| Tuesday, July 1, 2025 |
| Mississippi State launches Master of Science in AI | |
 | A new Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence (AI) program at Mississippi State University (MSU) will prepare students for high-demand careers in one of the fastest-growing fields of technology. The program, which will launch in the fall, will be housed in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. MSU previously introduced an undergraduate concentration in AI and was among the first universities in the country to offer a bachelor's degree in the field. "Artificial intelligence has a rich history at Mississippi State, dating back to the founding of the Department of Computer Science in 1968," said Andy Perkins, interim department head. "Students enrolled in the master's program will engage with distinguished faculty actively conducting cutting-edge research in AI. Our faculty bring a wealth of experience to the program, including specializing in fundamental AI research and applying AI methods in areas such as robotics, cybersecurity, bioinformatics and agriculture." The program will be available to a broad audience of students through in-person classes in Starkville and via online learning. |
| MSU Extension releases latest book on municipal government | |
 | New and experienced municipal officials have an updated reference resource available through the Mississippi State University Extension Service. The MSU Extension Center for Government and Community Development, or GCD, published the "Municipal Government in Mississippi, Eighth Edition" in June. The book aims to enhance local governance, deepen statutory understanding and promote efficient, transparent delivery of government services across Mississippi's approximately 300 municipalities, said Jason Camp, an Extension instructor with the center who specializes in municipal government. First published in 1997, the book is regarded as the definitive work on Mississippi municipal government and supported by the Mississippi Municipal League, or MML. It is widely used by elected and appointed state and municipal officials, various professionals who work or consult with municipalities, educators and the public. MSU Extension Director Angus Catchot said the center is a vital part of the services Extension is committed to providing Mississippi's citizens. |
| Community Profile: Once a 'feather in the wind,' Handran climbs ranks at Rick's Cafe, from doorman to owner | |
 | Ryan Handran was out fishing in May 2024 with his boss Rick Welch when he was asked a question he hadn't really thought about. "What's your plan?" Handran remembers Welch, then the owner of Rick's Cafe in Starkville, asking. "I was like, 'Well, I don't know, man,' I talked about maybe buying the bar one day, but it would be, in five or 10 years," Handran said. That ended up being closer to six months when Welch sat him down in his office and offered him a package deal of the bar, a nearby rental property and the house Handran was already planning on purchasing. Handran and his wife, Margaret, realized they both had parts of what it took to co-own Rick's Cafe after years of experience working at the bar and decided to take it. "I know the quirks about when to book a band and when to have an event, and why this is good and why that's not, but I'm not the office person," he said. "... But my wife is ... really the new Rick. She does all the paperwork and stuff that sits in the office, and I still just run the bar like I always did." Having both Handrans running the business is what will take its success higher than he ever could, Welch said. |
| Starkville men held in Sunday double homicide | |
| Two men turned themselves in to the Oktibbeha County Sheriff's Office Monday afternoon in connection with a double homicide on Sunday morning. Deputy sheriffs responded to an active shooting at a party on Kincaid Road in the early morning hours of Sunday, June 29. A call to 911 at 2:34 a.m. reported gunfire. The responding deputies learned that two individuals had been carried to the OCH Regional Medical Center with gunshot wounds. Both victims later died from their injuries. The investigation quickly pointed to Devon Chandler, 27, and Travis Chandler, 34, both of Starkville, as suspects and authorities secured arrest warrants, charging both with murder. The sheriff's office released images of the suspects Sunday afternoon and by Monday at 3 p.m., both men had surrendered. |
| Meridian swears in new mayor, council members | |
 | Meridianites ushered in a new era of city leadership Monday as a new mayor and five City Council members were sworn in during an inauguration ceremony at the Temple Theater. Returning to the mayor's office is Mayor Percy Bland, who previously served two terms as mayor before being defeated in the 2021 municipal elections. Bland said the four-year hiatus from public service gave him time to learn, grow and reflect on what his previous administrations had done correctly and what should have been done differently. "Today is not just the start of a new term, it is the start of a new era," he said. "We've gotten here at a critical moment in our city's story. Meridian is so full of potential." Bland outlined three pillars for his new administration, including combatting violent crime. On crime, he said rebuilding relationships between the police and community, supporting law enforcement and investing in programs such as community outreach and mental health initiatives will all help make the community safer. |
| Jones vows to harness city's potential in inaugural address | |
| When Colin Krieger moved to Columbus nearly 20 years ago, he was working for Papa John's to improve the quality and reputations of struggling community restaurants. "I would tell them, 'Yesterday's gone. This is a new day. Even if you weren't perfect yesterday, today is a new day,'" Krieger said. Now a Realtor with RE/MAX in Columbus, Krieger sees parallels between his work with those local Papa John's stores and the city he now calls home. "You have all the ingredients, all the tools. If you make a plan and stick to it, you will win," Krieger said while giving the welcome at the inauguration for the new mayor and city council Monday morning at Trotter Convention Center. "... Even if your family talks bad about you. Even if the Facebook groups talk bad about you. You stand tall, you take this opportunity to start over and do things exceptionally, and you will win. ... When you tell people that, and when they believe it, you'll be fascinated at how quickly things get better." A "new day" theme resounded through the ceremony, highlighted by incoming mayor Stephen Jones and all six city council members taking their respective oaths of office. |
| Howard Industries announces $236 million expansion in Mississippi | |
 | One of Mississippi's largest private companies is getting even bigger. Howard Industries, an electrical distribution transformer and technology products manufacturer, is expanding operations throughout Clarke, Jones and Simpson counties. The project is a $236.95 million investment and will create a total of 450 jobs. Howard has ranked as one of the top 10 privately held, family-owned companies in Mississippi for the past two decades with annual earnings of more than $1 billion. Howard Industries, established in 1968, is a global leader in distribution transformers with more than 14 locations throughout Mississippi that employ more than 4,000 workers. The company has produced more than 10 million transformers that are in service throughout the U.S. and abroad. The MDA is providing assistance through the Mississippi Flexible Tax Incentive, or MFLEX, program. MDA also is providing assistance for land acquisition, infrastructure improvements and construction costs. The Clarke County Board of Supervisors, Simpson County Board of Supervisors and Jones County Board of Supervisors are assisting with the project, as well. |
| Amtrak Will Revive Long-Stalled Gulf Coast Route in August | |
 | Amtrak will begin passenger rail service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., on Aug. 18, the railway operator announced on Tuesday, connecting the cities by train for the first time since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the region two decades ago. The route, called the Mardi Gras Service, will offer two daily departures from each end with four intermediate stops along the Gulf Coast in Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula, Miss. Tickets, which went on sale Tuesday, start at $15 each way for an adult riding end-to-end in coach. Amtrak estimates that the route, which takes about four hours to travel each way, will serve approximately 68,000 passengers per year. The Mardi Gras Service will allow passengers traveling from Alabama and Mississippi to connect to Amtrak's long-haul network via New Orleans, where routes like the City of New Orleans, the Sunset Limited and the Crescent serve destinations as distant as Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. Amtrak suspended service along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people and devastated the region's infrastructure in late August 2005. |
| Speaker White expects a Mississippi education reform package next session | |
 | During a speech Monday at the Stennis Capitol Press Forum in Jackson, House Speaker Jason White (R) said Mississippi could see another education miracle when the chamber takes up reforms during the 2026 session. The reforms are expected to come in a single bill addressing a wide range of educational problems Mississippi is currently facing, he said. White has appointed a team of legislators, educators and community members to examine the issues. Key to reforming the state's educational system, he said, is switching from focusing on failing institutions and districts to students and parents. "We need to look at the child and the factors that are causing the student to struggle," he said, noting a wide array of issues will be examined, from poverty to foster care to homelessness. Earlier this summer, Speaker White announced the creation of an Education Freedom Select Committee, aimed at "transforming the educational landscape in Mississippi to ensure that every child in our state has access to an education that caters to their unique needs and aspirations." White said the reforms are currently "in its research and development phase" and will be "bold and uncomfortable" for many people. He told the press that many options will be explored during early discussions, including school district consolidations. |
| 'Bold and uncomfortable': House Speaker Jason White outlines 2026 legislative priorities | |
| Mississippi House Speaker Jason White outlined on Monday a list of priorities he will aim to advance during the 2026 legislative session, a policy agenda whose viability will depend on negotiations with the state Senate and the impact of federal legislation moving through Congress. In broad terms, these policies will focus on reshaping the state's K-12 education system, addressing financial challenges facing Mississippi's pension system for state workers, expanding voting rights and addressing infrastructure challenges facing the capital city of Jackson. Days after White announced the formation of three new select committees to study key policy areas ahead of the 2026 session, White spoke Monday to the Mississippi State University Stennis Institute of Government and Capitol Press Corps. White offered more specifics on the legislative strategy he plans to push next year after a 2025 legislative session shaped by Republican infighting, historic tax reforms and uncertainty at the federal level. |
| Mississippi House Speaker pushes to expand education savings accounts | |
| House Speaker Jason White (R-Miss.) wants to expand education savings accounts during the 2026 Legislative Session. White said the House will be committed to changing the educational landscape to make sure each student has access to education that meets their needs. "Our current system often falls short in delivering that full options for all students economically disadvantaged communities, specifically in Mississippi, have been left with few options for far too long," White said. He said students with special needs already have education savings accounts. Those are state-funded accounts that give eligible families public money to pay for educational expenses outside of the traditional public schools. White now wants to look at making education savings accounts available to other children. "I would like to start by expanding it to some other student groups, mainly based on income and poverty, and then move forward from there. Let's see how it works," he stated. |
| New law will allow for direct wine shipments in Mississippi | |
| There are limits on which wines you have access to here in Mississippi. But starting July 1, you'll have the chance to ship specialty vinos right to your home. Dr. Billy Long says he's found wines he loved in California but Mississippi's laws kept him from having them sent home to enjoy. He's made it happen but had to take some extra steps. "Someone like me, you know, I can get a friend in Tennessee or Arkansas or Louisiana to ship it to there, and then I pick it up or whatever," explained Long. "So we just, you know, beat the rules because we still get it if we want it." Sen. Walter Michel was one of the legislation sponsors. "Our ABC warehouse in Gluckstadt is just simply not big enough to inventory all of the wine that we have available around the country," noted Michel. There will be 15.5% tax on direct wine shipments and you'll be capped at 12 cases per year. "It's a win, win. We get a chance to get the product to the consumer and the state does not have to inventory the product, but we get the tax," Michel added. |
| Gatekeepers, sabotage, political malpractice: Pinkins parts ways with the Democratic Party | |
| Ty Pinkins was the Mississippi Democratic Party's nominee for U.S. Senate in 2024. Prior to that, he dutifully suspended his Senate campaign when asked to step in as the party's replacement candidate in the Secretary of State race in 2023. With relatively little support from the party faithful, the U.S. Army veteran, attorney, author, and son of the Mississippi Delta lost both races by 20 points or more to well-funded Republican incumbents. Still believing he could raise his profile and increase his competitiveness, Pinkins stepped back up to again run for the U.S. Senate in the coming 2026 midterms, announcing a third statewide run for office in as many years. However, Pinkins now says he is officially leaving the Democratic Party, making him the second high-profile statewide nominee to leave the party in less than a year. Instead, he will continue his campaign for the Senate as an Independent. Shuwaski Young, a former congressional candidate and the Democrats' nominee for Secretary of State that Pinkins replaced, announced in October 2024 that he was leaving the Democratic Party, saying the party was "unrecognizable." Young has since joined the Republican Party and has announced his intention to run in the GOP Primary for Secretary of State in 2027. Similar to Young, Pinkins now claims he has had enough of the Democratic Party's "culture that, far too often, devours its own." |
| John Horhn taking office as Jackson mayor | |
| John Horhn finally becomes mayor of Jackson Tuesday, after his fourth run for the office, more than $300,000 in campaign donations and too many church visits to count. Horhn is the 54th mayor of Jackson. His inauguration marks a shift in leadership from a young progressive visionary to a seasoned moderate who promises to restore basic services, tackle blight and bring back economic development. Horhn, 70, will take the oath of office at 11 a.m. at the downtown Jackson Convention Complex. A longtime state senator representing parts of northwest Jackson and southern Madison County, Horhn has pledged to reorganize a dysfunctional City Hall, create a comprehensive plan, and work with developers to bring more business to Jackson. The challenges are great: Jackson is the fastest shrinking capital city in the country, and many residents have lost faith in the city's leadership to respond when they call with problems, much less fix systemic issues such as blight, economic divestment or Jackson's relationship to the state government. But Horhn will have the support of a coalition of city leaders representing real estate, restaurants, unions, city contractors and nonprofits. |
| Red-state agriculture commissioners push to end funding for certain UN groups | |
 | Nearly a dozen agriculture commissioners from red states wrote to top Trump administration officials and Republican lawmakers on Tuesday calling for the elimination of federal funding to organizations that promote "net-zero" climate policies. The letter, which was obtained exclusively by The Hill, argues that net-zero policies adopted by certain organizations "will have devastating effects on American consumers, farmers, and ranchers, and further endanger food security for the poor in America." The agriculture commissioners singled out the United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as organizations that promote those policies. "Each organization is acting, in the words of President Trump's executive order regarding U.S. funding of the UN and other international organizations, "contrary to the interests of the United States," and should not receive taxpayer funds," the commissioners wrote. Signatories include the agriculture commissioners from Texas, Iowa, West Virginia, Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Carolina. |
| Republicans' Effort to Pass Megabill Stretches Into a New Day | |
 | Senate Republicans' marathon session stretched into early Tuesday, as party leaders struggled to corral enough votes to pass the party's "big, beautiful bill" and move the legislation one step further toward President Trump's desk ahead of lawmakers' self-imposed July 4 deadline. Voting on amendments and procedural motions started midmorning Monday and dragged on for more than 24 hours as Republican leaders worked to find a balance of policies that could pass both the Senate and later the House. Trump, who has been speaking with congressional leaders by phone, said Tuesday morning he was confident that the bill was on track even as its fate and final content remained uncertain. "Hopefully soon. Hopefully today," Trump told reporters. Republicans can lose only three votes in the Senate and still pass the bill, and Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) and Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) have been seen as firm "no" votes. That means GOP leaders have to placate both wings of their party simultaneously, and changes that satisfy moderates could cost conservative votes -- and vice versa. |
| Trump wavers on July 4 megabill deadline | |
 | President Donald Trump appeared to leave room to extend his July 4 deadline for Congress to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as the Senate scrambles to push through the legislation amid Republican infighting. "I'd love to do July 4th, but I think it's very hard to do July 4th," Trump told reporters on the South Lawn on Tuesday, before adding that the goal is "somewhere around there." The fate of the sweeping megabill remains up in the air, as Republican leaders struggle to secure enough votes to push the legislation through the Senate. Trump has repeatedly sought to firm up GOP votes, blasting holdouts as "not good people" and not so subtly reminding Republicans not to go "too crazy," because they "still have to get reelected." But even though the president and his allies have launched a pressure campaign to encourage movement from Republicans in the Senate, Trump began to waffle on the self-imposed July 4 ultimatum as it drew closer. The president on Friday said the deadline was "not the end-all," and that "it can go longer, but we'd like to get it done by that time if possible." |
| Defeat of a 10-Year Ban on State A.I. Laws Is a Blow to Tech Industry | |
| The defeat early Tuesday of a ban on state laws for artificial intelligence dealt a major blow to the tech industry on the verge of a policy victory. In a 99-1 vote, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to strike an amendment to the Republican economic policy package that would have imposed a decadelong moratorium on attempts to regulate A.I. by the states. The before-sunrise vote was a win for consumer groups and Democrats, who had argued for weeks against the provision that they feared would remove any threat of oversight for the powerful A.I. industry. "The Senate came together tonight to say that we can't just run over good state consumer protection laws," Senator Maria Cantwell, Democrat of Washington, said in a statement. "States can fight robocalls, deepfakes and provide safe autonomous vehicle laws." There are no federal laws regulating A.I. but states have enacted dozens of laws that strengthen consumer privacy, ban A.I.-generated child sexual abuse material and outlaw deepfake videos of political candidates. All but a handful of states have some laws regulating artificial intelligence in place. It is an area of deep interest: All 50 have introduced bills in the past year tied to the issue. |
| President Trump says he'll 'have to take a look' at deporting Elon Musk as feud reignites | |
 | President Donald Trump said he would look at having Elon Musk deported to his native South Africa as their rift reignited and reached new heights amid the billionaire tech entrepreneur's new wave of criticism over Trump's tax and budget bill. Trump made the threat while speaking to reporters on July 1, hours after the president in an early morning post on Truth Social said he might order the Department of Government Efficiency that Musk previously led to review the billions in contracts that his companies receive. "We'll have to take a look," Trump said when asked whether he will deport Musk. "We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn't that be terrible? He gets a lot of subsidies." Trump's attacks came after Musk, the world's richest man, resumed his criticism of Trump's so-called "big, beautiful bill" in a flurry of X posts on Monday. It included a warning from Musk that he would boost midterm primary challenges to defeat Republican lawmakers who vote for the legislation. "Elon may get more subsidy than any human being in history, by far, and without subsidies, Elon would probably have to close up shop and head back home to South Africa," Trump wrote in a 12:34 a.m. July 1 post on Truth Social. |
| President Trump's deportation agenda leaves farms scrambling for harvesters | |
| Among the provisions Senate Republicans are weighing in the big GOP spending and tax bill, is $170 billion earmarked for immigration enforcement. President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda has created a chilling effect that keeps a lot of people from going to work at restaurants, hotels, construction sites and farms all over the country. Undocumented workers, and even those with legal status, fear that their workplaces could be the target of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. With harvest season underway on the West Coast, that could lead to a lot of wasted food. Warm spring weather made 2025 a pretty good year for growing cherries, said Ian Chandler, director of field operations at a 300 acre orchard in northern Oregon. "We have a pretty good sized crop. Quality is good. It's nice fruit," he said. The problem, Chandler said, is getting that bumper crop off the tree. He said the West Coast cherry harvest relies on farmworkers traveling from California up through the Pacific Northwest as the fruit ripens in each climate. "And this year, that flow of labor was disrupted," he said. About 90% of the farmworkers Chandler hires are immigrants. He said the rest might be American citizens, but have family at risk of being deported. "That creates a tremendous amount of fear. So people are hunkering down and not wanting to travel," he said. |
| Bush, Obama and a tearful Bono fault Trump's gutting of USAID on agency's last day | |
 | Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush delivered rare open criticism of the Trump administration -- and singer Bono held back tears as he recited a poem -- in an emotional video farewell on Monday with staffers of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Obama called the Trump administration's dismantling of USAID "a colossal mistake." Monday was the last day as an independent agency for the six-decade-old humanitarian and development organization, created by President John F. Kennedy as a peaceful way of promoting U.S. national security by boosting goodwill and prosperity abroad. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered USAID absorbed into the State Department on Tuesday. The former presidents and Bono spoke with thousands in the USAID community in a videoconference. They expressed their appreciation for the thousands of USAID staffers who have lost their jobs and life's work. Bush, who also spoke in a recorded message, went straight to the cuts in a landmark AIDS and HIV program started by his Republican administration and credited with saving 25 million lives around the world. "You've showed the great strength of America through your work -- and that is your good heart,'' Bush told USAID staffers. "Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you," he said. |
| Trump administration shuts down U.S. website on climate change | |
 | The Trump administration on Monday shut down a federal website that had presented congressionally mandated reports and research on climate change, drawing rebukes from scientists who said it will hinder the nation's efforts to prepare for worsening droughts, floods and heat waves. The U.S. Global Change Research Program's website, globalchange.gov, was taken down along with all five versions of the National Climate Assessment report and extensive information on how global warming is affecting the country. The U.S. Global Change Research Program was established under a 1990 law, which also mandated that climate assessments be prepared every four years. In April, however, the Trump administration dismissed hundreds of scientists and other experts who had begun to write the latest National Climate Assessment report. "This is scientific information that the American taxpayers paid for, and it's their right to have it," said Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech University who was an author of four previous versions of the climate assessment report. "It's information that I, as a scientist, can say is absolutely critical to making good decisions for the future, whether you're a farmer, a homeowner, a business owner, a city manager, or anyone really who wants to ensure a safe and resilient future for themselves and for their children." |
| The tough job market for new college grads probably isn't all due to AI | |
| Last month the Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei made an alarming prediction: Artificial intelligence could wipe out half of entry-level white-collar jobs in the next one to five years. A look at the current job market for recent college graduates isn't exactly reassuring. Unemployment for degree-holders age 22 to 27 is almost 6%, the highest it's been since the pandemic. And crucially, it's significantly worse than the unemployment rate for all workers, which hovers around 4%. That kind of inversion has very rarely been seen over the last three decades the Federal Reserve has been tracking. But it doesn't necessarily mean we're at the beginning of a white-collar apocalypse. It's cold comfort to recent grads, like Yael Grimaldi, who just earned a bachelor's degree with honors from Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business. "I thought I would have a job lined up by graduation," he said. He's been looking for a job or internship in digital marketing, putting in about two applications a day at big companies and small ones, up and down the state of California. He's had a few interviews, but no offers yet. "As a first generation student, I feel like there's a lot of pressure," said Grimaldi. "I'm the first in my in my family to get a degree, and you know, it has a lot of value, but not as much as I thought it would freshman year." |
| Amazon Is on the Cusp of Using More Robots Than Humans in Its Warehouses | |
| The automation of Amazon.com facilities is approaching a new milestone: There will soon be as many robots as humans. The e-commerce giant, which has spent years automating tasks previously done by humans in its facilities, has deployed more than one million robots in those workplaces, Amazon said. That is the most it has ever had and near the count of human workers at the facilities. Company warehouses buzz with metallic arms plucking items from shelves and wheeled droids that motor around the floors ferrying the goods for packaging. In other corners, automated systems help sort the items, which other robots assist in packaging for shipment. One of Amazon's newer robots, called Vulcan, has a sense of touch that enables it to pick items from numerous shelves. Amazon has taken recent steps to connect its robots to its order-fulfillment processes, so the machines can work in tandem with each other and with humans. "They're one step closer to that realization of the full integration of robotics," said Rueben Scriven, research manager at Interact Analysis, a robotics consulting firm. For some Amazon workers, the increasing automation has meant replacing menial, repetitive work lifting, pulling and sorting with more skilled assignments managing the machines. Amazon is also rolling out artificial intelligence in its warehouses, Chief Executive Andy Jassy said recently, "to improve inventory placement, demand forecasting, and the efficiency of our robots." Amazon said it will cut the size of its total workforce in the next several years. |
| IHL implements new maintenance plan for its over 1,600 state-owned buildings | |
| With more than 1,600 buildings in its fold, the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees has put a protocol in place to ensure they are maintained. The maintenance plan comes at a time when the Legislature decided not to provide capital funding to IHL in the new fiscal year, which starts July 1. Lawmakers provided about $20 million in capital funding in the prior fiscal year, which was used in facility and related equipment investments. This year, no funding was provided from the state for that use. IHL's total budget is about $6.3 billion, of which $5.3 billion is self-generated through fees, services and other revenue streams. The number of buildings under IHL's portfolio currently totals 1,631, an increase from the 1,583 buildings counted in April 2022, Associate Commissioner Brad Rowland recently told the IHL Board. Those buildings equate to 41.15 million square feet of space, an increase from the 40.93 million square feet recorded in 2022. "As you can see from previous years from 2022, we've increased about 3 percent in our total buildings that we have," Rowland described. "MSU obviously has the greatest amount of total buildings. And that takes into account the Experiment Stations and all the Ag, and so it makes up 40 percent of our total buildings but only 26 percent of the square footage." |
| UM, Greystar partner to build new student housing | |
| The University of Mississippi is expanding and modernizing its on-campus housing options through a new partnership with Greystar, a national leader in student housing development. This partnership will aim to produce approximately 2,700 new beds for students at the Oxford campus, with students expected to move in by 2027. Today (June 30), the board of trustees of the Institutions of Higher Learning approved to advance the partnership between the university and the private firm. As enrollment has grown, the university has evaluated a number of short-term and long-term solutions to meet student needs and modernize campus infrastructure. Public-private partnerships, also known as P3s, provide an efficient solution by allowing private developers to deliver large-scale infrastructure. The housing communities, which will offer suites and semi-suites, will be constructed in partnership with Modern Living Solutions, Greystar's modular construction business. Sections of the buildings, making up the living areas, will be made in Modern Living Solutions' factory in Knox, Pennsylvania, shipped to campus and then assembled on site. |
| SCRMC holds 'White Coat Ceremony' for internal medicine residents | |
 | South Central Regional Medical Center in Laurel hosted a "White Coat Ceremony" to introduce its first internal medicine residents. Ten of the 11 inaugural internal medicine residents were "coated" on Monday, officially welcoming them to the South Central family. For the next three years, the residents will spend time getting hands-on experience in the hospital and clinics. "It's an excitement to be part of this community and part of the program, and we're honored and privileged for giving us the opportunity to be part of this South Central community," said resident Abdul Qadree. Program director Dr. Deepu Thoppil said it will be a tough three years. "Time is very difficult when you're in residency, but once you're done, you've completed the final part of your training that makes you part of a much bigger organization," said Thoppil. State and community leaders, family and the hospital's staff came together to celebrate Monday's milestone. Next year, South Central will welcome another 10 residents to the program. |
| Feds unfreeze $137 million in Mississippi education money | |
| The federal government is restoring $137 million in education funds to Mississippi schools. The U.S. Department of Education notified states last week that it would reinstate pandemic relief funds. The decision comes less than three months after the federal government revoked billions nationwide as part of Trump administration efforts to cut government spending. State education agencies and school districts originally had until March 2026 to spend the money, but the federal government claimed that because the pandemic was over, they had no use for the money. That March 2026 deadline has been reinstated following a series of injunctive orders. A coalition of Democratic-led states sued the federal government in April over the decision to withhold the money. Then, a federal judge granted plaintiff states injunctive orders in the case, which meant those states could continue spending their COVID-relief dollars while other states remained restricted. But the education department decided that wasn't fair, wrote Secretary Linda McMahon in a letter dated June 26, so the agency was restoring the money to all states, not just the ones involved in the lawsuit. |
| Education Department freezes cash for school districts, teacher training, migrant students | |
| The Trump administration will withhold billions of federal education dollars from states and local schools that were expected to be available on July 1, according to notices sent to federal grantees on Monday. It's a move with the potential to imperil afterschool programs, teacher training initiatives and education for migrant students. Some education advocacy groups estimate that approximately $5 billion is at stake. According to the notice delivered to federal grantees, the contents of which were described to POLITICO on condition of anonymity by officials familiar with the matter, the administration is still reviewing fiscal 2025 grant funding for the affected programs. It has not yet made decisions about awards for the upcoming academic year, and will not obligate their funds on Tuesday before that review is complete. It's unclear how long the spending review might last or when the federal funds might be distributed. But the delay could leave states and schools facing immediate pressure to find ways to keep education programs running and balance their budgets for the coming academic year. |
| UF hosts national teaching workshop on civics to increase 'informed patriotism' | |
 | As the U.S. prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence next year, the U.S. Capitol Historical Society joined the universities of Florida and Central Florida for a national teaching workshop on civic education training. The historical society, UF's Bob Graham Center for Public Service and Hamilton School of Classical & Civic Education and UCF's Lou Frey Institute held the two-day national teacher workshop June 26-27 at Pugh Hall on UF's campus. Two dozen selected history, social studies and civics educators were invited from their congressional representatives and state chapters of America250 -- an initiative to mark the nation's semiquincentennial -- to use primary sources in helping students achieve "informed patriotism." Teachers participated in using primary sources like the UF Libraries Special Collections and the Library of Congress, which provided political papers from former U.S. Sens. Bob Graham, Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio. Candice Arnold, an advanced civics teacher at Bartow Middle School, believes that the subject plays a crucial role in informing the next generation of students about their civic responsibilities, educating them on their rights, and teaching them how to stay informed throughout their lives. |
| Glenn Hegar ready to step into the office of A&M Chancellor | |
 | Glenn Hegar is embarking on a new era as he takes over as the 15th chancellor of the Texas A&M System after serving the state in Austin for 22 years. Tuesday is his first day on the job at a university system that thanks to 11 (soon to be 12) universities and eight state agencies has a presence in all 254 counties of Texas. For Hegar it is just another way for him to serve the state of Texas, a state his family has lived in since before it was a state. He still farms the same land in Hockley that his family has owned since the 1840s when Texas was an independent republic. He knows the importance of Texas A&M to the state and the role it plays in Texas even as the state has grown from its rural roots into one of the largest economies in the world. "This is kind of the heritage of Texas. Texas A&M University started out as a land grant institution and it's those rural roots A&M represents in our universities across the state," Hegar told the Eagle in a one-one interview prior to starting as chancellor. "That heritage of hard work and can-do attitude that we're going to figure out how to take what God has given us here in Texas and create something out of it for future generations." |
| U. of Missouri Faculty Council approves statement of values | |
 | On Thursday, the University of Missouri Faculty Council passed a statement of values intended to take a stance on the Trump administration's cuts to research funding and attacks on academic freedoms. The resolution -- formally called "Statement in Support of the Core Mission and Shared Values of Higher Education in the United States of America -- was initially written by leaders at universities within the Big 10 and adopted by other universities across the United States, including the University of Iowa, the University of Michigan, the University of Oregon and more. This comes in the wake of the Trump administration's unprecedented demands from universities such as Harvard and Columbia and funding cuts to higher education institutions' research grants, about $11 billion according to NPR. The resolution affirms nine core values. The council approved the statement 21-1. |
| J.J. Davis named acting president of UVa | |
| University of Virginia Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis will soon assume the role of acting president, taking the helm of Virginia's flagship public university after the sudden resignation of Jim Ryan last week. When exactly Davis will take over is still unclear. "President Ryan's resignation has not yet become effective, we'll announce a date for that as soon as we have one," UVa spokesman Brian Coy told The Daily Progress late Monday afternoon. Ryan tendered his resignation in a letter to UVa's governing Board of Visitors on Thursday after news broke that the Trump administration Department of Justice was pressuring him to step down. Outgoing Rector Robert Hardie accepted his resignation on Friday with "profound sadness." The DOJ claimed Ryan had failed to eliminate the school's diversity, equity and inclusion programs, despite direct orders from the Board of Visitors and the White House to do so. Moreover, the agency said Ryan misrepresented his progress dismantling the DEI apparatus he himself instituted, rebranding instead of removing programs and positions. |
| Federal Antihazing Law Takes Shape on Campuses | |
 | After families of hazing victims spent years lobbying Congress to pass federal antihazing legislation, the Stop Campus Hazing Act became law last December. The new law mandates that any institution receiving Title IV funding must include hazing incidents in its annual security reports, which are sent to the federal government. It also requires colleges and universities to implement hazing-prevention programs and to publish online both their hazing policies and a Campus Hazing Transparency Report. While some aspects of the law, including a requirement to start collecting basic hazing statistics and develop hazing-prevention programming, have already taken effect, the requirement to begin collecting data for the transparency report starts today. From now on, colleges will be required to produce a centralized log of student organizations that have a history of hazing incidents in an effort to raise awareness among those interested in joining. The transparency report is designed to correct the difficulties parents and students have experienced in identifying scattered or obscured information about an organization's history of hazing, said S. Daniel Carter, a campus safety consultant and longtime advocate for federal antihazing legislation. |
| Senate Tweaks 'Big Beautiful Bill' Ahead of Final Vote | |
| Senate Republicans revamped their plan to expand eligibility for the Pell Grant to students enrolled in short-term job training programs in the latest version of their sweeping budget megabill, which makes significant changes to higher education policy. Other changes to the legislation headed toward a final vote include tweaks to the accountability measure for student outcomes, added protections for small business owners when calculating student aid eligibility and alterations to the endowment tax that soften the financial blow for institutions across the board -- particularly small liberal arts colleges. The changes to the workforce Pell proposal came after a nonpartisan Senate official, known as the parliamentarian, said the provision violated Senate rules for the legislative process known as reconciliation. (The process allows the Senate to pass a bill with 51 votes instead of the typical 60.) The parliamentarian didn't explain her decision, but generally to pass the sniff test, each section must be focused on budgetary spending, savings and revenue, not other policies. The Senate had originally planned to expand federal aid access to unaccredited providers, but now those programs would be excluded from workforce Pell. |
SPORTS
| Blake Shapen reveals details about injury that ended Mississippi State QB's season after four games | |
| Blake Shapen had injuries in the past but had never missed as much time as he did last season as the Mississippi State football starting quarterback. Shapen, who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 4, has made some changes designed to prevent future injuries. They include a stronger emphasis on recovery and lessons from the film room. "I think for me with the rehab, it starts there -- continuing to do the rehab," Shapen said at the Manning Passing Academy in Thibodaux, Louisiana, on June 27. "Before, I never did rehab for my arm. I wouldn't do a ton of shoulder care and things like that. Now, I'm staying on pace with that. I think it starts there, but it also starts with the film watch, understanding when to get down (on the ground). I'm very competitive, so I want to make the best play I can, go get a first down and things like that, but understanding when I need to just take my losses and get down." Shapen revealed for the first time that the injury was a fractured scapula (shoulder blade) in his right throwing arm. It occurred in the fourth quarter of MSU's 45-28 loss to Florida on Sept. 21 and required season-ending surgery. The Baylor transfer missed the final eight games of the season as the Bulldogs finished with a 2-10 record. |
| Garrett Endicott earns exemption for U.S. Amateur Championships | |
| Mississippi State golf standout Garrett Endicott is taking his talents to California for the 125th U.S. Amateur Championships at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. The San Antonio native is currently ranked in the Top 100 World Amateur men's rankings, coming in at No. 83, and has had a successful summer with an appearance at the Northeast Amateur event and a seventh-place finish at the Sunnehanna Amateur. "It's always a privilege to get the opportunity to play in the biggest amateur event there is," Endicott said. "Being able to get invited and exempt into such an event helps reflect the hard work and dedication I've put towards the game." This is Endicott's second appearance at the U.S. Amateur Championships after qualifying in 2024 with his performances at the Northeast and Western Amateur events. Endicott recently completed his junior year with the Bulldogs, which saw him play 11 events in the team lineup and record three finishes inside the Top 10. He was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team for his success in athletics and in the classroom, and was also named the SEC Golfer of the Week after tying for second at the Desert Mountain Collegiate tournament. He ended the year being named to the PING All-Region Team. |
| Women's Basketball Adds Favour Nwaedozi To 2025-26 Roster | |
| Head coach Sam Purcell announced the addition of 6-3 forward Favour Nwaedozi. The Nigerian native becomes the sixth portal addition for the Bulldogs this offseason. "Favour has a wow factor. She's a versatile post player that can score inside and outside," Purcell said. "She's extremely skillful on the court and can defend the full length of the floor. Most importantly, I look forward to seeing our fans fall in love with her million-dollar personality. The 6-3 forward moved to Japan during high school and eventually began her collegiate career at Mukogawa Women's University in Nishinomiya, Japan. This previous spring in the Kansai Women's Spring Basketball Championship, Nwaedozi was dominant on the scoreboard and on the glass, averaging 26 points and 17 rebounds per game. "Favour is a freakish athlete that has a nose for the ball. She attacks the rebound like few I have ever seen," associate head coach and offensive coordinator Fred Castro said. "Her combination of power and speed makes her a tough matchup at 6-3. She can blow by defenders or bully weaker ones." |
| Commissioner Tony Petitti defends CFP proposal with 4 automatic bids for Big Ten, SEC | |
| Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti defended his proposal that his conference and the SEC should each receive four automatic bids to a 16-team College Football Playoff, but left room for other ideas, as part of a 30-minute conversation on Monday with Fox Sports' Joel Klatt. Petitti, who had not previously publicly discussed CFP expansion or slotting this spring or summer, said his focus for automatic qualifiers is to encourage teams to compete in more challenging regular-season games and "reduce the role of the committee." Petitti's preferred plan would allow for two automatic qualifiers for both the ACC and the Big 12, plus one spot for the highest-ranked champion outside of the Power 4 conferences and three at-large teams. "The alternative to this system is expanding the field and giving the committee more to do," Petitti told Klatt. "If you go to 16 and you have 11 at-large, you've just added even more decision-making. The answer is, well, at that point, it gets to be easy, because you'll cover everybody. No, because the more spots you put into the system, the more difficult decisions you're facing. "Teams start to look more alike, as we all have a tough road loss. Some of them may have stumbled at home in a tough conference game. The sequencing of when you play, you might be at a really difficult place, and then have to go on back home and play somebody else or be on the road for two weeks. That journey is really relevant. So, I think you make it harder." |
| Georgia athletics partners with Learfield for massive upgrades to NIL atmosphere | |
 | Georgia athletics and Learfield have launched a new Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) partnership, the university announced Monday afternoon, June 30. "This cutting-edge collaboration will function independently from the University as a comprehensive marketing and NIL agency, leveraging Learfield Impact NIL services to provide student-athletes with unprecedented tools to build their personal brands, connect with sponsors, and earn income beyond traditional revenue-sharing models," according to the school-issued release. The partnership is set to build upon the foundation laid by the Classic City Collective and will empower student-athletes, while continuing to elevate the Georgia brand. In 2024, the Bulldogs' football program led the nation with an average of 8.6 million viewers per game. The partnership is hoping to amplify the momentum by ensuring visibility and impact for Georgia's student-athletes in this new era of college sports. "This partnership is a testament to our commitment to broad-based excellence and innovation," UGA Director of Athletics Josh Brooks said. Learfield recently launched the same initiative with Ohio State. |
| What is NIL Go, College Sports Commission? Here's what Mizzou fans need to know | |
 | Thinking of striking up an NIL deal with a Mizzou athlete? Well, if it's worth more than $600 -- and if you're not the check-writer at the University of Missouri -- the process has changed. As of Tuesday, college athletes now have multiple avenues from which to earn compensation for the use of their name, image and likeness. First: Athletic departments nationwide are, beginning July 1, eligible to distribute $20.5 million of revenue directly to their student-athletes. The revenue-sharing era of college athletics has been ushered in by a house settlement approved by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in June -- a change that will cost NCAA members $2.8 billion in back damages to former athletes and, in most cases at the Power-conference level (including MU), at least $20.5 million per year in payments to current athletes. Second: Third-party NIL -- old-fashioned NIL -- still exists. But, those third-party deals will now be vetted by a third-party watchdog, which will be run by an entity called the College Sports Commission and includes a clearinghouse called NIL Go. Wondering what on earth all of that means? You're not alone. There are questions, and the answers could be interesting. Ask Missouri athletic director Laird Veatch, and it's congressional support. |
| College sports NIL revenue sharing figure being questioned by settlement plaintiffs | |
| While the NCAA has informed schools that they may provide up to $20.5 million in new benefits for athletes during the 2025-26 school year as part of the settlement of three athlete-compensation antitrust cases against the association and the Power Five conferences, the plaintiffs' lawyers say they are exercising their right to have the data used to arrive at that spending limit audited because they have questions about the figures. If the audit finds that the cap should have been greater than $20.5 million, court intervention could be involved. All of this may not affect schools this year, but it could impact them in the future. The revenue data being used to determine the benefits cap must be provided by the NCAA to the plaintiffs' lawyers annually during the 10-year life of the settlement. The plaintiffs' lawyers then "have the right to reasonably audit" the data, according to the agreement -- and they are having an outside firm do so, according one their leaders, Steve Berman. "For the sake of getting this started July 1, we are willing to use" $20.5 million as the cap, Berman said. "But if that turns out to be different, there will have to be some adjustment. ... We have questions about the information we've gotten." The NCAA declined to comment on the matter. |
| Meet Bryan Seeley, the man in charge of policing the new world of college sports | |
| Last Monday morning, Bryan Seeley began his first official day as Employee No. 1 at the College Sports Commission by doing some online shopping. The revenue share era of college sports has arrived. Paychecks from schools will start to land in players' bank accounts this week. The endorsement deals that the CSC will need to vet are already pouring in. As he attempts to run an organization responsible for bringing order to a chaotic industry, Seeley has a long to-do list: hire a staff, establish investigative processes, determine fair punishment standards and build relationships across hundreds of schools and dozens of sports. Seeley finished the previous week by returning his office equipment to Major League Baseball after a decade of rebuilding and overseeing their league investigations department, which handled high-profile issues such as gambling, sexual misconduct and sign-stealing scandals on his watch. At his new job he's back to square one, which means his top priority last Monday was scrolling through Wirecutter, a product recommendation website, for advice on buying a new laptop. "This is a startup," Seeley told ESPN during an interview at the end of his first day. "It's not like I'm walking into nothing, but in many ways this is a true start-up." |
| Pac-12 welcomes Texas State ahead of 2026 relaunch | |
| Texas State has officially joined the Pac-12, the conference announced Monday, becoming the league's ninth member ahead of its relaunch in 2026. "We are extremely excited to welcome Texas State as a foundational member of the new Pac-12," commissioner Teresa Gould said in a statement. "It is a new day in college sports and the most opportune time to launch a new league that is positioned to succeed in today's landscape with student-athletes in mind." Texas State's board of regents voted to authorize a $5 million buyout to the Sun Belt Conference early Monday. The Bobcats will remain in the Sun Belt through the 2025-26 season before joining the Pac-12 in all sports for the 2026-27 school year. The Pac-12 needed to reach eight football-playing schools to meet the NCAA minimum for an FBS conference prior to the 2026 season. Texas State president Kelly Damphousse called the move "a historic moment" for the university. "Joining the Pac-12 is more than an athletic move -- it is a declaration of our rising national profile, our commitment to excellence, and our readiness to compete and collaborate with some of the most respected institutions in the country," Damphousse said. |
| Penn State Scores Injunction in Trademark Battle Against Vintage Brand | |
| A federal judge last week permanently enjoined online retailer Vintage Brand -- which sells throwback and vintage collegiate apparel -- from advertising, marketing, distributing, importing, manufacturing, promoting, offering for sale, or selling T-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, socks and other unlicensed merchandise bearing the Penn State word and Penn State logo trademarks. Chief U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann wrote that although Vintage Brand "will suffer some financial losses from a permanent injunction," the company "openly, intentionally and illegally appropriated" Penn State's marks "despite being warned not to." Brann reasoned that Vintage Brand brought the business challenges posed by an injunction "upon itself" by infringing the school's trademarks. The injunction comes seven months after a jury found that Penn State proved its case. The jury found Vintage Brand had willfully violated trademark law and awarded the school $28,000 in compensatory damages. The modest damages figure was dwarfed by the significance of the case in the sports and apparel industries. At the heart of the dispute was whether teams' imagery can be used without consent to create unlicensed products when those products use historic artistic images, including those in the public domain, reproduced from vintage school memorabilia. |
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