| Monday, February 3, 2025 |
| MSU Police Department celebrates K-9 retirement | |
 | The Mississippi State University Police Department celebrated the retirement of a well-loved police dog Wednesday after nine years of service to the university. Bessi, an 11-year-old Belgian Malinois, retired from MSUPD after nearly a decade of service as a dual-purpose explosive and patrol detector K-9. MSU Assistant Chief of Police Brian Locke said Bessi swept an estimated 400 campus events and responded to more than 40 bomb threats throughout her career, as well as assisting the Starkville Police Department and Oktibbeha County Sheriff's Office on numerous occasions. Throughout her entire MSU career, Bessi has worked alongside her handler Sgt. Nick Coe. MSU's Regina Hyatt, vice president for student affairs, the division that houses MSUPD, attended the ceremony alongside MSUPD officers, staff and students. "She's my favorite," Hyatt said." She's obviously a police dog, but her temperament is just so pleasant. Part of the reason we have these dogs, aside from their work, is they're great ambassadors to students and the community. Everyone loves Bessi and we're definitely going to miss her but we're very excited for the life of luxury and leisure that she'll be having in retirement." Since its inception in 2014, MSUPD's K-9 Unit has employed three teams of dual-purpose explosive and patrol detector K-9s and one narcotics K-9 team. K-9 officers like Bessi give MSUPD confidence that each university event is safe throughout the year, Locke said. |
| Mayor's race draws four candidates in Starkville; Competitive races emerge in Wards 3, 6 and 7 | |
| Four last-minute qualifiers have thrown more city races into contention, with new challengers in the races for mayor and Wards 3 and 6. These round out 15 qualifiers for city races by Friday's qualifying deadline. Roger Bassett, 79, is running for mayor as a Republican. He told The Dispatch Friday that he was born and raised in Starkville, moving around Virginia and Tennessee for work but eventually coming back to settle in Starkville during his semi-retirement. He said he ran a business selling office machines and served the Shelby County government in Memphis, Tennessee, as a deputy sheriff and the head of office security, overseeing government buildings and managing up to 40 security officers. Bassett said he is running to bring more business to Starkville and repair streets, the condition of which is a "pet peeve." A total of four candidates are running for mayor, with Charles Yarbrough and Brenna Hunter Betts challenging incumbent Lynn Spruill in the Democratic primary and Bassett awaiting the winner in the general election. Newcomer Laurel Lynn Rowse, 40, is running for Ward 3 alderwoman as a Democrat. The Minneapolis native moved to Starkville in 2020 after graduating from college with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Northeastern University and a master's degree in civil engineering from the University of South Florida, she told The Dispatch. James Kyle Skinner, a Republican, is also running for alderman in Ward 3. Skinner did not respond to a request for comment by press time. Skinner challenges incumbent Jeffrey Rupp in the Republican primary, and the winner will face Rowse in the general election. |
| Area districts, MDE support shifting attendance officers to local control to reduce truancy | |
| When Ross Williams started his 35-year career as a school attendance officer for Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District, chancery court judges were responsible for appointing and employing those officers. Later, that responsibility shifted to district attorneys due to a conflict of interest with SAOs being required to testify in chancery court. Then in the early 1990s, SAOs were moved under the Mississippi Department of Education's purview, and the ways officers were allowed to enforce school attendance changed. "Prior to that, we could probably be a real truancy officer," Williams told The Dispatch on Friday. "We could see a child on the street and pick them up and take them back to school or take them home. When we got to (MDE), we couldn't do that because of liabilities." As Williams sees it, the shift resulted in a lot of unnecessary restrictions that, in some cases, stifled attendance enforcement. A bill introduced in the Senate Education Committee aims to remove SAOs from the oversight of MDE and into local school districts in an effort to combat chronic absenteeism. The bill also would increase the minimum salary of SAOs from $24,000 to $30,000 and require the state to fund one SAO for every 3,000 students within a district. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann's hope is that the change keeps more students in the classroom. When students aren't in school, their future is limited, he said. |
| State lawmaker proposes bill to expand pre-K programs | |
 | Having 5-year-olds ready for kindergarten had become a priority for Mississippi lawmakers over the years. That hasn't changed for the 2025 legislative session. Interest continues to be generated for Early Learning Collaborative programs or state-funded pre-kindergarten programs in Mississippi, and one Pine Belt lawmaker said he hopes to make the option available to all school districts in the state. "One of my primary areas of focus is early childhood education," said Representative Kent McCarty (R-District 101). McCarty has proposed a bill that would further expand Early Learning Collaborative programs across the state. Currently, about 40-plus school districts offer the state funded pre-K programs, according to the nonprofit education policy and advocacy organization, "Mississippi First." "We're known nationally of this collaborative program for the quality of the education that the 4-year-olds are receiving," said McCarty. McCarty is proposing a bill that would require the Mississippi Department of Education to start phasing in pre-K programs to all 137 school districts across the state. |
| Pharmacy benefit managers under Legislature's microscope | |
 | The Mississippi House of Representatives has passed a bill that aims to provide public transparency to how much money is earned by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and pharmacy services administrative organizations (PSAOs). State Rep. Hank Zuber (R), chair of the State Affairs Committee, presented HB 1123 --- authored by Speaker Jason White (R). Zuber described the measure's goal as stopping "spread pricing." Spread pricing occurs when a PBM negotiates a lower rate for a prescription, but charges an insurance company a higher amount than the negotiated rate. The PBM's compensation for negotiating the lower rate is the "spread" between the two amounts. "They're going to be required to report the current wholesale cost for the drugs, the total rebate amount paid to each PBM and or PSAO," Zuber told members. During discussion of the bill, State Rep. Becky Currie (R), who chose not to have her vote recorded on the bill, said some pharmacists she has spoken to fear that the legislation will not lower prescription costs. She inquired as to why language that specifically aims to lower medication costs is not included in the bill. Rep. Zuber replied by saying the bill is the first step in ensuring medication prices are as low as they can be by gathering the required information. |
| Boozman ready to deliver for ag | |
| There's little doubt U.S. Sen. John Boozman loves agriculture. The three-term Arkansas Republican has raised Polled Hereford cattle and grown cotton. His daughters were active in 4-H and grew up showing heifers. He continues to advocate for agriculture because it is such a huge part of his state's economy. While the ag industry represents a quarter of Arkansas's economy, for most rural communities it is their lifeblood. "We are blessed. We have the safest, cheapest food supply of any place in the world and that has taken a lot of hard work of many generations of Americans to get us in that position," he said. "We have to be careful about making sure that we preserve that." While farmers can certainly relate to that sentiment, what they really want to know is how Boozman plans to pass a new farm bill this year. As the new chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, he has more influence on that process than any other lawmaker. Boozman makes no bones about the dire conditions many farmers are facing. While the 2018 Farm Bill may have been adequate when it was first enacted, he believes it has more than outlived its usefulness, especially following the pandemic and ensuing inflation. He is among the many lawmakers who spent more than a year and a half crisscrossing the U.S., seeking input from stakeholders. He expects to do more of that this year as a new congress, with new committee members who bring their perspectives to the table. He says he is looking forward to working with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the new top Democrat on the Ag Committee, to get the ball rolling. |
| Trump's tariffs, nominees and budget plans dominate Congress this week | |
 | House lawmakers return to Washington this week, where the primary question will be whether Budget Committee Republicans can come to an agreement to mark up a budget resolution that gets the ball rolling on the budget reconciliation process needed to advance President Donald Trump's legislative agenda. Given the pace of Congress, it could be hard for them to keep up with the speed of President Donald Trump's executive agenda -- which in the last several days has included sweeping new tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, and a potential effort to restructure the U.S. Agency for International Development. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who joined the livestream, said that the new administration and the Congress need to work quickly to have accomplishments ahead of the midterms. "We all know there's going to be bumps along the way," Ernst said. "Of course there are, because we're moving at the speed of relevance here, but we've got to get in there and make an impact so that our constituents can actually see the benefits. Because we've got a tough ... mid-presidential year election coming up in 2026, and we cannot lose the House or the Senate, because then the president will be dead in the water." |
| In '60 Minutes' interview, Mitch McConnell criticizes Trump on tariffs, mum on RFK Jr. | |
 | Mitch McConnell said on Sunday that President Donald Trump's tariffs on foreign allies were a bad idea, but said he supports most of what this administration wants to accomplish. "It will drive the cost of everything up. In other words, it'll be paid for by American consumers," McConnell said of Trump's tariffs. "I mean, why would you want to get in a fight with your allies over this?" His comments came during a a nationally televised interview on CBS' "60 Minutes," and a day after Trump announced a raft of tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China. When CBS' Lesley Stahl asked McConnell how he could reconcile asserting Trump's unfitness for office following the Jan. 6, 2021 riot with supporting his candidacy in 2024, McConnell put the burden on Republican voters. "I don't get decide who gets to be president, the American people do," he said. "And you have to admit, they did. And he's back." McConnell also said he never confronted the president after Trump used a racial slur against his wife Elaine Chao. "I chose not to engage with him," McConnell said. "I don't feel OK about it." |
| Trump's Move to Put Tariff Hikes Ahead of Tax Cuts Has Spooked Almost Everyone | |
 | President Trump's aggressive move to place tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in imports, ranging from crude oil and auto parts from Canada to Mexican avocados and raspberries has rattled investors, economists and some lawmakers, who are all wondering: What exactly is the goal? Larry Summers, the former U.S. Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, said Trump's move amounted to "a self-inflicted supply shock." Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul said: "Taxing trade will mean less trade and higher prices." The head of the National Association of Manufacturers, Jay Timmons, said it put American jobs at risk. "The ripple effects will be severe," he said. For many of those reasons, tariffs were the part of Trump's economic plan investors disliked the most. Markets have cheered Trump's promises of tax cuts and reduced regulation, but he has vaulted his trade plan ahead of virtually everything else. Other countries have already moved to retaliate, and Trump acknowledged on Sunday that there could be some "pain" for U.S. consumers. Trump defended his tariffs, saying in an all-caps post: "Will there be some pain? Yes, maybe (and maybe not!)" He added that "it will all be worth the price that must be paid," and repeated a call to turn Canada into America's 51st state. The precise impact will depend on how long the tariffs stay in place and if other countries retaliate. |
| Trump pauses Mexico tariffs for one month after agreement on border troops | |
| President Donald Trump on Monday said he is pausing for one month his new 25% tariffs on goods imported from Mexico after that country's president agreed to immediately send 10,000 soldiers to the U.S. border to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico. Trump in a social media post said that during the pause "we will have negotiations" on the tariffs "headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and high-level Representatives of Mexico." He also said "I look forward to participating in those negotiations" with Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum "as we attempt to achieve a 'deal' between our two Countries." The announcement of the pause came two days after Trump slapped 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, as well as a 10% tariff on goods imported from China. U.S. stocks, which had opened trading lower Monday, regained most of those losses on news of the pause of the tariffs on goods from Mexico. Mexico's response to the tariff threat contrasts with that of Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday night that his country would implement a 25% tariff against $155 billion in U.S. goods in retaliation for Trump's tariffs, which had been announced hours earlier. |
| USAID staffers told to stay out of Washington headquarters after Musk said Trump agreed to close it | |
 | Staffers of the U.S. Agency for International Development were instructed to stay out of the agency's Washington headquarters on Monday, according to a notice distributed to them, after billionaire Elon Musk announced President Donald Trump had agreed with him to shut the agency. USAID staffers said they also tracked more than 600 employees who reported being locked out of the agency's computer systems overnight. Those still in the system received emails saying that "at the direction of Agency leadership" the headquarters building "will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, Feb. 3." The developments come after Musk, who's leading an extraordinary civilian review of the federal government with the Republican president's agreement, said early Monday that he had spoken with Trump about the six-decade U.S. aid and development agency and "he agreed we should shut it down." "It became apparent that its not an apple with a worm it in," Musk said in a live session on X Spaces early Monday. "What we have is just a ball of worms. You've got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It's beyond repair." "We're shutting it down," he said. USAID, whose website vanished Saturday without explanation, has been one of the federal agencies most targeted by the Trump administration in an escalating crackdown on the federal government and many of its programs. |
| The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk's Government Takeover | |
 | Elon Musk's takeover of federal government infrastructure is ongoing, and at the center of things is a coterie of engineers who are barely out of -- and in at least one case, purportedly still in -- college. Most have connections to Musk, and at least two have connections to Musk's longtime associate Peter Thiel, a cofounder and chair of the analytics firm and government contractor Palantir who has long expressed opposition to democracy. WIRED has identified six young men -- all apparently between the ages of 19 and 24, according to public databases, their online presences, and other records -- who have little to no government experience and are now playing critical roles in Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project, tasked by executive order with "modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity." The engineers all hold nebulous job titles within DOGE, and at least one appears to be working as a volunteer. The six men are one part of the broader project of Musk allies assuming key government positions. "What we're seeing is unprecedented in that you have these actors who are not really public officials gaining access to the most sensitive data in government," says Don Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan. "We really have very little eyes on what's going on. Congress has no ability to really intervene and monitor what's happening because these aren't really accountable public officials. So this feels like a hostile takeover of the machinery of governments by the richest man in the world." |
| Welcome to Donald Trump's new 'common sense' culture war | |
 | For decades, the Republican Party has championed a culture war with Christianity at its center. Under President Donald Trump, that war is taking a sharp turn toward the secular. Banning gender treatments for minors, prohibiting transgender people from serving in the military, penalizing educators for teaching "critical race theory," and asking federal employees to snitch on managers who promote diversity, equity and inclusion are in. New and aggressive strategies to restrict abortion access are out. Trump's early actions in his White House return reflect a bigger-tent GOP being shaped by a MAGA coalition that includes not only the evangelical Protestants and Catholics who have long made up the party's socially conservative core, but a contingent of nonreligious Trump acolytes who are predominantly young, male and far more libertarian -- and sexually libertine -- than their Christian counterparts, according to interviews with more than a dozen religious and secular social conservatives. The latter group vehemently opposes policies that affirm transgender individuals and promote diversity, equity and inclusion, but take a more laissez-faire approach to past culture war issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage. Secular culture war issues -- waged under the banner of "common sense" -- meanwhile proved critical in building Trump's 2024 electoral coalition by helping woo younger men, including Black and Latino men. |
| Trump's FCC chief orders investigation into NPR and PBS sponsorships | |
 | President Donald Trump's newly appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission has ordered an investigation into NPR and PBS over their alleged "airing of commercials," and suggested that the public broadcasters could be at risk of losing their federal funding. "I am concerned that NPR and PBS broadcasts could be violating federal law by airing commercials," Brendan Carr wrote to the heads of both organizations Wednesday. "In particular, it is possible that NPR and PBS member stations are broadcasting underwriting announcements that cross the line into prohibited commercial advertisements." In the letter, Carr said Congress is "actively considering whether to stop" funding NPR and PBS programming, which it has done since the 1967 passage of the Public Broadcasting Act. The query into the broadcasters could be relevant to such funding considerations, he said. According to NPR, the broadcasting organization receives about 1 percent of its annual budget directly from the federal government; its member stations on average get 10 percent of their funds from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which stewards congressional money. PBS told The Washington Post that 16 percent of its budget comes from the government. Conservative politicians have long sought to defund public broadcasting, citing ideological reasons as well as concerns about perceived liberal bias. |
| GOP pollster says Trump voters 'tired' of being accused of racism | |
 | Republican pollster Frank Luntz said Friday that President Trump's voters are "tired" of being accused of being sexist and racist. In a discussion about Trump's remarks linking diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring practices to the D.C. plane crash this week, Luntz suggested that Trump's concern reflected a broader sentiment among GOP voters. "I surveyed these people. I focus grouped them, and they are really, really tired of being accused of either racism or sexism because they voted for Donald Trump, and it's one of the reasons why so many of them did," Luntz said in a panel discussion on CNN's "NewsNight" with Abby Phillip. "I sat on this stage with you and got chewed out when I suggested there's a better language to reach out to voters, that there's, that the Harris campaign is missing what they're looking for," Luntz continued. "I say the same thing here. Americans just want to be Americans, not hyphenated Americans, not female Americans, Black Americans, Jewish Americans. They just want to be Americans." Luntz stressed he was not defending the president but was describing the mindset of his voters. |
| Bosses are exerting their power. What Trump's crackdown could mean for your job. | |
| President Donald Trump's plan to slash jobs and end remote work for federal workers adds to a rising wave of stricter policies hitting the private and public sector. More companies are expected to join the movement this year as they raise performance expectations and mandate workers return to the office full time, work experts say. The shift in work culture threatens to upend more recent models of work that favored employee perks and flexibility on work location. Some companies that have already reversed their remote and hybrid work stances say the new policies will increase efficiency and productivity. But many workers argue that the reversals are more about employers wanting more control. "All companies I talk to are really focused on driving productivity [and] lowering cost," said Bradford Bell, a professor at Cornell University's school of industrial and labor relations. "It pushes things in favor of employers." The harder stance started in corporate America before Trump's executive order, but the trend is expected to accelerate. Work "culture is probably going to shift a little bit toward the harder end" for employees, predicts Lori Yue, associate professor of business at Columbia Business School. Some companies may see the government's actions as an opportunity to make drastic changes, work experts say. |
| Mississippi bill would end DEI ideology in state's higher education | |
| Mississippi state Sen. Angela Burks Hill introduced a bill that would end diversity, equity, and inclusion ideology in the state's higher education system. Senate Bill 2223 intends to "prohibit public land-grant institutions of higher learning from expending appropriated funds to establish, sustain, support, or staff a diversity, equity, and inclusion office." Diversity, equity, and inclusion is defined in the bill as "any effort to manipulate or otherwise influence the composition of the faculty or student body with reference to race, sex, color, or ethnicity," as well as promoting "differential treatment" of or providing "special benefits" to people based on their race, color, or ethnicity. The Mississippi State Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) board will be reallocating "funds that otherwise would have been expended on diversity, equity, and inclusion offices or officers in fiscal year 2025 to cover certain merit scholarships and tuition costs," according to the bill. IHL director of communications John Sewell told The Center Square that "Senate Bill 2223 is still working its way through the legislative process, and we have no comment on it at this time." |
| Vice Chancellor Pegues retires after 32 years | |
 | University of Mississippi Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Charlotte Pegues is retiring, according to a statement released by Provost Noel Wilkin today. Wilkin said that the university hopes to fill the position by the beginning of the next academic year. "Dr. Charlotte Pegues, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, has announced that after 32 years of service, she is retiring from the University of Mississippi," Wilkin said in today's statement. "In order to fill this vital leadership position in student affairs, the university will launch a national search for the position. I hope to identify a new leader before the start of the next academic year." Pegues was placed on leave from the university in 2024 after being indicted in Lafayette County on felony charges of animal cruelty on Sept. 9, 2024. Pegues was released on a $75,000 bond. Terry Pegues, Charlotte Pegues' husband, was arrested on animal cruelty charges in August 2024. "The university is aware of the indictment and the employee has been placed on leave. The alleged charges did not result from any actions taken at or for the university, and the university is not among the parties involved in the investigation by the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department," University of Mississippi Director of News and Media Relations Jacob Batte said in a Sept. 9, 2024, email to The Daily Mississippian. |
| LSU's top attorney, Winston DeCuir, is resigning. He'll become a visiting law school professor | |
 | LSU's top attorney is resigning from his position effective March 1. Winston DeCuir Jr., vice president for legal affairs and general counsel, resigned on Wednesday, according a letter addressed to the chair of the LSU Board of Supervisors, Scott Ballard. "It has been an honor to serve in this role at my alma mater for the past five years," his two-sentence resignation letter said. DeCuir did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Though he is stepping down as a lawyer for the university, DeCuir was appointed to a visiting professor position in the law school at a faculty meeting last week. The shake-up comes as the university is being sued by law professor Ken Levy over a teaching suspension imposed by LSU this month. According to a letter addressed to Levy from LSU's human resources, Levy was suspended "pending an investigation into student complaints of inappropriate statements made." Levy filed suit over the suspension Tuesday, arguing the school violated his free speech and due process rights. A judge on Thursday issued a temporary restraining order requiring LSU to allow him to return to the classroom. |
| U. of Missouri launches AI chatbot for undergraduate students | |
 | On Jan. 22, all University of Missouri undergraduate students enrolled in the 2025 spring semester received the same text. While automated messages are nothing new, this one came with a little more personality. "Hi, this is Roary," said the first line of the mass message from MU's new AI chatbot. Roary is the MU-specific version of EdSights' university chatbot technology, which is used on more than 150 university campuses across the country, including Missouri University of Science & Technology. The chatbot is designed to help find resources available to undergraduate students and answer resource-specific questions. Roary can assist in enhancing access to services such as advising, student organizations, mental health services and more. Roary's MU knowledge base was developed using an audit of readily available university information and was designed to answer likely questions that students might have. Jim Spain, MU's vice provost for undergraduate studies, believes Roary will get better over time as it incorporates feedback and new questions are asked. "We want to be responsive to the individual students' needs, but over time we will learn where our students generally are having challenges and then develop programs and provide resources that help us avoid those challenges in the future," Spain said. |
| 4 Years Later, Trump's Title IX Rule Is Back. It's Whiplash for Colleges. | |
 | Colleges must once again hold live disciplinary hearings with cross-examination when investigating sexual-misconduct complaints. The Education Department's definition of sexual harassment has narrowed. Sexual orientation and gender identity are no longer protected categories under federal antidiscrimination laws. That's because the department's Office for Civil Rights notified colleges Friday that it will enforce the Title IX mandates approved during President Donald J. Trump's first term. Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a statement that the department would support women and girls "by protecting their right to safe and separate facilities and activities in schools, colleges, and universities." Friday's announcement comes as little surprise. The new administration was expected to undo protections for transgender students and other changes put in place by the Biden administration, which spent much of its tenure trying to undo the Trump rule from 2020. A recent development helped speed up Trump's timeline: Biden's Title IX rule -- which guaranteed students access to facilities that align with their gender identity -- was struck down this month. Campus Title IX offices can expect more paperwork, said Melissa Carleton, higher-education chair at the law firm Bricker Graydon. The 2020 rule requires more steps, from formal signed complaints to live hearings and cross-examinations. Active cases that were opened under policies without those requirements may need to be adjudicated anew. |
| Trump Orders Disrupt Academic Research | |
 | Many federally funded scientists have either had their grants terminated or can't access approved funding while the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and other science agencies work to comply with President Trump's recent executive orders. The orders, which researchers say are vague, ban funding for diversity, equity and inclusion; "gender ideology"; and green energy projects, among other issues. The orders are just one of several actions in the last two weeks that have created uncertainty for researchers and scientists who rely on federal funding. Both the NIH and NSF paused grant review panels until Feb. 1, and last week, a now-enjoined and rescinded memo from the Office of Management and Budget threatened to freeze all federal grants and loans, which would have broader impact on colleges and research funding. (Neither the NIH nor the NSF responded to Inside Higher Ed's questions about if the panels, which finalize grant awards, will resume this week.) All of these disruptions leave researchers wondering when -- or if -- they'll get the grant money they need to fund their research and livelihoods. |
| Perplexing (and crafty?) Shad White shows temper | |
 | Columnist Bill Crawford writes: Shad White is one perplexing politician," wrote Greenwood Commonwealth Editor and Publisher Tim Kalich on January 17th. "He is smart and capable. He appears to be honest and dedicated to public service. But he sometimes lets his temper get the best of him." That temper emerged on January 29th when White, testifying before a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, exclaimed "you're a liar" to Sen. John Polk and later threatened to sue Polk for defamation. At other times White has taken to social media to zap those who have dared to criticize him. "It would appear that White, once a mild-mannered, Ivy League-educated state auditor has become Shad the Irascible," wrote political writer Geoff Pender in Mississippi Today. He is perplexing because on the one hand he is smart and competent but on the other -- as a self-announced future candidate for governor -- he often castigates influential leaders including those in his own party. Most commenters on White's state auditor Facebook page seem to like that ... The perplexing and temperamental Shad White show has many episodes to come. |
| Coincidence or cause? National public school test scores decline as private school choice options expand | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: The national decline in test scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation's report card, coincides with more states expanding their "school choice" options. In several states where school choice efforts have pumped taxpayer dollars into private schools, the national test scores are declining. Here in Mississippi, where leaders this year are considering similar initiatives that would send more public funding to private schools, most of our national test scores at public schools are improving. Is it possible the proliferation of private school options and the drop in test scores for students in grades 4-8 might be related? This theory is worth considering and studying, especially as sweeping changes are being considered in Mississippi this legislative session. Media reports this week show that President Donald Trump is preparing another one of his multiple executive orders -- this one encouraging states to further expand their school choice or voucher options. According to EdChoice, Florida is one of the leading states in providing school choice options. EdChoice says Florida ranks No. 1 in terms of the percentage of overall kindergarten through 12th grade funding going to private school choice programs at 10.12%. Yet a headline in the Florida press this week as the most recent 2024 NAEP scores were released proclaims: "Florida's reading, math scores fall to lowest mark in more than 20 years." |
SPORTS
| Men's Tennis: No. 14 MSU Dominates With Back-to-Back Shutouts | |
| The No. 14 Bulldogs put up an impressive showing today without two-time All-American Petar Jovanovic. Jovanovic was invited to play for his home country of Montenegro in the Davis Cup, so he flew to China earlier in the week to fight for his home colors. Matt Roberts' squad needed to step up in his absence, and they soundly delivered. "We really stepped up as a team," said Roberts. "Some guys got some good matches in and used it as an opportunity to play when Pete is not here. I thought everybody did great today, and we applied what we worked on in practice this week." The twentieth-ranked Bulldog tandem in Niccolo Baroni and Mario Martinez Serrano had to shift into being the number one spot in the doubles lineup. They acted like they belonged, notching a 6-3 victory over Hady El Kordy and Luka Petrovic of Tulane (1-4) early in the morning. Benito Sanchez Martinez, Jovanovic's normal doubles teammate, paired up with Roberto Ferrer Guimaraes for the day. They had never been paired up before but their chemistry was undeniable, as they clinched the doubles point against Charlie Burdell and Steven Rice of Tulane. "It felt great being back out here," said Ferrer Guimaraes. "After last weekend, we wanted to get that sour taste out of our mouths. We were extra motivated to put our foot on the gas today and show everyone what we got." |
| Women's Tennis: Bulldogs Conclude Weekend With Pair Of Wins | |
| For the second-consecutive season, Mississippi State began the season 6-0 after collecting a pair of victories inside the Rula Tennis Pavilion on Sunday. The Bulldogs started the day by taking down UAB 4-1 and concluded the day with another 4-1 victory this time over Arkansas State. "I'm really proud of the group this weekend," head coach Chris Hooshyar remarked. It was a tough weekend. Again, I'm proud of them. We had players playing that were only supposed to play two or three matches, and they played four matches. They stepped up for each other, and they covered each other. That's what being a team is. It's a huge step in the right direction for the program." MSU's win over UAB marked the Bulldog's 21st-consecutive win over the Blazers and gives State a 20-2 mark against UAB at home. Following a break, Mississippi State took on Arkansas State and improved to 8-0 all time against the Red Wolves. Mississippi State is back in action on Friday, February 7, for another doubleheader. The Bulldogs will host Memphis at 12 p.m. and Alcorn State at 4 p.m. |
| Women's Golf: State Opens PDI Intercollegiate At 5-Under | |
| After the opening round of the PDI Intercollegiate in Orlando, the Mississippi State Bulldogs are tied for sixth place. A combined effort from the Bulldogs put them at 5-under, which included a pair of career and season-best days from Izzy Pellot and Ana Pina Ortega. Pellot led the Bulldogs in the opening round, as she finished the round with a score of 69 (-3). Sunday's round was Pellot's first round in the 60s this season and her best round since her freshman season. That round stemmed back from the 2023 edition of the PDI Intercollegiate, then known as the UCF Challenge, where she fired off a 4-under par round on the second day after she finished 3-under in the first round. Pellot is tied for tenth heading into the second day. Pina Ortega continued where she left off in the fall, as she tied her career-best round of 2-under and is tied for 15th. Throughout the opening round, Pina Ortega played at an excellent mark, as she carded four birdies through the round. The only blemish on her card was a double bogey on her next to last hole on the day. Spanning back to The Ally, Pina Ortega has now shot under par in three of her last four rounds of golf. Avery Weed opened the PDI Intercollegiate with a 1-under day. At the turn, Weed sat at 1-over par but got under after two birdies on the back nine. Weed has shot par or better in every opening day of State's five tournaments this season, which makes her the only Bulldog to do such. Weed will enter the middle round of the tournament tied for 28th. |
| New Orleans (and Mississippi) have rich Super Bowl history | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: With the Super Bowl returning to the Gulf South, it's time for a history lesson. This Sunday's Super Bowl 59 will be the 11th played in New Orleans and the eighth played in the Louisiana Superdome. This writer has lived them all and I do have some memories. Let's take a stroll back through time and the Crescent City. ... Super Bowl XX: Chicago Bears 46, New England Patriots 10 Jan. 26, 1986: Had it been a boxing match, it would have been stopped in the first quarter. This was a brutal beating, which featured several Mississippians on the victorious Bears. Walter Payton (Columbia, Jackson State), who was the all-time NFL rusher at the time, was the Bears' running star. Leslie Frazier (Columbus, Alcorn State) and Tyrone Keys (Jackson, Mississippi State) were defensive standouts. Sadly, Frazier suffered what amounted to be a career-ending knee injury on a punt return in this game. Unfortunately, Bears head coach Mike Ditka called a running play for William Perry, a 370-pound lineman, to score the Bears last touchdown, instead of giving the ball to Payton. Some of us will never forgive him. Ticket prices had risen to $75, but the halftime show was still "Up with People." |
| Dynamic Black Marching Bands Are Super Bowl Stalwarts | |
 | Long before Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones and Rihanna, there was Freddie Colston. Colston was just a 20-year-old student from tiny Fairbanks, La., when he traveled to Los Angeles in January 1967. He had grown up in a home without indoor plumbing, but now he was staying in lavish accommodations with about 180 other members of the Grambling College marching band. Soon they would high-step onto the field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to perform in the halftime show of the very first Super Bowl. In the decades before the National Football League recruited stars to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show -- the rapper Kendrick Lamar will headline on Feb. 9 at this year's game in New Orleans -- it frequently relied on dynamic marching bands from Grambling and other historically Black colleges and universities. With nicknames like "Human Jukebox" (Southern University) and "Sonic Boom of the South" (Jackson State University), the musical groups are known for their creative formations and flamboyant showmanship. And the tradition has endured even as the Super Bowl has morphed into a corporate playground of advertisements, parties and spectacle. At least 13 Super Bowl halftime shows have included H.B.C.U. marching bands, including Usher's collaboration last year with Jackson State University, and they are often part of pregame festivities. Marching bands carry outsize influence and pride at H.B.C.U.s. The bands are student-recruitment tools, garnering attention at the Rose Parade and presidential inaugurations, including Mississippi Valley State University's performance at President Trump's last month. |
| Ole Miss restructuring tailgating, parking pricing ahead of expected revenue sharing | |
| Ole Miss is restructuring some of its football game-day operations ahead of an expected landmark ruling allowing revenue sharing to become mainstream across college athletics. In April, a judge will rule on whether or not to allow the House v. NCAA settlement to come to fruition. The settlement would permit student-athletes to earn a portion of the profits college athletics departments nationwide acquire. Revenue sharing would be optional and the amount of money participating universities could directly pay out to their athletes would be capped at $20.5 million. To make up for the increased costs, Ole Miss will look to strengthen its name, image, and likeness leadership, cut budgets across the athletics department, and review current resources for student-athletes. This is because, according to the university, the Rebels rank No. 13 out of 16 Southeastern Conference programs in total revenue. Ole Miss is also generating nearly $50 million less than the conference average. Though speculation arose that Ole Miss was going to impose a hefty price tag on usage of the Grove, one of the country's top tailgating spots, rumors were squashed in a release from the university on Friday. The process by which fans can secure a tailgate setup from their preferred tent vendor will remain. However, a vendor's fee of $150 per 10×10 tent set up for a single game or $100 per game for the full season. Ole Miss will play eight home games this coming season. One of the greatest upcoming changes will occur in parking. Annual donations to the athletics department are mandatory for each parking permit. Annual donations must be renewed each year in order for fans to retain their permits. |
| Sports betting sparks discussion on well-being of student-athletes at U. of Missouri | |
| The University of Missouri is facing critical decisions about sports betting in its campus community as the practice approaches legality in Missouri. MU must decide whether to ban betting entirely for its campus community, partner with betting companies or find a middle ground. The university could also push for state regulations to restrict certain types of bets on college sports. Amendment 2, approved by voters in November, mandates sports betting becomes operational in Missouri by December 2025. Growing MU student and statewide interest ahead of that date, though, may force quicker policy decisions by the university. The Southeastern Conference leaves betting policies up to individual schools while working with Integrity Compliance 360, formerly known as U.S. Integrity, to watch for suspicious betting patterns. One factor MU will have to consider is the well-being of its athletes. "Sports betting is an emerging concern due to the multiple potential negative impacts on student athletes," said Pam Bruzina, MU Faculty Athletic Representative. "Student athlete well-being is one of my primary responsibilities and one that I take very seriously." Bruzina is currently advocating for a policy that would potentially prohibit MU faculty, staff and students from wagering on Mizzou sports, work to eliminate prop bets on collegiate student-athletes and assess the prevalence and impact of sports wagering on the general student body. |
| Spring Football Games an Endangered Species in NIL Era | |
| University of Nebraska head football coach Matt Rhule told media on Saturday that his program is likely to cancel its spring game, a televised intrasquad game played in April that is popular with fans, because he worries rival programs will use it to scout and poach Cornhuskers players. It was the latest sign that as barriers to players' economic opportunities are lifted on account of antitrust law, "big time" college sports are -- for good or bad -- more closely resembling professional sports. "The word 'tampering' doesn't exist anymore ... it's just an absolute free open common market," Rhule complained. He's mindful that after last year's spring game, six of his players entered the transfer portal. It has become common for colleges to eye other schools' players and, aided by boosters and collectives, recruit and present NIL offers to them in hopes they transfer. Rhule's frustrations were explicit. "So you go out and bring in a bunch of new players and showcase them for all the other schools to watch?" he rhetorically asked. "Doesn't make a lot of sense to me." Rhule's comments reflect the realities of modern college sports. Players are recruited by rival programs with offers that are ostensibly about NIL, which is supposed to reflect the commercial use of a player's right of publicity (like an endorsement deal or sponsorship). Substantively, NIL offers often resemble inducements akin to signing bonuses in pro sports employment contracts. |
| Athletes Are Signing Endorsement Deals Before They Get Prom Dates | |
| Sportswear giant Adidas just named a star baseball shortstop as its newest big-name endorser. His team? Stillwater High School in Oklahoma. Ethan Holliday, 17, is the likely No. 1 pick in this year's Major League Baseball draft. He's also the latest athlete to sign a major marketing deal before he's old enough to vote as so-called name, image and likeness sponsorships expand beyond colleges and into high schools. Forty state high school associations in the U.S. now allow their students to sign NIL deals, according to NIL technology platform Opendorse, despite notable holdouts such as Texas, where high school football has been compared to religion. Brands spent $338 million on NIL deals with student athletes last year, primarily college students, up from $171 million in 2023, according to Opendorse data. High schoolers' payouts range wildly: Top athletes can earn between $500 and $2,000 for a social-media post, while the superstars among them can make upwards of six figures in multi-year endorsement contracts, according to Braly Keller, director of NIL and business insights at Opendorse. Many make far less -- money that might impress a teenager, but not a pro athlete. Teenage sports stars are new, exciting, hard-working and often followed by multiple generations of fans in social media. And that's enough for some brands to overlook worries about youthful immaturity or career longevity, agents and marketing executives say. |
| Judge weighs $2.8B NCAA settlement amid objection filings | |
| Friday's deadline for filing objections to the nearly $2.8 billion NCAA antitrust settlement yielded more than a dozen legal challenges representing hundreds of college athletes attacking the landmark deal. Four antitrust experts told ESPN the deal is still likely to be approved, but some objections have the potential to delay, reshape or derail it. Any significant delay in the settlement could create a new wave of chaos for college athletic departments that have made plans to begin paying their athletes this summer. Many of the contracts athletes have already signed would allow the schools to back out of paying players if the settlement is not approved. Some states have passed laws that would clear the way for their schools to start paying players even if the settlement fails, which could give them an advantage in recruiting or retaining athletes. The athletes and lawyers who filed objections in the last week raised concerns with several parts of the pending settlement. Judge Claudia Wilken, who has presided over multiple NCAA-related lawsuits in the past decade, has scheduled a hearing on the settlement for April 7. Her mandate is to determine whether the deal is "fair, reasonable and adequate" for all Division I athletes and their schools. Wilken can approve the deal in its current form, ask for revision based on the objections or reject the deal and push the cases toward trial. |
| House Settlement Opt-Outs Bring New Antitrust Suit Against NCAA | |
| As a door to one House closes, a potential new NCAA antitrust window opens. On Friday, 67 former D-I college football and basketball players who opted out of the pending settlement to resolve the House v. NCAA, Carter v. NCAA and Hubbard v. NCAA cases sued college sports' national government body and power conferences for antitrust claims very similar to those raised in the three suits seeking resolution. The federal rules of civil procedure permit class members to opt out of a negotiated settlement. The 67 athletes played during the settlement period (2016 to 2024) and are thus class members. By opting out, the players maintain their ability to sue the NCAA and the conferences on antitrust claims that will otherwise be contractually extinguished should U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken grant final approval to the House settlement this spring. Led by former Mississippi State running back Kylin Hill, the 67 opt-out players are capitalizing on their ability to still pursue legal action on the matter. They filed their 141-page complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California -- the same district in which Wilken presides -- just hours before the deadline for objections to the settlement in House. The new case has been assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore. Hill, the lead plaintiff, drew national attention with a tweet he posted in June 2020 calling for Mississippi to remove the Confederate elements from its state flag. |
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