Latest news with #Mississippi
Associated Press
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Alex Hernandez drives in 6 with 2 home runs and Georgia Tech tops Western Kentucky 9-2
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Alex Hernandez blasted two three-run home runs in and Georgia Tech cruised past Western Kentucky 9-2 on Friday in a first-round game of the Oxford Regional. Hernandez's first home run staked starting pitcher Tate McKee to a 3-0 lead after the first inning. Hernandez went deep again in the eighth. He had four hits and six RBIs. McKee (8-3) allowed one run in seven innings. He gave up seven hits and struck out six. Carson Ballard pitched the last two innings, allowing one run. The Yellow Jackets added runs in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Drew Rogers and the sixth inning on Carson Kerce's bunt single to lead 5-0. Kerce was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. The Hilltoppers scored on a single by Reid Howard in the seventh and a sacrifice fly by Kyle Hayes in the eighth. Drew Whalen (9-3) allowed five runs in five innings. On Saturday, Georgia Tech (41-17) will play the winner of Friday's later game between Mississippi and Murray State. Western Kentucky (46-13) will play the loser between the Rebels and Racers in an elimination game. The ACC regular-season champion Yellow Jackets are making their 36th NCAA Tournament appearance and 25th under coach Danny Hall. ___ AP college sports:
Associated Press
5 hours ago
- General
- Associated Press
Cuvet and Galvin hit HRs to help Miami beat Alabama 5-3 at Hattiesburg Regional
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — Daniel Cuvet hit a three-run home run in the first inning, Max Galvin added a solo shot in the fifth and No. 3 seed Miami beat Alabama 5-3 in the opening game of the Hattiesburg Regional on Friday. Miami (32-24) plays either top-seeded Southern Miss or Columbia on Saturday. No. 2 seed Alabama (41-17) takes on the other in a loser-out game. Jake Ogden walked to lead off the game and Galvin followed with a single before Cuvet hit a 3-0 pitch over the wall in right field and the Hurricanes led the rest of the way. Cuvet led off the third with a double and scored on a two-out single by Renzo Gonzalez to make it 4-0. Kade Snell was hit by a pitch to lead off the fourth and scored for Alabama when Brady Neal grounded out with the bases loaded. Brennen Norton followed with a two-RBI double to cut the Crimson Tide's deficit to 4-3. AJ Ciscar (6-1) gave up three runs on six hits with eight strikeouts over seven innings. Brian Walters pitched a scoreless ninth and earned his ninth save of the season. Bryce Fowler fouled off seven straight pitches before he reached on an error with two out in the ninth and moved to second when Justin Lebron was hit by a pitch but Walters got Snell to fly out to end the game. Riley Quick (8-3) pitched six innings and allowed five runs on eight hits with four walks and six strikeouts. ___ AP college sports:
CBC
6 hours ago
- Business
- CBC
Mississippi town at heart of Sinners refused to be left out of the movie's success
The Mississippi town of Clarksdale is, in many ways, the heart and soul of the movie Sinners. But, until this week, its residents had no way to benefit from the film's massive success at the box office. In fact, many of them couldn't even see it, because the town doesn't have a movie theatre. That all changed when community members joined forces to organize a local screening of the film, featuring filmmaker Ryan Coogler and other members of the cast and crew. "We had people from all over the world that came into Clarksdale to experience our culture," business owner Dave Houston, who helped organize the event, told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal. "It was a great thing for our city." 'The birthplace of blues' Sinners, a blues-infused vampire horror starring Michael B. Jordan and set in Jim Crow-era Mississippi, has grossed $339 million US at the box office so far. It's set in Clarksdale, a town of roughly 14,000 people in the Mississippi Delta, an area widely known as the " birthplace of blues." Jordan plays twin brothers hustling to open a juke joint where Black residents can eat, drink, gamble, and most of all, enjoy live music. But they face violent opposition from monstrous villains, both human and supernatural. "The juke joints still live on in Clarksdale as we speak," Houston said. "So to see that being on a big screen, man, it makes you feel great about your city." But while Clarksdale is the soul of Sinners, the movie was filmed in neighbouring Louisiana, as Mississippi lacked the necessary infrastructure. And when Sinners hit theatres, Clarksdale residents who wanted to see their town portrayed on screen had to drive more than 130 kilometres to the nearest cinema in Tennessee. "To use a likeness of Clarksdale and not acknowledge Clarksdale, that didn't sit well with me," said Brenda Luckett, a retired teacher, historian, and local tour guide. Seizing an opportunity As Sinners generated more and more buzz, Houston couldn't let this opportunity to shine a light on Clarksdale slip by. He teamed up with community organizer Tyler Yarbrough, who wrote an open letter and petition addressed to Coogler, Jordan and the rest of the film's cast and crew, inviting them to collaborate on a public screening of Sinners. "We know that Sinners was born from a deeply personal place, inspired by your uncle, a Mississippi native, who often played blues music and told you stories about Mississippi," Yarbrough wrote to Coogler. "Just as your uncle's blues music and making this film lit a fire in you, we believe a visit to Clarksdale from you could light an even bigger one for the next generation." It worked. The petition garnered thousands of signatures. The town's mayor joined the effort. And, eventually, Coogler got wind of the campaign. On Thursday, the director, along with Sinners actor Miles Canton, composer Ludwig Göransson and others, were on hand for the first of six screenings at the Clarksdale Civic Auditorium, which Warner Brothers outfitted with a big screen, projector and sound system. Local vendors and food trucks were on site, local musicians performed, and Coogler did a Q&A with the audience. "We had a lot of emotions pouring out," Houston said. "We had a line all the way out around the building yesterday, and we're expecting the same thing today." Shelby Simes arrived at 7 a.m. from nearby West Helena, Ark., earning first place in a line that had grown to hundreds by the time the doors opened a few hours later. She said Sinners, which she had already seen seven times, was particularly important in an era where the U.S. President Donald Trump is actively silencing Black history in schools, targeting what he sees as "anti-American ideology." Brandice Brown Williams, a theatre teacher, brought two of her students to the screening. "Anytime that filmmakers take the time out to pay homage to the Delta, especially, because we're the root of music, the blues culture, that means a lot," Williams said. Clarksdale is 'open for business' During Thursday's screening, Coogler shouted out the people of Clarksdale for having the organizing skills and entrepreneurial spirit to bring the event to life. "The thing that you guys have is a thing that can't be taught," he said. The next day, Houston spoke to CBC Radio from Dooney's Barbershop, one of several Clarksdale businesses he runs. In the background, his customers, some of them musicians, were still buzzing about the previous evening. One of them, blues singer Jaye Hammer, performed at the event, and even hopped on the phone with Köksal to croon for CBC listeners and plug his newest single, Turn This Party Out. Houston says the town has fallen on hard times in recent years, but he knows Clarksdale is full of talent, and he believes the future looks bright. "If we get the eye on Clarksdale, I think the people will invest," he said. "We're open for business."
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Baylor football player Alex Foster's cause of death revealed
The cause of death for 18-year-old Baylor football player Alex Foster has been revealed after his sudden passing earlier this week. According to the Washington County (Mississippi) coroner's office, Foster died from multiple gunshot wounds after he was found in a car in his hometown. Greenville, Mississippi police confirmed to the Clarion-Ledger that officers responded to a report of multiple shots fired around 12:11am on Wednesday. MORE TO FOLLOW.
The Guardian
13 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Sinners finally comes home to Clarksdale: a three-day festival premieres the film in its hometown
In April, the director Ryan Coogler released Sinners, a thriller about two brothers in the 1930s who return home to Clarksdale, Mississippi, to open a juke joint. Less than a month after the film was released, Sinners made over $200m in the US and Canada, something no original film has done in almost a decade. But residents in Clarksdale, a town with about 14,000 people, the majority of whom are Black, had no way to see themselves on screen in their community. There are no active movie theaters in or near the town. Tyler Yarbrough, a Clarksdale native and community leader, published an open letter on behalf of 'an intergenerational group of organizations, creatives, entrepreneurs, farmers, and community leaders' inviting Coogler and the Sinners cast to town. 'We are extending an open invitation to you, the cast, and the creative team behind Sinners to visit Clarksdale, to walk the streets your vision reimagined, to meet the people whose real stories echo through every frame, and to experience firsthand the living, breathing legacy that inspired your work and the people who are sustaining and reimagining its future,' Yarbrough wrote. 'We would also be honored to collaborate with you to host a public screening and celebration here in Clarksdale. A homecoming not just for the film, but for the history, culture, and future that continue to define our city and to connect Mississippi creatives with you and your work.' The letter quickly went viral after Capital B, a Black-led non-profit news organization, reported about it and it was picked up both by other news outlets and on social media. 'We're also hoping for them to see the people who are actually doing some badass shit right now when it comes to the juke joints, keeping them alive, when it comes to some of the farmers who are rethinking farming, from cotton to produce,' Yarbrough told the Guardian in early May. 'The blues is the foundation of all American music and American culture. There's so much power in that that originates here. As we think about our national story, our community story, I do think Clarksdale and the [Mississippi] delta, specifically, is going to be a part of this retelling of America to this connecting all Black people in this country back to this ancestral land too.' Coogler and Warner Bros heard and answered the call, and on 29 May, people in Clarksdale were finally able to see themselves in their own community. As a part of Clarksdale Cultural Capital, a three-day festival sponsored by Warner Bros and others, residents of Clarksdale have multiple free opportunities to see the movie in their home town. Coogler; his wife, a producer and co-founder of Proximity Media, Zinzi Coogler; Ludwig Göransson, the film's composer; Sev Ohanian, another producer and co-founder of Proximity Media; and executive music producer Serena Göransson attended and introduced the 29 May morning screening, which was held in the Clarksdale civic auditorium. Both Cooglers have family from Mississippi – Zinzi's grandparents are from the state as are one of Ryan's grandfathers and an uncle, who inspired him to make the film. 'This is a love letter to our elders, to our recent and relatively distant ancestors, and we are so proud to be here in Clarksdale to share this movie and this moment with you guys,' Zinzi Coogler said ahead of the first screening. 'We heard the call that there isn't a theater for the local community, and said, 'Wait, wait, wait, we will show up.'' Ryan Coogler, an Oakland, California, native, shared that he hadn't visited the Magnolia state before working on the movie. 'Coming here, it blew my mind,' he said of his first visit to the state. 'I got to meet musicians, I got to meet community members, business owners. It really changed me just to come here and do the research.' Coogler invited the audience to be responsive to the film, and they acquiesced – cheering, laughing and gasping at various times throughout the movie. When the film opened, and 'Clarksdale, Mississippi October 15, 1932' splashed across the screen, the audience was rapturous. Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram, a native of Clarksdale who is featured in the film and attended the screening, likewise received thunderous applause and cheers when he appeared on screen. After the morning showing, the Cooglers, Göransson, Ohanian and Miles Caton, who had his debut role in the film, and Lawrence 'Boo' Mitchell, Cederic Burnside, Tierinii Jackson and Bobby Rush, all musicians who worked on the film, participated in a question-and-answer session hosted by Clarksdale native Aallyah Wright, of Capital B. The community has bought into Sinners: A sign outside New Roxy, formerly a Black movie theater and now a music venue, reads: 'Welcome to Clarksdale, Sinners Festival.' Ground Zero, Morgan Freeman's juke joint, offered Sinners-themed drinks: the Smokestack, the Dance with the Devil and the Juke Joint Julep. 'We owe Clarksdale so much, as Mississippians, the world owes Clarksdale and Mississippi as a whole so much for being a staple in the global culture landscape. For me, Sinners was one of my very first experiences of seeing Mississippi in a full and beautiful light on the big screen,' Jasmine Williams, founder of 'Sipp Talk Media and one of the festival's organizers, said in a statement. 'I think this film coming home and being made accessible to the people that inspired it is so important, so people here understand our impact on the world.' On 29 May, Clarksdale residents had two opportunities to see the film: the 11 am showing and a 5pm showing, both of which were introduced by Coogler himself. Those screenings were part of Clarksdale Cultural Capital, a three-day festival full of panels, music performances and other events featuring people from Clarksdale, across the delta and Mississippi. The festival is sponsored by Warner Brothers, Visit Clarksdale, Capital B, Rootswell, Higher Purpose Hub, Mississippi Humanities, Griot Arts, and other local and regional organizations. Panels include Coffee With Kinfolk: Our Future of Clarksdale, Building a Blues Economy Rooted in Dignity and Cultural Diversity in the Mississippi Delta: Conversations With Choctaw and Chinese Americans, among others, while musical performances include music inspired by Sinners, held at Morgan Freeman's Ground Zero; a show by Keith Johnson, Muddy Waters' nephew; a Son House recording and jam session; and others.
