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High school seniors from the North flock to southern universities: report

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High school seniors from the North flock to southern universities: report


High school seniors are flocking to southern universities like Clemson and Alabama over America’s most prestigious colleges in the North, a column in the Wall Street Journal reports.

“A growing number of high-school seniors in the North are making an unexpected choice for college: They are heading to Clemson, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Alabama and other universities in the South,” columnists Douglas Belkin and Andrea Fuller wrote.

Belkin and Fuller wrote that although far more students applied to Ivy League schools than in the past 20 years, Clemson and Georgia Institute of Technology “have seen even a bigger spike in interest.”

The column explained further that these southern schools boast career opportunities, an alluring Greek fraternity and sorority life, and sports entertainment experience, especially in football.

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Former President Donald Trump acknowledges the crowd during halftime of a game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and Clemson Tigers at Williams-Brice Stadium.  (Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports)

Furthermore, the columnists note the southern schools’ lower tuition costs and weather have become appealing to high school seniors who are overlooking the country’s competitive East Coast universities.

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They cite college counselors in reporting that “many teens are eager to trade the political polarization ripping apart campuses in New England and New York for the sense of community epitomized by the South’s football Saturdays.”

Fox News Digital previously reported on Emerson College being forced to lay off staff and make spending cuts due to a projected enrollment decline. The budget woes came after the college was overwhelmed with student protests amid the Gaza conflict.

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Emerson was among several colleges across the country rocked by protests on campus.

WSJ columnists Douglas Belkin and Andrea Fuller wrote that southern universities boast career prospects after college, an alluring Greek fraternity and sorority life, and sports entertainment experience, especially in football. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Per the Wall Street Journal column, “The number of Northerners going to Southern public schools went up 84% over the past two decades, and jumped 30% from 2018 to 2022, a Wall Street Journal analysis of the latest available Education Department data found.”

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For example, the University of Tennessee in Knoxville has attracted more freshmen from the Northeast over the past 20 years. The total freshmen from the Northeast increased to nearly 600 in a class of about 6,800 from around 50 in 2002.

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The University of Mississippi, in Oxford, saw an increase from 11 to more than 200 in a class of approximately 4,500 in 2022.

The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa has also seen a spike in incoming first-year students, the column reported further.

High school seniors are flocking to southern universities like Clemson and Alabama over America’s most prestigious colleges in the North, a column in the Wall Street Journal reports. (Izabela Habur/iStock)

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“At Alabama, applications were up more than 600% in the same period — about three times as much as bids to attend Harvard,” the columnists wrote.

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“Southern academic stalwarts, such as Duke, Tulane, Emory and Vanderbilt, have long drawn their share of students from up North, but the recent uptick of students going to the South is fueled by attendance at public universities,” the columnists added.





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Miami, FL

Miami Heat slip behind Boston Celtics in Giannis Antetokounmpo race

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Miami Heat slip behind Boston Celtics in Giannis Antetokounmpo race


The Miami Heat woke up Monday no longer in control of the chase they had led for weeks. With the 2026 NBA Draft set for Tuesday and the Milwaukee Bucks closing in on a resolution to the Giannis Antetokounmpo saga, Miami suddenly finds itself in a two-team race it is no longer favored to win.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday that Antetokounmpo is expected to be moved before the draft, with the Heat and Boston Celtics emerging as the two finalists. The Bucks have narrowed their talks to those clubs, sources told Charania, and are weighing two dramatically different packages for the former two-time MVP.

For a fan base that spent the better part of a month believing Miami was the team to beat, the shift landed hard. The Heat are still in it. They are simply no longer the favorite.

A two-team race with a Tuesday deadline

Milwaukee set the timeline itself. Bucks ownership signaled in May that it wanted Antetokounmpo’s future settled by the start of the draft, and Charania reported Monday on ESPN’s “Get Up” that a trade is expected to land in line with that cutoff.

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Charania framed the two bids as opposites. One is built around an established star, the other around youth and draft capital, and he described the negotiations bluntly.

“These conversations have been a blood bath,” Charania said.

He also stressed that whatever happens, it will not balloon into a multi-team construction the way other blockbusters have. Whether the deal closes Monday or Tuesday, Charania said, it is expected to be a one-to-one trade between Milwaukee and one of the two finalists, with no third team folded in. That detail matters for Miami, because it removes one of the lifelines the Heat had been counting on.

Boston changed the math with Jaylen Brown

For most of the buildup, Miami held the perceived edge because the Celtics were reluctant to part with Jaylen Brown. That changed over the weekend. The Stein Line’s Marc Stein reported Monday that Boston emerged “with a real shot” to win the race built around a Brown-centric offer, with Milwaukee willing to consider a swap even without a third team to absorb his contract.

That is the development that flipped the race. Brown is a five-time All-Star and a former NBA Finals MVP coming off the best statistical season of his career, having averaged a career-high 28.7 points per game as Boston’s centerpiece. He is also a bona fide star Milwaukee can plug in immediately, which speaks directly to ownership’s stated preference to get a recognizable face back rather than a stack of prospects.

The money works, too. A Brown-for-Antetokounmpo framework lines up cleanly under the salary cap, and from Milwaukee’s vantage point, flipping one star for another carries better optics than entering a full teardown empty-handed.

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Prediction markets moved with the news. Per Kalshi data, Miami’s implied odds slid from the low 60s into the mid-30s on Monday while Boston vaulted toward roughly 70 percent. Those figures shift by the hour and should be read as a temperature check rather than a forecast, but the direction of the swing is the story.

What Miami is putting on the table

Tyler Herro Miami Heat

The Heat’s pitch leans on volume and flexibility rather than star power. Reported frameworks have centered on Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic, with Kasparas Jakucionis and multiple future first-round picks also in the mix, and Miami holds the No. 13 overall pick in Tuesday’s draft.

It is a thoughtful offer for a rebuilding team. It is also, by definition, not a star, and that is the gap Boston is now exploiting.

There is a limit to how far Miami is willing to go. Bam Adebayo is the only player truly untouchable in the Heat’s discussions, and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reported that the front office does not want to strip the roster and its draft capital down to the studs to get a deal done. That restraint is understandable given the franchise’s history of swinging big and missing, most painfully on Damian Lillard three years ago, but it also means Miami may be unwilling to match a price Boston now appears ready to meet.

The case for the Heat to lose this race

There is a real argument, voiced by some of the league’s most prominent analysts, that Miami should be careful what it wishes for. Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons both cautioned against the Heat gutting their young core for an aging star, with Lowe warning that the long-term cost could hollow out the roster.

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“The concerns I think are very real for Miami,” Lowe said.

The basketball context behind that caution is hard to ignore. Antetokounmpo is 31 and coming off the most injury-plagued season of his career, appearing in just 36 games amid groin, calf and knee issues while the Bucks finished 32-50 and missed the playoffs, snapping a run of nine straight postseason appearances.

He still produced when available, averaging 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game, but his looming free agency in 2027 is depressing his trade value across the league. For a Heat team that went 43-39 and has been hunting a co-star for Adebayo since dealing Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors, the math of trading a future for a 31-year-old’s prime window is genuinely fraught.

What happens next

The next 24 hours should decide it. Milwaukee has telegraphed the draft as its internal deadline, and the expectation is a resolution before Tuesday night, though multiple insiders have noted the saga could still spill into free agency if the Bucks decide their leverage is better served by waiting.

For Miami, the stakes are stark. Landing Antetokounmpo would end years of frustrated superstar pursuits and reset the franchise’s ceiling overnight. Losing him to Boston, again on the doorstep of a deal, would sting in a way Heat fans know all too well. Either outcome arrives soon, and for the first time in this chase, the Heat are watching it unfold without holding the best hand.



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Dallas, TX

1 Dallas Cowboys Training Camp Battle That Could Make Or Break 2026 Season

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1 Dallas Cowboys Training Camp Battle That Could Make Or Break 2026 Season


If the Dallas Cowboys want to get over the hump and back into the playoffs in 2026, they’ve got to see a massive improvement in the defense.

Owner Jerry Jones was brutally honest with just how much the Cowboys were held back by their defense in 2025, and the numbers very clearly spell that out.

How does a Cowboys team that ranked top 10 in passing, rushing and points on offense still miss the playoffs?

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Well, Dallas also ranked 30th in total yards allowed, 32nd in passing yards, 23rd against the run and 32nd in points against, that’s how. That putrid showing rightly cost Matt Eberflus his job, which set the stage for Dallas to hire Christian Parker.

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It also set the stage for a total overhaul of the defense, with Dallas making many additions to that side of the ball, including at corner, where the Cowboys were bad on the boundary and in slot last season.

Fow now, we’re more focused on the boundary competition, as the Cowboys appear set to roll with Caleb Downs in the slot.

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Cowboys’ CB competition is crucial for 2026

The Cowboys won’t have much hope for a playoff appearance if the cornerback play doesn’t improve. Of the 10 teams that landed in the bottom 10 in passing yards allowed last season, only two of them made the postseason.

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Of course, the pass-rush played a part in that, and while Dallas has made multiple additions to that group this offseason, there really aren’t any guarantees with Rashan Gary, Malachi Lawrence or Donovan Ezeiruaku.

If that trio fails to improve a pass-rush that was tied for the seventh-fewest sacks in the NFL in 2025, the cornerbacks become even more crucial.

DaRon Bland and Shavon Revel did not play well in 2025, and while the former appears safe for now when it comes to a starting job on the outside, his leash could be short if he struggles again.

Revel, on the other hand, isn’t locked into a starting job on the boundary and is competing with Durant and Caelen Carson. It’s also worth keeping an eye on who finishes in second in that battle because that player could replace Bland if he struggles or gets hurt again.

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There is hope Revel can bounce back now that he’s another year removed from the torn ACL he suffered in his final year in college and can enjoy a full offseason, but we’ll have to see it first before we can believe it.

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“It’s very beneficial,” Revel said of having a normal offseason. “Just because I can clean up a lot of things, a lot of errors I didn’t see last year, or I did see last year, that I could clean up this year.”

“My knee is 100%, so now it’s time to focus on situational ball and I’ve got to see what I need to fix or get better at,” Revel added.

When training camp kicks off next month, we’re going to be locked into watching the battle at cornerback because it could very well make or break Dallas’ entire 2026 campaign.

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Atlanta, GA

Free Wi-Fi hits Atlanta: Where you can connect

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Free Wi-Fi hits Atlanta: Where you can connect


The city of Atlanta partnered with Georgia Power and Comcast to test high-speed digital infrastructure for the new “Atlanta Free” public Wi-Fi pilot network at Centennial Olympic Park and City Hall on June 22, 2026. (FOX 5 Atlanta)

A new tech initiative is bringing free public Wi-Fi to several high-traffic areas across Atlanta, including Centennial Olympic Park. 

The city launched the one-year pilot program to boost digital equity and connect residents. 

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Atlanta public Wi-Fi

What we know:

Atlanta officials partnered with Georgia Power and Comcast on a $263,000 agreement to fund the new wireless network. The connection is already active under the name “Atlanta Free” at Centennial Olympic Park, City Hall, and the Atlanta University Center. 

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The city of Atlanta partnered with Georgia Power and Comcast to test high-speed digital infrastructure for the new “Atlanta Free” public Wi-Fi pilot network at Centennial Olympic Park and City Hall on June 22, 2026. (FOX 5 Atlanta)

What they’re saying:

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Mayor Andre Dickens spoke at the park to highlight the project alongside corporate representatives and city leaders. 

Dickens emphasized that the technology is designed for long-term community equity rather than just a temporary perk for World Cup visitors. “Free public Wi-Fi is active here at Centennial Olympic Park, at City Hall, and at the Atlanta University Center,” Dickens said. “This is just the first phase of a city-wide effort. The goal is to create a network that will eventually help connect folks all the way from the airport to MARTA to the belt line.” To log on, users simply select the network on their device and accept the terms and conditions. 

The city of Atlanta partnered with Georgia Power and Comcast to test high-speed digital infrastructure for the new “Atlanta Free” public Wi-Fi pilot network at Centennial Olympic Park and City Hall on June 22, 2026. (FOX 5 Atlanta)

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Expanding city tech

What we don’t know:

Officials have not yet confirmed the exact timeline for expanding the network to future locations beyond the initial testing sites. The city has shared a goal to eventually bring the setup to the BeltLine and local fire stations, but specific next phases depend on the results of the one-year pilot. 

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The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens

DowntownTechnologySouthern CompanyNewsAndre Dickens



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