| Wednesday, April 22, 2026 |
| MSU receives $3M grant to support rural energy innovation | |
 | A team of Mississippi State University (MSU) faculty has been awarded a $3 million National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship grant to build the workforce needed to support resilient rural energy infrastructure. According to the university, the grant establishes the cross-disciplinary initiative Smart Agriculture Energy Innovation Network (SAGEIN). "This investment has the potential to make a meaningful difference in rural communities by supporting systems that improve energy reliability, reduce operational costs and create new revenue opportunities for farmers and landowners, and, through hands-on research experience, it will prepare our students to be more than just job ready," said principal investigator Tonya Stone, an associate professor in MSU's Michael W. Hall School of Mechanical Engineering. |
| Weeks-long drought hard on state's crops | |
 | Deep cracks in the ground tell the story of drought, where only about half the normal rainfall has fallen so far in 2026, making it the 10th driest in Mississippi history. Mike Brown, state climatologist with the Mississippi State University Department of Geosciences, said February was the driest on record for Mississippi and March was the third warmest and 11th driest. "This is very early for a drought in Mississippi," Brown said. "Most winter and spring months, we are normal to just above normal for rainfall. For us to develop this severe a drought this early is quite rare." Justin Calhoun, soybean specialist with the MSU Extension Service, said the drought has all but halted soybean planting. "There is very little soil moisture left at normal seeding depths, especially in the Delta region," he said. "This has caused some folks to plant a little deeper to chase moisture, which is something we do not recommend this early in the season." |
| Person of the Day | Thalia Vrantsidis: Starkville Professor Examines Why People Gravitate to Easy Answers | |
 | As a teenager growing up in Toronto, Thalia Vrantsidis often sought out popular books on physics, relativity and quantum mechanics from her high-school library and spent her time poring over them in search of deeper perspectives. Reading about complex subjects such as the curvature of spacetime or the source of gravity gave her deeper insights into everyday life and shifted how she viewed daily goings-on and the world around her. While pursuing an undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of Toronto, one of Vrantsidis' professors delivered a lecture on the concept of insight and how it could lead a person to what he termed a "mystical experience," in which seeing how concepts are connected can make someone feel at one with the universe. The idea resonated with Vrantsidis. Vrantsidis' ensuing research on human understanding eventually led her to write a paper on the subject of why people often favor simpler explanations even if a more complex explanation would more accurately describe a situation. Vrantsidis' paper, titled "Inside Ockham's razor: A mechanism driving preferences for simpler explanations," earned her the Psychonomic Society's 2025 Best Article Award. Vrantsidis, a Starkville resident who works as an assistant professor at Mississippi State University's Department of Psychology, coauthored her paper with Tania Lombrozo, her former postdoctoral supervisor at Princeton University. |
| Letter: Thanks to the admissions team and leadership at MSU | |
 | Dr. JJ Anthony writes in The Dispatch: I recently returned home to Nashville, TN after a two-and-a-half-day visit to Mississippi State University last week, and I felt compelled to share my gratitude with the admissions team and the town that hosted our group of high school counselors from across the US. While the purpose of the trip was to showcase the university, what I discovered was a region and a community deeply committed to educating and creating exceptional people. Our visit was a masterclass in hospitality and vision. ... However, the State experience clearly extends beyond campus. The future plans shared by MSU leadership and the Starkville tourism board are exceptional, reflecting a vibrant "Main Street" culture where small businesses, alumni, and neighbors build a future together. ... This synergy between the university and the town -- supported by a vision that catalyzes growth and private investment -- makes Starkville a truly unique place for a student to call home. |
| City trims financing for stalled housing, gas station development | |
| Aldermen on Tuesday agreed to scale back a tax increment financing plan tied to a mixed-use development project along Highway 12 that has only partially come together since its 2015 approval. The board, during its regular meeting at City Hall, approved an amendment to the TIF agreement for the project, which includes the Parker Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership on Parker-McGill Drive. The amendment, approved without discussion as part of the consent agenda, reduces the project's authorized debt by $2 million and sets a one-year deadline to issue any bonds. Mayor Lynn Spruill said the changes reflect how the project has evolved since its original approval roughly a decade ago. Christiana Sugg, an attorney with Gouras and Associates representing HPM Development, told the board during its Friday work session that delays from the COVID-19 pandemic and broader economic conditions have slowed progress at the site. In exchange for extending the timeline, developer HPM Development agreed to cap financing at a single bond issuance not to exceed $1 million, down from the original $3 million authorization. |
| MDOT head says transportation funding is working | |
| Mississippi's top transportation official said Monday that the state is making significant progress in rebuilding and modernizing its infrastructure. More stable state funding is ensuring that federal money is no longer being left on the table. Brad White, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation, told the Stennis-Capitol Press Forum that the 2026 legislative session marked one of the most pro-transportation periods in decades, with lawmakers approving major investments and structural changes aimed at long-term stability. White said the current level of state funding, and the consistent nature of that funding, is allowing the state to take advantage of all the federal money available to Mississippi. This is a significant change from the past. He emphasized that the agency has improved its ability to draw down federal funds by eliminating earmarks that previously limited flexibility. Mississippi now captures all available federal highway dollars and even competes for unused funds from other states, he said. |
| New data center plan could take public utilities out of loop for power | |
 | Entergy Mississippi and Southern Company could be negatively impacted if a plan by Gabriel Prado and his company comes to fruition. PraCon Global investment Group, through its affiliate Prado AI Industrial has filed a Request for Declaratory Opinion with the Mississippi Public Service Commission. The request seeks confirmation that private, on-site power generation for internal use, including by tenants on site, does not constitute a "public utility" under Mississippi law. If upheld by the Public Service Commission, it could transform how energy usage is delivered, particularly for the data center economy in Mississippi and next generation AI industrial development, in theory protecting consumers from long-term energy costs increases. Prado is relying on language in Mississippi Code 77-3-3(d), which basically says that an entity is not a public utility and will not be treated as such if "it provides electricity to itself or to tenants as an incident of tenancy." |
| Mississippi Department of Public Safety opens new headquarters in Pearl | |
| The Mississippi Department of Public Safety opened the doors to its new headquarters Tuesday, consolidating 11 divisions under one roof for the first time. The building is located in Pearl next to the state crime lab. State leaders said the consolidation will improve coordination between divisions and reduce crime. Commissioner Sean Tindell said the new facility fulfills his vision for the agency. "To see it actually come to fruition, especially as I'm getting towards the sunset of my career as commissioner, is a milestone moment and something I'm proud that will long live past my time as commissioner," Tindell said. "Having everybody in one building, this new headquarters, allows us to garner more intelligence, collaborate more across the different divisions, and ultimately make Mississippi Safer," Tindell said. "When I think about what we've done in the last six years here by collaboration, we've seen nearly a decade low in homicides, we've seen a decade low when it comes to overdose deaths, we're seeing better road safety, fewer fatalities on our highways, and it all starts with collaboration and working together." |
| Mississippi congressional incumbents extend their money lead over midterm challengers | |
| Quarterly campaign finance reports were due to be filed with the Federal Election Commission last week as this year's Mississippi midterm races hit another gear with less than seven months to go until the November General Election. Every congressional incumbent in the Magnolia State continues to far outpace their opponents, with little prospects of that changing down the stretch. All incumbents appear to be well positioned to defend their seats. U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) continues to hold a sizeable lead over her Democrat challenger, District Attorney Scott Colom, in campaign finance terms, showing a cash on hand balance of nearly five times greater. This new report comes just before Colom's campaign pushed out a poll on Monday showing him within three points of Hyde-Smith. However, Hyde-Smith is no stranger to close polling. In her 2020 re-election bid, then-Democrat challenger Mike Espy was reportedly polling within one point of the Republican incumbent, but when the votes were tallied in that General Election, Hyde-Smith won by 10%. |
| Wicker slams White House attacks on foreign allies | |
 | The Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee condemned administration officials on Tuesday for their recent attacks on U.S. foreign allies, saying the partnerships are crucial to the long-term security of America. "It is not helpful when American leaders speak of our alliances with derision," said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) in a statement before a hearing on the posture of U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific region. "We must be clear about the numerous political, strategic and moral benefits that country receives from its alliances." Numerous GOP leaders -- including President Donald Trump -- have sharply criticized NATO allies' decision not to assist in America's war against Iran. And while Wicker has admonished the administration for previous sabre-rattling against European allies, such as threats to withdraw U.S. forces from the continent, Tuesday's remarks were his sharpest criticism yet. Still, in keeping with his past statements. Wicker did not specifically criticize Trump. Instead, he more broadly condemned skeptics within his party who have labeled foreign partners as drains on America rather than assets -- a rare public rebuke of the White House by a GOP Senate stalwart. |
| Senator Wicker rebukes Administration over NATO, European allies comments | |
| Mississippi U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R) took issue Tuesday with Trump administration officials who have been taking swipes at NATO and European allies, offering a strong rebuke at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to examine the posture of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and U.S. Forces Korea. "The growing alignment of our adversaries throws into sharp relief the enduring importance of America's allies and the way they help protect our strategic interests. For decades, our alliance bonds -- including NATO -- have provided a comparative advantage over authoritarian states like China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran. These alliances continue to pay dividends for the United States. People need to stop saying otherwise," Senate Armed Services Chairman Wicker said in his opening remarks. "It is not helpful when American leaders speak of our alliances with derision, but we must be clear about the numerous political, strategic, and moral benefits that our country receives from its alliances." |
| The House Ethics Committee is at a crossroads. Members say they're ready to make some changes. | |
| Three lawmakers accused of serious ethical lapses have been forced to resign in just over a week, prompting even members of the House Ethics Committee to question whether the panel is up to the task of policing its own. The committee is at a moment of reckoning as it seeks to prove itself ready, willing and able to root out bad behavior in its ranks. It's spent the past year and a half rebuilding its reputation after internal disagreements about how to handle an ethics report over ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz spilled into the public and threatened the bipartisan panel's credibility. Now, amid the high-profile resignations of Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.), members who sit on the highly secretive committee are opening up -- eager to share their perspectives, acknowledge their limitations and defend their work. In extended interviews Monday and Tuesday, Ethics Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) said his panel is hamstrung by the House's institutional bureaucracy. |
| Republicans fear succession of government shutdowns under Trump | |
 | Senate Republicans who are scrambling to end the two-month shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) fear that Democrats will trigger an even bigger government shutdown in October and are working out strategies to avert that politically disastrous scenario. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) plans to pass a budget resolution through the Senate this week that would serve as a blueprint for a budget reconciliation bill Republicans are aiming to pass later this spring. That measure would bypass a Senate Democratic filibuster to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol through 2029. But there's growing concern among GOP senators that even if Congress funds ICE and Border Patrol for the next three and a half years, Democrats will provoke a fight in September to trigger yet another government shutdown. Republicans say they're worried the regular government funding process has become irreparably broken after two bruising funding standoffs during President Trump's second term. |
| Senate hearings with RFK Jr. put Cassidy's competing loyalties to Trump and science on display | |
 | Bill Cassidy's roles as a lawmaker, a doctor and a political candidate will collide on Wednesday as he questions Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in two high-stakes Senate hearings. The Louisiana Republican chairs one of the Senate committees that oversees Kennedy's department and sits on another, giving him two chances to interrogate the secretary about his plans for an agency responsible for public health programs and research. As a doctor, Cassidy has clashed with Kennedy's anti-vaccine ideas even though he provided crucial support for the health secretary's nomination last year. At the same time, Cassidy is fighting for his political future in next month's primary, where President Donald Trump has endorsed one of his opponents in an unusual attempt to oust a sitting senator from his own party. How Cassidy handles the hearings could affect his chances at a pivotal moment of his reelection campaign and set the tone for how Congress oversees the nation's health agenda at a time of rampant distrust and misinformation. |
| Trump blasted Obama's Iran deal. Now he faces similar tradeoffs. | |
 | Billions in frozen assets may be handed back to Iran. Agreements to limit Tehran's nuclear program may eventually expire. And some of the same hard-line leaders who crushed nationwide protests in January could end up better-resourced than they were before President Donald Trump unleashed crushing airstrikes more than seven weeks ago. After a decade of fiercely attacking a previous deal with Iran, Trump, pursuing a way out of a war he launched, has authorized U.S. negotiators to consider a bargain that involves many of the same trade-offs one of his predecessors confronted. Though talks appear paused for now following Trump's decision on Tuesday to extend the ceasefire indefinitely while Iran comes up with a "unified proposal," the president will likely face the same challenges no matter when negotiators eventually sit down with each other. With the conflict on hold, the uneasy truce could solidify. But shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has not returned to normal levels amid a continuing U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and Iran's assertion of control over the shipping lanes. That has created a drag on global energy markets. Iran retains control over its trove of highly enriched uranium, which Trump has previously said is unacceptable. |
| Supreme Court sounds ready to back agency authority over violations | |
 | The Supreme Court appeared ready to back limited forfeiture powers for federal agencies during oral arguments Tuesday, in a pair of challenges to the ability for the Federal Communications Commission to impose fines on alleged lawbreakers. Telecommunications giants AT&T and Verizon asked the justices to toss more than $100 million in forfeitures imposed by the FCC, arguing the agency's process violated the constitutional right to a jury trial under the Seventh Amendment. The cases come amid a years-long shakeup by the conservative-controlled court to curtail the power of federal agencies and limit Congress' ability to give them those powers in the first place. But on Tuesday, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and most justices questioned whether the agency adjudication process really denied the companies a jury trial, or if companies were fighting having to pay the forfeitures to avoid "bad PR" associated with FCC proceedings. "And I'm just wondering, in terms of the substantive legal issue, though, you are not obligated to pay until you get a jury," Roberts said. |
| Lunch is served -- by the W's rising chefs | |
| Hawaiian fruit salad with lilikoi syrup and toasted coconut, macadamia-crusted mahi mahi with lilikoi beurre blanc, mixed greens with papaya seed vinaigrette, coconut rice and a guava cake to finish it all off – is your mouth watering yet? Last week, culinary students at the Mississippi University for Women presented the second installment in their three-part "Savor The W" luncheon series -- the theme was "Lei'd Back -- A Luau Luncheon." The series was a first for the Culinary Arts Institute (CAI), and junior and senior culinary arts students were tasked with creating the concept, theme and menu from start to finish. "This is (the students') capstone class," said Tracee Watkins, director of the Culinary Arts Institute at The W. "They used to do one very large dinner just for their family, and the community was like, 'We really would love to be able to drop by and have a quick lunch.' So we turned it into a luncheon series for them." |
| Partnership aims to expand artificial intelligence research and workforce, industry collaboration | |
| Representatives of Ole Miss, the University of Arkansas, University of Memphis and University of Tennessee Health Science Center gathered in Memphis on Monday to formally announce the Mid-South AI Research Consortium. "AI is rapidly reshaping the research landscape, and the time to be thoughtful and strategic is now," UM Chancellor Glenn Boyce said. "At Ole Miss, we have dynamic faculty across a wide range of disciplines, and this collaborative effort will enhance our ability to pursue meaningful research, to innovate and to spur the economy of our region. The Mid-South has already attracted significant investment in AI data centers, said Jasbir Dhaliwal, executive vice president for research and innovation at the University of Memphis. |
| Former Southern Miss president and polymer science pioneer Shelby Thames dies at 89 | |
| The University of Southern Mississippi is mourning the loss of one of its former presidents. University officials announced Monday that Dr. Shelby Freland Thames passed away April 17 at the age of 89. Thames served as president of Southern Miss from 2002 until 2007 after nearly four decades as a faculty member and administrator. Over the course of his career, Thames was recognized nationally as a pioneer in polymer science -- the study of long chains of molecules that make up materials like plastics, rubber, and many fabrics -- and helped bring the field to Hattiesburg. Visitation will be held Friday, April 24, from 5 to 8 p.m. in Bennett Auditorium on the Hattiesburg campus. The funeral service will be Saturday, April 25, at 10 a.m. in Bennett Auditorium, followed by burial in Highland Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the university says donations of any size can be made to the Shelby F. Thames and Shirley D. Thames Scholarship for High Ability Students Endowment, which was created in 2002 to recruit high-achieving students through scholarship support. |
| Jackson State's Robinson receives Barry Goldwater Scholarship | |
| Jackson State's Mia Robinson has been named the institution's first recipient of the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship, a historic milestone for the university's academic and research community. Robinson was among 454 scholars nationwide selected for the 2026–2027 academic year from a highly competitive pool of more than 5,000 college sophomores and juniors. Widely regarded as the nation's preeminent undergraduate award for students pursuing research careers in science, engineering, and mathematics, the Goldwater Scholarship recognizes individuals with exceptional promise as future leaders in research. Established by Congress in 1986, the Goldwater Foundation commemorates Senator Barry Goldwater and has awarded more than 11,600 scholarships to date. |
| Mississippi College law school makes AI training mandatory for students | |
| Students at the Mississippi College School of Law are now required to learn how to use artificial intelligence as part of their legal education, as the technology rapidly reshapes the profession. The law school is among the first in the nation to make AI training mandatory, launching a two-day boot camp for first-year students. The course covers the basics of artificial intelligence, best practices for using it, ethical considerations and an overview of state and federal regulations. Students must pass an exam at the end of the training. Dean John P. Anderson said the goal is to ensure future lawyers understand how to use AI responsibly from the start of their careers. "We don't want anyone going out into practice without having had this training," Anderson said. "These tools can be really effective in helping students learn materials if they know how to use them properly and correctly." |
| MDAH Announces First-Ever Robert 'Bob' Moses Civil Rights Research Fellowship | |
| Christina J. Thomas, a post doctorate fellow at the Center for Civil Rights History and Research at the University of South Carolina, is the recipient of the inaugural Robert "Bob" Moses Civil Rights Research Fellowship, offered by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Thomas will conduct research in the MDAH archives this summer to support her forthcoming "Digitizing Freedom Summer" project, featuring an interactive map that locates and documents the stories of volunteers of Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964. This new fellowship is named for Moses, who is widely credited as the architect of Freedom Summer 1964, when hundreds of college students from around the country came to Mississippi to register Black people to vote and establish school classrooms for Black children. Thomas's project focuses on the volunteers, including the local people who opened their homes to the activists. |
| How a 2011 tornado inspired a U. of Alabama professor's safety research | |
 | Shane Crawford was a student at the University of Alabama who was nearing graduation when tragedy struck in the form of an EF4 tornado on April 27, 2011. Crawford saw with his own eyes how devastating the tornadic winds were, and the experience changed his life. Fifteen years later, Crawford is back at the Capstone as an associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering. He's part of a team studying how tornado debris impacts structures in order to build safer buildings, storms shelters, and safe rooms. "It dictated where I am now. I was about to be graduated at the time (the tornado hit) and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. This was sort of a galvanizing event that made me realize that if I could take what I had learned in college and apply it to trying to make sure that similar disasters don't occur in the future or protect people (when they do), that is what I wanted to do with my career," Crawford said. |
| Should Louisiana college president searches be secret? A bill is raising transparency concerns | |
 | A Louisiana state lawmaker says he plans to amend his bill that would have kept records secret about who is applying to college executive positions, proposing a change that would instead require universities to disclose some finalists amid concerns over transparency in hiring top officials. Sen. Mark Abraham, R-Lake Charles, drafted the bill, House Bill 289, to keep the identities of applicants to top college positions secret, and it had drawn concerns from groups that push for academic freedom and college transparency. He said it's hard to lure candidates to apply for top jobs without the promise of secrecy. The bill also gives wide leeway over which positions it would affect, saying it's "including but not limited to" university presidents, chancellors, senior vice chancellors and athletic coaches. After an interview with the Times-Picayune | The Advocate this week, Abraham acknowledged the transparency concerns and said he plans to amend the bill. |
| Judge backs U. of Florida after College Republicans suspended over Nazi salute | |
 | A federal judge isn't going to provide an early break to a University of Florida College Republicans chapter, which was deactivated after the school was alerted of a student performing a Nazi salute. In a case that's sparked division among Republicans, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker weighed in during an April 21 telephonic hearing, saying that although he agrees it's wrong to target a student organization based on its viewpoint, that the UF College Republicans have not "met (their) burden." "Here, the record the parties presented at the preliminary injunction stage is, at best, muddled," Walker wrote in his official written denial, although he indicated from the call that he planned to deny the reinstatement requested by the UF student chapter. This case is one of many across Florida testing the bounds of the First Amendment's role in public universities. That's even as Gov. Ron DeSantis has touted both the state and particularly Florida's flagship university to be a bastion for free speech. |
| Florida AG launches criminal investigation into ChatGPT over FSU shooting | |
 | Florida's attorney general is launching a criminal investigation into ChatGPT and its parent company OpenAI over claims that the accused gunman in a shooting at Florida State University last year consulted the AI chatbot before killing two people and injuring five more. The Republican attorney general, James Uthmeier, said at a press conference in Tampa on Tuesday that accused gunman Phoenix Ikner consulted ChatGPT for advice before the shooting, including what type of gun to use, what ammunition went with it, and what time to go to campus to encounter more people, according to an initial review of Ikner's chat logs. "My prosecutors have looked at this and they've told me, if it was a person on the other end of that screen, we would be charging them with murder," Uthmeier said. "We cannot have AI bots that are advising people on how to kill others." Lawsuits are also mounting against OpenAI and other makers of AI chatbots alleging they've contributed to mental health crises and suicides. |
| U. of Oklahoma greek life concerts raise questions of crowd safety, noise regulation | |
| On March 27, rapper DaBaby stepped onto a stage on Beta Theta Pi's front lawn. His voice blared into the microphone as speakers erupted with a pounding bass. Marketing first-year Abigail Huber stood near the concert barricade with her friend after arriving on the fraternity's lawn hours in advance. But as the concert began, Huber quickly became worried for her safety. "I've never experienced anything like it," Huber said. "Genuinely, it was terrifying how packed it was." Across the street, professor and Norman resident Tamar Zinger heard her windows begin to vibrate. She placed her hands against the two tall panes of glass near the front of her house, trying to prevent the vibrations from shattering her windows. Zinger, a University of Oklahoma architecture professor, has been living in Norman's historic Ledbetter House for four years. She said living next to the fraternity house had not been a problem until this concert. |
| Michael and Susan Dell become UT Austin's first $1 billion donors | |
| With $750 million in new investments announced Tuesday, Michael and Susan Dell have become the University of Texas at Austin's first $1 billion donors. The latest investment will establish the UT Dell Campus for Advanced Research and the UT Dell Medical Center. Funds will also provide support for undergraduate student scholarships, student housing, and the university's supercomputing research center. "What starts here changes the world, and today, with the Dell Advanced Research Campus, we are beginning something that will matter for generations," said Michael Dell, founder of Dell Technologies, during an announcement ceremony on Tuesday. The Dells said the goal of the new investment is to bring together medicine, science, and computing on a single campus designed for the artificial intelligence era. |
| U. of Missouri researcher to present at international autism conference | |
 | For University of Missouri graduate student Megan Hrini, finding connections across disciplines has opened the door to creativity in research and given her the chance to visit Europe. Hrini is traveling to Prague this week to present at the International Society for Autism Research conference from Wednesday to Saturday. The interdisciplinary conference focuses on autism health outcomes, barriers to access and epidemiology. The conference brings people together from many different parts of the autism community. This includes researchers, physicians and neurodiverse individuals. Hrini is a part of Aída Guhlincozzi's Critical and Communities Geography Lab on campus. The lab is focused on public health and geography, exploring marginalized communities. Hrini's particular research looks at care access for individuals with autism, including diagnostics services and individualized education plans in schools. The research is done in collaboration with ECHO Autism at Mizzou, a part of the Missouri Telehealth Network that connects individuals with autism specialists. |
| An 'Inappropriate Relationship' Sank Ohio State's Leader. A New Report Spills the Details. | |
 | An annual luncheon in December honoring Ohio State University faculty members and staff was only 15 minutes underway when Ted Carter slipped out. Though he was slated to be the event's keynote speaker, the flagship's president had a meeting in downtown Columbus he seemed unwilling to miss. His senior adviser had flown in on a red-eye from the West Coast to be there. The president entered the meeting "like the Godfather," one attendee would later say. Carter "made direct, authoritative statements" to the group, which included key Ohio leaders and a would-be developer for a potential app. "You need to get this done," Carter told one attendee, referring to the app. He told another: "We need to do this." Carter left the meeting after 10 minutes and headed back to campus for the luncheon. The woman who was trying to develop the app was Krisanthe Vlachos, whom Ohio State would later reveal was in an "inappropriate relationship" with Carter. The meeting, detailed in a 47-page report that the university released Tuesday, was one of many attempts by Carter over his two-year stint as president to steer Ohio State resources toward Vlachos. |
| They Chose Careers in the Trades and Still Wound Up With Debt | |
 | More young Americans are turning to trade school to pursue in-demand jobs like plumbing and electrical work but encountering something they didn't expect: hefty price tags. Demand for training in blue-collar fields is booming as skepticism over the value of a college degree grows. On social media, videos touting the virtues of blue-collar careers are racking up views and spawning hashtags like #nodebtneeded. But as free and low-cost routes like community colleges and union apprenticeships fill up, more students are turning to more costly private options, where tuition can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. A nine-month cosmetology program in New Jersey, for instance, costs $17,000 while a 14-month aircraft maintenance program in Florida costs $40,000, according to a college affordability list maintained by the Education Department. For some students, those costs can be formidable. |
| 'We Need a NATO for Universities' | |
 | While the Trump administration certainly hasn't stopped its war on higher ed, the attacks have lost a little of the intensity that marked the president's first nine months in office. "It just doesn't quite seem to have the same focus in terms of making ... life miserable as it did in July of 2025," said Kevin Carey, vice president of education and work programs at New America, speaking on a panel the think tank hosted Tuesday titled "The Fifth Pillar: Where Higher Ed Goes From Here." "The compact that was being put forward ... it kind of came and went." The relative reprieve makes this the perfect moment for institutions to regroup and forge a united front against the onslaught. "We need a NATO for universities," said Lee Bollinger, president emeritus of Columbia University and former president of the University of Michigan. "When one university is attacked, everyone commits to coming to their defense. We need less capacity of individual institutions to make decisions about where we should go in defending universities and more power in a system." |
| Federal indictment against The Southern Poverty Law Center hits close to home | |
| The Magnolia Tribune's Russ Latino writes: The Southern Poverty Law Center has an endowment of over $700 million. On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice charged the group with fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. Prosecutors allege that between 2014 and 2023, the organization funneled millions of dollars to individuals inside extremist groups, while telling donors it was fighting those same groups. According to prosecutors, individuals tied to groups like the Ku Klux Klan, National Alliance, Aryan Nations, and the National Socialist Movement received millions from SPLC over a period of years. Prosecutors allege recipients of SPLC lucre were not merely informants or passive observers, but were themselves actively involved in extremist activity while receiving the money. ... For Mississippians, this is not just a national story. SPLC maintains a meaningful footprint here. In recent years, it pledged $330,000 in grant money to "The Parents Campaign," an Orwellian-named group that fights against giving parents school choice. SPLC is connected to major litigation against the state, including redistricting battles. ... Then there is its role in labeling "hate groups." |
| Local sports: Glory and honor from the days before NIL, the portals, and social media | |
| Columnist Sid Salter writes: The rise of county-level sports halls of fame around Mississippi has provided an opportunity for communities to honor excellence. Lowndes County and Scott County are two venues where the programs are thriving, and overdue recognition is being celebrated. I spoke at the Lowndes County Sports Hall of Fame induction last week. The honorees were all winners in sports and in life. All had compelling stories. There were no Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals for these athletes, and no transfer portal. The 2026 LCSHOF honorees included: The late Billy Ray Adams, Samye Johnson, the late Thomas Edison "Tommy" Lott Jr., Oliver Miller, the late Dan Douglas Moulds, Aubrey Nichols, Derek Sherrod, Robert Smith Jr., and the late James "T" Thomas. |
SPORTS
| Baseball: Valincius Lifts No. 15 MSU To Victory Over Memphis | |
| Vytas Valincius delivered the decisive swings with a pinch-hit RBI single in the sixth inning and with a three-run homer in the eighth, lifting No. 15 Mississippi State to a 6-2 victory over Memphis on Tuesday night at Dudy Noble Field. The Diamond Dawgs (31-10) broke open a tight game late when Valincius launched a three-run shot to left field. The blast gave MSU breathing room after carrying a one-run lead into the eighth. The Bulldogs used six pitchers to secure the midweek win. Maddox Miller (3-2) earned the victory with two scoreless innings and Maddox Webb recorded the final two outs for his second save after inheriting a bases-loaded jam in the ninth. Jack Gleason also struck out four in 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. Mississippi State returns to SEC play for Super Bulldog Weekend hosting defending national champion LSU for a three-game series starting Friday at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+. |
| U. of Tennessee-developed turfgrass research to be implemented in 2026 FIFA World Cup | |
| "It started over a cup of tea and biscuits in London in 2018," University of Tennessee professor John Sorochan said. Sorochan, distinguished professor of turfgrass science and management, has spent years developing turfgrass research that FIFA is now using in the 2026 World Cup. With five indoor stadiums at play in this year's World Cup, keeping consistent pitch conditions is important to maintaining player safety and creating an environment that players feel confident in. "This is the world's biggest stage," Sorochan said. "More eyes are on this than anything in the world." Alan Ferguson, FIFA's senior pitch management manager, has helped coordinate research efforts between UT and Michigan State University since his initial conversation with Sorochan eight years ago. "One of the easiest decisions I have made around this tournament so far was the partnering of UT and MSU universities," Ferguson. "Both already had world-leading reputations, both already led by world-leading turf professors. I didn't want to reinvent the wheel. It was already here." |
| Kentucky governor blasts UK athletics' decision-making | |
| Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has publicly questioned the decision-making at the University of Kentucky, including the seven-figure gig retiring athletic director Mitch Barnhart was recently given. Beshear's chastisement, rare for a sitting governor, comes at a turbulent juncture for Kentucky athletics, which is falling behind its peers on the gridiron and on the hardwood. Barnhart, who will step down on June 30, was recently named executive in residence for the UK Sport and Workforce Initiative by Kentucky president Eli Capilouto. The contract for the gig, which will pay Barnhart $1 million per year beginning July 1, does not provide a concrete job description. That has prompted prominent supporters to ask the school to reverse the offer. "I am losing confidence and growing increasingly concerned with the management and decision-making at the University of Kentucky," Beshear said in the statement Tuesday. "My concerns include the creation of a new $1 million job that has no defined duties and the announcement that the new dean of law was the only candidate not recommended by law school faculty." |
| With CFP expansion talks ongoing, presidential committee pushing for 24-team field | |
| This week, members of the College Football Playoff governance committee -- the 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director -- gather here in Dallas at their annual spring meetings, stationed in a room for more than 15 hours over two days with the responsibility to govern the industry's most valuable product. For more than a decade now, the committee has lived beneath the cloud of a never-ending discussion over postseason expansion -- from two teams to four to the current iteration of 12 and, now, the year-long public spat over the next edition of the CFP: 16 or 24. Through the years, like an invisible fog, the argument lingers, having survived the job term of the committee's own participants. But as meetings begin here this week, something altogether new has surfaced. The CFP committee is not the only group of highly placed executives taking an interest in playoff expansion. "We asked the government for help with NIL," said one CFP committee member recently, "and now they're involved in the playoff." |
| ESPN executives 'privately dismissed' 24-team CFP, per report | |
| A holy war might be brewing between ESPN and Fox Sports. The College Football Playoff governance committee is meeting this week in Dallas to address a whole host of topics facing the sport's postseason. And as has been the case for much of the past decade, playoff expansion will be at the forefront of discussion. No final decision is expected from this week's meetings, but that doesn't mean the myriad competing stakeholders aren't making their preferences known through media leaks. On Tuesday, Yahoo's Ross Dellenger issued a report chock-full of nuggets about the state of play in college football, particularly regarding the sport's postseason. In the report, Dellenger outlines growing support for a 24-team playoff format among "at least three of the four power conference commissioners" and Notre Dame. One can surmise that the lone holdout is the SEC. |
| Trump renews his call for Congress to intervene and pass legislation to control college sports | |
| President Donald Trump on Tuesday repeated his call for Congress to pass legislation that would rein in college sports at a time athletes are allowed to move freely from school to school and command salaries that put athletic departments in financial peril. Trump's remarks came at a White House event honoring some 100 athletes from seven teams that won NCAA championships in 2025. Trump this month signed an executive order that would limit eligibility to five years, allow one transfer without penalty for undergraduates, stop pay-for-play schemes and build in protections for women's and Olympic sports. Aspects of the executive order might not withstand legal scrutiny, which is why Trump and some college sports stakeholders are asking for federal legislation that would codify restrictions and grant the NCAA an antitrust exemption to enforce rules. "It's a very precarious position the courts have left us in," Trump said, adding that the 2025 settlement of House v. the NCAA created a professional model that has led to financial instability for colleges. "And now it's a total and complete mess. But we're going to get it fixed up and we've got fantastic people doing it. So we need now Congress to act to clear up the confusion created by the courts and institute permanent reforms to protect college sports at every level, especially some sports." |
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