| Friday, January 4, 2019 |
| Mississippi State selected to host International Conference on Narrative in 2020 | |
 | Mississippi State joins a prestigious list of U.S., Canadian and European universities selected to host the annual International Conference on Narrative. MSU's opportunity as conference host comes in 2020 when more than 450 attendees will gather March 5-8 in New Orleans, Louisiana, for literary dialogue from a variety of perspectives. Dan Punday, professor and head of MSU's English department, serves as president of the International Society for the Study of Narrative, which presents the annual event. "It's especially exciting to have Mississippi State host a conference in the humanities since we're known largely for our research reputation in engineering and the sciences," Punday said. "With an attendance of around 500 people, this conference should prompt hundreds of academics from around the world to associate Mississippi State more with cutting edge humanities research." |
| Quick Bites with MSU Extension: Appalachian Trail to digital footprints | |
 | The Mississippi State University Extension Service ushers in 2019 with three Quick Bites programs in January. The free interactive video sessions are offered at county Extension offices from noon-1 p.m. on designated Thursdays. Interested individuals must contact their county office in order to participate. Sessions will also be offered on the MSU campus in Bost Conference Center, room 409. Quick Bites' menu for the first month of the new year includes floral tips, an exploration of the Appalachian Trail and advice on your digital life. County Extension offices wanting to sign up for the video programs can do so at http://techoutreach.msucares.com/distance-education. Sign up using the online county sign up system. (From the Distance Education dropdown menu, click on the County Schedule Signup). Or, counties may email to distanceed@ext.msstate.edu, or call our MSU Extension. |
| I Dreaded Winter Until My Newborn Taught Me to Embrace It | |
 | Catherine Pierce, an associate professor of English and co-director of the creative writing program at Mississippi State University, writes for The New York Times: For most of my adult life, I dreaded -- absolutely dreaded -- winter. In that season, my own darkness multiplied and surged forth like cockroaches waiting for the lights to go out. Whatever deep-seated fears -- illnesses, accidents, loved ones dying -- I'd managed to keep at bay in the brighter months emerged hungry and atomic-blast-proof with the 5 p.m. twilight. ... But since my son's birth, nearly a decade ago now, I haven't once dreaded the end of Daylight Saving Time, that autumn date that confiscates 60 minutes of gold-light evening. Now when I see it approaching on the calendar, I feel a little ping of glad anticipation. These days, winter means an excuse to stay in. It means a harking back to those early weeks. It means -- unbelievably -- comfort. |
| Lippillo's 'constructed photographs' to go on display at Amarillo College | |
 | The "constructed photographs" of Dominic Lippillo will be on display from Jan. 14 through Feb. 27 at the Southern Light Gallery on Amarillo College's Washington Street Campus. The exhibit features images from Lippillo's series "Stories We Tell Ourselves" and is free and open to the public. "I seek out non-specific American landscapes to become settings that simultaneously feel familiar and unfamiliar," Lippillo wrote in his artist statement. "In doing so, I embellish the images by adding atmospheric conditions and appropriated figures that are alien to the melancholic landscapes." Lippillo is an associate professor of photography at Mississippi State University. |
| Aldermen approve towing policy | |
 | In its first meeting of 2019, the Starkville Board of Aldermen approved a citywide towing policy to assist citizens with procuring wrecker services when needed. The item was first listed under mayor's business, but was moved to the consent agenda early in the meeting. An executive session scheduled to discuss legal matters was also removed from the agenda. The new policy replaces Starkville Ordinance 1992-2 in full. It is the policy of the Starkville Police Department to assist in procuring a wrecker for motorists involved in traffic accidents and other incidents requiring wrecker service. If the motorist has no preference, the wrecker will be procured from a firm on a rotation list. "It is an agreement with the county and with the 911 operators for towing," Mayor Lynn Spruill said. "They have a rotation list. They have it set up so (towing firms) meet certain criteria. That way, they'll be on that rotation list, and everybody will be fairly accommodated." |
| Economy adds robust 312K jobs in December, well above expectations | |
 | The U.S. economy added robust 312,000 jobs well above expectations in December as the labor market continues to expand even as worries grow about an economic slowdown and turbulent stock markets. The unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9 percent from 3.7 percent, the Labor Department reported on Friday. Economists had expected about 182,000 jobs to be added last month. Jobs growth should ease some fears about a broader economic slowdown. Employment gains in October and November combined were 58,000 more than previously reported. The economy has added jobs for 98 straight months, beginning in October 2010 under former President Obama. It is the longest streak of monthly jobs growth on record. President Trump's strategy to hit China with billions of tariffs to coax them to change their bad trade behavior has been rattling markets even as the president says the world' two largest economies try to hash out an agreement. |
| Airbus to build additional aircraft on US Gulf Coast | |
 | The aerospace industry on the U.S. Gulf Coast received a boost Thursday as Airbus said it will fulfill two new aircraft orders at an expanding manufacturing operation in Alabama. The European aircraft maker said 120 passenger aircraft ordered by JetBlue Airways and the startup airline Moxy will be built in a new factory near the company's existing plant in Mobile, Alabama. Construction on the plant will begin later this month, the company said. JetBlue and Moxy each ordered 60 of the A220-300 aircraft manufactured by Airbus. The plant will be located beside a factory where Airbus already produces the A320 aircraft in Mobile. Aside from Airbus, aerospace projects in the region include NASA centers in Louisiana and Mississippi and an extensive military aviation presence in the Florida Panhandle. |
| 40 years and still printing: MBJ still the leading source of business news in Magnolia State | |
 | In August 1979, a new business-focused, statewide newspaper hit the newsstand for the first time. Dubbed the Mississippi Business Journal, that first issue dealt with transportation issues, oil and gas exploration and the upcoming gubernatorial election as well as offering people in the news, business briefs, editorials and more. The frequency of the publication would evolve from monthly to weekly, the format would change from tabloid size to magazine and back to tabloid and the newspaper would see new ownership, but 40 years after that first edition, the Mississippi Business Journal is still offering many of those news items and is still striving to be the voice of business and industry in the Magnolia State. |
| Paul's king cakes are ready to roll out of Picayune | |
 | If your taste buds are watering for no apparent reason, it might be because king cake season is here. The team at Paul's Pastry in Picayune has the king cake assembly line going at full throttle. Behind the scenes at Paul's, family members and as many as 50 employees carefully mold and craft these carnival season confectionery delights. It's a time-honored process that dates to 1972. By the time Fat Tuesday rolls around, Paul's will have made at least 75,000 king cakes. "When we first started making them, we thought 1,000 in a season would be a lot," said Sherri Paul-Thigpen. "And as we grew, we didn't just do this overnight. It will be 48 years this year. So, we've kind of grown into it. We've had a wonderful time. It's been a lot of hard work, planning wonderful employees. During Mardi Gras season, we've got a day crew and a night crew, and I'm still awed when I walk back there and see all the different things going on. It's exciting." |
| Nearly 30 candidates file to run for county offices in Lowndes, Oktibbeha | |
| Nearly 30 candidates filed paperwork to run for county offices in Lowndes and Oktibbeha counties on Wednesday. Wednesday was the first day to qualify for this year's elections, which include all elected county positions. Qualifications will remain open until March 1 and primaries are set for Aug. 6. In Oktibbeha County, a possible rematch of 2015's District 4 supervisor election is brewing. Former District 4 Supervisor Daniel Jackson registered to run for office late Wednesday afternoon. Jackson served two terms on the board, from 2008 to 2015, before losing his seat to current Supervisor Bricklee Miller. Miller defeated Jackson by 46 votes in 2015's election. Jackson told The Dispatch he's considered returning to public office since the election. Miller did not qualify to run by the end of the day Wednesday. Miller told The Dispatch on Thursday morning she plans to make an announcement "soon" as to whether she'll seek re-election. |
| Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves enters governor's race | |
| Second-term Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves entered the Mississippi governor's race Thursday, saying he wants to protect taxpayers and oppose the values of "Hollywood and Washington, D.C." Reeves, 44, of Flowood, filed qualifying papers at the state Republican Party headquarters, ending months of speculation about his plans. "The political fight that we have before us in 2019 is with the liberal policies and the liberal ideas of the party of Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi and Jim Hood, and that's what we're going to focus on over the next 10 months," Reeves said. Hood, the fourth-term Democratic attorney general of Mississippi, announced in October that he is running for governor in 2019. Schumer, of New York, is the Democratic leader in the U.S. Senate, and Pelosi, of California, became speaker of the U.S. House again Thursday when Democrats regained control of that chamber. |
| Tate Reeves announces run for governor focused on 'Mississippi values' | |
 | Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves promised on Thursday to fight the values of Hollywood and Washington, D.C., as he announced his candidacy for governor. Reeves, 44, stood behind a podium as his three daughters and wife stood beside him in a room of the state Republican Party headquarters. He will likely be the front-runner in the Republican primary, having already raised more than $5 million. Reeves opened his announcement with a joke about his wife and daughters, saying how impressive it was they were all on time. "Y'all really can laugh," Reeves said. "Trust me, it's been a challenge." Then Reeves launched into his announcement, speaking about his Mississippi upbringing, schooling and family. When asked whether he expected a heated primary, Reeves was diplomatic. "The great thing about living in America is anybody can run for anything they want to run for," Reeves said. "And I think that's a great thing." |
| Reeves launches 2019 governor bid, vows to fight 'liberal ideas' of Hood's Democratic Party | |
| Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, long considered the Republican heir apparent to the Governor's Mansion, filed qualifying paperwork on Thursday, making his 2019 gubernatorial candidacy official. Reeves, 44, has spent years teasing the bid and building a campaign war chest as current Gov. Phil Bryant has approached his term limit. The second-term lieutenant governor had $5.4 million on hand by January 2018, the last time finance reports published. The Democratic front-runner, Attorney General Jim Hood, had raised just $656,000 by the same month. In his announcement speech on Thursday, Reeves said he would focus his campaign on touting economic and educational gains. He also stuck to his long-standing political strategy and threw jabs at Hood in an ongoing effort to paint Hood -- considered by many to be a moderate Democrat -- with liberal Democrats who are broadly unpopular in Mississippi. |
| Sen. Roger Wicker sworn in to Senate for six-year term | |
 | U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., on Thursday was sworn in to the United States Senate for another six-year term. Vice President Mike Pence administered the oath of office on the Senate floor. "It has been a high honor to serve the people of Mississippi as their United States Senator," Wicker said. "At the start of the 116th Congress, I am thankful for the opportunity to continue achieving results for our state and nation." Wicker has represented Mississippi in the United States Senate since December 2007. From 1995 to 2007, Wicker served in the U.S. House of Representatives. He started his career in public service in the Mississippi Senate representing Lee and Pontotoc counties. |
| Bryant Picks Deputy to Lead Mississippi Employment Security | |
| Gov. Phil Bryant is nominating a longtime employee of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security to lead the jobs agency. Jackie A. Turner of Sallis has worked there 27 years and has been deputy director since 2013. Bryant on Thursday nominated Turner to succeed Mark Henry as director. Wednesday, the governor nominated Henry to serve on the three-person Workers Compensation Commission. Turner earned a bachelor's degree in professional accountancy from Mississippi State University. |
| Turner named director of Mississippi Department of Employment Security | |
 | Gov. Phil Bryant has appointed Jacqueline "Jackie" A. Turner as the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES). She will replace Mark Henry, who has accepted an appointment to the Workers' Compensation Commission. Currently, Turner serves as the Deputy Executive Director of MDES. "I am incredibly grateful for the trust Governor Bryant has shown in me with this appointment. To have the opportunity to lead MDES, where I have spent most of my state government career, is an honor and privilege," said Turner. She holds a Bachelor of Professional Accountancy from Mississippi State University. Turner and her husband, Tim, are the parents of three children and live in Sallis. They attend Sallis Baptist Church. Her appointment is contingent upon confirmation by the Mississippi Senate. |
| Legislature has several vacancies, others running for higher office | |
| The 2019 Mississippi Legislature convenes Tuesday with at least three vacancies due to state lawmakers being elected judges in November and another lawmaker will join the Court of Appeals in February. Reps. Adrienne Wooten, D-Jackson; Willie Perkins, D-Greenwood; and Brad Touchstone, R-Hattiesburg, were elected judges and required to give up their legislative seats in the 122-member House. Also, another lawmaker, Rep. Cory Wilson, R-Madison, will leave in February to assume a seat on the Mississippi Court of Appeals. Also, there is still a question whether Rep. David Myers, D-McComb, will be back in the Legislature for the full session. Myers, a member of the U.S. Army Reserves, was deployed in 2017 to a year-long stint in Irag. He has said he would be back for some of the 2019 legislative session, but was unsure if he would be redeployed. |
| New Columbus 2-percent tax has support of local delegation | |
| A pre-filed bill in the Mississippi Legislature to revive the 2-percent restaurant tax in Columbus includes a little something for everybody -- and significantly less funding for one entity, in particular. Still, the plan is headed to this year's legislative session with the apparent full support of the local delegation, a marked change from a dispute between local lawmakers in 2018 that caused the more than 30-year-old county-wide restaurant sales tax to expire in June. Rep. Gary Chism (R-Lowndes County) filed the new bill in December that, if passed, would create a 2-percent sales tax on food and beverages only at businesses within the Columbus city limits whose annual revenue for those items is at least $100,000. |
| Session outlook: House District 58 Rep. Joel Bomgar and House District 73 Rep. Cory Wilson | |
| House District 58 Rep. Joel Bomgar is proud of the work he was able to accomplish this past year and is hoping to carry that momentum into the upcoming year. "This year's regular session was a great success and I will carry that momentum forward into 2019," he said. Last year, his focus was on government transparency, the state's economy, employment and changing recourse for those who have been through the criminal justice system. His goals are similar for the upcoming year. He also hopes to address the opioid crisis. With the 2019 session approaching, House District 73 Rep. Cory Wilson's focus is on education, human trafficking, mental health funding and criminal justice reforms. He considers education a top priority, specifically consideration of a teacher pay raise and reducing burdensome standardized tests. Wilson's other priorities for 2019 include strengthening laws related to human trafficking, targeted funding for mental health, particularly mental health courts and building on criminal justice reforms. |
| Senator Bob Dearing decides not to run for re-election | |
 | After serving 36 years in the Mississippi Legislature, Sen. Bob Dearing said he is ready to retire. Dearing said Thursday that he will not run for re-election this year. "My family is ready for me to come home," Dearing said. First elected to office in 1979, Dearing served in the Mississippi Senate as a Democrat for eight terms until he was defeated in 2011 by Republican Melanie Sojourner. Four years later Dearing defeated Sojourner to recapture the seat he once held. Proud of his accomplishments in the Legislature, Dearing said he has always enjoyed working in the Senate and will miss it when he finishes this year. Despite the current partisan environment, Dearing said he looks forward to his last regular session in the Legislature. Dearing said he plans to also help campaign for his daughter Daye Dearing, who is running for Adams County Circuit Clerk this year. |
| MSTop50 Announces 2019 Hall of Fame Honorees: Phil Bryant and Robert Clark | |
 | MSTop50 has named Governor Phil Bryant and Former Speaker Pro Tempore Robert Clark, Jr., for its Hall of Fame designation for 2019. In its third year, the MSTop50 Award annually recognizes the top 50 most influential Mississippians in the areas of elective/appointed government service; lobbying/government relations; and business, media and culture. The event is sponsored by Entergy Mississippi and Mississippi Farm Bureau. The Hall of Fame designation of the award is sponsored by Capitol Resources & Tower Loan. An event celebrating the 2019 class of honorees will be held at the Old Capitol Inn in Jackson on Monday, February 18, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. Governor Bryant and Speaker Clark will be honored in person at the event and are scheduled to speak. MSTop50 awardees will be announced throughout the month of January online and all will be honored at the event. |
| Survey: No Benefits from Almost Half of Mississippi Businesses | |
| Nearly half of Mississippi businesses provide no incentives to their employees at all, a December survey conducted by the Mississippi Secretary of State's Office revealed. Of the 5,600 businesses surveyed, 45 percent said they offer their employees no incentives to retain them, whether health and retirement benefits, child-care assistance, professional and/or technical development, extended vacation, maternity and paternity leave, wellness opportunities, or gym and parking amenities. The most common benefits offered were health, retirement benefits, and professional and/or technical development, but just 30 percent of businesses surveyed offer them. In a press statement announcing the results of the survey, Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann focused on another set of statistics it revealed: Most Mississippi businesses have not taken advantage of resources aimed at preparing students for jobs upon graduation. |
| New Mississippi state license plate features phrase 'In God We Trust' | |
| The phrase "In God We Trust" will now appear on new license plates in Mississippi. The new standard license plate will also feature the state seal and the phrase "The Great Seal of the State of Mississippi," according to The Associated Press. The news service reported that the new design began being phased in at the start of 2019. It replaced one that featured B.B. King, a legendary blues singer who was born in the state. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) announced in May 2018 that the phrase "In God We Trust" would appear on new state license plates. Fox News noted that several states give residents the opportunity to get specialty license plates including the message, "In God We Trust." |
| Trump administration considers rollback of anti-discrimination rules | |
 | The Trump administration is considering a far-reaching rollback of civil rights law that would dilute federal rules against discrimination in education, housing and other aspects of American life, people familiar with the discussions said. A recent internal Justice Department memo directed senior civil rights officials to examine how decades-old "disparate impact" regulations might be changed or removed in their areas of expertise, and what the impact might be, according to people familiar with the matter. Similar action is being considered at the Education Department and is underway at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Under the concept of disparate impact, actions can amount to discrimination if they have an uneven effect even if that was not the intent, and rolling back this approach has been a longtime goal of conservative legal thinkers. |
| Delayed tax refunds. Missed federal paychecks. The shutdown's pain keeps growing. | |
 | With the partial government shutdown now nearly two weeks old -- and no end in sight -- consumers and federal workers are going to gradually but dramatically feel more financial pain. Furloughed federal workers have now officially gone a full pay period without working, and therefore are unlikely to be paid until at least late January. Federal tax refunds are about to be delayed. Federal courts are running out of money and will find it more difficult to operate after Jan. 11. States, which rely on federal funding for big chunks of their budgets, will feel the sting as money for highways, community programs and other services could be delayed. Programs using emergency funds to keep going can't keep continue to operate normally much longer. That's all in addition to more obvious problems that are exacerbated by long shutdowns, such as trash and waste piling up in national parks. |
| Consequences of the government shutdown strike the private sector | |
| Kelly Dodge has a case of shutdown anxiety. She is a project manager at a Colorado tech firm that produces software for the federal government, and none of her coders are getting paid. She is increasingly worried that they will find jobs that are more stable elsewhere. "It's hard to find people who can do this work," said Dodge, whose team is developing a tool to help private companies comply with the Endangered Species Act. "I have a highly motivated and exceptional team that really cares about working for the government and doing something for natural resources. But they feel disrespected." As the partial government shutdown enters Day 14, its effects are starting to cascade far beyond the hulking agency buildings in Washington. Private companies with federal contracts are coping with chaos, confusion and uncertainty, while businesses large and small that rely on the operations of the vast federal bureaucracy are starting to feel sand in their gears. |
| Memorial Stadium plans on hold for UMMC | |
| At least for the foreseeable future, Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium will be home to the Jackson State University Tigers. Eventually, the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) hopes to take in the historic stadium to the west of its downtown Jackson campus. In 2011, JSU even agreed to turn over the facility to the university hospital once a new stadium was constructed for its campus. However, nearly eight years later, no new stadium for the Tigers is in sight, and UMMC's plans for the near future include renovations and new construction mainly on its main campus. "It's not something that's on our radar," UMMC spokesman Marc Rolph said, referring to any expansion involving the stadium. "It's serving a valuable purpose right now." Meanwhile, plans to build a stadium at JSU appear to have stalled. Officials with JSU couldn't be reached for comment. |
| UMMC School of Dentistry plans third annual Dental Mission Week | |
| For the third year, the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Dentistry is holding its Dental Mission Week. It is scheduled for February 4th through the 8th, but the deadline to apply for services is January 10th. February 4th is set aside for Give Kids A Smile Day. Faculty, students and volunteers provide free dental care to under served adults, children, various shelters and outreach clinics. Veterans who don't qualify for dental treatment at the VA Medical Center can also get help. For more information call 601-984-4200. |
| Southern Miss 2018: From celebrities to fraternity citing, it's been an action-packed year | |
 | The year 2018 was filled with highs and lows for the University of Southern Mississippi. From the ribbon cutting of two new buildings on the Gulf Coast to a celebrity honor to the citation of a fraternity chapter, the university saw an action-packed year. Here is a look at 2018 for Southern Miss. |
| US government shutdown affects science | |
| The partial US government shutdown that took effect at midnight on 21 December 2018 because lawmakers and the White House remain in a standoff over President Trump's demand for $5 billion in funding to build a wall along the southern border with Mexico, is already disrupting the country's scientific community. For example, the American Association for the Advancement of Science is concerned about the research agencies that have been shuttered, like the National Science Foundation (NSF), not begin able to do their work. There is also worry about scientists not being able to access information they need. 'Any shutdown of the federal government can disrupt or delay research projects, lead to uncertainty over new research, and reduce researcher access to agency data and infrastructure,' said the AAAS' CEO Rush Holt, a former congressman and physicist. He urged Congress and Trump to work together to reach an agreement on fiscal year 2019 appropriations that allows continued operation of the currently closed research agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, the US Department of Agriculture and Nasa. |
| China Thwarts U.S. Effort to Promote American Culture on Campuses | |
| The American ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, wanted to make what in most nations would have been a routine trip. One of his favorite schools, Iowa State University, had opened a center to promote American culture in an inland Chinese province, and the laid-back former governor of Iowa was eager to take questions from Chinese students. The center's program, largely financed by the State Department, was deliberately benign so as not to offend Chinese government sensibilities. But Henan Normal University, a campus set on the Yellow River with a prominent statue of Mao Zedong out front, denied Mr. Branstad permission to visit the center this fall -- and offered no explanation. The center that turned down Branstad was one of more than 20 that the State Department opened in the past decade on college campuses across China to promote American culture and counter anti-American propaganda. Today, the American centers have closed after the Chinese authorities denied American officials entry to them and state security agents interrogated an American academic working on a Chinese campus. |
| Literature professors outline strategies for attracting more students | |
 | Some discussions of enrollment trends at the Modern Language Association convention are full of doom and gloom. Students these days want to major in business. Even if they don't, their parents don't want them to be humanities majors. As a result, the number of English majors is falling. Positions are eliminated; departments (especially of some languages) are closed. But what stood out at a session in Chicago Thursday was an emphasis on strategies that are boosting enrollment in some English and foreign language departments. There was (relatively) little bashing of administrators. Instead, speakers talked about how specific changes they could control would result in students signing up for courses. Most of the ideas were well received here, but speakers acknowledged that some of their strategies would not go over well with senior faculty members back home. Of course, as more than one person said, "this is about survival," and some said that, as a result, over time more professors would be willing to consider new approaches. |
| Now Hiring, With Attractive New Perk: Free College Degree | |
 | Some of America's largest companies are proposing that a good job can lead to a free college education, reversing the norm that requires workers to get the degree before launching a career. Walt Disney Co., Discover Financial Services DFS and Yum Brands Inc.'s Taco Bell are among the high-profile employers sending front-line workers back to school, often paying the cost of tuition, fees, books and other expenses upfront and in full. The companies say the benefits of a content and potentially better-trained staff outweigh the costs. Working adults are going back to class for programs ranging from two-year associates to masters of business administration degrees. Their ranks range from line cooks and theme-park workers to midcareer managers, for whom the price tag put the degree out of reach, companies and university officials said. In the tightest labor market in decades, Disney, Discover and other companies say covering the full cost of college can help them hold on to valuable talent that has become more expensive to attract. |
| Scientists Have 'Hacked Photosynthesis' In Search Of More Productive Crops | |
 | There's a big molecule, a protein, inside the leaves of most plants. It's called Rubisco, which is short for an actual chemical name that's very long and hard to remember. Amanda Cavanagh, a biologist and post-doctoral researcher at the University of Illinois, calls herself a big fan of Rubisco. "It's probably the most abundant protein in the world," she says. It's also super-important. Rubisco has one job. It picks up carbon dioxide from the air, and it uses the carbon to make sugar molecules. It gets the energy to do this from the sun. This is photosynthesis, the process by which plants use sunlight to make food, a foundation of life on Earth. Unfortunately, Rubisco isn't picky enough about what it grabs from the air. It also picks up oxygen. Cavanagh and her colleagues in a research program called Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE), which is based at the University of Illinois, have spent the last five years trying to fix Rubisco's problem. "We're sort of hacking photosynthesis," she says. |
| Public opinion changing the face of incarceration | |
| Mississippi newspaper publisher and columnist Wyatt Emmerich writes: Criminal justice is probably the most fundamental responsibility of government. It's no easy task. There is a trend, both nationwide and statewide, to reduce incarceration levels, which are the highest, by far, in the world. National incarceration rates are about seven times higher than the world average. Mississippi's incarceration rate is about 10 times higher than the world average. It's about the highest in the world. I remember back in the early '90s when the crack epidemic was raging, I was leading the charge on increased incarceration. It seemed to work. Crime came down. But was the cure worse than the disease? |
SPORTS
| No. 7 Mississippi State routs Arkansas in Jordan Danberry's homecoming | |
| Jordan Danberry made little effort to hide the importance of her return to Arkansas and the final game of her career in her home state. The Mississippi State senior did plenty of talking with her game, too, on Thursday night, scoring a career-high 26 points as the No. 7 Bulldogs opened Southeastern Conference play with a 93-69 win over the Razorbacks. Danberry, from Conway, Arkansas, transferred from the Razorbacks to the Bulldogs (13-1, 1-0 SEC) as a sophomore. The 5-foot-8 guard returned to Bud Walton Arena on Thursday in front of a number of friends and family members, and she played like she had a point to prove. "It was really important just to come back my senior year and play here in front of my family," Danberry said. "... This is a real special night to play here again." |
| Bulldogs rout Razorbacks as Mississippi State soars into SEC play | |
| Mississippi State won all 16 of its Southeastern Conference games last season. The No. 7 Bulldogs started their journey of trying to do so again with a 93-69 win over Arkansas on the road. In another return to her home state, senior guard Jordan Danberry had a career night. She scored 26 points and had nine rebounds and four assists against her former team. Danberry played her first two collegiate seasons at Arkansas. She averaged nearly 20 minutes per game as a freshmen but saw her numbers dip a bit at the beginning of her sophomore year. She transferred to Mississippi State after six games and has worked her way into being a key player on this year's team. Easily handling an improved Arkansas (11-4) team was a nice way for head coach Vic Schaefer's team to roar into conference play. He'll need his team to continue playing well against No. 16 Kentucky (14-1) on Sunday at Humphrey Coliseum. Tipoff is at 4 p.m. |
| Jordan Danberry powers 7th-ranked 'Dogs | |
| Jordan Danberry decided to transfer to Mississippi State from Arkansas six games into her sophomore season in 2016. The Conway native scored a career-high 26 points Thursday in her first game back to Walton Arena in the No. 7 Bulldogs' 93-69 victory. "It was different [being in the visitors] locker room," Danberry said. "I felt like I was comfortable here. I've been wearing this jersey for a long time now, so I'm not really feeling anything different just playing out there." While the Razorbacks (11-4, 0-1 SEC) were putting most of their first-half defensive effort into fronting Mississippi State center Teaira McCowan, Danberry took advantage, scoring 14 first-quarter points on 7-for-11 shooting. Arkansas' guards were willing to give up relatively open shots to Mississippi State's backcourt, and the visitors responded by knocking them down with ease. Mississippi State (13-1, 1-0) shot 77 percent from the field in the first quarter and built a 28-17 lead. |
| Mississippi State, Ole Miss fans no longer easy to please | |
| The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Brad Locke writes: We have entered a new era of college football in Mississippi, and this is all the proof we need: Mississippi State fans are collectively disappointed over a season in which the Bulldogs won eight games and reached a New Year's Day bowl. Ole Miss fans aren't real happy, either, after going 5-7 in Matt Luke's second season. The Rebels lost their last five games, including the Egg Bowl against MSU. The Ole Miss angst is a little more understandable, but context is everything. Luke was about the best hire Ole Miss could have expected to make in the wake of the Hugh Freeze/NCAA scandals, and struggles were inevitable. Alas, not all Rebel fans have the patience for the program to get back up off the mat with Matt Luke. Why? Probably for the same reason MSU fans aren't completely sold on first-year head coach Joe Moorhead, who when he was hired was hailed as the best offensive coordinator in the country. Expectations have been raised. |
| Pigs pose potent problems | |
| Populations of wild pigs are on the rise across Mississippi, and an aggressive trapping program appears to be the only recourse. These opportunistic omnivores are hardy, effectively have no predators other than man, reproduce quickly and wreak havoc on any habitat they occupy, and officials with the Mississippi State University Extension Service say a permanent solution that gets rid of wild hogs anywhere once and for all is unlikely ever to be found, which means continuous population control is the way to go. For more information go online to wildpiginfo.msstate.edu. |
| Comeback Dak? How Cowboys QB Dak Prescott explains his late-game magic | |
 | Cole Beasley remembers his first thought on fourth-and-15. "Oh, crap," the Cowboys slot receiver recalled Wednesday to USA TODAY Sports. "Where'd he go?" With 1:19 to play Sunday, Dak Prescott had told Beasley to expect the Giants to blitz. Dallas trailed 35-28 with the ball at New York's 32. Beasley ran the slant-and-go as Prescott had instructed. But looking over his inside shoulder as he began streaking toward the end zone, Beasley couldn't find his quarterback. Then Beasley saw it. Prescott spun out of pass-rusher Olivier Vernon's grasp, sprinted left and heaved a throw 32 yards to the back edge of the end zone. "An absolute dime," Beasley said. Beasley laid out to grab the dart, falling out of bounds just after his knee landed in the end zone. A 2-point conversion later, the Cowboys sealed the 36-35 win. Even though Dallas entered the day locked into the four seed for the playoffs, the score also sealed Prescott's 14th career game-winning drive, the most ever by an NFL quarterback in his first three seasons. He led the NFC East-champion Cowboys on four drives this season to push ahead after either a tie or deficit in the fourth quarter or overtime. |
| Cupcakes consumed, No. 16 Kentucky devours first SEC foe in rout of Vanderbilt | |
 | With the early-season cupcakes all consumed, it's expected Southeastern Conference play will reveal whether No. 16 Kentucky is on a sugar-high or actually has the heavy fuel to make a deep run into the postseason. The Cats (14-1, 1-0 in the SEC) chomped down Vanderbilt in their SEC opener Thursday with a 77-55 win at Memorial Coliseum that saw UK's recipe of relentless defense and steady offense wear down an SEC foe like all their other fodder. "'Forty minutes of dread is back,'" declared Vandy Coach Stephanie White, giving a nod to what was once and is now again UK's defensive mantra. "You can see it on film, and you can prepare for it as best you can, but it's tough to simulate the pressure that they bring." |
| Missouri women open conference play with rout of Ole Miss | |
 | After a humbling 13-point loss to South Dakota on Dec. 15, Lauren Aldridge and the other senior stewards on the Missouri women's basketball team decided it was time to bring out the "dog mentality" in the Tigers' practices. In Missouri's Southeastern Conference opener Thursday night, a 78-55 win over Mississippi, a little bit of the dog started to show again. The Tigers shot 65.9 percent from the field -- which surpassed their previous season best of 51.9 percent against Texas State --- and had 21 assists on their 27 made baskets. "I thought this was one of our better games all year long," coach Robin Pingeton said. ... "Our girls played hard for 40 minutes. Not flawless, but definitely great strides in the right direction." They also played with a familiar physicality that tends to push the envelope with officials. Cunningham set a rock-solid (legal) screen on a handoff in the first quarter that floored a Rebel guard at halfcourt. Both Cunningham and the recently un-retired Cierra Porter had massive blocks under the basket in the first half. |
| Texas A&M women's basketball team drops SEC opener to South Carolina | |
 | The flu and South Carolina's pressure defense were too much for Texas A&M and guard Chennedy Carter to overcome. The 23rd-ranked Gamecocks rallied from a nine-point deficit for a 60-57 victory Thursday night at Reed Arena in a Southeastern Conference women's basketball opener for both teams. The 21st-ranked Aggies (11-3) failed to tie the game twice in the final minute. Carter missed a free throw with 8 seconds that would have tied it at 58, then she missed badly on a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left, capping a horrid night for last season's consensus national freshman of the season. Carter, who missed Saturday's 84-61 victory over Texas-Rio Grande Valley with the flu, hit only 3 of 19 field goals (15.8 percent) in her worst-shooting performance at Reed Arena. "Chennedy just coming back from the flu, you could see what happened," A&M coach Gary Blair said. "She had no gas, coming back from the flu. That's what it will do to you. She had no legs." |
| Lady Bulldogs beat LSU for SEC-opening 'statement' | |
 | In each of Georgia's four losses this season, it held a first-half lead and would allow it to dissipate after the intermission. As the Lady Bulldogs came out of the locker room with a 10-point lead against LSU, it seemed like the trend would continue. Georgia's third quarter wasn't pretty as it had six turnovers in a stretch of 4:47, and the visiting Tigers had cut a deficit to four (the teams combined for 14 in one quarter, so it might've been momentarily painful for the eyes). Georgia never relinquished a lead and topped LSU 63-50 in the team's SEC opener at Stegeman Coliseum. It snapped a streak of losing five consecutive openers for the Lady Bulldogs, and serves as a bounce-back win against LSU after falling 61-50 in Baton Rouge last season. "The SEC is a whole new season," point guard Taja Cole said. "This means something to us and I think this is a statement." |
| Auburn comes up short in upset bid against No. 10 Tennessee | |
 | Tennessee had the answers. When Auburn scored to put the Tigers ahead in the fourth quarter, amid roars in Auburn Arena for the upset-minded home team, No. 10 Tennessee kept its cool and pushed right back -- time and again down the stretch, showing its mettle as a top-flight program in surviving Auburn 78-69 on Thursday night. Auburn's Crystal Primm scored to put the Tigers up 62-61 with just more than five minutes left to play, in a game that could've marked a breakthrough win for Auburn in the teams' SEC openers. Both teams entered as one-loss teams, with Auburn bent on kicking off its league schedule with a top-10 win at home. But on the other end of the floor just as Auburn took that lead in a pivotal moment in the fourth, Tennessee's Rennia Davis cleaned up an offensive rebound and put it back in the basket to put the Lady Vols back ahead 63-62 with 5:17 left. After the teams traded baskets, Davis scored again to extend Tennessee's lead to three points at 67-64 -- and after two straight Lady Vols baskets off Tiger misses, Tennessee had pulled away. |
| Baylor Hands Connecticut First Regular-Season Loss Since 2014 | |
| Kalani Brown had 20 points and 17 rebounds as No. 8 Baylor won over a top-ranked team for the first time, beating Connecticut, 68-57, Thursday night and handing the Huskies their first regular-season loss in more than four years. The Huskies (11-1) had not lost a regular-season game in regulation since a 76-70 home loss to Baylor in a Nos. 1 vs. 2 matchup on Feb. 18, 2013 --- a span of 163 games. UConn's only regular-season loss since then was a 88-86 overtime defeat at Stanford on Nov. 14, 2014. The Huskies had won 126 consecutive regular-season games, 58 of them nonconference matchups. UConn is the only No. 1 team Baylor has ever faced in Coach Kim Mulkey's 19 seasons. Baylor had lost each of the previous three such meetings, including UConn's last visit to Waco nearly five years ago. |
| PETA urges UGA to retire Uga after near miss with Texas longhorn | |
| The animal rights group PETA has called on the universities of Georgia and Texas to retire their animal mascots, Uga the dog and Bevo the steer. This isn't the first time PETA, the acronym for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has called on universities to stop using live animal mascots, but a PETA representative who is a UGA graduate renewed the protest in a letter to UGA President Jere Morehead following a confrontation between Uga, a 50-pound English Bulldog, and Bevo, an actual Longhorn who weighs about 1,600 pounds, with horns that measure nearly 6 feet from tip to tip. UGA did not immediately reply to an email asking if the university had any response to PETA's letter. The University of Georgia is one of nearly 50 U.S. colleges that have the Bulldog as a mascot, and many other live animals are used at other universities, including a real tiger at Louisiana State University, a buffalo at the University of Colorado and a very large pig at the University of Arkansas. |
| Tennessee teases Georgia after Uga run-in with Bevo, the Texas mascot | |
 | Poor Uga. Georgia's live bulldog mascot just can't seem to find some peace and quiet. On Tuesday, UGA had to scramble to avoid a bull charge from Bevo, the Texas mascot, at the Sugar Bowl. Texas won the game 28-21. Tennessee teased Georgia about the episode but promised not to trot out any steers when UT hosts the Bulldogs in a men's basketball game on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network) at Thompson-Boling Arena. "We hate to be the bearer of bad news @ugaalumniassoc, but there's another UT who wears orange waiting for your Bulldogs on Saturday," UT Knoxville Alumni's Twitter account wrote on Wednesday. "We promise not to bring a 1,200 lb steer though." The tweet includes a video of UT's star forward Grant Williams smiling and waving. |
| U. of Texas defends mascot safety measures despite Bevo's lunge | |
| When Bevo XV, a longhorn steer, first took the field in 2016 as the University of Texas football team's mascot, his handlers said the animal was built like a sturdy linebacker but docile enough to withstand shotgun blasts and air horns without even blinking. Bevo showed the linebacker side of his personality during pregame activities at the Sugar Bowl on Tuesday when he lunged through a makeshift corral, clipping two photographers and forcing onlookers to duck, dive or otherwise scramble out of harm's way. Based on videos of the incident, it appears that, but for a few inches, the photographers and another person might have been seriously injured. UT officials, however, gave no indication that they plan to step up safety precautions for a mascot weighing about 1,700 pounds. "All of the established safety measures for Bevo at home and away football games were in place at the Sugar Bowl last night," John Bianco, a spokesman for UT's Athletics Department, said in an emailed statement. "The handlers that are with him at all times are well-educated, trained and did their job." He did not elaborate. It's unclear what spooked Bevo. He broke out of the corral as the University of Georgia's mascot, an English bulldog named Uga, was being walked on a leash in a sort of mascot-meets-mascot photo opp. The two had met a day earlier, apparently without incident. |
| Squirrel oil, raccoon thighs and tobacco spit: Capt. Andrew Luck is back in the NFL playoffs | |
| "I shall not be returning home quite yet," Capt. Andrew Luck noted last weekend, soon after the Indianapolis Colts claimed an unlikely playoff spot with a victory over the Tennessee Titans in the final game of the NFL's regular season. "Our unit was victorious in the hard fought, rain-soaked battle...Jubilation." The tweet was a punctuation mark on a remarkable season for the Colts --- and for Capt. Luck. A dismal 4-12 a year ago, the Colts started 1-5 before a 9-1 finish, dramatically clinching a wild-card berth and setting up a playoff game Saturday against the Houston Texans. Leading the resurgence is (the real) Andrew Luck, the star quarterback who missed last season after surgery to repair a torn labrum. And narrating his odyssey has been a parody Twitter account that comments on real-time events in Luck's voice --- assuming, that is, that Luck were a leader on the front lines of the Civil War, corresponding with his mother. Yes, it's kind of weird. |
| Pac-12 conference mulls taking on private equity investors | |
| In the last year, the Pacific-12 Conference -- one of the country's best-known sports brands, whose members have won more national championships than any other league -- has continued its multiyear decline. Its member universities have had a lackluster showing in the most lucrative college sports, football and men's basketball. And Pac-12 presidents and athletics leaders have complained about not keeping financial pace with the conference's peers like the Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences, which are sharing significantly more revenue with their institutions. That gap has apparently led to an unprecedented proposal: consolidating some of Pac-12's assets and then selling a piece of that new entity to private investors. Industry experts question whether the plan, which was first reported by The Oregonian, could succeed given the complexity in managing both a nonprofit (the conference) and a separate for-profit entity. |
| Long Before Alabama, the South Had Sewanee | |
| Long before Alabama -- and now Clemson -- rose as proud football powers, the 1899 University of the South football team, familiarly known as the Sewanee Tigers, provided a blueprint for Southern college football domination. Alabama and Clemson would surely crush the Tigers, but the copyright for how to dominate an era of college football would probably belong to Sewanee, not Alabama or its opponent in Monday night's national championship game, Clemson. The idealization of the football player in the South? The idea of tying a Southern university's identity to football? They go back at least as far as Sewanee. The pursuit of money to keep a college football program greased for greatness? That is another trademark at least 119 years old. |
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