to continue to work together." Phillips said the fact those schools have taken a look at the grant of rights and had their own discussions about a path forward was "not a warning sign to me, that something bad may happen. Phillips was not in the athletic directors meeting Monday, which grew contentious at times. But Phillips did say that hashing out the differences helped the conversations about revenue and the league's future progress. |
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