| Wednesday, March 3, 2021 |
| Aldermen vote to keep local mask mandate in place in Starkville | |
 | With a 5-2 vote Tuesday, aldermen upheld its requirement for people to wear protective face coverings in businesses and other buildings where social distancing may not be possible. The vote came the same day Gov. Tate Reeves lifted all state-level restrictions meant to curb the spread of COVID-19 -- including a mask mandate and public gathering limitations -- due to case numbers dropping precipitously over the past several weeks. His announcement means local governments are not required to enforce COVID restrictions, but they still may through their own ordinances. Both the city's and Oktibbeha County's capacity restrictions on public gatherings align with the state's, and therefore are now expired. Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver introduced a resolution Tuesday for the city to follow the governor's lead on removing the mask mandate. However, only Ward 3 Alderman David Little joined him in the vote, and Carver's effort failed. While the board is maintaining the mask order, restaurants and businesses can operate under full capacity and are not required to close by a certain time. Mayor Lynn Spruill said she is comfortable with Starkville keeping the mask ordinance right now and knows that the board will find the right time to lift the mandate, possibly after Mississippi State University students complete their spring term. "I think it's important that we keep it until at least the end of the semester, which would be April 30," Spruill said. "That would give us another 60 days for people to get their vaccines. Obviously, it's a board decision, and there are lots of differing opinions. I do feel like as more people get vaccinated though, we will find that comfort level in taking that mask requirement off." |
| Mississippi vaccinations nearing 15% of state as Johnson & Johnson vaccine arrives | |
 | As Mississippi continues its efforts to vaccinate residents across the state, the Mississippi Department of Health announced that it will begin administering Johnson & Johnson's one-dose COVID-19 vaccine (also known as Janssen.) The vaccine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for Emergency Use Authorization on Feb. 27 for use in individuals 18 and over. A total of 637,853 COVID vaccine doses have been administered as of Wednesday morning -- 409,892 first doses and 227,961 second doses. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, Mississippi had a population of 2,976,149 as of July 1, 2019. That means only about 14% of Mississippians have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Fewer than 8% have been fully vaccinated. The vaccine offers full protection 28 days after vaccination and has been shown to be effective at preventing severe COVID-19 illness, hospitalization and death although it is slightly less effective than its two-dose counterparts. "To be clear, it does not show the same efficacy at preventing any symptomatic illness, but where it counts, it looks good," State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said. "Even with the variants that have been identified in South Africa and other places, there are still some significant residual connections, so we're very excited to have this in our tool chest." MSDH has received an initial allocation of 24,000 doses. |
| Gov. Tate Reeves lifting Mississippi mask mandates, says businesses can operate at full capacity | |
| Mississippi will lift all county mask mandates and businesses will be able to operate at full capacity without any state-imposed rules starting Wednesday, Gov. Tate Reeves announced during a Tuesday afternoon press conference. "Our hospitalizations have plummeted, and our case numbers have fallen dramatically as well," Reeves said. "In fact, our case numbers have fallen to the point where no county meets the original criteria for a mask mandate." Reeves advised Mississippians to continue listening to State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs and other health advisors for "the best possible wisdom regarding how you can personally stem any risk of catching COVID." Under the revised order, seating capacity for indoor bowl and arena seating at colleges, universities and other venues will be increased to 50%. There is no limit on outdoor seating. "Mississippians are encouraged, though not ordered, to wear a face covering and practice social distancing," Reeves said. |
| Mississippi governor: Masks recommended but not mandated | |
 | Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves says that as of Wednesday, he is getting rid of most mask mandates that he had imposed to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The Republican is also lifting most other restrictions, including limits on seating in restaurants. "The governor's office is getting out of the business of telling people what they can and cannot do," Reeves said during a news conference Tuesday. Reeves issued a new executive order that takes effect at 5 p.m. Wednesday and remains in place until March 31. The new capacity for seating at indoor arenas for colleges is 50%, up from 25%. Club areas in arenas are limited to 75% of their seating capacity. Reeves said there are no limits on seating for outdoor events for colleges, including baseball stadiums. Reeves said he is encouraging people to wear face coverings in public, but is not requiring it. He also said people should avoid confrontation over the issue. "I believe that mask shaming on both sides -- that those who shame you for not wearing a mask as well as those who shame someone who chooses to wear a mask -- is wrong," Reeves said. "It's counterproductive. It doesn't do anyone any good." |
| In Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves says masks will no longer be mandatory. Just encouraged. | |
 | Gov. Tate Reeves signed a new executive order Tuesday afternoon removing all mask mandates in Mississippi, deciding to instead encourage mask-wearing rather than mandating it. The order goes into effect at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Mississippi wasn't the only state Tuesday changing mask requirements. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also announced removing that state's mask mandate. Reeves' announcement on the heels of Tuesday's reported 301 new cases, and 44 COVID-19-related deaths. But Reeves said, while he looks at daily case data, "total number of daily cases in not the end all be all." Instead, it's the number of hospitalizations, filled ICU beds and people on ventilators that dictated his executive orders. All three of those numbers decreased significantly last month, Reeves said, triggering his move to end county mask mandates. K-12 schools will remain under a mask mandate, he noted. This is because Reeves said he believes all children should be attending school in-person. Masks, he said, will allow children to attend school safely. The city of Jackson's mask mandate will continue, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said Tuesday afternoon. At a Tuesday news conference, Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker announced the city of Hattiesburg will remain under a mask mandate "for the foreseeable future." |
| Gov. Tate Reeves ditches mask mandates, COVID-related business restrictions | |
 | Gov. Tate Reeves announced on Tuesday that he's lifting all state-imposed mask mandates across Mississippi and removing COVID-19 related restrictions on business operations. "The governor's office is getting out of the business of telling people what they can and cannot do," Reeves said at a press conference. The executive order, which will go into effect on March 3, replaces mask mandates and business restrictions with nonbinding recommendations that they continue to follow CDC guidelines. Reeves encouraged Mississippians to continue listening to the advice of public health officials like State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs, who continues to recommend people wear masks in public and avoid social gatherings. Reeves said vaccines are a "new, better tool to combat COVID" than executive orders and expressed his distaste for signing them in the first place. "The risk of overwhelming our hospitals with severe COVID cases is coming to a close. It gets less and less every single day we see more and more of our people, particularly those most vulnerable, vaccinated," Reeves said. |
| Texas, Mississippi to lift mask mandates, let all businesses reopen at full capacity | |
 | Texas and Mississippi on Tuesday issued separate executive orders to lift their states' mask mandates and give all businesses the green light to reopen at full capacity, casting off restrictions meant to curb the Covid-19 pandemic. The announcements from the Republican governors come at a time when coronavirus cases and deaths have plateaued in the U.S., after hitting record numbers in January, and on the heels of good news for vaccination supply and distribution. However, health officials have warned against states taking too much action to loosen their restrictions or eliminate them altogether, as coronavirus variants continue to spread globally. Certain states continue to do worse than others. A Feb. 26 internal briefing document from the Federal Emergency Management Agency showed that four states, including Texas and Mississippi, were in the "red zone," defined as having a positivity rate over 10 percent. A senior administration health official told POLITICO that the White House believed the Texas and Mississippi announcements -- posted on Twitter within 30 minutes of each other -- were a "coordinated effort" by Republican governors, and that it expected to see similar announcements in the coming days. |
| Defying CDC Advisory, Gov. Tate Reeves Reopens Mississippi, Ends COVID-19 Restrictions | |
| Despite federal pandemic warnings, Gov. Tate Reeves put an end to Mississippi's statewide mask and gathering requirements Tuesday, leaving the state's COVID-19 precautions in the hands of counties, municipalities and individual businesses. "This new order removes all of our county mask mandates, and allows businesses to operate at full capacity without state-imposed rules or restrictions," Reeves said during a virtual press briefing. "If businesses or individuals decide to take additional precautions, they are absolutely within their right. In fact, it might be smart." Reeves said the "heavy hand of government" was no longer justifiable in the face of low COVID-19 transmission and rising vaccinations. The governor made it clear Tuesday that dropping the statewide safety regulations in no way superseded local jurisdictions' right to continue their own restrictions. He said he anticipated that this order would be one of his last in the COVID-19 pandemic. Reeves' decision comes only a day after Centers for Disease Control Director Rochelle Walensky warned against this exact reaction. "These variants are a very real threat to our people and our progress," she said in a press briefing. "Now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know can stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, not when we are so close." |
| Study: Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana the worst states for children during pandemic | |
 | Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana are among the worst states for children during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study from Save the Children. The study ranks states using a combination of factors including child hunger, access to technology for remote learning and adult difficulty with paying bills each month. Under those criteria, Texas ranked 48th, Mississippi 49th and Louisiana 50th. Access to technology for remote learning was especially important in 2020 as many schools had all students online making the switch from in-person learning to Zoom classes that required good access to an internet connection. Black and Hispanic students and households struggled more than White students and households in all of the criteria, according to the study. Overall, the study found that the poorest families and those in rural areas were hit the hardest by the pandemic. Over five months in 2020, Mississippi and Louisiana were consistently in the bottom 10 for best states for families. |
| Brazil's Covid Crisis Is a Warning to the Whole World, Scientists Say | |
 | Covid-19 has already left a trail of death and despair in Brazil, one of the worst in the world. Now, a year into the pandemic, the country is setting another wrenching record. No other nation that experienced such a major outbreak is still grappling with record-setting death tolls and a health care system on the brink of collapse. Many other hard-hit nations are, instead, taking tentative steps toward a semblance of normalcy. But Brazil is battling a more contagious variant that has trampled one major city and is spreading to others, even as Brazilians toss away precautionary measures that could keep them safe. Although trials of a number of vaccines indicate they can protect against severe illness even when they do not prevent infection with the variant, most of the world has not been inoculated. That means even people who had recovered and thought they were safe for now might still be at risk, and that world leaders might, once again, be lifting restrictions too soon. "You need vaccines to get in the way of these things," said William Hanage, an epidemiologist at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, speaking of variants that might cause reinfections. "The immunity you get with your cemeteries running out of room, even that will not be enough to protect you." |
| Mississippi State Department of Health reports 380 new COVID-19 cases, 19 deaths | |
| The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) on Wednesday reported 380 additional cases of COVID-19 and 19 deaths. Alcorn, Chickasaw, Lee and Monroe counties in Northeast Mississippi each reported one additional death. The statewide total number of cases since March 11, 2020 is now 295,675 with a death toll of 6,743. As of this week, around 278,162 people are presumed recovered from the virus. The seven-day moving average for new COVID-19 cases in Mississippi is 20 per 100,000 people, as of March 1. In Mississippi's 1st Congressional District, the seven-day moving average is 15 per 100,000 people. MSDH also reported 61 ongoing outbreaks in long-term care facilities. Most counties in the Daily Journal's coverage area reported new cases: Alcorn (4), Benton (3), Calhoun (1), Chickasaw (3), Itawamba (1), Lafayette (4), Lee (3), Marshall (2), Oktibbeha (1), Pontotoc (8), Prentiss (4), Tippah (3), Tishomingo (3) and Union (5). |
| Mississippi bills alive: Athletes, alcohol, criminal justice | |
| Bills to allow college athletes to earn money from their own name, likeness and image are still alive at the Mississippi Capitol. Among the bills that died under the latest deadline is one that would have required any governor to disclose information about donors to his or her inaugural fund. Tuesday was the deadline for Mississippi House and Senate committees to consider general bills and constitutional amendments that had already passed the other chamber. Bills that survived will move to the full House and Senate for more debate. There are later deadlines for budget and revenue bills. Bills still alive include: House Bill 1135 and Senate Bill 2804 would allow home delivery of beer, wine and liquor. House Bill 1030 and Senate Bill 2313 would allow college athletes to be compensated for their own name, image and likeness. Senate Bill 2536 would ban transgender athletes from competing in girls' or women's sports teams in Mississippi schools, community colleges and universities. |
| Senate panel advances plan for Mississippi teacher pay raise | |
| Mississippi senators took steps Tuesday to keep a proposed teacher pay raise alive. The House and Senate passed separate pay raise plans several weeks ago, then they exchanged bills for more work. The House killed Senate Bill 2001 by not bringing it up for a vote before a Tuesday deadline. The Senate Education Committee kept the pay raise issue alive by amending House Bill 852. Senators removed all of the original House language and replaced it with the Senate plan, which would give most teachers and teachers' assistants a $1,000 pay raise during the year that begins July 1. Newer teachers would receive $1,100 in an effort to make the jobs more attractive. The surviving bill goes to the full Senate for more work. "I think everybody in this building supports a teacher pay raise, and for whatever reason, it did not survive in the House," Senate Education Committee Chairman Dennis DeBar of Leakesville said Tuesday at the Capitol. "We're going to ensure we put teachers over politics," DeBar said. |
| Mississippi teacher pay raise gets caught up in standoff over controversial tax proposal | |
| The state Senate, late on a key deadline day, passed a bill through committee that would give Mississippi public school teachers pay raises, ensuring that the proposed raises remain alive in the legislative process and aren't linked to a sweeping House tax bill. At one point Tuesday, it appeared that both of the bills written with the sole intent to provide a pay raise to teachers would die as legislative leaders drew battle lines over the controversial House proposal that would restructure the state's tax system. The House refused on Tuesday to take up a Senate bill that would increase teacher salaries by $1,000, ensuring that bill's death. The Senate, meanwhile, appeared poised to let die a House bill that would increase teacher salaries by a similar amount. Late in the day, though, Senate leaders blinked and passed the House proposal. At the heart of the deadline theatrics was debate over House Speaker Philip Gunn's tax proposal, which would eliminate the state's personal income tax, cut the grocery tax in half and raise the sales tax on most other items by 2.5 cents on each $1 purchase. Gunn's proposal, which he considers his most substantive policy proposal in his three terms as speaker, was met with public criticism by Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and other Senate leaders. |
| Mississippi teacher pay raise bill salvaged after last-minute maneuvering | |
| A year after Mississippi teachers were denied a pay raise due to COVID-19 budget woes, similar legislation to provide them more money again appeared in jeopardy Tuesday, this time due to political jockeying between House and Senate leaders. But late in the day -- just before a looming legislative deadline -- Senate leaders salvaged a proposal that would provide all teachers with $1,000 raises and lift starting pay about $1,100, up to $37,000. "This is the only clean bill before us, where we ensure that politics do not enter the fray and we ensure our teachers are paid close to what they deserve," Senate Education Chairman Dennis DeBar, R-Leakesville, told his colleagues. Both the House and Senate have advanced similar proposals this session to increase the salaries of Mississippi teachers, which are on average the lowest in the nation. Only House Bill 852 remains under consideration, though senators opted Tuesday to essentially delete the House's version and insert their own, Senate Bill 2001. Tuesday was the deadline for legislative committees to sign off on general bills authored by the opposite chamber. It appeared both chambers were playing a game of chicken Tuesday, to see which pay-raise proposal would survive. The standoff reveals a widening rift between the Republican leaders of the Senate and House. Each chamber wanted its own bill to pass, despite the fact they would both largely do the same thing. |
| Mississippi Teachers 'Not Victims of Petty Politics' as Senate Keeps $1,000 Pay Raise Alive | |
| Mississippi's K-12 public-school teachers may still get a $1,000 pay raise after lawmakers in the House and Senate reached a last-minute agreement. Some feared the raise could become a casualty amid a legislative impasse over a House tax-reform bill. Earlier in the 2021 legislative session, both chambers passed separate bills to raise teacher pay to $1,000. Last week, though, the House decided to instead bundle the raise in a bill House Speaker Philip Gunn spearheaded that would have ended the state's income tax while raising the state sales tax. Mississippi Free Press State Reporter Nick Judin reported yesterday that Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, the Senate president, showed little interest in passing the bill and had concerns about its consequences. Hosmann cited the budget crises Kansas faced after ending its own state income tax, which this publication detailed on Feb. 23 The Senate passed its stand-alone $1,000 teacher pay-raise bill on Feb. 5 with the House passing a functionally equivalent but separate bill five days later on Feb. 10 before deciding to roll it into the income-tax bill. The Senate had been set to let the House bill die -- until the House signaled that it was prepared to allow the Senate's earlier version to die on deadline, too. |
| House guts Senate medical marijuana bill, inserts Initiative 65 language | |
| A House panel on Tuesday gutted a Senate medical marijuana proposal and inserted the medical marijuana language voters passed as a constitutional amendment in November. "I'm interested in seeing that bill die -- I think it just did die," said Rep. Robert Johnson III, House minority leader. "The people have spoken, with a constitutional amendment about medical marijuana, and that bill went against the spirit of what the people decided." Johnson made those statements about Senate Bill 2765 on Tuesday afternoon, when it appeared the bill had died, with no Ways and Means Committee meeting called on the floor for the afternoon to take the bill up. Later, Ways and Means had a meeting and took the bill up, then struck the Senate language and inserted Initiative 65. It now goes to the full House and if passed, back to the Senate in its amended form. Rep. Joel Bomgar, R-Madison, who helped lead, and fund, the successful citizen initiative to enshrine medical marijuana use in the state constitution, offered the amendment to replace the Senate bill language with Initiative 65's language. |
| Legislative pot program stays alive, might look identical to voter-approved Initiative 65 | |
| Mississippi voters overwhelmingly approved a medical marijuana program in November, but state lawmakers continued to tinker with their own version Tuesday just before a key deadline. Senate Bill 2765, the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act, at first appeared like it might not survive at all: Tuesday was the deadline for legislative committees to sign off on general bills that were authored by the opposing chamber, and a House committee did not appear ready to debate the pot program. But late in the day, the House Ways and Means Committee met and overhauled the bill -- changing its language to mirror Initiative 65, the constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana that garnered nearly 74% support in last year's election. "Obviously, I oppose any effort to undermine the will of 74% of the voters," said Rep. Joel Bomgar, R-Madison, who pushed the changes that he described as "a legislative version of Initiative 65, instead of a constitutional version of Initiative 65." That legislative version would create a medical marijuana program in Mississippi only if Initiative 65 is overturned by the Mississippi Supreme Court. That pending case, brought by Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler, argues the process for placing a constitutional amendment before voters in Mississippi is improper and Initiative 65 should be invalidated. |
| Lawmakers can't cite local examples of trans girls in sports | |
| Legislators in more than 20 states have introduced bills this year that would ban transgender girls from competing on girls' sports teams in public high schools. Yet in almost every case, sponsors cannot cite a single instance in their own state or region where such participation has caused problems. The Associated Press reached out to two dozen state lawmakers sponsoring such measures around the country as well as the conservative groups supporting them and found only a few times it's been an issue among the hundreds of thousands of American teenagers who play high school sports. Some lawmakers didn't respond to AP's queries. Others in places like Mississippi and Montana largely brushed aside the question or pointed to a pair of runners in Connecticut. Between 2017 and 2019, transgender sprinters Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood combined to win 15 championship races, prompting a lawsuit. Supporters of transgender rights say the Connecticut case gets so much attention from conservatives because it's the only example of its kind. |
| Rep. Steven Palazzo of Mississippi is being investigated for using campaign funds on his waterfront house. | |
| The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating a Mississippi congressman for what it called a "concerning pattern" of potentially misusing campaign funds, including spending more than $80,000 on a $1.2 million waterfront house that he was trying to sell. In a report published on Monday, the Board of the Office of Congressional Ethics said it had voted unanimously to recommend that the House Ethics Committee continue to investigate Representative Steven M. Palazzo, Republican of Mississippi, because there was "substantial reason to believe that Rep. Palazzo converted funds to personal use to pay expenses that were not legitimate." At issue, among other allegations, the report said, was a "concerning pattern of campaign expenditures on a large riverfront home which Rep. Palazzo owned and rented to Palazzo for Congress as an ostensible campaign headquarters." The four-bedroom home, which the congressman referred to as the "River House," was outfitted with a boat dock and a guest cottage, and was mainly used as a weekend home by Mr. Palazzo's family, which had owned it for about 20 years, according to the findings. In response to the investigation, a lawyer for Mr. Palazzo said the inquiry began because of "unfounded allegations" from a political opponent. |
| Ethics report details questionable spending, decisions by Rep. Steven Palazzo | |
 | An Office of Congressional Ethics report released Monday outlines questionable campaign spending by Rep. Steven M. Palazzo to repair an investment property he wanted to sell and his attempts to use his position of power to help his brother get back into the Navy, and details instances in which the Mississippi Republican had his congressional staff run personal errands. The House Ethics Committee is continuing to investigate the allegations raised by the independent Office of Congressional Ethics. The OCE report was published by the House Ethics panel due to a disclosure requirement timeline. Two former Palazzo staffers recounted to the OCE that his district office was one in which the staff did not separate their official duties from campaign work and personal endeavors on behalf of the congressman. The former staffers suggested that Bridgette Jones, Leslie Churchwell and Michele Gargiulo were routinely absent from the district office during official hours to complete campaign work or personal errands for Palazzo. The former staffers described Jones, Churchwell and Gargiulo as "akin to Rep. Palazzo's personal assistants, whose job included performing errands for Rep. Palazzo to ensure his personal and professional lives ran smoothly." The OCE noted that congressional staff spent official work hours at the River House overseeing maintenance or home improvement projects during the district work day. The former employees said staffers helped prepare Palazzo's children to go away for summer camp, including shopping for supplies. |
| Ethics report: 'Substantial' evidence of Rep. Steven Palazzo wrongdoing | |
| A congressional ethics report made public this week claims that U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo misspent campaign and congressional funds, and says it found evidence he used his office to help his brother and used staff for personal errands and services. Palazzo is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee after a report was forwarded from the Office of Congressional Ethics in the summer. The OCE on Monday released its full report, which included allegations that had not yet been made public in the months-long probe. Allegations have previously been reported that Palazzo used campaign funds to pay himself and his erstwhile wife nearly $200,000 through companies they own -- including thousands to cover the mortgage, maintenance and upgrades to a riverfront home Palazzo owned and wanted to sell. A Mississippi Today report also questioned thousands in Palazzo campaign spending on swanky restaurants, sporting events, resort hotels, golfing and gifts. The newly released report says it found "substantial" evidence that Palazzo used his position and office to help his brother, Kyle Palazzo. Kyle Palazzo, the report said, was prohibited from re-enlisting in the Navy for "affecting a fraudulent enlistment." The report said Rep. Palazzo may have used his official office and resources to contact the assistant secretary of the Navy to help his brother's efforts to re-enlist. |
| Police bolster security at US Capitol as QAnon theory claims Trump will become president March 4 | |
 | Capitol Police will beef up security this week at the Capitol building as a precaution against any potential extremist activity amid a far-right conspiracy theory that President Donald Trump will rise to power on March 4, the original inauguration day for presidents prior to 1933. The acting sergeant at arms for the House of Representatives, Timothy Blodgett, informed members of Congress Tuesday of the increased security measures. The extra security is being promised two months after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol building that saw rioters attack police and threaten to kill members of Congress and former Vice President Mike Pence. Several followers of the violent conspiracy theory movement QAnon have been arrested in connection to the riot, which was organized and carried out by largely white conservative Americans looking to restore Trump to power after his election loss in November by 7 million votes. The March 4 theory began gaining traction after Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20, QAnon experts said. The theory posits that no American president has been officially inaugurated since Ulysses S. Grant in 1869. The conspiracy theorists claim a law was passed in 1871 that secretly turned the United States into a corporation, making all presidents after Grant illegitimate. The unfounded theory has its roots in the "sovereign citizen" movement, a separate but overlapping class of conspiracy theorists that claims among other things, that the federal government is illegitimate. |
| Supreme Court Seems Ready To Uphold Restrictive Voting Laws | |
 | The U.S. Supreme Court seemed ready on Tuesday to uphold Arizona's restrictive voting laws, setting the stage for what happens in the coming months and years, as Republican-dominated state legislatures seek to make voting more difficult. Since the November election, and President Trump's false claims that the balloting was rigged, Republican-run state legislatures have raced to pass new laws that would curb the modern-day expansion of the right to vote. Many of these laws likely will be challenged in court, and on Tuesday the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could set the parameters for which of those restrictive laws survive, and which don't. The Voting Rights Act, first passed in 1965, makes it illegal for states to enact laws that result in voting discrimination based on race. Eight years ago, the conservative court, by a 5-to-4 vote, gutted one of the two major parts of the law. Now, it is the other major section that is in the conservative court's crosshairs. Tuesday's case involved two Arizona laws. One bars the counting of provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct. The other bars the collection of absentee ballots by anyone other than a family member or caregiver. |
| Law Enforcement Steps Up Efforts Against Domestic Extremism | |
 | Law enforcement agencies are using undercover stings and charges not directly related to terrorism, like gun violations, to arrest suspected domestic extremists as part of an aggressive effort to head off potential attacks. Faced with a rising domestic terrorism threat, federal law-enforcement officials are borrowing from tactics used to pursue homegrown jihadists, such as adherents of Islamic State. Since the Jan. 6 Capitol riot by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, federal agents are putting more resources into investigations of suspected dangerous domestic extremists, knowing that supervisors and prosecutors will give priority to such cases, said a federal law-enforcement official. The Biden administration has said that fighting domestic terrorism -- defined by the FBI as violence "to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature" -- has become a priority in the wake of the attack. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security have singled out domestic extremists as posing the most lethal threat to the country, based on the number of ideologically motivated killings in recent years. "The problem of domestic terrorism has been metastasizing across the country for a long time now, and it's not going away anytime soon," FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Senate panel Tuesday. |
| Ten Mississippi schools earn Military Friendly honor | |
| Ten Mississippi Schools named among the nation's best for veterans and military-connected students. The schools include Mississippi College, Southern Miss, Meridian Community College, Mississippi State, Northwest Mississippi Community College, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Mississippi University for Women, Jackson State, Hinds Community College, and Ole Miss. Southern Miss, Gulf Coast Community College, and Mississippi State landed in the top ten, and Ole Miss earned the Gold award. Institutions earning the Military Friendly School designation were evaluated using both public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey. Over 1,200 schools participated in the 2021-2022 survey with around 750 schools earning the designation of which 162 selected for the "Gold" award status for their leading practices, outcomes, and effective programs. |
| 'Do not give up hope': South Mississippi 2020 college graduates finding jobs during pandemic | |
 | Finding a job is the ultimate goal after graduating college, but when you're doing it in a pandemic, it can either be the ultimate setback or breakthrough. In Mississippi, not only were businesses and social gatherings affected negatively by the global pandemic, but also the Class of 2020 college graduates, who began the difficult transition from student life to adulthood. For Long Beach native Caroline Bassett, who graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi, it was a breakthrough. She graduated with a nursing degree in May 2020 and now she's working as a registered nurse at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans. "In nursing school, they help you with your resume. I got hired in March, but nursing students have jobs before they graduate because there is a shortage," said Bassett. "They need nurses at the bedside. A lot of older nurses, the baby boomers are leaving the bedside. So, it's kind of like a cycle and a lot of nurses have left the bedside since COVID-19, so there's an extreme shortage so finding a job was quite easy." Bassett believes that the reason why her fellow 2020 graduates might not be finding luck during this time is due to companies suffering financially. "I really think it's just that a lot of companies have suffered financially during the pandemic, especially smaller companies," said Bassett. "I'm in debt, but I can't imagine being in debt and then trying to find a job that I'm in debt for. A lot of companies want people with experience, but I feel like they have to start somewhere." |
| U. of Alabama System plans return to traditional instruction for fall 2021 | |
 | University of Alabama students will return to traditional in-classroom instruction for fall 2021, following models that predict COVID-19 herd immunity will be achieved by late spring or early summer. "UAB projects we hit herd immunity -- which means 72 percent of the population -- by end of May or early summer," said Charlie Taylor, director of operations for the UA System Health and Safety Task Force, convened last year as the pandemic began. It includes public health and infectious disease experts, along with administrators from the system campuses and UAB medicine. "The models give us plenty of confidence to project out to the fall," he said. The entire University of Alabama System -- Tuscaloosa-based University of Alabama, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and University of Alabama in Huntsville -- plans to return to in-person instruction for fall, with no restrictions on classroom size. The in-classroom determination needed to be made and announced this early because students begin fall course planning and registration in March, Taylor said. "Enrollment (numbers were) not a consideration," he said. "This decision was made based on what is safe, and in the best interest of our students." |
| Auburn announces spring graduation plans for Jordan-Hare Stadium | |
 | Auburn's spring commencement exercises, scheduled for April 30-May 1, will take place in Jordan-Hare Stadium. There will be modifications because of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, and contingency plans are in place depending on current health and safety guidelines and weather. The university informed students, faculty and staff Tuesday morning of the plans of the spring graduation plans in a press release shared electronically. In place of larger ceremonies that combine multiple colleges and schools, graduates will participate in individual college and school ceremonies in Jordan-Hare identical to the winter commencement in late 2020. "Commencement is an important event for our students and their families, as well as our campus community," Auburn University President Jay Gogue said in the press release Tuesday. "We have worked closely with university and public health officials to develop plans that will allow us to safely hold our ceremonies for our graduates and their families." Auburn University alumnus Kenneth Kelly will kick off the graduation weekend with a commencement address at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, April 30. Kelly is a 1990 electrical engineering graduate of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and serves as chairman and CEO of First Independence Bank of Detroit, the seventh-largest African American-controlled bank in the country. |
| LSU set to release report this week from law firm probing sexual misconduct cases | |
 | LSU will release a long-awaited report Friday from the law firm Husch Blackwell over how the university has handled past complaints of sexual misconduct and domestic violence on campus. LSU officials confirmed Tuesday that the university's Board of Supervisors will receive the report at a meeting at 10 a.m. Friday. The meeting, which is open to the public, will be at the Lod Cook Alumni Center, but capacity will be limited because of coronavirus restrictions. People can also livestream the meeting online, and LSU will post the report online as well. The university hired Husch Blackwell in November to investigate several cases of sexual assault and dating violence on campus after many female students spoke out in a USA Today report, accusing LSU of failing to take appropriate action when they alleged misconduct. LSU agreed to pay Husch Blackwell up to $100,000 for the investigation. Their report will also analyze LSU's policies and procedures around Title IX, the federal law that prevents universities from discriminating against students based on their gender. "We look forward to sharing the report findings with you on Friday, and I will certainly have more to share with you regarding our response to the findings and how we plan to ensure a safer and more supportive LSU for everyone as we move forward," said interim LSU President Tom Galligan in a message released to students, faculty and staff on Tuesday. |
| U. of Florida suspends professors blamed in student's suicide | |
 | The University of Florida put a professor of computer engineering on leave last month amid a lengthy investigation into the suicide of one of his graduate students. Publicly, the university has said little about the case. The professor, Tao Li, did not respond to a request for comment but has previously denied any involvement in the student's death. But friends of the late Ph.D. candidate, Huixiang Chen, have said Li pressured, threatened and otherwise mistreated him. A Feb. 15 suspension letter to Li from his department chair says he is prohibited from engaging in "any activity that involves any aspect of your position, including business travel, consultation with faculty, staff or students." Li may not be physically present on campus for "any reason" during his suspension. He must also refrain from having any contact with faculty, staff or students "by any means," including phone calls, texts and emails, unless first obtaining explicit permission from the university. The letter, first obtained through an open records request by WUFT-FM, also commands Li to cooperate with all ongoing investigations or be terminated immediately. |
| Texas A&M System regents expected to name sole finalist for A&M president | |
 | The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents will meet Wednesday afternoon to consider possible action in naming a sole finalist for A&M's flagship campus. State law requires university governing boards to name a sole finalist for at least 21 days before meeting again to consider final approval of the candidate, according to a system press release. The regents will meet at 2:30 p.m. at the Century Ballroom of the Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center. The system press release says that the board will likely recess into executive session for discussion. COVID-19 protocols such as social distancing and face coverings will be enforced. There is limited seating but community members can also view the public portion of the meeting at tamus.edu/regents/live-streams. Former Texas A&M President Michael K. Young stepped down from his position in December, despite a September announcement that he planned retire at the end of May. But Young is still connected to the university, becoming the first director of the Institute for Religious Liberties and International Affairs at the George H.W. Bush School of Government and Public Service, as well as becoming a tenured faculty member at the Texas A&M School of Law. |
| China trade standoff resolution is critical for Mississippi farmers | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: For Mississippi farmers, the transition between the administrations of former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden could not be more impactful on any topic more so than in agricultural trade with China. China is the third leading trading partner for Mississippi exports behind Canada and Mexico, with $759 million in value in 2020 -- with that number representing a 63.8% increase over the previous year. That grow came after 2018-2019 tariffs standoff between China and the Trump administration led to hundreds of millions in lost export revenues to Mississippi producers. A 2020 study by Business Roundtable found that international trade supported 326,200 Mississippi jobs in 2018. The same study found that in 2018, trade with China supported 64,000 Mississippi jobs -- which highlighted the need for China to abide by the commitments under the "phase one" trade agreements. ... Despite global concerns over the future of shipping, trade and maritime security issues in the South China Sea, it remains advantageous for China to keep imports of food and feed grains coming to supplement what they can't successfully produce on their own. |
SPORTS
| COVID shift: More baseball fans this weekend? | |
| College baseball stadiums at Ole Miss and Mississippi State may operate at full capacity for this weekend's games. Gov. Tate Reeves, on Tuesday, wiped out almost all of his previously ordered restrictions related to sports attendance on college campuses during COVID-19. The exception is indoor arenas, which will be allowed to operate now at 50 percent instead of 10 percent. Ole Miss will have one basketball game -- Saturday night at 6 against Vanderbilt -- that will allow for 50 percent attendance at The Pavilion. MSU has no remaining home basketball games. MSU begins a three-game home baseball series against Tennessee Tech on Friday at 6; Ole Miss begins a three-game series with Belmont on Friday at 6:30. While Reeves lifted mask mandates for all counties in Mississippi individual businesses and local government may set their own criteria regarding masks. Athletics directors at Ole Miss and MSU told the Daily Journal last week they were prepared for a shift in policy from Jackson. "I do think things are getting better and hopefully in the near distant future, we can pivot to a different ticket structure especially for a sport like baseball and we are totally prepared to do that," MSU athletics director John Cohen said. |
| Diamond Dawg Gameday: vs. Southern Miss | |
| The Mississippi State baseball program will play its fourth neutral site game of the season on Wednesday (March 3) as they travel down to Trustmark Park in Pearl to face off with Southern Miss. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. The Bulldogs and Golden Eagles will meet for the 126th time in program history, with MSU holding an 83-42 edge on the all-time ledger. This will be the 10th meeting between the two programs at Trustmark Park, with MSU owning a slim 5-4 edge at the ballpark that was opened in 2005. The Diamond Dawgs collected a series victory over Tulane last weekend, winning the final two games of the season in walkoff fashion to move its record to 5-2 on the season. Luke Hancock and Tanner Allen provided the ninth-inning heroics, as Hancock's grand slam on Saturday and Allen's two-RBI single on Sunday helped cap an exciting home-opening weekend. Southern Miss is coming off of a weekend series win over UConn that saw the Golden Eagles win the first two games before dropping the finale. |
| MSU men preparing to face Texas A&M team returning from 33-day layoff | |
| So, how do you prepare for an opponent that hasn't played since Jan. 30? That's exactly the challenge Mississippi State men's basketball has as it's scheduled to face a Texas A&M team at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in College Station that missed the entire February slate of games because of COVID-19 safety protocols. The Bulldogs (13-12, 7-9 SEC) have played a whopping nine more games than the Aggies (8-7, 2-6) heading into the matchup. "They could've put in six or eight new sets that we've never even seen before or no one has seen because they haven't in a month," MSU coach Ben Howland said. "It is very much in the same way we prepare for a team we haven't seen play in a long time. So, it is what it is." Texas A&M beat Mississippi State by a single point in a matchup in Starkville earlier this season and has won two in a row over the Bulldogs, but MSU has won four of the last six contests. "I am sure they will be excited," Howland said. "Their players have basically been sitting there basically for a month without a chance to play a game." While both of MSU's scheduled contests this week are very winnable on paper, the significance of both games is mitigated to playing for either pride or Southeastern Conference tournament seeding. Any chance of the Bulldogs earning an at-large berth to the SEC tournament are long gone. "We have to win the SEC Tournament," Howland said of what the team would need to do to qualify for the big dance |
| Bulldogs travel to well-rested Texas A&M | |
| The Mississippi State men's basketball team is facing a unique challenge tonight. MSU faces Texas A&M in College Station for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff on the SEC Network. The Bulldogs are sitting at 13-12 with a 7-9 record in SEC play entering the two-game road stretch to end the regular season. Texas A&M (8-7, 2-6) hasn't played since Jan. 30. The Aggies' last SEC game was Jan. 26 against LSU. Six-straight Texas A&M games have been postponed, due to both COVID problems and the winter storm in the last month. Monday was the first time the Aggies have practiced as a full team since Feb. 1, head coach Buzz Williams said. "In the month of February, we had nine total practices," Williams said in his Tuesday press conference. "In eight of those nine practices, we didn't even have the full team. So trying to have normal practice hasn't been normal. "We're beginning to have some normalcy, but you can't replicate a game when you can't even replicate a true practice." When the Aggies were playing basketball, they were losers of five of their last seven games, with the only SEC win during that stretch coming against Mississippi State in Starkville. The Aggies lost to South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Ole Miss and LSU stretch. |
| Month-long hiatus ends Wednesday for Texas A&M men's basketball team | |
| Last year this time, Texas A&M men's basketball head coach Buzz Williams reviewed notes over a decent February 2020 for his Aggies. This year, the monthly February rundown wasn't quite so entertaining. It featured two COVID-19 shutdowns, a winter storm delay, seven consecutive postponements and zero games played. "I started reading all of my notes in my journal and all of this stuff on my calendar and then thought about what's taken place since March 1, 2020, and March 1, 2021 ... it's just been an unbelievable growth opportunity, although I haven't always processed it in that mature of a way," Williams said. One of the strangest months in program history will end at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday when the Aggies will play their first game in over a month as they host Mississippi State at Reed Arena. On Monday, A&M had its first full-team practice since Feb. 1, the day of the program's first positive COVID-19 test. The Aggies (8-7, 2-6) last played a game on Jan. 30 at Kansas State, and Williams said there's no way to be sure how well his team can perform Wednesday with the players' conditioning levels all over the board. Some have had limited physical activity throughout the month hiatus. |
| Mississippi State men's basketball season hasn't been a total letdown | |
 | If there is any consolation for Mississippi State at the end of a season that many have written off as a letdown, it's that the Bulldogs actually proved plenty of people wrong. Flash back to November. The buzz about basketball had returned as the season was set to start after an incredibly long, unusual offseason. The return of play is always paired with preseason polls, of course. The media picked Mississippi State to finish 12th in the SEC standings. Going into the final two games of the regular season, writers and broadcasters around the south missed the mark on MSU. The Bulldogs (13-12, 7-9 SEC) woke up Monday morning as the ninth-best team in the conference. The media said Mississippi State would only finish ahead of two teams, Georgia and Vanderbilt. As it stands, MSU is ahead of those two programs in addition to Auburn, South Carolina and Texas A&M. Mississippi State can further prove its point, as its final two games come against two of those teams. Coach Ben Howland and his team head down to College Station to play Texas A&M (8-7, 2-6 SEC) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Then, the Bulldogs hit the road to Auburn (12-13, 6-10) at noon Saturday. |
| What to expect from Mississippi State women's basketball in SEC Tournament | |
| Mississippi State has gone to the SEC Tournament with expectations of winning the whole thing for the last handful of years. This year feels much different. MSU coach Nikki McCray-Penson was asked point-blank after Sunday's 20-point loss to Missouri what her expectations are for Mississippi State (10-8, 5-7 SEC) as the Bulldogs stumble into Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina to play LSU (8-12, 6-8) on Thursday at 10 a.m. CT. "I just want to be prepared for the next opponent, whoever that's going to be," McCray-Penson said before she knew it was the Tigers, who MSU beat by nine points in Baton Rouge last week. "My expectation is to come out and be prepared and have better effort than we did (Sunday). It's a big stage, so I'm hoping that our kids are ready for that and ready to rock and roll." Mississippi State teams of the recent past weren't built on hope. They were built on a sustained standard of excellence. From the 2014-15 season to 2019-20, MSU entered the conference tournament as no lower than the No. 3 seed. This year, the Bulldogs are No. 9. Mississippi State has not played on the second day of the tournament since 2014. The Bulldogs earned a double bye in each of the last six seasons. But again, this year doesn't just feel much different. It is much different. |
| LSU women get chance to avenge loss to Mississippi State, keep slim NCAA hopes alive | |
| The best medicine for a frustrating loss is to get another shot at the same opponent, and the Southeastern Conference women's tournament bracket has obliged LSU. The Tigers (8-12) get a rematch against the Mississippi State team that they lost to one week earlier in the tournament at 11 a.m. Thursday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. Even more important than a measure of revenge is that Mississippi State represents a stepping-stone toward a possible NCAA tournament berth, although LSU would probably need more than a victory against the Bulldogs. Mississippi State (10-8) finished one spot behind eighth-place LSU, but is among the field of 64, according to ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme. Worse for LSU is that the Tigers aren't even among the first eight out. Ole Miss (10-10) is in that number after finishing 12th in the SEC and losing twice to LSU. LSU's RPI is 61 compared to Ole Miss at 118. LSU might still find a way in but it would take a victory Thursday and another Friday against No. 1 seed Texas A&M (22-1) for the conversation to start. |
| Four SEC women's basketball head coaches played for Pat Summitt. Now they're charged with carrying her legacy. | |
| What do you do when the memories fade but the faces remain? Pat Summitt mimicked jump shots. Seated across from Summitt and alongside longtime Tennessee assistant coaches Holly Warlick and Mickie DeMoss, former Volunteer and current LSU head coach Nikki Fargas looked into the piercing blue eyes of her former coach. Summitt's memories were in there, somewhere, locked away by early-onset dementia that brought an abrupt end to her coaching career. But as Fargas, Warlick and DeMoss sat with the legendary figure in her final days in the fall of 2016, trading stories of years past through laughter and joy, there was a flash, a spark. Something clicked. While Warlick and DeMoss traded jabs with Fargas over her first game against Stanford in November of 1990, Summitt lifted her hands from her chair and motioned as if she was shooting a basketball. One. Final. Shot. "It was just very innocent, very heartfelt, very emotional," Fargas said, her tone growing more somber with each word. "But a very loving moment for all of us to be with her." Five years since Summitt's death due to complications related to Alzheimer's disease, four of Summitt's former players -- Nikki McCray-Penson (Mississippi State), Kyra Elzy (Kentucky), Kellie Harper (Tennessee) and Fargas -- are head coaches in the Southeastern Conference. Combined, they boast a 567-281 record, a mark dwarfed by Summitt's 1,098-208 career mark. But as players grow younger, Summitt's former understudies grow older and the personal connections to the legendary coach grow fewer and further between, it's this quartet that carries on their former coach's legacy in the conference she dominated for decades. |
| Half of SEC basketball teams are coached by Black women: 'It looks like what it's supposed to look like' | |
 | When Kentucky named Kyra Elzy its women's basketball coach in December, she knew there would be big expectations. She had been serving as the interim coach following Matthew Mitchell's sudden retirement in November due to personal health reasons. In his 13 years, he took the Wildcats to unprecedented levels of success, making the NCAA Tournament every year except for 2018 from 2010-19. After Elzy led Kentucky to a 6-0 start and a top-10 ranking, athletic director Mitch Barnhart decided to remove the interim tag on Dec. 14. Sure, there would be pressure to keep Kentucky at a consistent level of competition, but Elzy also represents a shift in representation for collegiate athletics. Elzy became the seventh Black woman leading an SEC women's basketball program for the 2020-21 season. The other Black coaches in the SEC are at Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and South Carolina or half the league. There are only six Black female coaches in the rest of the Power 5 conferences combined. Of those six, four have been hired in the last three years. In that regard, the SEC is light years ahead. And there's no better place to showcase the SEC's lead than the conference tournament, which begins Wednesday in Greenville, South Carolina. |
| 'It's a good time out there': How Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity brothers became Mississippi State softball's biggest fans | |
| Samantha Ricketts saw something different. From her typical perch in the third-base dugout at Nusz Park, the Mississippi State softball coach has a clear view of right field. But when she settled in for the second game of the Bulldogs' season-opening doubleheader against Miami (Ohio) on Feb. 13, Ricketts beheld something new: a group of a dozen or so "rowdy" young men standing on the wooden deck behind the right-field fence, leaning over the gray outfield wall. "They looked like a crew of guys who'd been to a lot of Left Field Lounge games at Dudy Noble," Ricketts said. "It was a lot of fun to see that atmosphere over at Nusz Park." For the first time, the Epsilon-Chi Zeta chapter of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity had come to support Mississippi State softball, then in the midst of what ended up as a school-record 17-game winning streak. Lambda Chi brothers loved the experience so much they've been at every home game since -- and in increasing numbers -- setting up a tradition that seems here to stay. "We are a softball school," junior Lambda Chi member Richard Lake said. "One hundred percent." |
| Tough Test Awaits No. 18 Bulldogs In Tuscaloosa On Wednesday | |
| No. 18 Mississippi State plays its third, and highest, ranked opponent in its last six games on Wednesday when the Bulldogs travel to meet No. 2 Alabama. First pitch in Tuscaloosa is set for 6 p.m. CT with the game airing on SEC Network+. MSU is in the middle of a six-game road trip that has seen them also play tight contests with then-No. 7 Texas and then-No. 21 Baylor. State is led offensively by the Davidson sisters and Fa Leilua. Mia Davidson and Leilua have both hit three home runs over the road stretch and five on the year, which is tied for 25th nationally. Montana Davidson leads the way in batting average (.421) and is third on the team in slugging percentage (.579). Alabama enters with an undefeated 14-0 mark on the year, and the Crimson Tide have won 16 straight games, which is tied for the fifth-longest streak in the nation. The Tide is coming off an undefeated weekend at the Easton Crimson Classic where its pitchers threw 21 straight scoreless innings. |
| Keith Carter: Ole Miss is working on attendance plan that 'optimizes capacity' | |
| The Pavilion and Oxford-University Stadium could have a few more fans sitting in seats this weekend. How many will get to see No. 4 Ole Miss play baseball is yet to be known, but Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves loosened nearly all COVID-19 restrictions on Tuesday. Indoor college arenas had attendance capacity increased to 50 percent with Reeves' Executive Order 1549, which goes into effect on Wednesday at 5 p.m. and runs through March 31. Reeves lifted all attendance restrictions for outdoor collegiate venues, including O-U Stadium, but Ole Miss has not specified how many more fans will be allowed to attend games. According to a statement released by Athletics Director Keith Carter on Tuesday, a plan is currently being put together. "The past year has provided our department a tremendous learning experience for hosting events in a safe manner, and those best practices will help guide our actions as we ramp up our operation to host increased crowds," Carter's statement read. "Our staff is working with the Southeastern Conference and other entities to establish an attendance plan that optimizes capacity while navigating safety concerns." |
| Limited SEC men's basketball tournament tickets available to the public | |
 | Only 3,400 fans will be in the stands for next week's SEC men's basketball tournament at Bridgestone Arena, and very few of those seats will be sold to the public, the SEC and Metro Health Department announced Tuesday. There will be no public online sale for the tickets for the tournament set for March 10-14. That's part of a deal between the SEC and the health department to keep the tournament safe from spread of COVID-19. Each team will get only 150 tickets each. Total spectators will be limited to 20% of the arena's capacity. Tennessee confirmed Tuesday it'll use its allotment for team family members and "as many donor requests as our quantity allows," associate athletic director Tom Satkowiak said in an email. Other SEC schools are expected to do the same. A Vanderbilt athletic department spokesman said the university "has exhausted its ticket allotment available for public sale." People who do score tickets will be subject to the same COVID-19 safety protocol that's now in place for Nashville Predators home games -- distanced seating, mandator mask wearing, limited concessions and staggered entrance and exit plans, the Metro Health Department said. |
| LSU plans 50% capacity inside Alex Box Stadium after Louisiana moves to Phase 3 | |
| LSU will move toward 50% capacity at Alex Box Stadium and its other outdoor athletic venues after Gov. John Bel Edwards announced updated coronavirus restrictions that permits increased capacity, according to a statement from the school. Edwards said Tuesday afternoon he will institute coronavirus rules that bring the state into Phase 3 of the reopening plan, allowing stadiums to hold 50% attendance. Athletic venues had been capped at 25% capacity. "LSU Athletics has been coordinating with the Governor's office regarding a plan to expand capacity for outdoor spring sports to 50 percent," the school said in a statement. "When the Fire Marshal approves those plans, we will announce them to the public. Though the new state rules take effect Wednesday, LSU will not immediately increase Alex Box Stadium to 50% capacity. It plans to accommodate more fans in the coming weeks after gauging the interest of season-ticket holders and rearranging seats to maintain physical distance between groups, pending approval from the Fire Marshal. |
| ESPN loses video for Alabama, Auburn basketball then uses cameras attached to basket only | |
| Alabama and Auburn men's basketball fans got an odd camera angle for several minutes during the first half of Tuesday night's broadcast on ESPN2. When play resumed at 7:54 left in the first half, the ESPN2 broadcast resumed with only a view from cameras attached to the basket. ESPN2 play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Fitzgerald said that there were "some technical issues we're working through." The camera would abruptly switch to the other end of the court as play changed ends. It lasted until about 5 minutes remained in the first half. "I kind of enjoyed it for a play or two," ESPN2 analyst Dane Bradshaw said after the normal side angle resumed. Fitzgerald then called it the "Nick Saban camera angle," because it's the view Nick Saban has when he comes to a basketball game. The camera went back to the basket angle with about 2:30 left in the first half. That lasted for about a minute, but when they got the side angle back that time, they no longer had the score bug and showed a video of the game clock above the backboard. Alabama defeated Auburn 70-58. |
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