Thursday, April 25, 2019   
 
MSU Fish Lab awards first grants for international research
The international Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Fish has made the first round of awards for research, granting $100,000 each to five projects in four countries. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development and led by Mississippi State University, the Fish Innovation Lab supports sustainable and resilient aquaculture and fisheries systems by initiating and supporting research to enhance food safety and nutrition, improve fish production systems, and increase trade and domestic market opportunities to ultimately improve the nutrition and livelihoods of households and small-scale producers in developing countries. The lab will fund approximately $7.5 million in research grants through 2023 to researchers working with small-scale producers in Feed the Future focus countries.
 
Region's jobless rate stays steady at 4.6 percent in March
Northeast Mississippi's average unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in March, unchanged from February's rate, according to the latest statistics from the Mississippi Department of Employment Security. Revised figures from MDES showed February's rate was slightly higher than the preliminary numbers showing the rate at 4.3 percent. Of the 16 counties in the region, four (Alcorn, Benton, Chickasaw and Tishomingo) posted lower jobless rates last month than in February, while three (Calhoun, Marshall and Union) were unchanged. Lafayette County not only had the lowest unemployment rate in the region at 3.7 percent, it tied for second-lowest in the state. Not far behind was Union County (3.8 percent), second-lowest in the region and tied for fourth-lowest statewide. Pontotoc and Lee counties (3.9 percent) were the next lowest in there region, tying for sixth-lowest in the state.
 
Did opening spillway kill dolphins, turtles in Gulf? Mississippi, Louisiana officials disagree
Mississippi authorities are blaming the Bonnet Carre spillway for the dead dolphins and turtles washing up on their shore, though Louisiana officials are contesting those claims, and federal scientists are withholding judgment until they know more. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is increasingly reliant on opening the spillway to divert high water from the Mississippi River toward Lake Pontchartrain to prevent flooding around New Orleans. The Corps has opened the gates in three of the last four years, including a 43-day stint that concluded earlier this month. But allowing so much fresh water to drain into the Mississippi Sound is hurting wildlife, said Moby Solangi, director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, Mississippi. He estimates that so far this month his group has encountered 25 dead Kemp's ridley sea turtles, an endangered species.
 
Hassell Franklin helps Regional Rehabilitation Center raise $200K
With understated grace, Houston furniture maker Hassell Franklin worked his magic Tuesday with money and philanthropy. Honored with the fifth annual Red Rasberry Humanitarian Award, Franklin led the effort that raised a record-breaking $200,000-plus for the Regional Rehabilitation Center. The center provides free physical, occupational and speech therapy, audiology and early intervention services without charge to children and adults around the region. "He makes money from furniture and gives money to the community and nonprofits; he sees both as his job," said Scott Reed, who served as master of ceremonies at the annual Red Rasberry Humanitarian Award Dinner benefitting Regional Rehabilitation Center. "His industry is mankind." The fundraising effort that culminated Tuesday nearly doubles last year's effort, said RRC executive director Robby Parman. Beyond business, Franklin has shared his time, expertise and treasure with community and education efforts, including Mississippi State University, the CREATE Foundation and North Mississippi Health Services.
 
Mississippi teacher raise: Mistake leaves $14 million shortfall
Lawmakers by early 2020 will have to come up with an additional $12 million to $14 million to cover a major mistake in funding this year's teacher pay raise. A legislative leader says all teachers will receive their raises and that school districts should not have to come out-of-pocket to cover the gap, but taxpayers will have to cover the shortfall when the Legislature returns in January 2020 as Gov. Phil Bryant has said he will not call a special session to remedy the issue. In a statement, Bryant said the state's education agency bears responsibility for the error. "The taxpayers of Mississippi should not have to fund a special session because of a mistake made by the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE). MDE should identify any other funds that can be used to pay for the raises not accounted for in the original funding, and the Legislature can refund that source through a deficit appropriation in January," Bryant said in a statement. At issue is a computer coding analysis by education officials.
 
Mississippi employee pay: Some await small raise, others got large ones
The state's 27,000 employees haven't received an across-the-board pay raise in more than a decade. That's about to change: Roughly 80 percent of workers this summer will see a small bump after the Legislature signed off on a salary deal last month. It gives public employees raises up to 3 percent, though many will see less than that, or none, due to the limitations on the increase based on position. Workers are unhappy with the small amount, said Brenda Scott, president of the Mississippi Alliance of State Employees, which represents state workers. Still, not all employees have gone without hefty pay raises in recent years. MDOT engineering department employees got large raises for 2019, for example, bringing some of their salaries into the $100,000 range. A number of other agencies have also requested permission to offer raises on their own, though they have to show they can find money in their existing budgets to pull it off. Central District Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall said the raises were necessary to hold on to its employees, especially engineers.
 
Congressman Michael Guest spends two weeks at home in his district
Freshman Congressman Michael Guest spent the last two weeks back in Mississippi meeting with constituents and sharing his experiences during his first 100 days in Washington. Guest said life at the U.S. Capitol is not as "luxurious" as many might expect. The days are long and the work is hard, he said, but that's what it takes to govern. "Many people think it's a very luxurious type of lifestyles, that you're there meeting with heads of state and all different types of government officials," he said. "It is a very structured type of environment and the days are long." Guest said they begin before 8 a.m. and his office doesn't wrap up until 9 p.m. most days. "The days I do eat lunch I'm running down to the cafeteria to grab a bowl of soup or a sandwich," he laughed. Guest said 65 percent of his time is spent meeting with constituents and staff, with the rest of the time either in committee hearings or on the floor for a vote.
 
Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue trying to help farms get foreign workers in Kushner immigration effort
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is wading into legal immigration efforts led by Jared Kushner by dispatching a former farm lobbyist to work with the agribusiness community on how to meet their need for foreign workers without compromising the ideals of the administration. The plan is raising hopes in agriculture communities where farmers say they have been desperate for workers, while also increasing concern among pro-enforcement immigration groups that have raised questions about whether it is in line with President Donald Trump's "Hire American" policies. "Every time meaningful employment and wage protections for American workers are finally within reach as part of an immigration reform proposal, agriculture lobbyists swoop in to gut the enforcement provisions or demand greater access to cheap foreign labor," RJ Hauman, government relations director at the Federation for American Immigration Reform, told McClatchy. "This has gone on for three decades."
 
Floods Stall Fertilizer Shipments in Latest Blow to U.S. Farmers
Farm supplier CHS Inc has dozens of loaded barges trapped on the flood-swollen Mississippi River near St. Louis -- about 500 miles from the company's two Minnesota distribution hubs. The barges can't move -- or get crucial nutrients to corn farmers for the spring planting season -- because river locks on the main U.S. artery for grain and fertilizer have been shuttered for weeks. High water presents a hazard for boats, barges and lock equipment. Railroads have also been plagued by delays from winter weather and flooding in the western Midwest, further disrupting agricultural supply chains in the nation's bread basket. The transportation woes are the latest headache for a U.S. agricultural sector reeling from years of slumping profits and the U.S.-China trade war, and they threaten to cut the number of acres of corn and wheat that can be planted this year.
 
Trump administration plans to move USDA research divisions despite concerns
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue is moving forward with plans to relocate two influential scientific agencies out of downtown Washington, D.C., a cost-saving initiative that critics fear could provoke mass resignations among employees who perform critical agricultural research and produce statistics that shape farm policy. The plan has sparked an excited competition in the nation's agricultural hubs, with nearly 140 businesses, universities, city developers and local economic councils lobbying to become the agencies' new homes. But it has drawn fierce objections from Democrats in Congress, USDA employees and a bipartisan coalition of former USDA leaders, who fear the move would devastate the two agencies, which are already losing staff in the face of sharp budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration. Past USDA chief scientists expressed "profound concern" in a letter to Congress, co-signed by more than 70 former USDA officials, university deans and agriculture scientists.
 
Joe Biden dives into 2020 race
Joe Biden officially announced his bid for president Thursday, marking the third White House campaign of his lengthy political career but the first in which he enters as a frontrunner. The former vice president and longtime Delaware senator joins a historically diverse field of first-time presidential candidates who reflect the party's yearning for fresh faces and women and candidates of color -- a paradox that the 76-year-old white Washington insider is hoping to reconcile through his association with a Democratic president beloved by the party base: Barack Obama. For months, Biden anguished about whether to mount another White House run. He privately worried about whether his time had passed, whether he could raise the big money for a long campaign, whether the Democratic Party had shifted too far left beyond his brand of center-left politics and even if the party wanted a septuagenarian white male as a nominee.
 
'We're fighting all the subpoenas,' Trump says as war with Dems heats up
House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler's subpoena of former White House counsel Don McGahn is "ridiculous," President Donald Trump said Wednesday as Democrats continue their investigations of his business and political life. The president also made clear that he and his legal team are dug in for what could be a protracted fight with House Democrats over their demands for witnesses to appear before several committees and requests for documents. Legal experts and political analysts already are predicting court battles and stall tactics that could last well into the 2020 election cycle. "I say it's enough. Get back to infrastructure, get back to cutting taxes, get back to lowering drug prices," Trump told reporters, referring to issues both parties have said could be ripe for bipartisan legislation this year. "The subpoena is ridiculous," he said as he departed the White House for a speech on prescription drugs in Atlanta. "We're fighting all the subpoenas."
 
GOP pollster says party should listen to young Republicans on role of government
GOP pollster B.J. Martino said Wednesday that it's important to listen to young Republicans on how big of a role government should play in society. Martino told Hill.TV's Jamal Simmons that young Republicans are "a little bit more likely" than older generations to say that the government "has some sort of role" in addressing societal issues. "We have to begin to become comfortable with, as a party, understanding what is that appropriate role?" Martino said on "What America's Thinking." "[A] traditional no-government role, or making government as small as possible, may not be the answer these young Republicans want to hear, or the way they want to take our party." "They want an efficient government," he continued. "They want an effective government that addresses some of these problems." A Pew Research survey, released in January, found that millennial and Generation Z Republicans were more likely than their older counterparts to say the government should do more to solve problems.
 
CDC Reports Largest U.S. Measles Outbreak Since Year 2000
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report 695 measles cases in 22 states. "This is the greatest number of cases reported in the United States since measles was eliminated from this country in 2000," according to a CDC statement issued late Wednesday. The agency attributed the high number of cases primarily to a few large outbreaks -- one in the state of Washington and two others in New York City and New York state. The New York outbreaks are among the largest and longest lasting since 2000. "The longer these outbreaks continue, the greater the chance measles will again get a sustained foothold in the United States," the CDC said. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said, in a statement, said the rise in measles cases is "avoidable." "Measles is not a harmless childhood illness, but a highly contagious, potentially life-threatening disease," he said. "We have the ability to safely protect our children and our communities. Vaccines are a safe, highly effective public health solution that can prevent this disease."
 
Southern Miss names new police chief: 'Will always put community first'
A Southern Miss alum has become the new chief of police for the University Police Department. Assistant chief Rusty Keyes will assume the chief's position July 1 when current chief Bob Hopkins retires. "Under Chief Hopkins' leadership, the department has grown to be one of the best trained and equipped police agencies in the region," said Dee Dee Anderson, vice president of student affairs at a Wednesday news conference. "We are forever grateful for the work Chief Hopkins has done for this institution. In our search for a new chief of police, we wanted an individual who would carry on the tradition of excellence and pursuit to the top. I'm confident we have found that in Rusty Keyes." Hopkins is retiring to spend more time with family. Keyes said he wants students at Southern Miss to get their education and graduate feeling safe and secure and for faculty and staff also to have a feeling of safety. He plans to achieve that through community policing, he said.
 
Artist Samuel Gore dies; art community, Mississippi College mourns
Internationally renowned artist Samuel M. Gore of Clinton, 91, died Wednesday at a Jackson hospital. Gore began teaching art at Mississippi College in Clinton in 1951 before graduating from MC in 1952. He continued to sculpt until his death. The artist, widely known for his faith-based sculptures, left his mark on countless people in Mississippi and beyond through teaching, mentoring and international travel. His work fills MC's Clinton campus where he spent his life mentoring students, including Mississippi watercolorist Wyatt Waters of Clinton. "He just made a difference in your life," Waters said. "Dr. Gore was the first person who said I could make a living at painting. I can't imagine what my life would have been without him in it." Gore sculptures can be found locally at the State Capitol, the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum, Chapel of the Cross in Madison, Mississippi College School of Law in Jackson, the Clinton Welcome Center, the Woolfolk Building in Jackson, Baptist Medical Center and in private homes.
 
UGA faculty panel, President Morehead at odds on Baldwin
A University of Georgia faculty committee says the UGA administration should apologize for the "public targeting" of a faculty member over her statements about presumed slave burials unearthed and removed in 2015 and 2016 during a construction project at the university's Baldwin Hall. The committee also suggested the university should apologize to presumed descendants of the people in those burials, some of whom expressed outrage that they were shut out of decisions about how those remains should be handled and where they should be reinterred. That's not likely to happen, judging from a letter UGA President Jere Morehead sent to Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Dean Alan Dorsey on Monday, the day before the Franklin College Faculty Senate convened in a special meeting to discuss a strongly critical report of its ad hoc committee on Baldwin Hall. The report, 120 pages with supporting documents, had been posted on the Senate's web page a week earlier so Senate members could study it before Tuesday's meeting. The Faculty Senate, elected by fellow faculty members in UGA's oldest and largest college, voted without dissent to accept the report, the work of a committee of five tenured professors.
 
President Morehead: UGA's lowest-paid to earn more
University of Georgia President Jere Morehead said Wednesday the university intends to raise the beginning pay rate for its lowest-paid employees to $25,175. That's an increase of $675 over the starting rate this year of $24,500, about 2.8 percent. Starting pay for the lowest paid has gone up each of the past eight years, 20 percent overall in that time, he said in a meeting of top UGA administrators. Based on a calculation rate of 50 weeks of 40-hour weeks, that's about $12.60 an hour. That still falls short of what it should be, said Linda Lloyd, executive director of Athens' Economic Justice Coalition. "While we appreciate any increase in pay, that's still not a living wage of $15 an hour," Lloyd said. She also wondered if the pay raise will apply to temporary low-paid employees. "We just want the people to be assured of a living wage," she said. Many other UGA workers will also see a bump up in pay, Morehead said.
 
Students from around world visit Texas A&M for Invent for the Planet competition
Engineering students from Brazil, Wales, Greece, Virginia, Arizona and Texas A&M presented their ideas Wednesday for tackling challenges --- ranging from loneliness and lack of clean water to protecting airplanes and helping the blind and elderly --- facing people around the world. More than 600 students from more than 25 universities worldwide entered the second annual Invent for the Planet competition Feb. 15-17, with seven competing in Wednesday's final presentations in the Zachry Engineering Education Complex. In the end, Team Tupa from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was named the winner of the 2019 competition. "It's incredible. It's really incredible," team member Giovanni Enokibara said. "When we started this project, we couldn't imagine that we could get so far." The team designed a product called EVI -- Echolocation for the Visually Impaired -- to help blind and visually impaired people navigate using technology. The EVI can be used as a wand or as sensors worn on a hat or shirt and vibrates to let the user know an obstacle is in front of or to the side of them and how close the object or person is.
 
New budget model coming for U. of Missouri
A new way of budgeting at the University of Missouri, as yet under wraps, will be revealed later this spring and during the summer, with a plan to implement it for the 2020-21 academic year, MU officials told the faculty Wednesday at the annual spring meeting. Chancellor Alexander Cartwright also addressed mentoring programs for junior faculty and faculty diversity during the wide-ranging albeit sparsely attended meeting in Tate Hall. Faculty Council Chairman Clark Peters, an associate professor of social work, used a different format from past meetings, serving as a moderator and asking Cartwright questions submitted by faculty. There was no discussion about the university's major research center plan, now called the Translational Precision Medicine Complex. Questionable state funding only was addressed related to other issues. "What's up with the budget model? Peters asked Cartwright. A committee, which includes Peters, is working on the new budget model.
 
Senate Democrat adds momentum to push for accountability for all colleges
For-profit colleges have for years been higher education's boogeyman for consumer advocates and many Democrats in Congress. And those lawmakers have repeatedly called for tougher standards in response to the sector's relatively high loan default rates and other poor outcomes. But Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, suggested this month that his party hasn't focused enough on failures happening at all colleges -- including public and nonprofit institutions. And he argued that a reauthorized Higher Education Act should add accountability for all colleges that receive federal aid. Higher education experts have spent years debating the merits and proper design of an accountability system that would encompass the entire higher ed system.
 
Student debt hits hardest at historically black colleges: report
Students attending historically black colleges and universities are leaving with disproportionately high loans compared with their peers at other schools, The Wall Street Journal reports. A Wall Street Journal analysis of federal Education Department data from 2017 found HBCU alumni have a median federal­ debt load of about $29,000 at graduation, and the report stated that's­­ 32% above graduates of other public and nonprofit four­-year schools. Graduates of four­-year for-­profit colleges weren't part of the Journal's comparisons, the report stated. The Journal found the HBCU debt gap has widened partly because tuition increases have outpaced inflation nationwide. Additionally, the report stated parents of black college students have lower incomes than parents from other racial groups.
 
Despite his ouster, Max Nikias is still a force at USC, leaving some worried
He moves through USC without fanfare these days, just another bespectacled academic cutting across the quad by Tommy Trojan. Students flying by on skateboards and bicycles seem to take little notice. C.L. Max Nikias was just a year ago the biggest man on campus, a seemingly indomitable force known nationally for transforming the university. Then, he was pushed out as USC's president -- censured by the faculty council, ridiculed in memes and personally blamed by alumni and students for creating a culture of scandal. Many celebrated his departure as a clean break with a sad and embarrassing period in the university's history. Yet Nikias never left USC and will probably play a significant role in the institution for years to come. He remains a tenured professor, and his exit package negotiated behind closed doors with the legal help of a longtime USC trustee provided him with a permanent, if non-voting, seat on the university's governing board.
 
Two dead after tornado rips through Ruston, Louisiana Tech campus
Two people are dead after a possible tornado tore through Louisiana Tech University campus and the City of Ruston early Thursday morning. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards confirmed the deaths in a tweet from his official account. The possible tornado reportedly touched down near the university's campus around 2 a.m. High winds reportedly blew out several windows on some dorm rooms. University President Les Guice told the Monroe News Star that no students were hurt. Louisiana Tech University has canceled all classes and will be closed Thursday. The storm moved into Mississippi on Thursday morning.
 
Louisiana governor highlights key Mississippi campaign issue
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Caleb Bedillion writes: There's plenty of noise about Medicaid expansion in the Republican gubernatorial primary. But if the long-expected general election pairing of Republican Tate Reeves and Democrat Jim Hood comes to pass, don't expect the subject to go away. A fresh reminder of the possible arguments to come arose from unexpected quarters this week. On Monday, Louisiana's Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, tweeted a link to a news article about rural hospitals in Mississippi at risk of closure. Edwards provided this comment in his tweet: "Unlike other states, LA hasn't seen a single rural hospital closure since we expanded Medicaid for working people. This is providing critical health care services to some of the most rural areas of our state."


SPORTS
 
Mississippi State might see record number of picks
The most Mississippi State players ever selected in the NFL Draft was 11, way back in 1944. The modern-era record for Bulldogs drafted is six, in 1996. The Bulldogs could very well match or surpass those totals this year as the 2019 NFL Draft transpires over the next three days in Nashville. MSU may even establish a first-round record tonight as Montez Sweat, Jeffery Simmons and Johnathan Abram are all expected to come off the board according to various mock drafts. If it does, it would exceed the two first-rounders the Bulldogs had in 1982 and 1996. State has only had 11 first-round draft picks in its history with the last being Fletcher Cox in 2012. Johnie Cooks is the Bulldogs' highest pick at No. 2 overall in 1982. CBS Sports has 11 Mississippi State players ranked among its top 500 prospects for this year's draft. Sweat is the eighth overall prospect and the third-best edge rusher on the list.
 
2019 NFL Draft: Where Mississippi State prospects are expected to land
The lives of multiple Mississippi State Bulldogs will change forever this weekend. More than a handful of former Bulldogs are expected to be selected in the 2019 NFL Draft, which begins live from Nashville at 7 p.m. Thursday. The second and third rounds are Friday night at the same time, and the draft concludes with rounds four through seven starting at 11 a.m. Saturday. Mississippi State could have players pulled off the board on all three days. MSU might have as many as three first-round picks. It would mark the first time since 1996 that two Bulldogs go in Round 1; Walt Harris went 13th overall, and Eric Moulds went 24th.
 
Mississippi State women's golf headed to NCAA Regional tourney
Watching the NCAA women's golf selection show at Buffalo Wild Wings in Starkville, the Mississippi State team murmured, laughed and clapped in the lead up to the bracket reveal. A few players even guffawed when rival Ole Miss was displayed on the screen. Just after 5 p.m., the Bulldogs learned their postseason fate. MSU is headed to the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in Norman, Oklahoma, for the NCAA Tournament as the No. 11 seed. The regional will be played May 6-8. This is MSU's first tournament appearance since 2015. "This is my first regional, and it's super exciting for me to be able to experience this," sophomore Aubree Jones said. "We've put in the work and it's exciting to see it pay off." The Bulldogs enter the contest after finishing seventh in the stroke play portion of last week's Southeastern Conference Championships -- the team's best finish in program history. MSU fell in the quarterfinal round to South Carolina.
 
Mississippi State, Ole Miss earn NCAA bids in women's golf
Mississippi State and Ole Miss both earned bids to participate in the NCAA Women's Golf Championship on Tuesday. The Bulldogs and Rebels will both be play in the Norman Regional at the Jimmy Austin OU Golf Club from May 6-8. MSU was picked as a No. 11 seed while Ole Miss earned the ninth seed after winning its first SEC Championship last week. It was the 11th NCAA selection for Ole Miss and the ninth for State. The Rebels have now made it in back-to-back years while the Bulldogs are making their first postseason appearance since 2015. Fellow SEC opponents Florida and Texas A&M are also part of the field in Oklahoma along with Farleigh Dickinson, Sam Houston State, UNC Wilmington, UTSA, NC State, Virginia Tech, Texas Tech, Purdue, Pepperdine, TCU, Oklahoma, Arizona State, Wake Forest and top-seeded Texas.
 
No talks to expand CFP at spring meetings
There was no talk of expanding the College Football Playoff, and there are no plans to change the protocol for selecting the top four teams in the country, according to multiple Power 5 commissioners who attended Wednesday's annual CFP spring meetings. ACC commissioner John Swofford said there have been discussions over the past several months about the protocol the commissioners designed for the 13 committee members to use, but that the CFP is "in a good place there as well." In January, just hours before the national championship game between Alabama and Clemson, Mississippi State president Mark Keenum, chair of the playoff board of managers, released a statement making it clear that the university presidents were not ready to entertain expanding the playoff field. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said that statement still stands, and that his biggest takeaway from Wednesday's meetings was that "the College Football Playoff works well."
 
Voters delivered funding for USM's coliseum. What's next for the aging arena?
After undergoing few significant upgrades since it first hosted a basketball game in 1965, Reed Green Coliseum will soon receive some funding for renovations. Hattiesburg voters easily approved a tax referendum Tuesday night that will provide approximately $3.6 million -- $1.2 million a year over the next three years -- for USM to invest in improvements for the arena. The 1 percent increase on the restaurant and hotel tax will generate $2.4 million a year over the next three years with half of the money going to Hattiesburg to fund improvements for the city's parks and recreational facilities. With 3,185 voters showing up at the polls on Tuesday, 81 percent of them gave the tax referendum the thumbs up. Only 60 percent approval was needed for the measure to pass. The vote was a turnaround for community support in funding for USM athletic facilities after a $12 million bond issue failed to garner the support of 60 percent of Hattiesburg voters in 2004.
 
LSU AD Scott Woodward signs six-year contract with university
New LSU athletic director Scott Woodward signed a six-year, $7.95 million contract with the university that starts out at $1.1 million per year and increases to $1.5 million during its final year. The contract, which The Advocate received by public record request, includes a liquidated-damages payment to Texas A&M worth $50,000. The contract is effective May 6, 2019, and ends April 30, 2025. "We know the positive impact a leading athletic department can have on the institution as a whole and we are excited about the future with Scott Woodward as our athletic director," Jason Droddy, interim vice president for strategic communications, said in a statement. "His depth of experience, strong LSU ties and record of success are at the highest levels are unparalleled in college athletics. We are excited to have him home."
 
A&M's Jimbo Fisher tells TexAgs.com he's not following Scott Woodward to LSU
The man who helped bring Jimbo Fisher to Texas A&M is leaving, but the Aggie head football coach plans on remaining in Aggieland for a long time. LSU was able to entice A&M athletic director Scott Woodward to return home but Fisher told TexAgs.com on Tuesday that he won't be returning to Baton Rouge, where he once was an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. "In this business, change happens," Fisher told TexAgs.com on Tuesday. Woodward, who hired Fisher and men's basketball coach Buzz Williams, graduated and worked at LSU. Many Aggies were worried that Fisher, who doesn't have a buyout in the 10-year, $75-million contract he signed, would follow Woodward. "Scott was one of the reasons I came out here, as far as the introduction and the comfort level I had with him," Fisher said. "But after being here, this place is phenomenal, and I plan on being here a long time."
 
LSU coach Will Wade gave up bonuses, made contract concessions amid reinstatement
LSU basketball coach Will Wade forfeited performance bonuses for his team's SEC championship season and agreed to contract changes making it easier for LSU to fire him if the NCAA cites him for serious infractions. Wade signed off on the changes on April 14, the same day then-LSU athletic director Joe Alleva announced Wade's return from indefinite suspension. Alleva has since stepped down from that role. The contract modifications were first reported by Sports Illustrated's Ross Dellenger, who obtained the documents through a public records request. As part of the deal, Wade agreed to give up $250,000 in total bonuses his team earned during his suspension for winning the SEC regular-season title and making the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament, the most successful run for an LSU men's basketball team in more than a decade.
 
Mizzou softball coaches make case for third paid full-time assistant
Emily Crane is well known to many who follow the Missouri softball program. Crane wasn't just a member of the 2016 Missouri team, the last team to make the NCAA Super Regional, she put together one of the best seasons in Missouri history. Crane was a first-team All-SEC honoree and a National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American after hitting .404 with 17 home runs, 61 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. You can still find Crane wearing her Missouri gear, but right now it's as a coach. A volunteer coach to be exact. Despite the volunteer tag, Crane can, and does, do just about everything the other coaches do, but there are a few exceptions. Crane is not allowed to go out and recruit and she doesn't get paid, just two restrictions of the "volunteer" tag. It not only restricts what Crane can do, but head coach Larissa Anderson believes it restricts how Anderson can prepare Crane for a full-time position. After the NCAA this past weekend shot down a proposal that would allow baseball and softball coaches the option to pay a third full-time assistant, Anderson might have to wait a little bit longer to do that.
 
Tennessee sports betting: Bill passes House after gambling debate
Legislation to legalize online sports betting in Tennessee passed Wednesday in the House of Representatives, despite a spirited debate from members worried about the effects of gambling addiction. House Bill 1, the first filed this session, would permit online sports gambling in the state, though an amendment to the legislation removed a provision that would allow for betting in brick-and-mortar locations. It was passed on a vote of 58 to 37. "I think the legislature is pouring fuel on the addiction issues in our state," said Rep. Andy Holt, R-Dredsen, who is also a vocal opponent of measures to expand alcohol sales. "I've seen family members who don't have money to feed their kids because they blew it on stuff like this. If we really want to talk about helping kids, this bill won't do it." The bill was also approved in the Senate Finance committee on Wednesday and will head to the Senate floor for a vote. Tax revenue from the sports gambling industry is projected to bring in an estimated $50 million each year, which will be set aside for education, local government and, following a recent amendment to the bill, gambling addiction treatment.
 
Louisiana Tech sports facilities suffer 'severe damage' from storm
A storm that ripped through Louisiana Tech University early Thursday morning caused severe damage to multiple athletic facilities at the school. Tech's softball stadium, soccer stadium and tennis courts suffered the most severe damage, while the baseball stadium and the track and field facilities sustained some damage as well from what Louisiana state officially have ruled as this point a "probably tornado." Tommy McClelland, athletic director at the Louisiana Tech, released an initial statement on his Twitter page Thursday morning, categorizing the damage to the facilities as "severe." Multiple sources told the News-Star that both the softball and soccer stadium were "destroyed" while the baseball stadium was "severing damaged." The Lady Techsters are scheduled to host Western Kentucky this weekend for its final Conference USA home series of the regular season, but officials have told the News-Star that won't happen and they are unsure of what the plan for the three games will be at this stage.



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