| Friday, March 26, 2021 |
| Mississippi State administers COVID vaccines on campus | |
 | As all Mississippi adults become eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations per Gov. Tate Reeves' announcement last week, Mississippi State University is now offering vaccines to every faculty and staff member, as well as some students. The university began administering Pfizer vaccines March 16 at its on-campus vaccination site. MSU Chief Communications Officer Sid Salter said most of the first allotment of vaccines the university has obtained went to employees, while 170 doses of the vaccine were made available Wednesday to the first students who made appointments. The rest of the student population will have access to the expected second allotment of vaccines, Salter said. "When we receive the second allotment -- we don't know when that will be -- then we can make it available to all adults, including students," Salter said. Department of Communication Professor Pete Smith Jr. said from a faculty standpoint, he believes vaccinations are the only way the university is going to return to any sense of normalcy. He said he got his vaccine at the health center because of the convenience of receiving it on campus instead of an off-campus vaccination site. "It was a breeze," Smith said. "They were so helpful and patient and took time to explain things. They made it very easy to get the vaccine." |
| MSU Faculty Bring Bingocize to Local Nursing Facilities | |
 | Mississippi State University kinesiology faculty members Zhujun Panare, Chih Chia Chen, John Lamberth and Ashley White recently brought a project to the university called "Bingocize," which aims to help residents in 24 Mississippi-certified nursing facilities to increase their activity and social engagement. Medicare and Medicaid donated $360,928 to the university's kinesiology faculty and students to aid 1,000 nursing home residents over the next three years. Bingocize combines physical exercise and the game of bingo over the course of two weekly sessions. A session begins with a group of CNF residents sitting at tables with individual bingo cards in a spacious area, a release from MSU says. Residents complete a series of gentle range-of-motion exercises, after which the program leader calls a bingo letter and number combination. The pattern of movement and bingo calls continue until a participant wins the game. Additional games allow for completion of the exercises while keeping the residents' interest. Jason Crandall, associate professor of exercise science and kinesiology and co-director of the Center for Applied Science in Health and Aging at Western Kentucky University, originally created the concept of Bingocize and implemented the program in nursing homes in his area with support from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. |
| Marco's Pizza locations to open in Starkville, Tupelo, Columbus | |
 | Two Marco's Pizza locations are opening this year in Starkville and Tupelo, respectively, followed later by another in Columbus. The franchise owner is Mark Clegg, who also owns the Wise Staffing office in Tupelo. He also bought the Baskin-Robbins stores in Tupelo a couple of years ago. "We're going to open the Tupelo store sometime in the fall, between Halloween and Thanksgiving," Clegg said. "We'll be opening in Starkville first, hopefully in July or August, then within 90 days, while we're doing the build-out in Starkville we'll begin building in Tupelo, that way we won't be opening two restaurants at the same time." In Starkville, the Marco's will be located near College Station in a leased space. In Tupelo the standalone store will be built next to Car Wash USA on West Main Street -- and across the street from Papa John's. Marco's Pizza was founded in 1978 near Toledo, Ohio by Italian immigrant Pasquale Giammarco, and today there are some 1,000 stores in 34 states. In Mississippi, stores are located in Corinth and Oxford. The menu includes pizza, pizza bowls, subs, salads and sides. |
| Counties, cities to get millions in new federal COVID recovery | |
| t's like Brewster's Millions for local government. When the American Recovery Act of 2021 was passed on March 11, it set aside hundreds of millions of dollars for the nation's counties and municipalities. But as it was with the 1985 movie, there are both stipulations on how it can be spent and a relatively narrow window for spending it. The four Golden Triangle counties will receive a combined $26.7 million from the latest round of COVID-19 relief. According to The National Association of Counties (NACO) database, which lists the funding for every county in the U.S., Lowndes County will receive $11,364,139, Oktibbeha County will receive $9,617,093, Clay County will receive $3,746,219 and Noxubee County will receive $2,020,313. As of this week, cities have yet to learn how much money will be flowing their way. Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill said from her understanding, the funds can be spent on COVID-19 related losses and unpaid CARES Act reimbursement claims. In Starkville alone, unpaid CARES claims amounted to about $200,000, she said. The funds also can be spent on infrastructure, broadband internet service and tourism, among other areas, she said. "I wouldn't want to speculate," she said. "Right now, we don't know what we will be getting or any real specifics on how it can be spent." |
| Candidate completed pre-trial intervention program to avoid drug conviction | |
| A candidate for Ward 5 alderman completed a pre-trial intervention program for three drug-related felony charges from 2014, Oktibbeha County Circuit Court records show. Brady Hindman, 28, is one of two candidates running in the April 6 Republican primary for the Ward 5 seat. He was indicted in August 2014 on three counts of selling marijuana. Records show that between Sept. 20 and Oct. 15, 2013, he allegedly sold marijuana to three different "undercover individuals" before Starkville police arrested him. Instead of facing conviction, Hindman entered a pre-trial intervention program, often an option for first-time non-violent offenders. He entered the program in February 2016 and upon completion in March 2017, the counts were dismissed. No conviction appears on his record, meaning the incident does not disqualify him from running for office. The arrest, however, remains on his record. In a phone interview with The Dispatch Wednesday, Hindman said "it definitely happened," adding that the incidents occurred during a "low point" in his life. In an email Hindman sent The Dispatch less than two hours later, he called the issue a "distraction tactic" but wanted to "set the record straight" for his supporters. |
| Ex-road foreman speaks out after indictment for stealing gas | |
| A former county road department foreman who is suing the county for wrongful termination and malicious prosecution now faces a felony embezzlement charge for allegedly stealing gas from the county while he was still an employee. Thomas H. Smith, 42, turned himself in to special agents with State Auditor Shad White's office this week, White announced in a press release Thursday. Smith was served indictment papers and a demand letter for $657.20, which the release said includes the amount of gas he embezzled between June and August 2019, plus interest and investigative expenses. On Feb. 1, Smith filed a lawsuit in circuit court against the county board of supervisors and Road Manager Fred "Hal" Baggett, alleging he was targeted for being a whistleblower in the department and that the county had not prosecuted others who were terminated for similar allegations. Smith maintains he never took county property for personal use, and he believes the new embezzlement charge is retaliation for his lawsuit. "I'd say two or three times I siphoned gas from the county truck, but it was to put it in the welder," Smith told The Dispatch in an interview Thursday, noting he was responsible for welding bridges in far-flung rural areas of the county. |
| No new deaths, 56 COVID-19 cases reported in four-county area | |
| Only 56 new cases were confirmed in the four-county area since March 19, according to the most recent data on MSDH's website. Lowndes County still leads the area in total case numbers with 6,214 confirmed cases reported since the pandemic began a year ago, an increase of 17 cases since March 19. There have been 143 deaths total. At 24 new cases, Oktibbeha County reported more new COVID cases than Lowndes, but still has fewer overall numbers with 4,508 cases. There have been 97 COVID deaths in the county since March 2020. Roughly 14 percent, or 6,732 Oktibbeha County residents, have been fully vaccinated, and 18,292 vaccine doses have been administered. Clay County saw only six new confirmed cases this week, bringing its total to 1,814. There have been 54 deaths in Clay County since the pandemic began. In Noxubee County, there were nine new cases of COVID-19 reported, bringing the county's total to 1,249. There have been 31 deaths from COVID-19 in the county. |
| Tornado outbreak rips across Deep South; at least 5 dead | |
 | Tornadoes and severe storms have torn through the Deep South, killing at least five people as strong winds splintered trees, wrecked homes and downed power lines. The tornado outbreak rolled into western Georgia early Friday. Meteorologists said one large, dangerous tornado moved through Newnan and surrounding communities in the Atlanta metro area. A day earlier, a sheriff in eastern Alabama said a tornado cut a diagonal line through his county, striking mostly rural areas. "Five people lost their lives and for those families, it will never be the same," Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade said at briefing Thursday evening. As many as eight tornadoes might have hit Alabama on Thursday, said John De Block, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham. Multiple twisters sprang from a "super cell" of storms that later moved into Georgia, he said. Authorities said one tornado carved up the ground for more than an hour Thursday, traveling roughly 100 miles across Alabama. Vast areas of Shelby County near Birmingham -- the state's biggest city -- were badly damaged. First lady Jill Biden postponed a trip to Birmingham and Jasper, Alabama, that she had planned for Friday because of the severe weather, her office said. |
| 'Airplanes torn apart like toys': Severe weather in the South leaves 5 dead in Alabama | |
 | After multiple tornadoes touched down in the South on Thursday -- killing five people in Alabama, knocking out power, destroying homes and downing trees across the region -- more severe thunderstorms could be coming this weekend. There is a "marginal risk of severe thunderstorms" Friday, in Georgia and the Carolinas as well as in parts of Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, the Great Plains and the Northeast, the National Weather Service said. But on Saturday, large hail, damaging wind and tornadoes are all possible in the Lower Mississippi Valley as "strong to severe storms" return to the region, forecasters said. Severe storms on Saturday are also possible in the Midwest, potentially bringing damaging wind and large hail, the weather service said. The South was already rocked with severe weather this week. Five people were killed Thursday in three different locations in Calhoun County, Alabama. Meanwhile, at least one person died in Mississippi on Wednesday when a tree fell into a mobile home in Wilkinson County. |
| Construction on new UPS facility coming this summer | |
| Construction could begin this summer on a new UPS distribution center in Mississippi's Madison County. United Parcel Service announced in October that it would build a $28.6 million development in the City of Ridgeland, creating 161 new high-paying jobs. "The construction contract has been awarded to Thrash Construction in Rankin County," said Joey Deason, executive director of the Madison County Economic Development Authority. "Construction is expected to begin in the first part of summer, depending on (the) weather." Officials with Thrash Commercial Contractors, in Brandon, declined to comment and referred all questions to UPS, which couldn't be reached for comment, WLBT-TV reported. The center will be located in the Highland Colony 220 Business Park. It will accommodate a fleet of more than 105 package delivery vehicles and serve as a "last mile package destination," the development authority said earlier. |
| Port of Gulfport names new CEO and Executive Director | |
| The Mississippi State Port Authority (MSPA) Board of Commissioners has named Jon Nass the new CEO and Executive Director of the Port of Gulfport, following a national search led by Tim McNamara, Head of Odgers Berndtson's Transportation and Infrastructure Practice in Washington, D.C. "After nearly an eight-month process, the MSPA Commission is very pleased to announce we have selected a new executive director to lead the Port of Gulfport team," said MSPA President E.J. Roberts. "Jon's extensive background includes port management, economic development, homeland security and policy advising, making him an ideal candidate to lead our State Port." Jon comes from the Maine Port Authority where he helped develop Northern New England's only container terminal and secured tens of millions of dollars in funding for port and rail infrastructure. He also led efforts on a public-private partnership to construct Maine's only publicly available climate-controlled storage, supporting the state's food and beverage industries. Jon's tentative start date at the Port of Gulfport is June 1, 2021. |
| Mississippi schools will soon be required to teach computer science | |
| Beginning in the 2024 school year, all Mississippi elementary, middle and high schools will be required to offer computer science courses. This week, Gov. Tate Reeves signed into law "The Mississippi Computer Science and Cyber Education Equality Act," which sets out a timeline for schools to incorporate the curriculum. The law, which the authors say will likely designate $1 million of new state funding for the curriculum, garnered bipartisan support in the Legislature and was backed by C Spire, which committed another $1 million to help schools with teacher training and implementation of the curriculum. Sen. Scott DeLano, a Republican from Biloxi, authored the Senate version of the bill and worked with his House counterpart Rep. Kevin Felsher, also a Republican from Biloxi, to ensure its passage. DeLano said he heard from businesses coming to Mississippi that are in need of workers trained in these skills. He and others are also in talks with other businesses in hopes of shoring up more support. The legislation also includes scholarships for teachers to be trained and receive computer science endorsements through Mississippi State University's Research and Curriculum Unit. |
| Does new Mississippi election deadline protect incumbent politicians? | |
| Mississippians wanting to run for public office will have less time to qualify for the ballot under legislation approved Wednesday by Gov. Tate Reeves. The new law cuts in half the period where candidates can submit paperwork -- such as a statement of intent, a petition signed by voters and fees -- to the Secretary of State's Office if they want their name on the August primary and November general election ballots. The deadline to qualify will now be Feb. 1, up from March 1 for most public offices. That gives potential candidates a month less to decide if they want to run and in some cases to gather the necessary signatures. The earlier deadline applies to all types of candidates, from governor and lieutenant governor to district attorneys, tax assessors and circuit clerks. The change recently drew criticism from conservative policy group Bigger Pie Forum, which argued the shorter filing period is designed to protect incumbent candidates. House Bill 1048, authored by Northeast Mississippi Rep. Jody Steverson, R-Ripley, quietly sailed through the Legislature in recent weeks with only a handful of votes in opposition. |
| Gov. Tate Reeves signs legislation making it easier for licensed workers moving to Mississippi | |
| Gov. Tate Reeves signed legislation Thursday that makes it easier for workers with occupational licenses from other states to start a new job in Mississippi. The new law says Mississippi must recognize licenses obtained in other states, with a few limitations. Proponents of the legislation -- authored by Rep. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven -- argue it will encourage more workers to move to Mississippi by removing an unnecessary hurdle. Currie gave the hypothetical example of a hairdresser from outside the state who wants to move to Mississippi, but is told by the Board of Cosmetology that perhaps they don't have enough schooling and need to take another course. "Most people just won't move here and this happens far too often," Currie wrote on Facebook earlier this month. "This bill just clears the way for people to move here and be able to go to work without being hassled." Mississippi is the first state in the South to pass such legislation, according to Empower Mississippi, a conservative policy think tank that lobbied for the measure. House Bill 1263 easily cleared both chambers in recent weeks with bipartisan support. |
| Law will allow new Mississippi residents to keep licenses | |
| A new law signed Thursday by Gov. Tate Reeves will allow people who move to Mississippi from out-of-state to maintain their professional licenses. House Bill 1263 requires licensing boards to issue occupational licenses for professions without new testing or classroom training if a person held a license in good standing from another state for at least one year. The new rule will take effect on July 1. Professions covered under this legislation include nursing and architecture. Licensing boards will also be required to issue licenses if a person has worked at least three years in a state that did not require a license for their occupation. Arizona became the first state in the nation to provide universal recognition of occupational licenses two years ago. Last year, Mississippi passed a similar law exclusively for military families. |
| Sales tax increase bill for Lee County jail still on life support in Legislature | |
| A bill that would allow the Lee County Board of Supervisors to seek voter approval for higher local sales tax won an initial Senate vote this week, but its chances of becoming law look bleak. The state Senate on Wednesday evening narrowly passed Senate Bill 3091, which would allow the Lee County supervisors to place a potential sales tax increase of 3/4 of a percent on the 2023 ballot for approval by voters. "We're voting to empower an elected board to offer to the people the ability to tax themselves for certain projects," said Sen. Chad McMahan, R-Guntown, the chair of the Senate Local and Private Committee. Then, on Thursday, Northeast Mississippi lawmaker Sen. Daniel Sparks, R-Belmont, entered a motion to reconsider. That motion must be defeated before the legislation can proceed to House -- where it will almost certainly die. Rep. Jerry Turner, R-Baldwyn, told the Daily Journal on Thursday that the chairman of the House Local and Private Committee --- Rep. Manly Barton, R-Moss Point -- will not bring the bill up for consideration. Most -- if not all -- of Lee County's House delegation have voiced skepticism about the legislation. |
| Despite federal law, many domestic abusers keep their guns in Mississippi | |
| Last year, 23-year-old Phoenicia Ratliff of Canton was kidnapped and shot by her ex-boyfriend before he turned the gun on himself. Just a week earlier, he had been arrested on domestic violence and stalking charges. Ratliff was one semester short of graduating from Jackson State University. She left behind a two-year-old little girl. "To know her was to love her," her mother Suzanne Ratliff said. "She was always smiling -- you never knew what was really going on with her because she smiled through everything." Her tragic case illustrates the reality of a startling statistic: that the presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide by 500%. And one national study on intimate partner homicides showed women are more likely to be murdered with a gun than all other means combined. In Mississippi, where gun laws don't mirror the prohibitions placed on domestic violence offenders in federal law, the statistic sounds a loud alarm bell. Under federal law, anyone convicted of a domestic violence crime, whether a misdemeanor or felony, is not allowed to purchase or possess a firearm. The same goes for anyone with a domestic abuse protection order (a specific type of restraining order) against them. Thirty states and the District of Columbia have their own laws mirroring these federal prohibitions, but Mississippi does not. |
| Health centers receive $77.5 million to care for underserved | |
| Twenty community health centers in Mississippi will receive around $77.5 million in April to support COVID-19 vaccination and other services for vulnerable populations, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday. Community health centers receive federal funding to serve communities designated as medically underserved areas, with fees adjusted based on ability to pay. State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs has said that they have been integral in getting the state's Black residents vaccinated during the coronavirus pandemic. Health centers serve one in five people living in rural communities, and one in 11 people nationwide, according to data provided by the U.S. government. More than 91% of health center patients are individuals or families living at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, and nearly 63% are racial or ethnic minorities. In addition to coronavirus vaccinations and testing, health centers will be able to use the federal funds to deliver preventive and primary health care services to those at higher risk for the virus and for infrastructure upgrades. |
| 'We can do better': Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith's Sunday voting comments spark controversy | |
| As Congress weighs election reforms that could impact the country, one Mississippi Senator's comments are making headlines. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had raised concerns about Georgia Republicans' attempts to end early voting on Sundays. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith's comments have kicked up a lot of dust. Unlike Mississippi, Georgia has early voting and the Sunday option is often used by black churchgoers for Souls to the Polls events. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith made it a point to defend recent attempts to do away with Sunday voting. "I cannot speak for Georgia but I can speak for Mississippi on why we would never do that on a Sunday or hold an election on a Sunday," said Hyde-Smith Wednesday. "You know, this is our currency. This is a dollar bill. This says the United States of America, In God We Trust." Hyde-Smith continued with examples... ending with this statement. "In God's word, in Exodus 20:18, it says, 'Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.' So that is my response to Senator Schumer," added Hyde-Smith. The video of those comments was quickly shared to social media with folks from all over weighing in, with many pointing out that the actual Bible verse the senator meant to quote was Exodus 20:8. Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Tyree Irving said it was ridiculous. "It makes us look like the laughingstock of the country, that is this the best that you can do Mississippi? And I know we can do better," said Irving. "I would've expected it to go viral, quite frankly." |
| Immigrant agricultural workers sue Mississippi farm owner for visa fraud, unpaid wages | |
| Two South African immigrants are suing a Mississippi farmer over an alleged bait-and-switch scheme where they were recruited for falsely advertised agricultural jobs and then paid less than the federal minimum wage for their work. Plaintiffs Dennis Appel and Christopher Boshoff were recruited in South Africa to migrate to Mississippi for jobs operating farm machinery on Kyle Mills' farm in Winona. The pair allege that when they arrived in 2019, Mills instead made them work an average of 95 hours a week driving tractor-trailer trucks, delivering grain and fertilizer to farms across the Southeast. Mills told the federal government that his business needed temporary foreign farm workers because he could not find U.S. workers to take the job. The suit alleges that he had no intention of hiring U.S. workers, but instead wanted foreign workers to drive for his trucking company so he could pay them significantly lower wages. Mills paid the two plaintiffs $11.33 an hour -- the hourly wage rate set by the federal government under the H-2A visa program for agricultural work -- and not the $18.25 paid to local truck drivers. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Greenville, alleges that Mills obtained Appel's and Boshoff's visas under false pretenses and violated federal minimum wage laws by paying them 40% less than the minimum wage for truck driving. |
| Biden Administration Ramps Up Debt Relief Program to Help Black Farmers | |
 | The Biden administration, which has made combating racism a centerpiece of its agenda, is pledging to reverse decades of discriminatory agricultural lending and subsidy policies that have left Black farmers at an economic disadvantage and is racing to deploy $5 billion in aid and debt relief to help them. At the center of this initiative is the Agriculture Department, an agency that has long been derided by Black farmers as the United States' "last plantation." Now the department is in the middle of a drastic overhaul, both of its personnel and of policies that it acknowledges have perpetuated inequality in rural America for years. On Thursday, President Biden's agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, said that he would work to root out the vestiges of racism at his agency and to redress "systemic discrimination" that Black farmers had faced. "Let me be clear: There is no place in the U.S.D.A. for discrimination -- none," Mr. Vilsack said of his department during a congressional hearing. The $1.9 trillion economic relief package that passed this month includes more than $9 billion to help farmers. A driving force behind the provisions for minority farmers was Raphael Warnock, the Democratic senator from Georgia whose election in January helped give Democrats control of the chamber. |
| House panel leader vows end to 'racial discrimination' at USDA | |
 | Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told the House Agriculture Committee his department "will over the next four years do everything we can to root out whatever systemic racism and barriers" kept Black and other minority farmers out of programs that helped other farmers prosper. Vilsack led a panel of witnesses Thursday at what Chairman David Scott, D-Ga., called a historic hearing "to find justice for our Black farmers" on the cumulative effects of decades of discrimination that limited their access to credit and programs. Scott said those programs helped many white farmers stay in business and expand their operations. Ranking member Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., said he thought the virtual hearing allowed the committee to have "a conversation that was long overdue." In essence, Scott said, many Black farmers lost their land or stayed small, losing the opportunity to build generational wealth. He said he is working on legislation that will "end racial discrimination in the United States Department of Agriculture and the wonderful world of agriculture. This is doing God's work." Scott and Vilsack said the Agriculture Department has made progress in addressing specific acts of discrimination. But Vilsack said more must be done to dig deeper to address systemic discrimination and win the trust of Black farmers. |
| MAGA World says Joe Biden's lost it. Republican senators disagree. | |
 | For former President Donald Trump's GOP allies, President Joe Biden's recent stumble on the Air Force One stairs was a sign of bigger problems. But Republican senators who've met with Biden say the 78-year-old president is just fine, with one describing him as "sharp as a tack." Biden's fitness for office, a longtime fixation among conservatives, is dominating conversations on the right as Trump openly sows doubts about the health of the man who defeated him. One Republican senator recently texted an acquaintance his private suspicions that Biden, the oldest president in history, is mentally unwell. In on-the-record interviews, however, seven GOP senators who've met with Biden lately described him as cogent and well-versed on the issues they discussed. And none echoed the warnings many pro-Trump Republicans have issued about Biden amid the chatter about his stair-stepping acumen. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a medical doctor, said Biden "listened very attentively and appropriately" during their recent in-person meeting. Asked whether he disagrees with the assessment of some fellow Republicans airing more worries, Cassidy replied: "I just comment on what I see." |
| 'Nothing subtle about a bullet': Supreme Court says police 'seizure' includes shots fired at fleeing suspect | |
| A divided Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that police can find themselves on the wrong side of the Fourth Amendment when they shoot at a fleeing suspect. The 5-3 decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, stems from a 2014 incident in Albuquerque in which New Mexico State Police attempted to arrest a woman for white collar crimes. As the officers tried to enter Roxanne Torres' car, she sped off, later claiming that she thought the police were criminals attempting a car jacking. As she drove away, the officers fired 13 shots, striking Torres twice in the back and temporarily paralyzing her left arm. She drove 75 miles to a hospital, but was ultimately airlifted to a hospital back in Albuquerque, where she was arrested the next day. Roberts, joined by the court's liberal wing as well as Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, wrote that the physical force used by police represented a "seizure" under the Fourth Amendment even if the bullets failed to stop Torres. The opinion represents an expansion of Fourth Amendment protections at a time when the nation is wrestling with police use of force and split-second decisions made by law enforcement officers. |
| Sweeping changes to Georgia elections signed into law | |
| Gov. Brian Kemp quickly signed a vast rewrite of Georgia's election rules into law Thursday, imposing voter ID requirements, limiting drop boxes and allowing state takeovers of local elections after last year's close presidential race. Kemp finalized the bill just over an hour after it cleared the General Assembly, leaving no doubt about its fate amid public pressure against voting restrictions. Republican lawmakers pushed the legislation through both the House and Senate over the objections of Democratic lawmakers. The legislation passed along party lines in both chambers, with votes of 34-20 in the Senate and 100-75 in the House. Protesters outside the Capitol said the bill will disenfranchise voters, calling it "Jim Crow 2.0." State Rep. Park Cannon, D-Atlanta, was arrested by state troopers after knocking on Kemp's office door to try to witness the bill signing. The governor briefly interrupted his prepared remarks as Cannon was forcibly removed from the building by officers. The election overhaul in a state with a history of voting rights struggles came after the first victory in Georgia by a Democrat in a presidential election since 1992. Then in January, Democrats won two runoffs for the U.S. Senate, giving them control of the chamber. |
| Misleading Facts Fuel COVID-19 Misinformation, Evade Social Media Moderation | |
 | The odds of dying after getting a COVID-19 vaccine are virtually nonexistent. According to recent data from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, you're three times more likely to get struck by lightning. But you might not know that from looking at your social media feed. A new NPR analysis finds that articles connecting vaccines and death have been among the most highly engaged with content online this year, going viral in a way that could hinder people's ability to judge the true risk in getting a shot. The findings also illustrate a broader trend in online misinformation: With social media platforms making more of an effort to take down patently false health claims, bad actors are turning to cherry-picked truths to drive misleading narratives. Experts say these storylines are much harder for companies to moderate, though they can have the same net effect of creating a distorted and false view of the world. "It's a really insidious problem," said Deen Freelon, a communications professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "The social media companies have taken a hard line against disinformation; they have not taken a similarly hard line against fallacies." |
| Madison County residents among UMMC students getting residencies | |
| For Mariam Ebeid of Ridgeland, a future medicine-pediatrics trainee at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, last Friday provided a moment of "overwhelming emotions" when she opened the email from her "No. 1 choice": UMMC. For Jamelle Johnson, a fourth-year medical student at the UMMC, a long stretch of troubled sleep ended last Friday with an email from Ohio. The cure for her bouts of insomnia -- interrupted only by "nightmares" -- was a message from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center welcoming the fourth-year medical student as an imminent trainee in neurology. "I was ecstatic when I read it; there were tears of joy," said Johnson of Aberdeen, one of around 135 School of Medicine students at the University of Mississippi Medical Center who learned at about the same time and in the same manner where they had "matched" for their residency training. The occasion was, officially, the Match Day for the 2021 National Resident Matching Program Main Residency Match. As she does each year, the vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine at UMMC urged the graduating students to keep Mississippi in mind once they complete their residency training, no matter how far afield that may be. "And, spoiler alert, I'm going to say the same thing on graduation day," Dr. LouAnn Woodward said. |
| UM cancelled spring break. Students are traveling anyway. | |
 | Though the university canceled spring break this year as a safety precaution, many students are still planning to travel this month. Adeline Dunn, a junior communication sciences and disorders major, decided to take her break from school a few weeks ago. "I went home to visit after the snowstorm just because I felt so drained emotionally and mentally from school and all the restrictions due to COVID," Dunn said. Dunn's parents are the ones who encouraged her to make a trip home for a few days so she could get refreshed, but since there was no scheduled break from school when she took her trip, she had to miss a few classes. In addition to cancellations, administrators shortened the semester to avoid students traveling to high-traffic cities and returning to Oxford after being exposed to COVID-19. This semester, classes will end in April this year instead of May. Though many students still want to travel, some faculty said shortening the semester was a good decision. "I think the decision to skip spring break and shorten the end of the semester was the right one," Tibor Torma, director of Kennon Observatory, said. "The biggest reason for the COVID-19 disaster this January was surely people traveling, and a large part of that was college students taking the Christmas break." |
| Breaking Barriers: USM professor Sarah Lee co-founds nonprofit to help low-income tech students | |
| Over the course of her career, University of Southern Mississippi Professor Sarah Lee watched in dismay as low-income students struggled to complete their technology degrees. In 2019, she joined forces with two colleagues to create the Last Mile Education Fund, a unique nonprofit organization designed to give low-income students the financial boost needed to achieve their goals. Lee serves as director of USM's School of Computing Sciences & Computer Engineering, a position she has held since August of last year. She co-founded the Last Mile Education Fund with Ruthe Farmer, who serves as the fund's CEO, and Rian Walker, assistant vice president and information security analyst for Bank of America. Thanks to the trio's diligent efforts, the Last Mile Education Fund has been named one of 10 finalists (out of more than 550 applications) in the prestigious Equality Can't Wait Challenge. Last Mile boosts workplace diversity by ensuring that low-income students pursuing technology degrees can make it to graduation day and launch into the workforce. Lee brought that program to USM after joining the faculty last August. |
| Professors team up to write new kind of chem textbook | |
| Two chemistry professors from William Carey University and the University of Southern Mississippi have teamed up to write a new kind of textbook, "Guided Inquiry for General Chemistry." Co-author Mary Mackey is an assistant professor of chemistry and physical science in the WCU School of Natural and Behavioral Sciences. J. Hugh Broome is an assistant teaching professor of chemistry in the USM School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. "Guided Inquiry for General Chemistry" gives students working together in classroom settings an interactive introduction to key concepts in chemistry. "There has been a recent evolution in chemistry teaching using the 'POGIL' method, which stands for Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning. The focus is small group work facilitated by an instructor, and there are several texts available," Mackey said. "However, we found that these texts often did not give students enough information to be used on their own. We decided to write a text that tries to be the best of both worlds. It combines small group work and practice with just enough information -- less than a textbook, more than a worksheet -- to help students apply concepts and work problems." |
| Jackson State Alumni Association of Hattiesburg to host scholarship fundraiser | |
 | The Hattiesburg chapter of the Jackson State University Alumni Association will be hosting its 30th annual Talent Fashion Exhibition and Scholarship Fundraiser on Sunday. The theme for this year will be "Moving forward." The program will be filled with local talent performances and a special guest appearance from the Jackson State President Thomas Hudson. The association is also setting the bar even higher this year, with goals of raising a total of $15,000. "Over these past three decades, we have supported numerous students from the area who are furthering their educated at Jackson State University," said Dr. Kesia Pope, the association's chapter president. "Currently, we have about 15 students receiving financial support. We support education at Jackson State University." The students receive financial support throughout the duration of their time at Jackson State. The scholarship is open to any high school seniors in the area who are planning to attend Jackson State in the fall. |
| King Alexander's accusations lead to review of LSU accreditation | |
| In the wake of F. King Alexander's disparaging comments March 17 to the Oregon State University Board of Trustees about undue influence by the LSU Board of Supervisors into LSU's athletics program while he was president at LSU from 2013 to 2019, the organization that accredits LSU has launched its own investigation into the matter. The president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, Belle Wheelan, told The Chronicle of Higher Education on March 18 that Alexander's allegations "once brought to the agency's attention, automatically triggered an investigation under the agency's "unsolicited information' policy." The Chronicle adds that LSU will have to document that the university is in compliance with accreditation standards. Theoretically, the university could be sanctioned if it cannot demonstrate compliance. A spokesperson for SACSCOC tells Daily Report that compliance issues vary among institutions and that colleges and universities report their compliance in different ways, so there is no single set of standards that will be used to determine whether board members were trying to usurp the 'ultimate responsibility and appropriate control that was supposed to rest with Alexander. "We have standards but it's hard for us to be able to answer the questions in a neat little bow," SACSCOC spokesperson Janea Johnson says. "One institution can show compliance in one way; another would show it in another way." |
| LSU suspends Kappa Sigma fraternity over hazing, violations of COVID protocol | |
 | The LSU chapter of Kappa Sigma has been suspended by the university over allegations that the fraternity served alcohol to minors, disregarded COVID-19 restrictions and hazed its pledges. The fraternity had been placed on an interim suspension Jan. 15 for multiple violations of the LSU Code of Student Conduct, according to a letter sent to Kappa Sigma on Wednesday. The violations included its hosting an off-campus party for about 300 people at a member's house last fall, and the "alcohol medical transport of a student" from a chapter party during rush week. Jonathan Sanders, associate dean for student advocacy and accountability, said in the letter that, while drafting a corrective plan for the fraternity, LSU discovered additional violations: three violations of COVID-19 protocols during a three-day event in Houston, two allegations of hazing and an unapproved party in the fall where alcohol was available to underage students. The hazing included allegations of sleep deprivation among pledges. At the unapproved party, it's alleged that pledges served as bartenders. LSU's Kappa Sigma chapter did not respond to requests for comment as of Thursday evening |
| LSU opens Early Childhood Education Institute; 'A call to action' | |
| LSU officials on Thursday held a virtual ribbon cutting ceremony for the school's new Early Childhood Education Institute. Cynthia DiCarlo, director, said the institute will serve as a clearinghouse to bring together early childhood research, get information into the hands of those working with young children and serve as an advocate to policymakers on what practices work. The focus will be on birth to age 3, crucial ages that DiCarlo said are under appreciated and under researched. "The ECE Institute is really a call to action," she said. Early childhood education is gaining increasing attention in the Legislature. Gov. John Bel Edwards, whose proposed $36 billion operating budget does not include an increase for early learners, said he plans to include one if state officials recognize more revenue in May. The institute is part of the LSU College of Human Sciences & Education. "We are change makers," said Roland Mitchell, dean of the college. |
| Georgia colleges to increase access to vaccine for students | |
| Many of the state's largest public universities said they're planning to increase access to the COVID-19 vaccines after Gov. Brian Kemp announced he's directing the state to expand vaccine eligibility to all adult Georgians as of Thursday. Kemp's plan allows several million Georgians to now get shots, particularly college students who didn't meet one of the health conditions that were included in the eligibility list. About 340,000 students attend the University System of Georgia's 26 schools. Some students and faculty complained at the start of the fall semester that the University System and its schools didn't provide enough COVID-19 tests on many of its campuses. The larger universities offered more testing than the smaller ones, in some cases creating their own tests. The University of Georgia said it is currently able to provide at least 1,000 shots a day, depending on supply. University officials sent a message to students and employees Wednesday saying they'll begin inviting various groups, those who have comorbidities first, to set up appointments. |
| UGA's sports media program establishes institute creating a 'distinct brand' | |
 | The University of Georgia's sports media program, which was born from a Conrad Fink suggestion and has groomed more than 100 students for careers in sports journalism, is expanding. What is currently known as Grady Sports Media will now be the John Huland Carmical Sports Media Institute, which was announced to students, faculty and alumni by program director Vicki Michaelis, whose job title is also named for Carmical. The institute will provide a "home base" for sports media at UGA, giving faculty and students office space and a "flex studio" for podcasting and other activities on the fourth floor of the journalism building. That home base, as well as the creation of a brand for sports media at UGA, are key elements of the expansion, Michaelis said. However, the expansion will offer more than just branding and office space. The new institute will offer students funding for lodging and travel when completing internships, open up study abroad opportunities and will be the academic unit that administers the Grady Sports Media Certificate. |
| 'Be One UT': Randy Boyd outlines new vision for University of Tennessee System | |
 | For University of Tennessee System President Randy Boyd, the pandemic challenges last year refined his greater vision for the UT System. Just over one year ago, UT campuses suddenly moved all classes online to finish the spring 2020 semester virtually as the pandemic spread around the globe. Since then, as COVID-19 sustained its grip, some classes have remained online, with limited in-person classes and events throughout the UT System. "The pandemic may have kept us physically apart -- masked up, social distanced, and often connected virtually rather than in person -- but it hasn't changed who we are or what we want to be," Boyd said. "In recent months, we've set out to reiterate our mission in a fresh, new way." As the vaccine rolls out, optimism is settling in. Boyd and other UT administrators have created an acronym to guide the university, Boyd announced during his annual State of the University address on Friday morning. One of the ways Boyd hopes to live out that vision by being "bold and impactful" is adding a fourth undergraduate campus to the System. It would be the first university added to the UT System in over 50 years, after UT Chattanooga was added in 1969. |
| U. of Florida will start vaccinating students over 18 for COVID-19 on April 5 | |
 | Hey students: All adults 18 and older can get the COVID-19 vaccine starting April 5, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday. The University of Florida will be ramping up its vaccination capacity to accommodate an expected influx of eager young adults, Dr. Michael Lauzardo, deputy director of UF's Emerging Pathogens Institute, said in a news conference Thursday afternoon following the Governor's statement. If you do attend UF, two weeks after your final dose, you will no longer have to do biweekly COVID-19 testing to be cleared for campus. You will also not have to quarantine if exposed to the virus, Lauzardo said. Students will still have to wear masks and socially distance on campus as required by current university policies. "Now the restrictions are 18 and older, human and breathing ... with that we can really make some good headway," he said. "We are kind of just going to get everyone." The doctor said UF has plans for mass vaccination student events, like the one held for seniors at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in February. More details will be released in the coming week, including specific instructions for UF students and faculty. |
| U. of Missouri faculty members upset about use of data in promotion and tenure | |
 | Some University of Missouri faculty members on Wednesday complained about the use of data and information from Academic Analytics in decisions on promotion and tenure of faculty. Mun Choi, MU chancellor and UM System president, and MU Provost Latha Ramchand were the targets of the criticism. The venue was the Spring General Faculty Meeting on Zoom. There were 225 participants at one point during the meeting. Academic Analytics is a company that compiles information about journal articles, citations and other data for universities. "I have concerns about using Academic Analytics data for promotion and tenure decisions," said faculty member Stephen Karian. "This is a radical break with previous practice." The contract with the company this year costs $512,800, and the university will pay $527,000 next year, said MU spokesman Christian Basi. The contract expires Dec. 31, 2022. It serves all four system campuses. Faculty members don't have access to their own information, Karian said, which violates core principles of transparency and equity. The company also doesn't list promotion and tenure as one of the recommended uses of its data, he said. |
| Colleges Want Congress to Double Aid to Low-Income Students | |
| College lobby groups launched a campaign on Thursday for lawmakers to double the total value of grants to low-income students. Pell Grants once covered two-thirds of the total cost of a four-year college, but rising college costs have eroded the value of the grant. The maximum Pell award -- $6,345 this academic year -- covers less than a third of the cost of the typical four-year school. Lobby groups representing four-year state institutions, private colleges, and community colleges who often find themselves at odds over legislation have lined up behind the proposal. More than 1,000 schools and student advocacy organizations have signed onto the demand, which they're making ahead of another major stimulus package. "It's our top legislative priority," said Jon Fansmith, director of government relations at the American Council on Education, the chief lobby group for colleges. Supporters say they're open to any vehicle to doubling the grants, but timing the campaign ahead of the stimulus talks. Higher education enrollment has plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic, driven mostly by lower numbers of low-income students and Black students who qualify for Pell Grants. |
| NASPA apologizes for 'insulting and insensitive' Suze Orman keynote | |
 | NASPA, one of the nation's top professional associations for student affairs professionals, issued a lengthy apology Thursday for an "insulting and insensitive" speech by financial expert and television host Suze Orman, which drew immediate criticism from those attending the organization's virtual conference. Orman was the keynote speaker Wednesday at NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education's 2021 annual conference. Her advice to attendees for improving their financial literacy was quickly and widely condemned on Twitter for being tone-deaf, uninformed and out of touch with the current socioeconomic climate. Those who watched Orman's address said her comments, meant to inspire student affairs workers to advocate for higher pay and boundaries in their jobs, focused on major personal obstacles to wealth -- "fear, shame and anger" -- without noting systemic barriers to wealth such as class, race or gender. Some observers said Orman equated "net worth" to "self-worth," which some felt was an insensitive way to frame the discussion of financial literacy with an audience made up of many entry-level student affairs professionals who are historically underpaid and heavily indebted with loans they used to finance their undergraduate and graduate degrees. |
| Rutgers Will Require Proof of Covid-19 Vaccination to Attend in the Fall | |
 | Rutgers University announced on Thursday that students must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to attend in the fall, becoming an early adopter of a policy that colleges everywhere are considering. The policy carves out exemptions for medical and religious reasons, and for students taking classes fully online. "From the onset of the pandemic, the safety of the broader Rutgers community has been our shared responsibility," wrote President Jonathan Holloway and other university leaders in a message to the campus. "This has never been more true. The importance of an effective vaccination program to make our community safer for all cannot be overstated." Vaccine advocates say colleges, which oversee tens of millions of students and employees, could play a key role in the U.S. vaccination effort. Colleges have been reluctant to announce their Covid-19 vaccination policies, with many citing uncertainty around the legal authority to mandate the vaccines while they are authorized only for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration. Experts expect the agency to approve the Covid-19 vaccines for regular use in the months ahead. |
| USC survivors say $1.1 billion in settlements is justice for sex abuse ignored | |
 | Some were born in China, some in the San Fernando Valley. Some started at USC as the Berlin Wall fell, some were there when Donald Trump was campaigning for president. They were white, Black, Latina and Asian. They were straight, gay, lesbian and bisexual. After USC, they became doctors, stay-at-home mothers, law enforcement officials, professors, accountants and lawyers. What united them is a sorority of shared trauma in harrowing experiences in the exam rooms of the university's student health clinic. On Thursday, USC announced that it would provide these former patients of gynecologist Dr. George Tyndall a total of more than $1.1 billion in compensation, the largest sex abuse payout in the history of American higher education. "I started shaking, I started crying," said Brennan Heil, a 2019 graduate, of learning the news from an alert on her phone. "It's like an indescribable feeling ... the fact that this is over ... that they have agreed, 'Yes, we did something wrong.'" Heil was among the final 710 accusers who settled lawsuits in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday for a total of $852 million, the largest share of USC's overall settlement commitment. Tyndall was the sole full-time gynecologist at USC's campus clinic for 27 years. For many in that generation of young women, he was their first gynecologist and they had little understanding of how his questions and physical exams deviated from the norm. |
| Duke investigating printout of George Floyd's toxicology report on Black History Month display | |
 | Matt Mohn, a freshman at Duke University, was walking past a Black History Month bulletin board in his dorm last weekend when he noticed something taped next to a photo of George Floyd. As he got closer, he realized it was a printout of Floyd's toxicology report from his autopsy. And on the sheet of paper was a handwritten note suggesting that Floyd was to blame when he died in Minneapolis police custody last spring after an officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. "Mix of drugs presents in difficulty breathing! Overdose? Good man? Use of fake currency is a felony!" read a note written in pink. Mohn, 19, said he was shocked by the printout, calling the incident, which was first reported by the Duke Chronicle, a "racist" attack. Now, school administrators and campus police are investigating the incident as a possible violation of the school's anti-harassment and discrimination policy, school administrators announced in an email to students this week. The school referred to the note as an "anonymous act of bias." Mohn, who is White, told The Post that the bulletin board had never been vandalized since a resident assistant put it up in February -- so he was surprised to see the note this weekend. He said the point of the addition was obvious. |
| What Can Universities Do to Combat Anti-Asian Racism? | |
| After a series of shootings at Asian spas killed eight people in Atlanta -- six of them Asian women -- the country is undergoing a reckoning with anti-Asian racism. Asian American faculty and staff say campuses have a role to play in this moment. "Universities are really critical, because young people are the base of the movement to fight racism," said Dr. Russel M. Jeung, chair of the Asian American studies department at San Francisco State University. He finds that college students are using their social media platforms to call attention to the issue and encourage their communities to report bias incidents. Jeung co-founded Stop AAPI Hate in March 2020, an initiative to track the uptick in anti-Asian harassment, discrimination and violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Victims reported 3,795 incidents between March 19, 2020 and February 28, 2021 – and that only reflects those who chose to report. People described being coughed and spat upon, kids shunned at school. And the mass shooting was "our greatest fear realized," Jeung said. "The underlying racism has long been there and has been stoked to be expressed in a range of ways." |
| Don't let good get in the way of best in education | |
| Angela Farmer, an assistant clinical professor in the Shackouls Honors College at Mississippi State University, writes: Given the disruption generated over COVID-19, schools around the world are struggling to recapture lost time, reteach where needed and validate learning concepts before they can make additional progress. While there is no perfect way to carry out these tasks, they are all essential to ensure that students are ready for the next steps in the learning continuum. It is also a key time to make certain that the vocabulary or tolerance does not lean toward "good enough." Whatever the grade a student was in when the pandemic impact was felt, it is critical that educators validate that effective learning transpired. Much like a construction model where the foundation is the most important part of the structure, learning is a collective and cumulative process where the end product will only be as excellent as the craftsmanship that created it. |
| Outdoor Trust Bill could go the way of referendum if Legislature doesn't act | |
 | Frank Corder writes for Y'all Politics: The Mississippi Legislature is tasked with handling the business of the people, tackling issues of importance that will both improve the State and the lives of Mississippians. When they cannot come together, what's left is the referendum process whereby the people move an issue forward the politicians refuse to embrace. That is what occurred with medical marijuana. The Legislature knew full well the will of the people was there to enact a controlled medical marijuana program. It had been discussed for years but was killed repeatedly. What resulted was a referendum that most legislators did not prefer as it did not address taxation, zoning and other public concerns in a conventional manner. Yet, the Legislature's failure to address the issue resulted in a ballot initiative that cut them out of the process. That very well may be what occurs with the Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund idea if lawmakers cannot come together. As of this printing, conferees have not been appointed by the state Senate. The Mississippi Outdoor Stewardship Coalition is an entity organized and composed of Delta Council, Delta Wildlife, Ducks Unlimited, Foundation for Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, The Nature Conservancy of Mississippi, and Wildlife Mississippi. The Coalition's statewide polling data shows a baseline of 75% of Mississippians support a sales tax diversion for conservation funding derived from the sale of outdoor sporting goods. |
SPORTS
| Diamond Dawg Gameday: host Arkansas | |
| Competition in the Southeastern Conference is always stiff and on Friday (March 26), the No. 2 Mississippi State baseball program will open a three-game series with No. 1 Arkansas at Dudy Noble Field. The series opener is slated for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch. Saturday's game will feature the second installment of the Ron Polk Ring of Honor, as Eric DuBose, Paul E. Gregory and Bobby Thigpen will be inducted into the fraternity in a pregame ceremony. In the history of the Baseball America Top 25, the week six matchup between the Diamond Dawgs (17-4, 2-1 SEC) and the Razorbacks (16-3, 2-1 SEC) will mark just the 14th time the top two spots in the poll meet during the regular season. Over the last four occurrences, three of those have included SEC teams. Mississippi State enters the weekend with 10 wins in its last 11 contests, including an SEC-opening series victory over No. 10 LSU. The pitching staff continues to set the tone, ranking among the national leaders in shutouts (No. 1; 5), total strikeouts (No. 1; 274), ERA (No. 2; 2.30), hits per nine innings (No. 3; 5.65) and WHIP (No. 3; 1.00). |
| Mississippi State, Arkansas meet for Top 3 showdown this weekend | |
| Mississippi State head baseball coach Chris Lemonis is making a slight change to his weekend rotation. No. 3-ranked Mississippi State (17-4, 2-1 SEC) continues SEC play this weekend and hosts No. 2 Arkansas (16-3, 2-1) in a three-games series at Dudy Noble Field. And with the highly touted series here, Lemonis announced that true freshman Jackson Fristoe will start the Sunday afternoon game. Fristoe has started four games this year in non-conference play and has a 2-1 record with a 1.74 ERA. Christian MacLeod (2-1, 1.74) and Will Bednar (1-0, 0.00) will continue to start on Friday and Saturday. "We are excited about this weekend," Lemonis said following Wednesday's 18-1 win against North Alabama. "They're obviously very talented and well coached. It'll be a great matchup all weekend. ... It's two of the top programs in the country and the last couple of years we've really gone head-to-head and been in Omaha together. I think there's a lot of respect for both programs." Lemonis plugged Fristoe back into the starting rotation after starting Eric Cerantola in last Sunday's loss to LSU. |
| Hogs, Dogs finally meet in heavyweight bout | |
| The No. 2 Arkansas Razorbacks boarded a plane and actually flew to the Golden Triangle Airport between Columbus and Starkville, Miss., on Thursday. That's opposed to last March 12, when the Razorbacks were just about to head out for their SEC-opening baseball series at Mississippi State when the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to their travel plans and then their season. Last year's matchup promised to be meaningful. The series that starts tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Dudy Noble Field looks to be a clash of titans. Arkansas (16-3, 2-1) held on to a prime ranking this week even after losing three games in a row. No. 4 Mississippi State (17-4, 2-1) opened league play by winning two of three games at LSU last weekend. State and school officials have given the Bulldogs clearance to a step up in attendance to around 8,000, just more than half capacity, though covid-19 and mask-wearing measures are still in place. "We know what we're headed into," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "We're headed into a place that has a great baseball team. But not only that, I think they get to have [closer to] full capacity. ... It'll definitely be a challenge." Said Mississippi State Coach Chris Lemonis, "I just think it's two of the top programs in the country. The last couple of years we've gone head to head, been in Omaha [at the College World Series] together. I think there's a lot of respect for both programs." |
| D.J. Stewart leads Mississippi State into NIT final four | |
| D.J. Stewart wasn't ready for his season to end yet. The Mississippi State sophomore hit a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left to lead the Bulldogs over Richmond, 68-67, in the NIT quarterfinals on Thursday night. The Bulldogs (17-14) advance to the NIT semifinals and will face the winner of Western Kentucky and Louisiana Tech on Saturday. Richmond had the chance to go up three points with eight seconds left, but Andre Gustavson missed the front end of a 1-and-1 chance. Quinten Post then grabbed the rebound and passed the ball to Stewart, who dribbled back down the court and pulled up at 3-point range to give the Bulldogs the win. Stewart led Mississippi State with 22 points in the game, 17 of which came in the second half. Iverson Molinar added 18. The Bulldogs were without Tolu Smith, who missed the game due to contact tracing. Head coach Ben Howland said that Smith has tested negative for COVID. |
| D.J. Stewart's game-winning shot sends Bulldogs to NIT Final Four | |
| Mississippi State coach Ben Howland called it a gift from the almighty. D.J. Stewart just summed it up as a guy wanting to make a play. Whatever the case, an off-balance, semi awkward-looking shot in the final seconds of Thursday's NIT quarterfinal resulted in the standout guard becoming the hero Mississippi State needed in its 68-67 NIT victory over Richmond in Denton, Texas. Capitalizing off a miss by Richmond's Andre Gustavson on the front end of a one-and-one with 8 seconds remaining, MSU forward Quentin Post secured the rebound and went to work with the Bulldogs trailing by two. Post quickly threw a pass to Stewart, who caught the ball and dribbled six steps to the left side of the court beyond the arc. From the baseline, Howland screamed, "Shoot the three! Shoot the three!" "I was yelling at the top of my lungs hoping he'd hear me," Howland said. "We don't need a tie. We need the win." Pulling up for a shot that later required a slight adjustment of his angle after Richmond's Souleymane Koureissi put a hand in Stewart's face, the standout MSU guard heeded his coach's advice. "I chose to go for the win," Stewart said of the clutch shot. "It went through." |
| Mississippi State basketball beats Richmond in NIT on D.J. Stewart 3-pointer in final seconds | |
| Mississippi State doesn't want to go home. The No. 4 seed Bulldogs beat No. 2 seed Richmond 68-67 in the NIT quarterfinals on sophomore guard D.J. Stewart Jr. 3-pointer with less than three seconds remaining. Mississippi State (17-14) and Richmond (14-9) went back and forth all evening at UNT Coliseum in Denton, Texas. The game featured 16 lead changes and was tied eight times. Both teams were missing key contributors. Mississippi State played without redshirt sophomore forward Tolu Smith, the team's third-leading scorer. Richmond played without its top two point producers. Stewart and fellow sophomore guard Iverson Molinar combined for 40 points. Senior center Abdul Ado had eight points and 11 rebounds despite picking up his fourth foul with more than 10 minutes left. Mississippi State shot 50.0% from the field. Richmond shot 41.5%. Mississippi State out-rebounded Richmond 39-23. A 24-8 advantage for Richmond in points off turnovers almost took the game away from MSU, though. The Bulldogs had 18 turnovers to Richmond's seven. |
| Kalob Ledoux, Louisiana Tech offense outlast Western Kentucky, advance to NIT semifinal | |
| The season's rubber match belonged to Louisiana Tech. Facing Conference USA foe Western Kentucky for the third time, the No. 4 seeded Bulldogs (22-7) outlasted No. 3 Hilltoppers 72-65 in the National Invitational Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas. Tech advances to face No 4 Mississippi State (17-4) in the semifinals Saturday at 2 p.m. CT. The win marks Louisiana Tech's first semifinal postseason appearance since the 1986 NIT. It earned third place in that tournament, losing to Ohio State in the semis before beating Florida in the consolation game. "We got just enough stops," Bulldogs coach Eric Konkol said. "That's a very team we just played. It's down to just four of us in this tournament." Kalob Ledoux was recruited for his spot-up shot but in the last five games, the shooting guard hadn't made more than five field goals in a game. Ledoux matched that in the first half against Western Kentucky and led all scorers with 20 points on 7-11 shooting. Tech helped themselves in the win over Western Kentucky (21-8) by taking care of the basketball. But also by teammates finding open teammates who knocked down shots. |
| Eight Ranked Teams Join State at Old Waverly Collegiate Championship | |
| Mississippi State's men's golf program will welcome 13 teams to the beautiful par-72 Old Waverly Golf Course for its annual home event, the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship. The spring event made its return to the schedule after being cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bulldogs will host eight top-25 ranked programs including No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 10 Vanderbilt, No. 13 Georgia, No. 20 Texas Tech, No. 21 Tennessee, No. 22 Arkansas, No. 24 Alabama and No. 25 LSU. Also taking a shot at the title are Ole Miss, ETSU, Kansas State, Little Rock and Southern Miss. Garrett Johnson's 2020 campaign ended with a second-place finish at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate. Johnson had won the title at the tournament the previous year. Following the pandemic, the Kimberly, Alabama, native took advantage of the NCAA's eligibility relief to return this season. With the final home event of the senior's collegiate career ahead of him this weekend, he reflected on his time he spent as a Bulldog. "I think it's bittersweet," Johnson said. "We're very fortunate to have a place like Old Waverly to play at. You get one chance a year to defend your home turf, and that's our goal this week." |
| Struggling Mississippi State softball team hits the road to face SEC-leading Arkansas | |
| A brutal Southeastern Conference schedule isn't bound to give the struggling Mississippi State softball team a break anytime soon. After being swept at Nusz Park last weekend by No. 5 Florida to remain winless in conference play, the Bulldogs (15-11, 0-6 SEC) travel to No. 15 Arkansas (25-3, 6-0) for a three-game series from Friday to Sunday at Bogle Park in Fayetteville, Arkansas. First pitch Friday will be at 6 p.m., while Saturday's and Sunday's games both begin at 1 p.m. Mississippi State will be facing an Arkansas team that sits at the top of the SEC standings after sweeping No. 23 South Carolina and Ole Miss to begin SEC play. The Razorbacks lost a March 16 home midweek game to Liberty, dropping a 2-0 decision in 10 innings, but they've still won 24 of their past 25 games after starting the year 1-2. Arkansas dropped its Feb. 11 season opener 12-11 to No. 10 Oklahoma State at the Best on the Bayou Classic in Monroe, Louisiana. The Hogs then fell in the second game of a doubleheader against host McNeese State in the Cowgirl Classic on Feb. 20 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. But Arkansas has been hot ever since. |
| How painkillers made Southern Miss great Brett Favre suicidal during Super Bowl season in 1997 | |
| From an outsider's perspective, Brett Favre was on top of the world. The former Southern Miss quarterback was the NFL MVP in three straight seasons from 1995-97 and won the Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers in '97. Everything isn't always as it seems from the outside, though. Favre said on his podcast, "Bolling with Favre," he had been addicted to painkillers since 1994. He said he took some after a game against the Philadelphia Eagles that year and was hooked on them for years every day thereafter. "You start learning to manipulate the system, and you become very good at it," Favre said. "To a point where I was basically taking in two days a month's prescription, which is crazy. It became constant at the end of the '94 season." Favre went to a rehabilitation facility for 75 days in Topeka, Kansas, before the 1996 season. He said he was prescribed a non-addictive painkiller. He said he took 20 pills at once with intention of obtaining a buzz. Favre had eight pills left at the end of the season. He said he was as depressed as ever. He made a decision that changed his life at his home in Mississippi. "I said it's one of two things," Favre said. "I die, or I flush these pills down the toilet." |
| M-Braves, Shuckers betting on pent-up demand after lost season | |
| Like returning to visit a long-absent friend, fans of minor league baseball will flock to baseball parks in Pearl and Biloxi in early May for the first time since the close of the 2019 season. A raging coronavirus pandemic last spring forced cancellation of the entire 2020 season. The virus has not gone away and management of the Double-A Mississippi Braves and Biloxi Shuckers say they'll follow government recommendations as well as the guidance of state and local authorities to keep fans safe. The parent clubs, Atlanta Braves for Mississippi Braves and Milwaukee Brewers for the Biloxi Shuckers, will also set safety measures, the teams say. Play will resume, however, without two long-standing entities: The Southern League and the organization that governed the league and its players, Minor League Baseball. They have been replaced by a new boss, Major League Baseball, and a league designated simply as Double-A South. The M-Braves and Shuckers are resuming play through invitations from the Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers to be among 120 farm clubs affiliated with Major League teams. The new structure allows each MLB franchise to have four affiliated teams. Stadiums for each affiliate must meet standards set by MLB. |
| In a Back Room, LSU's Board Pushed for a Sports Shake-Up | |
| On a Monday night at Juban's, a creole restaurant in Baton Rouge, La., the particulars were written on a cocktail napkin and handed to F. King Alexander, who was then president of Louisiana State University, he recalls. Alexander had been summoned to the restaurant by members of the university's Board of Supervisors, who laid out their instructions: Fire Joe Alleva as athletics director and replace him with Scott Woodward, a Baton Rouge native and LSU alum who was, at the time, athletics director at Texas A&M University. One of the board members wrote Woodward's starting salary on a cocktail napkin, Alexander said. Alexander told the story of the meeting, which has not previously been reported, in a series of interviews with The Chronicle this week. Related events were corroborated by another source with knowledge of them, who asked not to be identified for fear of professional repercussions. Two members of Alexander's family --- his wife and his father -- confirmed that Alexander had told them of the meeting in the restaurant at the time. James M. Williams, who was chairman of the board at the time and attended the dinner, acknowledged that the board suggested that night that LSU replace Alleva with Woodward. But Williams strongly disputed the idea that Alexander had been given an ultimatum. |
| Sources: FBI Visits Baton Rouge as Will Wade, LSU Investigation Remains Active | |
| Although there have been no public developments for some time, the federal investigation of LSU men's basketball and coach Will Wade remains active, multiple sources told Sports Illustrated this week. FBI agents have been in Baton Rouge recently, sources said, continuing an investigation that dates back several years. The U.S. Department of Justice Southern District of New York's sweeping probe of college basketball corruption was announced in late September 2017. LSU and Wade were publicly implicated months later. A transcript of a wiretapped conversation between Wade and convicted middleman Christian Dawkins was read aloud at the first of two federal trials, in October 2018, in which the two discuss efforts to send prospect Balsa Koprivica to LSU. In March 2019, Yahoo Sports reported the contents of another wiretapped conversation between Wade and Dawkins, in which Wade discussed his "strong-ass offer" for guard Javonte Smart. That wiretap subsequently was aired in the March 2020 HBO Documentary, The Scheme. LSU spokesman Michael Bonnette told SI Thursday that the school is unaware of any recent FBI inquiries or presence in Baton Rouge. An NCAA investigation of LSU and Wade also is concurrently active. |
| NCAA hires law firm for gender-equity review after men's, women's tournament disparities | |
| After facing criticism for recently publicized disparities between its men's and women's basketball tournaments, the NCAA has hired a law firm to conduct an independent gender-equity review of its championships across all three divisions and for all sports, the NCAA announced Thursday. According to the news release, the NCAA has hired the New York-based firm Kaplan Hecker & Fink, "which has significant experience in Title IX and gender equity issues, to evaluate our practices and policies and provide recommendations on steps we can take to get better." On Saturday, the NCAA improved the women's weight-training facilities in San Antonio after pictures and video that circulated on social media revealed a stark contrast to what was provided at the Division I men's basketball tournament in the Indianapolis area. The backlash prompted a public apology from NCAA vice president for basketball Dan Gavitt. The NCAA also faced questions about differences in the so-called swag bags given to the men's and women's players, the food options available and the type of COVID-19 testing being done for both. Because the NCAA isn't a public institution, it's not subject to Title IX rules. |
| Jim Nantz stays at CBS with new deal | |
| Jim Nantz will remain at CBS Sports for many more years. The network's top announcer signed a new deal to stay at the network for an undisclosed number of years, according to both CBS Sports and Nantz's agent Sandy Montag. While CBS Sports and Montag confirmed the deal, both declined to provide specifics about it, including the contract's length or his new salary. Nantz's current deal, which is believed to pay him $6.5 million per year, was due to expire this spring. There was some speculation that Nantz could move to a different network, though insiders say that he was never close to leaving and did not engage in serious talks with other networks. During his 35-year run at CBS, Nantz has developed into the network's top voice on the NFL, golf including The Masters and college basketball. Nantz has been open about his desire to remain the voice of the Masters, specifically, for at least another decade. |
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