| Thursday, April 30, 2026 |
| MSU Libraries elected to the Association of Research Libraries membership | |
 | Mississippi State University President Mark E. Keenum Wednesday congratulated the MSU Libraries' faculty and staff on their election to membership in the prestigious Association of Research Libraries, or ARL. The ARL membership voted at its Spring 2026 Association Meeting to invite the MSU Libraries to join ARL, effective July 1. MSU is now the only Mississippi university to have been granted ARL membership, joining an elite group of some 125 research university libraries that hold ARL status in the U.S. and Canada. "Achieving Association of Research Libraries membership has been a top priority and central focus for our outstanding university library system, and I am thrilled to see our MSU Libraries leadership, faculty and staff achieve this goal," MSU President Mark E. Keenum said. "Congratulations to Dean Lis Keith and her team for this outstanding achievement. I also want to thank former Dean Frances Coleman for her many years of leadership that helped pave the way to attaining ARL membership, as well as the many donors who have supported the MSU Libraries with their gifts," Keenum said. |
| MSU's T.K. Martin Center hosts Express Yourself! Art Auction in May | |
 | Mississippi State's T.K. Martin Center for Technology and Disability is hosting its fifth annual art show and auction May 2 to benefit its art program for individuals with disabilities. The Express Yourself! Art Auction "Tea Party" takes place 10 a.m.-noon at the center located at 326 Hardy Road. Ranging from MSU-inspired designs to spring themes, original artwork by the center's five Express Yourself! artists will be available for purchase, including paintings, prints, greeting cards and ceramics. The event also includes a silent auction, light refreshments and a showcase of the students' artwork. "As our artists continue to grow, their work becomes more expressive and more confident," said Kasee Stratton-Gadke, executive director of the Mississippi Institute on Disabilities, which houses the T.K. Martin Center. "This year's show is a testament to their artistic development and features more work than ever before." |
| AI Isn't the Boom, or the Bust, Many Expect. Here's What That Means for Investors | |
| A landmark survey of economists, artificial intelligence insiders, and professional forecasters paints a picture that is neither the techno-utopia nor the apocalypse you've been reading about. How much should AI change the way you invest? That question sits at the center of many portfolio conversations right now. Unfortunately, the public debate has been dominated by extremes: either breathless predictions of 30% annual gross domestic product growth or warnings of mass unemployment. The authors of the March 2026 study "Forecasting the Economic Effects of AI" cut through the noise by asking the right people the right questions and insisting on numbers, not vibes. The paper -- authored by researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the Forecasting Research Institute, Yale School of Management, Stanford University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Toronto, Mississippi State University, and the University of Virginia -- surveyed approximately 560 respondents, including academic economists specializing in AI and growth, employees at frontier AI companies, AI policy researchers, elite "superforecasters" with verified prediction track records, and members of the general public. |
| Mississippi in the Park returns to NYC next month | |
| The Mississippi Society of New York City is proud to announce the 2026 return of its signature event, Mississippi in the Park. Dedicated to promoting the rich heritage, culture, and traditions of the Magnolia State, this annual gathering transforms a piece of New York City into a soulful Southern homecoming for expats, alumni, and friends of Mississippi. The 2026 event centers on the theme of "Family Reunion," celebrating the enduring connections between Mississippi roots and life in the Northeast. The event remains a crucial hub for the Mississippi collective, attracting hundreds of alumni from Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Southern Miss, and other state institutions who now reside in the Northeast. |
| In Memoriam: Bill Gamel was just himself. People loved him for it | |
 | Whether on the air or off, Bill Gamel made people feel like they mattered. For Jeffrey Rupp, who helped start WCBI's Midday segment as Gamel's co-anchor, that was most clear in the trust he and Gamel built over 15 years of lively, mostly unscripted television. "That type of bond really strengthened us not just as friends, but also on the air," Rupp told The Dispatch on Wednesday. "There was nothing that could happen while we were on set ... that I didn't feel like he had my back 24/7. That is a real luxury to have in a friend and a coworker." Gamel, 80, a news and sports anchor who spent nearly four decades in broadcast, passed away Tuesday. Much of his career was spent at WCBI, where he helped launch Midday and Sunrise, two segments that remain a part of the station's daily lineup. He retired in 2017. While he may not have fit the typical mold expected of a broadcaster -- more introverted than most with little interest in the usual "perks and attention" that come with the job, Rupp said -- Gamel's skills in the studio were undeniable. "He was really good at broadcasting, and he enjoyed the craft," Rupp said. "He could have gone to a much bigger market. His skillset was well above the North Mississippi market, but he was not a city boy. And he was so beloved in the area." |
| Mary Means Business: Don't call it a comeback, Ruben's has been here for years | |
| Ruben's is about to be back on the water, folks. The long-awaited return of the 70-year fixture on the Tombigbee is finally in motion. Frank Loftis has partnered with TBT Butcher Shop owner Artie Sutherland to bring the seafood and steakhouse back online after its doors closed last August. While it's been quiet since Loftis first announced plans to reopen, Sutherland, who recently rebranded his TBT locations in West Point and Columbus as Deep South Market Meats and Seafood, is ready to breathe new life into the Columbus landmark. "I told Frank we could call it anything, but folks would always call it Ruben's," Sutherland said. "... There's no point changing what's already successful. This is Ruben's. We aren't going to try to reinvent the wheel." Sutherland is eyeing a July 1 opening, though he noted the timeline depends on health department and city inspections. For Sutherland, a 1992 Mississippi State grad, this venture is personal. He spent many date nights at the very restaurant he plans to restore. |
| LEMA, Meridian officials give update on recovery efforts following Tuesday flooding | |
 | Recovery efforts from flash flooding are well underway, Lauderdale County and city of Meridian officials said Wednesday. At a press conference, Lauderdale County Emergency Management Director Odie Barrett said heavy rain and wind Tuesday evening overwhelmed drainage infrastructure and caused flooding along the North Hills corridor and other areas of the city. No fatalities were reported and emergency officials know of only minor injuries sustained during the disaster, Barrett reported. Damage to property, however, is still being assessed. A local state of emergency has been declared due to the storms, and once damage estimates reach approximately $375,000, Lauderdale County can ask for a state declaration, Barrett said. Statewide, approximately $5 million to $5.5 million to qualify for federal disaster funds. Tuesday's storms brought such a volume of water that there really wasn't a way to prepare for what Meridian received. Cleaning ditches and clearing debris can help some, but nothing to the extent that would have prevented the floods. Once the rain stopped, water levels fell rapidly, Barrett said. That shows the area's drainage infrastructure was doing its job. |
| Meta is joining the Mississippi data center boom | |
 | Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, is coming to Mississippi. The technology giant has agreed to a minimum investment as part of the Compass Data Center campus in Meridian. The move was reported April 22 when the Mississippi Development Authority announced that technology company Corderill LLC planned to become a major tenant at the Compass Datacenters campus. The Clarion Ledger learned through a Freedom of Information request that the State of Mississippi issued a data center incentive certificate to Corderill LLC on April 14. The incentive certificate lists Corderill as the company name but also lists Meta as the affiliate name of the company. Despite agreeing to a minimum investment of $20 million, the move is a significant milestone for the data center economy in Mississippi and comes as part of a $100 million investment in cutting-edge data center equipment and is expected to generate at least 20 new direct jobs, according to company officials. |
| Mississippi Gulf Coast seafood labeling shows improvement, but concerns remain | |
 | A new round of testing shows more than half of Mississippi Gulf Coast restaurants are serving authentic American wild-caught shrimp, a significant improvement from last year when only 18 percent were telling the truth about domestic seafood. SeaD Consulting randomly tested 22 restaurants across the Mississippi Gulf Coast this year, following up on a 2024 study that found widespread mislabeling. The latest testing shows 64 percent of restaurants are now serving authentic American wild-caught shrimp. DMR Executive Director Joe Spraggins said state leaders are pleased with the number of businesses and restaurants that are correctly labeling their seafood. A new law to take effect July 1 will allow businesses multiple ways to make sure they're in compliance. State leaders say the new law is expected to improve transparency even further, while groups like SeaD plan to continue testing and push for stronger enforcement along the Gulf Coast. |
| Ingalls Shipbuilding awarded $283 million contract from U.S. Navy | |
| Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula has earned a $283 million contract to prep for the construction of the U.S. Navy's new class of warships. The contract allows Ingalls Shipbuilding to procure long-lead material, execute design work, and begin pre-construction activities for the first ship of the FF(X) class frigate. The Navy's new class of smaller combatant ships, the FF(X), is a critical component of the military branch's fleet of the future. The FF(X) will be a smaller, more agile surface combatant designed to complement the fleet's larger, multi-mission warships and enhance operational flexibility around the globe. Under the contract, Ingalls will begin cutting and shaping raw material to support future phases of work on the main structure foundation and the overall construction sequencing plan of the first new warship. Officials said this new approach is expected to enable a smooth transition from design to production at Ingalls Shipbuilding and eventually across the industrial base. |
| Funding push could bring long-awaited repairs to Natchez Trace Parkway | |
| Long-needed repairs to the Natchez Trace Parkway could move forward as lawmakers in Washington push to restore a key source of federal funding. Members of Congress say damage from the 2023 drought and a widespread pine beetle infestation is still visible along the historic route, with fallen trees, deteriorating pavement and safety concerns persisting in some areas. The National Park Service, which maintains the parkway, is facing ongoing funding challenges that have delayed major maintenance and repair projects. Now, there is renewed momentum in Washington to reauthorize a federal restoration fund designed to address deferred maintenance across national parks. If approved, the funding could unlock millions of dollars for improvements along the Natchez Trace, including road repairs, debris removal and infrastructure upgrades. Lawmakers say the investment is critical to preserving the parkway, which spans three states and serves as both a historic landmark and a major tourism corridor in Mississippi. |
| Mississippi House, Senate plan for special session after U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Callais | |
| After the news broke Wednesday that the U.S. Supreme Court had issued a ruling in the Louisiana v. Callais case, House Speaker Jason White (R) and State Senator Brice Wiggins (R) wasted little time in directing legislative attorneys to prepare analysis on the ruling's impact on state Supreme Court redistricting in Mississippi. The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down Louisiana's congressional redistricting that added a new majority-minority district, saying that lawmakers relied too heavily on race. The 6-3 ruling deemed racial gerrymandering unconstitutional as it had been practiced under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Governor Tate Reeves (R) announced last Friday that he would call lawmakers into a special session 21 days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Callais to address state Supreme Court redistricting. Senator Wiggins, who has been the lead on judicial redistricting in the Senate as the chairman of the Judiciary A Committee, said the decision on Wednesday does provide lawmakers with guidance for the special session. "As soon as the news broke I directed the Senate attorneys to prepare an analysis of how, and to what degree, it relates to redistricting our [state] Supreme Court districts," he told Magnolia Tribune, adding that the ruling was a "huge win." |
| 'Betrayal' or 'saving our country.' Mississippi leaders react to Supreme Court voting rights decision | |
| Mississippi politicians, advocates, civil rights leaders and legal experts reacted with either condemnation or celebration of the U.S. Supreme Court striking down Louisiana's second majority Black congressional district on Wednesday. The decision could open the door for states such as Mississippi to eliminate majority Black electoral districts. The landmark Louisiana v. Callais decision places Mississippi and other Southern states at the center of a national partisan and racial political battle over redistricting. It was also a stinging decision for civil rights leaders in Mississippi, where racial discrimination and efforts to disenfranchise Black voters are central chapters in the state's history. In a statement to Mississippi Today, Gov. Tate Reeves said the decision "is a win for our Constitution and a tremendous win for our republic." In a statement to Mississippi Today, MaryAsa Lee, a spokesperson for Republican Attorney General Lynn Fitch, applauded the decision and urged the Supreme Court to take up its appeal in a legislative redistricting case that could further weaken the Voting Rights Act. |
| Mississippi Official Calls to Eliminate State's Only Majority Black House District After Voting Rights Ruling | |
| A white Mississippi state leader is calling for the elimination of the state's only majority-Black congressional district after the U.S. Supreme Court diminished the Voting Rights Act in a ruling Wednesday morning that could allow Southern states to slash Black representation in Congress. "This likely opens the door to redrawing Mississippi's congressional districts," Mississippi State Auditor Shad White wrote in a Facebook post, celebrating the decision. "Mississippi might no longer have a district drawn to protect Bennie Thompson." U.S. House Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat who represents Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District, is the only Black member of Mississippi's congressional delegation, even though 38% of Mississippi's population is Black -- more than any other state in the country. Thompson's district, which includes the Mississippi Delta and most of the capital city, Jackson, is 64% Black. |
| Hyde-Smith backing bill to reduce fertilizer costs as push grows for farm aid | |
| U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) is backing a bill aimed at lowering fertilizer costs for farmers nationwide. The Lowering Input Costs for American Famers Act would eliminate tariffs and other fees on phosphate fertilizer imports from Morocco. Morocco is one of the leading global players in the phosphate fertilizer industry, controlling over 70% of the world's phosphate rock reserves. Hyde-Smith, who serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee and represents a state where agriculture is its largest industry, said the bill would deliver "practical relief" for farmers facing mounting challenges. Those challenges include high diesel costs spurred by conflict with Iran, ongoing trade uncertainty, and sharp drop-offs in grain prices. "Mississippi farmers depend on affordable fertilizer to stay competitive. With input costs continuing to strain farmers' bottom line, Congress must act," she said. "The Lowering Input Costs for American Farmers Act delivers targeted, practical relief at the farm gate, and Congress should act soon to deliver relief at a time when it is badly needed." |
| Supreme Court roils 2026 midterms with Voting Rights Act ruling | |
 | Senators in both parties say the Supreme Court has roiled the political landscape ahead of the midterm elections by effectively striking down majority-minority House districts as unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. Democrats vented their rage over a ruling they said would return the nation to the Jim Crow-era policies of the 1950s and early '60s, when Black citizens voted at far lower rates than today because of restrictions such as poll taxes and literacy tests. They also fear it could help Republicans pick up as many as 19 new GOP-leaning House seats. Republicans hailed the decision as a big political victory, and some GOP lawmakers, such as Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), immediately called on GOP state legislatures to redraw congressional districts, even though House primaries are only weeks away. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who is running for governor of her state, called on Republican state lawmakers to convene a special legislative session to draw a new congressional map and eliminate the majority-minority district in Memphis, which is represented by Rep. Steve Cohen (D). |
| Thom Tillis doubles down on his latest Trump personnel ultimatum | |
 | Thom Tillis took on President Donald Trump's administration in a monthslong battle to quash the criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell -- and won. Now he's urging those around the president to take his latest ultimatum seriously -- that he won't confirm for attorney general anyone who excuses the events of Jan. 6, 2021. "Hopefully they'll take me at my word when I say anybody who equivocated on the Jan. 6 rioters, I just can't support," the North Carolina Republican said about Justice Department nominees. Tillis has major leverage as a member of the Judiciary Committee, where Republicans have a one-vote advantage and he can exercise an effective veto. Tillis said Wednesday he would be sticking to his principles regardless of how the attorney general vacancy plays out. He said his fight to protect Powell and how it was resolved this week was "very important" for ensuring the Federal Reserve's independence. |
| Budget resolution for immigration funds adopted in House | |
 | The House took a major step toward providing funding for immigration enforcement agencies by adopting a Senate-backed budget resolution Wednesday evening. Now that both chambers have adopted the budget blueprint, lawmakers can move forward with a filibuster-proof reconciliation bill to provide around $70 billion in immigration enforcement funding. That money is designed to sustain the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agencies for the remainder of President Donald Trump's term. The vote on the GOP-written resolution was 215-211, falling strictly along party lines. Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, a Republican-turned-independent from a swing district, voted "present." But adoption of the measure proved to be a prolonged struggle. The vote had to be held open for more than five hours as Republicans tried to settle an unrelated intraparty dispute over expanding the use of corn-based ethanol in gasoline. |
| Powell Won't Leave. The Fed Won't Cut. Warsh Will Have to Deal With Both. | |
 | At his Senate confirmation hearing last week, Kevin Warsh told lawmakers that the Federal Reserve needed a serious shaking up, with "messier meetings" and "a good family fight" at an institution that has cultivated discipline and consensus. He may be getting all of that and more. On Wednesday afternoon, the man he's set to replace as Fed chair, Jerome Powell, announced he wouldn't be leaving right away. Three of Powell's colleagues delivered a pointed warning that they are in no mood to cut rates anytime soon. Every Fed chair for the past 75 years has left the central bank when his or her successor took over. Powell's announcement that he would remain on the Fed's board as a governor after handing the baton to Warsh next month broke with that precedent. It underscored how far the Trump administration's pressure campaign had pushed the Fed into uncharted territory. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it was Powell -- not the administration -- who was violating established practice. "For someone who says he's an institutionalist," Bessent said, "this is a violation of all Federal Reserve norms." |
| The U.S. economy shows resilience despite the war with Iran | |
 | The U.S. economy grew at a solid pace in the first three months of the year, despite soaring energy prices triggered by the war with Iran. The Commerce Department said Thursday that the nation's gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 2% in January, February and March. That's a significant improvement from the anemic 0.5% growth rate in the previous quarter, when economic activity was depressed in part by a six-week government shutdown. Government spending has largely rebounded, rising at a rate of 4.4% in the first quarter And consumers continue to spend freely in a wide range of areas, even as more of their paychecks are being gobbled up at the gas pump. Spending power may have been boosted during the quarter by tax refunds, which on average are about $330 larger this year than last. "I do think the tax refunds were really critical, particularly in March," says Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Analytics. "That really does help particularly lower- and middle-income households who are more cash strapped. That refund goes right into spending." |
| You're probably paying more for insurance lately. A new study suggests federal action to cut costs | |
 | A new analysis suggests Americans are being overcharged by $150 billion annually to insure their homes, autos and businesses -- and it proposes federal guardrails so that a public beset by affordability pressures could see savings. The analysis by the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator obtained exclusively by The Associated Press details how insurers are paying out less on claims after an accident, natural disaster or other misfortune than they did decades ago. For every $1 collected in premiums, insurers reimbursed 62 cents for claims in 2024, down from an average loss ratio of 80 cents in the 1980s and 1990s. The analysis wades into a thorny set of economic and political questions as insurance companies are managing the potential risks of climate change when the cost of groceries, gasoline and housing are a frustration for many voters. Insurance companies say they have hiked premiums because of rising prices for homes and autos and the expenses of fixing them. "The fact that the loss ratios are so low means that the insurance industry is charging too much," said Brian Shearer, director of competition and regulatory policy at the Vanderbilt University think tank and a former senior adviser at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. |
| Faculty senate calls for excluding spring 2026 student evaluations | |
 | The University of Mississippi Faculty Senate passed a resolution stating its desire for student evaluations from this semester to be excluded from the conversation around each professor's annual performance, potential promotion and tenure on April 7. This resolution came after the semester was shortened due to disruptions by Winter Storm Fern, which caused decreased instructional time, syllabus changes and tension between students and professors. The university was closed for two weeks, from Jan. 26-Feb. 7. The resolution argues that the circumstances caused by Winter Storm Fern could result in data that is not reflective of what a professor's performance would look like during a normal semester. Stephanie Miller, a professor of psychology, is a faculty senator representing the psychology department. She is a leading force behind the resolution. However, Director of News and Media Relations Jacob Batte said that the university is still collecting student evaluations for this semester. The university has not yet decided whether these evaluations will be taken into account in faculty evaluations regarding performance and promotions. |
| Ole Miss Professor Preserves Mississippi's Black Church Legacy | |
| University of Mississippi professor Vanessa Charlot walks into Mississippi's oldest Black churches with a camera and questions that go far deeper than inquiring about the historic architecture. The assistant professor of media and communication has spent several months visiting many of the state's most historically significant Black churches as a 2025 Crossroads Arts fellow. Her project, "Sanctuaries of the Spirit: Black Churches in Mississippi," is a photographic and oral history exploration of sacred spaces that have long served as pillars of faith, resilience and activism. "Black churches have always been significant to the community for upward social mobility, equality and spiritual development," Charlot said. "As our society continues to evolve and our understanding of spiritual institutions expands and constricts, I thought it was important to visually explore Black religiosity and preserve this history." The Crossroads Project, supported by the Henry Luce Foundation and based at Princeton University, funds innovative work examining the diversity of Black religious history and culture in the Americas. |
| Restaurants fill up for graduation week | |
| It can be difficult to find a table at a restaurant on the Oxford Square at various times of the year, but graduation season brings a new meaning to the phrase "booked and busy" for the city's finest dining locations. With graduating students' family members pouring into Oxford for the week of May 4, many graduates are unable to find tables or are facing the prospect of waiting hours to eat. "My aunt lucked out on Friday of graduation -- I think it's (May 8) -- and she got us a reservation at Good Day Café. But it's at like 9:30 p.m., so super late. I know my mom tried for City Grocery and a couple of other places, and reservations just went so fast," senior political science major Isabella Rogers said. Some of the Square's most coveted eateries, such as City Grocery, are already turning people away as they reach maximum capacity. "We are completely booked starting Wednesday night of graduation week. We may have something at 10:30 p.m. (on) any of those given nights, but we are pretty much maxed out already," City Grocery General Manager Jennifer Nelson Pascoe said. |
| JSU helps launch first-of-its-kind National HBCU Research Coalition | |
| Jackson State University is among 15 Historically Black Colleges and Universities that have launched the Association of HBCU Research Institutions, a national coalition designed to accelerate world-class research, expand institutional capacity and elevate HBCU leadership in addressing society's most pressing challenges. The organization will elevate the contributions of HBCUs in cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research, expand policy influence and accelerate transformative discoveries at scale. AHRI will do so by increasing research capacity, strengthening institutional infrastructure, boosting funding opportunities, enhancing faculty recruitment and expanding student access to research and career pathways. "AHRI represents a more coordinated approach to advancing HBCU research, and Jackson State University is proud to stand alongside peer institutions," said JSU President Denise Jones Gregory. "As Mississippi's only urban research university, we are committed to expanding research opportunities for our students and faculty and ensuring that our work continues to address the needs of the communities we serve and contributes to economic growth and opportunity in Mississippi. This coalition strengthens our ability to grow, collaborate and contribute to broader national research efforts led by HBCUs." |
| Jackson State University students showcase capstone projects | |
| Jackson State University students showcased months of work and skill development at the Capstone Showcase. Graduating seniors from the Department of Journalism and Media Studies presented their news stories, magazines, websites and more to attendees, sharing their passion for those projects and the work they've done over the semester. Organizers said it's a way to instill confidence in graduating seniors and teach them valuable lessons. "Seeing that their work does matter, they are prepared to enter the workforce and that, when they put forth that effort, they can create something that they can be proud of and I think those are the things that are needed when you're leaving out the door and taking that next step," said Dr. Jessica Love, assistant professor and chair and creator of the Capstone Project. Don Spann, assistant professor with the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at JSU, said the showcase plays a vital role in preparing students for the workforce. |
| JSU announces new 'Jubilee' opera inspired by famed author Margaret Walker Alexander | |
| The Margaret Walker Center and Department of Music at Jackson State University announce the inaugural HBCU Opera and Musical Theater Summer Festival. The festival will debut a new folk opera entitled 'Jubilee,' inspired by the 1966 novel written by esteemed scholar Dr. Margaret Walker. A series of grants will support the festival at JSU from June 7-14, 2026, and a concert production of the opera at Yale University on May 28, 2026. Funding will provide stipends for students and artists, cover travel costs, rehearsals and more. "We are so excited to continue to expand the academic, artistic and activist legacy of our founder, Margaret Walker Alexander. Jubilee is a seminal work of fiction that launched an entire genre of neo-slave narratives. Now, with a new opera, ever more audiences will be introduced to this timeless piece," said Director of the Margaret Walker Center Robert Luckett, Ph.D. |
| New endowed scholarship to support Mississippi College students | |
 | Officials announced a newly endowed scholarship at Mississippi College, named in honor of a former secretary to the Dean of Women at MC, will help students obtain undergraduate degrees from the university. Ernest Turcotte announced the establishment of a scholarship in memory of his wife, the late Eleanor Johnson Turcotte, during an April 22, 2026, reception at the Latimer House on the Clinton campus. Eleanor, who earned her undergraduate degree in 1963 and her graduate degree in 1968 from MC, served the Dean of Women at the University for nearly a decade. MC President Blake Thompson said the Turcottes' support of MC students carries additional significance since the university is celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2026. |
| ICC president named among nation's top CEOs by AACC | |
| Dr. Jay Allen, president of Itawamba Community College, has been recognized as one of the top five community college CEOs in the nation by the American Association of Community Colleges. Allen was honored during the AACC annual convention, held April 11-14 in Seattle, where he was named a finalist for the organization's CEO of the Year award. The recognition places him among the nation's most distinguished community college leaders. "This recognition is a reflection of the collective efforts of our entire ICC family," Allen said. "I am grateful to serve alongside a dedicated team of faculty, staff and administrators who remain committed to putting students first and advancing our mission each day." Allen has served as president of ICC since 2017. |
| DoD awards Auburn University $48 million to further defense research | |
| On April 27, 2026, the Pentagon released a list of their contracts totaling to $2.2 billion in awards. Among those awards was a $48,994,134 "cost-no-fee indefinite-delivery contract" to Auburn University for engineering research and development that will support the Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation and Missile Command on Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. This comes eight weeks after the Department of Defense announced Auburn as a potential partner institution and a year after Auburn received $11.4 million in funding for a space defense project through the Missile Defense Agency. Locations for Auburn University's contribution are still being determined; however, the contract comes after Auburn University's establishment of the Auburn University Applied Research Institute, which opened in 2022 in the Cummings Research Park area of Huntsville. |
| UGA School of Medicine sends out admission offers for inaugural class | |
| The new University of Georgia School of Medicine has sent out 64 admission offers to prospective students for its inaugural class. The school received more than 2,000 applications during its two-week application period, according to a UGA Today press release. "The inaugural class of the University of Georgia School of Medicine has been built with intention, and the caliber of students has been exceptional," Brian Steele, associate dean for admissions at the School of Medicine, said in the release. Applications opened on Feb. 16, with more than 235 prospective students receiving interviews. Dean Shelley Nuss called each of the prospective students to congratulate them on their acceptance. UGA's School of Medicine will be the second public medical school in the state, expanding in-state medical education and helping to improve health care access in medically underserved communities. |
| 'Murder suspect' leads chase that ends in building on U. of South Carolina campus, officials say | |
 | A public safety incident happened Wednesday on the Columbia campus of the University of South Carolina. A fugitive was apprehended inside a campus building after a short foot chase, the university said. The wanted person then ran away but was taken into custody in the ball fields behind the Strom Thurmond Wellness & Fitness Center on the USC campus, according to police. A university spokesman said the chase ended inside the fitness center. "He was apprehended following a short foot pursuit that concluded inside of the building. No injuries have been reported and campus is safe," USC spokesman Jeff Stensland said in a message to The State. Wesley Black, a USC student at the fitness center said that they were told to "get down" in the Strom gym. "There was an armed suspect who ran through campus and he ran inside Strom with a gun. It's all over the USC story...and nobody got a Carolina alert," said Duncan Greer, a USC student. Stensland said a Carolina alert was issued at 1:38 p.m. to let the community know of the police presence on campus. |
| Edible flower popularity continues to bloom in Missouri | |
 | Farms across Missouri cultivate edible flowers each year, including calendula, nasturtium, pansy, lavender and squash blossoms. Using flowers for cooking first became popular centuries ago during the Victorian era in England. But, they haven't lost popularity, said David Trinklein, a state specialist and horticulturalist for University of Missouri Extension. Trinklein said the purpose of cooking with flowers is primarily about the aesthetic. "I'm sure flowers must have a few vitamins, or perhaps more so minerals in them, but that's not the reason we consume them," he said. "It's not for the reason of nutrition, (or) for any other reason other than just the novelty of eating a beautiful flower or having it in your food." Trinklein emphasized that plants should not be eaten unless it's known for a fact that they are nontoxic. Even for harmless plants, he recommended sampling a small amount first to avoid potential consequences, like unknown allergies or the presence of unsafe-to-eat pesticides on the flowers. |
| Summers Off? Hardly. Academics Enter the Season of Ambient Pressure. | |
 | Like many faculty members, Kerry O'Grady, a senior lecturer of business communications at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, gets tired of hearing from friends and family that it must be so nice to have her summers off. "If you're doing your job the way that you're supposed to, honestly, you have no time off," O'Grady said. "Period." O'Grady is on a two-year contract to work from September to May each year. But last summer, instead of enjoying a break, she reviewed scholarly articles, read up on the latest pedagogy, found new case studies, created new presentation slides, and wrote student recommendations for fall internships. Because O'Grady is in a nontenured position, she feels "a lot of pressure to deliver," she said, "and that requires hours." "Am I forced to sit down at my computer every day over the summer by my boss? No," O'Grady laughed. "Do I feel compelled to? Absolutely, if I want to keep my job." Expectations for work during the summer are communicated "indirectly and informally," said Deborah Trytten, a professor of computer science at the University of Oklahoma. Nobody says at a job interview, "We're going to expect you to work for three months in the summer and we're not going to pay you unless you bring in your own money." |
| Securing NIH awards is getting more competitive -- and confusing | |
| The likelihood of snagging National Institutes of Health grants has plunged to historic lows, forcing frustrated academic researchers to resort to a variety of tactics to try to obtain funding and, in some cases, keep their jobs, according to a nationwide STAT survey and follow-up interviews with respondents. NIH data show that securing research awards has become more competitive under the second Trump administration than ever before, and more unpredictable. Just 13% of applications were funded in the past fiscal year, and even top-rated proposals aren't a sure thing. For some researchers, this has meant spending much more time writing grants, hoping to beat the odds by simply shooting more shots. Others are looking for other sources of funding, or rewriting proposals to fit with administration priorities. Physician-researchers are having to shift their focus away from science, devoting more time to seeing patients. This is something University of Michigan Medical School bioethicist Kayte Spector-Bagdady has watched firsthand, while teaching a course for colleagues who have received career development awards that provide research training. Many of these clinician-scientists are feeling pressure to abandon the latter portion of their professional identity in order to bring in patient revenue to offset lost research funds. |
| As AI Skills Surge, Entry-Level Jobs Lag | |
 | As artificial intelligence becomes embedded in both college classrooms and the job market, a new report from Handshake finds a rapidly closing gap between student adoption of AI tools and employer demand for those skills. The job platform's Class of 2026 report drew on data collected last month from 1,248 bachelor's degree students graduating this year from nearly 500 institutions nationwide. It shows AI adoption among seniors has shifted from equally split to nearly universal: 85 percent now report using AI tools -- up 31 percentage points from two years ago -- and more than a third say they use them daily. At the same time, employer demand for such skills is accelerating. More than 10 percent of active internships on the job platform now mention AI-related skills, while the share of full-time job postings referencing AI has nearly doubled year over year to 4.2 percent. That growth spans industries. Nearly a third of tech job postings now mention AI -- more than triple the share from two years ago. More than 7 percent of financial services job postings mention AI, along with roughly 5.5 percent of media and marketing roles; both sectors hovered just above 1 percent two years ago. AI mentions in government, health care and education job postings -- near zero two years ago -- have risen to roughly 3 percent each. |
| The Quiet Revolution: Community Colleges Are Training America's AI Workforce | |
| Destiny Reyes didn't set out to become an AI technician. Three years ago, she was working the closing shift at a logistics warehouse in the East Houston Ship Channel, scanning barcodes and wondering whether her job would exist in five years. She had heard the predictions that automation would displace millions of workers in warehousing, transportation, and distribution. What she hadn't heard was that someone might actually train her to be on the other side of that disruption. Then a coworker mentioned Houston Community College's applied AI and robotics program. "I thought AI was for people who went to University of Texas or Rice," said Reyes, who enrolled in an associate degree program at the college. "I didn't know there was a door open for somebody like me." Today, she is learning to deploy AI-driven automation systems for the same kinds of operational environments where she once worked the floor. She expects to graduate into a job earning nearly twice her warehouse wage and plans to keep going. In a February 2026 opinion piece published in The Hechinger Report, Antonio Delgado, vice president of Innovation and Technology Partnerships at Miami Dade College and founder of the National Applied AI Consortium (NAAIC), framed the challenge in stark terms. The coming AI economy, he wrote, will produce a new and consequential divide: not between those with college degrees and those without, but between those trained to work with AI and those who are not. |
| 4 in 10 Students Say AI Will Influence Their Career Choice | |
| Nearly half -- 42 percent -- of college-eligible students say that artificial intelligence will influence which career they pursue, and 10 percent report that they have already changed their planned major due to concerns about AI, according to a report released Tuesday. "AI is upending the value equation in higher education," said Pam Royall, head of research at the education consultancy EAB and co-author of the report. "Colleges must prove they're preparing graduates by offering experiential learning and emphasizing in-demand, durable job skills that are less likely to become obsolete in an AI-driven economy." In an annual survey conducted in February and March, EAB surveyed 9,516 students who were eligible to enroll at a college for the fall 2025 term about their college plans. About nine in 10 of the survey respondents said they attend or are planning to attend college -- the same share as the previous two years, but a decrease from 2015, when 98 percent of respondents said the same. |
| How A.I. Killed Student Writing (and Revived It) | |
 | For today's high school and college students, the all-night writing session, hunched over a laptop at home or in a library carrel, is on the way out. In the era of artificial intelligence, take-home writing assignments have become so difficult to police for integrity that many educators have simply stopped assigning them. Instead, in a rapid shift, teachers are requiring students to write inside the classroom, where they can be observed. Assignments have changed too, with some educators prompting students to reflect on their personal reactions to what they've learned and read -- the type of writing that A.I. struggles to credibly produce. This transformation is happening across the educational landscape, from suburban districts and urban charter schools to community colleges and the Ivy League. The New York Times heard from nearly 400 college and high school educators who responded to a callout about how generative A.I. is changing writing instruction. Almost all described a deep rethinking of how to teach writing -- and whether it still matters, since A.I. has become a better writer than most students (and adults), they said. |
| How YouTube Took Over the American Classroom | |
| American public schools are awash in YouTube. According to more than 45 families, school administrators, clinicians and educators across the country interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, schools' overreliance on the Google-owned platform for educational content has created a gateway for students to get sucked into an infinite scroll of videos on school-issued devices. YouTube during snack time, dismissal and indoor recess. YouTube to teach drawing to first-graders. YouTube to read a book to class. YouTube under the covers at night, watching hamster videos on school-issued Chromebooks. A survey touted by YouTube executives shows that 94% of teachers have used YouTube in their roles. The concern about YouTube arrives during a crisis in education. American math and reading scores have slid to their lowest point in decades. Many educators, families and learning scientists say they can no longer blame pandemic learning loss; the decline has coincided with a dramatic increase in school screen time, turbocharged by the embrace of 1:1 devices by more than 88% of public schools, according to government survey data. |
| State lawmakers eye accreditation policy changes as new agency forms | |
| A growing number of Republican-controlled states have introduced legislative and policy proposals that would allow their public colleges to leave their long-standing accreditors for a newly founded accrediting body. The Commission for Public Higher Education, a nascent accrediting body, is moving to potentially take on those and other public institutions as members. The CPHE is financially backed by the state of Florida and the Trump administration and overseen largely by state university system appointees, a model that's raised alarms among some critics. Recent state legislation has aimed to make it easier for colleges to move to CPHE or other accreditors. Under recent Florida statute, for instance, public colleges must switch their accreditors by 2032. Meanwhile, states like Iowa and Louisiana are considering policies to move their institutions to the new commission's purview. Six public university systems in Republican-leaning states formed CPHE last June, which is working to accredit 10 colleges to start. Those institutions will need to be accredited under another existing accreditor as well until the CPHE receives federal recognition in order to continue receiving federal funding. |
| New State Laws Land Blows Against Shared Governance, Tenure | |
| Gutting faculty senates' independence. Increasing secrecy in university presidential searches. Banning faculty input on whether their colleagues should be fired for misconduct. These are some laws aimed at higher education that passed this year in the many states where the regular legislative session has already ended. Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors, said red states are apparently trying to outdo one another on "who can create the most undemocratic, antifaculty legislation." "Tenure, shared governance and academic freedom make up a very important infrastructure," Wolfson said, "and if you look at the bills that have come out in the last three months, what you see is an attack on each one of those three pillars." But this year's legislation hasn't just been about targeting faculty protections and governance. In general, "states are getting much more assertive in higher education policy and more aggressive in some areas where, historically, that had been left to university governing boards," said Tom Harnisch, vice president for government relations for the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association. |
| A cautionary tale about a state-run city | |
| Mississippi newspaper publisher and columnist Wyatt Emmerich writes: Sometimes a short street tells a long story. That is what I came away thinking after sitting down with Gerald Beard, the former public works director for the City of Jackson and a longtime construction manager who volunteered to help St. Richard Catholic Church pave Druid Hill Drive, the street that serves the church's new elementary school campus. The facts alone are enough to make a taxpayer sigh. It's a cautionary tale for those who think state control of Jackson will lead to miraculous efficiencies. |
| U.S. Supreme Court's voting rights decision carries big implications for Mississippi | |
| The Magnolia Tribune's Russ Latino writes: On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court voided a minority-majority congressional district created in Louisiana. Justices found that the district, which was drawn in response to a lower federal court's order, was not required by Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and that its creation amounted to unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. The decision in Callais v. Louisiana rewrites the legal framework applied to Section 2. Previously courts looked at so-called "disparate impact" or "discriminatory effect" to determine if a Section 2 violation occurred. These decisions explicitly ignored whether evidence of actual discriminatory intent existed. Last fall, in a case brought against the State of Mississippi challenging the districts used for the election of state Supreme Court justices, U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock found a Section 2 violation. She ordered Mississippi to draw new Supreme Court districts. Aycock's decision noted that only four black Supreme Court justices had ever been elected in Mississippi and found black voters should have more opportunity to elect justices of their choosing. ... The Supreme Court's decision in Callais flips the judicially created framework applied by Aycock on its head. |
SPORTS
| How Ace Reese rediscovered hot bat during Mississippi State baseball win streak | |
| Ace Reese wasn't even hitting above .300 last season after an April 8 win against UAB. But by the time his first Mississippi State baseball season ended, the star third baseman led the team in batting average (.352), home runs (21) and RBIs (66). He was a big lift for MSU to win nine out of the last 10 regular-season games to reach the NCAA Tournament after coach Chris Lemonis was fired. The projected first-round pick in the 2026 MLB Draft appears on the verge of duplicating another big finish to the season. The No. 9 Bulldogs (35-10, 13-8 SEC) are on the country's longest active winning streak at nine games, and Reese has been a big reason why. During the winning streak, he is 12-for-35 (.343) in those nine games with five home runs, 12 RBIs, 14 runs and 10 walks. That includes home runs in all three games against LSU, which Mississippi State swept April 24-26. "Ace Reese is determined and locked in," coach Brian O'Connor said after the series. "The home runs are impressive, but what's impressive to me is the two-strike doubles, the backside base hits. That tells you that somebody's not giving at-bats away, that they're locked in and they're playing to win for their team." |
| Softball: No. 18 State Closes Regular Season At Ole Miss | |
| Rivalry weekend has come to the softball diamond as No. 18/16 Mississippi State prepares to end the regular season with a three-game series at Ole Miss. All SEC teams will play their final weekend series from Thursday-Saturday to allow for travel to next week's SEC Tournament. The Bulldogs have had success against in-state foes in recent years under head coach Samantha Ricketts. MSU is 31-6 against Mississippi teams with five of those losses being to the Rebels over the past seven seasons. State is coming off a series win against LSU for just the second time in program history. Meanwhile, Ole Miss won its last series against Auburn. The Bulldogs remain firmly in the debate over one of the 16 regional host spots in the NCAA Tournament, and a win in the series would help their case. The 2026 SEC Tournament is slated to be hosted by Kentucky in Lexington. If the season ended today, the Bulldogs (36-15, 8-13 SEC) would currently be the 10-seed and would open play on Tuesday against the 15-seed and host Wildcats. |
| No. 16 Bulldogs close out regular season with trip to Oxford to face Ole Miss | |
| The final week of the regular season has arrived for Mississippi State's softball squad as it looks to head to the SEC Tournament with one more series victory in its back pocket. The No. 16 Bulldogs (36-15, 8-15) are slated to cap the year off with a road trip to Oxford to face rival Ole Miss (30-22, 4-17) with the first game beginning at 1 p.m. today. Game 2 starts at 6 p.m. Friday, and the series concludes at 2 p.m. Saturday. The first two games will be broadcast on SEC Network+ and the final game will be aired on SEC Network. Mississippi State owns a 50-35 all-time record over Ole Miss and has won eight of its last 10 games against the Rebels. MSU is coming off its first SEC series victory since late March by grabbing two wins over visiting LSU during Super Bulldog Weekend. The Bulldogs got stellar 11-strikeout performances from Alyssa Faircloth and Peja Goold in Games 1 and 2 for 5-3 and 5-2 wins before falling in Game 3 5-3. The Tigers managed to find some success from Goold and Faircloth and pulled away from a 2-2 tie with MSU thanks to a run in the third inning and a two-run homer in the sixth. |
| No. 17 Women's Golf Earns Sixth Consecutive NCAA Tournament Bid | |
| Mississippi State women's golf will appear in a program record-extending sixth straight NCAA Tournament on Wednesday, as they were selected as the three seed in the Chapel Hill Regional on Wednesday. The tournament will begin on Monday, May 11 and conclude on Wednesday, May 13. Charlie Ewing is a perfect six-for-six in making the postseason as Mississippi State's head coach since he took over the program in December of 2020. No other coach in program history has taken the Bulldogs to more than four NCAA Tournaments. This will be the 14th Mississippi State have made the NCAA Tournament spanning back to their first appearance in 2002. In State's last six tournament appearances, they have advanced out of regionals on five different occasions. The lone time the Bulldogs did not advance was the 2021 season, Ewing's first season, where the regional round was canceled due to inclement weather and saw the top six seeds advance. State was the 12th seed that season. |
| Track & Field: Bulldogs Close Regular Season At Home | |
| Mississippi State track and field will conclude the 2026 regular season by hosting the Maroon and White Tune Up. The meet will have athletes from 11 schools competing at the Mike Sanders Track Complex on Thursday and Friday. Competition on Friday will be in the throws for State, with Bulldogs set to compete in the hammer and discus. There are 17 Bulldogs participating in Friday's senior day ceremony. The senior class has represented the university well during their time here, earning All-American, All-Region and All-SEC nods during their time here, as well as rewriting the program's record book. Friday will feature a full day of competition, both on the track and in the field events. There are 51 Bulldogs set to compete across 23 individual events and three relays. |
| Some changes coming for 2026-27 Mississippi duck, waterfowl hunting seasons | |
| The Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks adopted migratory bird hunting season dates for the 2026-27 seasons in its April meeting, and although overall breeding duck numbers are down by 4% from the long-term average, estimates indicate the population is strong enough for plenty of hunting opportunities in the coming fall and winter. "It's pretty much status quo, at least as far as number of days," said Houston Havens, Migratory Bird Program coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. "We will again have the nine-day teal season like we had last fall and that's based on the breeding surveys that are typically done in May." The number of days for waterfowl hunting is determined by estimates of breeding duck numbers. The surveys are conducted in May by biologists from various agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and used to determine seasons for the following year. So, the 2026-27 waterfowl season is based on survey estimates from 2025. |
| Sources: Big 12 lands private capital deal | |
| The Big 12 has struck its long-discussed private capital deal -- the first such publicized conference-wide agreement in major college sports. The league's presidents and chancellors ratified the five-year agreement with capital partner RedBird last week, as well as Weatherford Capital, finalizing a three-prong package: to deliver an infusion of capital -- at least $12.5 million -- to the league office to drive commercial development and business growth; offer schools an opt-in capital credit line of $30 million each; and create a strategic business partnership that could pay off when the conference next goes to market for its media rights contract. The Big 12 is describing the deal as the "RedBird Business Development Partnership." As part of their Collegiate Athletic Solutions partnership, the firms are co-investing the infusion into the conference with an expected return. However, the capital partners will hold no ownership in the league and the deal will not change the operation or governance of the conference, commissioner Brett Yormark told Yahoo Sports. |
| Prediction markets say they're different from sportsbooks. Gambling addicts say it's all the same | |
| The soccer coach had blocked himself from sportsbooks by the time he found prediction markets. The tax accountant said he "got the same high" on those platforms that he got from gambling. "That was how I relapsed -- with Kalshi and Polymarket. I lost a bunch of money." The rapid growth of prediction markets has sparked a high-stakes debate that is playing out in courts and legislatures all over the country. Operators of those companies believe they should be regulated like the stock exchange because of federal law and their customer-to-customer structure, while sportsbooks and state officials think they should be supervised the same way as sports gambling platforms. While that argument continues with no sign of resolution, the clinicians who treat gambling disorders are more concerned about what they are seeing with their patients. In their spaces, when it comes to sports gambling and prediction markets, the end result is virtually the same. |
| Saudi Arabia Pulls Funding From LIV Golf. Its Star Players Face a Painful Road Back. | |
| After spending recent weeks on life support, LIV Golf has lost the funding of its Saudi backers. LIV plans to tell players and staff by Thursday that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund will no longer bankroll the circuit after this season, according to people familiar with the matter. The move sounds the death knell for the upstart that sowed chaos in professional golf by plowing billions into the sport and poaching A-list players. The writing had been on the wall for nearly a month. When PIF recently laid out its vision for the next five years, it made no mention of the league that has divided the golf world since it first teed off in 2022. The people said that while LIV has grown the sport globally, the operation was no longer consistent with the new phase of PIF's investment strategy. Even as LIV seeks outside investors to keep it afloat, it will be nearly impossible for it to exist bearing any resemblance to its current form after the Saudis lost billions on the endeavor. They paid exorbitant fees to put on tournaments with lucrative purses featuring elite players such as Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm. |
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.
