| Thursday, May 16, 2024 |
| Cicada hatch 2024: Here's why they're showing up in unexpected places in Mississippi | |
 | The historic cicada emergence is underway when two groups, Brood XIX and XIII, come up from the ground simultaneously for the first time in over 200 years. In parts of Mississippi, Brood XIX is emerging, and they're showing up and singing in places where they weren't expected. So, why are they being reported in new areas and what should you do if they're spotted in areas where they haven't been reported before? "It's not new distribution," said Blake Layton, Mississippi State University Extension entomology specialist. "It's not that they're in new places. "There's been a lot more interest in cicadas this year and a lot more than in the past. Everybody knew it was coming and were watching for them. "So, awareness has been high and people are noticing them outside of the counties where they were reported during the last emergence of the brood in 2011. Layton said something else that could be happening is people are seeing cicadas in counties where their range is limited. People could be noticing them in counties where the bugs only occupy a small portion of the county and weren't documented before. Again, it goes back to awareness and excitement over the event. |
| LINK celebrates 20 years of mega success | |
 | Joe Max Higgins Jr., CEO of the Golden Triangle LINK, was living in his native Arkansas when he was approached by a headhunter for the job heading up economic development for LINK's predecessor, the Columbus Lowndes Economic Development Association (CLEDA). Initially, he was less than impressed. "All I saw was poverty, despair and no hope for a bright future in Mississippi," Higgins said. "I had never heard of Columbus and West Point. That night I stayed up until midnight researching Columbus. Owen Lust, who was publisher of the Northeast Arkansas Tribune, told me he thought I would love the Golden Triangle. He is the one who said I should take the job there." Higgins' research made him suspect the Golden Triangle area had a lot of untapped industrial development potential. In addition to the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, there was a big engineering school at Mississippi State University, four class one and two shortline railroads and electricity provided by the Tennessee Valley Association (TVA), known not just for being a premier, affordable electricity provider but also a major force for economic development in the region. An interstate highway and a nearby commercial airport were also pluses. "Those kinds of assets don't occur in very many places," Higgins said. |
| Moe's Original BBQ in Starkville announces closure | |
 | A popular eating place in Starkville is shutting its doors. Moe's Original BBQ announced on Tuesday that it's permanently closing. "While these past few years have been great, they haven't been without struggles as well," the restaurant announced. The market is different now than it was in 2016 when the restaurant opened, owner Kiel Herbert said. He lives in Jackson and said managing the store from Jackson has become tough. Whiskey Ranch Bar & Grill plans to open at the location in the coming weeks. This comes at a time when the restaurant industry continues to reel from the COVID pandemic and other issues. Mississippi State University finance professor Brian Blank said the rising business costs are affecting various industries. |
| Mary Means Business: Moe's Barbecue closes in Starkville | |
 | Moe's Original BBQ, 110 E. Main St., is officially closed. The downtown barbecue joint announced its closure online this week, after eight years serving pulled pork, catfish and the best mac-n-cheese I've ever had. ... This vacancy downtown will surely not last long, so keep an eye out for an incoming business to take its place. With bad news, we can always see the good. A new barbecue restaurant opened earlier this month at 1444 Louisville St. The owner is quite the familiar face. Former Starkville Police Chief Frank Nichols officially opened Big Chief Barbecue. "Big Chief BBQ is the dream of a local kid who grew up and lived in Starkville," Nichols posted online. "From 1974-1987, I lived less than 1/2 a mile from the new location of Big Chief BBQ. ... Grilling has been a passion of mine since my days in the U.S. Navy. I started competition grillin in 2002 after a group of friends and myself got together and decided to enter the rib contest during Super Bulldog Weekend at the Mississippi State University." ... Also in Starkville, a new boutique opened this month. Little Magnolia Gifts and Apparel opened at 87 Cotton Mill Road, Suite 2, the former Hungry Howie's location. Little Magnolia Gifts and Apparel in Starkville is the company's second location. The first location opened in Tupelo in 2020. |
| In April, grocery store prices were flat -- or even lower | |
 | Let's dig into the consumer price index report for April with a look at a category that we interact with every day: food. For many households, groceries and restaurant expenses make up a significant chunk of the budget. So consumers tend to be particularly sensitive to food price hikes. The "pretty good" news is the food price index -- that's the CPI bucket that includes all things food -- didn't change from the prior month. 0.0% inflation there. Now, compared to April 2023, food prices are up 2.2%. Not too bad, given the Federal Reserve's 2% target for inflation. Still, that's when we're talking about prices overall. The story is a little different when you break it down. That 0.0% inflation rate for food is a little deceiving, said David Bieri, a professor of economics and public policy at Virginia Tech. "Within that category, food pressures for dining at home have gone down, but price pressures for dining out have gone up," he said. Menu prices are still catching up to inflation and labor shortages and everything else the pandemic made difficult. Dining out costs more, Bieri said, because of "an uptick in all services." When restaurants have to raise wages, they try to pass the cost on to customers. Still, eating out is a luxury. Chris Barrett, an agricultural economist at Cornell University, is more interested in our grocery bills "because all of us eat every day." |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average Tops 40000 for the First Time | |
 | The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed 40000 for the first time, a milestone that appeared implausible little more than two years ago when the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates to cool an overheated economy. Gloom and doom forecasts abounded. When the central bank ended the era of ultralow rates that prevailed in the years following the global financial crisis, economists predicted painful consequences: a U.S. recession and rising unemployment. Markets shuddered. The Dow industrials and other equity benchmarks ended 2022 with their biggest declines since 2008, the year Lehman Brothers collapsed. But as the months passed, employers kept adding jobs. People kept spending, splurging on big-ticket items like cars and blowout getaways to see Taylor Swift. Inflation kept cooling. Perhaps most important, the recession predicted by so many economists hasn't materialized, giving investors hope that stocks might keep climbing. The latest leg of the rally has been powered by signs of continuing U.S. economic strength, offsetting the retreat of investor expectations that inflation will cool enough to allow central-bank officials to sharply reduce interest rates this year. Recent data showed hiring slowed in April, but the labor market remains robust and inflation has declined from its peaks without returning to the Fed's target. Yet interest rates remain much higher than in the years before the pandemic. The yield on the 10-year Treasury topped 5% in October for the first time in 16 years. |
| Mississippi casinos see slight revenue increase in first quarter of 2024 | |
| Mississippi casinos kicked off 2024 on a high note, generating more revenue than during the previous quarter. According to the latest report from the American Gaming Association, casinos across the Magnolia State brought in $622.1 million in the year's first quarter, a nearly $20 million increase from Q4 2023. AGA added that a record $17.67 billion was acquired nationwide from gaming institutions, topping Q4 2023 and marking the 13th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth across the U.S. One avenue that experts say would have brought in more revenue for Mississippi is if the state would implement mobile sports betting instead of forcing people to bet on games, races, and events in person at sportsbooks. The AGA's report indicated that sports wagering revenue soared nationally to $3.33 billion -- a 22 percent annual increase and a new record for Q1. North Carolina, a state that prohibits commercial casinos, recently welcomed mobile sports betting this year and earned $66.5 million in its first partial month of operations. Legislation that would have legalized mobile sports betting in Mississippi failed this year, despite stipulations added that would have protected brick-and-mortar casinos. Various lawmakers have told SuperTalk Mississippi News that they plan to rediscuss the topic during the 2025 session. |
| Architects hired to design $80M Civil War interpretive center in Vicksburg | |
| An architectural firm has been brought on to draw up plans for a new Civil War interpretive center in Vicksburg. Last month, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Board of Trustees approved hiring the Chicago-based firm Perkins & Will to design the $80 million to $120 million project. Work on the design phase will take approximately two years. The firm is designing what will essentially be a new visitor's center for the Vicksburg National Military Park. The state is helping to pay for the project, along with the Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign, and the Foundation for Mississippi History. "The visitor center at the military park now is small and they don't have the room or the funding, they being the National Park Service, to expand the interpretation beyond the siege," said Megan Bankston, the Vicksburg project manager. Bankston said the new center would not only tell the story of the Siege of Vicksburg during the summer of 1863 but also the full story of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's campaign leading up to the city's fall on July 4 of that year, and its impact on white and Black civilians. Right now, the project is estimated to cost between $80 million and $120 million. So far, the Mississippi Legislature has allocated $16 million for the work. |
| Speaker of the House Jason White wants to work toward private school vouchers | |
| As Mississippi lawmakers look to the 2025 session, House Speaker Jason White is already set on legislation to determine how K-12 education funding is spent and where it goes when children move schools. White told a room of more than 50 people Tuesday at the River HillS Club that he plans to continue an effort to allow for students in public schools to move from one school district to another without the need for both districts to sign off. He also wants the money that is spent on that child's education to follow the student from one district to another. "If you're a public school student, and you want to go to another public school, you can find a public school that will accept you. Your home district can't keep you," White said. White said those efforts began with the passage of the Mississippi Student Funding Formula, a $2.95 billion funding formula that passed just one week before the end of the session. That formula replaced the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, which was fiercely defended by Senate leadership, which killed the House funding model twice before finally coming to a compromise. "I am personally for school choice for a robust voucher system, whatever that looks like," White said. "I went to private school for six years. I went to public school for six years. I can tell you all the good things and the bad things about both." Over the course of the 2024 session, House Education Chairman Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, even introduced legislation to create a program for private school vouchers, but the bill died on the House floor after being passed out of two committees. |
| Reeves again blocks funds for LeFleur's Bluff project in Jackson | |
| For the third consecutive year legislative efforts to direct state money to renovate LeFleur's Bluff in Jackson have been stymied, thanks in large part to Gov. Tate Reeves. Earlier this week, the Republican governor vetoed a portion of a bill that directed $14 million to the office of Secretary of State Michael Watson for work on developing and improving a nature trail connecting parks and museums and making other tourism-related improvements in the LeFleur's Bluff area. It is not clear whether the Legislature could take up the veto during the 2025 session, which begins in January, though, that's not likely. The Legislature had the option to return to Jackson Tuesday to take up any veto, but chose not to do so. Of the project, Watson said, "Our office was approached late in the session about helping with a project to revitalize LeFleur's Bluff. As Mississippi's state land commissioner, I was more than happy to help lead this effort not just because it's a natural fit for our office, but also because I believe Mississippi needs a thriving capital city to retain our best and brightest. Investing state funds in state property on a project to enhance the quality of life in Jackson makes good sense. Unfortunately, some only support it when it equates to campaign contributions. Sadly, through the line-item veto of the appropriation, Mississippians will once again wait another year for the opportunity to benefit from state investments for the greater public good." |
| Nearly $7 million in Mississippi Main Street revitalization grants going to 19 communities | |
| The Mississippi Main Street Revitalization Grant Program Act has been signed into law by Governor Tate Reeves. The program looks to provide funds through the Mississippi Development Authority for downtown revitalization projects in Mississippi's local Main Street communities. The authorizing legislation was authored by State Senator Tyler McCaughn (R) in SB 2696. Each year, the Mississippi Main Street Association will open applications to eligible communities and then present a list of prioritized projects to the Legislature. Grant funds will be available on a competitive basis for eligible projects up to $500,000 per community. Communities with populations above 10,000 are required to provide a 20 percent local match, and communities with populations less than 10,000 are required to provide a 10 percent local match on the first $100,000 and 20 percent local match on amounts more than $100,000. To fund the grant program, the Governor also signed SB 3056, which provides funding for 19 projects for a total of $6.972 million this year as well as $500,000 to the Main Street Association for statewide support and operations. On Wednesday, the Mississippi Main Street Association announced the 19 Designated Main Street Communities that will be funded this year. |
| Solar advocates sue Public Service Commission for cutting incentives | |
| A solar energy advocacy group is suing the Mississippi Public Service Commission to repeal a decision that suspends incentives for low to mid-income Mississippians and school districts to install solar panels. On Wednesday, the Gulf States Renewable Energy Industries Association, members of the Sierra Club and other groups in Mississippi, spoke out against an order made by PSC to strip several economic incentives that provide low-income families with up to $5,000 to install solar panels and battery storage for their homes. It also suspends a program for school districts to install their own solar panels on 16th section land to offset energy costs and redistribute that money toward other areas. "This is particularly disappointing because the need for these incentives in the state of Mississippi is significant," Jonathan Green, executive director of Steps Coalition said. "Energy costs in the South, and in particular the region known as the Black Belt, are higher than those in other parts of the country for a number of reasons ... For many low-to-moderate-income residents in the state of Mississippi, energy burden and energy insecurity represent real daily economic challenges." The programs were part of a 2022 addition to the state's net metering rule, a system that allows homeowners to generate their own solar power and earn credits for excess energy on their monthly bills. On April 11, the commission met and decided to suspend the incentives. |
| PSC axes solar programs in light of EPA funds, advocates file lawsuit | |
| Advocates from some of the state's conservation groups --- such as Audubon Delta, Mississippi Sierra Club and Steps Coalition --- spoke out Wednesday against a recent decision by the Mississippi Public Service Commission to suspend several solar programs, including "Solar for Schools," less than two years after the previous commission put them in place. The PSC voted 2-1 at its April docket meeting to do away with the programs, reasoning in part that new funds through the Inflation Reduction Act would be available to the state. About 10 days later, the Environmental Protection Agency awarded $62 million to the state, through the Hope Enterprise Corporation, to help low-income Mississippians afford adding solar power to their homes. The funds are part of the Biden Administration's Solar for All program, one of the several recent federal initiatives aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The PSC decision ended three programs the previous commission put in place to encourage wider adoption of solar power through the two power companies it regulates, Entergy Mississippi and Mississippi Power: "Solar for Schools," which allowed school districts to essentially build solar panels for free in exchange for tax credits, as well as incentives for low-income customers and battery storage. Northern District Commissioner Chris Brown said that, while he supported efforts to expand solar power, he didn't think programs that offer incentives from energy companies were fair to other ratepayers. |
| Work release program extended for three years in Mississippi | |
| A bill to extend the state's pilot work release program for inmates for three years has received the Governor's signature. State Senator Juan Barnett (D), author of SB 2445, said the program gives inmates who meet certain conditions a chance to learn a skill and make money as they serve their sentence in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. o participate in the work release program, an inmate has to have two years or less of their sentence remaining and must not have been convicted of a crime listed under code 97-3-2, which includes a violent crime such as human trafficking, murder, rape, and numerous other sex offenses, to name a few. The participating employer is expected to pay no less than the "prevailing wage for the position and shall under no circumstances pay less than the federal minimum wage," the bill states. According to a Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review, or PEER, report from 2023, the average pay participants received was $13.35 per hour. "What it does is allows up to 25 people in prison to be transported to a working job everyday that pays a prevailing wage," Barnett said. While the early version of the program allowed for only 25 participants statewide, this bill expands the program to allow for the participation of 25 inmates per participating correctional facility, said Wil Ervin with Empower Mississippi. |
| Mississippi's Jefferson Davis statue has new neighbor in U.S. Capitol: Arkansas civil rights leader | |
| A week ago, Arkansas officials unveiled a new statue at the National Statuary Hall to represent the state, civil rights leader Daisy Bates. Her statue now stands next to Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, one of two statues representing Mississippi. "This is absolutely embarrassing to the Mississippi that I love," said Al Price, who has called for changing the state's statues ever since he saw them in 2012 in Washington, D.C. He sought unsuccessfully in 2017 to get state Sen. Lydia Chassaniol, R-Winona, to sponsor a bill to do so. He recommends that author William Faulkner and civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer represent the state. "This would be a profound statement by the state of Mississippi," he said. "It would challenge a lot of the negative stereotypes about the state and would go a long way to healing a lot of wounds." Since 2000, 17 states have installed new statues or moved to replace existing statues at the hall in the U.S. Capitol. Alabama now has Helen Keller. Arizona has Barry Goldwater. California has Ronald Reagan. Kansas has Amelia Earhart and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Michigan has Gerald Ford. Missouri has Harry Truman. Ohio has Thomas Edison. And North Carolina will add Billy Graham on Thursday. Mississippi, however, has the same statues that were erected almost a century ago, both of them Confederate leaders. |
| Government officials warn of complex threats to US elections | |
 | Biden administration officials expressed confidence Wednesday about the government's ability to safeguard U.S. elections but noted the threat landscape remains complex with the presence of foreign adversaries and generative artificial intelligence. The officials appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee for a wide-ranging hearing where they outlined foreign threats to U.S. elections and described their efforts to address the issue. The hearing comes less than six months before the hotly contested 2024 presidential election, with President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump being the presumed nominees for their respective political parties. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the committee that the U.S. government's efforts to protect elections have improved significantly since the 2016 presidential election. "Even as the threat landscape is becoming increasingly complicated, it is my view that the U.S. government has never been better prepared to address the challenge," Haines said. "Protecting our democratic processes from foreign influence or interference is an absolute priority for the intelligence community." One trend in recent years has been an increasing number of foreign actors "looking to engage in election influence activities," Haines said. Generative AI and big data analytics are also "enabling the proliferation of influence actors who can conduct targeted campaigns" and generative AI has been used in foreign elections, Haines said. |
| Supreme Court rejects broad challenge to consumer watchdog CFPB | |
 | The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a broad challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, reversing a lower-court ruling that would have undermined the watchdog agency created by Congress 12 years ago. The CFPB case is one of several the Supreme Court heard this term that challenge the power of federal agencies, long a target of conservatives concerned about regulation and government bureaucrats whom they see as unaccountable to the public. In a 7-2 decision written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the court upheld as constitutional the bureau's funding mechanism -- which is based on profits from the Federal Reserve, rather than an annual appropriation. Two other conservative justices, Neil M. Gorsuch and Samuel A. Alito Jr., dissented, saying the ruling would allow for unlimited spending by the agency without oversight from Congress. The case involved a decision by the conservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit that said the funding mechanism Congress adopted to ensure the CFPB's independence violated the Constitution's command requiring congressional appropriation of money. The decision, by panel of three judges nominated by President Donald Trump, said the agency's insulation from congressional committees doubled the violation. The Biden administration rejected 5th Circuit's view, telling the justices that the Constitution bestowed the power of the purse to Congress but set few limits on how appropriations could be made. |
| U.A.W. Effort to Organize Mercedes Workers in Alabama Has High Stakes | |
 | More than 5,000 Mercedes-Benz workers in Alabama are voting this week on whether to join the United Automobile Workers union, a decision both supporters and opponents say will have consequences far beyond two factories near Tuscaloosa where the German carmaker churns out luxury sport utility vehicles and batteries for electric cars. Conservative political leaders have portrayed the union campaign to organize Mercedes workers as an assault by outsiders on the region's economy and way of life. The vote tally is expected to be released by federal officials on Friday. For the union, a win would add to a string of victories in the South, where organized labor has traditionally been weak, and provide momentum to the U.A.W.'s efforts to win over workers at other nonunion automakers like Hyundai, Toyota, Honda and Tesla. If the U.A.W. loses, it could sharply slow down a campaign by the union's president, Shawn Fain, to organize auto and battery plants across the country. That effort began after the union last fall reached new contracts with hefty pay raises and other benefits for workers at General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, Jeep and Ram. In Alabama, which was a crucible of the civil rights movement, union organizers and supporters cast the Mercedes campaign as part of a decades-long struggle to dismantle an economic system based on exploitation of poor people. "You are not just fighting for a union," Bishop William Barber II, an activist and professor at the Yale Divinity School, told a group of organizers, workers and supporters at a Montgomery church on Monday. "You are fighting for justice." |
| Romney takes swipe at Biden-Trump debates: 'Like the two old guys on 'The Muppets'' | |
 | Sen. Mitt Romney is taking a puppet-inspired swipe at President Biden and former President Trump agreeing to a pair of presidential debates, likening the two to a famed, grouchy "Muppets" duo. "It'll be entertaining, informative," the Utah Republican said Wednesday of the debates between Biden and Trump, according to multiple reports. "Like the two old guys on 'The Muppets,'" Romney said. Romney's office confirmed to ITK that the 77-year-old lawmaker was referring to the twosome of Statler and Waldorf. He made a similar crack in an interview with MSNBC. The curmudgeonly characters, which first made their debut on "The Muppet Show" in 1975, are known for lobbing constant complaints and criticisms while viewing performances from a balcony. Romney did not indicate which White House contender might be the white mustached Waldorf and which would step in as the arched unibrow-sporting Statler. Both the Biden and Trump campaigns quickly came to an agreement on two general election debates just hours after they were first proposed by the president's camp Wednesday. The first is poised to take place June 27 in Atlanta on CNN, while the second is scheduled for Sept. 10 on ABC. In the interview airing Wednesday on MSNBC's "The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle," Romney, a Trump critic who's retiring at the end of his current term, predicted a "huge audience" for the debates. |
| Lawmakers punt to next year efforts to expand college aid for low-income Mississippians | |
| A bill to open a college financial aid program for the first time ever to Mississippians who are adult, part-time and very low-income students fell to the wayside in a legislative session dominated by fights over Medicaid and K-12 funding. The effort to expand the Mississippi Resident Tuition Assistance Grant, called MTAG, died in conference after it was removed from House Bill 765, legislation to provide financial assistance to teachers in critical shortage areas. The Senate had attached MTAG's code sections to that bill in an attempt to keep the expansion alive. This takes Jennifer Rogers, the director of the Mississippi Office of Student Financial Aid, back to the drawing board after years of championing legislation to modernize the way the state helps Mississippians pay for college. "At the end of the day, there was no appetite to spend any additional money on student financial aid," Rogers said. "Obviously, I'm disappointed." All told, the original proposal would have resulted in the state spending upwards of $30 million extra each year, almost doubling OSFA's roughly $50 million budget. Senate Education Committee Chairman Dennis DeBar, R-Leakesville, told Mississippi Today that he hopes to take a closer look at MTAG this summer, noting that the Senate's version of the proposal, which also included a last-dollar tuition scholarship, was a priority of the lieutenant governor on last year's campaign trail. |
| Mississippi College has an enrollment issue. See why that's a 'good problem to have' | |
| In a era where small colleges and universities across the country are struggling with shrinking enrollment, Mississippi College has more students than it knows what to do with. The private Christian school in Clinton off Interstate-55 has had surging enrollment the last two years, to a point that even after updating an older dorm that had been offline, it still has more than 70 students that don't have a place to put their head at night heading into the fall. MC has had 3,300 freshman applications the last two years for the school of around 4,000 students, a number that includes undergraduate, graduate, law school in downtown Jackson and dual-enrollment students. Applications are up 9% from last year and up 60% from this point two years ago. That is thanks to the establishment of the Speed Scholarship, available to in-state high school students to receive full undergraduate tuition for the incoming fall semester of 2023. The Speed Scholarship, made possible by Leland Speed of Jackson, was initiated to make Christian education attainable at a college dedicated to helping students academically, spiritually and emotionally, officials said. While many schools were sweating the May 1 student-deposit deadline, this year's MC freshman class size of between 600 and 650 will be down about 25% from last year. However, that is by design, according to Michael Wright, Dean of Enrollment Management and Admissions at Mississippi College. "We are thriving with enrollment in the undergraduate world, most of that due to the Speed Scholarship," Wright said. "We will be at 100% capacity. Every bed will be filled. That's a big deal." |
| Georgia public colleges to expand admissions testing requirements for fall 2026 | |
| Time to dust off those old study guides. More Georgia colleges are set to require standardized test scores for all new applicants, reversing a policy put in place in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting in the fall 2026 semester, hopeful students at Augusta University, The University of Georgia, The Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia College and State University, Georgia State University, Georgia Southern University and Kennesaw State University will need to provide SAT or ACT scores on their applications under rule changes unanimously approved by the Georgia Board of Regents Tuesday. Other University System of Georgia schools can choose to implement testing requirements based on high school GPA. Until then, only those looking to enroll at UGA, Tech or GCSU will need to submit test scores. "Our motivation is to do what's best for the student and the system," said Board of Regents Chair Harold Reynolds. "Personally, maybe putting COVID a little bit further behind us feels a little good too." Georgia Southern University President Kyle Marrero said he thinks moving back to required testing is the right choice and said the two-year heads-up will allow admissions departments and future applicants to get ready. |
| 14 pro-Palestine demonstrators arrested outside of U. of Tennessee College of Law | |
| Fourteen pro-Palestine demonstrators were arrested outside the University of Tennessee College of Law for trespassing at about 8 p.m. on Wednesday. The self-titled group "The People's School for Gaza" has called for UT to divest and end recruitment for Israeli weapon manufacturers, disclose university investments and financial ties, end the study abroad trips to Israel, and divest from Israeli companies, as listed on a sign set up by the group. Nine demonstrators were arrested May 2 for violating of the Outdoor Facility Usage for Authorized Events policy. In the days following, UT gave the group permission to reserve the Student Union lawn as long as they followed time, place and manner restrictions set by the university. The group is allowed to remain on that reserved space from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The group did not return to the College of Law lawn until Wednesday evening. For a planned vigil in remembrance of Nakba, demonstrators gathered on the public sidewalk outside the College of Law. The group then circled the lawn while chanting before gathering by the steps outside the College of Law Building. Interim Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Allen Bolton arrived at approximately 7:45 p.m. to give the group a 10-minute dispersal warning, stating that those who remained by the steps would be arrested and charged with trespassing. |
| From moonshine to kids books, U. of Tennessee graduation speakers have done it all | |
 | University of Tennessee at Knoxville graduations are almost here. And depending on which commencement ceremony you're attending, the speaker could be a judge or a children's book author or a moonshine CEO. UT colleges -- some hosting solo graduations and some alongside other programs -- have lined up speakers who collectively will offer advice to thousands of students throughout the weekend before they pack up their degrees and head out on their own. The university plans to award roughly 5,455 degrees May 16-19. That's 4,130 undergraduate degrees, 1,115 graduate degrees, 120 law degrees and 90 veterinary degrees -- plus 150 graduate certificates, according to a UT news release. UT will commission 13 Air Force ROTC cadets and 28 Army ROTC cadets as they transition from students to military officers. Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center, located at 1600 Phillip Fulmer Way, will host nearly every UT graduation ceremony. Most ceremonies last about two and a half hours. Guests will also need to adhere to the clear bag policy to enter graduation ceremonies. |
| Texas University Leaders Defend Efforts to Rid Campuses of DEI | |
 | Leaders of several Texas universities told the State Senate's higher-education subcommittee on Tuesday they are trying their best to dismantle all of their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts to comply with a new state ban. James B. Milliken, chancellor of University of Texas system, said the system last year spent around $25 million on DEI, but since the ban took effect, it has eliminated 311 full-time and part-time DEI positions. John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M University system, said it had eliminated the positions of eight DEI officers and 114 other jobs. Leaders of other systems, such as Texas Woman's University, testified that they had not had to make many changes to comply with the ban. Sen. Brandon Creighton, the subcommittee's Republican chair and a leading sponsor of the ban, insisted that the public and the media had the misconception that Republicans want to limit who can go to college. A different direction was needed, he said, after people accused colleges of promoting equity over merit. Before DEI programs existed, Creighton said, colleges focused on recruiting "the best and brightest across the state, regardless of background or disability." "No amount of DEI training that are mandatory -- workshops or political oaths that have to be signed in order to apply for a job -- will open up opportunities for underserved students in Texas," said Creighton. In the 10 years of DEI recruitment, Creighton said, diversity has stagnated or worsened. |
| UVa president says he's willing to accept consequences for breaking up campus protest | |
| "If all of you decide I'm not the right leader, that's your choice," said University of Virginia President Jim Ryan. "That's how I feel." Though no university officials have publicly called for Ryan to resign, Ryan's tone and demeanor were marked by a resignation of their own at the university's Faculty Senate meeting last Friday. Ryan, alongside Provost Ian Baucom, university Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis and UVa Police Chief Tim Longo, spent an hour answering questions during Friday's meeting of the Faculty Senate, a governing body of roughly 90 faculty representatives from across the university's 12 schools charged with advising UVa's leaders on "matters affecting the welfare of the University." That meeting came nearly a week after those leaders called in Virginia State Police to break up an encampment on university Grounds where a small band of protesters had been voicing their opposition to Israel's ongoing war in Gaza since the end of classes on April 30. Although the encampment had been dwindling in size and had remained peaceful, the university raised concerns that the protesters had erected recreational tents on Grounds without a permit and "individuals unaffiliated with the University," including four mysterious "men in black" who officials have declined to identify, had joined their ranks. Ryan and his administration have faced significant pushback for unnecessarily escalating the situation, making their decisions from an undisclosed "command post" and not at the scene of the violence. Critics have argued that the encampment, already low on numbers, likely would have disbanded on its own, as seen at Cornell University earlier this week. |
| 'Maximize chaos.' UC academic workers authorize strike, alleging rights violated during protests | |
 | The union representing 48,000 graduate student teaching assistants, researchers and other student workers across the University of California's 10 campuses has voted to authorize a strike and "maximize chaos," alleging that its workers' rights have been violated at several universities by actions against pro-Palestinian protests, union leaders announced Wednesday evening. The walkouts, which are still being planned, were approved by 79% of the 19,780 members of the United Auto Workers Local 4811 who voted. The strike vote comes as campuses throughout the UC system have been roiled by tensions and protests over the Israel-Hamas war, including a violent mob attack on a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA. The union rebuked UCLA, UC San Diego and UC Irvine for crackdowns on pro-Palestinian student protesters. On Wednesday evening, scores of police officers in riot gear were moving on pro-Palestinian demonstrators at UCI who occupied and barricaded the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall. Rafael Jaime, the union's co-president and a PhD candidate in UCLA's English department, said the goal would be to "maximize chaos and confusion" at universities where the union alleges officials have violated workers' rights over workplace conditions during student protests against the Israel-Hamas war. Before the strike vote results came out, the University of California said the union was inappropriately flexing its muscle on a political issue. |
| A Last-Minute Sprint to the FAFSA Finish Line | |
 | In late March, as students were reeling from a wave of delays and errors plaguing the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA), Chandra Scott, executive director of the college access nonprofit Alabama Possible, sat down with leaders at the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) in Washington, D.C. Alabama currently has the second largest year-over-year decline in FAFSA completion of any state in the country, at nearly 29 percent, according to data from the National College Attainment Network (NCAN). When FSA officials asked Scott what she needed to boost FAFSA submissions in her state, her answer was simple: money. With school years ending and counselors leaving for summer vacation, Scott knew there'd be increased demand for outside help filling out the form, and her five-person staff needed more help to meet it. "At the end of the day, it's going to be community-based organizations like us who stand in the gap; most of us don't have huge budgets, and we have very small staff," she said. "I told them it would be nice if there was some more funding to support the work we do." Is the cavalry coming too late to make a real difference? "It is certainly later than we would like it to be," said Kim Cook, chief executive officer of NCAN. "But it is not too late." |
| Biden's upcoming graduation speech roils Morehouse College, a center of Black politics and culture | |
 | When he gives the commencement address at Morehouse College, President Joe Biden will have his most direct engagement with college students since the start of the Israel-Hamas war at a center of Black politics and culture. Morehouse is located in Atlanta, the largest city in the swing state of Georgia, which Biden flipped from former President Donald Trump four years ago. Biden's speech Sunday will come as he tries to make inroads with a key and symbolic constituency -- young Black men -- and repair the diverse coalition that elected him to the White House. The announcement of the speech last month triggered peaceful protests and calls for the university administration to cancel over Biden's handling of the war between Israel and Hamas. Some students at Morehouse and other historically Black campuses in Atlanta say they vociferously oppose Biden and the decision to have him speak, mirroring the tension Biden faces in many communities of color and with young voters nationally. Morehouse President David Thomas said in an interview that the emotions around the speech made it all the more important that Biden speak. "In many ways, these are the moments Morehouse was born for," he said. "We need someplace in this country that can hold the tensions that threaten to divide us. If Morehouse can't hold those tensions, then no place can." |
| APLU President to Step Down by End of 2024 | |
| After nearly two years at the helm of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), President Mark Becker plans to step down at the end of the year, the organization announced. Becker, who was president of Georgia State University for almost 13 years before joining APLU in 2022, said he is leaving for personal reasons. "This decision is a significant departure from what I planned when I assumed my role at APLU in 2022, and it is one that I have considered thoroughly and with due deliberation. I am in good health, and at the same time recent life events have led me to the conclusion that I need to devote more time to my health and family," Becker said in a Wednesday news release announcing his exit. He added that his "entire adult life has been tied to APLU" from when he began his graduate studies at Pennsylvania State University in 1980 through a career in various roles at land-grant institutions, including as Executive President for Academic Affairs and Provost at the University of South Carolina and Assistant Vice President for Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Response at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. A search for his successor will begin immediately. |
| Mississippi should embrace artificial intelligence | |
| Chip Pickering, CEO of INCOMPAS and former member of Congress, writes: We all remember last summer when Mississippi State went viral for using emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technology to create their 2024 SEC opponents reveal graphic. Who could forget the hilarious and bizarre results? Although perhaps the most entertaining in recent memory, it's far from the only imaginative use of AI in our state. In fact, Mississippi has been leading the way in the tech sector for years, thanks to our supportive state legislature, tax incentives, and cooperation among our four major universities -- Mississippi State included. All of this means that the Magnolia State is emerging as not just a burgeoning hub for technology, but as an innovative beacon of AI development and discovery. Mississippi is using AI to improve people's lives and drive economic growth, a testament to our grit, determination and commitment to progress. As a result of our AI-driven initiatives, Mississippi is experiencing an economic boost, with several technology-driven startups and established companies setting up shop in the state. This growing number of AI startups attracts talent and investment to our state and helps to diversify our economy. |
SPORTS
| Diamond Dawgs Set For Regular-Season Finale At Dudy Noble Field | |
| The Mississippi State Diamond Dawgs close out the 2024 regular season with a three-home set against Missouri at Dudy Noble Field. The SEC series will start Thursday night and run through Saturday. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday with Saturday set for 2 p.m. The three-game series will be aired on SECN+ and will also be carried on the Bulldog Sports Network powered by LEARFIELD, along with a live audio stream via HailState.com/OnDemand. Friday night prior to the game, the MSU baseball team will honor its senior members of the team and support staff. Saturday the Diamond Dawgs, who have graduated from MSU, will participate in a graduation ceremony. Missouri enters the series 22-30 overall. The Tigers are 8-19 in the SEC to fall last in the SEC East. The Tigers are 6-14 in away games this season and head to Dudy Noble on a two-game losing streak. Trevor Austin leads the Missouri offense with a .293 batting average. In 181 plate appearances Austin has 53 hits, 31 RBIs, 11 home runs, 11 doubles and a triple. Leading the Tigers' pitching staff is Carter Rustad. Rustad has earned a 6.49 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 13 appearances and eight starts. Mississippi State leads the all-time series 11-6. The last matchup was in 2022 where the Diamond Dawgs dropped the series 2-1. The first meeting between the two programs came during the 2003 season. |
| What to watch, keys to victory for Mississippi State baseball against Missouri | |
| Mississippi State has not lost a home series in Southeastern Conference play all season, and if the Bulldogs want to keep their chances of hosting an NCAA regional alive, that streak will have to continue against Missouri. The Tigers (22-30, 8-19 SEC) are the conference's worst offense no matter how one measures it. They are dead last in the SEC in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs scored, home runs and total bases, and they also strike out more than any team in the league. At No. 104 in the latest RPI rankings, Missouri is the only SEC team outside the top 50. Outside of a home sweep against Florida in early April, the Tigers have not won a series in SEC play, and will need at least two wins plus some help to qualify for the conference tournament next week in Hoover, Alabama. Senior Trevor Austin is Missouri's most dangerous bat, with a .293/.432/.547 triple slash and a team-high 11 home runs. Outside of Austin and Jackson Lovich, the Tigers' lineup is not exactly replete with offensive threats. The pitching has not been much better. Javyn Pimental (3.61 ERA in 42 1/3 innings) is Missouri's most reliable starter, but he has not worked more than an inning in a game since Apr. 20 against LSU. Logan Lunceford and Carter Rustad lead the team in innings pitched, but Rustad got roughed up for nine earned runs in 3 1/3 innings last weekend against Auburn and Lunceford allowed five earned runs in four innings in his last start. "I haven't watched them a lot besides what I've seen during the year," Bulldogs head coach Chris Lemonis said. "Everybody in this league is good. They're still playing for a lot. I know it; I've been that team before. You're doing everything you can and trying to stay motivated." |
| Mississippi State baseball in NCAA tournament predictions: Bulldogs on hosting bubble | |
| Outside of "College World Series," there are few three-word combinations as valuable to Mississippi State baseball as these: "The Starkville Regional." For coach Chris Lemonis, hosting NCAA tournament games at Dudy Noble Field is among the top priorities every year. A national title is the main goal, and that was accomplished in 2021. But the likelihood of getting there, Lemonis admits, is increased when playing home games. Entering this season, Mississippi State wasn't looked at as a hosting candidate. The Bulldogs (34-18, 15-12 SEC) were picked to finish toward the bottom of the SEC across various polls, making even a trip to the SEC tournament look unlikely. Things haven't panned out as the polls expected. Mississippi State opens a series with Missouri (22-30, 8-19) on Thursday (6 p.m., SEC Network+). It's the final three-game set before the conference tournament in Hoover, Alabama, which is followed by the NCAA tournament a week later. Mississippi State is on the bubble of hosting a regional. Will the Bulldogs be on the right side of it when the field of 64 is selected? Here's what the latest projections say. |
| Resilience Has Fueled State's Championship Chase | |
| It was back in the fall when Mississippi State's women's golfers went to their coaching staff with clear goals outlined. The Bulldogs weren't asked to provide the feedback. They weren't prodded to provide an answer to a question. They were simply driven. "They came to us unprovoked and told us, 'This is what we want to accomplish and we're not going to let anything get in the way of that,'" head coach Charlie Ewing recounted. "Their actions then followed that." Indeed, they have. Through ups, through downs and all points in between, the Bulldogs have once again put themselves back on college golf's biggest and brightest stage. State tees off in the NCAA Championship at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California, on Friday. It marks the third straight season the Dawgs will be in the event, making MSU one of only 14 teams in the nation to hit the links to play for it all in each of the last three years. But how did this particular group find its way back in the most important tournament of the year? Ewing said there was a key ingredient. "I'm really proud and really impressed with this team's resilience," Ewing said. "We've been challenged a lot this year in a lot of different ways. People always talk about how failure is your best opportunity to grow, and this team has done a really, really good job of putting that to practice." |
| Will Hall is leading a Southern Miss NIL collective push. Is it working? | |
 | Will Hall is no Lane Kiffin on social media. The Southern Miss fourth-year football coach is no troll on X, formerly Twitter, and he rarely posts during the season. But ever since the calendar flipped to 2024, Hall has been active on social media, mainly posting about one thing: NIL. Ten of his last 14 posts on X since April 1 have been calls to donate to Southern Miss' To The Top collective. That doesn't include instances where he's reposted his own or other people's NIL posts or replied to his own posts with more NIL content. Is the campaign working? The Hattiesburg American spoke with To The Top owner Peter Boehme to discuss the collective's trajectory since Hall's NIL operation began. Robert St. John is the founder and owner of New South Restaurant Group, which owns local Hattiesburg restaurants such as Crescent City Grill, The Mahogany Bar, Ed's Burger Joint, The Midtowner, Tabella and Loblolly Bakery. He's a Southern Miss alumnus, who recently donated money to the collective. St. John didn't say exactly how much money he gave through his business, but said it was, "two or three times that maybe more" than the collective's top membership level, which is $10,000 annually. And he plans to keep giving based on how his business performs. "You may not like NIL, and you may disagree with it and you may think it's the wrong way to go but it's the reality," St. John said. "And you can either sit here and gripe about this reality and we're gonna fall way behind, or you can step up to the plate." |
| Indoor pickleball complex coming to South Mississippi, and it's got a big-name investor | |
 | Drew Brees is a big fan of pickleball and has has partnered with Picklr, a Utah-based company that will open an indoor pickleball franchise in Biloxi in the fall. The former Hobby Lobby building on Pass Road at Eisenhower Drive in Biloxi is scheduled to reopen in October as a pickleball facility with 14 indoor courts that will have outdoor surfacing. Among the other amenities will be a ball machine, pro shop, private event areas, locker rooms and showers, according to the Picklr website's Biloxi page. The former New Orleans Saints quarterback and Super Bowl champion, Brees joined Picklr this year as an ambassador, investor and franchise owner. "We have created a community and environment where everyone can build relationships, compete, develop skill, and have fun while promoting a healthy and active lifestyle through one of the most popular sports in the world," Brees said when he partnered with the company. Memberships for the Biloxi facility will be sold and the facility will host league play, tournaments, drop-in play, clinics for adults and youth, private lessons and court reservations. "Founding members" who sign up before the grand opening will get a discounted rate for life. |
| LSU baseball fans crushed this Jell-O shot challenge in Omaha. Now it's coming to Baton Rouge | |
 | Remember that time LSU simultaneously won the 2023 NCAA Baseball College World Series and the College World Series Jell-O Shot Challenge at Rocco's Pizza and Cantina in Omaha, Nebraska? It's nice to reminisce, and the crew at Rocco's thinks the same thing, apparently. In an unsuspecting role reversal, staff members from Rocco's are setting up shop at Fred's Bar in Baton Rouge, located in Tigerland at 1184 Bob Pettit Blvd., Thursday through Saturday. "I wanted to hang out with the good folks of Baton Rouge when I wasn't working," said Pat McEvoy, a manager at Rocco's. McEvoy and five other staff members will fly out to Baton Rouge Thursday and tour of the city. First, they'll visit the Marrucci Sports facility in Baton Rouge, then tour Tiger Stadium, catch a game at Alex Box Stadium and visit Mike the Tiger. "The craziest part to me is that they're going to take us over to meet Mike the Tiger," McEvoy said. "Everyone I tell -- that's the thing that I mention." While the Tigers face Ole Miss at Alex Box Stadium this weekend, the Rocco's staff is coming equipped with 2,500 Jell-O shots to sell until they run out. They will also raffle off the commemorative purple and gold, LSU-themed Marucci Sports baseball bat that includes the winning number that put LSU fans at the top of the Jell-O Shot Challenge: 68,888. |
| Florida State, Clemson's Exit Plans Meet Stiff Resistance From ACC at Spring Meetings | |
| A quick recap from Wednesday's final day of the ACC's spring meetings: Florida State and Clemson desperately want out, but the ACC isn't going down without a fight: preferably a long, exhausting drawn-out melee. Florida State and Clemson want to skip off to greener pastures and larger media rights paydays in the Big Ten or SEC as soon as possible. However, the ACC is using a strategy from an ACC legend -- former UNC coach Dean Smith's four corners offense -- to take the air out of FSU and Clemson's attempts to leave the league. Using stall ball at its finest, the ACC is in no hurry to reach a settlement with either school. It realizes if FSU and Clemson exit, they might start a conga line out the door. ACC sources said the league will fight the Florida State and Clemson lawsuits to the "Nth degree." Can you force a school to remain in a conference? No. But you can refuse to settle and make it as costly as possible. As far as the ACC's desire to settle with Florida State or Clemson, the percentage chance is between zero and a number less than zero. Multiple ACC sources said this week the league has "absolutely no incentive to settle" with the two schools. |
| ACC commish optimistic despite 'disruptive' FSU, Clemson lawsuits | |
| ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said Wednesday the pending litigation with Florida State and Clemson is "disruptive" and "harmful" but it has not changed the dynamic between them as the league wrapped up three days of meetings. Phillips and league representatives, including athletic directors, football coaches and men's and women's basketball coaches met to discuss a big list of topics -- including a possible settlement in the House vs. NCAA case, CFP expansion, revenue distribution and changing the perception around the league. But with Florida State, Clemson and the ACC engaged in lawsuits against each other over the league's withdrawal penalty and grant of rights, uncertainty continues to hang around the league as it charts a new course with three new members joining in the fall. Cal, Stanford and SMU also participated in the league meetings. Phillips acknowledged what remains ongoing with Clemson and Florida State, saying, "It's difficult, it's disruptive, it's harmful but that's the world we live in. It hasn't changed one iota about how we've interacted with them and it shouldn't." It should be noted Clemson and Florida State were full participants in the meetings over the past three days. Florida State athletic director Michael Alford said Tuesday the meetings were "cordial." When asked if their future in the league could be salvaged, Alford said, "We'll just wait for that to play out." |
| Failing to include athletes in negotiating is a 'can kick down the road' for NCAA | |
| With a settlement in the blockbuster House v. NCAA case in sight within the next week, the question of when, if at all, schools and conferences will give athletes a seat at the negotiating table grows ever louder. The settlement in the antitrust case -- which could come anytime before the plaintiffs' May 23 hard deadline -- will mark the first momentous development in a two-step process to radically reshape college sports' financial model, ushering in a true revenue-sharing model. But that's only step one. Legal experts and athlete advocates tell On3 that the only sustainable model -- and one that protects the NCAA from further litigation absent Congressional intervention -- is one that opens the door to athletes collectively bargaining their compensation and benefits. "The only sustainable future for college athletics is a future where the new deal is done between the athletes and the schools and conferences they play for," said Jim Cavale of Athletes.org, one of the handful of players' associations positioning themselves to unify athletes and represent their interests as college sports' new financial model takes hold. |
| With college athletics at precipice of historic change, SEC brass meets to mull future of industry | |
| As college athletics inches closer to historic change, university presidents and chancellors of the SEC held an in-person meeting Wednesday at league headquarters in Birmingham -- a consequential and rare gathering of decision-makers atop one of the industry's most powerful leagues. Sources with knowledge of the meeting spoke to Yahoo Sports under condition of anonymity. An SEC spokesman declined to comment. In a meeting presumably led by commissioner Greg Sankey, conference leaders examined proposed terms of what could be a historic agreement to both settle multiple antitrust cases as well as usher into the sport a new athlete compensation model featuring a revenue sharing concept. While a formal vote is not expected from the group until a later date, presidents and chancellors reviewed the proposal in an effort to work toward a decision. The SEC presidential meeting is one of many expected to transpire over the coming two weeks. Big 12 presidents held a virtual call earlier this week. Big Ten presidents are scheduled to meet next week at their spring meetings at a site outside of Los Angeles. ACC presidents also meet next week in Charlotte. NCAA president Charlie Baker is positioning for votes as well with his Board of Governors and Board of Directors. Notre Dame, the only power league independent, will need to gain support from its own school governing board. |
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