| Tuesday, March 24, 2026 |
| Mississippi State University officials visit with Pope Leo XIV while in Rome | |
 | A delegation of officials representing Mississippi State University visited with religious royalty while in Italy. The group met with Pope Leo XIV, the first American to head the Catholic Church, while visiting the future home of Mississippi State's international programs in Rome. Mississippi State has partnered with the Pontifical University Antonianum to establish an academic collaboration, signing a memorandum of understanding in June 2025. Mississippi State is also renovating a historic convent that will provide students a home-away-from-home while abroad. The property is owned by the Vatican through the Carmelite Order, which sees this relationship as an extension of their educational mission. By entering the agreement, Mississippi State will support an element of its own rapidly growing study abroad program. MSU's center in Rome was made possible by a gift from donors Mike and Laura McDaniel. The McDaniels took part in the Mississippi State delegation's personal audience with the pope at the Vatican, where the first American-born pontiff in history was fittingly presented a special Bulldog baseball jersey. Other university officials greeting the pope included Mississippi State Provost and Executive Vice President David Shaw and Vice President for Development and Alumni John Rush. |
| Pope Leo XIV gifted Mississippi State baseball jersey during meeting with school officials | |
 | A group representing Mississippi State made their way to Rome, the future home of the university's international programs, and received a personal audience with Pope Leo XIV. The visit comes after MSU put pen to paper to finalize a partnership with the Pontifical University Antonianum (PUA). The university is renovating a historic convent, which will house students studying abroad. The property is owned by the Vatican through the Carmelite Order. The new Rome location is made possible by a donation from Mike and Laura McDaniel from Houston, Texas. Both were present when school officials gifted Pope Leo XIV a special Mississippi State baseball jersey. "My wife and I are thrilled to support the new partnership between Mississippi State University and [PUA]," McDaniel said. "This will offer Mississippi students the opportunity to experience the Eternal City for extended study periods while living university life alongside the students of [PUA]. Studying and learning together means sharing each other's experiences, improving cooperation and global understanding." |
| Mississippi State furthers plans for overseas center in Rome | |
 | A delegation of Mississippi State University (MSU) officials visited Rome, Italy, where the university's future headquarters for international programs is planned to be located. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between MSU and Pontifical University Antonianum (PUA) in June 2025. MSU officials said this was signed to establish an academic collaboration that will provide students a home-away-from-home while abroad. "The residence can host 36 students at a time. Our expectation is to host as many as 150 each academic year. Renovation work is scheduled to begin this summer, and the first students should arrive in spring 2028," explained MSU Provost and Executive Vice President David Shaw. |
| Why does the Pope have a Mississippi State baseball jersey? | |
 | Mississippi State University officials traveled to Rome in March to advance plans for the university's first international residential center, following a partnership with the Pontifical University Antonianum. University representatives, joined by benefactors Mike and Laura McDaniel, met with Pope Leo XIV in a private audience at the Vatican. The McDaniels, whose donation is funding the center, presented the pontiff -- the first American-born pope -- with a Mississippi State baseball jersey. The MSU Rome Center will be housed in a renovated convent owned by the Carmelite Order and is expected to welcome its first students in spring 2028. MSU leaders said donor support and the university's partnership with the Carmelite Order are expected to keep student costs low, broadening access to study abroad experiences. During the visit, MSU and the Pontifical University Antonianum also co-hosted an international conference on ethical artificial intelligence, highlighting the growing academic collaboration between the institutions. |
| MSU Fraternity builds high school, homes in South African village | |
 | One of Jesse Carver's most memorable moments from four years of volunteer work in the remote village of Katse, high in the mountains of Lesotho, came just a few weeks ago, when he and 39 members of Kappa Sigma Fraternity handed out 70 green soccer jerseys to a schoolyard full of children. "To us, a sports uniform might not be much," Carver told the Starkville Rotary Club on Monday at the Hilton Garden Inn. "How many times do you get a piece of clothing and it's just another shirt for your drawer? But when I was there ... and we handed them out, these kids were absolutely overjoyed. It's a unique sound when you hear the first celebrations of a team coming together." Carver serves on the board of the Reclaimed Project, a Fondren-based nonprofit that supports vulnerable children, orphans and widows through construction work in Lesotho, located in South Africa, and Marks, where afterschool programs are provided to under-resourced students in Quitman County. Since 2015, Mississippi State University's Kappa Sigma chapter has supported the organization through its annual Charity Bowl fundraiser and spring break trips to Katse. |
| Area teen recognized at Dixie National Sale of Junior Champions | |
 | In 2026, 1,152 4-H and FFA members from across Mississippi participated in the Dixie National Junior Round-Up Livestock Shows, exhibiting 1,759 head of livestock. Julian Chavez of Lincoln 4-H was one of those exhibitors. These students competed for the opportunity to participate in the 57th annual Sale of Junior Champions. The Sale of Junior Champions, one of the highlight events of the Dixie National Livestock Show and Rodeo, is an auction where livestock exhibitors winning Champion and Reserve Champion in the Junior Round-Up Market Divisions sell their prizewinning animals and where scholarships are awarded. During the Sale of Junior Champions, one student member of the Lincoln County 4-H was recognized for his achievements. Julian Chavez was recognized as a 2026 premier exhibitor. The 2026 Dixie National Sale of Junior Champions marked a significant milestone as the second highest grossing sale ever. Total sales over this unique event's 57-year history surpassed $10.6 million this year. In addition, two records were broken at this year's sale, including the highest price ever paid for a Market Lamb at $13,500 and the highest price ever paid for a Market Goat at $25,000. |
| Mississippi landowners urged to be on alert for tree-killing beetles | |
| As temperatures rise in Mississippi, landowners are urged to be on the lookout for one pesky insect known to wreak havoc on trees. Forestry specialists with Mississippi State University Extension Service warn that bark beetles could be on the hunt for trees to destroy, especially after January's ice storm made much of the state's land vulnerable. Of Mississippi's five species of bark beetles, the three species of Ips engraver beetles and southern pine beetles, or SPB, raise the most concern, officials say. Pine bark beetles are known to kill stressed pine trees in Mississippi by boring into the cambium layer and feeding on vascular tissues, which disrupts water and nutrient movement. "Any of our five species of bark beetles will take advantage of stressed pines, particularly broken limbs and trunks from the recent ice damage," MSU Extension forestry specialist Butch Bailey said. |
| MDOT awards $5 million in TAP grants for projects across area | |
 | State and local leaders gathered Tuesday, March 17, as the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) awarded approximately $5 million in Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grants to several East Mississippi communities, funding projects aimed at improving pedestrian safety, accessibility and connectivity. Speaking at the ceremony, Central District Transportation Commissioner Willie Simmons said the investments reflect MDOT's commitment to safer, more walkable communities. "We are here today to do something great for the citizens of Mississippi," Simmons said. "Safety is always part of that, and these funds will help create better pathways for pedestrians, improve accessibility and encourage healthier lifestyles." Five grant recipients were recognized, including the City of Meridian, Lauderdale County, the Town of Marion, East Mississippi Community College and the Town of Scooba. The City of Meridian received the largest share of funding, totaling $1.734 million across two separate projects. According to city officials, $934,000 will go toward sidewalk improvements near the medical district, enhancing pedestrian access to healthcare facilities. An additional $800,000 will fund sidewalk construction and upgrades in the downtown area. |
| It's a bad time to hunt for new jobs, most US workers say in new Gallup poll | |
 | Americans' outlook on the job market has turned increasingly pessimistic, a surprisingly negative shift given the low unemployment rate but one that likely reflects an ongoing hiring drought. Just 28% of workers in a quarterly Gallup survey conducted late last year said now is a "good time" to find a quality job, with 72% saying it is a bad time. Those figures are a sharp reversal from just a few years ago, in mid-2022, when 70% said it was a good time. Americans have quickly gotten more pessimistic: As recently as late 2024, just under half of workers still said it was a good time to search for a job. The current survey was conducted during the final three months of 2025, long before the Iran war that has sent oil and gas prices soaring and threatens to slow the economy as Americans redirect more of their dollars to filling gas tanks and away from other spending. The figures help explain other surveys that show Americans have a largely bleak view of the economy, even as many headline measures suggest it has been growing and job losses are low. |
| Mississippi lawmakers say budget will determine fate of teacher pay, PERS bills | |
| Mississippi lawmakers say budget constraints are slowing progress on major issues as the legislative session enters its final days. House Education Chairman, state Rep. Rob Roberson, said discussions are happening behind the scenes even though bills have not moved off the calendar. "The bottom line is just because you haven't seen anything move off of the calendar doesn't mean there hasn't been discussions," Roberson said. He said teacher pay and other major issues are moving slowly until lawmakers know what the state can afford. "Whenever we come out with an amount on the early end, sometimes that's probably not what we should do, but that is where our heart and our head is, and we're trying to make it there," Roberson said. "But then you have the reality of what a budget has to look like, and we have to balance our budget." The retirement system is also tied up in end-of-session negotiations. The House folded PERS language into its teacher pay bill. The Senate revived six PERS measures last week. That bill has been sent to conference for more negotiations. "No one has come yet and said the Senate ideas won't work or are too costly or anything of that magnitude," Roberson said. "We've just got to get to a final product." |
| Governor vetoes disaster relief bill, alleges 'possibly criminal' changes by lawmakers | |
| Governor Tate Reeves (R) vetoed Senate Bill 2632 on Monday, accusing leaders in both the Mississippi House and Senate of making material changes to the legislation after it had already been presented to his office, an act he said violates the state Constitution and may rise to criminal conduct. "There is no provision contained in either the Constitution or any statute that authorizes the Senate Clerk's Office (or any person or persons involved) to make a material change... NONE! The plainly unconstitutional (and possibly criminal) act of the person or persons that attempted to surreptitiously change a material... term of Senate Bill 2632 is unconscionable," Reeves wrote in his veto message. The Governor specifically called out State Representative Clay Deweese (R) and State Senator Hob Bryan (D) by name, alleging both men attempted to alter the bill under the guise of fixing a "clerical error" after it had already cleared the Legislature and been transmitted to his desk. SB 2632 would have created the "Local Governments Disaster Recovery Emergency Loan Program," administered by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), to provide loans to local governments recovering from federally declared disasters. |
| States challenge USDA conditions on nutrition program funds | |
 | A coalition of states filed a lawsuit Monday challenging a Trump administration effort to impose certain conditions on billions of dollars for key federal nutrition programs from the Department of Agriculture. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts by 20 states and the District of Columbia, argues the USDA has angled to put in place vague conditions on programs and grants, including those responsible for providing assistance to women, children and low-income Americans. "USDA has now thrown unconstitutional and unlawful roadblocks between the programs created by Congress and the States that rely on them," the lawsuit states. At the center of the case are a slate of funding conditions outlined months ago by USDA that relate to "gender ideology," immigration and "fair athletic opportunities" for women and girls, the lawsuit states. The conditions are designed to coerce states into adopting USDA policies to continue receiving billions of dollars in food and critical funding, the lawsuit states. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, speaking at the press conference, said the USDA and the Trump administration are again trying to bully and coerce the states into complying with unlawful policies. |
| Senate GOP says Trump signals shift to backing DHS compromise with Democrats | |
 | Senate Republicans believe that President Trump is willing to accept a potential deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security following a White House meeting on Monday night. It would be a significant shift for Trump, who over the weekend repeatedly he would not make a deal with Democrats unless they moved separate voting legislation known as the SAVE America Act. But Trump signaled he is open to a deal to reopen the Homeland Security Department even if it doesn't fully fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a two-hour meeting at the White House Monday evening, according to GOP senators briefed on the meeting. A Senate Republican source familiar with the discussion said Trump is willing to separate funding for the Enforcement and Removal Operation from the Homeland Security appropriations bill in order to get enough Democratic support it. Under the proposal presented to Trump, Senate Republicans would pass additional money for ICE's removal operations under the budget reconciliation process, which allows them to circumvent a Democratic filibuster in the Senate as long as the legislation being considered meets certain requirements related to the spending, taxation or deficit reduction. Senate Republicans told Trump that they would also attempt to pass elements of the SAVE America Act, which Trump has called his No. 1 legislative priority, in the follow-up reconciliation bill. |
| Senate confirms Mullin to be DHS chief | |
 | The Senate voted Monday to confirm Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma to be the next Homeland Security secretary, thrusting the first-term Republican into the leadership of a department in crisis. The 54-45 vote mostly fell along party lines. All Republicans except for Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voted to confirm their colleague. Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico voted to confirm Mullin. Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, sparred with Mullin at his tense confirmation hearing last week over past disparaging comments Mullin made about the Kentucky Republican. Mullin also faced questions from Paul and Democrats on the committee about "special missions" he claimed to have taken on behalf of the U.S. government during his service in the House. Fetterman had pledged his support for Mullin previously and voted to advance his nomination out of the Homeland Security Committee. Heinrich announced over the weekend that he would vote for him despite disagreements on policy, calling Mullin a friend. The brawny senator, a former MMA fighter who owns a major plumbing company and served several terms in the House, now takes on one of the most challenging roles in the second Trump administration. |
| Supreme Court appears ready to limit mail-in balloting ahead of midterms | |
 | The Supreme Court on Monday appeared likely to embrace a conservative challenge to tallying mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day, a move that could upend election procedures in states across the country as voters prepare to cast ballots in the midterm elections. A majority of justices seemed ready to side with arguments by Republicans and Libertarians who told the court that federal election law preempts Mississippi from counting ballots that arrive up to five days after polls close as long as they are postmarked by Election Day. Most states require mail-in ballots to arrive by Election Day, but Mississippi is one 14 states that allow grace periods of days or weeks. A ruling against Mississippi could open the door to challenges to similar provisions in other states. At least five of the six conservative justices on the court asked skeptical questions of Stewart, while the three liberals directed their sharpest queries at Paul D. Clement, an attorney for conservative groups. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. was more difficult to read, while Justice Amy Coney Barrett also posed difficult questions of both sides. |
| Trump casts Florida mail ballot as he pushes Congress to severely limit that voting option | |
| President Donald Trump has cast another mail ballot in Florida as he continues to publicly bash the voting method as a source of fraud and push Congress to curtail the practice. Palm Beach County voter records show the president voted by mail in a Tuesday special election for state legislative seats and that his ballot has been counted. Early in-person voting in the contest ran through Sunday, when Trump was still at his south Florida estate. The White House did not immediately return an Associated Press request for comment. Aides have said Trump's ire is directed at states using universal mail-in voting, not individual voters who may not be able to get to a polling place. Nonetheless, Trump has in the last week called mail-in voting "cheating" and "corrupt as hell." He is urging Congress to pass the SAVE Act, a sweeping bill that would bar universal mail ballots and limit the options to a select few voters -- such as those with disabilities, military commitments or who are traveling on Election Day. The measure faces steep odds in the closely divided Senate even with the president's pressure. |
| At Graceland, Trump shares his burning love for Elvis | |
| President Donald Trump has met royalty throughout the world, but in Memphis, Tennessee on Monday, he was wistful about one he never got to know: Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll. "I knew Frank Sinatra, I knew most of them," Trump said while touring Presley's estate, Graceland. "Unfortunately, I never met Elvis. That would be one that I would have liked a lot. I do like his music." Trump was in Memphis touting his surge of federal law enforcement to combat high crime rates. "Elvis would be very happy about that," Trump said about the drop in crime, pausing to repeat a common refrain during the trip -- "I love Elvis!" -- as the singer's cover of "How Great Thou Art" played overhead. The president acknowledged his passion for Presley stems, in part, from his age. Presley was born in 1935, just 11 years before Trump in 1946. Trump in his first term awarded Presley, who died in 1977 at age 42, a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom. |
| Trump delivers farmers another financial blow with Iran war | |
 | Dave O'Brien is straightforward about how the Trump administration's policies are affecting farmers. "They're choking us. We are getting choked out here," he said. "This is not going to end well." O'Brien has been growing corn and soybeans for 50 years in northern Illinois. He has voted for Republicans and Democrats in the past, but he's frustrated with the Republican Party in the Trump era. Since the U.S. began bombing Iran, for example, restricted travel through the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted the flow of nitrogen fertilizer, sending the price spiraling upward. And that's on top of what farmers will spend filling up their fuel tanks. "You and I go to the gas station, and we're shocked when we got to spend $36 to fill our darn tank up," he said, adding that farmers will be spending thousands on diesel. "Five-hundred gallons times $4 or $5 -- there you go right there. It's just crazy." Beyond those higher costs, deportations have thinned out the labor force for some farmers. Tariffs increased the prices of goods such as machinery and caused tensions with China. Those tensions aren't over: Last week, the Trump administration announced that a planned meeting with China, the United States' No. 1 soybean export market, would be delayed for weeks. That helped send soybean prices tumbling. Joseph Glauber, a former Agriculture Department chief economist, says farm balance sheets aren't looking good. |
| Iran Worries Talks Might Be a Trap | |
 | Iran pressed its assault in the Middle East, hitting Israel as well as Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia with fresh attacks, as Tehran officials worried that diplomatic attempts to secure a cease-fire could be a trap. The extended fighting came a day after President Trump said the U.S. military would postpone strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days following "productive" talks with Tehran. Iran's Foreign Ministry denied Tehran was in talks with the U.S. President Trump's embrace of diplomacy to potentially end the war in the Middle East highlights a host of countries in the region who have mediated in previous rounds of violence. Late last week, foreign ministers from Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan gathered in Riyadh for talks aimed at finding a diplomatic off-ramp to the war. Other countries in the region have added their voices to advocate for a negotiated solution. Pakistan has also offered to host talks to end the conflict, after Trump spoke by phone to Pakistani army chief Asim Munir on Sunday. Pakistan is home to the world's largest population of Shia Muslims outside Iran and relies heavily on energy exports from the Persian Gulf. |
| RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz have a plan to save rural health care. Here's the catch. | |
| Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his team want to Make Rural America Healthy again. He has suggested that AI nurses could save dying rural hospitals. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz said robots could give ultrasounds to women and touted how AI avatars could help. And President Donald Trump's administration is infusing $50 billion over five years to improve rural health, with some states proposing to use the money for drones to deliver lab samples or prescriptions. The rural health care industry has long faced tight budgets, doctor shortages and challenges reaching patients in remote areas. But even as Trump officials pitch advanced technology to close these clinical gaps, rural health providers are worried that much of it is being oversold. The challenges are daunting, said George Pink, a senior research fellow at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Nearly 200 rural hospitals have closed or converted into facilities with fewer services in the last 20 years, as patients have became more likely to be uninsured or rely on Medicare and Medicaid, which have lower reimbursement rates than private insurance. But rural providers are also happy to see money invested into confronting the challenges they face to operate, experts said. |
| Mississippi universities get green light to revive college completion program | |
| A statewide program to help adults who have completed some university courses but never graduated was around for almost nine years before its funding ended in 2025. Now the program, Complete 2 Compete, is getting a second life. The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees voted in January to revamp the program under a new name and a decentralized structure. Some of the state's eight public universities will develop and operate their own versions of what's now known as the Adult Degree Completion program. Now, they will develop their own college completion program requirements and curriculum, and recruit eligible students. Adults who complete the program will earn a bachelor's degree. The program's revival comes at a moment when Mississippi lawmakers and some colleges across the state are discussing ways to increase the number of residents who get a degree or credential before entering the state's workforce. About 12% of Mississippi residents have some college experience but no degree. Complete 2 Compete helped 4,119 adult learners complete their degree, Melissa Temple, IHL director of nursing education, told trustees. |
| IHL concludes first round of interviews in the search for JSU's next president | |
 | The Jackson State University Board Search Committee and Search Advisory Constituency concluded the first round of candidate interviews for Jackson State University's next president last week. Board members of Mississippi's Institutions of Higher Learning worked alongside the advisory committee as well as AGB Search, a search firm hired to help guide the process. "The success of Jackson State is critical right now, and we need a good leader who's going to carry it and build on the history of Jackson state and carry it into its next phase of success," said John Sewell, IHL's director of Communications. "The candidates that are here are all interested in taking on that important role." Sewell said he's optimistic about the potential outcome of the search. "This has been a good process so far. The board committee, the search advisory constituency with its stakeholders from Jackson State have been working well together, and we are really making strong progress in the process and pushing towards toward the end," he said. "We're seeing light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully we will have that new leader in soon." |
| Ole Miss announces college gambling center as concerns rise over addiction, athletes | |
| The University of Mississippi on Monday announced the upcoming launch of its new Center on Collegiate Gambling, which researchers describe as the "first of its kind in the nation" amid rising national concern about betting on collegiate sports. The center was approved by the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees in February and will cost about $700,000 a year. It was conceived to study the "heightened risks" for college students and student athletes caused by the rapid growth of legalized sports betting and online gambling, its founders said. Researchers said the center will now begin hiring staff. HL's approval of the center follows the release of survey results by University of Mississippi researchers showing that 39% of Mississippi college students gambled in a variety of formats in the past year. Of those who engaged in sports betting, 6% of Mississippi college students met criteria for problem gambling as defined by the American Psychiatric Association. "We really think that this is an issue that affects Mississippi at large," Hannah Allen-King, executive director of the university's William Magee Institute for Student Wellbeing and assistant professor of public health, said in a news release. "And so, we're trying to work with our legislators as they debate policy change around gambling in the state." |
| Overby Center to present program on iconic Whiskey Speech by Soggy Sweat | |
| The Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics will present a program on Soggy Sweat's iconic Whiskey Speech on Tuesday, March 24. The title of the film is "The Whiskey Speech: Soggy Sweat and the Power of Storytelling." It is produced and directed by David Crews, a member of the Overby Center Board of Trustees. Crews will participate in the program along with Charles Overby, chairman of the Overby Center. The program will feature a screening of a documentary film on the speech followed by a discussion of the historical context and importance of the speech. Cosponsors for the event are the University of Mississippi School of Law, the Mississippi Judicial College, and the Lafayette County Bar Association. The program will begin at 5:30 in the Overby Center auditorium on the Ole Miss campus and will last approximately 90 minutes. A reception for all attendees will follow the program. |
| Papa Mississippi headlines UM Voting Summit | |
 | Mississippi history took center stage on Thursday, March 19 as Brett Kenyon, better known online as "Papa Mississippi," delivered the keynote address at the University of Mississippi's Voting Summit. UM's Center for Community Engagement and its Voting Engagement Ambassadors organized the biennial summit and invited Kenyon to speak. The event aims to promote voter registration, education and participation. Kenyon's videos on Mississippi history and culture have gained him over 110,000 followers on TikTok. Ami Ba, a voting engagement ambassador and junior public policy leadership and economics major, felt Kenyon was the perfect pick to deliver the keynote speech. "When you look at who follows him, it's young and old," Ba said. "It's people of different backgrounds and faiths, and I believe that's a really inspirational thing. I believe the power of his voice and his love for our state was inspiring, and that's why I reached out to him." Kenyon, who was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., moved to Mississippi in 2003 and fell in love with the state. As Papa Mississippi, Kenyon broadcasts stories and information about the Magnolia State in hopes that Mississippians and non-residents alike will gain a greater appreciation for the state. |
| Mississippi Dept. of Education adds new Districts, Schools of Innovation | |
| The State Board of Education renewed and approved new Districts and Schools of Innovation across Mississippi last week. Wendy Clemmons, Chief Academic Officer and Dr. Bryan Marshall, Associate State Superintendent with the Mississippi Department of Education, presented the Board with three new districts of innovation, a request for renewal of two districts of innovation, and renewal for two schools of innovation along with two amendments to current districts of innovation. To be considered for inclusion as a District or School of Innovation, an application process is employed that seeks to identify those that implement creative, new or innovative alternatives to instructional and administrative practices that improve learning. "A lot of these schools are doing everything from expanding choices as far as what the students are learning, enhancing the learning opportunities that they have and we always promote increasing student engagement, which of course impacts attendance and other things," Clemons explained on Thursday. Now that the Board approved the proposed list, the state has 13 Districts of Innovation along with five early college high schools, seven middle college high schools, and six schools of innovation across the state. Marshall said the new districts include Newton County, Union Public School District, and Western Line School District. |
| U. of Alabama students sue over shutdown of campus magazines | |
 | University of Alabama students are suing the college after they say it violated their First Amendment rights. Eight UA students filed a federal lawsuit against UA's board of trustees and Gov. Kay Ivey over the decision to shut down the magazines Alice and Nineteen Fifty-Six in 2025. "There's an important constitutional principle at stake that the university should not be able to censor and can't constitutionally censor student media," Sam Boyd, Southern Poverty Law Center's senior supervising attorney, told AL.com. The SPLC is among other groups representing the student plaintiffs. The magazines highlighted Black student and women's issues and were caught in the university's efforts to follow new federal anti-DEI policy. On March 23, the plaintiffs said they were filing a lawsuit because the university "unlawfully censors disfavored student voices and perspectives, violating their rights." |
| Town hall meeting on higher ed goes on without Texas A&M reps | |
| The Brazos Valley Alliance hosted a town hall on higher education Sunday at Bryan VFW Post 4692 with a professor from Texas A&M University, a current student and a former student. Notably missing from the panel were any members of the university's administration. There was a chair left open with a list of the administrators the BVA had invited multiple times to take part in the town hall, but who had declined the invitation. The list of invited administrators included interim President Tommy Williams, Vice President for Student Affairs Bill Kibler and Deputy Chief Government Relations Officer Michael J. Hardy. Event organizer TC Langford said the group even reached out to the A&M student government and, after accepting the invitation, the student government leaders also declined to participate, citing Saturday's Big Event as the reason for canceling on Sunday's town hall. "The student government was very enthusiastic at first and then oddly in the last week or two said they couldn't and cited the Big Event as a conflict. I guess they're tired today," Langford told media after the event. |
| U. of Texas researchers develop sensitive robot hands | |
| A new type of robotic hand developed at the University of Texas can grasp objects as fragile as a potato chip or a raspberry without crushing them. The technology could bring robots closer to imitating the sensitive touch of humans, with implications for manufacturing and health care. And very few robotic gripping technologies have the sort of slip detection this one deploys, the researchers note in a new paper published in the journal IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. Fine-tuning robot touch has big money implications as major firms invest in humanoids. Lillian Chin, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at UT and one of the lead researchers on this project, tells Axios the technology is the basis for an upcoming $750,000 grant from the Toyota Research Institute, which she said is "explicitly interested in adapting this technology to humanoid fingers." The researchers have publicly released the hardware designs and algorithms behind the construction of the robot hands to encourage other scientists and engineers to build upon their work. |
| Stephen Miller Asks Why Texas Pays to Teach Undocumented Children | |
 | Stephen Miller raised the idea of ending public education funding for undocumented children in a closed-door meeting with Texas lawmakers in Washington last week, a move that would challenge a decades-old U.S. Supreme Court precedent, according to two people who were in the meeting. Mr. Miller, President Trump's hard-line immigration adviser, cited gridlock in Congress as he encouraged the state lawmakers to pass conservative legislation on immigration and other issues that are crucial to Republicans, hoping such action would spur on other red states and federal lawmakers. Doing so would break with the Supreme Court precedent set in Plyler v. Doe, a 1982 decision that determined that states must pay for the elementary school education of all students regardless of immigration status. Ending public school funding for undocumented students in Texas would be a major reversal that could be replicated by other red states with large immigrant communities. |
| Experts say consumer demands have increased protein trends | |
 | Increased access to protein-based food sources has created a "quick fix" for people looking to stay fit. These days, protein can be found almost anywhere. From Core Power shakes offering 42 grams of protein in a single bottle to Pop-Tarts offering 20 grams of protein in a single serving. Rachel O'Halloran, a nutrition and health specialist with MU Extension, said protein trends from companies like Core Power are being driven by the consumers. On the University of Missouri campus, places like Rush Fuel, located in the Mizzou Student Center, offer made-to-order protein shakes and bowls, giving students another convenient way to get protein. Ellie Rollins, a Rush Fuel employee, said she has noticed more customers asking about protein products before ordering. "We list (the amount of protein) on our menus so that they know, but we still do get asked -- and we'll even get asked to add extra," Rollins said. For students, O'Halloran recommends getting protein from whole-food choices like a cup of beans, a quart-size of chicken breast, plain Greek yogurt and nuts. |
| Data: Most Employers Still Value College Degrees | |
 | A new survey shows that employers still prefer to hire workers with college degrees. But only 54 percent of those same employers say students are graduating with the skills their organizations need. On Tuesday, Gallup and the Lumina Foundation published the results of a survey of 2,000 United States–based employers conducted earlier this year. The findings come amid continued public skepticism about the value of a college degree and recent moves by a number of private companies and state governments -- including IBM, Delta Airlines and the governments of Maryland and Florida -- to drop degree requirements for many positions. According to the survey, 23 percent of employers say their organizations have removed degree requirements in the past three years, while another 20 percent said they're in the process of doing so. Despite those changing requirements, 76 percent of employers prefer candidates who have a four-year degree and 78 percent prefer those with a two-year degree. But the vast majority of those workers still require some additional training or skills development to perform their jobs effectively, employers said. The survey found that 20 percent of recent college graduates needed "a little" extra training, 49 percent needed "a moderate amount" and 20 percent needed "a great deal." |
| Young Graduates Face the Grimmest Job Market in Years | |
| In January, an administrator from the career center at the University of Delaware posed a question on a private message board for educators: "Has anyone else noticed a decrease in employer fair registration for their spring events?" Responses came swiftly. "We are definitely seeing similar issues!" "It seems the current environment is not conducive to hiring." "The struggle is real." The forum, which included administrators from schools across the country, encapsulated the intense anxiety gripping college students, recent graduates and virtually everyone else who knows anyone preparing to start a career. They have reason to worry: This is the worst spring for young degree holders since the depths of the pandemic. The diminished prospects for young graduates are colliding with questions over whether artificial intelligence is destroying the kinds of jobs they have long sought. Although A.I. may be replacing some entry-level jobs on the margins, there is little evidence it is the main culprit -- at least not yet. Rather, many economists believe employment challenges for young people with college degrees stem more from the "low hire, low fire" dynamics in the labor market. On campuses nationwide, counselors are advising students to apply liberally to jobs. |
| America's Chief Financial Officers Say AI Is Coming for Admin Jobs | |
| America's chief financial officers say that artificial intelligence will push some people out of their jobs: primarily workers in routine, clerical and administrative roles. Workers with highly skilled roles, such as architects and engineers, are more likely to keep their jobs, especially if they can use AI to their advantage. A new study, based on a survey of about 750 chief financial officers, found that so far AI had essentially no employment effect in 2025 and that most expect AI will lead their companies to trim only a small number of their overall jobs this year. It is still possible that workers with jobs that require more education and more training could eventually get hit, "but probably not in 2026," said John Graham, an economist at Duke University and one of the paper's authors. It was released this week as a working paper on the National Bureau of Economic Research website. Graham has been surveying chief financial officers about their expectations for their companies and the overall economy for 30 years. CFOs are uniquely placed to understand the inner workings of their companies, Graham said, since it is their job to keep watch on how company resources are being deployed. The survey, produced with economists from the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Richmond, was conducted in late 2025 and early 2026. It showed that, in aggregate, CFOs expected that AI would reduce their companies' head count this year by about 0.4%, compared with what it otherwise would have been. |
| Why AI hasn't caused a job apocalypse -- so far | |
| Over the past few months, several surveys and media reports have highlighted how artificial-intelligence technologies will increasingly displace workers. And a growing number of companies mention AI as a factor in planned or actual lay-offs. For instance, data from Challenger, a recruitment firm in Chicago, Illinois, that tracks companies' public announcements, suggests that, in 2025, AI might have been responsible for seven times as many lay-offs in the United States as were the international tariffs the US government have imposed, which are currently a major source of economic disruption globally. Such warnings have fuelled widespread expectations that the labour market might be on the verge of upheaval. The most drastic forecasts compare the current moment with the First Industrial Revolution (1760-1830), when mechanization ultimately improved living standards but caused widespread disruption to workers' livelihoods over the short term. Available data suggest that we shouldn't panic about the downsides of rapid AI adoption just yet. Research by my team at the Budget Lab at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and the Brookings Institution in Washington DC has found no evidence so far that employment patterns have begun to shift meaningfully since the launch of the ChatGPT chatbot in 2022 . The upside is that academics and policymakers still have time to work this problem out -- and to identify who might need support during the transition. |
| NIH grant terminations affected women scientists more than men, study finds | |
| Academics have long referred to their field as a leaky pipeline -- gradually bleeding researchers from marginalized communities as they progress through their careers. A new paper, published Monday, suggests that grant terminations from the National Institutes of Health over the past year may have further punctured that pipeline. The paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, shows that women, particularly those early in their careers, were disproportionately affected by terminations, even though they receive less funding from the NIH in general. Women lost a larger chunk of their grant funds than men --- on average women had 57.9% of their grant terminated, while men had 48.2%. Among doctoral students and assistant professors, 60% of terminated grants were led by women. (Men made up the majority of postdoctoral fellows, associate professors, and full professors whose grants were cancelled). "This is a great paper that confirms what I have been hearing in the community. Young and female investigators disproportionately lost NIH funding," said Donna Ginther, an economist at the University of Kansas who has studied the demographics of who the NIH funds, but was not affiliated with the new paper. |
| Breaking Down the Education Department's Interagency Agreements | |
| Over the last year, Education Secretary Linda McMahon has taken what was once an obscure, technical term and turned it into common lingo among higher education leaders as she's used 10 interagency agreements in unprecedented ways to advance President Trump's goal of dismantling the Education Department. Prior to Trump's second term in office, the acronym "IAA" was sparsely used among college and university officials, with the exception of a few select policy experts. Those who did use the term largely saw the agreements as a positive way for various agencies to collaborate on projects and support students. Now, McMahon is using IAAs to outsource responsibility for entire programs, raising concerns that she's trying to bypass Congress and essentially dismantle the Education Department without lawmakers' approval. McMahon maintains she can't shut down the agency without congressional approval and has said the agreements are ways to show how the federal government can carry out the programs without ED. Authorized by statutes like the Economy Act, IAAs have long served as written agreements that allow two or more agencies to share goods, services or staff and prevent duplicate efforts. Over the years, their use has become standard practice, so much so that there are government forms used to facilitate them. But McMahon has defied previous standards, experts say. |
SPORTS
| Baseball: Bulldogs Set For Top 15 In-State Battle | |
| A surging top-15 showdown arrives at Dudy Noble Field on Tuesday night as No. 6 Mississippi State returns home to face No. 11 Southern Miss, renewing one of the South's most compelling in-state rivalries with both clubs carrying national momentum. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. on SEC Network+. The Diamond Dawgs (20-4) bring a four-game winning streak into the matchup and have been nearly unbeatable in Starkville, where MSU owns a 16-0 record this season and an 18-game home winning streak dating back to last year. MSU is expected to start junior right-hander Chris Billingsley Jr., who has worked exclusively out of the bullpen this season but has shown flashes of effectiveness in limited innings. The Bulldogs will look for him to set the tone early in his first-career start at the Division I level. Southern Miss is projected to counter with right-hander Thomas Crabtree, a strikeout-oriented arm who has piled up 20 punchouts this season and will be tasked with navigating State's potent offense. |
| MSU's Parker named SEC Freshman of the Week | |
 | Mississippi State's Jacob Parker was named SEC Freshman of the Week, the league office announced Monday. Over four games last week, the Purvis product went 6 for 11 with a double and eight runs scored; he also drew six walks and stole two bases. Parker scored five of his runs in the Bulldogs' three-game sweep of Vanderbilt this past weekend. For the season, Parker is batting .366 with three home runs, 13 RBIs and 15 runs scored. The right fielder has seen action in 16 games with 10 starts. No. 6-ranked MSU is back in action Tuesday at home against Southern Miss. |
| SEC surge takes over March Madness with 6 teams in Sweet 16, setting up conference showdowns | AP News | |
| The Sweet 16 will have a definite SEC feel with six teams advancing from that conference to the second weekend of March Madness. Top seeds South Carolina and Texas cruised into the regional semifinals of the women's NCAA Tournament and are joined by No. 2 seeds Vanderbilt and LSU, No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 5 Kentucky. "I think it's a great sign for the conference. You can't really control if it's spread out or not," Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph said. "But you know how we feel about the SEC conference. It's the best conference in the country. If you want to win a championship, you're going to have to come through us, so it's not a surprise to me that we're seeing that many teams in. We'll see. Hopefully we'll continue to be one of them." Both of the 1 seeds will have all-SEC matchups, with the Gamecocks facing the Sooners -- the lone team to beat them in the regular season during conference play. "Our league prepares us for this level of play," South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. |
| U. of Arkansas students push back on athletics plan | |
| A majority of University of Arkansas students who voted in an Associated Student Government referendum oppose using university dollars to boost Razorbacks athletics, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. The debate highlights a growing tension in college sports over how to fund competitive athletics without shifting costs onto students. The University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees voted in January to increase funding from UA's Fayetteville campus to the university's athletic department by $6 million. Earlier this month, the board approved a plan to generate $3.4 million annually for athletics. "While the resolution calls for the development of a plan to generate $6 million annually through such offsets and forbearance, this amount has proved difficult to accomplish," UA System president Jay Silveria wrote in a memo to the athletics committee. More than 3,000 students voted in the student government referendum, with 82% opposing potential tuition hikes, fees or reallocations to support athletics, the Democrat-Gazette reported. |
| A top U. of Kentucky booster calls Barnhart retirement job 'deeply misguided,' urges reversal | |
 | One of the University of Kentucky's top boosters is still extremely disappointed that Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart was given a "golden parachute," as he announced his retirement earlier this month -- a vague job as sports ambassador for nearly $1 million a year. Brett Setzer, one of UK football's biggest supporters, sent a letter Monday to UK President Eli Capilouto, the UK Board of Trustees, and the UK Athletics Committee urging them to reverse the decision to pay Barnhart $950,000 a year to be part of the new "UK Sport and Workforce Initiative," something so new and undefined that even as of March 23, it has almost no presence on the UK website. Setzer, a Lexington native who built successful real estate and construction companies here, shared the letter with the Herald-Leader. In it, he calls the Barnhart decision "deeply misguided." "Apart from the shifting narrative surrounding the funding source, the astonishing salary for a role that apparently was not even contemplated just weeks ago, and the reality that the position will ultimately cost the University far more once benefits, perks, and lost revenues are factored in; the deal sends the wrong message," Setzer wrote. "In what other part of the University would someone be allowed to bypass established policies and long-standing practices to richly reward an individual with what amounts to the first NIL-style arrangement for someone other than an athlete?" |
| Beyond the brackets, Florida seeks college sports solutions amid possible Trump action | |
| Florida is hoping for the best -- and preparing for the worst -- when it comes to Congress or the Trump administration getting involved in the already convoluted world of college sports. State university leaders, who launched a task force on intercollege athletics Monday, are pushing Congress to pass an antitrust exemption that could regulate student athlete endorsement deals and protect schools from possible lawsuits. But, with D.C. lawmakers gridlocked and executive action from President Donald Trump looming yet uncertain, Florida is working to craft state-level policies that could install some guardrails for schools doling out millions of dollars to stay competitive, even without a clear federal standard. "We don't want to do something or say something that's going to disadvantage these major institutions," said Alan Levine, who chairs the Board of Governors. "But at the same time, we have an obligation, a fiduciary obligation, to make sure the values of our institutions are not sacrificed to pursue what seems like a good deal today, that in five or ten years, may in hindsight, [have] been a bad decision." Florida is in a unique position as college sports evolve. |
| Arbitration case could bring change to college sports' 'messy middle' | |
| Less than a year after implementing a multibillion-dollar settlement designed to bring stability to college sports, the richest teams in football are blowing past the spending cap their schools agreed to follow, testing the strength of the thin tethers that keep all 138 Football Bowl Subdivision programs competing under the same tent. The deal, known as the House settlement, established a set of rules for paying players that was intended to prevent the top programs from spending at a pace that made it impossible for the 100-plus other schools to compete. But driven by a fear of falling behind their peers and a lack of faith that any rules can effectively be enforced in today's college sports world, those top programs have aggressively pursued loopholes to build rosters that are often worth double the money schools are allowed to share directly with their players. Now, those rules are facing their first real test. A group of 18 Nebraska football players, backed by their school, are challenging a recent decision by the College Sports Commission to deny millions of dollars in NIL contracts they signed this winter, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN. |
| Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan Bill Banning Sports Bets on Prediction Markets | |
| A bipartisan pair of U.S. senators introduced legislation Monday to prohibit entities regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, including prediction-market exchanges Kalshi and Polymarket's U.S. platform, from listing contracts related to sporting events. "The CFTC is greenlighting these markets and even promoting their growth," Sen. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) said. "It's time for Congress to step in and eliminate this backdoor, which violates state consumer protections, intrudes upon tribal sovereignty and offers no public revenue." The legislation is the first bipartisan Senate bill seeking to regulate prediction markets. The bill also seeks to prohibit "casino-style games" from being listed on the platforms, such as slot machine games, video poker, blackjack and bingo. "Too many young people in Utah are getting exposed to addictive sports betting and casino-style gaming contracts that belong under state control, not under federal regulators," said Sen. John Curtis (R., Utah), the proposed bill's co-sponsor. While Kalshi and Polymarket offer yes-or-no wagers tied to everything from politics to the weather to pop culture, much of the trading activity is focused on professional and college sports, putting the platforms in competition with betting sites such as FanDuel and DraftKings. |
| Trump's Army-Navy Football Executive Order Could Face Legal Challenge | |
| President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order that aims to prevent the broadcasting of college football games that share a time slot with the annual Army-Navy football game. The "Preserving America's Game" order could face legal challenges and might be ignored altogether. In the order, Trump claims that the second Saturday in December is a "date traditionally reserved exclusively" for the Army-Navy game. He refers to the potential expansion of the College Football Playoff as "threatening to encroach" this time slot. The president also claims that scheduling conflicts with the Army-Navy "weaken the national focus of our Military Service Academies" and that, going forward, it is the "policy of the United States" that no college football game can be "broadcast in a manner that directly conflicts." If the order withstands challenge, it would be a win for CBS, which holds the broadcasting rights to the Army-Navy game. The order effectively immunizes the Army-Navy game from a competing college football broadcast, including one that might attract more viewers and higher ratings. Last year's Army-Navy game was the 32nd-most watched college football game of the season. The president, of course, cannot create law on his own. |
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