| Wednesday, January 3, 2024 |
| 11 Most Beloved Historic Theaters In The South | |
 | Gilded prosceniums and cherub-lined opera boxes, orchestra pits and Art Deco marquees -- the beauty of a historic theater is something magical, drawing emotions long before the curtain even rises. At the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th, the South was the belle of the ball when it came to seeing a live performance or an early film in these opulent auditoriums. Architects, like Emile Weil and John Eberson looked to Europe, Asia, and Africa for influence, carving Southern woods like cypress and oak with touches of global culture, from Spanish filigree patterns to Roman columns to Egyptian hieroglyphics. The fate of many playhouses and early cinemas is a sad one. As the popularity of film grew and the advent of the suburbs arrived, historic downtown theaters fell on hard times and into disrepair. Many were demolished. However, many were saved. In the last two decades, we've seen a sweeping trend in public and private fundraising to save these stunning buildings, and many are currently operating again as 501c3 endeavors. Here are some of the most beloved restored spaces around the South, including the MSU Riley Center in Meridian, Mississippi. |
| 'Incredibly meaningful' projects drive the success of Eupora-based architectural firm | |
 | It's an amazing small-town story with some amazing results. Belinda Stewart Architects is based in Eupora, a town of less than 2,000, and is now doing business from Maryland to Louisiana. Opened in 1990, the firm is a wholly woman-owned business with 23 employees and has received more than 100 design and distinguished preservation awards. They have worked on more than 600 historic structures and on local, state and federal projects. The owner and mastermind is Belinda Stewart, a Mississippi State University architect graduate, who has the motto, "There's Always A Way." She grew up on a farm near Walthall, which is four miles north of Eupora, and went to school in Eupora. "But I've always considered myself to be from Eupora as well," she says. "I left Mississippi right after college, but within five years I decided to come back and see if I could develop my company here in Eupora. I knew that I wanted to focus on preserving historic buildings, and on new buildings in historic communities, and I believed that could be done from a small town." Stewart says the secret to the success she's had is surrounding herself with wonderful people who have a passion for this kind of work, a heart for service and a love for the area. "We focus on projects that are incredibly meaningful and that make a significant difference in their community," she explained. |
| Starkville insurance agency earns national recognition for community impact | |
| A Mississippi-based insurance agency is among four agencies throughout the U.S. selected by Main Street America Insurance for its inaugural Community Impact Award. The agencies were selected because of their demonstrated action and leadership to support those most in need in their local area, said Main Street America Insurance officials. To be considered, nominees had to participate in initiatives, projects or programs that positively impacted the communities they serve. The winning agencies include Insurance Associates LLC of Starkville as well as Flathead Insurance in Montana, The Insurance Source in New Hampshire and Insurance Service Center Inc. in North Carolina. Each agency will receive a $1,000 donation to the nonprofit organization of their choosing. Insurance Associates LLC was selected for its work protecting victims of child abuse. A recent agency-organized fundraiser raised more than $75,000 for this vulnerable group. |
| Meridian looks to strip landmark status from old police station | |
 | The old Meridian Police Station could soon be demolished as state officials are set to consider stripping it of its historic landmark status. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History Board of Trustees will consider removal of the station's Mississippi Landmark Designation at its upcoming meeting on Jan. 19. If approved, the action will open up the property to demolition and other renovation efforts not allowed under historic preservation rules. The old Meridian Police Station was designed and built by Meridian native Chris Risher Sr., an architect well known for his modernist style. Constructed in 1977 the station is considered one of the most prominent modernism structures in the state and one of Risher's crowning achievements. The station was granted a Mississippi Landmark Designation by MDAH in 2015 due to its architectural significance. In an August 2021 letter to MDAH, then city Chief Administrative Officer Tim Miller explained the landmark status was pursued to meet requirements for funding that could be used to repair the station. Those repairs never materialized, however, and city officials have struggled to find a buyer willing to put in the time and money needed to preserve the structure. The building has sat unused since Meridian Police Department relocated to its current home on 22nd Avenue in 2013. In his letter, Miller said the building has since become an eyesore in the increasingly popular downtown area and is a problem the city needs to address. |
| End of the road for our old Mississippi license plate. Here's what you'll be seeing soon | |
 | Those "dirty" brown Mississippi license plates are on the way out after five years, and clean, new white plates are beginning to appear on cars and trucks across the state. The DOR commissioner's office confirmed Tuesday that the new plates are being issued when residents renew their registration in January. People on the Coast loved the plate that featured the Biloxi lighthouse. It was followed by a blue guitar plate that saluted the state's musical history. After people complained about the design of the brown plate, a contest was held to choose a design. From 400 entries, Leah Frances Eaton of Starkville had the winning design with her white plate with a magnolia -- the state flower -- in a black circle in the center of the plate. Drivers automatically receive this new plate in the mail when they renew their registration online or are provided when when they renew in person. Unless, that is, they choose to pay extra for one of the 150 "vanity" plates available in Mississippi. Many of the vanity plates provide funds for organizations, like the New Orleans Saints plate that benefits Infinity Science Center in Hancock County. There are specialty plates for coastal conservation, for hearses, for colleges. One of the newest is the "blackout" tag with white text on a black plate. A portion of the cost of renewing this tag goes to families of fallen police officers and firefighters. |
| Mississippi AG says 2 men on death row have no more legal recourse | |
 | Two Mississippi men, whose execution dates could be set in the near future, exhausted their legal remedies long ago, so the time has come for them to face their punishment, according to responses filed by Attorney General Lynn Fitch's office. The state is responding to recent petitions filed by Willie Jerome Manning and Robert Simon Jr., both of whom have been on death row since the 1990s. In November, Fitch asked the state Supreme Court to set execution dates for both men without responding to either man's open petition. Their attorneys sought -- and were granted -- delays until the attorney general's office filed responses for the court to consider. Fitch said in court documents that the petitions filed this year are mere attempts to delay their punishment. "Manning's barred and meritless petition is merely an attempt to create an impediment to setting his execution date," the attorney general's office wrote in its response. "Manning tries to distract the Court from applicable law barring his petition by painting a solemn picture of 'newly discovered evidence' showing his alleged innocence. The Court should see through his efforts to rewrite the factual history of this case." Manning was convicted of the 1994 murders of Mississippi State University students Tiffany Miller and Jon Steckler. However, Manning maintains his innocence. In the state's response, Fitch said the "new" evidence isn't new since it was brought forward in 2013 and Tobin's expert opinion is still the same. And the recanted statement Manning is attempting to reintroduce as evidence that he did not commit the murders was previously rejected in earlier court action. |
| Republican-led Mississippi Legislature begins 4-year term with new leadership in the House | |
 | The Republican-controlled Mississippi Legislature began its annual session Tuesday, as all members were sworn in for a four-year term and the House chose new leaders after the previous speaker chose not to seek reelection. Rep. Jason White of West secured promises of support from his Republican colleagues weeks ago to become the next House speaker, and he was elected Tuesday with bipartisan support. He succeeds Republican Philip Gunn of Clinton, who held the leadership post for the past 12 years. Addressing the House moments after taking his oath as speaker, White urged Republicans and Democrats to treat each other with dignity and respect. "Let's not focus on small things simply for the sake of scoring political points," White said. "Let's drill down to the big things. Let's make this time count." White was speaker pro tempore under Gunn, the second-highest leadership post in the 122-member House. Republican Rep. Manly Barton of Moss Point will be the new speaker pro tem. In that role, he will be a close adviser to White and will preside over the House when White is away. Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann returns for his second term presiding over the 52-member Senate. He and six other statewide officials will be inaugurated Thursday. |
| New Speaker Jason White touts Republican dominance as way to move Mississippi forward | |
 | Jason White was formally elected as Mississippi's Speaker of the House on Monday as the legislative session got underway. The representative from the Attala County in the Central Mississippi town of West takes the place of the retiring Philip Gunn of Clinton and told the house in accepting the position that Mississippi Republicans have the votes to take the state in any direction they want to take it. "Let's not focus on safe things in order to score political points," White said in his acceptance speech. "Let's make this time count. The folks who sent us here are counting on us to adhere to our campaign promises and hold fast in the ideas of limited government and individual freedom." In doing that White suggested that goals of the next four years will center around school choice and giving parents more freedom for curriculum. There has already been a push for some members in the legislature to move state and federal tax dollars to private schools, which would keep funds from public schools. On education, White quoted former Democratic Gov. William Winter by saying, "It's boat rocking time in Mississippi." He also suggested adding to Gov. Tate Reeves ideas of helping Mississippi with healthcare initiatives. |
| Newly-elected Speaker Jason White pleads with House colleagues to keep an open mind, work across political lines | |
| Republican Rep. Jason White of West won the election on Tuesday to become the new speaker of the House of Representatives, ushering in a new chapter of political power at the Mississippi State Capitol. The 122-member chamber unanimously elected White by acclamation, and he was the only person nominated for speaker. His election to one of the most powerful positions in state government was not a surprise, but it still represents a shift in legislative politics. "I look forward to working with all of you for the betterment of Mississippi," White said in a speech to the House on Tuesday. "Many of us here, we see things from very different perspectives, different viewpoints. But I also know we love this state and want to do what's best, what's right for her people." White, 50, was first elected to the House in 2011 as a Democrat, but he quickly switched to the Republican Party the following year. He represents portions of Attala, Carroll, Holmes and Leake counties and previously led the House Rules Committee and the House Management Committee. Rep. Robert Johnson III, a Democrat from Natchez who is expected to become the House Minority Leader, told Mississippi Today that he believes the Democratic caucus will have a good working relationship with White, though Johnson still has questions about some of White's policy proposals. "Jason has always been open and honest," Johnson said. "I'm encouraged, and I think we'll work well together." |
| Mississippi Senate gavels in, establishes new committee aimed at restructuring state government | |
| Mississippi's State Senate gaveled in Tuesday afternoon to start the 2024 session. Since it is the start of a new four-year term, members were sworn in, including seven new Senators. The chamber also reelected its leadership and established a new committee called Government Structure. The new Government Structure Committee will have seven members but they were not named on Tuesday. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann's office said the new committee will be independent from the other committees established in the previous term and will "focus on the restructuring and efficiency of the state's government." It was added as part of the rule changes, specifically to rule 36. Tuesday's session also saw seven new Senators take the Oath of Office with the remaining 45 members who are returning to the chamber after winning reelection in November. Members also nominated and named Amanda Frusha White as Secretary of the Senate. She previously served as the Assistant Secretary to the Senate. Sergeant at Arms Larry Waggoner, a former Mississippi Highway Patrol Lt. Colonel, was reappointed to the position. |
| Dean Kirby elected to second term as Senate's second-in-command | |
| Sen. Dean Kirby, a Republican from Pearl, will serve another four-year term as "the senators' senator." Kirby, who was first elected to the Senate in 1992, was selected unanimously Tuesday on the opening day of the 2024 session by the 52 members of the Mississippi Senate to serve as the Senate president pro tempore. His selection as the Senate's second-in-command was not a surprise, and he faced no opposition. Kirby, who is an insurance agent, has served the past four years in the post. The Senate pro-tem is a constitutionally created position, and second in the line of succession to the governor, behind the lieutenant governor but ahead of the speaker. "It is an honor to serve as pro-tem," Kirby said. "I appreciate the confidence other senators have placed in me. As you know, being elected pro-tem is to serve as the senators' senator. I have worked hard to try to be that. Maybe that is why I did not have any opposition." Kirby also said he has enjoyed working with Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, whom he referred to as "a workaholic" who makes his job easier. The lieutenant governor presides over the Senate. On Tuesday, Kirby was placed in nomination by fellow Rankin County senator, Republican Josh Harkins. His nomination was seconded by Democratic Sen. Hillman Frazier of Jackson and Republican Sen. Brice Wiggins of Pascagoula. |
| Mississippi Capitol closed after bomb threat on second day of legislative session | |
| Capitol staffers were being turned away from the building early Wednesday morning after a bomb threat, Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell confirmed to Mississippi Today. "It's likely nothing, but we are going through our normal protocols," Tindell said. This included closing entrances, turning away staff and blocking off streets around the building in downtown Jackson. Tindell said the building was being swept by explosive-detecting dogs. There was a heavy police presence around the Capitol on Wednesday morning. Police blocked both roads and sidewalks in a one-block radius around the building, and some Capitol staff stood on the lawn away from the building. The closed roads were causing some traffic backup on West Street and High Street as people were arriving downtown for work between 7 and 8 a.m. Further information on the nature of the bomb threat was not immediately being provided by authorities. DPS Deputy Commissioner Keith Davis said authorities were notified about the threat about 6:45 a.m. Wednesday. He said anyone with business at the Capitol on Wednesday should check for delays by visiting legislature.ms.gov for updates. |
| Thompson and Guest to run for reelection in Mississippi, both confirm as qualifying period opens | |
| Two influential members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi -- Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson and Republican Rep. Michael Guest -- confirmed to The Associated Press that they will run for reelection as a state qualifying period began Tuesday for candidates seeking federal office. Thompson, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Homeland Security who also chaired the now dissolved House Jan. 6 committee, has represented central Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District since 1993. Guest chairs the House Ethics Committee and recently oversaw the committee's probe into former Rep. George Santos of New York. Guest has represented Mississippi's 3rd Congressional District, which covers parts of central and east Mississippi, since 2019. Qualifying began Tuesday for candidates seeking one U.S. Senate seat and all four of the state's U.S. House seats in the 2024 election. Jan. 15 is the qualifying deadline for presidential candidates, and Jan. 12 is the deadline for the congressional seats. Thompson confirmed in a text message that he would run for reelection. Quinton Dickerson, a campaign consultant for Guest, said in an email that the congressman would file reelection qualifying papers on Thursday. A third member of Mississippi's House delegation, Republican Rep. Mike Ezell, also filed qualifying papers to run for reelection Tuesday. A campaign staffer for the fourth and final member of the state's House delegation, Republican Rep. Trent Kelly, did not respond to an email Tuesday. |
| Mississippi certifies Donald Trump for 2024 primary ballot | |
| It's official. Donald Trump will appear on the presidential ballot in Mississippi, barring an unforeseen act by the U.S. Supreme Court. Officials with the state's Team Trump campaign alongside Governor Tate Reeves, Congressman Michael Guest, and Mississippi GOP chairman Frank Bordeaux gathered on Tuesday in front of a crowd in Jackson to announce that voters will have the chance to cast a ballot for the embattled former president in his efforts to reclaim the Oval Office. "Today represents all of us coming together to take a major step forward in our effort to make America great again," Reeves told an audience of campaign volunteers for Trump at the Mississippi GOP headquarters. The move to publicly certify Trump follows rulings by the Colorado Supreme Court and Maine's Democratic secretary of state to cite the 14th Amendment as a reason to delegitimize the former commander-in-chief as a presidential candidate and remove him as a choice for voters in the Republican primary. Guest, who voted to create a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection, told the audience that America is a nation in decline due to inflation and an open Southern U.S. border that has progressively gotten worse under President Joe Biden. He asserted that Trump is the leader the nation needs to undo the damage done by the current administration and steer the country to a better path that promotes prosperity for its citizens. |
| President Joe Biden to visit Charleston Monday, deliver speech at Emanuel AME Church | |
 | President Joe Biden plans to deliver a major speech at Charleston's Emanuel AME Church next week as part of a new, invigorated push by the Democratic incumbent to stress the high stakes of the upcoming 2024 presidential election. Biden campaign officials said the president will speak Jan. 8 at the historic Black church downtown, which became the site of a hate-fueled massacre that stunned and devastated the nation in the summer of 2015. The campaign described the church as a setting that "embodies the states of our nation at this moment," adding that Biden will focus his remarks on two weighty topics they say are under threat: democracy and freedom. "Because whether it is White supremacists descending on the historic American city of Charlottesville, the assault on our nation's capitol on Jan. 6 or a white supremacist murdering churchgoers at Mother Emanuel nearly nine years ago, America is worried about the rise in political violence and determined to stand against it," Quentin Fulks, Biden's top deputy campaign manager, said Jan. 2. Charleston's Emanuel AME, commonly referred to as Mother Emanuel, is considered sacred ground by many. It is where nine black parishioners were gunned down by white supremacist Dylann Roof during Bible study on the night of June 17, 2015. Biden's South Carolina appearance will come just days after he delivers a speech addressing similar themes of freedom and democracy on the three-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Those remarks will take place near Valley Forge, where George Washington and the struggling Continental Army endured a tough winter during the American Revolution. |
| Trump towers over GOP rivals in Iowa, spurring fierce battle for second | |
 | Donald Trump has hundreds of Iowa "caucus captains" recruiting their neighbors to participate for the first time. Canvassers for Ron DeSantis are knocking a fifth time on the doors of their targets. Allies of Nikki Haley have surged their TV spending, outmatching their rivals in the final, pivotal weeks. But the frenzy of activity in the last stretch before the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15 belies a growing sense among political veterans across this state that the basic outcome is set and a Trump victory is all but assured, even as the former president is campaigning much less aggressively than his rivals. Although the state has a history of photo finishes, and some warn against crowning Trump just yet, many Republicans have set their sights on subplots that underscore the unusual dearth of intrigue over who will win. Among them: What would a victorious Trump's winning margin be -- and can anyone else claim momentum in the long-shot effort to stop him from winning the nomination? A closer-than-expected contest could still upend the race, throwing DeSantis a lifeline or elevating Haley as she heads to New Hampshire, where she polls closer to Trump. But resignation is already setting in among some Republicans who support Trump's challengers, without a single vote cast. |
| Chief Justice Roberts casts a wary eye on the uses of artificial intelligence in the federal courts | |
| Chief Justice John Roberts on Sunday turned his focus to the promise, and shortcomings, of artificial intelligence in the federal courts, in an annual report that made no mention of Supreme Court ethics or legal controversies involving Donald Trump. Describing artificial intelligence as the "latest technological frontier," Roberts discussed the pros and cons of computer-generated content in the legal profession. His remarks come just a few days after the latest instance of AI-generated fake legal citations making their way into official court records, in a case involving ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. "Always a bad idea," Roberts wrote in his year-end report, noting that "any use of AI requires caution and humility." At the same time, though, the chief justice acknowledged that AI can make it much easier for people without much money to access the courts. "These tools have the welcome potential to smooth out any mismatch between available resources and urgent needs in our court system," Roberts wrote. The report came at the end of a year in which a series of stories questioned the ethical practices of the justices and the court responded to critics by adopting its first code of conduct. Many of those stories focused on Justice Clarence Thomas and his failure to disclose travel, other hospitality and additional financial ties with wealthy conservative donors including Harlan Crow and the Koch brothers. But Justices Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor also have been under scrutiny. |
| Hamas Leader Killed in Beirut Was Linchpin of Relations With Iran, Hezbollah | |
 | The killing on Tuesday night of a senior Hamas leader marked the biggest hit to the group's top leadership in years, taking out a key player who was responsible for aligning the Palestinian militant group with Iran and Iran's proxy Hezbollah. Saleh al-Arouri was killed in Beirut in a suspected Israeli strike, although Israel hasn't officially claimed responsibility. The death of Arouri, a Hamas political leader known for his diplomatic abilities and who helped establish the organization's military wing in the 1980s, represents a symbolic and operational blow to the Islamist, Palestinian nationalist group. His death is likely to hinder the group's diplomatic efforts but won't substantially impact the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, military analysts said. Hamas said Arouri was an architect of its Oct. 7 attack against Israel that left 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians, sparking a war with Hamas in Gaza and a pledge by Israel to assassinate Hamas officials responsible for the attack. Israel said after the killing that it was on high alert. Tuesday's blast appeared to be the first time a Hamas leader outside the Gaza Strip was targeted since the war began. Israel's leaders have pledged to go after all Hamas leaders around the world involved in Oct. 7. While Israel hasn't officially claimed responsibility for the killing in Beirut, the head of Mossad warned on Wednesday that Israel would target anyone involved in the planning of Oct. 7. Arouri was the Hamas official closest to Hezbollah and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and pressed to deepen relations with other militant groups despite internal Hamas dissent, according to military analysts. |
| UM pharmacy school secures grants for space medicine research | |
| The Mississippi Space Grant Consortium has awarded two seed grants to the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy that will enable six first-year students to conduct innovative research on space medicine. Each $33,000 grant was secured through the organization's Student-Led STEM Activities Program and will be used to fund two separate projects focusing on space medicine. Students working on these projects are Sujung Hahm of Ocean Springs; Armani Nguyen of Laurel; Kenneth Retumban of Ridgeland; Hosam Mohamed of Brandon; Jermall Germon of Carthage; and Nicholas Dean of Brandon. "I am thankful for the prestigious award granted to us," Germon said. "We are now equipped with the resources to delve into expansive research, paving the way for impactful discoveries and contributing to the forefront of knowledge and innovation." The Mississippi Space Grant Consortium is a statewide nonprofit organization of institutions of higher learning coordinated by the Mississippi Research Consortium and supported by NASA. |
| UMMC celebrates historic seven way kidney swap | |
| Seven people in this state who needed life saving kidney transplants have a renewed start at life for 2024. Seven donors volunteered to undergo surgery for complete strangers. UMMC is now celebrating the historic seven way kidney swap. One of the people who received a new kidney: Madison Ridgeland Academy head football coach Herbert Davis. UMMC doctors say it is undeniable that 14 lives have been changed over a four day period. Donors are asking others to consider giving the gift of life. Dr. Chris Anderson, Chair of the Department of Surgery at UMMC, said, "I think live donors, they're my heroes. It's a very selfless act. It's a gift that I can't imagine comparing to any other gift." Herbert Davis said, "I got to meet the guy that gave me his kidney yesterday and as I told him, it's just, I mean there's no words that can express what, you know, what it means to me. It's definitely changed my whole life." Coach Davis has waited four years to receive a kidney transplant. His health reached a critical point in August of last year when he was in the hospital for 12 days for an infection that caused fluid to collect around his heart. |
| Louisiana students get easier credit transfers with new Regents program | |
 | Students in Louisiana will soon be able to transfer their coursework credits from any school to a four-year public institution easier than ever as a result of a law approved by the Board of Regents last week. Passed in the 2022 legislative session, Act 308, authored by state Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, mandates creating statewide transfer pathways from two-year associate's degree programs to four-year baccalaureate programs. The law specifically seeks to improve how successfully completed college courses transfer between institutions and ensure that all credits earned are counted toward the degree. The pathways are expected to launch for students statewide beginning in the Fall 2024 semester. "The way that it'll work is that a student is in high school or they're in community college and, in the future, they would like to go to a 4-year university to get a degree," said Tristan Denley, deputy commissioner for academic affairs and innovation at the Board of Regents. "Well, these pathways will let them know exactly the courses they can take so they can be assured that all the courses they're taking count toward the degree when they make it to the four-year school." Challenges with transfers have been cited in Louisiana and across the country as barriers to student success. |
| UGA study: School counselors report prevalence of vaping, gaming issues among adolescents | |
 | Addictive behaviors often develop during adolescence and can lead to issues with mental and physical health. Despite these consequences, most high school counselors, who are positioned to address these issues, report a lack of formalized training in two addictive behaviors -- vaping and internet gaming, according to a new study by the University of Georgia. "School counselors are aware this is an issue, but it doesn't seem like we're providing the training as a profession so that they can address it," said Amanda Giordano, principal investigator of the study and associate professor in the UGA Mary Frances Early College of Education. "They're seeking their own continuing education and self-study to learn how to meet these needs." Students who vape are exposed to a combination of substances, including nicotine or cannabis, and are at risk of developing lung injury, headaches, nausea and more. The prevalence of vaping has increased among nonsmoking adolescents in the past several years, with 41% of adolescents having vaped nicotine at some point in their lives and 26.2% having vaped marijuana at some point in their lives. "These are really distressing numbers because as a society, we've worked hard to curb adolescent smoking of combustible tobacco products," said Giordano. "Now with vaping, we see those numbers going back up." |
| Diversity offices on college campuses will soon be illegal in Texas, as 30 new laws go into effect | |
| When Texas college students return to their campuses after the winter break, they'll discover the lights are still off in their campuses' diversity offices. That's because a new law that outlaws such work at the state's higher education institutions goes into effect, Jan. 1. Another 29 laws also will go into effect in the new year that aim to change the economy, tax codes and the criminal justice system. Many of the new laws seek to streamline tax codes and update property appraisal processes, while others touch on more unique issues like e-cigarette usage in minors and commemorative state license plates. Here are some of the laws: Dissolving diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at public universities: Senate Bill 17 requires public universities to end so-called diversity, equity and inclusion work. Universities will also be unable to offer training on diversity and inclusion for its faculty and staff, or require diversity statements in hiring processes. Universities must also confirm to the Legislature between legislative sessions that they are in full compliance. While the law is set to go into effect Jan. 1, many of Texas' public universities have already begun ramping down their DEI practices and programs after the governor's chief of staff sent a memo in February calling DEI hiring initiatives illegal. Since the law's passing in May, general counsels for the universities have released varying levels of guidance throughout the fall semester on how to continue to support a diverse student body while staying within the boundaries of the law. In addition to the dissolution of DEI offices, universities have also shut down university-led student support programs as concern mounts as to whether they also violate the law, but some colleges are looking for workarounds. |
| Education Dept. Outlines Possible Changes in Accreditation, Distance Education, Other Rules | |
 | The Education Department outlined in a series of issue papers released Tuesday how it would update the regulations for accreditation, state authorizing agencies and other policy areas to better protect students. Tuesday's announcement of the issue papers and list of negotiators who will review the department's proposals is the latest step in a lengthy process known as negotiated rule making. This round of rule making kicked off in April 2023. A committee representing 15 constituent groups will meet next week, from Jan. 8 to 11, to review the department's proposals on accreditation, state authorization, distance education, return of Title IV funds and cash management. Department officials said in a news release that the department wants to make sure accrediting and state authorization agencies are holding institutions accountable. The department is looking in part to limit who can serve on the governing bodies of entities that oversee state authorization reciprocity agreements. Proposals for the other topics would change how colleges collect money from students who withdraw from the institutions and ensure students receive the financial aid they are entitled to, according to the release. A proposal on distance education would restrict the use of asynchronous education in clock-hour programs. The department also is planning to open up federal TRIO programs, which help underserved student groups get to and through college, to undocumented students as long as they are enrolled in high school -- a long-sought goal of TRIO directors, advocacy organizations and higher ed groups. |
| Debate Follows Harvard President's Resignation Amid Plagiarism Claims and Criticism Over House Hearing | |
 | Harvard's president, Claudine Gay, has resigned after a month of intense scrutiny over alleged plagiarism spanning her career and controversy around her lackluster appearance before a congressional committee. "It has become clear that it is in the best interests of Harvard for me to resign so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than any individual," Gay said in an email to the Harvard community. Gay's tenure is the shortest in the Ivy League institution's history, according to The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper, which first reported that Gay would resign on Tuesday. She became the university's first Black president in July. Gay had been accused of lifting chunks of text from other works without properly citing the original authors or adding quotation marks. The allegations, which were first reported in December, now span eight works, according to The Washington Free Beacon, which reported on Monday that another complaint had been filed with Harvard. That complaint includes fresh claims of copying language that are "some of the most extreme and clear-cut cases of plagiarism yet," according to the Free Beacon. Before her ascent to the Harvard presidency, Gay was a target of critics who questioned, sometimes sharply and crudely, her publication record and her support of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. On Tuesday some conservatives who view higher education as beholden to "woke" ideology celebrated Gay's departure as a broad win for their movement. |
| Are Professors Really Fleeing Universities in Red States? | |
| Florida's governor, seeking the Republican presidential nomination, has pushed his state and its education system further and further to the right. Texas has banned diversity, equity and inclusion programs from public universities. Some professors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have expressed fears that Republicans are increasingly meddling in their prestigious institution. And the University System of Georgia is on the American Association of University Professors' censure list for weakening tenure protections. News articles and opinion pieces have raised alarms that significant numbers of faculty members are fleeing, or considering fleeing, jobs in states where universities face increasing right-wing pressure in favor of jobs in states where they don't -- fueling a Southern brain drain. Throughout 2023, the AAUP condemned Republican political interference in higher education, especially in Florida. Its December investigative report into threats to academic freedom, tenure and shared governance in Florida public universities described a statewide faculty "exodus." But there's a dearth of data on how many faculty members are actually leaving and where they're going. The impact of the pandemic-era Great Resignation on faculty departures also muddies data from recent years. Glenn Colby, senior researcher at the American Association of University Professors, noted many institutions implemented early retirement programs, possibly inflating the numbers of departures. Kevin McClure, an associate professor of higher education at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, said that, nationwide, "our data on faculty is notoriously bad." |
| 'Frustration All Around': The FAFSA's Rocky Rollout | |
| The Department of Education began the "soft launch" of the simplified Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, last weekend, but many students and parents so far haven't been able to access it. That's because the online form has been only intermittently available while the department continues to iron out some kinks. Covey Denton, a science teacher in Wilson, N.C., woke up at 6 a.m. on New Year's Eve and tried to log in to the FAFSA on her computer and then on her phone -- no dice. She and her son, Elijah, a high-school senior, hit refresh on multiple devices every 10 minutes for hours, eager to complete the form together before he returned to the public boarding school he attends, in Durham. About two hours before the big ball dropped in Times Square, Denton and her son finally gave up for the day. "It was just frustration all around," Denton said. Her son, an aspiring ornithologist with stellar grades, has received acceptances from a handful of colleges with strong wildlife-biology programs. He's wary of taking on too much debt. But until he gets aid offers from those institutions, he won't know how much it would cost to attend each one. And those colleges can't send those aid offers until he submits the FAFSA, which is used to determine eligibility for federal grants, loans, and work-study jobs. Frustrations flared from coast to coast. Though the Education Department said in its announcement that it had "uncovered some minor issues affecting users," some users who took to social media described their failed attempts to submit the form as anything but minor. |
| The New FAFSA Is Here. Or Is It? | |
| The Education Department rang in the new year by finally releasing a long-awaited new version of its application for federal student aid -- sort of. The form, which officially opened Dec. 30, has only been available for extremely limited windows of time. Periodic "maintenance pauses" locked students out for all but a few hours each day, and those who did manage to gain access to the form reported that they weren't able to complete the application before being shut out. Others languished in a digital waiting room, on hold while the site processed the limited volume of users it could actually handle. The Education Department's rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid has been plagued by delays and uncertainty since the end-of-year launch date was announced. In the month leading up to the anxiously awaited deadline, more technical and scheduling concerns beset the department: a calculation oversight put the current guidelines out of step with the new form's requirements, and lawmakers called on the department to offer more clarity and support for frustrated families. So far, more than 400,000 people have started or completed applications, according to Education Department data. More than 150,000 applications were submitted by the end of Tuesday. Over all, more than 17 million students are expected to complete the application this year, which is required to unlock billions in federal, state and institutional aid. The weekend's starting-line stumble has exacerbated fears of a chaotic and frustrating spring for students, financial aid professionals and college access groups. "It's pretty bad," said Bryce McKibben, senior director of policy and advocacy at the Hope Center for College, Community and Justice at Temple University. |
| Government transparency still an issue for 2024 | |
| Columnist Bill Crawford writes: It's pretty wordy but read this 1975 "legislative declaration" for the Mississippi Open Meetings Act: "It being essential to the fundamental philosophy of the American constitutional form of representative government and to the maintenance of a democratic society that public business be performed in an open and public manner, and that citizens be advised of and be aware of the performance of public officials and the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the State of Mississippi that the formation and determination of public policy is public business and shall be conducted at open meetings except as otherwise provided herein." So states the legislative declaration of the Mississippi Open Meetings Act adopted in 1975. In 1983 the Mississippi Supreme Court more succinctly opined: "However inconvenient openness may be to some, it is the legislatively decreed public policy of this state." In 2012, Gov. Phil Bryant simplified it to eight words: "Transparency in government is critical to its integrity." In 2020, Gov. Tate Reeves added, "Transparency is more important now than ever." Given the above support, why is government transparency still an issue facing the 2024 Legislature? |
| New legislative session likely to focus on healthcare, PERS, and tax cuts | |
| Columnist Sid Salter writes: Democrat Brandon Presley's failed populist challenge of incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves – built on promises to expand Medicaid, cut or eliminate the sales tax on food, and heal racial division driven by decades of economic disparities – proved that at least for now, Mississippi's political status quo remains just that. Republicans hold super majorities in both houses of the Mississippi Legislature and all eight statewide offices. The GOP holds five of the state's six seats in Congress. Mississippi's political structure remains rigidly conservative, and the 1890 Constitution still vests the lion's share of political power in the hands of the Legislature. Most of the promises Presley made in the best showing a Democratic gubernatorial candidate has made since 1999 were dependent on legislative support from the GOP's legislative majority that Presley never really had. ... The most politically thorny issue facing White, Hosemann, and their legislative colleagues is the issue of Mississippi's Public Employees Retirement System. PERS is expected to ask lawmakers for a large direct cash infusion and present the Legislature with a plan to stabilize the system that will include employee contribution hikes. But no aspect of stabilizing PERS will draw more fire than making changes to the so-called "13th check" cost of living payment. |
SPORTS
| Tolu Smith continuing to work back into top shape; Bulldogs open SEC play at South Carolina | |
 | It took just 19 minutes for Tolu Smith to lead Mississippi State in both scoring and rebounding in his season debut Sunday against Bethune-Cookman. But the Bulldogs' star post player, who just returned from an absence of two-plus months due to a foot injury, knows he still has plenty of room to grow. "He's a tireless worker and he's constantly trying to add to his game and prove his range," MSU head coach Chris Jans said. "One game is too small of a sample size, but he's just so comfortable out there because of his experience. He showed pretty good patience, for the most part, to wait for the space to be cleared for him to go to work or make the appropriate pass." Smith played the best basketball of his collegiate career down the stretch last season, putting up 27 points in the regular-season finale at Vanderbilt and then setting a career high with 28 points in a Southeastern Conference Tournament win over Florida. His announcement in May that he would return for his final year of eligibility instantly raised expectations for this year's Bulldogs, and those expectations have mostly been met so far even with their centerpiece out. Despite a loss to Southern that will be a stain on MSU's resume all season long, the Bulldogs are 11-2 entering SEC play, and ESPN's Joe Lunardi has them as a No. 10 seed in his latest NCAA Tournament projections. Five SEC teams are currently in the top 25 of the latest NET rankings -- MSU is No. 34 -- and four are in the AP Top 25. The Bulldogs travel to South Carolina for their conference opener Saturday, with both teams receiving four votes in the latest AP poll. |
| Rogers, Montague win weekly awards; Mississippi State readies for Vanderbilt | |
| Darrione Rogers recorded Mississippi State's first triple-double since 2000 on Friday night, helping the Bulldogs defeat Mississippi Valley State. On Tuesday, she was named Southeastern Conference Player of the Week, helping MSU make some history as a team. For the first time ever in SEC women's basketball, one team has had three different players selected for the conference's top weekly honor in three consecutive weeks. Jessika Carter won the award for the week of Dec. 11-17 after a dominant three-game stretch following her return from injury, and Lauren Park-Lane was honored for the week of Dec. 18-24 after setting a program-record with 10 made 3-pointers in a win at Colorado State. The awards did not stop there for the Bulldogs as Quanirah Montague was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week. Montague finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds, securing her first collegiate double-double, to go along with six blocks against the Delta Devils. "They're winning weekly awards because they're part of a special team," head coach Sam Purcell said. "It's just fun, and that's how basketball should be, but at the same time we have a competitive spirit about us. We're trying to achieve goals. We're happy with what happened in the non-conference. Would I like to be undefeated now? Heck yeah, but I also think adversity is good." Purcell's team hosts Vanderbilt in the SEC opener on Thursday night, with both teams receiving three votes in the latest AP poll. |
| South Carolina MBB handles Florida A&M, notches 12th win ahead of SEC play | |
 | Twelve wins before January. It's not uncharted territory for the South Carolina men's basketball program, but it's a clear improvement over recent seasons --- and one more victory than all of coach Lamont Paris' 11-win debut a year ago. The Gamecocks defeated Florida A&M 94-62 at Colonial Life Arena on Saturday, improving to 12-1 and wrapping up their nonconference schedule with plenty of momentum and renewed optimism heading into SEC play. Florida A&M dropped to 2-9 on the season. "I'm proud of the guys to be able to come through a good non-conference schedule," Paris said postgame Saturday. "I think we set this schedule up to help prepare us for what the SEC is," Paris said. "We're ready for the next game. We are. We've had some success and we're ready for whatever is next." The Southeastern Conference had three teams ranked in the most recent Associated Press men's basketball Top 25: Tennessee (6), Kentucky (8) and Ole Miss (24). Five other SEC teams were receiving votes in the poll, including the Gamecocks. The others were Auburn, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Alabama. USC starts conference play with games against Mississippi State and Alabama, two teams the AP voters in the latest Top 25 viewed as being mostly on par with the Gamecocks. |
| Unpacking what's left for Mississippi State football, Jeff Lebby in transfer portal | |
| The 30-day window for players to enter the transfer portal closed Tuesday, but the work for new Mississippi State football coach Jeff Lebby and his staff isn't over when it comes to assembling the 2024 roster. Players still have time to decide where there next stop will be or if they want to return to their previous school. For Lebby and his defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler, the upcoming days are crucial with players slated to take official visits. Lebby, who was hired in November after two seasons as Oklahoma's offensive coordinator, picked up 11 portal commitments -- including seven on offense. Baylor quarterback Blake Shapen was the biggest name in the group alongside UTEP receiver Kelly Akharaiyi. The Bulldogs entered the new year with a top 25 portal class, according to 247Sports, but Mississippi State has work to do, particularly on defense. Here's a look at which positions MSU still needs to address and potential targets to help fill holes. |
| CFP 1.0 changed college football, not all for better, and was necessary step in postseason evolution | |
| The four-team playoff changed college football. Not just the postseason and crowning of a national champion that finally could be called undisputed. College Football Playoff 1.0, which wraps up a 10-year run Monday night when No. 1 Michigan (14-0) faces No. 2 Washington (14-0) in the national championship game, created a new standard for success -- and failure -- for teams and conferences. It helped the rich and powerful become more rich and powerful, further nationalized a sport with regional roots and was an imperfect but necessary step in the evolution of the postseason. "I think what's coming is going to be better, but this worked really well," said Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, one of the architects of the 12-team system that goes into effect next season. But not without unintended consequences. A four-team playoff made sense for college football when it was conceived in 2012, following 16 years of the Bowl Championship Series, which was implemented in 1998 and birthed from the Bowl Coalition and Bowl Alliance earlier in the 1990s. The BCS gave only two teams a chance to win a national championship in the postseason and often produced unsatisfying results. The four-team playoff fixed that. "We were able to eliminate any real controversy about who the champion was because it was decided on the field," said Bill Hancock, who was the first executive director of the BCS before moving into a similar role with the CFP. It's easy to forget now, but the idea of a playoff was shunned by so many in college football at the time that merely uttering the "P" word was taboo. |
| Rose Bowl is most-watched since '15, late night Sugar less sweet | |
| A classic Rose Bowl delivered college football's largest audience in six years. Monday's College Football Playoff semifinals averaged 22.6 million viewers across the ESPN networks, per Nielsen fast-nationals -- the highest average since 2017 and third-highest in the decade-long history of the playoff. The Michigan-Alabama Rose Bowl led the way with 27.2 million viewers, marking the largest college football audience since the 2018 Alabama-Georgia national championship (28.44M) and second-largest since the inaugural year of the playoff in 2015. Outside of the NFL, no sporting event has averaged a larger audience since the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics (27.84M). (Keep in mind Nielsen did not begin tracking out-of-home viewing in its viewership estimates until 2020.) The Wolverines' overtime win, which peaked with a semifinal-record 32.8 million viewers, increased 21% from last year's comparable TCU-Michigan Fiesta Bowl, which aired on New Year's Eve (21.70M). The previous Rose Bowl to host a semifinal was Alabama-Notre Dame in 2021, which took place in Arlington (Tex.) and averaged 19.27 million viewers. The previous traditional Rose Bowl semifinal was Georgia's overtime win over Oklahoma in 2018, which averaged 26.91 million. As goes without saying, Michigan-Alabama delivered the largest audience of the college football season. The Wolverines have played in the top two games, with their regular season win over Ohio State placing second at north of 19 million. |
| SBJ College: ESPN rides Michigan-Bama to big CFP audience | |
| How about those CFP semifinal games? Florida State may well have received the short end of the stick, but Michigan-Alabama and Washington-Texas delivered in the most perfectly zany college football way possible. Here's hoping for another classic in Houston next week. The Wolverines' win over the Crimson Tide drew 27.2 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. That's the best for any CFP semi since Year 1 of the CFP in 2015 (both games that year were just over 28 million). For an NFL equivalent: 27.2 million would be tied for ESPN's second-best "Monday Night Football" audience all-time (which was Ravens-49ers just a few days ago on Christmas night and had the benefit of an ABC simulcast). ESPN2 alone drew 1.4 million viewers for Michigan-Alabama with a Pat McAfee-led Field Pass. That's the best alternate telecast for any college football game yet and along the lines of what a ManningCast audience gets for "MNF." The nightcap of Washington-Texas drew 18.4 million viewers. Among the 20 CFP semifinal games since 2015, that ranks No. 15 and is the least-watched New Year's Day semifinal yet. That audience is on par with what the Academy Awards drew in 2023 (18.8 million), but below what Michigan-Ohio State drew on Fox at the end of the regular season (19.1 million). Washington-Texas did top what the SEC Championship (Bama-Georgia) drew on CBS (17.5 million). Both semifinal games were well above last season's Georgia-TCU CFP National Championship (17.5 million viewers). |
| One year out from 12-team CFP, Josh Heupel and Kirk Ferentz anticipate calendar crunch | |
| One year ago, Tennessee sat No. 6 in the final College Football Playoff rankings. The Vols missed the four-team playoff, but competed in the Orange Bowl and blew out No. 7 Clemson 31-14. If that scenario took place in 2024 instead of 2022, Penn State would travel to Neyland Stadium for a first-round College Football Playoff game. And it would take place two or three days after national signing day. Iowa regularly has ended the regular season on the cusp of playoff contention, ranked between No. 15 and No. 17 in four of the last five years. In 2015, it finished fifth in the final CFP poll and would have played host to Houston in a CFP first-round matchup based on 2024 qualifications. This year, the No. 21 Vols and No. 17 Hawkeyes face off in the Citrus Bowl, perhaps the top bowl outside the current New Year's Six structure. Both programs harbor annual CFP aspirations and boast rich histories. But should they ever meet in the CFP 12-team bracket, the stresses on each of their future December agendas will become immeasurable -- at least, based on the sport's current calendar. "Everything that is going on in those first couple weeks of December, how do you add in preparation for a game of that size and magnitude during the course of what is happening?" Tennessee coach Josh Heupel asked Sunday morning. "It was not like I was not on the phone or flying somewhere or in somebody's house or at a school every minute of the day. There is not enough time to accomplish everything that you needed to at this point in the season or at this point in the calendar, let alone if you are preparing for a game like that." The College Football Playoff expands to 12 teams in 2024 and will include four first-round FBS on-campus games on Dec. 20-21. |
| Five Sports Law Predictions for 2024 | |
| If last year is any indication, legal controversies will dramatically reshape the sports industry in 2024. Here are five key predictions: Charlie Baker Prioritizes Settling College Athlete Litigation. Recognition of College Athletes as Employees Advances. Conferences Keep Realigning in Direction of Two Pro Sports-Like Conferences. PGA Tour and LIV Golf Settle Since Alternative Is Worse. Diamond Sports Bankruptcy Will Play Key Role in RSNs' Future. |
The Office of Public Affairs provides the Daily News Digest as a general information resource for Mississippi State University stakeholders.
Web links are subject to change. Submit news, questions or comments to Jim Laird.
