Friday, August 9, 2019   
 
Mississippi State, Greystar celebrate opening of College View
Mississippi State University and Greystar Real Estate Partners held a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday to celebrate the opening of the College View student housing development. College View is a residential, apartment-style unit for upperclassmen and has 656 beds. It includes one, two and four bedroom units, as well as recreational activities and an outdoor entertainment zone. The development has 46,000 square feet of retail space and adds 7,000 square feet to the Child Development and Family Studies Center. The development is located on a College View Drive, which is in walking distance to campus, the Cotton District and downtown Starkville. Regina Hyatt, Vice President of Student Affairs for MSU, said this is a $67 million dollar facility that took 18 months to construct.
 
Mississippi State Offers New Student Housing Experience
It was a grand celebration at Mississippi State during a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday afternoon. With a snip of the scissors, the doors to College View at MSU were opened to the public. "This was the ribbon cutting for College View, our new 650 bed residential community for students," said Dr. Regina Hyatt, Vice President of Student Affairs at Mississippi State University. "It also has 50,000 square feet of retail and we also completed a major expansion to our child development center as part of this project." The complex is the first and only one of its kind in the state. The $67 million public-private partnership between MSU and Greystar Real Estate Partners is bringing off-campus style living, with on-campus convenience to MSU's upperclassmen.
 
Mississippi State breaks ground on parking garage
As Mississippi State University continues to grow, the university broke ground on a new parking garage Wednesday morning. The $16 million project will be built next to Howell Hall across from the Humphrey Coliseum, and will add 500 parking spaces to campus. Construction is scheduled to be complete by fall 2020, and is being undertaken by Amason and Associates from Tuscaloosa. The Tupelo-based McCarty Architects designed the structure. MSU Director of Parking and Transit Services Jeremiah Dumas said the garage was part of a larger plan to increase the number of parking spaces on campus. "Back about five years ago, we started a parking demand and capacity study where we, over a period of several weeks, looked at our current parking capacity, and then working with various departments on campus, looked at what we thought that forecasted demand would be over the next four or five years," Dumas said.
 
MSU engineering professors investigating how to increase number of women in STEM
There has been a talent shortage in Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) fields over the past decade and economic projections show an even greater demand for STEM professionals in the near future. Economic forecasts predict that the United States will have a shortfall of about 1 million STEM professionals over the next decade. But in the U.S., women represent only about 15-25 percent of enrollment in some engineering fields. Two prominent women engineers in the state, Mississippi State University (MSU) aerospace engineering professor Rani W. Sullivan and electrical and computer engineering assistant professor M. Jean Mohammadi-Aragh, want to encourage more women to enter science-based computing fields. They have received a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for a project designed to identify new ways to recruit and retain women in engineering based on stories from both international and American students with regards to their career choice.
 
Engineering schools in Mississippi produce graduates vital to state's work force
Mississippi industries have a big demand for workers with engineering degrees, a fact that puts graduates from engineering schools in the state in a good position to land jobs that earn far above the state's average salaries. The largest engineering school is the state is the Bagley College of Engineering at Mississippi State University, which had had 4,715 students in the fall 2018 semester. "Although it is a large college, ranking in the top 50 for undergraduate enrollment as reported by the American Society of Engineering Education, we deliver a student-focused, hands-on curriculum that prepares our students to hit the ground running for successful careers in industry, graduate school, medical school, law school, or veterinary school," said Bagley College of Engineering Dean Dr. Jason Keith. "We have two dozen student competition teams that have won numerous awards, including the EcoCAR mobility challenge, Space Cowboys rocket team, NASA Robotic Mining Team, and the Concrete Canoe."
 
Fresh homemade bread is back on Main Street in downtown Starkville
Starkville's Main Street has a new bakery on the block, offering fresh bagels, baguettes and breads galore. Proof Bakery, 109 West Main St., opened last week at the former Grain Elevator, which was DeRego's Bread before that. The bakery owners, Bonnie and Robbie Coblentz will open Tuesday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Robbie said Proof's baker and manager T.J. Manna has been a valuable asset and her bagels are to die for. "T.J. is an incredible baker," Robbie said. "When we hatched this idea, we reached out to T.J.. She is the cornerstone, from a production standpoint, of this establishment." So far, Robbie said the bakery has steadily run out of bagels with lines of people out the door. "The demand has been stellar," Robbie said. "Everything's great, but T.J.'s croissants have been the best. They're just incredible."
 
Steve Gladney secures third term as Oktibbeha County sheriff
Oktibbeha County Sheriff Steve Gladney will remain in his seat for another term after affidavits ballots were counted Wednesday. Gladney won with 2,720 votes, 50.35 percent of the total, according to a representative with the Oktibbeha County Circuit Clerk's office. Democratic primary challenger John Rice finished with 2,498 votes, or 46.24 percent. Brandon Gann, a third Democrat who ran for the seat, received 184 votes, 3.41 percent of the total. There is no Republican running for sheriff. After learning the news on Wednesday, Gladney said he breathed a sigh of relief. He said he's glad the election is over with, because it's stressful to go through. "I'm grateful to the voters and citizens of Oktibbeha County," Gladney said. "It's a humbling experience to go through this. ... I'm just grateful that they have the confidence in me to re-elect me for the third time." In a written statement, Rice congratulated Gladney and thanked supporters for their "thoughts, prayers, support and encouragement."
 
State revenue reports, yet another month over revenue estimate
Total revenue collections for the month of July FY 2020 and Fiscal YTD 2020 through July are $27,085,255 or 8.88% above the sine die revenue estimate. Fiscal YTD total revenue collections through July 2019 are $16,196,730 or 5.13% above the prior year's collections. As of July 31, 2019, total revenue collections for the Fiscal Year 2019 are $5,967,588,291, $311.5M above the Sine Die Revenue Estimate of $5,656,100,000 and $186.2M above the Revised Revenue Estimate of $5,781,400,000. An additional $609,753 in revenue was collected in July for FY 2019. During the FY 2019 close-out period of July and August 2019, additional revenues may be recorded, and subsequent adjustments could be necessary.
 
Tate Reeves, staring down runoff, ditches early campaign strategy, attacks Bill Waller's policy positions
Sixty-four of Mississippi's most politically connected individuals making up Tate Reeves' finance committee received an email on March 13, two weeks after three Republicans and nine Democrats qualified to run for governor. The fundraising email, sent by Brad Todd, a Washington-based political consultant who has run all five of Reeves' statewide campaigns, sought to energize the top financial supporters by giving them a glimpse of the campaign's 2019 strategy. Todd, in the email titled "The Field Is Set," worked to convince the committee that Democratic front-runner Jim Hood could face a "costly runoff" after a crowded primary and that Reeves had little to worry about in his own primary. But by the night of the Aug. 6 primary, it wasn't Hood, as Todd suggested in March, who faced a runoff -- it was Reeves, Todd's client and heir apparent to the Governor's Mansion.
 
Bill Waller comes calling on North Mississippi after making GOP runoff
It was an appearance scheduled several weeks ago, so the timing could not have been better. Bill Waller Jr. spoke to Monroe County Republicans Thursday evening at a restaurant near Amory just a couple of days after clinching a spot in the party's primary runoff for governor. The former chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court laid out his positions on multiple issues, including raising the gas tax to pay for road and bridge improvements. Prior to his appearance, he indicated an endorsement from state Representative Robert Foster may be forthcoming. That support is critical since Foster's 18 percent of the vote Tuesday put with Waller's 31 percent would help Waller clinch the nomination over Tate Reeves, who finished with 49 percent.
 
Voting official speaks out after 'magical thumb drive' mix-up in Coast Senate race
A "magical thumb drive" with votes that changed the outcome of the District 50 Mississippi Senate race is why Scott DeLano will likely request a recount, the Republican said Thursday. DeLano faced off against Biloxi Councilwoman Dixie Newman, also a Republican, in the 2019 Mississippi primary elections Tuesday night. The winner in the race would take the seat. There was not a Democrat competitor. With 100% of precincts reporting Tuesday night, DeLano was ahead of Newman by 33 votes. The race was not called then because affidavit ballots would need to be counted. DeLano said 22 affidavits were counted Wednesday morning. He garnered 4 more points, putting him ahead by 37. DeLano said it's irregular that a jump drive with votes would be found the day after the election results were recorded with 100% of precincts reporting.
 
Immigration Raids to Have Long-Term Effects on Poultry Towns
Effects of the largest immigration raid in at least a decade are likely to ripple for years through six Mississippi small towns that host poultry plants. A store owner who caters to Latino poultry plant workers fears he will have to close. A school superintendent is trying to rebuild trust with the Spanish-speaking community. And the CEO of a local bank says the effects are likely to touch every business in her town. More than 100 civil rights activists, union organizers and clergy members in Mississippi denounced the raid, but the state's Republican Gov. Phil Bryant commended federal immigration authorities for the arrests. Martha Rogers, the chairman and CEO of the Bank of Morton, also expressed concern for the local economy. Rogers said many Spanish-speaking residents have become customers of the bank. "Every business in town will be affected," said Rogers, whose family has owned a controlling interest in the small bank since the 1950s.
 
Mississippi ICE raid: Company shouldn't have hired workers
One day after the largest federal immigration raid in more than a decade led to the arrest of 680 people, a top official with ICE defended the massive operation, saying the owner of food processing plants in Mississippi should not have hired the employees. "That company hired people that should not -- they should not have hired," Enrique Lucero, assistant field director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Thursday as part of a panel discussion on immigration and border security at the National Conference of State Legislatures' annual conference in Nashville. "They don't have authorization to work in the United States. They don't have authorization to be in the United States." It was not immediately clear which of the five food processing plants raided Wednesday Lucero was referencing. Lucero's comments came after he fielded a question from Mississippi state Rep. Thomas Reynolds, a Democrat, during an at-times fiery discussion at the annual gathering of the group that represents state lawmakers from around the country.
 
UMMC says research into CBD oil for children with seizures showing great promise
Research is being done at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the UM School of Pharmacy on the effect of the cannabis-derived medicine cannabidiol on children with seizures. An initial six-month CBD trial UMMC received a one-year extension in late July. CBD is a non-psychoactive chemical compound derived from cannabis. CBD doesn't impair thinking or cause intoxication like other cannabis chemicals such as tetrahydrocannabinol. CBD is legal at the federal level, and has been growing in popularity for uses such as pain relief. The Hemp Business Journal estimates that there were $500 million in CBD sales in the U.S. in 2018. Dr. Brad Ingram, principal investigator in the trial, a UMMC associate professor of pediatric neurology and director of the UMMC Pediatric Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, described treatment with the drug as "compassionate care for the sickest of the sick." He said they found no significant safety issues during the trial's first six months and results so far have been promising.
 
Seven state community colleges provide two-year engineering degrees
Some of the best paying jobs in Mississippi and elsewhere are in engineering, and many of the state's community and junior colleges provide an affordable path to get a degree that can prepare them to go to work immediately or to complete a bachelor's degree in engineering with a four-year college. The Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College also has a robust engineering program. A spokesperson for MGCCC said in addition to the two-year programs being less than half the cost of a four-year university, students have more opportunity for scholarships, such as transfer scholarships and Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society scholarships, that are often times better than freshman scholarships at the universities. Students can complete a two-year associate of science degree from MGCCC before enrolling in electrical or mechanical engineering classes that will result in bachelor's degrees from Mississippi State University. The classes are all offered on-campus at MGCCC-Jackson County Campus in Gautier. This includes all of the MGCCC classes for the students' first two years. Then, the engineering classes are offered on the MGCCC-Jackson County campus by the MSU Bagley College of Engineering faculty or through synchronous online-delivery from MSU's Starkville campus.
 
U. of Tennessee assistant police chief went to wrong house, pulled gun on new neighbor
Valerie Slowik was in her garage when her new neighbor walked up. But the stranger didn't come with a plate of cookies or a warm introduction -- he came with a gun. "I'm a cop, get out of my house," the man said as he pulled a pistol from his waistband, according to an incident report from the Knox County Sheriff's Office. That man, University of Tennessee Police Department Assistant Chief Keith Lambert, won't face criminal charges after he apparently mistook his neighbor's house for his own on July 24, prosecutors said. But Lambert -- a 32-year veteran of the campus police department who is in charge of all day-to-day operations -- remained on paid administrative leave Thursday pending the outcome of an ongoing internal affairs investigation. Slowik's husband came outside to find Lambert standing there with a gun, then told the man to get off his property. "Oh sorry," Lambert said, according to the report. "I think I have the wrong house." Lambert left the property, and deputies could not find him once they arrived.
 
Texas A&M System regents approve plan for Futures Command complex at RELLIS
The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents unanimously approved a plan Thursday afternoon to construct a $130 million testing hub and combat development complex for the U.S. Army's Futures Command at the RELLIS Campus in Bryan. The multipronged complex will include a $50 million facility equipped with laboratories and accelerator space and offices for the command, which is headquartered in Austin. It will also include an outdoor testing ground as A&M strives to assist the Futures Command in its charge to help the Army modernize through research, weapons and technological innovations and other creative methods. Kathy Banks, Texas A&M's dean of engineering and the vice chancellor of engineering and national laboratories, described the forthcoming complex, which is scheduled to be completed by June 2021, as "a full complement of facilities, equipment and instrumentation unmatched anywhere."
 
Democratic contenders push moderate debt relief plans in response to Warren, Sanders
Campaign proposals for broad loan forgiveness from Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have helped make student debt a top issue in the Democratic presidential primary race. It's also made for as clear a dividing line as any issue between Warren and Sanders and their more moderate rivals for the 2020 nomination. Primary rivals have argued the Warren and Sanders plans are either unrealistic or unfair. Other campaigns, though, have begun to roll out more narrow debt relief plans, including that of South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg, who argued at a Detroit primary debate last week that debt relief should begin with borrowers who attended for-profit colleges "that took advantage of people." California senator Kamala Harris also released her own debt relief proposal last month targeting business owners in disadvantaged communities.
 
Growing Texas Tech's K-12 pipeline
Texas Tech University is in an enviable position -- as college attendance is declining nationally and competition for students is intensifying, enrollment at the university is growing. It hit a record high in the fall of 2018 and is on track to reach 40,000 students by 2020. But the university still needs to find new pools of potential students in order to keep growing. At other institutions, doing this might require expensive marketing campaigns. Not so at Texas Tech. Administrators at the public research university in Lubbock, Tex., won't have to spend a lot of money or look very far. A student pipeline has been hiding in plain sight -- an online K-12 school with thousands of students and founded by the university itself. Though created by Texas Tech, TTU K-12 operated independently from the university for many years, said Kathy Austin, the university's associate vice president for information technology.


SPORTS
 
Mississippi State football: 3 offensive players standing out in training camp
There has been a lot of focus on the Mississippi State quarterbacks during the first week of training camp. Deservedly so. Quarterback competitions are as compelling as it gets when it comes to football in August. Dozens of other players take the field, though, and they need not be forgotten. Here are three offensive players, excluding quarterbacks, who have turned heads and raised eyebrows during the first few preseason practices for Mississippi State.
 
Mississippi State's viral 2020 schedule video takes Twitter by storm
Mississippi State just upped the ante. As college football conferences and programs released their 2020 schedules across the country, the Bulldogs announced their presence with authority in a way that only Bull Durham's Nuke LaLoosh could appreciate. The folks at Hail State Productions dropped a two-minute video in a fun and creative way, which went viral not long after it was pushed out on Twitter. Instead of the graphic or football video set in front of an adrenaline-pumping song, Mississippi State went a different route. Each school on the Bulldogs' 2020 schedule was represented by a video clip that draws snickers and even laughs. "Twitter sometimes gets taken too seriously," Bill Martin, senior associate AD for communications, told AL.com on Wednesday. "These schedule announcements can get kind of boring. Again, it is absolutely no ill-will to any fan base or team. If it makes you laugh, then we accomplished (our goal). It is something unique and different. Sometimes you just have to have fun with things, you know? This is a way to do it."
 
NCAA: No football injury reports this year
Standardized injury reports will not be implemented across college football this season after the NCAA explored the possibility in response to the rise of legalized sports betting. The NCAA's Board of Governors announced Wednesday that it still supports the association's rules prohibiting athletes and school administrators from wagering on sports or providing information to people associated with gambling. But the board concluded an injury or availability report across college football is not viable. An ad hoc committee on sports wagering studied the possibility of teams publicly disclosing whether players would be available for games. "The ad hoc committee gathered thorough feedback from conference commissioners, athletics administrators, athletic trainers and student-athletes across all three divisions about potential player availability reporting," said Ohio State President Michael Drake, who is chairman of the Board of Governors. "The membership has significant concerns about the purpose, parameters, enforcement and effectiveness of a player availability reporting model."
 
Veteran quarterbacks abound in SEC
It is the year of the veteran quarterback in the Southeastern Conference. Tua Tagovailoa and Jake Fromm are the headliners, but the league is loaded with experienced passers with double-digit starts under their belts at their current school or elsewhere. The SEC has eight returning starters at quarterback and could have as many as five graduate transfers leading offenses. The teams are hoping that's a recipe for success in a league that hasn't produced a first-round pick at quarterback since Johnny Manziel in 2014. Even most of the teams with new starters have seasoned vets, though Auburn and Mississippi will be starting freshmen. Mississippi State grad transfer Tommy Stevens spent two seasons under coach Joe Moorhead at Penn State. He's battling Keytaon Thompson for the starting job.
 
It's a world-wide event at Old Waverly, and it's also an amazing celebration of youth
Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland writes: We've experienced a highly anticipated election week here in Mississippi, but, globally, much more attention has been paid to a sporting event taking place at pristine and devilishly hot Old Waverly Golf Club just outside this Clay County town of about 11,000. Here, women, young and old, from 17 countries, five continents and 33 U.S. states have congregated to play for the U.S. Women's Amateur golf championship. The event is being televised around the world by FS1 network with golfing greats Brad Faxon and Juli Inkster, among the network's broadcasters. ... Credit for bringing a national championship event to Mississippi goes to Old Waverly founder George Bryan, just as it did 20 years ago with the U.S. Open and the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship 10 years ago.



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