| Monday, January 15, 2018 |
| Ellis to keynote MLK Jr. Day Unity Breakfast at Mississippi State Monday | |
 | Former State Rep. Tyrone Ellis will be the featured speaker at Mississippi State during the university's 24th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Unity Breakfast. The Monday program begins at 9 a.m. in The Mill at MSU Conference Center located at 600 Russell St. in Starkville. The free, public celebration of King's life and legacy as a Baptist minister, civil rights activist and humanitarian gets underway with an 8 a.m. complimentary breakfast. Doors open at 7:30 a.m., and seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. The MSU event is sponsored by the Office of the President, Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President, Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, Holmes Cultural Diversity Center, and the university's Division of Student Affairs. In addition to welcoming remarks by MSU President Mark E. Keenum, the program will include a performance by the campus's Black Voices Gospel Choir. |
| Facebook reps talk cybersecurity at Mississippi State | |
 | Students at Mississippi State University had the chance to gain some information on cybersecurity Thursday with the help of a major technological company. Representatives from Facebook presented on campus, discussing the company's cybersecurity measures and the general importance of cybersecurity. The presenters also took questions from the audience about cybersecurity and working for a large technology company. MSU associate professor of computer science and engineering Byron Williams said the exchange was tied to a new class, which Facebook and tech nonprofit CodePath.org had a hand in creating. The Facebook representatives also promoted diversity in the tech sector while at MSU. "Our industry needs to be reflective of the people we aim to protect," said Information Security Program Manager Stephanie Siteman. |
| Facebook, Mississippi State highlight cybersecurity partnership | |
| Mississippi State University welcomed representatives from Facebook's cybersecurity team to campus Thursday to highlight a new partnership with the tech giant. MSU is a new partner in Facebook's Cybersec University Sponsorship program, through which the university can offer CodePath classes to teach students about cybersecurity. Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Byron Williams said MSU joined the program in July 2017. "Basically, what the program does is it allows us to teach a course that was developed by Facebook and a company called CodePath," Williams said. "This course provides our students with lots of hands-on training in software security. ...It's really just a great opportunity for hands-on experience with actual code and training that's relevant to Facebook cybersecurity and Facebook security engineers." MSU is one of eight universities across the country to be a part of the partnership with Facebook. |
| MSU-Meridian to offer Professional MBA program | |
 | Area professionals with five years of business experience will soon be able to enroll in a Mississippi State University–Meridian MBA program without taking a graduate school entrance exam. The university's Meridian Division of Business will begin offering courses toward a Professional MBA that allows graduate students with five years of professional experience to bypass the GMAT/GRE exam requirement. Courses will be taught in the Deen Building at the MSU Meridian Riley campus. "This is a program for someone who has been working for a while in the professional world who would like to earn a MBA," said Natasha Randle, who directs the program. |
| Judicious spending recommended for Delta cotton | |
 | Delta cotton farmers, once again, will be tasked with the difficult chore of growing more cotton but investing less money to do it. "Growers will be forced to maximize their return on investment and hopefully spend less to make more," says Darrin Dodds, Mississippi State University Extension and Research agronomist, in remarks at the recent Beltwide Cotton Conferences in San Antonio. He says some Mississippi growers have suggested that they have difficulty making a profit with yields topping 1,200 pounds per acre. "We are in a new era with yield," Dodds adds. The 2017 Mississippi cotton yield topped 1,000 pounds per acre, and growers will expect similar performance in 2018. Price, too, has improved, Dodds says, from 52 cents when he came to Mississippi State to over 70 cents. |
| Update: Community in shock following deadly Walmart shooting | |
| A Kosciusko man is facing a capital murder charge after a shooting Saturday morning that left a Starkville optometrist dead. Investigators said 41-year-old William Thomas "Tommy" Chisholm, is accused of shooting 42-year-old Shauna Witt inside of the Walmart Supercenter on Highway 12 a little after 9 a.m. on Saturday morning. The Starkville Daily News confirmed Witt was an employee of the eye care center inside Walmart and was working at the time of the incident. Following the shooting, Witt was transported to OCH Regional Medical Center for treatment. Hospital spokesperson Mary Kathryn Kight told the Starkville Daily News Witt was brought into the emergency room with two gunshot wounds at 9:58 a.m. and was pronounced dead at 10:05 a.m. SPD says Chisholm and Witt were in an "on-again-off-again" dating relationship. In the aftermath of the shooting, scores of people who knew Witt professionally and who called her a friend took to social media to express their emotions following her death. |
| Bond denied for Walmart shooting suspect | |
| A Kosciusko man arrested for a fatal Saturday morning shooting at the Starkville Walmart is being held without bond in the Oktibbeha County Jail. Starkville police arrested 41-year-old William Thomas Chisolm in the store's parking lot Saturday morning after he shot and killed 42-year-old Shauna Witt, of Maben. The shooting happened inside the store on Highway 12 in west Starkville, according to police and witness accounts. Chisholm was originally set to have an arraignment in Starkville municipal court Sunday afternoon. However, that was cancelled and his bond was set at about 3 p.m. Shortly after, SPD announced in press release that Chisholm has been denied bond and is set to appear in municipal court on Wednesday. |
| Judge orders expert witness info shared in Starkville mayoral race challenge | |
| A judge has ordered Johnny Moore's legal team to provide supporting documentation to attorney's representing Lynn Spruill if they plan to have a Hinds County Republican testify during the trial for Moore's election challenge. During a Friday morning hearing in Oktibbeha County Circuit Court, Judge Barry Ford ordered Starkville attorney William Starks, who is representing Moore, to provide full documentation to Spruill's legal team if they want to call Hinds County Republican Party Executive Committee Chairman James L. "Pete" Perry as an expert witness on the election challenge. The matter is scheduled to go to trial before Ford on Feb. 5. Attorneys Jim Mozingo and Lydia Quarles are representing Spruill. They filed a motion challenging Perry's inclusion as an expert witness and contended they hadn't been provided enough information about him. |
| SOCSD Board takes action on 16th Section, hears reports | |
| The Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District will continue to move forward with a 16th section transition following its meeting Thursday night. The board voted 4-0 with Board Vice President Lee Brand Jr. absent to allow Superintendent Eddie Peasant to execute a warranty deed on the 16th Section land, which the district owns and leases, following the release of the property owner from his lease. The district will also exercise option to purchase lieu land, or land given in lieu of previously settled 16th Section Land from the Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority, and amend the agricultural lease with the owner to include the lieu land in his lease. This will complete the district's land swap agreement for the transformer site for the industrial park. Peasant also gave a short updated on the Partnership school during his report. |
| Golden Triangle reacts to Toyota-Mazda deal in Alabama | |
 | While the Golden Triangle didn't land the huge Toyota-Mazda car plant project, having it as close as Huntsville gives the region a chance to land some of the plant's suppliers, especially with the network of car makers within 250 miles. The companies formally announced Wednesday they would build a $1.6 billion plant in Limestone County outside of Huntsville. When plans for the project initially were announced, some speculated North Mississippi might have a shot since Toyota already has a plant just west of Tupelo. Columbus submitted the Infinity Megasite west of Golden Triangle Regional Airport, according to CEO Joe Higgins. "We are proud for Huntsville," Higgins said. "We hope to get a chance at some of the supplier network." The region is at the heart of car plants, including Nissan in Canton, Mississippi, and Murfreesboro, Tennessee., Toyota in Tupelo, Mercedes-Benz between Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Honda near Talladega, Alabama, and Kia and Hyundai near Montgomery, Alabama. |
| Southern states join to promote civil rights tourism | |
 | Southern states that once fought to maintain racial segregation are now banding together to promote civil rights tourism at sites including the building where the Confederacy was born and the motel where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. died. Fourteen states stretching from Kansas to Delaware, including all of the Deep South, are joining to promote the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, which will highlight about 130 sites linked to the modern civil rights movement. The joint effort is being unveiled as part of the MLK holiday weekend. "If someone is going to Montgomery and Selma, and we want them to go to Jackson, Mississippi, to learn about the story there and go to the Mississippi Delta and then to Memphis," he said. European visitors are a primary target of the campaign, said Lee Sentell, Alabama's tourism director. |
| Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and history museum free through Tuesday | |
 | If you haven't visited the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the History of Mississippi Museum, you can attend Saturday through Tuesday, free of charge. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is sponsoring the free weekend in honor of the National Day of Healing. The museums are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. On Sunday, the museums are open 1 to 5 p.m. |
| Mississippi man convicted of 3 killing civil rights workers dies in jail | |
| Mississippi's corrections department says Edgar Ray Killen, a former Ku Klux Klan leader who was convicted in the 1964 'Mississippi Burning' slayings of three civil rights workers, has died in prison at the age of 92. The part-time preacher and lumber mill operator was 80 when a Neshoba County jury convicted him in 2005 of three counts of manslaughter. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison. His conviction came 41 years to the day after Freedom Summer workers James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman were ambushed and killed by Klansmen. |
| Continental to begin construction of training center for Hinds plant | |
| Nearly two years after Mississippi inked the deal for Continental Tire to build a $1.45 billion tire plant west of Jackson, the German company is preparing to start construction on its Employee Training Center. When construction is complete, which is expected in the fall, the center will be used for job interviews, employee on-boarding and training new employees. The facility will be equipped with classrooms, computer labs and hands-on technical training areas. It will include features that promote energy efficiency and sustainability, such as solar panels and advanced utility metering. Copeland and Johns Inc. of Pearl has the contract for the development. Continental is partnering with Hinds Community College for recruitment and training. In addition to the training at the center under construction, many new employees will be sent to some of Continental's other 22 tire plants in the U.S. and abroad for specialized training, and specialists from those plants will come to Mississippi to provide training. |
| Census issues could cause underrepresented Mississippi counties | |
| Collecting data in the rural black South has historically proven difficult. The next national census, which happens just once every decade and dictates district lines and the allocation of trillions of federal dollars, is only expected to face more issues. "We've already lost one congressional seat because of our census count," said state Rep. Ed Blackmon, D-Canton. "We're suffering greatly if we fall prey to the national politics involved in this census." Leroy Johnson, co-founder of Southern Echo, said he's not convinced the Trump administration, now attempting to put a citizenship question on the 2020 census survey, will deploy efforts to accurately count people of color. To reach folks who don't respond to mailers, the U.S. Census Bureau expends additional resources to follow up with a second questionnaire, phone calls and in-person visits. Considering the census' impact on representation and an area's fair share of federal funding, accuracy is crucial. |
| Revenue reversal? Amazon's Whole Foods purchase could impact road funding | |
 | The fact that internet retail giant Amazon has purchased Whole Foods grocer could mean that a bill pending on the House calendar would generate less funds than expected for state and local road and bridge needs. Mississippi Revenue Commissioner Herb Frierson said recently that because Amazon now owns Whole Foods, it is obligated by law to collect the 7-percent tax on its internet sales and remit those funds to the state of Mississippi. Amazon, starting early last year, began voluntarily collecting the 7-percent tax on retail sales for the state. But later in 2017, Amazon announced the purchase of Whole Foods, a nationwide grocer that specializes in health food items and environmentally friendly products. Whole Foods has a location in Jackson. |
| Republican leaders ready to scrap MAEP | |
| During his successful 2007 campaign for lieutenant governor, Republican Phil Bryant was quoted in the DeSoto Times Tribune as saying, "As long as I am lieutenant governor weDuring his successful 2007 campaign for lieutenant governor, Republican Phil Bryant was quoted in the DeSoto Times Tribune as saying, "As long as I am lieutenant governor we will fully fund MAEP. (Education) is the foundation. The success of our future lies in education. There's no better economic development tool." The Mississippi Adequate Education Program, which provides the state's share of the basics to operate local school districts, was never fully funded during Bryant's tenure as lieutenant governor. It was underfunded more than $700 million during his four-year tenure. In fairness, his tenure occurred during the depths of the Great Recession when state revenue collections took an unprecedented nosedive. But on the flip side, the Stimulus Act provided Mississippi hundreds of millions in federal funds for education to offset the loss of state revenue. Serving his second term as governor, Bryant now appears ready, along with the Republican legislative leadership, to revamp the Mississippi Adequate Education Program. |
| MAEP rewrite might be bankrolled by existing education funds | |
| "The new formula is not confusing. Everybody we've talked to understands this new formula. Nobody understands MAEP." That's how House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, described his proposed rewrite of the state's school funding formula, the bill for which dropped late Thursday evening. But pinpointing the sources of money for his proposal is a head scratcher. Figures circulated by EdBuild, which was hired in 2016 by the Legislature to make recommendations to the state's current formula, the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, show the majority of school districts stand to receive more money if the plan is approved. At a minimum, the group projected the Legislature during a five-year phase-in would have to spend $107 million more than it currently does now. For their part, Republican leaders have been clear that they want lawmakers to have more flexibility with education spending. |
| Prison population increasing in Mississippi, despite reforms | |
| Just four years after reforms aimed at reducing the number of Mississippians behind bars, the state's prison population is marching upward. And most of the thousands filling Mississippi prisons are the result of revocations of those on probation or parole. More than 80 percent of those revocations have been for technical violations. Circuit Judge Prentiss Harrell of Purvis said such technical violations may involve something as simple as a person missing a meeting with a probation officer or failing to pay a fine. It also may be for being out of the residence, missing curfew or testing positive on a urine screen. Yet many of these violators languish in local jails or go back to prison, said Harrell, who chairs the Corrections and Criminal Justice Oversight Task Force. "It's become a revolving door." |
| Analysis: Archives and History budget increase sought amid popularity of museums | |
| The Mississippi Department of Archives and History receives a small slice of the state budget. But, with two new museums already gaining international attention, the department plays a large role in shaping the public perception of the state. The Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, two entities under a single roof, opened with a public celebration Dec. 9, the eve of the bicentennial of statehood. Katie Blount, the department's executive director, is asking the Legislature for a budget increase for fiscal year 2019, which begins July 1. "In good faith with the Legislature, we had requested funding for only a skeleton staff for FY2018 -- the minimum number of people that would allow us to open the museums and welcome the public," Blount said Wednesday in a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman. "Because of the tremendous public response, the staff is already stretched too thin, particularly at the front desk." |
| Lobbyist accused of vulgar sexual comment during legislative event | |
| A Harrison County supervisor is speaking out after she says one of the state's top lobbyists directed a vulgar expression at her before a legislative reception in Jackson. District 1 Supervisor Beverly Martin said she was trying to introduce new Harrison County supervisors Angel Kibler-Middleton and Kent Jones to lobbyist Scott Levanway when the incident occurred. Levanway late on Sunday released a statement calling his remarks a joke and "ill-advised and totally unacceptable," saying he and Martin are "old friends and we had not seen each other in some time." Martin said she's dealt with a "good ol' boy" system mentality dating back to her days as a lobbyist. But it's time for that to have passed, she said, especially since the Harrison County Board of Supervisors is the first and only board in the state with a female majority. |
| Group readies legislation aimed at early voting, online registration | |
| A group of Mississippi leaders met Friday to discuss the roadblocks that exist for people to vote, focusing primarily on potential legislation that would allow early voting and online voter registration. Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson, Secretary of State Attorney Kim Turner, and Executive Director of NAACP Mississippi Corey Wiggins participated in a panel on expanding voter access. The event was hosted by the ACLU of Mississippi at the Mississippi College School of Law. "I believe the government will be better off if more people participate," said Blount, who is the vice-chair of the Senate Elections Committee. "The fewer people participate, the weaker your government will be. The balancing act has always been participation and people being freely able to express their right, and any concerns that people may have about fraud." |
| Bobby Moak: Mississippi Legislature doing 'business as usual' | |
 | The month of January has been a particularly busy one for state lawmakers. The House of Representatives has punted several potentially impressive pieces of legislation to the Senate, and longstanding public concerns, like roads and bridges, seem to be receiving attention. But Bobby Moak -- the chairman of the Democratic Party in Mississippi -- is calling foul. The Bogue Chitto resident believes the current legislative session, for the most part, represents business as usual. "There are very few Republicans who leave the party line when it comes to votes," he said. Like many state Democrats, Moak disagrees with the Republican Party's Mississippi agenda. He said issues like taxes and industry have overshadowed the public good for too long. |
| Rhonda Newman Keenum announces she will not pursue race for Congress | |
 | After the announcement by Congressman Gregg Harper that he would not seek reelection in the U.S. House of Representatives, speculation swirled that Rhonda Keenum would attempt to succeed him. However, even with her significant history of work in the political realm, she says her heart is devoted to the Mississippi State family: ""Since the announcement by our friend U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper that he would not seek reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives, I have been honored and flattered by the encouragement of so many to pursue election to this Third Congressional District seat based upon my experience in the administration of President George W. Bush -- a great man I admire, and for whom I was grateful to serve. ...While truly humbled by the singularly positive response of so many to media speculation that I was considering running to succeed Congressman Harper, the reality is that I already have a spectacular, ongoing opportunity to contribute to our state and nation's greatest treasure -- our youth -- from my current vantage point as First Lady at Mississippi State University." |
| Shelby's stance against Moore helped state land Toyota plant, BCA chief says | |
 | Sen. Richard Shelby's stance against failed Republican Senatorial candidate Roy Moore played a pivotal role in the state landing the $1.6 billion Toyota/Mazda plant, according to the head of the Business Council of Alabama. "With the recent announcement of the F-35 Lightning landing in Montgomery and the decision for Toyota/Mazda to choose Huntsville Alabama this week, only one man made that happen...Senator Shelby," BCA President and CEO William Canary said in a statement to AL.com. "Because of his unwavering courage and leadership, he made this happen. Without his principled stands, (Toyota and Mazda) would have gone to North Carolina, especially if Mr. Moore was elected." Reports recently emerged that Shelby was the target of a censure campaign by backers of Moore, who lost his U.S. Senate bid in December to Democrat Doug Jones. Shelby publicly said he would not support Moore in the wake of allegations theformer Alabama Chief justice had improper sexual contact with teenage girls in the 1970s. |
| Mississippi University for Women's forum series speakers to explore the power of place | |
| Mississippi University for Women's spring Forum Series presented by the Gordy Honors College will focus on rural/urban issues and the power of place and will include author John T. Edge discussing his book "The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South" on March 22. The series begins Thursday, Jan. 18 with Dr. Alison Collis Greene, associate professor of history at Mississippi State, who will explore the ways the Great Depression remade American religion in Memphis and the Delta. Greene is author of "No Depression in Heaven: The Great Depression, the New Deal and the Transformation of Religion in the Delta," which was awarded the Charles S. Sydnor Award from the Southern Historical Association. |
| Ole Miss students take on Capitol press corps role | |
| Eight students from the University of Mississippi's Meek School of Journalism & New Media spent the first two weeks of January in an intercession class focused on reporting about state government and public policy issues. The class, led by Meek journalism professor LaReeca Rucker and Mississippi Today Co-editor Fred Anklam Jr., included several days each week in Jackson covering activities at the Capitol and interviewing leading state officials. The course was held in conjunction with the Mississippi Press Association, of which Mississippi Today is a digital affiliate. The course is designed to give students a firsthand experience in both the daily and long term responsibilities of covering state government and issues impacting the state. Students chose topics of interest to focus a major story on but also were in the Capitol to observe other activities such as the Mississippi Economic Council's Capital Day. |
| Investigators rule Jackson State student death accidental | |
| Jackson police ruled the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old Jackson State University student's death as accidental. Investigators identified the victim as Justin Roach. Police say the shooting happened at One University Place on Lynch Street just before 7:30 p.m. According to JPD, Roach was handling a gun when the weapon was accidentally discharged. No suspects are being sought and no arrests are pending. This investigation is ongoing. |
| Gov. Bryant, Homeland Security Announce Innovative Cybersecurity Partnership for Students | |
| Governor Phil Bryant announced Friday a new, innovative cybersecurity training partnership between the SANS Institute and the State of Mississippi called GirlsGoCyberStart. This training is a free online game where every Mississippi high school girl can discover her talents in cybersecurity and learn about the field. "Cybersecurity is the new frontier for protecting infrastructure, personal information and financial data. Mississippi needs a pipeline of talented cybersecurity professionals to help protect our way of life." said Governor Phil Bryant. "I am excited that Mississippi is able to bring this type of training to our high school girls and encourage them to explore this cutting edge field." |
| Safety a priority for Auburn campus community | |
 | It's been about four months since an Auburn University student was sexually assaulted on a nighttime transit bus, leading to the arrest of the bus driver and his co-worker. Now that classes are back in full swing for the spring semester, officials are working to have students walking onto a campus that is safer than before. After the incident, which occurred on the Friday of Homecoming weekend in September, the university began implementing extra safety measures in an attempt to prevent a similar situation from occurring in the future. Those steps included bystander intervention training, hiring extra security personnel and live video monitoring of late-night bus routes. "Safety has become a huge issue, especially transit safety," university president Steven Leath said in his address at the most recent Board of Trustees meeting in November. "We're trying to make improvements as quickly as we can. We did not take our time on this; we've been moving very fast." |
| LSU prof's lawsuit against university for firing her over remarks dismissed | |
 | In a case that drew national attention and accusations of "political correctness run amok," a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a former LSU professor fired in 2015 for, among other things, using vulgar language in her classroom. Teresa Buchanan, who was a tenured education professor, claimed LSU violated her First Amendment free speech rights and also alleged the university's sexual harassment policies are unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick, who heard arguments from both sides in September, ruled against Buchanan on both points Wednesday. In a lengthy decision, Dick said Buchanan's use of profanity and discussions regarding her own sex life and the sex lives of her students in the classroom "do not constitute First Amendment protected speech, are not matters of public concern, and are not, as claimed by Plaintiff, part of her overall pedagogical strategy for teaching preschool and elementary education to students as there is no ... evidence to support such a claim." |
| Court rejects First Amendment suit by LSU professor fired over her use of profanity | |
 | Louisiana State University was within its rights in terminating Teresa Buchanan for cursing at students and talking about sex in the classroom, a federal judge said law week in dismissing the former education professor's lawsuit against the institution. Buchanan, a longtime tenured professor who was terminated in 2015, sued Louisiana State for First Amendment and due process violations, and for having what she described as overly broad, subjective and therefore unconstitutional sexual harassment policies. But U.S. District Court Judge Shelly D. Dick threw out all three claims with prejudice. LSU's harassment policies, "read together, are not unconstitutionally broad or vague," Dick also noted, since they cite a common "reasonable person" standard for assessing the severity of offensive speech. Buchanan had opportunities to defend her behavior before she was dismissed, and failed to provide any evidence that that process was biased against her, the judge added. |
| Charlayne Hunter-Gault to give UGA's Holmes-Hunter lecture | |
 | Charlayne Hunter-Gault, an award-winning journalist and University of Georgia alumna, will present the university's 2018 Holmes-Hunter Lecture Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. in the Chapel. The annual lecture is named in honor of Hunter-Gault and her classmate Hamilton Holmes, the first African-American students to attend UGA. They arrived on campus in 1961 after civil rights leaders in Atlanta successfully challenged the segregation policy at the state's universities. Hunter-Gault graduated from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication in 1963, going on to work for prestigious media outlets like The New Yorker, The New York Times, PBS, CNN and NPR. |
| Cosplayers are the stars at U. of Florida's seventh-annual SwampCon | |
 | Plenty of mini-skirted maids, fantasy warriors, Pikachus and other Pokemon characters and even a few furries posed for pictures, took selfies and otherwise took over the University of Florida's Reitz Union for the annual SwampCon. And then there was Noorul Hassan in an assemblage of cardboard boxes to represent her favorite video game: Tetris. "I'm in love with Tetris. I want to marry Tetris. I have actually been in the news for wanting to marry Tetis. Just Google Noorul marry Tetris," said the UF student. Sure enough, several websites about Hassan's post-graduation marriage plans come up. The seventh iteration of SwampCon staged by the Gator Anime club drew cosplayers -- short for costume play -- and vendors from throughout Florida. Annie Pulliam of Gator Anime said between 1,500 and 3,000 people typically attend SwampCon. |
| Texas A&M researchers anticipate debut of internationally-contributed sky map | |
 | Texas A&M University researchers who participated in the international Dark Energy Survey project to create a detailed map of one-eighth of the sky said they are excited to see what opportunities this week's release of the project's first three years of data will create. A&M astronomer and assistant professor in the department of physics and astronomy Jennifer Marshall said she expects the public release to be nothing short of "transformational" for her field. "Until now, only DES members have had access to these data, but now that the data are public, astronomers around the world will be able to search the excellent DES dataset for many other new objects, surely resulting in the discovery of all sorts of new and interesting things about the nearby and distant universe," said Marshall, who was among a handful of astronomers to witness history last fall by the gravitational waves produced from two colliding neutron stars for the first time. |
| U. of Missouri curbs composting, recycling efforts | |
 | Andrew Biggs gets in one of the pickup trucks parked in front of the University of Missouri's Bradford Research Center. Passing by a few corn labyrinths, the superintendent reaches the composting facility. It was built in 2011, meant to compost food waste and create composting material. It was later used for growing vegetables and selling them to Campus Dining Services. Significantly less of that is still happening today, even though the university's website still promotes the program. When the initiative started, there were 2.5 tons of food bought from the farm; this is no longer the case. "We are no longer producing that food for the dining halls," Biggs said. Biggs added that Campus Dining Services used to send more material for composting, but currently they collect significantly less material than they used to because of lack of funding. Overall, MU recycles about 19 percent of its waste. As a comparison, the average recycling rate for the United States is 34.3 percent, according to the national 2013 Municipal Solid Waste report. |
| In a Region With Few College Degrees, People Pin Their Hopes on Trump | |
 | The data are clear: Life is getting harder and harder for Americans without college degrees. People with a high-school education or less tend to face worse economic prospects and have poorer health. There has been a striking rise in mortality among middle-aged white Americans who don't have four-year degrees. The uptick, say the two Princeton University economists who identified the phenomenon, is due primarily to what they call "deaths of despair," or deaths caused by alcohol, drugs, and suicide. Middle-aged, non-college-going white Americans also make up the core voting block that propelled Donald J. Trump to the White House. Mr. Trump won 67 percent of white voters without a college degree. How are all of these factors connected? Or are they? |
| Former Obama administration officials are being named college presidents | |
| When Agnes Scott College announced last week that Leocadia I. Zak would become its next president, the women's college in Georgia did not insistently trumpet her experience with the federal government. The college's announcement first noted Zak's roots as a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and her law degree from Northeastern University. It also described her as someone with an "extensive background in international economic development and international project finance." Only after those descriptions did the announcement detail the seven years Zak spent as director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency during President Obama's years in office. Nonetheless, Zak's background in government means she stands at the convergence of several trends affecting who becomes a college president. The pathways to the presidency are remarkably unsettled right now. |
| Socially awkward because of social media | |
| Angela Farmer, an assistant professor of educational leadership at Mississippi State, writes: "Once upon a time there were occasions when individuals would engage in face to face conversations which resulted in a variety of outcomes ranging from polite dialog, to general topic consensus, to subtle disagreement, to all out arguments. One could gauge another's response based on his speech pattern, body language, tone of voice, inflection and eye contact patterns. Some found this interaction more fluid than others. Those who found such engagements more difficult may have been considered to be socially awkward. In the 21st century, however, it appears that new context must be put to such terms. Students of the millennia find themselves in a particularly complex quagmire when it comes to communications." |
| Reviving Mississippi's downtowns should be No. 1 priority | |
| Retired Mississippi newspaper reporter and editor Mac Gordon writes: "Mississippi's heart problems are well known. The state leads the nation per capita in the number of heart-related deaths -- not a good statistic in which to set the pace. As medical experts continue to work on that problem, along with help from several heart disease-connected charities, another matter of the heart affecting Mississippians is more of a spiritual concern that also needs attention. We have always heard the downtown area is the heart of most cities and towns. ...Just as a physical heart can be shocked back into regular rhythm (many thanks, Dr. Ali Homayuni of McComb), a city or town's vitality can receive the same springboard for a new prosperity, particularly where a downtown section has become a vibrant component of the whole again. ...Reviving Mississippi downtowns on a one-by-one basis is a must for the state's progress as we begin a third century of statehood." |
| If only Tupelo's unifying culture reached statewide | |
| Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford of Meridian writes: "Do you know the 'Tupelo Story,' the uplifting chronicle of Tupelo's self-transformation from 'a hardscrabble hamlet' (Aspen Institute) to a prosperous small city and 'national model for homegrown development' (William Winter)? Vaughn Grisham, Jr., built a career around telling the Tupelo Story and was the founding director of the McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement at Ole Miss. His book, 'Tupelo: The Evolution of a Community' tells the story as does his monograph with Rob Gurwitt, 'Hand in Hand: Community and Economic Development in Tupelo,' a case study published by the Aspen Institute. In the Forward to Grisham's book, former Governor William Winter calls Tupelo 'a place where people have learned not to dismiss their own personal self-interest, but to equate it with the interest of their community.'" |
| Could Delbert Hosemann or Gregg Harper spoil 2019 governor's race for Tate Reeves? | |
| The Clarion-Ledger's Sam R. Hall writes: "This week has seen a flurry of activity around polls and the 2018 midterm congressional elections that are shaping up in Mississippi, but what's happening right now could have a real impact on 2019 -- particularly in the gubernatorial race. Conventional wisdom and the political rumor mill tell us the relatively safe money is on Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves and Attorney General Jim Hood running for governor, and Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann running for lieutenant governor. But there is a sizable faction within the mainstream Republican Party that fears a Reeves administration would freeze them out. They are looking for someone to challenge him. Hosemann could be that person. ...Another possibility appeared when U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper announced his resignation. While the idea of a Harper gubernatorial run seems more like a wish born of a lazy conspiracy, it could grow legs given time." |
| Mississippi lawmakers in a road rush, talk deficits, ed funding | |
| The Clarion-Ledger's Geoff Pender writes: "Speaker Philip Gunn and his House GOP leadership have been running a hurry-up offense on road and bridge funding bills, shoving them through before the ink dries because... Well, I don't know. I'm sure the road rush is some sort of political 'strategery,' but I'm not sure what that is. Maybe they don't want anyone to look too closely at the bills or, heaven forbid, try to vet them or improve them before voting. For one measure, diverting $108 million in state use tax money to cities and counties, the rush to pass it appeared to be that city and county leaders were at the Capitol as they attended conferences in Jackson. Or maybe supporters didn't want anyone cogitating too long on how to balance an already strapped state budget with $108 million missing. Gunn's default political strategy with complex or contentious bills the last few years has been to rush them through." |
SPORTS
| Bulldogs improve to 19-0 | |
| Mississippi State's Victoria Vivians and Teaira McCowan scored a bunch of points and grabbed a bunch of rebounds, just like they do almost every game. But coach Vic Schaefer said some hard-nosed defense from backup guards Jazzmun Holmes and Jordan Danberry was the catalyst that led No. 4 Mississippi State to a 75-61 victory over Alabama on Sunday. "Jazz and Jordan came in during that second quarter and really made a difference," Schaefer said. "They played extremely well and impacted the game." Mississippi State (19-0, 5-0, Southeastern Conference) earned its 11th straight victory by double digits, but this one was more difficult than most. |
| Second quarter surge: Mississippi State women defeat Alabama | |
| No. 4 Mississippi State was in a whale of trouble after the first quarter of Sunday afternoon's Southeastern Conference women's basketball game against Alabama. The Crimson Tide roared out to a 20-16 lead against the Bulldogs after one quarter and senior Hannah Cook was making noise with 10 early points. MSU head coach Vic Schaefer made a change in the lineup by putting in Jordan Danberry. While the stats didn't indicate her impact, Danberry shifted the course of the game. The Arkansas transfer spearheaded a huge run by the Bulldogs to overcome an early six-point deficit and rolled Alabama with a 75-61 victory. "I knew that he wanted us to pressure the ball and get in the passing lane," Danberry said. "I tried my best to get in my stance and do what he asked. I feel like I brought a lot of energy to the game." Victoria Vivians was the catalyst in the Bulldogs' offensive resurgence. |
| No. 3 Mississippi State's defense from bench led to win over Alabama | |
| Did Mississippi State play its best defensive basketball of the season in the second quarter of its game Sunday against Alabama? There's a strong case to be made. Alabama committed a whopping 10 turnovers in the period and scored only nine points. The No. 3 Bulldogs, who actually trailed after the first quarter, outscored Alabama by 19 in the second and cruised from there to a 75-61 conference win at Humphrey Coliseum. "That was very special," Vic Schaefer said. "I'd say that was a pretty good quarter." |
| Timetable looks good for Mississippi State's Dudy Noble renovation | |
| It wasn't part of the plan for the construction crews at Dudy Noble Field to get a two-week break around the turn of the new year, but weather gave one to them anyway. After it all, David Bryant -- the project manager for JESCO, Inc., the company overseeing the renovation -- feels good about the timeline. "We're dependent on this weather. We look good, we're in a position to finish it, but we don't have control of Mother Nature," Bryant said. In The Dispatch's exclusive tour of the construction site this week, Bryant said the extreme cold in Starkville from around Christmas Day through the first week of January kept the crews from doing, "anything temperature-sensitive." Masonry, concrete and painting were all off-limits; using that time to install the outfield fence plus handrails around the outfield kept the project moving. |
| No. 22 Auburn rallies past Mississippi State | |
| A week ago Saturday, the Mississippi State men's basketball team took to the road to face Ole Miss. MSU coach Ben Howland saw a team that had yet to learn how to make the key plays down the stretch to close out a game. One week later, those lessons have not been learned. MSU saw an 11-point halftime lead and 13-point lead 90 seconds after that evaporate to the No. 22 team in the nation as Auburn (16-1, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) beat MSU 76-68. It was MSU's third consecutive loss after upsetting Arkansas to start SEC play, dropping the Bulldogs to 1-3 in conference and 13-4 overall. The team has yet to settle on an answer to the problem, but its leading scorer presented one possibility. "We have to come out in the second half and not be so nonchalant," junior guard Quinndary Weatherspoon said. |
| Another second-half lead slips away | |
| Mississippi State had 22nd-ranked Auburn on the ropes Saturday afternoon with a 13-point lead early in the second half. But instead of celebrating an upset win, the Bulldogs were left searching for answers again as the Tigers roared back for a 76-68 victory. It was the second-straight Saturday in which MSU squandered a 13-point lead. "That was a tough loss, especially with how well we played in the first half," said MSU coach Ben Howland. "It was our best half of the year against a talented team. We had an 11-point lead at halftime and to watch that dissipate was tough." The Bulldogs will attempt to end their three-game skid on Tuesday, hosting Vanderbilt at 6 p.m. on the SEC Network. |
| Mississippi State blows lead in loss against No. 22 Auburn | |
| With 30 seconds left and Mississippi State down nine points, fans desperately shouted at Quinndary Weatherspoon to shoot a 3-pointer. Once he separated himself enough from an Auburn defender, Weatherspoon did just that. The ball didn't touch the rim and once an Auburn player secured it, all the fans in Humphrey Coliseum's student section fled for the exit. It was a desperation shot, typical for that point in a game like that --- No. 22 Auburn won, 76-68. In terms of the game's outcome, the scene was rather meaningless, but the shot and fan reaction was a microcosm of this season so far. Another poor performance from 3-point range. Another blown lead in the second half. Another reason for Mississippi State fans to feel frustrated. "That's a tough loss," Ben Howland said. "That first half was our best half of basketball of the year against an obviously talented team." |
| Notebook: State suffers first home loss of the season | |
| Mississippi State saw its 13-game home winning streak snapped by a 76-68 loss to No. 22 Auburn on Saturday. The Bulldogs had not lost at Humphrey Coliseum since Feb. 21, 2017 and were a perfect 12-0 at home prior to Saturday. It also snapped a six-game winning streak against the Tigers in Starkville, their first since 2009. One more victory would have tied MSU for the longest home winning streak in school history set during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. |
| In emails, U. of Arkansas athletics vows to help foundation | |
| The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville athletic department pledged last summer to help its nonprofit fundraising arm collect more money from students "even if it's outside our job description," according to emails released under Arkansas' open-records law. The campus, because it has more promotional might than the booster-funded Razorback Foundation, would better advertise the foundation's $15-per-year "collegiate membership" program going forward, Senior Associate Athletic Director Chris Freet told the nonprofit's director in an August email. The UA has long sold memberships to students on the foundation's behalf, an arrangement that raises the possibility that the nonprofit foundation -- which officials say can withhold records from the public because it receives no public money -- is receiving a university "subsidy," a freedom of information advocate said. |
| In Hawaii, UC Santa Barbara basketball team endures terrifying morning after false missile alert | |
| Just after 8 a.m. on Saturday morning, the UC Santa Barbara men's basketball traveling party awoke to the most terrifying news imaginable. They received the same emergency alert others in Hawaii did mistakenly warning them of an incoming ballistic missile attack set to strike any minute. Some players and coaches were jarred awake by the buzzing of their phones. Others only scrambled out of their beds when forward Leland King's mother ran down the hallway of their Waikiki hotel in a panic knocking on doors and screaming for everyone to get up. "We were either huddled in the bathroom, in the stairwells or out in the halls," UCSB associate athletic director Bill Mahoney told Yahoo Sports. "The warning said to stay away from the windows. It was bizarre." Officials with the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency told the New York Times that Saturday's mistaken alert was a result of human error. Someone "clicked the wrong thing" on a computer during a shift-change drill, spokesman Richard Rapoza told the newspaper. |
| How are schools vetting Art Briles' former assistants? | |
| A bid to better their football team's offense put University of Houston officials on the defensive this past week. It's a posture several schools have had to adopt in recent years after announcing they'd hired coaching staff -- like UH's new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles and offensive line coach Randy Clements -- who had worked at Baylor University and departed under the cloud of a sexual assault scandal. Those universities, like Houston, have been quick to offer assurances that their hires were carefully vetted, including through conversations with Baylor officials. But their attempts to set minds at ease have been hampered by one major issue: While Baylor has blamed "athletics and football personnel" for much of the scandal, it has never revealed publicly who specifically did what wrong. That stance has frustrated lawmakers, activists and other people at the coaches' old and new schools, and has prompted calls for more transparency from the private Waco university. |
| Keith Jackson, Voice of College Football, Dies at 89 | |
 | Keith Jackson, ABC's signature voice of college football, remembered for his love of the game's pageantry and his Georgia-rooted, country boy flourishes on autumn Saturdays through five decades, died on Friday in Los Angeles. He was 89. In a statement on Twitter on Saturday, Robert A. Iger, the chief executive of the Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC, confirmed Mr. Jackson's death. "For generations of fans, Keith was college football," Mr. Iger said. Even after decades in the job, Mr. Jackson retained an old-fashioned, wide-eyed love for the college game. He prided himself on being concise and loath to steal the spotlight from the players. "This is not my stage," he said. "The stage belongs to the athletes and coaches who play the game. People don't throw down 1,000 bucks for a TV to hear me talk." |
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