Mississippi
MS Secretary of State sets sights on campaign finance transparency
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Secretary of State Michael Watson has been proposing a campaign finance database for years. Now, as corruption scandals unfurl into investigations and trials throughout Mississippi, he thinks he has the support to enact his vision into law.
Watson told reporters Wednesday that he was working alongside Sen. Jeremy England, R-Vancleave, to develop a database that would streamline campaign finance reporting and searching.
“We want to make sure that we hold our elected officials accountable,” he said. “Who’s getting a $100,000 check here and changing their vote the next month or next week?”
Candidates for office at all levels would have to submit their campaign finance information digitally to a website run by the Secretary of State’s office, which would be searchable. The idea, Watson said, is to provide a candidate’s campaign finance information for every available election cycle with a single search.
“I think we can tell Mississippians, ‘We want you to hold us accountable, because when you hold us accountable, you get better government,’” he said. “If you want to take a trip or have a steak, that’s fine. Mississippians should know about it.”
The bill would close some loopholes in the campaign finance system, Sen. England said, and restrict cash donation amounts to avoid corruption scandals such as the looming case facing former Jackson city leaders Chokwe Antar Lumumba, Jody Owens and Aaron Banks.
“Every elected official, as we say, from dogcatcher on up to governor, is very important,” he said. “We handle important ideas and we make policy that affects everyone’s lives, so it’s important to be as transparent as possible.”
Officials would have to register a bank account and file campaign finance documents before they could take any contributions or spend any money, England said. He said there is consensus on the bill and he feels “very confident” that it will pass the Senate and House.
Watson estimated that the new rules and system could be in place as early as May, if England’s bill becomes law.
“The feds have been doing this for over 20 years,” he said. “It makes zero sense for Mississippi not to have this.”
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WLBT) – Mississippi State hit seven home runs and scored 19 runs to defeat Louisiana 19-5 in the Starkville Regional final Sunday night.
Jacob Parker and Ryder Woodson each hit two home runs for the Bulldogs. Parker went 4-for-4 with four RBIs and five runs scored, while Woodson finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs.
Early power surge
Mississippi State took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on solo home runs by Gehrig Frei and Parker. Woodson added a solo homer in the second inning to make it 3-0.
Louisiana’s Nate Lewis hit a solo home run in the third inning to cut the lead to 3-1.
Bulldogs pull away with four-run fourth
Mississippi State scored four runs in the fourth inning. Kevin Milewski drove in Reed Stallman with an RBI single, Frei added an RBI hit and Ace Reese hit a two-run homer to right-center to make it 7-1.
Woodson drove in a run with a single in the fifth inning. Louisiana scored one run in the sixth inning to cut the deficit to 8-3.
Five-run seventh extends lead
Mississippi State scored five runs in the seventh inning. Parker hit an RBI double, Vytas Valincius followed with an RBI double and Stallman hit an RBI triple. Woodson capped the inning with a two-run homer to left to extend the lead to 13-5 at the end of the seventh.
Parker, Valincius deliver final blows
Parker hit his second home run of the game in the eighth inning, a two-run shot that made it 15-5.
Valincius hit a grand slam in the ninth inning to push the lead to 19-5.
Strong performances throughout lineup
Frei finished with four hits, three runs scored and two RBIs. Noah Sullivan had three hits and scored three runs.
Ryan McPherson pitched five innings for Mississippi State, allowing two runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.
Up Next
Mississippi State now heads to the Athens Super Regional where they will face 3-seed Georgia, a team that swept the Diamond Dawgs this season.
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Mississippi
Mississippi State baseball beats Cincinnati 10-5, moves within one win of regional title – SuperTalk Mississippi
Tomas Valincius struck out 10, Ace Reese and Kevin Milewski homered, and Reed Stallman knocked in three runs to lead Mississippi State to a 10-5 victory in the winner’s bracket game of the Starkville Regional on Saturday night.
The top-seeded Bulldogs (42-17) managed early behind another standout performance from Valincius, who allowed two runs over 7.1 innings to earn his 11th win of the season.
Valincius was supported offensively by Reese’s solo home run in the first inning, a run two-seed Cincinnati (38-21) responded to in the second to tie the game at 1-1. The Bulldogs broke open the game with three runs in the fifth inning, then followed with four more in the sixth and two more in the seventh to build a 10-1 lead.
As part of the surge, Stallman knocked in three runs on two doubles, Gehrig Frei hit a two-run single, Bryce Chance drove in one, and Milewski hit a two-run shot. Vytas Valincius, Tomas’ brother, crossed home plate on a wild pitch.
Cincinnati worked to chip away late, but the deficit was too much to overcome. The Bearcats scored two in the eighth and two in the ninth before Mississippi State reliever Ben Davis limited the damage by getting the final outs to end the ballgame.
Mississippi State is now just one win away from winning its first regional championship since 2021 – the same year the Bulldogs won the College World Series. Mississippi State will play the winner of Sunday afternoon’s elimination game between Cincinnati and Louisiana at 7 p.m. If Mississippi State drops the game, a winner-take-all final will be played Monday.
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WLBT) – Mississippi State got a dominant performance from Tomas Valincius and a 13-hit offensive performance to defeat Cincinnati 10-5 on Saturday night at Dudy Noble Field, moving on the the Starkville Regional Championship.
The Bulldogs broke open a tight game with a three-run fifth inning before adding four more runs in the sixth and two in the seventh.
Reese gets it started
Ace Reese started the scoring with a solo home run to center field in the first inning, giving the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead. Cincinnati answered in the second when Christian Mitchelle doubled to shallow left, scoring Enzo Infelise to tie the game at 1-1.
Bulldogs score three in the fifth
Mississippi State scored three runs in the fifth inning, beginning with an RBI infield single from Bryce Chance to shortstop that scored Jacob Parker. Gehrig Frei followed with an infield single to second, plating Reed Stallman and Kevin Milewski to push the lead to 4-1.
Four more in the sixth
Mississippi State added four more runs in the sixth. Stallman delivered an RBI double to left to score Parker before Valincius crossed the plate on a wild pitch from Cincinnati’s Alex Gonzalez. Two batters later, Milewski launched a two-run homer to right field, stretching the Bulldogs’ lead to 8-1.
Stallman extends lead in the seventh
The Bulldogs extended the lead in the seventh when Stallman ripped a double to right, scoring Noah Sullivan and Parker for a 10-1 advantage.
Cincinnati added two runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth, making the final 10-5.
Valincius dominates on the mound
Valincius worked 7 1/3 innings, allowing just three runs on five hits while striking out 10 and walking two. He threw 112 pitches and recorded his 10th strikeout before exiting in the eighth inning. Maddox Webb took over after that and walked two batter. Ben Davis closed the game for State, pitching 1 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits while striking out two.
Offensive leaders
Mississippi State finished with 13 hits.
Stallman led the way offensively, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two doubles. Chance collected three hits and drove in a run, while Frei finished with two hits and two RBIs. Reese added his first-inning homer, and Milewski’s two-run blast highlighted the sixth-inning surge. Parker scored three runs.
Up next
The Diamond Dawgs now head to the Starkville Regional Championship, where they will face the winner of the Cincinnati and Louisiana elimination game. State will only need one more win to advance to a Super Regional.
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