| Tuesday, May 8, 2018 |
| Supes approve $1.5 million offer for potential SOCSD building | |
 | The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors approved a proposal of $1.5 million to purchase property for the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District during its meeting Monday. President of the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors Orlando Trainer made a motion to bid $1.5 million to purchase property located on Lynn Lane for SOCSD administration. The board approved his motion with a 3-2 vote. District 1 Supervisor John Montgomery and District 4 Supervisor Bricklee Miller voted against the proposed offer. Trainer said the current appraisal of the property currently sits at over $2 million and figured if the county could get this property at a lower price, it would be a great outcome for both the county and school district. Montgomery, who voted against the offer said he is all for education and there are pressing needs, but the county has provided more than adequate space for the superintendent and their office space. |
| County takes bids for waste management services under advisement | |
| The Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors received three bid proposals for its potential new waste management services on Monday. The board unanimously voted to take the three bids under advisement. The three bids came from Arrow Disposal Services, Waste Management and Waste Pro. Arrow Disposal Services submitted a bid of $9.50 per resident. The Waste Management bid totaled at $13.64 per resident. Waste Pro's bid totaled to $12.98 per resident. |
| City investigating damage at J.L. King Park | |
 | The city of Starkville is considering beefing up security measures at its parks after a vandalism incident at J.L. King Park over the weekend. Mayor Lynn Spruill said a bathroom near the splash pad was damaged, with visible breaks in the outside walls of the building. Spruill said she was riding around Sunday when a man who cleans the park showed it to him. "I was just looking at the splash pad and wondering when we'd open it up, when he asked if I had seen the damage," she said. "So I went over, took pictures, and we cleaned it up." Spruill submitted a report to Starkville Police Department, but said she hadn't heard anything back as of Monday morning. She added she suspects children may have been behind the damage. |
| Starkville aldermen get Muzzle 'award' over gay pride parade vote | |
 | The Starkville, Mississippi, Board of Aldermen, which rejected an application for a community event that would have been the town's first-ever Pride parade, .been bestowed a Jefferson Muzzle, a tongue-in-cheek award from a free-speech group. The board later reversed its decision. The Charlottesville, Virginia-based Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression on Sunday announced the seven winners of its Muzzles, given annually to those the group deems the previous year's most egregious offenders of free expression. In Starkville, when organizers applied for a permit for the city's first gay pride parade, a majority of Starkville's aldermen voted it down, transforming what had been envisioned as a relatively small-scale event into a constitutional confrontation over free speech and equal rights. |
| SHS student, teacher to attend Oak Ridge summer camp | |
| A Starkville High School student and teacher will travel to Tennessee in July for a summer camp at a prestigious science destination. Junior A'Shauna Howell and biology teacher Michael Adam will travel to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory near Knoxville for the Appalachian Regional Commission/Oak Ridge National Laboratory 2018 Summer STEM Programs. Howell will attend a two-week residential camp for students, where she will participate in science and other opportunities along with students from across the ARC region, covering counties in 13 states. The program will run from July 7 to July 20. During his time at the laboratory, Adam will conduct scientific research with a group of other secondary school science teachers divided into small groups. |
| Planning Committee backs overlay district for downtown Tupelo neighborhood | |
 | The city's Planning Committee has recommended that residential building designs be regulated more strictly in Tupelo's Historic Downtown neighborhood. This unanimous decision came during a Monday night meeting and was made in response to a request from the neighborhood association for an overlay district. The Tupelo City Council must now also vote in favor of the overlay district before it can become official. Within an overlay district, new construction and exterior renovations of homes must conform to certain design standards intended to ensure architectural consistency. A study produced by Mississippi State University in the late 1990s detailing Tupelo's historic architecture will provide the exterior design standards for the proposed overlay district if the City Council approves it. |
| Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs rules out run for statewide office | |
 | A second-term Mississippi mayor who recently left the Democratic Party is now saying he will not run for statewide office. George Flaggs of Vicksburg said in March that his switch from Democrat to independent was a possible step toward running for lieutenant governor in 2019. However, Flaggs said Monday that after prayer and meditation, he doesn't feel the pull to run a statewide campaign. "You know it takes a whole lot for me to put my ego in my pocket," Flaggs, 65, joked during an interview with The Associated Press. Flaggs said Monday that he will not endorse anybody in any party primary for lieutenant governor. He said he might seek a third term as mayor in 2021, or he might become a consultant. |
| State Rep. Dan Eubanks tapped as GOPAC Emerging Leader | |
 | State Rep. Dan Eubanks, R-Walls, has been selected to GOPAC's 2018 Class of Emerging Leaders. The GOPAC designation is a list of promising legislators selected for their potential and ability to impact their state and the Republican Party. "Our 2018 Emerging Leaders highlight our efforts to promote Republicans who advocate for the personal and economic security of Americans. These men and women are a superb addition to the roster of Republicans we are developing nationwide to lead in their state legislatures and/or run for higher office." said GOPAC Chairman David Avella. The Emerging Leaders program is a year long initiative to coach and develop state legislators from across the country on how to be effective legislative leaders. |
| State GOP chair warns about wave of Democrat activism | |
 | Mississippi GOP Chairman Lucien Smith warned Neshoba County Republicans to get busy working ahead of the November elections because Democrats are fired up to take back seats. "There is going to be a larger wave of Democratic activism than we have ever seen in this state," he told a gathering in Philadelphia. He said Republicans should support candidates of their choice in the GOP primaries but urged them to come together to support GOP nominees in the general election. "Elections do have consequences," he said. "They have a direct effect on the policies coming out of our government." He urged Republicans to be unified, especially after the primaries, because of the intensity of the liberal activism in reaction to the Trump presidency. Smith, an attorney who has worked in both the Barbour and Bryant administrations, told fellow conservatives it's an exciting time to be a Republican, both in Jackson and in Washington, due to the party's unitary control of both the legislative and executive branches. |
| Key Republican Senate Primaries Begin in Three Trump States | |
 | Tuesday is decision day for contested Republican Senate primaries in Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia -- three states that broadly supported President Trump in 2016. The candidates' strategies have often boiled down to an extended presidential hug, with unsubtle efforts to attach their cause to Mr. Trump's. The winners will all face Democratic incumbents in November, in races that could determine the balance of the Senate: The Democrats up for re-election are vulnerable -- all three states saw notable shifts to the right in 2016 -- if only Republicans can avoid sabotaging themselves. Mr. Trump has made his choice. Sort of. He knows, at least, whom West Virginians should not vote for, starting his week with a Monday morning tweet urging them against supporting Don Blankenship, a former coal mining executive who spent a year in prison for his role in a fatal mining explosion. |
| Blankenship taunts Republicans with victory in reach | |
 | A defiant Don Blankenship on Monday shrugged off President Donald Trump's last-minute plea for Republican primary voters to reject his insurgent Senate candidacy --- and flatly predicted it would fail to halt his momentum. On the final day of the dramatic West Virginia campaign, the coal baron and ex-prisoner seemed unbothered by the president's foray into the contest, arguing that voters would see through it as the latest ploy in an establishment-led effort aimed at keeping him from winning the nomination. "I think it's still over," he declared to reporters here during a frenzied final day of the race. "It probably tightens it a point or two, but I don't think it matters much." At another point in the day, after a reporter asked if he was feeling confident, Blankenship had a deadpan response: "Yeah, we're gonna win." The national GOP has waged an all-out campaign to stop him from winning the nomination. |
| Farm Bill Could Undo Part Of The Affordable Care Act | |
 | Although the GOP repeal-and-replace mantra seems to have quieted, some Republican lawmakers continue efforts to get around the sweeping federal health law's requirements. Sometimes that happens in surprising places. Like the farm bill. Tucked deep inside the House version of the massive bill -- amid crop subsidies and food assistance programs -- is a provision that supporters say could help provide farmers with cheaper (and likely less comprehensive) health insurance than plans offered through the Affordable Care Act. It calls for $65 million in loans and grants administered by the Department of Agriculture to help organizations establish agricultural-related policies modeled on "association health plans." But the idea is not without skeptics. |
| Turner Hall renovations at MUW remain on track | |
| A new purpose for the old Demonstration School at the Mississippi University for Women is taking shape. University officials say renovations at Turner Hall, which Tuscaloosa, Alabama-based Amason Construction began in January, are on track for completion in time for the fall 2019 semester. Turner Hall will house MUW's Speech and Hearing Center -- the new home for the university's speech-language pathology program. Now, the highly-competitive program housed in Cromwell Communication Center only has spots for 50 undergraduate students, which doesn't keep up with demand, department chair Joy Townsend said. The larger, updated facilities at Turner Hall will allow MUW to immediately grow the program to 75 students. |
| UM commencement set for Saturday | |
| The University of Mississippi will present degrees to some 5,000 students Saturday at its 165th Commencement. The ceremony, set for 9 a.m. in the Grove, features renowned historian and biographer Walter Isaacson as speaker. Isaacson, who also was head of both CNN and Time magazine, is a professor of history at Tulane University. The morning convocation is expected to be attended by about 3,000 degree candidates in academic regalia. Seating for 15,000 will be set up in the Grove for visitors and families and is filled on a first-come basis. Ceremonies for the individual schools will follow at various locations throughout the day. |
| UM to offer film production, acting degrees | |
| The University of Mississippi Department of Theatre Arts has created a major in film production and another that combines acting and musical theater to give students more diverse skill sets to enter today's ever-changing entertainment industry. Classes for the two new Bachelor of Fine Arts programs begin this fall. The new degree in film production should be a big improvement from what students were able to accomplish when only an interdisciplinary cinema minor was offered, said Michael Barnett, chair of the Department of Theatre Arts. |
| Professor explains reasons behind the Gulf of Mexico earthquake | |
 | A registered 4.6 magnitude earthquake happened less than 200 miles south of the Mississippi Coast on Sunday, May 6. According to Frank Heitmuller, Associate Professor of Geology at Southern Miss, an earthquake in that area isn't out of the ordinary. He says it's caused by sediments from the Mississippi River piled up over time. "It just basically gets to a point where the weight is a little too much and there's a rupture in the sub surface, but it doesn't necessarily mean that there will be more frequent occurrences or any more powerful than the one that was recently felt," Heitmuller explained. Heitmuller says it would take a much stronger earthquake to create any kind of tsunami threat, and that isn't likely. |
| Keynote challenges Delta State grads to do, be better | |
| Spring is a time of transition. This weekend, Delta State University recognized a group of men and women who had undergone a change of their own. Approximately 500 students graduated with doctoral, masters, bachelors, and specialist degrees during commencement exercises on Saturday at the Bologna Performing Arts Center. The auditorium was full of friends, family, and loved ones eager to support those receiving their degree. DSU President William LaForge welcomed the students and guests and introduced the keynote speaker for the morning, Dr. Glen Jones -- the president of Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. After Jones finished speaking, LaForge returned to confer upon legendary activist and musician, Mavis Staples, the degree of Doctor of Music honoris causa. |
| Meridian Community College presidential search forum planned Tuesday | |
 | The second of Meridian Community College's presidential search forums is scheduled at 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 8 at the McCain Fine Arts Theater on campus. Ted Lewis, vice president at Pellissippi State College, Tennessee, will be the second candidate featured. MCC faculty/staff and community members will be able to hear a presentation by each finalist and ask questions, according to a college news release. The forums are open to anyone interested in learning more about the people interested in becoming MCC's next president. Thomas Huebner, president of East Mississippi Community College, is scheduled to interview for the position on Wednesday, May 30. A forum is tentatively scheduled that day, according to MCC. Paul Miller, vice president at East Mississippi Community College, participated in a forum on April 24. |
| U. of Florida President Apologizes for 'Inappropriately Aggressive' Treatment of Graduating Students | |
 | What might've been a day for celebration turned into a spree of complaints of racism at the University of Florida over the weekend. As graduates walked across a commencement stage to receive their degrees, some were held and escorted away after posing for their parents and dancing. The university's president, W. Kent Fuchs, issued an apology to those students in a statement that said an usher had been "inappropriately aggressive in rushing students across stage." In his statement Fuchs also said that he'd called each of the students and that the practice of hurrying students across the stage would be dropped in future ceremonies. "We will work to make sure all graduating students know we are proud of their achievements and celebrate with them," he wrote. |
| U. of Florida won't nudge graduates in future | |
 | Future University of Florida graduates will get a little more time to do their thing during commencement -- whatever that thing might be. About 900 UF graduates crossed the stage at the 2 p.m. commencement ceremony Saturday. Of that number, about 30 were shooed along by a robe-wearing marshal, via a gentle guiding hand, a push or a more forceful shove. The actions, designed to keep the ceremony on track, left UF President Kent Fuchs apologizing on Twitter Sunday. UF spokeswoman Margot Winick said Monday that in future ceremonies, officials will no longer physically rush graduates. UF officials have thus far declined to identify the marshal by name or by his position at the university. |
| U. of Tennessee interim chancellor to earn $45,833 per month plus expense allowance | |
 | University of Tennessee President Joe DiPietro on Monday said he's not planning to set a retirement date until after the new board of trustees meets this summer, and said his decision to fire Chancellor Beverly Davenport was not personal. DiPietro made the remarks in a question-and-answer session with media following his introduction of Wayne Davis, who is taking over as interim chancellor. Davis, who was set to retire from his role as dean of the Tickle College of Engineering, said he's humbled and honored to be asked to serve in the interim chancellor role for a year. DiPietro appointed Davis interim on Thursday, a day after firing the institution's first female chancellor, Davenport, a little more than a year into her leadership. |
| UT Faculty Senate calls for reform to university system after DiPietro fired chancellor | |
| Following the University of Tennessee's official introduction of its new interim chancellor, Senate Faculty members held a meeting Monday afternoon to discuss the future structure of the entire university system. Incoming Faculty Senate President Misty Anderson, in a report delivered to her colleagues at 3:30 p.m., said: "The System office is an administrative entity that exists by taxing its campuses. It has introduced measures that are, increasingly, a distraction from our mission as the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the mission we carry out." The Faculty Senate planned to compose a resolution at its Monday meeting censuring some of UT President Joe DiPietro's recent actions, including the manner in which Davenport was terminated, and calling for "a meaningful discussion of the role of the system," Anderson said. |
| State lawmaker's plan would cap college tuition at U. of South Carolina, Clemson | |
 | A South Carolina lawmaker has a plan to stop college tuition from going up -- just don't expect it to get passed this year. State Sen. Vincent Sheheen, D-Kershaw, will file a bill to fix what he sees as the four biggest issues in higher education: tuition increasing at "an astronomical, unsustainable rate," colleges recruiting out-of-state students to balance their budgets, fixing campus buildings that have fallen into disrepair and "streamlining a bureaucratic mess." The University of South Carolina is aware of the proposal, but is waiting to issue a full statement until after the news conference, spokesman Jeff Stensland said. "We are very supportive of the concepts and look forward to hearing more tomorrow," Stensland said Monday. |
| U. of Missouri education dean makes case for promotion to provost | |
 | Boosting morale through more recognition and better pay will be an important job for the next University of Missouri provost, candidate Kathryn Chval, dean of the College of Education, said Monday. Chval was questioned for about 45 minutes during the third of four forums planned for candidates to replace Garnett Stokes, who left MU on Jan. 31 to become president of the University of New Mexico. Jim Spain, vice provost for undergraduate studies, has been interim provost since Stokes' departure. Near the end of the forum, Noor Azizan-Gardner, executive director of faculty recruitment and retention and director of the Office of Inclusive Engagement, said the campus is experiencing an exodus because of staff cuts and faculty departures for better jobs. In her response, Chval said she's worked on those issues internally at the College of Education by having an annual survey of faculty to find out whether they feel valued by the administration and by their colleagues. She also said during the forum that she reviewed the salaries in her college and discovered some veteran faculty were being paid less than new hires and worked to address it. |
| More institutions consider ending their 'big deals' with publishers | |
 | Florida State University recently announced plans to cancel its "big deal" with Elsevier, but it is far from the first university to do so. In recent years, there has been an uptick in the number of reports of libraries dropping their bundled journal deals with big publishers, which can cost upward of $1 million annually. Rather than subscribing to a large volume of journals in a publisher's collection, often at a substantial discount off the individual list price, some institutions are choosing to pay only for the journals they determine they need the most. Rick Anderson, associate dean for collections and scholarly communications at the Marriott Library at the University of Utah, said that more cancellations are likely, but "how big the snowball is going to get" is an unanswered question. |
| Why do people risk their lives for the perfect selfie? | |
| Earlier this month, an Indian man was killed while trying to take a selfie next to a wounded bear. It's actually the third selfie-related death in India since December: On two separate occasions, elephants ended up taking the lives of people trying to snap images with the mammals. Animals don't pose the only danger to selfie seekers. Heights have also resulted in fatalities. A Polish tourist in Seville, Spain fell off a bridge and died attempting to take a selfie. And a Cessna pilot lost control of his plane -- killing himself and his passengers -- while trying to take a selfie in 2014. People who frequently post selfies are often targets for accusations of narcissism and tastelessness. But what's really going on here? What is it about the self-portrait that's so resonant as a form of communication? And why, psychologically, might someone feel so compelled to snap the perfect selfie that they'd risk their life, or the lives of others? |
| Picture improving for state's retirement fund | |
| Longtime Mississippi journalist Charlie Mitchell writes: "Remember the serious discussion of state pension funds during this year's legislative session? You don't? Well, that's OK. It didn't happen. And that's OK, too. Life is better when pension plans don't make headlines. ... There will come a time when PERS needs more fiscal attention from the Legislature. Not every year will have rosy investment returns and other happy news. For now, though, it's a point of pride that public employees in Mississippi can breathe easy. 'Will there be any money there when I get ready to retire?' is a serious question. For now, the answer is a confident, 'Yes.'" |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State softball faces Texas A&M in SEC tournament | |
| Prior to the start of the 2018 season, Mississippi State softball coach Vann Stuedeman said her team could replace the offensive production of Caroline Seitz by having each starter drive in five more runs this season. Seitz earned all-conference honors and anchored the left side of the infield during her time with the Bulldogs. In her senior season, Seitz drove in 44 runs. It turns out that freshman catcher Mia Davidson replaced Seitz all by herself. Davidson set a school record for freshmen by hitting 18 home runs during the regular season. She also leads the squad with a .384 average and 46 runs batted in. That power hitting will again be on display at 11 a.m. Wednesday when No. 24 MSU (35-20) takes on No. 9 Texas A&M (40-15) in an opening-round game of the Southeastern Conference tournament being played at Mizzou Stadium in Columbia, Missouri. All four first-round games Wednesday in the 12-team single-elimination tournament will be shown nationally on the SEC Network. |
| Construction underway at Mississippi State on new Davis Wade Stadium gameday locker room | |
 | Construction is underway on a new, state-of-the-art locker room in the north end zone of Davis Wade Stadium that will house Mississippi State football on home gamedays. "Our student-athletes and coaches deserve elite facilities," MSU Director of Athletics John Cohen said. "This project will greatly enhance our team and recruiting operations in Davis Wade Stadium. The expansive locker room is in line with Coach Moorhead's vision of building a championship standard program here at Mississippi State." The $3.6 million project is being privately funded through the Bulldog Club and will be completed for the start of the 2018 season. LPK Architects is the project's architect. ICM is the construction manager, and Copeland and Johns is serving as the general contractor. |
| Bulldogs getting new game-day locker room | |
| Mississippi State will no longer be running onto Scott Field from the Leo Seal M-Club Center in the south end zone. A new 11,100 square foot locker room is being built for the Bulldogs in the north end zone of Davis Wade Stadium and will be completed in time for the 2018 season. The new locker room will feature custom-built lockers for the players as well as separate locker rooms for both the coaches and staff. There will also be a new athletic training and equipment rooms built as well as a 3,000 square-foot recruiting lounge adjacent to the locker room. The project will cost $3.6 million and is being privately funded through the Bulldog Club. |
| Mississippi State begins $3.6 million locker room renovation | |
| The dawn of a new era for any college football program often begins with a new head coach followed by an overhaul to the football facilities. In the case of Mississippi State, the Joe Moorhead era in Starkville is now entering a renovation phase with a $3.6 million locker room renovation. Mississippi State announced the beginning of the project on Monday as the work on the new look for the 11,000 square-foot locker room began. Once the project is complete, visiting teams to Davis Wade Stadium will begin using the previous home locker room in the south end zone. |
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