| Friday, July 12, 2024 |
| Nationally, bats are in trouble. Can South Mississippi help save the mosquito-eaters? | |
 | As the Coast's warm, subtropical environment is a draw for snowbirds and tourists, it's also a draw for bats -- an environmentally essential, but often overlooked, part of the region's ecosystem. Across the continent, bat populations are facing strain and risk of major population decline. Mandy Rigsby, a Biloxi-based environmental specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the Coast subverts the national trends and acts as something of an unexpected refuge for them. The Coast as a refuge shouldn't be taken for granted, she said. Bats play a huge role in maintaining ecological balance, she said. But most Gulf Coasters don't even know they live here. A bat's diet significantly consists of pests to humans, Rigsby said, bugs that carry disease and tamper with crops. They're the primary predator of night-flying insects. "If we didn't have bats, we'd have a lot more mosquitoes and probably diseases," Rigsby said. "We honestly don't even really think of them." Some species can eat their weight in bugs in a single night. Rigsby believes if proper funds and efforts aren't set aside for monitoring the Coast's bat population, there could be problems researchers like her aren't even aware of. Because bats are such a keystone to the environment, consequences could be reaching to other parts of the ecosystem. Especially an increase in mosquitoes, she said. |
| Clashing agendas? Hosemann to prioritize grocery tax reduction as Reeves continues to call for eliminating income tax | |
 | Mississippi's highest-elected state officials may have opposing tax agendas going into the 2025 legislative session. While Gov. Tate Reeves has maintained that chief among the top priorities of his second term is to completely eliminate Mississippi's income tax, or what he calls a "tax on work," Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann could possibly throw a wrench in those plans by pivoting the legislature's focus to slashing the state's grocery tax, which is the highest in the U.S. "I think the grocery tax is out of whack. To me, I think inflation, groceries, prepared foods, and whatnot have skyrocketed," Hosemann said on MidDays With Gerard Gibert. "We're currently reducing the income tax again this year and next year. We're getting rid of the inventory tax. I think it's time to look at the grocery tax." Reeves signed the largest-ever tax cut in Mississippi history into law in 2022. The legislation eliminated the state's 4% tax bracket and will gradually phase the 5% bracket down to 4% by 2026, though some lawmakers and the governor alike have called for the process of total income tax elimination to be expedited. Nonetheless, the lieutenant governor argued that slashing the state's burdensome 7% grocery tax would be more beneficial for residents and feasible for the state. |
| Mississippi election officials argue against quick work on drawing new majority-Black districts | |
 | Redrawing some Mississippi legislative districts in time for this November's election is impossible because of tight deadlines to prepare ballots, state officials say in new court papers. Attorneys for the all-Republican state Board of Election Commissioners filed arguments Wednesday in response to a July 2 ruling by three federal judges who ordered the Mississippi House and Senate to reconfigure some legislative districts. The judges said current districts dilute the power of Black voters in three parts of the state. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed in 2022 by the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP and several Black residents. The judges said they wanted new districts to be drawn before the next regular legislative session begins in January. Mississippi held state House and Senate elections in 2023. Redrawing some districts would create the need for special elections to fill seats for the rest of the four-year term. Election Commission attorneys said Republican Gov. Tate Reeves would need to call legislators into special session and new districts would need to be adopted by Aug. 2 so other deadlines could be met for special elections to be held the same day as this November's general election for federal offices and state judicial seats. |
| Democrat Ty Pinkins challenges Republican Sen. Wicker to Neshoba County Fair debate | |
| Ty Pinkins, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, has challenged his Republican opponent, incumbent U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, to a debate during the upcoming Neshoba County Fair. Pinkins, a Vicksburg resident, wrote Wicker a letter outlining that the fair has a storied tradition of political stump speeches and has hosted a few political debates, notably the 1995 gubernatorial debate between Republican Kirk Fordice and Democrat Dick Molpus. "In keeping with this proud tradition, I believe that a debate between us at the Neshoba County Fair would provide an excellent opportunity for voters to hear firsthand our positions on the critical issues facing Mississippi and our nation," Pinkins wrote. Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is not scheduled to speak at the fair and has not accepted Pinkins' debate invitation. Nathan Calvert, communications director for Wicker's reelection campaign, told Mississippi Today in a statement that the U.S. Senate is in session during the week of the fair and "Sen. Wicker will be in D.C. doing the job Mississippians have elected him to do." |
| Expand SNAP or hike crop prices? Congress is locked in a farm bill fight. | |
 | Congress could promise farmers new guaranteed minimum prices for their crops, as it considers sweeping new agriculture legislation. Or lawmakers could provide more generous aid to help needy families afford to buy food. But they don't seem to be able to agree on doing both. In the latest draft of a $1.5 trillion measure known as the farm bill, Republicans in Congress have plans to spend $50 billion over the next decade to raise price floors for major agricultural products such as corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton and peanuts. But to pay for those new prices, the House version of the bill would scrap a 2018 change in the law that allowed presidents to increase benefits in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, which subsidizes groceries for nearly 42 million Americans each month. President Biden used that authority in 2021 to boost funding by the largest amount in the program's history. Now Congress is locked in negotiations over whether to send money to food producers or food consumers, as the current farm bill is set to expire Sept 30. The standoff could force lawmakers to extend the current farm bill again, either to consider legislation after November's elections or after a new Congress takes office in January. Without a farm bill, U.S. commodity and dairy markets could face massive upheaval. |
| Pascagoula shipbuilder to play key role as U.S. agrees to 'ICE Pact' with Canada, Finland | |
| Pascagoula is now being referred to as the "icebreaker capital of the world," following the White House's announcement on Thursday to expand forces in the Arctic region. Bollinger Shipyards, which has a location in Pascagoula along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, will play a key role in what's being called the "ICE Pact" between the U.S., Canada, and Finland. The pact will contribute capacity and know-hows for building polar icebreakers and to counter the presence of U.S. adversaries in the area surrounding the North Pole. Bollinger is the only American builder of heavy polar icebreakers, which will be necessary through the agreement. Bollinger, which recently became the first and only shipbuilder in the U.S. to engineer and construct a heavy polar icebreaker in over 50 years, is under contract to build a ship called the Polar Security Cutter heavy polar icebreaker for the U.S. Coast Guard. Earlier this year, Bollinger's Pascagoula workforce exceeded 1,000 employees – a massive turnaround in comparison to declining employment under the facility's previous owner. Since purchasing the Mississippi Gulf Coast location in 2022, Bollinger has invested more than $40 million in infrastructure, technology, and personnel. |
| Biden at his press conference: See, I'm up to the job | |
 | President Joe Biden, his reelection bid imperiled by his own party, defiantly declared Thursday in a press conference-turned-referendum on his candidacy that he is still the "best person" to defeat Donald Trump. In his first solo news conference since November -- and with Washington on edge -- the 81-year-old Biden forcefully dismissed multiple questions about fellow Democrats declaring that he was no longer up for the rigors of the campaign and should abandon his reelection bid. "If I slow down and can't get the job done, that's a sign I shouldn't be doing it," he said, "but there's no indication of that yet, none." "I'm just going to keep moving," added Biden, saying it's "not unusual" for lawmakers to worry about the top of the ticket, but there's "a long way to go in the campaign." Yet the press conference served as a reminder that the scrutiny Biden is facing from all corners over his ability to continue on is likely to be unending. And in a slip-up symbolic of what fellow Democrats worry about, he accidentally misidentified his vice president in the opening minutes of the press conference. "I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president," he said. The tense prime-time press conference -- in which Biden repeatedly coughed or cleared his throat -- captured the precariousness of Biden's presidency: An event originally envisioned as an opportunity to display his commanding presence in global affairs quickly became consumed with basic practical questions about Biden's capacity to do the job with physical and intellectual vigor. |
| Economists Say Inflation Would Be Worse Under Trump Than Biden | |
 | Donald Trump loves to remind voters that President Biden has overseen the highest inflation in 40 years. But don't count on Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, to bring inflation down faster than Biden if he wins the presidential election in November. Most economists believe inflation, deficits and interest rates would be higher during a second Trump administration than if Biden remains in the White House, according to a quarterly survey of forecasters by The Wall Street Journal. "I think there is a real risk that inflation will reaccelerate under a Trump presidency," said Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group. That would likely lead the Federal Reserve to set interest rates higher than if inflation continues its downward trajectory, he added. The Journal's survey, conducted July 5-9, received responses from 68 professional forecasters from business, Wall Street and academia. Of the 50 who answered questions about Trump and Biden, 56% said inflation would be higher under another Trump term than a Biden term, versus 16% who said the opposite. The remainder saw no material difference. Biden is under growing pressure to step aside as the Democratic presidential nominee. But economists' views of inflation and interest rates appear mostly driven by Trump's policy preferences, in particular on trade and immigration. It is unlikely those assessments would change substantially with a different Democratic candidate. |
| Request for federal aid after Beryl opens a rift between the White House and Texas | |
| The damage left by Hurricane Beryl in Texas and requests for federal help have opened a rift between the White House and the state's GOP leaders following the storm that pummeled the coast and knocked out power to millions of residents this week around Houston. President Joe Biden said he tried tracking down Republican Gov. Greg Abbott -- who has been in Asia on a trade mission since last week -- to get the state to formally request a major disaster declaration that unlocks federal aid. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Biden also said he tried reaching Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has served as acting governor since Beryl made landfall Monday, before they eventually connected the next day. Both Texas leaders have sharply pushed back on Biden's version of events in the middle of a hurricane recovery that has left some coastal residents facing the possibility of days or weeks without electricity. "I've been trying to track down the governor to see -- I don't have any authority to do that without a specific request from the governor," Biden told the newspaper on Tuesday. Abbott, in an interview from Japan on Wednesday with Austin television station KTBC, said Biden has reached him multiple times on the same number following previous disasters in Texas but that the president this time never called that phone during Beryl. "I know for an absolute 100% certainty, the only person to drop the ball is Joe Biden by making up some bizarre lie," Abbott told the station. "And why he would do that? I have no idea." |
| Three Mississippi HBCUs awarded $3.1 million total to preserve their 'vibrant history' | |
 | Three of Mississippi's Historically Black Colleges and Universities are set to receive more than $3.1 million in total to help preserve historical structures on their campus. The National Park Service announced via a press release that the organization awarded $10,670,000 to 15 projects in eight states as part of the Historic Preservation Fund's Historically Black Colleges and Universities grant program. The program is aimed at repairing historic structures across HBCU campuses in the United States. According to the news release, Congress appropriated funding for the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Grant Program in Fical Year 2023 through the Historic Preservation Fund, where funding is provided by Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas lease revenues, not tax dollars. Alcorn State University, Jackson State University and Rust College are set to receive a combined total of $3,170,964 in funds from the grant program for specific projects. "It's vital for America's HBCUs to preserve their vibrant history, ensuring that the places and the events that happened there are not forgotten," said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams. |
| Hattiesburg's Charles Brown endows scholarship at Carey. 'So much has been given to me' | |
| You might have seen Charles Brown's name on any number of buildings in Hattiesburg, an honor bestowed on the octogenarian for his many years of community service in the Hub City. As a young man, Brown never expected to spend most of his life in his hometown, but he is glad that he did. Brown said when he left Hattiesburg to join the military, he had no plans to return, but God had other plans for his life. After graduating in 1958 from the segregated Rowan High School, he served in the Army until 1969. He was awarded two Purple Heart medals for injuries he sustained during the Vietnam War. He also received two Bronze Star medals for valor. Brown's military career was cut short when he was medically discharged. He was told in 1969 that he may end up paralyzed from the waist down in five to 10 years. With that news, Brown felt he had no choice but to come home. "It was the best thing that ever happened to me," he said. Brown enrolled at William Carey University, which voluntarily began accepting Black students in 1965. Brown graduated in 1973 and went on to have a 27-year career with the Mississippi Employment Security Commission. "So much has been given to me," he said. "So many strangers mentored me. I need to give something back." It was those contributions that inspired the Brown family to start the Charles J. Brown endowed scholarship at WCU as a legacy to the father of two and role model for so many others. |
| MGCCC, J. Allen Automotive team up for apprenticeship program | |
 | Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College students who are interested in learning automotive technical skills now have a new opportunity. That opportunity can be found in the first Automotive Technical Apprenticeship program in Mississippi. MGCCC and J. Allen Automotive group hosted an agreement signing to signify their partnership on Thursday. This "earn while you learn" apprenticeship model allows students hands-on training in the classroom while also gaining work experience at one of J. Allen's dealerships. MGCCC President Dr. Mary S. Graham says, "What it means is an opportunity for people to actually work and to have a job and get paid but also attend Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College for the training they need to be successful on the job." Jonathan Allen says there's job security in the automotive technical field. Allen says, "The world needs technicians. The world needs people that are educated to work on these cars that we're all driving. We need them to be safe on the road and this is where they get that great start." The program starts in the fall and is expected to produce 25 to 30 automotive technicians each semester. |
| Universities Don't Want AI Research to Leave Them Behind | |
| Universities are in a race for relevance in the field of generative AI as private companies, loaded with talent and pricey chips, drive the conversation. Outspent by Silicon Valley, some are turning their research focus to less computing-power intensive areas of artificial intelligence, even as they seek to build additional computing resources capable of powering bigger models. "Academic institutions are scrambling to get access to compute," said Hod Lipson, chair of the mechanical engineering department at Columbia University. While basic university research has been critical to waves of technological innovation, generative AI research has been dominated by private companies, thanks in part to their access to the data and dollars needed to build and train models like OpenAI's GPT-4 and Google's Gemini. The stakes are high as universities compete against technology companies for the type of AI talent that can bring prestige to their computer science programs. Universities have a critical role in the talent pipeline for the tech industry, which has struggled in recent years to find qualified candidates for some jobs. It is also important for universities to be part of the conversation around generative AI and to help inform how it is used, academic researchers said. |
| Federal Rule Change May Undermine 'Inclusive Access' Textbook Models | |
| There's a new battle raging in the long-running war over costly college textbooks, one that may strike a serious blow to the textbook subscription programs promoted by publishers and criticized by student advocates. The U.S. Department of Education recently started reevaluating financial aid regulations from 2016 that effectively allow colleges to automatically bill students for books and supplies as long as those materials meet criteria that include being sold at below competitive market rates. This practice has enabled the growth of a digital subscription business model for textbooks, where publishers sign deals with colleges and bookstores to charge students fees in exchange for access to mostly online versions of the course materials assigned for their classes. Known in the publishing industry as "inclusive access" or "equitable access" programs, proponents say they benefit students by saving them money and ensuring they have all the materials they need at the start of the semester. Current regulations require that these arrangements permit students to opt out of participating -- therefore allowing them to hunt on their own for better prices on textbook rentals or secondhand copies. But opponents of this bundling model have long claimed that it's very difficult for students to truly opt out. Now the federal government is considering changing the rules in ways that would essentially make it harder for colleges to automatically bill students for books as long as they allow students to opt out. |
| Education Department could face 'stronger and new challenges' post-Chevron, Moody's says | |
| The U.S. Department of Education will likely face "stronger and new challenges" to its regulatory agenda following the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the Chevron doctrine, according to a Thursday report from Moody's Investors Service. Last month, the top court struck down the 40-year precedent that deferred the interpretation of ambiguous statutes to government agencies. According to Moody's analysts, the ruling means that courts will "have the primary responsibility to interpret laws when congressional legislation lacks clarity," weakening the authority of agencies like the Education Department. Moreover, regulators won't be able to respond to developments with the same speed, they argued. "Whether it is the introduction of new rules or the stripping away of old ones in a future administration, the path is likely to be anything but smooth," they wrote. Moody's analysts called out several regulations that could come under threat at the Education Department. They include the gainful employment rule, which requires career education programs to show that their graduates make enough to repay their federal student loans and that at least half earn as much as those with only a high school diploma. Colleges that fail these standards risk losing access to federal funding. |
| House Republicans Vote to Overturn Biden Title IX Rule | |
 | The House of Representatives on Thursday narrowly advanced a measure to block the Biden administration's new regulations overhauling Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, which in part provide greater protections for LGBTQ+ students. Thursday's vote along party lines is the latest step in Republicans' fight with the Biden administration over the Title IX rule, which replaced Trump-era regulations. On the House floor, GOP lawmakers lambasted the changes, which are set to take effect Aug. 1, as "unlawful" and "radical." At the state level, 26 Republican attorneys general are fighting the rule and have already secured temporary injunctions to block the regulations in 14 states. The House effort invokes the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to overturn a federal rule within 60 days. Under the act, a simple majority of lawmakers in the House and Senate can vote to stop the administration from carrying out a rule, though a CRA resolution is subject to a presidential veto. The resolution of disapproval is unlikely to move forward in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The White House "strongly opposes" the measure and said President Biden would veto it. In addition to rolling back the latest rule, the resolution would prevent the department from issuing substantially similar regulations in the future. |
SPORTS
| Arop leads pack of Bulldog track & field athletes heading to Paris for Olympics | |
 | Chris Woods' Mississippi State school record in the 800 meters has been bested several times since the current Bulldogs head coach was a senior in 2008. But Woods is more than happy to help MSU's current standard-bearer in the event get ready to compete on the world's biggest stage. Marco Arop currently holds the program record in the 800 -- both indoors and outdoors -- and finished second in the event at the NCAA Championships in 2018 and 2019. The Canadian may have failed to qualify for the final at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, but Arop is on his way to Paris for the 2024 Games coming off a world championship last year, and seems like a good bet to win the Bulldogs' first Olympic medal since 2000. "Everywhere I go and compete, I know I'm representing more than just myself," Arop said. "I've had so much help along the way, and being an athlete at Mississippi State has made me the athlete I am today. I'm forever grateful for my experience, and it's always good to be able to show that wherever I go, I'm a Mississippi State alum." Racing against Arop in Paris will be another former Bulldog, Navasky Anderson of Jamaica. Arop was the perfect pace-setter for Anderson at MSU, and the two trained together every day under Woods even though they were never officially teammates. "(Woods) would tell me, 'Don't look at your stopwatch, don't think about the time that you're running,'" Anderson said. "My job was to make sure I was able to touch Marco on his back at all times. No matter where he was at, I should be able to reach out if I'm running behind him and able to touch him. That's the only job (Woods) gave me." |
| U. of Alabama Protests LIV Golf League's 4Aces GC Trademark | |
| The University of Alabama is telling LIV Golf to stay away from its 'A.' On June 30, the university filed a notice of opposition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office claiming that the logo for 4Aces GC, the LIV Golf League team captained by Dustin Johnson, was violating its trademark. Since at least 2003, Alabama has used its script "A" logo on its athletic uniforms and clothing, including for its men's and women's golf teams. (Sports attorney John Nucci was first to note the filing in a post Thursday on X.) "The university's athletic teams have achieved tremendous success and national recognition over the past two decades," the university wrote to the USPTO. "As a result, the Script A Mark has been widely displayed on national television broadcast, in print media, and across digital platforms." Last June, LIV Golf filed an intent-to-use application to register its 4Aces mark, which also consists of a script "A." Alabama says 4Aces logo is "likely to cause confusion, mistake or deception in the minds of the public," and ultimately damage the university. This is not the first time the Saudi-backed golf league has been accused of trademark infringement. As Sportico previously reported, Adidas is challenging the trademark registration of LIV Golf's primary logo, contending that its four-striped "LIV" text is "confusingly similar" with the three-striped mark the German shoe giant has employed since 1952. LIV's response in that matter is still pending. |
| Pac-12 Conference sends message during two-team media event: We're not dead | |
 | In a conference room next to the pool area of the Bellagio hotel and casino, the beleaguered Pac-12 Conference sent a message to the small crowd of reporters and supporters who showed up to listen: The Pac-12 is not dead. It still has two schools remaining -- Oregon State and Washington State. So "welcome to the fight." That was the theme here at the Pac-12's preseason football media day event Wednesday -- the league's first since all 10 of the other league members left to pursue more money, more television exposure and more stability in the Big Ten, Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conferences. "We got left for nothing," Oregon State defensive back Jaden Robinson said Wednesday. And now it's time to fight for their future as the two orphans of the "Conference of Champions." But what happened to them still stings after being left stranded and uninvited by the latest round of college football realignment. "We've got a bar in the back," Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould told the crowd. "Yes, we are drinking tonight during this event. And I would venture to say that if anybody has earned the right to drink, it is the Pac-12, OK? The crowd laughed in response. Then came some tough questions, like what comes next. A big reason the league put on this event in Vegas was to make this clear and blast out that theme: "Welcome to the fight." About 100 people showed up, including maybe a few dozen reporters. The scene still made for quite a contrast. On the other side of the freeway in the same city, the Big 12 had rented Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders, to use for its own two-day media event this week – a showcase for more than 500 media members to preview the coming football season with all 16 Big 12 teams, including four that decided last year to leave the Pac-12. |
| US appeals court says some NCAA athletes may qualify as employees under federal wage-and-hour laws | |
| College athletes whose efforts primarily benefit their schools may qualify as employees deserving of pay under federal wage-and-hour laws, a U.S. appeals court ruled Thursday in a setback to the NCAA. The court, in the latest challenge to the NCAA's long-held notion of "amateurism" in college sports, said that a test should be developed to differentiate between students who play college sports for fun and those whose effort "crosses the legal line into work." "With professional athletes as the clearest indicators, playing sports can certainly constitute compensable work," U.S. Circuit Judge L. Felipe Restrepo wrote. "Ultimately, the touchstone remains whether the cumulative circumstances of the relationship between the athlete and college or NCAA reveal an economic reality that is that of an employee-employer." A colleague, in a concurring opinion, questioned the difficulty of such a process, noting that nearly 200,000 students compete on nearly 6,700 Division I teams. The NCAA had hoped to have the case dismissed, but it will instead go back to the trial judge for fact finding. The ruling follows a 2021 Supreme Court decision that led the NCAA to amend its rules to allow athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness. In May, the NCAA announced a nearly $2.8 billion revenue-sharing plan that could steer millions of dollars directly to athletes by next year. |
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