Mississippi
Did a Mississippi man grow the world’s tallest pepper plant? Cayenne might break record
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Angela Peterson and Lou Saldivar, Wochit
Did a Mississippi man grow the world’s tallest pepper plant?
Henry Pope, the lead grower and plant geneticist for Mississippi Foundation for Renewable Energy, worked to cross-pollinate specific peppers for seven years. He thinks he has a world record holding cayenne and is waiting on confirmation from the Guinness Book of World Records.
Pope started the project seven years earlier and six generations of plants earlier. “The original parent plants were a variety of long cayenne produced by myself for Mississippi Foundation for Renewable Energy and a himo togarashi pepper.”
He said he spends a lot of time working in gardens, the greenhouse and a lab looking to develop open-pollinated, edible plants. Growing a record-holder wasn’t the original goal, but it became clear the opportunity was in sight with this one.
“We called it the record plant because I suppose we always assumed it would be the world’s tallest pepper plant (or I did), but that was more of a joke really,” he said.
How big is the world’s tallest pepper plant?
According to Guinness, the current title is held by Laura Liang in Irvine, California. Her cayenne pepper plant was 16 feet tall when it was two years old in 1999.
How tall is the Mississippi pepper plant?
Pope’s plant measured as almost 16.5 feet tall. If validated by the Guinness Book of World Records, it could set the new world record.
How did they measure it?
In November, four men measured and identified the plant using video and photos to record its height. Pope identified them as:
- Willie Roses (an expert in measurements).
- Willie C. R. Perteet (County supervisor in Attala County).
- Tobias Campbell (forester).
- Mark Terkanian (a plant specialist, who holds a Bachelor of Science in plant sciences from the University of Massachusetts).
They took video while one person ran a tape measure to the ground and someone held the end at soil level. In addition to continuous video, they took still camera shots at the top and bottom to verify where the tool was.
Story continues below video.
Does he have gardening advice?
For Pope, the goal is sustainable, edible plants that help people be more self-reliant. His mother was a horticulturist, and his father ran a landscaping company and exotic animal breeding operation. The combination of experiences, paired with a passion for chemistry, led him to approaching plants from a scientific angle.
“My family and I live self sufficiently and have for a very long time. The work I do now is the cumulative product of these experiences in my life,” Pope said.
If you want a mega plant, he said, start with selective breeding.
“Learn how to save seeds from your crops in a professional manner. Anyone can do this with some research or simple training. We teach people to do this almost daily. Observe your crop for plants that have certain characteristics you desire. Save seed from that plant for a successive planting. Isolate these plants from others so they don’t cross pollinate, and repeat this action for multiple generations until you have something similar to what you want,” he said.
Or people can give a lot of care to stable-variety seeds sold by existing companies.
“You can do anything you put your mind to. In my profession, I see people do just that every day in various ways,” he said.
Mississippi man isn’t done with the project
“Sometimes when you attempt to achieve one particular goal, another opportunity arises. This happens quite often really, not just in genetics, but in most scientific endeavors,” Pope said.
The plan was to develop a plant for vertical gardening, like on balconies or in small yards — or something that can be trained horizontally on a fence.
“Opportunity for creating a world record of any kind was never the goal. The goal was the same as it always is for us, to produce a natural variety of edible plant that is beneficial to those who wish to become less reliant on the grocery store, but when working with genetics observation of the characteristics you have to work with is the first step,” Pope said.
The plant submitted to Guinness is an sixth generation plant. He plans to invest several more years into the project.
“I will consider the project complete when I reach a 12th generation. I believe through further selective breeding that I can beat my own record in the future,” Pope said.
Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with Gannett/USA Today. Email her at bbolden@gannett.com.
“I’m proud of myself for the work I’ve put in. A lot of people say they want to do stuff but they don’t work on it, so I’m proud that I stuck to stuff like practicing at home. Even when I didn’t want to go to practice I went,” Johnson said. “This year since I was a captain I had to show my leadership skills and step up, especially with our shortage of players. Not every year is the best but you’ve got to make the best of what you’ve got and I’m proud that I’ve been able to adapt to the changes.”
Johnson joined a growing pipeline of Warren County players who are headed to East Mississippi. She’s the fourth player from the county to sign there in the past two years. Johnson said another Vicksburg native is to credit for that.
Ryan Theriot, a former St. Aloysius star, is an assistant coach at East Mississippi. He’s mined his hometown for talent, including recruiting Johnson.
“The assistant coach, Ryan (Theriot), is from Vicksburg so he saw me. He emailed me asking if I was interested in playing soccer, so I said yes, if I get the opportunity I would be happy to,” Johnson said. “It’s very surreal, because honestly I did not think I would be playing soccer at this level. It’s hard to get looked at for soccer, especially in Vicksburg. Sometimes Vicksburg gets overlooked.”
During her high school career Johnson has played nearly every position on the field at one time or another, including keeper. She wasn’t sure where she’d play at East Mississippi, and doesn’t really care as long as she’s in the lineup.
“One time I had to play striker, and the next midfield. One time I had to go to defense. It was stressful. But then I’m kind of happy because when I get to college we’ll have other people to play all these positions. It was good for me to be versatile,” Johnson said. “If I have to change positions to play I definitely will, because I do want to start by the end of my freshman year.”
More than anything, she just wants to play and continue to leave her mark.
“I’m really excited to play at this next level so I can tell my kids I played soccer in college,” Johnson said. “I just want to thank my teammates from soccer, softball and volleyball, my coaches, and my mom and grandmom. I love all of y’all very much.”
Odds of winning the Powerball and Mega Millions are NOT in your favor
Odds of hitting the jackpot in Mega Millions or Powerball are around 1-in-292 million. Here are things that you’re more likely to land than big bucks.
The Mississippi Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at March 7, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mississippi Match 5 numbers from March 7 drawing
08-11-15-23-24
Check Mississippi Match 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 3 numbers from March 7 drawing
Midday: 9-6-4, FB: 4
Evening: 4-5-1, FB: 0
Check Cash 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash 4 numbers from March 7 drawing
Midday: 4-3-0-7, FB: 4
Evening: 2-2-0-8, FB: 0
Check Cash 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash Pop numbers from March 7 drawing
Midday: 06
Evening: 09
Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Story continues below gallery.
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
Winnings of $599 or less can be claimed at any authorized Mississippi Lottery retailer.
Prizes between $600 and $99,999, may be claimed at the Mississippi Lottery Headquarters or by mail. Mississippi Lottery Winner Claim form, proper identification (ID) and the original ticket must be provided for all claims of $600 or more. If mailing, send required documentation to:
Mississippi Lottery Corporation
P.O. Box 321462
Flowood, MS
39232
If your prize is $100,000 or more, the claim must be made in person at the Mississippi Lottery headquarters. Please bring identification, such as a government-issued photo ID and a Social Security card to verify your identity. Winners of large prizes may also have the option of setting up electronic funds transfer (EFT) for direct deposits into a bank account.
Mississippi Lottery Headquarters
1080 River Oaks Drive, Bldg. B-100
Flowood, MS
39232
Mississippi Lottery prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing date. For detailed instructions and necessary forms, please visit the Mississippi Lottery claim page.
When are the Mississippi Lottery drawings held?
- Cash 3: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
- Cash 4: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
- Match 5: Daily at 9:30 p.m. CT.
- Cash Pop: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Mississippi editor. You can send feedback using this form.
A surging Georgia basketball team closes its regular season with a road game against an opponent freefalling down the stretch.
It’s a matchup of Bulldogs in Starkville on Saturday, March 7, when Georgia and Mississippi State tip in Humphrey Coliseum.
Georgia (21-9, 9-8 SEC) is coming off a 98-88 upset of Alabama Tuesday night in Athens, its fourth win in the last five games. Forward Kanon Catchings poured in a career-high 32 points.
“Everybody wants to be playing their best basketball come March,” guard Blue Cain said.
Mississippi State (13-17, 5-12) has the SEC’s longest active losing streak of four games. It was pounded 108-74 at No. 5 Florida Tuesday, its third loss in a row of 24 or more points.
Georgia is playing to improve its SEC and NCAA Tournament seeding.
The Bulldogs can finish anywhere from the No. 6 to the No. 10 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament in Nashville.
The top eight seeds get byes to Thursday’s second round with the top four playing its first game Friday in the quarterfinal round.
“I told our guys that and a few other things as well.” Coach Mike White said. “We’re playing for a lot of different reasons right now. You can talk about that or other bullet points you can give your guys about number of wins, seeding and all that type of stuff, but the one we finished with (Thursday) in our pre-practice talk, just reaching your ceiling. Let’s just continue to improve.”
Georgia is 4-2 since freshman forward Kareem Stagg entered the starting lineup. He’s scored in double figures in three of those game including 10 against Alabama and is 8 of 20 on 3s in that stretch.
Catchings is second in the SEC in 3-point shooting in SEC games at 43.6%.
Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard is third in the SEC at 21.4 points per game and 86 3s, but the team ranks 340th nationally in points allowed (81.2) and 326th in turnover margin (-2.3).
“He’s going to make shots, he’s a really good player, but we’re just going to have to try to make it as difficult for him as possible,” Cain said.
Georgia basketball vs. Mississippi State live updates
Jeremiah Wilkinson has 9 points off the bench and has hit 2 of 4 from 3. Georgia and Mississippi State are tied at 33 with 3:49 to go. Georgia is 7 of 12 on 3s.
Mississippi State leads 25-21 with 7:12 to go in the first half.
Georgia has six turnovers and is 7 of 17 shooting. It is 1 of 7 on 2-point attempts.
Georgia is being outscored in the paint 12-2.
Georgia led 11-6 before Mississippi State went on a 10-1 run. The home team hit 5 of 6 shots in one stretch. Georgia trails 16-15 with 11:28 to go.
Ja’Borri McGhee and Josh Hubbard have 5 points each.
Georgia is just 2 of 7 shooting at the first media timeout. The game is tied at 6 because Blue Cain and Jeremiah Wilkinson have hit 3s. Jordan Ross missed a layup and had 2 turnovers early before being replaced by Smurf Millender.
Who is starting for Georgia basketball vs. Mississippi State?
Georgia’s starting lineup has one change. Point guard Jordan Ross is starting for Smurf Millender. The other four starters are guard Blue Cain, forwards Kanon Catchings and Kareem Stagg and center Somto Cyril.
Georgia basketball injury updates
Georgia did not have any players listed on the SEC Availability Report. Guard Jordan Ross returned from one game out with an ankle injury and and had 4 points and 4 assists in 19 minutes against Alabama.
What time does Georgia basketball vs Mississippi State start?
Tipoff at Humphrey Coliseum is at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 7.
What channel is Georgia basketball vs Mississippi State on today?
The game is available to stream on SEC Network (FUBO free with trial)
Georgia basketball 2025-2026 schedule
Oct. 15 Georgia 61, Georgia State 61, 7 p.m. (exhibition)
Oct. 26 Georgia 81, Troy 65 (exhibition)
Nov. 3 Georgia 104, Bellarmine 59
Nov. 5 Georgia 94, Maryland Eastern-Shore 29
Nov. 9 Georgia 120, Morehead State 81
Nov. 14 Georgia 92, Georgia Tech 87
Nov. 17 Georgia 87, Florida A&M 57
Nov. 21 Georgia 78, Xavier 77 in Charleston
Nov. 23 Clemson 97, Georgia 94 (OT) in Charleston
Nov. 29 Georgia 123, Tennessee Tech 81
Dec. 2 Georgia 107, Florida State 73 in ACC/SEC Challenge
Dec. 2 Georgia 84, Cincinnati 65 in Atlanta
Dec. 18 Georgia 102, Western Carolina 82
Dec. 22 Georgia 103. West Georgia 74
Dec. 29 Georgia 89, Long Island 74
Jan. 3. Georgia 104, Auburn 100
Jan. 6 Florida 92, Georgia 77
Jan. 10 Georgia 75, South Carolina 70
Jan. 14 vs. Ole Miss 97, Georgia 95 OT
Jan. 17 Georgia 90, Arkansas 76
Jan. 20 Georgia 74, Missouri 72
Jan. 24 Texas 87, Georgia 67
Jan. 27 Tennessee 86, Georgia 85 (OT)
Jan. 31 Texas A&M 92, Georgia 77
Feb. 7 Georgia 83, LSU 71
Feb. 11 Florida 86, Georgia 66
Feb. 14 Oklahoma 94, Georgia 78
Feb. 17 Georgia 86, Kentucky 78
Feb. 21 Georgia 91, Texas 80
Feb. 25 Vanderbilt 88, Georgia 80
Feb. 28 Georgia 87, South Carolina 68
March 3 Georgia 98, Alabama 88
March 7 at Mississippi State, 3:30 p.m. SEC Network
March 11-15 SEC Tournament in Nashville
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