| Tuesday, October 1, 2019 |
| Starkville holding daily meetings on proposed short-term rental restrictions | |
 | City officials will hold daily meetings at City Hall this week for anyone with questions about proposed restrictions on Airbnb rentals, after the city received about 30 emails, primarily from Realtors, concerned about them. Community Development Director Sungman Kim said there were misunderstandings he felt needed to be cleared up before Thursday's public input session for the proposed code. The meetings will be held at 2 p.m. through Thursday, he said. Airbnb allows users to rent out their properties -- which can be an entire house, an apartment or even just a private room -- to guests. The service uses an online marketplace where guests can browse available listings and book in advance. Starkville is a popular short-term rental destination thanks to its proximity to Mississippi State University and its athletics programs. Only three people showed up to Monday's meeting: Jerome Nettles, a Realtor with ERA Town and Campus Realty; and Airbnb hosts Jason Camp and Heather Osborne. |
| Early site work under way for Mississippi Children's Museum-Meridian | |
 | The ground pulsed Thursday morning as heavy equipment compacted the dirt that will form the foundation of the Mississippi Children's Museum in Meridian. Executive Director Elizabeth Wilson said crews have been on site for about two weeks, creating the zigzag footprint for the 20,000 square-foot state of the art facility on 22nd Avenue. "Our site manager has moved to town and is on site every day and so we are full-steam ahead with the site prep," Wilson said. A celebration with donors is planned for next month, followed by what Wilson estimated would be an 18-month construction process. There will be a "tinkering lab" and other spaces dedicated to STEM subjects. The museum worked with Mississippi State University on a sleep exhibit focusing on the importance of routines and how much sleep a child should get at each age, according to Wilson. |
| 8th-graders get to Imagine the Possibilities this week | |
 | This week, 7,200 eighth-grade students from around the region will get to test drive careers at the annual Imagine the Possibilities expo. For the fifth year, the Toyota Wellspring Education Fund overseen by the CREATE Foundation has organized the career expo in partnership with local businesses to inspire and motivate the students. "We want these students to find careers that align with their interests and aptitudes," said Albine Bennett, CREATE communications director. "We want to show them that they don't have to move out of state to do what they love." More than 130 organizations and 1,200 volunteers will share their professional experience with the students from 75 schools in 17 counties during the expo. They will bring demonstrations so the students can see examples of what different professions involve across 18 different career pathways. "It's a chance to see career fields in a different way, Bennett said. |
| Oversupply drives down Cal-Maine's prices, shares | |
 | Cal-Maine Foods Inc. reported on Monday a net loss of $45.8 million, or 94 cents per share, for the first fiscal quarter ending Aug. 31, compared with net sales of $241.2 million, a 29.2 percent decrease from $340.6 million a year earlier. An oversupply of eggs, which began to affect the market in early 2018 has continued. The most recent USDA report showed 331.4 million laying hens in the U.S. market as of Sept. 1, which was approximately 800,000 more hens than a year ago, according to the Jackson-based firm, the largest producer of shell eggs in the country. Specialty eggs comprised 22.2 percent of the eggs produced by Cal-Maine in the quarter, but 44.9 percent of total revenue. "As a result of California Proposition 12 and other industry changes, we are preparing for the expected higher demand for cage-free eggs. Throughout the first quarter, we have made considerable progress with our expansion plans designed to increase our cage-free capacity." |
| Democratic AG candidate claims Jim Hood isn't supporting her campaign | |
| Jennifer Riley Collins, the former executive director of the Mississippi ACLU, is running for attorney general as a Democrat. If elected, she would continue the long line of Democrats who have been elected to the office, but she believes the current Democratic attorney general could be supporting her opponent -- Republican nominee Lynn Fitch. "Given my credentials and experience, I wonder why the Democratic nominee for Governor and current Attorney General appears to be working to get my Republican opponent elected?" Riley Collins tweeted on Sept. 19. Current Attorney General Jim Hood is running as Democratic nominee for governor, and has held the office of attorney general for the past 15 years. "My statement didn't ask for Gen. Hood's endorsement," Riley Collins, a native of Meridian, later told the Daily Journal. "The Mississippi Democratic party ruled that nominees are supposed to be supportive of other nominees on our ticket in the same election. I am a Democratic nominee. I support the Democratic nominee for governor." The Hood campaign denies the allegation that they are working to get Fitch elected over Riley Collins. |
| Poll: 68% of Mississippians want owners of ICE raided chicken plants prosecuted | |
 | Results of a new survey say two-thirds of Mississippians think the owners of chicken plants raided by federal immigration officers should face prosecution. Agents descended on seven plants in central Mississippi the morning of Aug. 7, rounding up 680 people suspected of being in the country illegally. Of those arrested, 300 were released within 27 hours. More since have been let out on bond, some equipped with ankle monitors. Though no longer behind bars, they face immigration court hearings. Some have been accused of federal felonies, mostly related to the use of fraudulent Social Security cards. The federal government filed court documents alleging the companies were aware they employed undocumented immigrants. A survey conducted by Millsaps College and Chism Strategies shows a wide swath of Mississippians -- particularly Republicans -- favor prosecuting the chicken plant owners. |
| Mississippi voters identify with Republicans over Democrats 48/32 for upcoming election in new Millsaps poll | |
 | According to the most recent Millsaps College/Chism Strategies State of the State Survey, nine in ten Mississippi voters are united in their support for background checks for all firearm purchases in the state. Huge majorities also agree that the opioid addiction crisis is a serious national problem. Overall, 90% of Mississippi voters told the survey that they support required background checks, while 92% think that opioid addiction is a serious problem in the nation; 86% believe it is a serious problem that needs to be addressed in the state itself. "Mississippi voters are split on the question of the state's direction just a few weeks before the elections that will determine who holds all of the statewide offices and every single seat in the legislature," said Dr. Nathan R. Shrader, chair of the Department of Government and Politics and director of American Studies at Millsaps College. |
| Mississippi ranks No. 2 in jailing people, report finds | |
 | Mississippi has the second highest rate of jail admissions per capita in the country, according a report released last month by the Prison Policy Initiative. Analysis conducted by the national criminal-justice focused think tank found an estimated 84,000 unique jail admissions annually in the state. At 2,814 unique jail admissions per 100,000 residents, Mississippi ranks behind South Dakota and ahead of the state of Oklahoma. "That should be alarming," said Prison Policy Initiative spokesperson Wandra Bertram. "Especially looking at the rate of imprisonment among the U.S. and other countries, it should be shocking to anyone to see that the U.S. rate of imprisonment is even lower than some state rates of jail admissions. We're jailing in many states upwards of 2,000 people per 100,000 state residents. That is wildly high." |
| 5th Circuit: New chief judge for US appeals court in New Orleans | |
 | The federal appeals court that covers Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas will have a new chief judge. In a news release Monday the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that Judge Priscilla Richman Owen will assume the chief judge position on Tuesday. Owen takes over from Carl E. Stewart. Owen graduated from Baylor University School of Law in 1977 and joined the firm of Andrews & Kurth in Houston. In 1994 she was elected to the Supreme Court of Texas. She was appointed by President George W. Bush to the 5th circuit and took the oath of office in 2005. |
| Ignoring federal protection, President Trump says hunt is on for whistleblower | |
 | Despite legal protections guaranteed to whistleblowers, the search is on inside the White House for the intelligence community official who raised concerns about Donald Trump's conversation with Ukraine's leader, the U.S. president said Monday. "We're trying to find out" the individual's identity, the president said. Even though he acknowledged again Monday he does not know who the person is, he has accused the person of having a political "bias" and being part of a "political hack job." The whistleblower's attorney says Trump is putting his safety at risk. The president made that remark when he took a single question in the Oval Office after Vice President Mike Pence swore in new Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia. |
| Homeland Security Dept. Affirms Threat of White Supremacy After Years of Prodding | |
 | The Department of Homeland Security is beginning to address white supremacist terrorism as a primary security threat, breaking with a decade of flagging attention after bigoted mass shooters from New Zealand to Texas took the lives of nearly 100 people in the last six months. In a little-noticed strategy document published last month to guide law enforcement on emerging threats and in recent public appearances by Kevin K. McAleenan, the acting secretary of homeland security, the department is trying to project a new vigilance about violent white nationalism, beating back criticism that the agency has spent a decade playing down the issue. It remains unclear how the Department of Homeland Security will translate its recognition of the threat into action to combat it. Law enforcement officials said the Homeland Security Department now needs to give police departments more latitude with grants often seen as restricted to combating foreign-born terrorism. |
| How White Liberals Became 'Woke,' Changing Their Outlook On Race | |
 | Undoubtedly, race and racism have become more salient political issues because of how the president talks about immigrants and minorities. But the shift in how white liberals think about race actually predates both the president's victory and the response from 2020 Democratic candidates. Beginning around 2012, polls show an increasing number of white liberals began adopting more progressive positions on a range of cultural issues. These days, white Democrats (and, in particular, white liberals) are more likely than in decades past to support more liberal immigration policies, embrace racial diversity, and uphold affirmative action. Researchers say this shift among white liberals indicates a seismic transformation in the last five to seven years, not just a blip on one or two survey questions. |
| Ole Miss Chancellor Candidate Series: Michael Benson | |
| EDITOR'S NOTE: Following a Sept. 19 board meeting of the Institutions of Higher Learning, the pool for the next University of Mississippi Chancellor has been narrowed down to eight candidates. Over the next eight days, the EAGLE will publish biographies of each of the eight candidates, going in alphabetical order. The first candidate featured will be Michael Benson. Benson has served as the president of Eastern Kentucky University since 2013. Prior to his tenure at EKU, Benson also served as president over Snow College (2001-06) and Southern Utah University (2006-13). Benson is a Utah native who spent his youth in Texas and graduated cum laude from Brigham Young University in 1990 with a major in political science and double minor in English and history. Benson is a grandson of former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and LDS Church President Ezra Taft Benson, and his older brother Steve is the Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist with the Arizona Republic. |
| Brandon Theesfeld pleads not guilty in the murder of Ally Kostial | |
| Last month, Brandon Theesfeld was indicted with a charge of capital murder in the death of Ole Miss student Ally Kostial. On Monday, with members of Kostial's family and friends in attendance, Theesfeld pled not guilty during his arraignment at the Lafayette County Courthouse. Theesfeld is charged in the death of Kostial, whose body was found by Lafayette County Sheriff's deputies on the morning of July 20. The deputies were on a routine patrol in the Buford Ridge area of Harmontown, near Sardis Lake, when they found Kostial's body. During what was supposed to be a bond hearing, attorney Steve Farese requested a psychiatric evaluation for his client. Farese also withdrew the request for a bond hearing. Following Monday's proceedings, Farese left the courthouse without speaking or providing any update on the status of Theesfeld's psych evaluation. |
| Hugh Culverhouse donates $1.1 million to Florida's law school | |
 | The University of Alabama may not want Hugh Culverhouse's money, but the Palmer Ranch developer still has a good relationship with the University of Florida and recently announced a $1.1 million donation to UF's Levin College of Law. "Alabama and I had a difference of opinion, but Gainesville and I have the same opinion," Culverhouse said. Culverhouse called for a boycott of the University of Alabama earlier this year until the state repeals a controversial new law that bans virtually all abortions. Around the same time, the University of Alabama System decided to return $21.5 million Culverhouse -- a Sarasota resident and prominent political donor -- had given to the institution in recent years. University officials said returning the money was not related to Culverhouse's abortion stance and alleged, instead, that he was trying to "dictate university administration." But Culverhouse believes that university leaders wanted to distance themselves from him because of his abortion comments. University of Florida officials don't appear to have any concerns about taking Culverhouse's money, though. |
| UGA awarded grant to research new flu vaccine | |
 | The University of Georgia recently signed a contract with the National Institutes of Health to receive an initial $8 million award to develop a new, more advanced influenza vaccine. Researchers plan to design a vaccine capable of protecting patients against multiple strains of influenza virus in a single dose. The total funding could be up to $130 million over seven years if all contract options are exercised. UGA faculty will lead one of NIH's new prestigious Collaborative Influenza Vaccine Innovation Centers and collaborate with teams from 14 other universities and research institutes to create and test new vaccines that may one day replace seasonal vaccines administered every year during flu season. The university expects that over the seven-year contract span, the project will be the largest award ever received by UGA. The project, led by Ted M. Ross, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar of Infectious Diseases in UGA's College of Veterinary Medicine and director of UGA's Center for Vaccines and Immunology, will include specific attention to vaccine research for high-risk populations. |
| U. of South Carolina President Bob Caslen has a plan to keep tuition down | |
 | The University of South Carolina has raised tuition every year for the last two decades, but new president Bob Caslen thinks he can change that. "Increased tuition is not going to be a source of revenue, so there is going to be other sources of revenue that are out there," Caslen told reporters last week after a speech to the Columbia Rotary Club. Rather than raise tuition and bolster enrollment -- such was the zeitgeist in higher education for years -- Caslen wants to address next year's expected rising costs by tapping new sources of money such as research funding, donations, contracts and grants, he said. "Someone has to convince me otherwise that we need to increase it. Right now, I have no intention whatsoever of increasing tuition," Caslen said. Caslen's plan to prevent another tuition increase next year is a bold departure from his predecessor, Harris Pastides and colleges from throughout the Palmetto State. However, experts question whether it would be practical, despite USC's ability to win grants and raise money, to use new revenue sources to keep tuition down. |
| Family gets new home with help from Aggie Habitat for Humanity | |
 | Erika Vazquez's life changed the day she walked into her home from Aggie Habitat for Humanity. "I was really happy; I cried," Vazquez said through a translator. Before she and her husband moved in with their three children 21 months ago, they lived in a small mobile home that didn't meet the family's needs. Today, she lives with her two sons since her husband is in Mexico and her daughter has her own apartment. The blue one-story house on the corner of a neighborhood in Bryan was just what Vazquez hoped for when she took a co-worker's recommendation to apply for the program. Aggie Habitat for Humanity is the Texas A&M Chapter of Habitat for Humanity International. The group of approximately 60 Aggies make up the largest and most productive college chapter in the state, said Charles Coats, Bryan/College Station Habitat for Humanity director of homebuyer services. While the students work closely with Bryan/College Station Habitat, they are in charge of their own fundraising efforts. Every year, they raise about $60,000 to fund a home build. |
| Mizzou Alternative Breaks celebrates milestone, scholarship | |
 | Mizzou Alternative Breaks, a student-led organization that conducts service trips, on Monday celebrated visiting all 114 Missouri counties and St. Louis a year ahead of deadline in an event in Memorial Union. The goal of conducting a service trip in every county and St. Louis by 2020 was established in 2014 and reached in March. It may be easier for future students to participate, with University of Missouri Extension committing $10,350 to Mizzou Alternative breaks to allow 90 students with financial need to participate in statewide service trips. The organization's new goal is to involve 2,500 students in service trips by 2030. To date, more than 1,700 students have participated in 27,300 hours of service on 191 service trips. MU Extension also will sponsor Thanksgiving Mizzou Alternative Breaks in St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield for students from those cities when they return home for Thanksgiving break. |
| Three percent of NIH grants involved a direct financial conflict of interest, watchdog report finds | |
| Financial conflicts of interest that could bias researchers funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health are rare, a report released last week found: About 3% of the 55,600 grants the agency awarded in 2018 involved at least one researcher reporting such a conflict. But some experts question whether the data are capturing all relevant conflicts. The 25 September report by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, NIH's parent agency, follows a 2008 OIG analysis that found NIH was not collecting adequate data on financial conflicts, such as payments from drug companies for consulting or royalties from patents. The report helped prompt HHS to tighten its reporting rules, which now require investigators to tell their institution about all conflicts related to their institutional duties. The institutions then tell NIH about those that could bias an NIH-funded research project and explain how the conflict will be managed. |
| Four ways scientists band together outside the lab | |
| For scientists, collaborating on research projects is nothing new. But even beyond the lab bench, there are plenty of ways to pull together and have a direct and positive impact on research itself. Here, Nature speaks to researchers who have found innovative ways to network, connect across disciplines, mentor and support one another and share knowledge and resources. |
| For second time this year, judge says U. of Iowa violated Christian group's rights | |
 | In January, a federal judge ruled that the University of Iowa violated the First Amendment rights of a group called Business Leaders in Christ by de-recognizing it because its "statement of faith" bans those in LGBTQ relationships from leadership roles. On Friday, the same federal judge in Iowa issued a very similar ruling involving a similarly situated Christian student group at the university. But this decision goes further: it finds that Iowa administrators could be held personally liable for damages because they should have known better than to treat the second group that way after the ruling in the earlier case. A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Daniel Blomberg of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said in a news release that it was "too bad it took twice for the university to learn its lesson. There was no excuse the first time for squashing students' First Amendment rights. University officials nationwide should now take note that religious discrimination will hit them in the pocketbook." |
| East Carolina U.'s Interim Chancellor Is Placed on Leave After Drinking at Student Hangout | |
 | East Carolina University's interim chancellor has been placed on administrative leave after photographs and videos showed him drinking, dancing, and socializing at a bar in Greenville, N.C., known to be frequented by students. On Sunday the city's NBC affiliate, WITN, reported that Dan Gerlach had been seen dancing and getting close to bar patrons in a series of Instagram and Snapchat posts that drew thousands of views. In multiple photos obtained by WITN, Gerlach has his arm around women at the bar. But in a written statement to WITN, Gerlach said he was just trying to be "approachable." The UNC Board of Governors' chairman, Harry L. Smith Jr., told WITN he had received "multiple parent, faculty, and staff phone calls" with complaints about Gerlach's conduct. |
| New U. of Akron president officially takes over Tuesday | |
| As Gary Miller begins his tenure as University of Akron president this week, much of his time will be in meetings with his cabinet members, department heads and faculty. But students also will have face-time with Miller on his first official day on campus Tuesday. Miller previously toured campus following the announcement and Board of Trustees vote on his appointment in August. Much hope has been placed on Miller's shoulders following several years of inconsistent leadership at the university. He faces challenges in increasing enrollment, which dropped below 20,000 students this fall, and the financial problems low enrollment creates. A departmental reorganization process is also on hold until he is settled into the job. And he takes over at a time when faculty have expressed discontent with the direction of the university. He earned a doctorate in biological sciences from Mississippi State University and co-authored the textbook "Ecology" while serving as a professor and chair of the biology department at the University of Mississippi. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State-Tennessee set for early kickoff on Rocky Top | |
| Mississippi State will get this weekend off and returns to action on Oct. 12 at Tennessee at 11 a.m. CT on SEC Network. It marks the fifth day game for the Bulldogs this season and third time they've kicked off at 11 a.m. Tennessee leads the all-time series 28-16-1 overall and are 13-7 in Knoxville. The Volunteers have won six of the last seven meetings in the series although MSU claimed a 41-31 victory the last time they played in Starkville in 2012. The Bulldogs' last trip to Neyland Stadium came in Sylvester Croom's final season in 2008 and resulted in a 34-3 loss. |
| Mississippi State's C.J. Morgan proud of his perseverance | |
| C.J. Morgan vividly remembers looking down at his cleats and then up at the throngs of fans filling Alabama's Bryant Denny Stadium when the Mississippi State safety made his first career start last season. Morgan wanted to make sure he took it all in. "I'd dreamed of that moment for my entire life and then bam! I finally lived it out," Morgan said. "It's a surreal feeling." It had been a long time coming for Morgan, who had spent the better part of three years buried on the Bulldogs' depth chart and playing mostly on special teams. He started three of the final four games in 2018 and recorded four tackles in each of those contests along with his second career interception against Arkansas. Morgan has made the most of his opportunities and does not take any of them for granted. The 6-foot, 200-pounder from Bossier City, Louisiana, has started eight of the last night games for MSU, including all five at free safety this season. |
| Mississippi's archery deer season set to open | |
| Even with temps reaching the 90s, archery deer season begins in most parts of the state Tuesday. But there may be more variables for deer hunters to think about when planning their hunts than in previous years. Let's start with the good news. If you're a deer hunter, you'll be able to take more deer home this season. "The bag limit was actually increased to five antlerless deer as well as for your three buck bag limit," said Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Wildlife Chief of Staff Russ Walsh. "One of those on private land can be a buck of choice. So hunters have more opportunity this hunting season." If you plan to pull out a bow to hunt deer this year, Tuesday is the season kick-off for most of the state, with the exception of the Southeastern Zone and the South Delta. They'll have to wait until the 15th. That's typical down South but the flooding forced the delay in the Delta. "The impact to whitetail deer was not completely known," explained Walsh. "So, in an effort to better understand the season and take a somewhat conservative approach to the season. We had discussions with our staff as well as landowners in the region." |
| Ole Miss plans for new track and field/cross country team facility | |
 | Ole Miss announced plans for a new track and field/cross country facility on Monday. The $2 million project will include locker rooms with 50 lockers each for both men and women, a recovery area for the players and a team lounge. "Under Coach Connie Price-Smith's leadership, our track program is competing at the highest level, and we are committed to supplying them the resources to continue to win championships," Ole Miss interim athletic director Keith Carter said in a statement. Fans of Ole Miss athletics can help support the track and field/cross country program by sponsoring one of the 100 new lockers with a gift of $2,500. "Having this additional space, along with our current facility, is something that will benefit our program in a very positive way," Price-Smith said. |
| North Carolina AD apologizes to Clemson for jabbing football fans on video board | |
 | Gameday operations officials at the University of North Carolina cracked jokes at the expense of Clemson fans Saturday afternoon, but not everyone rolled with the punchlines. During a break in action of Clemson's 21-20 victory in Chapel Hill, the video board displayed individuals with overlaid captions insinuating that they were bandwagon Clemson fans. One shot suggested a lady "thinks that Clemson is in Georgia." Another teased that a man "thinks 'The Fridge' (former Clemson All-American William Perry) is just a kitchen appliance." While some Clemson fans accepted the jabs as good-natured ribbing, several denounced the display as classless and demeaning. Some shared their displeasure via social media. Some sent complaints to UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham. According to UNC associate athletic director for strategic communications Robbi Pickeral Evans, Cunningham apologized to Clemson president James Clements and athletic director Dan Radakovich on Sunday. |
| California's Athlete-Compensation Law Is Now Official, Posing a Serious Challenge to the NCAA | |
| California's governor, Gavin Newsom, made the state's challenge to amateurism in collegiate sports a reality on Monday, signing into law a bill that allows athletes at California universities to earn money from their name, image, and likeness rights starting in 2023. "This is the beginning of a national movement -- one that transcends geographic and partisan lines," Newsom said in a news release. "Colleges reap billions from these student-athletes' sacrifices and success but, in the same breath, block them from earning a single dollar. That's a bankrupt model." Sports-law experts previously forecasted to The Chronicle that, if the bill were enacted, California would open the door to a legal battle with the NCAA. "The NCAA has to come out with some vigor to oppose what would be a pretty substantial change to their model of amateurism," said Michael McCann, director of the Sports and Entertainment Law Institute at the University of New Hampshire. |
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