| Tuesday, March 18, 2025 |
| From student to sergeant: College student serves at VFD in spare-time | |
 | When you think of the college experience, what comes to mind? Is fighting fires or helping save lives on that list? The East Oktibbeha Volunteer Fire Department has many college students serving on its team. Fire Coordinator Patrick Warner said they are a plus for the department. Samuel Boin is a senior at Mississippi State University. But when he is not in class, he serves as a Sergeant at the East Oktibbeha Volunteer Fire Department. "It's totally changed the college experience. It really has. I know a lot of other college students out here will tell you that," said Boin. "To be able to save lives and property, that's what we do here at the fire department. That's our two big things, saving lives and property. So getting the opportunity to do that is super satisfying. It's a great thing to do in college. I'm young, fit, and I've got the time for it. So being able to do it out here 5 minutes away from the university where I live is really awesome." Boin said his advice to anyone considering serving with the local fire department is to come and give it a try. |
| Poultry instructor gives bird flu safety tips | |
| Low supply. High demand. The bird flu is putting a strain on the poultry industry, leading to egg shortages and price hikes. Just last week, a case was confirmed in a chicken flock in Noxubee County. "It takes time to replace those birds, so when you lose a high number of birds like the table egg layers, when you lose a high number of those, it's going to affect the market," said Jonathan Moon, an instructor in the Poultry Sciences Department for Mississippi State University Extension Service. He said it takes about six months for a chicken to mature and start producing quality eggs. Typically, table-egg-laying hens are kept for about two years. But if a flock falls ill to the bird flu, "we have to depopulate that farm to keep other farms from contracting high path A.I.," said Moon. The Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, also known as "bird flu," is spread from wild birds. Some signs of the bird flu in poultry include, "respiratory issues, birds that are lethargic, sneezing, coughing, maybe some discoloration of the wattles and combs. Things of that nature," said Moon. |
| Bird flu strain in Noxubee County not seen in U.S. commercial flocks since 2017 | |
 | Poultry in a broiler breeder chicken flock in Noxubee County have tested positive for a strain of avian influenza that hasn't been seen in commercial poultry in the United States since 2017. Birds from the flock have not entered the food system and the flock was quarantined by the State Veterinarian, according to a Monday press release from the Mississippi Board of Animal Health. Birds on the property have been "depopulated" to prevent the spread of disease, as a part of a joint response between MBAH and federal animal health officials in Mississippi, the release said. The particular strain the flock tested positive for is H7N9, a fully North American virus originating in wild birds, the release said. It is unrelated to the other strain currently circulating in the United States -- H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b virus. "The flock was experiencing high mortality, and samples tested at the Mississippi Veterinary Research and Diagnostic Laboratory, a member of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, were presumptive positive for HPAI then confirmed as H7N9 at the APHIS National Veterinary Services Laboratories," the release said. While the H7N9 strain of avian influenza has not been diagnosed in the United States since 2017, the Noxubee flock is the third case of avian influenza in commercial poultry in Mississippi since the spring of 2023, the release said. |
| Amazon 'Last Mile' facility delivers 10K parcels daily over 70 miles radius | |
| A customer orders a package from Amazon on a Monday. Last year, that order may not have arrived until the following Thursday. But with the corporation's Last Mile facility at the NorthStar Industrial Park coming online in October, the goal has been to get those delivery times shorter and shorter, Amazon Area Operations Manager Michael Bailey told the Starkville Rotary Club on Monday at Hilton Garden Inn. "We're the last place it goes before it comes to your door," Bailey said. "Generally speaking, we only hold product for less than 12 hours." Bailey is a Columbus native and Mississippi State University graduate who has been working for Amazon for the past three years, and returned to the area to oversee the opening of the new 50,000 square-foot Last Mile facility. Bailey said the facility acts as a delivery station that primarily receives packages from warehouses near Jackson and in the Memphis area. Trucks arrive at about 2 and 5 a.m. daily, where boxes are unloaded, sorted onto shelves, loaded onto carts by associates and staged before vans take them out to customers that day. |
| Senate, House advance new tax cut plans | |
 | The Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees on Monday advanced tax cut legislation to eliminate the state income tax, potentially keeping the idea alive in the legislature with only weeks left in the 2025 session. However, several key differences in both amended plans fail to address critical points of tension between House Speaker Jason White, R-West, and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann's approach, who told the Clarion Ledger last week that tax cut negotiations had stalled. One point of contention has been whether to reform or add funding to the Public Employment Retirement System of Mississippi, or PERS. Both plans still seek to fully eliminate the income tax and cut sales tax on groceries, and both again seek to raise the fuel tax to establish infrastructure funding for MDOT and counties. Both also seek to establish a new pool of money to safeguard against any poor economic times. One of the key differences in the Senate and House plan remains to be a method of either reforming or putting more money into PERS using lottery tax revenues, which is part of the House plan. |
| House, Senate closer to finding consensus on tax relief for working Mississippians | |
 | On Monday, Mississippi lawmakers moved closer to finding consensus on a tax reform package this session that would offer working Mississippian tax relief while addressing critical needs such the state employee retirement system and road maintenance. Committees in both chambers amended legislation originating in the other. On the Senate side, an amended version of HB 1 was passed out of the Senate Finance Committee while the House Ways and Means Committee passed a revised version of SB 3095. The Senate's plan entails cutting the current income tax rate of 4 percent by 0.25 percent each year until 2030. The first cut would take place in 2027. After 2031, future cuts would be determined by the performance of the state's economy. Senator Josh Harkins (R), Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said that a one percent cut to the income tax equates to $400 million. If the economy can produce 85 percent of that $400 million in surplus tax collections, the Legislature would then enact a further 20-basis point cut to the income tax rate. If the surplus is 100 percent of the $400 million, then a 25-basis point cut would occur, and if the surplus is 115 percent, then a 30-basis point cut would be enacted. "So, depending on how the economy is doing and if these triggers are met, we will have the ability to reduce the income tax in the out years until it is eliminated," Harkins described. "The strength of our economy will dictate whether a cut is warranted going forward." |
| Senate, House propose new income tax elimination plans, set stage for late-session showdown | |
| House and Senate leaders on Monday evening unveiled new plans to eliminate the state income tax and raise gasoline taxes -- charting a path to more negotiations over the most notable legislative debate of the 2025 session. Monday marks the first time the Senate leadership has proposed a plan to eliminate the income tax, a significant move from its previous position wanting only to cut the tax that accounts for nearly one-third of the state budget. Republican House Ways and Means Chairman Trey Lamar said the move could bring the chambers closer to reaching a final agreement. "I can't underestimate the importance of the Senate placing into written form and out in the open public that they are agreeing to eliminate the income tax," Lamar said. "We're willing to work with them. We are not willing to compromise on total elimination of the income tax and taking care of some the infrastructure needs we have." The House also changed its position Monday on a few key provisions. It agreed to increase the state's net sales tax from 7% to 8%, down from the eventual 8.5% target the chamber had originally proposed. The revenue from this tax increase would provide $48 million annually to pay for infrastructure improvements via the State Aid Road Fund. The remaining funds would go into the state's general fund. |
| Mississippi House and Senate committees pass amended tax reform bills, setting up further negotiations | |
| Three days ago, it appeared as if lawmakers in Mississippi were speeding down the fast lane en route to an impasse on tax reform. However, ahead of a Tuesday deadline, a U-turn of sorts was executed Monday by both the House of Representatives and Senate revealing amended yet similar versions of the opposite chamber's tax cut plans. Circling back to Friday's series of events, Republican House Speaker Jason White took to social media with a scathing rebuke of his cross-chamber counterparts failing to pass a bill to fully eliminate the state's income tax. Early in the session, the House passed HB 1, or the "Build Up Mississippi Act," to phase the tax on work out over the next 12 years. The Senate, on the other hand, initially passed a tax cut of its own but one that stopped shy of full elimination. The social media infighting between the Republicans who control GOP-powered chambers of the capitol stopped there, and it looked like tax discussions were zooming down a dead-end street in the waning weeks of this year's session. But on Monday, things changed. Days after both White and Hosemann aired out grievances online, both sides took one another's tax reform legislation and added their proposals to each respective bill. |
| Trump once hailed WWII vet Medgar Evers as a 'great American hero.' Now the U.S. Army has erased him from the Arlington National Cemetery website | |
| World War II veteran Medgar Evers, whom President Trump called "a great American hero," has been erased from the Arlington National Cemetery website, which featured a section honoring Black Americans who fought in the nation's wars. The U.S. Army purged the section that had lauded the late Army sergeant and civil rights leader, who was assassinated by a white supremacist in Jackson in 1963. The decision to erase Evers came after an executive order by Trump to eliminate all Diversity, Equality and Inclusion programs. Former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson, who gave Trump a 2017 tour of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, said he can't imagine the president would want Evers removed. "That's got to be a mistake," he said. "That involves a great American who served in the military and was one of the most courageous Americans of all time." Evers is far from the only war veteran whose name has been struck from the website. So was Army Maj. Gen. Charles Calvin Rogers, who was awarded the Medal of Honor in the Vietnam War. "He got shot three times in Vietnam and survived," said U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson. "History has not been kind to minorities, whether women, people of color or religious groups. Part of what we do in the greatest democracy known to man is to correct the record." |
| Veterans protest Trump VA and government cuts at State Capitol | |
| Veterans from across the state are speaking out against the Trump Administrations cuts to government jobs which they say will negatively impact the already short-staffed VA system. Veterans took their concerns to the State Capitol supporting a national protest. "It's totally wrong to eliminate any services to the veterans right now," said Retired Army Lt. Colonel John Anderson. The Gulf War veteran of Brandon was among former service members and supporters objecting to Veteran Administration cuts that they said are also affecting former military members who work in the agency. The president has authorized laying off 80,000 VA workers nationwide. "What needs to happen is add additional services, because we don't have the services that we need already," said Anderson. "In fact, the wait time is much longer than our civilian counterparts. So I think it's totally wrong for the president and staff to cut any services." They came from Jackson, Laurel, Lucedale, Meridian, and more holding signs in support of veterans. The group said Veteran Administration and other government job cuts are pushing out veterans who are a given an advantage in hiring because of their military service. |
| Trump signs resolution backed by Hyde-Smith, Ezell that eases Gulf energy production requirement | |
| President Donald Trump has signed S.J. Res. 11, a joint congressional resolution aimed at overturning the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's (BOEM) rule put in place by the Biden Administration which opponents said placed a new burden on American energy production on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of America. In September 2024, the Biden Administration published a rule that required all new oil and gas leaseholders on the outer continental shelf to submit an archaeological report to the BOEM before drilling or laying pipelines. The previous practice only required such a report when there was a "reason to believe" that an archaeological resource may be present. Louisiana Senator John Kennedy (R) sponsored the resolution to undo the Biden era rule, saying in a floor speech "we know what's there." Kennedy's resolution was cosponsored by Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) and backed by Congressman Mike Ezell (R), who presented the measure on the House floor. |
| DOGE's Cuts at the USDA Could Cause US Grocery Prices to Rise and Invasive Species to Spread | |
 | Before he was abruptly fired last month, Derek Copeland worked as a trainer at the US Department of Agriculture's National Dog Detection Training Center, preparing beagles and Labrador retrievers to sniff out plants and animals that are invasive or vectors for zoonotic diseases, like swine fever. Copeland estimates the NDDTC lost about a fifth of its trainers and a number of other support staff when 6,000 employees were let go at the USDA in February as part of a government-wide purge orchestrated by the Trump administration and Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Dog trainers are just one example of the kind of highly specialized USDA staff that have been removed from their stations in recent weeks. Teams devoted to inspecting plant and food imports have been hit especially hard by the recent cuts, including the Plant Protection and Quarantine program, which has lost hundreds of staffers alone. "These aren't your average people," says Mike Lahar, the regulatory affairs manager at US customs broker behemoth Deringer. "These were highly trained individuals -- inspectors, entomologists, taxonomists." Lahar and other supply chain experts warn that the losses could cause food to go rotten while waiting in ports and could lead to even higher grocery prices, in addition to increasing the chances of potentially devastating invasive species getting into the country. These dangers are especially acute at a moment when US grocery supply chains are already reeling from other business disruptions such as bird flu and President Trump's new tariffs. |
| Trump Says a Recession Might Be Worth the Cost. Economists Disagree. | |
 | Presidents usually do all they can to avoid recessions, so much so that they avoid even saying the word. But President Trump and his advisers in recent weeks have offered a very different message. Yes, a recession is possible, they have said. Maybe one wouldn't even be that bad. Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, has said Mr. Trump's policies are "worth it" even if they cause a recession. Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary, has said the economy may need a "detox period" after becoming dependent on government spending. And Mr. Trump has said there will be a "period of transition" as his policies take effect. Such comments may partly reflect an effort to align political statements with economic reality. And while many economists are sympathetic to the idea that presidents must sometimes cause temporary hardship in the pursuit of longer-run goals, few are willing to defend the specific set of policies the Trump administration is adopting. "The idea of short-term pain for long-term gain is not a crazy idea in and of itself," said Greg Mankiw, a Harvard economist who served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush. But Mr. Trump's trade policies, he said, are "short-term pain to get more long-term pain." |
| Powell Contends With Double Threat of Economic Chaos and Political Hostility | |
 | Not long ago, it looked like Jerome Powell's final test as Federal Reserve chair would be to stick the soft landing. Now, with about one year left in his term, he faces a serious complication: navigating a trade war that threatens to push prices up while weakening the economy. During a seven-year tenure that included Donald Trump's first trade war, a pandemic, historic inflation and high-profile bank failures, Powell's final act also unfolds with an imperative to preserve the institution's apolitical DNA that protects its autonomy in setting interest rates. Fed policymakers are alternately referred to as inflation-fighting "hawks" or labor-market defending "doves." Right now, Powell looks more like a duck -- calm on the surface while constantly paddling beneath murky waters. Inflation fell over the past two years as supply-chain bottlenecks eased and workforce participation rose. Now, tailwinds are becoming potential headwinds. Falling immigration and cuts to federal contracts risk hitting labor supply and demand. Dramatically raising tariffs could create an uncomfortable combination of weaker or even stagnant growth and higher prices. Powell's 18 colleagues who participate in monetary policy meetings have shifted their outlook. A few doves have become hawks, and vice versa. At least one has an eye on possibly succeeding Powell next year. |
| Trump, already on a collision course with the courts, hits the gas | |
 | Donald Trump is trying to show the world what he wants it to see: a president wielding unlimited and uncheckable power. Trump's challenge to the authority of Congress and the courts has increased in velocity and intensity in recent days. It reached a crescendo this weekend, when Trump invoked wartime powers to summarily deport Venezuelan nationals he deems to be terrorists, and his White House amplified a foreign strongman's mockery of the judge who tried to pause the deportations. That skirmish was only the latest in an increasingly ominous confrontation between Trump's White House and the other two constitutional branches. In short, the most significant test of America's system of checks and balances in Trump's second term has arrived. And the outcome is less certain than ever. The White House, for its part, is dismissing arguments that the president's actions are pushing the country toward a constitutional crisis. Perhaps most significantly: The administration firmly believes that it has popular opinion on its side, at least in the fight over deportations of alleged gang members. |
| Trump Escalates Push Against Legal Norms | |
| President Trump escalated his push against legal boundaries to pursue his policy objectives, declaring on Monday his predecessor's pardons are void as members of his administration brushed aside court orders and the text of federal law on other issues. Trump's envelope-pushing second term reached new heights on two of his top priorities: immigration and paying back his opponents. The administration stood its ground after deporting hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members despite a court order issued Saturday evening, with the White House disclaiming that a federal judge could force flights with the deportees to return to the U.S. "I'm just doing what the VOTERS wanted me to do," Trump said in a social-media post Tuesday, in which he also called for the judge to be impeached. Clashes between executive and judicial power are all but certain to reach the Supreme Court in the weeks ahead, ensuring that the opening months of the Trump administration will mark a watershed for constitutional law. The administration's actions reflect an unorthodox conception of American government in which the president pushes his powers to the outer limits, with diminished regard for the checks and balances provided by the legislative and judicial branches. Some of what Trump has done simply hasn't been anticipated by federal law, such as sanctioning specific lawyers and law firms because they did work for his opponents. |
| Trump administration begins rehiring thousands of probationary workers | |
 | The federal government has begun the process of reinstating more than 24,000 probationary employees who were fired before a federal judge ruled the sweeping effort to shrink the government was illegal. District Judge James K. Bredar granted a temporary restraining order last week demanding the Trump administration reinstate federal probationary employees terminated on or after Jan. 20. The case was filed by attorneys general in 19 states and the District of Columbia, all Democrats. A filing late Monday in a federal court in Maryland said the reinstatement process was underway for the workers despite the "substantial burdens" the process creates for the agencies and employees. The filing said all the employees bring brought back would be required to go through the lengthy onboarding process. Despite the setback, President Donald Trump and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency are continuing with their efforts to trim the federal payroll that now numbers more than 2 million employees by eliminating the Education Department and gutting many federal agencies. |
| Proposal would force millions to file Social Security claims in person | |
 | The Social Security Administration is considering adding a new anti-fraud step to claims for benefits that the agency acknowledges would force millions of customers to file in person at a field office rather than over the phone, according to an internal memorandum. The change would create major disruptions to Social Security operations, the memo said, and could cause particular hardship for elderly and disabled Americans who have limited mobility. Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service also has announced plans to cut thousands of agency jobs and close dozens of regional and local Social Security offices. Those applying for retirement and disability benefits by phone would be required for the first time to authenticate their identity through an online system that the memo refers to as "internet ID proofing." But if claimants can't verify their identity online, they would have to provide documentation in person at a field office, according to the memo, which was viewed by The Washington Post. The document was sent last week by Doris Diaz, acting deputy commissioner for operations, to acting Social Security commissioner Leland Dudek. The memo estimates that 75,000 to 85,000 customers per week would be diverted to local field offices because many of the elderly and disabled people that Social Security serves would be unable to complete a new identity verification requirement online. |
| Presidents have used autopens for decades. Now Trump objects to Biden's use of one | |
 | President Donald Trump claimed Monday that pardons recently issued by Joe Biden to lawmakers and staff on the congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot have no force because, Trump says, the-then president signed them with an autopen instead of by his own hand. "In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!" Trump wrote on his social media site. Trump didn't offer any evidence to support his claims. Nor did the White House. Trump asserted in his all-caps post that the pardons are void and have no effect in his estimation. But presidents have broad authority to pardon or commute the sentences of whomever they please, the Constitution doesn't specify that pardons must be in writing and autopen signatures have been used before for substantive actions by presidents. There is no law governing a president's use of an autopen. A 2005 opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department said an autopen can be used to sign legislation. Barack Obama became the first president to do so in May 2011 when he signed an extension of the Patriot Act. Obama was in France on official business and, with time running out before the law expired, he authorized use of the autopen to sign it into law. |
| Trump Administration Aims to Eliminate E.P.A.'s Scientific Research Arm | |
| The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate its scientific research arm, firing as many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists, according to documents reviewed by Democrats on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. The strategy is part of large-scale layoffs, known as a "reduction in force," being planned by the Trump administration, which is intent on shrinking the federal work force. Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the E.P.A., has said he wants to eliminate 65 percent of the agency's budget. That would be a drastic reduction -- one that experts said could hamper clean water and wastewater improvements, air quality monitoring, the cleanup of toxic industrial sites, and other parts of the agency's mission. The E.P.A.'s plan, which was presented to White House officials on Friday for review, calls for dissolving the agency's largest department, the Office of Research and Development, and purging up to 75 percent of the people who work there. “It is an assault on science,” said Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, who ran the E.P.A. office under the first Trump administration. Shuttering the office would cost jobs across the country, particularly in places like North Carolina and Ada, Okla., two of the places where the agency operates major research labs, she said. |
| EPA division renamed Gulf of America; lease canceled in Gulfport, DOGE says. What's next? | |
 | The Environmental Protection Agency's Gulfport-based office has been rebranded from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America Division, but it might not be around much longer -- at least in its current location. The division's lease is on 8,608 square feet of office space overlooking the Mississippi Sound on the 12th floor of the Hancock Whitney Bank building downtown. The federal Department of Government Efficiency has listed the lease as one of almost 800 being terminated nationwide. Communications employees at the EPA's regional office in Atlanta, which usually responds to media inquiries, did not reply to a Sun Herald email posing questions about the lease. The EPA's Gulf division, founded in 1988, has worked on water quality, habitat restoration, coastal storm preparedness and recovery in the face of climate change, and environmental education. The Gulf watershed covers 5 million acres and is an essential habitat for many fish and wildlife species. President Donald Trump's EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin recently announced a major shift in focus, saying he was making "the largest deregulatory announcement in U.S. history." The EPA, he said, plans to reconsider "suffocating rules that restrict nearly every sector of our economy." |
| Education: The W to host Mississippi Spelling Bee on Saturday | |
| Mississippi University for Women will host the 2025 C Spire Foundation Mississippi Spelling Bee featuring 25 top spellers from 17 Mississippi counties on Saturday, March 21, in Poindexter Hall beginning at 9:30 a.m. "This year, the Scripps National Spelling Bee turns 100, and we are proud to be a part of America's longest-running education competition," said Mississippi Spelling Bee Director Lois Kappler. "For a century, the Scripps National Spelling Bee has been much more than a competition. It has become a symbol of perseverance, intellect and community." The top two spellers from the competition will advance to Bee Week and compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, held the last week of May in National Harbor, Maryland. Kappler added, "Bee Week is designed to provide the spellers with opportunities to connect and make lifelong friendships, enjoy activities around their interests, tour Washington, D.C., and compete in the spelling rounds before the televised finals, which are broadcast live. Each year, our spellers are getting closer to the final round." The W has been the host of the bee since 2022, when it, along with other community sponsors, stepped up to save the bee. |
| Project Encompass chooses new information systems to replace SAP | |
 | The University of Mississippi is switching its cloud-based information systems from SAP, the platform that currently supports the myOleMiss portal, to Workday and Banner by Ellucian. The transition to these systems are expected to be fully implemented within the next four years, according to Lisa Stone, lead for Project Encompass and interim vice chancellor for marketing and communications. Project Encompass is the initiative that chose the replacement systems. Project Encompass was created because SAP is currently pushing for customers to migrate to its newer cloud-based platform and will cease maintenance on older models like the one the university uses by 2027. The initiative, which began in fall 2022, is composed of faculty members and technology experts who assessed several platform options. Tony Ammeter, co-chair of Project Encompass initiative and the project director for the Banner student information system (SIS) solution, said the change was needed to help student operations. Stone explained that Workday will be used for administrative purposes, and Banner will be used by students. |
| USM student hit by vehicle at 4th Street crosswalk | |
 | A student was hit by a car at the University of Southern Mississippi on Monday afternoon, the Office of University Communications confirmed. The student was struck at the crosswalk by the dormitories on West 4th Street. The victim sustained minor injuries. They were transported to Forrest General Hospital by ambulance. The University Police Department is investigating the incident. |
| Alabama student group says university allowed change to anti-discrimination rules | |
 | A conservative student organization said the University of Alabama has allowed it to narrow the school's typical anti-discrimination policy and avoid specific support for transgender students. The group Young America's Foundation, which has been on campus since 2019, initially applied for renewal as a student organization in February and was rejected by UA's student life division for not including the phrases "gender identity, gender expression, sexual identity" in its anti-discrimination policy. According to UA's anti-discrimination policy, in place since 2016, student organizations must allow anyone on campus to become a member. Trenton Buffenbarger, a political science senior, complained about the rejection to UA's president. He copied Attorney General Steve Marshall on his email. One day later, university administrators approved the removal of the phrases. Buffenbarger insists the group, with about 50 active students, allows anyone to attend events. "We aren't advocating for discrimination against anyone," he told AL.com. "We're advocating for the deletion of the language. And that's really all we're advocating for." He said he doesn't equate deleting the words to discrimination. |
| More Than Music: The Impact of the AUMB | |
| The Auburn University Marching Band is more than just the soundtrack of Auburn Athletics. From weeks of practice in the summer heat to unbreakable bonds with their found family of musicians, a band member's passion for their craft intertwines every aspect of their life and unfurls an infectious positivity to all of Auburn. AUMB is composed of 380 wind players, percussionists and Tiger Eyes whose work begins during the summer at preseason camp, where prospective members spend the first week proving that their playing ability, marching technique and character is up to the Auburn standard. Ross Tolbert, senior in music education, served as the head drum major of the AUMB for the 2024 football season, leading his peers in rehearsals Tuesday through Friday, at Saturday football games and at pep rallies across the area. Tolbert first joined band in sixth grade, and after one year with the AUMB, he decided to deepen his involvement by trying out for drum major. When compared to non-band students, Tolbert said that band members experience a unique perspective of the community and its history. "You get to touch community members in a way, like we perform at elementary schools, and getting to see the excitement on a little kid's face when they hear the band playing, is something special," Tolbert said. "You get to see very much special moments in Auburn history that maybe you wouldn't have seen if you wouldn't have just taken a chance and auditioned." |
| 'Culture of resistance to transparency': Kentucky universities regularly break open records law | |
 | Kentucky's public universities routinely violate open records law, which guarantees the access and open examination of public records, a Herald-Leader analysis has found. The newspaper looked at appeals filed relating to the state's eight public universities, and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System as a whole. In total, Kentucky's public higher education institutions were found to have violated the law on appeal around 65% of the time. The analysis raises concern among supporters of "better government" and the rights by taxpayers and citizens to monitor decisions made by public officials. The University of Louisville and University of Kentucky, the commonwealth's largest universities, have the most appeals filed related to records. They violated or partially violated open records law slightly more than the average rate of the state's universities, records show. Together, those two universities account for 111 of the 156 appeals filed from 2012-2024, with 68% being found to have at least partially violated the law. UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said UK's open records law violations are mostly minor. "In the majority of the cases the (Herald-Leader) cites in its calculations, the Attorney General largely affirmed UK's positions on the major, substantive issues," he said. "The violations cited were largely minor or technical violations as part of larger cases in which the University prevailed." |
| Arkansas lawmakers send higher education bill to governor's desk | |
| Legislation that would overhaul the state's higher education system awaits the governor's signature following the approval of identical bills by the Arkansas Legislature on Monday. Arkansas ACCESS, a legislative priority for Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, would make changes to the state's funding model, scholarships, course credits and the admissions process, among other things. Additional provisions of the legislation include a focus on "accelerated learning" that will expand high school students' access to courses beyond the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs. The legislation also has provisions aimed at supporting participation in concurrent credit courses that allow high school students to take courses for college credit. As part of an effort to streamline participation in higher education, Arkansas ACCESS proposes creating a universal college application, a common-course numbering system among state institutions and a program that would establish provisional admission to students who meet basic standards. |
| Education department investigates U. of Arkansas for possible Title VI violations | |
| The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is investigating the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville and 44 other universities to see if they broke federal rules about treating students fairly, regardless of race. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in federally funded programs. The Education Department has not specified which universities are under review or what prompted the investigation. The investigation started after a Feb. 14 letter from the OCR reminding schools that they must not use race-based preferences or stereotypes in their programs. Officials are investigating whether these universities violated the law by working with "The Ph.D. Project," a program designed to help students earn a Ph.D. and connect with others in their field. The Ph.D. Project aims to increase diversity in business academia by supporting doctoral students from historically underrepresented backgrounds. |
| Vanderbilt University among higher education institutions under investigation by the Office for Civil Rights | |
| Vanderbilt University is one of dozens of institutions of higher education being investigated by the Office for Civil Rights for allegedly continuing "the use of racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities." On Friday, the OCR announced the investigation was launched amid allegations that the universities violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by partnering with The Ph.D. Project. According to the organization's About Us page on their website, The Ph.D. Project has "the goal of creating more role models in the front of business classrooms." The OCR claimed that although the organization claims to provide doctoral students with resources and networking opportunities, the Ph.D. Project "limits eligibility based on the race of participants." The OCR said the department had sent a Dear Colleague Letter to these institutions of higher education on Feb. 14 "to clarify and reaffirm the nondiscrimination obligations of schools and other entities that receive federal financial assistance from the United States Department of Education." |
| Recapping Charlie Kirk's presence at UT: An opportunity for students to engage in debate | |
| Conservative activist Charlie Kirk came to the University of Tennessee on Thursday, March 13. The event proved to be a popular opportunity for students to listen to, debate and express their own political views, with proponents and opponents of Kirk's politics all coming together and engaging in discussion. The semi-controversial activist and executive director of the conservative political organization Turning Point USA did not give a speech. Instead, Kirk fielded questions from and engaged in debate with UT students. Kirk first walked out flinging white hats with a golden "47" embroidered on them into the crowd for students to catch. The audience greeted Kirk with applause as he opened up and encouraged people to debate him. It was clear that many showed up in support of Kirk, with several attendees donning political attire, including red "Make America Great Again" hats. Luke, a finance major and attendee, was happy to see UT's turnout and was waiting in anticipation to hear from Kirk. "I think it's great," Luke said. "I love the massive turnout for Charlie Kirk coming. It's great to see even people that disagree, that they at least care enough to take a stand." Others saw the event as an opportunity to spread messages for their own political agendas. |
| U. of Tennessee students keep getting this prestigious honor, and it's no accident | |
 | The University of Tennessee at Knoxville has earned the prestigious honor of being named a top producer of Fulbright students for the seventh year in a row, and its achievements lie in part with the Division of Student Success. Vice Provost Amber Williams oversees the division and helped to launch the innovative Vol Edge program while boosting the flagship state university's retention rate to record-breaking numbers since joining UT in 2020. Her division also absorbed the Office for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, which mentors and guides students through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, offering more than 2,200 annual awards for U.S. students to study, research or teach English abroad. The Division of Student Success is so successful, itself, that Inside Higher Ed and Times Higher Education hand-picked the Knoxville campus to host the Student Success US 2024 conference, attended by more than 200 institutions. "There's so many opportunities out there for students that we just want students to understand are accessible to them, to every student," said Meredith Malburne-Wade, director for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. |
| Bouncing back: UGA study shows forest management efforts helping bats in Southeast | |
 | Winter in the South can bring about a sharp change in conditions that impact forests and their many inhabitants. However, new research from the University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources finds that, despite these seasonal shifts, forest management efforts are supporting healthy bat populations. As white nose syndrome, a deadly fungal disease, ravages bat populations, wildlife ecology and management professor Steven Castleberry wanted to ensure all other aspects of bat livelihood were being maintained. "There's nothing really we can do about that disease. All we can do is continue to provide proper habitats," Castleberry said. "As those populations recover, we ensure that those quality forests and habitats are still there." Previous research looked at how bats survived in managed forests during the summer, but the role winter has on forest conditions and prey availability remained unexplored. Castleberry points out that most privately owned forests already provide a suitable balance for bats during the winter. Moving forward, forest managers should maintain this equilibrium rather than make drastic changes. |
| Resignations, Disagreements With Dean Roil UNC Civics School | |
 | Multiple faculty members connected with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's controversial school that had been billed as promoting civil discourse have resigned from leadership roles, citing strong disagreements with the dean who appointed them. One such professor went so far as to call the School of Civic Life and Leadership an "unmitigated disaster." The recent group of resignations adds to past departures by professors who said the school's earlier focus had shifted and narrowed under Jed Atkins, its first permanent dean. Much of the current controversy centers on Atkins's handling of searches for new faculty. Atkins, who ran Duke University's Civil Discourse Project and chaired its classical studies department before moving to UNC a year ago, defended the hiring procedures in a statement to Inside Higher Ed. He didn't provide an interview. The school's birth was mired in controversy. It's an example of the civil discourse centers -- which critics have called conservative centers -- that higher education leaders and Republican state lawmakers have been establishing at public universities. For more than two years, debate over the UNC school has been tinged by accusations that its supporters are motivated by conservative politics and its opponents by leftism. But the recent resignation letters from the school's former supporters suggest disagreements that resist characterization as a simple left-right divide. |
| 'Palpable Fear' Hangs Over International Students | |
| International students across the country are on edge after a week of arrests, deportations and escalating threats from the Trump administration. So far the administration's sights have been set primarily on Columbia University in New York. On March 8, immigration officials arrested recent graduate Mahmoud Khalil, intending to strip him of his green card and deport him for his role in pro-Palestinian campus protests last year. Over the next week, Department of Homeland Security agents raided students' dorm rooms, arresting one international student and prompting another to flee to Canada. Elora Mukherjee, a law professor at Columbia and director of its Immigrants' Rights Clinic, said international students have been flocking to the clinic for guidance: on whether their visas could suddenly be revoked, or if they should avoid traveling, delete their social media accounts or move off campus to make it harder for immigration officials to find them. She said she's never seen anything like it. "Our clinic has been inundated with requests for legal consultation," she said. "There is a palpable sense of fear among international students on campus." Chief among the threats facing international students is the equation of protest activity and other protected speech with "terrorist activity." |
| After Columbia arrests, international college students fall silent | |
| In the span of a week, a hush has descended on higher education in the United States. International students and faculty have watched the growing crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University with apprehension. Some say they are familiar with government crackdowns but never expected them on American college campuses. The elite New York City university has been the focus of the Trump administration's effort to deport foreigners who took part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at colleges last year. Federal immigration agents have arrested two foreigners -- one of them a student -- who protested last year at Columbia. They've revoked the visa of another student, who fled the U.S. this week. Department of Homeland Security agents also searched the on-campus residences of two Columbia students on Thursday but did not make any arrests there. GOP officials have warned it's just the beginning, saying more student visas are expected to be revoked in the coming days. International students and faculty across the U.S. say they feel afraid to voice opinions or stand out on campus for fear of getting kicked out of the country. A Bangladeshi student at Louisiana State University, who agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted by authorities, said she has stopped posting about anything political on social media since the first arrest at Columbia. She fears losing her green card. Some schools have been advising international students to be cautious of what they say publicly and to watch what they say online. |
| Brown University Tells International Students, Staff to Avoid Travel Abroad | |
| Brown University is warning international students and staff members not to travel outside the country after one of its professors with a work visa was deported after a trip to Lebanon. In a campuswide email sent Sunday and viewed by The Wall Street Journal, Brown said that "out of an abundance of caution" it was asking those from outside the U.S. -- including those with visas or green cards -- to postpone or delay personal travel abroad. Brown, whose campus is in Providence, R.I., said potential changes in travel bans and re-entry requirements "may affect travelers' ability to return to the U.S. as planned." The Ivy League school said it was making the recommendations ahead of spring break, which is next week. The email follows the detention and deportation of Dr. Rasha Alawieh, an assistant professor at Brown University and kidney-transplant specialist. Immigration officials held Alawieh, a holder of a Brown-sponsored H1B visa, at Logan International Airport when she was trying to re-enter the U.S. from a trip to Lebanon, her home country. The H1B visa program, created by Congress in 1990, allows high-skilled foreign workers to come to the U.S. Visa holders can eventually apply for green cards and stay in the country indefinitely. |
| NIH Again Tosses Grant Applications for Program That Funds Minority Researchers | |
 | After previously backtracking, the National Institutes of Health has once again withdrawn applications to a high-profile predoctoral grant program that were submitted with a diversity notation, effectively blocking many early-career academics from underrepresented backgrounds from being funded. Applications to the NIH's F31 diversity fellowship apparently won't be reviewed "while NIH undertakes a review of its research priorities," according to a Monday email from an NIH official that was shared with The Chronicle. But applications for the standard F31 fellowship are still being considered as usual. Several scholars whose F31 diversity applications were removed from their study sections in February and again this month told The Chronicle that, rather than wait to be assigned to a new study section, they'd opted to withdraw their applications and submit instead for a standard award. But one applicant facing a second reassignment said she'd made the opposite decision. "I see that as a backing down, removing my application and taking away the leverage that I have as an applicant right now to say that, 'These funding decisions are not OK, and I'm going to stay in this pool and I'm going to fight you on that,'" the applicant, a fourth-year doctoral student in neuroscience, said. She sees the second round of removals as part of a larger effort on the administration's part "to create as much chaos and uncertainty as possible." |
| Universities in precarious position as Trump uses research funding as a wedge | |
 | The Trump administration is taking advantage of the entanglement of university finances and government funding, seeking to put schools on a short leash tied to their research capabilities. While Republicans cheer these moves and others question why these big universities receive so much financial support in the first place, experts say scientific research relies largely on federal dollars and a lack thereof could lead to schools having to make sweeping changes in funding strategy. "It is a long-standing relationship. As the federal government is pulling back on investments in those areas, it's going to have severe consequences for institutions," said Liz Clark, vice president of policy and research of the National Association of College and University Business Officers. Most higher education institutions receive federal dollars in the form of student aid and Pell Grants, which President Trump has not yet threatened. But it is a different story for research institutions, with hundreds of schools receiving federal funds for educational, medical, agricultural and other types of research programs. All of those avenues are under attack as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has taken an axe to various federal agencies and programs. |
| Democrats Blast McMahon Over Education Department Cuts | |
| Sen. Bernie Sanders, ranking member of the Senate committee that oversees education policy, and 37 Democrats blasted Education Secretary Linda McMahon in a letter Monday, expressing "outrage" and arguing that the "reckless" cuts to her department's staff last week will be "nothing short of devastating" for America's students, schools and communities. "At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, when 60 percent of people live paycheck to paycheck, millions of Americans cannot afford higher education, and 40 percent of our nation's 4th graders and 33 percent of 8th graders read below basic proficiency, it is a national disgrace that the Trump Administration is attempting to illegally abolish the Department of Education and thus, undermine a high-quality education for our students," Sanders wrote. The letter noted that less than 24 hours after the reduction was announced, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid temporarily shut down; Education Department workers responsible for fixing it had reportedly been fired. |
SPORTS
| Baseball: Bulldogs Welcome Jackson State For Midweek Matchup | |
| For the second time this season, Mississippi State will welcome an instate foe to Dudy Noble Field for a midweek matchup. The Diamond Dawgs are set to host Jackson State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. on SEC Network +. MSU fared well earlier this month when then 20th-ranked Southern Miss came to town, a game in which the Bulldogs won 18-3 in seven innings. Chris Lemonis' clubs have fared well against the Tigers over the years, winning all four matchups by a combined score of 60-15 - including a 19-6 victory in Starkville last season. Hunter Hines went 3-for-4 with four RBIs in that contest while Joe Powell and Dylan Cupp were both 2-for-4 with a double each and Powell driving in three. Noah Sullivan will make his second-straight midweek start on the mound for Mississippi State. The junior right-hander logged three scoreless innings with two strikeouts and no walks in his MSU mound debut against Nicholls last Wednesday in Biloxi. The Diamond Dawgs enter the contest at 13-7 overall after dropping three-straight to now eighth-ranked Texas over the weekend in one, two and three-run games. MSU is hitting .313 as a team with 33 home runs and averaging 7.6 runs per game. It is also fielding at a .977 clip and 29 of 32 on stolen base attempts. |
| Mississippi State All-SEC guard Josh Hubbard preps for second March Madness experience | |
| Mississippi State sophomore Josh Hubbard and his Bulldog teammates are returning to the NCAA Tournament and for Hubbard, it marks his second straight March Madness experience. Once again, Hubbard produced an All-SEC type season on the hardwood and is looking to spark more success in the postseason. Following Sunday's NCAA Tournament announcement, Hubbard met with local media to discuss the upcoming challenge and first-round matchup with Baylor. Q: What was your instant reaction to the number eight seed and facing Baylor in the first game? Hubbard: Yeah, Baylor is a great school, a Big 12 school. Great competition for all of us. Man, it's March. Growing up as a kid and now being in this moment is just a surreal feeling. So, I'm just excited to compete against somebody in the Big 12. |
| Sam Purcell, Bulldogs have different Selection Sunday feel in 2025 | |
| Sunday night had a much different feel for Sam Purcell and his team than a year ago. Sitting in the team room inside Humphrey Coliseum last March, Purcell and his players sat somber as name after name flashed on the big screen. When all the teams had been revealed, the Bulldogs were out and their next destination was the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament. While the team was grateful to continue playing, their true happiness took a bit of a hit as they were stuck outside the Big Dance. Inside Purcell's living room, dozens packed to watch this year's Selection Show with a much different result. "Just excited. It was great, especially after a year that your name is left out and having to sit in that room," Purcell said. "This one is for Jessika Carter, Erryn Barnum and Lauren Park-Lane because they were short changed. That followed up the men's team so for two hours it was just joy." Purcell got his Bulldogs back into the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time in school history and the seventh time in the last 10 tournaments. It's the coach's second trip personally, but many of the players on the team will experience the Big Dance for the first time. |
| What we learned from Mississippi State softball's first-ever series win at Alabama | |
| For the first time in program history, Mississippi State has won a series at Rhoads Stadium. Considered one of the most hostile and intimidating atmospheres in college softball, the home of the Alabama Crimson Tide was the largest on-campus softball stadium in the country until Oklahoma opened the new Love's Field in 2024. And the home team rarely loses there -- Alabama has reached four of the last five Women's College World Series and won the Southeastern Conference's first-ever national championship in 2012. But the No. 19 Bulldogs came, they saw and they conquered the Rhoads House, taking Sunday's rubber game 4-3 over the No. 25 Crimson Tide. Raelin Chaffin again went the distance in the pitcher's circle, and Nadia Barbary drove in the eventual game-winning run with an RBI single in the sixth inning. "This team came in with the mindset that we've been working on all year, and really it started with previous years," MSU head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "It's to prove ourselves right, knowing how good we are and how good we can be. Teams have to play us. We want to come in with a confidence and a swagger." |
| It's a new day at Southern Miss: 'If you don't like discipline ... go somewhere else.' | |
| Spring football officially kicked off Monday at Southern Miss under new head coach Charles Huff. It's the new staff's first opportunity to see an overhauled roster get field reps coming off a 1-11 season. The spring slate represents the second leg of what Huff sees as a three-phase program in the team-building process. The primary difference between the first phase -- winter conditioning -- and the second is largely the transition from weight room to field. During a press conference, Huff said the focus will remain on building the individual rather than meshing and blending a team with over 40 new faces. The reason? The Golden Eagles are not done flipping the roster and the upcoming second transfer portal window will see more egress and ingress. "We're not into building the team, yet," Huff said. "We're into building the individual. We're not into building the team yet because the reality is some of these guys won't be here. It's just the reality of it. It's like in the NFL, there's free agency. There's some guys on teams that are going to have to move on and play for other teams." The coming weeks are more about teaching than training and the ones who latch on to Huff's disciplinarian ways are the ones who will remain. |
| Jackson State's Ashley Robinson named national athletic director of the year | |
| Jackson State's Ashley Robinson has been named one of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Athletic Directors of the Year for the 2024-2025 academic year, marking Robinson's second time receiving the prestigious award. Robinson, who won the award in 2022 as well, has played a crucial role in elevating JSU's athletic programs on a national level, securing investments, and expanding opportunities for athletes of differing sports. His strategic leadership has helped foster a "culture of excellence" within the athletic department, which has led to success both on and off the field. Ashley Robinson's recognition as a NACDA Athletics Director of the Year reflects his leadership, dedication, and lasting impact on Jackson State University," JSU President Marcus L. Thompson said. Under Robinson's leadership, JSU has achieved significant milestones, including winning the C.D. Henry Award for the best all-around men's sports program in the Southwestern Athletic Conference for the 2022-2023 season. |
| NCAA to let athletes negotiate NIL deals before enrollment | |
| The NCAA has agreed to permanently drop its rule prohibiting athletes from negotiating the terms of name, image and likeness payments until after they enroll in school. The change is one of the terms of a legal settlement announced Monday between the NCAA and a group of state attorneys general, who sued the association last year claiming that the restriction on NIL negotiations violated federal antitrust law. The settlement, which still needs to be approved by the judge overseeing the case, marks another step forward as the college sports industry prepares to embrace a more professional business model in the months ahead. The NCAA's now-abandoned rule was designed to try to keep schools and booster collectives from using NIL deals as a recruiting incentive for incoming high school athletes and players in the transfer portal. Though schools and boosters were allowed to speak generally about the kind of financial opportunities that might be available on campus, they were prohibited from making a specific offer to an athlete until he or she was enrolled. Despite efforts to keep money from becoming an inducement, many coaches have publicly stated that NIL packages are a major factor in the decision-making process of recruits. |
| SEC's 14-Bid NCAA Basketball Dominance Was Inevitable | |
| The Southeastern Conference shattered the record for most teams selected for the men's NCAA tournament field on Sunday, with 14 of 16 schools going dancing. Why are we surprised? The SEC has been a slumbering basketball behemoth for most of the century. In 2016, it saw just three teams make the tournament, with Vanderbilt eliminated in the first four by 20 points. But the conference has since put a renewed focus on hoops. Growing coffers were opened to improve facilities and hire top coaches. Advanced NIL programs have attracted---and retained---top talent. Expansion turned a super conference into a superconference. Less than a decade after that three-bid year, the SEC was in contention for three No. 1 seeds in 2025. "It's the best basketball league, top-to-bottom, relative to the field, that I've ever seen," ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said in an interview. The only question now is: Can everyone else catch back up? The SEC's rise began with Greg Sankey's ascension to commissioner in 2015. Former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese was brought on as an advisor the following year. As Tranghese studied the conference, he saw what everyone else is now seeing -- there was no reason these teams shouldn't be winning. |
| The Rise of the SEC: How a league known for the gridiron became became kings of college basketball | |
| Porter Moser spent three seasons in the Big 12 before shepherding Oklahoma to the Southeastern Conference, making the longtime coach uniquely suited to compare the erstwhile best conference in America to the current king of college hoops. "The things is, there is no bottom," Moser explained. "That's what we felt in the Big 12 the last couple years. But the athleticism with the ages is the difference. The athleticism, in my opinion, I've never seen in any league in any era. The length, age, shooters, skill levels of the teams in the SEC this year -- it's unbelievable. " Unbelievable is a good way to describe Selection Sunday. The expanded SEC landed a record 14 teams in the 68-team bracket, populating it with the overall No. 1 seed (Auburn), another No. 1 seed (Florida) and four more among the top four seeds in their respective regions. The total was a full three more than the previous record, held by the Big East, back when it was considered the dominant league in the country. So how exactly did the SEC reach this point? How did a league known for fall Saturdays in the South -- the Iron Bowl, the Egg Bowl, the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" -- become the epicenter of winters on the hardwood? |
| West Virginia snub 'robbery' at highest level, governor says | |
| West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey lashed out at the men's NCAA tournament selection committee after the Mountaineers were among the teams snubbed, and he asked his attorney general to investigate and work closely with the NCAA to ensure that the process is transparent and fair. "West Virginia deserved to be in the NCAA tournament," Morrisey, standing at a lectern with a sign reading "National Corrupt Athletic Association," said Monday in Charleston, West Virginia. "This was a miscarriage of justice and robbery at the highest levels." West Virginia (19-13) had six Quad 1 wins this season, but it lost its opening game in the Big 12 tournament to last-place Colorado. The Mountaineers played much of the season without the coach's son, 6-foot-7 Tucker DeVries, who averaged 14.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in his eight starts before an upper-body injury that required surgery. Bubba Cunningham, the North Carolina athletic director who is chairman of the NCAA tournament selection committee, referenced DeVries' injury when talking about the first four teams left out. "This stinks at the highest level. This doesn't pass the smell test," said Morrisey, who referenced reported incentives that Cunningham would receive by the Tar Heels making the tournament. "... I want folks to let that sink in for a moment. Any way you slice it, this thing reeks of corruption." |
| Fighting March Madness snub, West Virginia governor looks like a clown | |
| USA Today columnist Dan Wolken writes: Watching West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey and his attorney general John McCuskey prattle on at a Monday news conference, demanding accountability and threatening legal remedies over -- wait for it -- the NCAA basketball tournament selection process, you might have wondered if this was all a setup for Kenan Thompson to run out on stage and yell "Live from New York, it's Saturday Niiiiiiiiight!" A mere 18 hours after the Mountaineers were controversially snubbed from March Madness in favor of North Carolina, there was really only one thing that could kill the national sympathy being directed toward Morgantown. And wouldn't you know it, the politicians didn't disappoint. Do you know what sports fans hate more than an NCAA tournament injustice? A gasbag governor and his obsequious sidekick grandstanding to their political base, sticking their nose into a place it doesn't belong and making a mockery of the real problems in a state that has plenty of them. Seriously, gentlemen: Do you not have better things to do? ... There used to be a time in America when ambitious politicians, and particularly Republicans like Morrisey and McCuskey, would have railed against the idea of running to the courtroom to litigate any perceived minor injustice. Ah, well, nevertheless. |
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