| Monday, April 6, 2026 |
| Mississippi Cyber and Technology Center reaches construction milestone | |
 | The final steel beam for the $50 million Mississippi Cyber and Technology Center was placed on Keesler Air Force Base, marking a pivotal moment in the project's construction. Signatures and snapshots commemorated the topping out ceremony for the facility. The center is a statewide collaboration with Mississippi State University and serves as the headquarters for the Mississippi Cyber Initiative, offering training, research, and secure office space. MSU Vice President of Research and Economic Development Scott Willard said the center's mission extends beyond state lines. "We'll be training people that are in the workforce to come here, learn skills, take those back to the workplace. But we're also training the next generation, students, others in the military, and hopefully provide a workforce, not only here in Mississippi, but across the region and the nation, to help us keep safe in the area of cybersecurity," Willard said. |
| Final beam lifted in place for Mississippi Cyber and Technology Center in Biloxi | |
 | Leaders from Mississippi State University and Keesler Air Force Base celebrated the final beam being lifted into place for a new cutting-edge facility on the Gulf Coast. With the signatures of leaders and partners sealed in steel, the final beam of the Mississippi Cyber and Technology Center was lifted into place. Officials from Mississippi State University and Keesler Air Force Base gathered for a ceremony celebrating the completion of the building's structural frame. The facility is designed to be a hub for innovation bringing together military training, higher education, and private industry under one roof. The center will be managed by the MSU Research and Technology Corporation and will include office space for university staff and industry partners, classrooms for Keesler's cyber training programs, and even an event space to host collaborations and conferences. |
| One MSU alum manages Artemis II mission as a second supports its readiness | |
| It's a long way from Hernando, Mississippi, to Kennedy Space Center, but Matthew Ramsey's decision to spend a few years in-between the two at Mississippi State University made the trip worth it. Today, Ramsey is celebrating the success of Wednesday's launch of NASA's Artemis II mission -- the first crewed mission since 1972 -- as its mission manager. The 10-day expedition from Earth around the moon marks a major step toward returning humans to the lunar surface and setting the stage for long-term exploration. The North Mississippi native enrolled at Mississippi State in the early 1990s as a pitcher for the university baseball team while earning a 1992 bachelor's and 1993 master's degree in aerospace engineering. He began his work with NASA in 2002. |
| Meet two Mississippi State alumni helping send Artemis II around the Moon | |
| On Wednesday, the ground shook at Kennedy Space Center as NASA launched Artemis II, the first crewed mission to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. Two Mississippi State University (MSU) alumni are celebrating the successful results of their hard work after helping make the launch happen. But for mission manager Matthew Ramsey, the journey began long before liftoff. Ramsey, from Hernando, Mississippi, began his studies at MSU in the early 1990s, working toward a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering while pitching for the Dogs' baseball team. Another MSU alum also had a key role Wednesday. For Parker Glass, the path to Artemis II began during his childhood in Yorktown, Virginia. Glass became interested in space exploration through his father, who worked at Langley Research Center. |
| MSU graduates play key roles in Artemis II launch | |
| It's a long way from Hernando, Mississippi, to Kennedy Space Center, but Matthew Ramsey said his time at Mississippi State University helped make the journey worthwhile. Today, Ramsey is celebrating the success of the April 1 launch of NASA's Artemis II mission -- the first crewed mission since 1972 -- as its mission manager. The 10-day expedition from Earth around the moon marks a major step toward returning humans to the lunar surface and setting the stage for long-term exploration. "There are a lot of similarities between mission management and pitching," Ramsey said in an agency website story. "You control many aspects of the tempo, and there's a lot of weight on your shoulders." Also contributing to the success of Artemis II is Parker Glass, who works with NASA's Exploration Ground Systems and has helped oversee budget development, project planning and resource allocation leading up to the launch. |
| Hernando native leads NASA's Artemis II moon mission | |
| A Hernando, Mississippi native, who once pitched for the Mississippi State University baseball team, is the mission manager for Artemis II spaceflight around the Moon. NASA said Matthew Ramsey's job is ensuring the agency's missions to the Moon are safe and successful. As the mission manager for Artemis II, NASA's first crewed mission under Artemis, Ramsey was charged with helping to define the requirements and priorities for the missions and certifying that the hardware and operations needed to support flight are ready. "For me, it's all about the crew and ensuring their safety as they venture to the Moon and come home," said Ramsey. "Sending people thousands of miles from home and doing it in a way that sets the stage for long-term exploration and scientific discovery is an incredibly complex task." Ramsey earned bachelor's and master's degrees in aerospace engineering from Mississippi State. |
| MSU EcoCAR team hosts Spring Vehicle Showcase Ride and Drive | |
| Mississippi State University's EcoCAR team hosted its Spring Vehicle Showcase Ride and Drive this week, giving campus leadership, partners and guests an up-close look at the team's award-winning electric vehicle. The two-hour showcase highlighted the team's work in the EcoCAR EV Challenge, a four-year collegiate engineering competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors, MathWorks and other industry leaders. During the current EV Challenge cycle (2022–2026), MSU has earned 14 first-place awards along with honors for outstanding community impact, faculty advising and workmanship. MSU was one of just 15 universities across North America selected to participate. Ride and Drive participants included MSU President Mark E. Keenum, Senior Vice Provost Brett Fountain, Bagley College of Engineering Dean David Ford, Associate Dean for Academics Robert Green, CAVS Director Clay Walden and TK Martin Center partners, including Director Kassee Stratton and Occupational Therapist Eric Knox. |
| MSU Horticulture Club hosts annual spring plant sale April 10 | |
 | The Mississippi State Horticulture Club has been hard at work for months -- planting, propagating and pruning -- in preparation for their annual plant sale that's just two weeks out. Months of preparation are led by the club's greenhouse manager, who works with advisors and members to review past results, order supplies, develop plant care schedules and coordinate outreach. Hunter Waring, horticulture sophomore from Westlake, Ohio, is proud of the team's work and excited to showcase new additions for shoppers. "We've made an effort to include more native plants this year," he said. "(We're) showcasing the benefits of incorporating the natural beauty of Mississippi and the Southeast in home landscaping." The Mississippi State University Horticulture Club will host its annual spring plant sale on April 10 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and April 11 from 8 a.m. to noon, while supplies last. The sale will be on MSU campus at the Dorman Greenhouses off Stone Boulevard at 32 Creelman Street. |
| DAWG Tank brings MSU startup competition to Vicksburg | |
| Vicksburg has its own "Shark Tank." Although it may not receive the attention and notoriety of the television show, "DAWG Tank" gives emerging local entrepreneurs a chance to showcase their inventions and receive feedback from a panel of judges. Winners also receive a cash award to help further their ventures. The goal of the initiative -- hosted by Mississippi State University and conducted at MCity -- is to "support startup development, technology commercialization and partnerships that help move new ideas to market," according to a statement issued by MSU. The university's Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach works with the Office of Technology Management to identify the most promising startups. Winners in the High School Track are invited to present their enterprises at MSU in Starkville for a statewide competition April 10. |
| Viral SEC Shorts creators present at MTA Spring Summit | |
| Two men sit side by side on a couch in an unfamiliar scene. They wear opposing T-shirts, one donning the powder blue of Ole Miss, "Oxford" stamped in red letters across the front, and the other wearing Mississippi State's maroon, "Starkville" in white letters. "We asked the towns of Oxford and Starkville, Mississippi, to make each other's tourism commercials," a narrator overhead says. "They gladly accepted the challenge." As you can imagine, the video continues with a series of jabs, jokes and roasts from the respective teams. For a commercial produced for Visit Mississippi, an organization that promotes tourism to the state, it's an interesting approach. But "those who get it, get it," said commercial writers Robert Clay and Josh Snead. The pair behind the viral SEC Shorts video series headlined Mississippi Tourism Association's Spring Tourism Summit held Wednesday at The Mill at MSU. |
| Starkville tourism looks to grow with Main Street revitalization, other projects | |
 | Officials in the city of Starkville hope an ongoing 18-month project to transform its downtown and to better connect it to the campus of Mississippi State University, alongside some other projects, will help bolster the city's tourism. And there are few Starkville fans as enthusiastic as Paige Hunt, the director of tourism of The Partnership, which comprises the Starkville Convention & Visitors Bureau, Starkville Main Street Association, Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority, and Starkville Area Chamber of Commerce. "Starkville has been marketing ourselves as 'Mississippi's College Town' for more than a decade, and I think it's such an accurate representation of what we have to offer," she said. "Most people know us as home to Mississippi State University and the amount of pageantry and events that brings with football, baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, football, tennis, all the things." But the city is much more than that. This week, tourism leaders from across the state attended the Mississippi Tourism Association Spring Travel Summit, where Hunt was able to show exactly what there was to offer. |
| TSA PreCheck enrollment returns to Golden Triangle Regional Airport | |
| Looking to skip the security lines? Golden Triangle Regional Airport will host a Transportation Security Administration PreCheck enrollment event from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m. each day April 7-10 in the passenger terminal. PreCheck status allows travelers to access quicker security check-in when flying at more than 180 airports across the country. They may not have to remove laptops and other large devices, 3-1-1 liquid bags, belts, shoes or jackets during security. Enrollment requires a $76.75 fee, though status is maintained for five years. The application process must be completed in person at the airport. To make an enrollment appointment, visit gtra.com and click on the PreCheck banner. |
| Mississippi's March revenues exceed estimate by $20.5 million | |
| Days after lawmakers headed home from the 2026 legislative session, the Legislative Budget Office released the March revenue collections report showing the state took in $20.5 million, or 3.86% above the estimate for the month. The LBO report released Monday shows the year-to-date state revenue collections with three months remaining in the current fiscal year remain $120 million, or 2.32% above estimate. The full year state revenue estimate is $7.552 billion. Fiscal year-to-date total Mississippi revenue collections through March are $80.2 million, or 1.54% above the prior year's collections. General Fund collections for March 2026 came in $3.8 million, or 0.70% above the prior year actual collections for March 2025. Sales tax collections for March were $7.2 million above the prior year while individual income tax collections were $1.2 million above the same month in the previous year, even as Mississippi continues to phase out its individual income tax. |
| Mississippi Museum of Art names curator for Frank Lloyd Wright home in Jackson | |
 | Jennifer Baughn has been named the curator of Fountainhead, the house in the Woodland Hills section of Jackson, designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The historic home was sold to the Mississippi Museum of Art in November of 2025, and now Baughn will take over the everyday dealings of the home. Baughn has been the chief architectural historian at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History since 2007. She is the author of numerous articles on the state's historic buildings including the book Buildings of Mississippi published in 2021. Fountainhead is now among other prominent homes that are in the middle of Jackson residential neighborhoods, including the Eudora Welty House in Belhaven and the Medgar and Myrlie Evers House in West Jackson. The Evers' house is a National Monument and is part of the National Park Service. |
| Carter to hold hearings on effects of wind towers on Mississippi's farmlands | |
| A study on how wind turbines impact Mississippi's agricultural industry died in the Legislature last week, but the chairman of the Senate Energy Committee said it could return next session. This summer, State Senator Joel Carter (R), chairman of the committee, said he will hold hearings on legislation to create a Wind-Tower Agricultural and Environmental Impact Study Committee. Carter was "disappointed" that the bill died in conference between the Senate and the House of Representatives. He said the hearing later this year will "determine what's going on with turbines' impact in farming communities." Under the original House bill, HB 1069, the Mississippi Public Service Commission would have had "jurisdiction and authority" over the siting, construction, expansion, and operation of any wind tower facility in Mississippi. The bill would sought to halt the construction of wind turbines within 3,000 feet of any property line next to land used for agricultural purposes unless all landowners agreed. The Senate amended the House bill to begin the discussion on the matter by establishing the Wind-Tower Agricultural and Environmental Impacts Study Committee. The study committee would have included various state officials and farming groups. |
| Pesticide Giant Syngenta Readies New Weapon Against Superweeds | |
 | One of the world's biggest chemical companies aims to strike a new blow against hard-to-kill weeds that can cost farmers billions of dollars. Pesticide maker Syngenta said it would begin selling in South America this year a new weedkiller capable of eradicating grass weeds that have evolved to resist other common crop sprays, and threaten soybean and cotton crops. The chemical, called Virestina, is part of a multibillion-dollar race among agriculture companies like Syngenta, Bayer and Corteva. The companies are pushing to research, develop and market herbicides after a decadeslong lull in launching new weedkillers. Companies have been trying to identify and develop new chemical weedkillers after leaning for decades on established chemicals. Bayer recently developed a herbicide called Icafolin, due to be released in Brazil in 2028. The key ingredient in Syngenta's Virestina is a new molecule called metproxybicyclone, developed using machine-learning models. |
| $253 million in local earmarks, ranging from artificial turf to music instruments, sent to Governor | |
| A large portion of the hundreds of approved projects in SB 2189 dealt with local infrastructure requests from municipalities and counties across Mississippi for water and sewer improvements, street and bridge repairs, or paving, along with funding for fire trucks, fire stations, drones, patrol cars, police equipment and emergency management facility repairs. There were also funds included for new municipal and county buildings or renovations to city halls or other local facilities. Other notable local projects listed among the over 300 included in SB 2189 are: $4 million – A new high school for Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District on the campus of Mississippi State University. Another ... $75.1 million was appropriated to the state's public universities and the Institutions of Higher Learning for facility construction, repairs and renovations as well as for technology upgrades. |
| Legislature closes session with $253M 'Christmas tree' projects bill. See what was approved for your town, county or college | |
| Lawmakers on Thursday largely concluded their work for the 2026 regular session by passing a $253-million "Christmas tree" bill that doles out money for nearly 400 of legislators' pet projects in cities, counties and hamlets throughout the state. Legislators will return to the Capitol on Friday to deal with minor procedural issues, but they are expected to end this year's legislative session after convening briefly. In addition to the local projects spending, lawmakers also allocated $75.1 million for improvements at public universities, $40 million for community college projects and $30 million for projects at state agencies. Senate Finance Chairman Josh Harkins, a Republican from Flowood, said he received about 640 individual project funding requests from senators totaling over $1 billion. The Rankin County legislator said he tried to spread the funding evenly across the state. "I wouldn't say this was a labor of love, but an exercise that took a lot of time," Harkins said. |
| $171M headed for South Mississippi to fund scores of coastal projects | |
 | The Mississippi Legislature this session appropriated more than $171 million in funding for coastal projects, using funds from Gulf oil leases and state leases on commercial tidelands. The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) directs funds that the federal government collects from offshore oil leases to Gulf states, while the Mississippi Secretary of State's Office manages commercial leases on tidelands, or state water bottoms subject to the ebb and flow of the tides. The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, headquartered on the Coast, manages both programs. Sen. Scott Delano, chair of the Senate Ports and Resources Committee, said Friday, "We didn't do projects last year, so this list has two years' worth of projects." It includes $1,721,529: Evaluation and Monitoring of Marine Mammal Health, Mississippi State University. |
| Lt. Governor Hosemann: 'It was a very good year' | |
| "It was a very good year," Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann (R) said of the 2026 legislative session on Friday as members headed home, at least for now. Hosemann said he is "very pleased" overall with the Legislature's work, which saw wins and losses he recapped in his post-adjournment press conference after the gavel fell. Most pleasing to the Hosemann was legislation supporting the military and the state's public education system. As for education, Hosemann told reporters that Mississippi's best chance at economic development is an educated workforce. "There was a lot of education discussed this session," he said of the Senate's debates. Hosemann touted the $2,000 pay raises for Mississippi's public school teachers and teacher assistants. While there was much talk of a larger pay increase, in the end, the state funding needed to support Medicaid was too great to support the higher raises for teachers this session, he said. |
| 'We'll probably see you again': Mississippi lawmakers conclude 2026 session for now | |
| The 2026 Mississippi legislative session has come to an end, at least for now. The House of Representatives and Senate gaveled in and quickly gaveled out on Good Friday, with each chamber's leadership leaving the door open for a potential return to the state capitol this year. Both adjourned sine die pursuant to House Concurrent Resolution 64, a measure to extend the regular session on paper. The resolution calls on both chambers to reconvene in Jackson on April 15 unless House Speaker Jason White and Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann agree it's unnecessary. "We'll probably see you again," Hosemann said on the floor, suggesting that lawmakers will return to Jackson to attend to unfinished business in a couple of weeks. This year, the legislature approved a budget just south of $7.4 billion with major chunks of the funding going to education and healthcare. If lawmakers do return to the capitol, as Hosemann suggested would be the case, it would be to address ancillary issues that were not resolved during the regular session. |
| Sen. Bryce Wiggins discusses end of legislative session | |
| The state legislative session has now wrapped up, except on paper. Lawmakers are voting to extend the session on paper until April 15. State Sen. Bryce Wiggins joined WLOX's Hugh Keeton and Bill Snyder in the studio, broke down what got done and what didn't and gave an update on a possible extension. During the session, an additional allocation was added to the Gulf Coast Restoration Fund (GCRF), bringing the total to about $55 million. Wiggins said he was happy with the results. ... When it comes to talk of a special session, Wiggins said he doesn't think one will happen. Pharmacists and the business community will likely have to come to an agreement before a special session occurs. "He's not going to call a special session, in my opinion, just for us to go argue about it again. There has to be an agreement," he said. |
| Former House Speaker Philip Gunn expected to announce this month he's running for governor | |
| Former House Speaker Philip Gunn is expected to announce on Tuesday, April 14, that he will run for governor, which would make him the second candidate to officially enter the race for the 2027 election. Mississippi Today obtained an invitation for an announcement event sent to supporters. A representative of the former speaker did not respond to a request for comment. Gunn, a Republican, represented the Clinton area in the state House for 20 years, serving 12 of those as speaker -- one of the most influential positions in state government. Gunn was the first Republican to hold the office since Reconstruction. At a Capitol ceremony recently, he told attendees he wanted to help develop the next generation of Mississippians and make the state the "best place to live and work." "I am not riding off into the sunset, but I will be riding into the sunrise," Gunn said. |
| Trump's budget would boost defense and slash domestic programs | |
 | President Donald Trump unveiled on Friday a nearly $2.2 trillion discretionary spending request for the coming fiscal year, a nearly 21 percent increase over the current year's level because of a dramatic proposed boost in defense funding. The election-year spending blueprint doubles down on an administration drive to pump up the Pentagon's budget while making major reductions to various domestic programs. It also calls for passing another filibuster-proof reconciliation bill to boost defense and homeland security funding outside of the regular appropriations process. National security funding, which includes some Energy Department programs, would total $1.5 trillion, a 42 percent increase. But the administration is counting on the Republican-controlled House and Senate to pass a reconciliation bill that would fund $350 billion of that amount. |
| Trump Warns Iran He Could Strike 'Every Power Plant,' in WSJ Interview | |
| President Trump threatened to destroy all of Iran's power plants if the country's leaders don't agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday evening, ratcheting up pressure on Tehran. "If they don't come through, if they want to keep it closed, they're going to lose every power plant and every other plant they have in the whole country," Trump said in an eight-minute interview with The Wall Street Journal on Sunday. The comments came hours after U.S. forces rescued an American aviator trapped in Iran. Trump in recent days has repeatedly escalated his threats against the country, which has resisted his demands and appears determined to carry out a war of attrition. An administration official said the events of the weekend have animated the president and made him eager to apply even more pressure on the Iranians as he seeks a deal. Trump warned during his address last week that he planned to hit Iran hard over the next two to three weeks. Now entering its sixth week, the conflict was initially forecast to last four to six weeks by the Trump administration. |
| The woman who thinks civil rights went too far | |
 | When Harmeet Dhillon cites the "woke ideology" she wants to put in the U.S. Justice Department's sights, she does so from a personal familiarity perhaps unrivaled in the conservative movement. Dhillon -- a figure likely to emerge with new power from President Donald Trump's shakeup of the department's leadership -- built her legal career and political identity in San Francisco, where she was a Republican activist vastly outnumbered by Democrats and led a legal revolt against California's progressive policies in state and federal courts. "The entirety of my career has been a minority, conservative viewpoint in a very liberal profession," Dhillon told POLITICO in a recent interview. "I'm not here for a popularity contest." That defiance has made the 57-year-old Dhillon a popular pick among conservative activists lobbying the White House to consider her as a replacement for Pam Bondi, whom Trump ousted from the attorney general's office on Thursday. Others see her as a strong candidate to serve as deputy attorney general or associate attorney general. |
| Some Voters Say Congress Is Too Old. These Black Democrats Aren't Leaving. | |
 | Across the country, many aging Democratic members of Congress are stepping aside, heeding calls for generational change that have grown only louder since the party revolt that ultimately prompted President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to drop his re-election bid in 2024 at age 81. But among the party's most senior Black lawmakers, a different pattern has taken hold. Many are staying put and defiantly rejecting calls to retire, complicating the age debate and frustrating some activists who are eager for a younger crop of leaders to rise. The disconnect gets at a bigger and more complicated debate hanging over American politics: Who holds power in this country, and who has to give it up? In Mississippi, Representative Bennie Thompson, the 78-year-old ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee, defeated a primary challenger more than 30 years younger; he is now on track to win re-election after more than three decades in Congress. |
| Pope Leo: Easter opens us up to hope that never fails | |
| Presiding over the Easter Sunday Mass in Saint Peter's Square with over fifty thousand faithful gathered, Pope Leo XIV explained how all creation today is "resplendent with new light" and we rejoice as "a song of praise rises from the earth ... Christ is risen from the dead, and with him, we too rise to new life!" The Easter proclamation "embraces the mystery of our lives and the destiny of history," the Pope explained. And even into the depths of death when we can feel overhwelmed, Easter opens us up "to a hope that never fails, to a light that never fades, to a fullness of joy that nothing can take away" as "death has been conquered forever" and no longer has power over us. Continuing his homily, the Pope acknowledged that the Easter message of hope and light is not always easy to accept, since the power of death constantly threatens us both interiorly and externally. Easter calls on us to "lift our gaze and open our hearts," the Pope explained, as "the Lord is alive and remains with us." |
| Tailors and dressmakers retire their pincushions as US demand for skilled sewers grows | |
 | Hunched over a sewing machine, Kil Bae is hemming a dress inside his Manhattan tailor shop when a new customer stops by with a vintage Tommy Hilfiger jacket he wants taken in. The modeling agent paid $20 at a thrift store for his reversible bomber style that's plaid on one side and red on the other. He's willing to spend $280 to have it slimmed down. Alteration requests with such a price disparity would have seemed odd a few years ago, the tailor says, but are helping to keep the bobbins bobbing at his one-man shop, 85 Custom Tailor. Bae carefully examines the cotton jacket before moving in to pin it, circling the customer like a sculptor with a chisel. He started training as a tailor at age 17, in his native South Korea. Now 63, he's part of a shrinking breed in the U.S., where professional sewers, dressmakers and tailors are aging out of the workforce as their services find fresh demand. "I recommend this job to young people because this one cannot be AI'd," Bae said, noting artificial intelligence is automating pattern making but so far can't replicate a tailor's handiwork. But like engraving, repairing musical instruments and many other skilled trades, creating and fitting garments to individual specifications hasn't attracted enough entry-level workers over the years to replace the professionals retiring their pincushions after decades of performing their craft. |
| Why your job's complexity level may affect your risk of dementia | |
 | Getting an education is important for a lot of reasons, but there might be one reason you haven't heard -- it could lower your risk of dementia later in life. Decades of research have supported this claim, with one study showing that each additional year of formal education lowers the risk of Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia by 7 percent. Now, a growing body of evidence suggests that the jobs we hold throughout our lives may matter just as much or more than years of education. Having a job that involves high levels of decision-making or creativity, rather than repetitive or manual tasks, could help keep the mind sharp and active. But don't worry if your job doesn't meet the criteria -- there are other things that you can do to improve your cognitive reserve, such as reading, socializing and volunteering. |
| More Americans Are Breaking Into the Upper Middle Class | |
| Randy Shilling went to public high school in Corpus Christi, Texas. He graduated from Texas A&M University with a petroleum engineering degree. For the first decade of his career, he lived in an apartment and worried about paying for vacations. Then, in his early 30s, he landed a job at a chemical plant that paid about 15% more plus bonuses, and life felt smoother. Around the same time, he bought a house on a golf course in the Houston suburb of Humble, Texas. Promotions and pay raises followed, and he saved more than $3 million for retirement. Almost without realizing it, Shilling ascended into the upper middle class. "I view myself as an average Joe. I don't have to have a fancy car. I don't have to have the greatest TV," said Shilling, who is 58. "But when I want something, I go get it." America's middle class is becoming wealthier as more families scale the economic ladder into higher-earning groups. New research shows that the ranks of the affluent have grown markedly over the last 50 years or so, while the lower rungs of the middle class have shrunk. |
| Professor Honored for Service to Scholastic Journalism | |
| The Columbia Scholastic Press Association has honored University of Mississippi journalism professor R.J. Morgan for his outstanding service to journalism education, including his leadership of the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association. Morgan received the James F. Paschal Award on March 19 at the association's annual awards luncheon in New York City. The award also recognizes his broader impact on scholastic journalism at both the state and national levels. "R.J. is someone who just gets it," said Larry Steinmetz, the Journalism Education Association state director for Kentucky who nominated Morgan for the award. "From the very beginning, he understood how to build programs, support educators and make organizations stronger. Morgan's impact on journalism education is rooted in a lifelong connection to the field. He began as a student journalist at Pearl High School, later worked as a section editor for The Reflector at Mississippi State University and served as a Starkville High School adviser before joining the Ole Miss faculty. |
| Southwest Mississippi native author featured at LA Times book festival | |
 | A novel by an author native to Southwest Mississippi has been selected as a feature work for the LA Times Festival of Books 2026. Crime novelist Charles Rogers will be the featured author at the Olympus Story House booth during the festival, and is also the featured author in the festival's magazine. Now a resident of College Station, Texas, Rogers grew up in the Centreville area, on the Wilkson-Amite County line. He attended Southwest Mississippi Community College in Summit, then The University of Southern Mississippi, before living "all over the country," working in retail and public relations. Upon retirement, he focused on writing what he loved -- crime fiction. His third novel, "The Community Files: Reclaiming Your Community," is the novel chosen to be featured at the upcoming book festival. The 31st annual LA Times Festival of Books will be April 18-19 on the campus of the University of Southern California. |
| Jackson State alumna selected as first woman president of Texas College | |
| Jackson State University is celebrating alumna SherRhonda Gibbs after she was selected as the 24th president of Texas College. According to Jackson State, Gibbs is the first woman chosen to lead Texas College since the institution was founded in 1894. Jackson State said Gibbs earned a doctorate in business administration with a concentration in management from the university. Texas College is a historically Black college in Tyler, Texas. |
| Bill would prevent Louisiana colleges from banning students from carrying pepper spray on campus | |
| A proposal at the Louisiana State Capitol would prevent public universities from banning pepper spray and other chemical sprays on campus. House Bill 195 comes after a separate proposal that would have allowed guns on campus was pulled back, shifting the conversation to less-lethal options. The bill would allow students to carry chemical spray for self-defense without bringing firearms into the equation. Some supporters say this approach strikes a better balance between safety and campus security. "I certainly will like chemical spray better than allowing students to have guns on campus," said Rep. Freiburg. For many students, the idea of having pepper spray readily available isn't new, but they say protecting that right matters. Noelle-Grace Wirima says it's a simple tool that can make a big difference in how safe students feel walking around campus. |
| LSU will bring changes to UNO academics | |
 | After months of speculation about what the University of New Orleans' transition to the LSU system would mean for faculty and students, LSU has revealed plans to modify or cut several academic programs. The changes will affect programs in art, international studies and education. The announced changes include eliminating or changing five undergraduate programs and four graduate programs and are the first indication of academic shifts as UNO becomes part of LSU. The transition, which becomes official July 1, was floated in hopes of stabilizing the university, which has struggled with low enrollment and a glaring budget deficit. "These changes are not about reducing opportunity, rather, they are about strengthening it," UNO President Kathy Johnson said in an email to faculty, staff and students. "We are aligning our academic portfolio with where student demand is growing and where career opportunities are strongest, while continuing to honor the disciplines that define us." |
| This state agency was created to investigate Texas universities. How that works is a mystery. | |
| A new state office with the power to investigate whether public universities in Texas are violating laws on diversity, curriculum and campus decision-making has no written policies explaining how those investigations work, even after accepting complaints for nearly three months. The Office of the Ombudsman, housed within the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and led by a gubernatorial appointee, was created last year to address GOP concerns that universities had become too focused on promoting liberal viewpoints instead of preparing students for the workforce. The ombudsman accepts complaints from students, faculty and staff alleging violations of two state laws: A 2023 ban on diversity, equity and inclusion offices, programs and training at public colleges and universities. A 2025 law limiting faculty's role in some curriculum, grievance and discipline decisions. The stakes are high. |
| Mizzou's multicultural organizations to lose direct stream of university funding | |
 | The University of Missouri's multicultural umbrella organizations will no longer receive designated university funding starting July 2026. On Friday, the Division of Student Affairs met with five major multicultural student organizations: the Legion of Black Collegians, Association of Latin American Students, Asian American Association, Queer Liberation Front and Four Front. "The University is taking calculated steps to push minority students further away from the Mizzou stratosphere," LBC said in an Instagram post Sunday. Student Affairs informed the organizations that they will be reclassified as Recognized Student Organizations, or RSOs, meaning they will be able to apply for funds through the Organization Resource Group, which oversees funding for the majority of student organizations on campus. |
| TRIO Grant Competitions Prioritize Workforce Pipelines | |
 | Grant competitions for two TRIO programs include new priorities related to workforce development pathways, despite the programs' statutory requirements to help first-generation learners access higher education. The shift, which comes after TRIO -- a group of federal college-access programs -- moved to the Department of Labor, have rung alarm bells for advocates. The Trump administration also is planning to reduce how many grants it awards via TRIO, according to the first two competitions. More than 800,000 students benefit from the seven TRIO programs on an annual basis. Kimberly Jones, the president of the Council for Opportunity in Education, an advocacy organization for TRIO programs, told Inside Higher Ed that the administration is rerouting programs and funds aimed at helping students access higher education toward career and technical education instead. |
| More states adopt college entrance exam touted by conservatives despite concerns | |
| An upstart college entrance exam -- designed to be an alternative to the ACT and SAT and featuring works from ancient Western civilization -- is gaining support from the Trump administration and conservatives in red and purple states. In recent months, the Pentagon decided to accept the Classic Learning Test for U.S. military service academies and scholarships at other colleges around the country. Indiana enacted legislation in March requiring its state universities to consider CLT scores, along with those from the SAT and ACT. And the North Carolina university system agreed to take the CLT, including at its flagship campus in Chapel Hill. Since its creation in 2015, the CLT has been embraced by many Christian schools, home schooling families and educators in the classical education movement who want children to study foundational texts that they say helped shape American history and culture. |
| Judge halts Trump effort requiring colleges to show they aren't considering race in admissions | |
| A federal judge has halted efforts by the Trump administration to collect data that proves higher education institutions aren't considering race in admissions. The ruling from U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in Boston on Friday granting the preliminary injunction follows a lawsuit filed last month by a coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general. It will only apply to public universities in plaintiffs. The federal judge said the federal government likely has the authority to collect the data, but the demand was rolled out to universities in a "rushed and chaotic" manner. "The 120-day deadline imposed by the President led directly to the failure of NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) to engage meaningfully with the institutions during the notice-and-comment process to address the multitude of problems presented by the new requirements," Saylor wrote. he Education Department has defended the effort, arguing taxpayers deserve transparency on how money is spent at institutions that receive federal funding. |
| Judge Halts Feds' Admissions-Data Push -- for Some Colleges | |
 | A federal judge on Friday issued a preliminary injunction halting the Trump administration's collection of admissions data from about 200 public colleges, ensuring that the legal battle over the government's unprecedented demand for information about applicants will continue. In his ruling, Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts wrote that a lawsuit challenging the new Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement, or ACTS, would likely succeed. The plaintiffs, he wrote, had presented sufficient evidence that the federal government's admissions-data mandate was "arbitrary and capricious" -- and that colleges would suffer "immediate irreparable harm" if forced to comply. The preliminary injunction applies only to public institutions in the 17 states that jointly filed the March lawsuit against the secretary of education and the Office of Management and Budget. |
| Trump Once Again Pushes Steep Education, Research Cuts | |
| resident Trump is again asking Congress to do what it has so far refused to do: gut federal research agencies that provide billions of dollars to colleges and universities. And he's still pushing to eliminate the Education Department, another move lawmakers have rejected. The president released his budget request for the next fiscal year Friday. It shows he hasn't fully backed down from proposals he presented to the Republican-controlled Congress for this fiscal year, most of which were rejected. However, he has walked back his requests in some areas, including reducing his proposed slash to the National Institutes of Health to roughly a quarter of the cut he requested last year. And, instead of zeroing out funding for the Education Department, his budget would continue funding it next year to the tune of over $75 billion, though a number of higher ed programs are on the chopping block. Only Congress can actually shutter the agency, and it chose not to, even with more Republican lawmakers in the Capitol last year. |
| Governments have relied on artificial intelligence for years | |
| Columnist Bill Crawford writes: How "artificial intelligence" (AI) will affect our future is the raging question. You have to wonder why. Federal and state governments have used AI for years, and we know how well that works. Take our state legislature and the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) for example. As you should know, PERS continues to struggle financially despite excellent investment returns. To gain a thorough overview with striking graphs, read Jackson Jambalaya's summary of PERS financial dilemma. Since 2001, the legislature has applied its own artificial intelligence to resolve the problem. One Jambalaya reader described that process well: "The Legislature refuses to believe the actuaries and instead does rain dances and consults witch doctors." Those actuaries have told legislators for years that PERS cannot rely on investment earnings to resolve its shortfall. Instead, it will take significant increases in revenue via employer contributions or direct legislative infusions over time. This session, both the senate and house considered direct infusions, but, drum roll please, none were approved. |
| Lawmakers owe Reeves a 'thank you' for stopping Medicaid expansion | |
| The Magnolia Tribune's Russ Latino writes: Mississippi lawmakers scrambled this session to plug a Medicaid budget hole. The Division of Medicaid sought $390 million more from the state for FY2027 to cover the existing population of recipients. When the dust settled, appropriators gave a more than $200 million bump to the program. That pushed the state-funded portion of the program to well over a billion dollars and the total cost of the program to over $8.5 billion, when accounting for a huge federal contribution and separately collected provider taxes. Had the state expanded Medicaid, the budget hole would be much deeper in coming years. Governor Tate Reeves faced a constant barrage of pressure, both under the Capitol Dome and externally, two years ago. He deserves credit for putting his foot down on firm policy ground. |
| The Mississippi Legislature giveth, and then taketh away, a bigger pay raise for teachers | |
| Mississippi Today's Bobby Harrison writes: The Mississippi Legislature giveth and taketh during the 2026 session, when members originally passed one of the largest teacher pay raises in the history of the state but ultimately approved and sent to Gov. Tate Reeves a much smaller salary increase. Perhaps at no time in recent history has the Legislature dangled such a historically significant pay raise in front of teachers only to take it away during the final days of the 2026 session. Granted, Mississippi's 30,000 educators will still receive a $2,000 bump in pay, but that's far short of the $6,000 raise spread over three years approved by the Senate or the $5,000 raise passed by the House. Normally, when legislative leaders meet to negotiate the differences in what each chamber passes, they agree somewhere in the middle. In this case, though, legislators eschewed the middle for the basement. "The bottom line is that you have to balance your budget," said House Education Chair Rob Roberson, a Starkville Republican. "We had to reduce it down to $2,000. It is not something I wanted to do but had to do to get through this process." |
SPORTS
| Former MSU pitcher oversees Artemis launch as mission manager | |
| Artemis II Mission Manager Matthew Ramsey played for Mississippi State in the early 1990s as a pitcher before leaving the team to pursue his engineering education. Ramsey, a Hernando native, graduated from MSU with a 1992 bachelor's and 1993 master's degree in aerospace engineering. He joined NASA in 2002, where he has been for more than two decades on guidance and navigation systems, the Ares I and V rockets, and now the Space Launch System Program for the Artemis missions. Another MSU alum, Parker Glass, worked on the project for NASA's Exploration Ground Systems, overseeing the budget development and allocation for the launch. Glass is a 2018 graduate from MSU, and he later earned a Master of Business Administration degree in 2022. |
| Josh Hubbard Showcase brings Mississippi's top high school hoopers together, awards scholarships | |
| Mississippi's top high school basketball players took the court Saturday for the third annual Josh Hubbard Showcase, an event designed to give student-athletes one last high-level run before moving on to their college programs. The showcase featured 38 of the state's best girls and boys players and has grown each year, offering exposure opportunities and more than $10,000 in scholarship money this year. Josh Hubbard said the event is built to help players compete in front of a broader basketball audience while also supporting them financially as they prepare for the next level. "It's just a blessing to have this platform just to give back," Hubbard said. "It's like a train, just give back to the things I have learned to the people that are behind me." Hubbard said the showcase started as a vision to bring the event back to where it began at MRA and to help players understand the demands of college basketball, particularly the transition into their freshman season. |
| President Trump signs order intended to stabilize college sports, threatens lost federal funding | |
| President Donald Trump tried to put some teeth into his latest attempt to save college sports. The threat of cutting funding to cash-starved schools that don't comply is real, even if the stricter rules Trump wants to come out of the executive order he signed Friday could take a while to figure out. In the order signed hours before the women's Final Four tipped off one of the biggest weekends in college sports, Trump went after eligibility rules, transfers and the spiraling costs associated with an industry that now pays its players millions of dollars per year. He called on federal agencies to ensure schools are following the rules and threatened to choke off federal grants and funding -- a similar approach his administration has taken to force universities around the country to alter policies involving diversity, equity and inclusion, transgender rights and even the kinds of classes they offer. |
| Executive order aims to limit NCAA athletes to 5 years, 1 transfer | |
| President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday designed to limit how long athletes can play college sports and how often they can transfer between schools. The order directs the NCAA to create rules that mandate college athletes can play for "no more than a five-year period" and allows them to transfer schools only once before they graduate without having to sit out a season. The rule changes are scheduled to go into effect Aug. 1. A school that plays an athlete who doesn't meet these new limits could risk losing its federal funding. The order also states that the NCAA should update its rules to create a national registry for player agents and create policies that prevent schools from cutting scholarships or other opportunities for women's and Olympic sports in order to pay their athletes. |
| President Trump delivers new executive order attempting to regulate college sports | |
| President Donald Trump issued his latest executive order to regulate college sports on Friday. The 10-page order comes a day before the NCAA's crown jewel -- the men's basketball tournament -- reaches its pinnacle event here in central Indiana. The order grants the NCAA the ability and suggests the organization limit athlete transfer movement, cap player eligibility, implement funding requirements for women and Olympic sports, and prohibit NIL collectives. As an enforcement lever, the order relies on the reduction of a university's federal funding -- an incentive for schools and conferences to abide by the concepts. The order directs the NCAA to update its rules by Aug. 1 -- to the maximum extent permitted by law -- to "bring order and stability to the landscape in certain key areas," a source who has reviewed the document told Yahoo Sports. Most notably, one of those areas is transferring. Many -- including the president himself -- expect the order to be challenged legally. |
| College sports is in turmoil. LSU, SEC schools are creating a joint class to study it. | |
| In the Wild West of name, image and likeness deals, transfers and revenue sharing rocking college athletics, LSU and nine other SEC schools are coming together to create a class where students will study the turmoil. LSU will offer the brand-new joint course this fall in the Ogden Honors College known as HNRS 3100: The Future of College Athletics. "It's something that is very necessary in this current state of college athletics," said Joshua Jackson, Assistant Professor of Sport Communication in the Manship School of Mass Communication. "We all love to pretend that we know more than what we really do. This gives our students an opportunity to really learn what they do and what they don't know." The course will follow a hybrid learning model, with some classes taking place on Zoom with all of the partnered SEC schools to hear from guest speakers in sports industries. |
The Office of Public Affairs provides the Daily News Digest as a general information resource for Mississippi State University stakeholders.
Web links are subject to change. Submit news, questions or comments to Jim Laird.
