| Friday, September 13, 2024 |
| Mississippi State granted $9.9 million to improve employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities | |
 | As part of a nationwide grant program through the U.S. Department of Education, Mississippi State University will receive nearly $10 million to further employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Officials at the university in Starkville successfully applied for $9,995,345 from the federal government to be used for the development, refinement, and evaluation of strategies or programs to transition youth and adults with disabilities to competitive, integrated employment. In total, $251 million was dished out to 27 grantees across the U.S. who are working to ensure individuals not only have access to employment but access to well-paying employment. The grants are for five years and are issued through the Disability Innovation Fund program. Recipients came from 16 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marina Islands. Mississippi State was one of 13 institutions of higher education to be included and the only recipient in Mississippi. |
| Cotton District nightlife reaches new heights with rooftop bar | |
| Starkville's Cotton District is welcoming a new addition to student nightlife with the construction of The Landing, a rooftop bar on University Drive, expected to open early next year. The Landing, which will neighbor Bulldog Burger, will be around 10,000 square feet and feature two stories. It will also include a sky lounge that overlooks Mississippi State University. Although there is no set opening date, however, it is expected to be fully operational by mid-to-late January 2025. The idea for The Landing was a team effort involving the minds of 10 alumni, said owner Ken Ezelle. "It's a bar that we wanted for the students at Mississippi State. We all love the university and wanted to give back to the students," Ezelle said. "We wanted Mississippi State students to have something to be proud of." In addition to the bar atmosphere, The Landing will serve bar-type food and provide a venue for local events such as Greek life date parties and game day activities. Ezelle stated that The Landing will be unique in the Cotton District due to its size and ambiance. "We've heard people talking about The Library in Oxford for years. People would say, 'Starkville should have something like that,'" Ezelle said. "The Landing is going to fulfill those needs and be one of the nicer bars, probably, in the Southeastern Conference." |
| Mary Means Business: Restaurants open in Starkville | |
 | The former Guadalajara location on Highway 12 prepares for a new tenant. According to Starkville's building office, a new restaurant is moving in, but details have yet to be released. No permits have been filed, but you can already see a new exterior paint job coming along. More details are on the way so keep an eye out while we await the new announcement. Speaking of restaurants, a new spot on Main Street is open for business. Starkville adds another restaurant and nightlife spot to its rotation. Whiskey Ranch, 110 E. Main St., is officially open for business. Owner Finn Rice opened the bar and grill in the former Moe's Barbecue spot. I just checked out the menu and it ranges from wings, Mississippi poutine, blackened catfish, pork kabobs, chicken alfredo and more. The Breakfast Club is officially re-opened now at Eckford Drive. TBC, where breakfast is served all day, with lunch from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Dishes range from chicken and waffles to fried pork chops, chicken spaghetti, hamburger steak and more. |
| Oby's: Bringing a taste of New Orleans to Starkville since 1976 | |
 | While the New Orleans-style po-boys, muffulettas, red beans and rice, gumbo and other favorites on the menu beckon, so, too, does the warm embrace of nostalgia at Oby's. Firmly anchored at its location on Academy Road, the restaurant was once on the outskirts of the city, right off what was old Highway 25, leading into the busier parts of town as it intersected with Highway 12. It was much like a getaway, a lonely outpost away from campus for students when founder Don O'Bannon opened it in 1976. But those days have long passed. These days, neighborhoods and businesses surround Oby's. Still, students, alumni and tourists flock to the restaurant as they always have. Eating at Oby's is a rite of passage. On game days during the fall, the line to get in can snake its way around like "It's a Small World" at Walt Disney World. Few people would expect anything less. "It starts at 10:30 when we open up until we close at 9," said David Albritton, one of the Oby's managers. "We'll have a little break during the ballgame, but even then people will still come. And if they don't go to the game, they'll come knowing it's not as busy." Oby's also caters, and tailgaters in The Junction often order chicken tenders, catfish with the fixings, po-boys and sandwich trays; and when it's colder, soups, gumbo and jambalaya. |
| Francine blows down trees, knocks out power in Golden Triangle | |
| While Francine was a Category 2 hurricane when it struck Louisiana Wednesday, the storm had weakened before it reached the Golden Triangle on Thursday morning. National Weather Service reports said wind speeds reached more than 25 mph, with gusts reaching more than 40 mph in the Golden Triangle. NWS measured just over an inch of rainfall throughout the morning. Oktibbeha County Emergency Management Director Kristen Campanella told The Dispatch in a text message that she hadn't gotten any reports of damage Thursday, just a few trees down and sporadic power outages. Starkville Utilities General Manager Edward Kemp said the department only saw short, temporary outages. He estimated there were about 10 to 12 total issues reported and the storm affected fewer than 40 customers. "We had a few issues with limbs on power lines that caused some short temporary outages, but have not sustained anything major that's requiring reconstruction or new poles or anything like that," Kemp said. 4-County Electric Marketing and Public Affairs Director Jon Turner told The Dispatch as of 12:30 p.m. that there were 157 issues causing outages across the cooperative's service territory, which affected about 4,400 customers. "The sustained winds, the gusts, that's what really has caused the problems," Turner said. |
| Plans show Target planning store on North Gloster Street in Tupelo | |
| Tupelo officials are planning to rezone several parcels of land along North Gloster Street to potentially accommodate national retailer Target, according to plans obtained by the Daily Journal via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The Tupelo Planning Committee will hold a public hearing Sept. 30 at 6 p.m. for the rezoning of 113.14 acres on land across from Commonwealth Boulevard as part of a larger development project, the details of which city officials declined to reveal before those meetings. Though Target's website does not list Tupelo among its 37 upcoming store locations, Tupelo records paint a different story. According to site plans obtained by the Daily Journal, Target Corporation has plans to build an outlet for the retail giant on three parcels at the site. Within this site plan is a request for rezoning the property from Agriculture Open to General Commercial. Of the 113 acres, 23.35 acres will go toward the proposed store, including space for more than 180 parking spaces. According to the site plans, the store would be 148,721 square feet in size. This project did not just appear out of thin air, but included years of courting the company and months of negotiations. This included multiple closed-door meetings with the Community Development Foundation and city officials. Tupelo Development Services Director Tanner Newman said previously that the project went from "zero to 100" once momentum began. |
| Mississippi Book Festival gears up for 10th anniversary: What to know about the event | |
| The Mississippi Book Festival returns this weekend for the 10th edition of the wildly popular event. In 2023, the festival saw over 14,000 people come to the grounds of the state capitol in Jackson to hear from panelists, talk to writers on Authors Alley, and purchase their newest reads from independent bookstores and their pop-up shops. Ellen Daniels, executive director of the Mississippi Book Festival, is hopeful the anniversary edition of the event will see more visitors than usual -- especially now that it's being held in September. In previous years, the festival has experienced scorching temperatures during dates in August. "Last year, we had a great festival. It was bigger than it was in 2022, which was our first year back in person," Daniels said. "We've been considering a fall date for several years, but the heat last August helped us focus on the change." This year's Mississippi Book Festival will feature arguably the best lineup it's ever had with Jesmyn Ward headlining over 250 panelists. Ward, the first Black woman to not only win the National Book Award but to win it twice, will be discussing her newest novel, Let Us Descend. Joining Ward as the moderator for her panel will be the one and only LeVar Burton of Star Trek and PBS's Reading Room. One of Burton's personal missions over his storied 48-year acting career has been to advance education among children. |
| Enzo closing, new Italian restaurant to fill footprint | |
| A Starkville-based Italian restaurant is slated to open here at the Renaissance next year following the closing of Enzo Osteria. According to John Ryckert, Taste's director of operations, the property on the south end of the Renaissance will be home to Taste starting next year. This will be Taste's second location. "We are beyond excited to expand Taste to Ridgeland," Ryckert said. "Our team is dedicated to providing our guests with an unforgettable dining experience, from the carefully crafted dishes inspired by traditional Italian recipes to the welcoming atmosphere that makes everyone feel like family. We can't wait to become a part of the Ridgeland community." The restaurant will undergo renovations and will officially open its doors to the public at the first of 2025. This announcement follows word that Enzo Osteria will close on Sept. 21. Enzo has been open for about two years at that location. It replaced Biaggi's, a national chain of Italian restaurants. On Tuesday evening, owner Robert St. John announced on social media that they had made the difficult decision to close the restaurant. "Renaissance at Colony Park is excited to welcome Taste and to introducing this proven concept to this market," a statement from Renaissance said. "The restaurant and ownership are a perfect fit within our Renaissance restaurant lineup." |
| Lou's Full Serv is closing in Belhaven. What's next? | |
 | Lou's Full-Serv is leaving Jackson. The last day for Lou's in the Belhaven area will be Sept. 28, according to social media posts. "As we approach our 10-year anniversary we've been reflecting on how grateful we have been for the support and love you all have shown us in supporting our dreams over this last decade," owner and chef Louis LaRose said. "It has been our pleasure to serve the Belhaven area for the last 10 years and this spot will always hold a piece of our hearts." LaRose has been very open about his struggles in that location in a previous article in the Clarion Ledger. "We are not without our struggles there, too," said LaRose in a July story. "I'll be honest. It's been a rough last three years in Jackson. Between lockdowns, Coronavirus and other things, it has been a struggle ever since. Also, there are nicer, newer places that people like to go to." In the social media post, LaRose also said he is moving his entire operation to Ridgeland where he already has a sandwich shop. Lou's Southern Sandwich Co. will also be closing briefly beginning Sept. 28 and will reopen on the second week of October as Lou's Full-Serv. |
| Paving project at LeFleur's Bluff predicted to take three months; guides outlined for time period | |
| A new development is paving the way to improve LeFleur's Bluff -- home to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Park's (MDWFP) Museum of Natural Science (MMNS), Mississippi Children's Museum (MCM), and the LeFleur's Bluff Playground. Beginning this month, the road leading from the Museum Boulevard entrance of LeFleur's Bluff to the playground and the MMNS will be paved, enhancing the visitor experience with smoother access and a better drive. The project is expected to take up to three months during which the museums and all amenities will remain open. "We're committed to providing the best possible experience for our visitors, and this road paving project is an important step in making that happen," said Angel Rohnke, director of MDWFP's Museum of Natural Science. "We appreciate your patience as we enhance our facilities and ensure that LeFleur's Bluff remains a top destination where families and nature enthusiasts can connect, learn, and play." Funding was provided by the Mississippi legislature and private donors secured by the Mississippi Children’s Museum in partnership with the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science. |
| Speaker Jason White discusses upcoming tax reform summit | |
| Changes to the way you pay taxes will again be on the table in 2025 but lawmakers aren't waiting till they gavel in for the next session to start formulating a change plan. Speaker Jason White says he'd like to see the state follow a simple rule: tax it less if you want more of something. "You, as the consumer, would make the options on the things that you're taxed on based on the things that you buy," said White. "And I wouldn't tax work." That's not how the tax structure is set up now. And White is tasking some of the House members with taking a deep dive into how it could move in that direction. His select committee on tax reform has already had some meetings to start drilling down into the details. "So people say, why do y'all keep talking about tax cuts, Jason?" explained White. "It's because we continue to take in a huge portion of money over and above what we budget and spend now. And we're still running a billion-dollar surplus." And getting a jump start on the debates, for an issue that has been contentious at the Capitol in the past, is on purpose. "It lowers the temperature in the room to have them away from a legislative session, you know, away from that setting," he said. Alongside the select committee that's been meeting, the upcoming tax reform summit provides an opportunity for more people, including the public, to get in on the conversations about what impacts your wallet the most. |
| Mississippi's November General Election ballot is set | |
| The Mississippi Secretary of State's office released the November General Election sample ballot on Friday with the U.S. presidential race topping the ticket. Notably, despite Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. suspending his bid for the White House and endorsing Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump, Kennedy's name remains on the Mississippi ballot. In all, nine presidential tickets are listed on the Magnolia State's ballot. The last time Mississippi's electoral votes went to a Democratic presidential candidate was 1976 with Jimmy Carter. While Vice President Kamala Harris would like to change that, it is unlikely is a state that is considered solidly red. In Trump's 2016 and 2020 presidential bids, Mississippi voted in his favor over 57 percent each time. Voters will also choose their representatives to the U.S. Senate and U.S. House. Democrat Ty Pinkins is challenging incumbent Republican Senator Roger Wicker. Wicker has represented the state in the U.S. Senate since 2007 and has consistently won statewide elections with over 57 percent of the vote. Pinkins' limited financial resources and name ID will likely send Wicker back to the Senate for another six years. In the U.S. House, three of the state's four Congressmen face General Election opponents but all are favored to return to Washington D.C. for two more years. Third District Congressman Michael Guest, a Republican, is unopposed. |
| Indicted alderman says debt was paid before arrest, cites improper investigation by state auditor | |
| After a former Horn Lake alderman was indicted for fraudulent employment benefits, he and his attorney fired back at the state saying the debt had already been settled. Special agents with the Mississippi Office of State Auditor took Charles Roberts into custody on Wednesday. He stands accused of receiving unemployment benefits while still employed by the city of Horn Lake and failing to disclose that income. But in a press conference on Thursday, Roberts' attorney said the issue had already been resolved because the money was paid back. Roberts thought there was no more to be done -- until the announcement from State Auditor Shad White's office that Roberts had been indicted. "This was paid in July," Roberts' attorney, Tony Farese, said. "How can the state auditor's office not know that?" Farese admitted that Roberts had indeed received unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic despite being employed as a Horn Lake alderman. But when he was informed that had been overpaid, Roberts' wages were garnished, and he sold his house to pay the state $16,948 to settle the discrepancy. "I'm tired of political shenanigans by Mr. White's office," Farese said. "If Shad White and his office had properly investigated, they would have seen that Mr. Roberts had already paid." |
| Getting serious about a new farm bill | |
| The president of the National Farmers Union says lawmakers are getting more serious about getting a new farm bill completed this year. Rob Larew tells Brownfield high engagement with leaders and creativity is needed to get something done. "Not only getting that combination of solutions to get the compromise bill, but what will that bill be attached to?" Larew says there's not a lot of time in the lame duck session of Congress, but "you can almost see the solution. You can see the compromise solution on sticking points right now and ways to get to yes. Some of us are beginning to see that yes and with Congressional will, amazing things can happen quickly." The National Farmers Union members met for a fall fly-in this week in Washington D.C. On Wednesday, House Ag Committee Ranking Member David Scott sent a memo to Democratic committee members saying all four leaders of the ag committee agree they're better off without another farm bill extension. That puts more pressure on Congress. Scott says he's hopeful a farm bill will be included in the National Defense Authorization Act or appropriations omnibus in the lame-duck session of Congress. |
| Push for a new farm bill came with a letter | |
| All lanes of the American agricultural highway merged this week to drive a message to Washington. Farmers facing dire economic situations need a new farm bill and financial assistance. That unified voice is a good thing. On Monday, more than 300 national, regional and state groups representing the breadth of U.S. agriculture sent a signed letter to congressional leaders, calling on them to pass a new farm bill before year's end. House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell received the letter. Many members of the groups, including major commodity groups from throughout the South and Southeast, followed the letter with a coordinated fly-in trip to Washington to bring farmers and ag lenders together with lawmakers and staff to discuss the issue face to face. "It is critical that Congress pass a new farm bill that strengthens the safety net as many producers are facing multiple years of not being profitable, and this is causing their overall financial situation to deteriorate. Some will have challenges as they seek operating credit for the 2025 crop year," the letter states. |
| Too much? Many Americans feel the need to limit their political news, AP-NORC/USAFacts poll finds | |
 | When her husband turns on the television to hear news about the upcoming presidential election, that's often a signal for Lori Johnson Malveaux to leave the room. It can get to be too much. Often, she'll go to a TV in another room to watch a movie on the Hallmark Channel or BET. She craves something comforting and entertaining. And in that, she has company. While about half of Americans say they are following political news "extremely" or "very" closely, about 6 in 10 say they need to limit how much information they consume about the government and politics to avoid feeling overloaded or fatigued, according to a new survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts. Make no mistake: Malveaux plans to vote. She always does. "I just get to the point where I don't want to hear the rhetoric," she said. Caleb Pack, 23, a Republican from Ardmore, Oklahoma, who works in IT, tries to keep informed through the news feeds on his phone, which is stocked with a variety of sources, including CNN, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press. Yet sometimes, Pack says, it seems like a bombardment. "It's good to know what's going on, but both sides are pulling a little bit extreme," he said. "It just feels like it's a conversation piece everywhere, and it's hard to escape it." |
| Harris details rural push ahead of battleground barnstorm | |
 | Vice President Kamala Harris is circulating her first detailed goals for rural America in a bid to woo voters the party has been hemorrhaging support among for decades -- and who will help determine the outcome of the November elections. The new document is the furthest Harris has gone in her career to outline how she would approach policy for rural communities and comes as her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, who has been tapped as a sort of special envoy to more rural areas of battleground states in the final sprint, is set to visit Wausau, Wisconsin, Friday. Harris herself is venturing into some of Pennsylvania's largely rural, red counties Friday as part of her battleground blitz over the next few days. As part of her broad plans, the campaign promises significant new federal investment for rural communities under a Harris-Walz administration and warns that Trump's policies "will leave rural America behind," according to the new two-page outline obtained by POLITICO. The document, like similar campaign materials, is meant to help engage and organize voters on the ground with just weeks to go. The campaign's new rural outline also pledges to scale up programs to help rural communities access federal funding while expanding small-business financing and other aid. It also attempts to beef up Harris' limited ties to agriculture and small-town voters, with the document noting both she and Walz are from top agricultural-producing states and "that rural communities are essential to the success and character of our nation." |
| The 'feral 25-year-olds' making Kamala Harris go viral on TikTok | |
 | After Tuesday night's debate, as former president Donald Trump worked the reporters in the spin room in Philadelphia, Vice President Kamala Harris's TikTok team was busy appealing to a different crowd. In the digital "war room" at campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del., they hit the button on their pièce de résistance shortly after midnight: A six-second video that mocked Trump's performance by showing his lectern inhabited by a laughably dramatic "Dance Moms" star. "I thought I was ready to be back. I thought I was stronger than this but obviously I'm not," she lamented. "I wanna go home."Viewed more than 7 million times, the video was produced by a small TikTok team -- all 25 and under, some working their first jobs -- given unfettered freedom to chase whatever they think will go viral. Over the past eight weeks, Harris's social media team has helped supercharge her campaign, harnessing the rhythms and absurdities of internet culture to create one of the most inventive and irreverent get-out-the-vote strategies in modern politics. Trump also has leaped forcefully into social media, seeing it as critical to grabbing voters' attention in an age of mass distraction. But while Trump has posted attacks on Harris' intelligence, warnings of economic "disaster" and grim polemics about how America's "FUTURE IS AT STAKE" -- "We're a nation in decline," he says in one video, holding handcuffs aloft. "Nobody is safe. Absolutely nobody" -- the Harris team has adopted a more playful approach, chasing virality with snarky, upbeat and oddball content delivered at internet speed. |
| Trump's Tax-Cut Proposal Shakes Up Social Security Debate | |
 | Donald Trump's plan to repeal income taxes on Social Security benefits would eliminate an unpopular levy, make it easier for older people to keep working, and leave a big hole in the program's finances. At $1.5 trillion over a decade, Trump's tax cut for Social Security recipients is one of the former president's largest new policies as he seeks to return to the White House. It is smaller than extending expiring tax cuts but bigger than ending taxes on tips or lowering corporate taxes for domestic manufacturers. Trump's proposal has revived a dormant debate over taxing Social Security benefits when they are paid out. His plan is unlikely to pass Congress unscathed if he wins this fall, but lawmakers will have to examine the program's finances by the early 2030s. Beyond seeking ways to extend Social Security's solvency, they might look to trim the tax on benefits. The income tax on benefits hit 50% of Social Security recipients in 2023, according to the Social Security Administration, up from 10% when Congress created the tax in 1983. Many retirees are surprised when they learn about the tax liability, and surveys show the Trump proposal has touched a nerve. A bill supported by most House Democrats would reduce, but not repeal, the tax while expanding benefits. |
| Christian Conservatives Face Reality: Increasingly, They Stand Alone | |
 | On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Sam Brownback, the former governor of Kansas and a champion of socially conservative causes, asked a small crowd of his fellow Christian voters if they were feeling discouraged. Inside this church in Grapevine, Texas, nearly every hand shot up. The response might seem mystifying: These voters had won huge victories, most notably in overturning Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion. And Mr. Brownback sat alongside a former football coach whose victory in another Supreme Court decision allowing prayer on the field symbolized the court's decisive swing in their favor. But with the presidential election closing in, hope suddenly felt thin. Powerful efforts to "suffocate" their values seemed to be everywhere, Mr. Brownback said to widespread agreement. He tried to offer reassurance. He recounted the biblical story of Gideon, who triumphed in battle against a vast army with only 300 men by his side. "God never needs a majority," he said. "All he needs is a faithful remnant." As opposition to their social agenda grows, particularly on abortion, many conservative Christians are experiencing whiplash as they grapple with an uncertain future. "We had been on offense for 50 years, and now they're on offense," said Ralph Reed, a longtime conservative operative who led the Christian Coalition in the 1990s. "That doesn't mean that we won't ultimately prevail, it just means that we're in a different season in that struggle." |
| Mississippi University for Women ranked as best nursing school in state | |
| The Mississippi University for Women is once again being touted as the state's best when it comes to nursing. The Vandergriff College of Nursing and Health Sciences at MUW was ranked by Niche.com as No. 1 in Mississippi for students looking to become nurses. The latest ranking comes after MUW was tabbed as the best registered nurse program in the state by RegisteredNursing.org. "Rankings such as these are a testament to the faculty and staff's dedication to our programs and our overall commitment to our students," said Dr. Brandy Larmon, dean of the Vandergriff College of Nursing and Health Sciences. "So many of our graduates stay in Mississippi, and knowing we are contributing safe, quality, practice-ready graduates to the health of our state and beyond is paramount to our purpose. Being recognized for that dedication, commitment, and contribution speaks volumes." The Vandergriff College of Nursing and Health Sciences has more than 900 students. |
| Student parking complaints escalate, university strategizes solutions | |
 | Even though students continue to complain about the lack of parking on campus, the University of Mississippi Department of Parking and Transportation says it is working on ways to make students' commutes to class smoother. For students to park in any lot on campus, they must purchase a parking pass or pay for metered parking from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday through Friday. Parking passes are sold at a 2-to-1 ratio of two parking spots per one pass holder. Even with a parking pass, some students are struggling to find a spot among the 11,584 available spots available on campus. Avery Landry, a sophomore law studies major, has a Commuter Red parking pass which enables her to park in 3,699 spots spread across 12 locations. "I have a Commuter Red parking pass," Landry said. "Not only is there barely any parking, but if you're able to find a spot, it's a far walk. I stopped using my parking pass and started taking the bus because it takes me over 30 minutes to find a parking spot, then an additional 20 to walk to campus. For as much money as I pay, this should not be as big of a problem as it is." Director of Parking and Transportation Sam Patterson said that there is ample space available to students, but these spaces are not being utilized. "There is not a lack of spaces available but a lack of preferential parking near academic buildings or residence halls," Patterson said. "There are still some lots on the campus perimeter with ample parking availability." |
| These small Black-owned farms are helping find climate solutions | |
 | A number of small Black-owned farms in the Gulf South are growing crops with the climate in mind. Using less water to grow rice is an example of what the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls climate-smart agriculture. The science isn't clear on what impacts climate-smart agriculture has on the climate. Still, it does have benefits for farmers and communities, says Paul West, a senior scientist who researches ecosystems and agriculture at Project Drawdown. "I think a lot of climate-smart farming practices are very good in terms of the health of the soil and long-term productivity for a farmer," West says. In 2023, the Biden administration announced that $20 billion would go toward climate-smart agriculture over the next five years. Some farmers are tapping into the federal money to help implement these ideas. Other farmers are learning how to do climate-smart agriculture through Black land-grant universities and colleges. John Coleman manages the Alcorn State University demonstration farm in Mound Bayou, in the Mississippi Delta. In mid-June, he showed a group of small-farm owners and others around, pointing out crops such as the purple hull peas the farm grows. He also showed the practices used on the farm, like limited irrigation and growing cover crops. "That's to help protect our soil that we're losing. You can see global warming and things like that, so we are trying to protect the earth," Coleman says. |
| Board of Trustees approve renovation projects at September meeting | |
| On Sept. 6, the Auburn University Board of Trustees approved numerous new and ongoing projects. Five of the nine projects are currently in the design phase, and the estimated spending of the fiscal year 2025 budget for construction, design and planning is approximately $350.5 million. At the Nov. 17, 2023, meeting, the board approved a resolution authorizing fundraising and project planning for improving the College of Human Sciences Academic and Research facilities. At the Sept. 6 meeting, the Board approved the initiation of design and conception for a new facility for the college. The purpose of the new building is to provide more space for students and to help students focus their research on specific studies. Currently, funding is expected to come from bond, gift, state and General Reserve funds. There will be a new research facility at the research park on Devall Drive. The Auburn Research and Technology Foundation gained approval for land in the 171-acre park to build a combined research facility. The new facility was approved because there is a need for more labs. One of the research labs in need of more space is the Radio Frequency Identification Lab on East Glenn Ave. The lab focuses on using RFID in the business and technical aspects while also researching technologies in retail, aviation, defense, supply chain and manufacturing. The board approved ARTF as a ground lessee at the park and further plans will be created. |
| Lavish catering under ex-UF President Sasse included $38K sushi bar, large tailgate parties | |
 | During his brief time as University of Florida president, Ben Sasse dished out over $1.3 million on private catering for lavish dinners, football tailgates and extravagant social functions -- a figure roughly double the amount spent by his predecessor and one that included a holiday party featuring a $38,610 sushi bar. At the Dec. 7 holiday party, Sasse hosted about 200 guests who dined on fresh sushi hand rolled by two dedicated chefs alongside traditional dishes of beef, chicken and sweet desserts. The event, detailed in a newly released list of more than 500 itemized catering expenses obtained under Florida's public records law, cost $176,816, or roughly $900 per person. The guest list that night included UF's top brass and officials with the university's fundraising foundation, who solicit big checks for education programs from wealthy donors. With a student choir caroling in the background, Sasse personally welcomed guests as they arrived at the old president's mansion on campus, and later toasted them from two open bars serving unlimited alcohol. The bill for the liquor alone was listed as $7,061. It was not immediately clear whether UF covered the costs for all the items on Sasse's catering tabs using taxpayer dollars or donor contributions. The university enforces rules requiring -- even for pizza parties in classrooms -- only the use of approved caterers that it says meet requirements for liability, health inspections and business insurance. |
| DeSantis pushed for post-tenure review of Florida professors. The first results are in. | |
| At least 10 university faculty members across Florida have been terminated with dozens more put on notice to improve their work since the state adopted post-tenure review policies championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to data compiled by POLITICO. The results of initial tenure reviews across the state's public universities show that most faculty in Florida -- 91 percent -- either met or exceeded the expectations set by their universities, a performance that earned them bonuses or raises. But the outcome was more damaging for a small minority. More than 60 faculty members statewide didn't meet expectations and were given one year to course correct or else face termination, in addition to the 10 that were shown the door this year. The reviews are just a part of DeSantis' and Florida Republicans' goal of reshaping the state's higher education system. The governor has installed GOP allies in top university and college posts and pushed laws that changed tenure -- which DeSantis said was necessary to counteract "unproductive" tenured faculty who were the "most significant deadweight cost" facing universities. Florida Republicans also limited how university professors can teach lessons on race --- which is being challenged in court -- and even changed how Florida higher education institutions are accredited. |
| Two Kentucky universities have closed their DEI offices | |
| Kentucky's universities find themselves at a crossroads following a legislative session that saw lawmakers attempt to impede or dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts within public higher education. Legislators are expected to continue their counter on DEI initiatives in the next session. And while some universities continue to stand by their programs, the University of Kentucky and Northern Kentucky University have preemptively dissolved their DEI offices. Bills aimed at undermining DEI in higher education have risen in popularity among Republican lawmakers in states across the U.S. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education's DEI Legislation Tracker, 86 anti-DEI bills have been filed nationwide since 2023 -- 14 of which are now law. Two such bills were introduced in the Kentucky state legislature in 2024, though neither became law. An interim legislative committee has continued discussions of DEI measures on campus ahead of the 2025 General Assembly, with representatives from the University of Louisville, UK and other schools scheduled to speak before the group Tuesday. UK delegated responsibilities previously under the Office of Institutional Diversity to "other offices that support the entire institution" and created the Office for Community Relations to aid in the restructuring process. |
| New chemistry building slated to begin construction this winter at U. of Tennessee | |
| It is no secret that the University of Tennessee has been investing immense time and money into various construction projects across campus. With new residence halls and academic buildings under construction, some are left with questions about what is coming next. The university plans to execute a new chemistry building in the next few years. The university is working on securing funding for the nearly $200 million project it is developing. It has received permission to self-fund the planning, and the design work is currently underway. The new building will have nearly 163,000 square feet of new classrooms, offices and workspaces. It will also hold more than 500 students, a significant upgrade from the current chemistry department's home, Dabney-Buehler Hall, located on the Hill. This will allow the department to have new and upgraded spaces to teach and carry out the academic plans for students either majoring in chemistry or taking classes through the chemistry department. The new building features 33 research labs for undergraduate and graduate students to utilize and gain hands-on experience in the field. UT plans to spend $33.8 million to construct the new building. The rest of the funding will come through the state throughout the 2024-25 fiscal year. On June 30, 2023, the UT Board of Trustees approved the funding request. |
| MU Faculty Council backs Black Studies Department on 'Welcome Black BBQ' complaint | |
 | In a unanimous vote, the University of Missouri Faculty Council supported the MU Black Studies Department's complaint against MU Chancellor and UM System President Mun Choi. After the Legion of Black Collegians' annual "Welcome Black BBQ" was renamed as the "Welcome Black and Gold BBQ," the Black Studies Department wrote a letter to Choi, asking him to issue a formal apology for suggesting the use of "Black" in the event name implies exclusion, along with four other requests. The Faculty Council's statement endorsing the letter reads, "Rather than making the event more inclusive, the administration's action and its explanation undermines efforts at recognizing the Black experience at MU and in supporting the pluralistic traditions from which we learn and celebrate." In its letter, the Black Studies Department noted declining African American student enrollment and "noticeably low" Black faculty representation. Creating a welcoming environment for Black students at MU is particularly critical given its long and well-known history of racial injustice against Black students," the letter reads, then specifically referencing the race-related protests on MU's campus in 2015 that led to the resignation of UM System President Tim Wolfe. |
| How the U. of Memphis' new Crime Information Center keeps students safe | |
| The University of Memphis Police Services have unveiled a new system the department believes will keep students and faculty safer than ever before. Dubbed the University Crime Information Center, this new key piece of the university's efforts against crime is a technology hub equipped with multiple screens that allow for the monitoring of hundreds of cameras at once across campus in real time. UofM Police Chief Keith Humphrey said this modernized system was made possible through multiple state grants, allowing the department to both add and repair cameras to the already extensive preexisting camera network. All University of Memphis campuses --- including Park Avenue, the School of Law in Downtown, and even the Lambuth campus in Jackson are able to be monitored from the UCIC. "We knew that we had 1,200 cameras throughout the campuses, but we didn't have a single repository for it," Humphrey said. "This... was so we could make sure we're looking at stuff real time, and give us an advantage to be proactive and reactive." With major public universities like Memphis essentially being self-sustaining communities, Humphrey emphasized that these measures and technologies are instrumental in keeping the U of M's over 20,000 enrolled students safe. |
| Virginia Wants to Give Scholarships to Descendants of Slaves. It's Harder Than It Looks. | |
 | College administrators are struggling to figure out how to comply with a little-known law passed by Virginia's legislature in 2021 that requires them, in part, to make reparations through scholarships or other means. The law orders five public colleges, all of which enslaved people during the antebellum period, to document and memorialize their involvement in slavery, and either provide scholarships to descendants of enslaved people or invest in economic development for communities negatively impacted by slavery. The Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship and Memorial Program, as it's known, applies to the College of William & Mary, Longwood University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the Virginia Military Institute. Colleges are not allowed to spend state funds or raise tuition to pay for the program. Scant record-keeping on how many slaves were owned by each college has hampered efforts to recognize all of the enslaved people who contributed to the colleges. So far the University of Virginia, William & Mary, and Longwood are the only institutions to offer scholarships. All three colleges will offer a total of five annual scholarships to students. In December, the state will publish another report detailing progress the colleges have made to comply with the law. |
| The Best Party Schools in the U.S., According to Students | |
| Tulane University has the best party scene of any college in the U.S., according to a new survey conducted for the 2025 Wall Street Journal/College Pulse rankings. Colleges in the South and the Midwest hold the top 14 spots on the list, with Southern colleges holding six of the top 10 places. The University of Dayton placed second, one of two schools in Ohio that made the top 10, the only state with more than one school represented in that group. Florida State University, ranked third, set the high mark for public colleges when it comes to party scenes. Max Cohen graduated from Tulane in 2022 and is among those who think the party-school description fits. But he notes that the reputation may be compounded by New Orleans itself. "I think it gets that rep because Tulane gets a lot of visitors, and when people visit, they go for those larger events like Mardi Gras or Crawfest," says Cohen. Many of the colleges at the top of the party-scene list have thriving athletics programs. Each Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) national champion of the past 25 years is ranked among the top 20% of all schools for the party scene. Of the current Power Four NCAA football conferences, Southeastern Conference schools had the highest average party-scene score, though the Big Ten Conference had the highest concentration of schools among the top 20, with No. 4 Michigan State University, No. 6 University of Wisconsin, Madison, No. 13 University of Iowa and No. 16 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. |
| Conservative and Exploring Colleges? The Heritage Foundation Has Ratings for You. | |
 | U.S. News & World Report. The Wall Street Journal. Campus Pride. From exclusivity to return on investment to LGBTQ+ friendliness, organizations judge, rank, rate and label U.S. colleges and universities in multitudinous ways. Now, there's a new kid on the ratings block: The Heritage Foundation has launched a "Choose College With Confidence" guide, which labels 280 institutions as either red, yellow or green. Those given a green light are considered a great option for families "prioritizing freedom, opportunity and civil society," while red-flagged colleges are not recommended. According to the guide, they "exhibit a pervasive hostility toward diverse viewpoints and lack robust core curricular requirements." Harvard University got a red light, for example. New College of Florida, Auburn University and West Virginia's Appalachian Bible College were among those that received greens. The guide from Heritage, a conservative think tank, comes as colleges and universities face increased scrutiny from conservative groups and lawmakers questioning their academic offerings and funding decisions and raising concerns about how welcoming they are to students with conservative views. Heritage, a vocal critic of college diversity, equity and inclusion programs, spearheaded Project 2025, a controversial blueprint for Donald Trump's potential second presidential term. That plan calls for eliminating the Education Department, among other changes. |
| HBCUs, though underfunded, provide billions in economic stimulation | |
 | A new report details how historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have continued to provide opportunities of upward mobility for Black Americans even as they remain woefully underfunded compared to predominantly white institutions (PWIs). The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) released its 2024 HBCU Economic Impact Report -- Transforming Futures: The Economic Engine of HBCUs -- Thursday, providing data about the economic power, policy reform and partnerships needed to ensure these universities and colleges receive funding and support to continue operating. "Historically Black colleges and universities have been underfunded since their inception, and all you have to do is look at how they were founded," said Lodriguez Murray, the senior vice president for public policy and government affairs at UNCF. Murray pointed out that many HBCUs were founded during and in the aftermath of the Civil War, when it was illegal for African Americans to learn to read and write. "And then, like African Americans themselves and many African American institutions, it has been much harder for them to garner resources and capital," Murray said. "Financial institutions often viewed individual African Americans and African American institutions as a higher risk for lending, and so getting access to capital has been a chore for these institutions." |
| We Looked at Dozens of Colleges' New Protest Policies. Here's What We Found. | |
| Rattled by a wave of student demonstrations in the spring -- resulting in more than 3,100 arrests nationwide -- colleges across the country spent the typically slow summer months crafting new policies on campus activism. The Chronicle reviewed nearly four dozen campus policies -- 29 at public colleges, 15 at private colleges -- that were created or updated since the spring semester to restrict the time, place, or manner of student protests. The new guidelines address the use of masks, amplified sound, and tent encampments, among other issues. Some institutions have put in place broad restrictions, such as Rutgers University, whose three campuses now require protest organizers to "apply for and receive an approved Free Expression Permit in advance." A handful of campuses updated their policies to prohibit specific speech, such as New York University, which forbids "calling for the death of Zionists." The institution's new policy notes that "using code words, like 'Zionist,'" does not automatically exempt speech from its nondiscrimination policies. Others now reserve the right to charge protesters for cleanup or, in the case of Tarrant County College, in Texas, overtime pay for police officers during after-hours demonstrations. |
| What College Leaders Want From Harris and Trump | |
| The American Council on Education, the chief lobbying group for the higher education industry, wants the next president to repeal the tax on wealthy universities' endowments and work to increase the Pell Grant to $13,000 from $7,395 as a way of making college more affordable, among other policies. "Once in office, the next administration would have the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of tens of millions of students, staff, and educators," ACE president Ted Mitchell wrote in a memo sent this week to both the Trump and Harris campaigns. "All of American higher education stands ready to work with you in building a stronger and fairer America through our thousands of colleges and universities." Former president Donald Trump has released few details about his plans for higher education. He's said that he wants to fire accreditors to reclaim colleges from "the radical left," create a free national online college and abolish the Education Department. Vice President Kamala Harris has said little about her higher education agenda since she became the Democratic Party's nominee last month. Experts expect her to build on the Biden administration's efforts to make college more affordable, forgive student loans and protect students from bad actors. Harris's campaign website touts investments made under President Biden in historically Black colleges and universities as well as recent increases to the Pell Grant. |
| Federal Anti-Hazing Bill Moves One Step Closer to Becoming Law | |
| After years of stalled attempts to pass federal anti-hazing legislation, a bill that would require colleges and universities to report such incidents cleared a key committee Wednesday, paving the way for a vote on the House floor. Nearly all present lawmakers on the House Education and Workforce Committee voted to advance the bipartisan Stop Campus Hazing Act. This is the first time a bill aimed at preventing hazing in higher education has passed out of committee, and advocates are hopeful that the legislation will become law. In addition to mandating that institutions include hazing incidents in their annual security reports, the Stop Campus Hazing Act would also require them to implement hazing-prevention programming and publish their hazing policies online, along with information about which student organizations have a history of hazing incidents. It's "about empowering students and families so that they can make an informed decision for themselves about what school they or their loved one attends or the club that they may join, and hopefully save their lives," said Representative Lucy McBath, a Georgia Democrat who sponsored the bill, during the House Education and Workforce Committee's markup of the bill. |
| US and China inch towards renewing science-cooperation pact -- despite tensions | |
| The United States and China have missed the deadline to renew a pact that governs their cooperation in science and technology. But they are close to agreeing on a way forwards, Nature has learnt. Over the past year, the two nations have been negotiating the terms and conditions of a decades-old pact, normally renewed every five years, that expired on 27 August 2023. The pact is symbolic in that it doesn't provide any funding. But researchers in the United States and China say it is crucial because it lays the groundwork for building strong research collaborations between the two nations, which have so far announced two 6-month extensions to complete negotiations. But the latest deadline, 27 August, has come and gone without them taking any action. A spokesperson for the US Department of State told Nature, however, that the two nations remain in communication. Sources familiar with the negotiations, but not directly involved, say that despite tensions between the two countries, signs point to a renewal -- but the pact is likely to become more limited in scope. They also think that the upcoming US presidential election could be factoring into the delay, given that cooperation with China is a politically sensitive issue that could affect voting. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State football vs Toledo score prediction, scouting report in Week 3 | |
| Mississippi State football was exposed by Arizona State last week. Although it almost completed a comeback from 27 points behind, MSU (1-1) showed glaring errors it needs to improve before the start of SEC play. It has one more chance to do so with Toledo (2-0) visiting Davis Wade Stadium on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ESPNU). The Rockets' wins have come against Duquesne and UMass. They are led by coach Jason Candle and have qualified for back-to-back Mid-American Conference championship games. "I'll talk about making sure we know exactly who we are playing and understanding Toledo has a really long history of playing really good football, winning football," Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby said. "And again, a program that is incredibly established and a group that, whether it was at Illinois last year and they end up getting beat by two, they go to Notre Dame two years ago, they lose by two, they have been in complete fist fights with Power Four football teams. This will be nothing new for their program." Here's a look inside the matchup. |
| Five keys for Mississippi State's Week 3 game against Toledo | |
| Following a 30-23 loss at Arizona State last Saturday night, Mississippi State (1-1) is back at Davis Wade Stadium this weekend to host Toledo at 6:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPNU. The Rockets come in 2-0 with home wins over Duquesne and Massachusetts. The Bulldogs hustled to the line of scrimmage rapidly for much of Week 1 against Eastern Kentucky, but did so much less frequently last week, especially in the first half. Head coach Jeff Lebby said Monday that this was because the officials were standing over the ball while the Sun Devils substituted, but the only reason Arizona State was allowed to do so was because MSU had also substituted after the previous play. Toledo is a solid defensive team, but the Bulldogs should be able to wear them down by playing at a breakneck pace. After installing the offense in the spring and preseason camp, MSU is well-conditioned enough, at least in theory, to sustain that pace for much of Saturday's game. The Rockets' safeties are the strength of their defense -- their top four tacklers are all defensive backs -- so this game could present an opportunity for the Bulldogs' running backs to find some lanes and get into the second and third levels. Keyvone Lee has posted solid if unspectacular numbers, but Davon Booth and Johnnie Daniels have provided very little production in the running game. MSU should also have the ability to utilize the running backs more in the passing game. Booth did catch a touchdown pass last week on a well-designed play, and Lebby would do well to go back to that section of the playbook more often to complement the deep shots downfield. |
| Know the Foe: Toledo | |
| Last week was a step back for first-year head coach Jeff Lebby and Mississippi State but the coach and his team have a chance to get back on track this week with a home tilt against a MAC foe. Very few Group of 5 schools have had the success that Toledo has enjoyed over the course of the last 15 seasons and head coach Jason Candle is a big reason for it. Candle has been coaching with the Rockets since 2009 and that first season was the worst of his time there. Taking over as the receivers coach in 2010, Candle helped the team to an 8-5 record and the Little Caesars Bowl -- a three-win improvement on year one. Within three years, Candle was the team's offensive coordinator. His offenses were among the best in the MAC during 2012-15 and he had three seasons of nine or more wins with a 10-2 record in 2015. After four strong seasons coaching under head coach Matt Campbell, Candle got his big break in 2016 when Campbell left to become the head coach at Iowa State. Candle has taken full advantage of his opportunity as he's led Toledo to a 67-35 record over his nine seasons. He's currently seven wins away from passing Toledo great Gary Pinkel who won 73 games in 10 years at the school. Since Candle took over as head coach, the Rockets' 67 wins are the most in the MAC. Their total record is 118-59 since 2010 and they have the second longest bowl streak of any Group of 5 team at 14. Only Oklahoma, Alabama, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin and Boise State have been to a bowl every year since 2010. |
| Diamond Dawgs Announce 2025 Schedule | |
| Mississippi State's full 2025 baseball schedule is now set, and the Diamond Dawgs will play 31 games at Dudy Noble Field. The season kicks off on Friday, Feb. 14, at The Dude. The schedule is subject to change for television, including the possible move of some conference series to begin on Thursdays. The Bulldogs open the season with back-to-back home series, with Opening Day set for Friday, Feb. 14, against Manhattan to begin a three-game series. MSU hits the road for a midweek contest at Southern Miss before returning home to host Missouri State for three games from Feb. 21-23. The Diamond Dawgs host Troy in a midweek contest on Tuesday Feb. 25. Following the contest against Troy, Mississippi State heads to Houston to participate in the 2025 College Classic at Minute Maid Park. The complete schedule for the 2025 College Classic can be found by clicking here. Following the College Classic in Houston, the Bulldogs return to The Dude for four straight games, starting with a midweek game against Southern Miss on March 4. The Dawgs close out the homestand with a three-game set against Queens, which will be held Friday through Sunday (March 7-9). MSU's final two games before league play come at Keesler Federal Park in Biloxi. State takes on Old Dominion on March 11 and Nicholls State on March 12. This is the fourth straight season the Dawgs have played in Biloxi. Then SEC action arrives. |
| Soccer: State Closes Out Nonconference Play With 5-0 Victory Over Abilene Christian | |
| Mississippi State soccer (6-1-0) put on a dominant display Thursday night, defeating Abilene Christian (2-1-4) 5-0 at the MSU Soccer Field to close out nonconference play. The Dawgs overwhelmed the Wildcats on both sides of the ball, recording their sixth shutout of the season while showcasing an electric attack that saw five different players find the back of the net. State controlled the pace from the opening whistle, finishing the match with a 22-6 advantage in shots, including 11 on target, compared to just three on goal for Abilene Christian. Rylie Combs opened the scoring for the Bulldogs in the 24th minute, netting her first goal of the season and second of her career off a well-placed assist from Zoe Main. The combination play between the Bulldogs was fluid, as just six minutes later, Ally Perry found the back of the net to double State's lead. Kennedy Husbands and Ilana Izquierdo orchestrated the buildup, connecting passes in the final third before Perry slotted it home. State sealed the victory in the 82nd minute when freshman McKinnan Braswell scored her first collegiate goal. Freshmen Sierra Bergen and Ines Simas provided the assists, as the depth of Mississippi State's roster was on full display, with multiple players contributing to the scoring and buildup play throughout the match. Up next, the Bulldogs will travel to Norman to face new conference foe Oklahoma Sept.19. |
| Ray Tanner leaving his role as South Carolina's athletic director | |
 | Ray Tanner will be leaving his role as South Carolina athletic director and taking on a new job at USC, the school announced Friday. "For a while now, I have thought there's going to come a time for Carolina to get a new athletics director, and the president and I have had those conversations," Tanner said in a statement from the school. "There was interest for me to remain at the university. I agreed to stay in a new role because of my passion for this university, this city and this state." Tanner has officially been the school's athletic director since Aug. 2, 2012, a role he took on after national championship success as the Gamecocks' baseball coach. "I loved my experience as a baseball coach and as an administrator," Tanner said in the statement. "I'm grateful to have been able to work here for such a long time." Tanner is moving into a new role as senior advisor to the president. He will remain on as athletic director until a new AD is found. "He's not stepping down," USC President Michael Amiridis told reporters. "He's transitioning to a new position." It was Tanner's decision to pursue the change, Amiridis said during a Friday board of trustees meeting. |
| Board of Curators approves motion to proceed with Missouri football's Memorial Stadium project | |
 | Break out the shovels. On Tuesday on the UM-Kansas City campus, the UM System Board of Curators approved a motion to proceed with the Memorial Stadium project. Part of that includes a proposed groundbreaking ceremony on Nov. 30, which will be the first tangible, if not somewhat ceremonial, step in the $250 million upgrades to Missouri football's home stadium. Mizzou athletic director Laird Veatch gave a short presentation to the board before the motion was unanimously approved by the university board. Given the board's previous support of the project, any motion concerning the stadium was expected to be given the go-ahead. The groundbreaking ceremony will take place the same as Mizzou's regular-season finale against Arkansas. Work on the project is set to run through the 2025 season and is currently on pace to be completed ahead of the 2026 campaign, which will mark the 100th anniversary of Missouri's home stadium. The capacity of Memorial Stadium is expected to rise to about 65,000, up from the 62,261 that the stadium currently holds. |
| Pac-12 to add Boise St., Fresno St., San Diego St., Colorado St. in 2026, poaching Mountain West | |
| After being poached almost into oblivion, the Pac-12 is fighting off extinction by plucking schools from the Mountain West. The Pac-12 announced Thursday that it in 2026 it will add Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State alongside Oregon State and Washington State in a rebuilt Conference of Champions. The additions rob the Mountain West of four of its more prominent schools and successful football programs, most notably Boise State. It still leaves the Pac-12 two schools short of the eight it needs to have in place in two years to be recognized as a conference by the NCAA, so more moves are expected. The Pac-12 and the departing schools will likely be on the hook for about $110 million in exit fees and penalties to the Mountain West. It is a remarkable bounce-back move by a conference left for dead a year ago when 10 members scattered to competitors across the country after being unable to secure a lucrative media rights deal that former Pac-12 schools such as Southern California, Oregon, Washington, Utah and Stanford believed would keep them competitive with other leagues. |
| After latest realignment moves, which other schools will the Pac-12 try to scoop up? | |
| The Pac-12 is back. Well, almost. The "Conference of Champions" is on the way to rebuilding, starting with the acquisition Thursday of four Mountain West schools: Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State and Fresno State. They will begin play in the new league in the fall of 2026. That gets Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould to six members with Oregon State and Washington State. She needs at least two more additions to reach the NCAA's minimum threshold to qualify as an FBS conference, and she has a matter of only months to do it. The Pac-12 must reach eight members by July 2026, the end of the NCAA's two-year grace period that allows a league to reestablish itself. That seems like a long time. In the world of such massive and costly moves, it is not. The Pac-12 would prefer to have its full membership during negotiations for a new television deal, something it would probably like to get solidified sooner rather than later. Any TV network would prefer to know what it's buying before it bought it. Remember, television contracts serve as the biggest revenue generator for athletic departments. You must distribute television money -- often evenly -- to your members. With each new member, you decrease the amount of the whole. The AAC has the most attractive members from a TV market, brand value and on-field success perspective, including Memphis, Tulane, UTSA, North Texas, Rice and even one in Florida (South Florida). |
| The College Football Rivalry Game That Has Become a Fight for Survival | |
| When Oregon State and Oregon meet on the gridiron, there's usually local bragging rights and university pride on the line. But this Saturday, when their rivalry game kicks off at Reser Stadium, the stakes are a bit more existential. These two opponents represent diverging paths in a college sports landscape increasingly separated into haves and have nots. Oregon is hurtling toward a lucrative future, with a clear path to a potential playoff berth as one of the newest members of the Big Ten. Oregon State, meanwhile, is fighting for its life, having lost its conference, its coach, dozens of players and millions of dollars in the past year. Which means it's no exaggeration to say that for the Beavers, the outcome of Saturday's game against No. 9 Oregon may well determine not just the trajectory of this football season, but the future of their entire athletic department. "This is a point of singularity in our history," Oregon State President Jayathi Murthy said. "It's a reset." That reset was set in motion in August 2023. When the Pac-12 went up in smoke, so did the schedules for Oregon State's sports teams. Following that season, 25 football players entered the transfer portal, according to 247sports. So did coach Jonathan Smith, who left for Michigan State in December. |
| As House v. NCAA settlement unravels, Big Ten ADs are rethinking plans and seeking clarity | |
| As NCAA officials and conference commissioners alter their tactics amid settlement renegotiations in the landmark House v. NCAA lawsuit, Big Ten athletic department officials are trying to piece together strategies regardless of the outcome. "We're remodeling a bunch of different things," Iowa athletic director Beth Goetz said. The original settlement, which was agreed to in May, established roster caps to replace scholarship limits for each sport. It also allowed for schools to share 20 percent of an average power-conference athletic department revenue with athletes, which would be roughly $22 million per year beginning in 2025. At a hearing last week, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken expressed concern over the NCAA's plans to limit outside compensation to athletes and advised attorneys on both sides to "go back to the drawing board." The sides reconvene Sept. 26. That leaves Goetz, her fellow Big Ten athletic directors and their coaches in limbo on several key issues, from what to pay players to how many athletes are on a roster. With roster limits set to begin in 2025, football programs are allowed up to 105 scholarships, up from 85. Among scholarship players, Iowa has 69 players returning next year plus 15 committed high school seniors. In addition, the Hawkeyes have 41 walk-on players either committed or with eligibility on the roster. From that group alone, Iowa will have to subtract 20 players just to meet the 105 roster cap. But with no settlement in place, there's uncertainty at all levels. The same scenario applies to every power-conference school, and there's a Title IX component involved with scholarship numbers. |
| Lawmakers propose new federal regulations on sports betting | |
| Two of the more vocal critics of the sports betting industry on Capitol Hill outlined legislation Thursday, which if passed into law would put into place sweeping new federal regulations on gambling companies, including requiring them to set limits on what amount sports bettors wager and how often they can place bets. The Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet Act -- or SAFE Bet Act -- proposed by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Representative Paul Tonko (D-NY) would establish a nationwide ban on sports betting, requiring the 38 states where sports wagering has already been legalized to go through a new application process with the U.S. Justice Department. The U.S. Attorney General would then approve or reject applications, with approvals only lasting for a three-year period. "State regulation is faint-hearted and half-baked. That's why we need a national standard," Blumenthal said. "Not to ban gambling but simply to take back control over an industry that is out of bounds." Tonko added: "We need to address addictions of all kinds. If not, we're failing in our responsibilities." Lobbyists for the gambling industry were quick to point out Thursday that more than 5,000 state and tribal regulators have already come up with extensive industry controls. |
| 2024 US Open Sells $12.8 Million of Honey Deuce Drinks | |
| The USTA announced that it sold 556,782 Honey Deuce signature cocktails during the 2024 U.S. Open. At $23 a pop, the organization made more than $12.8 million in revenue from the drink, representing a 26% increase over 2023. Remarkably, more than one Honey Deuce was sold for every two people who visited Billie Jean King National Tennis Center during the tournament. That comes as no surprise, though, to anyone who left Arthur Ashe Stadium at 2 a.m. this year with souvenir cups strewn about the grounds. The Honey Deuce, a Grey Goose vodka-based cocktail made with lemonade, Chambord (a raspberry liquor) and honeydew melon pieces shaped like tennis balls, has become synonymous with the U.S. Open fan experience over the past few years. The number of drinks purchased during the three weeks of the event nearly doubled from 2017 (201,000) to 2022 (399,000), and has continued to rise. The tournament has even begun selling Honey Deuce merchandise, including hats and shirts. A significant factor in the sales increase is the number of fans that flooded Flushing, N.Y., this year. Main draw attendance reached a record 832,640, a 4% increase over the year prior and a 13% bump from the highest mark before the pandemic. The tennis governing body reported operating revenues of $581 million last year, $514 million of which were generated from the U.S. Open, meaning Honey Deuce sales should account for roughly 2% of revenue in 2024. |
The Office of Public Affairs provides the Daily News Digest as a general information resource for Mississippi State University stakeholders.
Web links are subject to change. Submit news, questions or comments to Jim Laird.
