There’s a moment in a Mississippi August evening when the sun lets go of the day and everything turns golden. The heat doesn’t leave, exactly—it just stretches out and settles in like your Aunt Shirley on the porch swing after supper. Crickets start their tuning, cicadas take over the rhythm section, and somewhere in the distance, someone’s radio hums out a country song that knows something about heartache and humidity.

Back to school means back to fast-paced schedules and dinner plans staying up in the air. Even though today’s busy lifestyle makes eating together a challenge, it’s worth the effort, even if it’s a few times a week. Studies show that eating with others offers numerous benefits, including nutritional, health, social, and mental advantages. When it’s families that gather around the table together to eat regularly, research supports that it can reduce the risk of depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse, while increasing self-esteem and resilience in children.

Taylor Garretson, a senior at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), was crowned the 2025 Mississippi Miss Hospitality during the final night of competition held July 19 at the Historic Hattiesburg Saenger Theater. The Greene County native emerged at the top of a highly competitive field of 47 contestants from across the state, following a rigorous week of interviews, speeches and stage presentations.

It’s peak summertime in Mississippi, and the last thing many of us want to do is spend time in the sweltering heat. That is, unless there will be water involved. On August 16th, 2025, Hattiesburg will be hosting the Rodney Richardson Water Run. Lace your running shoes up for a day full of fun and community. 

Despite the raging temperatures, summer is quickly drawing to a close. And here in Mississippi, the advent of autumn means the loss of two precious commodities, homegrown tomatoes and watermelons. 

Mississippi’s education ranking has climbed to 16th in the nation – the state’s highest ranking ever – according to the 2025 KIDS COUNT Data Book released this summer. 

Move over, Muscadine Ripple—to make room on the freezer shelf for two new Mississippi State-borne ice cream flavors.

Blueberry and sweet potato plan to join MSU’s 11 other palette-pleasing ice cream flavors in 2026 at the MAFES Sales Store, also the home of famous MSU cheese.

A legendary, multi-platinum selling Southern rock group brings its iconic sound to the MSU Riley Center next month.

There’s just something about Mississippi.

Maybe it’s the way the sun rises over a field of cotton, or how the wind moves through pine trees in the early morning, humming the kind of melody you can only hear in the South. Maybe it’s the smell of rain on red clay roads, or the way an iced-down Coke and a front porch swing can solve just about anything. Mississippi isn’t loud or flashy, but it doesn’t have to be—it speaks in stories, in soul, and in a kind of strength that’s quietly unwavering.

Can you imagine a diet with no Italian red sauce, or tomato sandwiches? What about no French fries, guacamole, corn on the cob, or sweet potato pie? That’s what food in Europe was like before the Europeans found the Americas. The Europeans did have cabbage, onions, peas, broad beans, greens and carrots, grapes, apples, pears, raspberries, and currents, but the addition of New World foods would be perhaps the biggest change in European diets ever, in fact, it was a culinary revolution. 

As a child, I was intrigued when I found perfectly round balls under the trees in the woods that I wandered through. Sometimes they were smooth and red-speckled. Other times they were brown and wrinkled. They looked like what I imagined a brain might appear to be without a skull, so brain balls they became. I had no clue how they came to be. But these galls are only part of a larger story about the insects that cause them to form on oaks.

Mississippi may be daydreaming of pumpkin spice and cool breezes, but don’t pack up those fans and umbrellas just yet. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, fall 2025 in the Magnolia State is shaping up to be a scorcher—with a twist of unpredictability.

The University of Southern Mississippi’s (USM) Thad Cochran Marine Aquaculture Center (TCMAC) has launched the Marine Aquaculture Demonstration Initiative for Economic Development. The project is funded by Gov. Tate Reeves through the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA).

The St. Martin High School girls’ flag football team recently won the inaugural Mississippi High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) state championship. They defeated George County High School in the final game, which was part of the first-ever MHSAA flag football season. The team, along with several of its seniors, has been recognized for its historic achievement and its impact on the sport in Mississippi. 

Tucked away in the rolling hills of North Mississippi, Grenada Lake stands as one of the true crown jewels of the Magnolia State’s outdoor destinations. Spanning an impressive 35,000 acres, this flood-control reservoir is not just the largest freshwater lake in Mississippi — it’s also one of the most beloved stops on the Mississippi Crappie Trail.

Sending kids back to school is a bittersweet time of the year. Yes, moms and dads are ready for the return to a school-based routine. (A lot of kids are too, if the truth is told.) But the loss of that slower, relaxed schedule and the reality of less time together as a family is sad. Plus, summer is just fun, filled with comfy clothes, outdoor fun, and more spontaneity.