| Wednesday, January 3, 2018 |
| Readers: After an unexpected interruption, let's resume our conversation | |
 | Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: "If you will allow, gentle readers, I'd like to resume our four decade conversation on these pages after an eight-month hiatus. I have sorely missed the interaction with you. ...Burkitt's Lymphoma is one of the fastest growing human cancers known. The chemotherapy regimen used to treat the disease is intense and severe. But the medical team at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, used those drugs to save my life. ...Prior to that battle, I suppose I believed that writing this column was in great measure who I was. Wrong. This column is not who I am, but it is something I have loved doing. I started writing an opinion column during my student days in 1978 at Mississippi State University." |
| Roy Perkins, Paula Drungole-Ellis qualify for chancery judge race | |
 | Two candidates will face off to fill the seat to be left vacant by retiring Chancery Court Judge Dorothy W. Colom for the Mississippi 14th Chancery Court District. Starkville Vice Mayor and Ward 6 Alderman Roy A'. Perkins and Starkville Youth Court Judge Paula Drungole-Ellis have both qualified with the Mississippi Secretary of State's office to run for the seat. Candidates for the office are required to have practiced law for at least five years, be a resident of the state for at least five years and be at least 26 years old. Qualification opened Tuesday, and will run until May 11. The election will be held Nov.6, with a runoff on Nov. 27 if need be. The Place Three seat covers all of Noxubee County and parts of Oktibbeha, Clay and Lowndes counties. |
| City fires Parks and Recreation director amid investigation | |
| The Starkville Board of Aldermen moved to terminate the employment of the city's Parks and Recreation director Herman Peters during its meeting on Tuesday. The termination of Peters is effective immediately. City Attorney Chris Latimer read the action taken by the board during closed executive session, saying the human resources director, IT director and chief of police should take "any and all necessary steps" to effectuate the termination. Peters and Parks and Recreation administrative assistant Dianne Evans were both placed on unpaid administrative leave during the last board meeting on Dec. 19 due to "irregularities" that were found. New details emerged after Evans turned herself in to the Starkville Police Department on Dec. 29 after a felony warrant was issued regarding embezzlement. |
| Mississippi Hills awarding up to $150,000 in community grants | |
| As much as $150,000 in grants is available this year through the Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area Alliance. It's the third year of the program, which has awarded nearly $300,000 in grants. The application period for the Mississippi Hills Community Grant Program begins today and ends Feb. 28. The Alliance is the coordinating entity for the Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area, which covers all or portions of 30 counties in north Mississippi. The Mississippi Hills is one of only 49 National Heritage Areas designated in the U.S. and one of only three in the state. The Alliance includes all or parts of 30 counties bordered by Tennessee, Alabama, Highway 82 and Interstate 55. |
| Winter storm scatters sleet, ice and misery around the South | |
 | A brutal winter storm scattered a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain from normally balmy north Florida up the Southeast seaboard Wednesday, adding to the misery of a bitter cold snap as bridges iced over and cars spun out on slickened overpasses. Only a few motorists ventured out in freezing rain that coated bridges and ramps with ice, forcing police to close roads and highways in the historic Georgia coastal city of Savannah. Some cars spun out into guardrails and ice from rain and freezing rain coated the windshields of cars. Police urged drivers to stay off the roads in a region little accustomed to the kind of winter woes common to the Northeast. Warming shelters were opened across the South as freeze watches and warnings blanketed the region, including hard freeze warnings for much of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. |
| Blue official color, state money for shiitake mushrooms: first bills of the session filed | |
 | The first few hundred bills of the 2018 Mississippi legislative session were posted online on Tuesday, measures covering a wide variety of issues, including making blue the official state color. Rep. Gregory Holloway Sr., D-Hazlehurst, filed House Bill 168, which would "designate blue as the official state color." He also filed HB 266, which would appropriate $1 million for Alcorn State University to expand its research and production of shiitake mushrooms. Other bills appear to be perennials -- some version is filed every year -- such as cracking down on slowpoke drivers who use the left lane or Rep. Tom Miles' bill to name the Holy Bible as the official state book. |
| 2018 legislative session opens with big issues on the horizon | |
| Legislators quickly dispensed with the opening day of the 2018 session Tuesday with the acknowledgment that in the next 89 days they will face major issues. But on Tuesday, they took little action other than opening the 90-day session, which is scheduled to end April 1. This is the second year of a four-year term. Republicans continue to hold a supermajority in both the House and the Senate, after special elections to fill seats of legislators who left. The GOP gained one Senate seat when Democrat Bill Stone of Holly Springs departed and a Republican, Neil Whaley of Potts Camp, was elected. |
| Day 1 of 90: Mississippi Legislative Session 2018 kicks off #msleg | |
 | On Tuesday Representatives and Senators filled the Capitol to announce they were ready for business. Day one included the swearing in of one Senator, a prayer, the Pledge and the introduction of guests, family members, and others present. As lawmakers gaveled out, to reconvene on Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves spoke to the media about what might come up over the next 90 days. He was asked several questions including whether or not a gas or tobacco tax could be brought up to potentially increase revenue for roads and bridges. "Always a possibility of anything occurring when you're on the first day of session. I think it's unlikely. In both the House and Senate it requires a three fifths majority to pass revenue measures. So basically, it takes 32 votes in the Mississippi Senate and I don't think there are 32 votes in the Mississippi Senate to do either one of those things," said Lt. Gov. Reeves. |
| Education and road funding dominate on Day 1 of 2018 legislative session | |
 | There were few surprises as the Mississippi Legislature convened Tuesday to begin the 2018 session. By and large, legislative leaders -- Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves -- zoned in on unresolved issues from last year as key topics to address this session. These include adopting a new education funding formula, improving the state's roads and bridges and reforming how the Division of Medicaid operates. In other action, the House sent three bills Gov. Phil Bryant vetoed or partially vetoed last session back to their respective committees for further consideration. House Bill 1502 involves appropriations for the State Department of Education; House Bill 1033 would prevent incarceration for failing to pay a fine or court costs; House Bill 1447 would have allowed certain counties to sell alcohol. |
| Lottery bill: Mississippi senator says he'll file measure this week | |
| State Sen. Philip Moran, R-Kiln, said he plans to file a state lottery bill by the end of the first week of the legislative session that began Tuesday, calling it "an economic development bill, not a lottery or gambling bill." "Arkansas just made $84 million on its lottery last year," Moran said Tuesday. "Think of how many millions of dollars we are losing to our people going to the west or north (to buy tickets in other states). And think of how much money we could make from people from the east -- Alabama -- where they don't have one ... I look at this as an economic development bill. Will it be the save-all for the state? Certainly not, but we need that revenue." Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves on Tuesday said he still personally opposes a state lottery and doesn't believe it would provide the windfall supporters say. But he admits he's likely in the minority on that view in the Legislature and sounded open to letting the Senate at least debate it. |
| Legislator calls for reporting deer, turkey harvests | |
| A bill that calls for mandatory harvest reporting of deer and turkeys is once again making its way through the legislative process. Author Rep. Scott Bounds, R-Philadelphia, said passage of the bill is his top priority this session. "The bill is important because outdoor activity is a $2.5 billion industry in Mississippi," Bounds said. "We're making, at best, haphazard guesses as to how to manage our resources. You can't manage without data. We just need better data to manage this business. Hunting and fishing is a business in this state." Sen. Philip Moran, R-Kiln, is the Senate Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks chairman. He said he was uncomfortable with the bill during the 2017 session because he needed more time to think about it and be sure it would not produce any unintended effects. This week he said the state needs better data on deer and turkeys and he's ready to enter discussion. |
| Steve Holland no longer suffering from dementia through 'providential miracle' | |
| The 2018 session of the Mississippi Legislature opened Tuesday with Rep. Steve Holland, D-Plantersville, proclaiming he was a beneficiary of "a Mississippi rising" and no longer was suffering from dementia. Holland, a member of the House since 1984, took a point of personal privilege on the opening day to say he no longer was suffering from the dementia that he announced during the 2017 session during another point of personal privilege. In a dramatic and surprise speech in 2017, Holland told colleagues he would not seek another term in the 2019 elections because of his dementia diagnoses. When asked if he now planned to run for re-election, he said, "I don't know about that right now." |
| New coalition aims to eliminate digital divide in rural Mississippi | |
| Rallying around a plan to eliminate the digital divide by 2022, a diverse group of community leaders, rural advocates and top innovators today announced the national launch of Connect Americans Now and the formation of local partnerships in Mississippi. The new alliance will work with the Federal Communications Commission and other policymakers to ensure that there is sufficient unlicensed low band spectrum in every market in the country to enable broadband connectivity. "It's critical to expand broadband access, especially for the millions of rural Americans who are on the wrong side of the digital divide," Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant said in the release. "I applaud Connect Americans Now's efforts to extend high-speed access to the internet in rural America and urge the FCC to reserve white space channels in the U.S. market to better enable access to broadband internet." |
| City businesses -- not 'alt left' -- want Ocean Springs leaders to put the flag issue to rest | |
 | Jan Rideout owns J Laurie Shoe Boutique, a popular business in downtown Ocean Springs. She wants the city to take down the state flag that is so offensive to so many. She's not the only one. And she is taking the time Tuesday night to let the mayor and aldermen know how the business community feels. The point is to show that there are a lot of city businesses that want the flag down, Rideout said. "According to a television interview, the mayor thinks we're some kind of alt left group. They are under a misguided belief that a majority of businesses and people support the flag," she said. "We want to prove to them that merchants think it's not a good idea to fly the Mississippi flag." |
| Senator Thad Cochran could become third in line to presidency | |
| Sen. Thad Cochran, who has served nearly 40 years in the United States Senate, is set to become president pro tempore with the announced retirement of Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. The leadership role is elected by the Senate and is, "by custom," given to the longest-serving senator from the majority party, making Cochran, 80, third in line to the presidency -- behind the vice president and Speaker of the House. Hatch, 83, and Cochran are two of the oldest members in the oldest ever U.S. Senate. Hatch has served 40 years in the Senate. Cochran is the next longest serving Republican senator at 38 years. |
| Older farmers face tough times | |
 | Much of the ag news of late has chronicled young farmers and their struggles. In recent months, lawmakers introduced legislation to make sure young farmers have their voices heard in the next farm bill. Stone Barns hosted a conference in December for young farmers that touched on diversity and inclusivity. The American Farm Bureau Federation's annual conference that starts Friday includes tracks and awards for young farmers. And next month, the organization is hosting a conference catering exclusively to young farmers and ranchers, with perks like family play areas and nursing rooms. But that's not an entirely accurate portrait of our farmers today who, for the most part, are at the end of their careers. A report released last year by the National Young Farmers Coalition showed that farmers over the age of 65 outnumber farmers under the age of 35 by 6 to 1. |
| Alabama's Doug Jones Now Faces the Red-State Democrat's Dilemma | |
 | Doug Jones will enter the Senate on Wednesday as the Democrat who did the impossible --- he won his seat in Republican-dominated Alabama. He will now join a small cadre of red-state Democrats who have to navigate an increasingly divisive political environment. Jones said he was elected because he emphasized finding common ground and working across the aisle. He will now have to prove it -- especially if he has any hope of keeping his seat in 2020. Time will tell exactly how Jones will balance representing a ruby-red state while maintaining Democratic values, including his pro-abortion rights stance. Like he did during his campaign, Jones is expected to keep his focus on issues affecting his state rather than becoming mired in national political debates. |
| Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists editor: Trump's tweets on North Korea 'existential threat to humanity' | |
 | The editor in chief of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said he believes there is "a danger" to President Trump's tweets on North Korea. "They increase the probability that North Korea will misinterpret normal military exercises as an attack and respond with force. This could result in a back-and-forth series of military actions that might -- actually, really -- lead to worldwide thermonuclear war and the end of the human experiment," John Mecklin said, according to Poynter. "This is a real possibility. This is why President Trump's tweets about North Korea are, in my opinion, an existential threat to humanity." The Bulletin is known for its "Doomsday Clock." It "informs the public about risks from nuclear weapons, climate change, & emerging technologies," according to its Twitter account. |
| Sen. Orrin Hatch won't seek re-election, announces 2018 will be his last year in office | |
| Forty-one years to the day that he took office, Sen. Orrin Hatch walks into the Senate on Wednesday as a lame duck after announcing that he will retire in early 2019. Hatch's decision came despite the urging of Senate colleagues and President Donald Trump, who had pushed the Utah Republican to run for an eighth term, and despite a $4.7 million balance in his campaign account and a fundraiser scheduled this weekend. Hatch said the time had come. The move ends months of will-he-or-won't-he speculation, and leaves an open seat that could be filled by former presidential candidate Mitt Romney. |
| DHS weighs major change to H-1B foreign tech worker visa program | |
 | The Department of Homeland Security is considering new regulations that would prevent H-1B visa extensions, according to two U.S. sources briefed on the proposal. The measure potentially could stop hundreds of thousands of foreign workers from keeping their H-1B visas while their green card applications are pending. The proposal, being drafted in memos shared between DHS department heads, is part of President Donald Trump's "Buy American, Hire American" initiative promised during the 2016 campaign. While the H-1B issue doesn't draw the same attention as other immigration-related policy deliberations, such as building a wall across the southern border, it is significant to American employers. |
| NSA's top talent is leaving because of low pay, slumping morale and unpopular reorganization | |
 | The National Security Agency is losing its top talent at a worrisome rate as highly skilled personnel, some disillusioned with the spy service's leadership and an unpopular reorganization, take higher-paying, more flexible jobs in the private sector. Since 2015, the NSA has lost several hundred hackers, engineers and data scientists, according to current and former U.S. officials with knowledge of the matter. The potential impact on national security is significant, they said. Headquartered at Fort Meade in Maryland, the NSA employs a civilian workforce of about 21,000 there and is the largest producer of intelligence among the nation's 17 spy agencies. Former employees have voiced a variety of complaints. |
| Jackson State University delaying move-in on campus | |
| Jackson State University is delaying move-in on campus until Friday at noon. The extreme cold weather has caused an issue with water and heating in residence halls. |
| From Berkeley to Gainesville, applications surge to flagship universities | |
| The University of Florida makes a promise to its applicants: All essays they submit will be read at least twice. Every year, that becomes more challenging. About 35,000 prospective students applied to the state's flagship school in Gainesville during the fall 2017 admission cycle. That was up more than half compared to fall 2006. To get through so many files takes discipline. "Right now, it is all hands on deck," Rick Bryant, director of admissions operations for the university, said this month. His goal is to release decisions by Feb. 9 for those who applied by the Nov. 15 deadline. His mantra: "Okay everybody, let's make sure we stay focused, stay on pace." Prominent public universities nationwide are swamped every year with more and more applications, making the job of admissions teams ever more difficult. |
| Across America, lack of a college education has become a public-health crisis | |
 | This is the Missouri Bootheel. The counties around here are called that because if you squint at a map, it kind of looks like the heel of a boot, jutting south from the rest of the state into Arkansas and Tennessee. The name comes from its shape, but it's something of a metaphor, too. It can sometimes seem like life is trying to grind people down. It's a place, one of many in America, where disadvantages pile up. Researchers are uncovering links between education -- or lack of it -- and health, and they don't like what they see. It's not clear whether a college degree leads directly to better health, or, if so, how. But the findings are alarming: Educational disparities and economic malaise and lack of opportunity are making people like those in the Bootheel sick. And maybe even killing them. |
| Scholars, politicians raise concerns about Chinese government's influence over international academe | |
 | In recent years the Chinese government has stepped up its crackdown on domestic dissent at the same time it continues to expand the country's global influence. A confluence of events has China studies scholars raising concerns about whether the Chinese Communist Party is exporting its censorship regime abroad, and what the implications are for free discussion and research at universities outside China. Some of the concerns -- such as academic freedom concerns raised by the Confucius Institutes, centers of Chinese language and cultural education that are funded and staffed by a Chinese government entity and housed on U.S. and other international campuses, or concerns about foreign scholars self-censoring their writings or choices of research topics so they can continue to get visas to China -- are familiar. Others have risen to the forefront over the past few months. |
| As Flow of Foreign Students Wanes, U.S. Universities Feel the Sting | |
 | Just as many universities believed that the financial wreckage left by the 2008 recession was behind them, campuses across the country have been forced to make new rounds of cuts, this time brought on, in large part, by a loss of international students. Schools in the Midwest have been particularly hard hit --- many of them non-flagship public universities that had come to rely heavily on tuition from foreign students, who generally pay more than in-state students. The downturn follows a decade of explosive growth in foreign student enrollment, which now tops 1 million at United States colleges and educational training programs, and supplies $39 billion in revenue. Since President Trump was elected, college administrators say, his rhetoric and more restrictive views on immigration have made the United States even less attractive to international students. |
| Most big public colleges don't track suicides, AP finds | |
| Most of the largest U.S. public universities do not track suicides among their students, despite making investments in prevention at a time of surging demand for mental health services. Tabulating student suicides comes with its own set of challenges and problems. But without that data, prevention advocates say, schools have no way to measure their success and can overlook trends that could offer insight to help them save lives. "If you don't collect the data, you're doing half the job," said Gordon Smith, a former U.S. senator from Oregon who became a prevention advocate after his son, Garrett, took his life in 2003 while attending college. "We need information in mental health if we're actually going to be able to better tailor health and healing." |
| The Future of Trumpism Is on Campus | |
| For some Republicans, Donald Trump's candidacy was a welcome middle-finger to the political establishment. But others were averse to the man on an ideological, temperamental, and visceral level. Over the course of his first year as president, a series of prominent Republican lawmakers have denounced him, including Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, who criticized the "reckless, outrageous, and undignified" behavior coming from the Trump administration. But the civil war within the Republican Party is also being waged in campus multipurpose rooms across the country. Ahead of the 2016 presidential election, College Republicans wrestled with whether -- and how much -- to embrace Trump. More than a year later, things still aren't back to normal on the quad. In many ways, the debate over Trump taking place among College Republicans mirrors the national intra-party one. |
| New spin-off of ABC's 'Black-ish' doesn't focus on higher ed policy, but on the student experience | |
| Drugs, new friendships, lust for the boy two seats down (and balancing said lust with an equal lust for the boy two seats down from the boy two seats down). These are some of the issues challenging students on a residential campus. Grown-ish has them all. Those looking for a discussion on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act will be disappointed. Those looking for a Hollywood perspective on student affairs may enjoy the show. This is the ABC spin-off of the Emmy-nominated sitcom Black-ish, with one of the series' breakout stars, Yara Shahidi, shining solo. Shahidi has emerged as a social media powerhouse for Generation Z, the group following the oft-criticized, ever-avocado-toast-munching millennials. She's charismatic online, much like her character, Zoey, who for the run of Black-ish has helped filter the show's takes on racial injustice and institutionalized prejudice. Similarly, the actress has delved into the political world. |
SPORTS
| Bulldogs top No. 22 Razorbacks, make statement in conference opener | |
 | Quinndary Weatherspoon has heard the chatter; Tuesday gave him a chance to respond. Mississippi State's junior guard and leading scorer is not blind to the criticism of MSU's non-conference schedule, which ranked 345th out of 351 Division I teams according to Ken Pomeroy's advanced statistics. He knows in the court of public opinion, that strength of schedule (or perceived lack thereof) undermined a 12-1 start. No. 22 Arkansas granted MSU the first opportunity to make the statement, and it did. For the first time in 19 tries, MSU (13-1, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) beat a ranked opponent in toppling the Razorbacks (11-3, 1-1 SEC) 78-75. "We just wanted to prove the critics wrong," Quinndary Weatherspoon said after he and his brother, freshman guard Nick, scored 22 points each. |
| Mississippi State Tops No. 22 Arkansas 78-75 | |
| Junior Quinndary Weatherspoon joined Mississippi State a couple of years ago and was a big reason for the program's push toward respectability in the Southeastern Conference. His brother Nick Weatherspoon came in this year, and now the Bulldogs look poised for even better things. The Weatherspoons both scored 22 points in Mississippi State's come-from-behind 78-75 win over No. 22 Arkansas on Tuesday night. It's undeniably a big win for the Bulldogs, who look like they could be a factor in the Southeastern Conference race. The Bulldogs won despite shooting just 4 of 21 from 3-point range. Now Mississippi State must go on the road to face rival Ole Miss on Saturday. |
| Two Weatherspoons too much for Hogs | |
| Much had been made about Mississippi State's soft non-conference schedule. But the Bulldogs had an opportunity to make a statement with their Southeastern Conference opener Tuesday night against 22nd-ranked Arkansas. MSU did exactly that with a 78-75 victory in front of 6,324 at Humphrey Coliseum. Ben Howland's squad only turned the ball over seven times and was 24 of 40 from the free throw line. MSU will travel to Ole Miss on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. tipoff on the SEC Network. |
| Streak broken: Bulldogs end losing streak to ranked opponents | |
| Mississippi State had a total of 18 chances over the last six-plus years to earn a victory over a ranked foe prior to Tuesday night. All 18 times, the Bulldogs failed. As it turned out, the 19th time ended up being the charm. Facing No. 22 Arkansas, MSU pulled out a 78-75 win at Humphrey Coliseum in State's Southeastern Conference opener. It was the Bulldogs' first victory over a ranked opponent since State defeated Arizona back in November of 2011. "We were glad to crack the streak of 18 losses in a row to ranked teams, and it was good to win the season opener against a really good team," Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland said. |
| Mississippi State beats Arkansas, suggesting these Bulldogs are good | |
| The Clarion-Ledger's Hugh Kellenberger writes: "A year ago, Mississippi State was good enough to play with most teams. It just couldn't beat them. The Bulldogs would get into the final minute, and then they wouldn't get a stop or make the shot. And they'd lose -- they had seven SEC losses by seven or fewer points during the 2016-17 season. So it was fair to wonder Tuesday night, with a minute left and everything tied up at 75 with No. 23 Arkansas, if this Mississippi State team with a lot of the same faces as a year ago could pull it out. And then it did --- Abdul Ado had the game-winner, Xavian Stapleton forced Arkansas' best scorer into a travel violation and the Bulldogs got a 78-75 win. ...So maybe something is different with this Mississippi State team, which is now 13-1 overall." |
| Mississippi State's Teaira McCowan claims third SEC Player of the Week nod | |
 | A dominant close to 2017 in the paint earned Mississippi State junior center Teaira McCowan the first Southeastern Conference Player of the Week honor of 2018. McCowan averaged 33.5 points, 13.0 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.5 steals and shot 79.5 percent from the field as Mississippi State defeated Mississippi Valley State and Georgia to improve to 15-0 on the year and 1-0 in conference play. The stellar week earned McCowan her second SEC Player of the Week nod in the last three weeks and third of the season, tying LaToya Thomas (2002) for the most by a Bulldog. The honor also went to a State player for the third-straight week, as McCowan won it Dec. 19 and Victoria Vivians received it a week ago. McCowan and Vivians have combined to claim five of the first eight SEC Player of the Week awards. |
| Mississippi State's Teaira McCowan earns third SEC weekly honor | |
| Mississippi State's Teaira McCowan claimed her third SEC Player of the Week honor this season. The junior center averaged 33.5 points, 13 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.5 steals in victories over Mississippi Valley State and Georgia. She also shot 79.5 percent from the field. The 6-foot-7 native of Brenham, Texas has a streak of seven straight double-doubles and is averaging 20.3 points and 12.5 rebounds this year. |
| Mississippi State women stay true to formula in road win | |
| The Dispatch's Adam Minichino writes: " Each day brings another source of pride for Vic Schaefer. More than five years ago, Schaefer had to wonder what he had gotten himself into when he looked around Humphrey Coliseum and saw a crowd of 455 for the Mississippi State women's basketball team's exhibition game against Shorter. A week later, MSU drew a crowd of 1,234 for its season-opening victory against Houston at the Hump. Given the program's recent history, the number was pretty typical. These days, the only thing ordinary about MSU is it attracts a big following wherever it goes." |
| HB 1523 wreaks havoc on Southern Miss baseball schedule | |
| A Mississippi law that allows government and businesses to deny services to same-sex couples will take three home games off the schedule for the Southern Miss baseball team this year. Stony Brook, a public university located on Long Island in New York, was scheduled to play USM in Hattiesburg on Feb. 23-25, but a 2016 executive order by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo got in the way. Cuomo banned all non-essential state travel to Mississippi on April, 5, 2016, after Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed House Bill 1523, also known as the "Religious Freedom" bill, into law that same day. Brian Miller, who is Stony Brook's associate athletic director of communications, said Tuesday that staff members for both teams came to the verbal agreement that they would try to play the series again at some point in the future. "I think the issue was we did not a have formalized contract for that series," USM athletic director Jon Gilbert said. |
| Former USM quarterback Ailrick Young retires from Mississippi Guard after 29 years | |
 | Ailrick Young Sr., a former USM quarterback who heeded the advice from then-Capt. Jeff Hammond to join Army ROTC while a student-athlete, retired recently from the Mississippi Army National Guard after 29 years. Young, a lieutenant colonel who specialized as a logistician in the Mississippi Guard, was honored at a retirement ceremony Dec. 3, hosted at the 184th Expeditionary Sustainment Command armory in Hattiesburg where family and friends gathered. Young deployed twice in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with the unit, where he was awarded the Bronze Star. Young said he initially scoffed when Hammond, who also had been a quarterback at USM, urged him to join the ROTC program. But he thought it would be a good idea for life after football and simultaneously started his career in the Mississippi Army Guard. Young said he took playful ribbing that came from fellow teammates when he wore his uniform on Wednesdays. |
| ESPN ratings soar for CFP playoff semifinals; Birmingham rated highest market for both | |
 | The College Football Playoff semifinal matchups Monday night were must-see TV, especially in Birmingham, Alabama. Both Georgia's 54-48 double-overtime win over Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl and Alabama's dominating 24-6 win over Clemson in the Sugar Bowl were up over last year's semifinal games. The Rose Bowl ratings were up 29 percent year-over-year, while the Sugar Bowl jumped 19 percent from last season. Oklahoma and Georgia delivered a 14.8 overnight, which is up 53 percent from the 2015 season's first CFP Semifinal, also on ESPN and ESPN2. The Sugar Bowl between Clemson and Alabama delivered a 12.5 overnight (ESPN and ESPN2), up 19 percent from last season's second CFP Semifinal, also on ESPN and ESPN2. |
| Ticket prices soar for Alabama-Georgia title game | |
 | Fans who want to attend the College Football Playoff national championship game in Atlanta on Monday will need to have deep pockets, as tickets to the match are shaping to be some of the most expensive in history. The "get-in" price to see the Alabama Crimson Tide take on the Georgia Bulldogs next week fluctuated Tuesday on the resale ticket market, rising to nearly $2,700 and dropping to just over $2,000. They seemed to stabilize Tuesday afternoon around $2,200. The game will take place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, just 70 miles from Athens, Georgia, and 200 miles from Tuscaloosa. Jesse Lawrence, the co-founder of a ticket aggregating website called TicketIQ, said the close proximity of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to both fan bases has driven the cost of attendance to historic highs. |
| Congressman 'disgusted' at U. of Tennessee buyouts | |
| Only a few months remain on U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan's decades-long tenure in Congress, but he's continuing to use his platform to make his opinion on an assortment of topics known. The fiscal conservative took exception to the University of Tennessee's hiring practices, specifically the costly contract buyouts of coaches, in his December newsletter. The buyouts that have irked Duncan include an original estimate of nearly $13.7 million in buyouts for former head football coach Butch Jones and his staff, even though that figure likely will be reduced, and a potential $5.5 million buyout for Athletics Director John Currie if he is fired without cause. Duncan also said the university's sports salaries are "out of whack" and praised the newly passed tax bill which, he said, taxes people making over $1 million a year at 37 percent. |
| Chancellor addresses Neyland video board concerns, tells UT Vols fans to 'hang on' | |
 | One of the last and most visible signs of Butch Jones' time as head football coach at Tennessee is poised to disappear in the coming weeks as UT prepares to remove Jones' image from Neyland Stadium's video board. After weeks of pestering from Vols fans, University of Tennessee Chancellor Beverly Davenport responded Tuesday to pleas for the university to remove the picture, which has hung above the stadium for weeks since Jones was fired Nov. 12. "Please hang on," Davenport tweeted. "A crane has been ordered." More than 1,000 people liked the tweet Tuesday afternoon. It also earned Davenport dozens of rave reviews and praise from Twitter users who have been wondering on social media when the change might happen. |
| U. of Louisville's Adidas deal goes beyond sports and scandal | |
| The cocktail party was canceled. A joint research project was abruptly cut short. Barely a month after athletic director Tom Jurich described the University of Louisville as being "arm-in-arm, shoulder-to-shoulder" with Adidas, events demanded more distance between the school and the shoe company. News of an alleged bribery scheme involving Adidas employees, U of L coaches and basketball recruit Brian Bowen, detailed in an FBI affidavit made public on Sept. 26, forced the university to reconsider its relationship with the global sportswear giant and to reevaluate a $160 million sponsorship agreement that had been announced less than five weeks earlier. For Jurich and men's basketball coach Rick Pitino, the Adidas scandal would hasten the end of their careers at U of L. For associate athletic director Julianne Waldron, though, it was but an awkward beginning to a long-term partnership of broadly beneficial possibilities. |
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.
