| Thursday, January 16, 2025 |
| Mississippi State biological sciences professor earns historic presidential award | |
 | An educator at Mississippi State University has earned a historic honor from the White House. Associate Professor Amy Dapper earned the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, making her the university's first-ever recipient of the award since its inception in 1996. Dapper was one of nearly 400 scientists and engineers recognized by outgoing President Joe Biden. The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers was kickstarted by former President Bill Clinton and serves to highlight individuals who show exceptional promise in leadership and research. Dapper's work in MSU's Department of Biological Sciences placed her among some of the brightest minds among scientists representing multiple federal agencies and top research institutions nationally. Her efforts in Starkville have been supported by the National Science Foundation. "I am incredibly honored to receive this award. It is amazing as an early career scientist to receive this type of recognition and affirmation that the research program I am building here is important and exciting," Dapper said. "I am extremely grateful to the Department of Biological Sciences, the College of Arts and Sciences, and MSU for giving me a platform to build my independent research program. Science is not done in a vacuum and nothing in my lab would be possible without the super-talented trainees that I am so lucky to mentor." |
| Mary Means Business: Friendly City Books is reopening at its new location | |
 | In Columbus, Friendly City Books is reopening at its new location at 423 Main St. on Saturday. Owner Emily Liner announced the bookstore's move late last year. I've already seen the space and you folks should check it out on Saturday! FCB's Grand Opening is 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and 10% of all opening day sales will go toward the Columbus-Lowndes Humane Society. Liner added their new location includes a space for customers to sit, read and hang out. "We are excited to start a new chapter of Friendly City Books on Main Street," she said. "... We couldn't have done this by ourselves. We had volunteers help us pack up thousands of books for our move, and we had a successful fundraiser online to help us with moving expenses." This isn't the first time a book store set up shop at 423 Main St. In the early 1990s, Steve Pieschel owned and operated Old Main Books. Liner called it an "amazing coincidence" and Pieschel is glad to see his former stomping grounds filled with books again. ... Moving to Starkville, Disc and That reopened at their new location at 1107 Stark Road. The hobby disc golf store is boasting new hours at its new location so check them out 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and noon-4 p.m. on Sundays. |
| Wright joins Thacker Mountain Radio Hour at the Ellis Theater | |
 | Meridian native, Snowden Wright, will discuss his latest book, "The Queen City Detective Agency," on Feb. 1 when he appears live on The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour. The radio show, a longtime staple of Saturday nights on Mississippi Public Broadcasting, will bring its mixture of literature and music to the historic Ellis Theater in Philadelphia. The performance is set for 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Wright's "The Queen City Detective Agency" takes its title from Meridian's nickname and is a rollicking crime novel set in 1980s Meridian. The Netflix-ready cast of characters includes a female private investigator, Clementine Baldwin. All become enmeshed in a Dixie Mafia-style criminal conspiracy that will keep readers guessing and turning pages. In its review of Wright's novel, "The Wall Street Journal" said, "A picaresque saga stuffed with colorful characters, bursts of violence, droll banter and many twists." Wright lives in Yazoo County, Mississippi. Along with Wright, guests on the show will include 14-year-old country music prodigy Wyatt Ellis and rhythm and blues powerhouse Vasti Jackson. Ellis, who has drawn comparisons to Marty Stuart and Billy Strings, will perform a full set with his band at 8:30 p.m. following the radio show taping. |
| Retail theft: Some stores are taking extra steps to get back merchandise | |
 | On the office wall at Tupelo Ace Hardware is a "wall of shame" of sorts, photos and descriptions of known shoplifters shared amongst retailers in Tupelo. Ace store co-owner and general manager George Booth III says a cooperative effort with retail behemoth Walmart has allowed area retailers to spot potential thieves looking for a quick score. The company is member of a retail group on Facebook where they share information on shoplifters. "What we do is share security camera footage of people who are taking things. And there are people from that page who walked into my store, and I told them to get out," he said. Walmart often has the name and phone numbers of the people featured on the Facebook page, enabling retailers -- if they choose to do so -- to pursue charges. In Mississippi, thefts over $1,000 are a felony, so it's not worthwhile to file if it's less than that. And thieves know that. But that doesn't stop Booth and others from trying to deter thefts, because they add up. Booth will pursue charges against a shoplifter whenever possible, but would prefer not to, stopping as many as he can before it gets to the point. "A lot of our prevention is doing what we do with customers, and that's going up to people and asking how we can help them," Booth said. |
| Nissan EV production delayed until 2028 | |
| Electric vehicle production, originally slated for the Nissan plant here this year, will be delayed, Nissan officials said. Officials hope the plant will produce five electric vehicles beginning in 2028, said Amanda Plecas, Senior Manager of Manufacturing and Labor Communications Nissan Group of the Americas. Plecas noted this will include upgrades to the Canton facility. "Nissan remains committed to the future of mobility and electric vehicle production," Plecas said. "Our Canton, Mississippi facility will transform into a Nissan Intelligent Factory, supporting the manufacture of five next-generation electric vehicles beginning in 2028." Nissan officials announced in February 2022 that that they aimed to begin production of two electric vehicles in 2025 at the Canton plant. The vehicles were said to be a Nissan and Infiniti electric vehicles. Officials at the time said the move would require a $500 million upgrade to the facility and marked $4 billion invested in Mississippi since 2003. The announcement comes amid rumors that the Canton plant could downsize its workforce. Plecas did not comment further on jobs at the Canton plant but did say there are currently no official decision to downsize has been made. The Canton plant has approximately 5,000 employees. |
| Oyster season is back, but for how long? | |
| 2024 marked the return of oyster season on the Mississippi Gulf Coast for the first time in six years. For fishermen like Patrick Parkinson, this season marks a return to a way of life that environmental challenges halted for six years in the Mississippi Sound. "This is the first time in like 14 years I've been oystering here in the Mississippi Sound," Parkinson said. "It's been perfect -- plenty of oysters, perfect eating oysters, real salty ... not too much freshwater because the spillway has been closed for so long." While this season is a welcome change, the industry remains in a precarious state. Fishermen and marine scientists alike are optimistic but know a single event -- such as the opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway -- could undo years of recovery. Mississippi's oyster industry has faced decades of setbacks -- from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. These disasters not only destroyed oyster reefs but also hurt the local economy. One of the biggest challenges in recent years has involved the Bonnet Carré Spillway, a flood control structure that protects levees in southern Louisiana by diverting water from the Mississippi River into Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi Sound. "When you bring in polluted water from 31 states and two provinces in Canada, and push it in large quantities, it disrupts the ecosystem," said Dr. Moby Solangi, director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies. |
| House speaker, lieutenant governor make committee appointments for 2025 session | |
 | Committee seats in both the Mississippi House of Representatives and Senate did some shuffling around last week not long after lawmakers gaveled in for the 2025 legislative session. In the state legislature, committee members and chairs serve at the pleasure of the speaker of the House or the lieutenant governor, who serves as president of the Senate. That being said, committee assignment are made at the beginning of a four-year term, but chamber leaders can always move members around or fill empty committee seats at their whim. In the Senate, the former Transportation Committee Chair Jenifer Branning, R-Philadelphia, won a seat on the Mississippi Supreme Court, and she took her oath of office in early January. Sen. Chuck Younger, R-Columbus, will take her place as chairman of that committee and will end his leadership of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Neil Whaley, R-Potts Camp, is now chairing the Agriculture Committee. He was previously the Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Committee chairman. Ben Suber, R-Bruce, now chairs the Senate Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Committee. Bart Williams, R-Starkville, now chairs the Senate Public Property Committee. He was previously chair of the Senate Technology Committee. Scott Delano, R-Biloxi, is now the chairman of the Technology Committee. |
| Younger named Senate Highways and Transportation chair | |
| Columbus native Chuck Younger has been named the chair of the state Senate's Highways and Transportation Committee. Younger, the senator for District 17 since 2014, was appointed to lead the commission Friday after its previous head Jenifer Branning won a seat on Mississippi's Supreme Court. That means he is now responsible for deciding what transportation bills move forward to a full Senate vote and which stall out in committee. Younger told The Dispatch Wednesday he chose to pursue the position because of his time chairing the Senate Committee on Agriculture, which gave him insight to the difficulties in moving goods around the state. Younger stepped down as agriculture chair to take the transportation role, but will continue to serve on the agriculture committee. "I've been chairman of agriculture for a few years, and of course to get anything to market you have to go through the highway," Younger said. "I spoke with the Farm Bureau president and good friend of mine Mike McCormick and he said, 'Yeah, that would be a good move for you and a good move for agriculture as well.'" Younger said his top priorities are making sure Mississippi Department of Transportation has as much funding as possible and getting the state's roads repaired, giving a nod to river ports and railroad lines as well. |
| Legislation to send more public money to private schools appears stalled as lawmakers consider other changes | |
| Some top lawmakers in Mississippi's Republican-controlled Legislature are prepared to make it easier for students to transfer between public schools but remain skeptical of sending more public money to private schools. During the second week of Mississippi's legislative session, key lawmakers were still assessing the appetite in their caucuses for what some call "school choice" bills. The term can refer to several different policies, including using taxpayer funds to pay for the private school tuition of students transferring from public schools. Proponents argue parents should have greater autonomy over their children's education, but some lawmakers still have unanswered questions about whether the policies would serve their intended purpose. Opponents say that taking money from public schools would add financial strain to a system that they argue has already been underfunded for decades. House Education Chair Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, said children in some rural areas don't live near any private schools, and that funding private school tuition with taxpayer money could undermine public schools attended by the most needy students. "In certain parts of our state, we can talk about choice all day long," Roberson said. "But there are no other choices for a lot of these kids, and it's really not fair to the public schools in regards to this, because public schools are given a mandate to educate all kids. Private schools are not given that mandate." |
| NAACP legislative redistricting proposal pits two pairs of senators against each other | |
| The Mississippi chapter of the ACLU has submitted a proposal to redraw the state's legislative districts that creates two new majority-Black Senate districts and pits two pairs of incumbent senators against one another. The plan, submitted on behalf of Black residents and the state branch of the NAACP, creates a new majority-Black Senate district in north Mississippi's DeSoto County and in south Mississippi's Hattiesburg area. "Any proposed maps that attempt to meet the court order by diluting or undermining existing Black-majority voting districts in other parts of the state will fail the requirements set by the court and federal law," Mississippi ACLU Director Jarvis Dortch said in a statement. The plan tweaks the boundaries of the existing 52 Senate districts. To accommodate new majority-Black districts, the plan places Republican Sens. Kevin Blackwell and David Parker, both of DeSoto County, in the same district. The same scenario would happen to Republican Sens. John Polk and Chris Johnson of Hattiesburg. Neither the Senate nor the House has released a redistricting proposal, and the federal courts have not yet ruled on a submitted plan. |
| CCID court judges, prosecutors picked but unknown to public until court start date | |
| The new Capital Complex Improvement District Court is slated to open in just a few weeks, but those who represent the state such as prosecutors and judges will not be known to the public until the court hears its first case. Prior to 2025, Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Randolph made his appointment to serve as judge for the CCID Court, which will be located at the old Continental Trailways Bus Station, behind the Naval Reserve Center building on South Jefferson Street. However, Supreme Court Public Information Officer Beverly Kraft told the Clarion Ledger Randolph will not release the identity of the judge until it opens. "Chief Justice Mike Randolph expects to announce appointment when the CCID Court opens," Kraft said in a written statement in late December. She did not respond to questions asking when exactly he made the appointment or why he chose not to announce his appointment's identity prior to the opening of the court. "The lack of disclosure naturally causes some concern, but the proof will be in the pudding," said Cliff Johnson, a civil rights attorney and leader of watchdog group determined to monitor the court and its cases. "We'll know in short order whether those selected to work in this court are committed to justice, rather than consumed by politics." |
| Dr. Renia Dotson Named Mississippi's New State Epidemiologist, the First Black Woman in the Role | |
| Dr. Renia Dotson will serve as Mississippi's new state epidemiologist and Theresa Kittle will serve as the deputy state epidemiologist, the Mississippi State Department of Health announced in a Tuesday press release. Dotson is the first Black woman to assume the role of state epidemiologist. Dotson will replace interim state epidemiologist Dr. Kathryn Taylor, who took over in 2023 when former state epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers resigned after leading the state through the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The deputy state epidemiologist position was vacant before Kittle took the reins. The state epidemiologist is responsible for watching cases and trends of reportable and chronic diseases; investigating disease outbreaks; finding ways to stop or prevent outbreaks, and reporting causes of death and trends to medical experts. Dotson most recently served as the director of the Center for Public Health Transformation at MSDH in 2024. She practiced as a rectal and colon surgeon for 23 years, primarily at the Delta Regional Medical Center. She served as the chief of staff, chief of surgery, and regional and institutional medical director of trauma at the center before her tenure at MSDH. Kittle has worked for MSDH as an epidemiologist for 14 years and implemented the disease surveillance and electronic laboratory reporting systems while serving as the director of the Office of Epidemiology. |
| Navy destroyer to be named for former Mississippi Governor Mabus | |
| U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced Wednesday that one of two new destroyers will be named for former Mississippi Governor and former Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. The news came on Day 2 of the Surface Navy Association's 37th National Symposium in Virginia. Mabus and his daughter were present for the announcement. Liz Mabus, daughter of Mabus, will sponsor the ship. The USS Ray Mabus (DDG 147) will be built at Pascagoula's Ingalls Shipbuilding. "Serving my country in uniform as a young LTJG aboard a guided missile cruiser and then, decades later, leading our naval services are the greatest privileges and most consequential times of my life," said Mabus. The former Governor said it is highest honor of his life is to know that sailors will defend our country and represent our values around the world for years aboard a ship bearing his name. "That LTJG would never have imagined and this former SECNAV could not be more thankful, more honored, or more moved," Mabus said. From May 2009 to January 2017, he served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Navy throughout the Obama Administration, the longest to serve as leader of the Navy and Marine Corps since World War I. |
| Attorney general pick avoids missteps at confirmation hearing | |
 | Pam Bondi walked a tightrope during her confirmation hearing Wednesday to be the next attorney general, describing her plans to "restore confidence and integrity" to the Justice Department while deflecting questions that could have pitted her against President-elect Donald Trump's past statements. The former Florida attorney general avoided the kind of misstep that could imperil her strong backing from Senate Republicans, as the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing touched on a range of topics, from a controversial surveillance authority to criminal justice legislation. "The partisanship, the weaponization, will be gone. America will have one tier of justice for all," Bondi said, referencing long-standing grievances from Republican lawmakers and conservatives. "In all this work, I'll collaborate closely with this committee." And when pressed by Democrats on certain topics, such as the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and pardons for those who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, she avoided answers that could have put her at odds with Trump's past positions. Republicans on the panel largely defended Bondi, pointing to her lengthy career as a prosecutor and her tenure as Florida attorney general. Bondi, during the hourslong hearing on Capitol Hill, pledged to not politicize the office and said no one will be prosecuted or investigated because they are a political opponent. |
| The old-school senator working to confirm Trump's unorthodox DOJ picks | |
 | Sen. Chuck Grassley often tells his staff, in his distinctive Iowa drawl, that every single member of the Senate is his friend --- and if anyone doesn't like him back, he doesn't want to find out. On Wednesday, the chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee began presiding over several contentious confirmation hearings that could test the friendships he has built across the aisle. Democrats are gearing up to fiercely fight some of President-elect Donald Trump's nominees, arguing they could help Trump weaponize the Justice Department and embark on a political revenge tour that undermines the rule of law. Grassley, 91 and the longest-serving GOP senator in U.S. history, is an old-school lawmaker known for his reverence for Senate tradition and his willingness to work with Democrats. But he said in an interview that he sees no cause for concerns about Trump's picks to lead the Justice Department, dismissing the notion that any of the nominees pose a threat to the agency's independence. The president-elect, a wealthy real estate magnate from New York City, and Grassley, a plainspoken farmer of a different generation and a creature of the Senate, have very different temperaments and political styles, but they share a skepticism of the federal government and a desire for change at the Justice Department. Grassley, who first ran for office in 1958 and won election to the House in 1974, has long raised questions about how the federal government wields power and spends taxpayer money, including at the FBI. |
| Fetterman's approach to Trump stirs speculation | |
 | Sen. John Fetterman's (D-Pa.) open-minded approach to President-elect Trump is fueling questions about his motives and vexing some of his fellow Democrats. In the wake of Trump's victory in November, Fetterman has emerged as a critic of his own party's messaging, while also signaling a willingness to entertain some of the incoming administration's policy ideas. The Pennsylvania senator drew praise from Trump himself after the two men met last week. Fetterman had already become a lightning rod among progressives thanks to his embrace of Israel, and his recent actions are further adding to his polarizing reputation in the party, where some see him positioning himself for a bigger national presence. "I wouldn't 100 percent rule out that maybe or slightly there is some thinking about different or future opportunities," said Eddie Vale, a longtime Democratic strategist. Less than a week until inauguration, the sit-down at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club is drawing speculation about what role Fetterman could play in Trump's second term. Shortly after the meeting, Trump lavished Fetterman with praise, calling him "a fascinating man," distinguishing him from most Democrats who are still keeping their distance. Ford O'Connell, a Republican strategist, suggested Trump is being strategic in finding a Democrat on Capitol Hill for bipartisanship. "If you're willing to put the country first I'm willing to work with you," he said about the president-elect's thinking. "That's what he's been projecting." |
| A Euphoric Tech Industry Is Ready to Celebrate Trump and Itself | |
 | A party at the Beaux-Arts mansion of the venture capitalist Peter Thiel. A blowout organized by hosts of the popular tech podcast "All-In" at a brand-new members-only club. A viewing ceremony hosted by an ascendant, Silicon Valley-inflected network of wealthy donors. Some of the most coveted parties during President-elect Donald J. Trump's inaugural weekend will be hosted by the Silicon Valley donors who are flush with power at the dawn of his second administration. The tech industry that has embraced Mr. Trump over the last year or so is set to revel in its clout over days of festivities that will make the tech donors the stars of the show. Inaugurations attract deep-pocketed corporations and donors seeking access to an incoming administration that will oversee their industries and interests. Mr. Trump's official inaugural committee has shattered fund-raising records. Across Washington, dozens of big-money events are planned at the city's most exclusive hotels and restaurants, rooftops and ballrooms, on land and aboard yachts, mostly catering to the corporations and wealthy executives who will be in the capital to usher in a new term that they hope will unshackle American business. Few events have attracted more interest from politically ambitious executives than the Crypto Ball, a sold-out affair on Friday night being put on by the cryptocurrency industry to celebrate what the invitation calls "the first crypto president." Snoop Dogg is set to perform at the party, which will also celebrate David Sacks, a venture capitalist and podcaster whom Mr. Trump named as his czar for artificial intelligence and crypto issues. |
| TikTok CEO expected to attend Trump inauguration as ban looms | |
 | TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew plans to attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday as the company confronts a new law with a looming deadline requiring it to sell to a non-Chinese firm or stop operating in the United States, according to a source with knowledge of the inauguration plans. TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is facing a dire situation in the U.S. after Congress passed legislation banning it in the U.S. unless there's a sale. The ban was framed as a national security issue. Lawmakers cited concerns about Chinese authorities having access to TikTok users' data. Trump once criticized TikTok and tried to ban it during his first administration. He has since embraced the company, though, saying he has a "warm spot" for it and wants to "save" it. Chew's appearance at the inauguration would be viewed as another sign that Trump favors TikTok. Chew is expected to have a prime seat at the inauguration with other VIP guests, including celebrities and foreign and business leaders. The New York Times first reported on Chew's inauguration plans. Trump is considering an executive order that would allow TikTok to keep operating for 60 to 90 days after the Jan. 19 deadline to sell, according to media reports. TikTok is hugely popular in the United States, with 170 million American users. Trump's campaign used TikTok as part of a robust social media strategy. |
| Trump Trashed Washington for Years. Now He's Vowing to Make Over the City. | |
 | Something was nagging at Donald Trump when he sat down late last month with Mayor Muriel Bowser to discuss the city that he would soon call home. Graffiti. The incoming president was preoccupied with spray-painted walls he saw in a tunnel his motorcade sped through in the summer of 2023 on the way to the federal courthouse in Washington, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to overturn the election results. Trump saw graffiti as symbolic of a city in decline, and he told Bowser he intended to take action, according to people briefed on their meeting at Mar-a-Lago. As Trump prepares to move back into the White House for his second term, he and his senior advisers have vowed to transform the nation's capital in ways both small and large. The president-elect regards Washington as the epicenter of what he sees as his political persecution, and he is determined to make it a more MAGA-friendly place. Doug Heye, a former top Republican aide, said that with narrow majorities in Congress, it won't be easy for Trump to change Washington. "He's right, this city is a mess," said Heye, who was recently robbed on the way to the grocery store. "But nobody is under any illusions that getting anything done via legislation is going to be simple." |
| Many Americans doubt Trump will be able to lower prices in his first year, an AP-NORC poll shows | |
 | Worries about everyday expenses helped return President-elect Donald Trump to the White House. But with his second term quickly approaching, many U.S. adults are skeptical about his ability to bring down costs. Only about 2 in 10 Americans are "extremely" or "very" confident that Trump will be able to make progress on lowering the cost of groceries, housing or health care this year, according to a survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, while about 2 in 10 are "moderately" confident. Faith in Trump's ability to create jobs is a little higher -- about 3 in 10 are extremely or very confident the Republican will make progress on this in 2025 -- but the poll indicates that despite his sweeping promises about lowering prices, a substantial chunk of his own supporters don't have high confidence in his ability to quickly alleviate the economic pressures that continue to frustrate many households. Those tempered expectations haven't dampened Republicans' hopes for Trump's second presidential term, though. And Democrats' pessimism about his return to office is more muted than it was when he exited the White House in 2020. About 8 in 10 Republicans say Trump will be a "great" or "good" president in his second term, according to the poll. Much of the 2024 presidential campaign revolved around prices -- whether President Joe Biden, a Democrat, was to blame for inflation and whether Trump could fix it. |
| After half a century in politics, Biden bids farewell in an Oval Office address | |
 | President Biden delivered his farewell address to the nation on Wednesday, taking to the Oval Office for one last opportunity to frame his legacy and to deliver a warning about the threat from unchecked abuse of power and wealth and what he described as an emerging oligarchy. Speaking from behind the Resolute Desk, Biden sought to sound an alarm about "a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra wealthy people" that he said risks undermining the very fabric of American life. "Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy. Our basic rights and freedoms. And a fair shot for everyone to get ahead," he said. The address was an echo of the farewell address that then-President Dwight Eisenhower delivered to the nation in 1961, in which he famously warned about the dangers of an emerging "military industrial complex." Today, Biden said, the threat he sees is coming from a "tech industrial complex." He is leaving office deeply unpopular, and in less than a week will turn power over to Trump -- a leader Biden had vowed to make a one-term president. After losing to Biden four years ago, Trump will now return to the White House promising to undo broad pieces of Biden's accomplishments. |
| A return of the resistance? A group of former Biden officials assembles to fight Trump's executive orders in court and rally public opinion | |
 | Just when it seemed that the Dem resistance was tuned out, former Biden-Harris officials will help launch on Inauguration Day a new legal response center to bolster the fight against President-elect Donald Trump's impending executive orders. The new effort, funded by the national legal organization Democracy Forward -- formed in 2017 during Trump's first administration -- will analyze the incoming president's executive orders to support legal and political challenges to his agenda, according to plans first shared with POLITICO. The group, which announced the effort Thursday, has already identified more than 200 of what it classifies as emerging threats related to the incoming president's expected executive orders. It's the latest sign of the nascent, albeit much different, resistance to Trump's second term, as the Democratic Party braces for a better-prepared, organized policy rollout from the new administration. As the president-elect is poised to unleash his sweeping policy agenda, Democrats are preparing for a fight that will play out in the court of public opinion and across the country's legal system. A slate of recent officials from across the Biden administration are joining Democracy Forward as senior counsel to support the effort. |
| DeSantis picks Florida AG Ashley Moody to replace Rubio in Senate | |
| Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has tapped the state's Republican attorney general, Ashley Moody, to replace Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in the Senate following his nomination to serve as President-elect Trump's secretary of State. DeSantis said during an announcement with Moody in Orlando that he expects her to be swiftly confirmed and that she will "mostly likely" be sworn in on Monday afternoon, following President-elect Trump's inauguration. "I'm happy to say we've had an attorney general who has been somebody that has acted time and time again to support the values we all share," the governor said, citing Moody's work on opioids, immigration, leading Florida's investigation into the second Trump assassination and pushback to federal investigations into Trump. Moody touted her support of Trump in her remarks following DeSantis's announcement, "I will bring the same persistence, passion and tenacity that I have brought as attorney general as a United States senator," she said. Moody was elected to serve as the state's attorney general in 2018. She succeeded former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is Trump's nominee to lead the Justice Department. |
| Classes begin for MUW students in Columbus | |
 | Area college students return to class and campus. Mississippi University for Women students started the spring semester. Classes are in full swing and dorms are filling up once again. Mississippi State University also started classes today, January 15. Enrollment numbers for the semester will not be out for several weeks. |
| UM study finds increased meth mortality rates in Mississippi, US | |
 | A University of Mississippi (UM) study showed a meteoric rise in methamphetamine deaths in the U.S. since the turn of the 21st century. The death rate rose 61-fold from 1999 to 2021, according to a new study, highlighting a growing crisis in addiction and public health. According to Andrew Yockey, UM assistant professor of public health and co-author of the study, men are more likely to abuse substances than women. Yockey and Rachel Hoopsick, assistant professor of health and kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, published the team's findings in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) reported an increase of 182% in drug overdose deaths between 2011 and 2021. In the same period, the number of deaths involving synthetic opioids rose from 16 to 474, a nearly 30-fold increase. The sharpest rise came in between 2019 and 2021, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but also because of the rise of synthetic opioids and their prevalence among meth users, Yockey said. Yockey, Hoopsick and Hannah Allen, executive director of UM's William Magee Institute for Student Wellbeing and assistant professor of public health, plan to study the relationship between methamphetamine use and suicide in 10 rural Mississippi counties. |
| The American Heart Association aims to close the gap in health inequities with HBCU scholars program | |
 | The American Heart Association is hoping to close the gap in health inequities and disparities by promoting diversity among healthcare professionals. Four Mississippi based college students have been selected for their 2024-2025 historically Black colleges and universities scholars program. The American Heart Association's program has the goal of increasing the number of Black students who apply and are accepted into medical schools. Black residents make up more than 37% of Mississippi's population. However, out of 5,688 doctors, less than 600 of them are Black, according to the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure. Dr. Demondes Haynes is the associate dean for medical school admissions for the School of Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. "I did not meet a Black doctor until I came to medical school, and I'm a native Mississippian," he said. "I grew up in Louisville, Mississippi. I went to school at the University of Mississippi, but I did not meet my first Black doctor until I was in medical school. The good news now is I know we have students who are getting to meet Black doctors all over the state. We have more. It's still not enough, but we definitely have more than when I was a student here many years ago." Dr. Haynes says while he believes it's important for patients to have choice in their physicians, he doesn't believe every Black patient has to have a Black doctor. |
| William Carey University breaks records in 2024, announces big plans for 2025 | |
 | William Carey University had a big year, seeing record-breaking enrollment numbers in 2024. University leaders felt it was important to focus on growing the undergraduate population. "Our growth for the university over the last decade has come almost exclusively from graduate enrollment and adding programs like our College of Osteopathic Medicine, our pharmacy school, our physical therapy school," said WCU President Dr. Ben Burnett. "And our undergraduate program really had not grown any in the last decade." Burnett says they saw a 42% increase in first-time freshmen, and the transfer student population grew by 101%. "We've put a lot of resources, a lot of effort toward our undergraduate program with digital marketing, with the recruiting, and we really saw this year the first fruits of our labor with that," said Burnett. On-campus living has also been on the rise by 35%. Burnett attributes this, in part, to amenities like more student life events, a newly renovated cafeteria, or the brand new Amphitheater. However, students say these aren't the only changes they've noticed on campus. "The culture on campus, I think, is the main change that I've seen," said WCU Student Kendrick Davis. "It really does feel like everybody's just a family that just kind of rotates through the day and we're all just hanging out together." |
| 'This is fascism': Millsaps professor says he was fired for email commenting on presidential election | |
| A Millsaps College professor has been fired days after a national civil rights group says he was suspended for using his college email account to share personal opinions following the 2024 presidential election. James Bowley confirmed on Wednesday that he was fired by Millsaps Interim Provost Stephanie Rolph, more than two months after he sent an email to students saying he was canceling a class to "mourn and process this racist and fascist country" following Donald Trump's re-election. "Millsaps now has an administration that censors its faculty, so much so that it will fire someone if they disagree with their message," he said. "They cannot argue with that." Bowley had been on leave from the Jackson institution since November 8, two days after he sent the email. Since then, he has been banned from the campus and did not have access to his Millsaps email or other files. "It's really sad because this is supposed to be a place of academic freedom where people can speak out," he said. "This is fascism... exactly what fascism is." Bowley's story has since gone viral, with the case being taken up by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. The group is now asking that Bowley be reinstated. Meanwhile, hundreds of students, Millsaps alums, and others have signed petitions seeking his reinstatement. He said the Faculty Grievance Committee also is backing him. |
| School district under fire for handout | |
| The Madison County School District has come under a firestorm of criticism for a handout to parents about the state's legislative agenda, drawing the ire of the State Auditor. The handout given to parents at at least one Madison County School District meeting earlier this month has received criticism as it includes the district's preferences on political issues. State Auditor Shad White has expressed concern that district funds were spent on a flyer that appears to be explicitly political in nature. "This morning I will be demanding Madison Co Schools tell us how much in taxpayer funds they spent printing this garbage," White said in a social media post that tags the school district. "Try buying some classroom supplies for your teachers instead of printing this crap." The handout was reportedly given to parents, along with comments from Superintendent Ted Poore, earlier this month. The handout includes the school district's logo and says "2025 Legislative Agenda" across the top. The handout includes a "For" and "Against" column. Under the "For" column are: "teacher pay raises," "revision of the Mississippi Student Funding Formula," and "Increased emphasis on Career and Technical Education." The "Against" column mentions "education vouchers for private school tuition," "open enrollment/school choice," and opposing a decrease in retirement benefits through PERS. Specifically, the handout says school choice "results in negative effects on school culture and decrease in property values." |
| Louisiana Colleges Spend Just a Fraction of the Budget on DEI | |
 | Louisiana's public colleges and universities spend only 0.1 percent of the state's higher ed budget on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, according to an analysis from The Louisiana Illuminator. Last year lawmakers asked all public higher ed institutions in the state to submit a report detailing their expenditures on DEI. Sixteen institutions reported spending nothing, and 17 said they spent between 0.001 percent and 0.42 percent of their budget on DEI, according to the Illuminator, which obtained the reports through public records requests. All told, DEI programs cost those 17 institutions $3.5 million out of the state's $2.7 billion higher ed appropriations. The Illuminator noted that those figures may actually be inflated, given that the legislation mandating the DEI reports, Act 641, left some room for interpretation. For instance, institutions were required to report the number of DEI personnel they employ, but not all counted them the same way; some included only full-time DEI workers while others factored in those who work only occasionally on DEI initiatives. |
| Landing jobs, paying bills, finding success: How Vol Edge gets students real-world ready | |
 | In an effort to meet Tennessee's wide-ranging workforce needs, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville is launching a program that guides students from campus life to full adulthood, requiring real-world experience beyond the classroom and teaching financial literacy skills that are often overlooked in education. UT's focus on meeting workforce needs has been evident through efforts like the Nursing Scholars Program, but this new Vol Edge Program is a resource to mold college students across all concentrations. While the program will be optional for most students, the UT Success Academy will require Vol Edge, and the Chancellor's Honors Program and Veterans Impact Program are exploring how to require it, too. A few colleges and instructors have contacted UT's Division of Student Success, which built the program, about how to include Vol Edge in curriculums. Overall, students will have a "hard time avoiding messaging" from administrators or professors talking about the program, said Krystyne Savarese, executive director of UT's Center for Career Development and Academic Exploration. The program is the newest bragging point from the Division of Student Success led by Vice Provost Amber Williams. Her dedication in the role since 2020 has paid off with a record-breaking 91.9% retention rate for first-year students in 2024. This increase from around 86% prior to Williams being hired was part of the reason UT was selected to host 200 institutions at the Student Success US 2024 conference. |
| Tennessee voucher bill could create shortfall for HOPE scholarship, lottery advocates warn | |
| As Tennessee lawmakers consider Gov. Bill Lee's proposal for a statewide school voucher program, advocates of the Tennessee HOPE scholarship, including U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, are raising concerns that one provision in the bill could create a long-term funding issue for the state's higher education scholarships. Lee on Wednesday announced that he will call a special legislative session for lawmakers to consider his voucher proposal alongside Hurricane Helene relief and immigration policies. One element in Lee's proposal aimed at winning over voucher skeptics would reallocate 80% of revenue collected from sports betting in the state to a dedicated fund for K-12 public school facilities and maintenance. Currently, that sports betting revenue -- about $70 million -- goes to the state's HOPE Scholarship program, which in turn provides hundreds of millions of dollars in state scholarships to high-achieving students to attend in-state colleges and universities. Long term, advocates are concerned that redirecting the sports wagering revenue could drive down HOPE scholarship funding, and potentially impact scholarship funding available to college-going students. |
| Georgia Regents announce new college president and UGA dorm renovation project | |
| The College of Coastal Georgia has a new president. On Tuesday, the Board of Regents named Johnny L. Evans Jr. to the permanent role, a position he had held in an interim capacity since June. It was the final action taken by the board in its first public meeting of the year, where it also approved a multimillion-dollar renovation of a University of Georgia residence hall and renamed a building at Fort Valley State University after a longtime state lawmaker. Earlier in Tuesday's meeting, the board approved a $115.7 million renovation of UGA's Creswell Hall. Built in 1963, the nine-story residence hall contains roughly 958 beds for first-year students. Following the project's completion, targeted for the fall semester of 2028, the renovated building will hold approximately 924 beds. The shared, double-room format will include, "natural light, built-in open closets, adjustable loft beds, flexible furniture configurations, and individual temperature controls," according to the meeting agenda. The renovations would be more cost-effective than "a full replacement of Creswell," USG officials said in the board's agenda. |
| Texas A&M Pulls Out of Event Rufo Described as 'Racial Segregation' | |
| Texas A&M University said this week it's no longer sending representatives to a conference aimed at recruiting prospective minority doctoral students after online accusations and threats -- including from the governor. First, Christopher Rufo, an anti–diversity, equity and inclusion activist and senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, alleged on social media that sponsoring a trip to the conference violated a state law banning DEI programs at public colleges. Then the state's Republican governor, Greg Abbott, piled on, writing that "it will be fixed immediately or the president will soon be gone." The fallout may have spread beyond Texas A&M. The Texas Tribune reported that the PhD Project, the host of the March conference in Chicago, had listed on its website "at least eight other Texas public universities that have participated in the conference ... but most were removed sometime Tuesday afternoon." A spokeswoman for the University of Texas system, which includes most of the universities the Tribune said were listed, told Inside Higher Ed in an email that the UT system recommended Tuesday "to five UT academic institutions that had participated in The PhD Project to withdraw membership. It did not receive a directive from the governor's office." She didn't specify why the UT system made that recommendation. |
| Teens Are Doing AI Research Now. Is That a Good Thing? | |
 | At the world's largest artificial-intelligence conference, known as NeurIPS, Weichen Huang almost blended in. Last month in Vancouver, he was one of numerous researchers explaining their machine-learning projects to crowds of professors and engineers. But Huang wasn't a professor, an engineer, or even a graduate student. In fact, he's still applying to college. The 18-year-old was among the winners of NeurIPS's first research competition for high schoolers. He was thrilled to be among 17,000 computer scientists and a few walking robots, even if he was too young for the data-themed cocktail parties. "I do like reading machine-learning papers sometimes in my free time," Huang said on a Zoom call from his hotel room, after flying in from Dublin, Ireland. "I really wanted the opportunity to be able to see all of these papers in person and to connect with other researchers." In the era of ChatGPT and hypercompetitive college admissions, smart, driven Gen Z students want to make their mark in AI. But many in the computing community raised an eyebrow at the news of a high-school contest, expressing concern that it would set unrealistic expectations for, and exacerbate inequities among, students entering a field with racial and gender disparities. |
| Many colleges are settling antisemitism cases. Some Republicans blast 'toothless' agreements | |
| Many colleges accused of tolerating antisemitism on their campuses have been settling with federal civil rights investigators in the weeks before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who urged a tougher response to campus protests against the war in Gaza. By settling with the Education Department, the schools close the cases against them as long as they meet the terms of the agreements, which mostly have required training, policy updates and reviews of past complaints. But many colleges at the center of the highest-profile cases -- including Columbia and Cornell -- face investigations that remain unresolved and could run the risk of harsher penalties after Trump takes office. Trump has not said what he would like to see come of the investigations, but he has threatened to revoke federal money for schools that fall short of his demands. Settlements with the Education Department's civil rights branch have piled up in recent weeks with the University of Washington, the University of California, Johns Hopkins, Rutgers and the University of Cincinnati. Those follow other voluntary agreements signed by Brown and Temple universities, along with the University of Michigan. The flurry of recent deals has drawn outrage from Republicans in Congress who say the Biden administration is letting colleges off the hook. |
| Why Hungary Inspired Trump's Vision for Higher Ed | |
| Christopher F. Rufo, the activist and author, spent six weeks in the spring of 2023 in Hungary, just as he and other conservative trustees were mounting a hostile takeover of New College of Florida, the state's honors college. Rufo was there as a visiting fellow at a think tank closely aligned with the country's populist prime minister, Viktor Orbán. "My deepest interest was to understand how Hungary, which emerged from Soviet communism just thirty years ago, is attempting to rebuild its culture and institutions, from schools to universities to media," Rufo wrote in a Substack post after he returned to the United States. He applauded Hungary's leaders for "using muscular state policy to achieve conservative ends." Rufo isn't the only one in the orbit of the incoming Trump administration to look to Hungary as a potential model for reform of American higher education. Why does a small Central European country with fewer than 70 colleges loom so large in right-wing visions of remaking American higher education? On the global stage, Hungary doesn't have the reputation of, say, Singapore, a tiny nation punching academically above its weight -- just one Hungarian institution is among the top 500 universities in the world on major university rankings. Hungary has captured the imagination of Trump and his allies for reasons both ideological and concrete |
| How soon we forget: Mississippi House push for record tax cuts revives fear of repeat budget crises | |
| Mississippi Today's Geoff Pender writes: Another great tax cut debate has begun in the Mississippi Legislature, a recurring theme in recent years with state coffers relatively flush and the economy cooking just below a boil. The broad strokes of the debate, also a recurring theme, are Republican House leaders want to overhaul the entire state tax structure -- eliminate the income tax, increase sales and gasoline taxes and provide a net huge tax cut, $1.1 billion when all in. Republican Senate leaders urge more caution, to cut taxes again but take smaller, prudent steps and wait for the dust to settle on record tax cuts recently passed and still being phased in. ... Those who urge caution in cutting or overhauling the tax structure mention past experience, and they don't have to look back too far. Eight years ago, from a combination of dozens of tax cuts the Legislature approved and a slumping economy, the state saw a budget crisis that resulted in severely underfunded schools, state government layoffs, a near halt to building new roads and highways and problems maintaining the ones we have, too few state troopers on the highway and cuts to most major state services. ... Then-Gov. Phil Bryant was forced to make emergency mid-year cuts to the state budget five times and to raid the state's "rainy day" savings account from 2016-2017. |
SPORTS
| Women's Basketball: Bulldogs Head To Knoxville For Matchup With No. 15/15 Tennessee | |
| The SEC schedule continues for the Mississippi State Bulldogs, as they travel to Knoxville to take on the No. 15/15 Tennessee Volunteers. The game is set for 6 p.m. CT on the SEC Network. Mississippi State picked up a pair of victories last week, with a 81-77 victory over No. 10/11 Oklahoma in Starkville and a 79-68 win in Athens over the Georgia Bulldogs. Oklahoma was State's first ranked win since defeating the then defending-national champions, No. 9/9 LSU, last season on January 29, 2024. The Bulldogs knocked down a season-best 14 threes in the game against Georgia. This also tied the most threes hit by a Bulldog team in three seasons under Coach Sam Purcell, which has been done multiple times. Jerkaila Jordan is currently the only player in the SEC and one of six players in the nation to average at least 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.5 steals and 1 block per game. Madina Okot leads the nation with a 69.3 field goal percentage. The Lady Vols enter the matchup after earning a 30-point victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks on January 12. The Lady Vols rank first nationally in points per game (96.4) and offensive rebounds (20.6). They rank second nationally in turnovers forced per game (26.44), turnover margin (11.75) and third in steals per game (14.4) |
| Russell leads Mississippi State against No. 15 Tennessee after 21-point game | |
| Mississippi State visits No. 15 Tennessee Thursday after Eniya Russell scored 21 points in Mississippi State's 79-68 victory against the Georgia Bulldogs. The Volunteers have gone 8-2 in home games. Tennessee has college basketball's top offense averaging 96.4 points while shooting 45.4% from the field. The Bulldogs are 2-2 in conference matchups. Mississippi State ranks third in the SEC with 27.7 defensive rebounds per game led by Madina Okot averaging 5.3. Tennessee scores 96.4 points, 37.7 more per game than the 58.7 Mississippi State allows. Mississippi State averages 6.9 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.3 more made shots on average than the 4.6 per game Tennessee allows. The Volunteers and Bulldogs meet Thursday for the first time in conference play this season. Jewel Spear is shooting 39.0% from beyond the arc with 2.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Volunteers, while averaging 13.4 points. Debreasha Powe averages 2.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Bulldogs, scoring 8.8 points while shooting 43.2% from beyond the arc. |
| Refocused Bulldogs attempt to keep ball rolling with tough road trip to No. 15 Tennessee | |
| Sam Purcell's team was put to the test in the first week of SEC play. After reeling off a 14-1 record in the first 15 games, Mississippi State was riding high heading into the conference schedule. Two humbling losses changed that as State was knocked down a few notches to top 15 teams in Kentucky and South Carolina. Purcell saw his team fight back last week as they got a top 10 upset over Oklahoma 81-77, and then went on the road to knock off Georgia 79-68. Both games played out differently but ended with the same result. After beating Oklahoma with some resiliency in the second half, State got the lead on UGA and kept it from the first quarter through the end of the contest. At the forefront of that win was State's best 3-point shooting day of the year as MSU hit 14 from long range including four from Eniya Russell. "We've been in the gym. The kids have been able to do extra workouts so we've been doing morning sessions with extra shooting and then coming back to practice," Purcell said. "I think it's just a testimony to them for their hard work. We're gelling. We're finding Debreasha Powe now. They're finding each other and putting in the work." |
| 'Batman and Batman': Purcell sees Jordan and Russell as elite duo | |
| Every superhero needs a sidekick, and basketball history is replete with metaphors about secondary scorers and ball-handlers supporting their teams' star players. But that's not how Mississippi State head coach Sam Purcell views the on-court dynamic between fifth-year senior guard Jerkaila Jordan and grad transfer wing Eniya Russell. "There is no Batman and Robin. They can be Batman and Batman," Purcell said after Sunday's win at Georgia. "When you talk about UConn, they always talk about Paige (Bueckers) and Azzi Fudd. You talk about Notre Dame, it's Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles." Jordan and Russell took turns playing the lead role in the Bulldogs' two wins last week. Against then-No. 10 Oklahoma, it was Jordan who took over down the stretch, scoring 12 fourth-quarter points to help MSU earn its first Southeastern Conference victory. Three days later at Georgia, Russell -- who was not certain to play before the game -- scored 21 points and knocked down four 3-pointers, also dishing out nine assists as MSU (15-3, 2-2 SEC) won by double digits. The Bulldogs' offense can flow through either player. Jordan and Russell are MSU's leaders in scoring, field goal and free throw attempts, and are second and third, respectively, on the team in minutes played per game behind Debreasha Powe. "You have to have two players who can work together and play together," Purcell said Wednesday. |
| Mississippi wildlife officials to launch new licensing and registration platform | |
| The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks will soon unveil a new online platform to ease the process for outdoorsmen to access essential services. On February 18, the public will have user-friendly access to purchasing hunting and fishing licenses, renewing boat registrations, applying for draw hunts, checking in at Wildlife Management Areas, and reporting game checks from one outlet. An application with all of these features will also be made available for mobile devices. "We appreciate everyone's patience as we transition to this new and improved licensing platform," MDWFP Executive Director Lynn Posey said. "Our goal is to enhance the user experience, making it easier for more people to enjoy Mississippi's natural resources." In the coming weeks, wildlife officials will offer additional information and helpful tips on how the new platform will enhance one's outdoor experience. |
| Tennessee athletics nears quarter-billion in revenues with ticket sales boom | |
| University of Tennessee athletics continued its skyrocketing growth with a record $234 million in revenue in the 2023-24 fiscal year. An 18% increase in football ticket sales and 11% spike in contributions for season tickets at Neyland Stadium accounted for almost half the surge. And rising revenues in baseball during the Vols' national title run were a welcomed bonus. It marks a third straight year that the UT athletics reported a record high in revenues. That money was needed to fund UT's swelling athletic budget, which grew by 21% during arguably the most successful sports year in school history. Athletics director Danny White told Knox News that UT's revenue can go even higher as it nears a quarter-billion dollars. "We can become the highest in the country here at Tennessee," said White, who's overseen the rapid growth since his hiring in January 2021. "When you have a passionate huge fanbase, you can turn that into operational revenue. We've got some growth ahead of us, and I think we can get to the top." The university also provided $5.6 million in revenue to athletics as a credit to cover out-of-state tuition for student-athletes. It's a common practice among most SEC schools but a new approach for UT. In the past, UT's athletic department was responsible for paying out-of-state tuition for athletes on scholarship. Now the university is covering that cost as direct institutional support. That allowed athletics revenues to soar even higher. |
| Missouri sports finances: What to know about MU's revenues, expenses in fiscal year 2024 | |
 | As the college athletics landscape prepares for a likely major uptick in expenditure, the University of Missouri's athletic department reported a $15.2 million deficit for the 2024 fiscal year, according to its annual report, known as the NCAA Membership Financial Reporting System (FRS). The Tribune obtained the report via an open records request. The report was due to be filed with the NCAA by Wednesday, Jan. 15. The university set records for both revenue and expenditure in the past fiscal year, eclipsing the previous highs that were set in fiscal year 2023. Missouri athletics saw $168 million in revenue and an expenditure of $183.2 million for the fiscal year 2024, hence the $15.2 million deficit. The university provided an internal loan to cover the deficit. The athletic department received $25,715,000 of direct institutional support, per the report, and the university is covering the $15.2 million deficit in what it called "an internal loan" in a news release Wednesday morning. That means the university is contributing $40.9 million to the athletic department for the fiscal year 2024. |
| Why fans are generating more NIL support for Florida football coach Billy Napier | |
 | Florida football coach Billy Napier gave Gator Nation signs of hope by leading UF to a four-game win streak to close the 2024 season. As a result, Florida Gators fans are starting to open their checkbooks. After two unnamed Florida football boosters pledged $500,000 each to the Florida Victorious Collective for Name, Image and Likeness funding, it took less than a week for a grassroots campaign to match those funds, resulting in a $2 million boost toward UF's NIL efforts. "We were right around half a million in the first day," Florida Victorious chief revenue offer Erick Reasoner said. "It's probably the biggest (surge) we've had. The momentum around the program, everybody jumped on board." The NIL funding could prove critical as Florida tries to build around dynamic quarterback D.J. Lagway, who was named a Football Writer Association of America freshman All-American on Tuesday. "No one shares their actual numbers of course, but we're almost certain that we're top ten," Reasoner said. "We actually think we're right around top five in collectives around the country, as far as revenue." |
| March Madness will pay women's teams under a new structure approved by the NCAA | |
| Women's basketball teams finally will be paid for playing games in the NCAA Tournament each March just like the men have for years under a plan approved Wednesday at the NCAA convention. The unanimous vote by NCAA membership was met by a round of applause both inside the ballroom and around the sport. This was the final step toward a pay structure for women playing in March Madness after the Division I Board of Governors voted unanimously for the proposal in August. NCAA President Charlie Baker joined others in giving credit for the creation of a performance fund to those who came before and helped build women's basketball. Now comes more work and continued investment to grow women's basketball even more. "That's the part I hope, that someday down the road, we all will have someone say about us that they sit on the shoulders of the work that we did," Baker said. South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, whose Gamecocks went undefeated winning last year's national championship and her third overall, said her first thought hearing of the vote was a simple "YES!" "This continues our fight to lift women's basketball to historic levels," Staley said. The women's tournament is coming off its most successful year ever, which included a record audience of 18.7 million for the title game won by South Carolina over Iowa and Caitlin Clark, the highest for a basketball broadcast of any kind in five years. |
| As NCAA mulls expansion of March Madness, a bigger question: Who will be in charge of it? | |
| While a modest expansion of the NCAA basketball tournament seems to be on the horizon, the more radical change looming over the association and its crown jewel event at this week's convention was who will be in charge of college sports in general and March Madness specifically. With college sports in the midst of massive changes -- and awaiting final approval from a federal judge of an antitrust lawsuit settlement that will pave the way for billions of dollars in direct payments from schools to athletes -- a new governance structure is needed to accommodate the more professionalized parts of the NCAA's membership. An early-stage proposal, first reported on by Yahoo! Sports, from the so-called Power 4 conferences -- the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 -- suggests the solution is handing over more control to that group, including management of NCAA championships. "Well, we've been given autonomy on very specific issues. It was negotiated back, and I think we've used it well," SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said Wednesday as he made the long and winding walk through the Opryland Convention Center from a Division I Council meeting to an NCAA business session. "We haven't used (autonomy) actively in a while and think that should be extended." Sankey downplayed the notion that the Power 4 was looking to seize control of championship event management and structure -- the one function the NCAA provides that has not been severely diminished in recent years, and a responsibility which in many ways binds an increasingly frayed association. "There are a lot more issues out there than merely championships," Sankey said. |
| NCAA president Charlie Baker addresses transfer portal proposal, Power Four conferences wanting more control | |
| NCAA president Charlie Baker believes there's time to figure out the transfer portal window situation after FBS coaches voted Tuesday to significantly cut down the days available to transfer. Announced at the AFCA convention earlier Tuesday in Charlotte, the football coaches unanimously voted to eliminate the December and April transfer portal windows in favor of a 10-day transfer portal window from Jan. 2-12. It would eliminate 20 days of transfer availability after the NCAA Division I Council already shortened the windows from 45 days down to 30 last year. Baker, speaking to a small group of reporters at the NCAA convention a few hundred miles to the west, says the coaches' proposal will be examined but offered a reminder why there may not be as simple a solution as the coaches want. "I think the transfer windows are challenging in part because we need to build them around an academic calendar," Baker said. "Everybody's still going to college, one percent maybe will play pro. It's really important that we not lose sight of that. I get the fact that it's a challenging calendar as it is, and I fully expect that that will get thoroughly vetted as it should, by the appropriate committees, but they've got time to figure that one out." The current transfer portal windows have elicited significant frustration from college coaches burnt out from trying to keep up with seemingly non-stop recruiting while their seasons are still going on. Only in college sports does free agency -- which is what the transfer portal window is at this point -- happen while the playoffs have yet to finish. |
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