| Wednesday, June 3, 2015 |
| Mississippi State hires first female student affairs leader | |
 | Mississippi State University's first female vice president for student affairs, Regina Y. Hyatt, will assume her new role July 1 pending State College Board approval, the university announced Monday. Hyatt, who has served as the University of Alabama in Huntsville's dean of students for the last four years, succeeds now-Sul Ross State University President William "Bill" Kibler. Kibler left MSU for the Texas university's top leadership post last year. |
| PrecisionHawk launches The Algorithm Marketplace for UAS industry | |
 | The Algorithm Marketplace, launched in BETA, provides automated analysis of aerial data acquired by UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). Using sophisticated algorithms, UAV operators no longer need a background in geographic information system (GIS) or remote sensing to interpret their aerial data, instead, the marketplace provides an action-based report to improve management of assets. More than 40 university and corporate partners including Texas A&M and Mississippi State University are providing analysis products for the marketplace. |
| PHOTOS: MSU-Meridian hosts induction ceremonies for honor societies | |
 | MSU-Meridian recently held induction ceremonies for Alpha Chi, a national honor society with more than 300,000 members from some 300 college and university chapters, and member of the Association of College Honor Societies. Additionally, MSU-Meridian recently held induction ceremonies for Psi Chi, an international honor society whose purpose shall be to encourage, stimulate, and maintain excellence in scholarship of the individual members in all fields, particularly in psychology, and to advance the science of psychology. |
| $21M project would bring auto dealership, mixed-use parcels to Starkville | |
| A proposed $21 million investment would develop a 25-acre automobile dealership complex and mixed-use development with 20,000 square feet of office space, a restaurant, convenience store and 15 single-family homes near Highway 12's Hilton Garden Inn location. Chris Gouras, a representative of HPM Development LLC, briefed county supervisors about his client's project Monday and asked the board to support a $3 million-maximum tax increment financing (TIF) bond package that will fund construction of an access road and other infrastructure improvements in the area by Old West Point and Pat Station roads. |
| Starkville aldermen withdraw motion for raises | |
 | Starkville city leaders withdraw a motion to raise their own salaries during Tuesday night's board meeting. The item on the Board of Aldermen agenda addressed the salary of the mayor and the board. The measure would have set the mayor's salary at $70,000 per year and alderman's pay at $20,000 each year. The position of vice mayor would receive a 10 percent pay increase. In 2013, aldermen voted to raise the salaries, but Mayor Parker Wiseman vetoed the measure. Wiseman does not expect the issue of pay raises to come up again anytime soon. |
| Holloway: EMCC, SSD agree to terms for county high school use | |
| East Mississippi Community College officials and the incoming leaders of the Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District have agreed in principle to a deal allowing the college to lease West Oktibbeha County High School and provide general classes in the county. Starkville Superintendent Lewis Holloway, who will lead the consolidated system beginning July 1, confirmed EMCC officials agreed to pay for utilities and insurance while also providing upkeep and security at the Maben campus after Maben Mayor Larry Pruitt approached county supervisors Monday seeking a letter of support for such a takeover. The lease is expected to run for five years, but an overall price is not yet known. Both governing boards for EMCC and SSD must approve a finalized version of the deal. |
| Trail hopes to hook diners on Gulf seafood | |
 | Mississippi is eat up with trails, but we can always chow down on more. Especially when it's tasty. The Mississippi Gulf Seafood Trail takes in 52 restaurants that dot the state along the Gulf Coast naturally but also swims upstream to include eateries in Jackson, Vicksburg, Southaven and more. The Mississippi Gulf Seafood Trail was established with BP tourism grant money to promote Gulf Coast restaurants and the Gulf seafood they serve, said Mike Cashion, executive director of the Mississippi Hospitality & Restaurant Association. |
| AmerisourceBergen to open distribution center in Olive Branch | |
| A Fortune 500 company is opening a distribution center in Olive Branch. AmerisourceBergen, a global health care solutions leader, is investing $48 million to build a facility at the IDI-Crossroads Distribution Center. The distribution center is expected to create 129 jobs. AmerisourceBergen will initially build a 400,000-square foot facility, but could add another 550,000 square feet if they need to expand. The Mississippi Development Authority, city of Olive Branch and DeSoto County Board of Supervisors provided assistance on the project, including installation of equipment and infrastructure improvements. |
| Alleged gang convention in Hattiesburg causes concern among officials | |
| A Hattiesburg councilwoman raised concerns at a work session about what she called an anti-police organization allegedly having a large event in the city the weekend two police officers were killed during a traffic stop. According to WDAM-TV, Ward 4 Councilwoman Mary Dryden brought up concerns about what fliers billed as the "13th annual Brothers of the Struggle Weekend." She spoke of a group "considered to be one of the most violent gangs in the country, a group commonly known as anti-police and with a reputation for sales of narcotics." While a transcript of Dryden's comments didn't name the Brothers of the Struggle, the group's website advertised events in Hattiesburg May 8-9. Hattiesburg Patrolmen Benjamin Deen and Liquori Tate were killed May 9. |
| District attorney Kelly wins 1st District House runoff handily | |
 | Trent Kelly emerged Tuesday night as the next congressman for Mississippi's 1st Congressional District. The 49-year-old district attorney from Saltillo handily won a special election runoff Tuesday to win the seat vacant since the death in February of Congressman Alan Nunnelee. The conservative Republican candidate easily outdistanced his Democratic opponent, Walter Howard Zinn Jr., a Pontotoc attorney, in 20 of the 22 counties in the north Mississippi district. Kelly earned 68,852 votes, or 70 percent, while Zinn got 29,402 votes, or 30 percent, with all 426 precincts reporting Tuesday evening. Kelly, speaking to a crowded room of supporters at the BancorpSouth Conference Center in Tupelo on Tuesday night, thanked Zinn for running a clean campaign and thanked everyone who put their trust in him to represent the area in Washington, D.C. |
| Air Force vet kicks off gubernatorial campaign | |
| Valerie Adream Smartt Short, a Jackson physician and Air Force veteran, kicked off her campaign for governor Tuesday morning, saying it is time to address major issues facing the state like health care and education. As a doctor who has run not only a Jackson practice, but a statewide practice primarily in the areas of obstetric gynecology, she said she has the experience to address those issues. "We have the opportunity to make change in our state," said Short, who came to Mississippi to practice medicine after leaving the Air Force in 1992 with the rank of major. Short is one of three Democrats who will vie for the party nomination in August. Incumbent Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican, is considered a heavy favorite to win re-election in November. |
| Mississippi Cuts Work Program for Prisoners | |
 | With the lunch hour near and the temperature in the 80s, the only souls in sight outside the courthouse here were two men taking turns aiming a pressure washer's nozzle at the steps of the building. No lawyers. No police officers or jailers. No passers-by. Just two state prisoners, dressed in uniforms with thick stripes of green and white -- trusties on work detail, a common sight across the South and many other parts of the country. But by the time the summer ends, such work details, which provide services for local governments, will be overhauled here in Mississippi, the latest state to scale back work for inmates. Although the programs were once regarded as sources of cheap -- or free -- labor for local governments, as well as employment for trusted inmates, officials in some states have concluded that they are too expensive to maintain. |
| Congress turns away from post-9/11 law, retooling U.S. surveillance powers | |
 | Congress on Tuesday rejected some of the sweeping intelligence-gathering powers it granted national security officials after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, with the Senate voting to end the government's bulk collection of private telephone records and to reform other surveillance policies. The bill, known as the USA Freedom Act, passed on a 67-to-32 vote, against the will of Senate Republican leaders who wished to preserve existing spy programs. The opposition to the bill, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), prompted an intraparty standoff that exposed sharp splits along philosophical and generational lines, and between the two chambers on Capitol Hill. The standoff led to a two-day lapse in the legal authority for those programs. |
| Navy Secretary Ray Mabus Calls for Cuts in Pentagon Overhead, Bureaucracy | |
 | U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus on Tuesday said the bureaucracy surrounding the Office of the Secretary of Defense should be cut back. Mr. Mabus, who oversees the Navy and Marine Corps, said the U.S. Defense Department needs to take a hard look at overhead functions, which he said do a poor job at finding efficiencies or improving oversight in many cases. "Twenty percent of the Pentagon budget, one dollar out of five, is spent on...the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the defense agencies," he said in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute. "Pure overhead." While Mr. Mabus previously has said military oversight changes have sapped too much power from individual armed services, diminishing their ability to quickly fix problems, his comments Tuesday were his most pointed and most direct critique of Pentagon-wide agencies. |
| US Army Awards Contracts for Future Fighting Vehicle Designs | |
| From the ashes of the US Army's canceled 70-ton ground combat vehicle, the Future Fighting Vehicle (FFV) program has begun to sprout -- at least concepts for it. The Army has awarded two contracts of more than $28 million each to BAE Systems Land and Armaments and General Dynamics Land Systems to develop design concepts for the FFV. The work is due Nov. 28, 2016. The effort is meant to inform whether the Army will produce an entirely new vehicle or a potential replacement for the BAE-manufactured Bradley fighting vehicle, or lead to a third round of improvements for the Bradley. |
| No criminal charges in U. of Florida frat chapter's mistreatment of veterans | |
 | University of Florida fraternity members accused of harassing and spitting on wounded veterans will not face criminal charges, according to the Panama City Beach Police Department. PCBPD closed its investigation Tuesday into an incident involving Zeta Beta Tau fraternity members from Emory University and University of Florida and a group of wounded veterans during the biannual Warrior Beach Retreat Week in April at Laketown Wharf in Panama City Beach. The fraternity members were accused of simple battery, petit theft, criminal mischief and launching deadly missiles at several veterans and their spouses. And although police found the students participated in vulgar "acts of moral disrepute," no arrests are expected to be made following the investigation, PCBPD reported. |
| Improving economy brings opportunities for corporate partnerships to higher ed | |
 | Are colleges and universities getting savvier about pitching their programs to the private sector, or are corporations increasingly turning to higher education to train their employees? The answer, according to workforce researchers, corporate education providers and companies themselves, is somewhere in the middle. In the last year alone, companies such as Anthem, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, McDonald's and Starbucks have announced that they will pay to send their employees to college -- or back to college. At the same time, many institutions have entered or are in the process of entering the adult learner market, offering programs catering to working adults or signing agreements with corporations to offer tuition discounts to their employees. |
| Texas Lawmakers Pass a Bill Allowing Guns at Colleges | |
| Students and faculty members at public and private universities in Texas could be allowed to carry concealed handguns into classrooms, dormitories and other buildings under a bill passed over the weekend by the Republican-dominated Legislature. The measure is being hailed as a victory by gun rights advocates and criticized by many students and professors as irresponsible and unnecessary. Supporters say it will make college campuses safer by not preventing licensed gun owners from defending themselves and possibly saving lives should a mass shooting occur, such as the one that unfolded at Virginia Tech University in 2007. Opponents say the notion that armed students would make a campus safer is an illusion that will have a chilling effect on campus life. |
| CHARLIE MITCHELL (OPINION): An unnecessary rush to regulate | |
| Longtime Mississippi journalist Charlie Mitchell writes: "Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's ...something to regulate! It's a story as old as the nation. Fear of misuse tracks technology like a bloodhound. Got to have some new rules! State Rep. Ken Morgan, R-Morgantown, threw House Bill 347 into the hopper in January. Its short title was 'Drone Prohibition Act' and its purpose was to ban taking pictures from any aircraft that did not have a pilot aboard. 'Why?' you might ask. Who knows? 'Privacy' was cited. But Mississippi, like most states, already has abundant protections of personal privacy. The federal government has even more. Anyone who intrudes on another's space or information can be sued, fined, or, in extreme circumstances, jailed. ...The wrinkle with Mississippi (or Florida) weighing in is that the Federal Aviation Administration has the big stick when it comes to anything flown in America's airspace." |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State's Erica Bougard named SEC Field Athlete of the Year | |
| Erica Bougard continues to separate herself from the rest of the field. Tuesday, the Mississippi State track and field star added another line to her resume this year, which already included setting three school records, a SEC meet record and qualifying for nationals. The SEC named the junior its Field Athlete of the Year. The Byhalia native is set to compete in three events at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon, including the heptathlon, the 100m hurdles and the high jump. Nationals begin June 10. "Erica is a talented athlete, anyone can see that," MSU coach Steve Dudley said. "She's had a good season and has represented this university in a great way. " |
| Mississippi State track and field ranked in top 15 going into nationals | |
| Heading into the biggest track and field meet of the year, the Mississippi State men's and women's teams both landed in the Top 15 of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association rankings. Entering the NCAA Championships, the men are ranked No. 10 in the country, while the women moved up four spots to No. 11. MSU has 15 athletes going to compete for a national title in 15 different events. "I think we're in a very good spot going into nationals," MSU coach Steve Dudley said. "We will continue practices as normal and work with our athletes through the week and get them ready for the championships." |
| Cohen addresses Mississippi State's roster, adidas bats and MLB draft | |
| A siren sounded about a minute into John Cohen's end-of-season press conference on Tuesday. The test on Mississippi State's campus symbolized a baseball season that began 13-0 and ended with 18 losses in the last 21 games. "We're obviously very disappointed," Cohen said. "If you look at all things in the season in terms of our overall production and really the health of our club and everything, it was pretty disappointing." Cohen addressed the media for the first time since the Bulldogs' season ended in Tennessee. In 20 minutes, the seventh-year coach discussed the roster, the MLB draft, the new baseballs, the program's relationship with adidas and how he plans to improve upon the 24-30 record. |
| Bulldogs disappointed to be sitting at home | |
| For the last two-plus weeks, Mississippi State has only been able to sit and watch as its SEC brethren continued their journey into the postseason. The Bulldogs' season ended abruptly on May 16 after being swept in their final two SEC series by Ole Miss and Tennessee. MSU finished last in the conference and won only one league series all spring. "Obviously we were very disappointed," said MSU coach John Cohen. "If you look at all phases of the season in terms of our overall production and the health with our club and everything was pretty disappointing." |
| HUGH KELLENBERGER (OPINION): Be patient with Mississippi State's Cohen | |
| The Clarion-Ledger's Hugh Kellenberger writes: "Sometimes the best thing you can do is burn it all down and start over, and sometimes that's tempting, but it would be a massive overreaction to the scale of the problem. ...what happens the next day? Or the day after that? Will things be better, or just different? I'd lean towards the latter when it comes to Mississippi State baseball. Changes have to be made, but not on a big scale. The program has to continue to evolve, but I also think John Cohen knows that. ...Cohen sounds like a guy is going to evolve and adapt Mississippi State baseball the best he can. If he does not, and we're sitting here a year from now asking the same questions then it's a different conversation. But for now though some patience is OK." |
| Mississippi State basketball announces new strength coach | |
| Mississippi State announced a changing of the guard Tuesday afternoon. After 33 years as MSU's basketball strength and conditioning coach, Richard Akins retired. Mississippi State announced his replacement, David Deets, on Tuesday as well. "I am excited to be back in the SEC and at a school like Mississippi State with the tradition they have in basketball," Deets said. "Being able to join Coach (Ben) Howland and his staff, who have a great record of success, is very exciting." Deets' official title is Director of Basketball Performance for both the men's and women's basketball teams. |
| Dak Prescott comes home a hero | |
| Not so long ago, Dak Prescott was a preteen hoping he could interact with one of his heroes. "Tim Tebow, Vince Young, Peyton Manning Tom Brady--- I loved all those guys," Prescott said. Although that opportunity didn't happen as a youngster, Saturday, Mississippi State's quarterback, shadowed by a writer from Sports Illustrated who has been following him for days, exited Haughton's field house to a gaggle of kids with stars in their wide eyes and mouths agape. "Anytime I get to come back home, it's special for me," Prescott said. "It humbles me. I understand where I come from and something simple as doing this -- it goes a long way." Many of the participants in the Haughton Football Skills Camp hoped to glean knowledge from a star-studded lineup of former Haughton stars that will pay off in the future. Some just signed up because Dak is the man in these parts. |
| Southern Miss football will meet Kentucky in 2016, 2017 | |
 | Southern Miss and Kentucky have agreed to play a home-and-home football series that will be played during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The Golden Eagles will travel to Lexington, Ky., on Sept. 3, 2016, to open the two-game series, with the Wildcats making their first-ever trip to Hattiesburg on Sept. 2, 2017. "I'm excited for our team and certainly excited for our fans," Southern Miss athletic director Bill McGillis said. "Given that we have hosted in-state SEC foes, Mississippi State and Ole Miss, just a handful of times over the last 40 years and have never hosted a member of the SEC outside the state of Mississippi, this qualifies as 'big news.' " |
| Kentucky agrees to home-and-home series with Southern Miss -- a sign of the times in college football | |
 | Million-dollar payouts for guarantee games have become a new reality for schools in the Power Five conferences. Kentucky football had its first taste of that last season with a $1 million contract paid to Louisiana-Monroe for its visit to Commonwealth Stadium in October. As UK officials searched for a replacement for the lost 2016 home opener against Alabama-Birmingham, a different kind of arrangement arose and they took it. Kentucky found its new deal -- a home-and-home series -- and replacement opponent in Southern Miss. "This was the agreement that made the most sense for us," UK spokesman Tony Neely said of the contract obtained by the Herald-Leader via an open records request on Tuesday. UK agreed to pay the Golden Eagles $200,000 for the season opener at Commonwealth Stadium on Sept. 3, 2016. |
| Auburn 'back to drawing board' on $145 million stadium renovation | |
 | Auburn has slowed its pace on a launch date for significant renovations at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The possibility of starting major renovations in the north end zone in December 2015 appears to be off the table after discussions hit a snag in the design phase in recent weeks, athletics director Jay Jacobs told AL.com last week. "The only hangups are my expectations and my demand for excellence," Jacobs said. The potential $145 million project includes massive renovations that include new multiple levels, premium seating, club-level seating on two levels, a terrace, bench seating at field level, new amenities, a wider concourse and a new home locker room and recruiting lounge for the Tigers. |
| Former Vols basketball coach Donnie Tyndall committed minor NCAA violation at Tennessee | |
 | Former Tennessee basketball coach Donnie Tyndall, who was fired because UT believes he committed multiple Level I and Level II NCAA violations while coaching at Southern Mississippi, committed at least one Level II/Level III NCAA violation during his lone season with the Vols. Tyndall and former UT assistant coach Adam Howard are mentioned in a self-reported violation UT sent to the NCAA on May 15. The violation stems from two impermissible phone calls made to a former Liberty University signee who briefly attended summer school before leaving the program, a description that fits UT point guard Braxton Bonds. |
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