| Thursday, October 5, 2023 |
| New NSF-funded research instrument keeps MSU at forefront of cutting-edge chemical science | |
 | More than a half million dollars from the National Science Foundation will provide Mississippi State University faculty members and research students with a new piece of equipment -- a high-resolution mass spectrometer -- to strengthen research capabilities at the land-grant university and for the entire state. The $540,737 grant is jointly funded by NSF's Major Research Instrumentation Program, the Chemistry Research Instrumentation Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. "A high-resolution mass spectrometer is a critical tool for the characterization of new chemicals that researchers in the chemistry department make for applications, ranging from improving fuels to more efficiently building pharmaceutical drugs. This same tool is also excellent for characterizing biological and environmental samples, including the detection of contaminants in water samples," said Amanda Patrick, the grant's principal investigator and an assistant professor of chemistry. Patrick said 12 research groups on campus have been identified as users of the new instrument. Their projects include those relevant to the production of cleaner fuels, transitioning chemical reactions to more sustainable "green" solvents like water or ethanol, and improving chemistry relevant to pharmaceutical manufacturing, among other applications. Additionally, the instrument will be used for educational activities and training student researchers. It will also be utilized during laboratory courses. |
| Historic Black cemetery wrestles with trash | |
 | Visiting Brush Arbor Cemetery on University Drive over the weekend, Mississippi State University anthropology professor Jordan Lynton Cox was disappointed in what she saw. Starkville's historic Black cemetery, a site of a field school supported by a $350,000 grant from the National Endowment of Humanities, was covered with litter. "There were beer bottles and cans strewn all over the place," Cox told The Dispatch. "My husband and I picked up an entire (garbage) bag full of waste that was left behind there." And that's to say nothing of more natural canine waste typically found throughout the site. "To me, personally, when we go out there on Veterans Day and put up flags, it's embarrassing to see dog crap all over the graves," said Chris Taylor, a military veteran and executive board member for the Oktibbeha County chapter of the NAACP. Without the conspicuous sign for Brush Arbor posted by the street, the once abandoned cemetery almost disappears against the Cotton District aesthetic -- squeezed between Scooter's Records to the east and a fairly new apartment complex to the west. Both Taylor and Cox believe some type of fence is immediately needed to keep the two-acre site, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014, from further degrading. MSU established the field school in March for the purpose of surveying, cataloging and researching what was once called the Starkville Colored Cemetery, then creating a digital archive to preserve the findings. So far, the team has identified 81 burials and 41 headstones at the site, the earliest dating back to 1882 and the latest recorded burial in 1954. |
| Vicksburg shines bright: Locals named Miss Mississippi State University, First Alternate | |
 | Morgan Nelson, a senior in biological sciences/pre-med major from Vicksburg, was crowned 2023's Miss Mississippi State University on Sept. 28 at Lee Hall's Bettersworth Auditorium. Miss Mississippi State University 2022 Anna Katherine Thompson, a senior communication/public relations major from Ruston, La., passed the crown to Nelson at the event. Sarah Randolph, a Vicksburg resident, was named first alternate. Randolph is a junior at Mississippi State majoring in biological sciences/pre-dental. Miss Mississippi State University is a preliminary for the Miss Mississippi Pageant that will be held at the Vicksburg Convention Center in June 2024. |
| $10.25 million beverage plant to create 31 new jobs | |
| Columbus-based Quality Beverage Packing is investing $10.25 million to relocate its beverage concentrate and packaging business to 25 acres on Charleigh D. Ford Jr. Drive. The company, which has been operating at its current location on Yorkville Park Square since 1996, announced Wednesday that it plans to build a 50,000-square-foot plant to relocate its beverage manufacturing and distribution operation. The project will create 31 new jobs with average annual salaries higher than $47,800. "Columbus and Lowndes County have always been home, and with the Golden Triangle Development LINK's assistance, we were able to identify a site where our new operations will deliver significant additional manufacturing capacity for our customer partners and, most importantly, a best-in-class facility for our dedicated, hard-working employees," Quality Beverage President Brad Earwood wrote in the release. GTR LINK Chief Operating Officer Meryl Fisackerly said the company intends to begin construction in 2024 and will open in January 2025. Once complete, the new location will house its beverage syrup manufacturing, which include juice concentrates, pre drink mixes and soda syrup. It will also house a research and development lab and distribution facilities, as well as office space. |
| Mississippi River nearing historic low levels for second straight year | |
| The Mississippi River is at risk of reaching record-low water levels for the second year in a row and one expert is concerned about the effects it will have on barge travel. Last October, the river hit historic low water levels of -10.81 feet. As most of Mississippi continues to experience dry and drought-like conditions this year, the river is constantly lowering by the day and working toward the dire levels from a year ago. Austin Golding with Golding Barge Line warns that the constant lowering of the water levels is going to have a negative impact on the amount of cargo a barge is able to carry, which will end up placing an economic burden on consumers -- especially in the agriculture industry. "The bottom line means less cargo on barges making the same runs that they always have," Golding said on MidDays with Gerard Gibert. "So, if there's less cargo, then it's less efficient, and it ends up costing the consumer more money." The current issue barge operators are facing isn't necessarily the volume of water in their path. Rather, there has been an increased difficulty in safely loading products onto the flat-bottomed inland waterway vessels without them getting stuck. "The real problem isn't so much the channel of the river. It's docks that we have that unload and load different products at these different ports we have," Golding said. "They're not really built to service 60 feet in bearable river height. They operate within normal river levels and standards, but they come offline whenever the river gets this low." |
| Mississippi pumpkins affected by heat, drought | |
 | There may be less pumpkins to choose from this fall. Mississippi pumpkin crops have taken a hit from the excessive heat and drought. Little water and extreme temperatures have led to farmers in the Pine Belt losing pumpkins. Farmers said the hot and dry weather can lead to smaller harvests due to wilting and dying vines. The lack of rainwater can also cause pumpkins to be smaller in size. Mitchel Farms, located in Collins, was able to save most of their crops with irrigation systems, but Garner Farms, located in Mize, did not yield any pumpkins. "Some fields are drier than others. Most of, or a lot of my land has irrigation systems on it, and where I've been able to water, I'm making a very good crop. This particular field of pumpkins is all watered, and they're doing very well. I have another field. It's not watered, and it's going to do okay, but not really good," said Don Mitchell, the owner of Mitchell Farms. "You need a good vine to have plenty of pumpkins on the vine, of course. And, you know, it's just so hot during the day that our pumpkins would wilt down, and they would not recover fully at night. Pumpkins usually wilt during the day, but at nighttime, they recover for the next day. And year that didn't happen because it was so hot during the night, it kept them pretty much wilted," said Keith Garner with Garner Farms. |
| Ag Commissioner, again, vows fairgrounds will be safest place in state during upcoming fair | |
| Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson is again vowing that the fairgrounds will be the safest place in Mississippi during the state fair. It's the same message as last year when Commissioner Gipson hosted an entire press conference about security for the 2022 State Fair. The presser and the fair came roughly five months after a group of teens fired shots at the Mississippi Mudbug festival. A year later, there may not be a press conference, but you can rest assured the security plan will look the same. "We're going to utilize the same model we utilized last year," State Fairgrounds Chief of Security James Herzog said. "It will consist of state and local law enforcement that will actually be here 24/7 during the fair." In all, 10 law enforcement departments on the state and local level along with private security will be on-site throughout it all. All those departments will, again, use the armory building as their command center, and together they'll enforce the same security plan as last year -- including some measures aimed directly at youth. "The message is this: it's safe for families to come out, but any bad element needs to stay away," Gipson said. "We did it last year and it worked. We want to do the same thing this year." "Every corner you turn, you will see a law enforcement or security personnel here," Herzog said. |
| Robert St. John plans 3 new restaurants in Jackson area | |
 | Robert St. John never does anything on a small scale. His newest ventures prove that. After announcing the soon-to-be-opened expansion of the Mahogany Bar at his flagship restaurant Crescent City Grill in Hattiesburg, St. John said he is opening not one new restaurant but three in the Jackson area. Two of the restaurants will be Ed's Burger Joints, modeled after the one in midtown Hattiesburg. Negotiations are in the works for these two restaurants, but the locations have not yet been disclosed. St. John had planned to open Ed's Burger Joint in 2019 in the Fondren, area but those plans did not move forward during the pandemic. The third restaurant is El Rayo, a Tex Mex concept St. John developed and launched first in Hattiesburg. St. John said in an earlier story that he spent a lot of time on the research and design of El Rayo by traveling to Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Montana and Wyoming on fact-finding and food-tasting missions. "We went to the source --- Texas --- which is really where the heart of Tex-Mex is," St. John said. St. John said his team is scouting for the perfect location for the restaurant. No opening dates are set for the new restaurants. |
| New Poll: Presley lags behind Reeves in governor's race with just one month remaining | |
| A new Magnolia Tribune/Mason-Dixon Poll has incumbent Republican Governor Tate Reeves leading Democratic challenger Brandon Presley by 8 points, 51-43. Reeves maintains commanding double-digit leads in four of the six regions of the state surveyed. This includes a 25-point advantage on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and a 17-point advantage in North Mississippi. Presley holds a 19-point advantage in the Delta and a 10-point advantage in the Jackson Metro. Both candidates have shored up their bases since Magnolia Tribune/Mason-Dixon's polling of the race in March. Reeves has increased his percentage of support among men, people 50 or older, white voters, and self-identified Republicans over the last six months. Presley has increased his support among women, younger voters, minority voters, and self-identified Democrats in the same time period. For Presley, the challenge is that there are historically more people in the groups that form Reeves' base and Reeves' lead among those groups is more pronounced. Reeves' support among Republicans is notable since Presley's strategy hinges on attracting Republican voters to cross over. Reeves appears to have largely locked down Republican voters. At this point, the 3 percent of Republican defectors to Presley matches the 3 percent of Democrat defectors to Reeves. Thirty-three (33) percent of the people who responded to Magnolia Tribune/Mason-Dixon's October poll ranked "jobs and the economy" as the number one issue in the race. |
| Brett Favre will testify under oath in Mississippi welfare scandal civil case | |
 | Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre will answer questions under oath about the misspending of federal welfare money in Mississippi, where public money intended to help some of the nation's poorest people was used to fund pet projects he and other well-connected people supported. A notice of deposition filed Monday in Hinds County Circuit Court by attorneys for Mississippi's Department of Human Services shows Favre will give sworn testimony on Oct. 26 at a hotel in Hattiesburg. The Pro Football Hall of Famer is among more than three dozen defendants in a lawsuit the current Human Services director filed to recover some of the welfare money. Favre has denied wrongdoing, sued the state auditor who investigated the misspending for defamation and said he paid back misspent welfare funds. No criminal charges have been brought against Favre, although a former department director and other people have pleaded guilty to their part in the misspending. Favre has asked the Hinds County Circuit Court and the Mississippi Supreme Court to remove him as a defendant in the civil lawsuit, but both requests were denied. The deposition will be conducted by oral examination before a court reporter and may be video-recorded. A confidentiality order approved by the court would keep all of the testimony private for at least 30 days after its completion date, court records show. |
| Ford playing part for women's rights | |
| Republican state Rep. Jill Ford is helping to lead the charge with a "Women's Bill of Rights" that she plans to introduce in January. "Our granddaughters' futures are at stake, and I aim to fight with every ounce of my being to protect them," Ford said. Ford recently visited the Flowood home of Lesley Davis, president and CEO of Mississippi Advocacy Group, along with 12x All-American swimmer Riley Gaines and Paula Scanlan, teammate of Lia Thomas at the University of Pennsylvania, along with multiple female Mississippi lawmakers showing their support for a bill to protect women's rights. Ford is playing a major part in passing the bill in the Mississippi House of Representatives and said she had no idea the country would be facing insane social issues when she was elected in 2019. "I will be proposing legislation in January that will protect women's safe spaces in support of what Riley Gaines has brought to the public's attention," Ford said. "Women's prisons, shelters, locker rooms, and bathrooms will no longer be an optional open door for those born a male." As the president of the Mississippi Advocacy Group, Lesley Davis writes public policy in any area that deals with pro-life, pro-women, and pro-family, which includes Madison County. Davis is assisting Rep. Ford in getting the "Women's Bill of Rights" passed in the Mississippi House and assisting state Sen. Angela Hill in getting the bill passed in the Senate. If the bill passes, traditional women's spaces in places like locker rooms, bathrooms, sorority houses, prisons, and more will bar men and boys identifying as women from entering. |
| House removal of speaker adds hurdle for new farm bill | |
 | The farm bill could be collateral damage after the House removed Speaker Kevin McCarthy in a historic vote that may have "blown up any meaningful legislation," House Agriculture Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson warned. The ouster of McCarthy, R-Calif., on Tuesday raises a new obstacle for finishing a draft of a five-year food and agriculture bill. Sources said no House floor work and little if any committee work is expected until lawmakers elect a new speaker. The House and Senate Agriculture committees had already missed a deadline to finish a farm bill by Sept. 30, when the 2018 bill expired. Leaders of both committees have set Dec. 31 as the new deadline for a final bill. They say an extension isn't necessary if they can finish before Jan. 1, 2024, when 1940s farm policies of supply management and higher dairy and crop subsidies would start to take effect. Thompson said Tuesday night that he was unsure a farm bill extension, if needed, could make it through a distracted and divided House. Eight Republicans joined 208 Democrats in the 216-210 vote for a resolution by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., to remove McCarthy as speaker. "The agitators and the Democrats rule the day. In a mutual way, they've really blown up any meaningful legislation. I don't know how you get a speaker with that coalition. Without a speaker, you can't do anything," Thompson said, adding that it could lead to multiple time-consuming rounds of votes for a new speaker. Senate Agriculture member Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, had said even before the House move against McCarthy that he was worried about a farm bill not being ready in December. "I have my doubts that we're going to get a five-year farm bill [this year] and we're going to have a one-year, two-year extension. The farmers will have their usual safety nets," Grassley said on his weekly call with reporters Tuesday. |
| GOP aims fire at Gaetz after McCarthy ouster | |
 | House Republicans are aiming their fire at Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) after the congressman staged a successful effort to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as Speaker, sharply criticizing the Florida Republican for teaming up with Democrats to boot the GOP leader and hurling personal insults his way. Taking matters a step further, at least two GOP lawmakers have said Gaetz should be booted from the House Republican Conference, an unlikely outcome that, nonetheless, underscores the raw frustration -- and anger -- with Gaetz among members of his party. The amped-up rhetoric comes as the House GOP conference is being forced back into square one -- electing a new Speaker -- as the government shutdown clock ticks down to the fast-approaching Nov. 17 funding deadline. The converging dynamics have House Republicans starting to lash out -- with Gaetz taking a large chunk of the heat. "Matt Gaetz just got schooled by AOC and others; he was totally manipulated into doing this," Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), a close McCarthy ally, told reporters Wednesday. "There were eight so-called Republicans that got together with 208 Democrats to oust the Republican Speaker." "I can't believe he's that stupid to be used, to be manipulated by AOC and others to create this outcome," he added. |
| A day after Congress chaos, defiant Nancy Mace defends her role in McCarthy exit as speaker | |
 | U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace is not backing down after her vote led to the extraordinary removal of Kevin McCarthy as House speaker, striking a defiant tone and putting the blame squarely on McCarthy. "I was very public about what promises I was made legislatively and what those timelines were," Mace said in a press call with South Carolina reporters Oct. 4. "And to date, none of those things have happened," Mace said, adding that in her assessment, McCarthy's undoing was of his own making that included misleading other House members. Mace also said she had no regrets in using her support for removing McCarthy in a fundraising email blast that went out shortly after the vote. The Isle of Palms Republican shared her thinking during a wide-ranging call with South Carolina reporters, where she confirmed she has met with Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, and has plans to meet with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, about who should take over. Both have jumped into the race to become the next speaker. How Mace's decision to join minority Democrats as one of eight Republicans who turned on McCarthy is being received by district Republicans is still working its way out. Other conservative sources were more hostile. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who along with McCarthy headlined a Charleston fundraiser for Mace in 2022, ripped into her and the seven other House Republicans during an Oct.3 appearance on Fox News' "Hannity." "They're traitors. All eight of them should in fact be primaried. They should all be driven out of public life," Gingrich said. |
| Thompson discusses vote to oust McCarthy as Speaker | |
| The U.S. House of Representatives is paralyzed after a vote to remove Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as Speaker passed on Tuesday, October 3. Three out of Mississippi's four congressmen voted against the motion to vacate. Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) was the only 'yay' vote among the Mississippi delegation, joining every House Democrat in voting for the measure. Thompson said his vote was dependent on McCarthy's lack of communication and leadership. "It's the Republicans' responsibility to elect the speaker, and it's not the Democrats' responsibility to keep him there. So, Democrats were united in our opposition, just like we were united when Kevin McCarthy won the Speaker's office. He led no effort to talk to us. And so, we're under no obligation to keep him in that position. His lack of leadership as Speaker over the last ten months came full circle," stated Thompson. |
| From a Capitol Hill Basement, Bannon Stokes the Republican Party Meltdown | |
 | On Wednesday morning, two Republicans who hours earlier had toppled Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House made a well-worn trek to a 19th-century brick townhouse a few blocks away from the Capitol and entered the cluttered sanctuary of Stephen K. Bannon's recording studio. Representatives Matt Gaetz of Florida, the instigator of the rebellion, and Nancy Mace of South Carolina, one of seven other Republican defectors, huddled with Mr. Bannon for a morning meeting ahead of a joint appearance on his "War Room" podcast. "Tectonic plate shift here in the imperial capital," Mr. Bannon told his listeners at showtime, while directing them to donate to his guests online. "We must stand in the breach now. We have to lance the boil that is K Street in this nation." From this cavelike studio not far from where Congress meets, Mr. Bannon, the former Trump adviser, has been stoking the chaos now gripping the Republican Party, capitalizing on the spectacle to build his own following and using his popular podcast to prop up and egg on the G.O.P. rebels. Mr. Bannon has spent years promoting the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald J. Trump, railing against coronavirus mandates and what he refers to as a "criminal invasion of the southern border." His obsession of late was toppling Mr. McCarthy and taking out what he describes as "uniparty" Republicans who have become indistinguishable from Democrats. For weeks, Mr. Bannon has been strategizing with Mr. Gaetz on the bid to take down Mr. McCarthy, offering himself up as a sounding board as Mr. Gaetz plotted his moves. |
| Vote to oust McCarthy as speaker is a warning sign for democracy, scholars say | |
 | When the House of Representatives voted to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker on Tuesday, it was the first such removal in American history, a vivid rebuke of his leadership and an escalation of the civil strife within the Republican Party. But historians and political scientists say it is something more: a warning sign for the health of American democracy. "If you want to know what it looks like when democracy is in trouble, this is what it looks like," said Daniel Ziblatt, professor of government at Harvard University. "It should set off alarm bells that something is not right." The vote reflected the enormous power that a small group of representatives camped on their party's ideological fringe can wield over an entire institution, said Ziblatt, co-author of the book "Tyranny of the Minority." It also showcased how difficult it will be for anyone to corral the House in a way that's functional, with major decisions over the budget and Ukraine funding ahead. Congress arrived at this point for myriad reasons, all of which build on one another, scholars say: Social media and cable news incentivized politicians to perform for the camera, not for their constituents. Aggressive gerrymandering created deeply partisan districts where representation is decided in primary contests, not general elections. Weakened political parties became captive to their loudest and most extreme members. Taken together, those factors handed a small number of lawmakers the power to throw one of the three branches of government into disarray and, for now, paralysis. By voting en masse against McCarthy, Democrats highlighted the dysfunction in the Republican Party, which they have pointed to as a reason the GOP should not be trusted again with the majority after next year's election. But Democrats also risked contributing to the broader dysfunction in the House. |
| US warns of Chinese global disinformation campaign that could undermine peace and stability | |
| For much of the world, China's Xinjiang region is notorious, a place where ethnic Uyghurs face forced labor and arbitrary detention. But a group of visiting foreign journalists was left with a decidedly different impression. On a tour in late September sponsored by Beijing, the 22 journalists from 17 countries visited bazaars and chatted with residents over dates and watermelon slices. They later told state media they were impressed with the bustling economy, described the region as "full of cultural, religious and ethnic diversity," and denounced what they said were lies by Western media. The trip is an example of what Washington sees as Beijing's growing efforts to reshape the global narrative on China. It's spending billions of dollars annually to do so. In a first-of-its-kind report, the State Department last week laid out Beijing's tactics and techniques for molding public opinion, such as buying content, creating fake personas to spread its message and using repression to quash unfavorable accounts. "Unchecked, the (Chinese government's) information manipulation could in many parts of the world diminish freedom to express views critical of Beijing," said Jamie Rubin, who heads the center. He said Beijing's efforts could "transform the global information landscape and damage the security and stability of the United States, its friends, and partners." "We don't want to see an Orwellian mix of fact and fiction in our world," he said. "That will destroy the secure world of rules and rights that the United States and much of the world relies upon." |
| Biden Administration to Resume Border Wall Construction in Policy Reversal | |
 | When he was campaigning for president, Joe Biden pledged that "not another foot" of border wall would be built on his watch. But this week, his administration announced plans to do just that. In a public notice posted Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security outlined its intent to build up to 20 new miles of Trump administration-era border barriers in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, one of the busiest crossing spots for migrants attempting to enter the U.S. The decision comes as Republicans nearly shut down the federal government over new border-security measures, including resuming construction of former President Donald Trump's wall project. The about-face by the administration -- which halted all border-wall construction on the first day of Biden's presidency -- shows its increasing desperation to tamp down illegal border crossings, which have surpassed two million for each of the last two years. In addition to intense criticism from Republicans, who have made the border a key issue in the 2024 presidential campaign, Democratic mayors and governors have also pleaded with the federal government to take action to slow the flows of migrants coming to their cities and requesting temporary shelter. To move ahead with construction quickly, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas waived 26 federal laws, including requirements around environmental protection, safe drinking water, clean air and endangered species. Though a law passed by Congress in 2006 called the Secure Fence Act allows the government to waive most federal laws that could impede the construction of border barriers, Biden is the first Democratic president to make use of the power. |
| Washington is in chaos. On Connecticut's Gold Coast, Wall Street's elite are nervous. | |
 | Wall Street is used to a little chaos in Washington. But the crowd at the two-day Greenwich Economic Forum this week responded to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's ouster, mounting political polarization and a likely rematch of the explosive 2020 presidential election like it's a bed of bad oysters. After years of warnings from credit rating services and analysts, Wall Street's best and brightest are beginning to weigh the long-term effects of a political ecosystem in which deep partisanship and an emboldened right wing gets in the way of basic government functions. Days after Congress temporarily averted a government shutdown, McCarthy's sudden exit at the hands of a small group of Republicans is shaking the financial sector's faith in lawmakers' ability to manage their fiscal obligations. Stocks have fallen over the last month even amid signs that the U.S. could avoid a recession. While Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and other central bank officials have telegraphed that interest rates are likely to remain higher for longer, analysts like Morgan Stanley CIO Mike Wilson say the recent spike in 10-year Treasury note yields reflects concerns about Washington's fiscal discipline. Borrowing costs are poised to keep climbing as the market's demand for federal debt securities weakens. And that doesn't even take into account how culture wars have widened the divide. The "irreconcilable differences" between red and blue communities on everything from gender to inequality have put the country "at risk of a civil war of sorts," Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio told the crowd. Which brings us to the 2024 election. |
| U.S. jobless claims increase slightly to 207,000 for the week | |
| The U.S. labor market held strong as September came to a close, with weekly jobless claims holding around recent lows, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Initial filings for unemployment benefits totaled a seasonally adjusted 207,000 for the week ended Sept. 30, up just 2,000 from the previous period and below the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 210,000. Continuing claims, which run a week behind, were little changed at 1.664 million, below the 1.68 million estimate from FactSet. The four-week moving average of claims, which irons out volatility, fell to 208,750, a decline of 2,500. Following the report, stock market futures added to losses while Treasury yields moved higher. Dow futures were off about 100 points, while the benchmark 10-year note yielded 4.76%, up nearly 3 basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, on the session. The report comes at a critical time for the economy as the Federal Reserve considers the future of monetary policy. Central bank officials worry that continued tightness in the labor market could exert upward pressure on inflation and necessitate additional interest rate hikes. Markets have been especially sensitive to moves higher in Treasury yields that could indicate the Fed will keep rates higher. Traders are pricing in less than a 40% chance of a rate hike before the end of the year, but Fed officials lately have been warning that while the outlook for increases is uncertain, rates are likely to stay elevated. |
| America's nonreligious are a growing, diverse phenomenon. They really don't like organized religion | |
| The decades-long rise of the nones -- a diverse, hard-to-summarize group -- is one of the most talked about phenomena in U.S. religion. They are reshaping America's religious landscape as we know it. In U.S. religion today, "the most important story without a shadow of a doubt is the unbelievable rise in the share of Americans who are nonreligious," said Ryan Burge, a political science professor at Eastern Illinois University and author of "The Nones," a book on the phenomenon. The nones account for a large portion of Americans, as shown by the 30% of U.S. adults who claim no religious affiliation in a survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Other major surveys say the nones have been steadily increasing for as long as three decades. So who are they? They're the atheists, the agnostics, the "nothing in particular." Many are "spiritual but not religious," and some are neither or both. They span class, gender, age, race and ethnicity. While the nones' diversity splinters them into myriad subgroups, most of them have this in common: They. Really. Don't. Like. Organized. Religion. Nor its leaders. Nor its politics and social stances. That's according to a large majority of nones in the AP-NORC survey. But they're not just a statistic. They're real people with unique relationships to belief and nonbelief, and the meaning of life. They're secular homeschoolers in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, Pittsburghers working to overcome addiction. They're a mandolin maker in a small Missouri town, a former evangelical disillusioned with that particular strain of American Christianity. They're college students who found their childhood churches unpersuasive or unwelcoming. |
| UM study raises questions about juvenile arrest policies | |
| A study of juvenile arrest policies in Florida made by University of Mississippi researchers poses questions about similar practices in Mississippi. Abigail Novak, assistant professor of criminal justice and legal studies, and Vitoria De Francisco Lopes, a doctoral student in the program, co-authored "What About the Kids? A Multimethod Approach to Understanding Law Enforcement Policies Pertaining to the Arrest of Children in Florida." The American Journal of Criminal Justice published the research on July 25. "Unlike Florida, Mississippi has a state-level minimum age of juvenile court jurisdiction," Novak said. "However, Mississippi's minimum age is young enough that officers may still be allowed substantial discretion in arrest scenarios involving children." Even though Mississippi mandates a minimum age for juvenile court jurisdiction, it does not provide clear guidance for navigating these situations in a way that best serves children and communities, she said. "Our findings emphasize the need for concrete guidance for officers that reduces discretion when arrest decisions involve children, and appropriate training on child development and strategies to address suspected delinquent behavior among children that do not involve justice system involvement," she said. |
| Inaugural Clyde Kennard lecture set for Oct. 17 at USM Hattiesburg campus | |
| The Center for Black Studies at the University of Southern Mississippi will host the inaugural Clyde Kennard Lecture at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17 in the Joe Paul Student Theater on the Hattiesburg campus. The lecture will feature Harvard University professor Jarvis R. Givens, who will present "Fugitive Pedagogy: Unveiling a Liberatory Tradition in the History of African American Education." The event is free and open to the public. Givens specializes in African American history as well as the history of education and theories of race and power in education. He has written two books, including "Fugitive Pedagogy: Carter G. Woodson and the Art of Black Teaching" and "School Clothes: A Collective Memoir of Black Student Witness." Organizers of the lecture intend for it to commemorate Kennard's experience as an unsung civil rights activist who sparked progressive changes in the movement for racial integration of higher education in Mississippi and the nation. "Dr. Givens is the perfect speaker for the inaugural Kennard Lecture," said Cheryl Jenkins, associate director of the Center for Black Studies. "His critical understanding of the African American education experience connects well with Clyde Kennard's desires expressed in his writings that call for racial equality and for racial integration in higher education." |
| Former JSU professor celebrate mentee's historic appointment to U.S. Senate | |
| The Jackson State University community is celebrating the appointment of JSU Graduate Laphonza Butler's appointment to the U.S. Senate. Butler, a 2001 graduate of the historically Black university, was appointed to the position by California Governor Gavin Newsom following the death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Butler's former professor at Jackson State, and former chair of the political science department from 1996-2005, said Butler excelled as a student and already was making history before being appointed as senator. "She had already made history as the leader of the largest labor organization in the country," said Mary Coleman, former chair of the JSU political science department. Butler will make history as the third Black woman to serve in the Senate and the first openly LGBTQ+ person to serve in the chamber representing California. Butler grew up in Magnolia, Mississippi. |
| Tribal chief named ECCC 'Alumnus of the Year' | |
| Recognizing his personal achievements and his tireless dedication to his culture and community, Cyrus Ben, Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, was recently named Alumnus of the Year at East Central Community College and will be recognized during the college's Homecoming ceremonies scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 12, on the Decatur campus. When notified of his selection, Chief Ben said, "I am humbled to be selected for this honor. To be viewed as someone worthy of this award is amazing. It is a great honor to be recognized as an academic and cultural Warrior." Ben, who recently began his second term, is the fifth elected Tribal Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, a federally-recognized tribe of over 11,100 members living on or near 35,000 acres of tribal lands in east central Mississippi. During his first term, Ben worked to strengthen relationships with state officials which led to the passing of several bills including the Regalia bill, Tribal ID bill, and the Tribal car tag. He also served on the state flag commission. Ben said East Central offered him not only the opportunity to pursue his education, but to also play a sport he loved, and remain close to home. He was a member of the Warrior Corps student ambassadors and played on the 1996 Warrior football team that won the Golden Isles Bowl and finished 5th in the nation. "Many of the events that occurred in my life during my two years at East Central helped prepare me for situations I would have to overcome in the future." A graduate of Mississippi College, Chief Ben earned his Bachelor's degree in Marketing and Management in 2001. He earned an Associate's degree in Business from East Central Community College in 1998. |
| George Teague named grand marshal for U. of Alabama homecoming parade | |
 | Former Crimson Tide football player George Teague has been named grand marshal for the 2023 University of Alabama homecoming parade. Teague, who grew up in Montgomery, played football for the Crimson Tide from 1989 to 1992 and was part of UA's 1992 national championship squad. Over a nine-year career in the NFL, he played for the Green Bay Packers, the Miami Dolphins and the Dallas Cowboys. Teague now serves as athletic director of John Paul II High School in Plano, Texas. Teague will lead the homecoming parade, which will begin at 7 a.m. Oct. 14, proceeding from downtown Tuscaloosa to the UA campus before the Crimson Tide football team takes on the Arkansas Razorbacks at 11 a.m. inside Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPN. The 2023 homecoming festivities will kick off Oct. 8, beginning with a Roll Tide Run and the Spades and Lawns Games tournament. UA fans are also invited to the homecoming pep rally beginning at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 13 on the Quad, followed by a bonfire. The pep rally will include the announcement of the homecoming queen, along with performances by the Million Dollar Band and UA cheerleaders and appearances by UA's elephant mascot Big Al and guest speakers. |
| U. of South Carolina, others in SC have Native American human remains 33 years after federal law said return them | |
 | For generations, South Carolina institutions have held onto remains of Native Americans despite a federal law passed 33 years ago requiring they be returned to their rightful tribes. Three organizations account for 97% of the 386 people whose remains are held in the state: the SC Institute for Archeology and Anthropology under the control of the University of South Carolina, the Charleston Museum, and the South Carolina Parks Recreation and Tourism. Asked by The State why the path to repatriation has taken so long, the institutions had different stories to tell and some were more forthcoming than others. The SC Institute for Archaeology and Anthropology has 252 ancestral remains and 9,748 known funerary objects, said Jeff Stensland, spokesman for the university. ProPublica, which conducted an inventory of institutions across the country, said USC's collection is the 66th largest collection of unrepatriated Native American remains in the U.S. Stensland said the state archaeologist is responsible for curating "artifacts discovered by other state and federal agencies and delivered to SCIAA." He said the institute is in the process of making remains available to tribes. |
| University System of Georgia enrollment up this year, Perdue says | |
| After a two-year enrollment decline, the University System of Georgia's student numbers are rebounding. Chancellor Sonny Perdue said Wednesday that overall enrollment is up nearly 3% this fall, or 9,551 students, compared to a year ago. The numbers won't be official for several weeks, but Perdue told the Georgia Board of Regents it appears the system "turned the corner" from the COVID-19 pandemic slide. Preliminary numbers indicate the system is in "a post-COVID era," Perdue said, and that "students understand they can get a real-value education." The University System enrolled 334,459 students last fall, a 1.8% drop from fall 2021. Enrollment also fell slightly, by 0.2%, the year before. The fall 2021 numbers marked the first systemwide enrollment decline since 2013. Georgia's public colleges and universities receive state money based on a funding formula that uses enrollment numbers as a key weight. State dollars currently pay for roughly 57% of the cost of educating a student, with tuition providing the remainder. University System officials recently gave a presentation to state lawmakers that the formula hasn't kept up with inflation, including the cost to maintain buildings, more technology, security measures to prevent physical and cyber attacks, and services to help students who aren't fully prepared for college classes. So far this fall, Perdue said 21 of the University System's 26 schools have gained enrollment. He did not specify which schools saw increases, but he said all sectors, from the top-tier research universities to access colleges, are up. Official enrollment numbers for this fall will be reported at the board's November meeting. |
| Interim president Welsh announces decisions on how A&M will move forward from Path Forward | |
 | Mark Welsh is looking through the windshield now, not the rearview mirror. Over the past two months, Welsh, Texas A&M University's interim president, and a four-person task force have assessed the implementation of The Path Forward, an initiative under former A&M President M. Katherine Banks released in December 2021 that outlined 41 recommendations for sweeping organizational changes. Decisions on how to move forward from the Banks-led initiative were announced by Welsh during an all-faculty and staff meeting Wednesday morning inside Kyle Field's Hall of Champions and included elevating the provost's position, codifying academic freedom for librarians and retaining the merged College of Arts & Sciences. Over 600 A&M administrators, faculty, staff, students and community members gathered to hear Welsh share his team's decisions in a 90-minute presentation after weeks of discussions, meetings and surveys with and from the campus community. More than 5,000 tuned into the meeting virtually. One of Welsh's main observations from the two-month assessment was evil intentions don't live at A&M. "I think clearly, when I came into the job, there was a feeling that there was confusion, frustration, maybe a little bit of anger about things and I wanted to make sure we went back and looked at those things we've been going through for the last couple of years to make sure we understood what was causing it and was there a way to relieve some of that tension and maybe get to success to some of those projects that hadn't quite gotten there yet," Welsh said. |
| U. of Missouri College of Engineering announces work zone safety program | |
 | The University of Missouri College of Engineering announced the kickstart of its Missouri Work Zone Safety Center of Excellence on Wednesday. The program allows department heads at the College of Engineering to lead research that will develop behavioral, educational, engineering and technology solutions, with a goal of zero fatalities and serious injuries in work zones. In 2021, there were a total of 106,000 work zone crashes nationwide, according to the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse. Of those 106,000 crashes, 956 were fatalities and 42,000 were serious injuries. "Work zone safety has been a problem for the past decade or so, and in almost every state," said Praveen Edara, interim dean for the MU College of Engineering. There have been five work zone fatalities in Missouri this year, according to data from the Missouri Department of Transportation. "We'll be researching at MU in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department," Edara said. "A lot of faculty have been working on safety counter measures, new ways to train workers, studying distracted driving and different kinds of causal factors that contribute to work zone crashes." |
| Are Racial-Affinity Groups a Form of Segregation or Student Support? | |
 | When Brielle Shorter was in high school, her heart was set on attending a historically Black college, where she imagined she'd be surrounded by people who shared common experiences in an environment made to support Black students. All of the 13 HBCUs she applied to accepted her, but none offered full scholarships. Ohio State University, in Columbus, did. Grateful, but apprehensive, she enrolled. Black students make up about 8 percent of the flagship's nearly 46,000 undergraduate students, and when she toured the 1,600-acre campus, "I told my mom there's not enough diversity for me," she says. "My idea of an OSU student was a frat boy," and during her tour, she saw a lot of guys who seemed to fit the profile. Her mother told her there were plenty of Black students -- "you just aren't seeing them." With no other affordable options, and a prestigious scholarship at a top public university hard to pass up, "I said I would make the most of it," says Shorter, now a 19-year-old sophomore. "That's what I'm here trying to do." Wearing a headset over long, pulled-back braids, looking every bit the part-time model she is even in sweatpants and a T-shirt, Shorter crossed the campus from one meeting to another on a September afternoon. After lunch, she knocked on the door of a recording studio to join an in-progress podcast about mental-health services tailored to students of color. Later that evening, she led a discussion with the Black Caucus, an arm of the Undergraduate Student Government, about plans to start a yearbook for Black Ohio State students. A sense of connection, experts say, can be critical to academic success, but for underrepresented-minority students like Shorter who find themselves among the few people of color in their classrooms, it can be elusive. |
| Student protesters fight to remove Starbucks from campuses | |
 | Generation Z isn't happy with Starbucks' labor practices, and some college students are showing their displeasure by doing more than just skipping their morning cold brew -- they're actively trying to get Starbucks-branded cafes removed from their campuses. Student activists at more than 50 universities across the country are pushing administrators to end contracts with the Seattle-based coffee chain in protest of the company's response to employee unionization. Starbucks workers began organizing in late 2021 in the hopes of receiving higher wages, better benefits and more security for those benefits. Since then, the National Labor Relations Board has accused Starbucks of hundreds of labor-rights violations, including firing pro-union employees and shutting down unionized locations. Starbucks, once known for its progressive politics and above-average benefits, has denied store closures or firings had anything to do with unionization efforts. One group of activists has already succeeded in their mission: students at Cornell University received official word from President Martha E. Pollack in August that the Ivy League institution will not renew its contract with Starbucks when it comes up in 2025. Student activists on campuses around the country argue that Gen Z -- a population that has been mocked for its overly complex coffee orders and all-season love of iced beverages -- in fact cares far more about supporting workers than sipping their lattes of choice in campus cafes. |
| 'No Guardrails' Foretold Today's Breakdown 30 Years Ago | |
| The Wall Street Journal's Matthew Hennessey writes: A framed copy of a March 1993 editorial written by Daniel Henninger hangs in the Midtown Manhattan conference room where the Journal opinion staff meets. My colleagues and I refer to the piece with reverence. We frequently use its headline -- "No Guardrails" -- as a shorthand for the devolution of societal norms, a process that seems to be accelerating. "No Guardrails" is striking for several reasons. It's three decades old, which makes it something of a time capsule. But as reports from bygone eras go, it is shockingly fresh and familiar. The editorial laments the loss of "a time in the United States when life seemed more settled, when emotions, both private and public, didn't seem to run so continuously at breakneck speed." If you're paying attention at all, you can relate. Donald Trump's recent suggestion that Army Gen. Mark Milley, the departing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, might deserve execution for his communications with China after the Jan. 6 riots was a No Guardrails moment. So was Gen. Milley's riposte alluding to Mr. Trump as a "wannabe dictator." The debate last month over the U.S. Senate dress code had No Guardrails written all over it. ... The erosion of norms goes far beyond politics as anyone who has ever been online knows. Social media is filled with videos of breakdowns, beat-downs and freak-outs. Only in a society without guardrails does it feel right to film a crime in progress or a person in distress for public titillation. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State football vs Western Michigan: Score prediction, scouting report | |
| Amid the heart of SEC play, Mississippi State football finds itself with a get-it-right chance against MAC foe Western Michigan before an open week. However, coach Zach Arnett and some veteran players aren't viewing the game on Saturday (11 a.m., SEC Network) as a breeze. Mississippi State (2-3) has lost three straight games and has struggled on both sides of the ball. Western Michigan (2-3) is coming off a conference win against Ball State and its losses have come against quality foes such as Syracuse, Iowa and Toledo. To assume a victory, MSU sixth-year linebacker Jett Johnson said, wouldn't be fair to the Broncos. "You've kind of got to approach week in and week out the same as if it's a faceless opponent," Johnson said Tuesday. "This is a really good team, actually. We've got to be on our Ps and Qs, as I always say." |
| Clegg Prepared To Make PGA Tour Debut | |
| Ford Clegg will make his PGA Tour debut on Thursday morning at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi. Clegg is scheduled to tee off at 9:01 a.m. CT on Thursday and 1:56 p.m. on Friday. While at Mississippi State, the former Bulldog found himself on the PGA Tour University leaderboard, finishing his senior year at No. 44. He recorded three individual victories in his collegiate career and holds the MSU record for the lowest 54-hole total at 198, which is tied with three others. His 71.75 career stroke average ranks second in MSU history, and he is the Bulldogs' all-time leader in rounds played (155) and par or better rounds (80). "I am so excited for Ford and the opportunity he has in front of him," head coach Dusty Smith said. "It just goes to show you the opportunities available at Mississippi State. He was such a huge asset to our program and put Mississippi State golf on the map. For him to make his PGA Tour debut at the Sanderson is so special and well-deserved." Along with his success on the course, Clegg was a three-time CoSIDA/College Sports Communicators Academic All-American and three-time SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He was named the College Sports Communicators At-Large Academic All-American of the Year in his final season. Coverage on Thursday will be available on ESPN+ from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. at which point the broadcast will move to the GOLF Channel until 6 p.m. Friday will follow the same broadcast schedule. |
| Why Sam Bennett at Sanderson Farms is reminder of NIL benefit to golf | |
| A Duke Blue Devil and a Texas A&M Aggie walk up to a tee box, and, no, it's not the opening line to a poorly crafted bar joke. That was the scene at Country Club of Jackson during the opening session of practice rounds Tuesday ahead of the 2023 Sanderson Farms Championship. Alex Smalley -- a 2019 graduate from Duke -- and Sam Bennett -- who finished his fifth year at Texas A&M in the spring -- took the course together to prepare for Mississippi's annual PGA Tour event. With the logos of their alma maters stitched on their golf bags, it was a reminder of the college game's influence on the professional game. It also represented a changed landscape, due to NIL rules, that has given top amateurs incentive to continue playing at the collegiate level. "For top golfers, it's been cool," Bennett told the Clarion Ledger on Tuesday. "The good players are able to take advantage of it and use their name, image and likeness to make some money. It's been good for growing the game." Bennett became a talking point in the sport after finishing as the top amateur in the 2023 Masters. He also topped numerous big-name professionals en route to a T-16 finish. Others to finish in that slot, including 2021 Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama, took home $324,000. Bennett left with $0 because amateurs don't earn winnings. However, changes to NIL rules in recent years allowed Bennett to profit off his performance -- thanks in large part to help from an agent. "I'm sure you'll see a lot more college athletes getting an NIL representative in school now," Bennett said. |
| From Rome and Ryder Cup to Jackson, Ludvig Aberg makes a quick turnaround | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: Five days ago, 23-year-old Swede Ludvig Aberg (pronounced oh-bear for reasons only Scandinavians would understand) was in Rome, playing Ryder Cup golf in front of the world. He and teammate Victor Hovland needed only nine holes to shockingly bury world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and five-time major champion Brooks Koepka 9 and 7 in a foursomes match, the most one-sided in Ryder Cup history. Sunday night and well into daylight Monday morning, Aberg, the youngest golfer in the Ryder Cup, was still in Rome celebrating Europe's lopsided victory. Yes, and two days later, on Wednesday morning, at 8:17 a.m., there jet-lagged Aberg was, long and lanky and with piercing blue eyes, on the first tee of the Country Club of Jackson about to tee off in the Sanderson Farms Championship pro-am. He will begin play in the 72-hole championship Thursday afternoon at 1:50 p.m. The obvious question was: Why? Why would the guy many experts deem golf's next big superstar play here so soon after what he had helped accomplish more than 5,000 miles away. He was asked that in the media tent after completing his nine holes in the Wednesday's pro-am. "I was committed to play in this tournament before Rome," Aberg answered. "I wanted to honor my commitment. I know it's good for me. For me to get all these experiences on different golf courses, different tournaments, play as much as I can I know it's good for me." ... Listening to Aberg speak -- and he speaks impeccable English -- you realize he is determined to become the best golfer he can be, which may well be No. 1 in the world at some point. And that point could come soon. |
| Soccer Set to Travel to the Sunshine State for Thursday Night SEC Matchup | |
| The Bulldogs (6-3-3) are gearing up for an electrifying clash in Gainesville as they prepare to take on the Gators of Florida (5-3-3) in a highly anticipated women's soccer matchup on Thursday live from The Diz (Donald R. Dizney Stadium). As the Bulldogs pack their bags and head to the Sunshine State, they are fueled with determination to pick up points on the road and seize victory over their SEC rivals. A key point of interest in this matchup is the fact that both Mississippi State and Florida have crossed paths with common opponents during this season. The Gators managed 0-0 tie against Miami, while the Bulldogs triumphed with a 2-1 victory over the Hurricanes on their home turf. Moreover, Mississippi State went on the road to face LSU, losing a hard-fought battle 2-1, while Florida dominated LSU with a convincing 4-0 victory just last Friday in Baton Rouge. These shared encounters suggest that the Bulldogs and the Gators are evenly matched, setting the stage for a thrilling showdown. As the Bulldogs set their sights on Gainesville and the showdown with the Gators, they carry with them a rich legacy of determination and will look to gain an advantage in the ever changing SEC standings as the season continues to wage on. With their balanced attack and resolute defense, the Maroon and White faithful can watch the Dawgs return to the pitch on SEC Network + at 5:00 PM CT. |
| Competitive SEC play has taken its toll on Mississippi State | |
| Mississippi State's Friday night match against Tennessee was flawless for the first 73 minutes of play. In that span, the Bulldogs built up a 3-0 lead, including two goals from junior Hannah Johnson, surpassing her previous career-high in single-season goals with her second and third of the season. "She's always had it," Mississippi State head coach James Armstrong said. "I just think she's been a little bit unlucky in the past. She hasn't been able to have a run of games in her freshman and sophomore years, but knock on wood so far. She's had a good offseason. She looks fitter, she looks faster and the soccer side of it has shown up with it." However, those final 17 minutes spelled disaster for the Bulldogs, conceding three goals as the Volunteers escaped Starkville with a point, a match Mississippi State would like to have back. This week in practice has been a focused one in response to Friday's result, showcasing a motivated bunch who's ready to get positive results this week, starting Thursday night in Gainesville against Florida. "The girls were disappointed, and that's a good thing," Armstrong said. "They were hungry. We had a great film session on Saturday. The energy was good. There wasn't anyone feeling sorry for themselves or anyone moping around. It was 'Hey, we played a good game, but we need to close out games more.'" This week will end with an emotionally-charged match, the battle for the Magnolia Cup against Ole Miss in Starkville, but before Sunday night, the Bulldogs are focused solely on their upcoming match against Florida. |
| Men's Hoops Partners With Southern Miss For Charity Exhibition Game | |
| The Mississippi State men's basketball program will travel to Southern Miss and partner with the Golden Eagles in a charity exhibition game set for Sunday, October 29 at Reed Green Coliseum on the USM campus. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. CT in Hattiesburg, and the game will be streamed online courtesy of ESPN+ in addition to being available on the ESPN app. Southern Miss will go on-sale with tickets at a later date. Chairback seats will cost $20, while bleacher seats will cost $10. USM season ticket holders will have first priority to pick their seats when tickets go on-sale. Much of the southern part of the Mississippi Delta was hit by a March 24th tornado which saw winds reach 195 miles per hour, kill 17 people and cause significant damage to many communities. "We're excited to partner with Southern Miss to play a charity exhibition basketball game in the state of Mississippi," head coach Chris Jans said. "Our basketball program is in position to help the residents of the Mississippi Delta and especially the people affected by the tornadoes. We're looking forward to competing down in Hattiesburg for this worthy cause." All proceeds raised from the game will be donated to CitiIMPACT, providing financial support to tornado victims in the Mississippi Delta. |
| Buck in Mississippi Delta tests positive for chronic wasting disease | |
| A buck that was harvested during Mississippi's second velvet season in Issaquena County tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD). The Daily Leader reported this is the first positive case in the county since 2019. Mississippi hunters collected more than 230 samples during the 2023 buck and archery only velvet season. The samples are tested for the disease at Mississippi State University's (MSU) Veterinary Research and Diagnostic Lab in Pearl. CWD is a 100% fatal, transmissible, neurogenerative disease. One challenge of detecting the disease is that until deer enter the last stages of CWD, they often appear completely healthy. Officials with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks (MDWFP) said the disease is transmitted through deer by their saliva, feces, urine, or contaminated environment. Hunter participation in efforts to control CWD includes submitting harvested deer for testing, harvesting younger bucks, and discontinuing the use of supplemental feeding and baiting to help keep deer from congregating. |
| Mississippi deer population at record high | |
| Just weeks into the archery deer hunting season and officials with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks said the deer population in the state is at a record high. The agency is reporting more than 1.5 million deer currently in the state. "Since there are more deer out there than there has been, there is less food for each individual to get to. That's why we're encouraging hunters to take an extra deer this season on their bag limit," said William McKinley, MDWFP deer program coordinator. "Licensed hunters last season took 270,000 deer, but that still wasn't quite enough to keep that herd from regrowing this year." Hunter Shambani Watts thinks the large deer population will be good for the upcoming hunting season. "I think it's going to be a great year. If the population goes up, then it increases your chances to harvest a deer for whatever purpose it is," Watts said. McKinley said deer hunting brings in about $1 billion a year for the state of Mississippi. |
| Assistant AD Buddy Foster named MUW's interim athletic director | |
| Mississippi University for Women's athletic department announced on Tuesday that assistant athletic director Buddy Foster will now serve as interim athletic director for the Owls. MUW Athletics made the transition Friday, when Jennifer Claybrook, who had served as athletic director since June 2021, resigned her position. "Jennifer stepped down last week citing personal reasons," MUW Director of Athletic Communications Dave Beyer said. Foster has served as an assistant athletic director since 2022 and previously served as interim athletic director in spring 2021 after Jason Trufant was relieved of his duties as MUW's AD. "This is an exciting time for Owls Athletics as we have earned full membership in the NCAA Division III and in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC). Buddy's experience with the NCAA, the SLIAC, and Owls Athletics will have a positive impact as we move forward," said Nora Miller, university president. Foster, who came to MUW in 2020, was the school's first softball head coach, a position he held for three seasons, earning a runner-up finish at the United States Collegiate Athletic Association championship this spring. |
| Ole Miss alcohol sales could be suspended after LSU game | |
 | Ole Miss has been fined and could have alcohol sales suspended by the Southeastern Conference after fans threw trash on the field in the fourth quarter of LSU's game against the Rebels last weekend. The game was paused when fans threw objects from the stands during Ole Miss' 55-49 win. LSU coach Brian Kelly pulled his players away from the end zone until the debris was cleared and play resumed. The SEC announced Wednesday that Ole Miss was fined $75,000 and has been instructed to "use all available resources, including security, stadium and television video, to identify individuals who threw objects on to the playing field or at the opposing team." If identified, those people will be banned from Ole Miss sporting events for the rest of the 2023-24 academic year. Ole Miss also has to review its game management procedures and alcohol availability policies, the SEC said. The conference's regulations around alcohol sales say "if cans or plastic bottles are used as projectiles or otherwise cause game management issues, the institution is subject to an immediate fine and suspension of the alcohol sales privilege." The SEC did not suspend alcohol sales yet at Ole Miss but warned it has the right to do so if the other requirements are not met. Ole Miss was also fined $100,000 for fans rushing the field. "The disruption and delay of Saturday night's game must never be part of any SEC event," commissioner Greg Sankey said. |
| NCAA to advocate for stricter sports gambling regulations, protect athletes | |
 | The NCAA announced Wednesday it will be advocating for stricter sports betting laws and regulations for what it says will protect the integrity of its sports and student-athletes. Sports betting laws have been considered throughout the country, and passed in a majority of them as more than have of the U.S. has laws that permits gambling on sporting events. The NCAA says that while most states have "robust protection and integrity provisions, many do not." "The NCAA is making changes to help student-athletes make smart choices when it comes to sports betting, but given the explosive growth of this new industry, we are eager to partner with lawmakers, regulators and industry leaders to protect student-athletes from harassment and threats," NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement. "Some states have great policies on the books to protect student-athletes from harassment and coercion and to protect the integrity of the games, but as more states pass or amend laws, more needs to be done." In addition to gambling advocacy, the NCAA is considering making changes to penalties athletes face for sports betting, not including ones made on their own teams. |
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