| Friday, January 30, 2026 |
| MSU mourns distinguished alumnus Billy W. Howard Sr. | |
 | Mississippi State University mourns the loss of Billy W. Howard Sr., a legendary business and manufacturing icon, MSU Hall of Famer, and respected alumnus. Howard, who died on January 28, 2026, at age 99, built a global electronics manufacturing enterprise after attending MSU on a football scholarship in the 1940s and earning a degree in electrical engineering in only three years. MSU President Mark E. Keenum praised Howard as a "visionary leader and a loyal Bulldog" who faithfully supported his alma mater. "What a privilege it has been to come to know Mr. Billy Howard and to learn from the example he set of building an economic powerhouse in the Pine Belt of his home state and reinvesting at every opportunity in his beloved Mississippi State," said Keenum. In June 2025, MSU's new 110,000-square-foot indoor Billy Howard Indoor Practice Facility was named in his honor after Howard Industries made the lead gift for its naming. Keenum noted that the support for the practice facility was part of a broader pattern of athletic and academic backing from Howard and his company. In 1997, Howard and MSU established a formal partnership to provide practical experience and job training at his Laurel manufacturing plant. "So many MSU electrical engineers got their start at Howard Industries, which I know instilled a deep sense of pride in Billy Howard," said Keenum. |
| Howard Industries founder passes away at 99 | |
 | Mississippi is mourning the loss of a business giant. Howard Industries founder Billy Howard Sr. passed away at the age of 99, the company announced on Wednesday. Howard was born in Louisville in 1927 and later became a star student-athlete at Mississippi State University, where he lettered in a trio of sports and earned an electrical engineering degree. "What a privilege it has been to come to know Mr. Billy Howard and to learn from the example he set of building an economic powerhouse in the Pine Belt of his home state and reinvesting at every opportunity in his beloved Mississippi State," University President Dr. Mark Keenum stated. "As a leader, as an engineer, and as someone who provided countless jobs and opportunities for the people of our great state and beyond, Billy Howard maintained a reliable humility and was, from his youth to the end of his productive life, the ultimate teammate. MSU will miss his generosity and philanthropy, and I will greatly miss his wise advice and counsel." |
| Three-sport letterwinner, Bulldog Hall-of-Famer Billy Howard dies at 99 | |
 | Former Mississippi State athlete, Korean War veteran and founder of Howard Industries Billy Howard Sr. died at the age of 99, his company announced on Wednesday. "Mr. Howard was the very definition of a Bulldog," Athletic Director Zac Selmon said in a statement on social media. "He earned his degree in electrical engineering in just three years while lettering in football, basketball and track. His legacy as Mississippi State's original 'Iron Man' speaks to his resilience as an athlete and his strength of character throughout his life." Howard, an MSU Hall of Famer and Mississippi Business Hall of Famer was born on January 26, 1927, in Louisville, Mississippi. He lettered in football, basketball and track and field at Mississippi State from 1944 to 1946, earning a degree in electrical engineering. Howard was nicknamed the "Iron Man" by head coach Allyn McKeen after playing nearly every minute of every game for the football team during his three years on the squad. Howard continued his devotion to his alma mater after his playing days, serving as a donor and making a significant contribution toward a new indoor football practice facility at the Leo Seal Complex last year. The 110,000 square-foot training facility will be named the "Billy W. Howard Sr. Indoor Practice Facility" in his honor, and is expected to open ahead of the 2028 season. |
| Mississippi State sports 'Iron Man,' donor Billy Howard dies at 99 | |
 | Former Mississippi State three-sport athlete Billy Howard has died, his family and company, Howard Industries, announced via a statement on Jan. 28. He was 99. Howard, a Louisville, Mississippi, native, played football, basketball and ran track at MSU from 1944-46. He earned the nickname "Iron Man" after becoming the first MSU player to play almost every minute of every football game. He was inducted into the university's athletics Hall of Fame in 1978. "We are saddened by the loss of Billy W. Howard Sr., and all-time great Mississippi State Bulldog whose life embodied service, excellence and unwavering love for this university," MSU athletic director Zac Selmon wrote on X on Jan. 29. "... On behalf of Mississippi State Athletics, we extend our deepest condolences to the Howard family and all who knew him. He will always be remembered as on of Mississippi State's very best." Howard formerly was the national president of the Mississippi State Alumni Association and was a member of the Mississippi State Development Foundation and the MSU Engineering Board. |
| Laurel's Billy Howard Sr. remembered as pioneer industrialist, philanthropist | |
 | Billy Howard Sr., the founder of Howard Industries, Inc., has died. Howard was 99 years old. The Howard Family posted an announcement Wednesday on the Howard Technology Solutions Facebook page. Howard started Howard Industries in 1968. In the last six decades, the company has had a profound economic impact on Laurel, Jones County and Mississippi. Howard is being remembered not only as a pioneer of industry, but also as a dedicated philanthropist. "He was not just a businessman," said Ross Tucker, Jones County Economic Development Authority president/chief executive officer. "He was a builder of a community. He devoted his time and effort to building a facility here, and multiple facilities, to employ a magnitude of people throughout 58 years that has totally transformed this area, as well has other areas around the state, and has changed the lives of a lot of people whether they know it or not." Capt. Keisha McMillin, Laurel Salvation Army commanding officer, remembered a caring, generous man. "The Howard family (means) everything to us," McMillin said. "They are our top donors throughout the year. I really don't have the words to say how appreciative I am." |
| MSU cuts ribbon on renovated Commons at Mitchell Memorial Library | |
| Mississippi State University Libraries is celebrating a newly renovated, student-focused space designed to support collaboration, studying and community. The Commons at Mitchell Memorial Library welcomed students with a Jan. 29 ribbon cutting and a reception on the library's second floor, inviting attendees to explore expanded seating, updated furniture, enhanced study areas and improved computer access. The event highlighted MSU Libraries' continued commitment to creating modern spaces that meet evolving academic needs. "The Commons reflects how today's students learn, collaborate and create," said Dean of Libraries Lis Pankl. "By redesigning this space, MSU Libraries is providing an environment that supports both focused study and the networked tools students need to be successful -- from printing and technology access to flexible, welcoming spaces that encourage collaboration." The Commons is one of Mitchell Memorial Library's most popular student destinations, and the renovation expands its capacity to serve a growing campus population. "One exciting addition still to come is the planned P.O.D. Market in the Commons with our MSU Dining Services partner Aramark," said Assistant Dean for Technology and Operations Paul Huddleston. "We're looking forward to this coming soon." |
| MSU Extension Service hosts 15th annual blueberry workshop | |
| The Mississippi State University Extension Service hosted its 15th annual workshop for backyard hobbyists and growers that are new to the world of blueberries. This year's focus was centered around organic production and weed control, which helps all growers keep their garden protected from various insects and diseases. MSU's extension service provided examples of different techniques for all blueberry enthusiasts to identify which predators are looking to attack their crops. "Scouting and monitoring is gonna be your best approach, figuring out when the insects are present, as well as how long they're there for to be able to provide the management options," said Jermaine Perier, MSU assistant professor of Entomology. "But, one of the things you want to take into consideration when doing all of that is that you have to be able to identify the insect. Today, I was talking a little bit more about some of the more common insects that could be present in blueberries, such as blueberry gall midge, spotted wing drosophila, fruit worms." |
| Hypothermia risks increase in Mississippi and Tennessee with next wave of frigid temperatures | |
 | With another wave of dangerous cold heading for the U.S. South on Friday, experts say the risk of hypothermia heightens for people in parts of Mississippi and Tennessee who are entering their sixth day trapped at home without power in subfreezing temperatures. "The longer you're exposed to the cold, the worse it is," said Dr. Hans House, a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Iowa. "The body can handle cold temperatures briefly very well, but the prolonged exposure is a problem." The National Weather Service said arctic air moving into the Southeast will cause already frigid temperatures to plummet into the teens (minus 10 degrees Celsius) on Friday night in cities like Nashville, where more than 79,000 homes and businesses still lacked power nearly a week after a massive storm dumped snow and ice across the eastern U.S. Mississippi officials say it's the state's worst winter storm since 1994. About 80 warming centers were opened across the state, known as one of the nation's poorest. Forecasters say the subfreezing weather will persist in the eastern U.S. into February and there's high chance of heavy snow in the Carolinas, Virginia and northeast Georgia this weekend, possibly up to a foot (30 centimeters) in parts of North Carolina. Snow is also possible along the East Coast from Maryland to Maine. |
| Mississippians ask why the state didn't prep earlier and respond sooner for winter storm | |
| Almost a week after the worst winter storm to hit Mississippi in a generation, citizens and elected leaders in north Mississippi are openly questioning why state leaders did not prepare for or respond sooner to the crisis that has left people without electricity and water for days. Some mayors and residents say that the state was too slow to mobilize resources, particularly the Mississippi National Guard and the Mississippi Department of Transportation, to help clear roadways and deliver supplies to people stranded in their homes. But Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, other state leaders and some residents say it's hard to prepare for a rare winter storm and they believe that the state has done the best job it can in a unique situation. Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill, in an interview with Mississippi Today, did not directly criticize the state, but she pointed out that it took nearly five days from the start of the storm for the state to send supplies to Oxford and send the National Guard into the town. Other southern governors, such as Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, decided to deploy their state's National Guard before the storm hit. Texas deployed its Guard on Tuesday, Jan. 20; Alabama on Friday, Jan. 23; and Tennessee on Sunday, Jan. 25. Louisiana already had National Guard members on duty before the winter storm threatened. Mississippi was the last in the region to deploy its Guard, on Monday, Jan. 26, two days after the storm started moving through the state. |
| MDOT crews get boost from snowmelt, but admit poor planning and staff shortages partly to blame for icy road conditions | |
 | Parts of Interstates 22 and 55 remained closed Thursday while MDOT crews worked to clear ice, but got some help from Mother Nature and above freezing temperatures which helped with snowmelt. Resources from all six Mississippi Department of Transportation districts were dispatched to DeSoto County and north Mississippi Wednesday to deal with icy road conditions which left motorists and 18 wheel trucks stuck, many for as long as 12 hours. Snowplows and salt spreaders were out working along I-22 from New Albany to Holly Springs and I-55 from Grenada to Senatobia clearing ice to get traffic moving again. Governor Tate Reeves also deployed the Mississippi National Guard to the affected areas. Mississippi Transportation Commissioner for the Northern District John Caldwell said removing the thick compacted ice remained stubborn, but efforts expected a boost with temperatures reaching into the 40s helping to melt away some of the ice. "We're going to see what we can do to get these interstates open," Caldwell said. "There have been some real hard spots of ice where salt and plows are not getting it. We've got about four or five more hours of sunlight to make a difference." Caldwell said the extra resources were helping to make a difference, but that it still wasn't fast enough. "The best thing we had going for us yesterday was the sunshine and the temperatures," Caldwell said. "And we're getting some today, we hope." Caldwell admitted MDOT made some mistakes and missed some windows of opportunity to get ahead of the storm, relating it to a game of "whack-a-mole" determining where the worst spots needed the most attention. |
| Entergy Mississippi CEO Haley Fisackerly visits Grenada, talks storm restoration process | |
| Winter Storm Fern coated Grenada County and much of north Mississippi in a thick layer of ice last weekend, uprooting trees, snapping limbs and loading down power lines and poles, leaving thousands of Entergy Mississippi customers in the dark for days. Five days after the storm, many residents remain without electricity as Entergy crews continued working across the region. On Thursday afternoon, Entergy Mississippi CEO Haley Fisackerly visited Grenada to view storm damage after earlier stops in Lexington in Holmes County and Winona in Montgomery County, and prior to heading to Charleston in Tallahatchie County, meeting with city leaders and taking time out for a video interview with The Grenada Star's Publisher Adam Prestridge on the Downtown Square. "We're making great progress. At the peak of the storm, we had 67,000 customers out across our service territory that stretches from DeSoto County all the way to Adams County, and we saw outages there. We had as many as 83,000 have outages, and about 60,000 have been restored, and we're now in the hardest-hit areas. As far as Entergy Mississippi, Grenada is ground zero for us and the areas around that, so this is where most of our work is concentrated now to get customers in Grenada and in the areas around it back up." |
| Hard Times in the Delta as Farmers Consider Letting Crops Rot | |
 | Jack Westerfield stood ankle deep atop 30 feet of unhusked rice, his gray T-shirt and jeans dusty with starchy powder. He sounded distressed. "What am I supposed to do with 2.2 million pounds of rice?" he asked, raising his voice to be heard over the noisy industrial fans drying the rice on his farm in Merigold, Miss. "I'm serious. What am I supposed to do?" It wasn't a rhetorical question. Mr. Westerfield had even considered whether he should dump the grains onto a field to rot. Across the country, farmers are struggling. Prices for nearly every major crop are below what it costs to grow them. Much attention has been paid to Midwestern soybean growers, whose crop was at the heart of the trade war between the United States and China. But farmers in Mississippi are perhaps worse off than farmers in the rest of the country. Rice is one of their biggest crops, and almost no one is buying. Things feel so hopeless that at a recent Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation meeting, a group representing farmers, participants floated the idea of a government program that would pay producers to destroy the harvested rice sitting in their bins. A similar program was put in place during the 1980s farm crisis, when the Agriculture Department paid farmers to idle land and reduce huge surpluses of crops. "We are making a lot of good crops, and losing money," said Gwin Smith, the longtime owner of Rutledge Investment Company, a Mississippi agricultural land broker. |
| Senate college committee moves bills forward focused on financial literacy, scholarship programs | |
| Bills passed out of the Mississippi Senate Universities and Colleges Committee this week that seek to ensure the financial literacy of students, amend a current state funded financial aid assistance program, and address workforce shortages across the state by offering aid to non-traditional students. ... Another bill passed out of the Senate committee on Wednesday would address current shortages of key professions in the state by creating the Upskill Mississippi Grant Program. "Upskill Mississippi is designed to be an incentive carrot, if you will, for students to encourage them into high value career and technical pathways in our community colleges," Accelerate Mississippi Executive Director Courtney Taylor told lawmakers. The creation of the program, as outlined in SB 2522, would incentivize non-traditional students to seek careers that are in most need within Mississippi, such as electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, industrial maintenance technicians and others. With non-traditional students often being older than traditional college students, this program focuses on people who are 24 or older who want to change careers. The pilot program would cater to a limited number of participants. Taylor described the program as a last dollar scholarship opportunity for those students.it would only kick in after they have applied for all other financial aid programs to attend a public community college to seek a degree or certificate. The program provides about $1,100 per student, on average. |
| Community college students may get free tuition under this Senate bill | |
| The Mississippi Senate will vote on a bill that provides students 24 years and older free tuition to community college programs in industries suffering workforce shortages. On Jan. 28, the Universities and Colleges subcommittee passed SB 2522 without amendments and with little discussion. If passed by the full Senate, the bill would create the UPSKILL Mississippi Grant Program, an initiative under the Mississippi Office of Student Financial Aid. The acronym in the first part of the name stands for "Upgrading Priority Skills for Key Industry Learning and Labor." An UPSKILL grant would provide free tuition for any Mississippi community college, plus a $500 yearly stipend for books and other materials. However, students who receive the UPSKILL grant can only use the tuition for certain degree programs. Accelerate Mississippi, the state's Office of Workforce Development, would select those programs based on industries in the state in need of more skilled workers. Courtney Taylor, executive director of Accelerate MS, presented the bill to the Universities and Colleges meeting on Jan. 28, and gave some examples of these priority occupations. "Ultimately, as we work through the realities of growing and developing as a state, we need more plumbers, we need more HVAC technicians, we need more industrial maintenance technicians," Taylor said. |
| House committee approves pilot program aimed at improving teacher satisfaction | |
| A bill aimed at improving the lives of Mississippi teachers has made its way out of the House Education Committee. The committee on Thursday passed a slate of bills, including House Bill 1606, which was sparked by a report from education policy group Mississippi First about the state of the teaching profession in Mississippi. It would establish a pilot program focused on improving teacher satisfaction and increasing student learning at a handful of schools. Mississippi teachers say they're underpaid and overworked, according to the Mississippi First report, "The Weight They Carry." Educators who responded to the group's survey said that student behavior challenges have gotten worse and young teachers are more likely than others to consider leaving their jobs. These outcomes only got more pronounced in high-poverty schools. The Excellence for All Pilot Program was created in response to those struggles and subsequent teacher shortages, according to the bill's author and House Education Committee Vice-Chairman Kent McCarty, a Republican from Hattiesburg. The program would cost an estimated $8.6 million. |
| Federal judge strikes down Mississippi moratorium on new home health agencies | |
| A federal judge on Wednesday struck down Mississippi's decades-old moratorium on new home health agencies, ruling the state's blanket ban on new licenses violates the Fourteenth Amendment. U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves held that Mississippi's longstanding refusal to issue or even consider new certificates for home health agencies cannot survive, ordering the moratorium lifted after more than 40 years. In his ruling, Reeves underscored that moratoria are generally intended as temporary pauses, not permanent walls. The Supreme Court has warned courts to look skeptically at moratoria longer than a year. "The Court cannot escape the absurdity in maintaining an out-right moratorium for over forty years," he wrote. The decision came in a lawsuit brought by Dr. Charles Slaughter, a Mississippi physical therapist who wants to open a home health care agency. The case was filed against State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney. The Mississippi Association for Home Care, representing existing home health providers, intervened to help defend the current system. American Dream Legal founder and CEO Aaron Rice -- the attorney representing Slaughter -- framed the win as both a patient-access issue and a constitutional rebuke of economic favoritism. |
| Rep. Guest says appropriations, cost of living highest priorities | |
 | Mississippi Congressman Michael Guest said passing annual appropriations bills and focusing on cost of living issues for Mississippi residents will be his priorities in the immediate future as another funding fight looms on the horizon in Washington. Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a funding package for the Department of Homeland Security over immigration enforcement actions by President Donald Trump. Two people have been shot and killed by federal officers during and enforcement surge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, drawing thousands of protesters to the city. Guest said funding for the Department of Homeland Security is included in one of 12 large appropriations bills Congress is tasked with passing each year. Of those 12, six bills have passed the House and Senate and been signed by the president, while the other six have passed the House and await action in the Senate. "We've got to get back to regular order. We've got to get back to Congress doing the job that we were sent to do, and one thing that we're supposed to do each and every year is to pass a budget, and we've got to get back on track," he said. Guest, who serves on the Homeland Security Committee, said he was glad to see the president send Border Czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to ease tensions. A longtime federal law enforcement officer, Homan is someone who can connect with both the locals and federal officers and act as a bridge, he said. "I think he's somebody that can bring that temperature down, which is what we need to see," he said. |
| Adlakha selling herself as an outsider. Hyde-Smith's campaign says welcome to Mississippi | |
| With less than six weeks before the party primary election, political newcomer Sarah Adlakha is attempting to draw distinctions between herself and her opponent in the Republican Primary, incumbent U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. Adlakha is selling herself as the outsider fighting against "entrenched political interests." On Thursday, Adlakha said if elected, she would not accept money "from Washington lobbyists." "Not one dollar," Adlakha said, before pointing to Hyde-Smith's campaign finance reports which the challenger contends show the Senator "has accepted over $300,000 from registered lobbyists and their family members over the past four election cycles." Adlakha's campaign noted that these donations were received over a five-year period dating back to 2020. Adlakha also questioned Hyde-Smith's campaign spending related to travel and trips taken while in office since 2018, some to Las Vegas, Florida and other locales. Jake Monssen, Hyde-Smith's campaign manager, dismissed the attacks. He told Magnolia Tribune the Senator's team welcomes Adlakha to the state and the race. rump announced his support of Hyde-Smith's re-election early in 2025. She has since added endorsements from nearly every statewide and legislative Republican in Mississippi, including Governor Tate Reeves, Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann and Speaker Jason White. |
| Trump names former Federal Reserve official Warsh as the next Fed chair to replace Powell | |
| President Donald Trump said Friday that he will nominate former Federal Reserve official Kevin Warsh to be the next chair of the Fed, a decision likely to result in sharp changes to the powerful agency that could bring it closer to the White House. Warsh would replace current chair Jerome Powell when his term expires in May. Trump chose Powell to lead the Fed in 2017 but this year has relentlessly assailed him for not cutting interest rates quickly enough. "I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best," Trump posted on his Truth Social site. "On top of everything else, he is 'central casting,' and he will never let you down." The appointment, which requires Senate confirmation, amounts to a return trip for Warsh, 55, who was a member of the Fed's board from 2006 to 2011. He was the youngest governor in history when he was appointed at age 35. He is currently a fellow at the right-leaning Hoover Institution and a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. |
| Senate spending deal runs into 'hotline' headwinds | |
 | Exuberance over a bipartisan deal struck Thursday afternoon to punt final decisions on Homeland Security funding and pass the rest of this year's spending bills gave way to the realities of Senate procedure later in the evening. The Senate adjourned late Thursday night without reaching a bipartisan time agreement on votes and a limited list of amendments. The "hotline" process requires all 100 senators to agree not to raise an objection, and that wasn't happening quickly. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called the agreement "a bad deal" and said he's got a hold on the measure. "We're not voting tonight," he said. Graham was visibly upset about full-year Homeland Security funding falling by the wayside, at least for now, and the treatment of immigration enforcement officers he said were being "demonized" for the actions of a few. The bill would also repeal a provision of an earlier spending law that would allow Graham and other GOP senators whose phone records were collected during the Biden-era "Arctic Frost" investigation to sue for large payouts. Graham said his hold is "not about me," as he no longer stands to benefit financially after an agreement with the Ethics Committee. Rather, he said he's seeking to protect others whose records are searched without their consent. "It's not about Arctic Frost," he said. "It's much deeper than that." |
| U.S. mayors of both parties raise concerns about Minnesota immigration crackdown | |
| A meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors is typically a chance for political leaders to share ideas on issues like housing, climate change and AI. But attention at this year's winter gathering in Washington D.C. that kicked off Wednesday kept turning to dealings with the federal government, immigration enforcement in cities and violent confrontations in Minneapolis. " Every conversation I've been a part of here, no matter what the initial agenda was about, has included questions from mayors saying, 'What should I do to prepare my community for what might come? How will I know if they're coming?'" Boston Mayor Michelle Wu told WBUR Wednesday evening. As the Trump administration comes under pressure to de-escalate the immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities, mayors of both parties sounded the alarms. Mayor Jerry Dyer, a Republican from Fresno, California, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement is being rejected by communities. "Why? Because of the policing tactics that are being utilized that have been abandoned by local law enforcement 30 years ago," he said. He said he supports President Trump's policies at the border. But the former police chief said ICE agents lack training for how to deploy in cities. |
| Noem says her response to Pretti shooting may have been wrong | |
 | Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has conceded she may have gotten some information wrong in her initial response to Border Patrol's killing of Alex Pretti, the Minneapolis ICU nurse she labeled a domestic terrorist. Noem also dodged questions about her leadership of DHS amid widespread outrage, even among some Republicans, about the deaths of Pretti and Renee Good during an aggressive immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis. Noem, who said Pretti committed an "act of domestic terrorism" against immigration agents despite videos showing otherwise, told Fox News on Thursday that the situation immediately following the killing was "very chaotic," and the details she presented to reporters came from initial reports from Customs and Border Protection agents in Minneapolis. Following the killing of the 37-year-old U.S. citizen, lawmakers from both parties, including Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Sen. Thom Tillis, have called for President Donald Trump to remove Noem from her position. The scrutiny comes as the Trump administration seeks to soften its messaging around Pretti's death following Noem's antagonistic response. The president sent border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis, where he vowed on Thursday to oversee a more targeted campaign than the strategy that has been pursued in the city and elsewhere. Noem attended a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday, but the president did not invite her to speak and she did not take any questions. |
| Firmness, flattery and phone calls: How Mexico's president won over Trump | |
 | He has called Colombian President Gustavo Petro "a sick man" and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a "dictator." He once slammed French President Emmanuel Macron as "publicity-seeking," and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as "dishonest and weak." President Trump is known for hurling scathing insults at world leaders. Then there's Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. The U.S. president has described her, at turns, as "fantastic," "terrific" and "elegant." In a social media post Thursday, he offered his most glowing compliments yet, extolling Sheinbaum as "wonderful and highly intelligent" and saying Mexicans "should be very happy" to have her as their leader. Trump's emphatic praise for Sheinbaum is surprising, given their marked differences in temperament and politics. Sheinbaum, a leftist known for her patience and pragmatism, labeled Israel's U.S.-backed war in Gaza a "genocide" and condemned the recent U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. She disagrees with Trump on three of his firmly held beliefs: that the U.S. should raise tariffs on Mexican imports, expel migrants en masse, and attack drug traffickers inside Mexico. But Sheinbaum is keenly aware of how Trump's actions on trade, immigration and security could plunge Mexico into turmoil, potentially threatening her own popularity and the legacy of the ruling party founded by her populist predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. |
| New report shows how vital Latino entrepreneurship is to the U.S. economy | |
| Latino businesses surged during the financial crisis and after the pandemic, despite many challenges, according to a new report out Thursday from researchers at UCLA and Cal Lutheran University. It notes that Latino entrepreneurship is key to the U.S. economy. The report covers a 16-year period through 2023. During that time, the number of Latino-owned businesses grew almost seven times faster than non-Latino companies. They even powered through the Great Recession. The number of non-Latino businesses shrank slightly from 2007 to 2012, but Latino-owned firms grew by more than 46%. As for the pandemic era, the report shows the age-adjusted death rate from COVID for Latinos was more than twice the non-Latino white rate. Still, the researchers found that Latino-owned businesses grew by more than 47% in the years before, during, and after the pandemic. That was more than four times the non-Latino growth rate. But there are many challenges. |
| Elon Musk says Tesla will end Model S and Model X production to focus on robots | |
| On a Wednesday earnings call, Musk said the company will stop producing two of its vehicles, the Model S and Model X. He also said the company will repurpose the factory space in Fremont, Calif. to manufacture humanoid robots instead. Musk implied that Tesla would eventually be moving on from electric vehicles. According to CNN, Musk said the Cybercab -- a two-seat, fully autonomous robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals -- is expected to sell in volumes "several times more" than all of Tesla's other vehicles combined. Production on the Model S and Model X is expected to cease at the next quarter. "We expect to wind down S and X production next quarter and basically stop production," he said. "That is slightly sad, but it's time to bring the S and X programs to an end, and it's part of our overall shift to an autonomous future." Tesla operates a major manufacturing facility in Austin, known as the Gigafactory, which opened in 2021. The site produces vehicles including the Model Y and Cybertruck. Texas remains a key hub for Tesla's production and long-term strategy. |
| CMSD, MUW partner to fill classrooms with homegrown teachers | |
| A new partnership between Columbus Municipal School District and Mississippi University for Women aims to strengthen the pipeline of future teachers moving from the university into district classrooms. For teacher candidates, the partnership creates an opportunity for hands-on experience in the classroom and a clearer pathway from college coursework to full-time teaching. "(We're) building the pipeline (for teachers) to come directly into Columbus and work, or if they want to go somewhere else, they can, but they have built these skills related to the culture and community of Columbus, which is what we hope for," said Kelly Ballard, chair of the MUW Department of Education. For the district, it intends to help address ongoing staffing needs by recruiting and retaining teachers who are already familiar with CMSD schools. "Together, we are strengthening our efforts to recruit, prepare and retain educators by creating meaningful pathways and experiences for them," CMSD Superintendent Craig Chapman told The Dispatch. Both institutions signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday, outlining how they will collaborate in training teachers, placing them in classrooms and providing continued resources, like professional development and hiring incentives. |
| NBC's 'Dateline' to air episode on killing of Ole Miss student Jay Lee Friday | |
| Long-running crime show "Dateline" will air an episode focused on the 2022 disappearance of former Ole Miss student Jimmy "Jay" Lee and the subsequent capital murder trial of Sheldon Timothy Herrington this week. The episode titled "Bringing Jay Home" will air on NBC Friday, Jan. 30, at 8 p.m. with Blayne Alexander reporting. The network description of the story says "Lee, a popular and beloved student at the University of Mississippi, vanishes from his apartment early one July morning and is never seen again. Blayne Alexander speaks exclusively with Jay's grieving friends and family, whose deep faith sustains them as they worry that Jay's identity as a Black gay man in Mississippi might complicate the search for answers." Lee, 20, went missing in July 2022, and a Lafayette County grand jury indicted Herrington, now 25, for capital murder despite not having located Lee's body. Officials say Herrington lured Lee to his apartment to kill him to keep their sexual relationship from going public. Herrington was transported to the Mississippi State Penitentiary on Jan. 8. |
| This type of bacteria can cause deadly infections. LSU researchers want to use it to fight cancer | |
 | The staph bacterium, sometimes called a "superbug," is one of the most common causes of infection in the hospital and it can be deadly. But new research at LSU shows how Staphylococcus aureus might be used for good -- by harnessing the bacteria to kill cancer cells with minimal harm to healthy tissue. "When we study those mechanisms and we understand them better, we can re-engineer them to do something good for us," said Dr. Chen Chen, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. Cancer drugs in use today that rely on toxins derived from bacteria can damage healthy cells, according to the study. Chen's work uses a protein expressed by staph to target cancers, especially those likely to metastasize. It proposes fusing a bacterial toxin with the targeting protein to deliver a "killing" protein to cancer cells. The researchers' approach revealed lower toxicity in normal cells as a result of the killing protein, while cancer cells died. The discovery paves the way for a novel therapeutic cancer treatment -- in particular for late-stage cancers or cancers that have metastasized, Chen said. |
| Florida moves forward with DeSantis-backed pause for H-1B visas in universities | |
 | A push by Gov. Ron DeSantis for Florida universities to pause hiring international faculty and staff members through what are known as H-1B visas moved forward Thursday. The state university system's Board of Governors set up for final approval a proposed moratorium as part of rule changes involving powers and duties of university boards of trustees. With critics raising concerns that the proposal could hinder Florida's standing educationally and financially, the measure would direct each board of trustees to "not utilize the H-1B program in its personnel program to hire any new employees through January 5, 2027." Board of Governors Chairman Alan Levine said the moratorium wouldn't stop the use of other visa programs. "It's just this one program, where we need to gather more information and then make an informed policy decision," Levine said. In voting against the proposal, Carson Dale, the student representative on the board, said the pause could harm Florida's competitiveness against other state university systems. Dale noted Elon Musk entered the U.S. as an international student before leading companies that reshaped the electric-vehicle and space industries. |
| $150M state investment could bring 'cutting-edge' research to Kentucky, Senate leader says | |
 | Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers is proposing a hefty investment into the state's research infrastructure. The legislation, Senate Bill 6, is the funding component of a measure passed during the 2024 session that established an endowment to be administered by the Council on Postsecondary Education. Funding would include federal and state dollars as well as gifts and grants. While Stivers' 2024 bill didn't come with state money for the fund, he is asking for the legislature to put $150 million into the Endowed Research Fund for fiscal year 2027. "Senate Bill 6 is about creating long-term opportunity" Stivers said. "By investing in high-quality research and fostering collaboration among our universities, we strengthen Kentucky's economy, attract top-tier talent and ensure our institutions remain competitive nationwide." The funding would be distributed across the five consortium research accounts, where each account supports a research project and partnership between Kentucky's public universities. According to the 2024 law, each research consortium receives funding for a five-year term. Stivers said research areas could include biomedical, pharmaceutical, engineering or artificial intelligence. But ultimately, it will be up to the Council on Postsecondary Education to review the applications, choose the research areas and award the grants. |
| Tenuous biomedical funding has put first-year Ph.D. students in a bind | |
| An aspiring bioengineer, Alex Sathler was walking through the streets of London with a friend last summer when he pulled out his phone and saw that he'd been chosen for a prestigious National Science Foundation fellowship right before entering graduate school. He couldn't believe his luck. The Graduate Research Fellowship Program award comes with an annual stipend of $37,000 for three years, giving him major street cred in an academic system where securing funding can make or break careers. Around 12,000 students apply for the NSF fellowship each year, with just 1,000 to 2,000 winners selected annually. More than 40 past recipients have gone on to win Nobel Prizes. "I was glowing that whole day," said Sathler, who went to community college in Portland, Ore., before attending Oregon State University, where he fell in love with research. But in a year when the Trump administration upended the science ecosystem, having his own funding didn't turn out to be a golden ticket. The first-year Ph.D. student, who's enrolled in a program run jointly by the University of California, Berkeley, and UC San Francisco, was turned away by two labs where he had hoped to work on his dissertation. The lab heads told him they just can't afford to take on more students right now. Another hasn't replied at all. Many of his classmates have had similar experiences, he added. Sathler and his cohort aren't alone. First-year biomedical graduate students throughout the country told STAT that labs have been hesitant to take them in due to a tenuous funding environment, with the National Institutes of Health funding fewer projects last year and on track to do the same in 2026. |
| What Keeps Higher Ed Up at Night | |
 | A University of Wyoming professor says she used to walk into the classroom on the first day of the semester "and wonder, Which one of these minds will I get to watch bloom?" But after watching colleagues get pilloried for comments that were recorded in class and circulated online, "now my first thought is, Which one of these students is going to get me fired?" The nontenured faculty member -- who teaches about "controversial social issues," some touching on race and gender -- spoke to The Chronicle on the condition that no other identifying information be included. Compounding her concerns: Wyoming lawmakers last year passed a law allowing concealed weapons in college classrooms. "I worry that if the wrong student is in my classroom and has the wrong emotional reaction to something I said, they might have a gun in their bag," she said. The professor was among 2,328 faculty members, administrators, and staff members from two-and four-year colleges who responded to The Chronicle's 2025 work-force survey, which gauged higher-education employees' experiences, job satisfaction, and challenges. The portrait that emerged from the survey, conducted online between November 19 and December 11, is in some ways unsurprising: The past year of political, financial, and social stressors has left a large share of employees feeling increasingly under siege, overworked, and insecure. |
| Education Department Takes Another Step Toward Finalizing Loan Limits | |
 | The Department of Education has taken its penultimate step in finalizing a new rule that will put a limit on how much graduate students can borrow from the government to fund their education. The plan has seen significant public pushback in recent months, and now concerned constituents will get the chance to have their say. A committee of higher ed experts cautiously signed off on the department's plans in November. On Thursday, the department's more thorough formal proposal was published to the Federal Register for comment. (What was published closely mirrors the regulatory text committee members agreed to but adds further explanations.) Members of the public now have until March 2 to submit their comments. And after that, the only step left is for department officials to review and respond to the comments before they finalize the rule. The policy is supposed to take effect July 1. he regulations, written in response to the higher ed section of Congress's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, end Grad PLUS loans and limit Parent PLUS loans, which allowed postbaccalaureate students and the parents of undergrads to borrow up to the full cost of attendance. They also eliminate multiple loan-repayment options for borrowers. But the most contentious aspect of the regulation is the new limit on loans for students in graduate and professional programs, which could force universities to rethink their approach to graduate education and lead students to rely more on private loans. |
| Accreditors brace for more change under the Trump administration | |
| After a tumultuous year for the higher education sector, accreditors -- the quality-control bodies that act as gatekeepers to federal student aid for institutions -- are taking stock. This week, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation held its annual conference in Washington, D.C., as the sector tries to chart a path forward amid policy uncertainty, political pressure and wavering support for higher ed. At this week's CHEA conference, Jon Fansmith, the American Council on Education's senior vice president for government relations, said more potential shifts could be coming down the pike, including to the accreditation system. The administration is "moving away from the individual targeting of institutions to a broader, systematic set of changes that will impact all institutions -- and accreditation is the forefront of that effort," Fansmith said. "We are very worried about the independence of accreditation ... and this administration's efforts to bring more political and ideological influence over the accreditation process," Fansmith said. "We would be concerned about any administration having that authority. That's not the purpose of accreditation. That is not why accreditation has worked so successfully over time." |
SPORTS
| Women's Basketball: Bulldogs Leave Rocky Top With Top-15 Victory | |
| Mississippi State earned their first second top 25 victory of the season in Tennessee, where they took down the 15th-ranked Lady Vols, 77-62. The beginning of the game was a defensive minded contest, with only a combined 21 points between the two teams in the first quarter. State scored 26 points in the second, including a 9-0 run to end the half, to enter the locker room with a 9-0 lead. The third quarter saw the Bulldogs take the lead and they would never relinquish it, leading by as many as 20. Kharyssa Richardson scored 20+ points for the third time in SEC play this season, as she finished the contest with 21 points on 9-11 shooting. Richardson has only scored 20+ points four times in her career, with three of them coming in conference play in her first season in the Maroon and White. The Bulldogs will be back in action when they welcome Missouri to Humphrey Coliseum. Tipoff for the contest is set for 2 p.m. on February 1. |
| State stuns No. 15 Tennessee on the road, 77-62 | |
| Upsets have come for Sam Purcell during his first four seasons at Mississippi State, but none of them have come on the road -- until Thursday night. Purcell has challenged his team to find a toughness on the road. The Bulldogs had it in a tough loss at No. 23 Alabama on Sunday and it hit another level on the road at league-leading No. 15 Tennessee. Behind one of the best defensive efforts of the season, the Bulldogs took that fight to Knoxville and stunned the Lady Volunteers 79-62. State lost to the Lady Vols 90-80 in the third game of the SEC slate, but Thursday night showed a much different team. "We've been in so many games," Purcell said on postgame radio. "You could see it coming, there's only a matter of time when it comes together. When it comes together, man what a night." Where State was the strongest was its rebounding effort. The Bulldogs are 12th nationally in rebounding and strengthened that on Thursday with a 50-31 edge against UT. Kharyssa Richardson had her third 20-point game of the SEC season with 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting while Madison Francis and Favour Nwaedozi had double-doubles with 12 points and 10 rebounds from Francis and 11 points and 14 boards for Nwaedozi. |
| Bulldogs power past No. 15 Vols for first SEC road win | |
| Mississippi State women's basketball picked up its first SEC road win of the season on Thursday, beating No. 15 Tennessee 77-62 in Knoxville. It was the second ranked win of the season for the Bulldogs after beating No. 7 Kentucky at The Hump 11 days ago, and it closes out a run of seven straight games against ranked opposition for the group. The Bulldogs (16-5, 3-5 SEC) trailed 12-9 after an ugly opening quarter from both teams, which included 11 MSU turnovers, but the defensive approach was slowing down a Tennessee offense that scored 90 in Starkville three weeks ago. The second quarter is where MSU came to life on the attack winning the frame 26-14 with a 9-0 run to end the half. MSU is back at home for its next game against Missouri on Sunday at 2 p.m. The game will be available to stream on SEC Network+. |
| O'Connor wanted the challenge of coaching baseball in SEC, and he'll get one at Mississippi State | |
| Brian O'Connor landed his first head coaching job at Virginia in 2004 and quickly turned a baseball program that had finished higher than fourth in the ACC just once during the previous 30 years into a perennial national contender. Twenty-two years later, the idea of him in a dugout wearing anything other than his No. 26 Cavaliers jersey seemed unimaginable. He had passed on job opportunities at elite programs in the past decade and in 2024, following a third College World Series appearance in four years, signed a seven-year contract extension. But last May, weeks after he tamped down reports he was in line for the job at Mississippi State, the Bulldogs came to him with an offer he couldn't refuse. In two weeks he'll begin his first season in the Southeastern Conference in the most high-profile coaching move of the year. "A lot is made about the SEC for the right reasons -- obviously the level of baseball, the coaches and the players year after year that this league produces," O'Connor said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Part of this for me, selfishly, is I personally wanted the opportunity and the challenge every weekend to be at the absolute highest level." |
| 'Play harder' approach sees Bulldogs shake 5-game skid at LSU | |
| Mississippi State men's basketball head coach Chris Jans had a simple message for his team at the start of the week: "Play harder." The team suffered its worst loss of the season last weekend, a 32-point blowout at home against No. 15 Vanderbilt. The Commodores came out hot with a 22-4 run through the opening four minutes of the game, and the ensuing 36 minutes were a mixed bag from a defeated MSU squad. That wasn't the case on Wednesday in Baton Rouge. The Bulldogs raced out of the gate against LSU, leading by as much as 27 points in the first half to set the tone in an eventual 80-66 win over the Tigers. "We kept it simple after the Saturday game," Jans said on MSU radio after the game. "Obviously, that wasn't a great point for us, and now you've got to go on the road for two, so we kept it simple in terms of what was important. We had a game plan and switched up some ball-screen coverage to try to generate more off our defense, but the biggest thing we talked about was just competing harder. We had two goals: compete harder and win. I said if we accomplish the first goal, I can't promise you, but I'm pretty confident we'll accomplish the second goal." |
| Why the push for new Jackson State stadium 'has legs' | |
| For multiple years running, a bill was introduced in an effort for Jackson State University to have a new multi-purpose football stadium. House Bill 117 was introduced on January 7 by Mississippi Representative Robert Johnson, advocating for $40 million to be appropriated out of any money in the State General Fund not otherwise appropriated to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning, effective July 1, 2026. Johnson said the bill, driven by alumni and administration who want a modern, on-campus stadium to "enhance student life and attract more students," would serve as "seed money for planning, design, and initial building stages." This is not the first time a bill like this has been proposed. Most notably, in the 2025 Legislative Session, Rep. Johnson introduced the same bill, HB137, that ultimately died in committee. The same occurred in 2022 with Senate Bill 3151, introduced by current Jackson Mayor John Horhn, because of a disagreement on location. In years past, the University of Mississippi Medical Center has expressed interest in acquiring and redeveloping the land that the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, where JSU football plays. That may no longer be on the cards, according to Rep. Johnson. |
| Sen. Ted Cruz against idea of college athletes as employees | |
| Sen. Ted Cruz said it is "absolutely critical" that any federal law related to college sports includes a provision that prevents athletes from being deemed employees of their school. The Republican from Texas, who holds a key position in advancing NCAA legislation as chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, told ESPN in an interview Wednesday that Congress might run out of time to act if it can't find a bipartisan solution in the coming months. During a yearslong effort to restore order to the college sports industry, Republicans and Democrats have remained largely divided on whether college athletes should have a future avenue for collective bargaining, which would require them to be employees. "Clarifying that student athletes are not employees is absolutely critical," Cruz told ESPN. "Without it, we will see enormous and irreparable damage to college sports." Cruz and NCAA leaders say many smaller schools would not be able to afford their teams if athletes had to be paid and receive benefits as employees. However, as lawsuits over player contracts and eligibility rules continue to mount, a growing number of frustrated coaches and athletic directors from major programs say they are open to collective bargaining as a solution. |
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