| Wednesday, April 7, 2021 |
| MSU Horticulture Club hosts spring plant sale | |
 | Mississippi State University's Horticulture Club invites the community to shop its spring plant sale this weekend. The event is Friday [April 9] from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday [April 10] from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the greenhouses next to Dorman Hall, located at 32 Creelman St. on the MSU campus in Starkville. Herbs, vegetables, flowers and house plants are among items available for purchase. Professor Richard Harkess in the MSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, who serves as the club's faculty advisor, said the sale is a culmination of experiential learning throughout the semester. "The plant sale and all the work leading up to it provide our students the chance to learn greenhouse plant production firsthand from planting through growth to sale. It provides students the opportunity to gain practical experience in their field of study," he said. "Additionally, the club -- which is completely self-funded -- is comprised of more than a dozen active student members who get to see the fruits of their labor pay off in the form of funding for scholarships, club activities and service projects." For more information, visit "MS State Horticulture Club" on Facebook. |
| Incumbents cruise in Starkville | |
 | The Republican primary for Ward 4 alderman remains tied after ballot box and absentee votes were tallied Tuesday. Austin Check and Kevin Daniels garnered 92 votes apiece, meaning it will be at least another week before the primary victor is named. City Clerk Lesa Hardin said four affidavit ballots need to be processed in that race, and by law the city must wait five days after the election on mail-in absentees that might still come in. Hardin said the affidavits and any remaining absentees for Ward 4 would be counted starting at 4:30 p.m. April 13 at City Hall. The Republican winner in Ward 4 will face Democrat Mike Brooks in the June 8 general election. In the Ward 2 Democratic primary, incumbent Sandra Sistrunk cruised to a 167-89 victory over challenger Jimmy Joe Buckley. Sistrunk moves on to face Republican Brice Stubbs in the general election. Anna Chaney took the Ward 5 Republican primary, beating Brady Hindman 119-61. Chaney will face Democrat Hamp Beatty in the general election. Longtime incumbent alderman Roy A. Perkins won re-election in Ward 6, beating Santee Ezell by a 285-96 margin, according to unofficial totals. He will not face a general election challenger. |
| Teen charged as adult in fatal Easter shooting in Starkville | |
 | A 15-year-old male was arrested Tuesday and charged with the Sunday evening shooting of a 17-year-old in central Starkville. The Starkville Police Department arrested Tyrese Macon, 15, of Starkville, and charged him as an adult with murder. He was transported to the Oktibbeha County Jail where his is being held on a $750,000 bond. "This violent act has impacted a number of lives and is not a reflection of Starkville's core values," said Starkville Police Chief Mark Ballard. "Senseless violence has left one teenager dead and another teenager has forever changed the course of his life." Police responded to the intersection of Hilliard Street and Sherman Street around 5:15 p.m. April 4 to the report of a shooting with a possible victim. The responding officers found a deceased white male, later identified as Clifton Hester Files, 17, of Starkville. The shooting occurred inside a vehicle at the end of Sherman Street. Neither the victim nor the suspect lived in the area. Police did not say if more arrests are expected but said the incident remains under active investigation. |
| Application period for next wild hog control program begins today | |
 | In Mississippi alone, wild hogs cause more than $60 million in damages annually. To stop the damage to the land, beginning today, the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce (MDAC) will begin accepting a new round of applications for its Wild Hog Control Program (WHCP). The application period will close on Wednesday, April 21st and all Mississippi counties are eligible for the application period. The program provides "smart" wild hog traps to landowners and managers for the control of wild hogs on private ag and forestry lands in Mississippi. MDAC will provide the training necessary to use the "smart" traps and technical guidance regarding the most effective methods to trap and control wild hogs on private lands. "The Wild Hog Control Program has been a great success so far. Working with farmers and landowners, we have captured wild hogs on 21 properties in 11 counties to date," said Commissioner Gipson. "This program provides a great opportunity for farmers and landowners to gain access to the latest technology used to trap wild hogs. It also provides a great opportunity for the Department of Agriculture and Commerce to teach farmers and landowners how to trap wild hogs and use that knowledge for future control efforts on their lands." |
| Mississippi and Secret Service work on cybercrime task force | |
 | Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch said Tuesday that her office has established a partnership with the U.S. Secret Service and in-state law enforcement agencies to investigate financial crimes that occur online. A Cyberfraud Task Force is based in the attorney general's office in Jackson. "We're going to go after these criminals," Fitch said during a news conference. "We have the ability to investigate these cybercrimes, to prosecute these cybercriminals." She said the task force intends to create a "blanket of protection" for people and businesses targeted by online crimes. Patrick Davis, special agent in charge of the Secret Service field office in Birmingham, Alabama, said during the news conference that the Secret Service has already established other cybercrime task forces around the U.S. Davis said the groups investigate wire fraud, ransomware, business email compromises and crimes involving crypto currencies. The Mississippi attorney general's office, for years, has been investigating online crimes that include exploitation of children. Officials said the new partnership with the Secret Service includes new equipment to expand into the investigation of crimes that affect businesses and academic institutions and others. |
| Mississippi health official: 'Under every circumstance, the vaccine is better than COVID' | |
 | Gov. Tate Reeves announced during a Tuesday news conference over 550,000 Mississippians are fully vaccinated, though he cautioned residents still need to continue to get vaccinated. "I'm optimistic we are near the end of this road," Reeves said during the conversation with several health experts. Between 25,000 to 30,000 Mississippians receive a vaccine dose each day, he said. Alongside climbing vaccinations in the state, the seven-day case average has plummeted from the January peak of 2,400 to 200. Hospitalizations declined from the 1,444 to 163 in the same time span. COVID-19 patients on ventilators has also dropped from 230 to 35 during that time. Based on Mississippi State Department of Health data, of the nearly three million residents, 18.6% have been fully vaccinated. Up until now there has been more demand than supply for the vaccines. But Reeves said that might flip in the coming weeks. Dr. Clay Hays, a Jackson-based cardiologist, said COVID-19 vaccine development was based on existing research, similar to how new cholesterol medications are made. "We feel the vaccine is very safe," Hays said at the Tuesday news conference. |
| How Black community leaders put Mississippi on the path to vaccine equity | |
| As Mississippi's rollout of COVID-19 vaccines began to ramp up in early 2021, a troubling truth was revealed about the shots being put into people's arms across the state: Black Mississippians weren't getting their fair share. Two months after the first doses were administered in the state, Black Mississippians had received just 19% of the total vaccines given, despite making up 38% of the state's population. After bearing the brunt of cases and deaths early in the pandemic, Black Mississippians were being shorted on the road to recovery. A few months later, the picture is quite different. Mississippi is much closer to vaccine parity, with 31% of total shots going to Black residents. For the past four weeks, Black Mississippians' share of the doses administered has been equal to or higher than their share of the population. The Blackest state in the nation is now doing a better job vaccinating its Black residents than 42 other states. And five of the states reporting a higher share of vaccinated Black residents have a total Black population between 1-3% and started vaccinating their residents weeks before Mississippi. |
| Scientists Race To Develop More Convenient And Potent COVID Vaccines | |
 | The three COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States are safe and effective and were made in record time. But they aren't ideal. An ideal vaccine -- besides being safe and effective -- would have a few other desirable characteristics, says Deborah Fuller, a vaccine researcher at the University of Washington. Such a vaccine would be "administered in a single shot, be room temperature stable, work in all demographics and, even pushed beyond that, ideally be self-administered," she says. Now, researchers are racing to develop the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines, utilizing a variety of innovative technologies to produce more convenient and more potent options. Some of the new vaccines are already being tested in volunteers and could even be available for distribution in the next year or so. In addition to new ways to administer COVID-19 vaccines, more potent versions are also on the horizon -- meaning they will get the same or better immune response from a lowered dose. In the end, among the most important qualities a new vaccine should have are that it should be able to be made and modified quickly in response to variants, as well as be distributed quickly. |
| U. of Mississippi commits to mold testing in some traditional residence halls | |
 | The University of Mississippi has released its student housing strategic plan for the next six years, which addresses, in part, "student misperceptions around mold and mildew in traditional residence halls." As recently as 2018, residents of Crosby Hall -- the largest residence hall on campus -- have reported becoming sick from mold growing in the rooms, showers and bathrooms, and poor air quality. The university addressed mold issues in 2018, but it has since repeatedly denied that the living conditions in dorms are a continuing problem. Over the past two years, students have also reported poor conditions in Pittman, Brown, Stockard, Hefley and Stewart halls, including several ant infestations. The plan also states that the university will develop a plan to address the ceilings in Crosby Hall by 2024. However, it did not provide details specifying the problem with the ceilings. The most recent Crosby Hall air quality report from September 2019 concluded that 23 rooms in the building had "visible stains" on the ceiling perimeter. It also found a water leak above the tenth floor janitor's closet. Now, the new student housing strategic plan says the university will facilitate mold testing each summer in Crosby, Martin and Stockard halls. This year, they plan to benchmark other SEC institutions and practices to gather information. |
| Donation to eventually fund 80 full scholarships at USM | |
 | During a trip home to Mississippi for a family reunion, a relative told Chief Warrant Officer (United States Army Retired) Lamar W. Powell the story of Oseola McCarty and her unprecedented gift to support students at the University of Southern Mississippi. Powell called the USM Foundation soon after returning home, and a few weeks later, a check arrived for $30,000. That was the beginning of an amazing friendship between Powell and USM. His hope was that, with higher education, young and eager students would continue to make Mississippi and the United States a great place to live. Powell passed away at the age of 97 on Dec. 30, 2015. In a remarkable gift of philanthropy, USM and South Carolina State University were made the remainder beneficiaries of his trust. Cumulatively, USM has received $3.1 million, with the largest portion, $2.9 million, coming from Powell's estate and trust. This distribution creates scholarship opportunities for students with financial need, as his desire was for students "to get an education, strive for the top, save all you can save, and give back when you can." |
| Survey: Even as schools reopen, many students learn remotely | |
| Large numbers of students are not returning to the classroom even as more schools reopen for full-time, in-person learning, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Biden administration. The findings reflect a nation that has been locked in debate over the safety of reopening schools during the coronavirus pandemic. Even as national COVID-19 rates continued to ebb in February, key measures around reopening schools barely budged. Nearly 46% of public schools offered five days a week of in-person to all students in February, according to the survey, but just 34% of students were learning full-time in the classroom. The gap was most pronounced among older K-12 students, with just 29% of eighth graders getting five days a week of learning at school. There were early signs of a shift, however, with more eighth grade students moving from fully remote to hybrid learning. White students continued to be far more likely to be back in the classroom, with 52% of white fourth graders receiving full-time, in-person instruction. By contrast, less than a third of Black and Hispanic fourth graders were back at school full time, along with just 15% of Asian students. |
| LSU under second federal probe as sexual misconduct allegations mount | |
 | Two months after the U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into how LSU reports and investigates crimes on campus, the same federal agency has opened a second probe into LSU focusing on sexual assault and harassment. LSU spokesman Ernie Ballard confirmed Tuesday that the university has received "notice from the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, of an investigation into Title IX compliance." A U.S. Department of Education spokesperson confirmed Tuesday evening that the Office of Civil Rights had opened the second investigation into LSU. "There has been extensive media coverage of the university's potential mishandling of complaints of sexual assault, including allegations that university officials ignored sexual assault allegations made against former athletes," the spokesperson said. The federal Title IX investigation will focus on how LSU has handled complaints of sexual assault and sexual harassment from 2018 through the present day. USA Today reported Tuesday that LSU received the notice of the Title IX investigation in a March 31 letter to general counsel Winston DeCuir Jr. The feds requested that LSU start submitting information to them by April 20. |
| U. of South Carolina's biggest donor writes off school after it fails to acknowledge her mother's death | |
 | University of South Carolina's biggest benefactor, Darla Moore, says she regrets all her efforts for her alma mater after the school failed to acknowledge her mother's death last week. In a scathing letter sent to the USC board and administration April 5, Moore said her family received "deep expressions of appreciation and recognition from the faculty and leadership of Clemson University." The Lake City financier donated $10 million to Clemson for its school of education, which is named after her father. But Moore has donated more than $75 million to USC, where the business school bears her name. She wrote off the school in her latest letter, the second time she has taken USC to task in less than two years. "What did she receive from the University of South Carolina, the recipient of the most exceptional generosity in the history of this state by virtue of her life? NOTHING," Moore continued in her letter obtained by The Post and Courier. "There is not a university in the country that would exhibit this degree of thoughtless, dismissive and graceless ignorance of the death of a parent of their largest donor," Moore wrote. "I continue to be embarrassed and humiliated by my association with you and all you so disgracefully and incompetently display to the community you are charged to serve and to whom you look for support." Moore has been split with USC leadership since the board voted to hire retired West Point superintendent Bob Caslen as president in 2019. |
| Some 20K vaccination spots reserved for this week, U. of Florida officials say | |
 | Dozens of students stood in line outside the University of Florida Ben Hill Griffin Stadium around midday Monday, each waiting for the same thing: a COVID-19 vaccine. Many sat looking their phones. Some hastily filled out last-minute medical consent forms. Others grabbed their own free blue T-shirt printed with "BEAT COVID" in big block letters. Since the site opened at 9 a.m., about 1,100 shots had been given by noon. Another 3,900 waited as the remaining appointment times rolled around, reaching a maximum 5,000 inoculations expected by 9 p.m., said Dr. Michael Lauzardo, deputy director of the UF Emerging Pathogens Institute. It was Florida's first day allowing anyone 16 and up to get the COVID-19 vaccine, and UF hosted its largest mass vaccination event yet to meet student demand. In one hour after appointment reservations opened the evening of March 30 for students, 3,000 people signed up. In 24 hours, 9,400 registered. And by Monday, almost 20,000 reserved spots for this week alone, Lauzardo said. Before Monday, the highest number of people vaccinated in one day at the stadium was just under 2,000. Now, UF aims to hit 20,000 per week for the next three weeks at the site. |
| What Asian American Student Activists Want | |
 | These days, the leaders of Vanderbilt University's Asian American Student Association meet on Tuesday nights over Zoom. They had all just signed off one night last month when a board member texted everyone else. Had they seen the news? A shooter had killed eight people in Atlanta, six of them women of Asian descent. This after months of news about Asian-looking people in America being harassed and beaten by those who blamed them for the Covid-19 pandemic. "I don't think I had time to process it," said Valerie Kim, advocacy chair for the association. It was after 9 p.m. in Sylvania, Ohio, where she's learning remotely for the term. She was getting ready for bed. "I read it and I was like: 'Put the phone away. Look at this tomorrow.' It was just a lot. It just compounded the stress we were feeling with the administration." The group's leaders and other students and faculty members had been pushing Vanderbilt for more support for students feeling stress and fear, but they weren't satisfied with the administration's response and hadn't talked publicly about the effort with their membership. Then, when Kim woke up the morning after the shootings, she saw upbeat messages from the administration about Founder's Day, but no acknowledgement of what seemed like it might be the worst hate crime against Asian Americans in a generation. (Police haven't yet revealed evidence of the shooter's motive.) |
| Parking rates at the U. of Missouri are set to increase | |
 | Fourteen years after the last increase, Mizzou Parking and Transportation is increasing permit prices. The information was released in a campus communication from Heath Immel, University of Missouri director of parking and transportation, and Gary Ward, vice chancellor for operations Faculty and staff parking permit prices will be based on salary, increasing incrementally over the next three academic years. Students are in the lowest tier. The plan has been discussed with staff leadership and the Graduate/Professional Council. Further conversations are scheduled with undergraduate student leaders and the Faculty Council. For those making more than $100,000, the permit price in parking structures will be $34 beginning in the fall semester, $47 in 2022 and $60 in 2023. For parking lots, the rates will be $29.25 in 2021; $20.50 in 2022 and $21.75 in 2023. For students and those making up to $46,999, rates in parking structures will be $22.50 in 2021, $24 in 2022 and $25.50 in 2023. For parking lots, the rates are $19.25 in 2021, $20.50 in 2022 and $21.75 in 2023. The Mizzou Parking and Transportation committee recommended the plan, which has been approved by university leadership to begin in the fall. Even with the increases, the parking permit rates will be among the lowest among schools in the Southeast Conference, according to the campus communication. |
| Rutgers, Cornell mandate COVID-19 vaccines for students. Is this the new norm for college? | |
 | The class of 2025 could have a new prerequisite for college: Getting vaccinated against COVID-19. The inoculations, once in short supply, have never been more readily available in the country. What's more, tens of millions of people have already been vaccinated, and that rate is likely to increase. Colleges have been particularly hard hit by pandemic restrictions. They're losing students who say they're tired of paying full-price tuition for virtual learning, and that generally means less money for universities that may already be struggling financially. A vaccinated campus could be the step toward normality that college leaders are seeking. But mandating vaccines will come with logistical and moral complications. Rutgers University in New Jersey and Cornell University in upstate New York were among the first universities to announce that their students would be required to be vaccinated if they wanted to study in-person during the fall semester. Brown in Rhode Island, Northeastern in Boston, Nova Southeastern University in Florida, and Fort Lewis College in Colorado have all announced similar policies. Other institutions hope that encouraging students to get vaccinated will be enough to provide the coverage needed to bring students back to campus. Some are even hosting large-scale vaccination sites, like at the University of Florida. |
| Accellion data security breach latest to hit universities | |
 | Multiple higher education institutions have now confirmed they were victims of data theft related to a security flaw in file transfer software sold by IT security company Accellion, but the true scale of the data breach is still not fully understood. Sensitive information from the University of California system, Yeshiva University, the University of Miami, the University of Colorado, Stanford University's School of Medicine and the University of Maryland, Baltimore, was recently discovered on the dark web in connection to the Accellion cyberattack, which took place earlier this year. All institutions have confirmed they are customers of Accellion and are actively investigating the incident. Data files that include personal information such as Social Security numbers were stolen from the universities and made available to download via a website called Clop that is run by cybercriminals. A sample of documents reviewed by Inside Higher Ed included academic transcripts, medical records, research grants and employment contracts. So far, no institution has said it was affected by a ransomware attack, although institutions have reported differing experiences. The University of Maryland, Baltimore, received no ransom note, and no software was placed on its system, according to a spokesperson. The University of California system warned that threatening mass emails have circulated, however. |
| At Clemson, unmarked slave graves highlight plantation past | |
| On the sloping side of a cemetery on the campus of Clemson University, dozens of small white flags with pink ribbons have replaced the beer cans that once littered a hill where football fans held tailgate parties outside Memorial Stadium. The flags are a recent addition, marking the final resting places of the enslaved and convicted African American laborers who built the school, and before that, the plantation on which it sits. Hundreds more of the flags are dotted among existing gravestones, and until lately, most visitors stepped unknowingly over their remains. Rhondda Thomas, a professor of African American literature at Clemson, leads a team working to piece together the identities of the dead in this "sacred space," and memorialize "those who have been so dishonored and disrespected over time," she said. As a university we have a responsibility to teach our students and our campus community how to embrace complex, painful, troubling history, and we need to start with our own," Thomas said in an interview. Thomas has spent much of her tenure documenting the experiences of African Americans in the university's history through a project known as "Call My Name." |
| Study finds campus residence halls have racialized labels | |
| Although living on campus is often promoted and viewed as an important aspect of college life and a positive way for college students to meaningfully engage with classmates of different races, nationalities, religions and socioeconomic backgrounds, a new paper says the reality at many institutions is quite the opposite. Far from being egalitarian living spaces, many dorms are highly segregated along the very lines and backgrounds communal living was supposed to erase, according to an article on the racialization of university housing recently published in the Journal of College Student Development. The paper by Zak Foste, a professor of higher education at the University of Kansas, was based on a qualitative study he conducted that found students, resident assistants and some housing administrators at three large universities located in predominantly white communities saw certain residence halls on the campuses as inaccessible to or largely uninhabited by Black students or other students of color. Foste interviewed nearly 70 people at all the campuses and found that there were prevailing stereotypes and perceptions about the newest, most expensive dorms on each campus as "the white dorm," occupied by middle- and upper-class white students, and that older, neglected buildings were known to house poorer students and students of color, he said. |
| Land seizures, 'unethical' research: U. of Minnesota confronts troubled history with tribes | |
| Every time Kevin DuPuis steps foot in the rugged red pine forest just west of Cloquet, Minnesota, he's reminded of the painful truth that this slice of land within the borders of the Fond du Lac Reservation does not belong to his tribe. For more than a century, the 3,400-acre stretch has been home to the University of Minnesota Cloquet Forestry Center, a research outpost on land the federal government deeded to the university without the tribe's consent. Members of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa have long taken issue with the U's presence there, demanding transparency about its research and defying a hunting ban around the forestry center. To this day, the tribe is fighting to reclaim the land. Fond du Lac isn't the only band that has a dispute to settle with Minnesota's land-grant university. Tribal leaders statewide have called on the U to own up to actions "rooted in institutional racism." The tension between the U and tribal nations can be traced to the very creation of the land-grant university system. The flagship Twin Cities campus was built on Dakota land ceded in treaties of 1837 and 1851. Though their histories are deeply intertwined, the university and tribal nations had not come together to discuss their troubled past until recently. After the death of George Floyd, the Indian Affairs Council renewed demands for the U to acknowledge and atone for past injustices. |
| President Biden Is Taking a Fresh Look at Title IX. Here's What to Expect. | |
| Less than a year after colleges scrambled to carry out sweeping new requirements for handling sexual-misconduct cases, campus officials will have to prepare for yet another round of Title IX changes. The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights announced on Tuesday that it would review the Title IX regulations put in place last August by the Trump administration's education secretary, Betsy DeVos. The rules -- which interpret Title IX, the federal gender-equity law -- ramped up protections for students accused of sexual misconduct by requiring accusers to be cross-examined at a live hearing, among other things. The announcement was expected, as President Biden made clear in an executive order last month that he wants to amend the Trump-era Title IX regulations. The Title IX review begins exactly 10 years after Biden, as vice president, announced the "Dear Colleague letter," the landmark document that implored colleges to take sexual violence more seriously or risk facing a federal investigation. The Dear Colleague letter touched off a decade of intense scrutiny of how colleges respond to sexual-misconduct complaints. DeVos rescinded that guidance in 2017. The review will be led, for now, by Suzanne B. Goldberg, acting assistant secretary for civil rights and a former senior official at Columbia University. Goldberg, who's also a law professor, was closely involved with Columbia's Title IX process at a time when the university was mired in controversy over its handling of sexual-assault cases. |
| President Biden, Congress roll out big plans to expand National Science Foundation | |
| The idea of massively expanding the budget and mission of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help the United States out-innovate China is gaining political momentum in Washington, D.C. In Congress, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–NY) is preparing to introduce a revised version of bipartisan legislation that would create a technology directorate at NSF and boost its funding by $100 billion. The changes address fears voiced by academic leaders that the new unit might disrupt the agency's culture and dilute NSF's ability to support basic research at universities. On 31 March, President Joe Biden lined up behind the concept, including both the new directorate and a $50 billion bump for NSF in his $2.3 trillion proposal to upgrade the nation's aging infrastructure. And late last month, Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D–TX), chair of the science committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, also backed both a new directorate and a larger NSF budget as part of a bill reauthorizing programs at the agency, which currently has an $8.5 billion budget. Congress is expected to begin hashing out the legislative details as early as next week. And Biden's vocal support for revamping NSF makes it more likely that something will happen. "I'd say that things are coming together amazingly well," one university lobbyist says. "It was a big win to get the president's support." |
| Vehicle mile traveled tax proposal penalizes states without substantial public transportation | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stepped strongly toward, then beat a rather hasty retreat from the concept of including a vehicle mile traveled or VMT tax component as a means to pay for President Biden's massive national infrastructure proposal. Simply put, the VMT tax would raise transportation funds from the taxpayers by levying a tax on how many miles someone travels rather than how much gasoline they pump -- which is the present system through federal and state gasoline taxes. While Buttigieg generally won praise from members of Congress and political advocates from urban blue states, the VMT plan was widely panned by members from rural red states across the South and the Midwest -- where rural taxpayers routinely drive long distances daily to work, to seek educations or medical care, and to engage in farm-to-market commerce. There are multiple concerns about the VMT tax. Privacy is a huge concern as opponents object to GPS tracking devices, particularly in early iterations of the concept. Now, proponents say VMT tax can be levied without GPS devices based on other technologies or through an at-the-pump formula. |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State baseball pulverizes Southern in midweek contest | |
| Mississippi State emptied out the bullpen, scored its first five runs in an unorthodox manner and eventually handled Southern in a Tuesday midweek contest at Dudy Noble Field, winning 15-1. Nine different MSU pitchers contributed to the win, with the staff tallying 17 combined strikeouts and stranding nine runners. True freshman Mikey Tepper struck out the side in the third inning, while Eric Cerantola accomplished the feat in the eighth "I thought he was good," MSU coach Chris Lemonis said of Cerantola. "The stuff was good. He was throwing strikes at 95-98 (mph). We'll continue to work him in the pen and get him in some closer games." Cade Smith, KC Hunt, Dylan Carmouche, Davis Rokose and Chase Patrick each tallied two strikeouts in an inning of work. In what could be put in the "you don't see every day" category, neither team's pitching staff recorded a 1-2-3 inning. "I was very pleased (overall)," Lemonis said. "We could have swung it a little better earlier, but we had some good at bats and some guys that came off the bench gave us better at bats. They were ready to jump on some balls." |
| No. 5 Mississippi State baseball beats Southern for fourth straight win | |
| Southern was no match for Mississippi State. The No. 5 Bulldogs (21-7, 5-4 SEC) beat the Jaguars (10-15, 8-4 SWAC) handily at Dudy Noble Field on Tuesday. A four-run fifth and a six-run sixth inning powered Mississippi State to a 15-1 victory, MSU's fourth in a row. MSU senior pitcher Carlisle Koestler got the start, but coach Chris Lemonis used the game as a chance to send a plethora of pitchers to the mound. Nine Bulldogs toed the rubber. Senior Spencer Price was the only one to allow a run in the sixth inning. Mississippi State led 7-0 before Southern crossed the plate for the first and only time, though. Senior center fielder Rowdey Jordan went 3 for 4 with three runs scored and two RBI. Mississippi State scored a run on a wild pitch, passed ball and two on a fielding error by a Southern outfielder. Juniors Brad Cumbest and Brandon Pimentel both hit home runs and had multi-hit games. Senior Tanner Leggett also had two hits. The Bulldogs are on the road at Auburn (12-13, 1-8 SEC) for a three-game series starting Friday at 6:30 p.m. |
| Cade Smith makes debut as No. 5 Bulldogs beat Southern | |
| Mississippi State freshman pitcher Cade Smith made his much-anticipated season debut on Tuesday night. No. 5-ranked Mississippi State beat Southern University, 15-1, in a non-conference game at Dudy Noble Field. Smith, who has not played at all this season due to an arm injury from earlier in the offseason, pitched for the first time this season. He pitched one inning, hit one batter, and struck out two batters. "I thought pitched really well," head coach Chris Lemonis said of Smith. "I know we have a lot of depth on the mound but when we came out in the fall, he was probably in our top eight. Just his arm came back and wasn't feeling good so we had to shut him down and rehab him and work him back up. But maybe he gives us a spark here down the road cause he has really good stuff." Mississippi State (21-7, 5-4 SEC) used nine different pitchers in the game with each one pitching one inning. On offense, Lemonis made some lineup changes and it worked out as the MSU batters knocked around Southern for 16 hits. |
| Defensive coordinator Zach Arnett: Mississippi State 'not a very good defense right now' | |
| Collin Duncan has heard the stories. Mississippi State nickelbacks coach and assistant head coach Tony Hughes is happy to tell them to the junior safety and any teammate who will listen: tales of how standout Bulldogs like Fletcher Cox set the standard in Starkville and never let it waver. "If you look back in the years of Mississippi State, we've always been known for hard-nosed defense and hard-nosed football," Duncan said. Under second-year defensive coordinator Zach Arnett, the Bulldogs have their sights set on the very same thing in 2021. But as Arnett told reporters Tuesday night, Mississippi State has a long way to go. "We're not a very good defense right now," he admitted. The Bulldogs are nine practices into their spring season, which will culminate in the Maroon and White spring game at 11 a.m. April 17 at Davis Wade Stadium. So far, Arnett said Tuesday, he bears responsibility for not having his players where he wants them. "I've done a poor job," Arnett said. "It's not the players' fault; it's our fault as coaches, but we've better get it right in these last six practices because they don't give you more than 15 in the spring." |
| LSU Athletic Department official alleges retaliation after Les Miles complaints: report | |
| LSU's associate athletic director of football recruiting alleges she was subjected to a hostile work environment and years of retaliation after she repeatedly attempted to report sexual harassment allegations involving former head football coach Les Miles, according to a new report from USA Today. Sharon Lewis, who also oversees alumni relations for the Athletic Department, told USA Today she plans this week to file a series of lawsuits, including a federal Title IX lawsuit, a state whistleblower lawsuit, an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission grievance and a lawsuit alleging violations of the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act, better known as RICO. Lewis, who is Black, alleges she has been discriminated against based on her race and sex, underpaid and punished for trying to stop sexual harassment on campus. Lewis has not filed the lawsuits yet; her representatives sent out a news release Tuesday afternoon saying that they planned to file the lawsuits Wednesday and would hold a news conference then. USA Today published a story about the legal filings Tuesday based on interviews with Lewis and advance copies of the suits. |
| Vanderbilt fires women's basketball coach Stephanie White, reversing earlier decision | |
 | Upon further review, Vanderbilt women's basketball coach Stephanie White will not return next season. White was fired Tuesday after five seasons, compiling a 46-83 overall record and 13-54 SEC mark. A month ago, the decision had been made to retain White. But that was when the Commodores were returning a talented and experienced squad whose 2020-21 season was cut short because COVID-19, opt-outs and injuries depleted the roster. Circumstances have since changed. Two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Tennessean that Vanderbilt leadership recently decided to reconsider White's future. "As I continued my evaluation of the program, I ultimately concluded that change is needed at this time," athletics director Candice Lee said in a statement. "I wish Stephanie and her family the best." Three starters announced this week they are transferring. They included the team's top scorers, Koi Love and Chelsie Hall, and three-year starting forward Autumn Newby. That continued a prolonged exodus under White, who had nine former or projected starters transfer in five years. It's unknown how many players are returning next season. And Vanderbilt recently announced a $300 million capital campaign, which will include a basketball operations center that should attract coaching candidates. |
| Georgia Is Facing a Political Onslaught. At the Masters, It's Business as Usual. | |
 | Georgia and its new elections law are caught up in a political riptide. But there's scant evidence of that on and around the grounds of Augusta National Golf Club, where the state's most cherished sporting event, the Masters Tournament, is underway. There are no protests along Washington Road. There are only limited calls in Georgia, even among the law's fiercest critics, to upend a springtime ritual at a club that stands on what was once an indigo plantation and did not admit a Black member until 1990. Indeed, even after Major League Baseball chose to move its All-Star Game from Georgia to protest the law that restricts access to voting, there was little doubt that the Masters would go on as planned this week -- a reflection of golf's Republican lean, but also of Augusta National's honed willingness to defy pressure and, crucially, the reality that the mighty, mystique-filled brand of the Masters hinges on one course, and one course alone. "When you think about the Masters golf tournament, the first major of the year, the Augusta National Golf Club, to suggest that it 'doesn't happen' in Augusta really speaks to people's lack of knowledge about the Augusta National and, more importantly, the Masters," said Mayor Hardie Davis Jr. of Augusta, a former Democratic legislator in the state and an avowed opponent of the new elections law. Tournament play will begin on Thursday, less than one week after baseball's announcement about the All-Star Game. |
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