| Wednesday, June 12, 2024 |
| Home goods store opening in renovated ex-church | |
 | From a car dealership to a candle-making factory to a church, a historic downtown building will soon start its newest role as a design and home goods store. By August, the former Starkville Korean Church building will be home to Lafayette Street's newest business: The Collective Design House. Owner Abby Thompson said the store will be a one-stop shop for all things home design, whether it's building or decorating. "We really wanted to be a place where clientele and contractors could come in and pick out building materials, home furnishings (and) accessories to really just make that process of renovating or building much easier and less stressful," Thompson told The Dispatch. Inside The Collective Design House, customers will find everything from furniture to cabinets to decor and even interior design services. The concept was born while Thompson and Designer Megan Hancock were working together at Thompson's other business, Paul Davis Restoration of the Golden Triangle. "We pretty quickly realized the need for it," Hancock told The Dispatch. "Working inside the office at Paul Davis, we found that the experience we wanted to have (with) the showroom and all the pretty things. ... It was a little challenging to make those two things coexist in the same building." The pair also saw the need for a local full service provider for interior design. |
| Mississippi Heritage Trust recognizes Vicksburg residents, MCity, Vicksburg National Military Park | |
 | On Thursday, June 6, the Mississippi Heritage Trust announced the recipients of the 2024 Heritage Awards at the Southern Cultural Heritage Center in Vicksburg. A group of over 150 people gathered in the auditorium to celebrate 25 achievements in historic preservation. From the breathtaking transformation of the old Gulfport Library into Coast Transit Authority's Gulfport Transit Center to hands-on history commemorating Pascagoula's designation as a World War II Heritage City, this year's awards honored the work and commitment of many individuals, civic organizations, educational institutions and local, county and state governments to preserve the places that tell the story of Mississippi. MCITy of Vicksburg was recognized for its extensive rehabilitation of a 1936 building into a technology think tank inspiring future high-tech entrepreneurs. Constructed in 1936, the Mississippi Hardware Company Building has undergone a $19 million dollar rehabilitation to meet the needs of the 21st century. The project team, including VanMeter, Williams, Pollack Architects, Shane Ormond Construction, Newbreak Management, Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation, Vicksburg-Warren Economic Development Partnership, ERDCWERX, Hinds Community College, Mississippi State University, Institutions for Higher Learning, Alcorn State University, City of Vicksburg, Broadway Ventures and 2R3E Properties, conceived the Mississippi Center for Innovation and Technology, now known as MCITy, to become home to a cadre of high-tech entrepreneurs and educators working together to maximize synergism of thought and action. |
| Inflation surprise: Prices unchanged in May, defying expectations, CPI report shows | |
 | U.S. consumer prices were unexpectedly unchanged in May amid cheaper gasoline, but inflation likely remains too high for the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates before September against the backdrop of a persistently strong labor market. The unchanged reading in the consumer price index reported by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday followed a 0.3% increase in April. The CPI has been trending lower since posting solid readings in February and March. Price pressures could continue moderating as major retailers, including Target, prices on goods ranging from food to diapers as they seek to lure inflation-weary consumers. In the 12 months through May, the CPI advanced 3.3% after increasing 3.4% in April. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI edging up 0.1% and gaining 3.4% year-on-year. Though the annual increase in consumer prices has slowed from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022, inflation continues to run above the U.S. central bank's 2% target. Job growth accelerated in May and wages picked up, but the unemployment rate increased to 4%, the government reported last week. Fed officials are later on Wednesday expected to leave the central bank's benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged in the current 5.25%-5.50% range, where it has been since July. |
| Mississippi receives its highest education ranking yet in national report | |
 | The Mississippi Department of Education announced Monday that the state saw its highest education ranking yet, according to the latest Annie E. Casey Foundation's Kids Count Data Book. The 2024 Kids Count Data Book ranked Mississippi's education as 30th in the United States, which is an improvement from the state ranking 32nd last year and 39th in 2022. According to the Mississippi Department of Education, the 2024 Kids Count Data Book is a 50-state report of recent household data developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation that analyzes how children and families are faring. Gov. Tate Reeves released the following statement Tuesday on the state reaching an all-time high education ranking in the Kids Count national report. "This is another history-making moment for Mississippi," Reeves said in the statement. "We have more work to do, but the fact that we're 30th in the entire nation for education proves how much momentum we have in the classroom. Mississippi will continue doing everything we can to provide students with the tools they need to lead fulfilling lives and secure high-paying careers in our state. Congratulations to Mississippi's parents, teachers, and students for once again making history." |
| Report: Mississippi sets state record at 30th nationally in education | |
| Mississippi has achieved a milestone in education. The 2024 Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT Data Book was released on Monday with Mississippi being ranked 30th in the nation educationally -- the state's highest ranking in history. The annual 50-state report of recent household data analyzes how children and families are faring. Each year, the Data Book presents national and state data from 16 indicators in four domains -- economic well-being, education, health, and family and community factors -- and ranks the states according to how children are doing in those respective categories. Also examined in this year's report were declines in student math and reading proficiency brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on education. While Mississippi ranks 49th in overall child well-being, the Magnolia State has shown noticeable progress in half of the 16 indicators. In 2014, Mississippi was 48th nationally in education. That figure fell to 39th in 2022 and 32nd in 2023, showing recent strides in advancement. The Children's Foundation of Mississippi has released the 2024 Mississippi KIDS COUNT Factbook to determine opportunities for improving outcomes for all Mississippi children. "Despite the state's overall ranking of 49, we are encouraged that Mississippi ranks 30th in education. This is Mississippi's highest ranking in the education domain in decades," Linda Southward, executive director of the Children's Foundation of Mississippi, said. |
| Two bills designed to protect children from sextortion scams signed into law | |
| With the signature of Governor Tate Reeves two bills designed to protect children from sextortion scams and punish those responsible are now law. The bills are named in honor of Walker Montgomery, a Starkville teenager who took his own life after he became a victim of sextortion scammers in Nigeria. His family attended the bill signing Tuesday after fighting for the legislation. Sextortion often begins with a message using social media. Brian Montgomery says his son made a video when he was 10th grade. The scammers threatened to share the video if they did not receive money. Montgomery is hoping this law will help shield other families from the pain, devastation and grief of losing a child. Montgomery said, "we lost Walker December 1st of 2022. Worked on the language of the bill throughout a good bit of '23 and we passed it in this session of '24. So really I think relative to this kind of legislation that brought the kind of opposition from tech companies pretty quick, but it was a lot of work. A lot of time and energy." Montgomery said, tech companies learned they are no match for every day people who want to protect their families. |
| How a Spanish land grant from the 1700s is affecting present-day Mississippi | |
 | The bloodshed of the American Revolution had just come to end. It was 1784, and with the signing of the Treaty of Paris months earlier, Britain had finally recognized the 13 colonies. It would be five years before George Washington became the first president and 15 years before Mississippi would even become a U.S. territory. Much of the present state remained under Spanish control. Yet, developments of 1784 continue to influence and shape the Magnolia State, even in present day. The Mississippi Supreme Court recently affirmed a Biloxi landowner's right to a disputed portion of land secured by the Spanish government in 1784. The decision is one that could throw the state's Tidelands Act into review. In April, the court handed down a decision siding with John Aldrich over the Mississippi Secretary of State's Office in a case that spanned 26 years. That fight detailed disagreements over the tidelands map boundary, which stretches along the Mississippi coast, and the Aldrich's Biloxi property line south of Highway 90 that was established before the map was drawn. The boundary is the line separating private land along the coast and public tidelands to which anyone has access. The boundary also protects the natural ecosystem of the coast from overdevelopment. |
| Key Mississippi leader is open to replacing state's white supremacist statues in Washington | |
| House Rules Chairman Fred Shanks will likely consider legislation next year that would replace Mississippi's two statues of Confederate leaders at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, a move that would follow the lead of several other Southern states. Shanks, a Republican from Brandon, told Mississippi Today on Monday that if House Speaker Jason White refers a measure to his committee in the future that would replace the state's statues of Jefferson Davis and J.Z. George in Washington, he would seriously study the legislation. "The things I'm going to take into consideration is how much it costs and if we have the votes," Shanks said. "So I've got a lot of work cut out for me. I got asked about it this year, but we had so much else going on that it was impossible to get to it. But it's going to be a major decision." While Democratic lawmakers have filed measures to replace the statues for years, Shanks' recent comments are the first significant movement by GOP legislative leadership to replace the statues that the state placed in Washington nearly a century ago. The Legislature could create a committee to decide on possible replacements, similar to the one made in 2020 to recommend a new state flag, or lawmakers themselves could pick the replacements. Shanks said he's open to different ideas when selecting new statues, but he supports having world-renowned musician Elvis Presley as one of the two replacements. |
| GOP rep wants 'Elvis or nothing' if Mississippi removes Confederate statues from Washington | |
| Weeks after the state of Arkansas installed a statue of civil rights journalist and activist Daisy Bates next to Mississippi's Jefferson Davis inside the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall, there are rumblings that lawmakers may soon make a move to replace the two confederate statues that have represented the state in Congress for nearly a century. GOP Rep. Fred Shanks of Brandon said Monday that this past session was too engulfed by hot-button topics such as K-12 funding, Medicaid expansion, and economic development to truly consider a change to the statues. But now, with some of those issues passed and off the governor's desk, lawmakers have time to debate and possibly vote on a pair of new statues being shipped to Washington. "I got asked about it this session," Shanks said, pointing back to a resolution introduced by House Minority Leader Robert Johnson to replace Davis and George with civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer and Hiram Revels, the first African American to serve in Congress. Being the (House) rules chairman, the way I looked at it at the time – Washington, D.C. is a long way from Mississippi. Does that affect everyday Mississippians? No, it does not. So, I just really kind of pushed it aside. I've been asked about it several times since then if I wanted to do something about it, and I said that I will definitely look at it." "I'll be real honest with you. If anything does pass, one of them is going to be Elvis or nothing," Shanks said, laughing. "If he isn't up there, I'm done." |
| Senate has little appetite for changing the difficult way it restores suffrage to convicted felons | |
| Kenneth Almons told a group of about 16 state lawmakers inside crowded Room 113 at the state Capitol earlier this year that if he could ever regain his right to vote, he could actually demonstrate the importance of voting to his children. But until that happens, he will carry a massive albatross around his neck over a mistake he made over 30 years ago, he said. "If you can't vote, you're nobody," Almons said. "And in the public's eye, I'm a nobody." The cold, hard truth is that most Mississippi legislators haven't shown any desire to change Almons' mind or taken any significant steps to show him they don't consider him a nobody. A 51-year-old Jackson resident, Almons was convicted of armed robbery when he was 17 years old and was released from the Mississippi State Penitentiary, commonly known as Parchman, when he was 23. For the last 28 years, he hasn't been convicted of a speeding infraction, much less another felony, he told the state officials. Instead, he's run his own business, currently works for the city of Jackson, has raised three children and has, by most standards, been a picture-perfect example of what legislators would consider being rehabilitated back into society. "You've been more productive than people who have never even seen the inside of a prison," House Minority Leader Robert Johnson III said to Almons during an April 17 hearing. But because he was convicted of armed robbery and aggravated assault as a teenager, he still cannot cast a vote in a Mississippi election and, despite paying taxes for decades, has no direct say in who represents him in government. |
| Jackson delegates oppose Mississippi Democratic Party boycotting State Fair | |
| Some Jackson-based lawmakers in the Mississippi Legislature are upset with the Democratic Party for attempting to boycott the Mississippi State Fair later this year. On Monday, the Mississippi Democratic Party issued a press release stating it intends to boycott the event, known for providing a large economic impact to Jackson, the state's capital city, as well as to the state. In the release, the party wrote that a recent event held by Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson to support former President and now-convicted felon Donald Trump spurred its decision to boycott the festivities. Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. According to the MDAC and Visit Jackson figures Last year, the event drew about 500,000 people and generates about $30 million per year in tourism revenues within Jackson. Mississippi Democratic Party Chair Cheikh Taylor, who represents Starkville in the House of Representatives, said in the release that Gipson's and other Republicans' statewide officials support of Trump is a blatant disregard of justice. Local Democratic Reps. Chris Bell and Fabian Nelson have both said they were not informed of the party's decision to boycott the fair. Rep. Shanda Yates, an independent representing North Jackson, said she did not agree with boycott, and she was perplexed at the correlation made from Democrats to boycott a state event based on a national political issue. |
| Mississippi Democratic Party calls on AG Fitch to recuse herself from welfare scandal investigation | |
| The Chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party is calling on Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R) to recuse herself from the investigation involving the state's welfare scandal after she appeared alongside former Governor Phil Bryant at a pro-Donald Trump rally last week. Chairman Cheikh Taylor's comments come one day after he and the Mississippi Democratic Party urged Mississippians to boycott the State Fair in October over the Trump rally hosted by Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson at the Ag Museum. The party stated in a release that Attorney General Fitch's presence at the Trump rally with Bryant "is particularly troubling." "Bryant has been implicated in a high-profile scandal involving the misappropriation of welfare funds intended for the most vulnerable Mississippians, allegedly funneling money to high-profile figures, including former NFL quarterback Brett Favre," the party's release stated. "In light of Fitch's evident bias and her proximity to Bryant, the Mississippi Democratic Party demands that Attorney General Lynn Fitch immediately recuse herself from the entire investigation involving the welfare scandal, including any investigations related to former Governor Phil Bryant." As has been previously noted by Magnolia Tribune, to date, Bryant has not been accused of, charged with, or convicted of any crime in relation to the welfare scandal. |
| Corps indicates support for altered version of 'One Lake' | |
| While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers appears to be moving on from the "One Lake" flood control plan, the agency is indicating its support for an altered version of the proposal that includes other flood control components. Since 2011, local officials at the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District -- also referred to as the Flood Control District or the Levee Board -- have backed One Lake as the solution to a decades-long effort to curb flooding in Jackson. The effort traces back to the record-setting flood of 1979, which the Corps estimates would leave behind over $1.2 billion in damages if it happened today. The proposal has garnered both support and opposition from politicians on either side of the aisle, with environmental advocates cautioning that One Lake would disrupt the water flow downstream of Jackson and harm valuable ecosystems. Proponents, including local business leaders, have hailed the proposal as a potential revenue-builder for Jackson and Rankin County. The idea behind One Lake was not only to reduce flooding by lowering and spreading the Pearl River out, but also to create recreational areas along the water. The Corps, the federal agency in charge of approving such a project, visited Jackson last year to hear the public's input. The group of engineers came back with a draft environmental study on Friday that appears to support a plan with similar features as One Lake with additional mitigation measures, including elevating homes and improving the nearby levee system. |
| Boozman releases Senate farm bill framework | |
| Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman, R- Ark., released his framework for a Senate farm bill on Tuesday. His plan is similar to legislation passed by the House Agriculture Committee last month. Boozman says lawmakers sought to draft a bill that reflects the needs of all stakeholders. He notes that the world has changed dramatically since the 2018 Farm Bill. According to him, farmers are facing challenges and economic uncertainty that are only projected to get worse in the coming years. "Our framework released today meets that call by modernizing the farm safety net, facilitating the expansion of access to overseas markets, fostering breakthroughs in agricultural research and growing the rural communities our farmers, ranchers and foresters call home -- all while making a historic investment in conservation and protecting nutrition programs that help Americans in need," Boozman says. At this point, the fate of Boozman's proposal remains murky at best. Last month, four Democrats voted with Republicans to approve Thompson's House proposal. However, the outcome was never really in doubt since Republicans hold the majority there. Things are different in the Senate, where Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow controls the Ag Committee thanks to her party's slim majority. While having the majority would seem to give her an advantage, nothing is certain in an election year. |
| Boozman lays out farm bill proposals, says it's time to 'get serious' about negotiating or else pass an extension | |
| The top Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, John Boozman, staked out his farm bill position Tuesday, releasing a proposed framework that largely mirrors the legislation Republicans pushed through the House Agriculture Committee last month. Boozman's proposal, which calls for an average 15% increase in Price Loss Coverage reference prices to account for increases in input costs since they were first set a decade ago, differs sharply from an outline Senate Ag Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., released May 1. "The Senate Republican framework won't come as any surprise and mirrors what our stakeholders have been calling for over the past two years," Boozman told reporters. But he acknowledged that Congress may have to pass another extension of the 2018 farm bill by the end of the year. The 2018 farm bill was effectively extended through 2024 last fall. If Congress doesn't pass an extension this year, archaic commodity laws dating back to 1938 and 1949 would kick in and eventually require USDA to take steps to increase prices for milk and other commodities. "Farmers desperately need the surety of a five-year program," Boozman said. "On the other hand, talking to farmers, they realize that just doing something to do something is not the answer. They want something that's going to make a difference." |
| China's dominant drone industry is a step ahead of Congress | |
 | Lawmakers in the House and Senate are pushing legislation to ban Chinese-made drones from entering the United States. But the leading Chinese companies manufacturing those drones are making moves to stay a step ahead of them. One of China's biggest drone makers, Da Jiang Innovations (DJI), is already partnering with a U.S.-based company Anzu Robotics to license its technology for sale in the American market. Another firm, the Hong Kong-based Cogito Tech Company Limited, registered through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in August 2023 to sell drones in the United States. Experts on drones say two of its drone products approved for sale in the U.S., the Specta Air and Specta Mini, are nearly identical to products produced by DJI. The new businesses suggest China's dominant drone companies are taking steps to make sure that their products reach U.S. consumers even if Congress does pass a ban similar to the one that just hit TikTok. The Chinese drones are being sold at prices below their U.S. counterparts and have raised worries that any U.S. industry will essentially be squashed. DJI already controls around 70 percent of the global commercial drone market and about 80 percent of the U.S. market. Derek Scissors, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who specializes in China's economy and U.S. economic relations with Asia, said the issue with drones is data can be actively collected during flights. |
| Tuesday's elections revealed a lot about GOP power. (Sorry, Kevin McCarthy.) | |
 | Donald Trump -- and establishment Republicans not named Kevin McCarthy -- mostly got what they wanted on Tuesday night. Elections across five states Tuesday were largely low-turnout affairs, but they'll help shape the future of Congress. Voters who cast their ballots helped select a new U.S. representative in Ohio, picked battleground contenders whose races could help determine control of Congress in 2025 and settled safe seat grudge matches in a long-running fight over the makeup of the House GOP conference. But there was one constant across the Republican primaries: Trump remains the kingmaker. Some of the races set Tuesday night are already drawing high levels of spending, including the huge Senate race between Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen and Republican Sam Brown in Nevada and a trio of battleground House seats in the state. And Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, the rare Trump-seat Democrat, also learned his general election opponent on Tuesday in another race where outside groups have already reserved millions of dollars in ad time for the general election. Millions of dollars weren't enough to take down Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), the first of the "Gaetz Eight" to face a primary. Outside groups affiliated with McCarthy, whom Mace and seven others voted to oust from the speakership, invested heavily in Tuesday's primary to give Mace some payback. But that jockeying couldn't even force her into a runoff. |
| House GOP tees up vote on contempt of Congress for Garland | |
 | House Republicans cleared the way for a floor vote as early as Wednesday on whether to hold Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to hand over audio recordings from a special counsel investigation of President Joe Biden. The Justice Department gave lawmakers the transcript of former special counsel Robert K. Hur's interview with the president. But the department refused to release the audio despite subpoenas from the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. Last month, Biden invoked executive privilege over the recordings, which generally has given a president the authority to withhold information to protect the executive branch's ability to confer and make decisions outside of public view. Republicans at the House Rules Committee -- which approved a closed rule for the contempt legislation -- said Tuesday that the case for contempt is straightforward. The congressional demands for the audio are valid, and Garland has declined to comply with them. Democrats have castigated the contempt push and framed the effort as a partisan stunt, as well pointing out that when executive privilege has been invoked the proper venue to challenge that is in court. |
| Hunter Biden's trial pulled back curtain on family's dark moments | |
 | First lady Jill Biden, in a crisp blue suit and shawl, sat on a cushioned, wooden courtroom seat after returning from a quick trip to Paris with the president. She stared straight ahead as her eldest granddaughter, Naomi Biden, responded to withering questions about her father's neglect, his drug use and even whether Naomi herself had used drugs. The moment appeared to be brutal for the Biden family, whose members fought to hold back tears and sometimes lost that battle. Over a few raw days, Hunter Biden's trial showcased just how dark the family's dynamics had grown in recent years, providing new insight into the first family and its attempt to find closure after the death of the president's son Beau, and the pain and grief that still threaten those efforts. While the trial, whose guilty verdict was announced Tuesday, focused on the narrow question of whether Hunter Biden lied on a gun-purchase form six years ago, it was more broadly a trial for the sprawling Biden clan, testing the relationships in a family that had splintered almost to the breaking point not long before their patriarch ascended to the White House. The family has repeatedly found itself torn apart by tragedy and dissension, then attempted to piece itself back together. Often that pattern has reflected love and resilience. But the picture that emerged over the past week-and-a-half was also one of ongoing damage. |
| Mike Pence tells Southern Baptists he has 'great compassion' for those 'misled' by stolen election lie | |
 | Former Vice President Mike Pence Tuesday said he has "great compassion for people who have been misled" about the results of the 2020 election. Yet at the same time, he believes former President Donald Trump will always see the issue differently. Pence was in Indianapolis addressing the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. The lunchtime program, "Navigating Faith in the Public Square," offered Pence a platform in front of an audience of his fellow religious conservatives. Pence referenced the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, which took place as Pence was in the building, presiding over the counting of electoral votes. He previously said Trump seemed "convinced" as early as December 2020 that Pence had the right to reject or return votes and that on Jan. 5, Trump's attorneys told him "'We want you to reject votes outright." "They were asking me to overturn the election. I had no right to overturn the election," Pence said in an interview on CNN's "State of the Union." On Tuesday, Pence spoke of how his faith guided him during the process. "We prayed all the way through it, and we decided that we were going to keep our oath. Psalm 15 says he 'keeps an oath even when it hurts.' I know something about that," Pence said. |
| In speech to Southern Baptists, Pence warns of GOP shift but stops short of direct Trump criticism | |
| Before an audience of 400-plus Southern Baptists, former Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday raised warnings about the shifting direction of the Republican Party but stopped short of denouncing a far-right religious movement rising amid former President Donald Trump's candidacy for president in November. "There's also a very healthy debate within my party about whether we're going to stay on the course...traditional moral values, a right to life, an affirmation of religious liberty or whether we're going to start to move in a different direction," Pence said during a luncheon organized by the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy arm, the Nashville-based Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Pence warned against a "different direction" and spoke to the importance of the GOP emphasizing certain traditional policy positions such as fiscal conservatism and defense spending. Many in the room nodded and murmured in agreement with Pence's analysis. During a panel moderated by Brent Leatherwood, the commission's president, Pence focused on victories for the anti-abortion movement and condemning President Joe Biden. He backed a number of policy positions that appeal to many religious conservatives. But he avoided commenting on Trump's candidacy or the former president's recent guilty verdict in a Manhattan hush money trial, which other leading Southern Baptist voices have criticized. |
| In Taped Remarks at Supreme Court Gala, Revealing Glimpses of Roberts and Alito | |
 | Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. have long been a jarring study in contrasts. The chief justice is guarded, embodying a cautious and conventional conception of the judicial role. Justice Alito, an eager combatant in the culture wars, tests the limits of that behavior. Their differing approaches were on display in surreptitiously recorded comments at a Supreme Court gala last week. Chief Justice Roberts struck a measured tone in response to efforts by a liberal operative to goad him into saying that there was "a role for the court" in "guiding us toward a more moral path." The chief justice responded: "Would you want me to be in charge of putting the nation on a more moral path? That's for people we elect. That's not for lawyers." Justice Alito, who can be awkward and aggrieved, seemed to take the bait, though what he said on the recording was little different from what he says in public speeches to conservative legal groups and at Catholic colleges. "One side or the other is going to win," he told the operative, Lauren Windsor, at an annual black-tie event for the Supreme Court Historical Society. "There can be a way of working, a way of living together peacefully, but it's difficult, you know, because there are differences on fundamental things that really can't be compromised." While both are firmly on the right, the chief justice tends to favor a cautious incrementalism. Justice Alito has come to embody a more take-no-prisoners attitude that can leave him open to the charge that his agenda is driven by religious and political commitments. |
| UAW's Shawn Fain Under Investigation | |
| United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain has more on his mind these days than overturning the no union vote at Mercedes Benz in Tuscaloosa County last month. The man who became the union's chief on promises to clean-up the scandal riddled organization is himself under federal investigation. Part of a consent decree stemming from a U.S. Justice Department probe of UAW corruption was the appointment of an independent federal watchdog monitor to keep tabs on the union and prevent corruption. That watchdog, Neil M. Barofsky, began an investigation in February into accusations that Fain retaliated against the union's secretary treasurer because she would not provide certain funds for his office. Two of the three points of the consent decree covered watchdog responsibilities in past and present corruption. In a 32-page status report filed yesterday with the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division Barofsky describes an erosion of cooperation by union leaders beginning in February after he had revealed investigations targeting members of the UAW's governing International Executive Board, including Fain and others. In the filing, the watchdog's office alleges Fain retaliated against Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock after she turned down a request for money for Fain's office. The UAW leader is accused of removing her authority in reprisal for her refusal or reluctance to authorize the funds. |
| UMMC gives Mississippi child a new thumb | |
 | A hand is a useful tool, but one Mississippi toddler was born missing an important part of his. When two-year-old Kobe Abron was born, he did not have a thumb on his right hand thanks to thumb aplasia. That finger accounts for 40% of all hand functions. The best way to provide a functional thumb to Kobe was through a surgery known as index pollicization. Kobe's pediatrician referred him to a doctor part of Children's of Mississippi pediatric congenital hand clinic: Marc E. Walker. Walker is the founding director of the Jabaley-Songcharoen Center for Hand, Upper Extremity and Nerve Surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), which the pediatric hand clinic is under. He performed Kobe's complex hand surgery, which converted Kobe's native index finger into a functional thumb. The procedure itself consists of about eight to 10 different sub-procedures that ultimately result in a repurposed index finger that acts and looks like a thumb, allowing for improved grip, grasp, pinch and opposition. After the four-hour surgery, Kobe wore a red superhero cast for about three weeks and then a splint for a month. He's now strengthening his right hand with physical therapy. Despite the serious nature of the procedure, Walker and the hand center noted Kobe's enthusiasm to be infectious. |
| U. of Alabama professor: Microscopic fossils tell the tale of climate change | |
 | Rebecca Totten, associate professor at the University of Alabama looks into the mud at the bottom of the Amundsen Sea in Antarctica. Totten, a microbiologist studies microscopic fossils of sea creatures found in the layers of sea floor mud to help determine how sea temperature is affecting the critical Thwaites Glacier, dubbed the "Doomsday Glacier" because of it's potential impact on global sea level rise. "I grew up playing in the mud in south Louisiana and that's still what I do for a living. I look at the layers of mud extracted from the sea floor that have been deposited since that ice was really expanded 20,000 years ago and grounded out on the continental shelf," Totten said. As the ice has receded, it has exposed the sea floor and opened it to life. Her study involves taking mud cores to see which creatures lived in each layer of mud during a given period of time. These creatures, Totten says, are extremely sensitive to changes in the ocean's salinity as well as the temperature. "The cool thing we do as paleo-detectives is we have to figure out what the history of these glaciers are," Totten said. |
| U. of West Alabama is freezing tuition for seventh consecutive year | |
| The University of West Alabama will freeze tuition for the 2024-25 school year, marking the seventh year in a row that the college has kept rates flat. UWA's Board of Trustees approved the proposal at its June quarterly meeting. Yearly tuition rates will remain at $9,100 for in-state students and at $18,200 for out-of-state students. "We want to make a high-quality educational experience as affordable as possible and for as many students as possible," UWA President Ken Tucker said in a news release Wednesday. "As a public institution, we also have an obligation to operate as efficiently and responsibly as we can, and we believe that we've outlined a budget that will meet all of these needs." Alabama college students spend among the most in the nation for degrees, according to a 2022 report by the State Higher Education Foundation. After freezing tuition during the pandemic, The UA System announced last week that they will raise tuition between 2.5% and 4% at each of its three campuses this fall, depending on students' residency status. Troy and Jacksonville State University recently approved slight increases to tuition rates per credit hour. Auburn University voted in August to raise tuition by 3% for the 2024-25 school year. |
| Reaching Rural Students: The STARS Network Hits the Road | |
 | Maryann Dang, 18, grew up in Winona, a rural town in Mississippi that is so small, she says, people stop in for "just a little bit, to get gas on the way to somewhere else, or to, like, pick up some food, but they never really stay." She herself never expected to leave Winona after high school, and assumed colleges were looking for "high-level kids from the big cities that did all these competitions and won all these awards." Midway through high school she realized that colleges look for "all types of kids, and one of those types is rural kids." The Small Town and Rural Students (STARS) College Network, a partnership of 16 colleges across the country, is dedicated to finding, reaching out to, and supporting students like Dang. Founded two years ago, the network includes the California Institute of Technology and colleges including Columbia, Yale, Ohio State, and Vanderbilt Universities. We want to help "small-town and rural students to get them to our colleges, but also through our colleges," says John Palmer Rea, an admissions officer at Vanderbilt University and the STARS program director. This short film follows Palmer Rea and a group of STARS recruiters on a trip together, going from stop to stop across the South, meeting and holding events for rural students -- to learn more about them and to help them gain a clearer understanding of potential higher-ed opportunities. |
| U. of Tennessee police close investigation into Yassin Terou's arrest | |
 | The University of Tennessee Police Department has closed an investigation into the treatment of local business owner Yassin Terou during his May 15 arrest, finding no evidence of policy or conduct violations. The investigation was spurred by a complaint Terou filed with UTPD two days after his arrest, alleging an officer tightened his zip cuffs after he complained of nerve damage and that he was denied medical assistance. Terou is a Syrian refugee who earned American citizenship in 2020 and the well-known owner of Yassin's Falafel House restaurants in Knoxville. Lt. Dale Wolf, who acted as internal affairs investigator, interviewed the officers involved and reviewed body camera footage from the event. The internal investigation found no evidence of improper treatment, including denial of medical care or excessive use of force. Ten other pro-Palestinian protestors were arrested along with Terou for criminal trespassing after they demonstrated on the UT College of Law lawn in violation of campus policy. UTPD officers said the scene of the arrest was too chaotic to attend to some of Terou's requests at his time of arrest. Officers said protestors outnumbered them two to one and were "hostile." |
| Racial criteria already removed by U. of Missouri System from millions of dollars in student aid | |
 | The recent UM System Board of Curators petition to remove racial and ethnic criteria from 53 donated scholarships and funds is a final step in a year-long process that has already removed such criteria from millions of dollars in student aid. University of Missouri spokesperson Christian Basi said the university awarded $12.3 million in institutional financial aid with a race and ethnicity component in the 2022-23 academic year -- about 6.4% of the university's financial aid budget. In the same year, Basi said the university awarded $457,000 in endowed donor scholarships that had a race and ethnicity component. This made up about 2.3% of money from endowed scholarships across the University Missouri System. But after the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2023 ruling that outlawed race-based admissions -- and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's same-day letter expanding that standard to scholarships, programs and employment -- the system immediately started removing racial or ethnic criteria from institutional scholarships. Basi said the university also started reviewing and altering race-based scholarships that are facilitated through endowments or donations. "Many of the existing endowments already had a legal clause in them that allows us to change criteria, or other aspects of the gift, if those aspects become illegal," Basi said. |
| Bank Raised Alarm About Dubious Donation to FAMU | |
 | Prior to announcing a $237 million donation during a commencement ceremony last month, Florida A&M University officials received notice from the donor's bank that the gift may not be legitimate, The Myrtle Beach Sun News reported Tuesday. Within days of publicizing the gift from Gregory Gerami, who claims to be a wealthy hemp farmer from Texas, skepticism about the gift had supplanted the excitement. Critics of the university noted that a quick internet search revealed the limited, amateur online presence of Gerami, his company, Batterson Farms Corp. and the Isaac Batterson Family 7th Trust, which underwrote the donation. In the days that followed, it was revealed that only a handful of people in FAMU's leadership knew about the gift prior to the announcement and that the university did not properly vet or valuate the donation, which came in the form of private stock. The Sun News also reported that Erich Horner, a gift officer at North Carolina State University, emailed Shawnta Friday-Stroud, FAMU's now-resigned vice president and executive director for university advancement after the gift announcement, warning her that he believes Gerami is "a fraud and I'm happy to discuss further," and that the donation was likely to unravel. Horner, who was working at the University of Mississippi when Gerami contacted the university about a donation, also said he knew of five other schools Gerami had approached about a donation, including Miles College in Alabama and the University of Texas at Austin, but "it always falls through." |
| The College Scholarship Secret Hiding in Plain Sight: Your Last Name | |
 | Derek Gatlin discovered the value of his last name during middle-school detention. A teacher urged him to get serious about school so he could land a special college scholarship. He wouldn't need a 4.0 grade-point average, athletic accolades or a musical skill. He just needed to be a Gatlin. (Or, he later learned, a Gatling.) Gatlin didn't know what the teacher was talking about, but he liked the idea of being the first in his family to go to college. In 2001, as Gatlin entered his senior year, the scholarship offer arrived. He received a letter from North Carolina State University, about 2,800 miles from home in Olivehurst, Calif., noting his strong SAT score -- and his last name. It said if he was admitted, his tuition costs would be covered. "It was the golden ticket, like in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,'" Gatlin recalls. "Then I asked: Where is Raleigh, North Carolina?" Quirky scholarship opportunities abound these days. Funds are set aside for golf caddies, tall children and even those with notable duck-calling abilities. But some scholarships boast other unique criteria. Namely, names. Loyola University Chicago offers scholarships to Catholic students with the last name Zolp. A University of California scholarship gives preference to graduate students from Colombia and direct descendants from the family of the benefactor, Miguel Velez. Among more than a half-dozen "ancestry-based scholarships," as Harvard University labels them, is one for descendants of Thomas Dudley, who served as governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony in the 1600s. |
| Can a College 'Rating' -- Instead of a Ranking -- Really Work? | |
| Amid widespread questioning of the validity of college rankings last year, Money magazine tried something different -- changing its 33-year-old ranking into a rating system. Gone was the one-through-600-something numbered list. Instead, colleges fell into just a handful of buckets: In Money's latest sorting, out today, college ratings range from two to five stars, in half-star increments. It was just the kind of thing that rankings critics have long said would be a more-helpful way of categorizing colleges than numerical lists. The thinking is that buckets convey that several colleges may be fairly similar, and that the difference between the No. 19 and the No. 20 college, say, may be arbitrary. But Americans love rankings. We love knowing who's No. 1. So how would Money's ratings fare in a world where other publications were happy to continue to put out rankings? How would rankings users feel about them? Judging from website traffic, Money didn't suffer for switching to ratings, according to numbers provided by the magazine. In the first month after Money published its first-ever ratings, the total number of unique online visitors to the main list of colleges, sublists, college-profile pages, and methodology page was actually 40 percent higher than for the same period in 2022, when the magazine was still doing a ranking. Over the first three months after publication, the 2023 ratings outperformed the 2022 ranking by 14 percent. |
| Democrats fractured over views of pro-Palestinian campus protests, poll finds | |
| Democrats hold deeply divided views on the pro-Palestinian student protests that have roiled college campuses in recent months, according to a new POLITICO-Morning Consult poll, and a generational gap appears to be driving the fault line. While 50 percent of surveyed Gen Z and millennial registered voters say they hold a favorable view toward the campus demonstrations, the same is true for only 44 percent of all Democrats, with 36 percent of Democrats feeling unfavorable. The poll, conducted in the waning days of universities' spring terms, shows younger voters are splitting from the Democratic base to support student activists and express more sympathy for Palestinians. That generational divide hits a pain point for President Joe Biden as he struggles to galvanize young voters and unify a base at odds with itself just months before the 2024 presidential election. As Biden looks to piece together a fragile coalition -- drawing support from Republicans and independents while shoring up liberal support -- he has little room to maneuver on an issue that has become increasingly fractured. That's in part because of how complicated voters' views are of the protests. Even though more than one-third of Democrats say they have an unfavorable view of the campus protests, the poll suggests a significant portion of them may actually support the students' positions -- just not their tactics. |
| Federal judge blocks Biden's Title IX transgender protections | |
| A federal judge in Texas halted President Biden's proposed changes to the interpretation of Title IX on Tuesday, which recommended protections for transgender students. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) sued the federal government after the guidance was first proposed. District Judge Reed O'Connor ruled with Paxton, explaining that the federal government "engaged in unlawful agency action taken in excess of their authority, all while failing to adhere to the appropriate notice and comments requirements when doing so." The non-binding guidance is separate from a similar final rule guidance for Title IX in April. Paxton and conservative groups commonly file suits in the Northern District of Texas, hoping to be assigned O'Connor, a nominee of former President George W. Bush. He was the judge who ruled in 2018 that the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional and ruled in multiple cases that later became landmark Supreme Court decisions, including the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which enshrined the right to gay marriage. O'Connor has ruled against Democratic presidents' attempts to expand Title IX before. In 2016, he went against the Obama administration when it gave guidance that colleges and universities could not discriminate by sex, in a similar attempt to expand protections to transgender students. An appeal to his decision was rescinded when former President Trump came to office. |
| Colleges Ask Congress to Delay Gainful Employment Deadline | |
| The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) is calling on Congress to take legislative action and require the Education Department to give colleges until July 2025 to comply with the reporting requirements in the new gainful employment and financial value transparency rule. The department already pushed back the deadline from July 31 to Oct. 1 earlier this year after colleges said they needed more time to gather and report new program-level information, including the total cost of attendance and the amount of private education loans disbursed to students. Colleges argued that the extension was needed in light of the challenges associated with the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA), which was delayed and has been beset with numerous issues. While NASFAA appreciated the two-month extension, the association said in a letter to Congress this week that the department didn't go far enough and has yet to provide all the information that colleges need to comply with the reporting requirements. Financial aid administrators want a one-year extension. The request, NASFAA president Justin Draeger argued, wouldn't affect the department's plan to start holding institutions accountable for their outcomes under the rule starting July 1, 2026. |
| Sports betting is legal in state casinos, but online betting is limited to casino premises | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: The nation's commercial gaming industry achieved record-breaking revenue for the third consecutive year in 2023 with 10.3% year-over-year growth -- but revenue in Mississippi was down 3.5% or $91.28 million according to the American Game Association's State of the States 2024 report. The AGA report documented Mississippi's 29 casinos (including those of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians in Philadelphia and Bok Homa) that the report says generate $6.54 billion in economic impact, 41,950 total jobs, $867.7 million in tax impact and tribal revenue share on gross gaming revenues of $2.48 billion. Nationally, the growth of traditional gaming revenues has flattened while the real growth has occurred in internet gaming (up 26%) and sports betting (up 22%). ... In Mississippi, sports betting on casino premises has been legal since 2018. But off-site online sports betting from computers and smart devices remains illegal in Mississippi. Lawmakers just this year had a sports betting bill -- House Bill 774 sponsored by Rep. Casey Eure -- die on deadline in conference committee. House and Senate conferees, like the members in the respective chambers they represent, could again not get on the same page on the issue. The influence of the existing traditional casinos is clear as the fear of competition from online gaming is palpable. |
SPORTS
| SEC Announces Football Television Windows; State Announces Game Themes & Ticket Plans | |
| The Southeastern Conference announced additional kickoff times and television windows for SEC-controlled games. Mississippi State Athletics also announced game themes and ticket plans for the upcoming season. In addition to the previously announced game times, the Bulldogs have learned kickoff times for two more games this season. State will host Florida at 11 a.m. (CT) on Sept. 21, the game will be televised on either ABC or ESPN. MSU's homecoming game against UMass is scheduled for a 3:15 p.m. (CT) kickoff, with the contest airing on SEC Network. Each SEC-controlled football game has been assigned to a specific game window (Early, Afternoon, Night or Flex). Mississippi State's newly announced television window games will feature one early game (vs. Arkansas), two afternoon games (at Texas and vs. Missouri), one night contest (at Tennessee) and two flex games (at Georgia and vs. Texas A&M). Exact start times within the assigned windows (Early, Afternoon, Night, Flex) and network designations will be determined during the season. Game Themes: Aug. 31 vs. Eastern Kentucky: First Saturday in StarkVegas. Sept. 14 vs. Toledo: Education Day. Sept. 21 vs. Florida: White Out. Oct. 19 vs. Texas A&M: Ag Day presented by GreenPoint Ag. Oct. 26 vs. Arkansas: Military Appreciation Day. Nov. 2 vs. UMass: Bulldog Family Weekend & Homecoming. Nov. 23 vs. Missouri: Senior Day. |
| Why Egg Bowl between Ole Miss, Mississippi State will be played on Friday | |
| The Egg Bowl between Ole Miss football and Mississippi State will be skipping the turkey and dressing in 2024, moving off Thanksgiving in favor of a 2:30 p.m. CT kick on Black Friday set to be televised by ABC. The rivalry game has been college football's Thanksgiving centerpiece since 2017, excluding the 2020 pandemic season, when it was played on Saturday. Speaking at an alumni event at the Country Club of Jackson on Tuesday night, Ole Miss Athletic Director Keith Carter explained the change for the 2024 contest, which the Rebels will host. "In that negotiation, ABC came to us and said we want this date, and we wanna play at this time," Carter said. "And we actually did have a little negotiating power on another game that we got scheduled at the time we wanted on the road." Carter did not specify which road game he was referring to. "It's interesting," Carter said. "At times, when they want something to happen, they'll work with you a little bit. But the times that they just wanna impose their (kickoff times) they do. Again, we get paid a lot of money to play at whatever time they say and that's kind of how it works." |
| Inside Gehrig Frei's transfer to Mississippi State baseball and the Landon Sims connection | |
| Gehrig Frei remembers tuning into the 2021 College World Series as he watched Mississippi State baseball secure its first national title. But for the former North Alabama third baseman, the Bulldogs' run came with special purpose. "That's where my first taste of Mississippi State baseball came from," Frei told the Clarion Ledger. "Was just wanting to watch my buddy close out the national championship." Landon Sims, MSU's dominant closer throughout the 2021 season, is friends with Frei. The two were teammates at South Forsyth High School in Cumming, Georgia, for two years. So while Frei was wrapping up his high school career, he watched closely what the Bulldogs were doing. "I saw how electric the environment was and how great the fans were," Frei said. "It was awesome to see a friend like that be such a big part of a national championship team." Frei will look to replicate the success. The North Alabama transfer announced Saturday he is committed to Mississippi State. "My No. 1 goal is to win a national championship," Frei said. "I believe that this team can do it, and that's one of the biggest things for me throughout this recruiting process. I want to go to Omaha. I want to win a national championship." |
| Million-dollar man: Paul Mainieri hired as highest-paid baseball coach in U. of South Carolina history | |
 | It's official: Paul Mainieri is the new head coach for South Carolina baseball. USC's Board of Trustees governance committee approved Mainieri's hiring and contract in a meeting Tuesday. His deal will run for five years with an annual salary of $1.3 million. Mainieri comes out of retirement tied with Mississippi State's Chris Lemonis as the eighth-highest paid coach in SEC (according to 2024 salary figures reported by The Tennessean) and is the first million-dollar baseball coach in school history. The committee also approved a new three-year contract for current associate head coach/hitting coach Monte Lee ($550,000 a year) and new pitching coach Terry Rooney ($425,000 a year). Lee's new contract makes him the highest paid baseball assistant in the country, according to Baseball America's Teddy Cahill. South Carolina also announced John Hendry as a third assistant coach, but his contract has yet to be finalized. Hendry is currently director of player development and scouting at Virginia, and it's playing in the College World Series this weekend. The 66-year-old Mainieri coached at LSU for 15 seasons and led the Tigers to a Men's College World Series title in 2009. He had been retired since 2021 before agreeing to take the helm at South Carolina. He was making $1.1 million a year in his last contract with LSU. |
| Thanks to NIL, local car dealers are out of the shadows and landing star college athletes | |
| On Jan. 19, two days after he became the most coveted football player in the NCAA's transfer portal, and mere hours after he welcomed Ohio State coaches for a recruiting visit, Caleb Downs announced his change-of-address plans. The freshman safety who'd earned second-team All-America honors at Alabama committed to the Buckeyes. Not long after, Downs and his father began relocating to Columbus. Getting there was simple enough. Getting around was another matter. Some wheels needed to be put in motion. "I get a call from someone on the coaching staff and they said, 'Hey, I'm here with Caleb and his dad now. Are you looking to add somebody else to your team?'" says Rick Ricart, the CEO and owner of Ricart Automotive Group in Columbus. "Would you be willing to do a car deal for him?'" For decades, these were shifty conversations. Local car dealerships had long been conduits for the whispered inducements coaches or boosters promised talented players. When discovered, scandal erupted. Repercussions were often stark. Then came the seismic summer of 2021, when changes to Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rules allowed college athletes to earn money without fear of NCAA sanctions. Car dealers nationwide quickly exchanged leases and keys for players boasting about their new ride on social media or even starring in commercials. The scheming, overzealous outsider morphed into the connective tissue for landing a star. A practice parked in the shadows was almost literally driven into the light. "All of a sudden, it was like, 'What are the rules here?'" Ricart says now. "There are no rules anymore." |
| House committee to review bill limiting student-athletes from being employees | |
| The House Committee on Education and the Workforce announced it will review Rep. Bob Good's "Protecting Student Athlete's Economic Freedom Act" in a markup hearing on Thursday. Rep. Good's bill was first introduced on May 23, and the proposed legislation states that a student-athlete "may not be considered an employee of an institution, conference, or association." The NCAA has been lobbying Congress -- including at nearly a dozen hearings on Capitol Hill -- to ensure that college athletes are not classified as employees. The hearing is the first time since those lobbying efforts solidified that a college sports bill has gotten to the full committee markup and vote stage. If the bill makes it out of committee, it would be in a position to be taken up on the House floor. The hearing takes place at 10:45 a.m. on Thursday and will be live streamed on the committee's YouTube page. "As a former college athlete, I strongly believe America's long tradition of college sports should not be ruined by reclassifying student-athletes as employees or moving to unionization," Good, a Republican from Virginia's Fifth District, said when introducing the bill. "My legislation will help maintain a balance between athletics and academics, ensuring that college sports programs remain viable, beneficial and enjoyable for all student-athletes." |
| Jersey patches on the way? We'll see | |
| College athletic departments need cash now. How they get it is up for debate. Administrators nationwide are working through varying levers they might be able to pull over the coming months. The NCAA offered one new way to do so last week when it changed rules to permit on-field sponsorship during regular season football games (more on that in a minute). Could jersey patches be next? Not so fast. Baker told reporters on Monday the idea hasn't been proposed internally. The complications that exist come with uniform providers and whether the patches are permitted under current deals and how they might be integrated with school name, conference patches and more. There's at least some speculation at conferences that could include a jersey sponsorship of some sort that would add extra revenues amid the realities of the House settlement. "Nothing's off the table" new AAC Commissioner Tim Pernetti told SBJ when it comes to finding new revenue. "We have to look at things differently especially given where the puck is headed right now...And if that means something like a league wide jersey patch for all institutions and all sports, and seeing opportunities through a new lens, then that's what it means, and everybody has to get comfortable with change." |
| Rising costs for youth sports represents a challenge for families in keeping children active | |
 | The costs keep adding up -- league fees, gear, travel -- when it comes to youth sports in North America. It's a longtime issue exacerbated by inflation and hardly confined to the United States. The expense of playing youth hockey is one of the primary reasons cited by parents and others when discussing its decline in Canada. "It just becomes increasingly more expensive for parents and families to play," said Jon Solomon, community impact director of the Aspen Institute's Sports & Society Program. "There's sort of this haves versus have-nots that exist in youth sports, in terms of who can play and who can't or get quality access." The institute's most recent "State of Play" report, an annual study on national trends in youth sports, cited a survey finding 49% of respondents saying they had struggled to afford participation costs. That included 57% of respondents with less than a $40,000 annual income. Parents surveyed a year earlier said they spent more than $880 the previous year on their child's primary sport in the United States; it was $1,645 (Canadian) north of the border. The rise of travel leagues -- guaranteed tournaments and paid coaches for young athletes -- has been fueled by parents eager to find a healthy outlet for their kids and many hoping against long odds to land a college scholarship. The growing number of programs comes with growing expenses, even at middle and high school programs. |
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