| Thursday, May 8, 2025 |
| Inaugural Kites and Rainbows Run on Saturday to benefit Friends of Children's Hospital | |
 | Racers, walkers and swimmers are gearing up for a scenic trip through Starkville and Mississippi State University's campus on Mother's Day weekend for the inaugural Kites and Rainbows Run, all in an effort to raise funds for Friends of Children's Hospital. Josh Foreman, a member of the event's committee and an instructor at MSU, reflected on the purpose of the event. "There's no better cause than to help sick children get well, especially in our home state," Foreman said. "... It's a win-win because we raise a lot of money, and Starkville gets a fun event." The Kites and Rainbows Run will feature a 10K run, a 5K walk or run, an aquathlon and a kids fun run Saturday morning. All proceeds of the event will go toward Friends of Children's Hospital, a nonprofit which works to support the Children's of Mississippi hospital in Jackson. The 10K and 5K courses will begin in the Junction at 8 a.m. and will take racers past landmarks through campus and Starkville. Both courses will loop around the Drill Field and Lee Hall, go past the Sanderson Center and Chadwick Lake to Dudy Noble and the Hump. Here, the 5K course diverges to the Chapel of Memories and leads back to the Junction. The 10K course will continue past the Hump all the way to City Hall, through the Cotton District and back toward the Chapel of Memories and finally to the Junction. Foreman, who was running the course himself Wednesday afternoon, is looking forward to the inaugural race being hosted on MSU's campus |
| Sweet potato named Mississippi state vegetable | |
 | With the sweep of a pen, Governor Tate Reeves signed Senate House Bill 2383, and in so doing, he raised the status of a lowly root vegetable to state vegetable status. Effective July 1, the state's sweet potato crop's significance to the state's agriculture sector and food culture will be recognized by its designation as Mississippi's official state vegetable. Across the state, sweet potato farmers are rejoicing. And joining the farmers in their celebration is Lorin Harvey, a sweet potato expert at Mississippi State University. "Farmers in Mississippi work hard to produce the safest, most nutritious and affordable sweet potatoes out there," said Harvey, an assistant agronomy professor in MSU's Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. "I'm always glad to see them get any recognition for producing such an important vegetable in our state." Farmers aren't the only ones excited about the sweet potato's newfound elevated position as the official state vegetable. Jill Conner Browne, the celebrated Sweet Potato Queen, was delighted about the announcement. |
| Forensic Anthropologist: Investigators still believe Leigh Occhi's body remains on the property where she once lived | |
 | Investigators still believe Leigh Occhi's body remains on the property where she once lived. That's according to Mississippi State University forensic anthropologist Jesse Goliath. Thirteen-year-old Occhi vanished in 1992 from her home in Tupelo. Her parents declared her legally dead last year. Local, state and federal investigators returned to her childhood home on Honey Locust Drive in January and scoured the area. Goliath was part of the team of experts who searched the property. It's unclear if they found any evidence during the search. Law enforcement is not commenting on the case or the search. "It's an ongoing investigation, so we can't really tell you exactly what we found," Goliath said on Tuesday, May 6. "Right now, we were just trying to clear the area to determine what was actually there in terms of any known burials and if there was any potential evidence of what we could find that she was still buried in the area." |
| Loaded ammo clip found on student at Partnership Middle | |
| Schools in the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District will implement higher security measures today after a handgun and a loaded clip were found this week in separate instances on different campuses. While the handgun found Tuesday was discovered inside a student's backpack at Henderson Ward Stewart Elementary, Communications Director Haley Montgomery said the details about how a clip was found Wednesday on the Partnership Middle School campus are still unclear. "That student obviously was removed from the classroom and removed from the school. That's our policy. But the student did not have a weapon of any kind," Montgomery told The Dispatch. "The student only had the loaded magazine, and the student could not tell us where a gun was or anything like that. Also, we did not find any weapon anywhere on campus." No one was harmed or threatened in either incident. In a video posted to the district Facebook page, Superintendent Tony McGee said support from parents is critical in making sure dangerous items stay off campuses. "We're asking for your help," McGee said. "If your child brings a backpack or a bag to school, please take a moment each day to check in it and make sure that every content of that bag is school appropriate and age appropriate. Your help in this can make a big difference on what comes to school each and every day." |
| Meridian celebrates National Travel and Tourism Week | |
 | Across the nation, towns and cities are celebrating National Travel and Tourism Week, and the Queen City is among them. Travel and tourism provide a heartbeat for Meridian. In 2023, visitor spending was over 445 million dollars, meaning people were coming into Lauderdale County and spending money at restaurants, recreational activities, hotels, and so much more. This industry not only benefits the city and county's tax revenue, but also supports over 3,400 jobs in the county. "What it means to the impact on the economy for the local community. Last year, we saw in our community alone in Lauderdale County, we saw $445,000,000 that was spent here. That translates to tourism's impact. So that's really exciting to know that we're seeing that kind of money that is, you know, brought to us through tourism," says Laura Carmichael with Visit Meridian. Carmichael says that this week promotes people to embrace and share the positive impacts tourism provides to our community. |
| Leadership Lauderdale recognizes program graduates | |
 | More than 20 local business men and women were recognized Tuesday at the 2025 class of Leadership Lauderdale's graduation ceremony at the MSU Riley Center. The year-long program teaches participants about local resources, tours businesses, performs service projects and more as they learn the seven habits of highly effective people. The course, which is operated under the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation, is intended to prepare young professionals to step into leadership roles and guide the community in the future. "For more than 20 years, this program has helped participants better understand how our community works, build relationships with the area's current and future leaders and become inspired to serve our community," said Melissa Martin, one of the graduates recognized at the program. Lauderdale County Sheriff Ward Calhoun, who graduated from the first Leadership Lauderdale class and served as guest speaker for Tuesday's graduation, said true leadership starts internally. While Tuesday was graduation day for the Leadership Lauderdale class, Calhoun said, the journey is just beginning, and there is no way of knowing what impact the actions of today's leaders will have down the line. |
| Elected officials update community on Legislative session | |
| Local representatives and senators from Oxford and Lafayette County presented a comprehensive overview of the legislative achievements from the most recent session during the annual Eggs & Issues breakfast meeting held Wednesday at the Oxford Conference Center. Presented by the Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Foundation and sponsored by NE SPARC, the legislators spoke about tax reforms, criminal justice measures, infrastructure funding and more. Attending the event were Senators Nichole Boyd, Ben Suber and Neil Whaley and Representatives Clay Deweese, Steve Massengill and Josh Hawkins. One of the most significant developments discussed was the plan to fully eliminate the state income tax. Legislators also addressed public safety and social issues with a slate of bills aimed at protecting vulnerable populations and improving law enforcement tools including a bill that places limitations on public encampments, new criminal charges to prevent inappropriate relationships where adults "groom" minors for sexual purposes; implementing a mandate that all hospitals must stock and process rape kits. |
| Congressman Michael Guest pushes for federal assistance for March storms | |
| This week, Congressman Michael Guest spoke with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Washington, D.C. about disaster relief for the March 14-15 storms. It's now been over a month since MEMA sent its federal declaration to President Donald Trump, and while Guest did not want to rush the process, he asked to see what can be done to get this much-needed assistance. MEMA Executive Director Stephen McCraney has remained confident that the state will receive the aid since sending its request. McCraney said that the damage meets FEMA's threshold for assistance, with Mississippi suffering more than $18 million in damages from the storms. Guest brought this to the Department of Homeland Security's attention in Washington with hopes that they can speed up the process. "Shortly after the storms, I along with many of the other elected officials, we went and we visited those areas that were impacted. And I'll tell you that some of the damage has been extreme. It is impacting my local jurisdictions with debris cleanup. It is impacting people as they seek to recover, so I would just ask that you personally see if anything could be done to expedite that request," Guest said. |
| Republicans want to shift safety-net costs to states. It's not going over well. | |
 | Congressional Republicans agree that the federal government has a spending problem. Now top GOP leaders want to make it someone else's problem -- by shifting some safety-net programs onto state budgets. The plans under discussion could generate hundreds of billions of dollars in savings to finance the GOP's domestic policy megabill. But they're vexing Republican lawmakers -- many of them former governors and state legislators -- who are not interested in addressing Washington's fiscal woes by creating them in state capitals, including those run by their own party. It's one big reason why Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are struggling right now to build consensus for the "big, beautiful bill," with its expensive suite of tax cuts as well as border and defense spending plus-ups. Already they are scaling back ambitious plans that would force states to either subsidize health and food aid or kick thousands of residents off benefit rolls. Republicans have trained much of their criticism on Democratic-run states that, they argue, run those two programs wastefully. But millions of low-income families in red states also rely on the programs for health care and food aid, and some of the latest GOP plans would actually hurt deep-red states even more than others -- including a reworked SNAP state-cost share plan. New cost-sharing mandates could stick GOP-dominated states such as Alaska, West Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Alabama and Florida with multi-billion-dollar annual bills -- forcing high-stakes choices for state officials who would suddenly have to worry about their own political hides. |
| GOP senators hope to avoid Trump agenda becoming a 'trainwreck' | |
 | Republicans are looking to regroup on President Trump's agenda, which one GOP lawmaker says is becoming a "trainwreck." Senate Republicans met at the Library of Congress Wednesday to plot a path forward on the stalled budget reconciliation bill, amid growing tensions between conservatives, who want to make deep cuts to government spending, and moderates, who worry about the impact on Medicaid and other federal benefits. Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) goal of getting "one big, beautiful bill" to Trump's desk by Memorial Day won't be met and now there's a danger that negotiations of the tax bill will slip past July 4, the target date set last week by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. "We are keeping very close tabs on it," said a Republican senator of the negotiations in the House, who said the two chambers are heading in separate directions, with little direct negotiation. "Sooner or later we have to pass the same thing and I'm worried that this is potentially a trainwreck. We can't really get on the same page," the lawmaker warned. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told The Hill that Republican senators made progress at their retreat Wednesday, downplaying the simmering tensions in his conference. |
| 'Funny way to treat your friends:' Republicans miffed with Trump's threats to ignore funding | |
| Republican appropriators are alarmed that the White House is open to unilaterally freezing cash Congress could approve in September, if lawmakers overshoot President Donald Trump's latest budget request. It marks a shift for top Republicans in charge of writing government funding bills, who have largely hesitated to speak too harshly against the president's funding freezes this year. As defense hawks on Capitol Hill demand far more funding than Trump is seeking for the military, the president's willingness to withhold congressionally approved cash -- known as "impoundment" -- is widening the rift between the White House and GOP lawmakers ahead of the fall fiscal cliff and increasing worries of a government shutdown. House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said he understood the White House's strategy: "If I were them, I would too," he said of the administration's leveraging of the threat of impoundment. Sen. Shelley Moore Capitol (R-W.V.), a top Senate appropriator and a member of GOP leadership, wasn't so sure. "I mean, if that's a pressure campaign, I get that," she said this week. "If that's reality, I think that there's some fundamental questions there. So that kind of surprises me, actually." Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), another senior appropriator, had a similar reaction to the White House leaving open the possibility of withholding funding that the Republican-led Congress clears in the coming months. "That's a funny way to treat your friends," he said in an interview. |
| Chief Justice Roberts says judicial independence is key to checking Congress and the president | |
 | Amid attacks on federal judges who have slowed President Donald Trump's agenda, Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday defended judicial independence as necessary to "check the excesses of the Congress or the executive." "Judicial independence is crucial," Roberts, the leader of the Supreme Court and the entire federal judiciary, said at a gathering of judges and lawyers in his hometown. He described the creation of three co-equal branches of government as the Constitution's one innovation. "That innovation doesn't work if the judiciary is not independent," he said. The 70-year-old chief justice largely repeated things he has said previously. But his comments, in response to questions from another federal judge, drew applause from the 600 people who gathered to mark the 125th anniversary of federal courts in the Western District of New York. Asked about comments from Trump and his allies supporting the impeachment of judges because of their rulings, Roberts largely repeated the statement he issued in March. "Impeachment is not how you register disagreement with a decision," he said. The president, senior aide Stephen Miller and billionaire Elon Musk have railed at judges who have blocked parts of Trump's agenda, sometimes with highly personal attacks |
| Trump to Announce Trade Agreement With Britain | |
 | President Trump said he will announce an agreement on trade with the U.K. on Thursday, the first in what the White House hopes is a series of such developments since it imposed tariffs against allies and adversaries. Trump teased the announcement on Truth Social early Thursday, calling the agreement "full and comprehensive." He said there would be a press conference in the Oval Office at 10 a.m., adding, "Many other deals, which are in serious stages of negotiation, to follow!" U.K. officials said the pact won't be a comprehensive trade agreement and will instead focus on reducing tariffs in specific sectors. They said some details remain yet to be finalized, which could mean further talks in the future. Financial markets and other countries will watch the deal's details closely for signs of the Trump administration's thinking and willingness to strike similar deals with other countries, including those that have a far greater trade imbalance with the U.S. than the U.K. It could also send a signal to other world leaders over how best to deal with the U.S. president. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has avoided confrontation with Trump over tariffs and the Ukraine war, and instead offered the U.S. leader an unusual second state visit to Britain, including a signed invitation from King Charles. Other countries like China have taken a far more confrontational approach. |
| Meet the L.A. holistic doctor and wellness influencer who is Trump's choice for surgeon general | |
 | President Trump's choice of Dr. Casey Means, a Los Angeles holistic medicine doctor and wellness influencer, as his nominee for surgeon general appears to mark another attempt to defy establishment medicine and longstanding federal policy. Trump portrayed Means -- a 37-year-old Stanford medical school graduate and author who describes herself on LinkedIn as a "former surgeon turned metabolic health evangelist" -- in his announcement as fully in sync with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s mission to "Make America Healthy Again." But some who know Means question whether she is completely aligned with Kennedy. Robert Lustig, professor emeritus of pediatrics in the division of endocrinology at UC San Francisco, who is a friend of Means, told The Times he was shocked and surprised. "What's surprising to me is that she wanted the job, because she had difficulties adopting RFK's full portfolio," Lustig said, citing Kennedy's controversial pronouncements on vaccines and fluoride in public water supplies. "She didn't want to be part of the administration, in part because she couldn't accede to those views. So what has changed is not clear." Means is an unorthodox pick for a president famed for his diet of Big Macs and Diet Cokes. Her website features pictures of broccoli and almonds. Her Instagram page shows bright bowls of tofu scrambles with heirloom tomatoes, avocado and beet sauerkraut. |
| Less farmland is going for organic crops as costs and other issues take root | |
| Farmer Jeremy Brown taps the nose of a young calf. "I love the ones with the pink noses," he says. This pink-nosed animal is just one of about 3,200 cattle at Twin Birch Dairy in Skaneateles, New York. In Brown's eyes, the cows on the farm aren't just workers: "They're the boss, they're the queen of the barn." Brown, a co-owner at Twin Birch, is outspoken on the importance of sustainability in his operation. The average dairy cow emits as much as 265 pounds (120 kilograms) of methane, a potent climate-warming gas, each year. Brown says Twin Birch has worked hard to cut its planet-warming emissions through a number of environmentally sound choices. "Ruminants are the solution, not the problem, to climate change," he said. Wearing a weathered hoodie and a hat promoting a brand of cow medicine, Brown was spending a windy Friday morning artificially inseminating some of the farm's massive Jerseys and Holsteins. He stepped over an electric manure scraper used to clean the animals' barn. The electric scraper means the dairy doesn't have to use a fuel-burning machine for that particular job. Twin Birch also recycles manure for use on crops, cools its milk with water that gets recirculated for cows to drink and grows most of its own feed. Despite all that, the farm has no desire to pursue a U.S. Department of Agriculture organic certification, Brown said. Doing so would add costs and require the farm to forego technology that makes the dairy business, and ultimately the customer's jug of milk, more affordable, he said. He raises a question many farmers have been asking: Is organic farming just a word? |
| Ole Miss honors late educator's legacy of service | |
 | The University of Mississippi School of Education has posthumously inducted Jeanne Carter Luckey, a champion for accessible education and community service across the state, into its Hall of Fame. The school also awarded Luckey its 2025 Outstanding Educational Service Award during a ceremony Friday, May 2 on campus. "A brilliant mind and devoted public servant, Jeanne Luckey advanced education and accessibility for all Mississippians through her exceptional leadership and compassionate heart," Chancellor Glenn Boyce said. "This honor celebrates her powerful legacy of advocacy and service that will continue to inspire generations of educators and students across our state." Luckey, who died in 2024, earned a degree in special education at the university. She began her career teaching teens and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Ocean Springs Public Schools. Her dedication to education and public service defined her career and community involvement for decades. Her leadership extended beyond the classroom. Gov. Phil Bryant appointed Luckey to the board of trustees for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning in 2018. As chair of the IHL's ADA Compliance Committee, she worked to advance accessibility and create opportunities for students with disabilities across Mississippi's public universities. |
| Jackson State University President submits resignation to IHL Board | |
| During a special called meeting held Wednesday afternoon, the Board of Trustees for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning accepted the resignation of Jackson State University President Marcus Thompson. Thompson was appointed to lead Jackson State in November 2023, replacing previous president, Thomas K. Hudson, who resigned in March of that same year after being placed on administrative leave. Hudson was appointed to the position in 2020, taking on the responsibilities of president after his predecessor, William Bynum, was taken into custody by law enforcement due to evidence gathered that implicated him in a prostitution scandal. The IHL stated in a press release issued Wednesday evening that Dr. Denise Jones Gregory, current provost and vice president of academic affairs, will serve as interim president in Thompson's absence. The announcement was made Wednesday, after the IHL Board held a special call meeting that had them immediately enter closed session to determine the need for an executive session. The notification for the meeting provided to the media stated the meeting was called "to discuss a personnel matter specific to an individual at Jackson State University." |
| Alabama colleges lose $35 million for medical, science research after Trump NIH, NSF cuts | |
 | Alabama universities have lost $35 million due to President Donald Trump's recent order to cut grants that pay for research that might involve diversity, equity and inclusion. In Alabama, that means research into childhood cancer, veterans in higher education and student participation in STEM fields are on the chopping block. More cuts could be coming. Christina Steidl, who's been researching veterans' career trajectories for almost a decade, lost an $80,498 grant to study veterans' college trajectories at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. She was analyzing the differences between men and women, among other things; she believes the word "gender" in the grant's title likely triggered the cut. "It's disappointing that's the strategy and we're losing a lot of government-funded research," Steidl said. The National Institutes of Health has canceled $11.5 million in remaining grant funding for Auburn University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, according to the tracker. About $10.2 million of the total funding budgeted has been spent. The National Science Foundation has terminated $24 million in science, technology, engineering and mathematics grants at multiple Alabama universities, according to Grant-Watch.us. |
| LSU scientists are helping solve one of physics' biggest questions. Here's why it matters. | |
 | Where did gold, uranium and other heavy elements come from -- and what does that have to do with life on Earth? Scientists at LSU are helping to answer one of the biggest questions in modern astrophysics, using clues hidden in the remains of long-exploded stars. In 2001, physicists and researchers at the National Research Council identified the question, "How were the heavy elements from iron to uranium made?" as one of 11 questions to be answered in the new century. In a major contribution to one of science's deepest mysteries, LSU researchers helped pinpoint how some of the heaviest elements in the universe are formed -- and they did it by studying the remnants of exploded stars called magnetars, a neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field. Since the universe began, it's had hydrogen, helium and a little lithium -- the first three elements on the periodic table. The rest of the elements are forged through various processes. For the elements up to iron, the forging can happen inside of stars. But forging heavier elements like gold requires so much energy that ordinary stars collapse before they can create them, leaving their origin a mystery until recently. Scientists have puzzled over the origin of elements heavier than iron since the 1950s. Recently, LSU astrophysicist Eric Burns -- an expert in gamma-ray bursts -- made a breakthrough using data from decades-old space observations. |
| Rep. Byron Donalds calls on U. of Florida to restart presidential search over Ono's past DEI comments | |
 | Florida U.S. Congressman Byron Donalds, who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump to serve as Florida's next governor, is calling on the University of Florida to restart the search for its next president. Donalds' comments came May 7 in a Fox Business interview over a resurfaced March 2023 video of University of Michigan President Dr. Santa Ono -- the only finalist to serve as UF's 14th president -- in which he discussed the success of the school's DEI program and called racism one of America's original sins. Donalds, R-Naples, said during the interview that the University of Florida's search committee needs to go back to the drawing board after selecting a president that praises DEI initiatives. "We have been clear about DEI not being a pillar of our educational systems in Florida," Donalds said. "It does not comport with the values of the state of Florida." Ono, however, said in his first appearance on UF's campus on May 6 that he closed the University of Michigan's DEI office in March because he felt the investment was going toward the bureaucracy of the office, not the students. UF declined to comment on Donalds' remarks. |
| U. of Missouri summer construction projects include improvements to Jesse Hall, Memorial Union | |
 | This summer, a number of significant construction and improvement projects will begin on the University of Missouri's campus. In addition to the Memorial Stadium improvements, construction and repair projects will begin on Jesse Hall's exterior, Jesse Auditorium and the underground level of Memorial Union, according to an MU news release. Campus Facilities also debuted its "new and improved" campus construction impact dashboard, according to the release. The interactive map highlights active and upcoming closures across campus, as well as providing information on campus projects, including their scheduled start and end dates. While the release said Campus Facilities will begin construction after spring commencement to "minimize disruptions," some project end dates are estimated to continue through the fall semester. The news release also highlighted a live construction camera of the Memorial Stadium project, which is available for people who wish to check in on the construction progress. |
| Locals Fight Back After Naval Academy Removes Books in DEI Cull | |
| The U.S. Naval Academy's culling of hundreds of library books to comply with a Trump administration order is whipping up waves of discontent in this city where institutional pride runs uncommonly deep. The message from many locals: Don't give up the book. The phrase -- echoing the 19th-century Navy rally cry "Don't give up the ship" -- now decorates stickers and soon, T-shirts, across Annapolis. This comes after the academy recently removed 381 books with race and gender themes to meet broad Trump administration directives ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs. "Banning books, removing them from the library, is a complete contradiction to everything the Naval Academy stands for," said William Marks, a 1996 graduate and former Academy spokesman. "We're entrusting these midshipmen to be the leaders of our Navy and Marine Corps." Marks, a retired Navy commander, launched an online fundraiser to make the targeted books free for midshipmen who want them. The effort has raised nearly $67,000 so far. The buzz in Maryland's small capital city over a college library speaks to the unusually tight bond between Annapolis and the Naval Academy. Their identities are so entwined that Annapolis is shorthand for the institution itself. Many residents, or their relatives, attended the academy, where future officers have trained since 1845. |
| How a Decades-Old Diversity Program Became Collateral Damage in Trump's Anti-DEI Crusade | |
 | As the Trump administration has taken sweeping action to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at colleges, a little-known national nonprofit that has long sought to increase the racial diversity of business-school faculty members has become collateral damage. The PhD Project has for three decades encouraged business professionals from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue doctorates in the discipline. For years, its work was seen as uncontroversial; its annual conference introduced midcareer business professionals of color to the academy, offering resources and a support network to those interested in switching jobs. Eventually, some of those prospective students would become professors themselves, helping diversify a traditionally homogenous discipline. It's been a successful model, according to data shared by the project last year: Since its inception in 1994, the number of Black, Latino, and Native American professors and administrators earning doctorates in business has increased sixfold, from 294 to more than 1,700. Now, the organization is at the center of a probe announced in March by the U.S Department of Education, which accuses 45 universities of violating Title VI, the law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin. The alleged violation? Partnering with the PhD Project. Because the project limited participation to Black, Hispanic, and Native American students, the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights alleged, the institutions' graduate programs were "engaging in race-exclusionary practices." |
| Trump Is Using Title IX as a 'Battering Ram,' Experts Say | |
 | The Department of Education's demands that University of Pennsylvania "restore" swimming awards and honors that had been "misappropriated" to trans women athletes and apologize to the cisgender women who had lost to them offer a glimpse into how the second Trump administration could use Title IX to force certain changes at colleges, experts and attorneys say. The demands, issued April 28 in the form of a proposed resolution agreement, would resolve a civil rights investigation that found Penn violated Title IX by "permitting males to compete in women's intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities." The Office for Civil Rights didn't offer specifics, but officials were likely referring to trans swimmer Lia Thomas, who competed on the university's women's team in the 2021–22 academic year. Today is the deadline for Penn to either agree to the proposed demands or potentially face consequences. Experts say the speed of the investigation, OCR's unusual demands and the fact that Penn was in compliance with Title IX at the time Thomas competed there reflect a shift toward a more aggressive use of Title IX to further President Donald Trump's anti-trans agenda. |
| Economists warn Trump's research cuts could have dire consequences for GDP | |
 | When Casey Dreier saw President Trump's proposed budget for NASA, he couldn't believe the numbers. "This is the worst NASA budget I've seen in my lifetime," says Dreier, the chief of space policy for the Planetary Society, a nonprofit that advocates for space exploration. The budget proposes deep cuts for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, which oversees everything from telescopes peering deep into space to robotic probes exploring planets like Mars. Many of these projects cost billions of dollars to build and launch, but the budget cuts are so deep "that it will require NASA to turn off active spacecraft that are producing good science for pennies on the dollar for what the U.S. taxpayer paid for them," Dreier says. It's not just spacecraft -- Trump's proposed budget for the federal government would switch off huge swaths of America's scientific enterprise. These proposals "would be catastrophic if they were implemented," says Sudip Parikh, the CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. If the Republican-controlled Congress follows Trump's budget outline, Parikh warns, it will slash science at every university and laboratory in the United States. "It hollows out science across the country, not just in the places that I know the administration sometimes likes to single out, but across the entire country," he says. |
| Trump has been defunding university research. Does China benefit from it? | |
 | In 1957, a U.S. senator from Texas named Lyndon B. Johnson anxiously watched from his ranch as the Soviet Union became the first country to launch a satellite into orbit around the Earth. The angst from those days and the Eisenhower administration's early setback in the space race helped push Johnson to sign the Higher Education Act of 1965 after he became president. The landmark law flooded the higher education system with federal money (and, eventually, lots of student loan debt) with the goal of training generations of new engineers. Seven decades later, some politicians and college leaders are becoming increasingly anxious that another president might cause a different world power to bypass the United States. They fear President Donald Trump's pressure campaign to restrict funding to American universities, while trying to influence their programming and campus cultures, could cause the country to fall behind in key areas of research, from rocket science to biomedicine, as China pulls ahead. Despite Trump's public antagonizing of colleges, they're hoping their concerns might resonate with a president who cares deeply about maintaining America's competitive edge. "China is already trying to seize the moment and recruit some of the brightest talent," Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, said at a recent congressional hearing. "The United States is the world leader in medical research, but creating that was not an accident and maintaining it is not inevitable." |
| Francis Collins blasts Trump administration's 'slash-and-burn' actions at science agencies | |
| Francis Collins, the former director of the National Institutes of Health, excoriated the Trump administration's efforts to upend federal scientific agencies on Wednesday, saying the logic behind the moves "escapes any possible explanation." Speaking on a panel about trust in science and scientific institutions, Collins also expressed a degree of regret for public health officials' failure to explain their own uncertainty and the fast-changing landscape during the Covid-19 pandemic. But he laid the blame for the current fear and unrest within U.S. scientific circles squarely at the feet of the Trump administration, criticizing it for canceling research grants, pulling back on efforts to wield mRNA vaccines as cancer therapies, and dismissing "thousands of capable scientists" from government agencies. "All of these changes are being made in a slash-and-burn approach without any real interest, it seems, in the consequences," Collins said. "It's basically taking 'move fast and break things' and applying it to our nation's medical research enterprise, where maybe 'first, do no harm' would have been a better place to start. So a lot of harm is being done." |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State to build new football practice facility with historic donation | |
| A new, state-of-the-art practice facility will soon be constructed for the Mississippi State football team after a historic donation was announced by the university's athletic department on Wednesday. Howard Industries, a Laurel-based manufacturer of electrical and technology products, is providing the lead naming gift for the indoor facility. Pending approval by the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning at its June 2025 meeting, the new facility will be named in honor of Billy W. Howard Sr. Howard graduated from Mississippi State with a degree in electrical engineering in 1946, lettering in football, basketball, and track. "This donation is a tribute to my families deep ties to Mississippi State University," Howard said. "It's an honor to support the football program and to help build a facility that will continue to nurture the next generation of student-athletes. I'm proud to be a part of the Bulldogs' legacy." The Billy W. Howard Sr. Indoor Practice Facility will be constructed adjacent to the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex. The estimated cost for the indoor practice facility and enhanced support spaces rounds out at approximately $60 million. With groundbreaking anticipated in 2027, it is expected the indoor training facility will open in summer of 2028 with interior renovations to the current facility expected to be completed in 2029. |
| Howard Industries contributes lead gift for MSU's new indoor practice facility | |
| Laurel-based Howard Industries, a leading manufacturer of electrical and technology products, has provided the lead naming gift for Mississippi State University's new football indoor practice facility. MSU Director of Athletics Zac Selmon made the announcement Wednesday. Pending IHL approval at its June meeting, the new facility will be named in honor of Billy W. Howard Sr., a beloved alumnus, former student-athlete, and pillar of the MSU community. This trailblazing philanthropic gift will elevate the Mississippi State football program by providing elite resources and advancing player development within the state-of-the-art indoor practice facility. Howard graduated from MSU in just three years with a degree in electrical engineering in 1946. A standout athlete, he excelled in football, basketball and track, lettering in all three sports. Howard made his mark as a football player under head coach Allyn McKeen, where he became the first player in MSU history to play nearly every minute of every game, earning the nickname "Iron Man." "This donation is a tribute to my family's deep ties to Mississippi State University," said Michael Howard, CEO of Howard Industries. "It's an honor to support the football program and to help build a facility that will continue to nurture the next generation of student-athletes. I'm proud to be a part of the Bulldogs' legacy." |
| Mississippi State announces plans to build a $60M indoor practice facility for football | |
| Mississippi State on Wednesday announced plans to build a $60 million indoor practice facility with an expected opening in the summer of 2028. Howard Industries of Laurel provided the lead naming gift, and the building will be named in honor of former MSU multisport athlete Billy Howard Sr., pending approval of the state's Institutions of Higher Learning. Howard, who graduated in 1946, excelled in football, basketball and track and earned the nickname "Iron Man" for playing nearly every minute of every football game. Architecture firms CDFL and HOK and facility planners are in the design phase, and groundbreaking is anticipated in 2027. The building will include a 110,000 square-foot indoor training facility as well as areas dedicated to injury prevention and recovery. There also will be renovations inside the adjacent Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex. "Words cannot truly express how incredibly grateful we are to Howard Industries and the entire Howard family for making this vision a reality," coach Jeff Lebby said. "This new indoor facility will allow us to train more effectively as we compete against the best in the country week in and week out." |
| Mississippi State to build football-only indoor practice facility | |
 | Mississippi State football is constructing a new indoor practice facility. The Bulldogs announced project plans on May 7 to build an indoor football practice facility and renovate the existing Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex. The Palmeiro Center currently serves as the indoor facility for football, but it is shared with other MSU programs. Howard Industries is providing the leading gift for the project. The indoor practice facility will be named after Billy W. Howard Sr., the co-founder of Howard Industries and a former MSU football, basketball and track athlete. The new practice facility, according to the announcement, will be 110,000 square feet and be constructed behind the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex. It will include "dedicated areas for sports science for enhanced work in injury prevention and recovery." The renovations for the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex will include upgrades to the sports medicine, nutrition and locker room areas. |
| Bryce Chance's rubber bands snap Mississippi State baseball back into NCAA tournament contention | |
| Dudy Noble Field was as glum as it has been all season on April 4. Mississippi State baseball had just lost the series opener to South Carolina after leading 3-1 in the first inning. The Bulldogs committed two costly errors on consecutive at-bats in the sixth and managed two hits after a great start to the game. Subtle boos from the crowd could be heard as the Bulldogs unraveled. They dropped to 1-9 in the SEC, their worst 10-game start to conference play in program history. Senior outfielder Bryce Chance recognized Mississippi State needed a lifeline. He executed a plan out of a whim the next morning involving rubber bands and negative thoughts. It might not have directly saved the season, but don't tell that to the Bulldogs. Mississippi State (29-19, 10-14 SEC) is still in contention for the NCAA tournament with a key three-game home series against No. 22 Ole Miss (33-15, 13-11) starting May 9 (7:30 p.m., SEC Network). Chance was sitting in a pre-game meeting before the South Carolina loss. Shortstop Sawyer Reeves said something to Chance -- he doesn't exactly remember what -- but it sparked the idea. Chance remembered a story told by his high school coach at Madison Ridgeland-Academy, where he played before walking on to Mississippi State in 2021. MRA never tried it, but the coach talked about players wearing rubber bands on their wrists. Whenever they had a negative thought, they snap themselves with the rubber band. Chance decided to give it a try. |
| Women's Golf Advances To Fourth Straight NCAA Championship | |
| Mississippi State women's golf will advance to the NCAA Championship for the fourth straight season after concluding the NCAA Gold Canyon Regional in fourth place at 11-over par. The Bulldogs shot 2-over in the final round of the Gold Canyon Regional and had four golfers inside the top 20 for only the third time all season. The Bulldogs will be making their sixth appearance in program history at the NCAA Championship, which begins on May 16 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California. State has advanced to the championship in four of five seasons under head coach Charlie Ewing. The single exception was when the 2021 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional was canceled due to weather and only the top six seeds advanced. Avery Weed was the top finisher for the Bulldogs, as she finished the Gold Canyon Regional tied for 12th at 2-over par. The Gold Canyon Regional marked Weed's third straight tournament inside the top 20 after finishing tied for 14th at the Charles Schwab Women's Collegiate and tied for 13th at the SEC Championship. She has finished inside the top 20 a team-leading seven times in ten tournaments. The Bulldogs will be back in action when the NCAA Championship kicks off on Friday, May 16 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. |
| Softball: Four-Run Second Inning Ends State's SEC Tournament Stay | |
| No. 10 LSU scored four runs in the second inning to take control of the ballgame as No. 17 Mississippi State lost, 5-0, in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Wednesday. The Tigers (41-13, 12-12 SEC) used two walks, a hit-by-pitch and a pair of hits to plate four runs with only one ball leaving the infield in the second inning. A pair of doubles added another run in the fourth. "I think, No. 1, a big credit to [LSU pitcher] Jadyn Heavener. She's a great pitcher, and we did not do a great job of adjusting to her pitches, really all game long," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "Against a team like this, a pitcher like that, we've got to be disciplined. We've got to swing in our plan. Overall, just not really coming out ready to play loose, and I think that's always the goal in postseason. It's something we're going to need to make sure we address moving forward is playing Mississippi State softball. That's not what our expectation is out there." Mississippi State will await its NCAA Tournament destination. The NCAA Selection Show is Sunday, May 11 at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2. |
| Softball: Mississippi State's SEC Tournament run ends early with loss to LSU | |
| It takes a special pitching performance to completely shut down Mississippi State's offense, but the Bulldogs never solved LSU freshman Jayden Heavener on Wednesday, and their run in the Southeastern Conference Tournament ended almost as quickly as it began. Heavener, one of the top recruits in the country for the class of 2024 and the Gatorade Player of the Year in Florida as a high school senior, was in command from start to finish. She allowed just one hit and two baserunners in seven innings as No. 8 seed fell 5-0 to the No. 9 seed Tigers in Athens, Georgia. The loss effectively ended the Bulldogs' chances to host an NCAA regional for the first time in program history. "Big credit to Jayden Heavener. She's a great pitcher," head coach Samantha Ricketts said. "We did not do a great job of adjusting to her pitches, really all game long. Against a team like this, a pitcher like that, you have to be disciplined." The NCAA Tournament bracket will be revealed Sunday evening, and MSU should be comfortably in the field as a regional 2-seed. The only likely hosting site within 400 miles of Starkville -- the benchmark the NCAA uses to send teams out by bus rather than by plane -- is Florida State, where the Bulldogs won the regional in 2022. |
| ESPN open to paying SEC more to add ninth conference football game to schedule: Sources | |
 | ESPN has indicated a willingness to increase its payment to the SEC if the conference adds a ninth game to its league football schedule, sources briefed on the matter told The Athletic. There is no formal offer yet, those sources added, and the exact amount of the increase still needs to be fully negotiated. But the sources said the additional money would likely be in the range of $50-80 million annually on top of the current deal, in which ESPN pays the conference $811 million per year to broadcast its sporting events. Both ESPN and the SEC declined to comment. A change in ESPN's stance doesn't mean the SEC will definitely move to playing nine conference games. Now the main hurdle to expanding the league schedule may be the future College Football Playoff format, which isn't likely to be determined until at least June. That makes it less likely -- though not impossible -- that the SEC makes a decision on a schedule format at its spring meetings later this month in Destin, Fla. Still, ESPN's willingness to up its ante is an important development, as it has been one of the main sticking points among enough SEC members to resist the push for nine games. When the SEC announced the addition of Oklahoma and Texas in July 2021, momentum toward a nine-game schedule increased instantly, with commissioner Greg Sankey among those privately in favor. (Sankey finally went public with his preference earlier this year.) |
| NCAA's House settlement revised in hopes of placating judge; her decision could shake up college sports forever | |
| The NCAA and power conferences are revising rules around roster limits in hopes of appeasing a federal judge. According to a filing made Wednesday in the House settlement case, schools will be permitted to grandfather-in a range of athletes: (1) those currently on a roster; (2) those athletes who have already been cut this year; and (3) those high school recruits who enrolled at a school after committing to a roster position only to see it eliminated. As Yahoo Sports reported last week, the revision is not mandatory but is at each school's discretion --- a move that is seen as a compromise from the power leagues to the judge's wishes. The grandfathered-in athletes are exempt from roster limits at any school in which they participate. For instance, if their current school chooses against retaining them, those athletes who qualify to be grandfathered-in can transfer and remain exempt from their new school's roster limits. As part of the revision, a school would be expected to track their protected/grandfathered-in roster spots with a rolling list of exceptions. Those protected athletes would presumably roll off the exception list as their eligibility expires. These exceptions would permit a school to exceed roster limits tied to the settlement. It remains unclear if California Judge Claudia Wilken will accept the changes and approve the House settlement |
| NCAA, Plaintiffs Revise Roster Limits to Save House Settlement | |
| In response to U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken signaling she'll reject the 10-year settlement resolving the House, Carter and Hubbard antitrust litigations if current college athletes lose roster spots, the NCAA, power conferences and athletes' attorneys on Wednesday revised key terms to mitigate the roster impact on current athletes. In court filings late Wednesday, the parties present a new settlement provision that allows colleges to grandfather in roster limits so that players who are cut on account of those limits can keep playing for as long as their NCAA eligibility provides. In general, the NCAA limits an athlete's participation in NCAA sports to five calendar years from when the athlete begins studying at a college and four seasons of intercollegiate competition in any one sport. During that time, players impacted by roster limits will not count against those limits. The big picture: Athletes at schools that invoke the grandfathering position will have a chance to keep their spot. That is true of incoming athletes who have been told by a college they have a roster spot. It also means current and incoming athletes at schools declining to invoke that term will still lose their spot if Wilken approves the settlement, though such players could seek to transfer. |
| NCAA files revised revenue-sharing settlement addressing judge's objection on roster limits | |
| Lawyers involved in the proposed settlement of three athlete-compensation antitrust cases against the NCAA and the Power Five conferences said in filings on May 7 that they have addressed the concern a federal judge had said was preventing her from granting final approval. The issue involves roster limits that had been set to go into effect immediately as part of the agreement. On April 23, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken said that the immediate implementation of sport-by-sport roster limits made the proposed settlement "not fair" because thousands of athletes who are supposed to be benefiting from the deal stood to lose their places on teams after the current school year. Lawyers for the NCAA wrote that "there are no guarantees" that these athletes "will get or maintain roster spots. But that does not adversely affect any" athlete, the NCAA said, because athletes' roster spots always have been "at the discretion of the coach" and the school. However, Steve Molo, a lawyer for a group of objectors, said in a statement on the night of May 7 that the "proposed mushy modification doesn't go far enough. Many, many student athletes have had something taken away from them. The fight will continue." Laura Reathaford, another lawyer for an objector, told USA TODAY Sports she will be filing a separate brief. |
| NCAA settlement plan for roster limits gets do-over to save players who lost spots on teams | |
| Attorneys handling the $2.8 billion NCAA settlement proposed a massive do-over Wednesday when it comes to roster limits, offering athletes who lost their spots a chance to play without counting against the new caps for as long as they have eligibility. Under court order to come up with an updated plan, the attorneys in court filings suggested that schools compile lists of all the players they cut in anticipation of the settlement being approved -- a number that certainly could be in the hundreds and perhaps far more. Those "Designated Student-Athletes," as they're called in the new legal filing, can be invited back to compete for roster spots -- no guarantees -- or go to new schools. Either way, those athletes won't count against the new roster limits that are coming under the plan unveiled last fall and given initial approval by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in October. The latest proposal capped a two-week scramble after Wilken sent attorneys for both sides back to the negotiating table, saying the roster limit details of the plan as written were unacceptable. Wilken clearly sympathized with the hundreds of players who lost roster spots as schools began preparing to implement terms of the settlement. About a dozen told their stories during an April 7 hearing. The clock is ticking for the NCAA and its 1,200 member schools that have more than 500,000 athletes on various teams. Terms of the settlement were supposed to go into effect July 1 and football practice starts soon after. |
| Sources: President Trump planning to create commission on college sports to address issues ailing industry | |
| For years now, college sports leaders journeyed to the nation's capital by the dozens to lobby for congressional help. Soon, the White House may step in. President Donald Trump is making plans to create a presidential commission on college athletics, the first step in what could be a months-long endeavor for solutions to the issues ailing the ecosystem. Multiple sources, both in Congress and within college sports, spoke to Yahoo Sports under condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak about Trump's plan. Many college sports stakeholders have been briefed on the matter. It is unclear when an announcement could come. Trump's involvement, though not surprising, is a landmark moment in college athletics history -- the country's most powerful elected leader potentially shaping the future of the industry. Details of the commission are for now being kept private, but the group is expected to feature college sports stakeholders, prominent businesspeople with deep connections to college football and, perhaps, even a former coach and administrator. The commission is expected to deeply examine the unwieldy landscape of college sports, including the frequency of player movement in the transfer portal, the unregulated booster compensation paid to athletes, the debate of college athlete employment, preserving the Olympic sport structure, the application of Title IX to school revenue-share payments and, even, conference membership makeup and conference television contracts, those with knowledge of the commission told Yahoo Sports. |
| Nick Saban to co-chair President Trump's planned commission on college athletics: Sources | |
| Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban and Texas Tech board of regents chairman Cody Campbell would co-chair the commission President Donald Trump is interested in forming to examine the long list of issues facing college sports, a source briefed on the plans told The Athletic. The source said Trump is expected to be "very engaged" with the commission because he sees the current state of college sports as an issue of national importance. The New York Times and Wall Street Journal reported Trump was interested in weighing in with an executive order after the president spoke last week with Saban, who has expressed concern that college sports is being harmed by the big money pouring into it to compensate athletes with little regulation. Yahoo Sports first reported Wednesday that Trump is planning to create a presidential commission to examine a long list of issues facing college sports, from booster-funded payments and transfer rules to conference alignment and Title IX. Campbell, who was elected chairman of the Texas Tech board of regents last month, is a former Red Raiders football player and one of the university's most prominent donors. Campbell is a board member of Texas Public Policy Foundation and a distinguished fellow at the America First Policy Institute, the latter which has been integral to President Trump's second-term policy agenda. |
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