Tuesday, February 12, 2019   
 
Starkville to expand video surveillance
The city of Starkville will soon begin work on the first phase of an upgrade to a system of cameras throughout town. Aldermen approved the rollout, which will see the city leasing 10 cameras from New Orleans-based Active Solutions, LLC for five years, at Tuesday's board meeting. City Technology Director Joel Clements said the cameras will cost about $1,200 per month. The new cameras are an evolution of Starkville's camera system, which Clements said has been in place for about eight years downtown and in the Cotton District. He said the existing cameras are connected to the city's system using cellular signal, which can experience problems when there's an event that draws lots of people to one area, such as Bulldog Bash. However, Clements said, the city has worked to create hardwired connections in collaboration with MaxxSouth Broadband and can now use cameras that feed footage directly to the city's system.
 
Why tax filings and refunds running slower than usual
Casey Richardson has his W-2 and other paperwork needed to file his taxes, but he hasn't found time to do so. "Well, I guess I'm putting off the inevitable," he said. "I probably won't get much back, or with my luck, I'll have to owe the government." Richardson is among the millions who haven't filed their taxes, and figures from the Internal Revenue Service show filings are running behind compared to this time last year. According to the IRS, tax filings through Feb. 1 totaled just over 16.035 million, down more than 12 percent from the more than 18.3 million filed for the same period in 2018. Republicans passed a $1.5 trillion tax overhaul in the final weeks of 2017 that cut rates for both individuals and corporations, the first major tax overhaul since 1986. But experts have said people could see smaller refunds than expected if they didn't adjust their paycheck withholdings after the changes took effect. Others could see their tax burden increase because the revised code eliminated some popular deductions.
 
PERS to consider rule change over retirees in Legislature
The governing board of the state retirement system will meet Tuesday morning to discuss a rule change that would allow retired state employees to keep pension benefits if elected to the Legislature. In a written opinion released last November, the attorney general's office found that in its interpretation, Mississippi state law allows for beneficiaries of the state Public Employees Retirement System to win legislative office and keep benefit checks. However, the state PERS system has not yet rescinded its rules that cut off benefit checks if retirees enter the state Legislature. Retirees are allowed to hold elected offices in county and municipal government, provided certain conditions are met. The crux of the issue for the attorney general's office is that legislators are potentially only half-time employees, subject to the discretion of the lawmaker.
 
Jim Hood: GOP control hurts 'working people' in Mississippi
Mississippi Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood said Monday that if he's elected governor, he wants the state to expand Medicaid, put more money into early childhood education and reduce taxes on groceries. "The working people have been kicked to the curb. They're not in the back rooms when the deals are made at the Legislature," Hood said Monday at a public affairs forum in Jackson. "The Legislature needs to be opened up. It needs to be more transparent. It needs to be subject to the Open Records Act so the people will know who's lobbying our legislators," Hood said. "Working people just haven't been at the table, and I want to be the governor for the working people." Hood spoke Monday at a forum sponsored by Mississippi State University's Stennis Institute of Government and the Capitol press corps.
 
Jim Hood running for governor for working people, he says
Attorney General Jim Hood kept mentioning two phrases during a speech Monday: "Workin' people swinging hammers" and "large, out-of-state corporations." One was good, according to Hood, and the other was very bad. Hood spoke at the Stennis Capitol Press Forum for about an hour. The presumptive Democratic nominee for governor never mentioned the names of any political opponents. Instead, he cast himself as a fighter for the working woman and man. Hood said the key difference in the 2019 race for governor is "who fights for working people?" "People that work everyday, pay their taxes, follow the rules, go to church --- those people?" Hood asked. "Or do we fight for those large out-of-state corporations who give you huge campaign contributions?" There's little to no transparency in the Legislature, Hood said, and special interests are often behind major legislative decisions.
 
Jim Hood elaborates on racist photos his fraternity published in yearbook
The state's lone statewide Democrat talked more about racist photographs that surfaced last week of his college fraternity when Hood was a member in the early 1980s. In the photo, members of Pi Kappa Alpha are wearing face paint and dressed like indigenous tribesmen. The controversy follows the emergence of similar photos from the fraternity to which Republican Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves belonged at Millsaps and the revelation of Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's medical school yearbook page, which features a man in blackface and another in full Klan regalia. Hood, the Democratic Party's leading candidate for governor in 2019, met with reporters Monday afternoon at the Stennis Press Club luncheon, sponsored by the Mississippi State University Stennis Institute of Government and Capitol Correspondents Association.
 
'Landowners' Tort Reform Bill Would Mean 'Safe Zones' for Crime, Critics Say
Mississippi senators delighted the business community last week when they passed a bill to cut down on lawsuits against property owners, but strong opposition remains among law enforcement, advocates for victims of domestic violence and lawyers. Senate Bill 2901, also known as the Landowners Protection Act, would protect property owners from being sued if a third party causes an injury on their property. Under the bill, a property owner would only be held liable if he or she "actively and affirmatively, with a degree of conscious decision-making, impelled the conduct of said third party." House Bill 337, awaiting a vote in the other legislative chamber, is nearly identical. If either becomes law, opponents say, businesses would no longer be as fearful of lawsuits and would spend less on security measures like surveillance, personnel and lighting. That, they say, would place a heavier burden on law enforcement.
 
Oxford's Geoffrey Yoste to run for MDOT Commissioner
There will be a new commissioner for Mississippi Department of Transportation's northern district this year and it could be someone very familiar with the Oxford community. Last Friday, Geoffrey Yoste drove down to Jackson to officially enter the race for the MDOT position. Mike Tagert, the current commissioner for the district, is not seeking re-election after holding the office since 2011. Yoste, who founded Yoste Strategic Partners, LLC a professional business development consulting practice supporting defense industry clients, will rely on his military experience as good preparation for serving as a MDOT commissioner. Yoste worked on senator Trent Lott's staff and has helped with legislature and economic development projects, which involved several transportation-related projects. Yoste and his family have lived in Lafayette County for the past 18 years -- he has worked with government officials.
 
Lawsuit alleges Mississippi River controls stole 8,000 acres, harming school districts
The State of Mississippi is suing the federal government for $25 million or more, claiming a dam that keeps the Mississippi River from changing course is harming state land including more than 5,500 acres in Adams County. "This is a historic day for our State," Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said. "Today, our State and three public school districts allege the United States has taken property deeded to Mississippi 200 years ago." The suit was filed Monday in the Court of Federal Claims by Mississippi officials on behalf of three southwestern school districts. It claims the Old River Control Structure, which prevents the Mississippi River from shifting its course to the shorter Atchafalaya River, is causing flooding and dumping silt on public land. Without the structure completed in 1964, the Mississippi River could shift course away from Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Mississippi's lawsuit says increasing flooding and siltation is reducing income from public land to the Wilkinson County, Natchez-Adams and Claiborne County school districts.
 
Ex-lawmakers face new scrutiny over lobbying
Lawmakers who head to K Street are facing new scrutiny from critics who say former members are often taking on lobbying work even when they don't officially register to lobby. The issue is getting new attention as 2020 Democrats step up their criticism of the lobbying world and with a number of former lawmakers making headlines. K Street is a traditional landing pad for former lawmakers. Those who spoke to The Hill noted that many former elected officials are registered as lobbyists and respected by their colleagues. "First, there are some former members that are phenomenal advocates and that I would include at the top of this profession. [Ex-Senate Majority Leader] Trent Lott and [former Gov.] Haley Barbour come to mind as two former elected officeholders who absolutely know how to lobby," Alex Vogel, founder of The Vogel Group, told The Hill about the Mississippi Republicans. "And note -- they are both registered."
 
Trump calls to save coal plant supplied by major supporter
President Donald Trump on Monday publicly pushed the Tennessee Valley Authority to save an aging coal plant in Kentucky that buys its fuel from one of the president's top supporters. "Coal is an important part of our electricity generation mix and @TVAnews should give serious consideration to all factors before voting to close viable power plants, like Paradise #3 in Kentucky!" Trump tweeted. His missive came just days before the TVA board is slated to vote on the future of Paradise Unit 3, a 49-year-old coal plant that the federally owned utility has said would be too expensive to keep operating. The 1,150-megawatt plant gets the bulk of its coal from a subsidiary of Murray Energy, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. Robert Murray, the CEO of the mining company, is a major Trump supporter who has personally lobbied the president to take other actions to help the ailing coal industry, particularly in regions where he sells coal.
 
Lawmakers say they have reached an 'agreement in principle' to avoid government shutdown
Key lawmakers announced a tentative deal late Monday that would avert another government shutdown at the end of the week while denying President Trump much of the money he's sought to build new walls along the U.S.-Mexico border. The agreement came together during intense hours of closed-door negotiations at the Capitol, as lawmakers resurrected talks that had fallen apart over the weekend in a dispute over new Democratic demands to limit immigrant detention. Democrats ultimately dropped some of those demands, which had come under fire from Republicans, clearing the way for a deal. Hurdles remained, and Trump's ultimate backing was in doubt after quick opposition emerged from conservatives. But lawmakers on both sides said they were motivated to find agreement by the looming specter of another government shutdown Friday night, three weeks after the last one ended.
 
A hedge fund's 'mercenary' strategy: Buy newspapers, slash jobs, sell the buildings
When the building housing the downtown Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper sold last April, the name of the buyer -- Twenty Lake Holdings LLC -- seemed of little consequence. The paper would be moving from its longtime home amid declining circulation and a shrinking staff under its owner, Gannett. The old newsroom was little more than an afterthought. But Twenty Lake Holdings is not just another commercial real estate investor. It is a subsidiary of Alden Global Capital, the New York City hedge fund that backed the purchase of and dramatic cost-cutting at more than 100 newspapers --- causing more than 1,000 lost jobs. For Alden and its subsidiary, the Gannett empire's newspapers are clearly an attractive feature. But by purchasing the Memphis building and others like it, Alden has already begun coming for what it may consider a bigger prize: Gannett's real estate.
 
'This is why people are leaving the state': How state aid rules hinder college access for working-class families
Because of the laws that bind how state-funded student financial aid can allocate money, adult learners, low-income families, the middle class and African-Americans are disproportionately prohibited from receiving assistance. In fact, during 2017 more than half of state aid went to students from financially stable homes who were likely to attend college regardless of whether they qualified for financial aid, a Mississippi Today analysis showed. Largely that's due to many outdated regulations written into state aid laws that create barriers for lower and middle-class Mississippians trying to get a higher education for their kids or themselves. An overall lack of strategy while creating state student financial aid programs, as well as chronic underfunding to these programs, have also contributed to the problem. The State Aid Redesign Study Committee, which is made up of legislators, university and college presidents, and other stakeholders within the higher ed landscape have spent the past year reviewing these issues and weighing possible solutions -- including a complete overhaul of the system, which State Financial Aid director Jennifer Rogers has recommended.
 
MUW honors professor with Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award
It was a celebratory afternoon in Columbus as the Mississippi University for Women honored one of its own. During a luncheon earlier Monday, the university presented Dr. Phillip Stockton the 2019 Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award. Stockton is an assistant professor of music education and the director of choral activities at MUW. Dr. Stockton has worked at the university since 2013 and said it's an honor to receive this award. Dr. Stockton is also MUW's nominee for the IHL Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award.
 
NPHC organizations especially affected by student union construction at UM
Music echoed throughout the University of Mississippi campus every Tuesday and Thursday during the fall of 2016. Synchronized claps, shouts and stomps permeated the damp Mississippi air, from the Paris-Yates Chapel to the Gertrude C. Ford Center. Blurs of vibrant pinks, reds, yellows, greens and blues captivated passersby traveling to and from class. But when students returned from break in the spring of 2017, the campus was silent -- save for the perpetually reverberating hum of construction equipment. Seven out of nine nationally recognized historically black fraternities and sororities are currently represented on campus in UM's National Pan-Hellenic Council community, ... and the Ole Miss Student Union, the hub of student life of campus since its creation, meant so much more to the Divine 9, as they are affectionately dubbed, than just a place to eat between classes. "It was a home, a safe haven," said Tommy Knight, president of the Eta Beta chapter of Phi Beta Sigma. All of that changed when construction closed the student union in December 2016.
 
Unique Delta State University cafeteria gets facelift
Students, teachers and the community turned out Tuesday to celebrate the remodeling of the Young-Mauldin Cafeteria at Delta State University. The renovation was a Mississippi Bureau Buildings Project and was funded for over $9 million by Mississippi State Bonds. The architect firm responsible for the project was Burris/Wagnon in Jackson. "The project started on Sept. 17, 2017, and was completed on Nov. 16, 2018. We used the back of the union as a temporary cafeteria to feed our students during that time. "This facility had not been renovated since 1964 and the project completely reworked the original layout for better and more open functionality," said Jamie Rutledge, vice president for finance and administration at Delta State University. Some of the work was cosmetic, such as new windows and a courtyard area while other parts of the project served to improve functionality. DSU President William LaForge remembered the original construction of the cafeteria from his childhood in Cleveland. "I used to ride my bike around the site watching this spaceship being built," said LaForge with a smile.
 
Spaceship-style university cafeteria reopens after overhaul
Delta State University students are once again eating in their flying saucer. The university has marked the reopening of the Young-Mauldin Cafeteria after a $9.2 million renovation. The 1964 building is a landmark on the Cleveland campus, with its rounded exterior and silver-domed roof. But university officials say it had gotten outdated. The university started a renovation in 2017, with students eating in temporary quarters in a student union ballroom. Delta State President Bill LaForge says the university hopes new eating options will attract students.
 
UGA researchers use machine learning to identify source of Salmonella outbreaks
A team of scientists led by researchers at the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety in Griffin has developed a machine-learning approach that could lead to quicker identification of the animal source of certain Salmonella outbreaks. In the research, published in the January 2019 issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Xiangyu Deng and his colleagues used more than 1,000 genomes to predict the animal sources, especially livestock, of Salmonella Typhimurium. Deng, an assistant professor of food microbiology at the center, and Shaokang Zhang, a postdoctoral associate with the center, led the project, which also included experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Minnesota Department of Health and the Translational Genomics Research Institute. According to the Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System, close to 3,000 outbreaks of foodborne illness were reported in the U.S. from 2009 to 2015. Of those, 900 were caused by different serotypes of Salmonella, including Typhimurium, Deng said.
 
Which plants helped shape Tennessee? Kudzu, cotton and ginseng on the list from UT survey
Kudzu, the invasive Japanese vine spotted across Tennessee, has been named one of the 10 plants that has shaped the state of Tennessee, along with cotton, tobacco and ginseng. The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture has released the 10 plants that shaped Tennessee, based on a survey given to Tennessee residents. The list also includes the American chestnut tree, several varieties of beans, corn, dogwood, prairie and turf grass, and white oak. Natalie Bumgarner, plant sciences professor at UTIA, said people of all ages contributed to the survey, from children in schools to academic professionals. Bumgarner said they received between 600 and 700 entries, and a panel at UTIA collaborated to select the final 10. Bumgarner said at UTIA, "We're plant geeks, in many ways," and they hope to use this list to help people who aren't "plant geeks" see how plants impact Tennessee and the world.
 
New Orleans native Kailyn Rainey will be the 1st Queen Zulu from LSU
Kailyn Rainey made history this month when she was selected as Queen Zulu 2019 by Zulu King-elect George B. Rainey, her grandfather. Kailyn Rainey is the first Louisiana State University student to be selected as Queen Zulu in the century-long history of the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, according to an LSU profile of Rainey released Monday. Per Zulu tradition, Rainey made her official arrival as the queen-select during a celebration on Sunday at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Rainey is a member in LSU's Chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants. She participates in various school supply drives and feeding the homeless events, LSU stated. She plans to obtain a master's degree in business administration and possibly attend law school. Rainey has spent the last three summers working in the chambers of the Honorable Judge Edwin Lombard and Judge Paula Brown in the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, LSU stated. LSU stated its 300-plus member Golden Band from Tigerland will join Kailyn Rainey to march on Mardi Gras day in the Zulu parade.
 
U. of South Carolina's frats and sororities raised over $570K for charity last semester, report says
Fraternities and sororities at the University of South Carolina reported raising $571,572 for charity last semester, a new report shows. USC's 13 sororities, which have nearly twice as many people as the fraternities, did most of the heavy lifting. The sororities raised 79 percent of the money for charity and completed 84 percent of the Greek life community's 51,887 community service hours, according to the report. Fraternities and sororities at USC raised a similar amount of money in the Spring 2018 semester, according to the university's website. In all of 2018, fraternities and sororities raised $1.14 million for charity and completed 107,000 hours of community service. In fall 2017, USC's Greek life organizations raised $340,740 for charity, according to the university's fall 2017 report. "Total money raised (for) philanthropy has gone up over the last few years," said Jarod Holt, USC's director of fraternity and sorority life. "I think this report... encapsulates what our students are doing."
 
Former staff members recall George H.W. Bush's leadership, personal touch and diplomacy
An often-laughing, attentive audience filled the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center auditorium Monday evening to listen to stories of and reflections on the late President George H.W. Bush from two people who worked with him closely. Baseball great Roger Clemens was among the hundreds who listened as Andy Card, Bush's deputy chief of staff from 1989 through 1992, and Jean Becker, Bush's chief of staff once he left office, celebrated the former president's life and example. "All of you here in Texas, all of you in this room, you know that he was a great man," Becker said. "What's nice is that during the week of his funeral, a whole bunch of other people found out. There's a new generation of Americans that were introduced to George Herbert Walker Bush." Andrew Natsios served as the 80-minute event's moderator. Natsios is the director of the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, which hosted the event as part of its Presidents Day observances.
 
How to Get Students to Fill Out the Fafsa? Enlist Instagram Influencers
Instagram influencers, or people who have a bevy of followers and manicured photos on the social-media website, will try to sell you weight-loss tea, prepared-meal kits, or subscription boxes of dog treats. Now, a select few influencers are hawking the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form. Despite the possibility of free money, some prospective and current college students don't fill out the form, known as the Fafsa. The process can be confusing and lengthy. But in a social-media-savvy move, the U.S. Department of Education has teamed up with Instagram influencers and college bloggers to prompt more students to apply, with the hashtag #ButFirstFAFSA. About 1,000 posts carry the hashtag, and are marked with #ad and #sponsored to show that an influencer was paid to publish the content. Most images feature smiling young women -- posing in front of their university, drinking coffee, reading a book.
 
Yearbooks Aren't the Only Place to Find Blackface on Campus
Purdue University. The University of North Dakota. Auburn University. The University of Oregon. Brigham Young University. Xavier University. Oklahoma State University. These are just a handful of the schools in America that have had blackface scandals -- not, as one might presume, in the long-distant past, but in the past two decades. In the days that have followed revelations that Virginia Governor Ralph Northam dressed either in blackface or in a KKK robe -- or neither, but a photo somehow ended up on his medical-school yearbook page -- a national reckoning of sorts has taken place. When blackface or racist incidents keep happening, Walter Kimbrough, the president of Dillard University and an expert on fraternity and sorority life says, "it's a feature, not a defect." Colleges are reflections of the nation; as the nation's problems go, so too do universities. "There are a lot of campuses that need to truly have that conversation to say: 'What's going on?'"


SPORTS
 
Mississippi State men's basketball concludes homestand with Alabama
With the NCAA tournament selection process an inexact science, there are rarely must-win games in early February. However, the Mississippi State basketball team will play a "help the cause game" at 8 tonight when Alabama comes to Humphrey Coliseum. "We just can't fall to 4-7 (in conference play), we really need to be 5-6," MSU head coach Ben Howland said. "That's where we are right now. We really need a win." MSU (16-7, 4-6 Southeastern Conference) has lost the first two games in this three-game homestand. No. 19 LSU recorded a 92-88 overtime win Wednesday night, while No. 5 Kentucky escaped town with a 71-67 victory Saturday. Six of the team's seven losses have been by five points or less, with two of those being in overtime. The Bulldogs are 2-3 in conference games at home. Alabama (15-8, 6-4) has inched their way into a deeper NCAA tournament discussion with those wins last week (89-74 at home over Georgia and 77-67 at Vanderbilt). In the latest NET rankings, MSU is No. 29 and Alabama is No. 43.
 
Bulldogs aim for better start against Alabama
Mississippi State got off to a slow start at Alabama two weeks ago and spent the entire second half clawing its way back. The Bulldogs were behind by a dozen at halftime but scored 50 points in the second half and cut the deficit to three four times in the final minute only to fall short, 83-79. MSU looks to snap a two-game skid and also break even with the visiting Crimson Tide tonight at 8 on the SEC Network. In order to do that, the Bulldogs will have to be better offensively at the beginning of the game. It's also an issue that arose in a 71-67 loss to No. 5 Kentucky on Saturday in which State trailed by 15 at the break. "It starts with our defense," said MSU coach Ben Howland.
 
Mississippi State basketball: Team got better despite losses to LSU, Kentucky
Mississippi State lost back-to-back games on its home floor last week. The Bulldogs have dropped out of both major polls and are back to two games under .500 in SEC play. But is it possible they got a little better in the process? Mississippi State (16-7, 4-6 SEC) is still in the top-30 of the NCAA's NET rankings, which means the Dogs are still in line to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade. That's because those two losses were both good ones, if such a thing as a good loss exists. The first came to LSU, which sits at No. 17 in the NET rankings. The second came to Kentucky, which sits at No. 5. Both defeats came by four points. Head coach Ben Howland laments the loss to the former because the Bulldogs had a lead with less than five minutes left. Still, after blowing that advantage, Mississippi State managed to go to overtime against a team that has still only lost one conference game. Three days later, State took one of the best teams in the country to the wire.
 
Alabama basketball trying for another win over Mississippi State
The Alabama men's basketball team has already defeated Mississippi State once in this Southeastern Conference season, but even UA head coach Avery Johnson concedes that the winning formula from Jan. 19 is unlikely to work again. The Crimson Tide made just one of 15 3-point attempts in that game and held off a furious Mississippi State rally in the second half to win 83-79. "We played well in the first half, but they are a dangerous, dangerous team," Johnson said on Monday. "I don't think anyone could have guarded Lamar Peters down the stretch that night. They have a lot of offensive weapons, and that's why they have been ranked for most of the season." MSU has slipped out of the Top 25 this week after losing the first two games of a three-game homestand that concludes with Alabama visiting Starkville. The Crimson Tide has won two straight SEC games coming into the contest. Johnson said Alabama would rely on "some things that worked" in the first game with MSU but also would make alterations.
 
NCAA Committee tabs Mississippi State as No. 1 seed in first Top 16 ranking
Baylor, Louisville, Oregon and Mississippi State are the No. 1 seeds in the first NCAA Top 16 reveal. The Lady Bears would be the top team in the Greensboro Region, according to the potential seedings revealed Monday night. The Cardinals would be the No. 1 seed in Chicago. Oregon would stay near home as the top team in Portland, and Mississippi State would have to travel to Albany to be the top seed there with a potential matchup against second-seeded UConn in the regional finals. Other No. 2 seeds in the reveal are Notre Dame, Stanford and N.C. State. The NCAA will have one more reveal of the top 16 teams on March 4 before Selection Monday, which is on March 18. The NCAA Tournament begins that Friday.
 
Anriel Howard, Teaira McCowan up for Naismith Trophy
Mark Mississippi State down as one of only five teams nationally with multiple players on the midseason watch list for the Naismith Trophy. Graduate forward Anriel Howard and senior center Teaira McCowan both remain in the running for the Naismith Trophy, which is presented annually to the top basketball player in the country. Howard is averaging 15.5 points and eight rebounds per game this season and has totaled 38 double-doubles over her career. McCowan is putting up 17.2 points and pulling down 13.7 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs in both categories. The midseason watch list consists of 30 players but will be reduced to 10 on March 4 and a winner announced on April 6.
 
Bull's eye grows bigger for No. 5 Mississippi State women's basketball team
Adam Minichino writes for The Dispatch: The bull's eye on the back of the Mississippi State women's basketball team's back doubled Monday night. In addition to earning the fourth No. 1 seed in the first reveal of the top 16 seeds for the NCAA tournament, MSU was assigned to the Albany Regional with -- you guessed it -- Connecticut as the No. 2 seed. The silver lining is the Bulldogs won't have to return to Bridgeport, Connecticut, the site of a 98-38 loss to the Huskies in the Sweet 16 of the 2016 NCAA tournament. MSU getting a No. 1 seed is a just reward for a team that is ranked No. 5 in The Associated Press Top 25 and No. 6 in the NCAA's Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). Throw out Strength of Schedule. That number, which the NCAA tournament selection committee uses to help determine seeding, mattered last for MSU in 2015, when it failed to earn a top 16 seed and was forced to go to Durham, North Carolina, where it lost to Duke in the second round. Since then, MSU has lived at home in the first two rounds. It has capitalized on the raucous atmosphere at Humphrey Coliseum to go 6-0 the last three seasons. In the last two years, those opening-round victories helped catapult the Bulldogs to the national championship game.
 
Southern Miss president issues statement on football coach after Art Briles controversy
Following a tumultuous week for Southern Miss football coach Jay Hopson, USM president Rodney Bennett released a statement on Monday that expressed support for the fourth-year head coach. This comes after Bennett and Hopson appeared to be at odds last week after the president decided to rule against the hiring of Art Briles as the team's offensive coordinator. Briles was fired as head coach at Baylor in 2016 as the result of an investigation into sexual assaults committed by some of his football players. Hopson released a statement Wednesday that said he disagreed with Bennett's decision and described Briles "as a man who does love the Lord and deserves a second chance." Bennett said in his Monday statement that he and Hopson spoke on multiple occasions last week and that the two had a meeting over the weekend to discuss the future of the football program.
 
President Rodney Bennett, coach Jay Hopson focused on future of USM football program
After several conversations, including a "face-to-face" over the weekend, University of Southern Mississippi President Dr. Rodney Bennett and head football coach Jay Hopson apparently see eye-to-eye on the future of the Golden Eagles' program. Last week's interview with former Baylor football coach Art Briles kicked up some dust, with Hopson eyeing him as a potential candidate to fill the program's vacant offensive coordinator slot. Bennett nixed the possibility, a decision that Hopson said he disagreed with. In a statement released Monday morning, Bennett said he and Hopson have spoken "on multiple occasions in recent days ... to chart the most successful path forward for the Southern Miss football program." Bennett's statement said the administration's attention will remain focused on the future. "I consider the matter closed, and I am looking forward to working with Coach Hopson on our mutual priorities and shared goals for the Southern Miss football program and how it contributes to our vision for the University of Southern Mississippi."
 
Man training for Boston Marathon shot with BB gun on Longleaf Trace; 13-year-old arrested
Lamar County Sheriff's deputies arrested a 13-year-old Friday, who is accused of shooting a man on the Longleaf Trace with a BB gun. The boy, who has not been identified because of his age, was charged with simple assault, Sheriff Danny Rigel said Monday. The victim, Grover Brown, a graduate student at the University of Southern Mississippi, said he is glad the suspect was caught, especially after he learned the teen may have been involved in other incidents. He said he appreciates the work the sheriff's department put into finding the suspect. "I hope they are getting him the help that he needs because it sounds like he's going down a path of aggression," he said. Brown, who runs the Trace nearly every day, is in training to run the Boston Marathon. "I was still out there running the next day, in the same section of the Trace," he said. "I didn't let that stop me. But when I found out (the suspect) was caught, it made me feel a lot better."
 
Ole Miss football forced to vacate 33 wins over six seasons after NCAA violations
Ole Miss will vacate 33 football wins over six seasons between 2010 and 2016 for fielding ineligible players, athletic director Ross Bjork said Monday night. "It's the last part of this process," Bjork said at a town hall meeting in Cleveland, Mississippi. "In a way, it's just a piece of paper, because you saw those games." Ole Miss received the sanctions after being accused of 15 Level I violations under coach Hugh Freeze. The NCAA panel on infractions said the school lacked institutional control and fostered "an unconstrained culture of booster involvement in football recruiting." The vacated wins include a 23-17 win over Alabama in 2014, with College GameDay in town, that resulted in students storming the field and goalposts coming down. The goalposts became folk heroes, touring the campus and visiting after parties.
 
2019 SEC Spring Games dates, times, TV info released
The 2019 spring football schedule is set for the SEC. In fact, every game will be shown on television. Who will top the attendance chart? Last year, the SEC held two of top three spots in the nation when it came to attendance. Nebraska was tops in the nation with an announced attendance of 86,818. Georgia (82,184) and Alabama (74,732) rounded out the top three. Check out the dates, times and TV listings for all the SEC spring football games, including Mississippi State. Name: Maroon-White Game. When: Saturday, April 13. Time: 1 p.m. TV: ESPNU.
 
Funeral set for former Vanderbilt athletics director David Williams
The funeral for former Vanderbilt athletics director David Williams will be Friday in Nashville. Services will be open to the public and held at Temple Church, located at 3810 Kings Lane. Visitation is 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by funeral services at 1:15 p.m. Williams, the SEC's first black athletics director, died Friday at age 71 after suffering an aneurysm and collapsing at a local restaurant, according to family friend and author Andrew Maraniss in a tribute he wrote for TheUndefeated.com. Through a statement released by DVL Seigenthaler public relations firm, the family of Williams said, "(We) would like to thank everyone for the words of support and love during this tough time. We are heartbroken by the passing of our beloved husband, father and friend. Yet our hearts have been warmed by the many expressions of love." n lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations be made to the Perry E. Wallace Jr. Basketball Scholarship at Vanderbilt. Williams often said his greatest accomplishment was reuniting Vanderbilt with Wallace, the SEC's first black basketball player, after years of friction.
 
Audit of LSU athletics in fiscal 2018: TAF revenue increases; hurricane increases expenses
A legislative audit of LSU's athletic budget for fiscal 2018 showed Hurricane Harvey increased operating expenses, total revenues increased in the Tiger Athletic Foundation and that head coach Ed Orgeron received a $10,000 relocation incentive payment that was not included in his contract. The report was released Monday morning by state Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera. The document is public under state law. The LSU athletic department spent $137.5 million in fiscal 2018, from July 2017 through June 2018. The expenses were up $5.7 million from 2016-17. The audit report included explanations for expenses that increased more than 10 percent from 2017 to 2018. Hurricane Harvey partly led to LSU spending $2,865,442 more on operating expenses.
 
LSU baseball to sell beer, wine in two new tented areas at Alex Box Stadium
LSU is expanding its beer sales to baseball. The athletic department announced Monday that it will be opening two new tented areas, named "The Yard," inside Alex Box Stadium, where Tiger baseball fans over the age of 21 will be able to purchase beer and wine. The locations will open two hours before first pitch and will sell alcohol until the end of the seventh inning of games, much like how baseball parks in the major leagues sell alcohol until the seventh-inning stretch. The expansion of alcohol sales in college venues has been debated nationally over the past several years, and while the Southeastern Conference remains the only Power 5 league to prohibit the sale of alcohol in general seating areas, LSU has pressed forward through loopholes to give its fans alcoholic beverage options.
 
AD Scott Woodward: Texas A&M to continue to make athletic facility upgrades a top priority
Texas A&M dedicated Davis Diamond, its $28.6-million softball complex, on Saturday, and the Aggie track and field team will have its first home outdoor meet on April 6 with the debut of $39.8-million E.B. Cushing Stadium. A&M made the financial commitment for those facilities so they'd be in the top quartile of the Southeastern Conference, A&M athletic director Scott Woodward. "When we did it, we wanted to do it right, and we wanted to do it in a way that made sense for Texas A&M," Woodward said. A&M has invested heavily in facilities in the last decade, including $485 million to renovate Kyle Field and $24.3 million to redo Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park. And A&M's not finished.
 
Missouri calls for support in fight with NCAA
For the Missouri athletic department, the widespread and severe penalties handed down by the NCAA on Jan. 31 for academic fraud have been a shock. Missouri's public response has made clear the penalties also present a rare opportunity to unite the athletic department's many stakeholders. "In my short time -- and others have told me it may (have) never happened -- where the legislature, the system president, the chancellor, the base of support throughout the state are all together, all in," athletic director Jim Sterk said in a meeting with reporters Monday afternoon. "I think the opportunity we have is to keep that going." Sterk reiterated during the meeting that the NCAA Committee on Infractions abused its discretion in assigning widespread penalties after finding a tutor did academic work for 12 student-athletes between 2015-16. Sterk's stance largely hinges on the NCAA citing Missouri for "exemplary cooperation" during the case and that these penalties go against precedent for similar cases with that level of cooperation. Missouri has hardly been alone in its outrage.
 
Missouri football announces pricing, seating changes
Missouri announced changes Monday to its pricing structure for football season tickets, which it claims will result in 85 percent of its season tickets staying the same or going down in price for 2019. It also set new seating areas for students and visiting fans within Memorial Stadium and changed the stadium's sections from a letter system to an all-number system. In a meeting with reporters Monday afternoon, athletic director Jim Sterk said Missouri made the changes after years of surveys and focus groups with Tiger fans about ways to improve the in-stadium experience. Memorial Stadium has long provided student seating on the east side of Faurot Field from end zone to end zone. That won't be the case this year because of a Southeastern Conference rule that prohibits student sections from being behind the visiting team's sideline between the 30-yard lines. (Missouri switched from the east sideline to the west sideline in 2018 but got a waiver from the SEC that allowed it to keep its seating arrangement for one year while the stadium was under construction.)
 
Florida's renovated Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium makes its debut
When Florida softball defeated Texas A&M last year in the NCAA Softball Super Regional, the Gators were sent packing. Not just for the trip to the 2018 Women's College World Series, but their exit from Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. "We had to move out of all our facilities the night after we won the Super Regional," UF coach Tim Walton said. "We had to have everything stickered, labeled and marked, ready to be moved." Tuesday, Walton and his team return to a refurbished home. The Gators will unveil their $15 million renovation to the softball stadium Tuesday against Japan in an exhibition game. The full-scale renovation features a 360-degree open concourse, increased seating capacity with chair-back seats, shade structures for fans, an elevated press box, on-site office space for coaches, expanded dugouts, a larger lounge and a new locker room. There will be berms in the outfield for general-admission seating.
 
New UF assistant coach David Turner in familiar setting
At Mississippi State, Dan Mullen developed a reputation for being able to do more with less. In other words, he knew how to develop talent, and he knew how to hire coaches who could do the same. That's why his most recent hire at Florida -- defensive line coach David Turner -- makes perfect sense, even though to the outside world Turner might seem like a little bit of unknown. Turner has a track record for developing talent. Mullen knows all about it because he witnessed Turner doing it during the four years he was on Mullen's MSU staff. "I know his ability to go out and recruit top talent. I know his ability to develop that and coach it," Mullen said. "You look at his track record of NFL superstars that maybe weren't the highest recruited guys." Turner, who has 33 years of coaching experience, is now in charge of developing the talent along the Florida defensive line. He replaces Sal Sunseri, who moved on to join Nick Saban's coaching staff at Alabama.
 
Third-quarter funk sinks South Carolina's upset bid of UConn
Dawn Staley insists South Carolina women's basketball is getting closer and closer to finally defeating powerhouse Connecticut. And for a half on Monday, the No. 11 Gamecocks proved her right, matching the No. 4 Huskies shot for shot and even taking an early lead, silencing the home crowd at XL Center. Then UConn asserted itself in a major way. In the end, the result was more of the frustrating same for Gamecock fans -- Connecticut took home the 97-79 win, its eighth in a row over USC (17-6, 9-1 SEC). "I think we're getting better every game that we play," senior Bianca Cuevas-Moore said when asked if Carolina is getting closer to finally knocking off UConn. "It's just the mental lapses that we have."
 
A new frontier in college athletics -- video games
Pacing the stage recently at the National Collegiate Athletic Association's annual convention, President Mark Emmert ended his address to thousands of delegates with a surprising topic du jour: video games. Emmert asked rhetorically -- as many athletics pundits have -- should the NCAA should control collegiate esports? It was apparently a phenomenon dominating conference discussions, as esports have blossomed from brand-new to burgeoning on campuses in fewer than five years, when the first college program was created. Lingering criticism that esports, often viewed as a sedentary activity, can't be regarded as an athletic endeavor hasn't halted its proliferation into athletics departments and student affairs offices in an astonishingly short period. Esports (not just within colleges) are expected to be valued at $1.4 billion by next year. At least two colleges are planning degrees in esports. The National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE), the group that has seemingly emerged as the premiere governing body for "varsity"-level esports, has swelled to 128 members. It began in 2016 with six colleges and universities.



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