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  • Mississippi State fires Zach Arnett as head coach in 1st season after succeeding the late Mike Leach

    Mississippi State fires Zach Arnett as head coach in 1st season after succeeding the late Mike Leach

    Mississippi State fired Zach Arnett on Monday after less than one season as head coach, just under a year since he took over the Bulldogs after the tragic passing of Mike Leach from a heart issue.

    Mississippi State announced Arnett’s dismissal on its athletics website. He leaves the university with a 5-6 record, including a 4-6 mark this season and the program tied for last in the Southeastern Conference West Division at 1-6.

    Senior offensive analyst Greg Knox, who has worked around the SEC for 28 of his 35 years of coaching, will serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2023 season. Mississippi State has games remaining against Southern Mississippi and rival Mississippi.

    Arnett’s firing comes a day after Texas A&M fired head coach Jimbo Fisher.

    MSU athletic director Zac Selmon said in a statement that he determined a change in leadership was needed for the football program to move forward and “position it for the highest level of success.” Selmon added that he had the utmost respect for Arnett, 37, and appreciated his effort but the on-field results weren’t at the expected level.

    Selmon also acknowledged the challenge situation Arnett faced last December in taking over the Bulldogs after the death of Leach. Arnett had been defensive coordinator during Leach’s two-years-plus tenure at the school and had built it into one of the SEC’s toughest defensive units.

    “There is no question that he has made a positive impact on the lives of our student-athletes during his time here,” Selmon said. “We are grateful for his contributions to Mississippi State and wish him the very best both personally and professionally.”

     

  • Why is it so hard to ask a friend for a favor???! 🙏

    #friendship #Thanksgiving #shorts

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  • Secret Service agents protecting Biden’s granddaughter open fire when 3 people try to break into SUV

    Secret Service agents protecting Biden’s granddaughter open fire when 3 people try to break into SUV

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Secret Service agents protecting President Joe Biden’s granddaughter opened fire after three people tried to break into an unmarked Secret Service vehicle in the nation’s capital, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

    The agents, assigned to protect Naomi Biden, were out with her in the Georgetown neighborhood late Sunday night when they saw the three people breaking a window of the parked and unoccupied SUV, the official said. The official could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on Monday on the condition of anonymity.

    One of the agents opened fire, but no one was struck by the gunfire, the Secret Service said in a statement. The three people were seen fleeing in a red car, and the Secret Service said it put out a regional bulletin to Metropolitan Police to be on the lookout for it.

    Washington has seen a significant rise in the number of carjackings and car thefts this year. Police have reported more than 750 carjackings this year and more than 6,000 reports of stolen vehicles in the district. U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas was carjacked near the Capitol last month by three armed assailants, who stole his car but didn’t physically harm him.

    Violent crime in Washington has also been on the rise this year, up more than 40% compared with last year. In February, U.S. Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota was assaulted in her apartment building, suffering bruises while escaping serious injury.

     

  • STAT WATCH: LSU’s Jayden Daniels only FBS quarterback to pass for 350 and run for 200 in single game

    STAT WATCH: LSU’s Jayden Daniels only FBS quarterback to pass for 350 and run for 200 in single game

    LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels turned in the top statistical performance of the season against Florida and went from being a long shot for the Heisman Trophy to a serious contender.

    Daniels passed for 372 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 234 and two TDs in a 52-35 win Saturday night, and his 606 yards of total offense were a national season high.

    He became the first player in Football Bowl Subdivision history with 350 yards passing and 200 yards rushing.

    “If he didn’t win (the Heisman) tonight, then he’s got to be the leading candidate,” coach Brian Kelly said. “He did something tonight that nobody has ever done. If that doesn’t make you the leading candidate, then maybe the Heisman isn’t for the best player.”

    Daniels’ rushing total was a school record for a quarterback, and joined Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel (2013) as the only Southeastern Conference players with 200 yards passing and 200 rushing in a game.

    Daniels also became the only FBS player with 12,000 yards passing and 3,000 yards rushing in a career.

    FanDuel Sportsbook listed Daniels (plus-700) as the fourth choice among bettors behind quarterbacks Bo Nix of Oregon (minus-115) and Michael Penix Jr. of Washington (plus-260) and receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. of Ohio State (plus-500).

    HOLDING GABRIEL RESPONSIBLE

    Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel was responsible for eight touchdowns in a 59-20 win over West Virginia. He passed for five and ran for three while amassing 473 yards of total offense.

    Washington State’s Anthony Gordon was the last player responsible for so many TDs, with nine against UCLA in 2019.

    ALL-PURPOSE CHART TOPPER

    Cody Schrader’s 321 all-purpose yards for Missouri in a 36-7 win over Tennessee were an FBS season high.

    He ran 35 times for 205 yards and a touchdown and caught five passes for 116 yards, and his all-purpose total was second in program history behind Devin West’s 333 against Kansas in 1998.

    Schrader became the first Mizzou player with 90 yards rushing and 90 yards receiving, a feat he accomplished in the first half.

    THE 200 CLUB

    Daniels and Schrader were among four players to rush for 200 yards. The others were UCF’s RJ Harvey, who ran 24 times for 206 yards against Oklahoma State and San Jose State’s Kairee Robinson, who had 19 attempts for 200 against Fresno State. There have been 25 200-yard rushing performances this season.

    TURNOVER TROUBLE

    Nebraska’s FBS-high turnover total increased to 27 after it threw four interceptions and lost a fumble in a 13-10 loss to Maryland. The Cornhuskers played three quarterbacks in the game, and each was intercepted.

    The Cornhuskers have thrown 14 interceptions and lost 13 fumbles. Their 27 giveaways are the most through a Week 11 since San Jose State turned the ball over 39 times in 2017, according to Sportradar.

    Jeff Sims has the second-highest interception rate since at least 2000 for a quarterback with more than 40 attempts. Sims, who started the first two games and has been a backup since, has been picked off on 12.8% of his attempts (6 of 47) this season. Baylor’s Kerry Dixon had a INT rate of 13.8% (9 of 65) in 2000.

    DANDY DANSBY

    Michael Dansby, who hadn’t played in San Jose State’s previous three games, made a dazzling return. He ran back an interception 98 yards for a touchdown early in the second half to break open a 42-18 win over Fresno State. It tied for second-longest interception return in the FBS this season and was the longest by an SJSU player since Gerald Jones’ 99-yard pick-six against Nevada in 2003.

     

  • Texas A&M fires coach Jimbo Fisher, a move that will cost the school $75M

    Texas A&M fires coach Jimbo Fisher, a move that will cost the school $75M

    COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Landing Jimbo Fisher, a coach with a national title on his resume, seemed like just what Texas A&M needed to finally become a championship contender.

    But Fisher failed to replicate his success at Florida State in six years with the Aggies and athletic director Ross Bjork fired the coach Sunday despite owing him more than $75 million.

    “That’s the hard part in all of this,” Bjork said. “How many sitting head coaches won national championships? So, everyone had tons of optimism. But it just goes back to the last couple of years. Do we have momentum? Do we have hope? How do we see things trending? And we just didn’t see the trend lines improving.”

    Instead of winning a title, Fisher went 45-25 and 27-21 in the Southeastern Conference, never winning more than nine games in any season. The Aggies are 6-4 with two games left, coming off a 51-10 victory against Mississippi State on Saturday night.

    Bjork met with university president Mark Welsh and Texas A&M system chancellor John Sharp earlier this week and told them that a coaching change was “absolutely necessary.”

    “The assessment that I delivered was that we are not reaching our full potential,” Bjork said. “We are not in the championship conversation and something was not quite right about our direction and the plan.”

    Assistant Elijah Robinson will serve as interim coach for the last two games. Assistant athletic director for football operations Mark Robinson was also let go Sunday.

    Bjork delivered the news to Fisher on Sunday morning at Kyle Field in a meeting the AD called “quick and cordial.”

    Fisher was lured away from Florida State, where he had won a national championship in 2013, by a massive 10-year, fully guaranteed contract at the end of the 2017 season.

    That contract was extended back to 10 years after he led the Aggies to a 9-1 record during the 2020 pandemic season, by far A&M’s best year under Fisher.

    According to his contract, Fisher is owed the entirety of what remains on his deal — regardless of whether he gets another job in coaching — a staggering buyout that is more than triple the largest known given to a fired head coach.

    Bjork said 25% of what Fisher is owed — about $19 million — is due within 60 days and the first of several installments of about $7 million must be paid within 120 days.

    “We will use unrestricted contributions within the 12th Man Foundation for the first one-time payment and the athletic department will fund the annual payments for the remaining portion by growing our revenues and adjusting our annual operating budget accordingly,” he said.

    He added that the school “has to learn a lesson” from Fisher’s contract and that the finances involving his firing are “monumental.”

    “Although this is a major, major financial decision that comes with many consequences, we have a plan and we will not let this impact the performance or the culture of our entire athletics program,” Bjork said.

    Auburn paid out more than $21 million when it fired Gus Malzahn after the 2020 season.

    Fisher was asked if the season was frustrating after Saturday night’s victory.

    “It’s not frustrating, but it’s disappointing at times,” Fisher said. “Like I’ve said, we’re three or four plays from playing in a playoff spot. But we’ve got to put that past us and grow from it and learn from it for next year.”

    Bjork said there was no last straw that prompted Fisher’s firing but rather the totality of how the program was operating.

    “You’re either moving forward or you’re stuck. We were stuck … something was not working to reach our full potential,” Bjork said.

    The search for a new coach will begin immediately with Bjork saying he hopes to hire someone by Dec. 4. He said they’ll put together an advisory committee that will include industry experts and former players.

    Landing Fisher was seen a power move by then-Texas A&M athletic director Scott Woodward. A coach had not left a school where he won a national championship and immediately jumped to another job since Johnny Majors left Pittsburgh for Tennessee in 1977.

    Texas A&M has only one national title to its credit in 1939 and last won a conference championship in 1998 as a member of the Big 12.

    At Fisher’s introductory news conference, school leaders made their goals clear, having a national championship trophy made up with 20 — engraved on it.

    Fisher never even won a Southeastern Conference division title, and when the Aggies went 5-7 last season and failed to qualify for a bowl game for the first time since 2008, the pressure ramped up in 2023.

    He was hired to replace Kevin Sumlin, who was fired with one game left in 2017 with a 7-5 record that year and a 51-26 mark in six seasons. But Fisher didn’t even match the success of Sumlin — who went 11-2 in his first season when Johnny Manziel won the Heisman Trophy — much less elevate the team under his command.

    Fisher finally gave up play-calling duties and hired former head coach Bobby Petrino to run the offense. There was some improvement on that side of the ball, though injuries — most notably to promising quarterback Conner Weigman — blunted progress.

    An early season loss to Miami made Texas A&M fans quickly begin to wonder if anything had changed. A stretch of three losses in four games to Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi assured the Aggies of another season in the middle of the pack in the SEC.

    The Aggies have regular-season games left against Abilene Christian and LSU.

  • Louisiana lawmakers have until Jan. 15 to enact new congressional map, court says

    Louisiana lawmakers have until Jan. 15 to enact new congressional map, court says

    BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Louisiana Legislature has until Jan. 15 to enact a new congressional map after a lower court last year ruled that the current political boundaries dilute the power of the state’s Black voters, a federal New Orleans appeals court said Friday.

    However, whether current Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards will call a special session to redraw the political boundaries and if Republican Gov.-elect Jeff Landry, who will be inaugurated Jan. 8, will have enough time to call a special redistricting session and meet the court’s deadline has yet to be determined.

    If the Legislature does not pass a new map by mid-January, then the lower district court should conduct a trial and “decide on a plan for the 2024 elections,” according to the order by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth District.

    The political tug-of-war and legal battle over Louisiana’s GOP-drawn congressional map has been going on for more than a year and a half — which has included Edwards vetoing the political boundaries and the Legislature overriding his veto, the first time in nearly three decades that lawmakers refused to accept a governor’s refusal of a bill they had passed.

    Louisiana is among states still wrangling over congressional districts after the U.S. Supreme Court in June ruled that Alabama had violated the Voting Rights Act.

    Louisiana’s current map, which was used in the November congressional election, has white majorities in five of six districts — despite Black people accounting for one-third of the state’s population.

    Republicans, who dominate Louisiana’s Legislature, say that the map is fair. They argue that Black populations in the state are too dispersed to be united into a second majority Black district.

    Democrats argue that the map discriminates against Black voters and that there should be two majority-minority districts. Currently, five of the six districts are held by Republicans. Another mostly Black district could deliver a second congressional seat to Democrats.

    In June 2022, a lower court struck down Louisiana’s map for violating the Voting Rights Act. U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick said in her ruling that “evidence of Louisiana’s long and ongoing history of voting-related discrimination weighs heavily in favor of Plaintiffs.” Dick ordered that the map be redrawn to include a second majority-Black district, before it was appealed to the 5th Circuit.

    In October, the Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal from Black voters in Louisiana to speed the process of drawing new congressional districts in the state.

    Lawmakers now have until mid-January to draw and pass a new map, which would have to be done through a special session.

    A special session may be called by the governor or convened by the presiding officers of both chambers, upon a written petition of most elected members of the House and Senate.

    While Edwards has not said whether he will call a special session, he remains adamant that a second majority-Black district is necessary to accurately represent the state.

    “This is about simple math, basic fairness, and the rule of law,” Edwards said in a written statement.

    U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, the state’s sole Black and Democratic member of Congress, said he “sincerely” hopes the Legislature will draw a new map with a second majority-Black district. Carter posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, to urge lawmakers to “do the right thing” and that “there is no need to wait for a court to force compliance with clear law.”

    If Gov.-elect Landry calls a special session, the timing will be tricky — as Landry won’t be inaugurated until Jan. 8 and the session couldn’t start until seven days after the proclamation is issued, meaning the earliest lawmakers could return to the Capitol is the Jan. 15 deadline. Landry could not be reached for comment.

    However, in the appeals court’s order it does say that the district court will have discretion to grant “limited additional time” if requested.

  • Mississippi attorney general asks state Supreme Court to set execution dates for 2 prisoners

    Mississippi attorney general asks state Supreme Court to set execution dates for 2 prisoners

    JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch has asked the state Supreme Court to set execution dates for two men on death row.

    Fitch’s office filed motions Thursday that asked the court to schedule executions for Willie Jerome Manning and Robert Simon Jr.

    Manning, now 55, was convicted in 1994 on two counts of capital murder in the December 1992 killings of Mississippi State University students Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller in Oktibbeha County. Simon, 60, and another man were convicted in the 1990 Quitman County slayings of a family of four.

    Manning and Simon were close to being executed more than a decade ago, only to have stays issued by the courts.

    Krissy Nobile, Manning’s attorney and the director of the Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel, said Manning’s defense team petitioned in September for post-conviction relief based on “newly discovered evidence and scientific developments undermining Manning’s conviction.” Attorneys submitted the petition days before the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request to have evidence in the case tested at a specialized laboratory.

    The state has not responded to that petition or considered the evidence, Nobile said.

    “The State instead is steamrolling toward execution even though there is compelling evidence that Manning may, in fact, be innocent,” Nobile said. “Executions are not the place to act first and ask questions later.”

    In 2013, shortly before Manning was scheduled to be executed, the U.S. Justice Department said there had been errors in FBI agents’ testimony about ballistics tests and hair analysis in the case. Manning’s attorneys asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to stop the lethal injection, and justices voted 8-1 to delay the execution to allow the testing of evidence.

    Manning’s attorneys said they hoped DNA testing would exonerate their client, who has maintained his innocence. In 2014, they sent a rape kit, fingernail scrapings and other items to a laboratory. In 2022, a majority of state Supreme Court justices wrote that Manning received “allegedly inconclusive results” after six years of fingerprint analysis and DNA testing.

    Manning’s attorneys asked an Oktibbeha County circuit judge for permission to send items to a more specialized lab. The judge denied that request, and the ruling was upheld by the Mississippi Supreme Court.

    Nobile called into question the reliability of hair analysis and firearms identification used at Manning’s trial. She also said witnesses who had been incarcerated admitted their testimony was fabricated in exchange for money and sentence reductions.

    Simon was just hours away from execution in May 2011 when a federal appeals court ordered a stay to ruling on a mental disability claim, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported. The claim was later rejected.

    An attorney listed for Simon, Johnnie E. Walls Jr., did not immediately respond to a phone message Friday.

    Fitch’s separate motions called for the Mississippi Supreme Court to set the execution dates within the next 30 days. The motions say “no legal impediment exists” and since both Manning and Simon have “exhausted all state and federal remedies, this court should set an execution date.”

    The motions were still pending before the court on Friday.

  • The 70/30 closet rule! / How long DOES it take to defrost a frozen turkey? / What TV show is making Thanksgiving more special?

    The 70/30 closet rule!  This is basically, fashion law.

    How long DOES it take to defrost a big fat frozen turkey?

    What TV show is making Thanksgiving more special for Murphy & Jodi’s family this year?


  • The Weekend Replay PODCAST: Grandma’s revenge / Murphy & Jodi ask Sam for a personal favor / Unique Thanksgiving traditions

    Grandma’s revenge.

    Murphy & Jodi ask Sam for a personal favor.

    Unique Thanksgiving traditions.


  • From the Mayor’s Desk Veterans Day – Remembering Wilson Brown

    From the Mayor’s Desk Veterans Day – Remembering Wilson Brown

    Dan M. Gibson, Mayor of Natchez

    The date was August 5, 1864. US Naval Landsman Wilson Brown and his fellow Landsman, John Lawson, were serving on the USS Hartford during the Battle of Mobile Bay when a shell from the opposing side exploded on deck beside them, killing all but two of Brown’s six crew members. Lawson was hit in the leg by shrapnel and urged to seek care below deck. Refusing treatment, he immediately returned to his duties. Brown on the other hand was knocked below deck, breaking several ribs on his left side, and losing consciousness just as a man fell on top of him and died. Wilson Brown could easily have remained where he was after regaining consciousness, safe in the hold of the ship during a fierce battle. But he wasn’t that kind of man. Despite his injuries, he immediately climbed back up to the deck, and resumed his duties alongside his comrade, providing powder for the USS Hartford’s guns. For their bravery under fire, both Brown and Lawson would go on to be awarded the Navy Medal of Honor.

    What’s most unusual about this story is that Wilson Brown and John Lawson were both members of the US Colored Troops. They were both African American sailors, and they were two of only eight African Americans awarded the Naval Medal of Honor during the Civil War. Lawson was born free in Philadelphia in 1837. Brown was born a slave in Natchez in 1841. Neither man chose where or what color they were born. But both chose to serve their country, and honorable was their service in a conflict that inflicted injury and death on boys and men from both sides – in many cases brothers, sons and fathers serving in opposing armies at the same time.

    As we celebrate Veterans Day and thank those many veterans among us who have served so that America can remain free, I cannot help but remember my own father who has been deceased now almost a decade. Robert W. Gibson served honorably along with five of his six brothers in WWII. Thankfully all came home – but so many other American soldiers didn’t.

    I am so grateful for the service of our veterans. Headlines in today’s news underscore the fragility of freedom. Countless victims of the war in Ukraine, if they were still alive today, would tell of their freedom just a year ago to awake each morning in their beautiful homes, go to their places of work or worship freely, never imagining that literally overnight their freedom and life itself would be snuffed out by the enemy.

    In Israel, countless Jewish citizens of a great country now live in fear of what the future holds. Just a little over a month ago, they too were waking up each morning free to go about their days and free to worship in their synagogues. Now, over 1600 are dead, over 7,000 injured, and at last count, 239 are now held hostage. Yes, freedom is indeed fragile.

    This Veterans Day, as we thank our veterans, let us also resolve to better support our military, understanding that true peace can only be won through strength. We should also resolve to better support our veterans. Right now in America there are many who served who suffer from both physical and mental illness – and many who live in poverty and who even are homeless. I salute organizations like our own Natchez VFW Post 9573 and Mark LaFrancis’ Home with Heroes. Both organizations provide support for our veterans, and I don’t know what we would do without them. I also salute patriots like our four surviving Veterans of World War II: Julius Carter, John Druetta, Levy Murray and “Capn. Jack” Kerwin – they are the best of “America’s Greatest Generation”. And I must also salute American Legion Past Commander Steve Neilsen who for many years kept the Natchez American Legion Post #4 going strong.

    At 11 a.m., Saturday, November 11, I will place flowers on the grave of Landsman Wilson Brown, the only Naval Medal of Honor Recipient buried among the 8000 patriots who lay at rest in the Natchez National Cemetery. As I do, I will also give thanks for all who have served, regardless of the conflict. They all gave “their last ounce of devotion.” I invite all who would like to join me to feel free to do so. It’s the least we can do for those who have done so much. Because Natchez – Our Veterans – Deserve More.