| Monday, July 15, 2024 |
| High-school students learn basics of civics at MSU | |
 | Mississippi State's John C. Stennis Institute has begun its first Junior Civics Leadership Academy. The conference allows high school students from across the state to learn about government from professors and elected officials. They also get to be a part of community impact projects. Executive Director of the Stennis Institute Dallas Breen said they want the students to understand government at every level. "Everything that these students are going to experience is geared towards understanding how government works, why government is the way it is, and how it works at different levels," Breen said. "We want to make sure that these students, these young impressionable minds, understand here is how it works at the local level, here is how it works at the state level, and here is how it works at the federal level; and give them that hands-on experience and it is not just us lecturing like a classroom setting its hands-on experience. They get to do projects and really get immersed in this." Breen hopes the students become more engaged with the government and their community. |
| Riley Foundation summer intern program marks 20 years | |
 | As a summer intern with the Distinguished Young Women of Mississippi program, Mississippi State University master's degree student Laken Laird is building marketing and communications skills she will need to help land her a job after graduation, all thanks to The Riley Foundation. Laird is one of 17 college students working at Meridian nonprofit organizations this summer through The Riley Foundation's summer intern program, which is marking its 20th anniversary. "I've learned how to be responsible, handle money, work and network with other individuals in the community and it's been wonderful," she said. The Meridian native, who has already earned her bachelor's degree in public relations and communications from MSU, is expected to graduate in December with her master's in communications. Up until this summer, most of her job experience has come from working in a student-run public relations firm for Mississippi State. "I was an account executive for the Magnolia Independent Film Festival there, and that's where I have the majority of my experience," Laird said. "This is my first time to have an internship in Meridian, so it's exciting. It's been wonderful. They definitely keep me on my toes in the very best way." The Riley Foundation began its summer intern program 20 years ago as a way for nonprofit organizations in Meridian to apply for a grant to hire a college student for the summer to help the organization complete a specific project while exposing the students to the role of nonprofits in the community, said Becky Farley, executive director of the foundation. |
| 2024 Mississippi Miss Hospitality crowned | |
 | The 2024 Mississippi Miss Hospitality has been crowned. Chloe Grace Weeks, of Winston County, was crowned on Saturday, July 13. The 21-year-old is a senior at Mississippi State University (MSU), where she is pursuing a psychology degree with a minor in medical humanities. At MSU, Weeks is a member of Kappa Delta Sorority and serves on the DEI Team and Mental Health Board. She is a member of MSU Fashion Board, Dresses of Hope, and serves as an ACCESS Peer Mentor. Upon graduation, Chloe plans to pursue her BSN degree through the University of Mississippi Medical Center's (UMMC) accelerated BSN program. |
| From student worker to associate dean | |
 | When Stephen Cunetto walked into Mitchell Memorial Library at Mississippi State University for his first day on the job, he was just a college student. More than 35 years later, he is retiring as associate dean for MSU Libraries. Cunetto leaves an impact not only on MSU Libraries, but on libraries across the state. Through his work and leadership with the Mississippi Library Partnership, patrons from 66 member libraries now have access to extensive resources. "Stephen Cunetto has provided invaluable leadership and countless dedicated hours of labor for MSU Libraries for more than 30 years. His expertise in the field of librarianship and his commitment to MSU are nothing short of inspirational. He will be sorely missed by the entire campus community," said Dean of Libraries Lis Pankl. Cunetto's full-time career began as systems supervisor in 1991. With technological expansions on the horizons, he helped transform MSU Libraries into the technology and information hub it is today. "When I began, there were only two or three computers in the building and no automated catalog," Cunetto said. Today there are computers on every desk, at every service point, two computer classrooms, two computer labs and multiple study rooms equipped with advanced technology. |
| Report reveals support, mystery about Mississippi charter schools | |
| A recent report reveals that charter schools evoke broad appeal and uncertainty among Mississippi parents. Mississippi State University's Social Science Research Center conducted Mississippi First's survey of 534 parents of children who attended or could attend one of Mississippi's eight charter schools in Jackson or the Delta. The survey simultaneously found broad support and misconceptions surrounding these institutions among these parents. Charter schools are publicly funded, privately run, tuition-free public schools that operate independently of the local school district and with some autonomy over scheduling and curricula. When asked what charter schools were, 46% of non-charter school parents who took the survey did not know. Additionally, 58.4% of non-charter school parents knew that charter schools were public schools and 70.3% supported having them in their communities. Among parents of charter school students, 63.3% know they are public schools and 93% of them support having these schools in their communities. |
| Work on Highway 182 project could begin this fall | |
| The city is one board of aldermen vote away from beginning its long-awaited Highway 182 Revitalization Project in earnest. The board will consider Tuesday evening a roughly $36.4 million bid from Burns Dirt Construction for general contracting duties. If approved, construction could begin in September or October and be complete by spring 2027, Associate City Engineer Chris Williams said during an aldermen work session Friday at City Hall. Total project costs will clock in at about $45 million, Williams estimated, once engineering, environmental, contingency and other costs are added. Federal and state funds will cover all but about $2.5 million in matching money the city is required to commit toward a U.S. Department of Transportation Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant. "A lot of hands (touched) this project to get it to where it's within budget," Williams said during the work session. The project area runs about one mile between Old West Point Road and Long Street. Redesign plans call for reducing the road to two lanes divided by landscaped medians, adding pedestrian/bike lanes to flank each side of the street and installing new underground utilities, among other things. Along with beautification, it aims to spur economic development in the corridor. |
| Skip school? You may lose your driver's license. | |
| If the state auditor's office has its way, high school students who miss too many days of school might not qualify for a driver's license. It's a tactic other states, like Alabama, Tennessee, and Louisiana, have already implemented, and it's one of the recommendations listed in a report the State Auditor Shad White released this week on chronic absenteeism. The report also suggested adding an attendance component to the state's school accountability ratings, which are used to evaluate district performance. District 43 Rep. Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, said adjusting the accountability score criteria would be more reasonable than taking students' licenses. But he agreed with another recommendation that proposes assigning school attendance officers as district employees rather than MDE employees. "I think it would be well worth our time to have that (attendance) connector, but we're also going to have to put some money into making certain ... that there are enough (attendance officers) to help our school districts," Roberson said. "The only way we're going to get the ability to manage these people correctly is for them to be under the local superintendent, so that they can have the ability to manage and keep up with what they're doing." The report estimates that chronically absent students who dropped out in the 2023 academic year will cost the state $550 million over time. |
| Five candidates vying for District 1 Place 3 Mississippi Supreme Court seat | |
 | Five candidates are vying for the District 1 Place 3 Mississippi Supreme Court seat this year. Candidates in the non-partisan race include the incumbent, Presiding Justice James W. Kitchens, State Senator Jenifer Branning, and Mississippi-based attorneys Byron Carter, Ceola James and Abby Gale Robinson. Residents who will be voting in this race live in the counties of Bolivar, Claiborne, Copiah, Hinds, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Jefferson, Kemper, Lauderdale, Leake, Madison, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Rankin, Scott, Sharkey, Sunflower, Warren, Washington, and Yazoo. The election will be held this year on November 5. The incumbent is a native of Crystal Springs and was first elected to the seat in 2008. He was re-elected in 2016. Branning of Philadelphia has been serving as a State Senator since 2016. She told Magnolia Tribune that her 20 years of experience as an attorney advocating for children who have been abused or neglected has shown her the problems people face in the state. Carter is a practicing attorney with three decades of experience. He is a resident of Byram. James is an attorney who also has experience as a Mississippi Court of Appeals judge, judge for the Ninth District Chancery Court, Special Master Judge and Justice Court Judge in Warren County, her campaign website cites. obinson did not respond to a request for comment and information by press time. |
| Damascus Road: Drug court changing lives, saving taxpayers 'boatload of money' | |
| By his own analysis, Michael Fisher, 39, just a few years ago was a "dope-selling, drug-addicted failure ... homeless with a needle in my arm" who'd spent about half his life in jail, on probation or on parole. He had never even gotten a driver's license or graduated high school. After being arrested again Fisher was given a huge break -- the opportunity to avoid more jail by entering Intervention Court, or "drug court." He took it, because "it beat going to prison that day," but he knew he wasn't going to complete the program. He did the orientation, took one drug test, then bolted, and ignored a corrections caseworker's pleas to return to the fold. He was caught and locked up again. But the Intervention Court caseworker after a couple of weeks sent word that if he reached out, asked for help, she might help him. On a recent day in Columbia, Fisher was one of 48 people celebrating graduation of Mississippi's 15th Circuit Court District's Intervention Court, before a crowd of hundreds of family and friends. Many, such as Fisher, gave testimonial -- sobriety, families reunited, GEDs and community college degrees, jobs and career training -- new lives after three years of working the program. Circuit Judge Prentiss Harrell of the 15th District is a leading proponent of Intervention Court in Mississippi. He runs one of the most robust programs in the state, with 250 to 300 people typically enrolled. He reminded the hundreds of people in the audience that day of another benefit. "It saves a boatload of money," Harrell said. |
| Senator Wicker threat trial postponed as defendant fires attorney | |
 | A Benton County man charged with threatening U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker fired his second federal public defender Friday, forcing the trial, set for July 22, to be postponed. While U.S. District Court Judge Glen Davidson reluctantly agreed to the move, he cautioned William Carl Sappington, 59, of Hickory Flat, that this will be the final public defender appointed for him. "This will be the third attorney and it will be the last," Davidson said. "If you fall out with this other attorney, you will have to proceed pro se (representing yourself)." Sappington filed a motion in late June asking that public defender Jacinta Hall be removed from his case. Hall, who has nearly two decades of legal experience, joined the case in March. She replaced federal public defender Scott Davis, who was assigned the case shortly after Sappington's May 2023 arrest. Sappington is charged with threatening a federal official, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine, upon conviction. Prosecutors say Sappington went to the Hickory Flat home of the senator's cousin on April 26, 2023 and said he wanted to get in touch with Wicker. Sappington said he intended to kill the senator because of his involvement in an incident he had with law enforcement back in 2014. |
| Auditor, GOP want US Rep. Thompson to resign for Secret Service bill, staffer posts | |
 | A group of Mississippi Republicans are calling for U.S. House Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., to resign after a now former staffer posted support for a failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. In posts made on X Sunday, State Auditor Shad White and others called out Thompson for hiring radical staff, referring to Jacqueline Marsaw, a field director who said the man who shot at Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, should have practiced his aim better so that he wouldn't "miss next time." White also said Thompson should give up his seat in the U.S. House because he filed a bill earlier this year that seeks to take away Trump's Secret Service detail as a convicted felon. That bill is currently being considered in the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. "Bennie Thompson is an embarrassment to the state," White told the Clarion Ledger on Sunday. "It was completely irresponsible when he proposed legislation to take away President Trump's Secret Service protection. He is one of the most senior Democrats on the U.S. House Homeland Security committee, so he knows better. In my opinion he wanted to endanger President Trump's life to score some political points. He has clearly hired and promoted nut job staffers, as one openly called for President Trump's assassination. Thompson should resign immediately." Thompson, who told the Clarion Ledger that Marsaw, as of Sunday, is no longer in his employment, stood by his bill in a response to those scrutinizing his piece of legislation. |
| Anger and anxiety loom over the Republican convention after the assassination attempt against Trump | |
 | Donald Trump's campaign chiefs designed the convention opening this week to feature a softer and more optimistic message, focusing on themes that would help a divisive leader expand his appeal among moderate voters and people of color. Then came a shooting that rattled the foundation of American politics. Suddenly, the Democrats' turmoil after the debate, the GOP's potential governing agenda and even Trump's criminal convictions became secondary to fears about political violence and the country's stability. The presumptive Republican nominee and his allies will face the nation during their four-day convention in Milwaukee unquestionably united and ready to "fight," as the bloodied Trump cried out Saturday while Secret Service agents at his Pennsylvania rally rushed him to safety. Anger and anxiety are coursing through the party, even as many top Republicans call for calm and a lowering of tensions. In an interview Sunday, Republican Party chairman Michael Whatley said the convention's programming wouldn't be changed after the shooting. The agenda, he said, will feature more than 100 speakers overwhelmingly focused on kitchen table issues and Trump's plans to lift everyday working Americans. Whatley said the central message would have little to do with President Joe Biden's political struggles, Trump's grievances about the 2020 election or the ex-president's promises to exact retribution against political enemies. |
| After Trump is shot, conspiracy theories flood the internet, creating dangerous 'spiral' | |
 | The attempted assassination of former President Trump at a rally Saturday in Pennsylvania almost immediately gave rise to internet conspiracy theories that experts say will influence how the nation deals with the shocking act of political violence. The Trump attack marks the first time in decades someone had tried to take a presidential candidate's life. While previous assassinations -- notably the killing of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 -- have brought conspiracy theories, the rise of partisan social media allows such claims to spread rapidly and in unexpected ways. The Trump shooting claims typically came from random social media users -- the writers casting aspersions or seeking to affix blame based on their place in the nation's intensely polarized political landscape. The conspiracies formed two now familiar camps -- one blaming the "deep state" for what happened, the other claiming without evidence that the shooting was not what it seemed. The current media ecosystem has primed users to feed off rapid, often unverified information, said Michael Spikes, a journalism professor at Northwestern University. And as news outlets shutter across the country, there are fewer sources to vet breaking news events. As a result, people turn to social media platforms immediately as a news event is breaking. But the purpose of information served up on social media is not always to inform as much as to incite reactions, Spikes said. "When you have that overload of information, your own reasoning ability sort of shuts down because your brain just goes, this is too much," he said. |
| Federal Judge Dismisses Classified Documents Prosecution Against Trump | |
 | A federal judge dismissed the classified documents prosecution against Donald Trump on Monday, siding with the former president's argument that special counsel Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida said federal law didn't authorize Smith to conduct the prosecution. No legal authority "gives the Attorney General broad inferior-officer appointing power or bestows upon him the right to appoint a federal officer with the kind of prosecutorial power wielded by Special Counsel Smith," the judge wrote in the 93-page ruling. The indictment had charged Trump with 40 felony counts alleging he willfully kept classified material after he left the White House and obstructed the government's repeated efforts to get it back. Trump, who survived an assassination attempt on Saturday, welcomed the ruling. "As we move forward in Uniting our Nation after the horrific events on Saturday, this dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts," he wrote in a social-media post, referring to the three other criminal cases he faces. The decision marks a surprise twist after a year of court proceedings that have been unpredictable -- and slow-moving -- from the start. Cannon, a Trump appointee confirmed in 2020, had given the former president's legal team considerable room to make legal arguments challenging the validity of the charges, prompting repeated frustration from prosecutors and criticism from legal experts. The dismissal also is the latest in a series of developments that have boosted Trump's legal fortunes. |
| As a baby bust hits rural areas, hospital labor and delivery wards are closing down | |
 | Rural regions like the one surrounding this southern Iowa town used to have a lot more babies and many more places to give birth to them. At least 41 Iowa hospitals have shuttered their labor and delivery units since 2000. Those facilities, representing about a third of Iowa hospitals, are located mostly in rural areas where birth numbers have plummeted. Similar trends are playing out nationwide, as hospitals struggle to maintain staff and facilities to safely handle dwindling numbers of births. More than half of rural U.S. hospitals now lack labor and delivery services. Hospital leaders who close obstetrics units often cite declining birth numbers, along with staffing challenges and financial losses. The closures can be a particular challenge for pregnant women who lack the reliable transportation and flexible schedules needed to travel long distances for prenatal care and birthing services. Stephanie Radke, a University of Iowa obstetrics and gynecology professor who studies access to birthing services, said it's almost inevitable that when rural birth numbers plunge, some obstetrics units will close. "We talk about that as a bad event, but we don't really talk about why it happens," she said. The decline in births has accelerated in many areas in recent years. Kenneth Johnson, a sociology professor and demographer at the University of New Hampshire, said it is understandable that many rural hospitals have closed obstetrics units. "I'm actually surprised some of them have lasted as long as they have," he said. |
| 50 years of Faulkner: Conference celebrates half-century of study | |
| In 1974, a group of William Faulkner enthusiasts decided that the perfect place for a conference celebrating the work of the lauded author was his hometown. Fifty years later, the Oxford-based event is bigger and broader than ever. The 2024 Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference is set for July 21-25 at the University of Mississippi. It will draw speakers, panelists and Faulkner aficionados from as far away as France, Japan and Kazakhstan. The conference will also include tours of Oxford, the Mississippi Delta and African American Heritage sites in Lafayette County. "This is the longest continually running conference devoted to an American writer," said Jay Watson, conference director and Howry Professor of Faulkner Studies. "We want to create new excitement or renewed excitement about Faulkner's work and the thrill and challenge of reading it. We're getting down in the weeds with his style and technique, but we're also talking about larger cultural and historical perspectives of his work, and we're talking about his influence on other writers." Unlike previous conferences -- which each had a central theme or perspective through which to view Faulkner's work -- this year's event is more open and wide-ranging in topics, Watson said. "That allows lots of different scholars to talk about Faulkner in many different ways," he said. "Our program will be the largest in the history of the conference by a factor of two -- that's 100% bigger than usual." |
| Gov. Reeves speaks at ADP's Membership Appreciation Luncheon | |
 | Governor Tate Reeves spoke about Mississippi's economic growth Friday at a meeting of the Area Development Partnership. Reeves was keynote speaker for the ADP's annual Membership Appreciation Luncheon. Reeves spoke about the billions of dollars of economic development projects brought into the state during his administration. And, he said there were more to come, if local communities lay the proper foundations for business development. "You've got to do the blocking and tackling, you've got to do the little things on the front end, which draw in the big, capital investments," Reeves said. "So, you've got to do the site development work the site prep work, what's being done at the sites here in the Pint Belt, including, but not limited to, Eagle One, where it's a major capital investment. So, I am optimistic about the future of the Pine Belt. I'm optimistic about the future of the state." The ADP also presented awards to several members, including a spirit award to the Small Business Development Center at the University of Southern Mississippi |
| Number of faculty layoffs at Delta State still in flux | |
| Delta State University is still working out the number of faculty it needs to lay off after the college board last month approved the president's plan to achieve financial sustainability. The regional college in the Mississippi Delta had initially planned to let its more than 200 faculty know on July 1. But the president, Daniel Ennis, wrote in an email a few weeks ago that he can't finalize the number of layoffs until he knows more about the shape of the four new interdisciplinary degrees that will replace the 21 programs the university is shuttering. This means faculty will learn whether they need to start looking for new jobs for the 2025-26 academic year on a case-by-case basis around the start of the fall semester -- a delay that Ennis wrote is necessary but regretful. Other considerations for layoffs, Ennis wrote, include if faculty will be needed for general education courses or to teach students who are currently enrolled in degrees the university plans to stop offering, like English, history and mathematics. "We are working throughout the summer to finalize next steps," Ennis told Mississippi Today through a university spokesperson. |
| UAH looking to develop 'signature college-town experience' near campus | |
| The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) has announced that it is looking for a master developer for a new real estate project on University Drive. The college is looking for a developer to restore the 58-acre former Executive Plaze site, which sits between UAH's campus and Mid City. UAH said the goal of the development is to create a multi-use district and establish a "signature college-town experience" for students and faculty. According to the university, the planned development would include student housing, a UAH-anchored research building, collaborative commercial office space and retail and entertainment options. The estimated total cost for the project's first phase is $216 million. "The Executive Plaza property presents UAH with a unique opportunity to provide more amenities for our students, faculty and staff. Huntsville is growing and our university must adapt to the needs of future students," UAH president Charles L. Karr said. "We have partnered with Rieth Jones Advisors and PFM Financial Advisors to guide us through this exciting process. We are looking forward to adding another teammate to our group." |
| U. of Kentucky to pay Deloitte $1.3M for studies related to governance, curriculum | |
 | The University of Kentucky will pay Deloitte Consulting more than $1.3 million for services that resulted in the creation of new advisory bodies, public records show. UK contracted Deloitte, an international consulting firm, at the end of last year for services related to an initiative called Project Accelerate made up of five work groups looking at various aspects of the university and its operations. The university agreed to pay Deloitte up to $600,000 for work on the "more readiness" group and up to $750,000 on the "more responsiveness" group -- a total of $1.35 million, according to contracts obtained through an open records request. As of July 11, UK has paid Deloitte $375,000 and $468,750 for their work on Project Accelerate, and Deloitte will be paid the full amounts listed in the contract, said UK spokesperson Jay Blanton. Blanton said Deloitte was hired because of the company's experience in higher education, and to provide a broader overview of UK's structure and general education requirements -- called UK Core -- compared to other universities and best practices. "With their assistance, and with our Board's approval, we now have significantly streamlined and clarified our Governing Regulations -- the most important principles that guide our institution -- and we have bolstered the voice that students and staff have in our shared governance structure," Blanton said. |
| 5 things to know about WUTK and the uncertain future of longtime GM Benny Smith | |
 | The Knoxville music scene and supporters of WUTK want answers about why longtime general manager Benny Smith is on leave from the college radio station and why specialty programs have been yanked from the air. Knox News was first to report on the developing situation, which has been the subject of an online rumor mill focused on Smith's absence and the role leaders of a fellow station at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville might have played in his ouster and the broadcast blackout of his supporters' shows. A text message from Smith sent to "Six O'Clock Swerve" host Wayne Bledsoe, who then shared it with Knox News, said he is "currently on leave" but that "no job has been terminated." Knox News briefly spoke to Smith at his home the afternoon of July 11. While he declined to comment on his status, he told Knox News he is "laying low." A university spokesperson told Knox News Smith is still employed, but declined to give any details about his role at WUTK. You can still tune into the station, but noticeably missing are the specialty shows. Bledsoe told Knox News he was informed a half-hour before his July 11 episode at Barley's Taproom & Pizzeria that "Six O'Clock Swerve" would not air on WUTK (90.3 FM) and that its slot would be filled by generic programming. UT spokesperson Kerry Gardner told Knox News that Smith is still employed at the university. In response to our follow-up questions about who is overseeing WUTK, Gardner said the university does not comment on "personnel matters." |
| Texas A&M start-up competition awards over $450K to tech ventures | |
 | With over $450,000 on the line, 20 start-up companies recently took part in Texas A&M Innovation's 10th annual New Ventures Competition -- a Shark Tankesque contest in which companies present their ideas to a panel of experts. By the end of the multi-round competition, only six finalists remained with Houston-based medical device company Tarus Vascular ultimately coming out on top. The company began in 2022 and has since raised millions through the development of a new minimally invasive stent designed to treat aortic aneurysms -- large bulges that can occur in the wall of the body's main artery. Founder and CEO Matthew Kuhn said the company got its start at the Texas Medical Center Innovation Biodesign Program in Houston. Kuhn, who holds a master's in biomedical engineering from Rice University, said he had known many colleagues in the innovation world who had gone through the New Ventures Competition (TNVC). "I'm an engineer by training; I spent the first part of my career working for Johnson & Johnson," he said. "I lucked into a really excellent rotational program. That allowed me to bounce around to different areas of the business and learn about quality, new product development [and] manufacturing." |
| Academics Fight for Access to Supercomputers | |
 | Academic researchers know that artificial intelligence (AI) technology has the potential to revolutionize the technical aspects of nearly every industry. And while they're trained to apply such innovations in ethical, equitable ways, compared to profit-driven tech companies, they have limited access to the expensive, powerful technology required for AI research. That divide has scholars and other government-funded researchers concerned that the developments emerging from the AI Gold Rush could leave marginalized populations behind. For instance, a radiology technician could use a generative AI agent to read X-rays, in theory leading to more accurate diagnoses and better health outcomes. But if that AI agent were trained solely on data from a hospital in an affluent neighborhood, it might fail to pick up on signs and symptoms that are more common in lower-income communities. The wealthier population "could have a fundamentally different distribution of tell-tale signs that would not necessarily match that same distribution in a population of folks who, for example, have a hard time making it to a medical practitioner regularly," said Bronson Messer, the director of science for the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility in Tennessee, which houses Summit, one of the nation's most powerful publicly-funded available supercomputers that some academics are using for AI research. |
| Project 2025 would fundamentally change public education, experts say | |
 | The Department of Education would be eliminated, student loans would be privatized and federal legislation on parental rights would be pushed under Project 2025, the conservative wish list of policies put together for the next Republican president that has sparked widespread controversy. The education portion of the sweeping platform, put together by a coalition of right-wing organizations that support former President Trump, would fundamentally change how K-12 and higher education funding and curriculum work. Trump has sought to distance himself from Project 2025 as it gains attention, with experts saying the far-right platform would do substantial damage to the federal government on a variety of fronts, including for schools and students. The project, which was spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, calls for demolishing the federal Education Department, long a goal of many conservatives, though observers say the plans don't detail how the system is supposed to move forward. "If the goal is to reduce the size of government, you're not doing that, you're just sort of playing games with where these programs. So, to me, it looked like a lot of what they're doing is just that kind of that reshuffling in ways that don't feel well-supported or grounded in any kind of rationale for why they should work," said Jon Valant, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. |
| How the pandemic changed Mississippi's budget | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: State revenue barely grew over the past fiscal year -- by $18.4 million, or just 0.24% from the previous year. In years past, such anemic growth would foretell an upcoming legislative session beginning in January that would feature profound gnashing of teeth because revenue would be tight and budget cuts would be necessary. But despite that snail's pace rate of growth during the past fiscal year, which ended June 30, the Legislature will begin the 2025 session flush with cash -- surpluses exceeding $1 billion. Thus, the Legislature next year will not have to prepare a piecemeal budget approach to fund vital services during the upcoming session. Remember, that is what happened in the late 2010s when legislators and then-Gov. Phil Bryant were forced to cut key services such as health care, mental health, higher education and law enforcement. Those tough times forced Mississippi Department of Transportation officials to beg for extra money to meet their needs. But the COVID-19 pandemic turned many things on their head, including the process the Mississippi Legislature utilizes to pass a budget to fund vital services like education, health care and law enforcement. |
SPORTS
| Top draft pick of the Mariners pitches lefty and righty. Jurrangelo Cijntje wants to keep it up | |
| Jurrangelo Cijntje wants to keep his options open with the Seattle organization as a pitcher who switches between throwing right-handed and left-handed. The 15th overall pick by the Mariners in Major League Baseball's amateur draft Sunday night, Cijntje said there was a reason he threw righty to lefty batters more often with Mississippi State in 2024. "I had discomfort in my left side in the middle of the season," Cijntje said. "I was talking to my pitching coach, and he was like, 'You can just rest now from the left side and you can just focus on the right side.' Everything is good now." The Mariners said they want Cijntje, who was a switch-pitcher for Curacao in the 2016 Little League World Series, to decide how to proceed as a righty and/or lefty as a pro. Cijntje says he would prefer to continue pitching from both sides. Cijntje was drafted in the 18th round by Milwaukee in 2022 out of high school in the Miami area but chose to attend Mississippi State. After a rough freshman season in 2023, Cijntje was 8-2 with a 3.67 ERA this past season. He pointed to a 15-5 win over then-defending champion LSU as a launching pad for where he ended up as one of the six prospects awaiting their fate at a rodeo arena in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards. "I think after that, I started getting good outing after good outing," Cijntje said. "For me, that was like, 'You've got to be on your A game,' and don't back down about nothing." |
| MLB Draft: Mississippi State's Khal Stephen picked by Toronto Blue Jays | |
 | Mississippi State baseball pitcher Khal Stephen was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the second round and the No. 59 overall pick of the 2024 MLB Draft on Sunday. Stephen, a junior, transferred to Mississippi State from Purdue where he became the Bulldogs' No. 1 starter. This year's draft pick holds a slot value of $1,489,000. Stephen's draft stock rose immensely after a breakout summer in the 2023 Cape Cod League and that was replicated during the 2024 season when he joined Mississippi State. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound righty was a First Team All-SEC selection with his 3.28 ERA in 16 starts. One of his best moments as a Bulldog came in April when he threw eight innings of shutout baseball at Ole Miss. Stephen made 16 starts for an 8-3 record in 2024. |
| Former Virginia pitcher Chase Hungate explains his decision to transfer to Mississippi State | |
| While Chase Hungate might only be 21 years old, he has already experienced a lifetime worth of sports thrills. He played in both the VHSL state baseball and basketball finals while at Abingdon High School. Hungate was on an Atlantic 10 Conference baseball title team at Virginia Commonwealth University and pitched in the College World Series last month for the University of Virginia. He's spent summers competing in the Appalachian League and Cape Cod League. Now it's time for a new adventure that will be challenging to say the least: pitching in the stacked Southeastern Conference. Hungate revealed via social media on Sunday that he had transferred to Mississippi State University to play for the Bulldogs. The SEC has won the last five NCAA baseball titles and Mississippi State was victorious in the 2021 College World Series. "The SEC is definitely different than any other league in the country," Hungate said on Monday. "Each hitter is extremely talented, and I've faced a few SEC teams in my college career to see that. I'm super excited to be able to compete against that talent every weekend of the season." Hungate entered the transfer portal shortly after Virginia was eliminated from the College World Series and got overtures from a few SEC schools. He had some ties with Mississippi State since two of his ex-VCU teammates -- Connor Hujsak and Tyler Davis -- suited up for the Bulldogs this past season. "I have somewhat of a [familiarity] with the school with having two former teammates that transferred and played at Mississippi State the past two seasons, so I only heard great things from them," Hungate said. "Then, when I got on campus and saw it for myself, it was hard to beat. All the coaches were awesome. I really enjoyed my time with them, so I felt right at home." |
| SEC Media Days taking place in Dallas: Schedules, who's speaking, what to know | |
| SEC Media Days open from Dallas on Monday, with college football's toughest conference welcoming two new teams -- Oklahoma and Texas. The four-day event is eight hours each day Monday through Thursday. Here's what to know about who's taking the stage, topics expected to come up, and radio and TV schedules. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey will take the stage a few minutes after 9 a.m. CT to discuss the current state of the conference, the future of the conference, and more. Following Sankey's opening remarks, Ole Miss will be one of four teams to take the stage Monday, along with LSU, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt. The Rebels, who are serious College Football Playoff contenders for the first time in the modern era, will be available from 1:50-3 p.m. CT. Players speaking to the media are wide receiver Tre Harris, quarterback Jaxson Dart, and defensive end Jared Ivey. Kiffin will speak on the main stage beginning at 1:50 p.m. CT, available to watch on SEC Network. Mississippi State, on the other hand, is scheduled for Wednesday from 10:35-11:35 a.m.. First-year head coach Jeff Lebby, who previously coached under Kiffin at Ole Miss before bouncing for Oklahoma, is one of the more interesting storylines of Media Days. Players attending for Mississippi State are Baylor transfer quarterback Blake Shapen, linebacker John Lewis, and offensive lineman Albert Reese IV. Lebby will speak on the main stage at 10:35 a.m., available to watch on SEC Network. |
| As SEC Media Days kicks off, aura of change is everywhere | |
| When the SEC Media Days kicks off in Dallas today, the annual spectacle will have all the trappings of the dawning of a new, it-really-just-means-more era. The first season with blue bloods Texas and Oklahoma. It's the first in a post-Nick Saban world. The first as the new deal with exclusive rights partner ESPN takes hold. And the first in the age of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. But the aura of even more impactful change is everywhere, with stakeholders girding for the coming paradigm-shifting new financial model in a little more than a year. Leaders within one of the nation's two super conferences are working through how they will navigate the historic revenue-sharing ecosystem that will take hold as early as fall 2025. From Mississippi State and Vanderbilt to Alabama and Georgia, it's foolish to paint everyone in the robust league with a broad brush. But as Alabama Athletic Director Greg Byrne said, even most at the highest end of the industry's food chain will need to make difficult budgetary decisions amid an enormous financial stress test. Consider the state of play: The long-form settlement in the House case could be submitted this week to U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken, who must certify the landmark agreement in the coming months. Among the biggest looming questions: What will the roster cap be for football teams and what will the third-party enforcement entity look like? |
| Greg Sankey on House: 'A decade's worth of change in a matter of months' | |
| In his opening address Monday at SEC Media Days in Dallas, commissioner Greg Sankey emphasized he wants college sports to figure out its own problems. Athletic directors have spent the summer figuring out the aftershocks of the multibillion-dollar House settlement. As part of the agreement, schools can opt-in to a revenue-sharing agreement, with the option to share roughly $20 to $22 million per year with players. Of the $2.77 billion expected to be paid in back damages to former athletes as part of the House case, the NCAA is expected to be responsible for 40% of the payout. The other 60% will come from a reduction in school distributions. The complete settlement could be submitted to Judge Claudia Wilken this next week. "While that agreement does not resolve every issue and it is not the finish line, it does provide an opportunity for us to move forward in modernizing important elements of college sports," Sankey said Monday. "There's a lot of work still to be done. There's work to finalize the full terms of the settlement agreement beyond just terms is the hard work of implementing the outcome of that agreement. We are literally working to make what would normally be a decade's worth of change in a matter of months. We're not in the world either where we're allowed to focus on just one issue or even one small set of issues at any particular time." |
| Greg Sankey on future expansion: SEC can remain at 16 teams for 'a long, long time' | |
| Greg Sankey touched on conference expansion during his opening statement on Monday as the SEC kicked off its annual media conference, and he made clear the league is happy with where it currently sits. Before Sankey took the podium in Dallas, a video played that welcomed and highlighted Oklahoma and Texas. While the Big Ten added 4 new schools from the West Coast, the ACC added 3 new schools from the Bay Area and Dallas, and the Big 12 added to its patchwork footprint, the SEC added 2 programs that fit into its current ethos and made sense from a travel standpoint. Recent reports have stated that Florida State and Clemson have held conversations with the Big 12, suggesting the latest round of conference realignment hasn't quite finished. Without mentioning any other league or program, Sankey intimated that the SEC was done. "Sixteen is our today, and 16 is our tomorrow," Sankey said in his opening statements. Sankey stated the regionality of the league was important to him and to the SEC's leadership. He said the newcomers added no more than 100 miles to road trips for teams in the league. Contrast that with the Big Ten's UCLA-Rutgers matchup or the ACC's Cal-Syracuse one, where athletes will travel cross-country. He also said the SEC's additions didn't erode existing rivalries, but rather restored historic ones. |
| Greg Sankey Details Apple Partnership for iPads on Sidelines | |
| The SEC Media Days are here and that just means football is getting closer. With Media Days in hand, fans are treated to a closer look at what Saturdays in the fall will look like. And, according to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, one of those things the SEC will debut in 2024 is certainly groundbreaking. The SEC has never been one to shy away from pushing the envelope and pushing innovation during game days and with their athletics products. This fall appears no different as Sankey announced on Monday that the conference has developed a partnership with Apple and will distribute iPads to their league teams on the sidelines this season. Sankey said the SEC will be embracing artificial intelligence head-on in 2024 and beyond. "The innovative nature of our universities, and their collective work, has made the SEC the first collegiate athletic conference to convene an Artificial Intelligence Consortium that is already creating research and programming partnerships," Sankey said. The conference will reportedly hand out iPads to their teams to be able to watch back the action in real-time, something different than what is currently in use even at the NFL level. Currently, the NFL allows teams to view the previous plays in the form of screenshots or still images on Microsoft Surface tablets. This partnership with Apple and the SEC may be significantly different. College football is set to allow coaches and players to view plays back in near-real-time and it's clear the SEC is embracing that change with this partnership with Apple. |
| Missouri football preseason preview: Is Mississippi State a threat to MU in late November? | |
 | Viva Starkvegas. The Southeastern Conference calendar is underway, with SEC media days beginning Monday in Dallas. On Tuesday, Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz will be joined by wide receiver Luther Burden III, quarterback Brady Cook and defensive tackle Kristian Williams at the event. Missouri begins its season Thursday, Aug. 29, against Murray State on Faurot Field -- a date just 45 days away. The Tigers' final road game of the 2024 season sends them to Starkville, Mississippi, for just the second time since joining the Southeastern Conference. By the time the Nov. 23 matchup comes around, Mizzou will have gone through the gauntlet that will likely decide whether or not it is still in consideration for the expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff. That could make the trip to face MSU, which is coming off a 5-7 season and heading into the season with a new head coach, a nervy affair. The Bulldogs ought to look a lot different in 2024 but still have plenty of questions to answer. Here's what to know about Mississippi State's offseason, including key additions, coaching changes and playmakers to watch in the Tigers' penultimate game of the regular season. |
| What the College Football 25 video game revival means for the sport's place in pop culture | |
 | The most treasured possession in the old house in Madison was a plastic championship wrestling belt that had absolutely nothing to do with wrestling but everything to do with how, on a daily basis, it was obtained. From 2004 to 2007, San Diego State head coach Sean Lewis was a backup tight end for the Wisconsin Badgers who lived with four friends off campus. That belt was representative of earned glory, a temporary totem that any one of the housemates could hoist. To hold it tight in one's grasp, one simply had to challenge the title holder to press the power button on the gaming console, choose a school and be ready to lock in for four quarters on the long-adored EA Sports NCAA Football video game franchise. Often, the victor's jubilation was juxtaposed by the fury of the defeated. "Oh, there were TVs that were broken and controllers that were busted," Lewis said. Random 20-something-year-old college students losing their minds over taking a video game L is a time-honored tradition. It isn't specific to any game in particular. Yet for those who operated in the alternate virtual universe of college football, that pendulum of agony to ecstasy that swung like it did in Lewis' college dwelling in Madison is only a sliver of what made the video game infatuating to those who poured countless hours into it. The past decade, however, left gamers wondering if they'd ever be able to replicate that familiar giddy feeling every mid-July when they'd go to drop $60 to buy the latest version with the latest rosters, tearing the plastic wrapping off to get to the disc as fast as humanly possible. Eleven years since EA Sports last released NCAA Football 14 in the summer of 2013, the video game company is bringing back a crucial cultural piece to college football. |
| HCU Blasts NCAA, Attorneys Over Pending Antitrust Settlements | |
| The NCAA, power conferences and attorneys for athletes represented in the House, Carter and Hubbard antitrust litigations are nearing the submission of a motion to approve their multibillion-dollar settlement. However, a small DI college in Texas is fighting to not pay $3 million for a settlement it says it never approved. Last Friday, attorneys for Houston Christian University, a school of about 2,300 undergrads formerly known as Houston Baptist University, filed a reply brief in support of their motion to intervene. As Sportico detailed, HCU filed a motion to intervene in June, and both the plaintiffs and defendants are opposed. HCU argues it is not a named defendant in the litigation and never agreed to the settlement. Among other features, the settlement would require the 27 non-power conferences and their member schools -- such as the Southland Conference and HCU, respectively -- to absorb about $990 million in withheld funds over a 10-year-period. Those monies would pay athletes so-called "backpay damages" for denied NIL and denied revenue from broadcasts and video games that were never made. HCU asserts that making these payments would violate school officials' fiduciary duties and would divert money away from the university's academic, spiritual and professional mission, especially since students would receive academic scholarships with that money. |
| Concurrence in Johnson v. NCAA Complicates Employee Test | |
| It's been said that concurring opinions are neither "the law" nor "precedent" since they don't reflect the majority of a court. They simply exhibit a judge agreeing with the result reached by the majority but for a different reason. Yet as college sports has seen through Justice Brett Kavanaugh's oft-cited concurring opinion in NCAA v. Alston (2021), those opinions can shape attitudes. They can even become more influential than the majority opinion, despite only the latter setting law. Many court and agency filings have favorably invoked Kavanaugh's concurrence, where he–unlike the other eight U.S. Supreme Court justices–described the NCAA as a cartel. His words have repeatedly surfaced in litigation concerning college athlete employment, scholarship caps, NIL collectives and even UFC fighter pay. It remains to be seen whether Judge David Porter's concurring opinion in last Thursday's ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Johnson v. NCAA gains similar traction. Porter, who like Kavanaugh was nominated by President Donald Trump, suggested that while FBS football players, "March Madness-level men's basketball players" and possibly other revenue-generating college athletes likely meet the legal definition of employment, other college athletes probably do not. It's a distinction that is popular in some corners of college sports. Porter has now lent it legitimacy. |
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