| Thursday, June 25, 2026 |
| MSU's College of Professional and Continuing Studies helping skilled workers advance careers through leadership credential program | |
 | Mississippi State's College of Professional and Continuing Studies is spearheading a new leadership and project management credential program to help skilled workers advance into supervisory roles. Thanks to a U.S Department of Education grant, MSU is receiving approximately $2.6 million in federal funding through 2029 for its new Skills Trade Empowerment Program, or STEP, a 10-week leadership initiative for early and mid-career workers in trade industries such as construction, manufacturing and energy. The university is the only Mississippi institution of higher learning to receive the award serviced through the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, or FIPSE, Special Projects Program. "There is a gap between knowing a trade and leading a team. STEP closes that gap with a structured, industry-recognized credential built around what supervisors in construction, manufacturing and energy actually need," said Kenna Vowell, CPCS assistant professor and STEP principal investigator. "Over four years, we expect more than 240 Mississippi workers to hold this credential. That is a workforce shift you can measure." |
| Americans are inundated with suspected scams. New polling shows why few victims report them | |
 | Most Americans are inundated with scam attempts on a daily basis -- and about 3 in 10 have personally lost money or personal information to scams, according to a new AP-NORC survey. The poll, conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in February, highlights the obstacle course that U.S. adults navigate daily as they screen calls, ignore messages or try to puzzle out if that urgent request from their cellphone provider is legitimate. A separate survey conducted by Gallup and the Stop Scams Alliance that was provided exclusively to the AP found that last year alone, about 1 in 10 U.S. adults said they or someone else from their household was deceived by a scammer into losing money or providing access to a financial account, with nearly half saying they lost more than $500. That leaves many Americans feeling like they're constantly at risk of falling for a scam, often without a sense of recourse. In both surveys, few victims said they reported the scam to the federal government or local law enforcement. Many victims didn't report the scam, Gallup found, because they didn't think it would make a difference in getting money back. |
| Hosemann: Redistricting coming to Mississippi | |
 | In his remarks at the Neshoba County Fair on Wednesday, Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann (R) did not announce what office he would seek in 2027. It is expected that he will soon make his intentions known, with a likely run for governor rumored to be in the works. Hosemann is in his second term as Lt. Governor and is term limited, meaning he cannot run for re-election to that office in next year's elections. But instead of talking about his own future, Hosemann used much of his time to push back on Democrats' efforts to subvert the will of the people through challenging the Legislature's electoral maps. He told attendees under the Founders Square pavilion that redistricting is coming to Mississippi. "I have told you repeatedly one of the few rights we have as a state is our right to set the way we elect people and their districts, " Hosemann said. "When we tried to redistrict Mississippi, the way your Legislature, the people you hired wanted to redistrict Mississippi, the federal courts said, 'No, you can't do it that way. You've got to redistrict another way. We want other people elected.'" |
| Fitch says announcement on her political future is coming soon. Hosemann says redistricting is his focus: Neshoba County Fair | |
| Gubernatorial ambitions, declared and yet-to-be, were in the rainy Mississippi summer air on Wednesday as statewide officials delivered political speeches at the Neshoba County Fair. Republican Attorney General and prospective gubernatorial candidate Lynn Fitch said an announcement regarding her political future is soon forthcoming. A potential rival for the state's highest office, term-limited Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, again hinted at a run for the state's top job, declaring he would keep working as long as Mississippians would "keep hiring" him. Republicans Fitch and Hosemann both stopped short of announcing a run for governor, but Fitch, who could also run for a third term as attorney general, said she would make her 2027 intentions known soon. The two Republican candidates who have officially entered the gubernatorial race, former House Speaker Philip Gunn and Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson, were also at Founder's Square shaking hands and chatting with fairgoers. |
| Fitch doesn't tip her hand at Neshoba | |
| Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R) did not tip her hand as to her future campaign plans on Wednesday at the Neshoba County Fair. Instead, she used her time on the Founders Square stage to highlight the work her office is doing across Mississippi. Fitch, who has held the office of Attorney General for two terms, is routinely mentioned among a handful of possible candidates for governor in 2027. She left fairgoers wondering what comes next while touting her office's record over the last eight years. "I am proud to have been part of bringing Mississippi to this exciting moment in time. We are truly on the verge of greatness," Fitch said. "We are at that moment where we can transform Mississippi from one of the nation's best kept secrets to the very top of the nation's leader board." She said people are paying attention, and "they are really watching to see what we do next." The Attorney General also spoke on the reduction in crime and murder in Mississippi's Capitol City, saying murders are down 30% in Jackson. "Crime was destroying our state capital and the CCID, or Capitol Complex Improvement District, was an innovative law enforcement response," Fitch said. |
| Congressional challengers have unfettered access to Neshoba County Fair crowd with incumbents in Washington | |
| Congressional midterms are 132 days away, and candidates looking to unseat incumbents in Mississippi had unfettered access to the audience at one of the state's most prominent political stumps on Wednesday The Neshoba County Fair opened the first of its two-day lineup of political speaking with elected officeholders and hopefuls alike articulating their outlook for the state inside the Pavilion at Founder's Square -- a podium popularized by Ronald Reagan delivering a speech there during his 1980 presidential campaign. This year, with a U.S. Senate and a U.S. House post in the fairgrounds' district up for grabs, a trio of non-Republican candidates capitalized on the opportunity to sway a traditionally GOP-heavy crowd in their favor. And they did so with Republican incumbents U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and U.S. Rep Michael Guest absent, due to having to fulfill congressional obligations in the nation's capital. Colom, a longtime district attorney in the Golden Triangle, is running to unseat Hyde-Smith because he believes Mississippians deserve better representation in the nation's capital. Colom took the opportunity to dish multiple jabs at Hyde-Smith, accusing the senator of turning her back on farmers, accepting large sums of money from corporations responsible for harming Mississippi's agriculture industry, and voting for tax cuts that benefit billionaires, rather than ordinary citizens. |
| Colom blasts absent Hyde-Smith, Pinkins promises alternative at Neshoba County Fair as US Senate midterm nears | |
| Two of Mississippi's candidates for U.S. Senate braved rainy, muddy conditions at the Neshoba County Fair on Wednesday, with each casting themselves as independent-minded and ready to bring change to a polarized Congress. Democratic candidate Scott Colom and independent Ty Pinkins spoke under the tin-roofed pavilion at Founder's Square just over four months before November's midterm federal election. Congress is in session this week, which prevented incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith from attending the fair, her campaign told Mississippi Today. Colom struck a bipartisan tone at the outset of his speech, recounting visiting Neshoba as a 9-year-old with his father, who at one point worked for Ronald Reagan, the former Republican president who drew national attention when he spoke at the fair in favor of "states' rights." That personal background, Colom said, would inform his approach as a U.S. senator. "I'm not running to be another Democratic senator," Colom said. "I'm running to be Mississippi's senator." Colom, a district attorney for Noxubee, Clay, Lowndes and Oktibbeha counties, went on to highlight his work prosecuting criminals and vowed to protect Second Amendment rights in the Senate. |
| David McRae seeking 3rd term as Mississippi treasurer | |
| State Treasurer David McRae is seeking a third term, he announced in front of hundreds of fairgoers at the Neshoba County Fair on Wednesday. McRae, a Republican, took to the podium for his annual speech and touted several accomplishments -- including a record $170 million in unclaimed money being returned to Mississippians since he took office in 2020 -- and said he's the "happiest he's ever been." My wife has said, 'You look so much happier. You look so happy going to work every day.' Or she just wants me to go to work or whatever," McRae said, garnering laughs from the crowd. "But I enjoy the job and I have the greatest staff you could ever imagine. So, with that being said, I am proud to announce today I am running for a third term as your state treasurer." During his speech at Neshoba, which is often considered the state's most prominent political stump, McRae also discussed the state's recent boost in average annual investment earnings from $39 million to $187 million and college and career savings accounts that are available for residents to open through his office. |
| State senator David Blount speaks to Rotary | |
| State Sen. David Blount warned Tuesday that sweeping tax and pension changes enacted by the Legislature last year threaten Mississippi's ability to recruit and retain public employees and could hobble state finances for decades, delivering blunt remarks to the Rotary Club of North Jackson that touched on education, Medicaid expansion and the fallout from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on redistricting. Blount, a Democrat serving his fifth term in the state Senate, said House Bill 1 -- the law that begins phasing out the state income tax and revamps the public employee retirement system -- was the most consequential legislation he has seen during his tenure. "That did the two worst things we've ever done since I've been in the state Senate in the same bill," Blount told the club. He called elimination of the income tax "a radical experiment," noting only Alaska previously eliminated a state income tax after finding oil. He said the tax changes, combined with other recent cuts, have stripped the state of revenue needed to meet long-term obligations. Blount said the law also effectively ended the traditional defined-benefit pension for public workers hired after March 1, 2026, replacing it with a hybrid retirement plan. Under the change, 9% of an employee's paycheck will be deducted for retirement -- with about 5% going into a portable, 401(k)-style account and 4% into a reduced defined-benefit component. |
| Philip, Alan Moran get long jail sentences after bribery, conspiracy convictions | |
 | Former Mississippi state Sen. Philip Moran and his son, Alan, were sentenced to prison Wednesday in Hancock County Circuit Court. Philip Moran, 65, was sentenced to the maximum 15 years in prison for bribery, and the maximum 5 years on conspiracy, with both charges to run consecutively to one another. Judge Christopher Schmidt ordered Philip Moran to spend 12 of those years in prison, with the remainder of the time on post-release supervision. Alan Moran, 38, received the maximum sentence on both counts to run consecutively, but the judge suspended all but 10 years of his prison term, with the remainder of that time served under post-release supervision. That sentence will run consecutive to the 12-year sentence Alan Moran is already serving for child exploitation. Before imposing the sentence, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Burrell asked the judge to impose the maximum sentences on both counts to run consecutively to one another. "One of the foundations of our criminal justice system is that the law is applied equally regardless of age, race, or economic status," Burrell said. "The defendant's actions in this case attempted to violate and shake that foundation and try to call into question the integrity of our justice system. They believe that their money, power, and privilege created an exception for them. They believe that their money and influence can buy their way out of trouble. That simply cannot stand in our justice system." A jury took a little over an hour to convict the father and son. |
| AI is plowing through the workplace. This new group wants to help people adapt and have jobs | |
| America has been rushing into an artificial intelligence future without much of a plan to stop what could be catastrophic job losses. Critics warn of doomsday scenarios out of a sci-fi thriller, while backers say AI will generate so much new wealth that no one should worry too much about millions of layoffs. A new bipartisan nonprofit hopes to ensure that America can realize the economic gains promised by AI without its workers suffering. RAISE US is starting with more than $500 million to deploy on new forms of education and training, putting a focus on partnering with states and major employers rather than the federal government. Founded by former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, and former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, the group aims to pilot programs and incentives to help American workers pivot to new careers in an economy that will increasingly be automated by artificial intelligence. The nonprofit is initially partnering with officials in Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland and Utah, along with several of America's largest companies and charitable organizations. The group intends to develop policies that connect schools more closely to employers, so that layoffs can be replaced by the potential for new jobs with higher incomes. They also are exploring changes to corporate taxes and other incentives with the goal of keeping people working. |
| Timeline at risk for next GOP reconciliation package | |
 | While lawmakers had been hoping to work this month on a third budget resolution that would set the framework for another filibuster-proof reconciliation bill, some suggested Wednesday that a budget blueprint might slip into July. "I don't think we'll do a markup before July," said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a member of the Budget Committee. "We don't have the time now, unless we get called back into session." The risk of a time slip underscored the growing doubts about the ability and willpower of Republicans to coalesce around a third budget reconciliation package before the midterm elections, following last year's "big, beautiful" tax and spending package and the recent immigration enforcement funding measure. Some top Senate Republicans have already dismissed the idea of a third reconciliation package as impractical, given the limited number of legislative days left before campaign season kicks in. But House GOP leaders, particularly Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., have maintained a bullish optimism that a reconciliation bill can still be passed in time. GOP leaders are also facing other demands from their conference's right flank on what must be included in a reconciliation package. |
| Democratic Leaders Want the Party to Moderate. Its Base Has Other Ideas. | |
 | After a trio of leftists in New York City defeated establishment-backed candidates in congressional primaries, a bouquet of flowers and a sympathy card arrived at the Capitol Hill office of Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader. "With heartfelt sympathy," read the trolling card from the House Republicans' campaign arm, mocking Mr. Jeffries, who had backed two of the losing candidates. Progressives were cheering their victories in New York on Wednesday. The only faction that appeared even happier may have been Republicans fighting to cling to power in the midterms, who are eager to attempt to define the Democratic brand by its most boisterous and socialist voices. Democrats find themselves squeezed by competing forces. The party's leaders in Washington are pushing for moderate candidates who they hope will be competitive in states and areas that have been inhospitable to Democrats in recent years. But primary voters in New York and other recent contests are moving in the opposite direction, increasingly turning to progressives and even socialists who excite the base. The results -- which included the defeat of the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus -- revealed anew the limited capacity for party power brokers to choose their nominees during a moment of intense voter anger at the political establishment. |
| The Supreme Court's next rulings could set Trump off | |
 | As President Donald Trump prepares to launch his big America 250 celebration, the Supreme Court is about to unfurl its own annual fireworks barrage: the fusillade of decisions the justices fire off in late June before they head out of town for the summer. Trump's relationship with the high court has been strained in recent months, particularly in the wake of the court's 6-3 ruling knocking out the central pillar of Trump's signature tariff policy. Now, Trump is staring down a high likelihood of defeat on another issue key to his political agenda: his attempt to end the nation's century-long tradition of granting citizenship to almost everyone born on U.S. soil. Trump, who underscored his interest in the birthright issue by taking the unprecedented step of showing up in-person for the high court's arguments on it in April, seems resigned to losing. He said on Truth Social last month that the justices would "probably" rule against his policy because the court system is "rigged." It seems wise to expect a presidential outburst against the justices if that case goes as he expects. |
| Eager for a break, farmers don't expect much relief after the Iran peace deal | |
 | Fertilizer prices are finally falling this week after news of a tentative peace deal with Iran and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. But for Ryan Poe, a fifth-generation wheat farmer in Hartline, Wash., the headlines need a qualifier. "Maybe a global supplier of fertilizer sees that kind of instant price change," Poe says. "But for me, on the farm, there's been no change in fertilizer price." Poe already bought most of his fertilizer for the year. And this week he's putting what's left of it on the fields he needs to keep clear of weeds before he plants in the fall. Poe figures he spent roughly 23% more on fertilizer this spring than before the war. "It's the sticker shock of, OK, yeah, this is definitely higher than last year," Poe says. Farmers are equally eager for relief from high diesel prices. But an updated U.S. Department of Agriculture commodities forecast last Thursday predicts energy and fertilizer prices won't go down substantially until 2027, putting the heartland in a further bind. Before the turmoil in the Middle East, Poe was already dealing with flat wheat prices and rising equipment costs due to inflation and President Trump's second trade war in 10 years. It's a pile-on. "It's just not a fun time to be in ag," Poe says. "It's hard when you see people around you that are at that point of giving up." Where and what you farm can make a financial difference, though. |
| Once roiled by sexual abuse issue, Southern Baptist leadership now downplays its extent | |
| Four years ago, the Southern Baptist Convention received a landmark report asserting that top leaders in the nation's largest Protestant denomination had long minimized reports of sexual abuse by clergy, intimidated survivors and stonewalled reforms. The convention's 2022 annual meeting passed a resolution apologizing to abuse survivors, several of them by name. It authorized reforms that included the creation of a database of credibly accused church workers. It appeared to mark a reckoning within the SBC in tandem with the wider #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements -- and a recognition that clergy sex abuse extended far beyond the much-publicized scandal in the Catholic Church. But prominent survivors and advocates have largely given up trying to bring about change in the SBC after witnessing what they view as increasingly faltering efforts toward reform. And now a counternarrative has reached the highest levels of convention leadership. Prominent Southern Baptists are promoting the view that although sexual abuse has occurred in the SBC, it never rose to a "crisis" level. Christa Brown -- a survivor of sexual abuse by an SBC pastor and longtime advocate for reforms -- said that if anyone was politicizing the abuse issue, it was people involved in SBC power struggles, not the victims. |
| Pope: Universities are powerful channels to promote solidarity and common good | |
| By promoting the search for truth, being close to those who are marginalized and young people, and working to protect the environment, colleges and universities become important spaces to confront the challenges facing humanity today, Pope Leo XIV said on Thursday, June 25. "Your institutions are called not only to teach your students about the injustices faced by those on the margins of society, but also to be powerful channels in promoting systemic change through proposing new models rooted in solidarity and the common good," the Pope said, in a meeting at the Vatican with the presidents and representatives of Jesuit colleges and universities in North America. In his address, Pope Leo offered a roadmap to how these institutions can help their members confront society's most pressing issues. The Pope emphasized that young people often don't have hope for a better future and that the planet's resources are regularly being used for personal interests. He also noted the growing impact of artificial intelligence on humanity. |
| Governance fight throws U. of Florida presidency into turmoil | |
 | An intense two-hour long discussion by the Board of Governors on university governance concerns took the place of what would have been the consideration for Dr. Stuart Bell to be confirmed as the University of Florida's interim president. As a result, the board's nomination and governance committee voted during a June 24 meeting for a third-party expert in university governance to review the governance documents of all universities in the system, delegated authorities and Board of Governors policies. The lengthy conversation among governing board members -- including sharp comments made by UF board chair Morteza "Mori" Hosseini -- came after Board of Governors chair Alan Levine said in a letter last week that he would not allow Bell's confirmation to be placed on the board's June 24-25 agenda until governance issues at UF are resolved. UF board members and state officials, including Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier's office, reacted to Levine's decision through social media posts and letters, calling it "unfair" and "incorrect." |
| Meet the Externs: How Faculty Use Workplace Experience to Help Students | |
 | Dan Hatch, a user experience and web design professor at Utah Valley University, has spent seven summers externing at technology companies to brush up on industry-specific skills that will give his students a leg up when they join the workforce. He enters each two-week externship with a similar mission: to understand how students get into the industry, how they gain experience and how they can get a job right out of college. But this year, while spending a week in May at JobNimbus and a week in June at Awardco, something else was top of mind: How will students need to understand, work with and utilize artificial intelligence? AI use in the workplace is booming. In April, Gallup found that 13 percent of American employees use AI daily in their jobs -- up from 8 percent about a year prior -- and 50 percent of employees use AI at least a few times per year. Meanwhile, AI's capabilities are growing at breakneck speed. At this rate, the versions of ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude that students become familiar with during their freshman year will be very different from the AI models available when they graduate. Colleges are grappling with the task of preparing students for increasingly AI-integrated careers. At some institutions, faculty are getting up to speed by stepping out of the classroom and into the workforce. |
| How the U.S. is losing ground to China in university research | |
| Making a scientific breakthrough, after years of research, can be hard to put into words. For Dr. Yilai Shu, a physician and research scientist at Fudan University in Shanghai, that moment came when the parents of a girl, born deaf, confirmed to him his treatment had worked: "They told me, Dr. Shu, it works! We called to her and she turned around, hearing us for the first time." The girl's experience was the result of a single injection -- an experimental gene therapy treatment -- aimed at curing a rare form of deafness. It was a major breakthrough in the audiology world and one that made researchers around the world take note, including David Corey, a professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School who has spent decades aiming for that same breakthrough, working on the same problems. "I'm not sure I would say that there's jealousy," says Corey, "but frustration that American scientists haven't been able to move as quickly." The United States was once the research engine of the world. Now China may be taking the dominant role, thanks to massive investment and a disruptive year for American universities under the Trump administration. In the case of Corey and Shu, both researchers are racing to find a cure for hereditary deafness -- one in Boston and one in Shanghai -- but they face very different realities. |
| When a squatter owns your building | |
| Mississippi newspaper publisher and columnist Wyatt Emmerich writes: Former Hinds County Supervisor Joe Lauderdale has spent most of his life believing in property rights. Now he's not so sure. Lauderdale and his son own a commercial building on East Rankin Street in Jackson. A few years ago they leased the building to a man who operated an automobile paint and body shop. The arrangement started out fine. The tenant paid rent and operated his business. Then the rent stopped. According to Lauderdale, the lease expired in June 2024 and was not renewed because the tenant had fallen behind on rent payments. Lauderdale figured the matter would soon resolve itself. Surely a tenant who no longer had a lease and wasn't paying rent would simply move out. He was wrong. Nearly two years later, the tenant is still there. ... Many readers will instinctively side with Lauderdale. After all, if you own a building and the lease has expired, shouldn't you be able to take possession of your own property? The answer, legally speaking, is more complicated than most people realize. |
SPORTS
| NCAA proposes shorter college football transfer portal window, new spring practice format | |
| College football has moved one step closer to a new offseason calendar that changes spring football, shortens preseason camp and further condenses the transfer portal window. The Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Oversight Committee this week proposed replacing spring football and summer workouts with 21 on-field practices across two time periods, reducing preseason camp practices from 25 to 21 and shrinking the 15-day winter transfer portal window to 10 days. The proposed changes, announced by the NCAA on Wednesday, are still subject to a final vote by the oversight committee in August. If approved at that time, they would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2027. The offseason changes -- which have been compared to the NFL's "OTA-style" schedule -- have been long discussed by coaches as the sport adapts to a longer playing season with an expanded College Football Playoff and more frequent roster turnover because of the transfer portal. Many teams have used fewer than the allotted 15 spring practices and eliminated spring football games in recent years to reduce wear and tear on their rosters and minimize injury risk. The Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Oversight Committee has also recommended all three of the changes but added one more: FCS schools would be allowed to hold joint practices with another four-year school in the spring. |
| Suit alleges new NCAA rule unfair to high school Class of 2022 | |
| Less than 24 hours after the NCAA Division I cabinet approved a monumental change in eligibility rules, a group of 15 college basketball players filed a lawsuit in an Ohio state court claiming the new age-based model unfairly shuts them out of further competition. The NCAA now will allow athletes five seasons of competition over a five-year period that begins with their full-time enrollment or the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs first. The move will all but eliminate waivers or redshirt years for extended eligibility except for religious missions, pregnancy or active-duty military service. No longer will extensions be considered for athletes who are injured. Athletes whose eligibility expired by spring 2026 under the traditional model -- four years of competition over five years -- will not be allowed a fifth year of competition under the new rules that go into effect this fall. The new eligibility rule "unjustifiably restrains their ability to earn money through use of their name, image, and likeness ('NIL') connected to their work as Division I athletes," attorneys Ryan Downton and Charles Rittgers wrote in the complaint. Similar lawsuits are expected to be filed in other states. |
| There Are Thousands of Brendan Sorsbys on College Campuses | |
| Inside Higher Ed Editor in Chief Sara Custer writes: Brendan Sorsby bet more than $90,000 on games while he quarterbacked the football teams at Indiana University and the University of Cincinnati. Court records show that he began gambling in high school at casinos with friends and started experimenting with sports-betting apps that allowed him to make wagers on his phone before he was even 21 -- the legal age. Sorsby said he was enticed by introductory offers that allowed him to deposit a few dollars and receive hundreds in free betting credits. ... Sorsby's story isn't unique among college students. Researchers estimate that 6 percent of college students have a serious gambling problem, and men are most affected. A survey from the American Institute for Boys and Men found that 26 percent of young men age 18 to 24 have used a sports betting app, daily fantasy sports, prediction market or other gambling platform in the previous six months, compared to 14 percent of the general public. While there's no evidence that those users will develop gambling addictions, psychiatrists who study gambling note that without fully developed adult brains, college students are more impulsive and less risk-averse when they're betting. ... Sorsby's story brought the problem of gambling on college campuses into the spotlight. But thousands of other lower-profile students not involved in athletics struggle with similar compulsions. |
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