| Monday, February 17, 2025 |
| Tourist spending in Starkville nearly $200 million in 2024 | |
 | The Greater Starkville Development Partnership just released its 2024 annual impact report. This report details promising numbers for the economic growth of Starkville. Mike Tagert, president and CEO of the Greater Starkville Development Partnership said tourist revenue brought millions to Starkville. "Last year alone we had nearly $200 million visitor spending in our community which brought in nearly 11 million, roughly, for revenue for the city and the county itself," Tagert said. A new industrial park, new and renovated public parks, and expanding commercial and residential real estate are just some of the indicators of its strong economy. Helping fuel the boom is the relationship between Starkville and Mississippi State University. "Economic development in our community means many things," Tagert said. "It can be education, public safety, health care, infrastructure, all of those things are important. And the symbiotic growth between the city, the county, and the university. They all grow and work together for the for the purpose of the greater good." Sid Salter, Vice President for Strategic Communications and Director of Public Affairs at MSU, said MSU's relationship with Starkville growing the economy improves resident's lives. "The choices available to Starkville residents in terms of where they eat, where they shop, the entertainment available to them," Salter said. "It's enriched by the presence of the university. And this relationship, the town-and-gown relationship, goes hand in hand." |
| MSU ACCESS: Providing more opportunity for students | |
| Academics, career development, independent living, and socialization. That's what the ACCESS Program at Mississippi State University is all about. It is the first program in the state for students with intellectual disabilities or developmental disabilities. In its 15th year, it currently serves 33 students and will have 36 next year. Students audit courses with degree-seeking students, and are at MSU for 4 years. Director of the Disability Resource Center and ACCESS Program Chris Dallager said these students take part in everything under the sun at the university. Dallager said the program allows students to improve opportunities in life and it's always exciting to see them go into the next phase of life. "What I think is special about our program is that we've been at this a while now. We know what to do. Our staff are quite professional at helping students learn how to have employment in meaningful ways. And our academic teachers help our students a great deal. We have college coaches for all the students, and they do a lot of developmental work with the students around their social lives as well as their academic things. And there are also peer mentors for all of our students that help with a range of things. So the vast array of a network of supports make this program strong," said Dallager. |
| MSU turfgrass expert shares advice to improve lawn refuge for pollinators | |
 | A Mississippi State turfgrass specialist is teaming up with scientists from Auburn University and the University of Georgia to advance Refuge Lawn, a project promoting pollinator-friendly lawns funded by USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. MSU Extension Specialist Jay McCurdy, an associate professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, said the team studies the benefits of growing common forbs (herbaceous flowering plants) and weeds within Southeastern lawns. They also find new ways to manage turfgrass systems to better support insect pollinators. "This project focuses on including habitat for insect visitors, whether they be pollinators or just there for a nectar reward. We aim to understand which flowers are better resources for native pollinators. Also, we aim to better understand the value of forbs and weeds within mixed lawns," McCurdy said. McCurdy said society can play a part in improving lawns to benefit insect pollinators. |
| Scientist Discovers 16 New Grasshopper Species, Champions Desert Biodiversity | |
 | A Mississippi State University scientist has discovered a hopping treasure trove -- 16 new species of grasshoppers living in the thorny scrubs of U.S. and Mexican deserts. Prior to JoVonn Hill's finding, only three species of Agroecotettix were known. Hill, director of MSU's Mississippi Entomological Museum, said the careful examination of our environment remains critical. "It is important to keep exploring our biodiversity, especially from a conservation standpoint, before we lose it," Hill said. These newly uncovered species, native to the southern U.S. and Mexican deserts, showcase the thriving biodiversity in arid ecosystems. Hill, an assistant professor in MSU's Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, said this grasshopper genus likely diversified during the Pleistocene Epoch, also known as the Ice Age. He noted that in the Rocky Mountains, species of this subfamily in alpine grasslands likely became isolated as glaciers receded and their habitats shifted to higher elevations. Hill suspects the desert species his team discovered underwent a similar process of isolation and speciation. |
| Mississippi had thousands of wildfires in 2024. Here's how to protect your home | |
 | Mississippi doesn't experience wildfires like the recent fires in California that scorched miles of the landscape, destroyed thousands of homes and structures and claimed dozens of lives, but they do happen. According to a recent article from the Mississippi State University Extension Service, wildfires are common in Mississippi and residents should take steps to protect themselves and their homes. "It's a rare year when we don't rank in the top half of all states in terms of number of wildfires," said Butch Bailey, Extension forestry specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. "The difference between wildfires here and wildfires in the West is due to our humid climate and frequent rainfall, which is relatively spread out all year. Our wildfires tend to not be as catastrophic or as long-lasting. But they do happen here all the time." While wildfires are often associated with drought conditions, according to the MSU Extension Service, they are historically more frequent during February, March and April in Mississippi when vegetation is dry, humidity is lower and winds are higher. |
| Celebrated poet explores power of words at MSU's Visiting Writers Series | |
 | Mississippi State University's Department of English welcomes award-winning author Cindy Juyoung Ok, an accomplished poet, translator and professor, as the featured guest for the 2025 Price Caldwell Visiting Writers Series. Free and open to the public, the event takes place at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, in the John Grisham Room, third floor of MSU's Mitchell Memorial Library. "Cindy Ok is a highly talented poet and translator whose writing is immensely beautiful. Having her visit us will be a great opportunity for our students to interact with an important contemporary voice in American letters," said Saddiq Dzukogi, an MSU assistant professor of English helping coordinate the event. The Price Caldwell Visiting Writers Series was established through an endowment from Alice Carol Caldwell and her family as a memorial to her late husband, a former MSU professor of English who founded the university's creative writing program. Caldwell was deeply committed to fostering literary talent and served as a leader within the Southern Literary Festival organization. |
| Which Mississippi companies are the best large employers in America? Check out this list by Forbes | |
 | If you work for a large organization in America, you may often wonder how your workplace stacks up against other large employers in the country. But wonder no more because Forbes just did the work for you. The magazine just released their list of the best large employers in America. In their 2025 list, Forbes ranked 701 large organizations. According to Forbes, the rankings are based on survey response data from over 217,000 employees working at companies that employ more than 5,000 people. Surveys had a variety of questions, mostly pertaining to salary, work environment, training programs and opportunities to advance. However, the surveys also included questions about if the employee would recommend the company to others as well as opportunities for employees to rate the employer on certain criteria or scenarios. Mississippi made the Forbes list of best large employers with just two companies on the list. One barely missed the top 100 and is ranked at number 107 out of 701 in America: Mississippi State University, which was founded in 1878. Next up was Cadence Bank, ranked 421 out of 701. |
| Lease snafu has SOCSD overhauling 16th Section process | |
| After issuing a lease that ran afoul of the city's zoning laws, Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District is sorting through all its 16th Section properties and revamping its leasing process. Tim Bourne, SOCSD's director of assessment, accountability and accreditation and the manager of its 16th Section properties, updated Starkville aldermen on the school's efforts during a Friday work session. He said he's been updating the school's processes to ensure zoning compliance and checking that each lease has had a legal survey performed, finding dozens of properties that were never checked. "Every property we come across that does not have a legal survey, we're having one done," he said. "That survey should be done prior to the lease, but if a person is there and there's no legal survey for that property, we're calling the tenants and there are going to be people in your yard. ... Moving forward we don't even write a lease without one. We've found not one, not two, not 10, not 15, not 20, not 30. We've found many properties without legal surveys." Roughly two years ago the school district swapped responsibility from an external leasing agent to Bourne, who's been having to learn the system as he goes. |
| Ask The Dispatch: What bills have local legislators authored this session? | |
| Roughly a month into the legislative session, local legislators are advancing bills aimed at tackling issues ranging from sexual assault victim rights to education reform. What bills are Golden Triangle lawmakers pushing this year? District 43 Representative Rob Roberson, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, has several bills that could impact public education, including House Bill 1431, which would create a task force to study counties with two or more school districts inside with the goal of determining how to "substantially reduce" the number of districts in the state. House Bill 1527 would require the State Board of Education to create a financial literacy curriculum for sixth through eighth-graders statewide. House Bill 1621 would also affect students directly, allowing grant funds to cover the basic operation of career and technical education programs and new equipment. Authored by District 15 Senator Bart Williams, Senate Bill 2426 aims to establish a task force to study and evaluate the applications and risks of artificial intelligence. The task force would report to the legislature annually to present findings and policy recommendations. Williams also authored Senate Bill 2221, which would require public institutions of higher learning to make reports on their co-ed dormitories, including details of the types of dorms and living arrangements as well as visitor policies, access methods and incidents to compare to single-sex dormitories. Other bills authored by Williams include a proposal to establish either the Saturday or Sunday before Thanksgiving as a tax-free day for groceries with Senate Bill 2810 and the establishment of the Technology Innovation Fund to use technological solutions to enhance government services in Senate Bill 2443. |
| 'Last dollar program' passed in Mississippi Senate to provide tuition-free community college | |
| The Senate kept Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann's promise of offering free community college to Mississippians alive this week by passing SB 2527 off the floor prior to deadline day. Wednesday afternoon, Senate Universities and Colleges Chair Nicole Boyd (R) presented legislation, titled the "Mississippi Resident Promise Program." If passed and signed into law by the Governor, the program would allow Mississippi's high school graduates or those who complete the high school equivalency program to apply to what's termed a "the last dollar program." Applicants will be required to apply for all currently established forms of financial aid before the state funding would be accessible. "This program is basically what we have often referred to as 'the last dollar program,'" Boyd described. "Students, after they apply for their FASFA or Mississippi assistance money, they are allowed then to apply for these last dollar programs." Boyd said the applications, along with the program in general, would be administered by the Mississippi Post Secondary Educational Financial Assistance Board. According to data from eight of the state's 15 community colleges that already have similar programs in place, it is estimated that the cost would be roughly $1,800 per student per year, with about 6,800 estimated students currently participating. |
| Mississippi Senate unanimously passes bill mandating civics education in classroom | |
| Mississippi’s Senate has advanced a bill that would require Mississippi educators to teach students how the government works. The legislative body unanimously passed an amended version of Senate Bill 2605 on Thursday. If the legislation is passed by the House and etched into law by Gov. Tate Reeves, it would mandate every public and charter school in the Magnolia State to make civics a required course for high school graduation. According to the bill’s text, students will have to complete regular courses of instruction in the “factually accurate history of the United States, in civics, in the Constitution of the United States and in the government of the State of Mississippi” with classes being available in the eighth grade and before students complete their senior year. Civics courses would also consist of a nonpartisan curriculum teaching the core functions of government, the differences in local and federal offices, and how checks and balances keep governing officials in check. It would serve to inform youth how they can be more involved as citizens of their local communities. “Democracy is messy, but it’s the best [system] in the world,” bill author Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, said. “We need informed citizens and you’ve got to understand your government.” |
| Senate passes its own paid leave bill, including teachers | |
| State employees -- including public school and community college teachers -- would get six weeks of paid parental leave under a bill that passed the Senate Thursday. It now advances to the House, which passed its own version of the policy unanimously in January. It's likely the two chambers will need to go into "conference" later in the legislative session -- an opportunity for a smaller group of senators and representatives to talk at length about a bill's details and reach a compromise. The House version gives primary caregivers eight weeks of paid leave -- two more than the Senate version. However, senators added an amendment to their bill during its floor debate to include public school and community college teachers, which was not included in the House bill. Fourteen senators voted 'No' on the bill, authored by Sen. Jeremy England, R-Ocean Springs, after a long discussion. Sen. John Polk, R-Hattiesburg, said he thinks paid parental leave is "a step too far" since the federal government mandates 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave for state employees. "I don't know why we're even dealing with it," he said on the floor. Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, who was presenting the bill, responded by saying that it's "the right thing to do" in the state that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion and claims to value families. |
| On second thought, Senate reaches threshold to pass direct wine shipping to Mississippi residents | |
| A bill to allow the direct shipment of wines to Mississippi residents was back before the Senate Friday morning, less than 15 hours after the body rejected the legislation. The measure was held on a motion to reconsider and allowed to be revisited after a voice vote was taken on the floor. On Thursday, 25 senators voted in favor of the bill while 21 opposed it. Proponents of the legislation went to work overnight to change minds. When the gavel came down this try, the Senate voted 24 in favor and 14 against, achieving the needed three-fifths threshold necessary to pass as more senators were recorded as absent than in the previous vote. Senator Jeremy England (R), who guided the bill through the Senate floor vote, said an amendment by Senators Briggs Hopson (R) and David Parker (R) gave the measure the needed push in the end. That amendment protects package stores, he noted. England said often, when several bills and amendments are being considered, it may take some time to digest all the facts. He said the bill, which was an exercise in compromise, had input from several people and organizations. He said the process "really did work out like a textbook example of how legislation comes together." |
| Mississippi's confusing campaign finance laws obstruct enforcement efforts | |
 | Even if the state wanted to bring charges against federally indicted-Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba for failing to submit several campaign finance reports, it likely wouldn't due to Mississippi's confusing campaign finance laws. The Attorney General's Office, headed by Lynn Fitch, recently told the Clarion Ledger the state's campaign finance enforcement laws are confusing, difficult to understand and ultimately difficult to enforce because there are several state agencies involved before the AG can see a case. If that even happens, the punitive measures are minor at best, AG Chief of Staff Michelle Williams said. "The current system for assessing penalties for failing to timely file reports is broken," Williams said. While Mississippi's campaign finance laws spell out punishments and penalties for office-holders or candidates who don't file annual campaign finance reports, the laws do not state what official or agency is in charge of holding politicians accountable for failure to file. It begs the question: how are campaign finance laws supposed to be enforced in Mississippi if no one is monitoring to ensure the laws are followed? It's like having laws, but no police force. |
| Legislation to license midwifery clears another hurdle | |
| A bill that would establish a clear pathway for Mississippians seeking to become professional midwives passed the House after dying in committee several years in a row. "Midwives play an important role in our state, especially in areas where maternal health care is scarce," said Rep. Dana McLean, R-Columbus and author of the bill. "I'm happy that House Bill 927 passed the House yesterday and urge our senators to join us in passing this much-needed legislation." Despite the legislation imposing regulations on the profession and mandating formalized training, many midwives have voiced their support of the bill. They say it will help them care more holistically for women and allow them new privileges like the ability to administer certain labor medications -- and will open the door to insurance reimbursement in the future. "We have so few midwives integrated in the system and so few midwives practicing in the state," explained Amanda Smith, a midwife in Hattiesburg who went out of state to receive her professional midwifery license. "We believe that licensure really will help create a clear pathway so people know exactly how to become a midwife in Mississippi." |
| SuperTalk Mississippi Media announces 'Mornings with Richard Cross' | |
| SuperTalk Mississippi Media is pleased to announce a new show for the time slot left vacant by talk radio icon Paul Gallo, who passed away last month after more than five decades on the air. Mornings with Richard Cross will air every weekday from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on the statewide SuperTalk Mississippi network, on SuperTalk TV, and through the SuperTalk Mississippi mobile app. The show promises to be a must-listen on the way to work and in the office, continuing the news-entertainment form perfected by Gallo. "Richard Cross is a name synonymous with radio and TV broadcasting for people across the country. There is no person more qualified, more talented, or harder working than Richard to take on this role as a trusted voice for people to start their mornings alongside," SuperTalk Mississippi Media President and CEO Kim Dillon said. "I am confident he will take this opportunity and create a lasting legacy just as his predecessor, Paul Gallo, did." Cross began his career announcing high school and college sports on the local level while also working as an account executive with SuperTalk Mississippi Media. |
| How Presidents Day has evolved from reverence to retail | |
 | Like the other Founding Fathers, George Washington was uneasy about the idea of publicly celebrating his life. He was the first leader of a new republic, not a king. And yet the United States will once again commemorate its first president on Monday, 293 years after he was born. The meaning of Presidents Day has changed dramatically, from being mostly unremarkable and filled with work for Washington in the 1700s to the bonanza of consumerism it has become today. For some historians, the holiday has lost all discernible meaning. Historian Alexis Coe, author of "You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington," has said she thinks about Presidents Day in much the same way as the towering monument in D.C. bearing his name. "It's supposed to be about Washington, but can you really point to anything that looks or sounds like him?" she remarked in an interview with The Associated Press in 2024. "Jefferson and Lincoln are presented as people with limbs and noses and words associated with their memorials. And he's just a giant, granite point. He has been sanded down to have absolutely no identifiable features." Washington was very aware of his inaugural role as president and its distinction from the British crown. He didn't want to be honored like a king, Seth Bruggeman, a history professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, told the AP last year. |
| Trump Voters Splinter Over His Rapid Shake-Up of Washington | |
 | Staci White said she voted for President Trump because she wanted lower prices and to stop fentanyl from coming into the U.S. Now, with widespread federal layoffs and expected cuts, she worries her family will lose their house if her partner is laid off from his government-adjacent job. At the dialysis unit where she works, staff have started doing drills for what to do if Immigration and Customs Enforcement comes to deport their patients, some of whom are in the country illegally. "When we said safer borders, I thought he was thinking 'let's stop the drugs from coming into the country,'" she said. "I didn't know he was going to start raiding places." She said she didn't believe he would actually follow through on some of the more hard-line policies he touted during the campaign. A poll released last month by The Wall Street Journal found that most wanted a tempered, less assertive set of policies than Trump promised in the most unbridled moments of his campaign. The Journal in recent weeks followed up with nearly two dozen of Trump's supporters and discovered a divergence: Some expressed regrets or concerns, while many were gleeful over his early actions to shake up Washington. Supporters said Trump's style is to come on strong and then compromise. Many pointed to his demands for sweeping tariffs against Mexico and Canada, before postponing them to give time to negotiate. |
| GOP lawmakers divided on Musk, seen by some as a liability | |
 | Republicans on Capitol Hill are divided over tech billionaire Elon Musk being the public face of President Trump's aggressive bid to shrink the government, with some souring on Musk's prominent role as he increasingly has become a target of Democratic attacks. Several GOP senators worry that having an unelected billionaire crow about slashing federal jobs, which happen to employ many people in their home states, is not a good look when inflation remains a major problem and many Americans are having trouble making ends meet. Some Republicans, such as Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), have defended having the political outsider take the lead in reforming federal agencies. But other GOP colleagues are grumbling that the execution has been "flawed," as Musk has shuttered agencies and pressured workers to resign. One GOP senator said Musk's buyout effort offering more than seven months of severance was "poorly executed" and his latest attempt to slim federal agencies by pushing a reduction in force has failed to consider how it might impact federal agencies. "I think they're just looking to reduce numbers, it's not efficiency, it's not output. It's, 'We just need bodies gone.' And I don't know that's the metric that you use," the senator said. The GOP senator also reacted angrily to Musk's call for a "wave of judicial impeachments" in response to federal judges putting holds on Trump's executive orders and actions. |
| Judge orders temporary end to freeze on foreign aid spending | |
 | A federal judge imposed a temporary restraining order on the Trump administration's executive order freezing all foreign assistance funding. Judge Amir Ali of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued the preliminary injunction Thursday, ordering a temporary end to the freeze on foreign assistance spending agreements that were in existence before Jan. 20 at the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The temporary judicial relief followed a Wednesday court hearing with a coalition of international development contractors and foreign aid nonprofits that had sued the Trump administration to stop enforcement of the freeze. The plaintiffs, who include Chemonics International Inc. and the Global Health Council, challenged the legality of President Donald Trump's Jan. 20 executive order imposing a 90-day pause on all foreign development assistance funding. The judge found that in this "early stage" of the case, the plaintiffs had met the legal standard for showing they were likely to eventually succeed on the merits of their case, were likely to suffer irreparable harm if preliminary relief were not granted, and that an injunction was in the public interest. The plaintiffs also argued that the waivers for specific programs issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio have not "meaningfully mitigated" the harm caused by the funding freeze. |
| First Test of Trump's Power to Fire Officials Reaches Supreme Court | |
 | In the first case to reach the Supreme Court arising from the blitz of actions taken in the early weeks of the new administration, lawyers for President Trump asked the justices on Sunday to let him fire a government lawyer who leads a watchdog agency. The administration's emergency application asked the court to vacate a federal trial judge's order temporarily reinstating Hampton Dellinger, the head of the Office of Special Counsel. Mr. Dellinger leads an independent agency charged with safeguarding government whistle-blowers and enforcing certain ethics laws. The position is unrelated to special counsels appointed by the Justice Department. "This court should not allow lower courts to seize executive power by dictating to the president how long he must continue employing an agency head against his will," the administration's filing said. The court is expected to act in the coming days. The filing amounts to a challenge to a foundational precedent that said Congress can limit the president's power to fire leaders of independent agencies, a critical issue as Mr. Trump seeks to reshape the federal government through summary terminations. |
| As Trump shakes up Washington, battles over presidential power could rewrite history | |
 | President Trump, back in the White House for less than a month, has closed agencies, frozen spending that Congress mandated by law, and challenged the breadth of rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Presidents often push limits, and voters in this last election wanted change, but the scope and speed of Mr. Trump's reach for power may be unprecedented. It's raising concerns on both sides of the political aisle, including with conservative Republican Andrew Natsios, former head of the U.S. Agency for International Development. USAID is one of the agencies being targeted by the Trump administration, working alongside Elon Musk's DOGE, or Department of Government Efficiency. Natsios has concerns about DOGE. "I think we're creating a system that violates the separation of powers and the checks and balances that are intended in the Constitution," he said. USAID was dismantled on Mr. Trump's order, even though it was mandated by Congress and its funding was required by law. Trump said he has the authority to shut down an independent agency like USAID. Natsios, who was USAID administrator in the George W. Bush White House, said the president is wrong. "He cannot rescind federal law by executive order. And A.I.D. is a statutory agency," Natsios said. |
| An army of MAGA think tanks behind him, it's Trump's Washington now | |
 | President Donald Trump took office eight years ago as the ultimate outsider whose rhetoric often shocked Washington but was seldom taken seriously by the policy shops that have long helped administrations transform their agenda into action. Now, he has an army of think tanks and other advocacy groups behind him, reverse-engineering even his off-the-cuff statements into white papers, training legions of his acolytes -- and jockeying for influence. All want to be seen as part of the MAGA brain trust, a paradoxical and often tricky job for a president who prides himself on operating from his gut and disdains the traditional policy process. There are now MAGA-specific think tanks, like the Center for Renewing America and the America First Policy Institute; MAGA recruiting and training organizations, like American Moment; and MAGA incubators, like the Conservative Partnership Institute, all aimed at not only bolstering the Trump cause but strategizing how to sustain it with just four years until his successor is named. "The vision is, 'We're not going back to [former President George W.] Bush.' I think the inertia or the centrifugal pull of the establishment in Washington is Bush. You have to have a network on the outside that's resisting that effort within the right," said Rachel Bovard, vice president at the Conservative Partnership Institute. "This is what every lasting movement does. They build the outside brick-and-mortar infrastructure to be able to support what policymakers are doing." |
| Trump officials signal potential NOAA overhaul | |
 | Federal workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are on high alert as they monitor signs of a potential Trump administration overhaul of one of the government's main scientific agencies. Many employees are bracing for potential staff cuts, as well as slashes to the funding that supports science within the agency and by many research partners across the country. In particular, NOAA staffers are concerned about how President Trump's executive orders, including one targeting climate change programs, could affect the agency's research and operations. Agency officials have received a list, which NPR has viewed, of terms that could run afoul of the orders in the grants and programs they manage; the list includes terms like "climate change," "pollution" and "natural resources," as well as many terms associated with diversity, equity and inclusion. Advocates of NOAA have raised the alarm about how shutting off public NOAA data that informs daily weather forecasts, wildfire alerts and hurricane tracking could have dire consequences on people's lives and the country's economy. "In a world where catastrophic climate change impacts and extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense, I can think of nothing worse than turning this scientific powerhouse into a skeletal operation," Juan Declet-Barreto, senior social scientist for climate vulnerability at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in a statement |
| 'It's a lie': Federal workers incensed by performance language in termination letters | |
 | Federal employees reeling from a wave of firings that began last week have focused on language in their termination letters targeting their "performance" as particularly upsetting. USA TODAY reviewed 10 termination letters. All but one mentioned performance concerns. Fired probationary employees interviewed by USA TODAY all said they were never told of any performance problems. One hadn't been in the job long enough to have a performance review. Another was fired just a month into her job after relocating more than 1,700 miles to take it. And a third employee said his supervisor explicitly told him he wasn't being terminated for performance reasons. The performance language in the letters added insult to injury, the fired employees said, arguing it unfairly impugns their work records. Some worried the language could impact their ability to file for unemployment benefits and find a new job. "It's a lie, it's simply not true," said fired U.S. Forest Service worker Gavan Harmon. Termination letters shared by a U.S. Department of Education employee, a U.S. Department of Agriculture employee, a Natural Resources Conservation Service worker and four workers for the U.S. Forest Service all state that probationary employees must demonstrate why it's in "the public interest for the Government to finalize their appointment to the civil service." |
| The anti-Musk protest movement is expected to ramp up with Congress on recess | |
| Donald Trump is the president, but billionaire Elon Musk is the focus for thousands of Democratic activists launching a protest campaign this week to fight the Trump administration's push to gut federal health, education and human services agencies. Hundreds of protests are scheduled outside congressional offices and Tesla dealerships, with organizers hoping to send a pointed message to members of Congress who are on recess this week. The backlash still hasn't approached the intensity of protests during and after Trump's first inauguration eight years ago. But a loose coalition of Democrats and progressives is coalescing around Musk's rise as Trump's top lieutenant and his purge of the federal bureaucracy. The wave of protests comes at a critical moment as fractured Democrats struggle to stop the Republican president's purge of the federal bureaucracy, which features thousands of layoffs inside departments focused on public health, education, veterans affairs and human services, among others. Firings in recent days at the Department of Veterans Affairs include researchers working on cancer treatment, opioid addiction, prosthetics and burn pit exposure, according to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state. The cuts also include more than 5,000 employees at the Department of Health and Human Services and roughly one-tenth of the workforce at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. |
| Top Russian and U.S. officials to meet in Riyadh over Ukraine war | |
 | Top U.S. and Russian officials will meet in Saudi Arabia Tuesday to discuss the war in Ukraine, officials said, as Washington and Moscow race to advance President Donald Trump's bid to broker an end to the conflict and, potentially, conclude a long period of frigid relations. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who will lead Russia's delegation for talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top American officials, said the time had come for the United States and Russia to put an "absolutely abnormal period" of estrangement behind them. "We want to listen to our partners," Lavrov told reporters Monday in Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the talks in Saudi Arabia would lay the groundwork for a planned summit between Trump and President Vladimir Putin. The discussions will also include Trump's national security adviser Michael Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement. The high-level encounter, just weeks after Trump's return to office, represents a stunning departure from America's previous stance toward Russia following Putin's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which led President Joe Biden to spearhead a Western coalition that imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia's economy and sidelined Putin diplomatically. While Trump's top aides have said that Ukraine will eventually be included in any peace talks, Ukrainian officials are not expected to take part in the initial discussions in Riyadh. |
| W will submit proposal to keep MSMS, has backup plan if school relocates | |
| If Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science is moved to Mississippi State University, Mississippi University for Women has a backup plan for the high school's facilities. In a letter to the campus community released Friday, President Nora Miller confirmed The W would submit a proposal to the State Board of Education to keep MSMS on its campus. But if MSMS is relocated, Miller wrote The W will survive the loss. "If the decision is made to move MSMS, we will address that as an opportunity for us to repurpose those facilities to enhance our programs and offerings," Miller wrote in the letter. Both MUW and MSU received requests Feb. 8 from the State Board of Education to submit proposals by Feb. 25 outlining plans to house and operate the state's residential high school for gifted students, which has been housed at The W since its inception in 1987. Lowndes County Board of Supervisors President Trip Hairston, who also serves on a Columbus committee advocating to keep MSMS at The W, said while he is happy to see Miller publicly address the MSMS discussion, it is too early to discuss "conceding" in any context. While planning contingencies in case MSMS is moved is understandable, he said, that language may signal the wrong message. Mayor Keith Gaskin, who also serves on the Columbus committee, told The Dispatch he "can't even imagine" MSMS being located anywhere other than The W. |
| LSU's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute to host member of Baton Rouge Civil War Round Table | |
 | In the early hours of April 27, 1865, mere days after the end of the Civil War, the Sultana -- a 260-foot-long wooden steamboat -- burst into flames along the Mississippi River. Built in Cincinnati in 1863, the Sultana regularly transported passengers and freight between St. Louis and New Orleans on the Mississippi River. The LSU Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, or OLLI, will host Eddie Vaugh, a member of the Baton Rouge Civil War Round Tableat , 2:30 p.m. Feb. 19, at the Baton Rouge Bluebonnet Library, 9200 Bluebonnet Blvd., for a lecture, "Remember the Sultana." The Round Table, a nonprofit organization established in 1963, is one of the oldest Civil War round tables in the country. The goal of the organization is to provide a nonpartisan atmosphere to educate and foster an appreciation for the sacrifices made by all during the Civil War. When the Sultana left Memphis, Tennessee, on April 27, the overstrained boilers exploded, blowing apart the center of the boat and starting an uncontrollable fire. Many of those who were not killed immediately perished as they tried to swim to shore. Of the initial survivors, 200 later died from burns sustained during the incident. Researchers indicate that 1,195 of the 2,200 passengers and crew died, making the Sultana incident the deadliest maritime disaster in U.S. history. |
| Peyton Manning returns to U. of Tennessee to inspire communication students | |
 | Peyton Manning surprised students in a University of Tennessee College of Communication and Information classroom this week, hearkening back to his "Professor Sheriff" days of recent memory. Manning, a graduate of the communications college, dropped in Feb. 12 to share his knowledge and experience, from leading football teams to starting and executive producing for Omaha Productions, the college shared in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Manning obtained a degree in speech communication while leading the Tennessee Volunteers football team on the field as the quarterback from 1994 to 1997. He went on to play in the NFL for the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos, winning two Super Bowls in his professional career. He returned to the UT campus in 2023 as a professor of practice for the College of Communication and Information, teaching a variety of topics including sports reporting and public speaking. "Professor Sheriff" has made additional guest appearances on campus, including in the fall 2024 semester. |
| UGA study: Human presence at waterholes may change animal behavior | |
 | When tourists venture into nature, their thoughts are often focused on the animals they'll get to see. But animals may also have them in mind, according to a new study from the University of Georgia. With how common tourism is becoming, humans and animals will cross paths more often. Not only are tourists coming to watch the animals, but researchers will also stay out for long periods of time to count populations of different species. As such, the study focused on how humans being nearby influenced the behavior of African mammals, including lions and zebras, while at waterholes. "When humans are present, some animals shift their daily activity patterns," said Jessy Patterson, lead author and a doctoral candidate in Jim Beasley's lab at UGA's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. "We think that the carnivores changed because of the human presence, and the herbivores changed because of the carnivore presence. It was not just one species that altered their behavior." |
| Education Department Cancels Another $350M in Contracts, Grants | |
 | The U.S. Education Department has canceled 10 contracts with Regional Educational Laboratories totaling $336 million and a further $33 million of grants to Equity Assistance Centers. The decision, announced Friday, appears to be another example of Elon Musk's U.S. Department of Government Efficiency slashing the department's activities and of anti–diversity, equity and inclusion activist Christopher Rufo's continuing influence. The cuts also seem to part of the Trump administration's crusade against programs that could be considered DEI-related, but it's unclear what all the canceled contracts and grants were actually for. Regional Educational Laboratories, or RELs, have been around for more than a half century. Among other things, they contribute "research on how experiences within the nation's education system differ by context and student group, thereby impacting outcomes," according to the website of the Institute of Education Sciences, which administers the 10 RELs. On Feb. 10, the Trump administration said it canceled nearly $900 million in Institute of Education Sciences contracts. Then, on Thursday night -- in a news release titled "U.S. Department of Education Cancels Additional $350 Million in Woke Spending" -- the department announced the severing of the REL contracts. |
| Colleges Take Financial Precautions Amid Uncertainty From Trump Administration | |
 | As President Trump tries to slash spending across the federal government, many colleges are considering their own freezes and cuts as precautions. Northwestern University's president, provost, and chief financial officer said they were cutting nonpersonnel expenses for this fiscal year by 10 percent, scaling back hiring, and reviewing any spending of more than $25,000. Washington State University officials said they would consider hiring freezes, travel freezes, and permanent budget cuts. The Board of Regents is holding a special meeting Monday to discuss "federal funding challenges" and plans for the 2026 fiscal year budget. he Massachusetts Institute of Technology told faculty members that officials were preparing for a loss of more than $100 million in federal funding, WGBH reported. Many of the Trump administration's most-drastic measures, such as pausing the flow of billions in federal funding and capping indirect costs for NIH grants, have been temporarily blocked by courts. But some federal rollbacks are already affecting colleges. Turmoil at the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, has imperiled some 17 labs at land-grant universities that research farming, seeds, and agricultural technology abroad, Reuters reported. Michigan State University will keep its lab staffed for now in hopes that funding will be restored, while the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will shutter its Soybean Innovation Lab in April, according to Reuters. |
| Ed Department: DEI Violates Civil Rights Law | |
| The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights declared all race-conscious student programming, resources and financial aid illegal over the weekend and threatened to investigate and rescind federal funding for any institution that does not comply within 14 days. In a Dear Colleague letter published late Friday night, acting assistant secretary for civil rights Craig Trainor outlined a sweeping interpretation of the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which struck down affirmative action. While the decision applied specifically to admissions, the Trump administration believes it extends to all race-conscious spending, activities and programming at colleges. Backlash to the letter came swiftly on Saturday from Democratic lawmakers, student advocates and academic freedom organizations. But most college leaders have, so far, remained silent. Brian Rosenberg, the former president of Macalester College and now a visiting professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, wrote in an email to Inside Higher Ed that the letter was "truly dystopian" and, if enforced, would upend decades of established programs and initiatives to improve success and access for marginalized students. "It goes well beyond the Supreme Court ruling on admissions and declares illegal a wide range of common practices," he wrote. "In my career I've never seen language of this kind from any government agency in the United States." |
| In Sweeping Letter, Ed. Dept. Says SCOTUS Ruling Applies to All Race-Conscious Programs | |
| Late Friday night, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) put colleges on notice: stamp out all race-conscious policies and programming immediately or risk losing federal funding. In a Dear Colleague letter, Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, wrote that "institutions' embrace of pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences and other forms of racial discrimination have emanated throughout every facet of academia." OCR's letter offers an expansive interpretation of the Supreme Court's 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, which banned the consideration of an applicant's racial status. Though the so-called SFFA decision pertained only to admissions evaluations, Trainor wrote that the ruling "applies more broadly," prohibiting institutions from considering race in "hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life." "This threat to rip away the federal funding our public K-12 schools and colleges receive flies in the face of the law," Sen. Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington and former chair of the Senate Education Committee, said in a written statement. "While it's anyone's guess what falls under the Trump administration's definition of 'DEI,' there is simply no authority or basis for Trump to impose such a mandate." |
| House gasoline tax proposal would hurt most when prices are highest | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: Legislation passed by the state House would increase the tax burden on Mississippi drivers as the price of gasoline rises. That cruel reality, which would be especially onerous for low income Mississippians, is a simple fact of how a sales tax works. Mississippi's current tax on motor fuel of 18.4 cents per gallon is the second lowest in the nation. Transportation officials and others say the state needs additional revenue to pay for the ever-increasing costs of building new roads and bridges and maintaining the existing transportation system. It is not surprising that both chambers are responding to those concerns of the need for more funding for transportation. But the leaders of the two chambers are taking very different approaches to increasing the tax to pay for transportation needs. Senate leaders, led by Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, are proposing increasing the tax 3 cents per gallon for three years until it caps out at 27.4 cents per gallon -- which would still be lower than the gasoline tax in most states. The House proposal would move Mississippi out of the mainstream of how states levy taxes on gasoline. |
SPORTS
| Baseball: No. 18 State Caps Off Opening Weekend Sweep | |
| No. 18 Mississippi State capped off an opening weekend sweep with a 5-1 win over Manhattan at Dudy Noble Field on Sunday. Stone Simmons opened the game on the mound, making his first appearance since March 5, 2022. He earned the win after logging three innings and recorded a new single-game strikeout high with the Bulldogs, punching out five batters. Following Simmons, Ryan McPherson, Dane Burns, Nate Williams and Mikhai Grant all made their first mound appearances for MSU before Luke Dotson pitched the last inning. The Diamond Dawgs (3-0) had seven hits including a double and a home run. Nolan Stevens hit his first home run of the season and collected two RBIs. Dylan Cupp doubled and went 2-for-3 at the plate and drove in a pair. Aaron Downs singled, stole a career-high two bases and scored a run. Next up for State is a trip to Hattiesburg on Tuesday to take on Southern Miss at Pete Taylor Park. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+. |
| Baseball: Simmons returns to the mound as No. 18 Bulldogs finish sweep of Manhattan | |
| The emotions were flowing for Stone Simmons on Sunday before he threw his first pitch in a game at Dudy Noble Field in nearly three years. But once he did, it was business as usual for the sixth-year senior right-hander coming off two elbow surgeries. Simmons pitched three scoreless innings in his first start with Mississippi State on a cold afternoon, working his way out of a first-inning jam and settling down from there. He struck out five Manhattan batters and allowed just one hit and two walks, and the Bulldogs supported him with three early runs and completed a sweep of the Jaspers with a 5-1 victory. "For the first half of the first inning, I was a little juiced up," Simmons said. "Once I started feeling the cold, I was like, 'OK, I have to focus here.' I was walking in from the bullpen before the game and I got a little ovation. Definitely had me emotional. I was really excited. Just glad to be back." Guriyandel Salva walked and stole second with one out in the first, then advanced to third on Ryan Lordier's single. But Simmons struck out Andreaus Lewis for his first punchout since March of 2022, then picked off Lordier at first base to end the inning. He fanned four straight batters between the second and third innings, the last three of them looking, and finished his outing with 50 pitches. |
| Mississippi State stays put at No. 18 in D1Baseball's latest rankings | |
| Coming off a perfect start to the season, Mississippi State stayed put in D1Baseball's Top 25 rankings. The No. 18 Bulldogs (3-0) swept the Manhattan Jaspers in Starkville exactly as a team from the SEC should when playing an opponent from the MAAC. Chris Lemonis' group is one of nine SEC teams holding strong in the weekly poll, alongside Texas A&M, LSU, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Vanderbilt, and Texas. While Ole Miss (2-1) had a successful weekend, upsetting two ranked teams in Arizona and Clemson, the Rebels still have a way to go before being included in the rankings. Southern Miss (4-0) did not crack the rankings either after a sweep of Lafayette, even as D1Baseball's editor Kendall Rogers has previously said the Golden Eagles are on the verge of the top list of teams in college baseball. Mississippi State and Southern Miss will square off in Hattiesburg on Tuesday with first pitch from Pete Taylor Park set for 6 p.m. |
| Men's Basketball: A Rivalry Win And More Resiliency From Jans' Dawgs | |
| You couldn't have been all that surprised. Please tell me you weren't surprised. Saturday, No. 22 Mississippi State was under pressure. The Bulldogs had dropped three out of four. The NCAA Tournament resume -- while still impressive -- hadn't exactly been boosted in the last couple of weeks. By any measure, MSU needed a win and not just because the Dawgs were staring down their archrival, No. 19 Ole Miss, in Oxford. Now you know that State came through, overcoming a somewhat slow start to pretty much steamroll the Rebs on their home floor. It ended up a 10-point win for MSU, and if anyone was shocked by the game being wrapped in Maroon and White, well, you haven't been paying attention to the culture of the State program under Chris Jans. Jans' squads are never more dangerous than when it appears they've been backed into a corner. Once again, in the aftermath of struggle, State has seemingly found its footing and been reinvigorated. But there is still much to do, starting Tuesday night at home against Texas A&M. "[Jans] preaches [the importance of every single game] a lot," KeShawn Murphy said. "We know every next game is a gauntlet. So, we're going to prep the same way, hold our heads high with this game and be even more aggressive next game." |
| Mississippi State snatches season sweep over 'complacent' Ole Miss | |
| Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: In basketball, urgency matters. Mississippi State played with a clear sense of urgency here Saturday evening. Ole Miss did not. That stark difference translated to a badly needed 80-70 victory for the Bulldogs, who completed a sweep their two-game series with the Rebels. This one didn't seem nearly as close as the final score would indicate. Ole Miss (now 19-7 overall and 8-5 in the SEC) came in with a three-game winning streak, including two straight on the road. The last time the Rebels had played at home, they blew away blue-blood Kentucky with an almost perfect performance. In contrast, State (18-7, 6-6) came in having lost six of nine (three of their last four) and desperately needing a victory on their arch-rival's home floor. The Bulldogs snatched that victory with the same ferocity they snatched rebounds and loose balls. They seemed to get every rebound that mattered. Surely, Ole Miss players wanted to win. Everybody wants to win. But State needed to win. The Bulldogs desperately needed to win. They played like it. As Sean Pedulla, the Rebels' normally sharp-shooting guard put it, "They played like they had a chip on their shoulder." He said the Rebels played as if they were "complacent." His word, not mine. Pedulla said more. "When you play a team that's playing for a lot right now and as competitive as they are, it's going to show like it did today," he said. "They were definitely the most aggressive team today in pretty much every category." |
| Softball: Sosa Slugs State To Snowman Sweep | |
| Lexi Sosa drove in six runs as No. 19 Mississippi State powered its way to its third run-rule victory of The Snowman: Alex Wilcox Memorial on Sunday, defeating Georgia Tech, 11-3. Sosa, who entered the weekend with just one career homer to her name, launched her third and fourth of the weekend on Sunday, the final blast being her first career grand slam. She came just one run shy of the single-game school record. "Lexi just had a phenomenal weekend, and I'm so happy for her knowing that she always had the talent and the ability," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. Raelin Chaffin extended her winning streak to each of her first six appearances at Mississippi State. She struck out the first five batters she faced on her way to a season-high nine punchouts. The Bulldogs remain home for their first midweek matchup of the season. State hosts Samford on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 4 p.m. CT. |
| Sources: SEC, Big Ten building momentum to further expand College Football Playoff to 14 or 16 teams | |
| Last spring, during intense and, at times, heated negotiations over the future of the College Football Playoff, leaders of the Big Ten and SEC threatened to create their own postseason system if they were not granted a majority of CFP revenue and full authority over the playoff format. In the end, executives of the 10 FBS leagues and Notre Dame signed a memorandum of understanding handing control over to college football's two richest conferences. Soon, they are expected to exercise that control. Within the SEC and Big Ten, momentum is building to further expand the playoff to 14 or 16 teams, assign multiple automatic qualifiers per league -- as many as four each for themselves -- and finalize a scheduling arrangement together that may fetch millions in additional revenue from TV partners, sources told Yahoo Sports. The playoff format change would clear the way for SEC administrators to, finally, make the long-discussed move to play nine regular-season conference games and would trigger, perhaps, all four power leagues to overhaul their conference championship weekend. These ideas and concepts, previously reported by Yahoo Sports as possibilities, are now serious agenda items within the highest governing bodies of the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC, according to officials from each of those leagues. |
| Georgia, Alabama NIL Bills To Save Taxes Could Be Challenged in Court | |
| Bills in Georgia and Alabama to exempt college athlete NIL income from state taxes could save athletes a healthy amount of money, but could also face legal challenges by other college students whose income would remain subject to state taxes. Georgia's SB71 and Alabama's HB240 straightforwardly call for compensation earned by college athletes to not be subject to state income taxes. Georgia imposes a flat 5.39% income tax rate while Alabama's income tax ranges from 2% to 5%, with income over $3,000 ($6,000 for married couples) facing the highest rate. Colleges in Georgia and Alabama compete for recruits with colleges in Florida, Tennessee and Texas, none of which has a state income tax. The basic logic of SB71 and HB240 is to even the playing field so that recruits don't prefer colleges in states where income taxes are lower or nonexistent. But as laws, SB71 and HB240 could face legal challenges. Non-athlete college students who earn compensation, including for social media influencing, e-sports, acting, music and numerous other occupations could logically question why state tax law would treat them worse than their athlete classmates. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment makes it illegal for states to deny "any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." |
| Trump administration rescinds NLRB memorandum viewing college athletes as employees | |
| The National Labor Relations Board's acting general counsel on Friday rescinded a memorandum issued by his Biden-administration predecessor that said she viewed college athletes as employees of their schools under the National Labor Relations Act. Friday's memorandum from the Trump administration's William B. Cowen rescinded an array of memoranda that had been issued by Jennifer Abruzzo, including the one from September 2021 that was accompanied by a statement from Abruzzo in which she wrote: College athletes "perform services for institutions in return for compensation and (are) subject to their control. "Thus, the broad language of ... the Act, the policies underlying the NLRA, Board law, and the common law fully support the conclusion that certain (college athletes) are statutory employees, who have the right to act collectively to improve their terms and conditions of employment." Friday's memorandum comes against the backdrop of longstanding efforts by the NCAA, conferences and universities to pursue federal legislation that would prevent college athletes from becoming employees of their schools. A bill to that effect passed a U.S. House committee in June 2024, but went no farther. The new memo comes two days after the new Trump administration's Education Department rescinded guidance issued in the final days of the Biden administration's Education Department that stated that compensation paid by colleges to their athletes for use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) is subject to Title IX gender-equity policies. |
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