| Wednesday, June 26, 2024 |
| Mississippi State University Television Center brings home 7 Emmy awards | |
 | The University Television Center at Mississippi State, along with the MSU Films initiative, has brought home seven new Emmy awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences-Southeast Chapter. The awards were presented during a recent gathering in Atlanta, Georgia, and bring the MSU Films initiative's total to 24 Emmys won over the last four years. "MSU Films and the TV Center are honored to be recognized by our peers for the quality of our work and the importance of the stories we share," UTC Director David Garraway said. "Our incredibly talented staff has created a remarkable body of work in the last four years. MSU Films has explored some of our state's most pressing issues and we look forward to continuing to tell more of our state and university's stories." The seven Emmys from 13 nominations are more than those received by all entities in the state of Mississippi combined, and the TV Center is the most Emmy-awarded organization in the Magnolia State. "MSU's Television Center has produced high-quality work that has projected the university's research prowess and the fantastic work of our faculty, staff, and students all over the country," MSU Vice President for Strategic Communications Sid Salter said. "We're proud of the work they've done and will continue to do to advance the university." |
| Mississippi State to offer degree in artificial intelligence | |
 | Mississippi State University will soon be offering a degree in artificial intelligence. The Bachelor's program will start this fall. "We've seen artificial intelligence be integrated in our daily lives in all the devices that we use," said Dr. Andy Perkins, the Associate Department Head of Computer Science and Engineering at MSU. Perkins said this degree will open the door to a growing career field. "There will always be a job in artificial intelligence and the demand is only increasing," Perkins said. AI is being used for phones and computers, in the medical field, the defense industry, for directions via GPS, and new services like ChatGPT. "I think there are larger potentials for us to help not just researchers, academics, industry, but also people's daily lives," said Logan Cummins, who has a PhD in Computer Science. Mississippi State is the first school to introduce a bachelor's program in AI in Mississippi. |
| 'It's like we opened a buffet': Sharks in Gulf of Mexico learn to steal food from fishing nets | |
| Sharks are feasting on fish caught by humans in the Gulf of Mexico after learning to associate boats with food, shark scientists say. Instances of shark depredation in the region have increased significantly in the past decade, Marcus Drymon, a shark scientist at Mississippi State University, told Live Science in an email. "Although difficult to demonstrate empirically, it does appear that there is [a] shift in behavior (i.e., a learned response)," he said. In the new National Geographic "Sharkfest" special "Shark Beach with Anthony Mackie," researchers along the Gulf Coast investigate the impact of this growing conflict between fishers and sharks. "We're fishing in the same spot that the sharks are fishing in," Jasmin Graham, a marine biologist who founded Minorities in Shark Sciences, said in a clip from the documentary. The popularity of recreational fishing has also increased, leading more sharks to come close to boats to feast. "It's like we opened a buffet," Mackie said in "Shark Beach." "Reports from anglers almost unanimously agree that depredation has gotten much worse in the past 5 to 10 years," Drymon said. "Unfortunately, there is a pretty significant risk (to sharks) in terms of retaliation. This has been quantified through surveys with charter captains and commercial fishermen, two groups whose livelihoods are directly impacted by depredation." |
| WCBI weather team hosts lesson for children on MSU campus | |
 | The WCBI weather team took to the classroom at Mississippi State. Meteorologists Ashleigh Bryant and Belle Oliver, along with Chief Meteorologist Isaac Williams, spoke to kids about a number of weather topics. The students were part of the Center for 4H Youth Development. They are learning more about STEM and how it impacts their world. Our weather team talked about forecasting the weather, staying calm in storms, and how to learn the difference between a watch and a warning. |
| Starkville Rotary Club completes passing of gavel | |
 | Former presidents of Starkville's Rotary Club, spanning from 1986 to 2023, formed a line and passed the gavel down the procession until it reached the hands of the chapter's newest president, Kyle Jordan, on June 24 at Georgia Blue. The meeting began with a year-in-review, delivered by now-former president Bob Fuller, of the 2023-2024 cycle. Amidst the many projected and achieved goals of the Rotary Club for 2023-2024, there were a few missed missions that will continue to be worked towards for the 2024-2025 cycle. First, neither plan for a Rotaract organization at Mississippi State University or Interact club at Starkville High School were implemented; however, the now-current president, Kyle Jordan, has plans to bring these organizations to life during his leadership. Additionally, Rotary Club is attempting to build a more prominent social media presence across all platforms to better broadcast everything the organization does for the community. |
| Starkville secures $20M for Hwy 182 revitalization | |
 | Highway 182 revitalization is rolling forward, as the city received another $20 million grant Friday to cover the project's still-fluctuating price tag. Mayor Lynn Spruill said the city will be opening bids Wednesday for the project. With the additional funds, she believes the city can complete the revitalization without reducing its scope. "With that $20 million, we are comfortable that the bids will come in in such a way that will allow us to complete the project... from its original plan in its entirety," Spruill said. According to U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker's office (R-Mississippi), the city was awarded a Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant for the project. The project will reconstruct the eastern end of the Highway 182 corridor from Old West Point Road to Jackson Street, complete a portion of the streetscape on the western end from Henderson to Long Street and install pedestrian lighting and street trees for the entire length of the project area, a Tuesday email from the senator's office said. While the revitalization project was originally estimated to cost about $15 million, costs ballooned due to the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, and other economic factors. Aldermen rejected a low bid of more than $41.8 million for the work in August. With bids so high, the city went back to the drawing board on the scope of the project, looking for ways to reduce costs. |
| Wayne-Sanderson Farms announces layoffs in Mississippi | |
 | Wayne-Sanderson Farms has laid off 40 employees at its Laurel campus, according to company spokesperson Frank Singleton. "We did layoff 40 people there, and we are consolidating staffing into one of the buildings on the campus," Singleton told the Clarion Ledger Tuesday. "We were two separate companies (three) years ago. We have been going through the merger and acquisition process. We are a large company. As things continue to progress, there are always going to be changes." Cargill and privately held Continental Grain formed a joint venture to acquire Sanderson Farms in 2021 for $4.53 billion. Until then, Sanderson Farms had been a Mississippi-owned company, with its home base in Laurel. It had been run by long-time CEO and chairman of the board, Joe Sanderson. The companies became Wayne-Sanderson Farms. Operations include poultry processing plants and prepared foods plants across Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas with more than 17,000 employees. "We thought long and hard about these layoffs, but the strategy of continuing, maintaining and sustaining the business just required some changes," Singleton said. "I don't anticipate any further changes right now." |
| Buc-ee's begins hiring process for new South Mississippi store | |
 | South Mississippi residents and visitors eagerly await the opening of the Buc-ee's on I-10 in Harrison County, especially those hoping to get a job at the new travel center. The walls on the store aren't up yet, but those qualified for a management position can now go online and submit their resumes. Newly posted on Indeed plus Zip Recruiter and other job websites are several upper level positions at the new store, which is listed on the job openings as Pass Christian. This is just the beginning of the hiring at the new Buc-ee's. The company announced it will bring at least 200 full-time jobs and typically holds a job fair for hourly positions about three months before a new travel center opens. Just as Buc-ee's is known for its clean bathrooms, its brisket, beef jerky and Beaver Nuggets, the Texas-based chain is known for starting pay that is well above minimum wage plus generous benefits. The pay scale is posted at all the travel centers, and starts at $18 an hour for cashiers, cleaning and warehouse staff, and stockers. In addition, employees receive three weeks of paid vacation the first year, and they can take the time, the money or roll it over until the next year. Other benefits are medical and dental and a 401k match. |
| Broadband expansion in Mississippi continues with $70.9 million in grants | |
| In the latest push to expand broadband access in Mississippi, internet service providers across the state will receive $70.9 million in grants for infrastructure projects. This first round of grants is expected to expand access to 26,500 homes across 19 counties. More grants will be announced throughout the summer and into the fall. "BEAM is working to reach the most homes possible as quickly as possible," Sally Doty, director of Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi, said in an email. "With this first round of funding reaching 26,500 (homes), I would estimate that the total reach of the Capital Projects Fund will be 35,000-40,000 homes." The money is part of the $152 million in Mississippi Capital Projects Funds awarded to the state by the U.S. Department of the Treasury through the American Rescue Plan Act, signed into law in 2021. Since BEAM was established in 2022, it has received a windfall of federal dollars aimed at increasing access to broadband internet service in Mississippi, which consistently ranks among the last nationwide for broadband availability, infrastructure and subscription rate. Uplink Internet, one of the grant recipients, has been providing internet access to people in the rural Mississippi Delta for more than a decade. What began as a group of farmers attempting to bring internet access to their homes in the country blossomed into a business after it became clear the demand was there. "These grants are really helping us meet the needs of people who have been requesting it (internet service) for a long time," Scott Litwiller, chief operating officer of Uplink, said. |
| Craig Orgeron, Veteran Mississippi Tech Lead, Returns as CIO | |
| Craig Orgeron, Mississippi's chief information officer of nearly a decade, will return as state CIO starting Monday, succeeding David Johnson, who is slated to retire at month's end. Orgeron is stepping back into a familiar role at the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services (ITS). He will be its executive director and state CIO -- both positions he previously held from 2011 to 2020. This time around, the veteran executive said he will take a connective approach to IT services and innovation. "I am committed to driving innovative solutions and fostering collaboration across all levels of government and the private sector," Orgeron said in a news release. "Together, we can create a dynamic and responsive IT environment that supports our state's growth and prosperity while delivering exceptional service to our citizens." Orgeron left ITS in August 2020 to become an executive government advisor at Amazon Web Services (AWS), where he worked for about two years before becoming a professor of Management Information Systems at Millsaps College. Orgeron holds a bachelor's degree in MIS and master's and doctorate degrees in public policy and administration, all from Mississippi State University. |
| Gov. Reeves: Mississippi set multiple unemployment records in May | |
| Governor Tate Reeves has announced that Mississippi set multiple unemployment records in May. According to the Republican lawmaker, total non-farm employment in the Magnolia State reached a record high with 1,191,300 jobs. Additionally, at only 34,605 Mississippians, the state reached a new low for the number of unemployed individuals while maintaining a record-low unemployment rate of 2.8%. Reeves has touted some of Mississippi's recent achievements in education and workforce development as pivotal feats that have given residents more opportunities to find employment in the state. Mississippi was recently recognized as a top five state for quality pre-kindergarten education. The Magnolia State's high school graduation rate is currently at an all-time high and ranks above the national average. Mississippi also led the nation in fourth-grade reading and math gains, per Reeves. Earlier this year, Mississippi set a record for new private sector investment in a year when it finalized approximately $12 billion in new economic development projects. "Our economy is firing on all cylinders, which is why we continue to make history," Reeves said in a press release. "There are more jobs in Mississippi than ever before, which is truly a victory worth celebrating. We'll continue fighting for good-paying, high-quality jobs that attract more residents to our great state." |
| New insurance procedure should prepare patients for medical bills Michel says | |
| Sen. Walter Michel of District 25 wants to spread the word that a new law streamlines the prior authorization process that comes into play for healthcare patients and providers. Under the new law that takes effect on July 1, prior authorization is not required for emergency services. Prior authorization is the process by which a health insurance issuer determines the medical necessity and medical appropriateness of an otherwise covered health care service before the rendering of such health care service. For urgent services or procedures, insurance companies have 48 hours to process requests, unless a longer minimum time frame is required under federal law for the health insurance issuer and the urgent health care service at issue. For non-urgent services, insurance companies have seven working days to process requests. Insurance companies have two business days for prior authorization requests for pharmaceutical services and products in non-urgent cases. Michel said the law is important so that patients do not receive bills that surprise them, and providers get paid. The law prohibits health insurance issuers from denying a claim for failure to obtain prior authorization if the prior authorization requirement was not in effect on the date of service on the claim. |
| Lt. Gov. Hosemann announces task forces to improve workforce, help women and children | |
| Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann announced the creation of two Senate study committees –--one new group and the other task force reinstituted from 2022. Hosemann, who presides over the Senate, announced a Labor Force Participation Study Group. That committee, chaired by second term Sen. Daniel Sparks, R-Belmont, will look at the issue of Mississippi continuing to have a lower percentage of people 16 and older in the workforce than any state in the nation. Hosemann and others, including state Economist Corey Miller, have repeatedly said that the low workforce participation rate is a primary reason Mississippi lags the rest of the nation economically. Hosemann also announced he is re-starting the Study Group on Women, Children, and Families. It again will be chaired by second-term Sen. Nicole Boyd, R-Oxford. The group was formed by the lieutenant governor in part due to the 2022 ruling overturning Roe V. Wade, which guaranteed a national right to abortions. Mississippi had laws in place when Roe was overturned banning most abortions in Mississippi. Noteworthy, the state has not expanded Medicaid to provide health care coverage to the working poor and presumably help low income families. |
| Most Americans plan to watch the Biden-Trump debate, and many see high stakes, an AP-NORC poll finds | |
 | Most U.S. adults plan to watch some element of Thursday's presidential debate and many think the event will be important for the campaigns of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Both men remain broadly unpopular as they prepare to face off for the first time since 2020, although Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, maintains a modest enthusiasm advantage with his base compared to Biden, the Democratic incumbent. About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say they are "extremely" or "very" likely to watch the debate live or in clips, or read about or listen to commentary about the performance of the candidates in the news or social media. The poll suggests tens of millions of Americans are likely to see or hear about at least part of Thursday's debate despite how unusually early it comes in the campaign season. Both Biden and Trump supporters view the debate as a major test for their candidate -- or just a spectacle not to miss. Biden and Trump are each entering the debate with low favorability ratings. About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say they have a very or somewhat unfavorable view of Biden, and a similar number have a negative view of Trump. |
| Trump trusted more than Biden on democracy among key swing-state voters | |
 | President Biden and his Democratic allies have cast his reelection campaign as a battle for the country's survival, warning that a second Donald Trump presidency would present an existential threat to American democracy. In speeches and campaign ads, Biden points to Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, his incitement of an angry mob that ransacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and the former president's boasts that he will use the powers of his office to punish his political enemies. But that message may not be resonating with the voters Biden needs in order to win another term in the White House. In six swing states that Biden narrowly won in 2020, a little more than half of voters classified as likely to decide the presidential election say threats to democracy are extremely important to their vote for president, according to a poll by The Washington Post and the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. Yet, more of them trust Trump to handle those threats than Biden. And most believe that the guardrails in place to protect democracy would hold even if a dictator tried to take over the country. The results offer troubling indicators for Biden, who needs voters who may be unenthusiastic about his candidacy to decide they must reject Trump to preserve America's system of representative government. |
| Joe Biden: The Old-School Politician in a New-School Era | |
 | President Biden was peeved. What was Chuck Schumer thinking? The Democrats had just temporarily averted a national default with Republican aid but still needed a broader deal to resolve a debt ceiling clash. Yet there was Mr. Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, on the floor bashing Republicans for playing "a dangerous and risky partisan game." Mr. Biden called Mr. Schumer to chide him. That was not helpful, the president said, according to an official informed about the call, which came late in Mr. Biden's first year in office. Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, had backed down to help avoid a fiscal crisis. They should not rub his nose in it. Mr. Schumer pushed back. "You don't know how much he's been beating up on me," he told the president. The Joe Biden who will defend his presidency at a nationally televised debate on Thursday night remains a practitioner of old-school politics in a new-school era. The hostility, the anger, the polarization, the "beating up" that define today's national debate, yes, he knows all about that. But after more than half a century in Washington, he still has the instincts of a backslapping cloakroom pol, eager to make deals and work across the aisle where possible at a time when that rarely seems rewarded anymore. |
| Get ready for the Supreme Court to drop some bombshell decisions | |
 | As the Supreme Court rushes to deliver the final decisions of its current term, the justices face a pile-up of cases that are sure to shape the presidential campaign -- and could upend the legal landscape in areas from abortion to air pollution to free speech on the internet. The court is scheduled to issue opinions Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. By far the biggest pending decision is Donald Trump's bid to be declared immune from federal criminal charges for trying to overturn the 2020 election. Other cases still left on the court's docket could curtail access to emergency abortions, shrink the power of federal agencies and boost conservative voices on social media. The high court's decisions so far this year -- most notably a major gun case decided last week -- show signs of some GOP-appointed justices pulling back from doctrinaire conservative positions. But the last decisions each term often prove to be the most contentious and ideologically polarized. The justices have 14 argued cases left to resolve, and they typically try to complete that work by the end of June. There is a chance, though, that the yearly ritual of momentous rulings could spill into early July. |
| Supreme Court says Biden administration can regulate social media in closely watched free speech case | |
 | The Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out a challenge to the Biden administration's efforts to get social media companies to remove posts it considered misinformation, ruling that the states and individuals who sued the federal government hadn't shown sufficient harm. By dismissing the case without deciding the underlying First Amendment issue, the justices avoided saying when governments go too far in interacting with media platforms about their content. Republican-led states of Missouri and Louisiana and five individual users of social media had charged the White House, the surgeon general and others with violating their free speech rights by coercing Facebook, YouTube and X (formerly known as Twitter) to remove or downgrade posts. The Justice Department said government agencies weren't improperly threatening social media companies, but instead, were encouraging them to remove harmful or false information, including about vaccines. There was no retaliation when the platforms did not do what the government requested, the Justice Department said. A district court in Louisiana had sided against the administration, imposing sweeping restrictions on the government's interaction with social media platforms. Experts had called the case, Murthy v. Missouri, a unique chance for the court to define how far governments may go to protect against online distribution of harmful content. |
| Bowman ousted in New York primary that drew millions in spending | |
 | New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a progressive who ousted a Democratic incumbent in 2020, lost his own primary race on Tuesday after a campaign that became the most expensive House primary in history, according to AdImpact. George Latimer, the Westchester County executive, was leading with 55 percent of the vote when The Associated Press called the race at 9:38 p.m. Tuesday, less than an hour after the polls closed. The Democratic primary for New York's 16th District became a proxy war for the party's stance on the war in Gaza. Bowman was among the first members of Congress to call for a ceasefire and said Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, while Latimer represented a more moderate position. Even before the Gaza war broke out, Bowman had vulnerabilities. He pulled a fire alarm in a House office building ahead of a government funding vote last fall which led to the House voting to censure him and his pleading guilty to a misdemeanor. Latimer, a longtime local official who previously served in the state Assembly and Senate, outraised Bowman, while outside groups spent heavily on the race. In a statement, AIPAC said Latimer's win "represents a major victory for the Democratic mainstream that stands with the Jewish state." Voters, the group said, "rejected his opponents vituperative barrage of scurrilous attacks against the pro-Israel community." |
| UM video production team wins Emmy | |
| A video story about the Ole Miss Wish for the family of Army warrant officer Kyle Rodgers last November has landed an Emmy Award for the University of Mississippi production team that put it together. Team members Sam McGlone, Brad Gray and Jalea Millon received a Southeast Emmy Award for "Excellence in Special Events Coverage - Edited" at the annual ceremony hosted last week by the Southeast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in Atlanta. "The most important thing I can convey in all of this is that it's just nice to be nominated," said McGlone, a producer-director in Ole Miss Media Productions who headed the project. "Winning was an amazing accomplishment and a memory I will keep forever, but just being recognized along with our peers around the Southeast and here in Mississippi is an incredible achievement." The Ole Miss team received four nominations on seven entries in only its second year submitting to the regional Emmys. "A large number of awards are given out and we were a bit nervous as we counted down categories until our first nomination came up," McGlone said. "Having worked alongside Emmy winners and for other groups that had received Emmy wins -- but never actually being nominated or winning one myself -- I had big sense of relief and a flood of emotions as our name was called." |
| $4.5M gift bolsters theater, music at Ole Miss | |
 | Nancye Starnes, a lifelong supporter of the arts, has made a $4.5 million gift to help the University of Mississippi bring plans for a new scene shop, rehearsal space and music recording studio to life. Starnes, of Daniel Island, South Carolina, hopes the lead gift toward the university's arts facilities plan will inspire others to join her in supporting a robust arts program. "Can you imagine a life without theater, without music, without dance?" Starnes asked. "Where's the rhythm of life if you don't have all of that? You may not need the arts to survive, but you do need the arts to thrive. "The arts are not just something that happen on Saturday nights; they are with us every day, all day long." The university's plans call for a recording studio and space for the UM Institute for the Arts to be constructed in the music building. It also proposes a scene shop and rehearsal studio for the Department of Theatre and Film. Starnes' donation will be added to the $25 million the university has committed to the projects. Additional funds must be raised to complete the projects, estimated at $33 million. |
| Society for the Study of Southern Literature holds conference in Mississippi for the first time | |
 | What is Southern Literature? That was the topic of discussion at the Society for the Study of Southern Literature conference in Gulfport. "How do we talk about Southern Literature, what kind and who are the writers that we try to incorporate into our conversations and there will be other workshops for scholars in Southern Literature at various stages of their careers," Dr. Sherita Johnson said. Dr. Sherita Johnson is the president of the society and an English professor at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. She said this is the first time the conference was held in Mississippi and it's all thanks to the keynote speaker, Jesmyn Ward, who is a Pass Christian native. "I am at the Hattiesburg campus, but I couldn't think of a better place to hold it other than here on the Coast and especially here since Jesmyn Ward is a native writer here and a major contributor to Southern Literature today, so the Coast made perfect sense to hold it here," Dr. Johnson said. Dr. Johnson said she gets excited when talking about Southern Literature because of the impact it has on the country. |
| Delta State to cut degree programs with IHL's approval | |
| Delta State University's proposed changes to its academic programs were approved by the Board of Trustees for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) during this month's meeting. The cuts are being made as cost saving measures by the institution's president, Dr. Daniel Ennis, in an effort to bring the institution's budget in line without raising tuition prices. Delta State University was the only public institution within Mississippi not to request a tuition increase this year. Speaking with Magnolia Tribune this week, Dr. Ennis said higher education is changing as students migrate to programs that they believe best suit their needs. "This reorganization will allow us to direct our limited resources to the academic areas that have the most enrollment, and to do so without raising tuition," Dr. Ennis said. John Sewell, Director of Communications for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, said Dr. Ennis and his team are Delta State are making the difficult decisions necessary to the university's success. "Dr. Daniel Ennis and his leadership team are committed to the success of Delta State University, even when that means making difficult decisions about programs," Sewell said. "The IHL Board of Trustees is equally committed to Delta State's success and has demonstrated that commitment in their support of Dr. Ennis." |
| 'Not Out of Reach': JET-A Program Introduces Students to Careers in Aviation | |
| "JET-A, which is Jackson Municipal Airport Authority's Education and Training Academy started five years ago," JMAA Director of Communications, Marketing and Public Relations LSherie Dean told the Mississippi Free Press. "It actually started as a brainchild of a former commissioner. The commissioner's dream was to get the students or the youth within our community more engaged and to get them information about the aviation industry." The Jackson Municipal Airport Authority partnered with the Civil Air Patrol, Hinds Community College, the 172nd Airlift Wing, Jackson State University, and other public and private entities to provide a week-long immersion into aviation. Attendees participated in flight simulators, drone training, seminars, aircraft familiarization, aviation planning, aerodynamics exercises and facility tours. The program is significant for students in the central Mississippi area because many are not aware of the opportunities in aviation. The industry also does not have many minorities or women, a factor that programs like JET-A are working to change. The students graduated from the program on Friday, June 14, in a ceremony at the JSU E-Center. |
| Rising high schoolers getting hands-on experience during JSU's Media Studies Boot Camp | |
| Some Jackson area high school students have decided to spend part of their summer vacation in boot camp. However, this isn't just any boot camp; it's Jackson State University's first Journalism and Media Studies Boot Camp. It features rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors getting hands-on experience in things like video production, storyboard and camera basics, creative writing, interview techniques, and much more. For these young and bright students, it's a chance to explore their possible career choices. "One thing that I learned is law and ethics," said Maya Worsley, who's one of the students taking part in the bootcamp. "It was a really great presentation on that. I was able to learn how the two correlate with each other and why it's so important in the field of journalism." JSU's Department of Journalism and Media Studies put on the free 10-day workshop for the students. Leaders with JSU plan to host the boot camp again next year. |
| Mississippi's career and technical education programs seeing progress | |
| As more of today's young people opt for schooling outside the traditional college experience, many are flocking to career and technical education (CTE), which help students develop marketable skills and earn national industry certifications needed to achieve their career goals. In 2022-23, close to 10,000 Mississippi high school students were CTE concentrators, which means they completed at least two CTE courses in the same field of study. CTE programs are offered at more than 500 schools and 15 community colleges in 49 distinct occupational areas. CTE graduates had the state's highest average completion rate of 99.5 percent for the 2022-23 accountability year. CTE State Director Brett Robinson with the Mississippi Department of Education recently spoke with Magnolia Tribune about the evolvement, importance, and challenges of CTE programs to Mississippi's youth and Mississippians at a later age changing careers. |
| Congress poured billions of dollars into schools. Did it help students learn? | |
 | America's schools received an unprecedented $190 billion in federal emergency funding during the pandemic. Since then, one big question has loomed over them: Did that historic infusion of federal relief help students make up for the learning they missed? Two new research studies, conducted separately but both released on Wednesday, offer the first answer to that question: Yes, the money made a meaningful difference. But both studies come with context and caveats that, along with that headline finding, require some unpacking. $190 billion is an enormous amount of money by any measure. But districts were only required to spend a fraction of the relief on academic recovery, by paying for proven interventions like summer learning and high-quality tutoring. So how much additional student learning did the federal aid actually buy? Study #1, a collaboration including Tom Kane at Harvard's Center for Education Policy Research and Sean Reardon at Stanford's Educational Opportunity Project, estimates that every $1,000 in federal relief spent per student bought the kind of math test score gains that come with 3% of a school year, or about six school days of learning. That's during the 2022-23 academic year. Improvements in reading scores were smaller: roughly three school days of progress per $1,000 in federal relief spending per student. |
| UAB to acquire Ascension St. Vincent's hospital system in $450 million deal | |
 | The UAB Health System is set to acquire Ascension St. Vincent's in north central Alabama this fall in a deal worth $450 million following a vote of approval Tuesday by the University of Alabama Board of Trustees. The deal would enlarge UAB's footprint in Jefferson and surrounding counties with the acquisition of the main Ascension St. Vincent's Hospital in downtown Birmingham, along with St. Vincent's East, St. Vincent's St. Clair, St. Vincent's Blount and St. Vincent's Chilton. The health system will also acquire physician offices, a freestanding emergency department in Trussville, the One Nineteen campus and imaging centers. During a specially called board meeting, trustees said the deal had been in the works since 2023, when Ascension, a national system of Catholic hospitals, approached UAB about the sale. It could be finalized by the fall, pending approval by regulators and the Catholic Church. "UAB is hopeful that most -- if not all -- of Ascension St. Vincent's roughly 5,000 caregivers and associates will remain in their roles," said UAB spokesperson Alicia Rohan. " UAB's goal is to support fulfilling and meaningful careers in service to our patients and communities." |
| U. of Tennessee tuition increases at Knoxville, other campuses | |
 | Tuition and fees will increase this fall across all University of Tennessee campuses, but that doesn't mean tuition will always rise year to year. The UT System Board of Trustees approved tuition increases and its overall budget at its annual meeting June 25. This will be UT Knoxville's first tuition increase since 2020. In-state students will pay $328 more, or a 2.4% increase at UT Knoxville. Out-of-state students will receive the same price increases as in-state students, except for at UT Knoxville, where tuition with fees will increase by $1,282 or 4% for out-of-state students. "These increases are, I think, reasonable based on the current conditions compared to ... our other colleagues across the state," UT System President Randy Boyd said. "The other public universities across the state have announced increases of 5.25%, so we are actually more competitive than the other campuses with this increase." Additional price increases are expected across the campuses, including graduate tuition increases, housing and dining increases, new parking fees at UT Knoxville, and new fees for specific colleges and online students. "Our philosophy of tuition is that tuition increases should be modest and predictable to prevent the need for higher increases in slow economic times," UT System CFO David Miller told Knox News. "We want to prevent a roller coaster of unpredictability for students." |
| Lower U. of Memphis freshmen enrollment numbers rock the boat | |
| This fall, the University of Memphis will cut the ribbon on the Edwards Research and Innovation Center, a $40 million STEM building with separate labs for modern advances in science and math, including AI, big data and robotics. The university and the region waited years for it to be funded in Nashville. Six years after it was proposed, the 65,000-square-foot structure will open on a campus expecting to have 25% fewer first-time freshmen, about 650 in in a category that has been central to how universities gauge their viability and plan their budgets. "We knew it was coming. We knew there was going to be some pressure on enrollment because of demographics," said Doug Edwards, member of the U of M board of trustees and naming donor of the new wing off the Herff College of Engineering. "We also knew that people were beginning to understand that a college degree wasn't absolutely essential for gainful employment in a lot of areas." Since 2020, enrollment in the engineering programs have dropped 14%, modest in cost compared to the $6 million campus leaders expect lose with the smaller freshmen class. |
| Change of partisan control of the Senate could elevate Wicker to key chairmanship | |
| Columnist Sid Salter writes: Five months from now, Americans will go to the polls to vote in federal elections to decide the presidential election between incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden, 81, and former Republican President Donald Trump, 78. ... While the projections of Senate partisan control numbers are tight and the presidential race numbers even tighter, most political prognosticators give the GOP a solid path to taking control of the Senate away from Democrats if they can win the White House. So how does the partisan struggle for U.S. Senate control impact Mississippi? Why does it matter? Representing Mississippi in the Senate since 2007, senior Mississippi U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Tupelo, currently is the ranking GOP member of the Senate Armed Services Committee ... If the Senate flips to Republican control, Wicker becomes chairman of the Armed Services Committee. How big a deal is that for Mississippi's economy? Simply put, only Walmart employs more Mississippians than Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula. Wicker is a longtime champion of expanding the nation's U.S. Navy and commercial maritime fleets with American-built ships. As it did during the Stennis era, every military base in the state, Mississippi's robust Army and Air National Guard and Reserve units, federally funded defense research enterprises, and the state's commercial defense contracting manufacturers and the jobs they represent would benefit. |
SPORTS
| Jacoby Promoted To Associate Head Coach | |
| After serving as assistant coach and being in integral force in Mississippi State's success in men's tennis for the past five seasons, Jake Jacoby has been promoted to associate head coach. Jacoby joined Matt Roberts' staff in 2020 and has helped guide the Bulldogs to the postseason each full year, including three trips to the Sweet 16 and back-to-back NCAA Regional hosts. "I'm extremely proud to be able to promote Jake as my associate head coach," Roberts said. "Jake has worked tirelessly over the past five years to improve our tennis program. Jake is not only an outstanding tennis coach but is also a relentless recruiter and responsible for bringing in some of our best players over the past few years. On top of all that, Jake has built a tight bond with our team and those relationships have paid dividends in our success over the last several seasons." Jacoby was tabbed the 2023 ITA Southern Regional Assistant Coach of the Year and has had six different student-athletes accumulate 11 All-SEC honors so far during his stint in Starkville. "I would like to thank Matt, Tom Greene, Zac Selmon and everybody that makes Starkville and this program special," Jacoby said. "The community here and the abilities for us to succeed are not possible without a full team effort. Finally, I want to thank every player that I have had the pleasure of recruiting and coaching here at Mississippi State. They are the reasons Matt and I do what we do, and they help make this 'job' more like just a kid having fun each day. I've never been more excited to be a part of this program!" |
| Mississippi Valley State AD stepping down as university announces new logo, upgrades | |
| Mississippi Valley State began a new era of its athletics program, while closing out another. The university held a ceremony Monday at Rice-Totten Stadium to unveil a new athletic logo, break ground on a turf field, and cut the ribbon on a new new jumobotron. It was also announced that athletics director Hakim McClellan is stepping down after two years to become deputy athletics director at Jackson State. MVSU President Dr. Jerryl Briggs, Sr. said head basketball coach and MVSU alum George Ivory will serve as the interim athletic director. McClellan is a Valley alum who previously worked in the athletics department at both his alma mater and Jackson State before he was hired to run MVSU's program. Before leaving Itta Bena, McClellan led the project to renovate Rice-Totten Stadium and upgrade several other facilities on campus. Tennis, track and field and softball all had their facilities upgraded recently. Other improvements were made to the weight room and the athletics academic lab. The upgrades to the football stadium are expected to be complete in time for the Delta Devils' home opener on Sept. 28 against Alcorn State. Their first four games are on the road, beginning Aug. 31 at Tennessee State. Briggs also announced an increase of $1.2 million in athletic scholarship funds for the 2024-25 academic year. |
| Texas baseball hires Jim Schlossnagle of Texas A&M as coach, replacing David Pierce | |
| As it tries to regain its standing among college baseball's elite programs, Texas has turned to a rival for help, tabbing Texas A&M's Jim Schlossnagle to be the program's 14th head coach. Schlossnagle, who just led the Aggies to the College World Series championship series, replaces David Pierce, whose eight-year run in Austin ended on Monday. Schlossnagle, 53, has spent the past three seasons at A&M. He also coached at TCU from 2004-21 and at UNLV from 2002-03 and has a career record of 946-455. He has led seven teams to the CWS, his latest trip ending with Monday night's 6-5 loss to Tennessee in Game 3 of the championship series. Schlossnagle's decision to leave A&M for Texas likely stunned a few fans. After all, the Aggies were 53-15 this season and fell one win shy of winning its first baseball national championship. Schlossnagle joins Ray Tanner as the only CWS runner-up coaches not to return to their teams the following season. Tanner became South Carolina's athletic director after his Gamecocks were beaten by Arizona for the 2012 title. Schlossnagle also downplayed the possibility of his taking the UT job in a fiery response after the Aggies' season ended Monday night. During the postgame press conference, he emphatically stated that "I took the job at Texas A&M to never take another job again and that hasn't changed in my mind." |
| Texas A&M baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle leaving for Texas | |
 | Texas A&M head baseball coach Jim Schlossnagle is taking the vacant coaching position at Texas, A&M athletic director Trev Alberts confirmed in a statement Tuesday. The move comes a day after Schlossnagle's Aggies lost in Game 3 of the College World Series finals to Tennessee, marking the longest postseason run in A&M history. Earlier in the day, Texas announced the firing of eight-year head coach David Pierce after he led the Longhorns to a 36-24 record this season and a third-place finish in the Big 12. In the third year of his contract that runs through 2029, the Aggie head coach has a base salary of $1.35 million, per his contract obtained by The Eagle via open records request. That raises to $1.4 million in year four. Since Schlossnagle terminated the contract without cause and took a job at another university in Texas, his buyout becomes twice the amount of his base salary, at the time. This season, it would be $2.7 million. "We will find a great leader and excellent coach to head up this proud Aggie baseball program," Alberts said in the statement. A&M infielder and 12th Man Ryan Targac said on X that he found out via social media and had no idea the move was coming. |
| Report: Deal between Texas, Jim Schlossnagle made before end of 2024 regular season | |
| According to Kendall Rogers of D1 Baseball, the deal between Texas and Jim Schlossnagle was done during the 2024 regular season. Rogers says Schlossnagle was in contact with the Longhorns following Texas A&M's regular season series against Georgia, with agreements being made ahead of the Bryan-College Station Regional. "One interesting note is that I was told by multiple sources today that this deal -- at least at the highest level -- was done between A&M's series with Georgia and before the Regional round," Rogers said via X. "It's truly a fascinating search/hire to unpack. I'll have more." Texas A&M hosted Georgia April 26-27 and took the series two games to one. Schlossnagle would go on to coach 11 more regular season games, including three important SEC series, and then two games in the SEC Tournament in Hoover. A few days later, the Aggies were named a national seed and were hosting a regional in the NCAA Tournament. Before a first pitch was even thrown, Schlossnagle had reportedly agreed to become Texas' head coach for the 2025 season. Whether or not Schlossnagle had his next endeavor distracting him, it certainly did not show in the player's on-field performance. Texas A&M won their regional, Super Regional, and won their first four games at the College World Series. Tennessee wound up national champions but the best run in program history occurred for the Aggies. |
| Greg McElroy rips Tony Vitello's 'antics' during Tennessee CWS celebration: 'Like a WWE character' | |
| Tony Vitello has put Tennessee baseball at the top of the mountain top in college baseball, as highlighted by Monday's College World Series national championship win over Texas A&M. But the way Vitello celebrated after the game -- jumping into the stands at Charles Schwab Field to celebrate with Vols fans, pick up pieces of ice off the ground after getting a Gatorade bath from his players and chest-bumping his players -- seemed to have gotten under the skin of former Alabama football quarterback-now college football commentator Greg McElroy. McElroy even compared Vitello's antics to the likes of a WWE wrestler. "I know he wins and he's great and the kids love him and all that stuff. That's awesome, but if that was a leader of my organization I would have to have a little talking to him. I just would. It's unbelievable." "(Tennessee) a couple years ago, I think, lost the national championship and they had the best team. I think that team was probably better than this team and I think they lost it because they didn't harness their emotions. And it's great to lean into that," McElroy said. "But man, like I said, it's a tough team to root for. I mean, goodness gracious. His antics after the game last night were embarrassing. Seriously." Added McElroy: "He just won a national championship. Have some class." |
| How Danny White maxed out bonuses with Tennessee baseball capturing national title | |
| Tennessee athletics director Danny White hit the ceiling of his annual bonuses as soon as Vols baseball won its first national championship on Monday. White's contract allows a maximum of $300,000 within an academic year. He almost doubled that total when coach Tony Vitello's baseball team beat Texas A&M 6-5 to win the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Needless to say, White covets a national title above a few more bucks in his pocket. But the pay day surely will make an unforgettable day even sweeter for the UT AD. White entered the final game of the College World Series with $266,805 in bonuses already earned for UT's athletic and academic success in 2023-24, one of the most successful years in school history. He finished the evening tallying $533,610 in bonuses per the terms of his contract. That included $72,765 for a team national championship, or 3% of his annual base salary. And it also included $194,040, or 8% of his base salary, for UT finishing in the top 10 of the Learfield Cup standings, which ranks all Division I school by success in all sports. With the completion of the College World Series, UT placed third in the final Learfield Cup standings, its highest in school history. The bad news for White is that he can only receive $300,000 of those bonuses. |
| NCAA Division I Council introduces 30-day transfer portal window proposal for football, basketball | |
| The NCAA Division I council has introduced a proposal to change the transfer windows in football and basketball from 45 to 30 days, the governing body announced Tuesday night. The vote is expected to occur in October. Currently, the football portal window is 30 days in December and another 15 days in April. For basketball, the 45-day window opens the day after Selection Sunday. "Data from first two years of transfer windows indicate that majority of transfers enter portal during first four weeks of windows," the NCAA said Tuesday night in a statement on social media. The NCAA pivoted on its transfer policy in December when it agreed to terms on a preliminary injunction in the Northern District of West Virginia District Court. The NCAA Division I Council previously adopted emergency legislation for a new transfer rule. All undergraduate athletes can now transfer and play immediately as long as they meet specific academic requirements. There is no limit on the number of times an athlete can transfer. The NCAA sent out memos to institutions twice this academic year stating that multi-time transfers could play immediately in 2024-25 without securing a waiver. Athletes cannot transfer mid-year and play for a new school in the same athletic season. |
| NCAA council votes to remove cannabis from banned drug list, removes limits on on-field coaches | |
| The NCAA Division I council voted to remove use of cannabis products from the banned drug class for championships and postseason participation in football. The move was among several approved by the council on Tuesday, including allowing college football teams to have all staffers, and not just the head coach and 10 assistants, coach athletes on the field. Any penalties currently being served by student-athletes who previously tested positive for cannabinoids will be discontinued. Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman said in a statement that cannabis products "do not provide a competitive advantage." "The council's focus is on policies centered on student-athlete health and well-being rather than punishment for cannabis use," he continued. As far as additional coaches working on the field, positions like analysts and quality control staffers were only allowed to work off the field in film and strategy sessions. |
| NCAA Athlete Pay Plan Challenged by Small D1 School | |
| The NCAA's controversial decision to tentatively settle the House, Carter and Hubbard antitrust litigations faces many hurdles. Just ask Houston Christian University. The D1 school formerly known as Houston Baptist University, which produced New England Patriots QB Bailey Zappe and Jacksonville Jaguars LB Caleb Johnson, motioned to intervene in the House litigation last Thursday. The reason: HCU says it wasn't consulted during the deal-making and argues the terms will "adversely affect" its 2,300 undergraduate students and community. In a seven-page memorandum to presiding judge Claudia Wilken, HCU accuses "the defendants" -- the NCAA and power conferences -- of failing to take "any step" to protect the university's interests. While HCU and other D1 schools would be on the hook to pay part of the settlement's roughly $2.7 billion tab, neither HCU nor its conference, the Southland, "had a seat at the negotiating table, or had any input into any resolution of this matter, including the proposed settlement." HCU's grievances highlight the problematic roles of the NCAA and power conferences as the defendants and negotiators of a settlement that assigns costs to HCU and other non-defendants. |
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