| Thursday, November 6, 2025 |
| Duff Center dedicated on campus of Mississippi State University | |
 | Potential 2027 gubernatorial candidate Tommy Duff and his brother Jim recently continued their philanthropy across Mississippi universities by donating $15 million as a cornerstone gift for a new state-of-the-art three-story, 100,000-square-foot facility at Mississippi State University to house the Department of Kinesiology. As one of the largest academic buildings on the Starkville campus, the new center will also house key programs of the university's Mississippi Institute on Disabilities, including the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Clinic and ACCESS Program and Specialized College Services. It is built on the former site of the McCarthy Gymnasium. The Duffs along with university and state officials gathered Wednesday for the dedication of the Jim and Thomas Duff Center at Mississippi State University. "The Jim and Thomas Duff Center -- and the work that goes on here -- will change many lives and help make our great state even better," said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. "The Duff Center will help ensure the success of our mission of teaching, research and service for decades to come," he added, also emphasizing appreciation for the state Legislature and its leaders. |
| Officials celebrate Jim and Thomas Duff Center dedication at Mississippi State | |
| Officials gathered in Starkville on Wednesday to cut a celebratory ribbon for the dedication of the Jim and Thomas Duff Center at Mississippi State University. One of the school's largest academic buildings, the Duff Center is the new home of the university's Department of Kinesiology and key programs of its Mississippi Institute on Disabilities, including the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Clinic and ACCESS Program, along with specialized college services. The three-story, 100,000-square-foot facility on Bully Boulevard is named in honor of brothers Jim and Tommy Duff, whose $15 million cornerstone gift made the center a reality. Wednesday's ceremony celebrated the center as a major hub of Mississippi State's human physiological research and treatment, including laboratories, classrooms, treatment rooms, and offices that enable increased hands-on training and services. "The Jim and Thomas Duff Center -- and the work that goes on here -- will change many lives and help make our great state even better," Mississippi State University President Mark E. Keenum said. |
| MSU makes road, access changes in anticipation of weekend's SEC Nation broadcast | |
| Mississippi State is welcoming the return of "SEC Nation Presented by Regions Bank" this Saturday [Nov. 8] for MSU's matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs in Davis Wade Stadium. Broadcasting live in The Junction from 9-11 a.m. CT on ESPN, the show precedes the 11 a.m. Bulldogs vs. Bulldogs contest. Show analysts Laura Rutledge, Roman Harper, Jordan Rodgers, Tim Tebow and Paul Finebaum will take a look at football across the conference, and Finebaum will start the weekend off on Friday [Nov. 7]. "The Paul Finebaum Show" is live in The Junction from 2-6 p.m., and then the "Marty & McGee" show, featuring Marty Smith and Ryan McGee, continues coverage Saturday morning [Nov. 8] from 8-9 a.m. Fans and campus visitors are urged to be mindful of gameday policies as well as parking, road closures and traffic updates. Beginning Wednesday [Nov. 5] at 6 p.m., Creelman Street will close from Stone Boulevard to Tracy Drive. It will remain closed until postgame on Saturday [Nov. 8]. All traffic accessing the Bell Island area must use George Perry Street from the north. On George Perry Street, fans continue past Old Main Academic Center and the Chapel of Memories to access Bell Island. Bollards at the YMCA and Chapel will be removed for vehicle access to West Lee Boulevard and Tracy Drive. All vehicles must exit on George Perry Street as well. |
| MSU research station harvests tradition, opportunity for sugarcane in Mississippi | |
| Each fall, Research Associate Scott Langlois and his crew harvest a small sugarcane crop growing at the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station's South Mississippi Branch, honoring a 40-year-old agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to sell seed cane to new or current growers, and it always sells out. The Poplarville station's history of sugarcane production and research dates to 1925. The '20s and '30s were times of robust sugarcane trial research for the station, when 87% of the state's population were farmers. In 1938, the USDA established the Sugar Crops Field Station in Meridian as the Mississippi hub for sugarcane research, and its staff worked cooperatively with MAFES scientists on research until its doors closed in 1983. Retired station Superintendent Ned Edwards explained that when the Meridian facility closed, the university agreed to plant three of its high-performing varieties of syrup cane and an heirloom chewing variety, initially at the MAFES Beaumont station in Perry County. "When I came to Poplarville in 1989, it was being grown and distributed to farmers," he said. "I'm glad someone at USDA had the foresight to ask MSU to take care of the seeds so they would not be lost." Edwards said the crop's biggest limitation is cold temperatures. Northern Mississippi represents the northernmost edge of sugarcane's growing range in the U.S. The only states that produce commercial quantities of sugarcane are Florida and Louisiana, where cultivation is most prominent in areas south of Interstate 10. |
| MSU doctoral student selected as emerging leader by national conservation society | |
 | According to an MSU press release, a wildlife, fisheries, and aquaculture doctoral student in Mississippi State's College of Forest Resources has been selected for the Soil and Water Conservation Society's Emerging Leaders Program. Daniel Egerson, from Imo, Nigeria, will spend a year in an immersive leadership training program that includes formal coursework, mentorship, and hands-on learning through virtual activities and in-person sessions in St. Louis, Missouri. The experience will culminate with Egerson planning and hosting a conservation event. "I hope the hands-on activities of the program will give me an opportunity to improve my engagement skills, making me more effective as I continue to meet with landowners," he said. For his doctoral research, Egerson is part of a team developing a conservation reserve program menu tool, an online decision support system that helps landowners select available conservation practices best suited to their needs. At MSU, Egerson is under the direction of Kristine Evans, associate professor in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture and associate director of the Geosystems Research Institute. Evans said Egerson's accolade is the newest addition to his growing list of achievements. |
| Mississippi homeowners urged to evaluate drought-stricken trees | |
 | Drought-stricken trees continue to die across Mississippi, and many homeowners are facing the need for tree evaluation and removal services. "The record-breaking drought of 2023 and moderate drought of 2024 really did a number on trees all across Mississippi," said Butch Bailey, a forestry specialist with the Mississippi State University (MSU) Extension Service. "The pines declined quickly and died right away. But the hardwoods, like oaks and magnolias, are going to decline much more slowly. We will be losing large hardwoods that were actually killed by the 2023 drought for a few years to come." Officials said homeowners should be careful who they hire for services. Bailey recommends hiring only properly trained and insured professionals to evaluate and remove trees. "Any guy with a chainsaw can cut a tree. That's not what you are paying for," he said. "You're paying for a professional to have the education and training, and to carry insurance. That's not cheap, but it's cheaper than a tree coming down the wrong way." Homeowners who encounter solicitors offering tree work or removal should be cautious. "Never allow anyone to pressure you into any service," Bailey said. |
| Hire qualified professionals for tree evaluation, removal | |
| According to an MSU press release, drought-stricken trees continue to die across the state, and many homeowners are facing the need for tree evaluation and removal services. "The record-breaking drought of 2023 and moderate drought of 2024 really did a number on trees all across Mississippi," said Butch Bailey, a forestry specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Homeowners who encounter solicitors offering tree work or removal should be cautious. "Never allow anyone to pressure you into any service," Bailey said. "You can take their information, but always check around for other options. Your local Extension agent can help advise you about tree health and how to find a reputable, qualified tree service." At a minimum, a company or individual should be certified through the International Society of Arboriculture, or ISA, carry insurance and be bonded. Ideally, they should also have the Tree Risk Assessment Qualification, or TRAQ, certification as well, Bailey said. |
| Mary Means Business: Another coffee shop coming to Starkville | |
 | Folks can get their java juice at a new coffee shop coming to Starkville. 7 Brew plans to open a location in front of Ace Hardware, east of Newk's. According to City Planner Daniel Havelin, the site plans and architectural review have both been approved and the company should be receiving its building permit soon. 7 Brew first opened in 2017 in Rogers, Arkansas. Originally offering seven coffees, hence the name, the menu and company have since expanded, offering energy chillers, teas, lemonades, lattes, mocha, chai lattes, smoothies, shakes and more at its more than 530 stands. According to the architectural plans, the 510 square-foot prefabricated building will be a drive-thru only location with no interior or exterior dining components. ... Disc and That at 1107 Stark Road is officially closing. Four years ago, Andy Hunt opened the disc golf store, fulfilling his dream. I hate to see the store's closure, so if you have time, thank Hunt for his business. He helped a lot of people gravitate toward the sport and was always willing to spend time chatting. "Thank you Starkville and the disc golf community," a social media post from Hunt reads. "After four years, Disc and That is closing. Although closing this chapter is bittersweet, I can't wait to start the next chapter. To the disc golf community, thank you for all the support. It has been a pleasure getting to know y'all through this awesome sport." |
| Starkville's road success paves way for Columbus repaving plan | |
| When City Engineer Cody Burnett's office took over the road program nearly three years ago, he and his team found themselves at a crossroads. After receiving an evaluation from South Haven-based Civil Link, which provided a rough outline of roads in need of repairs, Burnett said he knew he had to find a way to extend the lives of city streets without exclusively doing asphalt repaving. "So that kind of led us on this journey of pavement preservation, and the thought behind it is, you are overlaying streets, but you're also keeping your good roads (from) becoming bad roads," Burnett told The Dispatch. Over the last three years, Burnett and his office have been incrementally repaving and preserving roads in the city based on a 10-year road plan developed from the Civil Link assessment, which has saved the city millions in annual road maintenance. Burnett said if the city had exclusively stuck to asphalt repaving, it would have cost about $4.5 to $5 million per year on average, exceeding the city's annual $3.3 million currently budgeted for road repairs. Starkville manages about 315 lane miles of roads within the city limits. So far through this updated method, Burnett said his office extended the life of about 100 of those lane miles. |
| Meet Turkules: Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves pardons turkey ahead of Thanksgiving | |
| Move over, Hercules! Mississippi now has Turkules. The feathered friend avoided a fowl fate when pardoned by Gov. Tate Reeves on Wednesday during the state's annual Thanksgiving Turkey Pardon Ceremony at the Governor's Mansion in Jackson. The event, hosted in partnership with Extra Table and Renasant Bank, marked the fourth year of the lighthearted tradition that celebrates gratitude, community, and generosity with a charitable twist. This year's ceremony helped raise funds to feed families across Mississippi through Extra Table's statewide hunger relief efforts. Reeves also used the opportunity to extend his appreciation to the state's service members, law enforcement officers, and first responders, emphasizing their role in keeping families safe during the holidays. "We will be thinking about you, and we will be praying for you this Thanksgiving," he said. While the turkey stole the spotlight before strutting its way to freedom, the event's larger purpose was to fight food insecurity. Extra Table, founded by Mississippi chef and restaurateur Robert St. John, provides nutritious food to pantries across the state. A $15 donation can provide three whole chickens for Mississippi families in need, per the nonprofit. |
| Why Thanksgiving turkey prices might give shoppers a shock this season | |
| The price of turkeys is soaring this Thanksgiving, and experts say consumers will have to hunt around to find a bargain for those birds. Driving the price hikes is a stressed turkey supply chain. The U.S. turkey flock has dropped to its lowest size in nearly 40 years because of the highly pathogenic avian influenza, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. As a result, wholesale turkey prices have surged 75% since October 2024, according to analysis by the Purdue University College of Agriculture. Wholesale turkey prices averaged 94 cents per pound at that point last year, compared to $1.71 per pound last month, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. Purdue University's model predicts that average retail price of a turkey will be approximately $2.05 per pound in November, which is 25% higher than a year ago. As a result, as 15-pound bird could cost consumers approximately $31. The USDA is forecasting an increase in turkey production in 2026, assuming there is a recovery in HPAI. But because of the current size of the flock, prices are not expected to drop considerably in 2026. |
| Shutdown threatens Thanksgiving travel, U.S. Travel warns | |
| The U.S. Travel Association and nearly 500 tourism organizations and companies are warning of a potential Thanksgiving travel meltdown if the government shutdown drags on. Thanksgiving is already one of the busiest travel weeks and a shutdown could make it even more chaotic with longer lines, delays and cancellations. In a letter to congressional leaders Monday, the coalition said the ongoing shutdown could depress demand and cost the U.S. travel economy billions, hurting local businesses nationwide. The group -- which includes major industry players like the American Hotel & Lodging Association, Cruise Lines International Association, American Gaming Association and major tourism boards -- is urging lawmakers to pass a clean continuing resolution and reopen the government before Thanksgiving. TSA officers and air traffic controllers are working without pay, fueling staffing shortages and flight disruptions. Thanksgiving week 2024 was one of the busiest on record -- and a similar surge this year could overwhelm already strained systems. |
| Black & Decker to close Verona plant, lay off nearly 600 workers | |
 | Stanley Black & Decker plans to lay off nearly 600 employees when it closes its facility at the Tupelo Lee Industrial Park South in Verona next year. In an email to the Daily Journal Tuesday, Debora Raymond, vice president of communications for SBD, said the company "made the strategic decision" to discontinue manufacturing multiple gas-powered items by 2026, affecting production at the Verona plant, formerly the MTD Products manufacturing plant. "This decision is a forward-looking step to align our portfolio with where we see the market heading," Raymond said. "By prioritizing our core product categories, ride-on mowers and commercial equipment, we position ourselves to better serve our customers." According to employees who were informed of the news Monday and allowed to go home with pay, production is slated to end in early April, with a shutdown at the end of the month. The distribution center will sell off its inventory through the rest of the year before closing. The plant employs 574 workers, plus another 183 temporary workers. |
| Shipping delays expected after UPS cargo plane crash | |
 | The UPS cargo plane crash on Tuesday at the company's global aviation hub in Kentucky, which killed at least 12, will temporarily disrupt the supply chain and result in some shipping delays. But UPS says it has contingency plans in place, and experts say the impact should be cleared up before the peak holiday season. The plane crashed Tuesday evening as it was departing for Honolulu from UPS Worldport, UPS' largest shipping hub, at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. Package sorting at the center was halted late Tuesday and the halt continued on Wednesday. About 416,000 packages can be sorted at the facility per hour, according to a UPS fact sheet. Ed Anderson, a professor of supply chain and operations management for the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas, estimates the average number of packages per plane leaving the Louisville shipping hub is 10,000 to 13,000. Tom Goldsby, professor of supply chain management at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, said UPS will most likely step up flights to its regional hubs to offset Worldport's closure. The hubs are "going to take on a greater burden until that critical operation in Louisville gets back to the full capacity," he said. |
| Joint Legislative Budget Committee lowers current fiscal year revenue estimate | |
| The Joint Legislative Budget Committee met Wednesday morning as Mississippi lawmakers begin setting the framework for the next state budget. Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann (R) gaveled in the meeting, which was quickly moved into an hourlong executive session. When lawmakers emerged, Governor Tate Reeves (R) had joined the gathering to hear from State Economist Corey Miller. Miller reported that sales tax revenue in Mississippi continues to grow, coming in 2.7 percent higher in this current fiscal year's first four months than in the prior year. Miller said individual income tax revenues were also up 3.3 percent for the same period "despite another reduction in the income tax rate that occurred last January." "Total residential employment in Mississippi in July and August was essentially the same as in July and August in 2024. However, average hourly wages in Mississippi for July and August as compared to one year ago were up 6.6 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively," Miller said, noting that the higher wages explained the increased income tax revenue with the lowered income tax rate. Mississippi is on a path to fully eliminate its individual income tax over the decade. Miller said corporate income tax revenues continue to trend down, with revenues coming in 0.5 percent lower in July to October this year compared to the same period in 2024. He attributes the decline to full expensing and lowered corporate profits. |
| Democrats in Mississippi Break the G.O.P.'s State House Supermajority | |
 | Mississippi Democrats won two closely watched special elections for State Senate on Tuesday, according to unofficial results and Republican and Democratic officials, breaking the Republican supermajority and bringing more Black voices to Jackson, the state capital. The special elections -- which were held in an off year, when no statewide races were on the ballot -- were forced by court-ordered redistricting to give Black voters more representation in state government. The Democrats' gains may barely make a difference in their power, since Republicans control the governor's office and both chambers of the legislature. Still, they might boost the party's efforts to rebuild in the South at a time when the Supreme Court seems poised to roll back a key provision of the Voting Rights Act that allows lawmakers to use race as a factor in drawing voting maps, creating districts where racial and ethnic minorities are a voting majority. Those so-called majority-minority districts, in state legislatures and in Congress, have practically been the only ones held by Democrats in the South. In a statement, Mike Hurst, chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party, called the Democrats' victories "disappointing, but not totally unexpected, as Republicans were the underdogs in these gerrymandered districts." He added that the party would be "redoubling our efforts to learn from these races and come back even stronger." |
| Race-based electoral redistricting in Mississippi has Democrats celebrating as Republicans vow to keep fighting | |
| The Mississippi Republican Party admitted Wednesday that the legislative special election results this week were disappointing. Yet, as MSGOP chairman Mike Hurst noted, the outcome was not totally unexpected. "Republicans were the underdogs in these gerrymandered districts drawn by an unelected court pursuant to a misapplied federal statute that has been weaponized by interest groups," Hurst said. Due to court-ordered redistricting to allow for more majority-minority districts, Democrats were favored in two Senate seats and one House seat in Tuesday's elections. All three were specifically drawn to where a Democrat could win based on racial voter trends using black voting age populations. When the dust settled, Democrats picked up the two seats in the state Senate, breaking the Republican supermajority, and added the one seat in the state House. State Rep. Cheikh Taylor, chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party, said Tuesday's victories prove "that Mississippi is no longer a foregone conclusion -- we are a battleground state." |
| Residents evacuate after explosion at Mississippi chemical plant causes ammonia leak | |
| An explosion at a hydrogen and nitrogen product manufacturer in Mississippi on Wednesday caused an ammonia leak and forced nearby residents to evacuate, officials said. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a post on the social platform X that emergency officials from across the state were responding to the anhydrous ammonia leak at CF Industries' plant north of Yazoo City. No deaths or injuries have been reported, he said. "Thank you to all of Mississippi's first responders and emergency managers for quickly responding to the leak," he said. Photos and video posted online show a large plume of yellowish smoke rising above the facility, which includes an ammonia plant and four nitric acid plants, among other things. Part of U.S. Route 49E was temporarily closed, according to the Mississippi Department of Transportation. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality said in a post on X that "air monitoring operations are underway and will continue as long as necessary to ensure public safety." Anhydrous ammonia is used as a fertilizer to help provide nitrogen for corn and wheat plants. |
| Democrats' confidence in shutdown strategy soars after election sweep | |
 | Senate Democrats feel confident after Tuesday's election that they have the advantage over Republicans in the government shutdown battle and are pointing to President Trump's statement that Republicans are getting "killed" politically as a big reason to stand their ground. A bipartisan deal hashed out by centrist Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee to reopen the government as soon as this week now appears stalled after Democrats won sweeping victories in New Jersey, Virginia and California. Democratic sources say they do not expect a bipartisan deal to reopen the government to be unveiled this week. One Democratic senator who requested anonymity said if a small group of Democrats abandon the broader caucus's position and vote to reopen the government in return for modest or even paltry concessions from Republicans, it would have a devastating effect on Democratic voters' morale. "It would be hugely deflating. When your strategy -- when something is working, you don't stop," the senator said. |
| FAA Plan to Cut Flights Might Not Be a Total Nightmare | |
 | The US Federal Aviation Administration plans to cut 10 percent of flights in 40 high-traffic airports on Friday morning if Congress fails to reopen the federal government by then, Transportation secretary Sean Duffy and FAA chief Bryan Bedford said Wednesday. The announcement came days after the US agency said it faced widespread shortages of air traffic controllers in half of the country's 30 busiest airports and hours-long security lines caused by absences of Transportation Security Administration agents. Federal workers have now gone 35 days without a paycheck amid the longest government shutdown in US history. Which flights might be canceled, and where, "is data-based," Duffy said Wednesday. "This is based on, where is the pressure and how do we alleviate the pressure?" A 10 percent reduction in scheduled commercial flights at 40 airports could lead to some 4,000 to 5,000 canceled flights per day. For airlines and travelers, a sudden cut in flights will likely lead to some serious logistical headaches. Duffy earlier this week warned of air travel "mass chaos" should the shutdown drag on. But airlines have some experience responding to sudden flight reductions due to staffing issues, says Michael McCormick, a former FAA official who now heads the Air Traffic Management program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. |
| Donald Trump enters his lame duck era | |
 | Hours after witnessing his party's worst electoral drubbing in at least six years, President Donald Trump hosted Senate Republicans at the White House and demanded they ditch their chamber's supermajority rules. "If you don't terminate the filibuster, you'll be in bad shape," he told them over breakfast in the State Dining Room. It was classic Trump dominance theater, like many other occasions this year where he successfully muscled recalcitrant Republicans to confirm controversial nominees, support divisive policies and enact sweeping domestic policy legislation. But upon returning to the Capitol, the senators made it very clear: They planned to blow Trump off. One GOP senator, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, laughed out loud when asked about the anti-filibuster push. Welcome to the dawn of Trump's lame duck era. Don't expect an immediate stampede away from the president, according to interviews with GOP lawmakers and aides Wednesday -- he remains overwhelmingly popular with GOP voters and is the party's most dominant leader in a generation. Trump's top political aide signaled Monday that the White House is not worried about a messy "family conversation" about the filibuster. But with Tuesday's stunning election losses crystallizing the risks to downballot Republicans in 2026 and beyond, there are growing signs that lawmakers are contending with the facts of their political lives: He'll be gone in just over three years, while they'll still be around. |
| A Skeptical Supreme Court Puts Trump's Economic Agenda in Question | |
| President Trump has fashioned tariffs as the utility knife of his second-term agenda. They have helped him to raise revenue, shape trade negotiations and bend other nations to his political will. But, as Mr. Trump learned on Wednesday, the primary tool in his punishing and ever-expanding trade war may soon reach its limit. The fate of the president's sweeping taxes on imports from nearly every country now rests in the hands of the Supreme Court's nine justices, most of whom sounded skeptical about Mr. Trump's novel and vast assertion of trade powers. It is impossible to predict how a divided bench may ultimately rule in the landmark case, one that could redefine the scope of presidential trade authority and limit Mr. Trump's ability to issue tariffs on a whim. But the court's interrogation -- across nearly three hours of oral arguments -- underscored the grand political stakes for the president and his economic vision. Since winning the election one year ago, Mr. Trump has targeted friends and competitors including Canada, Mexico, the European Union and China with an escalating set of duties. Those taxes on imports have primarily fallen on American consumers and businesses. |
| Economic Anger Once Again Punishes the Party in Power | |
 | Discontent with the economy is once again proving to be the primary force in U.S. politics, defining elections in three states on Tuesday and punishing the party in power. Democratic candidates who focused their messages on economic issues will now lead the country's biggest city, as well as two states: In New York City, which elected a 34-year-old democratic socialist as mayor, it was housing affordability and the cost of big-city living. In New Jersey, a nearly 20% rise in power prices over the past year amped up voter frustration. In Virginia, voters felt the effects of President Trump's cuts to the federal workforce and a government shutdown that has left many workers there without paychecks. Across the board, the biggest contests on Tuesday were decided by voters who listed the economy or cost of living as the leading issue where they live. Exit polls conducted by the firm SSRS show those voters broke for the Democrat by nearly 2 to 1 in all three races. Many of the same frustrations that propelled Trump to office last year now appear to be working against Republicans. High prices for food, transportation and housing remain well above voters' comfort level. The rate of price increases is well below its high point in 2022, but inflation has ticked up a bit lately in part because of Trump's tariffs. New problems have also emerged to fuel voter frustration, including a slowdown in the hiring rate. The stock market is producing big gains for investors, and spending by top earners is powering the economy. Yet wage growth for lower-income earners is stalling, and many younger Americans are shut out of the housing and job markets. |
| Rep. Nancy Pelosi, trailblazing Democratic leader from San Francisco, won't seek reelection | |
 | Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a trailblazing San Francisco Democrat who leveraged decades of power in the U.S. House to become one of the most influential political leaders of her generation, will not run for reelection in 2026, she said Thursday. The former House speaker, 85, who has been in Congress since 1987 and oversaw both of President Trump's first-term impeachments, had been pushing off her 2026 decision until after Tuesday's vote on Proposition 50, a ballot measure she backed and helped bankroll to redraw California's congressional maps in her party's favor. With the measure's resounding passage, Pelosi said it was time to start clearing the path for another Democrat to represent San Francisco -- one of the nation's most liberal bastions -- in Congress, as some are already vying to do. Pelosi did not immediately endorse a would-be successor, but challenged her constituents to stay engaged. Pelosi has not faced a serious challenge for her seat since President Reagan was in office, and has won recent elections by wide margins. Just a year ago, she won reelection with 81% of the vote. However, Pelosi was facing two hard-to-ignore challengers from her own party in next year's Democratic primary: state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), 55, a prolific and ambitious lawmaker with a strong base of support in the city, and Saikat Chakrabarti, 39, a Democratic political operative and tech millionaire who is infusing his campaign with personal cash. |
| Bird flu surges among poultry amid a scaled back federal response | |
 | As birds fly south for the winter, they're carrying with them some unwelcome cargo: the H5N1 virus, or bird flu. In the past 30 days, the virus has struck 66 poultry flocks, leading to the deaths of more than 3.5 million turkeys, chickens and ducks, a steep increase compared to the summer months. The virus can spread easily when infected wild birds mix with commercial or backyard flocks. At the moment, states in the middle of the country are hardest hit. But scientists expect more outbreaks in other parts of the country, given bird migratory patterns. If not taken seriously, the fallout could lead to more than high egg prices. Influenza researchers fear a replay of last year when, for the first time, the U.S. saw close to 70 human cases, including one death. "Absolutely we're going to see human infections, just like we did a year ago," says Seema Lakdawala, a virologist at Emory University who studies bird flu. "Nothing has changed substantially to suggest otherwise." And though no human cases have been reported since early this year, scientists involved in tracking the virus say they don't have good visibility into what's happening in animals or humans. That's because the federal government has scaled back on surveillance and communication. |
| IHL Board approves public private partnership for new Ole Miss student housing | |
| A new student residential faculty will be built on the campus of the University of Mississippi that will be managed and operated in partnership with Ole Miss and an outside company as part of a public private partnership project. The project received the approval of the Board of Trustees for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning during a special called meeting held Wednesday afternoon. When complete, the facility will provide an additional 1,250 beds for student housing at the Kincannon Hall site on the Oxford campus. Demolition of that site began roughly two years ago. Prior to its demolition, Kincannon Hall sat vacant for about 8 years. The contract includes a ground lease between Ole Miss and PRG–Oxford Properties LLC for 45 years. The building will be owned by PRG and operated under a partnership between the university and PRG. Construction of the $88 million building will be conducted by Greystar and is expected to be funded by "primarily" tax-exempt bonds, said Associate Commissioner of Finance John Pearce. Total cost of the project is expected to be $118 million when interest is calculated in. |
| $1.8M grant to create scientific computing hub at Ole Miss | |
| A new grant from the U.S. Department of Energy will establish a scientific computing hub at the University of Mississippi, helping students across the state prepare for careers in advanced computing, machine learning and artificial intelligence. The Department of Energy has awarded a $1.8 million Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research grant to create an advanced computing hub on the UM campus. The project will allow students from Ole Miss, Jackson State University, the University of Southern Mississippi and elsewhere in the region to develop and maintain software that will support national and international particle physics experiments. "This recognition from the Department of Energy shows that we have established strong research groups in this area of expertise," said Gavin Davies, associate professor of physics and astronomy. "What this allows us to do is continue supporting our current experiments with that expertise while training the next generation." Shuang Tu, Jackson State University professor of computer engineering, said opportunities like this one will help his students and others gain the experience necessary to secure graduate school positions, research careers and jobs in the field. |
| 'Losing that is terrible.' Federal budget cuts lead to the shutdown of a UMMC opioid addiction treatment project | |
| Mississippians struggling with addiction have one less option for treatment after Congress cut funding for a University of Mississippi Medical Center project shuttered this summer, according to a spokesperson for the medical center. The Mississippi Horizons Project used telehealth to treat patients with gold-standard medicine for opioid addiction like buprenorphine, according to a website that UMMC has since taken down. Started in 2022 when Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith sent $6 million of congressionally directed spending to the medical center, the program focused on connecting uninsured Mississippians to the medications. The program also offered addiction psychotherapy, financial assistance for prescriptions and in-patient treatment, medical transportation and peer support services, according to an appointment request form linked to the project website. "That's where we should be headed," said Greg Spore, a member of the Mississippi Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Council and a lawyer with the Office of State Public Defender. "That's our aim. Those are interventions that are working and will continue to work." |
| How HBCUs Plan to Spend MacKenzie Scott's Money | |
 | Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott showered historically Black colleges and universities with hundreds of millions of dollars this fall in another one of her signature giving sprees. HBCU leaders say the unrestricted lump sums are a godsend after decades of chronic underfunding---and they're putting them to good use, padding previously meager endowments and funding a wide variety of technology advances, research ventures and scholarships. Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has repeatedly poured funds into often underresourced institutions, including HBCUs, as part of a 2019 pledge to give away half of her wealth in her lifetime. Her largess to colleges and nonprofits has come in waves since 2020. By 2023, her gifts to educational institutions and nonprofits exceeded $1 billion. Scott's latest round of donations to HBCUs includes some whopping sums: $80 million to Howard University in Washington, D.C.; $38 million to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore; and $38 million each to Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University in Georgia. Scott gifted $50 million to Virginia State University, $42 million to Alcorn State University in Mississippi, $38 million to Alabama State University and $63 million to Morgan State University in Maryland, marking the largest individual gifts in their histories. Notoriously private, Scott has spoken little about why HBCUs have loomed so large in her philanthropic portfolio. |
| Turning passion into food careers at Mississippi's community colleges | |
| Across the state, college students are learning how to turn their passion for food into careers. Community colleges such as Meridian, East Mississippi, Mississippi Gulf Coast, Mississippi Delta, Holmes, Hinds, Northeast, Coahoma, and others provide hands-on culinary training grounded in classical, American, and international cuisine, with specialized classes in baking and pastry arts. It's become the recipe for workforce revitalization. The state's hospitality industry is booming. The Mississippi Department of Employment Security projects a 21.5% increase in demand for food service managers between 2020 and 2030. The demand for chefs and head cooks is also rising. These community college culinary programs help meet that demand and equip graduates for those roles. To prepare students for real-world employment in a competitive, growing food industry, students train in commercial kitchens, earn industry-recognized certifications such as the ServSafe Sanitation credential, and often participate in externships or partnerships with local restaurants and hospitality groups. According to a 2025 study on Mississippi community colleges, career-technical certificate graduates earn significantly more in their first year of employment than their high school graduate peers. That's especially true for culinary students who enter the workforce with practical experience and highly valued certifications. |
| Chancellor Bruce to be Formally Welcomed to UTC at Investiture | |
| Lori Mann Bruce will be formally installed as UTC's new chancellor at an investiture ceremony on Nov. 21 at the McKenzie Arena. "An investiture is a time honored tradition, a ceremonial celebration that formally welcomes a new chancellor," the Office of the Chancellor states on the official UTC website. "This milestone occasion brings together our University, the Chattanooga community and distinguished guests to honor the leadership and vision of Dr. Bruce." Bruce started her tenure at UTC on June 30 of this year, becoming the university's first female leader and 19th chancellor. Bruce's tenure at UTC began with a semester filled with several notable newsworthy events: a false active shooter alert, the closing of campus departments related to DEI, and the establishment of a Turning Point USA chapter. Before coming to UTC, Bruce served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Tennessee Technological University. Bruce grew up 90 minutes away from Chattanooga, on a farm in Lincoln County, Tennessee, according to UTC's website. She has a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Before her work at Tennessee Tech, Bruce served as associate vice president for academic affairs and dean of the Graduate School at Mississippi State University. |
| LSU hires U. of Alabama vice president and provost | |
 | Louisiana State University announced this week its hiring of a current member of University of Alabama's administration. James Dalton, UA's current executive vice president and provost, has been hired on as the executive vice president of the LSU System and chancellor of the flagship A&M campus in Baton Rouge, according to a recent news release. In his new role Dalton will "provide strategic leadership for academic excellence and student success in alignment with system-wide priorities," according to LSU's release. "This new structure puts leadership closer to the classroom and the lab where our mission truly lives," said LSU President Wade Rousse, Ph.D. At UA, Dalton oversees 13 colleges and academic divisions with more than 2,000 faculty, 4,500 staff, and 40,000 students and an academic budget exceeding $1.2 billion, according to the release. "I was drawn to LSU by its clear academic mission and the pride this community takes in scholarship that impacts Louisiana and the world," Dalton said. |
| College presidents prep for higher ed performance funding meeting | |
| With lawmakers set to reconvene next week to continue discussions on linking higher education funding to student outcomes, university leaders on Tuesday urged each other to stay engaged -- and unified -- in shaping whatever model may emerge. During a virtual meeting of the Alabama Council of College and University Presidents, members discussed the upcoming Nov. 12 task force meeting of the House and Senate education budget committees that are exploring ways to "modernize" how state dollars are allocated to public universities. "We'd rather be at the table offering opinions than not," Jacksonville State University President Don Killingsworth told his peers. He encouraged his colleagues to attend the meeting. House Education Budget Chairman Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, told Alabama Daily News he wants to hear from higher education officials. "We're clearly not going to implement anything without having discussions with the higher ed folks," Garrett said. "Just like we did with the RAISE Act, we'll present information to our committee, discuss it in public forums, get feedback, and ultimately, if we do move forward with legislation, we want it to be something everyone's comfortable with." |
| Trump calls packed crowd at Turning Point rally: 'Auburn is a special place' | |
| President Donald Trump on Wednesday night addressed the packed crowd at Auburn University's Neville Arena for a Turning Point USA rally by phone. His son, Eric Trump, who was addressing the crowd with his wife, Lara, called Trump. The president praised the university, the state and Charlie Kirk. "Auburn is a special place, I've been there many times and I know many people from that area, number one, and from that school," President Trump said. "It's a great school and we love Alabama. We won Alabama by 45 points," Trump said. Trump made no mention of Tuesday's electoral gains by Democrats, though Eric and Lara Trump, as well as Sen. Tommy Tuberville, talked about the election of Zohran Mamdani as New York City mayor. The president then went on to praise Erika Kirk, the widow of the slain right-wing influencer who took over Turning Point USA after his death. She was not in attendance. "She's going to start where Charlie left off and we should never allow this to happen. One of the greatest people we've ever known and was so responsible for our win," Trump continued. |
| 'You can't be a family if you hate half of your population': group protests TPUSA event | |
| Turning Point USA (TPUSA) held an event on Auburn's campus on Nov. 5, 2025. In lieu of the event, protesters gathered at the intersection of Thach Concourse and South Donahue at 5 p.m. while the TPUSA event started at 6:30 p.m. The protest was peaceful and unaffiliated with any student organizations. The protesters expressed their frustration with Auburn University and their perceived lack of concern for minority issues. Several focused on the idea of the Auburn Family, chanting, "Auburn Family, remember your humanity." "You can't be a family and hate half your population," said one protester holding a sign reading "What happened to the Auburn Family?" While protestors chanted, some people standing in line for the event yelled at them. One man walked by and shouted "Long live King Donald!" After 45 minutes, the line for the TPUSA event began moving inside Neville Arena, and once they were in, the protestors moved to Toomer's Corner. While the protest groups were at Toomer's, many citizens passing by on foot and in vehicles cheered and honked in support. On the other side, those that didn't support the protestors' efforts yelled out of their cars, with one giving protestors the middle finger. |
| U. of Tennessee Cinema Studies goes from basement to big screen at Film Fest Knox | |
 | What began as a few classes in the 1980s has grown into a full Cinema Studies program at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, with faculty and students benefiting from a refurbished campus space that's cultivating a new generation of filmmakers participating in this week's Film Fest Knox. A basement space in the Walters Academic Building might not sound so glamorous, but it has been decked out with new equipment, editing suites and all-day access for students thanks to an investment of around $1.8 million. Co-chair Paul Harrill, who oversees Cinema Studies within the College of Arts and Sciences along with Drew Paul, said the program has three core values for students: storytelling, thoughtfulness and "using film as a way to understand the world and their place in it." "Those are value that have been in this program since it began, so the resources don't change that," Harrill said. "They'll just give the students more of a chance to articulate that." Some of their work is coming to Film Fest Knox, happening Nov. 6-9 at the Regal Riviera movie theater on Gay Street. |
| UT System will push to enforce campus protest bans that judge temporarily blocked | |
| The University of Texas System has signaled it will seek full enforcement of a new state law limiting protests on college campuses, pushing against a federal judge's decision to temporarily block parts of the legislation. U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra on Oct. 14 said the student groups who brought the case are likely to succeed on their claims that Senate Bill 2972 -- which bans overnight expression and puts limits on speakers, amplified sounds and drums during the last two weeks of the semester -- violates their First Amendment rights and would be irreparably harmed without relief. He wrote that the clause added to the law by the Legislature instructing universities to uphold the First Amendment "does not change the fact that the statute then requires universities to adopt policies that violate those very constitutional protections." "The Court cannot trust the universities to enforce their policies in a constitutional way while Plaintiffs are left in a state of uncertainty, chilling their speech for fear that their expressive conduct may violate the law or university policies," Ezra wrote. Court records show the UT System filed a notice signaling its intent to appeal Ezra's ruling on Nov. 4. |
| Mizzou archeologists uncover a basin near Rome that stored water 2,300 years ago | |
 | When University of Missouri archaeologists began digging last year at the intersection of two ancient roads in the city of Gabii near Rome, they knew something was hidden beneath the dirt. They just weren't sure what it was. It turned out to be an important discovery -- a huge basin or pool dated 250 B.C.E. that was used for centuries as a source of water. It measures nearly 10 feet tall and more than 20 feet wide, and it could have held 70,000 gallons of water. The stone-lined basin had been hidden for 2,300 years because at some point, it had been filled with assorted debris that kept it intact but obscured its location. Today, it is considered one of the best-preserved items from this time period, said Marcello Mogetta, an archaeology professor at Mizzou and leader of the Gabii Project. "We were absolutely not expecting anything like it, especially a monument so well preserved," Mogetta said. "There are very few comparisons dating to the third century B.C.E." |
| Student Success Leaders Worry About Affordability, AI and Diversity | |
| After yet another rocky year for higher education, student success administrators retain high confidence in their institution's core mission: Some 95 percent rate the quality of undergraduate education delivered as good or excellent, according to Inside Higher Ed's second annual Survey of College and University Student Success Administrators with Hanover Research. Most student success administrators (85 percent) also report strong feelings of connection to students served, and nearly as many say they're satisfied in their roles. Yet leaders continue to worry about the forces holding students back. Selecting up to three options from a longer list, administrators cite mental health challenges (51 percent describe this as a top challenge), financial constraints (49 percent) and lack of adequate preparation before college (48 percent) as the top barriers to student success at their institution. Community college leaders are disproportionately concerned about students needing to work while enrolled (67 percent). |
| Their Teaching Aimed to Make White Students Uncomfortable. Then Came the Civil-Rights Complaint. | |
 | After taking a social-work course at Colorado State University in 2023, one student had striking words to share in a course evaluation: "I don't feel safe in this classroom," they wrote, adding that "judgment and rejection" came from the two instructors. "This makes me shut down." One of those instructors was Quinn Hafen, then a Ph.D. student at Colorado State and now an assistant professor at the University of Wyoming. Hafen, who uses they/them pronouns, was surprised by the comment. Their counterpart, a senior instructor named Marie Villescas Zamzow, was not. She receives this sort of comment every semester. "I can actually predict who's going to write that it's not a safe learning environment," she said, according to a recent paper that she and Hafen wrote called "Exposing and Disarming Whitelash to Advance Anti-Racism: A Collaborative Autoethnography on Interracial Co-teaching." "And the reason that it's 'not safe' is because it's actually not a safe environment for hate." For the two instructors, unsettling their white students' biases is a necessary condition of an antiracist education. What they call "white emotional hegemony" must be disrupted, to support the learning of all students. But to critics and skeptics, what Hafen and Villescas Zamzow depict is not only ideologically stifling. It's potentially discriminatory. After learning of the paper, Fair for All (FAIR), a nonprofit dedicated to "overcoming identity politics," per its website, alerted the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. |
| Slippery slope | |
| Raymond Barranco, a professor of sociology at Mississippi State University, writes: In my last op-ed, I drew on my 18 years of teaching experience to emphasize the importance of educators resisting the pressure to shape their courses around current political trends. Unfortunately, this is exactly what we are being asked to do when it comes to topics like race, gender, and sexuality. For many Mississippians, the simplest response is apathy: you may feel these things don't affect you, so you don't care whether they are discussed in the classroom -- or you may even believe they shouldn't be discussed at all. Regardless of where you stand, I urge everyone to oppose political interference in course content. Here are two key reasons why. |
| Larry Alderman retires from paper after 46 years | |
| Mississippi newspaper publisher and columnist Wyatt Emmerich writes: Last week I drove up to Greenwood to celebrate Larry Alderman's retirement as ad manager of the Greenwood Commonwealth. Larry started working at the Commonwealth on August 15, 1977. That's 48 years of continuous service. He rarely took a vacation. He said he looked forward to coming to work every day. Speaking to a group of family, friends and colleagues, Larry spoke of how much he enjoyed helping advertisers and readers. He always felt like he was making people's lives better. One colleague said Larry was the best person he ever met. Period. I began work at the Commonwealth in 1973 at age 15, working in the darkroom developing film and photographs. It was a painstaking process involving lots of chemicals that probably were not good for me. That was 52 years ago. So I've known Larry a long, long time. I've never met a nicer person. Larry worked the way God intended. He wasn't trying to get rich or conquer the world. He never got angry or lost his temper. He did his job the best he could, patiently, competently, humbly and with a pervading peace and calm that can only come from the grace of the Holy Spirit. |
SPORTS
| Soccer: Bulldogs Bound For SEC Semifinals On Thursday | |
| For the third year in a row, Mississippi State finds itself in the SEC Tournament semifinals. The Bulldogs will face No. 25 LSU at 3:30 p.m. CT on Thursday afternoon with the game airing on the SEC Network. LSU has gone unbeaten in its last nine matches with its last loss coming to No. 14 Tennessee. The Tigers evened the score with the Lady Vols on Tuesday night to advance. In similar fashion, the Bulldogs avenged a regular-season loss to No. 4 Arkansas in the quarterfinals. MSU is the lowest seed to reach the semifinals since 2018, which also happened to be the last time that LSU reached the semifinals. The Tigers stand as State's sixth ranked opponent of the year, one shy of the school record set in 2023. The Bulldogs already have three top-10 wins this year, which is as many as they had in their entire program history prior to the season. State has already set school records in the SEC Tournament for single-game shots, shots on goal, corners and fouls drawn. The Bulldogs' tournament totals for shots, shots on goal and corners are also records. Ally Perry has now played in more SEC Tournament games in her career than any player in school history along with setting career records in shots and shots on goal. |
| Mississippi State uses second-half explosion to blow past North Alabama, 86-62, in season opener | |
| It wasn't always pretty but Mississippi State opened the season Wednesday with an 84-62 win over North Alabama at Humphrey Coliseum. After a sloppy first half, the Bulldogs used a 15-0 run early in the second half to break things open and roll past the Lions. To no surprise, Josh Hubbard led the way for State with 27 points and a career-best eight assists. In his first game as a Bulldog, former UAB transfer Ja'Borri McGhee had 14 points and sophomore newcomer Sergej Macura had a game-high 12 boards. Shawn Jones also finished with seven points and nine rebounds. Head coach Chris Jans talked of the rally in the second half and what jumpstarted that Bulldog run. "We fully expected them to come out and try to punch us in the face and play really hard, " Jans remarked. "I got a lot of respect for Coach (Tony) Pujol and known him for a long, long time. They won 24 games last year and won their league, picked to win their league this year. As coaches, we expected them to challenge us and they were not going to not show up. The first half was fine and then all of a sudden it didn't go our way. But the biggest difficulty was when we were down 51-42. But they figured it out and I thought we had a group out there that changed the tide with the defense and the rebounding and the running." |
| Analyzing Josh Hubbard, Mississippi State basketball in season-opening win vs North Alabama | |
 | Humphrey Coliseum was the quietest it had been all game early in the second half. Mississippi State basketball had led North Alabama for the majority of the game, but a 10-0 run gave the Lions a nine-point lead with 16:03 remaining. It started to look like the Bulldogs could be headed for a shocking loss. MSU (1-0) outscored North Alabama 44-11 the rest of the game, racing to an 86-62 win on Nov. 5. "I thought our depth and our conditioning wore them out a little bit because we kept talking about that in our huddles," Mississippi State coach Chris Jans said. Here's what we learned about the Bulldogs in their season opener before their first big test against No. 18 Iowa State (1-0) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Nov. 10 (7 p.m., ESPNU). Josh Hubbard was, to no surprise, the driver of MSU's offense. The junior guard was asked after the game if he was prouder of his 27 points or eight assists. He picked the assists, which were a career high. Jans was quick to point out that he also had zero turnovers. Hubbard shot 7-for-16 from the field and 3-for-8 from 3-point range while also draining 10 of his 12 free throws. |
| How Jeff Lebby got Mississippi State football from nowhere near a bowl to one win away | |
| Jeff Lebby never publicized a goal for win total in his first season as the Mississippi State football coach in 2024. Instead, he said he wanted fans to be encouraged that he had the program headed in the right direction. But after the 2024 season, it was difficult to say that was true. The Bulldogs slumped to a 2-10 record with no SEC wins. An early season-ending injury to quarterback Blake Shapen didn't help, but they had issues beyond the quarterback like the conference's worst defense. One season later, Mississippi State (5-4, 1-4 SEC) is on the cusp of bowl-eligibility for the first time since 2022, in need of one win in its final three games. The Bulldogs can reach that as soon as Week 11 when they host No. 5 Georgia (7-1, 5-1) at Davis Wade Stadium on Nov. 8 (11 a.m., ESPN). "It's huge for a lot of different reasons," Lebby said. "I think as we stand here today, and I don't talk about it with our football team, but thinking about where we were a year ago today and what the product looked like in comparison to what the product looks like today is, to me, opposite ends of the spectrum. |
| Michael Haddix and Glen Collins To Be Inducted Into The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame | |
| A pair of Mississippi State greats, Michael Haddix and Glen Collins, are set to be inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame as part of the 2026 class, the Sports Hall of Fame & Museum announced on Wednesday. Haddix and Collins will be celebrated and formally enshrined during the MS Sports Hall of Fame Induction Weekend on July 31-August 1, 2026. Haddix, a native of Walnut, Miss., starred at Mississippi State from 1979-82 before being drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles with the eighth overall pick in the 1983 NFL Draft. During his time wearing the Maroon and White, Haddix rushed for 2,558 yards and 20 touchdowns on 425 carries. He added 353 career receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns to his totals. He had nine career 100-yard rushing games, and he led the team in rushing three straight seasons from 1980 to 1982. Collins, a native of Jackson, Miss., starred at Mississippi State from 1978-81, finishing his career with 205 tackles and 26 sacks. Collins was a First Team All-American as a senior in 1981, when the Bulldogs held opponents to 88 rushing yards per game. To go along with his All-American honor, Collins earned Second Team All-SEC honors in 1980 and First Team All-SEC honors in 1981. |
| Throwback Game Will Be Tad Smith Coliseum's Last Hurrah | |
 | The C.M. Tad Smith Coliseum -- home to Ole Miss basketball games, graduation ceremonies, class registration and concerts for five decades -- will be razed, with demolition tentatively planned to begin this summer. The University of Mississippi announced the demolition on Tuesday in a press release that listed additional upcoming construction projects and others already underway. These projects include construction of a 1,379-space parking garage in the northwest part of campus, scheduled for completion in fall 2026; two new on-campus student housing facilities, the first expected to open in fall 2027; an expansion to Rebel Market in Johnson Commons in 2026; and construction of an Early Learning and Evaluation Center at the South Oxford Center, expected to be completed in fall 2027. The coliseum site will be used for surface parking while the university determines a long-term use for the area. The final Ole Miss Basketball game at the coliseum, known as the Tad Pad, will be on Friday, Nov. 14, when the men's team will host CSU Bakersfield. The C.M. Tad Smith Coliseum, originally called "Rebel Coliseum," opened on Feb. 21, 1966. In 1972, it was named after former athletic director Claude M. "Tad" Smith. While throwback games in the Tad Pad have been a hit among the Rebel basketball fans in recent years, some students believe the existing structure would better serve them as parking spaces. |
| Texas, oil and football: How Texas Tech has raised a football monster in no time at all | |
| In February, during the grand opening of Texas Tech's 300,000-square foot, $242 million football facility, athletic director Kirby Hocutt, delivering a speech from behind a pulpit within this goliath of a structure, gestures into the audience before him. He identifies those responsible for not only this lavish building but the talented new roster that trains within it. In the room of dignitaries and donors, among the more than 200 people here to celebrate what the school believes is its informal arrival as one of college football's havenots now-turned haves, there is gobs of money: at least a half-dozen billionaires and 30 more families worth at least nine figures. "We couldn't have done it without you," Hocutt says to them. But, in a way, the responsible party lies well below this facility, deep within the Earth's rock: a well of oil the size of the state of Florida. The Permian Basin, the largest oil field in the United States, produces more than 6 million barrels of oil per day and generates 40% of the country's oil supply. It fuels something else: the Texas Tech football team. "It's why we are so well funded. So many alumni have gone to work around this oil field," says booster Cody Campbell, a former Tech player who sold his last three oil businesses for a combined $13 billion. Off the field, whether it prefers it or not, Texas Tech is at the center of a much more significant fight playing out -- one that could shape the future of college sports. |
| Saints legend Drew Brees will reportedly be back on your Sunday TV screens soon | |
 | New Orleans Saints icon Drew Brees is back in the broadcasting business. According to a report from The Athletic, Brees is joining FOX as an in-game analyst and will begin calling games during the Week 11 slate -- when the Saints are on their bye week. Brees will call games with the network through at least the end of next season, according to the report. The future Hall of Famer has served as an in-game color analyst previously with NBC shortly after his retirement, calling Notre Dame games and serving as a studio analyst for NFL contests. He lasted one season in the role, and was roundly criticized for his performance in the booth during a 2020 playoff game between the Raiders and Bengals. Still, Brees has consistently maintained his belief that he could be the best analyst if given time to grow into the role. Brees is expected to be paired with FOX broadcaster Adam Amin in the booth --- replacing Mark Sanchez, who is embroiled in controversy after his arrest in Indianapolis last month. |
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