Thursday, July 18, 2019   
 
Grant Awarded to Mississippi State University and the Southern Rural Development Center to Study Land Loss in the South
Congressman Michael Guest (MS-03) announced Wednesday a $199,992 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded to Mississippi State University and its Southern Rural Development Center. This funding will support the study of land loss in families across Mississippi and the region. The goal of the project, which is entitled "Southern Region Heir's Property Collaborative," is to develop a plan to address land loss in the South. "For those families who rely on the land passed down through generations, the loss of their property can be detrimental. I am pleased that Mississippi State University will be conducting this research to help individuals continue to maintain and care for the land of their parents and grandparents," Guest said.
 
Area teens learn drama, music and more at MSU Summer Scholars camp
Young thespians from Northeast Mississippi have had the opportunity to attend a summer musical theater camp at Mississippi State University. The Summer Scholars Production Camp will culminate this week with the presentation of "The Pitch," an original musical comedy. There will be two productions -- one at 7 p.m. Friday, the other at 1 p.m. Saturday -- in McComas Auditorium on the MSU campus. "The Pitch" will be the 38th annual original musical comedy staged as part of the three-week Summer Scholars program. Production director is Mississippi University for Women instructor T. Kris Lee; writing director, Starkville Area Arts Council director John Bateman; director of the MSU theatre program who taught the class who built the set, Dr. Cody Stockstill; director of the Summer Scholars, Dr. Joe R. Underwood, professor emeritus of Counseling and Educational Psychology at MSU; along with 40 other staffers from Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and Michigan.
 
US Army grant supports development of hydrogen-powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Jacob Leachman, associate professor in Washington State University's School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, has received a $1.8 million grant from the U.S. Army to demonstrate a liquid hydrogen-powered UAV and refueling system. The $7.2 million total grant includes researchers from Mississippi State University, Insitu Inc., and Navmar Applied Sciences Corporation. Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing, will provide their ScanEagle3 UAV, equipped with a fuel cell-powered electric engine. MSU will measure performance characteristics of the drone. UAVs running on liquid hydrogen can fly longer and farther than UAVs running on batteries and require significantly less maintenance than gasoline-powered UAVs. They also produce water vapor as the only emission. Crucially for the Army, they are also quiet.
 
Aldermen OK hiring consultants for Cornerstone Park
Aldermen approved hiring a pair of consultants as the city begins its plans for its new sports complex at Cornerstone Park and improvements at its current parks. The proposal, which passed by a 4-2 vote, came during the city's regular board meeting Tuesday. The city agreed to consulting agreements with David D'Aquilla of DD Consulting LLC of Long Beach, and John McDonald of Prism Sports and Entertainment LLC, based in Fayetteville, North Carolina, to provide consultation on the initial design phase of the project and, perhaps, the subsequent stages of the project through its estimated two-year construction. The agreement includes a cost limit of $10,000 for each consultant, with the option of extending the agreement upon board of aldermen approval. "This is all uncharted for us," Mayor Lynn Spruill said in presenting the proposal to the aldermen. "Hopefully, we can use their expertise to see how we may possible tweak the master plan we currently have. We get only one shot at making this right. We don't want to stumble with mistakes that could have been avoided."
 
Aldermen select Wes Gordon for SOCSD board
Aldermen selected Wesley Gordon Tuesday to fill the unexpired term of Lee Brand on the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District Board of Trustees. Gordon, director of planned giving at the MSU Foundation, was selected over Donna Sims, marketing president at Renasant Bank, and Ryan Walker, an associate professor at Mississippi State's College of Education. Each applicant made a statement and answered questions from the aldermen during the board's regular meeting. Gordon, who has four children in the school system, emphasized his experience working on various boards as a strength. "I believe in the power of public schools and what they can mean for the city," said Gordon, 37, a Columbus native. "I've been part of or around boards my entire professional life. A good functioning board doesn't micromanage. A good board works with district leadership to set policy, manage the budget and is a sounding board for the city and parents."
 
Flooding in Mississippi: 'The only thing that we are looking forward to is just survival'
Billy Whitten sits in the shop of his farm in Valley Park checking his smartphone for updates on the levels of the Mississippi River with a look of concern on his face. His eyes gazed at the screen with his eyebrows raised as he thought about the loss of this year's crops due to the flooding of his 1,440 acres of farm land. "The only thing that we are looking forward to is just survival," Whitten said. Survival is likely the best outcome at this point, with the hope of being able to farm his land in 2020. "This year has been written off as a lost cause." Whitten has lived in Valley Park, located about 30 minutes north of Vicksburg, his entire life. His father started the farm when he moved his family to Valley Park in 1952. Whitten and his brother took over the family farm when their father died in 1978, and he has been farming ever since. After his brother left the business, his son stepped in to help. Today, Whitten's farm is completely bare. About 220,000 acres of farmland have been flooded in the Mississippi Delta, disrupting the lives and livelihoods of many farmers.
 
Effects of algae bloom will be felt on the Coast far past the summer, DMR says
Hurricane Barry did not drive potentially toxic blue-green algae from Mississippi waters as hoped. The freshwater algae is lingering from state line to state line in Mississippi's coastal waters, Joe Spraggins, executive director of the Department of Marine Resources, told the Sun Herald on Tuesday morning. The waters along Coast beaches remain closed to swimming during the height of the tourist season. Waters are testing positive for algae blooms at 21 state Department of Environmental Quality stations along the shoreline from Waveland to east of Pascagoula. Two varieties of freshwater algae are blooming in the Mississippi Sound because of river flooding and the opening for an unprecedented duration of the Bonnet Carre Spillway on Lake Pontchartrain.
 
State set to spend millions fixing Jackson streets
The state of Mississippi is getting ready to spend millions of dollars to start fixing some Jackson streets. The State Capitol Complex Board will meet Thursday to award some design contracts. WAPT News has learned that one of the first repair jobs will take place on Lamar Street. "We say this is not a pothole project. Our intent is to look underneath the roads to see what water, sewer and drainage might need to be addressed," said Laura Jackson, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration. The state already has $3 million set aside to start working on Jackson street repairs and the drainage and sewer lines underneath. It's called the Capitol Complex District, but that district is not just downtown. "It does reach out to some areas that are important to the viability of downtown hospitals -- Baptist and University of Mississippi Medical Center are both in the district."
 
Hosemann, Gunn: 'Racial animus' of Jim Crow no reason to change law designed to thwart African Americans being elected statewide
Attorneys for House Speaker Philip Gunn and Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann are asking a federal judge to leave intact language in the state's 1890s' Constitution that was intended to prevent African Americans from being elected to statewide office. "Even if plaintiffs' allegations that the challenged constitutional provisions were enacted with racial animus are true, those allegations are alone insufficient to establish a justiciable case or controversy to invoke the court's jurisdiction," Jackson attorney Trey Jones wrote on behalf of Hosemann and Gunn. At issue is language from the state Constitution that requires a candidate for statewide office to garner a majority of the popular vote and the most votes in a majority of the state's 122 House districts. If no candidate achieves both of those mandates, the House is supposed to select the winner from the top two vote-getters.
 
Mississippi ACLU asks cities to repeal panhandling penalties
The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi is asking 16 cities in the state to eliminate local laws that penalize panhandling. The organization said in a news release Wednesday that the request is part of a national effort that includes work by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty. A federal appeals court in 2015 ruled that an ordinance in Springfield, Illinois, that penalized people for begging for money in public places is unconstitutional. ACLU of Mississippi says that since last year, four cities in the state have repealed panhandling ordinances -- Ridgeland, Meridian, Starkville and Southaven. It is asking the other cities --- Brandon, Clarksdale, Cleveland, Clinton, Corinth, Greenville, Greenwood, Grenada, Gulfport, Horn Lake, Jackson, Long Beach, Natchez, Olive Branch, Pascagoula and Vicksburg -- to do the same.
 
Utility contracts rise through Hire Mississippi Program
Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley has announced that in the first year of implementation of the PSC's Hire Mississippi Rule, in-state utility construction contract to Mississippi-based companies has risen by 12.6 percent, representing millions spent with Mississippi-based businesses. Construction contracts to Mississippi-based contractors have increased to 42.1 percent in the past year, up from 30 percent when the Public Service Commission measured operations and maintenance spending in 2017. For example, Atmos Energy reported a 95 percent rate of Mississippi projects performed by Mississippi companies, followed by Spire Energy at 50 percent, CenterPoint Energy at 47 percent, Mississippi Power at 36 percent, and Entergy at 25 percent. Additionally, contracts to Mississippi-based businesses from Atmos Energy, CenterPoint Energy, and Entergy totaled more than $79.4 million for the preceding year.
 
Trump's USDA buried sweeping climate change response plan
The Agriculture Department quashed the release of a sweeping plan on how to respond to climate change that was finalized in the early days of the Trump administration, according to a USDA employee with knowledge of the decision. Staff members across several USDA agencies drafted the multiyear plan that outlines how the department should help agriculture understand, adapt to and minimize the effects of climate change. Top officials, however, decided not to release the plan and told staff members to keep it for internal use only, the employee told POLITICO. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution. The goal was to map out "the science that USDA needs to pursue over the next five to eight years for the department to meet the needs of the nation," according to the plan, a copy of which was shared with POLITICO.
 
N.C. crowd chants 'Send her back' as Trump criticizes Omar and House 'squad'
President Donald Trump on Wednesday night criticized the House Democratic women known as "the squad," zeroing in on Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota as his supporters at a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, chanted "Send her back!" He contended that Omar "blamed" the United States for the 9/11 attacks and "smeared" U.S. soldiers involved in the so-called Black Hawk Down incident in Somalia in 1993. "Omar blamed the United States for the crisis in Venezula. ... And she looks down with contempt on the hardworking American," Trump said. He railed against the members of "the squad" -- freshman Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna S. Pressley of Massachusetts, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan -- calling them "left-wing ideologues" and alleging they "want to demolish our Constitution" and erode "the values that built this ... country."
 
Researchers Explore Why Women's Alzheimer's Risk Is Higher Than Men's
Scientists are beginning to understand why Alzheimer's disease affects more women than men and why the disease seems to progress more quickly in women's brains. The explanation appears to involve social, biological and genetic differences, researchers reported Tuesday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Los Angeles. One study looked at sex differences involving a toxic protein called tau, which tends to spread like an infection through the brains of people with Alzheimer's. "We think it goes from neuron to neuron and goes from one part of the brain to the next part," says Sepideh Shokouhi, a research assistant professor of psychiatry at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Another study looked at how work and family experience affected women's risk of memory problems in later life. The study of more than 6,000 women born between 1935 and 1956 found that working outside the home is good for the brain.
 
IHL launches online survey in Ole Miss chancellor search
The IHL Board of Trustees has launched an "online listening session" as they continue to search for Jeffrey Vitter's replacement at Ole Miss. The IHL says that the "online listening session" will allow them to gain input from the Ole Miss community regarding the qualities and qualifications they believe the next Chancellor should possess. The survey, which is available on the IHL's website, asks participants to identify the attributes that make Ole Miss an appealing institution, the challenges it faces and the attributes that a new Chancellor should have. The final portion of the survey allows you to enter questions that you would ask a potential Chancellor candidate and explain why you would ask those questions. An in-person listening session will be held in Oxford on September 5th.
 
East Central Community College plans Neshoba County Fair activities
EC Day at the Neshoba County Fair celebrating East Central Community College in Decatur is scheduled for Monday, July 29, at the Neshoba County Fairgrounds in Philadelphia. Alumni, students and prospective students and their families, and all fair goers are invited to attend. The ECCC Collegians rock-n-roll band, the Warrior cheerleaders and the Centralettes dance line are some of the entertainment scheduled for 1 to 2 p.m. at the Founders Square Pavilion. East Central Community College President Billy Stewart will provide a college update, and representatives from the college's student services, alumni, athletics, and adult education offices will be on hand.
 
EMCC's Communiversity Will Help Students Develop A Trade And Gear Up For Workforce
The next generation of work-force training development is weeks away from its first day. This fall, East Mississippi Community College's Communiversity will welcome its first class. Among the hundreds of students who'll be coming through the doors is Starkville native Marcuevas Guido. "I wasn't going to go to college at first, but I looked into some things that I can take up, like a trade, so I just came and got a skill," said Guido, who recently graduated from Starkville High School. Guido said he knew learning a trade was the first step towards accomplishing his long-term goal. "I came for electrical technology so I can learn how to wire houses," he said. The $42 million facility will house 16 classrooms and 21 high bay learning areas.
 
Matthew Naquin found guilty in hazing death of LSU freshman, pledge Max Gruver
An East Baton Rouge Parish jury has convicted a former LSU student and ex-Phi Delta Theta member of negligent homicide in the 2017 alcohol-related hazing death of 18-year-old fraternity pledge Max Gruver. The six jurors decided the case quickly Wednesday, taking about an hour to convict 21-year-old Matthew Naquin. Sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 16. Naquin faces anywhere from probation to five years in prison. "The goal here is stop hazing of any sort, but definitely to stop hazing that leads to death," East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore said outside the courtroom Wednesday. "We want this to send a message to the country that hazing should not exist," Stephen Gruver, Max's father, said Wednesday. "It's dangerous and we have to all work together to bring an end to hazing." Phi Delta Theta has been banned from the LSU campus until at least 2033.
 
LSU sophomore fatally struck while walking near Tigerland, police say
An LSU sophomore and the former St. Charles Parish student of the year was struck and killed late Tuesday on Nicholson Drive near the Tigerland area just off the LSU campus, authorities said. Sarah James, 19, was hit while crossing the street around 11:40 p.m., Baton Rouge police spokesman Sgt. L'Jean McKneely Jr. said in a news release Wednesday morning. James, a Montz native, was a sophomore at LSU studying biological engineering. The crash occurred in the 4400 block of Nicholson Drive, police said. James was taken to the hospital, where she later died. The LSU Reveille published a story last fall highlighting the dangers of being a pedestrian on campus. Dozens of people are hit each year while walking on campus, according to the report.
 
Raised fees, layoffs at LSU not an option as board deals with budget shortfall
As LSU is putting together its $562 million operating budget for the coming year, administrators have discovered they'll probably come up about 3% short, but the Board of Supervisors wants to try to find the money elsewhere and not raise fees again. "There's not going to be a raise in fees," Supervisor Jay Blossman said Tuesday. Blossman is adamant that this year, LSU won't opt for its go-to practice when the amount of revenues don't match the amount of money needed. "And there is not going to be layoffs," he added, nor will there be a cut in spending on activities or programs for students. The Mandeville lawyer and former banker, who is sending a son to LSU, was named to lead an ad hoc committee of five supervisors to scrutinize LSU finances and find some money. While the amounts received from the state were like last year, Louisiana taxpayers have reduced their appropriation to LSU by roughly half since 2009.
 
U. of South Carolina faculty rally against governor's involvement in presidential search
Teachers at the University of South Carolina held a rally Wednesday against Gov. Henry McMaster's involvement in the school's search for a new president. The main message of the rally, which was attended by a mix of more than 100 faculty, students, alumni and more, was that McMaster should stop pressuring USC's board of trustees to cast a vote on a presidential candidate and that the board should cancel Friday's vote. "Today is the first day of the Gamecocks4Integrity movement," said Bethany Bell, an associate professor in the College of Social Work who helped organize the event at the Russell House on campus. "This is a movement for everyone who is concerned about what is happening on our board of trustees." One of the faculty's chief concerns about McMaster's involvement is the involvement of USC's accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, according to a previous article from The State. The association has sent a letter to the university with questions about potential "undue influence" by McMaster.
 
Animal research records request biggest in U. of Missouri history
The records custodian for the University of Missouri System on Wednesday said the $82,000 cost estimate she provided to the Beagle Freedom Project in response to a Sunshine Law request was by far the largest she had ever issued in the position. Questioned by Circuit Judge Jeff Harris, Paula Barrett said the second-highest cost estimate was between $10,000 and $15,000. Under questioning by a university attorney, she said the Beagle Freedom Project request was the largest request she had received. Barrett was the main witness Wednesday, the second day of the Beagle Freedom Project's Sunshine Law case against the university. The animal rights group, which encourages supporters to "adopt" dogs and cats used in research and obtain the records of their use and care, wants the university to be fined for obstructing its efforts to obtain the records.
 
As Scrutiny Of China Grows, Some U.S. Schools Drop A Language Program
The Defense Department wants more Americans to speak Chinese, and it provides millions of dollars to train students at U.S. universities. China's government, through language centers known as Confucius Institutes, has been doing the same thing, for the same reasons, and at some of the same U.S. universities. But a new law has forced these American universities to choose: They can take money from the Pentagon or from the Confucius Institute -- but not both. American politicians, China analysts and the national security establishment are in broad agreement that China is waging a massive spying campaign against the U.S. The targets include classified government and military secrets, high-tech companies and university research. Amid the growing concerns about Chinese espionage and the theft of research, the FBI and U.S. intelligence agencies are encouraging American universities to develop protocols for monitoring students and academics from China.
 
Student arrested for wearing gorilla mask to Black Lives Matter rally cleared of most charges
A former East Tennessee State University student who police said disrupted an on-campus Black Lives Matter rally while wearing a gorilla mask and dangling bananas on ropes was cleared of most charges Wednesday. A jury found Tristan Rettke guilty of one misdemeanor count of disrupting a meeting, and not guilty of two counts each of civil rights intimidation and disorderly conduct, according to NBC affiliate WCYB. The Washington County Court jury in Jonesborough recommended a $500 fine. Rettke's attorney, Patrick Denton, argued his client was exercising his freedom of speech and did not intimidate anyone. Denton said his client was counter-protesting the Black Lives Matter rally.


SPORTS
 
SEC Media Days: What Joe Moorhead learned in Year 1 as Mississippi State's football coach
There were dozens of fans dressed up in their team's colors. They had helmets, posters, hats and T-shirts ready to be scribbled on with the signature of one man. They waited patiently for him in the lobby at the Wynfrey Hotel on Wednesday afternoon. They had no idea if he was on set with the SEC Network or on radio row with SiriusXM. He could've been doing one of three TV hits with CBS Sports, too. They didn't care where he was. They only cared about when he would glide down the escalator to greet them. He's that important. He's Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban. Well before Saban emerged from the second floor and descended to the first, one of his peers walked into the lobby from the main entrance. Nearly nobody batted an eye. They were too busy jockeying for position to be one of the first to get the six-time national champion's autograph. Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead is the man who entered quietly. There were a handful of Bulldog fans who cared much more about Moorhead than Saban. They shouted "Moor Cowbell" and "Hail State!" and stopped to get his signature and a picture with him.
 
No timetable for Joe Moorhead to name starting QB
Mississippi State was not necessarily in the market for a quarterback this offseason but the Bulldogs did make a run at two of the top graduate transfers at the position. MSU missed out on Clemson's Kelly Bryant, who ultimately transferred to Missouri, but was able to land former Penn State signal caller Tommy Stevens. Stevens was in line to be the Nittany Lions' starting quarterback this fall but abruptly announced his departure from Penn State following spring practices. "It wasn't necessarily that we were looking for a quarterback as much as we were looking for a way to upgrade our talent level and upgrade our roster," said MSU coach Joe Moorhead. "We were involved with (Bryant) prior to Tommy and we ended up not getting him, he went somewhere else. Any position where we think we have a chance to make our team better, we explore those options."
 
MSU Notebook: Bulldogs believe in tight end talent
There were a lot of expectations placed upon Mississippi State's tight ends last year based on Joe Moorhead's track record of featuring the position in the passing game. But Bulldog tight ends only averaged 2.5 catches and 31.2 yards per game in 2018 and accounted for just two touchdowns all year. "It didn't pan out that way but that was our first year in coach Moorhead's offense," said MSU senior tight end Farrod Green. "This year there will be a lot more touches to the tight ends." Although MSU lost its top tight end target in Justin Johnson, who caught 17 passes for 238 yards and a score last season, the Bulldogs believe in the talent they are bringing back. "This is my fifth year at Mississippi State and this is the most all-around talent in the (tight end) room that I've ever been around," Green said. "Everybody in the room could start today. Brad Cumbest, (Geor'quarius) Spivey, Powers Warren and Dontea Jones, all of us bring something different to the table and we're a very loaded group."
 
Arkansas, Mississippi State hope transfers boost QB play
Two Southeastern Conference Western Division programs hope transfer quarterbacks can give them a boost in the standings. Mississippi State brought in Penn State graduate transfer Tommy Stevens to compete for the starting job with Keytaon Thompson. Arkansas added two graduate transfers -- SMU's Ben Hicks and Texas A&M's Nick Starkel -- who will battle to lead the program's offense. Both schools expect the competition to be settled during preseason camp. Mississippi State is looking for a new quarterback after the departure of three-year starter Nick Fitzgerald. Thompson was Fitzgerald's backup last year, throwing for 458 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. The 6-foot-5 Stevens backed up star Trace McSorley at Penn State. Moorhead coached Stevens early in his Penn State career when he was the school's offensive coordinator.
 
How do you build a successful program? Several SEC coaches answer that facing Year 2
Joe Moorhead said he somewhat regrets stepping into his first year at Mississippi State "guns blazing, talking about ring sizes and Heisman Trophies." The strong talk sure sounded good, and the words did align with the high expectations Moorhead had for the Bulldogs. The talent and the structure was there in Starkville, which former coach Dan Mullen had built up in nine seasons before leaving for Florida. And Moorhead was the offensive guru, one of the founders of the run-pass option offense, who helped bring Penn State back to national prominence as the program's offensive coordinator in 2016 and 2017. But his bombastic approach lacked tact and context, Moorhead said. "I think what I may have done is elevated the expectation level to a point where nothing that we did short of a championship was going to make people happy," Moorhead said Wednesday at Southeastern Conference media days. "I wouldn't have changed the goals, but I probably would have kept it a little bit more in house. I think that was on me."
 
Will 'guru' Bob Shoop be the X-factor Mississippi State needs to beat Tennessee?
Erroll Thompson channeled Darrin Kirkland Jr. to describe Mississippi State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop. "Bob Shoop is a guru," Thompson, MSU's junior linebacker, said Wednesday at SEC Media Days. Kirkland, a former Tennessee linebacker, said in 2016 that Shoop had a "beautiful mind." Back then, the Vols were excited to have Shoop in charge of their defense. But Shoop's Tennessee defenses never lived up to the reputation he'd built as a coordinator at Vanderbilt and Penn State. His two-year stint at UT became a hiccup in an otherwise successful career. So, whether Shoop is a guru or a goat depends on who you ask – and when you asked it. That's often the case with coordinators. MSU coach Joe Moorhead wasn't concerned about Shoop's Tennessee years when choosing a defensive coordinator for his inaugural staff. Shoop will return to Neyland Stadium on Oct. 12 when the teams square off for the first time since 2012.
 
Florence grad and Mississippi State LB Erroll Thompson better at catching ball carriers than fish
On the football field, Erroll Thompson is a terror at middle linebacker. Voted as one of two Mississippi State captains for the upcoming season, Thompson heads into his junior season coming off a year in which he was named second team All-SEC after recording 87 tackles and two interceptions. But give the Florence High grad a rod and a reel and he's admittedly lost. "I'm terrible at fishing," he said Wednesday at SEC Football Kickoff Media Days. "I got some work to do. My teammates got me into it. Those guys fish for bass, for anything." Thompson said some of his teammates are really good at catching fish. "Tim Washington is a great fisher," Thompson said. "Osirus Mitchell is coming along; the other day he caught like eight." Thompson? Not so much. "I don't fish for anything. I don't catch anything," he said, laughing. "When I catch something, I definitely am going to cook it because that would be a great accomplishment."
 
SEC Media Days: Five Questions with ... Mississippi State tight end Farrod Green
Fifth-year tight end Farrod Green returns to Starkville for his final campaign, and he's in tow representing the Bulldogs at SEC Media Days. Green discussed coach Joe Moorhead, playing for Dan Mullen and more.
 
NCAA, Jackie Sherrill reach settlement in 15-year long case
Fifteen years after the case first went to trial, the NCAA and former Mississippi State University football coach Jackie Sherrill agreed to a settlement Wednesday afternoon. Lead attorneys for both sides Jim Waide and Cal Mayo made the announcement in Madison County Circuit Court Wednesday afternoon. The terms of the settlement remain confidential. Mayo, the lead attorney for the NCAA, referred questions to the NCAA head office. Sherrill said the conclusion to the case vindicated him. "I'm relieved," Sherrill said after the announcement, "especially after all this time." Sherrill first brought the lawsuit against the NCAA to court in 2004. The settlement came after the testimony of several witnesses appeared to have damaged the defense's case. That included Sherrill's wife, Peggie Sherril, who appeared as a character witness and the testimony of a witness who refuted key claims of the lead NCAA investigator in the case, Rich Johanningmeier
 
Jackie Sherrill trial ends after settlement reached with NCAA
Former Mississippi State University head football coach Jackie Sherrill's lawsuit against the NCAA concluded Wednesday when the two sides reached a confidential settlement. "From our standpoint we are really happy with the outcome," said Rachel Pierce Waide of Tupelo, who along with her husband, Jim, represented Sherrill in the lawsuit that was first filed in 2004. "I think it was a good day for Jackie Sherrill and for college athletics." She said she could not divulge details about the settlement that was reached on the third day of the trial that began July 15 in Madison County Circuit Court. Sherrill, 75, did not ask for a specific monetary amount in the lawsuit, though, in the original filing he was asking for a multimillion-dollar settlement. Sherrill's longtime attorney Wayne Ferrell of Jackson late Wednesday afternoon confirmed that there was a financial settlement. Ferrell said the settlement also clears Sherrill to coach or serve in the administration of any NCAA school.
 
CFP 'in good shape' on preparations for national championship in New Orleans
Conference media days across the country this week have marked the unofficial beginning of college football, but in New Orleans, the College Football Playoff is preparing for the end of the season. In 180 days, the college football national championship game will kickoff inside Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the first championship in New Orleans under the new playoff system and the first college football title game held in the city since 2012. On Wednesday at Southeastern Conference media days, executive director of the College Football Playoff Bill Hancock said arrangements for the event are going "great" as the game creeps closer. "They're on top of everything," Hancock said. "We're right where we need to be in July and August." Security remains a discussion -- "the most important topic we have," Hancock said -- and the CFP is holding meetings with groups from the federal, state and local levels.
 
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey: UGA-Florida in Jacksonville 'something special'
Greg Sankey watched clips this week from some of the most memorable moments in the Georgia-Florida game in Jacksonville as part of a coming series on SEC legends that brought Herschel Walker and Steve Spurrier to town here. "There's a great tradition and a unique tradition that's present there," Sankey said in an interview with the Athens Banner-Herald Wednesday at SEC Media Days. The talk of possibly moving the annual rivalry game to home-and-home hasn't gone unnoticed by the SEC commissioner. The series is under contract in Jacksonville through the 2021 game. Both Georgia coach Kirby Smart and Florida coach Dan Mullen spoke before the game last season about the recruiting benefit of playing on campus. Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity said in late June that negotiations with Jacksonville have to be completed after the 2020 game. Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin signaled that school's thinking earlier this month. "We are always going to keep an open mind, but our hope deep down is that game will remain in Jacksonville," he told Spectrum News 13 in Orlando.



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