| Tuesday, November 26, 2024 |
| MSU veterinarians save puppy's legs after Arkansas couple spends wedding funds for surgery | |
 | With an injured Goldendoodle shaking in pain in the backseat of their car, a young Arkansas couple drove 330 miles to Mississippi State's Animal Health Center prepared to drain their wedding fund. According to MSU News, the 10-month-old puppy was hit by a car and left stranded on Acklin Road in Conway, Arkansas. Dylan McCay, 22, and Emily Roberts, 23, saw a social media post about the dog and quickly drove a short distance to help the abandoned puppy. The couple agreed they would use their savings and wedding funds to help the dog they began to call Acklin. In the pouring rain on Halloween night, McCay loaded the Goldendoodle, now named Maple, into his car. They rushed Maple to Greenbrier Animal Hospital in Conway where Dr. Eric Schrand, a 2022 MSU Doctor of Veterinary Medicine graduate, quickly recognized the severity of the puppy's injuries and called MSU. After unsuccessfully trying to admit Maple to surgeons in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee, Schrand urged the couple to drive more than 330 miles for care at his alma mater. MSU College of Veterinary Medicine Chief of Small Animal Surgery Dr. Michael Jaffe and second-year surgical resident Dr. Weston Beamon spoke to Schrand in Conway, who had originally suggested amputation due to the open-fracture wounds and possibility of infection. Jaffe and Beamon went into the five-hour surgery with the mindset to save both legs. After piecing the legs together with five screws, two pins, and one bone plate in each leg, the surgery was successfully completed. |
| Mississippi State veterinarians save puppy's legs after Arkansas couple spends wedding funds for surgery | |
 | A young Arkansas couple drove 330 miles to Mississippi State's Animal Health Center in order to help an injured Goldendoodle. According to Dylan McCay and Emily Roberts, the 10-month-old puppy was hit by a car and left stranded on Acklin Road in Conway, Arkansas. They saw a social media post about the dog and drove a short distance to hep the abandoned puppy. The couple rushed Maple to Greenbrier Animal Hospital in Conway where Dr. Eric Schrand, a 2022 MSU Doctor of Veterinary Medicine graduate, recognized the severity of the puppy's injuries and called MSU. MSU College of Veterinary Medicine Chief of Small Animal Surgery Dr. Michael Jaffe and second-year surgical resident Dr. Weston Beamon spoke to Schrand in Conway, who had originally suggested amputation due to the open-fracture wounds and possibility of infection. Jaffe and Beamon went into the five-hour surgery with the mindset to save both legs. After piecing the legs together with five screws, two pins and one bone plate in each leg, the surgery was successfully completed. "She was walking on both legs two days after surgery," Jaffe said. "She's a tough little girl. She's getting stronger now and building that muscle back. She's got a long way to go, but she's going to do it." |
| Couple Uses Wedding Fund to Save Dog and Now the Pet Is Walking Again | |
 | An Arkansas couple who used up their wedding fund to help an injured dog has finally taken their new pup home -- with some thanks to a group of veterinarians and a massive fundraiser! Dylan McCay, 22, and his fiancé Emily Roberts, 23, shared their first update about Goldendoodle puppy Acklin (since renamed Maple) on Nov. 2. The update came in a Facebook post in which the couple explained how they responded to a social media post on Halloween about an injured dog on the side of a road that was hit by a car and quickly rushed the canine to a nearby animal hospital. "Her temperament was wonderful. I had my hazard lights on, got out, and she was trying to scoot over toward me," McCay said the first moment he approached Maple, per a press release from Mississippi State University (MSU). "She put her head on my lap as I'm trying to call emergency hospitals. The whole time, she just wanted to be loved." According to Roberts, she "broke out in tears" when she discovered that Maple would fully recover. "It went OK -- it went more than OK. Once they told us both legs were fixed, and she would be as good as new, it was amazing. It felt like a miracle," she recalled. |
| Museum in works for country music artifact collection | |
 | Just an hour south of Starkville lies one of the greatest collections of country music artifacts in the world, a collection that will soon have a new museum thanks to a partnership with the Country Music Hall of Fame. Marty Stuart's Congress of Country Music is housed in Philadelphia, and its venue manager Natalie Dreifuss spoke with Starkville Rotary Club Monday about its expansion plans. Starkville has its own pieces of country music history, like the place where Johnny Cash was arrested for public drunkenness and picking flowers along Mississippi Highway 182. Sid Salter, MSU's vice president for strategic communications, recounted at the meeting the story of his distant cousin Stuart. At the age of 12, Stuart heard Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs play and promptly left town on their bus, eventually landing in a band with Johnny Cash. "He was a virtuoso mandolin player, one of the four or five best in the world," Salter said. "He started collecting ephemera when he was young -- clothing, hats, boots, guitars, placards, posters, ticket stubs from Nashville royalty. It was one of the largest private collections anywhere, and when his career slowed down he started building this Congress of Country Music." The Congress today runs a range of programs, including live country music shows and mentorship opportunities for up-and-coming musicians. Dreifuss focused Monday on the partnership announced in August with the Hall of Fame, enabling both organizations to swap artifacts and build more cohesive collections. |
| Christmas tree inventory strong despite weather | |
| Mississippians who want to deck their holiday halls with a locally grown Christmas tree will have no problem finding one. Although weather conditions have tested the state's growers over the last two years, tree inventory is strong. Weather has challenged the state's farmers over the last two years with two significant freeze events and two years of drought conditions. "Drought has been a real issue for anyone without irrigation," said Jeff Wilson, horticulture specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. "Our weather conditions have caused some trees to need an extra year to be sellable." Many farmers lost young trees and had other trees damaged or stunted. Those impacts reduced immediate and future inventory for several growers last year. Brittany Anderson, co-owner of Talson Farms in Laurel, said their family-owned farm has gotten past the setbacks from these weather events. "Last year was our worst year, but we've finally gotten over the hump of it affecting our larger marketable trees," said Anderson, who began selling trees in 2019. "We did lose some small trees, but we've been working on getting our babies established. We've set a new policy of planting extra trees." Growers did not face any insect or disease problems outside the typical issues they address on a preventive basis each year. Sales are good, and the market is strong. |
| Mississippians encouraged to buy local Christmas trees | |
| As Mississippians get ready to put up their Christmas trees, the state's Department of Agriculture and Commerce is urging folks to shop local when trying to find the perfect holiday pine. Commissioner Andy Gipson and his staff have launched a website for people to find a complete list of nearly 30 Christmas tree farms across the state. The page also includes information on the variety of trees grown in Mississippi and tips on how to care for real trees. "The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce has made it easy to find the perfect, real Christmas tree this year," Gipson said. "Visiting a local Christmas tree farm provides a festive experience where you can start a family tradition and create lifelong memories." In addition to making memories through a trip to a local Christmas tree farm, Gipson reminded people of the economic benefits of buying a real tree as opposed to a fake one. "By getting a real, Mississippi-grown tree, you're also supporting Mississippi farmers, as well as the local and state economies," he said. "So, find a Christmas tree farm near you by visiting our website and make lasting memories with your loved ones." |
| Christmas tree inventory is strong and prices are steady despite recent weather extremes, farmers say | |
 | The holiday season is almost here, and Christmas tree farms are open and ready to go. Farmers expect demand to be high this year, a trend they say has persisted since the Covid-19 pandemic. Unusually dry periods can hamper plant and tree growth, but local Christmas tree farmers like Wesley Bass claim that the current inventory is strong. Bass says that overhead expenses have been kept to a minimum, even during last year's drought. "We're at the same prices we were last year. The weather has been dry, but we got some rain at key times before we cut ... which really hydrates the tree and helps it stay fresh for your home", said Bass. Bass explains that most of the 6 to 8-foot trees are approximately 4 to 5 years old, predating the extensive drought last summer. This means that it might be a few more years before customers see a slight drop in tree inventory. Robert Smith owns a different Christmas tree farm and remarked on how the near-record fall warmth a few weeks ago has also impacted how his trees are performing. "We got a couple rains late in the fall, and those two rains have helped the trees. Those trees have not gone dormant due to the lack of cold weather ... so they're still putting on new growth as we speak. I can still see them growing", said Smith. |
| 'Busiest Thanksgiving ever': How the TSA plans to handle record air travel | |
| Just as sure as the turkey will taste dry, airports and highways are expected to be jam-packed during Thanksgiving week, a holiday period likely to end in another record day for air travel in the United States. The people responsible for keeping security lines, boarding areas and jetliners moving -- from the U.S. transportation secretary and airline chiefs on down the line -- swear they are prepared for the crowds. Airline passengers might get lucky like they did last year, when relatively few flights were canceled during the holiday week. A repeat will require the weather's cooperation. And even if skies are blue, a shortage of air traffic controllers could create delays. Auto club and insurance company AAA predicts that nearly 80 million Americans will venture at least 50 miles from home between Tuesday and next Monday. Most of them will travel by car. Drivers should get a slight break on gas prices. The nationwide average price for gasoline was $3.06 a gallon on Monday, down from $3.26 at this time last year. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 18.3 million people at U.S. airports during the same seven-day stretch. That would be 6% more than during the corresponding days last year but fit a pattern set throughout 2024. |
| Make way for turkeys: The Thanksgiving bird infiltrating city centers | |
 | Ask just about anybody in Harvard Square about the wild turkeys infiltrating their community and they'll have a story to tell. They'll likely have a few. Cambridge, the roughly six square mile city across the river from Boston, is home to about 120,000 people and between 40 and 50 wild turkeys, according to city animal control officer Christina Correia. A flock of more than seven of the birds has laid claim to a small triangular park wedged between bustling city streets near the historic center of this 400-year-old community. Most of the day, they graze on insects, leaves and seeds. Sometimes they'll drink from the two water bowls bystanders have left them. Other times, they get more aggressive: squawking and puffing their feathers at passersby, assaulting their reflections in car windows and chasing pedestrians (especially, it seems, those who look like postal workers). They're not to be messed with, Correia said. The idea of turkeys and humans living amongst each other in downtown Cambridge -- let alone Massachusetts -- wouldn't have been imaginable half a century ago. Once abundant across the U.S., wild turkey populations began to dwindle in the late 1800s as settlers hunted the species with little restraint and destroyed their forest habitats. At one point, they were nearly extinct in the U.S. While urban turkeys are now a common sight in Massachusetts' busiest areas, the phenomenon has begun to spread from coast to coast, too. |
| What Black Friday's history tells us about holiday shopping in 2024 | |
| The holiday shopping season is about to reach full speed with Black Friday, which kicks off the post-Thanksgiving retail rush later this week. The annual sales event no longer creates the midnight mall crowds or doorbuster mayhem of recent decades, in large part due to the ease of online shopping and habits forged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hoping to entice equivocating consumers, retailers already have spent weeks bombarding customers with ads and early offers. Still, whether visiting stores or clicking on countless emails promising huge savings, tens of millions of U.S. shoppers are expected to spend money on Black Friday itself this year. Industry forecasts estimate that 183.4 million people will shop in U.S. stores and online between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, according to the National Retail Federation and consumer research firm Prosper Insights & Analytics. Of that number, 131.7 million are expected to shop on Black Friday. At the same time, earlier and earlier Black Friday-like promotions, as well as the growing strength of other shopping events (hello Cyber Monday ), continue to change the holiday spending landscape. Starting in the 1980s, national retailers began claiming that Black Friday represented when they went from operating in the red to in the black thanks to holiday demand. But since many retail companies now operate in the black at various times of the year, this interpretation should be taken with a grain of salt, experts say. |
| Columbus-based Burford Electric Service announces $3.55M expansion | |
| Burford Electric Service has announced it's expanding in Columbus with a $3.55 million corporate investment. Founded in 1959, Burford Electric Service is a third-generation, family-owned business based in Mississippi. It specializes in electromechanical repair and replacement solutions, including electric motor repair and pump repair, for customers across the southeastern U.S. For the expansion, the company is constructing 15,000 square feet of additional manufacturing space with a larger crane capacity to meet an increase in demand for large industrial needs. The project expects to result in 14 new jobs over the next five years. "It's always exciting to see long-standing Mississippi companies grow right here at home," Gov. Tate Reeves said. "Burford Electric Service's expansion is another example of how Mississippi's business climate and pro-business policies encourage companies to not only remain in Mississippi but also to invest in our state and in our people. I wish the Burford Electric team another 65 years of success in Lowndes County." |
| 5 year anniversary of scratch-off sales in Mississippi | |
| It's been five years since the first scratch-off was sold in Mississippi. You may recall hearing lawmakers say that money would be funneled to infrastructure and education. However, five years out, we're finding out exactly how much has been directed to those needs. You had far fewer choices when the lottery kicked off in 2019 with just four scratch-off games. "We're up to 188 games that have debuted," explained Savannah Tirey, Mississippi Lottery Corporation Director of Communications. We have 36 that are currently in play, and we've gone from zero draw games to seven. So now we have the Mega Millions Powerball. We have nightly games like the Mississippi Match 5, the Cash Pop, Cash 4, and we just recently added Lotto America, which is another jackpot game." A total of $1.33 billion has been paid out to players, and they hit the $2 billion milestone for gross sales in January 2024. Even if you haven't gotten a big payout, the purchase of tickets is boosting parts of your community. The Mississippi Lottery Corporation says the total that's gone to the state is now up to $615,265,200. "That's more than $100 million per year," said Tirey. "And so the first 80 of that goes to transportation and then everything after that goes to the Education Enhancement fund, and that's typically about 40 million a year." |
| Court agrees with ban on medical marijuana advertising in Mississippi | |
| Medical marijuana businesses in Mississippi don't have the right to advertise on billboards or other places because marijuana itself remains illegal under federal law, an appeals court says. The owner of a medical marijuana dispensary argued that the First Amendment protects the right to advertise because Mississippi law permits the sale of cannabis products to people with debilitating medical conditions. The state enacted its law in 2022. A three-judge panel of 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday rejected the arguments about advertising. They cited the federal Controlled Substances Act, which since 1970 has prohibited the manufacture, distribution, dispensing and possession of marijuana. The federal law applies in all states, and Mississippi "faces no constitutional obstacle to restricting commercial speech relating to unlawful transactions," the judges wrote. The Mississippi attorney general's office praised the court decision for upholding "Mississippi's reasonable restrictions on advertising for medical marijuana dispensaries by print, broadcast, and other mass communications," said the office spokesperson, MaryAsa Lee. |
| Trump Pledges Tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China | |
 | President-elect Donald Trump pledged that soon after taking office he will slap steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada, two of America's closest allies, as well as China, the clearest indication since his election victory that he plans to follow through on the tough campaign rhetoric that helped propel him to the White House. Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump said that on the first day of his presidency he will charge Mexico and Canada a 25% tariff on all products coming into the U.S. He added in a separate social-media post that he would impose an additional 10% tariff on all products that come into the U.S. from China, though he didn't specify whether that levy would come on his first day in office. Such a tariff would come on top of existing tariffs the U.S. has already imposed on Chinese goods. "This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!" Trump wrote, referencing his proposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Doing so would likely upend the trade agreement that Trump negotiated with the two neighboring countries in his first term, known as USMCA. U.S. goods and services traded utilizing that trade agreement totaled an estimated $1.8 trillion in 2022, according to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which oversees U.S. trade agreements. |
| US farm groups want Trump to spare their workers from deportations | |
 | U.S. farm industry groups want President-elect Donald Trump to spare their sector from his promise of mass deportations, which could upend a food supply chain heavily dependent on immigrants in the United States illegally. So far Trump officials have not committed to any exemptions, according to interviews with farm and worker groups and Trump's incoming "border czar" Tom Homan. Nearly half of the nation's approximately 2 million farm workers lack legal status, according to the departments of Labor and Agriculture, as well as many dairy and meatpacking workers. Trump, a Republican, vowed to deport millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally as part of his campaign to win back the White House, a logistically challenging undertaking that critics say could split apart families and disrupt U.S. businesses. Homan has said immigration enforcement will focus on criminals and people with final deportation orders but that no immigrant in the U.S. illegally will be exempt. He told Fox News on Nov. 11 that enforcement against businesses would "have to happen" but has not said whether the agricultural sector would be targeted. "We've got a lot on our plate," Homan said in a phone interview this month. Mass removal of farm workers would shock the food supply chain and drive consumer grocery prices higher, said David Ortega, a professor of food economics and policy at Michigan State University. "They're filling critical roles that many U.S.-born workers are either unable or unwilling to perform," Ortega said. |
| The man who will have to make Trump's sweeping economic program work | |
 | If you felt a gust of wind from out of the Northeast, it was the collective sigh of relief coming from New York's financial district over Donald Trump's selection of Scott Bessent to lead Treasury. After a series of unorthodox Cabinet picks that shocked the policy world, Trump's choice of the 62-year-old hedge fund executive is being praised by Wall Street heavyweights who had hoped the president-elect would select a more traditional candidate for his administration's most powerful economic post. While Bessent -- once the chief investor at financier George Soros' firm -- has been a vocal proponent of Trump's agenda, he's also viewed as a realist who will understand how policy shifts might ripple across markets and the global economy. "The biggest risk is that you have ideologues pursuing policy regardless of consequence," said Unlimited Funds CEO Bob Elliott. "The thing about a person who has run money for several decades is that they -- almost by definition -- have to be agile and responsive to market conditions. It's in their blood." To be certain, Bessent -- who had flown under the radar of many policymakers prior to this election campaign -- will face steep challenges if confirmed. Trump has promised to simultaneously cut taxes, impose universal tariffs and unlock economic growth by boosting domestic energy production and slashing regulations. Corporate America likes a lot of that message -- in theory -- but reshaping the economy to Trump's specifications could also disrupt supply chains, drive up prices and send interest rates even higher. And it will be up to Bessent -- who has no government experience -- to sell markets, global leaders and the public on how it will all work. |
| Transgender Activists Question the Movement's Confrontational Approach | |
 | To get on the wrong side of transgender activists is often to endure their unsparing criticism. After a Democratic congressman defended parents who expressed concern about transgender athletes competing against their young daughters, a local party official and ally compared him to a Nazi "cooperator" and a group called "Neighbors Against Hate" organized a protest outside his office. When J.K. Rowling said that denying any relationship between sex and biology was "deeply misogynistic and regressive," a prominent L.G.B.T.Q. group accused her of betraying "real feminism." A few angry critics posted videos of themselves burning her books. When the Biden administration convened a call with L.G.B.T.Q. allies last year to discuss new limits on the participation of transgender student athletes, one activist fumed on the call that the administration would be complicit in "genocide" of transgender youth, according to two people with knowledge of the incident. Now, some activists say it is time to rethink and recalibrate their confrontational ways, and are pushing back against the more all-or-nothing voices in their coalition. "Here we are calling Republicans weird, and we're the party that makes people put pronouns in their email signature," said Representative Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, a Democrat who ignited fury and protests at his office after he expressed concern that transgender athletes could have an unfair advantage or hurt other athletes. The public does not appear to be growing more empathetic to the transgender cause. |
| Walmart, the nation's largest private employer, rolls back DEI under pressure | |
| Walmart, the nation's largest private employer, is the latest company to make changes to its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives under pressure from a conservative activist. The retail giant said it would not renew a racial equity center it created following the 2020 murder of George Floyd and it would no longer participate in an annual benchmark index from LGBTQ+ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign. Robby Starbuck said he warned Walmart last week he was working on a report about "wokeness." According to Starbuck, the company then engaged in "productive conversations" to make changes. "Removing wokeness from Walmart has both downstream effects on suppliers and it sets the tone for corporate America," Starbuck told USA TODAY. "Changing the normal operating policy at a nearly $1 trillion company is a gargantuan feat that many have tried to achieve but no one until now has actually been able to get done." Walmart also committed to monitoring third-party items in the Walmart marketplace for "inappropriate sexual and/or transgender products marketed to children;" reviewing all Pride funding; and no longer using the term LatinX in official communications, Starbuck said. Walmart said many of the DEI changes were in the works for a few years and were not a result of the conversation with Starbuck. For example, Walmart said it already switched its terminology from DEI to belonging and made changes to its supplier diversity program. |
| MUW, MC partner for accelerated law degree program | |
| Mississippi University for Women (MUW) students who seek to become attorneys now have an accelerated pathway to get into and finish law school. On Thursday, leaders from MUW and Mississippi College (MC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding agreement. It allows qualified undergraduate students to enter into MC's Juris Doctorate program before fully completing a bachelor's degree from MUW. The accelerated pathway shortens the total length of undergraduate studies and law school from seven years to six. Students at MUW who have completed 75% of the coursework required for a bachelor's degree will be eligible for admission to MC Law in Jackson. The partnership will initially feature developed pathways in business administration, English, history, legal studies and political science. For MUW President Nora Miller, this opportunity will benefit both schools. "This innovative collaboration between MC and The W offers students an efficient and cost-effective pathway to pursue advanced legal education," Miller said. |
| Education: Heda Lab awarded $42,000 in grants to continue cystic fibrosis research | |
| Ghanshyam Heda, professor of biology at Mississippi University for Women and founder of the Heda Lab, was recently awarded two grants totaling $42,000 to further research on cystic fibrosis. "This funding is instrumental in furthering our research and will support two key publications and the training of undergraduate students," said Heda. "These grants ensure that we can continue to offer transformative research opportunities to W students from diverse majors like biology, chemistry and psychology." The grants are the Mississippi NASA Space Grant Consortium, which is $20,000, and the Mississippi-INBRE (a biomedical research organization), which is $22,000. The funds will allow the Heda Lab to hire two to three students to work in his laboratory. Over the years, Heda's lab has become a hub for hands-on undergraduate research, contributing to the success of alumni who have gone on to medical school, doctoral programs and academic careers. Heda first started working with undergraduates in his lab in 2009. In the 15 years since then, he has had more than 20 biology, chemistry, psychology and nursing undergraduate majors under his supervision. |
| USM awards full-tuition scholarships to Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science seniors | |
| Graduating seniors at the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science (MSMS) have been offered full-tuition academic scholarships over four years to the University of Southern Mississippi (USM). The announcement was made November 19 during a ceremony held at the MSMS campus in Columbus, where 117 students in the graduating Class of 2025 were presented with tuition scholarship certificates. These students, who will graduate from MSMS in May, will receive an eight-semester award for full tuition, with a requirement that they enroll for the fall of 2025. "The MSMS consistently produces high-ability graduates with bright futures," said USM President Dr. Joe Paul. "They have shown maturity and grit by going away to high school to seek the very best education available and in the process, have learned how to do college. They are students with big goals, and the passion and persistence to pursue them. We want students like this at Southern Miss, and I look forward to welcoming them this fall." |
| Rural students' options shrink as colleges slash majors | |
 | With no car and a toddler, Shamya Jones enrolled this fall at the four-year university in her small town in Mississippi -- Delta State University. She planned to major in digital media arts, but before she could start, the college eliminated that major along with 20 other degree programs including history, English, chemistry and music. "They're cutting off so much, and teachers [are] leaving," Jones said. The cuts "take away from us, our education." Across the country, rural students like Jones are feeling shortchanged and frustrated. Many of the comparatively few universities that serve rural students are eliminating large numbers of programs and majors, blaming plummeting enrollment and resulting financial crises. Nationwide, college enrollment has declined by 2 million students, or 10 percent, in the 10 years ending in 2022, hitting rural schools particularly hard. An increasing number of rural private, nonprofit colleges are not only cutting majors, but closing altogether. "Some institutions have no other options" than to do this, because of financial problems and plummeting enrollment, said Charles Welch, president and CEO of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and a former president of Henderson State and the Arkansas State University System, both of which have cut programs. At Delta State, for instance, enrollment is down by nearly a quarter since 2014. |
| Former Birmingham police chief hired at U. of Alabama | |
 | The University of Alabama has hired Birmingham's former chief of police to fill a key role in UA's Police Department. Scott Thurmond will assume duties as UAPD's deputy chief on Dec. 2, according to a UA news release. UAPD Chief John Hooks called Thurmond "a remarkable police leader who has served his community with dedication, professionalism and integrity for many years." Thurmond retired in October as police chief in Birmingham, a post he had held since January 2022. He began his law enforcement career in 1998 at BPD, serving in leadership roles within the department's patrol and investigative bureaus before being named police chief. As deputy chief at UAPD, Thurmond will assist Hooks in leading day-to-day operations and implementing goals, policies, procedures and standards. Among Thurmond's duties with UAPD will be overseeing the field operations -- which includes the patrol and traffic divisions, as well as the off-campus unit. He will also be involved in event planning and other operational functions of the department. Thurmond is a 2023 graduate of the FBI National Executive Institute and in 2024 he earned the FBI-LEEDA Trilogy Award for completing supervisor, command and executive leadership training. He graduated from the University of Montevallo with a bachelor of science degree in sociology. |
| Birmingham-Southern campus still up for sale after deal falls through | |
 | The Miles College purchase agreement for Birmingham-Southern College ended Monday, according to a news release from BSC. The deal ended at 3 p.m. after three extension requests from Miles, according to BSC. The college is valued at $65 million. "The BSC community has great respect for Miles College, its students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and appreciates both the shared roots and the alignment of missions," the news release stated. "But to meet its commitments to lenders and other creditors, the BSC Board of Trustees is obligated to sell the 192-acre campus property as quickly as possible." Miles and BSC executed the purchase agreement on Sept. 25 with a closing date for Oct. 25, according to the news release. Miles requested an extension to Nov. 25. Ten days before the deadline, BSC declined a second extension request to Dec. 24. It's unclear what the status of the campus sale is as BSC declined further comment. |
| Newly named College of Music sees rise in retention rates as it revamps its program, ensuring more vibrant, welcoming music community | |
| The Natalie L. Haslam College of Music is one of the few independent music colleges in the United States and is recognized as the fourth college at the University of Tennessee to be named after someone in 230 years. Even as a new college, the College of Music has recorded exceptional retention rates, reaching 100% last year and 90.3% this year. The addition of this college was necessary as music has deep roots in Tennessee. Alissa Galyon, director of marketing and communications, spoke on the upgrade on the College of Music. "As the flagship university of the state, our university leadership recognized the value and importance of elevating the former School of Music to a College of Music," Gaylon said. "As a college, we have more autonomy and are empowered to have more of an impact on the ever-evolving music economy." Several factors contributed to the increase in retention rates within the college, including the dedication to creating a supportive community, enhancing academic resources and broadening the curriculum. The College of Music will continue to expand in the future by connecting with campus partners, including the College of Emerging and Collaborative Studies, Pellissippi State Community College, Haslam College of Business and the College of Communication and Information. |
| A&M students draft legislation with Texas Senate to end no-more-than-four ordinance | |
 | The Texas A&M Student Government Association recently met with the Texas State Senate to raise awareness on College Station's housing issues and collaborate on a possible end to the no-more-than-four ordinance. College Station's impending housing crisis is an issue shared by both the nearly 120,000 people who live in the city and the 72,000 students who attend A&M's College Station campus. With only 11,000 of those students living on campus, thousands of students find housing off-campus in rentals and apartments. According to an existing conditions report released in March, 30% are "cost burdened" with more than 50% of those being severe cases. A household is considered cost-burdened when more than 30% of income is spent on housing or 50% for severely cost-burdened cases. Many students have voiced their frustrations with College Station city ordinances that limit housing. The no-more-than-four ordinance prevents more than four unrelated individuals from living in a single dwelling and Restricted Occupancy Overlays, or ROOs, which limit the number even further to two unrelated individuals. To bring attention to these housing issues, representatives from the Texas A&M Student Government Association testified before the Texas Local Government Senate Committee on Nov. 7 to advocate for legislative reform and receive feedback on proposed legislation that would end the city ordinance. Cade Coppinger, student body president, was one of the representatives who spoke at the meeting. |
| The U.S. faces a dire shortage of accountants | |
| Macy's won't be reporting financial results for a few weeks, after the company said an accounting employee hid up to $154 million in expenses over several years. That news comes at a time when the accounting profession is struggling to attract new workers to its ranks. According to the American Institute of CPAs, the number of accounting graduates fell each year from 2016 to 2022, the last year for which it has data. That's led some accounting educators and associations to rethink the requirements for becoming a CPA. Many accountants acknowledge their profession has a problem: There just aren't enough young people interested in it. Part of that is due to accounting's reputation, said Lexy Kessler, Mid-Atlantic leader for the accounting firm Aprio. "There's an image that it's all work and no play and no reward, that it's just grinding through the hours," Kessler said. But, she said the work is rewarding. "We don't talk about the result of those hours," Kessler said. That can be time spent helping people navigate their taxes, or helping companies change hands. So, accountants need better marketing. But also, they could offer better starting salaries. More money would help. So could changing the required credits that accounting majors need. In a lot of states, students currently have to take 150 credit hours --- about 30 more than a typical bachelor's degree, said Boz Bostrom, chair of the Minnesota Society of CPAs. |
| The Race to Pacify Protesters: Is a new team of campus administrators protecting free speech or undermining it? | |
 | For months, Republican lawmakers have argued that colleges have allowed antisemitism to go unchecked by prioritizing the free-speech rights of pro-Palestinian protesters over the safety of Jewish students. They've called on colleges to move in earlier when protests escalate and to punish participants more harshly. That pressure is likely to increase with President Donald J. Trump back in power. He's threatened to punish colleges that don't take a tougher stance on protesters, including those he's called "pro-Hamas radicals." With pressure intensifying to both rein in protesters and protect free speech, colleges, including Towson, Princeton University, Yale University, and the University of Texas at Austin, have set up or expanded free-speech teams, in some cases hiring full-time free-speech administrators and mediators. The goal, they say, is to protect people's right to peacefully demonstrate by making clear what kinds of actions are and aren't permitted. Representatives serve different roles, showing up at events to hand out flyers with the latest rules, issuing warnings, and mediating or de-escalating situations when protesters and counterprotesters clash. On many campuses, the rules changed over the summer as administrators tightened "time, place, and manner" restrictions on protests. |
| Campuses Advise International Students to Return by Inauguration Day | |
 | At least three universities have encouraged their international students and employees to come back from the winter holiday break ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration, due to concerns that he could use his first days in office to issue executive orders blocking them from returning. The University of Massachusetts Amherst's Office of Global Affairs shared a holiday break travel advisory -- noting that it was not a requirement or official policy -- recommending that such individuals return by Inauguration Day. "Based on previous experience with travel bans that were enacted in the first Trump Administration in [2017], the Office of Global Affairs is making this advisory out of an abundance of caution to hopefully prevent any possible travel disruption to members of our international community," the office wrote on Instagram. "We are not able to speculate on what a travel ban will look like if enacted, nor can we speculate on what particular countries or regions of the world may or may not be affected." The message said the university would allow international students living on campus to move back into their campus housing early if necessary to accommodate the request. Other institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Wesleyan University, sent similar notices to their international students. |
| H-1B hopefuls say they're bracing for the impact of a second Trump term | |
 | Like many visa-holding immigrants, a 24-year-old Ph.D. student in upstate New York said she lives in a constant state of anxiety. The student, who asked to be anonymous out of fear of retaliation, is currently on an F-1 student visa and worries that if she leaves the country even on a vacation, she might not be let back in, that her status might suddenly change. With President-elect Donald Trump preparing to retake office with a crew of Cabinet members with anti-legal immigration platforms, she now has an additional worry: it might be impossible for her to get on a more permanent H-1B, a visa for specialized occupations, when she graduates. "I am anxious to know how and what changes he ends up making," the student said. "In four years, the world could be literally at 180 degrees." Following Trump's re-election victory, many immigrants are worried a second Trump term would introduce restrictions on the H-1B visa program, like he attempted to do during his first term. Trump himself, his allies and Cabinet picks have made promises to make cuts to the program, which experts say would have a huge impact on the tech sector. The H-1B, or high-skill visa program, is overwhelmingly used by Indians. They make up about 75% of all petitioners, far outpacing even the next highest group, Chinese workers, who make up under 12%. |
SPORTS
| Jeff Lebby well-versed in importance of Egg Bowl rivalry | |
| No one has to tell Jeff Lebby what the Battle of the Golden Egg is all about – the coach has already lived it. For two seasons, Lebby coached the Ole Miss Rebels' offense and was well aware of how important the game is inside the state. After enjoying two wins against the Bulldogs the first time around, though, Lebby now sits on the other side of things. Lebby enters his first Egg Bowl as head coach of the Bulldogs and his mission is to beat a longtime friend of his in Lane Kiffin. Along with the battle on the field, the two go head-to-head in recruiting as well. "I think for me, there's this great understanding that this game is a huge deal. Knowing what it means to our fanbase, to our university, to our community in Starkville, it's a big deal," Lebby said. "From a recruiting standpoint and how we recruit against each other in this state, on Friday afternoon we got a ton to play for and we need to be at our best." Friday afternoon's annual meeting between the hated rivals is set for a 2:30 p.m. kick on ABC and it's a chance for State to further play spoiler to the Rebels once-magical season. Ole Miss had a tremendous offseason locking down key returning roster players and adding elite transfers to the roster, but the Rebels' playoff chances are now on life support at best with a 8-3 record and 4-3 mark in SEC play. |
| Jeff Lebby to battle another former boss in Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss | |
| Jeff Lebby faced his friend and former mentor Josh Heupel earlier this month when Mississippi State played Tennessee. But while the Bulldogs' head coach has plenty of respect for Lane Kiffin, his team's meeting with rival Ole Miss is likely to be far less cordial. Now in his first year at MSU, Lebby was Kiffin's offensive coordinator with the Rebels in 2020 and 2021, and Ole Miss had the best total offense in the Southeastern Conference in both years. Kiffin, a well-known social media troll, poked fun at Lebby and the Bulldogs when MSU hired Lebby last year, and at SEC Media Days in July, Lebby called Kiffin's actions "a little childish" while reiterating his respect and admiration for his former boss. "We've traded texts throughout the season and had communication," Lebby said Monday. "But no, not this week. He'll continue to find ways to have fun on social. That's who he's always been and who he'll always be." It will be a tall task in front of the Bulldogs (2-9, 0-7 SEC) as they head to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford on Friday to try to avoid their first winless season in conference play in 22 years. The No. 15 Rebels (8-3, 4-3) allow the fewest rushing yards per game in the conference, so MSU's best offensive player of late, running back Davon Booth, might have a harder time finding holes. "I don't think there's a question that they're the most talented roster we will have played all season long," Lebby said. "It's on the tape. You know exactly what it is from a personnel standpoint. We have to find ways to finish in a great body position. We have to strain and fight like heck to create air in the run game, and then we have to be able to give (Michael Van Buren) just enough time." |
| Men's Hoops Jumps Into AP Top 25 | |
| For the third consecutive season under head coach Chris Jans, Mississippi State has earned an Associated Press top 25 ranking announced Monday. The Bulldogs (5-0) enter this week's poll ranked at No. 25 and have started each of the last three seasons with at least a 5-0 mark under Jans. State has been ranked at some point inside the AP top 25 during each of Jans' first three seasons. It marked the fourth time in program history that the Bulldogs have been ranked among the AP top 25 in three consecutive seasons: 1956-57, 1957-58 and 1958-59 under Babe McCarthy along with 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons with Rick Stansbury at the helm and most recently the 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons also under Stansbury.State is joined by No. 4 Auburn, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 8 Kentucky, No. 9 Alabama, No. 18 Florida, No. 19 Arkansas, No. 20 Texas A&M and No. 23 Ole Miss in this week's AP rankings. The Bulldogs wrap up a challenging stretch of four straight games away from Humphrey Coliseum as the Maroon and White travel to the Arizona Tipoff for a pair of games over Thanksgiving weekend. Fans can purchase non-conference single game tickets through Mississippi State's Athletic Ticket Office at www.HailState.com/tickets or by calling (662) 325-2600 / (888) 463-2947 (GO DAWGS). |
| Mississippi State's Historic Season Ends Against Notre Dame | |
| Coming into Sunday night's matchup with Notre Dame, Mississippi State soccer possessed all the momentum in the world. That momentum was sucked out of the stadium in the first half, though, as a pair of Notre Dame goals slid through to seal the deal. For the second year in a row, Mississippi State put itself exactly where it needed to be and came up just short. Head coach James Armstrong opened his postgame media availability by offering credit where it was due. "Every single player [for Notre Dame] is just so comfortable on the ball," said Armstrong. "...I was really proud of the second half. I thought we made some adjustments at half time, and like I said, the girls fought all the way through to the final whistle." Notre Dame Head Coach Nate Norman gave his own props to the Mississippi State fan base for their continued support of the program and ability to pack out the pitch. "I believe [Mississippi State] is a top 10 program in the country," said Norman. "And I think what they've done here is absolutely amazing." Macey Hodge serves as a member of a senior class that leaves Mississippi State in a much better place than where she and the rest of her group found it. Through tears, she explained how much the Mississippi State community has meant to her. "It means everything," said Hodge. "...I never thought that I would be anything other than a girl that just stayed in a small town...and [Mississippi State soccer] changed my life. I wouldn't be who I am, even as a person, I really found myself and who I was here with these girls and on the soccer field." |
| North Carolina fires football coach Mack Brown | |
| North Carolina announced Tuesday that Mack Brown will not return next season, one day after Brown declared his intentions to return to the Tar Heels. Athletic director Bubba Cunningham informed Brown of his decision on Tuesday. Brown, 73, will coach the team in the regular-season finale against NC State on Saturday, but a decision has not yet been made about whether he will coach the Tar Heels (6-5) in its bowl game. "While this was not the perfect time and way in which I imagined going out, no time will ever be the perfect time," Brown said in a statement. "I've spent 16 seasons at North Carolina and will always cherish the memories and relationships Sally and I have built while serving as head coach." "Mack Brown has won more games than any football coach in UNC history, and we deeply appreciate all that he has done for Carolina football and our university,'' Cunningham said in a statement. "Over the last six seasons - his second campaign in Chapel Hill -- he has coached our team to six bowl berths, including an Orange Bowl, while mentoring 18 NFL draft picks." As Brown finishes out the season, Cunningham and Chancellor Lee H. Roberts will begin the search for a new head coach. Brown has three years left on his contract; remaining payments will be paid by the Department of Athletics and not through state funds. |
| A&M-Texas tickets most expensive regular-season college football game on record | |
| The renewal of Texas A&M's football rivalry with Texas this Saturday could see a record-breaking crowd at Kyle Field. A ticket to the game will cost a record amount, too. Tickets for the Aggies-Longhorns rivalry renewal are the most expensive college football game on record and the most expensive regular-season football game on record for both college and the NFL, according to online secondary marketplace TickPick. The average ticket price, as of Monday, is $1,072 and the "get-in" price is $742 for the game that will determine who will face Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship game Dec. 7 in Atlanta. These prices have far surpassed last year's Michigan-Ohio State game that had an average ticket price of $763 and a "get-in" price of $285. A&M head coach Mike Elko said when he was hired and the game was slated for the last weekend of the season, there was an expectation this would be a tough ticket to get. "As the year has gone on and they've had the year that they've had and we've had the year that we've had, you kind of felt like it was going to be a tougher ticket," Elko said. "Now that it's 'GameDay,' primetime, for a spot in Atlanta, I think the ticket prices probably match the demand to get into the building. I expect our 12th Man will show up, I know they'll hold onto those tickets regardless of what anybody asks for, and that we protect them, we fill this place with Aggies, and we make this Kyle Field the way we know it can be." |
| Remembering the Longhorn Band's olive branch to a grieving Texas A&M community | |
| Col. Jay Brewer is the epitome of an Aggie. His dad played for Texas A&M's 1939 national championship team. He arrived in College Station in August 1977, joined the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band and never left. For 40 years until his retirement in 2020, Brewer was one of the directors and also served as the voice of the Aggie Band, with his authoritative trademark -- "Now forming at the North End of Kyle Field," or wherever the Aggies were playing -- punctuating each performance. As Texas and Texas A&M prepare to resume a heated neighbor-against-neighbor rivalry in College Station on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC), ticket prices are soaring for the first Lone Star Showdown since 2011, when the Aggies left the Big 12 for the SEC. But you won't hear any vitriol toward the Texas Longhorns coming from Brewer's mouth. They earned Brewer's enduring gratitude on Nov. 26, 1999. While the rivalry's return centers on the hate between the two schools, their 1999 meeting looms large in the minds of many in Aggieland. That year, the Aggie bonfire -- the giant symbol for their burning desire to beat Texas -- collapsed, killing 12 students and injuring 27 others. During a game the Aggies won in dramatic fashion, the Longhorn Band paid tribute to its rival university with a remarkable halftime performance. And 25 years later, the unprecedented show of unity between the two universities and their fans remains an indelible memory for many Texans. "It's one of the most memorable days in my 40-year career," Brewer said this week. |
| ESPN exec addresses Lee Corso's future on 'College GameDay' | |
| Lee Corso is a staple of College GameDay. He is now -- and will always be. But there's no denying that age is becoming a factor for the 89-year-old Corso, and it's unclear how many more Saturdays he'll grace the College GameDay set. During the show's recent visit to Bloomington, they rolled out a host of tributes to Corso ---a well-deserved acknowledgment of his legacy. It didn't feel like a farewell, but it would have been a fitting one if it had been. Corso's 2024 season has been uneven. He's missed several shows due to health issues and had the occasional slip-up, but he's also delivered spot-on picks, including a standout performance in Week 1. However, with the addition of Nick Saban to the panel, alongside Herbstreit, Pat McAfee, Desmond Howard and Rece Davis, questions have started to circulate about Corso's role and future on the show. And those questions were raised by Jimmy Traina to ESPN President of Content Burke Magnus on a recent episode of his SI Media with Jimmy Traina podcast. "Listen, I think we're going to do what we've done now for a couple of years running, which is, we're going to have a conversation with him after the season, see where things are," Magnus said. "He's a special guy. He's one of the nicest men any of your listeners or anyone on Earth has ever come across. And he's been absolutely iconic on the show." |
| Conference title games a chance at a banner, bragging rights and, for some, a season-wrecking loss | |
| Indiana should be able to breathe easy this week. It has very little chance of making it into the Big Ten championship game. On the other hand, Georgia's spot in the Southeastern Conference title game is so risky that if the Bulldogs lose they might have been better off sitting it out. Over the next two weeks, the warm familiarity of conference championship games, which began in 1992 thanks to the SEC, could run into the cold reality that comes with the first 12-team College Football Playoff. League title games give the nation's top contenders a chance to hang a banner and impress the CFP committee, but more than ever, the bragging rights come with the risk of a season-wrecking loss -- even with an expanded field. "I just don't think it's a quality conversation," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said last week, sticking with the time-honored cliche of looking no further than the next weekend's opponent. Those who want to have that talk, though, already know where Georgia stands. The Bulldogs (9-2) are ranked sixth in this week's AP Top 25 and projected somewhere near that in the next set of CFP rankings that come out Tuesday. They already have two losses and will have to beat No. 3 Texas or No. 20 Texas A&M in the SEC title game on Dec. 7 to avoid a third. How bad would a third loss hurt? The chairman of the selection committee insists that a team making a conference title game shouldn't count against it. What that really means won't be known until the games are played and the pairings come out on Dec. 8. |
| In or out? College athletics preparing for every conundrum as revenue sharing promises to reshape landscape | |
| Word leaked last month that BYU was in the business of offering small forward AJ Dybantsa $3 million-$4 million in name, image and likeness (NIL) riches that would land the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2025 in Provo. The Cougars apparently weren't the only ones. Along with BYU, Kansas and Kansas State are also considered main pursuers of Dybantsa. Never mind that figure perhaps being the largest for any college basketball player to date, it didn't make basketball sense. "Four million [for one player]?," an administrator for a blue-blood program said, "Then you play with four dogs." The obvious meaning: there wouldn't be enough money left in just about any revenue-sharing pie to surround Dybantsa with meaningful complementary players. The assertion is the latest example of guerilla budgeting going on as the revenue sharing era approaches. Assuming the House v. NCAA settlement will be formally approved in April, the questions now are stacking up like defensive linemen during a goal-line stand. Revenue sharing -- the $20.5 million tranche of annual money schools have the option of funding -- would essentially open the (sanctioned) pay-for-play era. "This is the way it should be modeled for a rest of eternity," said Sedona Prince, a TCU center for women's basketball and an original House plaintiff. "Literally, the foundation of college sports is changing forever." |
| College Sports: Who's Up? Who's Down? | |
| Charlie Baker leaned back almost a year ago in a blue suede spinning chair in the center of a ballroom at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, his hands folded, with a pensive, yet sly, look on his face. Baker, then less than a year into his tenure as NCAA president, headed to the stage intent on sharing the details on what he'd dubbed "Project DI" -- a new look for the NCAA and the schools that would, in theory, shape a more sustainable model for college athletics. "I would describe it as kind of an amalgamation of a bunch of different thoughts, observations, and approaches to this," Baker said at Sports Business Journal's Intercollegiate Athletics Forum in December 2023. "For me, this is a conversation we need to have. And I believe it's a conversation that the folks in D1 [and] at the NCAA want to have. Now we need to actually have it, and get somewhere with it." Times have changed. What Baker proposed at last year's IAF in terms of a new structure for the highest rungs of Division I never really took shape, at least directly. Rather, the proposed settlement in the House, Hubbard and Carter antitrust cases figures to reshape the immediate future of college sports, should it be granted final approval in April (although the settlement has basic bones of what Baker had suggested). The college industry at large has been turned upside down and thrust into persistent change over the past five years, because of name, image and likeness; the transfer portal; thoughts of private equity entering the space; and legal cases that continue to push the amateur model into the past. |
| Is there already a College Football Playoff controversy? Potential bye wracking nerves with 2 weeks left: 'The data doesn't lie' | |
| The College Football Playoff selection committee enters its final two weeks of deliberation with a host of consequential decisions thrust on the 13 members. (1) Who are the final at-large selections into the field? (2) Which teams receive a first-round game at home? (3) Which four conference champions receive a first-round bye? The first two are causing plenty of angst. But it is the third stress point that, perhaps, offers the most intriguing debate. The five highest-ranked conference champions earn a bid into the 12-team field, and the top four champions are seeded Nos. 1-4 and receive a bye into the quarterfinals. Many presumed that the champions of the four power leagues would annually get those first-round byes. The CFP selection committee's last rankings paint a different picture. In its rankings released last week, Boise State (10-1) was ahead of all Big 12 teams, paving the way for the Broncos to receive the No. 4 seed and the first-round bye in a Group of Five-over-Power Four leap. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said such a decision would be the wrong one. "Based on where we sit today, I see no rationale for the Big 12's champion not getting a first-round bye," Yormark told Yahoo Sports. Yormark is loaded with Big 12 data points. The debate over the CFP's final first-round bye is an extension of a long-running tussle between the power leagues and those from the lower-resourced level of the Football Bowl Subdivision. |
| Review: A Timely History of College Sport | |
| Shedeur Sanders, the University of Colorado quarterback and son of Colorado head coach and former National Football League star Deion Sanders, earns more than $5 million a year from endorsement deals and drives a Rolls-Royce. He made his first in-person appearance in a college classroom at the end of his third semester on campus, which videographers taped for his social media accounts. While Sanders's compensation is exceptional, starting quarterbacks in the Power Four conferences average more than $800,000 annually through name, image and likeness deals; starting offensive linemen more than $500,000, and starting running backs more than $300,000. In what has been called "the biggest upheaval in college sports history," the commercialization of varsity athletics has been drastically accelerated recently by lawsuits, television deals and conference realignments. Some athletic departments now spend more than $200 million a year, and conference television contracts run into the billions. If a federal judge approves a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement in a class action lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association, universities will be allowed to allocate about $20 million annually to pay players directly. In College Sports: A History, newly released by Johns Hopkins University Press, Eric A. Moyen, a professor of higher education leadership at Mississippi State University, and John R. Thelin, emeritus professor of the history of higher education and public policy at the University of Kentucky, offer a timely, comprehensive and informative account of the long tail of the commercialization of college sports. |
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