Mississippi
Mississippi among states challenging Biden Administration's broadened Title IX rule
President Joe Biden speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
- Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana and Idaho sue the U.S. Department of Education over new rule that expands Title IX to include “sexual orientation, gender identity.”
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R) has joined the attorneys general from Louisiana, Montana, and Idaho in challenging the Biden Administration’s new Title IX final rule that broadens the federal law to prohibit discrimination based on “sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.”
“Title IX has been a game-changer for generations of women,” said Attorney General Fitch. “For more than fifty years, it has given girls an opportunity to compete on a level playing field and offered them a fair chance to excel. The Biden Administration’s pursuit of an extremist political agenda here will destroy these important gains.”
Fitch says under this new rule, “safe and private spaces for women to engage in healing, fellowship, and support will be torn away” from girls and women. She said the Biden Administration’s legal theories “are novel, at best, and they cut legal corners to push them through, and we intend to defeat this rule in the courts.”
As previously reported, the original intent of the 1972 law was to give women an equal playing field in educational attainment, particularly at public schools and institutions of higher learning that receive federal financial aid. However, presidential administrations supportive of the LGBTQ movement have used Title IX to expand protections and access for people who identify as lesbian, gay or transgender.
READ MORE: Biden Administration broadens Title IX to include sexual orientation, gender identity
The new Biden Administration rule handed down by the U.S. Department of Education also places additional requirements on schools to communicate their nondiscrimination policies and procedures to all students, employees, and other participants in their education programs, among other mandates.
Failure to comply with the new rule could result in the loss of federal funding and legal action taken by the federal government against local schools.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill (R) is leading the challenge for the states in the case titled Louisiana v. The U.S. Department of Education. In a release announcing the filing, Murrill’s office called the expansion of Title IX rules “illegal,” saying it would apply burdensome requirements on nearly every school, college, and university in Louisiana and across the nation.
“This would deprive women and girls of the equal educational opportunities they struggled for decades to secure, and cost states billions of dollars to implement,” the Louisiana AG’s office states, adding, “The rules rewrite Title IX, requiring all schools, colleges, and universities that receive federal assistance across the country to disregard the concept of biological ‘sex.’”
The attorneys general claim in the lawsuit that the new Title IX rule “cannot help but sound the death knell for female sports.” They say their challenge is intended to “save Title IX.”
Read the full lawsuit below.
Here’s the nominees for Clarion Ledger girls Athlete of the Week for May 4-9
Here’s the five nominees for the Clarion Ledger girls Mississippi high school Athlete of the Week for May 4-9.
There were several top performers across the state in girls high school sports, but only one can be voted as the Clarion Ledger athlete of the week for May 4-9.
Fans may vote in the poll BELOW one time per hour per device. The poll closes at noon on Friday.
To nominate a future athlete of the week, email mchavez@gannett.com or message him on X, formerly Twitter, @MikeSChavez.
To submit high school scores, statistics, records, leaders and other items at any time, email mchavez@gannett.com.
Nominations
Kara Applewhite, Sumrall: Applewhite had four hits with a home run and five RBIs in Sumrall’s 10-0 win against East Central.
Caydance Brumfield, West Marion: Brumfield produced four hits and five RBIs in West Marion’s two wins against Pisgah.
Addison Collum, West Union: Collum pitched eight innings and recorded seven strikeouts and only two earned runs in West Union’s wins against Smithville.
Addison Cornish, West Lauderdale: Cornish recorded five hits and a home run in West Lauderdale’s wins against Choctaw Central.
Addison Davis, George County: Davis pitched nine innings with 20 strikeouts and recorded two home runs and four RBIs in George County’s wins against Pearl River Central.
Michael Chavez covers high school sports for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at mchavez@gannett.com or reach out to him on X, formerly Twitter @MikeSChavez.
‘We’re doing this to decrease the pressure we get early in the season. We’re trying to move that pressure on into later in the season.’
Bobcat stalks and strikes at Wisconsin turkey hunter
Turkey hunter Carson Bender of Wisconsin Rapids recorded a video of a bobcat that stalked and lunged at him as he hunted April 18, 2026 near Nekoosa, Wis.
Carson Bender
If a proposal made in the April meeting of the Mississippi Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks is finalized, nonresident turkey hunters will see big changes in the 2027 spring turkey season.
“We’re doing this in a way to impact how hunting pressure occurs and how the harvest happens in the early season,” said Caleb Hinton, Wild Turkey Program coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. “We’re doing this to decrease the pressure we get early in the season. We’re trying to move that pressure on into later in the season.”
Turkey hunters enjoy a three-bird bag limit and a little more than six weeks of hunting in spring, which is similar to some other states. What is at issue is when it opens. March 15 is the typical opening date for the regular season, making it one of the earliest in the nation.
That early opening date combined with a growing trend among turkey hunters is where the problem lies.
Mississippi is a destination for early season, nonresident hunters
Possibly more than any other group of hunters, turkey hunters like to travel. For some, it may be a matter of seeing a different landscape and hunting birds under condions they don’t encounter in their home state. For others it may be a quest to harvest each of the subspecies in North America.
For yet another group, it’s the challenge of harvesting a gobbler in each of the 49 states that have turkeys.
“It seems to be getting more and more popular every year,” Hinton said.
Regardless of why a turkey hunter chooses to travel, it puts a target on Mississippi’s back because for the first few weeks of the season, it’s almost the only game in town, so hunters flock to the state.
In an effort to curb the amount of hunting pressure in those first weeks of turkey season, MDWFP proposed limiting nonresident hunters to two legal gobblers per season and only one of those can be harvested before April 1.
“Hopefully, it will help curb the massive influx of pressure we get the first week or two of the season,” Hinton said.
When will turkey season changes for nonresidents be voted on?
The proposed changes aren’t the first that have been geared toward alleviating pressure on turkeys in the early part of the season by nonresidents. In 2022, the commission passed a rule requiring nonresident hunters to enter a drawing for a hunt on public land during the first two weeks of turkey season. Currently, the number of hunters drawn is limited to 800.
Like that change, the current proposal will pass or fail by a vote of the wildlife commission. In the April commission meeting, the proposal passed an initial vote. It is now in a 30-day public comment period and a final vote will be taken in the May meeting.
Public comments may be submitted at https://www.mdwfp.com/proposed-rules-regulations.
A lifelong outdoorsman and wildlife enthusiast, Brian Broom has been writing about hunting, fishing and Mississippi’s outdoors for the Clarion Ledger for more than 14 years. He can be reached at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com.
Mississippi
Mississippi high school addresses social media post, says it won’t tolerate racism or harassment
LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Miss. (WLBT) – A Mississippi high school has made a statement after a social media post involving a student surfaced.
Northeast Lauderdale High School officials say they’re reviewing a social media post involving a student.
In a statement, the school said administrators are aware of the post and are “reviewing the situation.”
The school said it is committed to maintaining a safe, orderly and respectful environment for students and staff.
“Neither our district nor our school accept or condone racism, discrimination, harassment, or behavior that is inconsistent with the expectations of our school community,” the statement said.
Officials said they are working with the appropriate parties and will address the matter in accordance with district policies and procedures.
The school added that it cannot share additional details because of student privacy laws.
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