| Wednesday, May 28, 2025 |
| History and genealogy fair set for June 7 at Starkville Public Library | |
 | Mississippi State University Libraries will host the 2025 E.O. and Betty Templeton History and Genealogy Fair June 7, offering family historians and history enthusiasts a chance to explore resources and research strategies. The fair takes place 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Starkville Public Library. Admission is free and open to the public, but registration is encouraged at https://msstate.libwizard.com/f/genfair. This year's event features presentations from Cassandra Hawkins on methods for preserving family stories; Melissa Hering on intriguing cases involving women found in Circuit Court records from the Lowndes County archives; and Eddie Johnson on available resources through the archives of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. DeeDee Baldwin, associate professor and engagement librarian with MSU Libraries, who is organizing the event, said the fair is designed to appeal to genealogists of all experience levels, as well as those with a general interest in history. "Everyone can benefit from learning creative new ways to record and preserve your family's stories," Baldwin said. "Learning about different types of records is useful to every genealogist. Even if a particular set of records doesn't apply to their own family, they might pick up search strategies they can use elsewhere." |
| Farmers raise concern on their crops from recent heavy rainfalls | |
 | Farmers deal with all sorts of variables when it comes to getting a crop from planting to harvest, but one of the most important -- and least controllable -- is the weather. Ideally, you want a dry period to plant, followed by timely rain to help plants get established and grow. But Mother Nature doesn't always see it that way. Farmers across North Mississippi have been experiencing some heavy, early-season rainfall. Oktibbeha County Extension Service agent Cody Mills said that can cause some problems later on. "Excess rain keeps your roots shallow, so when it does dry up, and we might go through a drought condition," Mills said. "You have shallow roots, so they are not deep enough to really search for some moisture, so they will die out really quickly. On the other hand, when you have water standing in your soybeans, corn, cotton, or whatever, when your plants are sitting in standing water, that's just a sure way it's not going to do so well." Noxubee County farmer Jack Huerkamp said recent conditions aren't ideal, but they aren't unusual either. It just changes the schedule. Planning ahead can help limit the environmental concerns. "We make sure everything is ready to go to the field," Huerkamp said. |
| New rodeo promises fast-paced action, fundraising for local nonprofits | |
 | Grab your cowboy hat and boots. A new rodeo benefitting Lowndes County nonprofits is coming next month, bringing with it a night of fast-paced action. Mississippi State University Extension Agriculture Agent for Lowndes and Noxubee Counties Josh Tilley said the Lowndes County Benefit Rodeo, slated for June 27 and 28, will include saddle bronc riding, bare back riding, steer wrestling, calf roping, breakaway roping, team roping, barrel racing, and, of course, bull riding. "It's very fast-paced," Tilley said. "There's a lot of action going on. There's something happening all the time. And even in times in between events, when they're getting ready to go from one event to the next, there's going to be things for the kids to come and do." Gates will open at 5 p.m. each night, with action beginning at 7 at the Lowndes County Arena and Pavilion, located at 485 Tom Rose Road in Columbus, off of Highway 182. The first iteration of the rodeo will benefit United Way of the Golden Triangle Region, Loaves and Fishes of Lowndes County, the Lowndes County Volunteer Fire Department Honor Guard and the Lowndes County Master Gardeners Scholarship Fund. |
| Living Shorelines Workshop helps landowners combat erosion, protect habitat | |
 | As erosion carves away at Mississippi's coastal properties and tidal surges creep farther inland, many landowners are searching for alternatives to costly seawalls and bulkheads. In Moss Point on Tuesday, local property owners may have found one -- and it grows from the ground up. The solution is called a living shoreline -- a nature-based technique that stabilizes coastal edges using native marsh grasses, gentle slopes, and sometimes rocks or oyster shells. Dozens of property owners gathered at the Pascagoula River Audubon Center in Moss Point this week to learn how to implement this approach. "We are at the Pascagoula River Audubon Center, part of one of several workshops in a series focused on living shorelines," said Eric Sparks, Ph.D, Director of Mississippi State University's Coastal and Marine Extension. "We're trying to engage landowners interested in alternative shoreline protection techniques that are a little bit more environmentally friendly." These workshops are part of a broader technical assistance program led by MSU, with support from Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium and the Mississippi Sound Estuary Program. |
| MSU Extension, CVM join disaster preparedness exercise | |
| When responding to emergencies, collaboration between state agencies is critical in the effort to save lives. Full-scale exercises like Operation Angel Flight test and evaluate these agencies' preparedness in the event that they are called to assist with a disaster event. This drill, conducted by the G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery Veterans Affairs Medical Center, was held May 9 at the Allen C. Thompson Field Air National Guard Base. One of the exercise's planners was Dr. Carla Huston, Mississippi State University Extension veterinarian and professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine, who provided a veterinary strike team consisting of veterinarians and technicians to perform triage and medical care services for pets and service animals. Both MSU Extension and MSU CVM are agencies written into the state's comprehensive emergency management plan to respond to disasters. The plan has more than a dozen "emergency support functions," several of which include MSU Extension as a supporting agency. One of these functions, ESF-11, involves management of animals, agriculture and natural resources during a disaster. MBAH is the lead agency within ESF-11 for animal issues. |
| Rethinking the Universe: New Findings Rewrite Rules of Subatomic Matter | |
 | Mississippi State University Professor of Physics Dipangkar Dutta is leading a groundbreaking experiment that is reshaping our understanding of the universe. His team's research, recently published in the prestigious journal Physics Letters B, shows that the concept of "symmetry" in physics does not always behave the way scientists have long believed. For generations, symmetry has been a central idea in physics, helping researchers explain how nature works on the smallest and largest scales. These new findings push the boundaries of what we know and open exciting possibilities for advances in energy, technology, medicine, and more. The experiment took place at the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. Researchers discovered that quarks, the tiny particles that make up protons and neutrons, sometimes act in surprising ways. When struck by high-energy electrons, quarks do not always split and recombine symmetrically, challenging long-standing theories in nuclear physics. |
| In-person absentee voting deadline Saturday | |
| The deadline to vote absentee in person for municipal general elections is noon Saturday. Starkville City Clerk Lesa Hardin said Tuesday her office has already received 104 absentee ballots in advance of the election there. Citizens are entitled to in-person absentee voting if they are away from their residence within the municipality on election day for any reason. Electors are also entitled to in-person absentee voting if they are required to be at work on election day during the times at which the polls will be open or on-call during the times when the polls will be open. Citizens are also entitled to vote in-person absentee if they have a temporary or permanent disability or if they are over 65 years old. Other qualifying circumstances are available online on the Secretary of State's website at sos.ms.gov. To vote in-person absentee in Starkville, qualifying citizens can go to the Starkville city clerk's office at 110 West Main Street during normal business hours -- 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday -- or on Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon. In the mayoral race, incumbent Mayor Lynn Spruill, a Democrat, faces Republican Roger Bassett. In the Ward 3 alderman race, Democrat Laurel Lynn Rowse faces Republican James Kyle Skinner. All other races were decided in the April 1 primaries. |
| Mississippi Society of New York hosts 38th annual Mississippi in the Park picnic | |
| Following the event's revival in 2024, the Mississippi Society of New York will host this year's Mississippi in The Park picnic, the 38th, with an expected rise in attendance. The event will be held at Hudson River Park: Pier 84 in New York City on June 14 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. With the 2024 picnic having to come together quickly, the society members' respective universities -- the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, and the University of Southern Mississippi -- were the event's sole sponsors. This year, the picnic has 20 sponsors. They include both businesses local to Mississippi and Mississippi schools. Mississippi Society of New York member and Mooreville native Kristin Shumpert hopes that the event's continuing revival restores the original mission of preserving the culture and heritage of Mississippi by showing support and promoting talented artists, authors, musicians and culinary artists. "The event is important because it provides a space where New Yorkers with Mississippi roots and ties can come together and fellowship around our shared heritage." Shumpert said. |
| Jackson landmark Walker's Drive-In restaurant has been sold | |
 | The Fondren landmark restaurant Walker's Drive-In has been sold. Chef and businessman Derek Emerson has owned the anchor of the business district since 2001, but the restaurant has been in the same location since the 1940s when it served burgers, fries and milkshakes. These days, while you can still get a burger, Walker's is known far and wide for its famous Redfish Anna and other staples such as the Walker's tamales or the wood grilled Wagyu hanger steak. However, a transition is in place and beginning July 1, area chef Joe Craven will fully take over as the new owner of the historic restaurant. Craven, 32, who has previously worked at Walker's and Parlor Market, has been at Walker's the past several months and is transitioning to take over the entire operation in just a few weeks. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but both Craven and Emerson said the deal was fair for everyone involved. Both Craven and Emerson also promise nothing will change at Walker's. "The only thing that will change is the person signing the checks," Craven said. "We are keeping the menu the same. Everything will be the same." |
| Buc-ee's beaver in place, South Mississippi grand opening days away | |
 | Buc-ee's opens in less than two weeks and the iconic Beaver statue is in place, ready to welcome the first visitors and pose with them for selfies. Since the groundbreaking in September 2023, South Mississippi has developed Buc-ee's fever. The doors of Buc-ee's in Harrison County, west of Gulfport, open on Monday, June 9. The ribbon cutting is at 10 a.m., and the location is expected to draw customers from South Mississippi and travelers passing by. An estimated 5 million people are expected to come off the highway and into Buc-ee's each year, said Bill Lavers, executive director of the Harrison County Development Commission. Once it's open, it's always open, so travelers and locals who get a craving can get something to eat day and night and on holidays. Buc-ee's iconic beaver is ready to welcome guests to the new Buc-ee's travel center in Harrison County when it opens in June. The $50 million Buc-ee's at Menge Avenue Exit 24 in Harrison County is one of the largest in the country and the 74,000 square foot building and rows of fuel pumps are jaw-dropping, whether it's a visitor's first stop or a repeat visit. The new Buc-ee's in South Mississippi will create more than 200 full-time jobs. |
| Consumer confidence has highest monthly increase in four years | |
| For the first time since November, consumers' economic mood seems to be brightening. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index for May came in on the lower end of the recent range, but notched its highest monthly increase in four years. The rebound was especially strong after the U.S. and China reached a temporary deal to lower mutual tariffs. That deal has consumers feeling less pessimistic about where the economy is headed, and maybe a little less anxious about spending. Back in April, consumer confidence dipped to a five year low on the prospect of a trade war with basically the entire planet. "There was this very surprising shock and people were very stressed," said Francesco D'Acunto, an economist at Georgetown University. But as threats of the steepest tariffs deescalated, so did our collective anxiety. "A large portion of households now believe that those announcements were an exaggeration," said D'Acunto. D'Acunto said this month's rebound shows just how sensitive our economic mood is to abrupt policy changes. |
| Special session set to begin Wednesday | |
| Lawmakers will be returning to the Capitol on Wednesday to handle spending bills, setting a new fiscal year budget ahead of the June 30 deadline. The need for a special session to finalize the state budget came after lawmakers failed to reach agreement on appropriations bills and a potential extension of the regular session prior to gaveling out in early April. Governor Tate Reeves (R) announced Friday that he would be calling the special session after House and Senate leadership reached agreement on the budget bills. The special session agenda, as noted by the Governor on Tuesday, is to adopt the $7.135 billion state budget that funds "the core functions of government." He said recurring spending, as proposed in the budget, is "basically flat" from the prior year. "This shouldn't be a long special session. Working together with our partners in the Legislature, I'm confident that we can get this done quickly on behalf of Mississippians," Reeves said, adding that he expects the special session to be done by Friday. Reeves said the budget, which also accounts for deficit spending for the Fiscal Year 2025 budget, estimates revenue collections of near $7.6 billion. |
| Governor calls Mississippi lawmakers into special session Wednesday to pass 'conservative' budget | |
| Gov. Tate Reeves announced on Tuesday that he will call lawmakers into a special session beginning on Wednesday to adopt a $7 billion state budget for the coming budget year that starts July 1. Reeves, a Republican, said he and legislative leaders agreed to a budget that keeps most government agencies level-funded, with only small increases for employee insurance costs and pension contributions and "staying true to our conservative principles." This will leave the state well over $1 billion in untapped cash, which Reeves and some legislative leaders is a good idea given uncertainty on federal spending. "Since it became apparent that a budget would not be passed during this year's regular session, I've been clear that we should prioritize funding core government functions and keeping spending under control," Reeves said. Mississippi lawmakers must return for a special session because they adjourned their 2025 regular session earlier this year without passing a budget. Lawmakers were mired in political infighting over tax cuts and increases and capital projects, including many pet projects lawmakers wanted for their districts. |
| Mississippi Legislature to reconvene Wednesday for special session centered on budget approval | |
| The Mississippi Legislature will soon return to the state capitol with one primary goal in mind: approve the state operating budget for Fiscal Year 2026. The two chambers will reportedly go back to work on Wednesday, May 28. A special session was required after the regular term came to a close before the House and Senate finalized Mississippi's $7 billion budget. The biggest snag, according to Rep. Brent Powell, R-Brandon, was not the budget at-large, but rather the appropriation of additional funds to special projects across the state. "From what I understand, the budget was basically done before we left. It was special projects we were arguing about," Powell said Tuesday during an appearance on Mornings with Richard Cross. "The Senate wanted to do some rather large projects but not give anything to the local projects and the municipalities. Our position was we're either going to do all special projects or we're going to do none." From the Senate perspective, foregoing special projects could be one way to curb a lack of federal funding amid the Trump Administration and DOGE’s slash-and-slim approach. But, according to Powell, the lack of special projects could be a roadblock for current lawmakers required to run in November’s special elections, spun by recently redrawn voting lines. |
| Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' pits Senate GOP moderates against conservatives | |
 | Senate Republicans are deeply divided over President Trump's "big, beautiful bill," which the House passed by a single vote last week, setting up a battle in the upper chamber between moderates and conservatives that is likely to drag on well into July. GOP senators are vowing to rewrite the bill, but they're still weeks away from putting together a package that can muster the 51 votes it needs to pass, according to GOP senators and aides. The more senators change the legislation, the more difficult it will be to pass again through the House -- where Republicans control a slim 220-to-212-seat majority. Identical legislation must be approved by both chambers before it can go to Trump for his signature. Centrist GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) are facing off against conservatives such as Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) over potential cuts to Medicaid benefits, the phase-out of renewable energy incentives and other deficit-reduction measures that conservatives say don't go far enough. The Medicaid cuts also divide conservatives, with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) warning they could be bad policy and politically suicidal. It has all left observers skeptical the debate in the Senate will end in June. |
| 'We've gotta help President Trump,' Tommy Tuberville says as he launches run for Alabama governor | |
 | Sen. Tommy Tuberville, surrounded by his family and supporters at a barbecue restaurant Tuesday afternoon in Auburn, officially launched his campaign for governor. "I'm a football coach. I'm a leader. I'm a builder. I'm a recruiter. And we're going to grow Alabama," Tuberville said, speaking to a Fox News audience on the Will Cain Show. "We're going to bring manufacturing to this state. We're going to stop this illegal immigration. "We're going to make education better again. And we're going to do everything possible to make sure our kids, when they graduate in this state, the Yellowhammer state, that they stay in this state and work." The announcement ended months of speculation on whether Tuberville would run for governor or seek a second term in the Senate. Tuberville had launched his Senate campaign, his first run for public office, at the same restaurant, Byron's Smokehouse, seven years ago. |
| RFK Jr. threatens to bar government scientists from publishing in leading medical journals | |
 | HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. threatened to stop government scientists from publishing their work in major medical journals on a podcast Tuesday as part of his escalating war on institutions he says are influenced by pharmaceutical companies. Speaking on the "Ultimate Human" podcast, Kennedy said the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association and The Lancet, three of the most influential medical journals in the world, were "corrupt" and publish studies funded and approved by pharmaceutical companies. "Unless those journals change dramatically, we are going to stop NIH scientists from publishing in them and we're going to create our own journals in-house," he said, referring to the National Institutes of Health, an HHS agency that is the world's largest funder of health research. His comments come days after the White House released a major report, spearheaded by Kennedy, that says overprescribed medications could be driving a rise in chronic disease in children. The report suggests that influence from the pharmaceutical industry and a culture of fear around speaking out has drawn doctors and scientists away from studying the causes of chronic disease. It also comes after both JAMA and the NEJM received letters from the Department of Justice probing them for partisanship. |
| Trump's frustration with Putin boils over with no Ukraine peace deal in sight | |
 | President Donald Trump lashed out at the Kremlin on Tuesday for its unwillingness to negotiate a ceasefire with Ukraine as he continued to consider increased sanctions against Russia, an escalation from his previously friendly tone toward Vladimir Putin that came as the president appeared to grow gloomier about his ability to broker peace in Ukraine. In perhaps his harshest rhetoric yet against Putin, Trump declared that Putin is "playing with fire" -- a reference to Russia's escalating bombardment of Ukraine in recent days despite the U.S. president's efforts to broker a peace agreement between Kyiv and Moscow. Trump has offered mixed messages about Putin, oscillating between praise of a leader with whom he has said he believes he can do business and frustration about his inability to bring Russia to the bargaining table. The frustration appears to have boiled over this week. On Tuesday, he suggested that he had been shielding Putin from tough consequences related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "What Vladimir Putin doesn't realize is that if it weren't for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He's playing with fire!" Trump posted on Truth Social. The post followed Trump's suggestion Sunday that he might be open to sanctions against Russia, a significant shift after months in which he had been so cautious about pressuring Putin that he even exempted the country from tariffs that he imposed on most of the rest of the world. |
| Why Americans Are Dressing Like Russian Troops in Oklahoma | |
 | Lightning lined the clouds as a young high school student from northern Oklahoma, assembled his gear for a 40-hour pellet-gun battle. Mason Lowery, 17, plans to join the U.S. Army after graduation, but his uniform and rifle for this military simulation were almost an exact copy of the equipment carried by Russian troops fighting and dying in Ukraine. "I don't really know what they're fighting for, just that they're fighting," Mason said of the war. "I watch the drone footage sometimes when it comes up on Instagram." The manufactured reality of war's sights and sounds, but without its trauma, is what drew Mason to this fake battle. In this game, the war in Ukraine has never happened. Instead, it is set in Russia, in a dystopian world where George W. Bush, in his sixth term as president, rallies NATO to invade the country. Mason was joined by roughly 300 others who paid around $250 to the company MilSim West to take part in what is advertised as a "light infantry simulation" that involves two teams -- NATO and Russian forces -- battling for nearly two days with plastic pellet guns, blank ammunition, night-vision goggles and explosions. In the United States, the re-enactment of historical battles -- the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and World War II -- has long been a niche hobby. But fake battles that echo an ongoing war, which has killed thousands of people, are a relatively recent phenomenon. This simulation did not start that way. |
| Philanthropy wants to build Gen Z's confidence in institutions. Will youth empowerment foster trust? | |
 | Perhaps the outlook developed when COVID-19's uncontrolled spread upended nearly every facet of their young lives. Maybe it was hardened as the worst of climate change's harms grew likelier despite scientists' stark warnings. It's possible the attitude even formed from early memories of the financial insecurity brought upon their families by the Great Recession. Whatever the reason, it's well documented that Gen Z tends to lack trust in the major institutions that previous generations expected to safeguard their futures. Around 1 in 10 adults under 30 had "a great deal of confidence" in the people running the Supreme Court in an AP-NORC poll from June 2024. A May 2023 survey found 44% of adults under 30 had "hardly any confidence at all" in those running banks and financial institutions -- about twice the share of adults ages 60 and older, who felt the same way. The gap extends to other behaviors. An AP-NORC poll conducted in March found that only about one-quarter of adults under 30 volunteered their time to charity in the past year or provided non-financial support to people in their community, compared to 36% of those over 60. Younger adults were also more likely than older adults to say they or their household donated $0 to charity, according to the poll. The philanthropic sector is working to reverse any disillusionment by empowering Gen Z to make the structural change they so often seek. |
| New book by USM professor details 2005 deployment of Guard engineer battalion | |
 | A history professor from the University of Southern Mississippi has written a new book about a Mississippi National Guard unit's deployment to Iraq during the War on Terror. "DOGWOOD," by Andrew Wiest, tells the story of the 150th Combat Engineer Battalion and its combat experiences in Iraq in 2005. That unit was part of the larger 155th Brigade Combat Team, which deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from Aug. 2004-Jan. 2006. "What I hope people will take from the book is simply a better understanding of the National Guard," Wiest said. "It's older than our country, it's always been there, in every war we've fought, they've always been on the front lines, but are always getting second place, their stories just aren't told." Four soldiers and one interpreter in the 150th were killed in action during the deployment. Many others were wounded. |
| From 4-H to Auburn to a future in poultry science | |
| What began as a childhood wish to raise chickens turned into a clear career path for Matthew Hughes, a recent Auburn University poultry science graduate and former Alabama 4-H member. His involvement in 4-H programs like Chick Chain, Avian Bowl and Poultry Judging sparked a passion that led him to national competitions, cutting-edge research, and now, graduate studies. Hughes' journey began in 2016 and quickly accelerated. He won the state Egg Cookery contest in 2021 and earned second place nationally at the 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference. At Auburn, he flourished -- working in a food safety lab under Dr. Dianna Bourassa, presenting research nationally, and mentoring peers as an assistant coach for Auburn's poultry judging team. But Hughes didn't forget where he started. He returned to support Baldwin County 4-H as a mentor and competition judge, earning recognition as Volunteer of the Year in 2022. His dedication to youth mentorship continues to make a lasting impact. This fall, Hughes will begin his master's degree at Mississippi State University. |
| University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue speaks on federal funding and college degrees | |
| It's been roughly four months since federal funding cuts began to send shock waves across American higher education. During that time, the University System of Georgia has largely remained silent. University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue revealed during the state Board of Regents meeting two weeks ago he has been in direct contact with the Trump administration, taking the "privilege of imposing on a personal relationship" he developed while serving as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture during the first Trump term. The relationship was with Russell Vought, director of the Office of Budget and Management, the powerful executive office that can effectively cut the funding universities get from federal agencies. Agencies like the National Institutes of Health have attempted to cap "indirect costs" at 15%, a dramatic reduction that would jeopardize funding for the utilities, laboratories and security vital to a university's scientific and medical research. "I told Russ, 'Let's treat this like tariffs. Fifty-four percent may not be the right number. I'm not sure if 15% is the right number either. So let's get together and talk about what is the right percentage and partnership between the federal government and universities," said Perdue. While acknowledging that "there's a lot of worry" over the financial uncertainty the federal changes have created for universities, Perdue declined to call the loss of research grants as cuts. "I want to say reduced, not cut out," he said. A long-standing partnership between the government and universities has produced a large return on investment, Perdue argued, saying its led to "crucial innovations" that are not something "the President or anyone else wants to do away with." "Imagine life without antibiotics or MRIs or GPS navigation, those things we use every day," he said. "Guess where that came from? It came from research between universities sponsored by the federal government." |
| For the College Presidency, It's Officially Campaign Season | |
 | The University of Florida's Board of Trustees voted on Tuesday to name Santa J. Ono the institution's next president, moving forward in a presidential search that has at times more closely resembled a rough-and-tumble political campaign than a traditional process for selecting an academic leader. But, hey. This is Florida, man. It's also higher education in the age of Donald Trump. Ono, who most recently led the University of Michigan, has been cast by right-wing critics as a DEI sympathizer who only disavowed his affection for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs to make himself more palatable to Florida's Republican establishment. The question of whether Ono has truly come to see DEI as a harmful ideological movement, or merely sanded down his left-leaning edges for professional advancement, has been building since May 4, when Florida's presidential-search committee named him as the sole finalist for the job. In sum, Ono's campaign for UF's presidency boiled down to one central assertion: I'm a changed man. "What matters most, I think, is not what I said two to six years ago," Ono told the board, "but what I've done in the past year and a half, and what I'm committed to doing here." |
| U. of Florida Board Votes Unanimously to Hire Ono | |
 | Despite mounting conservative criticism over Santa Ono's stance on diversity, equity and inclusion, the University of Florida Board of Trustees on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted to hire the former University of Michigan president as its next leader. Ono, who held three prior presidencies, was named the sole finalist for the top job at Florida in early May. As a traditional academic, Ono marks a break from the norm at Florida's public universities, where the emphasis in the past few years has been on hiring former Republican lawmakers and others with political connections. But his candidacy faced heavy criticism from conservative critics such as anti-DEI activist Chris Rufo, Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts and several Florida lawmakers, including Republican U.S. senator Rick Scott, who called for an investigation into the search that yielded Ono due to his past remarks on DEI. Some critics have claimed that Ono is a radical liberal academic who made an about-face on DEI due to careerist ambitions. Rufo has led the charge among Ono's conservative critics. "Woke is threatening a return to power," Rufo declared in an opinion piece in the conservative City Journal in which he argued that Ono's noted past support of DEI policies was disqualifying. (Although Rufo argued that Ono's presidency would threaten to undo changes to education in the state driven by Republican Ron DeSantis, the governor has defended the pick.) |
| Texas A&M professor Parmar invents therapy to combat rare diseases | |
 | There are numerous professors at Texas A&M University who can claim to be inventors, but few probably have invented something with the potential of the cell therapy invented by Dr. Simrit Parmar. The cell therapy developed by Parmer could help with the treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), aplastic anemia, myelofibrosis and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The therapy has been evaluated in dozens of human patients, and it has been shown to be safe and effective. "I got into this research early in my career. I am a physician scientist by training," Parmar said Tuesday. "I worked on these immune regulatory cells or T regulatory cells in my lab. Accelerating to 2024, now we are treating diseases like ALS which is really heterogeneous. There are so many chaotic pathways, but we felt that if you block this inflammation injury loop it may allow for the body to reset the homeostasis and lead to the recovery of their function." Parmar, an associate professor at the Texas A&M University College of Medicine in Houston, has been working on cell therapy since before joining Texas A&M last year. Parmar, who came to A&M from MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, is also the founder of a Houston-based clinical-stage biotech company called Cellenkos Inc. |
| Trump team pauses new student visa interviews as it weighs expanding social media vetting | |
| The Trump administration is weighing requiring all foreign students applying to study in the United States to undergo social media vetting -- a significant expansion of previous such efforts, according to a cable obtained by POLITICO. In preparation for such required vetting, the administration is ordering U.S. Embassies and consular sections to pause scheduling new interviews for such student visa applicants, according to the cable, dated Tuesday and signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. If the administration carries out the plan, it could severely slow down student visa processing. It also could hurt many universities who rely heavily on foreign students to boost their financial coffers. Many State Department officials have complained privately for months that past guidance -- for, say, vetting students who may have participated in campus protests -- has been vague. It's unclear, for example, whether posting photos of a Palestinian flag on an X account could force a student to undergo additional scrutiny. The administration has used a variety of rules to target universities, especially elite ones such as Harvard, that it sees as too liberal and accuses of allowing antisemitism to flourish on their campuses. At the same time, it is carrying out immigration crackdowns that have swept up a number of students. |
| Like good moonshine, Bragg's trilogy of Southern white poverty memoirs ages smoothly | |
| Columnist Sid Salter writes: As a journalist, writer Rick Bragg has covered most of man's inhumanities to man -- war, poverty, mass-casualty terrorist attacks, drug crime, riots, school shootings, outrageous politicians, overt and often violent acts of racism, hurricanes, tornadoes, graft and corruption and garden-variety injurious behavior. Bragg was at Mississippi State University last week as part of a statewide university public relations professional development conference. Few writers have more to share on effective storytelling than does Bragg, who still writes at a high level and can teach it effectively, too. Born in Calhoun County, Alabama in 1969 to Charles Bragg and Margaret Bundrum Bragg, Bragg had a meteoric rise from The Aniston Star in 1980 to The Birmingham News, The St. Petersburg Times, and a Neiman Fellowship at Harvard in 1992 and a correspondent's post at The New York Times in 1994. Bragg received the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for his coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing. There are numerous other professional awards and accolades. But what his journalism students at the University of Alabama and readers of his regular writings for Southern Living and Gun & Garden magazines glean from their exposure to a writer's writer is his reliable authenticity, his easy and self-deprecating manner and the depth of his desire to shine a light on the dignity of those he calls "my people." |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State baseball playing much better, but history also big at Tallahassee Regional | |
| Noah Sullivan had just wrapped up his news conference on April 29. It was one day after Mississippi State baseball fired coach Chris Lemonis in his seventh season. The Bulldogs dismantled Memphis 18-5 in seven innings at Dudy Noble Field the next day. The focus of the news conference with one of MSU's leaders, instead of the actual game, was centered on the previous 24 hours during which Lemonis was out of his job and Justin Parker named the interim coach. As Sullivan, the designated hitter, began to stand up to leave the room, he added one last message. "Don't let the Dawgs get hot," he said. Mississippi State did just that. The Bulldogs (34-21) are 9-2 since firing Lemonis. They won SEC series against Kentucky, Ole Miss and Missouri to play themselves into an NCAA tournament at-large bid. MSU is the No. 3 seed in the Tallahassee Regional --- a familiar postseason place. Mississippi State hasn't played any other opponent more in the postseason than Florida State (38-14), the No. 9 national seed that's matched up with No. 4 Bethune-Cookman (37-21). First MSU must play No. 2 Northeastern (48-9) on May 30 (6:30 p.m. CT, ESPN+) before possibly facing the Seminoles. But as history shows, playing Florida State has been a good omen for Mississippi State in the NCAA tournament. "We hope history repeats itself," Parker said. "And this time of year, even starting with Hoover, this is the time of the year where baseball can be magical and the moments can be special. We've talked a lot about that as a group." |
| Scouting the Tallahassee Regional: Bulldogs prepare for 'complete' Northeastern | |
| "It means everything." Bryce Chance didn't mince words when talking about his team's chance at glory at a press conference on Tuesday. Once a fan, now a veteran player, Chance and the Bulldogs are headed back to the postseason after a roller-coaster season. "That's why you come to Mississippi State and play on this stage," he continued, "to make it to the postseason and see what you can do from there. Everyone is really excited in the clubhouse." MSU (34-21, 15-15 SEC) suffered a 9-0 defeat to Texas A&M in Hoover last week, ending its SEC Tournament run before it could begin, but now has a regional to prepare for with a matchup against Northeastern in the Tallahassee Regional, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Friday. The game will be streamed on ESPN+. Though the Bulldogs were disappointed with the early exit at the SEC Tournament, it was the first time since the season began that they felt an opportunity to reset. Parker said the Bulldogs benefited from some time to catch their breath after a midseason coaching change and a rigorous SEC schedule. "When we got back from Hoover, it felt like we'd been grinding for a month straight," interim head coach Justin Parker said on Tuesday. "I gave them several days off, we got back in the weight room on Saturday, (had a) light workout Sunday, and of course yesterday, seeing where we're going and who we're playing gave us a better idea of how to prep this week. We had a pretty intensive practice yesterday, and we'll do the same today." |
| Mississippi State basketball announces more non-conference matchups in 2025-2026 | |
| The 2025-26 non-conference portion of Mississippi State's schedule got a little clearer on Tuesday morning. The Bulldogs announced three more home games at Humphrey Coliseum in November and December. Mississippi State will host Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 15th and the Lions finished 18-14 this past season. The Bulldogs defeated Southeastern Louisiana, 80-59, last season. Mississippi State will also host New Orleans on Nov. 24 and the Privateers posted a 4-27 mark this past season. Also announced on Tuesday, the Bulldogs will host Long Island on Dec. 16th and tipoff times for all three games will be announced later. Long Island finished 17-16 last season and posted a second-place finish in the Northeast Conference. Earlier this month, the Bulldogs also officially announced a neutral-court site meeting with Iowa State, who reached the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament this past season. Mississippi State and Iowa State are slated to meet on Nov. 10th at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., with tipoff times and TV network assignment to be announced later. |
| Track & Field: Postseason Continues At NCAA East First Rounds | |
| Starting Wednesday afternoon, Mississippi State track and field will aim to send athletes to the national championship at the NCAA East First Round. State will have 23 athletes competing across 17 different events throughout the weekend. Athletes qualify for the national championship by finishing in the top twelve of the quarterfinals in their respective events, with all running events under the 1500m being contested twice. The men's competition will kick off on Wednesday, with all runners competing in the first rounds of the running events and quarterfinals of the field. Rémi Rougetet, Tuomas Närhi and Kennedy Stringfellow will be the first to compete for State in the field events. Rougetet, fresh off the heels of his win at the SEC Championships, enters the javelin field seeded fourth nationally and third in the region. The track will have the bulk of the action, with the 100m, 200m, 400m, 400m hurdles and 800m first rounds all being held. Abdullahi Hassan enters the field as the highest-seeded runner for the Bulldogs, sitting sixth nationally and fifth in the region in the 800m. |
| Marco Arop's coach hails world champion runner as 'once-in-a-lifetime athlete,' marvels at fast recovery time | |
| Years before Marco Arop ran 800 metres to a 2023 world championship gold medal and Olympic silver the next year, he was a 400-metre sprinter and could be spotted red-lining, or pushing his body to its maximum effort, during high school workouts in Edmonton. But he had zero sense of pace. "If coach gave me three 400m [intervals] I would go all-out in the first one and struggle through the next two," Arop recalled during a break in training while preparing to race the 800 and 1,500 at Grand Slam Track this Saturday and Sunday in Philadelphia. Arop would eventually understand his limits that enabled him to push through pain. Most successful track and field athletes don't shy away from the pain of training, but Arop understands the pain pushes him a step closer to his ultimate goals, according to his coach. "It means he's determined and committed to the craft, and he is not going to let anything get in his way," said Chris Woods, who has worked with Arop since becoming head track and field coach at Mississippi State University in 2019. The 26-year-old Arop can buffer lactic acid, or hurt longer and more, than anyone Woods has seen in 12 years at MSU. "He's a once-in-a-lifetime athlete. The way Marco can recover between fast, long and hard intervals, I've never seen anything like it," Woods told CBC Sports. "My best educated guess is it's genetics and his upbringing." |
| MSU's Endicott lands on GCAA All-Region team | |
| Mississippi State golfer Garrett Endicott was selected to the PING All-Southeast Region Team by the Golf Coaches Association of America on Saturday. The San Antonio native has enjoyed a successful three years with the Bulldogs, featuring in 10 team events and recording three Top 10 finishes. He currently ranks fifth in program history with 57 par or better rounds and third with 28 career rounds in the 60s. In the 2024-25 season, Endicott led the team with a career-high 11 rounds in the 60s and 17 rounds of par or better with a scoring average of 71.58. His runner-up finish at the Desert Mountain Collegiate tournament helped his team to a victory and earned him SEC Golfer of the Week honors. It was the junior's second All-Region honor, having been selected in 2023 when he was also named an Honorable Mention All-American after an impressive freshman season. His 2023 campaign included a Second Team All-SEC selection and two conference Freshman of the Week awards. Endicott and the Bulldogs finished their campaign in the NCAA Regionals earlier this month. |
| How Southern Miss plans to approach revenue sharing, roster limits as House settlement looms | |
| Like most college sports administrators across the country, Southern Miss athletic director Jeremy McClain has had to get used to waiting. The House v. NCAA settlement that will fundamentally change college sports still has not been finalized, so McClain has to have multiple contingencies for how he'll approach the next few months. "We've just tried to be as nimble as we can possibly be," he told The Hattiesburg American on May 22 after Southern Miss baseball beat Old Dominion in the Sun Belt conference tournament. "What that looks like is we're going to prepare for Plan A, but if we need to shift to Plan B or C, we're going to be as prepared as we can. And that's kind of where we are. It is a little bit frustrating that we don't have that direction that we want, but we can't control that." "We don't have a lot of fat on the bone," he said. "We don't have the ability to peel off a large percentage of ticket sales or our media rights deals without backfilling those revenue streams. And so for us, it's been about going out and raising funds to do just that. And our folks have been very responsive." Even though the department will be able to directly pay players, McClain said he expects the "To The Top Collective" will continue and be able to work on NIL deals with Golden Eagles athletes. |
| SEC making alternative plans to keep key rivalries in an 8-game schedule | |
| The assumption has long been that several key rivalries -- such as Auburn-Georgia, Alabama-Tennessee and Texas-Texas A&M -- were doomed as annual games if the SEC stuck with an eight-game schedule. There may be another option, as it turns out. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said Tuesday the conference could make an effort to preserve certain games if it sticks with an eight-game schedule. "We're attentive to real key rivalries and have models that can accommodate them that have been shared and will continue to be shared," Sankey said. Sankey did not go into specifics and said the alternative format has existed. But that runs contrary to what conference officials and athletic directors have said over the past few years. There have been two formats under consideration: A nine-game schedule, where each team has three annual opponents, then rotates everyone else so every team plays each other at least twice every four years. An eight-game schedule, where each team has one annual opponent, then rotates everyone else so they also play everyone at least twice every four years. Major rivalries would be played every year, including Florida-Georgia, Oklahoma-Texas, Alabama-Auburn and Ole Miss-Mississippi State. But so-called secondary rivalries would only be played twice every four years. For the first time, however, Sankey is leaving it open to incorporating certain games. |
| Greg Sankey talks 5+11 CFP model with SEC coaches, rues timing | |
| In a significant pivot from the highly publicized push for automatic qualifiers in the next iteration of the College Football Playoff, the SEC on Tuesday took a heightened interest in a 16-team model that would include the five highest-ranked conference champions and 11 at-large bids. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said he talked with the league's football coaches at length about the alternative model. "They talked about -- I'll call it a 5+11 model -- and our own ability to earn those berths," Sankey said at the conclusion of the second day of spring meetings. "... At the coaching level, the question is, why wouldn't that be fine? Why wouldn't we do that? We talked about 16 with them. So, good conversation, not a destination, but the first time I've had the ability to go really in depth with ideas with them." Sankey, the other FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua need to determine the playoff format for 2026 and beyond by Dec. 1. It's a deadline Sankey said isn't ideal for the SEC's timing to determine if it wants to stay with eight conference games or change to nine. There's a disconnect between the league's athletic directors and coaches, which appeared Tuesday in public comments. Florida AD Scott Stricklin and Texas A&M AD Trev Alberts were both adamant about wanting automatic qualifiers, which would go along with the league adopting a nine-game league schedule. But coaches such as Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin said they'd prefer a model with the 16 best teams. |
| Bill allowing Texas colleges to pay their athletes gets Senate approval | |
| Texas colleges could soon pay student athletes directly for the first time. The Senate unanimously passed a bill on Tuesday that would allow colleges to enter directly into what are called "name, image and likeness" agreements with athletes. Currently, only outside entities, like national advertisers or athletic boosters, can do so. "The Senate saved college sports in Texas," Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said, jokingly afterward. The Senate was supposed to consider House Bill 126 on Sunday, but delayed after senators complained they hadn't been fully briefed on the issue. Some then hopped on a call with college coaches across the state, who emphasized they needed the legislation to disperse millions of dollars as part of a court settlement that is expected to be finalized in the fall and to be able to effectively recruit top talent. "Had they only informed everyone in the Senate a few weeks ago what was happening, we would have passed it the first time," Patrick said, "but everyone's kind of learned their lesson. It's good to talk to senators when you want their vote ... here's to winning in Texas." |
| Steve Sarkisian calls out report of $40 million Texas roster: 'It was a little bit irresponsible' | |
| In late April, a report stated Texas would spend "between $35 million and $40 million" on the 2025 roster. Players would reportedly be paid through different avenues, including revenue sharing, once the House Settlement was finalized. A massive number for one of the sport's most talented teams, even in today's college football world. Over a month later, Steve Sarkisian got a chance to comment on the report. He was not a fan, calling the story "irresponsible" and dismissing the idea of that much money being infused into his roster. "It was a little bit of irresponsible reporting," Sarkisian said. "It was one anonymous source said that's what our roster was. I wish I had $40 million on our roster, we'd probably be a better team than we are. The idea to think that a lot of other schools aren't spending money to get players. I mean, it's the state of college football right now. It is what it is. Hey, we're fortunate, don't get me wrong. We've got great support... I wish I had another $15 million or so, though. I might have a little better roster." |
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