| Monday, August 12, 2024 |
| MSU receives major help from community to start move-in day | |
 | With school heading into full swing for K-12 students, it is almost that time for college students. Mississippi State University had its first weekend of students moving in on campus. This weekend marked the first of students moving into Mississippi State University's residence halls. Students said that with the help of parents, volunteers, and staff, the transition was smooth for most freshmen. "We had to go get our slips, get all the stuff out the van, throw it out the sidewalk and, carry it up inside. Then, the mothers helped just did the rest of it," Evan Lynch said. Last Fall was the largest freshman class in school history. This year, students said they expected that same large crowd. "I know that it might be chaotic but you know just how ever many thousands of people were moving in. The way they had it set up with times and everything, it was pretty flawless," Campbell Towles said. Many students say it is a dream to attend the university. |
| Classic children's stories come to the Riley Center stage | |
 | Three beloved children's books will come to life on the stage of Mississippi State University Riley Center this fall during two separate theatrical shows designed specifically for pre-K and elementary school audiences. Theatre MSU will present "Charlotte's Web" on Tuesday, Sept. 24, and Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia will delight audiences on Thursday, Nov. 7, with its touring show based on two classic books, "Goodnight Moon" and "The Runaway Bunny," both by celebrated children's author Margaret Wise Brown. The "Charlotte's Web" adaption is suggested for grades fourth through sixth, and the Mermaid Theatre's production is geared toward pre-K through third-grade audiences. On Sept. 24, Mississippi State University's Theatre MSU will bring to life through puppetry and music the story of "Charlotte's Web," adapted by Joseph Robinette based on the E.B. White classic novel about the friendship between a little gray spider named Charlotte and a pig named Wilbur. Charlotte campaigns to save Wilbur from a terrible fate through messages she weaves into her web. A beloved classic, the story features endearing farm animals and explores the themes of love, bravery and the meaning of friendship. |
| MSU Extension professional received national recognition | |
 | A Mississippi State University Extension Service forage specialist recently received a national award for his high-quality work and effective program development. Rocky Lemus was given the distinguished service award from the National Association of County Agriculture Agents, or NACAA, during its 2024 annual conference July 17 in Dallas. NACAA is a nationwide professional organization established for Extension educators, agents and other professionals who work in agriculture, horticulture, forestry and natural resources, 4-H youth development, community development and related disciplines. The distinguished service award is conferred on members who have worked in Extension for at least 10 years, are held in high esteem by their fellow workers, and have developed and put into practice an outstanding Extension program. Lemus was among the top 2% of the membership selected by their peers. Lemus is the MSU Extension forage specialist, as well as an Extension and research professor and leader of the MSU Center for Forage Management and Environmental Stewardship. His research and Extension activities are related to forage production, nutrient management and livestock grazing systems. |
| Special event set for local loblolly pine tree growers | |
 | Forestry experts from ArborGen are partnering with local Mississippi State University agricultural extension offices to answer questions about growing pine trees, specifically the loblolly pine trees. The event is open to all, commercial growers, loblolly pine enthusiasts or private landowner with an interest in planting pine. Registration is currently open without a predetermined number of slots, but the size and space available on the research pine tree plot property in northern Lamar County may be limit the numbers, Agricultural Extension Agent Ross Overstreet said. "You know there are mass-pollinated and open-pollinated families that are available," Overstreet said. "Depending on what your goals are, that's gonna dictate which family of pine tree you may want to plant on your property. The (research) location is limited as far as size, so we don't have a hard-set limit, but at some point we may have to limit our registration." ArborGen forest expert Dr. Paul Jeffreys said the Lamar County property was meant to showcase how the different types of loblolly pine perform under the same conditions, environments and treatment processes. |
| Baseball's 'fastest man' honored at long last at Cornerstone Park | |
| Starkville's multi-million dollar Cornerstone Park, finally, has its centerpiece. At the entrance to the park sits a bronze statue of the late Baseball Hall of Famer James "Cool Papa" Bell, dedicated on Friday with representatives from city government, Starkville Parks and members of Bell's extended family. "This is later than we originally intended," Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill said of the ceremony. "We wanted to do this when we first cut the ribbon, but the good news is we can do this as a special dedication." The statue, created by Montana-based sculptor Gareth Curtiss, was commissioned by the city of Starkville in 2021. The work was delayed and the statue didn't arrive until after the park's grand opening in October 2023, but it arrived earlier this year and now sits at the entrance of the park. The dedication was set for August to line up with the 50th anniversary of Bell's induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. "We have an incredible history with baseball," Spruill said, "including our College World Series in 2021 and the big recreational programs that we have as a huge part of our athletics programs that we obviously intend to keep on doing. Cool Papa Bell, however, ... is our celebrity baseball player and is our only (native) Baseball Hall of Famer. So this is a real opportunity for us to talk about him and to dedicate this statue." |
| Amazon 'last mile' facility to go into Saltillo facility | |
 | Amazon.com, Inc. has announced plans to expand its investment in Mississippi by opening a new delivery station in Lee County. This new facility will be approximately 96,000 square feet and located within the Turner Industrial Park in Saltillo. Launch plans for the delivery station are in the very early stages, with renovations to the existing building scheduled to start in the coming weeks. "This last mile facility will allow us to better serve customers in Lee County and the surrounding area," said Jessica Breaux, senior manager of economic development for Amazon. "We're grateful for our partnership with the Community Development Foundation and Lee County. We look forward to sharing more details about this facility in the future." The new last-mile facility will help power the last mile of Amazon's fulfillment process by enabling fast, everyday delivery directly to customers' doorstep. Packages are transported to delivery stations from Amazon fulfillment and sortation centers and then employees process customer packages for last-mile delivery. Most employees in customer fulfillment and transportation earn between $17 and $28 per hour. |
| Meet the farmer behind Delta Wind Farm: Abbott Myers | |
 | Fifteen years ago, Abbott Myers and his son, Ransom, began mulling ways to diversify their farm income on 7,500 acres in tiny Dundee (population: 73). "We wanted to maximize our production return, so we looked at several different options," said Myers, 73. "We didn't like solar. We'd been looking at wind for well over a decade. If you look back 10, 15 years ago, there was no interest in wind in the Delta. John Deere financed wind turbines in Texas and some in the Midwest, but they wouldn't even talk to you about financing one here." Myers, former board chairman of Mississippi Land Bank, had friends through credit associations who built wind farms in Texas. "That's what got me interested," he said. "One friend said, 'Shucks, I can build them myself,' and he did. They're expensive and I didn't want to build them myself. But we did studies for years with meteorological towers, LIDAR radar, and the wind." Myers investigated four or five wind turbine companies before finding Vestas, a renewable energy partner of sustainable energy solutions. "They have the best turbines on the market," he said. "They asked me, do we have enough wind at 700 feet? We did. After they did all the groundwork, Vestas turned around and sold to a production company (AES) to develop it." Meanwhile, Amazon had been looking at Mississippi as a site for its planned two data center campuses and was also seeking ways to meet its goal to power operations with 100 percent renewable energy by 2025. The result: Delta Wind Farm, the state's first utility-scale wind farm, on 14,000 acres belonging to Myers and other farmers. |
| The US Navy's warship production is in its worst state in 25 years. What's behind it? | |
 | The Navy's ability to build lower-cost warships that can shoot down Houthi rebel missiles in the Red Sea depends in part on a 25-year-old laborer who previously made parts for garbage trucks. Lucas Andreini, a welder at Fincantieri Marinette Marine, in Marinette, Wisconsin, is among thousands of young workers who've received employer-sponsored training nationwide as shipyards struggle to hire and retain employees. The labor shortage is one of myriad challenges that have led to backlogs in ship production and maintenance at a time when the Navy faces expanding global threats. Combined with shifting defense priorities, last-minute design changes and cost overruns, it has put the U.S. behind China in the number of ships at its disposal -- and the gap is widening. Navy shipbuilding is currently in "a terrible state" -- the worst in a quarter century, says Eric Labs, a longtime naval analyst at the Congressional Budget Office. "I feel alarmed," he said. "I don't see a fast, easy way to get out of this problem. It's taken us a long time to get into it." One of the industry's chief problems is the struggle to hire and retain laborers for the challenging work of building new ships as graying veterans retire, taking decades of experience with them. Retention is a concern even for shipyards that have met their goals, including Huntington Ingalls Industries, which makes destroyers and amphibious warships in Mississippi and aircraft carriers and submarines in Virginia. The company is creating training partnerships with colleges and public schools at all grade levels. Enhancements in Mississippi include more than a million square feet (92,900 square meters) of covered work area, cooldown and hydration stations, and a second dining area with a Chick-fil-A. |
| Secretary of State wants to work with AG on campaign finance violations, AG gives nonresponse | |
 | When Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson told a crowd of people at Neshoba County Fair on Aug. 1 that it might be a good idea for an assistant attorney general to work in his office on campaign finance and elections fraud, it wasn't just a suggestion. It was a call for something to be done about the more than 20 related violations he's sent to Attorney General Lynn Fitch, whose office has not enforced campaign finance fines the secretary of state has issued and left dozens of election fraud cases unprosecuted, Watson said. Fitch has stated several times there are legal roadblocks to enforcement. Watson is also hoping to put some legal teeth on a new electronic campaign finance filing system by asking state lawmakers to require campaigns to submit finance reports digitally. To that end, he is working on a request for proposals to create that new system. "I just want enforcement, period," Watson said. "If there was a collection amount outstanding that people just wouldn't pay. Then ultimately that would go to the AG's office, and that's maybe where an assistant attorney general could help (us)." Attorney General's Office Communications Director Maryasa Lee did not say whether the office was interested in a partnership with Watson's office, but that Fitch has recommended changes before. "(Attorney) General Fitch proposed a comprehensive reform of the campaign finance laws in the 2024 Legislative Session that, amongst other things, would have clarified the laws to improve prosecution of illegal corporate donations and ensure that Mississippi elections are decided by Mississippi voters," Lee wrote in an email response. |
| New Jackson Court location changed, opening delayed to late 2024 | |
 | The location for the new Capitol Complex Improvement District Municipal Court in Jackson has been changed from a temporary home at the War Memorial Building in Downtown Jackson to a new one just around the corner, further delaying the opening of the court. The only concrete step actually having been completed for the court to open so far is Attorney General Lynn Fitch picking four attorneys from her office to serve as prosecutors for the court, Communications Director Maryasa Lee told the Clarion Ledger Wednesday. "We have designated prosecutors in the Attorney General's Public Integrity Division to assume these duties, and we'll evaluate any further staffing needs as we see how the docket develops," Lee said. Mississippi Supreme Court Spokesperson Beverly Kraft told the Clarion Ledger the court's location has been changed from the War Memorial Building at 120 N. State St. to the Continental Trailways Bus Station, behind the Naval Reserve Center building on South Jefferson Street, just West of the State Fair Grounds. The War Memorial Building was initially supposed to serve as a temporary home until renovations were complete to the Wright and Ferguson building at West and High streets. Department of Finance Administration Deputy Director Glenn Kornbrek said the change was made earlier this year after DFA determined the auditorium space at the War Memorial Building simply wasn't going to cut it because there wouldn't be enough space, offices or meeting rooms for attorneys, judges and others. He also said the War Memorial Building being a historic building created delays for renovation. |
| Meet the people working to protect Southern protesters' civil rights | |
 | The sounds and sights of protests in the South are familiar: the crackle of amplifiers, signs held up high, banners fluttering in the breeze and thunderous chants. "No justice, no peace! No racist police!" But if you look carefully during a protest in Mississippi, you might see someone wearing a yellow vest. In another state, they might wear a green hat, and carry a camera, or a notepad. "We're not chanting. We don't hold signs. We don't have slogans on our T-shirts. We are not protesters," explains Paloma Wu, deputy director of impact litigation at Mississippi Center for Justice. They're legal observers, who aim to serve as watchdogs for protesters' civil rights, at a time when they say tensions and temperatures at Southern protests are rising. At activists' invitation, legal observers are trained to join demonstrations to painstakingly document, via video and notes, what police or counter-protesters are doing. Generally, this can include police using force, using tools such as Tasers or riot gear, or what's happening during mass arrests, in case they have to testify on protesters' behalf in court. Wu runs a legal observer and protester support program with her colleague, Blake Feldman, who said the government's response to protests has "escalated." "People are just at an extremely high risk of having these rights violated, and sometimes in violent ways," Feldman, who is impact policy counsel at the public interest law firm, said. Their goal is to help activists get their message out and to engage in what Wu calls "counter-surveillance" of law enforcement officers, who often have high-tech tools at their disposal. |
| Farmers paint dire picture during Financial Conditions hearing | |
| How bad are economic conditions in the Sunbelt as the chances for passage of a new farm bill in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 continue to diminish? Cotton producer David Dunlow, who farms in eastern North Carolina, told a House Agriculture Committee hearing that without a new farm bill or comparable relief before the end of the year he and others "may no longer be farming." Dunlow, chairman of the American Cotton Producers, which represents grower members of the National Cotton Council, said another extension of the current farm bill would be "extremely insufficient given current costs of production." The path to passage of a new farm bill became even more uncertain after Speaker Mike Johnson sent lawmakers home near the end of July to begin a six-week recess. The House members left town having completed action on only five of the 12 annual appropriations bills needed to fund the government in the 2025 fiscal year. Dunlow was testifying before a House Agriculture Committee hearing on "Financial Conditions in Farm Country" on July 23. He was joined by representatives of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, the American Bankers Association and GreenPoint Ag Holdings and Ronald Rainey, an agricultural economist at the University of Arkansas. "I have never experienced a worse time in my 40 years of farming," said Dunlow. "In previous years, when market prices were below costs of production, growers could benefit from the commodity title to offset losses. However, that is no longer the case." |
| GOP lawmaker squares off with USDA, tribes over farm bill land transfer | |
 | The decades-long battle over nearly 9,500 acres in Oklahoma is coming to a head in Washington, D.C. Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) secured a farm bill provision that would block transfer of the land, which currently hosts a USDA research facility and sits atop sizable oil and gas reserves, "except as otherwise specifically authorized by law." The USDA facility that occupies part of Fort Reno is the Oklahoma and Central Plains Agricultural Research Center, previously Grazinglands Research Laboratory, which Lucas has called "one of the crown jewels of our nation's agricultural research facilities." The provision could clear the runway to expand agricultural and climate research by removing the need to extend a transfer moratorium in future farm bills. But it has also raised alarm within the USDA and among leaders of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, who have vigorously pursued their contested claim to the lands dating back over 150 years. A USDA spokesperson told The Hill that Lucas's provision is a "move that defies decades of effort by Tribes and hundreds of years of Tribal history." The Oklahoma and Central Plains Agricultural Research Center conducts research programs and projects broken out into four research units: agroclimate and hydraulic engineering; livestock, forage and pasture management; peanuts and small grains; and the Southern Plains Climate Hub, which focuses on how to reduce climate-related agriculture production risks. Lucas has pushed to expand that research, requesting $1.3 million in May to renovate parts of the facility. |
| We received internal Trump documents from 'Robert.' Then the campaign confirmed it was hacked. | |
 | Former President Donald Trump's campaign said Saturday that some of its internal communications had been hacked. The acknowledgment came after POLITICO began receiving emails from an anonymous account with documents from inside Trump's operation. The campaign blamed "foreign sources hostile to the United States," citing a Microsoft report on Friday that Iranian hackers "sent a spear phishing email in June to a high-ranking official on a presidential campaign." Microsoft did not identify the campaign targeted by the email and declined to comment Saturday. POLITICO has not independently verified the identity of the hacker or their motivation, and a Trump campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, declined to say if they had further information substantiating the campaign's suggestion that it was targeted by Iran. On July 22, POLITICO began receiving emails from an anonymous account. Over the course of the past few weeks, the person -- who used an AOL email account and identified themselves only as "Robert" -- relayed what appeared to be internal communications from a senior Trump campaign official. A research dossier the campaign had apparently done on Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, which was dated Feb. 23, was included in the documents. The documents are authentic, according to two people familiar with them and granted anonymity to describe internal communications. One of the people described the dossier as a preliminary version of Vance's vetting file. |
| Trump's Attacks on Georgia's GOP Governor Stand to Benefit Harris | |
 | Georgia Republicans are having a bad case of déjà vu. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has once again taken to attacking Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, leaving GOP leaders and strategists fearing that the public and ugly intraparty feud could hurt Trump's chances in this battleground state. Trump's loss here in 2020 left the state's Republican Party deeply fractured, with Trump blaming Kemp and other statewide GOP officials for refusing to overturn President Biden's narrow victory in the state. Republican officials have blamed the feuding for repeated losses in Senate races. "I thought any kind of bad blood had blown over, and I don't know why President Trump would want to reopen that wound and attack a very popular governor," said state Sen. Larry Walker III, a member of the Georgia Senate GOP's leadership. Trump, at an Atlanta rally recently at Georgia State University, called Kemp "a bad guy." "He's a disloyal guy and he's a very average governor. Little Brian, little Brian Kemp," Trump said. Walker called Trump's comments "definitely unproductive and unwarranted," adding: "If we continue with this kind of feud, it will make it more difficult" to win Georgia. |
| Before a bird flu pandemic, feds prep millions of vaccines. Just in case | |
 | A quiet effort to prevent the next global pandemic began rolling off an assembly line this summer behind the gates of an office complex in suburban Raleigh. In this sprawling factory, sheltered by thick pine groves, workers at CSL Seqirus are bottling millions of doses of a new vaccine targeting the H5N1 bird flu virus. The virus, which first emerged in wild birds around 1997, has been spreading this year among dairy and poultry farms across the United States. Thirteen farmworkers have been infected with the virus this year, some suffering eye redness, others a cough. No one became sick enough to require hospitalization, although, in other countries, about half of the people diagnosed with H5N1 over the years have died. The virus is not being passed from person to person -- and that is key to why public health officials aren't hitting the panic button as yet. Because the risk to the general public remains low, the federal government doesn't think it's worth vaccinating anyone against H5N1 yet -- even the farmworkers most at risk for getting sick from infected chickens or cows. But behind the scenes, officials are getting ready at Seqirus' advanced facility in the bio-manufacturing hub of Holly Springs. Already, 4.8 million doses of a potential vaccine are sitting in an undisclosed Seqirus distribution center, ready for delivery if needed. "An exercise like this gives our partners a chance to exercise that muscle, to make sure that the manufacturing's there," Dawn O'Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told USA TODAY during an exclusive tour of the vaccine factory in late July. |
| Dearman, Sullivan follow in their mothers' footsteps with MUW degrees | |
| Graduating from college is a milestone for anyone who chooses to pursue higher education, however, for two recent graduates of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program at Mississippi University for Women, it just means more. Alianne Dearman and Jessica Sullivan were both awarded their master's in nursing during the annual summer commencement ceremony held July 26. What made this event so special is the two were graduating from the same program their mothers graduated from years earlier. "My mother is my greatest role model. She has been a constant encourager and voice of reason throughout my life and especially so during this past year. She is an expert in her field of nursing and respected by many. She is brilliant, kind and caring. I hope to emulate her best traits as I grow in my professional career," said Dearman, whose mother, Julia Bruce, graduated from the program in 2007. Dearman, from Madison, plans to return home and find a job in the Jackson Metro Area, with a focus in cardiology. She feels that her time at The W has truly prepared her for a career in nursing as well. "I was drawn to The W because of their in-person program. Many schools have moved to online only, and I knew that I wanted face-to-face didactic learning. The faculty encouraged students to strive for success. This program is fast paced, completing it in three semesters is quite the challenge, and faculty each understand the gravity of this success," Dearman said. |
| Plymouth Bluff welcomes community back after renovation | |
| After undergoing renovations for the last four years, Plymouth Bluff Environmental Center returned to its former glory Thursday as community members gathered for a grand reopening celebration. The Mississippi University for Women, which owns and operates Plymouth Bluff, and the Columbus-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce partnered to host the event and give visitors a look at the new improvements. "We wanted to give people a chance to see what all there is to offer here," MUW President Nora Miller told The Dispatch. "We want people to know that this is available for family reunions, for weddings, for whatever, and hope that people come out and take advantage of all it has to offer." More than $200,000 has gone toward making improvements to the nearly 200-acre environmental center, Plymouth Bluff Director Chandler Lester said. While many made aesthetic changes to facilities, several improvements addressed problems that desperately needed a solution, like the newly refurbished back deck of the Sherman Conference Center. "We had to block it offline for about a year," Lester told The Dispatch Thursday. "We had about eight exit doors. We had to block them off because it was a hazard, so it needed to be done." Lester said a lot of the paneling at the conference center was replaced, and all of the landscaping around the building has been redone over the last three years. Updating the center's 23 cabins was another pressing priority in the renovations list. "It's almost like when I got here, it was hard to tell people about the cabins ... and then they'd come and the toilet would go out, the AC go out," Lester said. "It's hard to advertise that." |
| Possumtown Book Fest announces 11 additional speakers for panel | |
| The Possumtown Book Fest is adding more than 10 new award-winning authors and educators to the lineup for its inaugural event Aug. 24. With this latest announcement, the Possumtown Book Fest is doubling the total number of featured speakers at panel sessions throughout the day. The festival will run from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Rosenzweig Arts Center, 501 Main St. Rooted Magazine Founder and Editor in Chief Lauren Rhoades will moderate a conversation about what it means to be a Mississippi writer between two Mississippi natives, Exodus Brownlow and C.T. Salazar, and two Mississippi transplants, Dr. Saddiq Dzukogi and Dr. Phillip "Pip" Gordon. Three of the writers on the Rooted panel hold advanced degrees from Mississippi University for Women located in Columbus. Brownlow, Rhoades and Salazar all graduated from MUW's Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing. Dzukogi and Gordon have come to Mississippi by virtue of their academic careers; Dzukogi is a faculty member at Mississippi State University while Gordon teaches at the University of Mississippi. The Mississippi Humanities Council provided a $7,500 grant to the Friendly City Books Community Connection to support the educational programming at the event. Generous support has also been furnished by the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System, the Friends of the Library, the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Mississippi University for Women Foundation. |
| Jackson State faculty senate president on leave pending termination as faculty pledge support | |
| Jackson State University faculty senate president Dawn McLin was placed on leave pending termination last week for allegedly abusing the power of the position, according to faculty who met Thursday night to discuss how to support her. The accusation has sowed confusion and fear of retaliation among members of the historically Black university's faculty senate. A Jackson State spokesperson did not respond to Mississippi Today's request for comment by press time. McLin, a psychology professor whose family has deep roots at Jackson State, was elected faculty senate president in 2020. She has presided during a fraught relationship between faculty and administration that has seen the senate take multiple votes of no-confidence in members of the current and former administration, due in part to a "continuous pattern of failing to respect" shared governance and other professional norms. Though faculty do not know the exact circumstances of McLin's leave, many expressed alarm that what happened is highly unusual. A tenured professor, McLin is entitled to certain employment protections per university policies and the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees. But McLin was apparently placed on leave without any written warning, members of the faculty senate executive committee shared during the meeting. She was also accused of harassment, malfeasance and "contumacious conduct," a term stemming from IHL policies that means insubordination. |
| Jackson State welcomes students back with new option for housing | |
| Jackson State University students are moving back on campus for the start of the fall semester. On Saturday, parents moved their children into their dorm rooms. "It is such an honor to finally get one of my daughters to attend Jackson State University," said one parent. Jackson State also introduced new off-campus housing at the Walthall Lofts in downtown Jackson to accommodate its growing student body. "It's kind of like an expansion of on-campus living; we plan on doing programming, and students will have transportation to go back and forth (to campus)," said Jonas Vanderbilt, the vice president of student affairs. In collaboration with JSU, the Black Men United chapter of Mississippi helped students get essential dorm supplies at a giveaway event on Saturday. Students got everything from fans to air fryers and cleaning supplies. Jackson State students begin classes on Aug. 19. |
| Jackson State welcomes students for 2024 Move-in Day | |
 | Hundreds of Jackson State University (JSU) students packed the Athletic Assembly Center on Saturday for the 2024 Move-in Day. There were booths for registration for housing, financial aid, and the business office. Jonas Vanderbilt, vice president for Student Affairs, said the student government and the royal court assisted with workshops. "We want to make sure we get as many students involved and help us get them activities. You know, we want to create memories here at the state as well. HBCU is known for creating memories and legacies. And so, here the legacy of Jackson State starts with these students who come here today," he said. According to Vanderbilt, the university has some big plans for homecoming this year. |
| Jackson State University Move-in Day 2024 | |
| Jackson State University's president, faculty, and staff welcomed hundreds of freshmen and returning students. WLBT 3 On Your Side spoke with JSU Tigers, and they say moving into their new home for the next nine months today was seamless. In fact, they say it's one of the best experiences they've ever had. "It's a really big moment on campus," said Deshaun Till. "It gives everybody the opportunity to bond as a unit. Everybody helps move each other in. It also gives us a chance to experience that early HBCU experience." JSU's President, Dr. Marcus Thompson, who was on campus assisting Saturday, says he wanted to make sure that never happened again and that every student has a place to stay. "You've often heard me say that students are the north star of my administration," Dr. Thompson said. "So, I wanted to make sure that every detail about move-in was in a position to help students seamlessly come and get into their facilities seamlessly, get information, and just help them know that today is all about them." |
| Toyota Mississippi's 4T Academy hosts inaugural class signing | |
| Toyota Mississippi's 4T Academy is officially up and running, and its inaugural class of students signed their 4T Academy contracts in a ceremony Thursday, Aug. 8. The ceremony took place at the Toyota Mississippi Experience Center, with students' families and 4T Academy supporters in attendance. Toyota Mississippi plant president Erik Skaggs, Mississippi superintendent of education Lance Evans, Union County School District superintendent Windy Faulkner, New Albany School District superintendent Tony Cook and Toyota Mississippi's manager of corporate communications, Tiffannie Hedin, all spoke at the event. After the ceremony, 4T students and their families were given tours of the plant. Students in the two-year program will learn and train in a mock factory environment, and the facilities will include classroom spaces, electric and pneumatic tool training stations, a simulated vehicle production line, virtual reality simulators, collaborative robots (known as "cobots") and more. Students in the program will be trained to enter any of Toyota Mississippi's production-team-member jobs. 4T student Hayden McWhirter, a West Union Attendance Center junior, sees the 4T program as a big opportunity. Since he doesn't think college is for him, the 4T program is an excellent head start on landing a good job out of high school. |
| Why Schools Are Racing to Ban Student Phones | |
 | Cellphones have become a school scourge. More than 70 percent of high school teachers say student phone distraction is a "major problem," according to a survey this year by Pew Research. That's why states are mounting a bipartisan effort to crack down on rampant student cellphone use. So far this year, at least eight states have passed laws, issued orders or adopted rules to curb phone use among students during school hours. The issue isn't simply that some children and teenagers compulsively use apps like Snap, TikTok and Instagram during lessons, distracting themselves and their classmates. In many schools, students have also used their phones to bully, sexually exploit and share videos of physical attacks on their peers. But cellphone restrictions can be difficult for teachers to enforce without schoolwide rules requiring students to place their phones in lockers or other locations. Now state lawmakers, along with some prominent governors, are pushing for more uniform restrictions in public schools. With the new school year already underway this month in some states, those new rules are kicking in. Teachers say that phone bans in the classroom have helped improve students' ability to concentrate on their lessons and work in groups. Some schools have also found the bans decreased phone-related bullying and student fights. Even so, the bans could have limited effect on the larger problem of technology in the classroom. |
| Bid Day wraps up sorority rush week at the U. of Alabama | |
 | Bid Day means the University of Alabama's fall semester will soon begin. The University of Alabama's annual sorority recruitment event, held Sunday at Bryant-Denny Stadium, is when thousands of students find out which sorority has accepted their membership bid. Bid Day is the culmination of rush week, which began Aug. 10 at UA. Rush week gives fraternities and sororities the opportunity to host events, where new students can get their first chance to meet members. Videos from UA's sorority rush week went viral on TikTok in 2021. The #bamarush and #alabamarush hashtags on TikTok have attracted millions of views during the past few years. In 2022, a film crew came to Tuscaloosa to document UA's rush week through the eyes of the students who took part. The resulting documentary, "Bama Rush: Acceptance Is Everything," premiered on the Max streaming service in May 2023. During Bid Day, the students meet inside Bryant-Denny Stadium, where they are handed a manila envelope. The students open their envelopes at the same time and then "run home" to their new homes. UA has traditionally been home to a thriving fraternity/sorority system. According to the Division of Student Life website, 36% of UA's undergraduate student body belong to Greek letter fraternities and sororities. That means that around 12,000 students belong to UA's 71 Greek organizations. Since 2011, UA has had the largest overall fraternity and sorority membership in the nation. |
| Auburn University unveils Lululemon collaboration | |
| The Auburn Bookstore revealed its Auburn University and Lululemon collaboration to customers on August 8. Students, locals and Auburn fans lined themselves outside of the Haley Center as they waited for the Auburn Bookstore to open at 6:00 a.m. Announced early May on the Auburn Bookstore's social media, those excited about the collaboration shared their enthusiasm with almost 15k likes on the Instagram post. The announcement came nine months after Lululemon opened a pop-up store on the first floor of The Standard apartment complex on the intersection of E. Glenn Ave. and N. Gay St. The welcome of an Auburn University Lululemon adds to the notable Alabama-Auburn rivalry, as the University of Alabama Bookstore has had a Lululemon collaboration since August 2022. According to workers, some eager to shop the Lulu drop camped outside the Haley Center the night before the release. In the morning, a line lingered on the Haley Concourse during the first hour of opening. Madeline Windsor, sophomore in neuroscience, explained that the early hours of the bookstore were busy, as a certain number of customers trickled in at a time. Windsor, who has been working at the bookstore for two months, explained that with the campus coming back to life with things like the sororities' recruitment "rush" week and students moving back, she was happy to see the bookstore have ample Lulu supplies. |
| LSU Lake Projects started a year ago, here's how it's going | |
 | The LSU Lakes project is one of the most high-profile public projects in Baton Rouge. The project is well underway, but it doesn't look how many people imagined it would ... yet. This project was created as a result of the 2016 master planning process sponsored by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation which called for path improvements, deepening the lakes -- and creating and preserving the six, man-made lakes near LSU. Thousands of people use the lakes and the surrounding areas recreationally weekly, and the project plans to upgrade the public space to match that amount of use. "Ultimately the goal is to make them [the lakes] healthy, make them beautiful -- and make them safe," said John Spain, senior adviser to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. Phase 1, scheduled to be completed by the end of July is 95% completed as of July 31 according to Mark Goodson, principal and resilience practice lead of CSRS, one of the lead project advisers. The challenge of this kind of project, Goodson said, is that the improvements aren't always obvious to the public. "The lakes won't look much different at the end of this year," he explained. "The benefits of the project probably won't be truly appreciated until five or 10 or even 20 years down the road when the lakes are still healthy and not having to be dredged and improved like they are today because of what we're doing now." |
| Legislative budget committee approves first round of campus deferred maintenance spending | |
| The Louisiana Legislature's Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget has approved the first round of college and university deferred maintenance projects to be paid for with a new dedicated fund approved earlier this year. The committee gave its approval to 270 projects with a combined total cost well over the initial $75 million legislators appropriated to get the new fund started. Commissioner of Administration Taylor Barras said this was done intentionally to give campuses more flexibility. If their top priority turned out to be too expensive, it allows administrators to switch to a less expensive project without coming back to the Legislature for approval. The College and University Deferred Maintenance and Capital Improvement Program was created by Ruston Republican Rep. Chris Turner's House Bill 940 in the regular session earlier this year. Turner's bill sets up a 10-year program through which the Legislature could appropriate up to $2 billion dollars, approximately equal to deferred maintenance costs for all four state higher education systems -- excluding those at university hospitals that could be paid for with federal dollars. Of that amount, $1.07 billion would be set aside for the LSU System. |
| Art and science: UGA glassblower creates custom-made pieces for specific research tasks | |
 | It all started with glass beads. Those unassuming but pretty craft store staples that serve as the foundation of many a homemade necklace. Annalee Pickett loved the little round pieces of glass, and she found herself making all sorts of trinkets for her family and friends. When Pickett's high school art club teacher received some unexpected funding, she noticed her students' interest in the baubles and ordered a kit to make the beads, complete with glass rods and a small torch. Pickett was hooked. So hooked that she asked her parents for one for Christmas so she could make the baubles at home, too. At the time, the Illinois teenager wasn't thinking this would be the start of her career. She just thought the glass pieces she created were a beautiful and easy way to create gifts for herself and her loved ones. But then fate stepped in. Pickett's aunt, a hairdresser, cut the hair of Dave Perry, the scientific glassblower at the University of Illinois. He noticed all the glasswork in the studio and asked who made it. When Aunt Bonnie told him, Perry invited Pickett to come to his shop. "As soon as I went there, I knew that glass was just so much more than art," Pickett says. "I just loved all the machines, the different kinds of tubing." Pickett had found herself a career. In 2020, the University of Georgia came calling. |
| 2 men arrested in connection to Saturday shooting on Vanderbilt University campus | |
 | Two men have been arrested in connection with a shooting on the campus of Vanderbilt University on Saturday afternoon that left one person wounded, the Metro Nashville Police told Fox News Digital. Police said the incident happened around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday after an argument between members of a construction crew who were working at Sutherland House, a residence hall. The dorm was unoccupied at the time of the shooting incident, police said. The suspects were apprehended and identified by police as Luis Enrique Ramirez Sandoval, 38, and Jose Humberto, 27. Both men were arrested by Vanderbilt officers at a nearby market. The shooting prompted campus police to issue a campus-wide alert to avoid the area. Vanderbilt officials said three people were taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. Metro Nashville Police said one of the victims, a 19-year-old man, was shot in the arm. Police said a firearm was found on Sandoval and he was charged with aggravated assault. Humberto is charged with facilitation of aggravated assault for retrieving the gun for Sandoval prior to the shooting, police said. Additional charges against Sandoval are also pending. |
| At Chapel Hill, a Politically Connected Interim Chancellor Gets the Permanent Post | |
 | The University of North Carolina system's Board of Governors on Friday voted to elect Lee H. Roberts, interim chancellor of the Chapel Hill flagship campus, to the permanent post. Roberts succeeds Kevin M. Guskiewicz, who left Chapel Hill for the Michigan State University presidency in December. Even before Guskiewicz decided to leave Chapel Hill, word got around that the system president, Peter Hans, planned to elevate Roberts, a former member of the Board of Governors who had no experience leading a campus, to head the flagship. Three sources told The Chronicle late last year that they expected Roberts to be named to the permanent post after serving as the interim. That has now happened. The interim chancellor's tenure has been a busy one, marked by adapting to a systemwide repeal of diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements and the end of the century-old student-led honor court. Roberts also oversaw the arrest of six people during a pro-Palestinian encampment this spring and helped hang the American flag back up after protesters had replaced it with the Palestinian flag. His handling of the protests won plaudits from top Republicans, including the leaders of the state House and Senate, who both said he should be named to the permanent post. Roberts's appointment has stoked unease among some students and faculty who see the pick as a victory for the Republican legislature in their mission to secure political control over the state's flagship. |
| Are Students College-Ready, or Are Colleges Student-Ready? | |
 | Colleges and universities will welcome the class of 2028 to campus this fall, another cohort of learners whose high school experience was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and remote learning. Over the past few years, higher education practitioners have noticed differences in how today's students learn compared to their peers, some disparities directly attributed to the pandemic and others a symptom of isolation and online learning. Rather than asking students to catch up and mold to higher ed's traditional structures, experts in the field are asking, are colleges set up to help students succeed? Student readiness has declined from a number of angles: historically low ACT scores, a lack of study skills, class attendance, classroom participation and meeting deadlines consistently. Teenagers entering higher education are also more likely to say they struggle with their mental health and loneliness. In addition to the new challenges traditional-aged students face in higher education due to their pandemic-related learning loss, today's student demographics are changing, says EAB's Alexa Silverman, senior director of student experience and well-being research. |
| US colleges are cutting majors and slashing programs after years of putting it off | |
| Christina Westman dreamed of working with Parkinson's disease and stroke patients as a music therapist when she started studying at St. Cloud State University. But her schooling was upended in May when administrators at the Minnesota college announced a plan to eliminate its music department as it slashes 42 degree programs and 50 minors. It's part of a wave of program cuts in recent months, as U.S. colleges large and small try to make ends meet. Among their budget challenges: Federal COVID relief money is now gone, operational costs are rising and fewer high school graduates are going straight to college. The cuts mean more than just savings, or even job losses. Often, they create turmoil for students who chose a campus because of certain degree programs and then wrote checks or signed up for student loans. "For me, it's really been anxiety-ridden," said Westman, 23, as she began the effort that ultimately led her to transfer to Augsburg University in Minneapolis. "It's just the fear of the unknown." For years, many colleges held off making cuts, said Larry Lee, who was acting president of St. Cloud State but left last month to lead Blackburn College in Illinois. College enrollment declined during the pandemic, but officials hoped the figures would recover to pre-COVID levels and had used federal relief money to prop up their budgets in the meantime, he said. "They were holding on, holding on," Lee said, noting colleges must now face their new reality. |
| Not All 'Free College' Programs Spark Increased Enrollments or More Degrees | |
| The premise of "free college" programs popping up around the country in recent years is that bringing the price of higher education down to nearly nothing will spur more students to enroll and earn degrees. But is that what actually happens? David Monaghan, an associate professor of sociology at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, has been digging into that question in a series of recent research studies. And the results indicate that not all of these free college programs have the intended effect -- and that how a program is set up can make a big difference. In a working paper the professor co-authored that was released last month, for instance, Monaghan compared two free college programs in Pennsylvania to dig into their outcomes. The Morgan Success Scholarship seemed to work largely as its designers hoped. The year after the program started, the rate of college-going at Tamaqua Area High School jumped from 86 percent to 94 percent, and college-going increased another percentage point the following year. And the number of students graduating from Lehigh Carbon Community College with a two-year degree increased after the program was created. But something else happened that wasn't by design. The free-college program appears to have led some students who would have enrolled in a four-year college to instead start at the two-year college -- where they may or may not end up going on to a four-year institution. There is a chance, then, that the program may end up keeping some students from finishing a four-year degree. |
| Federal government extends Form I-9 expiration date to 2027 | |
| Employers may continue to use the most recent Form I-9 until May 31, 2027, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said last week, extending the document's expiration date. Human resources professionals must ensure they're using the form with an Aug. 1, 2023, edition date, according to the agency. Newly downloaded forms will bear the new expiration date but employers may -- for now -- continue using any previously downloaded or printed forms bearing the previous July 31, 2026, expiration date. "Either form may be used until its respective expiration date," USCIS said in a statement. However, "[e]mployers are encouraged to update their electronic Forms I-9 systems to use the [2027] expiration date as soon as possible and must do so no later than July 31, 2026," it said. Form I-9 aims to verify a worker's identity and eligibility to work in the U.S. All employers, including colleges, must have a Form I-9 for each employee, and it must be completed within a small window of their start date. |
| As a new semester looms, students and colleges brace for more protests | |
 | To many pro-Palestinian campus activists, it was a crushing coincidence of the calendar. Just as nationwide protests over the Israel-Hamas war were coming to a crescendo, the spring semester ended and the students cleared out. The sounds of bullhorns and chanting suddenly went silent. "It was definitely very jarring," says junior Marie Adele Grosso, a student organizer at Barnard College and Columbia University. "I wanted so badly to still be in New York. I wanted to be there organizing," she says, "just trying not to lose that momentum." Hundreds were arrested at the encampments, including Gross, who was taken in twice. Like many students, her criminal charges have since been dropped. And her school suspension was downgraded to probation. Now she's among scores of students around the nation using the summer to strategize and plan for what their activism might look like in the fall. "We're not going to just be copying encampment, encampment, encampment," Grosso says. "We will be doing whatever actions we choose, escalations if that's necessary. We will do what is necessary." Speaking from her home in Michigan, Grosso says she now spends her days in remote meetings with students from Barnard and Columbia, as well as engaging with local student and community activists in Michigan. It's how many other students across the U.S. are keeping busy, as well. |
| New FAFSA delay sparks fear after last year's chaotic rollout | |
| The Education Department's new deadline for the launch of the 2025-26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms is leaving advocacy groups in a tough spot as they say the move is the best of bad options but brings up feelings of dread after the FAFSA situation last year. Experts said a decision had to be made whether to delay this year's forms or stick to the normal Oct. 1 deadline with applications that would have bugs and lead to difficulties for students and families. While the department is promising the Dec. 1 deadline will mean fully operational applications for everyone, groups will be keeping a watchful eye after the FAFSA chaos last year that has some colleges still processing the forms. "I will say there definitely is not 100 percent trust from the financial aid community, because it really was -- the 2024-2025 year -- was really traumatic, and there has definitely been a breakdown in trust. So [the Department of Education] does have some work to do, I would say, in restoring that trust, and I think there they know that," said Karen McCarthy, vice president of public policy and federal relations for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. The new deadline for the applications to be available to everyone is on Dec. 1, two months after the typical start date but earlier than last year's rocky release. |
| Senate Democrats open inquiry into duplicate student loan balances | |
 | A group of Senate Democrats launched an inquiry Thursday into student loan balances appearing twice on credit reports, an error that can make it difficult for some borrowers to get credit or loans such as mortgages. The investigation follows a Washington Post report in May about duplicate loan balances showing up on the credit reports of some borrowers whose loans were transferred between servicing companies. Although the Education Department confirmed the existence of 1.4 million duplicate records, it never provided a breakdown of how many people have been affected. Borrowers are mostly unaware of the problem, even as their credit score --- a critical factor in determining how much you pay for car loans and mortgages -- drops. And some of those who discover the error have complained of waiting months to have it resolved. On Thursday, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) sent letters seeking information from student loan servicers Nelnet and the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA) as well as credit reporting agencies Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. They want to know about the scope, origin and resolution of the error, and have given the companies until Aug. 22 to respond. The servicers push back against the charge that they are responsible for the mishap, noting that the Education Department has said credit reporting agencies are to blame. |
| Appeals court blocks Biden student debt plan as Supreme Court battle brews | |
| A federal appeals court on Friday blocked President Biden's new student debt relief plan, teeing up a potential expansion of the legal fight already brewing at the Supreme Court. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling extends the brief pause it ordered last month. The court's updated decision prevents the administration from moving ahead with its Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan until the court resolves the lawsuit, which could take months. The 3-0 ruling called the plan a "vast assertion of newfound power" and said the Biden administration fell far short of showing clear authorization from Congress. "The new SAVE plan ... is an order of magnitude broader than anything that has come before," the court wrote in its unsigned, 10-page opinion. The panel, all appointed by Republican presidents, also rejected the administration's attempted workaround after a district judge invalidated portions of the plan at a previous stage of the case. Seven Republican state attorneys general sued over the SAVE plan, which was introduced last year after the Supreme Court struck down the president's universal student debt relief program. |
| Value vs. cost of university degrees a Mississippi issue | |
| Columnist Bill Crawford writes: Is the value of a university degree worth the cost? A major debate is underway across America over that very question. That skills can be more important than degrees is a large part of it. Another is the high cost of degrees as student debt has reached an all-time high at $1.62 trillion. The U.S. Government, the nation's largest employer, has begun moving away from reliance on degrees. The Office of Personnel Management announced in April that it will rely more on skills assessments for tens of thousands of IT jobs than on degrees. This continues an effort begun by former President Donald Trump in 2020 and continued by the Biden administration to focus federal hiring practices on skills and competencies instead of degrees. In Mississippi, the emphasis on skills and competencies also grows. The Ascent to 55% initiative promoted by the MEC and Accelerate Mississippi likens the value of such to community college and universities degrees. The initiative promotes achieving a 55% attainment rate of "postsecondary degrees, certifications, or credentials" by 2030. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, a champion of free community college tuition, preaches that skills and credentials can result in high paying careers without a university degree. |
| Work begins on Tippah highway project 20 years after being made priority | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: Tippah County, population about 20,500 in northeast Mississippi, was the state's center of political power for one day this past week. State Rep. Jody Steverson, a Republican who represents Tippah County, posted on social media, "I would like to personally invite every Tippah County citizen to this historic event... Never in our county's history have the governor, lieutenant governor, and House speaker of Mississippi ever assembled in Tippah County simultaneously." Gov. Tate Reeves, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, House Speaker Jason White, as well as former Speaker Philip Gunn, were on hand for the ground-breaking of a project to four-lane about a 10-mile section of U.S. Highway 15 from the Tippah and Union counties line to about a mile north of Ripley, the county seat and largest city in Tippah County. The ground-breaking was a big deal in Tippah County. The project has been on the drawing board since 2002 when the Legislature passed a bill called Vison 21 that established a method to four-lane highways in Mississippi based on needs and available money. ... Highway 15 has been in need of four-laning for decades, especially the section between New Albany in Union County and Ripley. Traffic on the two-lane road moves at a snail's pace thanks in part to the big trucks at a furniture factory in the area and other businesses. The ground-breaking more than two decades after U.S 15 was made a priority highlights the lack of funding the Department of Transportation has had for new highway construction projects. |
| Mind Your Own Damn Business | |
| Magnolia Tribune's Russ Latino writes: Tim Walz stepped up to the podium on a stage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this week. Christened as the Democratic Party's nominee for vice president, Walz wasted no time tearing into Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, and Republicans. Walz told a packed auditorium Republicans were no longer the party of freedom. Democrats, he said, had a simple response, "mind your own damn business." The crowd went wild. Walz's line has been adapted in subsequent speeches to read: "In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make. Even if we wouldn't make the same choice for ourselves, there's a golden rule: Mind your own damn business." For a limited government conservative, "mind your own damn business" is more than music to the ears. It's standing in the Sistine Chapel gazing up at Michelangelo's "The Creation of Adam" while Beethoven's Concerto No. 5 plays goodness. Yes, please. But what does Walz mean when he says it? He doesn't mean that government should mind its own business when it comes to what you earn. His running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, voted against the Tax Cut and Jobs Act in 2017, has at various times voiced support for repealing the tax cuts in the law, and has proposed new taxes on Americans and American businesses. He doesn't mean that people should be responsible for themselves. As governor, he enacted a law that provided free breakfast and lunch to students irrespective of their ability to pay. The policy, while popular, is emblematic of a worldview steeped in fostering greater government dependency. Another recent example of this worldview is the Biden administration's perpetual insistence on canceling student loan debt. Apparently, minding my own damn business includes being forced to pay for other people's damn business. |
SPORTS
| What Jeff Lebby did and didn't like from first Mississippi State football preseason scrimmage | |
| Mississippi State football held its first preseason scrimmage Sunday under new coach Jeff Lebby. The scrimmage was closed to the public. Lebby told reporters the first team offense and defense got about "six to seven" open-field drives, and they also worked in situational aspects such as the two-minute drill and the goal line. Lebby did not single out any specific players that did or didn't perform well and added that the two-deep depth chart won't be established until closer to the week of the season opener on Aug. 31. "The message will continue to be, 'Man, we've got to be able to go play with 22 guys on each side of the ball, not to go play with, but to go win with,' " he said. Social media can sometimes provide clues into the closed scrimmages, though Mississippi State has only posted once through early Sunday afternoon. It's a photo of Utah State transfer running back Davon Booth diving ahead with the football stretched out. Lebby said the offensive line has been one of the most improved positions lately. It's important because the Bulldogs lost all five of their starters from last season. "I think the group is really taking great strides since we ended spring ball, and maybe the group that's made the most improvement between the end of spring and fall camp," Lebby said. "And then it's continued to get better. I appreciate their spirit, their work ethic, their toughness and their camaraderie." |
| 'Don't forget about Creed': Whittemore ready to showcase versatility | |
| With so many new faces in Mississippi State's wide receivers room, it can be easy to forget that even after losing Lideatrick "Tulu" Griffin, Zavion Thomas and Justin Robinson, the Bulldogs aren't completely starting over at the position. Creed Whittemore, in his collegiate debut as a freshman last fall, was MSU's leading receiver in the Bulldogs' season opener against Southeastern Louisiana. He caught four passes for 59 yards that day, including a 33-yard touchdown late in the first half, and he added a 53-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. But after racking up 116 all-purpose yards on six touches in that game, he touched the ball just nine more times the rest of the season for 46 yards. "I was just thankful for that opportunity in the first game," Whittemore said Friday. "I was thankful to be on the plane, be on the bus to the games. A lot of people redshirt or don't even get to go to the games. I was never frustrated or anything." MSU struggled to get the ball in the hands of its best offensive playmakers throughout last season, but the Bulldogs' new offense under head coach Jeff Lebby is designed to give the backs and receivers room to operate. Transfer portal additions Kelly Akharaiyi and Kevin Coleman are getting most of the attention, as are freshmen Mario Craver, Braylon Burnside and JJ Harrell. But the cupboard was not left bare after 2023, with Whittemore, Jordan Mosley and Jaden Walley all still around. Whittemore, a high school quarterback in Gainesville, Florida, backed up Griffin at slot receiver and is now ready for a bigger role even in a deeper position group. |
| Homegrown linebacker Stone Blanton eager for new journey at Mississippi State | |
| When the Mississippi State football team kicks off the 2024 season on Aug. 31, a homegrown linebacker will be suiting up in his first official game with the maroon and white after a roundabout journey to Starkville. Jackson native and former Madison-Ridgeland Academy standout Stone Blanton is eager to capitalize on an opportunity in his home state of Mississippi after a two-year stint at South Carolina. A dual-sport athlete out of high school, Blanton initially had plans to join the Bulldogs' baseball squad, but an offer to play SEC football by Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer was too good to turn down. While in Columbia, Blanton played an integral role in a strong linebacker corps that included Debo Williams, a 2023 first-team All-SEC defender. In his two seasons, Blanton accumulated 59 total tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and a pick-six. Though the two years at South Carolina proved to be invaluable for the linebacker, a chance to be much closer to home and remain in college football's most dominant conference was one Blanton couldn't turn down. "I feel like it was kind of just a perfect fit when I came here. Being able to go home when I need to see my family, that's probably the best part," Blanton recently told the media after a fall practice. "I've loved every bit of it. I'm excited." |
| New Locker Room Energizes Bulldogs | |
| More than four months before Santa Claus loads up his sleigh, Christmas has come early for Mississippi State volleyball's student-athletes. A completely refreshed, new-look locker room was revealed to the Bulldogs on Wednesday, eliciting shouts and screams of joy that were reminiscent of kids getting a first glimpse of a holiday haul. "I'm so excited – this has been a long time in the making," MSU veteran and graduate student Rebecca Walk said. "We've been talking about wanting a new locker room for the past four years. Just getting to walk in here and be surprised was a really awesome feeling." In recent days, the locker room remodel – a fully donor-funded project – was taking shape in secret. All the secrecy came to an end though when the Bulldogs entered their new digs and responded by celebrating in such a way the walls of the Newell-Grissom Building had to have been shaking. "This is a blessing in disguise honestly, because no one told us about it," senior Amina Shackelford said. "It makes it all worthwhile coming to practice and games knowing that we can relax and reset in here [in the new locker room]." Volleyball's new locker room is just the latest completed piece of MSU athletics' comprehensive long-term master plan for all athletic facilities. Previously revealed were soon-to-be completed upgrades at Humphrey Coliseum which feature redesigned team areas for the Bulldog basketball programs, as well as a new premium club section for fans. |
| Mississippi State alum Marco Arop wins silver medal in photo finish | |
| Former All-American Mississippi State track and field star Marco Arop walked away a silver medalist after a dramatic photo finish end to the men's 800-meter final. Arop, running for Team Canada, posted a historic 1:41.20 time in the event. The feat not only broke his best personal time and a Canadian record, but it was also the best among a North American runner and the fourth-best in world history. Unfortunately, it was not quite enough for the gold as Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi was able to cross the finish line just one-hundredth of a second quicker than the former Bulldog. Arop's performance was notable on multiple fronts. He put Canada on the medal map in the 800-meter run for the first time in 60 years. The Edmonton, Alberta, native is the first Bulldog to medal in the event, and his finish gives Mississippi State multiple medalists for just the second time in school history. Former Bulldog javelin thrower Anderson Peters took home a bronze for Grenada on Thursday. "I am incredibly proud of Marco and Anderson," Mississippi State head track and field coach and Team Canada assistant Chris Woods said. "They deserve all the credit as they put in all the hard work. What I want this to highlight is if a student-athlete chooses to attend Mississippi State University and works hard, they can be a global track and field medalist." |
| Jared Wilson helps LSU NIL efforts through Bayou Traditions | |
| Before he sat down for lunch, the new president of LSU's name, image and likeness collective had to deal with a bit of business. First, Jared Wilson wrapped up a conversation with the family of an LSU men's basketball freshman guard. Then, a football player needed help with one of his tax forms. "I'm getting a 1099 right now," Wilson said, looking at his phone. That's life these days for the man in charge of Bayou Traditions. The 47-year-old has spent the past two months talking to players, parents and agents while trying to raise money for LSU's rosters. When he and his wife, LSU associate head volleyball coach Jill Wilson, recently went on vacation, he worked for about four hours a day. He had never done that before, but Wilson wants to raise $14 million for the collective by next summer. (He declined to say how much it currently has.) And though athletic departments are preparing to share an estimated $20-22 million in revenue with players starting in the 2025-26 academic year, Wilson thinks third-party collectives will maintain an important role in the future of college sports. "LSU fans expect wins. Out of every program, every coach. That's going to take talent," Wilson said. "So we still need money on top of what the revenue share would have to make sure there's enough to go around. That's going to be everywhere. The need for a collective, I think, is always going to be there." The hire in June marked a significant move for Bayou Traditions. It had been operated since its inception by Carlos Spaht, an attorney in Baton Rouge, with help from MatchPoint Connection. But Spaht had to split his time, and collectives have become multimillion dollar businesses. Wilson said for Spaht "to have two full-time jobs doing what he did was unreal." |
| U. of Kentucky and Mitch Barnhart deny wrongdoing in sexual abuse lawsuit filed over swim coach | |
 | The University of Kentucky on Friday asked a judge to dismiss it as a defendant for several claims in an April 12 lawsuit alleging a pattern of sexual abuse by former UK swim coach Lars Jorgensen. In its motion to dismiss, filed in U.S. District Court in Lexington, UK cited sovereign immunity, or the legal concept that governments generally can't be sued or held responsible for damages. UK said it's shielded from claims in the suit alleging failure to train and supervise, negligence and vicarious liability for battery. "Under Kentucky law, the Commonwealth and its agencies are immune from suit unless it has given its consent or otherwise waived its immunity," attorney Bryan H. Beauman of Lexington wrote for UK. "Without question, the University of Kentucky is a state agency that enjoys the benefits and protection of governmental immunity except where it has been explicitly waived by the legislature," Beauman wrote. One possible problem for UK is that past federal court decisions have allowed state entities to be held liable in cases involving violations of Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school that gets federal funding. The suit against UK also includes Title IX sexual harassment claims. |
| Sources: Florida State, ACC to begin mediation over potential exit | |
| Florida State and the ACC are scheduled to enter mediation next week over their legal dispute, multiple sources tell Yahoo Sports. While it is a significant step in the proceedings, the mediation phase -- an in-person discussion between the two sides in front of a neutral mediator -- is an expected one and is not guaranteed to produce a settlement decision. The neutral mediator has been chosen, and the two sides, barring something unforeseen, will convene for the talks next week, those with knowledge of the discussions tell Yahoo Sports. Officials at the ACC and Florida State both declined comment when reached. The ACC and one of its most premier brands are locked in a legal fight. The Seminoles are attempting to exit the conference without paying both the exit fee and the cost of buying out its media rights, which it agreed years ago to grant to the conference. The price tag of such an exit is estimated to be at more than $500 million, according to court records. The case is playing out in two separate lawsuits over two states, FSU's home in Florida and the ACC's home in North Carolina, as each side works to hold the proceedings in their own footprint. During a hearing in April in Florida, Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper ordered the school and the conference to attempt "good faith" mediation to resolve the dispute. |
| Plaintiffs in Colorado lawsuit v. NCAA ask judge to deny settlement | |
| Plaintiffs' attorneys in a federal antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA that is not part of a recent $2.78 billion settlement agreement filed a motion Friday asking a judge to deny preliminary approval of the deal. Attorneys in Fontenot v. the NCAA, which was filed in a Colorado District Court, say the agreement to three antitrust lawsuits facing the association and five major conferences is settling for "just pennies on the dollar." The NCAA, Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference agreed in May to pay billions in damages to former and current college athletes who were denied the ability to earn money from their names, images and likeness, dating to 2016. A preliminary approval hearing in front of U.S. Judge Claudia Wilken in the Northern District of California has been scheduled for Sept. 5. Former Colorado football player Alex Fontenot filed his lawsuit in November, claiming NCAA rules have illegally prevented college athletes from earning their fair share of the millions of dollars in revenue schools bring in. The plaintiffs' attorneys in the House case requested that Fontenot v. NCAA be joined with the cases in California that are part of the settlement, but a Colorado judge denied the request in May. |
| House settlement faces new challenges with athlete objections | |
| As lawyers for plaintiffs eye Sept. 5 for preliminary approval of the House v. NCAA settlement, a new wave of opposition faces the NCAA and Power Five conferences. The House settlement paves a new college sports landscape, with schools able to share up to $22 million beginning in 2025-26, if certified. The settlement would also provide a payday for the thousands of athletes who were not allowed to capitalize on NIL, participate in revenue sharing or profit from video games. Instead of facing $20 billion in back damages, the NCAA and Power Five conferences signed off on a 10-year settlement agreement that includes $2.776 billion in back damages. New scholarship limits are set to be installed, and the settlement would attempt to establish new enforcement in college sports. Judge Claudia Wilken could give preliminary approval to the settlement on Sept. 5, however, she can still deny the full settlement. Last Friday, former and current rowers at Yale, Oregon State, George Washington and Texas filed an objection to the settlement plus an opposition to the motion for preliminary settlement approval. At the core of the six athletes' opposition is that the settlement would keep depriving college athletes, specifically female athletes, of their rightful compensation. The rowers also argued how the settlement would substitute an illegal "cartel," the NCAA, for another. "The NCAA," the objection states, "historically depressed the value of women athletes' NIL by failing to invest in promoting women's sports. ... The settlement simply establishes a new cartel with different terms. A remedy that merely repeats the original illegal conduct is no remedy at all." |
| House v. NCAA Settlement Faces New Objections, Opposition Briefs | |
| While attorneys for the NCAA, power conferences and athletes represented by the House, Carter and Hubbard antitrust litigations are confident U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken will approve their historic, multibillion dollar settlement, crew athletes and others now stand in their way. Last Friday, former Yale University athlete Grace E. Menke and five others who are, or were, members of the Yale, Oregon State, George Washington and Texas crew teams filed an objection to the settlement and an opposition to the motion for preliminary settlement approval. According to data cited by the objectors, since about 380,000 athletes would get about $125 for their labor as college sports athletes, that would amount to "less than seven hours of work per year at the federal minimum wage" which they ridicule as "orders of magnitude less than the number of hours student-athletes provide to their schools in athletic labor." The objectors echo the core argument in Johnson v. NCAA by underscoring that college athletes "are at the very least deserving of minimum wage under the [Fair Labor Standards Act]." The objectors also chastise the settlement for (allegedly) failing to include the voices of college athletes, though the cases were brought by a group of college athletes that included former Oregon and current TCU basketball player Sedona Prince, former Illinois football player Tymir Oliver, former Oklahoma State (now Carolina Panthers) football player Chuba Hubbard, former Auburn track and field athlete Keira McCarrell, former Duke (now Buffalo Bills) football player DeWayne Carter and Stanford soccer player Nya Harrison. |
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